The lost treasure of Xandrayiel

Started by RedEve, October 05, 2013, 09:16:49 AM

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RedEve



The city of Xandrayiel was once the shining jewel of the realm. Its construction alone was a marvel of engineering, perched high up an inhospitable mountain range. Its inhabitants were the most technological and culturally advanced of the known world. Their knowledge afforded them great wealth and power, and the location of their great city meant that most invaders posed them little to no threat. Part of their culture was a matriarchal power structure. Their ruler was Primarch Niola Qyzar, a woman of equal beauty and wisdom. The majority of their most senior officers and ministers were also women, though some men had risen to positions of significant power as well, but they were still a smallish minority.

After nearly five centuries of avoiding or fighting off all invaders, they were suddenly presented with a challenge they had not yet faced. Marcan the Bold was a name that yielded terror wherever it was mentioned. The man had started out as a mercenary but after assuming command of his own outfit, his band of raiders had turned into a rampaging army that counted in the many thousands. Like a plague, the spread across the realm and crushed, raped and pillaged everything they encountered. The promise of great wealth - Xandrayiel was the greatest of cities and had been untouched for hundreds of years - brought them to Primarch Niola's doorstep.

A long and costly war erupted between both sides. Each new month, the conflict escalated further. Primarch Niola soon found out that there was no negotiating with the barbarians, so both sides grew increasingly desperate as the months turned into years and the siege seemed to know no end. Whereas Marcan employed alchemists to devise new and terrible weapons - glass orbs that turned to fire upon impact, vials that released lethal toxins - Primarch Niola was soon forced to devise her own "creative" strategies. The greatest scientists in the city harnessed the power of lighting into an array of massive weapons. On the night of their deployment, Marcan had his own grotesque surprise left: catapults that had the most terrible of ammunition, orbs filled with every vile disease known to man. As the defenders of Xandrayiel unleashed their lighting weapon, the raiders in the valley were burnt to a crisp, though not before Marcan's own weapon managed to infect the large majority of the doomed city with countless lethal diseases.

20 years later and Xandrayiel has turned into a ruined ghost city, one that is shunned for its supposed curse. Stories of the doomed men and women of both sides haunting the ruins are exchanged between travelers and merchants who have to pass near its vicinity. Yet along with the ghost stories, the tale of the hidden wealth of Xandrayiel remains. Has enough time passed for some adventurers and chancers to ignore the stories and try their luck where Marcan the Bold failed?



Marcan


Primarch Niola Qyzar






To expand upon the story above:

The lighting weapon destroyed the large majority of Marcan's forces, and what little of his force survived the slaughter left the battlefield. The fate of Marcan himself is unknown.
Primarch Niola perished, but her daughter Kara survived and was taken to safety before the plagues had swept across the entire city. She was a toddler at the time but would be in her mid 20s at the start of the game.
The fortune left at Xandrayiel is her birth right and her opportunity to reclaim her title and rebuild her mother's city.

The concept of this game is such:
Several factions venture into the ruined city in search of the gold and treasure. They are rivals, so some might look to eliminate the others. Others might simply avoid being detected.
The city itself could hold some surprises too. Are the ghosts stories just stories or do they hold some kernel of truth?

In terms of the factions involved, they are free to choose.
Mercenary groups make sense, as do adventurers and treasure hunters.
The only required group would be the one belonging to Kara Qyzar. Whether or not she succeeds in finding the lost wealth and reclaiming her title and city remain to be seen.
In terms of the other factions, Marcan's unknown fate makes it possible for one of the players to claim him as his character too.
Keep in mind that most of his resources and men were lost in the war. He will have spent the past decades licking his wounds.
Marcan would have been well into his thirties at the time of the siege, so he would be in his 50s at the start of the game.

If you are interested, express your interest here. I will post a CS should I get enough players.

The CS is now below in this post.


I myself will merely GM for the time being. I will "play" the city of Xandrayiel and whatever the men and women who venture into her might find.




[float=left][img width=500 padding=15](insert image here)[/img][/float]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Race:[/b] (human, half-elf, elf)
[b]Background/bio:[/b]





Sample CS (one that I may or may not end up playing myself)

Name: Celaya Xatsa
Age: 25
Race: half-elf
Background/bio: Even though Celaya is considered a half-elf, her elven heritage is even smaller than that. Her father was a human, her mother was a real half-elf. She was born and raised in the Northern city of Vandwar. Its close proximity to the Northern wilds gave it the largest half-elf population in the realm. Almost one in ten of the men and women living in Vandwar had some elven blood in them. As such, Vandwar was the place where the halfbreeds (as they were called throughout the realm) were treated the best (or least worst). Their homes were still confined to the slums, but unlike in most other cities, there were very few outbreaks of anti-elf violence. The halfbreeds were more shunned than truly antagonized.

