Dragonspawn(High Fantasy) [MUL] but no [Ex] cuz that's just icky.

[TheRedFear]

I've got at least one definite player, and two possibles.

This will be a game set in a custom fantasy setting. High Fantasy to be precise, with magic the borders on sci-fi technology in some places.

There are six major playable races...well, really five since I don't expect the Goblins to be overly popular...not counting assorted halfbreeds.

It's a setting i've worked on for a couple of years now so it's fairly detailed, with each race having it's own culture, history, alliances, and specialties. In some cases i tried to be unique, like making my Goblins very peaceful and sympathetic. While in others I shamelessly stole from more popular setting. Culturally speaking my Dark Elves are near carbon replicas of the Forgotten Realms Drow.

In other cases I more or less followed popular convention but threw in some tweaks. High Elves in this setting come with Wings. Yes, there's a reason. They're aristicratic and arrogant, but also rather dispassionate and logical, sharing more in common with Star Trek Vulcans than the typical elven portrayal. They also have heavy asian influence in their aesthetic and cultural vibe, from their fighting styles to their familial practices.

And in this setting, there's an actual REASON why humans have become to dominant power in the world, despite lacking the various superhuman traits of the other races. None of that "Well gosh darn, humans are just so precocious! And they work together so well!" crap you get in other fantasy genres.

The setting has various political factions and i'm quite welcoming of input and ideas from others to further flesh it out.

As for the actual game it will follow the following (heavily summarized)premise:

A Half-Dragon named Calor...half-dragons are typically hated and feared for their roles as overseers and taskmasters for their draconic parents during the Age of Dragons...has recently conquered the Dark Elven Nation, with the help of a newly unified alliance of the Orc Great Tribes. He has declared his new nation a safe haven for the often persecuted Half-Dragons of the world, and is setting up his kin as a new ruling class. Incidently, this is precisely the sort of thing that made Half-Dragons so unpopular in the first place.

As rebellious Dark Elven factions seek to organize themselves and overthrew their new rulers, Calor plunges his alliance into war with the human/elven alliance which, despite their various advantages have never before faced a threat on this scale. The sheer numbers arrayed against them is staggering. Nobody ever imagined somebody could unify just the Orcs, or just the Dark Elves...let alone unite them both under one banner.

Despite the numerical advantage however, the human/elven alliance have several big magical advantages of their own which promises a long and drawn out conflict...which is currently keeping the rebellious factions amongst the Dark Elves from marshalling their forces enough to overthrow Calor while he continues consolidating his hold on power.

There's room for plenty of characters from all races and walks of life in either of the two major factions or the third faction which is largely neutral. The Goblin/Atlantean alliance. I may also allow other races...but I may not. We'll take it case by case.

Right now i'm mostly imagining the focus to be on the Dark Elven/Orc side of the war, though if enough people express interest we can play the game from both sides. There's also another plot building in the background that could very well force all sides to set aside their differences and unite.

But don't let all this talk of war and politics and epic quests fool you. This IS an Elliquiy Game, and as such WILL have a heavy sexual focus.  XD

Also i'll be honest. I'm not much of a storyteller/GM, nor do I have any great interest in being one. I'll do it if I must but ideally, i'd rather somebody else spearhead that effort while I whisper sweet nothings of encouragement in their ear  O:). But I recognize that's unlikely, so i'll do my best and we'll all just have to cross our fingers.

So...that's it. if you're interested PM me.

[TheRedFear]

I'm bored silly, and have nothing else to do right this moment, so figured i'd go through a breif rundown on the major playable races to further flesh out the setting material. Note that in-game many of these races go by different names but for ease of reference i'm using their more common names here.

Galacians (Humans) -
The most relevant of the various human cultures in the setting, are those known as Galatians. More specifically, the Holy Galacian Empire. The Galatian Empire is governed by an Empress who passes her title down to the most capable of her daughters, and a powerful religious figure typically chosen from amongst the noble castes known as The Reverend Mother. When a new candidate is chosen(Which is rare, as life-sustaining potions and magics are used to keep powerful political and religious figures perpetually young), she is called the Reverend Daughter and ideally spends at least ten years under the direct tutelage of the clergy before assuming her title of Mother. Officially the Empress has all the real power, but the Reverend Mother commands the church, and the church commands the masses as surely as the Empress commands the nobility and the armies, so the two powers are meant to balance one another out. Ideally. How often the relationship acheives that ideal varies.

