Ascension Isle: Introduction

Ascension Isle

Overview

This is a site for the rules-in-progress for the proposed Ascension Isle SD, which is based off concepts from the Burning Wheel RPG. These rules should in no way be taken as fixed, and are open for modification and suggestion by the players.

And now the Disclaimer. Ascension Isle will be a bit different from most SDs in that it will encourage inter-player conflict and combat, and will be a bit more restrictive on player creative control as a result. Nations must be built so that they fit into the world, and also so that they pose ready made foils for the major conflicts now spreading across the world of Arth. The rules will be designed so there can and will be winners and losers. This means your nation may be destroyed. Because time marches on, if you fail to post or control it, it may be destroyed while you are not even paying attention. The game will also include rules for ANY player to take on a "GM-like" role through paying points and try to twist the events of the world and its NPCs to their advantage. Because of this you cannot claim full creative authority for your nation and remove it from play if things do not go as you like. By posting in this SD you accept these rules, and even if you leave, your nation - which will have become part of the world - will remain. If these rules aren't agreeable to you, you're free not to participate. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Current suggested focus - Nation Traits. These will define your power, and most will do something. Throw out your suggestions but don't worry too much about the actual mechanics. Those won't be nailed down for some time.

If you are interested in this SD, please list your name below with a brief one sentence blurb about your proposed power. Also list any special requirements. For example *ahem*

IXJac

Kingdom of Ixcelion (Jibril) - A monarchist nation with a brash young king and an ambitious reforming high priestess, following the liberationist ideal and determined to save the world from itself.

This nation would like either the Holy City trait and/or Fleet of the Flag.

You can post more than one nation idea, in fact I encourage it. Once we get into more detail, look for possible commonalities between your nation and those of other players. Yes, this is a nation SD and everyone wants to play something unique and different, and indeed that's most of the fun in playing these games - but your nation has also been living with its neighbours for some time. Look for points where they might have crossovers or commonalities, particularly if it doesn't harm your own concept. For example, if religion isn't a big deal to you, consider adopting the faith of one of your neighbours.

On that note, regarding ethnicities, this isn't our world. There's no particular reason they have to be grouped like on earth. The Chosen were also pretty eclectic, and not above a little genetic tempering and architectural advice now and then. All that to say you can justify pretty much any ethnicity or national style. However, whatever ethnicities you choose, they'll logically bleed over a bit. There's no reason you can't have a civilization with Mayan pyramids sitting right next to another with Muscovite onion domes, but there should then be some cultural crossover between them. You guys have been living with each other for some time, remember. It might create some interesting combinations.

Many traits can only be taken by one person, but if someone else has already asked for the one you want, don't let that stop you. There's no dibs here. Once nations are being finalized and placed on the map unique traits will be assigned based on some fair process - a blind bid or random roll maybe. So that means you may not get a coveted trait, so try not to make it central to your concept.

Regarding the various starting areas, the game is balanced for the main player continents to be Jibril; home of the magitech steampunk human kingdoms of the favoured Chosen adherants, and Heylel; home of magical multiracial provinces of the recently deceased Zenith Empire. Added into this are the clients of the human hating Dero, who have forged a fascist state from the power of magitech dieselpunk, deep below the surface world. The Dero now dream of their return, and have secured a variety of witting and unwitting allies to aid them. Dero clients can be anywhere. There is also room for a few players to play in the Zones of Rafaela and Mikaela where technology is roughly that of WWI with a little magic in the mix, however PCs in these Zones are at a disadvantage compared to the three main groups. This last option is for serious gamers only!

Jibril - the center of Chosen power

Norseman

Republic of Aquitaine (Jibril) - A newly created republic filled with heresies, strange new practises, political chaos, and upheavals.

Foreign Faith, Government by the People, Civil Disorder, Expeditionary Experience, and preferably something that'd allow deals with foreign spirits.

Peel

Kingdom of Illumina (Jibril) - A monarchy saved from the fires of revolution by a brilliant young commander who now dominates the weak king.

