Heroines of the Borderlands (F/F, M/F, NC, Fantasy, Freeform)

[Daril]

This is another attempt by me to do a fresh take on something I'm played around with a bit before my long absence.  Maybe someday I'll manage to get one of the RPGs I start off the ground before it dies...

Centuries ago, the Kingdom or Iras stood proudly as a great power in the North, proud, strong, and just.  However these traits were not enough to save it from being consumed by a great calamity, and today it's vast lands are a lawless region inhabited by bandits, barbarians, monsters, and other threats.  Sometimes a party of adventurers will explore the Kingdom's ruined cities seeking wealth, but these men and women are generally considered either exceptionally brave or exceptionally foolhardy.

For generations the task of defending civilization has fallen to the Alliance, a loose coalition of small towns and cities situated near the former Kingdom's borders.  They did a very admirable job of holding the line, but the seeming slackening of the threat they faced over time led them to become somewhat lax.  This has been a problem in recent years as the threats faced by this coalition have flared up anew, and raiding parties that would have once been quickly repulsed have made many successful raids on the less well protected parts of the borderlands.

In addition to the great loss of wealth and property inflicted by these raids, many young women have also been kidnapped.  Rescue parties have been sent after them, but their success has been limited.  With the situation as it is, perhaps it is time for the maidens of the borderlands to take matter into their own hands and find ways to save their own.

This is a freeform RPG that essentially follows a small band of young women who unite together behind the cause of rescuing some of these damsels in distress.  Along the way they may end up needing to find ways to rescue themselves and each other from tight spots as well.

I've looking for a group of about four to five people including myself.  I have a few possible character concepts I'd like to put forward as suggestions since I think they'd make a well balanced party if combined together:

Filled -A young half elf.  Elves in this world tend to live about 120-160 years, so relations between them and humans are not as difficult as in some other fantasy settings -in fact, friendships between humans and young elves are common, as are half elves.  That being said, being a half elf in elven society can still lead to feelings of alienation, which is why this half elf has been seeing if she can fit into human society.  Has a ranger-ish skillset.
Filled -A very gifted young sorceress.  She is immensely powerful, but currently can only control a portion of her immense power.  She was a star performer with a group of travelling entertainers, but ran off with little more than the skimpy stage outfit she was wearing after the group was attacked and her boss refused to try to rescue a friend of hers on the grounds that it was too dangerous.  For some reason I see her as being the naughty member of the group (though she is also somewhat idealistic).
Filled -A priestess of the love goddess Imalla.  Unlike most priestesses, priestesses of this goddess are not subject to a vow of chastity, however they are forbidden to engage in sex with those they do not love.  They typically perform rites while nude, although they wear white robes the rest of the time.  I am thinking this priestess' desire to rescue someone important to her could be the initial event that leads to the formation of the rescue party.  She might have some difficulty coming to terms with her feelings towards the rest of the party because of this.
Filled? -A young woman who is a member of a town militia/watch but who generally works a fairly menial job (I've been thinking a serving girl at an inn or tavern might be a possibility).  Despite being a relatively inexperienced fighter she dreams of being able to perform heroic deeds.  I place a somewhat lower priority on filling this slot than the other three.

I also have a character who I intend to play myself, a former slave from an Empire to the South who won her freedom as a gladiator.  I'll post a profile for her shortly.

As a note, this is a freeform RPG at least for the most part (I haven't ruled out the possibility of using an occasional dice role to add an element of randomness, but for the most part it's not a system based RPG).  With the plotline there's also a fairly high potential for some NC content, particularly regarding the characters the heroines may be rescuing, so hopefully the people who sign up are okay with that.

I'm planning to try to get this started fairly quickly, and I'm hoping to find some players who can generally post with a fair degree of frequency.

[Daril]

Info

Magic Systems

Sorcery

Sorcery is the power to manipulate various elements using one's will.  In theory, virtually everyone can do this to some degree, however it requires significant mental discipline to control these abilities.  Therefore the majority of people do not bother investing much time in mastering their abilities because they are so weak.  However, some people do have abilities strong enough to be worth mastering, and there are a few people who are gifted with immense power who actually have difficulty controlling it.  Sorcery tends to use elemental type magic, with earth, fire, and lightning being the most extensively used types for combat purposes.   (Earth powers allow for picking up large rocks and hurling them at targets.)