There were once many great and seperate human kingdoms and empires, but as of three centuries ago the last real holdouts finally fell and was absorbed into the Galatian Empire. The Galatian church venerates a God known simply as The Patriarch. The Reverend Mother is considered the Patriarch's cheif consort, and the Empress is seen as a favored daughter. Worship of other Gods IS allowed. In fact, many of the more prominant kingdoms and empires the Galatians conquered retain almost full autonomy, under the condition that they dedicate their grandest temples to the worship of the Patirarch. Minor altars to other gods are allowed, even in a Partiarch temple, but the best temples must predominantly favor the Patriarch.

Humans are the dominant race in the world, thanks in large part to their favored magical specialty, and another magical boon given to them by The Partiarch. The predominant human magic is Dimensional Magic which, amognst other things allows human mages to teleport around the world, singularly and on larger scales with proper preperation or enough power.

This has allowed humanity to all but eliminate the concept of the supply line in warfare, and rapidly deploy overwhelming force before their enemies can even marshal their strength. In peacetime, the ability to rapidly deliver and transport goods has also made the Galatian Empire massively wealthy. Other races rely heavily on human Worldbridges(Think Stargates) to maximize their own trade potential, which they pay heavy taxes to the human empire for. Or they make their own arrangements.

The second big advantage humans have is something called Dampening Magic. given to them by the Patriarch. Dampening magic is the ultimate form of defensive magic. Normally to counter somebody's magic, you have to know the same magic. For example...Like I said, Dimension Magic is the human specialty. Thing is, every race can learn SOME extent of Dimension Magic(Though only humans can fully master it). So if a Dark Elf mage who knows Dimension Magic clashes with a human mage, the Dark Elf mage can counter the human's spells...or at least weaken them somewhat. The advantage in Dampening Magic is that it does that against ALL magic equally.

So those are the two big reasons humans have spread further and wider, and been able to maintain a position of power and dominanace over the other races of the world despite generally inferior ability on the individual level. They lack the strength of the orcs, the speed of the elves, the intelligence of the Atlanteans...but because they can rapidly deploy in force, and counter the highest magics of their enemies, the humans dominate the world.


Leviri(Winged Elves)

Aesthetically speaking Leviri Architecture is heavily inspired by real world asian(Japanese and Chinese mostly) influences. Leviri skintones range from white to golden yellow, and the paler shades found amongst humans(About as common as red hair amongst humans). Many suspect these skintones indicate that the Elven family in question may have interbred with humans at some point which can be a mark of shame upon the family when it comes time to engage in mating negotiations with other families. This is not true but the myth persists throughout Leviri culture.

The primary magic of the Leviri is Time magic. The ability of their mages to see countless possible futures had a powerful impact early in the developement of their culture. Under the onslaught of such boundless and ever-shifting possibilities many Leviri mages began cause chaos in their society. Some mage would forsee the doom of a loved one and go to insane lengths to avert it, often causing the very event they intended to prevent. And harming countless others in the process, setting other mages on the same course. Because of this the Leviri began to impliment heavy psychological training regimens in their Magi teachings designed to help their seers tightly control their emotions. Over time this practice began to spread outward from the Seers until almost all Leviri culture embraced cold, dispassionate logic in favor over the emotions that guide "lesser species".

The Leviri's secondary form of magic is "Shapeshifting"...a subtype of Nature Magic. The Leviri are not all winged. Many of those who are winged can use limited shapeshifting abilities to "withdraw" their wings inward. They have a preference for making their homes atop high mountain peaks or amidst the boughs of towering tree canopies. This is why they began to use Shapeshifting to alter their own bodies. A few too many Nobles were lost to a clumsy latenight step and sent plummeting to the broken neck awaiting them below. So it became a common practice to have themselves altered with Wings to prevent this. Eventually powerful Shapeshifting mages learned how to make the Wings an actual inheritable trait, no longer restricting it solely to Mages, or who who could afford a Mages services. For a long time wings were the exclusive trait of Leviri nobility. Over time however wings...ahem..."found their way" down to the lower classes, despite Leviri breeding taboos.

