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After the Shadows Discussion


Anacybele
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Alrighty, nobody seems to have anymore questions or anything else to add to the sign-up thread, so let's start figuring out how we're going to...well, start this! :P

I'll open the actual RP, but I'm lacking on ideas on how to actually start it. I mean, I know I'll open up the first post with some life things, to show the lives of my characters, but then real plot details escape me. Maybe we can figure those out along the way?

The general plot though, is to help clean up after that big war. Take care of enemy stragglers such as Red Claw bandits and Melorans who won't get with the program (there will be some minor skirmishes) and help with reconstruction in the hardest-hit countries (Talgria and Cilae, pretty much, not counting how Astryn was already in a poor state).

I'll also reiterate the info from the OP of the sign-up thread so it doesn't get lost.

 

Altarais has a history almost as wide as Tellius does, and a little of their history actually intertwines too. I'll go over it as I describe each of Altarais's nations. Altarais is somewhat like Tellius on the surface, but its history does have differences. They managed to make peace between the laguz and beorc much sooner, and the issues and conflicts throughout their history ended up being on a more personal level. The reason Altarais managed to survive the flood, however, was the efforts of three powerful light magic users of the Saint class. Their strength together actually ended up being enough to push the waves back and save the entire land. It wasn't without great cost, however, as the Saints' lives were lost in doing this. Their spirits and power, however, were sealed inside a stone they created. This is the Miracle Stone. And their relatives built a little village to house the stone in their honor. That village eventually became home to a full tribe of magic wielders and healers.

Now Altarais has ten nations, four beorc ones and six laguz. Here's a brief description of each:

Beorc Altarais Nations

Spoiler

Talgria - This one is pretty much an equivalent to Crimea in Tellius. It kind of has two halves separated by a mountain range. There are a lot of farms and agriculture, generally good people too. Its king, Wencelis, was killed in the Shadow War, however, and his sister, Louise (named before I knew FE7's Louise existed) is the newly crowned queen, and a Pegasus rider able to use swords, lances, and anima tomes. She's doing her best to fulfill her brother's wishes as he had told her with his dying breath. Within Talgria is the Elhorhi earldom, ruled by earl Azura. She's the lord character of my fic and was born a commoner, but when the tribe she was born into, the same tribe mentioned above, was massacred in a previous war twenty two years before the Shadow War, King Wencelis chose to expand that tribe's land into an earldom, and Azura, as the daughter of the tribe's chief, was granted the right to rule over it. However, Talgria only looks peaceful and happy on the surface. Its history actually has several questionable events. This nation was once at war with neighboring Astryn, and then refused to document it. Many of the present Talgrians have no idea this war even happened due to this. Not even the current royal family knew until Wencelis had done some digging. Back at the time of this war, Talgrians were rather greedy and prideful and didn't want to "hurt" their reputation. Ever since, these two nations have been on pretty unfriendly terms and only during and after the Shadow War were any efforts to fix that begun. And only Astryn seems to remember how...well, awful this nation used to be. Talgria was also one of several nations that left Melora hanging in a dire time of need and before peace between the races here had been made, they also had wars and skirmishes with the laguz. Talgria does have a friend and ally in Cilae though (and of course, Cilae didn't acknowledge that war with Astryn either to help their friends). Talgria's capital is the city of Aracion and their army is mainly made up of cavalry, physical infantry, and heavy knights. RPers deciding to use characters from this nation could be part of Azura's army or part of Queen Louise's. Or simply mercenaries hired by them or something, it's up to them. The main army is led by General Leyon of the Royal Knights and General William and General Russell of the infantry troops. Russell is Leyon's older brother. Leyon and Azura were also wed after the Shadow War and they have a daughter named Nancy.

