Post by Shadow Strider Wulfmane on Oct 7, 2007 19:37:27 GMT -5
In a realm long forgotten by our past lies a place of magic, wonder, darkness and a land of killers. This place has known many names over its lifetime as it has been sacked, taken, and put under the rule of so many in such a time but under the Dragon Empire it is simply known as Nagoroth or in the tongue of the Empire "Dragons Frost"
In this place there is one law and that law is that of Emperor Draco Smithus the 1st and enforced by the Fangs of the Maw, the Emperors elite guard and ruthless killers. Under his role the ancient city has thrived and moved onto a age of power, wealth, decadence and a breeding ground for children of shadows.
The nobility control all in the light and in all corners of Nagoroth, but there is another kingdom under this one and it is ruled by thieves, dark sorcery, bounty hunters, assassins and the elite of them all Dark Striders.
The world is of magic and basic gunpowder technology. The secrets of making the guns and the powder are guarded by the arms guild jeliosly and so few are given out. Flintlock pistols, muskets, and even very crude black powder bombs have begun to make their way into the hands of the nobility and others alike, all in the name of leveling the war and defending against The Dark Kingdom.
The Dark Kingdom is Nagoroths dark society where crime, arms trade, drugs, poisons and everything a persons dark heart can fathom is and can be found for the right price to the right people.
Many a time has this "Dark Kingdom" been attempted to be crushed by The Dragon Emperor, his holy order and his army but still each time it has been done from the ashes has the Dark Kingdom risen. It has been there and always will be there just as the need for dark and evil things shall always run rampant in the hearts of all. So has the Emperor laid down arms and simply made to forget of the stain on his bastion and brokered a silent peace with the denizens of the place. Their wars, their evil and their foulness shall stay in their domain and so shall he leave them to rot. But should their wars and bloodshed spill into his jewel of a kingdom so shall he level the Dark Kingdom to the ground. But the Dark Kingdom has its people and its own rulers to guard her hidden ways
Many factions rule this dark kingdom that is a mirror to the great seat of the Dragon Emperor, but those that are in power are known as the Ten Blades.
Long ago when Nagoroth was another name many factions and powers demanded rule and control and so a war the likes of which has not been seen in thousands of years was fought. Hundreds of thousands died under the bloodshed in the hopes for one power or another would rule over the then completely vile and dark kingdom. At the high of it all ten of the leaders of various factions saw the end game of the bastion and kingdom they longed to rule being leveled to the ground and left with nothing. So did they forge the Ten Blades from darkest of the old gods magic and the few artifacts they each held and create their new found domain of each ruling their domain of power in the kingdom and only by ascension or bloodshed would these Blades of power with unholy curses that only the Ten Blades know of. Each one a wielder of the ten blades of the gods, each with its own dark gifts and curse and only ever taken by right of ascension or in blood.
These people of true power and might rule over their domains in their dark kingdom with amrys at their call, power of kings themselves at their merest whim and their wills to tame and keep their people in check. The ten do war upon one another but on a scale so large and of cunning that only do they truly understand the scope of which they wage war. A simple guild skirmish between two rival thieves factions a play for power of the dock trade, burning a alchemist store a taking of forbidden text of old magic, the assassination of a mercenary captain is the taking of a new set of men for a blades army. These are the Ten Blades lords and masters of their own dark domains, but there is still one that has come and has begun a change in the order of their empire.
Simply known as The Harrowing, he has come into the realm of this shadow underworld of the Ten and by blood, death, carnage, and pure darkness taken hold of their world and assumed control of it all. The Ten Blades did not bend a knee to this new dark power without a fight or a shed of blood,no they fought...and died by the thousands in every horrific way a man can imagine and some that are still legends in ancient text and spoken in tones of fear on a dark night. So destructive was The Harrowings coming and demands for the knees of The Ten that the Dragon Emperor rose from his throne and with his Fangs of the Maw did walk the streets of Nagoroth, and it is said when they came upon the slums that area known to be the beginning of the Ten's domain did many a Fang falter, run and some vomit blood from the darkness and veil nature of what The Harrowing and his army and now blossoming guild had done to the oldest and longest standing member of The Ten and his mansion. And so did The Harrowing rise to his seat of blood and skulls and lord over The Ten as their one and only lord and master.
The Harrowings guild would keep them all in check and be the power above them all but letting them be the face of their dark kingdom and do as they wished so long as the remember who their master was and forever would be. The Harrowings guild would move in such a way only the Ten or Shadow Striders could find them that is unless they wished to be seen. To this day no one has seen The Harrowing in the flesh and returned to tell of him, only his guild members and his right hand enforcer and voice to him are ever seen. But no one dares rally against The Harrowing for death and total destruction would be the fate of those to defy him... that is no one has dared to yet at least.
Thieves make up the army of The Ten Blades, scurrying and moving swiftly in the open doing the day time activities of The Ten Blades. Some of course rule themselves striking out against the order of their dark brethren. The thieves guilds far outnumber the others and many are attached to other more powerful forces but still are they strong and many.
