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In the Capital City of Esprit, multiple forces are fighting for Vespera’s future. Your character’s story too is intertwined with the Kingdom’s fate:

The Order Reformed
Under the command of the acting Captain Maxine Rivers, the Order of the Blade had focused on rebuilding its ranks with trustworthy soldiers. Years of internal conflict have left the group of knights fractured and their ranks depleted. The atrocities they performed during this time have left their reputation in tatters. Captain Rivers would see the Order grown and their reputation restored, and looks to new recruits like you to help.

A Princess’s Plea
The message was a mysterious one. “If you would see this land saved, meet me at the western guard house in Esprit” It was attached to a messenger Owl that was often seen used by the aristocracy. The machinations of the Vespera High Court are a popular topic of gossip. Backstabbing, attempted assassination and political intrigue have become the norm. Those without an ear for politics may meet a fate worse than death. Why some blue blood would call upon you is anyone’s guess.

Onward to Adventure
With monsters roaming the lands of Vespeara and much of the Kingdom in tatters, there is a high demand for workers, fighters and adventurers to lend their skills. To gather these people together, the Adventurer’s Guild was founded by Bella Prowl. Ballads of her prowess as a bounty hunter as sung across the land. But now she has taken on the role of mentor for young adventurers such as yourself.

Mercantile Machinations
Anyone looking to do trade in Vespera will eventually run into the Bickerton Trading Company. Through the various wars of succession, they managed to survive by selling weapons to the armies of the various factions at war. When the fighting ceased, they would turn their attention to various other goods. But the company also trades in more illicit goods such as cursed items and slaves despite the practice being abolished. Merchants who want to do business in Vespera either work under the Bickerton Trading Company or be crushed underfoot. But there are those who still seek to strike out on their own such as Amira Shaheed of the Saltiron Trading Company. Whether you plan to start a trading company of your own or looking for work from one of the merchants, there is no shortage of work.

Free as the Wind
You’ve come to the capital of Esprit of your own accord. Your reasons for doing so are yours and yours alone. But the winding streets of the once proud capital will provide you with no shortage of danger and opportunity.

Vespera
The ancestors to the Vesperian people had traveled south to see what land existed beyond the dense forests and mountains. What they found was a land rich in fertile soil and raw material. The Vesperians spread across the land creating small communities. But of all these communities, the one that prospered the most was the village of Esprit. Located along the coast, it soon became an epicenter of trade. Merchants would stop in Esprit in order to trade goods from the land with people around the world. As Esprit’s wealth grew, so did it’s influence over the other vesperian communities. Some willingly worked with Esprit and it’s ruler while others preferred their independence. But soon, the King of Esprit ruled all the land from the coast of the Tropica Ocean inland to the borders of Holdune territory.

After a century of rule under this system, Vespera was in the midst of a cultural renaissance. Esprit had grown into a capital city rivaling that of many of the great empires of the world. The land was divided up into various provinces under the guidance of local leaders and protected by the Order of Vespera. Under King Belsar the Third’s rule, there was an explosion of artists, musicians, theater companies and philosophers producing great works. Vespera had managed to strike a temporary truce with most of their neighbours. Many thought this was the start of a golden age for Vespera, but it was not meant to be.

Belus
Belus is a nation born from a collection of villages and cities that rejected the rule of other emerging states such as Vespera and the Holy Pheo Empire. Founded on the principle of freedom and self-governance, Belus was not ruled by a single ruler or class but governed locally by its citizens. Because of the ever present fear of invasion, the Belusian people developed a militaristic culture focused on defending their home from outsiders. From a young age, men and women were taught the fundamentals of warfare. But soon, their thinking shifted from a defensive one to an offensive stance. During a border dispute with the Holy Pheo Empire, many of Belus’s border cities launched attacks on the. The retaliation was fierce and the once proud Belus army was decimated.

After suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Holy Pheo Empire, Belus became nothing more than a vassal state. It’s system of local governance superseded by a single puppet ruler. The Holy Empire required two things after Belus was brought under control. First, it was expected that the people would abandon their faith and practice the Empire’s doctrine. Second, the people of Belus pay tribute to the Emperor every year..