Wings are now common amongst roughly 30% of the common Leviri population, but they remain a mark of status and prestige for those who have them. The noble classes all have wings. If by some strange fluke a child fails to be born with them, they will be taken to a mage in short order to correct the "mistake". The wings of common Leviri are not always retractable. Retractable wings are almost exclusively a trait of the noble classes...for now. Two or three centuries from now? Only the Leviri Seers can say.

Certain types of wings are more common amongst certain bloodlines. Families that have a long military tradition will pattern their wings after predatory creatures like Griffons, Rocs, Hawks, Falcons, or Bats. Families that produce many artists politicians will favor the wings of Swans, Eagles, or Owls. The wings of Ravens or Crows are traditionally left to Mages, but occasionally even those crop up in the lower classes. Only Dragon wings are considered taboo.

Leviri men are only fertile for a few months every five years or so. They are fully capable of performing sexually, but only during this periodic season of fertility can they actually impregnate someone. The Seers say this was not always the case, but is a consequence of the tampering with Leviri physiology to make the wings hereditary. This trait spread much more easily than the wings themselves and is now common amongst all Leviri. The women remain fertile year round. Due to their culture of logic and dispassion, sex outside of mating season is generally frowned upon, even amongst married couples.

That said however, Elven women have an inexplicable tendancy to keep turning up pregnant outside of mating season. Especially the young ones, who have an inexplicable tendancy to "accidently" wander unescorted perilously close to Morag territory...but only the territory of the tribes known not to eat or enslave non-orcs...

Such offspring can not easily pass for pure Leviri. Because the Morag are welcoming of any who prove strong enough to be one of them, Morag tribes often have no problem taking these children. Lacking the naturally agressive instincts of other Morag however, many of these children often strike out on their own when they come of age. Sometimes they find each other. This has resulted in a few tribes of unusually graceful and beautiful Morag...sometimes a few of them  even have wings.

When young frustrated Leviri women aren't "accidently" wandering too close to Orc territory they go "slumming" in human territory. Human halfbreeds can more easily pass for full Leviri, so they will usually be kept and raised as Leviri. Half-Breed Leviri are rarely mistreated in any way. It's not their fault that their mothers(Or more rarely, their fathers) strayed. The shame is usually directed at the ones who conceived the halfbreed and...to a lesser extent...their immediate family who failed to curtail the inappropriate behavior.

Despite their disdain for emotion and passion, Leviri have a great apprecciation for Aesthetics, and their architecture and craftsmanship is often breathtakingly stunning. Their artists are similarly acomplished. Song and Dance are some of the few things where Leviri will make a small exception on their emotional taboos.

More to come when I damn well feel like it.... :)

[TheRedFear]

Morag (Orcs)
The great Shamans of the Morag specialize in Nature Magic, which allows for a wide variety of powers from shapeshifting(Themselves and other) and healing, to life extension and emotional manipulation.

Physically Morag average about 6 or 7 feet in height and are highly muscular. They're also NOT all hideous brutes. Some even have a certain feral and rugged attractiveness. They come in a variety of skin colors. Not just all shades of green, but certain earthier shades of brown and red.

Orcs generally have a very simple outlook. Simple, not stupid. There are two kinds of life forms in the world. Orcs, and everything else. Everything else exists for whatever reason an Orc wants it to exist. Non-Orcs are to be eaten, fucked, or befriended(if for some strange reason you want to do that) as an Orc sees fit.

Mind you now, Orc-hood is not a matter of race. Anybody who can beat an Orc in a straight up, one on one fistfight(no fancy powers) is considered an Orc, and will be branded as such so that they are recognized by other Orc tribes. They are forever after privy to all the benefits, and subject to all the rules that come with being an Orc.