The Eye of The Pit is the guild of magic users in the dark kingdom, demon summoning, curses, assassinations with magic, enchanted items and their greatest and most powerful of gifts knowledge is the trade of the Eye. Although that is the name and they face they carry their, but to the Dragon Emperor they are known as the Crimson Order his most holy gathering of sages
Black Jesters are the largest force of armed mercenary's in Nagoroth. Politics are for the weak and coin and skill in the blade are the only things that matter to the Jesters. They will wage anyone's war for the right amount of coin, information or power to assure their place in the dark kingdom.
Assassins of all kinds and guilds are the elite of The Ten Blades, many are raised and trained by their respected guilds or Ten Blade masters as assassins, enforcers, commanders of armys and even trainers of them too. But as many of the inhabitants of the dark kingdom there are many guilds were the assassins rule and are their own power disregarding The Ten Blades and becoming a powerful tool to the highest bidder and even those who will further the agenda of those in the guild.
And finally there are the Shadow Striders.
Their origins are forever guarded even more so than the mages of the Eye of the Pit, and any seeking the tales and powers of the Striders makes whoever seeks such knowledge an outcast and left for dead in the streets for them to collect. Of one hundred possible people to be raised and be transformed into something more only five will see the halls of a Shadow Striders sanctum, of those five only two will dawn the armor, the weapons of pure magic akin to the gods, and be given the training in the art of death so profound and pure it is said even gods and demons would hesitate to fight them. For their stealthy killing art is only matched by their beyond jealously guarded secret mystical art of shadow calling, elemental manipulation and things only gods thought to do, for each Shadow Strider is a master of their own talents and no two are ever the same even master and students gifts may be different, hence its title The Dark Gods Way.
One would wonder why such beings have not conquered the Empire yet and simply the last counted ten Shadow Striders do not care for such things. The Emperors kingdom is for the small minded and the Shadow Striders always seek the larger of all prizes but that information like them is guarded well. They hold a code of no open conflict between them shall happen but should one lash out at the other war shall be declared, they seek to topple whole kingdoms, long standing enemy's, even gods. They wait some controlling guilds in secret, some in hiding beholden to a master in a oath of debt or simply waiting till their hour, but they exist and should you find yourself before one...run
It is these people that control what is called "The Dark Kingdom"
The Dark Kingdom is all that is corrupt, horrid and that which seems to keep the Empire flowing in a false sense of peace and harmony. But truly it is these people that control the Empire and through a brokered truce do the two factions co exist
The Dragon Emperor from his fortress and in the shadows do the Blades, those strong enough to take what they will and bend it to their rule control the dark empire of this land
This is your world, this will be the place you leave your legacy, and this is the place where you shall spill blood either for yourself, the Blades, or the Empire
In this place there is one law and that law is that of Emperor Draco Smithus the 1st and enforced by the Fangs of the Maw, the Emperors elite guard and ruthless killers. Under his role the ancient city has thrived and moved onto a age of power, wealth, decadence and a breeding ground for children of shadows.
The nobility control all in the light and in all corners of Nagoroth, but there is another kingdom under this one and it is ruled by thieves, dark sorcery, bounty hunters, assassins and the elite of them all Dark Striders.
The world is of magic and basic gunpowder technology. The secrets of making the guns and the powder are guarded by the arms guild jeliosly and so few are given out. Flintlock pistols, muskets, and even very crude black powder bombs have begun to make their way into the hands of the nobility and others alike, all in the name of leveling the war and defending against The Dark Kingdom.
The Dark Kingdom is Nagoroths dark society where crime, arms trade, drugs, poisons and everything a persons dark heart can fathom is and can be found for the right price to the right people.
Many a time has this "Dark Kingdom" been attempted to be crushed by The Dragon Emperor, his holy order and his army but still each time it has been done from the ashes has the Dark Kingdom risen. It has been there and always will be there just as the need for dark and evil things shall always run rampant in the hearts of all. So has the Emperor laid down arms and simply made to forget of the stain on his bastion and brokered a silent peace with the denizens of the place. Their wars, their evil and their foulness shall stay in their domain and so shall he leave them to rot. But should their wars and bloodshed spill into his jewel of a kingdom so shall he level the Dark Kingdom to the ground. But the Dark Kingdom has its people and its own rulers to guard her hidden ways
Many factions rule this dark kingdom that is a mirror to the great seat of the Dragon Emperor, but those that are in power are known as the Ten Blades.
Long ago when Nagoroth was another name many factions and powers demanded rule and control and so a war the likes of which has not been seen in thousands of years was fought. Hundreds of thousands died under the bloodshed in the hopes for one power or another would rule over the then completely vile and dark kingdom. At the high of it all ten of the leaders of various factions saw the end game of the bastion and kingdom they longed to rule being leveled to the ground and left with nothing. So did they forge the Ten Blades from darkest of the old gods magic and the few artifacts they each held and create their new found domain of each ruling their domain of power in the kingdom and only by ascension or bloodshed would these Blades of power with unholy curses that only the Ten Blades know of. Each one a wielder of the ten blades of the gods, each with its own dark gifts and curse and only ever taken by right of ascension or in blood.
