Pilgrims of Ith

A hundred years after the apocalypse, life has begun anew and adventurers emerge from their homes to wander the once desolated lands of Ith. Much has been lost, but there is also much to be found for those with intrepid hearts and like leaves on the wind, these wanderers scatter across the world...

A different kind of after the end story, this roleplay is a medieval magical fantasy with little in the way of plot, information about the world, its locations, inhabitants and environs, and it's an open world sandbox type of rp, which I know not so many people are so fond of on this site.

With all that said, why join the rp? Perhaps for the very reasons I just described, because it has so much potential to be more than it is right now and with YOUR help - yes you, the player - we could make something grand here.

You decide where your characters came from and what the place might be like, you decide where your character might be heading and you create your own thread in the great tapestry that this story could become. If you have ideas to add to the world, share them freely and it will be so as long as they don't clash with what's already set.

This roleplay will be an adventuring type of roleplay and it will most likely be character driven, which - I find that if given the chance - may turn out to be the best kind of story. So go on, give it a chance and see where it goes.

Hm, the world you've created sounds interesting, but as you already addressed there's not really a plot? Just a bunch of worldbuilding. When you say that the RP will be character-driven and adventuring what do you mean? Are we exploring Ith/its past/etc. and some amount of character development or is this something everyone will come up with?

Character Questions:
-Can sentient dragons or shapeshifters use Ithwood staffs or is that human only?
-Was the necromancer that ruined the land the only necromancer in existence?
-Aside from cutting Ithwood, brittleness, and heaviness, do Ironsap weapons have any special properties?
-How would you describe the time period? Medieval? Dark Ages? Renaissance?

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for your interest, Moo. To answer your questions:

- By character-driven and adventuring, it's exactly what you just said, on both parts. Yes, we'll be exploring the world of Ith and hopefully there will be a lot of character development, but you can also come up with your own location, the story behind it and where it might be headed. I wasn't just speaking metaphorically when I said 'you create your own thread in the great tapestry that this story could become', you can literally create your own thread and story here. What I'm really interested in is what ideas this roleplay inspires in you and others, and I'd just be over the moon to take part in it. It's like any other sandbox game, the developer provides the tools, but you decide what to do with them.

Say for instance, your character's a mage and cartographer, mine's a tomb raider and they meet outside some ruined city. Your character wants nothing to do with all the beasts and pockets of undead in the city, but my charry will want to make use of your's, magic being very useful and all, so your charry gets roped into the adventure with the promise of finding old maps in the ruins. Afterwards, our characters part ways and the story's done and done, or mine's joins yours in the quest to remap the world and more adventures are had later on, perhaps with other people down the track. And that's just one idea.

- Shapeshifters, yes; dragons, no. Dragons wouldn't really need a staff anyway, they're like all the elements combined. They can breathe fire, their wings give them the ability to fly and can generate gale force winds, their scales are hard as rock and they can live as comfortably in water as they do on land. Maybe that's something I should clarify in the overview, because there aren't any different types of dragons, but there are different kinds of dragons in terms of temperament and attitudes. Few of them might be upset with humans on account of the necromancer being a human who nearly wiped out all life in the world, but hopefully others might be more understanding than that.

- The necromancer was utterly unique in his power to command the dead, because the only usable elements are water, wind, fire and lightning, right? So how could the necromancer do what he did? No one knows and perhaps no one ever will, but he still had to use an ithwood staff like any other mage.

- They can kill a dragon.

- I'd say medieval post-apocalyptic, but that doesn't really say much so... idk, what kind of conditions would the remnants of humanity live in 100 years after near total extinction? Perhaps viking or celtic townships and style of living would be more the norm, but that's just what I think. It could vary from place to place, like, one group could be in the stone stage, another might well already have a king and kingdom with a thriving economy, industry and infrastructure. It's a big world, so anything's possible, but generally speaking, it's medieval.

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To further elucidate on the meaning of a 'character-driven' story, here's something from tvtropes:

• More Plot Than Characters: Everyone remembers the external conflict and how it would later on be resolved, but the characters range between there for the sake of it, and almost non-existent. Mostly an action/adventure, mystery/thriller, or horror. Hard science fiction can follow this, as the central plot is intended to be the focus, not the interpersonal relationships. It's one of the issues creating the Scifi Ghetto.
• Equal Focus Between Plot and Characters: The plot and characters don't interfere with each other, and instead work in-concert with each other to create something memorable.
• Less Plot Than Characters: The overall story isn't very memorable because of how boring and mundane it might be, but the characters gain a lot of development, as they resolve their own respective internal-conflicts, rather than an overall external one. Mostly a drama, comedy, or romance.

