Leveling up!

[Calleh]

The Trow are believed to be a sub-species of the Men of Midgard. According to Dalriadan myth, the Trow species began with the banishment of Prince Hugo from Dalriada. Hugo was the eldest son of the legendary King Mergovas, who sought to usurp the throne of the newly founded Bai-Ulgan for himself. As punishment for his treasonous actions, the Gods of Midgard condemned Hugo to spend eternity in darkness, never again to set foot on the holy land of Dalriada.

If the Trow are an offshoot of Man, it does seem to me the Syldar could be an offshoot of the Fian...

Unless that was exactly what you were saying and I misread your syntax?

Speaking of which, we need to run into the Trow at some point. Sounds like Wormtongue would be a good image for one, unless they're supposed to be more deformed and brutish instead of just slimy? I wasn't quite sure about that.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Here's my thoughts on the Mer, or at least, the plot regarding the Mer in this quest storyline.

The Mer have a holy place out from the coast of Asga, in a coral reef. The Bowl (its bowl shaped and Mer are pretty simple when it comes to naming things) is a nexus of Water magic. Its also well known to the Glaucans, but they pretty much let the Mer mages do their thing with the Bowl.

Unfortunately the magical disturbances that are... disturbing... Midgard are not limited to the nexus points on land. A large and strong whirlpool has opened up above the Bowl, sending the Mer into a state of panic as the Water elemental magic waxes and wanes in the area. They cast lots, and send out representatives to the Fian, to seek help or to find out what they can do to settle the Bowl back to normal.

Weeta is, of course, chosen to go, along with another Mer.

I plan on going out and finding Gy'lanna (ack spelling) and then when we head back to the coast we can run into some Glaucans, like Fyrian. Jenny your Glaucan can come along with the Mer from the get-go, or..?

[Ediremos]

I'd be happy making the Syldar connected to the Fian in some manner, though I could also see the Fian being descended from the Syldar - as the Syldar have retained their longer lifespans, whereas the Fian (as far as I can tell) look Elven in appearance (with their ears), with no additional years to live?

I'm not overly fussed, but if we could work it out, then I'm sure the Keepers would appreciate the update to their tomes.

Also, speaking of which, I had an idea that would allow Ediremos to join the fun:

Namely, he was sent out to scout the undead rumored to be in the (group's) area, so that he could take notes of the event and return so the Keeper's could update their history books.

In the process, he becomes involved with the group, and once he is warned of the danger crossing the land, decides to join them so he can take notes on the (more interesting, and more important) historical event happening; the undead seem to be the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

If that's workable, I can begin creating Ediremos' background and information.

But as to the Syldar and Fian, I'm happy going either way, yet the Syldar having longer life would indicate they would be more suited for establishing a sub-species. I'm content to let the game members decide.

[Qadir Uthman Khel]

What is the relationship between the Syldar and the Larcus Brotherhood? The Jarnvid is a crowded little wood

[Ediremos]

We went with the Syldar being located in the far west, north-west of the Hadar Wastelands, living within the three forests on the arm coming out of the main portion of land.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I think it's okay for the Syldar to be the ancestors of the Fian, its just that we'd already established that the Fian were the oldest race in Midgard. It hasn't been RPed as such, just written in the wiki.

[Ediremos]

The Fian are considered one of the oldest races, because they came from the Syldar - even if they have changed in name, their beginnings remain the same... so it still works.

Also, I've added additional information to the Syldar social castes, making a total of five (instead of four): There are five castes in the Syldar kingdom, with all holding specific, honorable social station: The Keepers, the Warriors, the Maga, the Societal, and the Sovereigns.

The Societal are effectively farmers, builders, hunters, cloth-weavers; basically anything else not covered with the other four castes - and all Syldar placed into the Societal caste are able to decide their profession (so one could be a hunter, another a tracker, another a butcher, another a cook, etc, etc).