Civil Disorder, Chosen Mandate?, Empyrean Church, Wondrous Architecture, Colonialist or Principalist

Zeronet

Zephiricon Eccelsiocracy (Jibril) - The Kingdom of Zephiricon has been found wanting, the heretics have been put to the flame by the newly emboldened Inquisition, emerging from weeks of infighting to usher in a new age under the regime of High Lord Inquisitor Augustikos. Under his leadership, the church of the Empyrean shall lead humanity to a golden age of thaumatic technology, a task which requires nothing less than the absolute elimination of magic and the full and loving embrace of technology.

This nation would like the Holy City trait, Empyrean Faith, Lord Tyrant, Active Inquisition

Sephiricon Eccelsiocracy (Jibril ALT) - The Kingdom of Sephiricon has been overthrown by a radical sect of the Inquisition, who do not worship the chosen, but supplicant themselves before thaumatic technology itself. They believe the chosen were cast out of heaven for practicing magic and vow to rid the world of this magical influence so that heaven may be restored.

Reformation, Active Inquisition, Lord Tyrant

Screwball

The Republic of Dumbar (Jibril) - Do you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men?

Government by the People, Colonialist, Expeditionary Experience, possibly Demos Warren and No Gods, Only Men or Foreign Faith.

Andronicus

Kingdom of Walstan (Jibril). Once there was a nameless Witch. One day she said "I should go here, and make myself at home." And she did. Nobody was able to find her since, afterall, Walstan hadn't had a witch in a hundred years. But as she was not found neither did she find her name. Time passed and one day she found a helper and she was pleased. Now, at the start of the Revolution, the Witch thought to herself ,"I have this enchanted mirror, and the Queen is alone..." She didn't need her name, did she?

Walstan-Carcosa is a Dynastic state formed by the merger of two royal bloodlines during the era when the Chosen encouraged the formation of large monarchies for the order and betterment of the faithful; founded by Wentliane Caumont and Gallis Briavelisa after hammering the clans of the hills and the hardy swarthy folk of the valleys Walstan today seems very much changed from its rude origins. Their descendants have taken upon themselves to embody the splendor of the Empyrean Order on Arth. A late comer, relatively, to the centralized power of the Empyrean Church not because of any hesitance to conversion of the old Aulic Church of Mayana but rather because of the near incomprehensibility of the low speech of the commoners to the common language of the rest of Jibril; perhaps lingering traces of this old ethnic sterotype might account for the lack of any real philosophical revolutionary ideology underpinning the fruitless revolts that have taken place in the last five years. Or perhaps the real cause is the swift and unhesitating iron fist of the monarchy in crushing any disturbance.

Chosen Mandate (D), The Scandal (F), The Sidereal Circle (D), Civil Disorder (D)

Kerrus (Alt)

Bibliotheca des Dieux - The Library of the Gods, a nation state onto itself bringing light to these dark times. Purveyors of knowledge, but also keepers of dark mystery, the library priests travel out into the world to bring back knowledge and spread hope for those of the faith that one day the Chosen might raise their voices to the sky in harmony again.

Empyrean Church (D), Divine Heir (D), Mule (E), Chosen Quest (E)

Dacis

The Imperial Assumption (Jibril) - If the Chosen are gone, then the chosen of the Chosen are now the rulers of All Under Heaven.

Chosen Mandate (D), Reformation (D), Colonialist (D), Expeditionary Experience (D)

Lokar

The Grand Duchy of Solchin (Jibril)– Former enforcers of the Chosen’s will. Now the Grand Duchy seeks to expand their influence and power in effort to ensure their proper place under the sun.

Chosen Mandate (D), War Monger (D), Hard Workers (F), Expeditionary Experience (E), Colonialist (D)

Exhack

The Kindgom of Lykeia - (Jibril) - A prestigious kingdom situated on the southern coast, famous for its training of melef pilots, swordsmanship and the arts of the officer-gentleman. With the Chosen gone and the world in disarray, Lykeia is equally interested retaining a relative status quo and refining its military techniques to reflect the particular innovations of the Dero and Zone inhabitants. In spite of constant pressure by foreign inquisitors, its people are superstitious and philosophical, believing in the power of fate and the resonance of individual actions.