There are a multitude of Tribes with different taboos on various issues. Some tribes view eating sentient Non-Morag lifeforms as distasteful(if for no other reason than you wouldn't want to take their inherent weakness upon yourself). Others see NOT eating your fallen foes(And allies) as a waste of perfectly good meat.

Most Morag tribes are nomadic and have a hunter-Gatherer style structure. This is because most Orc territory is rather barren. Orcs breed vast numbers, and tend to move through newly conquered territory like locusts, rapidly devouring all the natural resources(Ironic, considering their magic specialty is Nature.) Orcs like it this way. It ensures only the strongest survive as they have to compete for limited resources. It also keeps Orc numbers from swelling to the point they over-run neighboring territories.

Larger more modernized cities do exist in the heart of Orc lands, that are heavily reliant upon magically bred creatures and prisoner-of-war slaves to maintain for the benefit of the Orcish citizens. Compared to how Orcs live throughout the rest of their lands these central tribes are remarkably civilized and even industrialized to some extent.

These Orcs are charged with safeguarding the remains of Orcdom's most legendary heroes. Orcs have great spiritual reverence for their ancestors, and the spirits of their fallen dead. Throughout history the remains of the greatest Orc heroes are sent back to the heartlands where the more civilized Orcs safeguard them on behalf of the race. Essentially these more civilized tribes are glorified gravekeepers but their role in orc culture is a highly honored one.

Morag Tribes are largely matriarchal. A council of women pick the strongest male in the Tribe(who may have to prove himself strongest) and assign him the title of Tribal Warlord. The Warlord commands in times of conflict, and handles trade and dipolmatic affairs with other tribes. He also declares war(though he must have the Council's approval first). The Council of women deal with all domestic affairs in which the Warlord has little official authority.

Technically any Morag can, at any time challenge the Warlord for leadership, but he best either seek permission from the Council first(discreetly of course), or be damned confidant of his popularity in the tribe or he's likely to wake up with a knife in his heart. The Female Councils don't take kindly to having their authority sidestepped.

Morag breed more males than females. It's a roughly five to one ratio. And females are very selective about whom they allow to breed with them. No Orc would ever rape an Orc female. No Orc would ever rape, period. Except, it's not possible to rape a non-Orc(Since they exist to be used as an orc sees fit). Most females will keep several male lovers, but a truly exceptional male might earn the incredible privilage and honor of being chosen by a female for a monogamous relationship. This is a big deal for an orc male(Who generally dont like having to share with other males in the first place). It means he has so impressed the female that she has decided only his seed is worthy of being brought to term within her. Many Orc males live their whole lives trying to acheive this honor.

There's also another strange little quirk of Orc physiollogy. About one in a hundred Orc males will, upon puberty begin changing. A glandular hormone that exists, inert, in all Orc males will spontaneously awaken and begin pumping massive amounts of growth hormone throughout the Orc male's(this only happens in males) body. This results in a very drastic transformation into an Ogre. Outsiders mistakenly beleive that Ogres are a seperate species altogether.

Ogres are the only beings who have greater physical strength than Half-dragons. An Ogre is practically a one-man war machine. They average 10 feet or taller, though that's standing upright. Few Ogres can stand upright for long. The changes to their body give them a distinctly ape-like physique with heavy upper bodies, long powerful forearms, and comparitively small legs. Still they're ferociously powerful, and can take a good deal of punishment before going down. About the only honor greater than fathering/birthing a child who becomes an Ogre is actually becoming one. Ogres are in high demand as monogamous mates for Orc females(who want to breed with the strongest), and Ogres are almost always the Warlords for tribes fortunate enough to have a few amongst their ranks.

It only takes about ten years for a Morag to be physically mature enough to fight on a level equal to the average human militiaman. And Morag females often carry 3 or four children at a time, allowing them to rapidly replenish their numbers despite the harsh living conditions and constant internal warfare.

Dark Elves next....probably tomorrow though.

[TheRedFear]

Dark Elves
Physically Dark Elves tend to be very fit, toned and muscular, but in a sleek, streamlined way. Not the bulky, powerful way Orcs are built. Their hair comes in a wide range of natural but exotic colors, and their skin ranges from ebonous black to the darker shades of blue, purple, and grey.