It should be noted that certain gemstones and metals have magical properties that can enhance and focus a sorcerer's power or even allow a person who would ordinarily not be able to use magic to use it (certain magical swords or rods, for instance).

Holy Magic

Holy magic is used by priests and priestesses and is generally seen as a more subtle magic than sorcery.  The ability to heal wounds is one of it's most useful properties, however holy magic is quite capable of being both offensively and defensively in combat.  Intense holy light can be an especially effective attack.  This holy light is a general property of the holy swords issued to Paladins and some warrior priests.  It should be noted that most clergy are forbidden from using swords that are not holy, so those from non warrior orders typically use staffs or rods as weapons.

Enemies

The enemies encountered in this RPG may include humans such as bandits and barbarians, near humans such as elf like species, and more monsterous opponents like demons and minotaurs.

[Daril]

Profile template and the profile for the character I intend to play.  Remember the suggestions made earlier!

Name:
Age:
Species:
Appearance:
History:
Personality and Attitudes:
Weapons:
Magic Abilities (if any):

Name: Laisha
Age: 21
Species: Human (Vishki Islander)
Appearance: Laisha is a tall young woman with long black hair, blue eyes, and deep brown skin.  Despite being in good physical condition she has an undeniably lush figure.  This is quite noticeable due to the fact that her usual garb is a red loincloth, though she has often supplemented this with a band of fabric around her breasts while travelling in the northlands due to local sensibilities.
History: Laisha is originally from the Vishki Islands, a small chain of Islands in the Eras Sea far to the South of Iras.  Her home was conquered by the Kalshan Empire that is also to the South of Iras when she was rather young.  This led to Laisha herself being enslaved and sold as a gladiator.  It was soon discovered that the young Islander had a propensity for fire magic that made her very impressive to watch in the arena.  This combined with her beauty made her very popular with the crowds and led to her being nicknamed "The Maiden of the Blue Flame."  Her performance eventually led to her being given her freedom by an Imperial decree.  In spite of her fame within the Empire, the young gladiator opted not to stay there and instead travelled North in search of fame and adventure.
Personality and Attitudes: Laisha is a good natured free spirit who can at times be rather boisterous.  However, she has sometimes run into problems dealing with attitudes in the North, which are quite different from those of the Kalshan Empire or the islands she originally came from.  Her free spirited attitude extends to her views on sex.  She has an interest in both genders but tends to lean towards females, especially when it comes to partners she has a close bond to.  This is likely because of the relationships she had with other female gladiators who belonged to the same owner as she did.
Weapons: Laisha is armed with a recurve bow, a weapon that is quite popular in lands to the South but little seen in the Northlands.  She also carries a longsword which was given to her along with her freedom.  She uses these weapons as a focal point for her strong magical abilities.
Magic Abilities: Laisha possesses exceptionally strong fire magic.  Her flame attacks typically have a blue color because of this.

[Keelan]

I may be willing to play the part of the naughty sorceress, though, as in the PM I sent you Daril, I would like some expounding upon on the nature of the highly potential NC content.  I really love the idea here, and would love to take part, but NC stuff is kind of... squicky (not a word, I know, but it seems to fit aptly for some reason) to me, and it's a rather unclear line of what I can handle.

[Daril]

I generally like Emiko, although there's a few things I should take note of.

One, she's rather heavily armed for a priestesses of the particular goddess she serves, but then if her work often took her into some of the less safe parts of the borderlands it might make sense for her to be so.  It also might be a reason for her to carry some kind of holy sword (remember, as a priestess she wouldn't be allowed to use a normal sword).

The other things is that the cultural influence for her weaponry is a bit odd given the region of the world this takes place in (I don't get the impression she's an outsider).  You'd be unlikely to find a katana outside of possibly a few special collections.  That being said she could easily carry a curved blade of some kind rather than the more usual broadsword types that are usually used in the area.

