DEP's Fantasy Story Stuff

[donteatpoop]

I forgot all about this.

[End Master]

Once again bumped for great justice.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

Prince Karo Zestani Zessimo

Age: 19
Born: Irysopolis-by-the-Sea
Nicknames: “The Improvident”, “The Spoiled”, “His Excessiveness”
Lineage: The Zessimo Dynasty
Siblings: None

Prince Karo was born into an age of excess. His mother, Queen Ismela, died during childbirth.

As the firstborn son of the Emperor’s Puppet-King, Gilder Zessimo, one in a long and undisturbed line of ruling Zessimos, Karo learned quickly the subtle ways of the court - of political maneuvering and intrigue. Of POWER. While the ruling House of Zessimo might be an Imperial puppet regime, it was arguably one of the most (if not THE most) powerful of such regimes in the known world.

The power the King of wave-washed Irysopolis wielded was formidable in many ways. He might only be “Ruler of the Sea of Storms” in name alone, but the warm and friendly history between the city-state of Irysopolis and Pex Nectus meant that in truth, the King got away with more than your average “local ruler” and DID in fact wield considerable power over the Empire’s sea trade. Not just in name. And not only did the people of Irysopolis and Pex Nectus share a common blood, language, and culture - they also shared a trading partnership that had been in place for almost a millennia, even before the coastal city-state had been assimilated completely.

It wasn’t the Emperor that the Irysian Kings envied or feared….it was the Portmaster they feared. More on that later.

Moving on,

From a very young age the prince showed signs of emotional instability and cruelty, often throwing violent fits and temper tantrums or crying for hours on end if he didn’t get his way. At the tender age of five he killed and gutted a pregnant mongbat that he found wandering around the palace (house pets were very popular during this era). He then proceeded to torture and kill the eight minglings within her stomach. His father stumbled upon this savage scene and quickly ushered Karo away.

However, instead of addressing the problem, Gilder ignored it. Until….well….it was too late.

Karo’s childhood was a charmed one, even with his father’s constant absence and not having a mother. He received the finest education from the finest tutors gold and influence could buy. He developed a taste for the ‘finer things’ early on, and was always garbed in the finest and trendiest of fashions. Indeed, he started several fashion trends of his own, which quickly spread like wildfire across the Empire.

Karo was excessive in his spending, excessive in his speech, excessive in his sex, excessive in his drug use, excessive in his violence, excessive in every way imaginable. As he came into his teen years, he began to build up his OWN influence. Often he and his father clashed heads. His father, who had been in a state of depression for the last fourteen years (after the death of Queen Ismela), hardly had the energy to fight with the prince. By the age of sixteen, Karo wielded as much if not MORE power than his moping father.

But, knowing Karo as we do, it shouldn’t come to the reader as a surprise that THAT wasn’t enough for him.

To be continued….

[ChubbyTeletubby]

Thanks for reminding me, End!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had completely forgotten. I did LOVE what you did with Xol, End. The corpses working in the factories, ect.

Very funny. I'm going to re-read this whole thread. I had COMPLETELY forgotten.

Can you believe I'd forget something?

Wonders never cease.

EDIT: Hey guys, I got this REALLY cool map making software now, too! Just so you know. When I make my finished map you're gonna be like "damn."

[End Master]

Despite it being in perpetual development hell, I still think this attempt at collaboration had some neat ideas.

[End Master]

Other than a few minor changes, the only thing I'd probably majorly change/add with some of my writing is the Xolan government system. Doesn't seem like the Xolans would have a proper hereditary king/leader anymore given their way of life, so I'd change the "Kingdom" bit. I still don't really see it as a democratic society though, but whoever is the Xolan leader would've gotten there on merit rather than bloodline.

Plus this would be a another difference between them and the big ass Empire south of them, since that place is completely ruled through a class system and bloodlines.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

Okay, it's late.

I have a lot to read over. As far as scale and doing maps and stuff I got you covered there. I could even do a side by side comparison with Europe or North America.

This continent is pretty massive by my original reckonings. I might scale it down a bit. Weather patterns come into play, as far as where one would put deserts, plains, forests, ect.

For me, having a solid geographical foundation has been first and foremost in creating a solid, believable world. Give me a little time here.

