The Serpentine Road

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Drama
Rating: PG-13

There was smoke coming from the Holy Tower of Lazophel

Its great height at the center of the overreaching landscape made it so that absolutely no one could have avoided seeing it’s fire, and those beyond the Tekal could see its smoke. Commoners and nobles alike stood in wonder and horror asking themselves who could have done such a thing. Were the High Families at war once more?

Atop the highest mountain of the land, a woman stood watching, donning gray robes which flapped in the breeze. She had a smirk on her face, as if she knew exactly what was going on and was entertained. Swooping in from the horizon, a raven flew past and above her. The woman turned to look the blackened bird with familiarity. They perched themselves on a tree before transforming into a younger man with raven hair and red eyes. Within his hands, he seemed to hold a talisman of some kind and he jumped down from the tree and approached the woman. Once there, the boy took a knee as he held it out to her.

“My Lady, I have recovered the artifact of the Novenun Family. I made sure to leave quite the scene as well. As far as the people are aware, the Novenun Family has now backed down on their end of the treaty.”

The cloaked woman took the talisman in her hand and examined it before smiling, “Excellent work, Sior. You have far surpassed my expectations, and you will be rewarded.”

Walking close to the two from behind, another man with long blond hair and silver eyes approached. He towered over the other two, and the height disparity was more apparent the closer he stepped, “And just how do you expect them to not take it as grand theft and instead a withdrawal, Avindi?”

The woman smirked and turned towards the blond and replied, “The Novenun family has been in a rather large disagreement with the High Family council for quite some time now. And since they just departed for the Serpentside, it is the perfect time to frame them. They are cut off from communication, and if any family decides to break treaty in any way, a war will begin. Besides… the war doesn’t need to happen, just the stability needs to break. And with the Novenun artifact in our possession, the seal will not last long.”

Avindi gripped the artifact tightly, turning her head back towards the distance to witness the smoke and flames, “I will assure it for myself when the time comes that the Second Raid will not fail.”

---

​

A possible war among the High Families is on the horizon, after the sudden and violent dissolve of the Novenun Family from the Treaty of Lazophel. The High Families long ago banded together, during a time of hostile invasion, to seal the barriers between worlds to prevent from being invaded and destroyed. With one of the High Families appearing to disband, and taking their part of the seal for themselves, their magic is beginning to dissolve.

In a panic of sorts, the Vegh clan decided to put together a random group of those not affiliated with any clan to head towards the Serpentside in search of the Novenun family. This randomly put together party however, are unaware that a simple diplomatic mission is the beginning of a much more complex tale, one that may lead them to become new legends of their world, whether they wanted to or not.

---

​

• The World
• The Holy Tower of Lazophel
• Magic
• High Families
• The Union of Giada and Lucien
• High-clan Inkan

• The world on which we stand is named Tuthauhothri. No one tends to refer to it as that, as this world is very continental. The other continents are much smaller. There is Ezi, Qilan, and Unilo. Then of course there is Tekal, the high continent. The other continents are separated and their affairs are their own, but if anything happens to the world, Tekal tends to take the representative role. The major threat to our world, are the breakings of dimensional seals. It is not as if we are fighting demons, but sometimes they seem like true barbarians. Their goal seeming to be to deplete the world of what is here before destroying it. We have not managed to make technology to cross over the barrier, we can only prevent it from being broken through, and it is through more classical means than science.
• Those belonging to this world would know it was the center of ancient knowledge, treaties, and a symbol of hope and unity for the continent of Tekal. The realm once plagued with much in fighting and war, when the major families of Tekal had their own interests and goals in mind and would do anything to achieve them. These wars had been interrupted when the Grand Raid of Zann began. The High Families decided to settle their differences for the greater good, and the wars were put to an end to destroy the invading Zann. The Tower was built as a symbol of unity, and the main location for the seals that ended the raid. Lazophel soon became a hot spot of magical learning and technological development, where even the other continents wouldn’t dare destroy for fear of the potential weaponry within.
• This realm has magic, but you cannot learn magic you do not naturally gain yourself. There are the Physicai, Emotai, and Extrokai. And each person only gains the use of three magics in their sect.
  
  Physicai are modifications and manipulations than can be done to the body. Emotai are powers involving emotional/mental manipulations. Extrokai involve manipulations outside of the body. Most gain lesser powers and do not worry as much about growing them due to the world’s reliance on science. If one were to maximize their power’s potential, it would involve extensive physical training.
  