These people of true power and might rule over their domains in their dark kingdom with amrys at their call, power of kings themselves at their merest whim and their wills to tame and keep their people in check. The ten do war upon one another but on a scale so large and of cunning that only do they truly understand the scope of which they wage war. A simple guild skirmish between two rival thieves factions a play for power of the dock trade, burning a alchemist store a taking of forbidden text of old magic, the assassination of a mercenary captain is the taking of a new set of men for a blades army. These are the Ten Blades lords and masters of their own dark domains, but there is still one that has come and has begun a change in the order of their empire.
Simply known as The Harrowing, he has come into the realm of this shadow underworld of the Ten and by blood, death, carnage, and pure darkness taken hold of their world and assumed control of it all. The Ten Blades did not bend a knee to this new dark power without a fight or a shed of blood,no they fought...and died by the thousands in every horrific way a man can imagine and some that are still legends in ancient text and spoken in tones of fear on a dark night. So destructive was The Harrowings coming and demands for the knees of The Ten that the Dragon Emperor rose from his throne and with his Fangs of the Maw did walk the streets of Nagoroth, and it is said when they came upon the slums that area known to be the beginning of the Ten's domain did many a Fang falter, run and some vomit blood from the darkness and veil nature of what The Harrowing and his army and now blossoming guild had done to the oldest and longest standing member of The Ten and his mansion. And so did The Harrowing rise to his seat of blood and skulls and lord over The Ten as their one and only lord and master.
The Harrowings guild would keep them all in check and be the power above them all but letting them be the face of their dark kingdom and do as they wished so long as the remember who their master was and forever would be. The Harrowings guild would move in such a way only the Ten or Shadow Striders could find them that is unless they wished to be seen. To this day no one has seen The Harrowing in the flesh and returned to tell of him, only his guild members and his right hand enforcer and voice to him are ever seen. But no one dares rally against The Harrowing for death and total destruction would be the fate of those to defy him... that is no one has dared to yet at least.
Thieves make up the army of The Ten Blades, scurrying and moving swiftly in the open doing the day time activities of The Ten Blades. Some of course rule themselves striking out against the order of their dark brethren. The thieves guilds far outnumber the others and many are attached to other more powerful forces but still are they strong and many.
The Eye of The Pit is the guild of magic users in the dark kingdom, demon summoning, curses, assassinations with magic, enchanted items and their greatest and most powerful of gifts knowledge is the trade of the Eye. Although that is the name and they face they carry their, but to the Dragon Emperor they are known as the Crimson Order his most holy gathering of sages
Black Jesters are the largest force of armed mercenary's in Nagoroth. Politics are for the weak and coin and skill in the blade are the only things that matter to the Jesters. They will wage anyone's war for the right amount of coin, information or power to assure their place in the dark kingdom.
Assassins of all kinds and guilds are the elite of The Ten Blades, many are raised and trained by their respected guilds or Ten Blade masters as assassins, enforcers, commanders of armys and even trainers of them too. But as many of the inhabitants of the dark kingdom there are many guilds were the assassins rule and are their own power disregarding The Ten Blades and becoming a powerful tool to the highest bidder and even those who will further the agenda of those in the guild.
And finally there are the Shadow Striders.
Their origins are forever guarded even more so than the mages of the Eye of the Pit, and any seeking the tales and powers of the Striders makes whoever seeks such knowledge an outcast and left for dead in the streets for them to collect. Of one hundred possible people to be raised and be transformed into something more only five will see the halls of a Shadow Striders sanctum, of those five only two will dawn the armor, the weapons of pure magic akin to the gods, and be given the training in the art of death so profound and pure it is said even gods and demons would hesitate to fight them. For their stealthy killing art is only matched by their beyond jealously guarded secret mystical art of shadow calling, elemental manipulation and things only gods thought to do, for each Shadow Strider is a master of their own talents and no two are ever the same even master and students gifts may be different, hence its title The Dark Gods Way.
One would wonder why such beings have not conquered the Empire yet and simply the last counted ten Shadow Striders do not care for such things. The Emperors kingdom is for the small minded and the Shadow Striders always seek the larger of all prizes but that information like them is guarded well. They hold a code of no open conflict between them shall happen but should one lash out at the other war shall be declared, they seek to topple whole kingdoms, long standing enemy's, even gods. They wait some controlling guilds in secret, some in hiding beholden to a master in a oath of debt or simply waiting till their hour, but they exist and should you find yourself before one...run
It is these people that control what is called "The Dark Kingdom"
The Dark Kingdom is all that is corrupt, horrid and that which seems to keep the Empire flowing in a false sense of peace and harmony. But truly it is these people that control the Empire and through a brokered truce do the two factions co exist
The Dragon Emperor from his fortress and in the shadows do the Blades, those strong enough to take what they will and bend it to their rule control the dark empire of this land
This is your world, this will be the place you leave your legacy, and this is the place where you shall spill blood either for yourself, the Blades, or the Empire