Ideally, we'd have equal focus between plot and characters but since there's no overarching story, the third point is what I expect the roleplay to mainly involve.

alright, sounds good! I planned on having a character from a Native American-based tribe of shapeshifters (called Skinwalkers despite no relation to the IRL concept) and wanted to know the limitations of Ithwood, Ironsap, and the like.

Fair enough, so do you any ideas for a story? If not, I was just msging Xavirne about a few ideas I had for her character and if you want, we could all co-ordinate together on figuring something out. Off the top of my head though, I can imagine my character coming across a tribe of Skinwalkers who're fighting a dragon over territory. The way the Skinwalkers see it, it's their land because they've been there for at least 2 generations now, but the dragon has been around waaaay longer, but it only comes around every few decades on account of food availability running slim where it was before, so my character ends up acting as an intermediary, while one of the Skinwalkers foolishly plots to kill the dragon with an ithsteel (ironsap steel) tipped spear, who of course won't be talked out of it.

Well I'm retooling a character that I'd already drummed up a while back (so I think of this as an AU version of her). At the age she is now, she's essentially the daughter of the tribe's chief and would have been in line for the throne were it not for her status as a female shaman.

In her original story, she was hailed as a spiritual leader after turning the tide of battle where (unknown to the rest of her tribe) she murdered her mentor as part of the process to become the Skinwalker of myth (an eagle) and turned the tide of battle with her dark magic as well as her transformations. At first no one knew about this, but after some carelessness her father found out and yeah...shit happened.

Here since the tribe is already amass with shapeshifters I'm retaining her status as the chief's daughter, but simplifying things so that she's now just heir (but still an eagle) to the future throne. I figure part of her plotline will be anxiety over her inheritance since she doesn't yet think she is worldly enough to understand how to command her people. For example, all she has ever known of her enemies (neighboring tribes in this case) is from the war stories of her father. And dragons? Even less of that. I like the idea of my character and maybe yours having to diplomatically sort things out. I don't really know where you plan to go with your char, but mine's going to leave the tribe at some point to learn about the world.

I have no character ideas at present, but I'd like to jump on board the brainstorming train!

My favorite type of story involves questing; going after something or someone with a specific goal in mind. Helps drive the plot along while the characters get time to show their stuff. What in these ruins might be worth questing for?

Also, I saw the question regarding 'era' but wasn't sure I spotted an answer. I imagine the lot of this being rather medieval in nature, but that could be an assumption on my part. What was the era like in terms of tech and advancements prior to the Necromancer's tirade? And in the current era?

Oh, just the usual. Adventure, shiny loot, magical artifacts, old maps, books, weapons, armour, etc. See, the biggest loss wasn't the stuff left behind but the knowledge to make them, so there could be a lot of things that used to be really commonplace but nowadays it's like everyone's back in the iron age. The exception to that of course is any sufficiently large and/or skilled group of people who manged to clear out the ruins and settle them again. Maybe they're squatters or descendants of the people who used to live there, heck, that's probably the best reason for going to them ruins, reclaiming your homeland and all that. If you look at my first post in 'Tomovard', that's exactly how it was with the Tomovians.

Bear in mind however that any ruined city or kingdom is going to be filled with undead, just wandering around aimlessly since the necromancer ain't around anymore, but they're no less dangerous, so no one would go poking around ruins without a good reason. Even if some aren't occupied by the undead, there might be dangerous animals calling it home now, or even a dragon or two, and if not them then bandits, tomb raiders and squatters, or people like the Tomovians looking to restore the kingdom of their ancestors. Basically, none of the ruins are likely to be empty.

So, all I did was blab on about what might be found in the ruins but hopefully it gives you some ideas.

As for your question about the setting, I already did answer that:

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I'd say medieval post-apocalyptic, but that doesn't really say much so... idk, what kind of conditions would the remnants of humanity live in 100 years after near total extinction? Perhaps viking or celtic townships and style of living would be more the norm, but that's just what I think. It could vary from place to place, like, one group could be in the stone stage, another might well already have a king and kingdom with a thriving economy, industry and infrastructure. It's a big world, so anything's possible, but generally speaking, it's medieval.

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Also, Moo, would you like to write the first post in the 'Prairie' location or shall I?

Sure thing! I wasn't sure about posting procedure, but I'll get something up today.

Awesome, I'm looking forward to it. About posting though, here's how it works. Basically, whenever we start a story, I'll ask who should post first and we'll go it from there, simple as that. So E, when you do come up with an idea and we figure things out, you mind answering that question in advance or not worry about it until then?