Recruiting thread! For a 2nd ed game!(Recruiting and stuff!)

[PurpleXVI]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...enBorders4.png

Alright, so I cranked out a quick continental map of your homeworld, here's what the different places are:

#1 is the Shivercoast
#2 is Pur-Bien
#3 is Kasdek
#4 is Rhost
#5 is Angor's Haven
#6 is Southmarch
#7 is the Shadowfel Forest
#8 is Eastmarch
#9 is the Domain of Decay
#10 is Elesia
#11 is the Strifelands, a large jumble of minor countries and lords each clinging to a small area of land. While it's peaceful today, it got it's name from having borders that you couldn't rely on for more than a day in the past. When Pur-Bien started it's recent expansionism, though, almost every lord in the Strifelands realized who was high on the agenda for conquest, and they formed a loose alliance. They have no overarching government, laws or anything else of that order, the only thing they stand together against is Pur-Bien, and occasionally they'll even have small, internal wars, though those are quickly settled for fear that Pur-Bien might take advantage of the chaos. There are too many places and things packed in there to give it it's own entry.
#12 and #13: South and North Edania, respectively.

I'll try to add in info for as many places as I can before the game starts, but after that, I'll only add things per request.

[PurpleXVI]

Origins

Places: Rhost

Rhost is the flattest country in all of Known Achen, they have plains and flatlands everywhere, hardly even anything that qualifies as a hill, and short of Kasdek, there's no country that has less forest. Most of Rhost's people are farmers, most of Rhost's land is farmland, while this makes the country dull, it's still one of the most important in all of Achen.

Angor's Haven, Pur-Bien, Kasdek, Southmarch, the Shivercoast, Eastmarch and even parts of the Strifelands rely on Rhost for their food as they don't have the farmland to feed all of their people themselves. This means that Rhost, for all it's farmers, is rich, the only thing that it lacks is an army, but it hardly needs that as no one dares to attack them.

All the nearby nations know that if they failed to take Rhost, they would never see as much as a bag of flour for the next decade, not to mention that none of the other nations in the area trust anyone else to feed their people due to long-standing rivalries, so there would be interventions and counter-invasions and at the end it would be unsure if there was even enough farmland left to feed anyone.

The only country in recent past to attempt to invade Rhost was Pur-Bien, and that invasion was foiled by the Shiverblades when Pur-Bien's soldiers tried to march through Angor's Haven to avoid Rhost's heavily fortified border with Pur-Bien.

While Rhost's geography is entirely unremarkable, it does have a few interesting things within it's borders. For example the Lord's Gathering. Near the exact center of Rhost there is a circle of seven tall, alabaster-white spires made from some unknown rock. Each is large enough to be the tower of some mighty castle, but they have no apparent entrances or windows, they merely rise half a mile off the surrounding plain each and then end.

Within this circle there stands seven-hundred and seventy-seven marble statues, no two alike, each having the appearance of a nobleman or king. As far back as records show, at least two-hundred years, the statues and the spires have remained. Despite centuries of existence, nothing has damaged them. Neither weather, magic or madmen have managed to grind the statues to dust or topple one of the spires. Most sages believe that it will never change, and none but a few ancient men bother to research the origins or reasons of the Gathering.

Rhost is a monarchy and the king has ultimate power, but the nation has almost always had wise rulers who listened to their advisors. In the last hundred years they have never been the aggressors in a war.


Notable Citizens of Rhost

King Jonathan the First

The current regent of Rhost was made king when the old lord was struck down by an assassin while headed for Eastmarch with his retinue. Naught but a humble farmer, the attack happened next to his lands, and while the king's retinue was paralyzed by a spell of the assassin's, Jonathan, armed with only his hoe, went to assist the monarch.

Though he managed to drive off the assassin, the king was mortally wounded, and with his last breath he named Jonathan the next king of the land. Many have called the decision madness, but while Jonathan doesn't quite have the mastery of politics or statesmanship that the old king did, the nation hasn't fallen apart in his hands.

King Jonathan was the first ruler to request that adventurous men and women from his country travel to Angor's Haven to investigate the new world on the other side of the portal.


Rolf the Eagle

A legendary marksman and bandit, Rolf and his men have harassed travellers on Rhost's roads for years. Generally, they've operated near the borders of the Shadowfel Forest, slipping across to hide whenever the king's men were close to capturing them.

Lately, however, rumour has it that Rolf has disappeared and his men are leaderless. Strangely enough, this rumour started around the time when King Jonathan sent out the call for brave men.

[ 01-12-2007, 01:18 AM: Message edited by: PurpleXVI ]

[PurpleXVI]

Origins

Places: Angor's Haven

No one still living remembers when or why Angor's Haven was founded, but everyone alive at the moment knows that it is the heart of the druidic tradition on Achen.

This heavily forested area is where most rangers receive their training, too.

