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RPG Description: Story-based RP in which people take a character each from one of the tribes and then work together or against each other to fight off the invaders. See below.
RPG Era: Fantasy, but more or less Roman era. Swords, horses, that sort of thing.
RPG Plot: I've got a decent idea, but we'll have to see where our characters lead us
I'm going to be controlling the bad guys and the other NPCs, but everyone else is going to be a tribesman. I may or may not decide to control a tribesman myself. (Note: Can I do that? Be the enemy and a guy on the good side at the same time?)RPG Leaders: Myself, that being Vortigern, and Fire Ze Missiles.
I put up a poll and I've got 5 people ready to go with this idea already, myself included.
Warning: there's a lot of reading to be done here.
In the ancient land of Arcady, nine tribes hold dominion over thousands of miles of plains, mountains, rivers, oceans, fields and forests. To the north lie the walls of the Iron Empire, a barbarous place of forges, smoke and stone. To the south lies the Great Ocean, impassable, unnavigable. To the east the land of Arcady is ended by the Triburgan mountains, towering hundreds upon hundreds of feet above the plains, casting their shadow at sunset across over a hundred miles of open lands. To the west is a wasteland, ignored by the tribes of Arcady; why should they leave their lands for a desert when they have everything they need and enough land at their disposal to carry them through a thousand generations of expansion and relocation?
The Tribes
Each of the tribes is divided into many smaller tribes, but none powerful enough to assert any kind of dominion. In every part of Arcady, the tribes have flourished and adapted to suit their landscape.
The Triburgii: Living high in the mountains has afforded the Triburgii a rare ability for climbing and mountaineering, something which, although it is not a particularly useful skill across the rest of Arcady, could be put to great use in combating the occasional raids of the Iron Empire. It is traditional, and practical, for Triburgii warriors to carry hunting bows at all times, and, as with all tribesmen, they are never to be found without at least one knife secreted away somewhere.
The Trivantes: They are the closest relatives of the Triburgii, and live in the forest at the foot of the mountains. They are notoriously fearsome in combat, and highly skilled woodsmen. It is said a Trivante can track the flight of a sparrow through their woods. Generally they carry bows and knives, but javelins are also a common tactic.
The Aldui: They are the tribe who live closest to the walls of the Iron Empire, and as such they have developed their military along a highly defensive line. Where most of the tribes are wild and single-minded in combat, the Aldui have learned to fight as a unit and accept the decisions of a sole leader. This has been necessary to repulse the ever more frequent sorties across the wall. They have, over the years, grown sick of cavalry, and now rely solely on foot soldiers. The men in a standard Aldui unit carry a long leather and bronze shield and a spear.
The Venati: As one would expect of a coastal tribe, the southernmost Venati are excellent sailors and swimmers, and have sometimes been known to bring their titanic war fleet inland to carry out raids upon their nearest neighbours, the Valtii (see below). Such feats can only be accomplished by the most experienced of seamen. Unusually for seafarers, the Venati put no faith in bows, preferring the catapults and ballistae mounted on the decks of their warships, and they favour boarding to sinking enemy ships. Typical weaponry is whatever the Venati can lay their hands on; everything is a weapon when wielded in the right way.
The Valtii: The southerners of the plains tribes, the Valtii are renowned horsemen; such is necessary to build a territory over the vast empty plains of central Arcady. They set no store by foot soldiers; a lance can run through a man on the ground equally as well as a man on horseback, so why lose the mobility? Bows are uncommon, as the Valtii are also known as great herdsmen and agriculturalists, so hunting is generally unnecessary. Lances and swords are traditional.
The Shacantes: The northern tribe of the plains, the Shacantes dwell largely in the highlands. The obvious barrier between them and Aldui is the great Cliff of Arran, a monstrous rift where the earth was split by ancient forces. The Cliff spans three hundred miles, with no way down except the river caves, only known to have been navigated by Venati merchants. The Shacantes too are horsemen, though they prefer archery and skirmish to open combat, though that is not to say they are cowards.
The Telucids: They are the only tribe to dwell in the west of Arcady, and, more by default than merit, control the largest amount of land. A long time ago they were brothers of the Shacantes and the Valtii, but infighting and political assassinations led to their exile, and they have flourished since. Originally they were horsemen, but their proximity to the desert wastes has brought them into contact with all sorts of bizarre animals. Travellers are often alarmed by the gargantuan three-horned horses they use to pull their ploughs, and enemies have been known to rout at the mere sight of their foes riding swiftly to battle on lizards the size of oxen, with claws the size of a Valtii sword. They use both bows and swords with equal proficiency.
The Jomsii: Secluded from the world in their part of the immense forest the Trivantes too call home, the Jomsii are men born with axes in hand, ready to fight and to survive. Though they control the smallest land mass, they fight the hardest to protect it, as they are subjected to constant raids and skirmishes with the nomads from across the mountains; every summer the mountain pass opens and the nomads flock to pastures new, but the Jomsii have never yet lost an inch to them. Protected by the ocean to the south, the forest to the north and west, the mountains are their only approachable point, and that’s saying something. Axes are by far the most common weapon; living in a forest, an axe can provide protection and shelter with equal ease.
The Huscani: The final great tribe of Arcady live in the far north, where the land juts out into the ocean that cuts them off from the Iron Empire. It is a windswept, stormy land, but the Huscani have learned a rudimentary seamanship, nothing to compare with the Venati, but enough to fish and to run down pirates. Weapons are whatever comes to hand, as raids are frequent and vicious, from both pirates and the marines of the Iron Empire. The Huscani place great reliance on their smiths, as they consider it a sacred post, and none will forge their own tools or weapons. The lands of the Huscani run on the same rich vein of iron ore as the southern and eastern lands of the Empire, and they produce by far the highest quality metals, and thus tools and weapons, in all Arcady.
The Nine Tribes of Arcady are victims of a great circle of twisted allegiances, lies sworn in centuries past, but not forgotten, and ties of brotherhood and marriage. Rarely a day goes by in Arcady where a tribesmen is not killed by a rival, or by an invader.
But now ancient prophecies of the Sheltya, the holy order of Arcady, speak of a great king, and a time of terrible turmoil and strife for the people of Arcady. Can they save themselves or will their pride and barbarian brutality be their downfall?
The Story
The Iron Empire has invaded. The lands of the Aldui are overrun with the barbarians from the North, and they have been forced to flee their homeland, both east and west, seeking refuge amongst the Huscani and the Telucids, some even venturing into the vast forest of the Trivantes. The Aldui stronghold of Paleda has been burnt to the ground, and all the women and children sold as slaves within the distant confines of the Empire. The Aldui King, Cervantes, survived the battle and fled with what he could gather of his army and of his people towards the land of the Telucids, in the hope that they will not be cut off on the wrong side of the great Balia river, to be cut down like wheat to the scythes of the Iron Empire.
The tribes are in disarray. News travels fast, and even the Triburgii of the far mountains learned of the situation in only a few days, via the mystical Sheltya. A state of emergency has been called, and the nine Kings of Arcady have been summoned to meet at the ancient fortress of Pardol Gorge, which defends the eastern end of the Cliff of Arran where it sinks below the ground, at the border of the lands of the Shacantes, the Trivantes, the Huscani and the Aldui.
The Sheltya, under the guidance of their blind Chief Alaric, have determined that they must lead the way for the tribes of Arcady, against this powerful enemy.
Oh, and I'll get a map from somewhere.
What do you think?
Edited by Vortigern, 21 January 2008 - 11:12 PM.