Cilae - This is the most technological and religious nation of Altarais, ruled by Queen Belinda, a woman and master of the sword (meaning she's of the Trueblade class). They don't like fighting and prefer to study and advance technology and religion. They worship Ashunera, not exactly knowing that she'd been split into Yune and Ashera during the flood. So Cilae's army isn't exactly massive or anything. Their troops are mainly made up of Pegasus knights and mages. This country does have the best medicine and medical treatments available though, and they're also kind enough to share this with the rest of the continent if need be. They're on best terms with Talgria, but both Astryn and Eraghoa hate them and Cilae doesn't exactly like them either. During the Shadow War, however, Melora had ransacked them and taken over their capital of Jerusa, and Talgria and a few other nations came together to set aside their differences and help take the nation back. RPers with characters here can serve Belinda or be mercenaries or one of those wise people studying tech and medicine. The Pegasus knights are led by General Eilonwy.

Astryn - Talgria isn't the only one that's had an ironic history. Astryn is the largest nation in Altarais and closest to being an equivalent to Begnion. It's not an empire though, and has a king and queen like the other nations. Its rulers are the newly crowned and newly wed King Bryan and Queen Faline. Both of them grew up as commoners and have no experience at this kind of thing, yet they are determined to make this country much better than it is. Astryn, despite its size, is the poorest nation here by far. Many people have little food or money, even in the capital of Medann and the nobles have only spent their time arguing about who would take the throne. Their ruler at the time was a very ailing queen and twenty two years prior, they'd been practically destroyed by one of Melora's generals who sought to rule it himself in the name of his king. Bryan was the only remaining heir left after his mother, the queen's sister, had been killed by said general, but his father took him and fled to Talgria to hide until Bryan was ready to learn who he really was and what he needed to do. Astryn hates Talgria because of their history, and this is a gap Bryan and Faline definitely wish to bridge. Astryn wasn't always poor though. In fact, they were once the most powerful nation in Altarais. Their army was made up of every kind of unit imaginable on this continent, with the Pegasus knights and Dracoknights the biggest pride and joy there. They had amazing architects and buildings, and plenty of resources which they even had no problem sharing. Talgria didn't make this easy having been right at the eastern border, however, and then both they and later Melora brought this nation into a severe slump. Both nations are hated by Astrynians all over the country. Yet, they were also once on fairly good terms with Melora (more about this is in the Melora section). RPers here would mainly be helping with a lot of reconstruction or being new recruits to Astryn's now small army. Faline leads the remaining Pegasus knights, General Eric and General Lartz lead the Dracoknights, while General Alec leads the rest of the army. Bryan and Faline also have twin heirs, Prince Alex and Princess Calina.

Melora - This was the antagonistic nation of the Shadow War, whom everyone else banded together to defeat. It wasn't easy, however, as Melora's history allowed it to dethrone Astryn as the powerhouse nation of the continent. Astryn wasn't the only one ravaged by disaster here, as Melora also was nearly destroyed once. But not by another nation. This was a natural disaster that came out of nowhere. Half of the northern Altarais coast is made up of a line of volcanoes. Melora is on the western end of this northern coast, so it has a majority of these volcanoes. Several hundred years before, a number of them erupted at once, spreading dark smoke and clouds over the nation and a small portion of Cilae to the east. Cilae solved its own problem easily with its tech and wisdom, but nobody bothered to help Melora, the once beautiful and flower-filled nation that was now effectively a wasteland. The people there could only adapt by becoming nothing but fighters. Fighting to survive at all. Astryn was at least able to grow a little food and had some allies in the dragon and hawk laguz. Melora couldn't grow anything anymore, and could only hunt what animals they could find and tear each other apart getting this food. Over time, so many of them became warriors and fighters that their army grew to unimaginable numbers. Melora also once aided Astryn against Talgria in their war, as both did not like the way Talgria was treating them at the time. However, Astrynians ended up leaving some of their Meloran allies to die at the hands of the Talgrians, which only made things worse for Melora. Melora also wound up scaring away their former friends, the heron laguz of Secaini. Nobody mentioned them favorably in history either. They eventually became strong enough to start two wars. The first war was the one where Bryan's mother was killed and Astryn was officially decimated to poverty levels. The second was the Shadow War. They had become so bitter and tired of living the way they did with no help that they decided to take that stone, use its power, and attack. They allied themselves with a large organization of bandits and thieves known as the Red Claw (who has some stragglers left after the Shadow War). Previously, the Red Claw was just a group of outlaws who were trying to survive. But over time, that changed as they grew in numbers and strength. And they became some pretty awful people. They were led by a gruff warrior named Bernard during the Shadow War, but he was defeated by Talgria's General Leyon. Melora once had a king named Darthen, but he was defeated during that first war. It was then ruled by his wife Queen Isis, who was defeated in the Shadow War. Her son, Prince Royce, was also killed in it. The only heir left was his younger sister, Erys, who is now queen and working to restore Melora to the beautiful nation it once was. Their arm has a lot of Dracoknights, Swordmasters, axe infantry, and some mages. Melora is currently somewhat divided, as some of its people support Erys's efforts while others don't give a damn about helping and still just want to survive. RPers can join either side here.