Their favored teritories are dense, dark jungles, swamps and rainforests.

While not as fast or agile as Winged Elves, they're still a fair bit faster than most humans, and slightly stronger though they still pale before Orcs in terms of muscle power.

Dark Elves hold Dominion over Necromancy magic, but this was not always the case. Originally, in the aftermath of the Dragon Purges, Necromancy was the magic of the Vampire race, who used it in a responsible way that reespected the role death plays in maintaining balance in the world's life cycles.

The Dark Elves were originally just normal Winged Elves. As the Dragon Purges came winding down to an end, the alliance of races began to fracture apart. Humans, Elves, Atlanteans, Goblins, Orcs and Vampires began turning on each other to fight for supremacy.

The Elves, who count Futuresight amongst the primary of their magical blessings foresaw that humanity was going to emerge triumphant. No matter how many ways they tried to change this ultimate outcome they kept seeing that sooner or later, one way or another, humans end up on top. So they decided that rather than continue fighting it out in a struggle they were destined to lose, they should simply throw in with humanity and form an alliance. Second banana is better than no banana.

An extremist faction amongst the Elves was apalled by this idea. They tried(and failed) to sabotage the alliance and were outcast for their trouble. Cast out from elven society, rejected even by their favored God these outcasts were enraged and desperate. They used crude dimensional magics to establish contact with an otherworldly Demoness named Mara, and made Mara their new god.

Mara taught them new magics and helped them claim the Necromancy mantle for themselves after eradicating the Vampires, who had been heavily weakened in the Dragon Purges and the ensuing Supremacy War. With Mara's help the Vampires never stood a chance against the Dark Elves-to-be.

Mara also began to reshape the outcast's elven physiology and cultural identity. She laid down new rules, new laws, and manipulated their very bodies into a form and function that better suited her asthetic tastes. The most notable physiological change she worked on them was to increase their fertility to a point that they breed almost as rapidly as Orcs, and to increase the female to male ratio. Mara, as it turns out is a decidedly sexist little Demoness who feels males serve little practical purpose beyond breeding and gradually imposed this outlook on the Dark Elves.

Dark Elven society now is a vast interwoven web of deadly politics and outright civil wars as Feudal Dynasties struggle for power within their own society. Dark Elves consider themselves the single most superior race in the world, and many say that the reason Dark Elves mostly fight amognst each other is that nobody else would make a worthy opponant for them. The males of the race are generally relegated to menial tasks or service in the lower ranks of the military. Rare and exceptional males might be able to work their way up to the middle ranks of the military and from there, might get distinguish themselves sufficiently to be made a Bodygaurd for a House Matron or a favored Daughter of the Matron. Generally, that's about as high as most males can aspire to, with one even rarer exception.

Dark Elven males with magical potential are rare(Not because of any inherent deficiency. Simply because Males are rare period, so magically capable males are rarer still). Even rarer are those with the potential who can find a teacher to help them cultivate it. Still occasionally some Dark Elven males with magical aptitude DO manage to develope high levels of personal power(usually through apprenticing to non-Dark Elven mages), and that will get all but the most fanatical Matron Mothers to set aside her anti-male bigotry and court him as an advisor, a warmage, or teacher for her own magically capable daughters. Perhaps even as a lover.

Every couple of decades, the Dark Elves declare mating season. Males compete to distinguish themselves and the best are chosen by many many...MANY women to breed with. It's rare, but some males have been known to literally get fucked to death during mating season. Children are born outside of mating season of course, but with so few males the propogation of the species requires a regular period of deliberate and focused breeding to maintain numerical superiority and replenish the high fatality rates that all of the cloak and dagger politics and internal wars create.

Dark Elves employ heavy use of the undead in their warfare. In a strange way this is the reason that they tend to ally with Orcs. Orcs and Dark Elves actually can barely stand each other. But the Orcs have great reverence for the spirits of their dead and find that the way Dark Elves exploit the dead is appalling. There's only two ways to keep the Dark Elves from exploiting the bodies and spirits of fallen Orcs. Orcs must either wipe the Dark Elves out...an uncertain undertaking to say the least...or form an alliance with them, the terms of which keep the Dark Elves well away from Orcish Dead.