  Each person gains three powers, the first power is a family power. This is usually most times (but not all times) gained from the mother and is shared by the entire family.
  The secondary power is a personal one, each person has their own unique power. Some people may share the same power, or even share their secondary power with another family’s existing one. However, the secondary power is always less powerful than the family power.
  The third power is another personal one, gained after a person has fully developed. Their power tends to be adapted from the lifestyle of the person. Whether it be connected to the initial power or not.
  
  If a person was born in a family that holds one sect (Physikai, Emotai, Extrokai) of power, they are automatically going to have all powers be from that sect.
• The Nine High Families control the world. Or rather, what is known as the High Families. The number was dropped slowly, casually people may deem this due to the fact it is just one less word and easier to mention since most know there are nine. However, the real reason is because there are only Eight active families. While nine had banded together originally, the ninth family: Tamaza [Extrokai], was massacred. The family could not withdraw on their own from the treaty, so the family is still recognized in official agreements. The following families are those that are currently active:
  
  Maragos [Extrokai]
  Vegh [Emotai]
  Novenun [Physikai]
  Macedo [Physikai]
  Sidabras [Physikai]
  Griswold [Emotai]
  Basseches [Emotai]
  Seibel [Extrokai]
  
  Each family controls their own territory, with lax guards on it since the end of the Grand Raid of Zann. All of them have their own particular mastery. Maragos with crafting. Vegh with education. Novenun with agriculture. Macedo with military. Sidabras with mining. Griswold with trade. Basseches with religion. Seibel with cartography. The Tamaza family, when present, had their mastery in the arcane arts.
• The Maragos and Seibel families were families that while not close, shared no rivalry between each other. However, a recent conflict between the families caused quite a calamity more so with the common folk that were rivals rather than the families. To put an end to the rest, the families agreed to marriage, which the Seibel were not completely fond of. This on traditional terms would mandate the loss of the Seibel’s eldest son, Lucien. The reason this seemed particularly harmful was due to the loss of the Head Family’s two other sons, Alain and Fiacre, in the prior four years due to sickness and murder. The Lesser Seibel’s considered this a threat more than a union. When the Maragos had been clarified on the situation, they agreed to give their daughter, Giada, to the Seibel family instead.
  
  An outcry was still being heard from the Maragos, as Giada Maragos was a very talented sculptor and her work was bringing a new generation of families wishing to learn Maragos craftsmanship. The current news on the family is that they are attempting to find a home that is close enough to Maragos crafting hubs for Giada to still work for her family, but children would still be born under the Seibel namesake.
  
  Despite the political end of it, Giada and Lucien are in fact happy so far, despite the arranged marriage it was. Their relationship has been pushed a lot more in the news, with updates on Giada’s dress and the wedding location, to keep people’s minds off the issue with Lazophel. The less eyes on it, the better the crowd control.
• While high clans are not the only ones to receive inkans, only high clan inkan is enchanted with high level extrokai magic that requires the family to activate the seal with their own blood. It is a stamp seal that is in the shape of the family name and works as professional and personal signatures. There is the one that is only the last name usually used for official documents, and another with the first name included for personal documents and signatures.
  
  It has happened in history where a family will have their blood stolen and seals stolen to forge documents, but it is impossible to not leave a trail if this is the case, and once the family catches wind of the forged document everyone knows it’s forged in minutes.

---

​

» Please abide by KHV and RPA rules. Swearing is allowed to be slipped here, and any sexual and violent themes that pass PG-13 rules should be put in spoilers. If things get too hardcore, it doesn't belong, and I won't allow it.
» The idea of this RP is to explore a new world. Please feel free to contribute to it with something your family may have.
» Please read the magic tab of lore at the very least to understand what a magic type is. Please. I have placed out specific rules for each type of magic. If you can't figure it out, message me. Skype, Discord, KHV, whatever you feel like. But if I see anyone just randomly say "water type" magic on their OC form, I'll know you didn't read it.
» You can have up to two characters. The journey will be separating you from most NPCs you would be able to control.
» This RP will be semi-literate in responses, but there will be optional lore reads. You do not need to know the lore to understand the plot. But if anyone wants to indulge in my world building and contribute, it's optional.
» There is a posting deadline. This journey is supposed to have a feeling of urgency. The RP journey will be taking place over the course of a month. As such, each roleplay day will be equal to 9 days real time. It technically is seven days, but two days will be allotted for plot wrap ups. This means your commitment to the roleplay will be roughly 270 days, with possibilities of extensions bringing it up higher. Less than a year, if you will. Days can also end early if everyone agrees to end early. Days will start at 6pm EST/EDT, and end at 6pm. This can be subject to change.
» Godmodding is a no. Powerplaying is a serious no no. And metagaming will get me super sour and I might actually make you delete your post and write a new one entirely if you do it.
» Respect each other, yo.
» I reserve the right to add and subtract rules as I see fit.