Also a priestess would be unlikely to really bother developing regular magical abilities almost at all unless she had considerable potential with them.  Her holy magic would be much stronger.

Overall I kind of like her though.

Keelan -I need to give that a little though (it's actually a bit of a grey area for me as well at this point), I'll try to PM you on it.

[Crovonovin]

I would be very much interested in filling the role of the young watch(wo)man, if it would be at all possible for me to snatch that up before your three primary roles have been filled.  Though you say it's something of a lower priority for you, I feel as though the inclusion of what is, for all intents and purposes, a totally unremarkable person in a group made up of a sorceress, a well-armed priestess, a half-elf, and a fire-magic user helps to balance the party out a bit.  I envision her as a sort of "straight man", the humanizing element, but also the one most likely to be amazed by all the magnificent sights of foreign lands that the others might consider "old hat".

If it's alright with you, I'll think up a proper profile!

[Daril]

Shihong -that's probably fine, and heck if things work out with that mage we may actually have enough people to start this thing as is (it's possible for more characters to join in later after all).

King RTS -Perhaps some clarification is needed with the NC content.  With player characters who get captured (if that happens) I think the player would have some input into how far things could end up going.  However there is the possibility of these character witnessing NC events while on their quest.  I'm actually a bit uncertain myself how far things could go, I don't have a lot of experience with this sort of RPG.  I'm setting the rating a bit high because of the possibility of such things coming up.

Just as a note -there aren't any real "spells" involved here.  Perhaps there are some people who use specific words to help them focus, but magic in this RPG is a bit more based on mental concentration as a method of projection.

[elfguy]

I can play the half-elf ranger if she is still available. She would be a skilled archer, but fairly vulnerable in close combat and relying on her companions to cover her while she barrages the enemy with her arrows.

[Daril]

Elfguy -yes she's still available.  I wouldn't actually make her a weak up close fighter though.  With the background she has I think she's know how to handle a blade, even if not to the degree she does her bow.  This is especially relevant in light of the current party composition, since there are only two characters who are currently really geared towards up close fighting and only one is very experienced.  Though I do have to admit there are possible changes that could be made there.

King RTS -I really like the idea of a bow wielding priestess and I know I'd been kind of approving earlier, but is there any chance you might consider putting her specialisation somewhere else?  It seems like the party is potentially getting a bit heavy on bow users when I stop and give things some thought.  The reason for that is that basically bow type weapons are the way for a magically weak character (of which we have two in our party, plus there's Laisha who learned to use magic in a weird way that pretty much requires her to use a bow for ranged work) to have an effective ranged capability.
What I'd thought though was that perhaps your character could put emphasis on her sword wielding instead.  Given the dangerous area she's from, she could be part of a local order whose members are known for making use of swords.  This could also be a good explanation for the unusual style of blade she carries -it could be a style that's used by this particular order.
Keep in mind she's still be able to use her magic for ranged attacks. (Speaking of which, she should really have some sort of rod or staff to assist her with that.)

As a note on magic... it's more a matter of mentally "willing" things to happen.  However, aside from this being affected by the person's magical strength, it requires mental focus.  Which is where I thought some character might potentially throw in a few words here and there -as an aid in helping them focus.

General:

We're close to having a full cast, so I'm wondering if we should start discussing how we intend to start things in terms of locations.  Funnily enough, I'm actually thinking something like the common room of some Inn might be appropriate.  King's Priestess character might be able to show up asking for assistance with her quest to rescue the person she wants to rescue and things could come together from there.  (Several of the characters in this particular group are likely to have been travelling, so I think a place like that could work.  Plus it's a bit like the tavern that's the traditional starting point for RPGs. :lol: )

[elfguy]

Alright I'm thinking to use this look for her:



She's fit, agile and very good with her bow, and also has a blade to defend herself in close up. Her long red hair hides her pointy ear, making it easier to pass for a human should the need arise.