Laguz Altarais Nations

Spoiler

Eraghoa - This is the wolf laguz nation of Altarais located right north of Talgria and right south of Cilae, ruled by King Rothgar. Their border is made up by a vast and beautiful forest that was the main reason the beorc and laguz here were able to make peace. They both found that this forest was so lovely that neither could bear to fight in it and cause damage there as a result. It was named the Forest of Hope due to this. The wolves here are mainly skilled hunters, as well as great cooks. Their nation runs off of their talent with food. During the beorc-laguz conflicts, however, they were ransacked by Melora, and left starving when many of their food sources were overtaken or destroyed. People from Cilae up north were also escaping across the border from an attack and when the wolves found them...well, let's just say they found new things to add to their menus. Ever since, these two nations have not been on good terms. Eraghoa and Talgria are pretty neutral to each other though and don't mind helping one another when they need it. Eraghoa's main military commander is General Derien. I never named this nation's capital though, so any ideas here would be appreciated.

Perais - The island nation of Perais is home to the raven laguz. The bird laguz mainly work as messengers, mercenaries, or spies for the other nations, as it's convenient due to their ability of flight and that each bird laguz nation is at one corner of the continent. The two Perais islands are at the northeastern corner next to Cilae. The bird laguz don't mind this work at all and it's how they earn a lot of money and resources for their small homes. The raven laguz are mainly messengers. They're ruled by Queen Lilah. They and the other eastern coast nations are susceptible to tropical storms and hurricanes, however, so they sometimes share Cilae's advanced ships in attempts to avoid these. One such tropical storm actually almost derailed Azura's group en route back to Eraghoa during a mission in the Shadow War. Any RPers using raven laguz would most likely be messengers helping Talgria, Cilae, or Eraghoa.

Orenias - The dragon laguz nation of Altarais, located south of Larame and west of Astryn, didn't play a role in the Shadow War until rather late, but they joined when they found their Astryn allies were in some trouble again. The dragons were friends with Astryn for a very long time and they share a close friendship down to their royal families. Ruled by King Cragen, they were heartbroken when they saw Astryn in the slump it went into and when their queen died. They fought hard alongside them in the Shadow War as well, only to lose a beloved general as well as their own queen in it. Cragen remains as strong as he can though, despite being overprotective of his daughter. His wife and daughter are the only blue dragons in existence, btw. But because of their relationship with Astryn, however, they're not on friendly terms with Talgria or Cilae.

Larame - This is the beast laguz nation right south of Melora, whose ruler actually has yet to be named (ideas are welcome). They're not on great terms with Orenias, mainly due to hunting and territory issues. They often argue over who is allowed to hunt what and where at their border. However, the beast laguz of Larame highly value loyalty, making up for mistakes, and returning favors and repaying debts. They join the Shadow War against Melora when a big misunderstanding leads them to make accusations against Astryn of attacking them and Astryn proves themselves innocent. As an apology, they more than agree to help out. One of their military leaders, a white tiger named Vorcas, becomes a little TOO loyal to Bryan, much to his chagrin (Vorcas is like a laguz version of Frederick lol).

Secaini - The two-island nation of Secaini, west of Melora, is home to the heron laguz here. They were once good friends with Melora until the latter's changes scared them off. Secaini feels bad, however, and does legitimately want to help and rekindle their friendship. But they don't know how and are afraid to try out of fear of getting hurt. However, Melora decided to use that to their advantage in the Shadow War and manipulated them into fighting the war on their side. One heron defected to the other side, however, to help save them. And even now, Secaini's ruler (who also has no name right now, but I'd like it to be a queen) still wants to revive that friendship. Melora's new queen, Erys, thankfully also wants this and even begged forgiveness for the manipulation.