I mean, I haven't even gone beyond reading End's first post yet.

EDIT: Usoki et. all

I can totally revamp the map and I'm quite sure you'll like it or at least tolerate it. Just give me some time to read over what you guys put forward.

I agree it's a little too Europy.

Actually that's what I was going for at the time. Just give me a couple days. I'll read over your stuff tonight, and start on my new map tomorrow. I'm quite certain you'll like it.

EDIT 2: Wow. I forgot how much thought I put into this. I was really pleased with everything I read.

And how much thought you guys put into it as well. I view this still as a rough draft, though. It can still be refined. It is my firm belief, however, that if you take the time to create a realistic world - tedious and boring at times thought it may be - you position yourself for success. Once a rich, complex backdrop has been set the players in this breathing world can bring everything into it's fullness. Comedy, drama, adventure, ect.

Fun fun. At least for me. No need to hurry. If this is just a side project for all of us, but I'd still think it was fun. I like having creative outlets like this. Of course I'm sure you all know I'm stealing from real world history here, but it's fun giving it a little twist.

I love your idea for the layout of Drevlin, Usoki. Hilarious. Ha! Oh man. I remember seeing in Shaun of the Dead the kind of thing End put forward as far as putting zombies to use. But I still love the idea. Very practical.



I dunno. Thanks for saving this stuff, DEP. I had all but forgotten some of this stuff.

EDIT 3: Also, I think it's great I can tell from simple writing style who wrote what. I like how End has kept everything, especially language, interconnected. The peoples of the Northwest have very harsh, almost slavic sounding names. I think we're all kind of on the same page here. Maybe the only weakness I see is over complicating things. While I believe in a rich backdrop, I think it's more important to keep everything valid and consistent.

I'm pretty happy with everything I've read, though. Probably...it's just late...and I...ZzzzZZzzzZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Oh, and Apoth: Feel free to contribute as you want!!!!! Give us some artifacts!!!! Give us anything!! This is an open forum!

EDIT 3: As far as fleeting interest goes, I understand. But um, as I said, this is but a rough draft. I like a lot of the ideas put forth here though.

They need refining and simplification. I have a few tricks up my sleeves here, folks. Give me some time. Let me rework all of this.

I really like some of the ideas here. They just need a little tweaking.

Thanks for giving me a new project. It's been a long time for me. Okay I'm seriously going to bed now.

EDIT 4: I, um, don't expect anyone to be as enthusiastic as I am, though.

Because it's really just a pain in the ass. I really do have a couple tricks up my sleeve though. Give me a couple weeks. You MIGHT like it.

[donteatpoop]

Do you have any need for artifacts? I like writing back stories for them and specifying their powers and location.

There's nothing wrong with additional tools for the writers to use... You know, assuming anyone uses any of this.

[apotheosis]

Do you have any need for artifacts? I like writing back stories for them and specifying their powers and location.

[End Master]

Bumped for Great Justice.

(Or rather for fleeting interest in it once again)

[apotheosis]

Do the posts have size limits?

Hmmm... seems they do, 10000 character max. That's lame, but I suppose it gives reason for shameless post whoring.

[donteatpoop]

There. Found that in my e-mail. That's all I got.

Now go write a story based on all of this.

[donteatpoop]

Grishrak has never turned down the usefulness of magic in combat, but
he doesn't particularly like to rely on it. The few "wizards" under
his control are untrained "Hedge wizards" who have some natural
ability, but nothing formal. Most of them are able to cast a few
combative Elementalist type spells, and of course Nature magic.
Healing magic is minor as being a bunch of barbarians, they use a lot
of natural herbal medicines, though after a big battle with lots of
wounded it's used more extensively.

Illusions are not used (Too wimpy) and Necromancy is right out. (Too creepy)

Religions amongst the individual tribes can vary, but most of them
believe in burning their dead. (To prevent necromancy no doubt!) A
simple form of ancestor worship exists to an extent, and a few warrior
type gods exist in the pantheon. Grishrak himself isn't particularly
religious, and that's probably due to his childhood. Though he does
acknowledge that they do exist. He leaves such matters to Shaman and
others who place more faith in their favor.

Grishrak also has many wives and offspring (And probably more
offspring since he's also taken many mistresses in the past) and just
like his horde they range from human to ogre.