[Daril]

King -there's no reason she can't carry both a staff (or rod) and a sword if you want.  Most priestesses would tend to use their staffs for melee defense because they're forbidden to use most swords.  But again if her Order emphasised the use of holy swords then she'd have a perfect excuse for carrying one (and as I said it could justify the unique style of blade.  Could also justify her robes not being completely white -that could also be a mark of her order).  She'd just need to have some sort of staff or rod for magic focusing and ceremonial purposes as well (a rod might have a potential advantage there due to it's short length making it convenient -she could even wear it at her side when not in use).
As for her being more defensive -yeah, I can see that.  Even if she's trained a lot with a blade, she's still a priestess and probably hasn't had a lot of combat experience.  With her healing and protection abilities she's also likely to be more defense oriented that that sorceress, who is a lot more oriented towards pure magical firepower.  That being said, a priestess' magic is nothing to sneer at in the offensive category, and she is one of the primary magic users for the party, so I wouldn't entirely count her out offensively.  It's mainly just that I don't want to overload the party with bows.

I actually think most of the party members can fight effectively at a variety of ranges other than perhaps that sorceress, it's more the degree that each one can do these things that varies.

Actually would it help if I gave an overview of what I'm currently imaging as the combat strengths/roles of the different party members?  Would a big picture perspective help?

Elfguy -not bad, although the outfit seems too skimpy (yes, I know, some of the other characters wear quite skimpy outfits but their backgrounds play into that).  Also I imagine a few of the other characters would be disappointed in her hiding those cute little ears of hers, but oh well. :lol:

[PeacethatPowerbrings]

Name: Kizair Hallion
Age: 23
Species: Human
Appearance: Tall and with a penchant for colourful and revealing clothing, she bears the marks of a life spent between practice of magic arts, and performance. Her body is not muscular, but has a graceful power nonetheless. Her clothing is made up of multiple colours and covers very little, the most cloth being in long strips. Her hair is long and white, though it tends to change a bit from time to time, depending on her mood. She lacks body hair, and takes pride her in appearence, despite her current, and former, positon in life.

History:

Born to performers, her magical ability is a huge jump from that of her parents. Without any lineage to suggest her power, she was raised as a performer, and learned magic enough to live comfortably in the troupe. She extremely well learned in magic despite her upbringing, as she spent much of her youth studying in various cities. She maintained that lifestyle, as a preformer and itinerant student until her early twenties.

After a particularly bad attack by raiders on her troupe, she left them as a result of their unwillingness to retrieve their friends, and her friends, from the raiders.

Personality and Attitudes: Raised as a preformer, she tends to maintain the maximum level of comfort whenever possible, and really only uses magic in practice or self-defense. She considers her power to be mostly beyond her control, as she can only access a fraction of what she possesses in potential, this makes her wary of fighting of any kind. She can be extremely irreverant, and seems to take very little as sacrosant or serious, if anything. She is not particularly gifted in subtlety or manipulation, and most often speaks her mind. As an extension of her desire for comfort, she tends to be lax in her choice of company and misses no opportunity for pleasure.

Weapons: She carries a sword, in a black scabbard. It can only vaguely be called a sword, as it is in reality her method of focusing power, much like a staff. She has woven her own enchantments into both the metal of the blade and the wooden scabbard. Both the blade and scabbard are engraved with writing.

Magic Abilities: She has control of the elements and maintains a strong control over the portions of her powers, though she possesses a much greater degree of power that she does not yet have control over, which can, when she uses it, provide the raw power required to preform extremely powerful magic, though she rarely does so.

[Daril]

King -I actually really like the idea of a highly skilled swordswoman priestess.  And I think it may work a bit better than trying to combine that with her staff or rod (whichever you decide to go with).

As far as orders go, that's just something I thought up.  But I was thinking if she wore say blue and white or red and white rather than pure white it could be because of her order.  Just keep in mind that she's travelling so she has too watch the amount of stuff she's carrying.