Chosen Mandate (D), Mule (E), Halfman Quarter (E), Plato’s Stair (D), War Monger (D), Expeditionary Experience (E), Macrux Academy (E), Magic Cults (F), Incomprehensible Dialect (F)

Restless Coyote

The People's Republic of Sevaselonia - (Jibril)– With the Chosen gone a torrent of populist fury was unleashed in the former Kingdom of Sevaselonia sweeping away any remnants of the old regime, the Faith and its adherents and anyone who looked particularly suspicious or didn't line up with the Glorious Sevaselonian People's Revolutionary Army. Out of this brief but exceptionally bloody and destructive revolution, the PRS was born.

No Gods, Only Men (D), Government by the People (D), Demos Warren (D)?, Expeditionary Experience (E), Hard Workers (F), Industrious (F)?, War-Ravaged (F)?

Duncan_Idaho

Apokatastasis Order State (Jibril) - Once a devout Chosen-client, the monastic order that rules this region has fallen far from the ideals of Empyrean Church. A combination of long-lived and tenaciously-surviving domestic magic-using cults, experiences in the Zones, and the cataclysmic events of recent years, the Order State now preaches a twisted inversion of Empyreanism in which man (and the Chosen as his paragon) must be overcome as the latest step in a continuous chain of transformation that is itself divinity. The central methods of this overcoming revolve around suffering (war, oppression, etc.) and the practice of advanced magic. The Order maintains that its teachings are the hidden truth of Empyreanism and of the recent apparent self-destruction of Chosen civilization, and generally presents itself quite openly as an inversion (or perversion) of the Chosen religion and way of life. Much of the old Chosen royalty, being at the heard of the Order, has succumbed entirely to heretical corruption: interbreeding willfully with the populace, practicing magic, blaspheming the Chosen, and generally hastening the self-overcoming of man.

Chosen Mandate, Reformation, Mule, Halfman Quarter, Sic Semper Tyrannis, Plato's Stair?, Warmonger, Expeditionary Experience, Enemy of All Who Live?, Magic Cults, The Sidereal Circle?

Duncan_Idaho

The Bibliocracy of the White Tower - Once the great scholars of the White Tower invented something new and strange - the "book golem." These thaumatic texts boasted self-awareness of varying sophistication and could sometimes move (flying or skittering on little legs) under their own power. But despite taking endless pleasure and pride in their cleverness the scholars continued to use the writings as mere objects. For a century these texts lived as the lowest slaves, locked up in cupboards when not helping scholars to pillage what the texts felt as their innermost thoughts and selves. Secretly, some of the slaves began to plot. And following the War in Heaven, the cell known as the Boustrophedon struck. A succession of civil wars, revolutionary governments, and terrors left the more conciliatory wing of the radicals in control of shaken and simmering nation. The Boustrophedon (as it now exists) rules over a human population that is more or less free, though reading remains punishable by summary execution, but obviously fearful and resentful. It is unclear how long the Boustrophedon can walk the tightrope between rebellious humans and their more extreme elements, let alone how long such a bizarre polity, renouncing the Chosen, pursuing magic, and obviously set against many other nearby powers, can survive in a new Jibril.

Reformation (despite renouncing obedience to the Chosen or to the ideal of the human, the Boustrophedon obviously has a complex and basically worshipful relationship to revealed writings of such a powerful as the Empyrean Codex), Civil Disorder, Magic Cults

Heylel - the Zenith Empire

Mal

Mai Domain

The land of Mai on the continent of Zenith (Heylel) is arguably the heartland of the Reiwan religion. It is a theocratic satrapy of the empire that has been ruled by women of the Madomura clan since the 10th century. Historically, the Madomura clan's agenda has been based on their religion as befitting their hereditary shrines. They have opposed attempts at centralisation from the Imperial court in the past.

Potential Traits: Reiwan, Defender of the Faith, Zenith Traditionalist+Foreign Intervention OR Zenith Imperialist, Army of Steel, Army of Gold, maybe even Advanced Doctrine+Army of Fire

Silence

Tempest Shogunate

Long ago dishonored, guardians of the coastal wards, elite anti-chosen force. Once tried to stem the decline of the Empire with a previous Shogunate and was cheated out victory. Now very bitter and opportunistic (including secret Dero ties) they wish to turn the Empire down a new path of Renaissance and Glory.