Holdune
Holdune is often called the Kingless Nation and it’s borders aren’t as clearly defined. Holdune is home to long stretches of temperate grasslands that house a variety of plant and animal life. The land is inhabited by two groups, the Truil and the Dinda tribe. The Truil tribe is made up of separate nomadic clans that roam the Holdune plains. Meanwhile the Dinda tribe splintered from the Truil to settle down and create permanent settlements. Despite the split, the two tribes remained on good terms, trading and coming to each other’s aid in their times of need. When one of Vespera’s would-be rulers attempted to claim part of Holdune for themselves, the Truil and Dinda banded together to push back their encroachment.

The people of Holdune value stoicism, chastity, fierceness in battle and loyalty to family
and friends. They hold their ancestors in the highest regard and believe the first of their line watch over them to this day.

Tu-almiah
Tu-almiah is home to the Dhaakir, a resilient people who have survived much hardship. Their predecessors fled across the Algothian Desert to escape the tyrannical rule of their homeland. They had few weapons to protect themselves and fewer supplies to sustain themselves. Most that weren’t picked off by monsters succumb to the desert heat. In their darkest hour, the Dhaakir stumbled upon an Oasis blessed by a water sprite. The sprite led the travelers from one oasis to another until they reached the Djinn River. Compared to the desert, the land around the river was lush and fertile. This land was thus named Tu-almiah or “Blessed Land of Water”and was settled by the Dhaakir. Using the Oases that they settled on their way to the Djinn River to explore the desert and found it rich in mineral wealth. The Dhaakir turned this river in the desert into a thriving city that linked the two parts of the continent across the Algothian Desert

The Dhaakir took to worshiping the water spirits that lead them through the desert, erecting shrines at each oasis. While pragmatic, the Dhaakir are also highly spiritual. One’s place in Dhaakir society is highly dependent on their reverence to the gods.


The Southern Archipelago Alliance
The Southern Archipelago Alliance (SAA) is made up of the three independent island nations located in the South Tropica Sea. While there are multiple islands in this area, these three are the largest and most populous. These are Mala, Hepidus and Salazo. The tropical rainforests, mountainous landscape and warm atmosphere means each island is resource rich. Though the islands also possess their fair share of dangers. Because of this, the settlements were formed near the coast. At first they were small villages that could only provide for a few people. But as the citizens from Mala, Hepidus and Salazo took to the sea, they began to trade tools and knowledge that allowed them to tame more and more of their island’s wilderness. Soon these small villages grew into city-states that traded with the entire world.

The people of the South Tropica Sea hold ambitions and self sufficiency in high regard. Navigating the water is not just seen as a necessity but as a form of expression and freedom.

The Scarred Lands
The Scarred Lands aren’t just one place, they exist all over the world. Some are as small as a single town while others are the size of a nation. The one bordering Vespera, Holdune and the Algothian Desert is especially large. Scarred Lands radiate a malevolent energy said to be the lingering resentment of dead gods. The landscape is harsh and the land corrupted. But it is still fertile and home to jewels and minerals imbued with special properties. People try to settle these desolate lands, but it slowly changes those that live there. Thus it becomes a hotbed for strange yet powerful creatures. It’s even said that the Scarred Lands are a portal to the realm of demons.

Elementalism
One of the oldest forms of spiritualities in the world. In time of yore, people would pray to the elements for their protection and hounour the boons they provide. The elements that people would worship depended on where they live. People who call the desert home may worship the fire of the desert heat or worship the rare amount of water. Sailors and fishermen may worship the winds who control the sails and weather. Farmers and nomads may praise the earth that provides for them.

While there isn’t a central figure of worship, there are beings they elevate to the status of god. For example, the Dhaakir worship the water sprites of the Algothian Desert as living gods providing life to the barren land.