---

Username:
Name:
Age:
Magic type:
Power 1:
Power 2:
Power 3 (if applicable):
Appearance:
Occupation:
Weapon:
Bio:

---

​

 

Username: Beucefilous
Name: Frode Hafrita
Age: 24
Magic type: Physikai
Power 1: Information Cloning - The user is able to seperate themselves into a variety of forms by splitting their consiousness and knowledge into seperate parts, and duplicating their body entirely. While they essentially create another version of themselves and are able to exist in two places at once, they are in essence dividing their intelligence in half whilst they do so, as each copy retains equality to the others. While this can be done a theoretically infinite number of times, it is extremely inefficient and coutnerproductive to have more than four incarnations at a time, as the intelligence at five or more becomes so far below that of a normal person it becomes difficult to function normally, let alone perform complex tasks. Any information one incarnation gathers during its time apart will be fully retained upon rejoining. If an incarnation is killed while seperate from the others, the information they were carrying is lost, though the consciousness will gradually restore itself to its full state over time.
Power 2: Clone Stamp - The user creates a pattern or design in their mind as a preliminary step, then places their hand onto a surface, which will then produce ink that then takes on the design. This would generally be an extensive process depending on the complexity of what they want to create, though as the time is simply limited to how quickly they can visualize the image accurately, it depends on the mental prowess of the individual using it.
Power 3 (if applicable): Focus Preservation and Intensification - The user has a supernaturally sharp focus. In its full force, they are well beyond that of a normal person and could step in the realm of superhuman feats otherwise bordering impossible. However, its power splits with the user, and as such is not normally in this state. Otherwise, it provides a slightly heightened state, and helps retain focus despite things that would deter it such as emotions or sleep deprivation.
Appearance: http://www.zerochan.net/683975
Occupation: Scholar
Weapon: Crossbow, and a longsword. Optimally, has two of each within the relative vicinity of him, or they are divided among the versions of himself in varying amounts.
Bio: Frode Hafrita was born in a lesser known family, allied with the Vegh Family. They were far from poor, but could hardly be considered nobility. His power is inherited from his father, who married into the line. While his family as a whole is small, his father's side in particular is miniscule, having only five members, barring Frode himself. It is from this tiny family which the scholar takes his powers. Frode has always wondered why he'd inherited his father's power, though it was more so on the scientific level than the spiritual one. Generally powers were taken from the mother, so why did certain children, seemingly arbitrarily, gain it from the father? It was this question that set him on his path of learning.

For years, he studied under the tutelage of the Vegh clan. He began to study not only the passing on of magic, but the very nature of it altogether. How did it work? Where did it come from? How were powers determined? Was it possible to alter the powers one had, or even unlock fourth levels and beyond? All of these were things he'd sought to answer. With his power to be in multiple places, gathering different information simultaneously as well has his inherent focus and ability to quickly transcribe that which he wanted to write down, Frode seemed destined for the life of a scholar. Though, upon hearing of an expedition to track down the missing family, he could hardly pass up such an opportunity to see magic being used in practical situations. His high intellect and focus let him learn the basic techniques behind weapons quickly. Enough so that he wouldn't be a complete novice in combat. And so, he left the quiet life of turning pages in libraries day in and day out to join an expedition.

 

Username: CrownMoksha
Name: Reitan Samidare
Age: 19
Magic type: Extrokai
Power 1: Flame Cloak - By focusing on the blade of his lance, Reitan is able to conjure up flames that cover his weapon for extra versatility and fire power.
Power 2: Storm Cloak - Following the same concept as Flame Cloak, a strong wind flows around his lance's blade. While it grants some offensive capabilities, it's better suited for evasion and defensive tactics.
Power 3 (if applicable): Inferno Storm Cloak - A combination of both Flame and Storm cloak after using both to their full potential. The wind powered flames cover both the weapon and the wielder's arm, thus why complete mastery of this is needed. Harm may befall both the user and those around if if they are not able to control the flames.
Appearance: Ask and you shall receive
Occupation: Blacksmith
Weapon: A Lance he forged himself.
Bio: Need to re think this