This is to limit the amount of Syldar in any of the previous four castes, and so we don't get bloated numbers - such as 500,000 Maga.

[Dasquian Belargic]

No, the Fian really are the oldest race. They have changed and developed over time, but they are still the oldest race.

The Syldar can be some off-shoot of the Fian.

[Captain Untouchable]

I'm a little confused. The thread is called "leveling up" - is there actually some number-based / levels component to this, or am I missing out on an in-phrase?

[Dasquian Belargic]

It was just a joke, since we had finished one part of the story, including defeat a bad guy (i.e. mini boss).

[Ediremos]

No, the Fian really are the oldest race. They have changed and developed over time, but they are still the oldest race.

The Syldar can be some off-shoot of the Fian.

Come to think of it, I think I'll just make the Syldar their own race - it's simpler, everyone can agree, and we don't have to waste time deciding who did what and who left where.

In a nutshell: The Syldar arrived in Midgard sometime after the Fian settled or were created, seeking to establish a new homeland for whatever reason, and they've controlled the hub where Aureska is located since that time. They've made no grabs at more territory, and have kept mostly to themselves - save when the Keepers seek knowledge about other races and/or events beyond their borders.

The Syldar could have arrived from their previous little rock 100 years after the Fian, 2,000 years after - I don't mind.

Background ala presto.

[Captain Untouchable]

Ah, fair enough. I'm used to doing tabletop RPing - wondered if I'd stumbled across Fans' own personal D&D club or something!

Any space for a newbie? I'd like to be a "Ranger" type character - the out in the wilderness, surviving on his own for the most part sort of guy. Magic-wise, I'm thinkin' Fire and Air, since that's the only Air combo that no one has yet.

I'm toying with the idea of being either a member or former member of the Peltastos Auxilia from the Necian Alliance - a sort of scout/skirmisher type. Maybe someone who went out into the wilderness to get away from it all. I assume Parsideon Denix would be the guy to talk to about that?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

yes he is

[Csephion Draxus]

(Denix here)

Sounds good to me Auxilia would be drawn from allied states so its entirely possible for him to go native in that sense.

[Mandan Hidatsa]

Okay - set up an account for my Ranger guy.

How would service in the Auxilia work? Is there likely to be a minimum commitment, or would he be recruited on an as-needed basis? Would he join voluntarily, or would he have been conscripted? As a non-citizen, are there any benefits to having served in the Auxilia - does service lead to some kind of citizen status for foreigners?

[Csephion Draxus]

The Auxilia is basically made up of able-bodied men in the League's allied states, usually of poorer stock. Non-slaves in the allied states have the option of either paying tax to Demos, or serving the Auxilia. Benefits are that those who serve keep a portion of the spoils taken from conquered enemies (riches, slaves, tangibles, etc) and eventually, service guarantees citizenship (hello Heinlein!)

[Mandan Hidatsa]

In that case, would he be constantly in service to the Auxilia, or would it be only for a certain period of time? Would it be a case of serving for a minimum of three years and then everything is fine? Would he have to serve for six months out of every year? Or would he be called up on a campaign-by-campaign basis? I'm trying to work out whether he'd need to be a former Auxilia person, or just one who's between service periods.

Also, what sort of age would someone start serving in the military? 14? 16? 18? Would it be the same age in the Auxilia, or would scouts and skirmishers be younger (because they don't need to be as physically strong)?

[Csephion Draxus]

Auxilia would be sort of like the army reserves. They're not full-time soldiers really, and they do whatever they do for a profession until a Satrap calls a levy for troops, usually in preparation for a conquest, and rarely for instances of defense.

[Mandan Hidatsa]

That suits me perfectly, then.

I've added a bio for Mandan to the wiki - let me know if any of it seems dumb.

Now I have my character, how should I go about introducing them? Can I jump in with one of the active threads, or am I better off trying to arrange some backstory stuff on my own first?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

You can jump into any of the active threads.