Scriptism
Those who follow Scriptism live their lives based on a collection of scriptures called “The Stories of the Seven Saints”. These were once oral stories that were transcribed in stone and passed down through the ages. They tell the story of seven saints, Forti the Courageous, Tiam the Temperance, Tia the Just, Spes the Hopeful, Vera the Loyalty, Pisti the Faithful and Daeth Prudent. The scripts can be divided into two parts. The first are a collection of morality plays where the seven saints confront various worldly concerns and overcome them with their signature virtue. The second part are stories after the saints assent into godhood. These tales focus on their work as deities trying to guide mortals on the right path in life. In both sections, they speak of beings called Seraph that lifted the seven saints to godhood and aided them on their goal to save mankind. Scriptism was a relatively unknown faith until it’s stories were put into writing and were easily spread.

With the spread of Scriptism, the version of “The Stories of the Seven Saints” is slightly altered with certain scripts being left out while new ones are found. On top of that, different saints are revered more by different nations. Vespera pray to all the saints equally while the Holy Pheo Empire holds the saints of Loyalty, Courage and Justice in highest regard.

Ancestral Gods
Some cultures like the Southern Archipelago Alliance (SAA) or the Truil and the Dinda tribe deify their ancestors.These cultures tell tales of their first ancestors who overcome a great trial to become deities who protect their people. In Holdune, tales speak of Los the Sun-Rider and Anul the Moon Guard as the first Truil and Dinda. Meanwhile the islands of the South Tropica Sea hold up the first chieftains of their clans. While the customs and beliefs may vary, they share a common belief. That by living in accordance with their ancestor’s wishes and honouring their lives.

Scarred Worship
Scarred worship refers to the worship of the Scarred Lands themselves. While most people feared the Scarred Lands, some revered them as holy sites. Those who believed in the power these lands held would travel these lands to commune with the old gods that lay beneath them. Most were filled with a strange sense of euphoria. But a select few could gain glimpses into a realm beyond human imagination. These blessed worshipers would become oracles and soothsayers and would spread the wisdom they gained to the rest of their flock. In places where Scriptism is practiced, Scarred Worship is looked down upon because Scarred Lands are seen as unholy sites that need to be purified. Scarred Worship can involve offerings, fornication with demons and monsters or living sacrifice to appease the Scarred Land.

Name:
Age:
Gender: (Male, Female, Futa)
Appearance:
Background:
Opening Missive: Pick one

Pathways:
(DM me a combination of three skills, weapons or battle actions to base your pathways on. There is an example in the Systems Document)
Once your pathways are complete, you will get the full character sheet and the points to spend on Stats, Skills, Pathways and Perks

Imperia Preventer was born to one of the most infamous assassins, Loyd McKringleberry, and his wife, a former waitress in a bar, Davain McCringleberry, shortly after he had retired from his chosen profession. As a professional assassin, Loyd was particularly skilled, managing to slip in and out of the most heavily guarded locations. Loyd ripped his targets apart with fearsome ease, not seeming to care if it was in broad daylight or the dead of night. Over time, he managed to amass a vast fortune, had an estate constructed, then with his smooth talk and suave demeanor, he seduced what he saw as the most attractive woman he had laid eyes on and made her his wife. Loyd's arrogance was so great that he didn't believe that anyone could match him, even in greed. This arrogance, however, ended up being his undoing as Davain claimed his fortune for herself. She never wanted a daughter, seeing it as a burden, and holding it against Loyd when she was born. Seeking to take revenge for having a daughter forced on her by her husband, Davain used an extremely powerful poison to taint Loyd's drink, resulting in his death. After her husband's death, she was able to claim his vast fortune for herself. Not wanting to share her newly-acquired fortune with anyone, Davain then proceeded to, once Imperia was old enough to hold a weapon, throw her into underground slave battles, betting against other wealthy gamblers, seeing it as an opportunity to make more money or rid herself of her burden. What Davain didn't realize, however, was that Imperia was haunted by the specter of her father, Loyd, who was guiding to victory in her gladiatorial combat.

During Imperia's time in the arena, she was able to learn a combination of different fighting styles from listening to the specter of her father, and observing her skilled opponents. She started off extremely shakily, but showed uncanny learning capabilities as she made her way through each battle, picking up new techniques from her opponents and her ghostly father alike. When things looked too dire, her father's specter could form and attack her opponents from seemingly nowhere, punching his massive, clawed gauntlet through her opponent's bodies and causing them to die instantly, or bleed out. Because the arena's owners and patrons often thought she was cheating, due to her father's ghostly intervention, they would often give her opponents who were impossible to beat, but would stop the combat early due to how much money her matches made them.