Recathe - This is the hawk laguz nation of Altarais, located south of Astryn. It plays the most minor role in my fic, but they were highly involved in the war twenty two years prior to the Shadow War. They were often hired by Astryn as mercenaries and messengers, and sometimes to help noble families in Astryn. Sometimes they even babysat their kids. lol As such, they also tried to help them against Melora at that time and were fine with helping again in the Shadow War.

As you can see, over history, the nations of Altarais were entangled in personal vendettas against each other for sometimes petty reasons and it's led to wars. They forgot more important things and focused too much on themselves at times instead of working together more often. The Shadow War finally taught them that lesson and only now are they learning to do more teamwork and, well, basically get along better.

You can also post art of your characters if you want. :) I have some, though my sprites are better since the artwork I did of the characters I'll be using is kind of outdated and old. I'm also working on Heroes style chibis of them!

Participants: Anacybele, Dragoncat, SoulWeaver, Toyotasomi no Miko, Hylian Air Force, OrangePerson

Edited by Anacybele
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My three can be hired mercenaries. You pick which of your royals hires them. I do think Azura would be more interesting though, her and Cerai are pretty similar personality wise. 

As far as more plot goes...maybe there's an assassination plot? A Red Claw straggler gathering a bunch of friends and plotting to have Bryan or/and Azura assassinated?

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Some general advice from someone who's run a couple of (reasonably) successful games, I would strongly recommend sitting down and at least having an outline of various plot points. You don't need to plan every detail but have an idea of what you want to achieve in each "arc". Generally, starting the story fairly small and local helps, just to give players a chance to get used to their characters and the setting. Even if you don't feel like you need any advice, I'd strongly recommend at least thinking about it. Roleplays on SF either die because the GM got lazy/ran out of ideas or the players get bored.

An example would be from my own roleplay shameless self advertising, where the party were initially sent to deal with rumours of a treasonous minor noble. Eventually, through their choices and actions, they've managed to get involved in a continental wide conflict. 

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I think that's good advice Shin. Although I don't think she wants a huge conflict, we can certainly work with some smaller stuff like the assassination plot I suggested.

Thanks for gracing us with your advice. I've seen how successful your RPs are and I appreciate you taking time to pass on some of your knowledge. I'm sure Ana does too.

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On 5/25/2017 at 6:14 PM, Dragoncat said:

My three can be hired mercenaries. You pick which of your royals hires them. I do think Azura would be more interesting though, her and Cerai are pretty similar personality wise. 

As far as more plot goes...maybe there's an assassination plot? A Red Claw straggler gathering a bunch of friends and plotting to have Bryan or/and Azura assassinated?

Not a bad idea.

And yeah, I do think Azura is the best fit to hire your guys since she's technically even shorter on troops than Bryan due to her army being brand new while his already had some form of existence. The Whitefires could definitely serve as a sort of crutch while Azura's looking for permanent recruits. Plus, I can see her and Cerai not getting along at all at first because of their more brash attitudes clashing and then later being all "sistas for life!" lol

On 5/26/2017 at 7:34 AM, Shin said:

Some general advice from someone who's run a couple of (reasonably) successful games, I would strongly recommend sitting down and at least having an outline of various plot points. You don't need to plan every detail but have an idea of what you want to achieve in each "arc". Generally, starting the story fairly small and local helps, just to give players a chance to get used to their characters and the setting. Even if you don't feel like you need any advice, I'd strongly recommend at least thinking about it. Roleplays on SF either die because the GM got lazy/ran out of ideas or the players get bored.

An example would be from my own roleplay shameless self advertising, where the party were initially sent to deal with rumours of a treasonous minor noble. Eventually, through their choices and actions, they've managed to get involved in a continental wide conflict. 

Oh yeah, definitely, I pretty much do the same for my fics. But great advice nonetheless, Shin. :)

Edited by Anacybele
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I guess Xandra can be recruited by the royal that reaches Cilae first, but I think it would be pretty funny if she fought Bryan was still a teenager.