He definitely has aspirations for something greater, but he sometimes
wonders about the desire for a kingdom of his own. From what
"civilized" contact he's had with the Empire he's not too impressed
with them as warriors and considers them soft, weak and spoiled from
civilized city living. He'd hate to turn into one those fat Warlords
who allowed themselves to let their skills deteriorate (Sort of like
what happened to Klag)

Still, part of him (the human part no doubt) does like some of the
things that civilization has to offer. He wouldn't mind a little
stability and relaxation every once in awhile as while he'd never
admit it to anyone, even he gets tired of ongoing violence all the
time. The other attraction is a few of the more cerebral things that
come with civilization, most under his banner have no interest in
books and such, but Grishrak has a curiosity about them probably from
his father teaching him the Empire alphabet by drawing symbols in the
dirt and some of the stories he told him. Currently one of his human
wives (who was an escaped Empire slave) is teaching him how to read
with a few of the books he's managed to stop his overzealous from
destroying when they raid merchant caravans.

There are no challenges for his leadership of the horde yet and
probably won't be for a long time, but he knows there probably will be
a day when one of his sons will challenge him (perhaps even daughter,
as a few females have been known to fight alongside the males) While
Grishrak doesn't exactly have a problem with this, he just doesn't
think it'll last after he dies. He sees the horde splintering into
several factions and dissipating soon after his death. This is another
reason why he would prefer to establish a proper kingdom.
Organization, succession, and legacies are a few more of the things
civilization got right. After all he's accomplished he'd also hate to
die only to be forgotten soon after his death like so many other
"barbarian warlords".


Grishrak's Dominion

At this point his holdings are greater than any other barbarian tribe
and the territory stretches from a great distance with several
villages dotting its landscape, it is also home of several nomadic
tribes as well. Landscape varies greatly, ranging from hills,
mountains, forests, woods and plains. At one time it was called the
"barbarian lands" but in recent years it's been called "Grishrak's
Dominion".

For the most part, Grishrak allows everyone to go about their
business, with just a few rules.

No major warring between the tribes under his control
If he needs them to fight or extra supplies for a battle they must comply

Other than that, it's relatively the same life they all lived before.
If anything the land has become more peaceful under Grishrak's rule as
he's managed to direct all that fighting to outsiders like the Pure
Hills tribe and the Empire.

Besides the obvious enemies, Grishrak's also had skirmishes with
Dwarves, but this has lessened somewhat due to the Xolan Kingdom
intervening and helping their allies. The Xolan Kingdom is one enemy
that Grishrak doesn't take lightly. In fact he finds them to be quite
unusual for humans as they don't seem to have let civilization allow
them to grow lazy and corrupt. They even seem to have a code of honor
of sort. (Unlike the Empire) He hopes in some ways to emulate their
success in this regard.

However, he finds the strange machines that they build to be in the
realm of insanity and completely unsporting. While he doesn't doubt
that one his would be worth ten of theirs in a straight up fight, he
also knows one of theirs has the power to kill ten of his with one
shot of their cannon things. Not to mention that they seem obsessed
with defense and from what he's heard their land is poisoned from all
their industry. (And their practices in Necromancy don't sound too
good either) It certainly doesn't appear like its worth attempting to
conquer for such a little prize. No, the Empire is much more
attractive. As it stands there are no formal hostilities between
Grishrak and the Xolan and given that the Xolan aren't exactly friends
with the Empire either, this has resulted in some Xolan ambassadors to
be sent to talk with Grishrak about a more formal "peace treaty" with
hints of a possible alliance. Grishrak is VERY skeptical about such
matters, though he has been willing to listen rather than having their
heads lopped off, after all, stranger pairing have occurred.

His own existence is proof of that.

[donteatpoop]

Of course it was also the place that took away his father and mother;
he hadn't forgotten that, he hadn't forgotten a lot of things. The
more he dwelled on things that angered him, he also remembered that it
was THIS very tribe that exiled his mother, probably by that barely
competent fat fool Klag too no doubt. He also remembered how his
father told him not to be anyone's slave. And while he wasn't actually
a slave here, he was following someone else's orders; he wasn't living
as "free" as he might've liked. Grishrak picked up his axe…

Grishrak became the new chieftain of the Blood Rock tribe and Klag's
head was put on a spike.