Celaya’s father  Curthal was a retired mercenary who had opened up a small armory after a wound had rendered him unfit for further duty in his mercenary outfit. Celaya’s mother Jylean had been a pretty young half-elf who had been working at an inn until her marriage to Curthal. Their union was one based upon wild passion that unfortunately did not last. By the time Celaya was ten years old, her father and mother lived together but rarely spoke. Both of them slept with other people out of wedlock and Celaya soon took to the streets. After being caught as a pickpocket at age 11, she received a trashing from her father, upon which he decided that his daughter had to learn a trade, and soldiering was all he had to learn. Over the next five years, Curthal trained Celaya in the use of nearly every weapon – sword, bow and arrow, spear – though her favorites were the daggers.

At the age of 16, she grew tired of her training and decided that it was time to spread her wings and bring all that she had practiced to the reality of a job as a mercenary. There were many close escapes in the beginning and she only really found her feet after two years roaming around the realm. After nearly a decade of hiring her blades for money, she has gained something as a reputation for being resourceful and trustworthy in the field. Her joining the expedition to Xandrayiel is merely a question of profit, as each of the men and women in her party were promised 1/50th of whatever treasure they found. Even such a small portion would represent a huge fortune if the massive wealth that lay hidden in the deserted city lived up to the stories.


"I don't have a dirty mind, I have a sexy imagination."
My ons and offs- My F-list

IrishWolf

Hmmm, very interesting, very interesting indeed. Would it be possible to play a surviving captain of Marcan's army? Perhaps one covered in lightning scars, exploring the city for the treasure, which he feels is his just due for besieging the city and having to watch as all of his men were burnt to a crisp? Perhaps he was the highest stand of the remaining survivors and those handful follow him, with a collection of new mercenaries to fill out the ranks?

RedEve

That could certainly work as a character, yes. :)
"I don't have a dirty mind, I have a sexy imagination."
My ons and offs- My F-list

IrishWolf

Huzzah, then I pledge a scared and grizzled mercenary for the game.

RedEve

In terms of possible races for this universe, there are just three:

Humans, half-elves and elves.

Humans make up 98% of the population, as the Elves are now almost extinct.
The large majority of those who survive live in cities and are not pure blood elves.
Of the two percent of half-elves and elves, 1.9% would be half-elves.
The large majority of humans have never encountered a real elf, as they are scattered across the forests living in small communities that are consciously hidden away from humans.

Anyone who picks a pure elf for this game will have to explain in his bio how they got to join their group of adventurers.
"I don't have a dirty mind, I have a sexy imagination."
My ons and offs- My F-list

Belisuavious

I'd like to express my interest in this, as a wet behind the ears mercenary who only has a few jobs under his belt. Reason for being there is because he is a replacement for one of Kara's group who fell ill/got seriously injured and needed to be replaced immediately.

Unfortunately, I can't make a solid commitment just yet since I'll be pretty busy for the next week or so, but by then things should calm down a bit.

godfang

Playing Marcan sounds interesting, perhaps he hides his face? or would people not recognize his face anymore?

RedEve

Quote from: godfang on October 08, 2013, 01:15:03 AM
Playing Marcan sounds interesting, perhaps he hides his face? or would people not recognize his face anymore?

You could be creative about it. Perhaps his face got scarred in the lightning weapon attack and he now wears a face-mask?
"I don't have a dirty mind, I have a sexy imagination."
My ons and offs- My F-list

godfang

oooh i like that idea.  Would it be feasible for him to still be a very powerful and virile male speciment at this time? I mean he must be a monster in his youth, i would imagine that even now after 20 years, he's still better than an average young warrior (especially with his experience)

RedEve

In terms of his own battle prowess, I can still see him being a formidable warrior.
In terms of his army, the days of him commanding huge armies is long gone. His own party should be no bigger than a couple of dozen men at the most.
"I don't have a dirty mind, I have a sexy imagination."
My ons and offs- My F-list

godfang

Actually my plan is to have him be a loner, bassically vanishing from the world and being a hermit for awhile until now. I was thinking in terms of battle prowess. He probably wouldn't want people to know who he is (it must be a big blow to his Ego) because he's ashamed of his loss. As for his motivation in returning there, i was thinking he's starting to feel the ravages of time and knows he doesn't have that long, he wants to find something to prolong his age so that he can one day try and rule the lands again.