I would send you art, but idk how to draw

And btw I changed her personality, just saying, so maybe u can check it out

Edited by OrangePerson
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On 5/28/2017 at 10:07 AM, Dragoncat said:

Oh if she's that short on troops I'm tempted to drag Boyd and Eloin in. And yep that'd be lol. Cerai might annoy her on purpose.

Yeah, Azura was only recently granted a noble title and land and all, so she's only just begun to form her own army. And indeed. lol

On 5/28/2017 at 0:58 PM, OrangePerson said:

I guess Xandra can be recruited by the royal that reaches Cilae first, but I think it would be pretty funny if she fought Bryan was still a teenager.

I would send you art, but idk how to draw

And btw I changed her personality, just saying, so maybe u can check it out

Mkay, sounds good. And I've been waiting for someone to decide to mistake Bryan for a teen, that would indeed be funny. XD I get that a lot myself because of how young I look!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Ah, damn it, I completely forgot about this in the hype for E3 and stuff. I'm sorry, folks. But I still wish to do the RP! Is anyone else still interested? @Dragoncat? Anyone else who signed up?

Speaking of which, I should put in the OP just who did sign up.

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I was just starting to wonder. You might want to tag everyone else like you did me so they get a notification and can get back to you faster. But you know I'm still in.

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I'll try to keep up, but like I said before I'm not the best at checking in on RPs on a regular basis. I also recently discovered GoddessKiss, so that could be a potential problem as well because it's surprisingly addictive. Anyways, it's up to you, I'm fine either way as long as it's understood that I might be absent for up to several topics' worth of stuff.

Also pfff, art of my OCs? My friend who was going to whip up the first drawing of said OCs randomly stopped talking to me about two months ago, so that's a no.

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4 minutes ago, OrangePerson said:

WELL OF COURSE! I actually checked this everyday rip

Oh man, now I'm really sorry. >_<

But let's get a good plot idea asap then! I'll be the one to open up the actual RP, of course, but I need an idea of how to begin it and all of us need to know where to go from there. I'm thinking of starting from Azura's point of view, not long after she's given birth to hers and Leyon's daughter. She's kind of still recovering, but is getting reports of Red Claw stragglers and stuff. Bryan also sent her and Queen Louise a message asking for a little assistance on resources. Astryn is still pretty low on like...everything, so yeah.

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I like the idea of starting with Azura, however we need to establish were to start. Anywho, if you don't mind I actually based Xandra on an already existing character from another game [Papa Louie]:

UpdatedIf you think that's bad, I can substitute Xandra for another character.

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Since Azura is recovering in her only fairly recently finished Castle Elhorhi (a castle does take time to build, and it's finished between two and three years after the end of the Shadow War), that's where things will begin.

And don't worry, you do as you like as long as it doesn't conflict too much with others' plans. :P

Hylian Air Force, you'd probably be in Astryn helping Bryan and Faline, as Orenias is their biggest ally.

Edited by Anacybele
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>originally forgets to post character when i come home the day i reserved a slot
>when i do remember, there's the post saying that there's enough people, which means that sign ups are closed
>thinks i'm not actually in it until i see that i'm pinged here

Okay that aside, I'd actually be alright still doing this, I guess. I mean I'd have to actually post a character now but that shouldn't be too tough I think.

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Don't worry, you posted that you wanted to join, and that was good enough for me. :P

I'm still trying to think of an opening post, so just hold tight, everyone.

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On 6/20/2017 at 10:01 AM, OrangePerson said:

Are going to have a posting order?

I would like to, but if one or more people ends up having to delay their post for whatever reason, it would slow things down a lot. However, nobody should go crazy posting and leave anyone to have to read through a gazillion posts before they get a chance to make their own.

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  • 4 weeks later...

@SoulWeaver @OrangePerson @Toyotasomi no Miko @Hylian Air Force

Ana is back from her break from the forum and she still plans on doing this. She should have an opening post soon, she forgot about it for awhile. If any of you want to drop out, speak now or forever hold your piece. And if you're still in, also speak.

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