Over time, despite Imperia's mounting skill, she started to have too many impossible fights given to her by the arena management, resulting in losses for Davain. Seeing no more use for her, she kicked Imperia out of the estate at 12 years old, leaving her to wander the Scarred Lands as an outcast. Over the course of those later years, she was pursued by two of her rivals, a pair of brothers who were seen as her only even match due to her other matches being one-sided in her favor or against her. They had battled so many times, and gained a sense of mutual respect for each other for their tenacity and even combat prowess. Unable to let their rivalry go, the two escaped from their owners, and started an unrelenting hunt for Imperia.

The Joycast family has long since been known for their healing magics. If someone needed to be put together in their slice of Belus, then the Joycast family was likely the ones to do it. This was the legacy Linda was born into and would have been beholden to. She spends everyday thankful to the Holy Pheo Empire. After all, if they hadn’t slaughtered the majority of her family during Belus’s dumbass attempt to fight against them, she would have had to do it herself and that would have made it much harder to escape the country afterwards. The one thing she does regret is the Joycast family traditional way of training one for magic. You see, traditionally, they begin teaching you how to gather magic from your surroundings at age 6, but they don’t actually begin teaching how to harness that magic into healing until age 12. The Joycast family was killed just after she turned 6. Well, the majority of the Joycast family was killed at that point. The remnants of it were herself, her resistant to change Grandmother, Sherry, her driven to alcohol Uncle, Isaac, and her younger brother, Lenny. Lead by Sherry, neither she nor Isaac were willing to change the timetables to begin teaching Linda or Lenny their magic early.

So Linda began taking things into her own hands. One could describe the way the Joycast family gathered magic from the world to be taking it out to dinner, watching a play, and ending the night with a kiss on the cheek in promise of more. That wasn’t enough power for Linda, so her method was more like taking it to a tavern, getting it blitzed, then fucking it until it agreed to do whatever she asked of it. This allowed her more magical ability than her family was capable of, resulting in stronger spells. She began practicing her spells when she was supposed to be doing chores, using what she observed of her family before they went to the grave and the study of the human body they pressed on to her in preparation for their magic. The result she got from the unwilling animals she used as test subjects was close enough if not better than anything her family used. It wasn’t until her Uncle, drunk enough to confuse her with his dead and gone wife (she still doesn’t believe that’s what actually happened), tried to force himself on her that she realized 2 things: 1) that the healing arts of her family could be twisted into something that hurts and 2) that she really enjoyed hurting people. By forcibly activating the nerves to feel pain instead of soothing it away, she learned a grown adult can be disabled from the sheer agony of it. The first time was a fluke. A panicked attempt to get Isaac off of her before something irreparable happened. The first time lead to the second, third, and fourth attempts as she used her captured Uncle as a test subject, keeping him in a section of the estate no longer used or maintained. The fifth attempt, she learned her first attack spell: Activate Nerves. Of course, Isaac couldn’t be suffered to live and let anyone know of her perversion of the family art. So she stood him up and practiced the family hand to hand martial arts on him. She found it to be too gentle for her tastes, so she needed the practice in perverting that as well, using pressure points and soft spots to inflict the most agony possible. The Joycast Soft Hands were meant to be self-defense, a way of dealing as little damage as possible while getting clear to either go for help or let an ally handle things. Under Linda’s hands, it did none of that. Unless hurting someone so much that they disengaged counted. By the end of both her practice both martial and magic, her uncle was no longer in the land of the living and the Felljoy family fell to 3 members. No one ever knew what happened to Isaac, but the common assumption is he died in a gutter somewhere as a result of his drunken wanderings.