Did you have any personality designs for him? Or is that up to me? I can see him as being surprisingly cunning (he did come up with alot of tricks to besiege the city afterall) and ruthless without being maniacal.

RedEve

He should be pretty ruthless but also pragmatic enough to have risen to the position of commanding a huge army of raiders.

"I don't have a dirty mind, I have a sexy imagination."
My ons and offs- My F-list

MagicalMayham

I am interested...I would probably play a loner like character that only pop ups when she feels she is needed or feels it will benefit her in some way. I think she would be half elf and probably only going to the ruins out of morbid curiosity and well, she was told she couldn't so she had to defy who ever told her that... Is that ok?
Rebellion against a tyrant is obedience to God. ~Benjamin Franklin
In this world its not faith that saves us but Defiance. ~Benjamin Franklin
Sex.  In America an obsession.  In other parts of the world a fact.  ~Marlene Dietrich
To hear many religious people talk, one would think God created the torso, head, legs and arms, but the devil slapped on the genitals.  ~Don Schrader
No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.  ~Abraham Lincoln

RedEve

Loners are allowed but they would be especially vulnerable. Both against the other groups and whatever might be hiding in the ruins. ;)
"I don't have a dirty mind, I have a sexy imagination."
My ons and offs- My F-list

MagicalMayham

When you are ready for characters I will post mine... Im excited.
Rebellion against a tyrant is obedience to God. ~Benjamin Franklin
In this world its not faith that saves us but Defiance. ~Benjamin Franklin
Sex.  In America an obsession.  In other parts of the world a fact.  ~Marlene Dietrich
To hear many religious people talk, one would think God created the torso, head, legs and arms, but the devil slapped on the genitals.  ~Don Schrader
No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.  ~Abraham Lincoln

RedEve

There is a CS template in the opening post, have at it.

I now have four interested parties, which is a good basis to start working with, though I'd want another one or two before I'd think about starting the game.
"I don't have a dirty mind, I have a sexy imagination."
My ons and offs- My F-list

godfang

#16

Name:The Raven a.k.a Marcan
Age: 53
Race: Human
Background/bio:

Once, there was a man named Marcan. A man of great cunning despite being born to a tribe of savages. This man rose from a mere raider to a great leader and conqueror after sacking a fortress belonging to a local lord with only 50 men in his warband. From there, many came to him, flocking to join his army in hopes of riches and plunders. As is the fate of all men of destiny, he too passed into legend after the great siege of Xandrayiel.  Or so the world thought.

Marcan is alive and well, though his body suffers badly from burns. It is a wound of shame for him, for only his back was scorched, an eternal proof that he was fleeing the battlegrounds when he was struck down by the arcane weapon of his enemies. For this shame, he went into hiding in a faraway land, taking with him some of the greatest treasures of his conquest, used to secure a good comfortable life with plenty of wine and a steady roster of beautiful women to serve him and sate his desires. It was a good life for most, but Marcan wanted more. He wanted the glory he once held when he was a great conqueror. Yet he is old. He can feel it in his bones, in his slowly fading strength. Marcan knew he was still one of the greatest warrior in the world, at least for a few more years, but he doesn't want to be one of the greatest. He wanted to once again be THE greatest, but time is not a foe he can kill nor reason with.

He summoned many healers, shamans and even the occasional sorceress, all of whom tried to give him back his strength, all of whom have failed. He killed all of them save the sorceress who he kept as pet, for he does not want people to know that he is still alive. Not before he redeemed his loss. The Sorceress told him that if there ever was a way to return his youth, the knowledge would be held by the mages of Xandrayiel, all of whom were killed during his siege.

Now Marcan decided to set out once more, returning to the land that he failed to take in the hopes of finding ancient knowledge on how to turn back the wheel of time for him. He hid his body and face using a full body armor made of dark metal. People called him the raven due to the black gears worn by him and his small entourage of sellswords and servants. 

Along the way, he heard of the daughter of Primarch Qyzar and she intrigued him. He was unable to take the mother, yet now the daughter has grown into a lovely woman, so much like her mother. Conquering her would be a final victory against the rival he both hated and respected, truly a goal to strive for.
Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide


  His face under the helmet