Grishrak being brighter than his predecessor (and the rest of the
tribe for that matter) began to think of the bigger treasures that lay
within the Empire, but he knew in order to gain those he'd have to
gather a larger group than the tribe he was in control of now. So he
waged war on the neighboring tribes like what was done in the past,
except this time, they were wars of conquest. The time of simply
raiding other tribes was finished; it was time to play for keeps. One
by one surrounding tribes were conquered and united under Grishrak's
banner. Eventually the Blood Rock tribe was renamed Grishrak's Horde
and it began to push back to the south towards the Empire where he
began to organize raids again, but this time on Empire caravans and
border towns.

It still wasn't enough for Grishrak though; the "meat" of the Empire
lay further within and in order to get to that, he'd need an even
bigger army, so he began conquering more minor tribes, (Most of which
had heard of him already and gave little resistance in exchange for
mercy) and it was at this time he'd come across the tribe of the Pure
Hills.

Remembering that the retched scout that hacked down his mother had a
similar tattooing as this tribe, he wasted no time in declaring war on
them, especially when it was obvious that they consorted with the
Empire. In this case, Grishrak seemed less interested in their
submission (Even if they'd given it) as he was in total annihilation
of the tribe. A genocidal war he's currently winning. After they're
finally gone the next step is most likely the city of Drevlin.


More info on Grishrak and his horde

Grishrak takes after his father somewhat, in that he actually stands
erect rather than the "hunched" appearance that most orcs seem to
favor. Though his muscular build and skin tone are more in line with
his mother. He is tall, and gives off an air of leadership that most
orcs want to follow despite him only being of half-blood. He's lead
them in victory after victory, so they've already looked past that.
Victory in battle and gaining loot are more important to them. He
favors a large battle axe rather than a sword.

Grishrak is a grim individual, though not without a sense a humor
(albeit a violent one) he tends to take great joy in victory in
battle. His horde consists of orcs, goblins, ogres and even humans.
(There are also a few other odd creatures in the mix) Orcs and goblins
make up the majority, but that doesn't mean he particularly has an
affinity for either of them. He respects orcs in that they're great
warriors, but he wishes most of them thought more about the "bigger
picture". If it wasn't for him holding everything together, they'd
most likely all be still fighting each other. As it stands now,
in-fighting is kept on a smaller scale and localized (Grishrak
wouldn't want to eliminate ALL of it anyway, as it does weed out the
weak)

Goblins he finds annoying, (Always has ever since his first encounter
with them in the woods) but they're a little brighter than his orcish
followers and they do most of the jobs nobody else wants to, so they
serve a vital purpose.

Pure humans he flat out distrusts as in his experience, (as well as
tales he's heard of the Empire) they're certainly the most treacherous
race he's ever dealt with, in fact it was usually the human tribes
that gave him the most trouble in subduing. Subduing orcs and goblins
is easy; a show of superior strength usually ensures loyalty. Not so
with humans, they're more than likely to say they're loyal and then
try to assassinate you in your sleep. (As with what happened a few
times in the past, though Grishrak obviously taught the would be
assassins a severe and fatal lesson) Of course it is this human
deviousness that probably has allowed him to get as far as he did (A
fact he's aware of which is why he distrusts humans!)

Other "mixed bloods" he finds no more affinity to other than the
superficial fact that they also have a mixed heritage, mainly because
they were raised like barbarians so they act accordingly. Nobody born
in the barbarian lands had a childhood quite like his, so he wouldn't
find anything in common with them. He truly is unique and alone in
this way.

Oddly he tends to like ogres. Despite them being simpler than orcs,
they tend to be very loyal which he greatly appreciates; in fact he
personally has four elite ogre guards.

Most of his army consists of foot troops, but has a sizable "Calvary"
as well, if you count goblins riding giant wolves as cavalry. Most of
these goblins are also skilled in the bow and can be devastating as
they ride and shoot at the enemy. (Another reason for their
usefulness)

[donteatpoop]

Grishrak

Grishrak is the current Warlord of the largest unified barbarian horde
North-East of the Empire, though its unification is only due in thanks
to Grishrak's leadership and ruthlessness.