Anyhow, combat strengths of the party as I've imagined it:

Laisha: A very strong melee fighter and short range magic user.  Her recurve bow also gives her some ranged capability (have been toying with the idea of her using magic in conjunction with her arrows, but I've been unsure of this.  That bow is partly a hunting weapon for her).
The Half-Elf: Her main strength is definitely her longbow (she's probably the top archer in the group), but she supplements this with a good melee capability as well.
The Sorceress: Really good at barrage/area type magic attacks.  Very impressive magical firepower but little else.  So a definite "keep back" type.
Emiko: Fairly strong ranged magic attacks but not so good at the barrage/area type attacks the sorceress uses.  Also good at protection and especially healing.  Very skilled with a blade as well but not really inclined to dash into a melee (and also not really experienced despite being highly skilled).
The Town Watch/Militia member: More close combat oriented, with some bow skils as well.  I wouldn't call her weak but she has a lot to learn, so I think she might hang back a little more than Laisha and the half-elf in melee until she gets a bit more experienced.

As far as the idea for the Inn, can I suggest Emiko show up asking for help without being wounded?  She's the only really good healer in the party.

[Daril]

And I guess if everything works out then we've got all our slots basically filled at the moment.

Kizair -Glad to have a player for the sorceress, but I'm wondering if you'd be at all interested in a slightly lighter version of the character?  I just have an idea of how all these character fit together and balance each other out, which is why I don't like to stray too far from the original concepts -they were kind of made to balance each other out.  In the case of the sorceress for instance, her more playful/mischievious/naughty personality is supposed to play off the more serious party members like Emiko and the Watch/Militia member Shihong is developing.

Edit: I should note this RPG is somewhat serious, it's also intended to be fun.  Hence why I guess I've been trying to get a few people to lighten up there character's profiles a little.  You aren't the only one.

[elfguy]

Well I could find another image but I liked that one.

[Daril]

To be honest I don't tend to go by images very much myself.  Honestly if you want to keep it it'll probably work just as long as her "actual" clothes are a bit different.  I can tell you that Laisha basically gets away with wearing what she does because she's so obviously totally foreign.  (That Sorceress is also likely going to get some disapproving looks for wearing her stage outfit as if it were something normal.)  An elf from any nearby lands would probably not be wearing anything near that skimpy in town.

[Crovonovin]

I almost think the "coming into the tavern with wounds" idea is just a bit too dramatic a way to start things off.  My understanding is that you're looking for some way to draw attention to Emiko so that the cast can come together easily and fluidly, but I believe making her come across as so immediately desperate for help is a bit forced.   I know my character for one would be immediately curious to find out why someone like her was wandering into such a humble tavern, without having to make her look battered.

[Crovonovin]

And as I think me and Daril have reached a semi-consensus here, I'll finally post up my character!

Name: Dahlia Valentine
Age: 19
Species: Human
Appearance:
Dahlia tends to dress very conservatively, often baring very little flesh around strangers.  She has no preferences when it comes to style, wearing whatever she deems suitable for any given situation and placing comfort and practicality above all else.  Much to the disdain of certain traditionalist neighbors, this includes clothing better suited for men.  However, she is just as likely to wear a dress during the hotter summer days, and is required to wear one when working at the village tavern as a part-time barmaid.

Her armor bears no ornamentation, is strictly functional, and strikes a careful balance between defense and maneuverability.  Even her shield is a blank slate, though it bears crisscrossing scars from many different blades and claws.  Dahlia is a hardy woman out of necessity, and she takes no pains to hide it.

Yet there is still a softness in her eyes around children, and a mischievous twinkle when listening in on the exciting tales of various travelers as they blow through the village in search of far off lands, hidden fortunes, or vengeance against those who have wronged them.  Adventure is both a passion and a dream to her, and it is not entirely uncommon to see her shirking her duties and setting down with patrons to listen in on their conversations, and most are all-too-happy to have the attention of such a pretty young lady.

History:

Dahlia hails from a rather typical settlement in the Borderlands, a place of rolling green plains, bubbling springs, and dark woodlands full of foreboding and superstition.  The climate is temperate for the greater part of the year, but it is not the weather that worries most of its inhabitants.  It is nestled snugly in a sort of Deadzone between trading routes and the commonly traveled paths, causing some to pass it by entirely; all but the more unscrupulous wanderers, who prey on the outlying farms from time to time.  And when raiders are not skulking about, far more monstrous things lurk just out of sight, biding their time and contenting themselves with the theft of much-needed livestock during the night.