It's hard to call Angor's Haven a "nation," because it doesn't have any sort of government. The closest thing is the Grand Druid of Achen who makes his home there, but while he and his servants see to the well-being of the land, they do not presume to collect taxes or make laws. In essence, the nation is almost completely anarchic. Anyone who isn't harming another person, or nature, is left unmolested, but should someone violated these basic principles, they can expect, at first, admonishment from the locals, and if they don't change their ways, they often end up being expelled or killed.

Angor's Haven is also where the portal appeared during the last winter. First the druids examined it, learning little except that it was safe to traverse and seemed permanent. Then they invited sages from all over the continent, even some Elesian mages, to study it, and still nothing was discovered. No one had any idea who or what had created it, where it lead(Except in the broadest sense, it lead to a world not terribly unlike their own.) or why it had been created, if indeed it was the work of a sentient being.

Of course, having invited sages from all over the continent to study it, word of the portal soon spread, and many rulers were requesting permission to send their men through. The druids conferred and did not feel that they wanted armies marching through the forests of Angor's Haven, nor that sending soldiers to the new world would be wise. Anyone there would surely take it as a clear sign of aggression.

Instead, they made a proclamation that all who had the bravery were permitted to pass through the portal that they might explore the new lands. Soon, the rulers of the surrounding lands were doing the same, each hoping that one of their citizens would return with glory or riches for their nation.

[Armen]

Originally posted by Man Who Fights Like Woman: Cool, Encard might be coming back! That is significant and awesome, especially if we can get the band back together.

Hmmm. As some of you folks seem to know each other and seem to have done a bit of this before I thought it would be sensible to introduce myself as the new person.

Hello.

I find myself on Ironworks primarily as a Baldurs's Gate CRPG player and that's where my posting history is. I did play (and DM) PnP D&D a looong time ago starting with 'just' D&D and then 2nd edition but I'd have to say it was mainly kill the baddies grab their stuff - kill a bigger baddie grab his stuff . . . kind of affair. I'm fairly well read in a variety of fantasy fiction including D&D-derived settings although you'll be relieved to hear I'm not going to call my character Drizzt.

So, I haven't played RPGs with people for a long time and I haven't played on-line RPGs at all. Purple XVI has said I can have a go though and I'm fairly confident with everybody's help I'll do OK. I'm interested to see how it works in fact. Oh and time-wise I'm based in the UK.

Here's some of my more expansive posts/ threads from the Baldur's Gate forums to give you a bit more of an idea

http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/cg...c;f=2;t=024917

http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/cg...c;f=2;t=021939

http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...=003808#000000

[ 01-12-2007, 06:49 AM: Message edited by: Armen ]

[PurpleXVI]

No reason to be so humble, all of us had a first time at this.

The ones of us who've met in the past are I, Encard, Man(Whom we'll be calling Seph for the most part, since that's part of his old name and is faster than his new one.) and, on the off chance he joins us, Calaethis.

[Armen]

I was going for polite and informative rather than humble but thanks anyway [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Ah, online RPGs aren't so different from tabletop ones, they just take longer usually. This is usually good, since it lets you write descriptions and consider a course of action rather than making a snap decision.

And I look forward to playing with you!

[PurpleXVI]

Still, I think you've got a good idea going. Not everyone here knows the "old guard" and we don't know you fresh meat, so why doesn't everyone introduce themselves?

Here's my go at it.

I got dragged into a D&D(First edition) game at the tender age of 8 and stuck with that all the way till I was 13, upgrading to second edition along the way. Ever since then, I've been stuck on RPG's, both RPG and Ye Olde Pen and Paper version.

Found IW when I was 15 or so, started posting and that was also what seriously got me hooked on the internet thing. That was where I first participated in the "forum RPG"-bit, too. I've haunted various parts of the internet with that schtick, becoming both known and feared in the process(Don't believe me? Just ask Seph whether he'd be more afraid of me with a D20 or a hand grenade.).

My fantasy fiction experience is everything from the standard(Dragonlance) to the slightly less departing(Feist) and the downright alien(Ricardo Pinto).

Time-wise I'm posting from Denmark, GMT+1.

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Well if we're introducing ourselves I might as well go ahead and do it too.

My first experience with RPing was over messenger programs at around 11 or 12. We didn't have any rule systems, so we did freeform then. When third edition came out I got in on the ground floor and ran a lunchtime campaign with my friends at school. A few months later I got involved in Purple's 2nd edition game, and have been stuck on that system since then, with occasional trips back to third for my old groups.

I was introduced to IW shortly after my 14th birthday while looking for help with Icewind Dale. It was the first time I ever did forum RPing. Since then, my experience with gaming systems has included: D&D 2nd and third editions, Alternity, Unisystem, Vampire, various d20 supplements, several homebrew systems, and WH40k.

Believe Purple when he says he's feared as a DM, but he's also fair. And with all DM's, if he asks "Are you sure?" you might want to reconsider your course of action.

Current posting time is US Central (GMT -5) but will soon be on US Eastern (GMT -4).

[PurpleXVI]

The very first thread is up!

"To New Horizons"

Give it a look, I'm sure you'll find at least something agreeable about it.