Grishrak is a half-orc, but his birth was an unusual one from an
unlikely pairing. His mother was an orc outcast and his father was
human soldier of the Empire.

Grishrak's father Dominicus was part of a legion during one of the
Empire's forays into barbarian lands. The battle was one of the
bloodiest, and Dominicus in particular was in the thick of it. Having
had his own family killed in a barbarian raid, he cared nothing for
his own life and fought with reckless abandon and paid no attention to
his surroundings other than where the next attacker was coming from.
Eventually Dominicus became embroiled in a small battle of his own
with two ogres. He prevailed, but was heavily wounded and his battle
with the ogres had placed him far from the original battlefield; he
soon heard the sounds of orcish grunting nearby. Finally having a
sense of self-preservation, Dominicus staggered into a nearby wood and
eventually collapsed. He was found by the female orc, Traga, who was
living alone as an outcast from the Blood Rock tribe who nursed him
back to health over the course of several months.

One can only speculate what happen in those months, while Traga was
skilled in natural herbal medicine, she did not have any magical
powers of any kind, so whatever feelings that developed, occurred
naturally. Perhaps they were both lonely, who can guess the matters of
the heart in cases like these? What was certain is that Dominicus
never returned to the Empire and stayed with his new family after
Grishrak was born and for awhile they were happy in their secluded
part of the woods for awhile. He learned various skills from the both
of them as the years went by.

Of course as with most things, this was not to last. One day an Empire
advance squad lead by a recruited renegade scout from the Pure Hills
tribe discovered them. Traga was gathering herbs and attacked
instantly by the blood thirsty scout before the Empire troops could
even react. Being an orc of course she wasn't entirely defenseless,
but the scout killed her before he and Grishrak arrived after hearing
her cries.

Upon seeing Traga's body, Dominicus reverted back to his once quelled
rage except this time it was towards the Empire and their lackeys. He
slew the scout, but the Empire troops subdued him, they would've flat
out killed him had one of the soldiers not vaguely recognized him.
Going AWOL was a serious offense, it was decided that he was a
criminal and as such would be taken back to be tried properly, which
in essence meant that he'd be executed at worst, or sold into the
gladiator pits at best.

As for Grishrak, who was kneeling by his mother's body the whole time,
the Empire troops decided that he would be sold into slavery, but this
was not to be either. before Before being walloped on the head
unconscious, Dominicus shouted to his son to run, to live free and
never a slave to anyone. Grishrak, always one to obey his father, he
complied, by biting off the fingers of one the Empire soldiers that
tried to grab him and disappearing deeper into the woods. There was a
chase, but Grishrak knew the woods better than the Empire troops and
soon lost them. Only when he knew he was safe, did he allow himself to
weep for his parents.

He survived in the woods for a long period of time, but eventually
again more interlopers stumbled upon him, this time it was a pack of
goblins. Thinking they had found easy prey they attacked, but Grishrak
had been living out in the woods for a long time at this point,
fighting dangerous wild animals for food, not to mention he knew it
probably as well as an elf might have. One by one he dispatched the
goblins save one, who begged for his life and came up with proposal,
that his own tribe could use a great fighter such as himself. As it
turned out the tribe that the Goblin was speaking of was the Blood
Rock tribe. He'd heard about them from his mother, he was curious, and
had enough of the solitary life in the woods, so he took the goblin up
on his offer and headed north.

His acceptance into Blood Rock tribe wasn't easy; the fat Orc
Chieftain Klag wasn't as impressed as the goblin was especially given
that Grishrak was obviously half human. Klag insisted that if Grishrak
was truly a warrior, he'd have to fight as many orcs as he had goblins
to the death. Grishrak barely won, but he'd managed to earn a place in
the Blood Rock tribe.

It was during this time that Grishrak participated in countless raids
and battles with other tribes. It was fun at first, it made Grishrak
come to appreciate the comradery of others. However, it wasn't enough.
The battles seemed pointless especially since the other tribes never
had much more than they did. Up until that time Grishrak had only
fought for survival, he was tired of just fighting for mere survival
and scraps, he wanted something bigger. Something more for himself. He
began to think about some of the stories that his father told him
about the Empire. To him it sounded like a magical place filled with
riches.