But where caravans seem content to ignore it, those with brave hearts and curious souls often find themselves drawn to its quaint inns and rural inhabitants.  It is both a waypoint and a landmark for many, allowing its people to keep abreast of current events and transforming its bars into miniature rumor-mills where all sorts of stories and information are traded as easily as any physical goods.

Her mother died in childbirth, though that is not such an uncommon thing in smaller settlements.  There are never enough doctors to go around when there is truly a need for them.  But the people persist, as they always have.  Preserverance was a trait her father hammered into her from an early age, and the family farm was a testament to his stubborn will.  The Valentines were supposedly tricked into purchasing the land generations ago, a plot where the soil yielded very little and the sun shone just harshly enough to make living more difficult than it ought to be.  But that fierce pride had been passed down from grandfather to father to son, and it was in turn passed to Dahlia.

Living out on a farm in the Borderlands, away from the protective fortifications of the town proper, one has to learn to defend themselves regardless of gender or social standing.  There was no trained swordsman or professional school so far out in the middle of nowhere, so the families did their best to improvise and pass on what knowledge they had to their kin.  Her prowess with a sword and a shield have been enough to ensure her safety from the common bandit or slavering beast preying upon her precious livestock, and every now and again she surprises herself with a well-timed shot from a hand-me-down crossbow.  In sheer technical skill she would be easily outclassed by any properly trained soldier, but survival is in her blood and improvisation comes as naturally to her as breathing.

These days she does her best to balance three separate lives:  Dahlia the farmer, who toils amongst parched soil long before the sun has peeked up over the far horizon; Dahlia the barmaid, who offers a cheerful grin to regulars and a curious, all-too-excited glance towards strangers while fretting about all the frills and cleavage her outfit puts on display; and lastly, Dahlia the Town Watchwoman, who stalks past the outer walls with torch in hand when the moon is high and weathers the leers and criticism from the men on her patrol.

[PeacethatPowerbrings]

Daril, on the issue of the sorceress, I might not have clarified her personality enough, but she really isn't as dark as her aesthetics. She has a certain preference in her look because she was a performer, but really she's laid back and playful/naughty in person. I'll try to clarify it a bit, to make her seem a bit more the way I intended on her profile.

[Robyn Hood]

I thought there might be a spot still open from the lead message but it seems like you are all filled up?

[elfguy]

How about this pic then for the half-elf? Could even incorporate the bird, as a kind of scout she could use to spot enemies.

[Daril]

Elfguy -it's good enough.  I don't rely on pictures looking exactly the same as the character, just reasonably close.  As for the bird, I'm a bit unsure about being able to use it for intel gathering, but at the very least I could see her potentially doing some falconry or something.

Peace -Alright, that helps a lot, though there are still a few things to address.  With her background it seems like it would make more sense for her to be a human than an elf (since her background would be really odd if she was an elf).  Also, some description of her appearance couldn't hurt.  As a performer I might have thought she'd tend to dress a bit more brightly, but I'm not going to sweat that one too much.  I do think it might have been better for her to have stuck a little more closely to the original concept with regards to the fate of the people she was with though.  (As in she left in anger and didn't come back when her companions proved too cowardly to rescue one of their own -I figure that way she doesn't have the weight of everyone probably being dead to worry about.)

Robyn -Yeah, we're pretty much full at this point unless someone drops a slot.  Sorry.

Everyone -I'll try to get a RP thread started in the next day or two.

[PeacethatPowerbrings]

Daril - Yeah, I see what you're saying. I think you're probably right. I'll edit out the wrinkles before we start.

[Daril]

There's still some wrinkles here and there with some of the profiles, but I think we're about ready to get started.  Here's the starting thread:
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=76982.0

[Crovonovin]

Sorry I haven't posted yet!  Thought I'd let the others group up in the tavern first before our curious young barmaid got involved, but I can write up a post later.