The Dark Elves agree with this because it gives them a trading partner, and they too recognize that while the Orcs may be stupid brutes(in the eyes of the Dark Elves anyway) their numeric strength is greater than even the Dark Elves(not counting reanimated dead...but when you factor in the magically bred War Mutants Orcs use, the scale quickly rebalances). A full on war with the Orcs would be as costly or them as it would be for the Orcs and there's a real chance of mutual annihilation that both sides prefer to avoid.

It should be noted that the Dark Elves do allow the worship of other Gods, but the upper classes almost exclusively favor Mara. There is also a small underground movement fighting to attain more rights for males and to end the worship of the Demoness, but members of this faction are almost always killed or banished(if they're too powerful and/or influential to kill) when discovered.

[TheRedFear]

Dragons/Half-Dragons

The Angels came first. They created it all. The Universe, the Galaxies, then the Stars, then the planets...and so on and so on and so on adding ever more complex layers of detail as they tried to improve Creation and outperform one another.

Then one of them...no two Angels will agree on who it was...screwed up. They created the first sentient life form. The First Dragon. They shared the full and unfettered gift of Magic with their new creation, and then because it was so avante-garde and totally the "it" thing to do, all the Angels started making Dragons. They started giving the Dragons Elemental affinities in an effort to distinguish them from each other and add more artistic flare to their creations.

Eventually they got bored making things and left Creation under the care of the Dragons, while they went off to engage in whatever activities cosmic and omnipotent beings engage in when they get bored making stuff. And the Dragons got very accustomed to being in charge. In time their power grew to rival the Angels. Which did not bode well for the Angels when they eventually returned and expected their creations to fall back into a subordinate position.

The Dragons decided they should be in charge and waged a long and vicious war on the Angels. Toward the end of the conflict, some of the Angels saw the writing on the wall and switched sides, agreeing to serve the Dragons in exchange for being spared the fate to come.

Unable to kill the fallen Angels, the Dragons instead banished them to a prison dimension where they would eventually be twisted by their anger into Demons. Those Angels who sided with the Dragons would have certain restraints placed upon their power, and would be allowed to serve the Lesser Races as Gods.

The Dragons ruled over the lesser races, and not wanting to repeat the mistake the Angels had made they were very cautious not to allow the Lesser Races the same unlimited magical potential they posessed. They enslaved the lesser races, and bred Half-Dragons to serve as tyranical overseers and go-betweens.

Eventually the lesser races revolted during the Great Dragon Purge(with secretive aid from both the Gods and Demons) and managed to slay most of the Dragons but for a handful who had acheived the same level of unkillable power the Angels once posessed.

Most dragons now, while still beings of great power and danger are relatively young, fractured, and reclusive. They continue breeding half-dragons every few decades to serve as personal bodygaurds and servants. They also tend to be ruled by their elemental alignments, although Dragons who live long enoughto ascend to the level the Angels once occupied can move beyond that restriction if they so wish. Not many actually do though. If they live that long they consider their elemental alignment a part of themselves, and one they like. 

Occasionally a careless copulation, or the death of the Dragon parent results in rogue Half-Dragons left without a patron in the world. Most such half-dragons seek out a new dragon to pledge themselves to, which is usually a very good arrangement. Dragons will often reward servants with new powers and techniques. Or they seek to forge their own fortunes in the world, which can be a daunting task in a world that still remembers their role as brutal overseers from the Draconic oppressors.

Here are the Alignments for the Dragons. To a lesser extent this also applies to half-dragons.


Fire -
Generally ranging in color from red to orange, but occasionally being the color of smoke, Fire Dragons are being of immense passion. They are immune to flame and lava, and highly resistant to electricity. They can also engage in strenuous physical activity for extended periods with little or no available oxygen(Because being Immune to fire in and of itself matters little when the fire is consuming all the oxygen you need to breathe) but they must breathe eventually. The poisonous fumes usually generated in volcanic regions do not bother them.

Gotta run. Well edit in the rest later.....