Her innocent act fooled the mass majority of people, using uncommon empathy and kindness to make herself seem like the last person who would cause harm to someone. The only ones not taken in where, annoyingly enough, her family. Because of this suspicion, Sherry refused to teach Linda the family art. She thought that this would make Linda less of a threat and would allow time for her sadistic nature to be curbed. All it really did was seal her fate. She secretly observed as her grandmother taught her brother the art. She used her bond with her brother to try to weasel information out of him. He, unfortunately, was such a goody two-shoes that he never let anything slip. She didn’t begrudge him this, however. He was her brother, the one person she couldn’t see herself harming for fun. No, all her spite was on her grandmother for putting him in this position to begin with. She tried her hardest for 5 years to convince her grandmother to believe her act. 5 years wasted in that regard. She’s not sure what kept giving her away, but Sherry Joycast just was not buying what she was attempting to sell. So she decided, fuck it. She needed a new test subject for spells. Her usual ones were decent, but none of them were practiced in magic. She needed to see if having that practice would make it more difficult to use her pain spells on them. Making Sherry disappear would be a lot more difficult than Isaac, so she needed to be a little smarter. She saw her chance on the annual tribute to the Emperor. It was actually a chance she had created for herself seeing as during that time period, a lot of people got drunk or otherwise impaired. It was easy to make people disappear during that time period. Her slice of Belus considered it a curse and simply prepared themselves for someone disappearing. It took some slight of hand and some better than using acting, but she managed to drug Sherry’s drink with a paralyzing agent. Once the drug took effect, it was a simple matter of using her practiced muscles to drag her grandmother into the very same torture chamber her Uncle expired in. It turned out no, knowing magic, even healing magic, was not a good counter to her pain spell. It could reverse the damage it did, but it could not keep them from feeling the effects in the first place. In the end, it came down to who tired first. And Linda’s way of pulling magic allowed for more stamina than Sherry’s ever would. Once Sherry was broken… well, despite her age, Sherry looked pretty good. She could pass as her mother rather than her grandmother. And at 16 years old, Linda was in the full bloom of puberty. Her first time was with someone so broken they would do anything to make the pain stop. She found she rather liked having that much power over someone. Not enough to do it again, she would rather have someone a bit more responsive, and definitely not enough to keep Sherry alive but enough to keep it in mind. Maybe next time, she’d make that part of the breaking process.

After that, Linda decided her time in Belus was done. Lenny was trained enough to take over the family art and, being a male, could bring the family back to prominence with enough time and willing females. And there would never be a shortage of women willing to carry children for the Joycast family. Not unless something happened to bring shame to the family line. And with Lenny’s personality, that just wouldn’t happen once Linda was gone. Next year, the Curse of the Emperor struck one last time and Linda Joycast was spirited away. She never bothered to learn if they figured out she was the cause of it or if they thought it was finally appeased with her disappearance. Seeing as she had culled most of what remained of the Joycast family, she thought it fitting to take on the last name Felljoy. After that, she wandered around practicing what she dubs the Felljoy martial arts and the Vitality school of spells. Or at least that’s what she calls those publicly. Fists of the Sadist and Tortuous Health would give her away far too easily. She also avoided causing people to disappear wherever she went since that would very obviously leave a trail. No, what she did was she hunted criminals, those who no one would miss and she would be celebrated for, and practiced on them. They brought up a very good point she had not considered in her practice up til now: Most enemies strike back. She got a very good crash course in not being there when an enemy strikes since she also learned she doesn’t like being hurt nearly as much as she enjoys hurting others. She also learned most men have no idea what to do with a woman with an extra part, but that’s a different subject. Eventually though, running around fighting small timers grew dull. The challenge of getting them to a place where she can torture them turned out to be almost as big of a turn on as the actual torture (because yes, she also learned she can totally get off on inflicting pain on someone). So when she heard the call for new members of The Order of the Blade… well, they most certainly have to have good fights, right? She only has to wonder how against torture they are.

This mysterious world we live in is so much stranger than we know. It is dangerous and intricate, like a unique machine yet to be understood, but it is to be respected for its sacred nature and worked upon lightly as nature dictates. The earth itself is to be toiled and cared for. The waters, sailed and cleaned. Nothing is to burn the air and cloud the skies, and never should life be wasted in war. These are the teachings of the Highland Nomads.

The Highland Nomads were a small tribe living in the mountains near Belus which worshipped the Mountain Spirits who owned their land. They'd speak of spiritual protection and engage in regular rituals in order to keep the spirits' favor. This affected their culture from the way they dressed day-to-day to their eating habits and societal beliefs. Despite being high up in the colder peaks of the mountains, the Highland Nomads typically wore loose and thin clothing, or for some, no clothing at all. They'd eat only berries and nuts; never the plants that they cultivated or even the livestock they cared for, and even stranger... every generation, the Highland Nomads would elect one child said to be blessed by the sun to be a "Mother Nymph," which was like a priestess in their culture. The Mother Nymphs were meant to care for the mountain's younger spirits and raise them carefully, and they would also act as the spokesperson for the spirits to promote peace and harmony between humans and spirits. This would often involve odd acts including isolation, meditation, and masturbation.

Theresa Ree was the Mother Nymph for her generation. Born to Secor and Fira Ree, she was to lead her generation upon the time of the switch when the old retired for the new. She was trained by the Mother Nymph before her, a man by the name of Agora Kan, though she would never finish her training before Agora would receive a terrifying message from the spirits of what laid in their future. Belus would head to war against the Holy Pheo Empire, and Belus would lose. Even worse; the Empire would take hold of the nation as a vassal state, and the customs of the Highland Nomads would be in danger following the change in leadership. They must prepare themselves as best they could to protect their sacred land from the invasion. The Highland Nomads took to this message by training their young for combat, and seeking to better cover their home.

Despite their misgivings regarding combat, Theresa would thusly learn of old arts back when the Highland Nomads had to battle the ravenous beasts who roamed their lands. The Highland Nomads were masters of the Living Realm, a school of magic and martial arts employing the spiritual energy of the user to make several disabling attacks against targets who were usually large and/or monstrous. In truth, the usage of the techniques against humans was overkill due to their wide-scale power and help from the spirits, which led to them becoming forbidden in the recent times of peace... so when the Holy Pheo Empire was looking to flank Belusian forces from the mountains, they'd come to the steps of the Highland Nomads who denied them entry. The Empire would not back down. The Highland Nomads could not allow them entry.

The resulting bloodshed defied everything they stood for, but it was all in protection of their tenets. Many lives were lost on both sides, but in the end, the Holy Pheo Empire would win the conflict thanks to their numbers and experience. Surrender was the only choice of the Highland Nomads, but not before they would send their youngest away from the battlefield. Agora had foreseen their fate should they lose. Their culture, tarnished. Their lands would be desecrated as their home was razed in punishment... and such a fate was not for the final hope of the tribe. In the form of Theresa and her generation.

And so, they fled. The young of the Highland Nomads would leave the mountains under the protection of the spirits and flee to Holdune. The Truil and Dinda tribes were known to the Highlanders, though they were not on the best of terms due to differences in religious opinion. Still, Theresa would see to it that they would find protection in the Dinda tribe through dealings and work; a mutual exchange that would raise the young Highland Nomads into working members of the tribe while keeping to their own culture. It wasn't particularly easy to make such a deal, but who would turn away young and able bodies? For the next 10 years of her life, Theresa Ree and her generation worked underneath the banner of the Dinda tribes. In the give-and-take, her people would learn take up a variety of jobs in the tribe, and she... well, she still played her same part as ever. She worked as a spokesperson for her people and eventually got involved in the local trade through her careful and precise words. She grew very adept at the art of the trade... and it would be fuel for her most burning desire. A goal she'd had since the day she was made to flee her home and leave it all behind to die at the hands of a larger kingdom.

For her own values, simply toiling and caring for the earth would not be enough. The waters were still covered by ships and bodies, and the air was putrid with death. Keeping some small part of the world safe means nothing when the rest of it comes for you. So... rather than allow her sanctuary to fall and simply live as a refugee in the comfort of a stranger's home, she would make a new home in trade. One that had the financial power to resist anyone's invasion. One to be respected, and one to lead.

Theresa's ambition takes her to Esprit, where she hopes to get involved in the local economy and build her business for a new nation.