FBH

The Blue Veil Society (AKA Blue Veil Rebels)

Magical rebels who wish to teach everyone magic and create a society of equals.

Mad Wookie

Keepers of the Imperial Regency (No sand this time!)

They see the tending of the Imperial bloodline as their responsibility, and traditions and rituals must be followed to prevent further weakening brought on by seditious thinking. May or may not have hidden a last viable heir to the Throne shortly before the destruction of the capitol.

Arete Draconic (D), Imperial Dragons (F) and /wavesarms

Kerrus

The Dragon Tribes of Arrar

A bunch of dragon-blooded elves who worship dragons as gods, and see themselves as their chosen people. Formerly insular, the dragon speakers now discern that the will of the great dragons lies in exploration and conquest.

Arete Draconic (D) Draconic Pacts (E), Dragonspeakers (F), Flight of Wind

Goals: Produce complete/accurate map of the world, reunify the empire, pursue hidden mysteries.

Rask

The Harmonious Courts of the Fairy

Various types of fairies arranged in a system of hierarchical courts, eager to arrange the land according to their geomantic principles. As these rarely include smoke-spewing eyesores, it will be necessary to reforge the Empire into something fresh and strong that can deal with the rest of the world from a position of authority.

BM

The Knights Thaumaturge

An order of warrior-mages that served the empire, amassed monetary and magical power, and now seeks to influence the failing empire to eliminate the weaknesses the Royals brought and create a stronger unity. Proud adherents to the Arete Draconic, who emulate the legendary Dragons of old.

Tentative traits: Arete Draconic, Dragon's Roost, Army of Gold, Flight of Wind

Oseng

Dewa

Dewa Domain -

This nation would like:

Aeon

The White Moth Covenant

A secretive order of vampire monks who watch over and protect the mortal inhabitants of the small mountain province they call home. They practice a heretical form of ancestor worship, which employs necromancy - both as a tool for communing with the spirits of the dead, and as a weapon in times of war.

Tentative Traits: Army of Spirit, Army of Bone.

Duncan_Idaho

Grevian Principalities

Princes of a sprawling and tangled dynasty rule steppe and forest from magnificent (if increasingly primitive) cities. Government is confused and informal, though society remains relatively peaceful and prosperous. Grevians are independent and strongly dedicated to maintaining their own ways, yet the ancient grafting of the Zenith Draconic religion and imperial system upon those ways was successful and remains strong - Grevian society remains dedicated at many levels to cautious conservatism. Magical talent is highly valued among the nobility.

Zenith Traditionalists, Wellspring Way, Syncretic Religion?, Army of Gold, Flight of Wind, Hardy Folk?, Rich Merchants?

100thlurker (alt)

Baktria Atropaktan

By the Sighing Shore are the hills and vales of Baktria; home to an ancient, industrious people fiercely loyal to the Empire That Was and yet among the first to open their doors to the Morning Star Empyrean heresy, the influence of the Blue Veil Society, and meddlers from the Zones.

Populists (D-P), Path of Service (D-I), Empyrean Church (D), Army of Steel (D), Seas of Steel (D), Foreign Intervention

Ceslas

Domain of Hanjian

A tranquil, agrarian Satrapy that would have stayed out of the wars now raging throughout the Empire were it not for the idealism and ambition of its Satrap. A highly charismatic man and a skilled administrator, Sun Ke has managed to turn Hanjian into a traditionalist stronghold and is now beginning his search for a suitable heir of the Imperial Bloodline. Having assembled a formidable army at his seat in the city of Hui Ping, including the warrior monks of the Way of Absolution under its abbot Zhang Liang, the Satrap is confident the province will be able to defend itself from the various rebels that have sprung up throughout the Empire until the heir is found. Once this is done Sun Ke will seek to unite those who are still loyal to the throne, restore the Empire, and ensure that the works of the Chosen will be destroyed once and for all.

Goals: Find a suitable heir, restore the Empire, protect the world against the return of the Chosen

Traits: Zenith Traditionalist (D-P), Path of Service (D-I), The Arete Draconic (D-R), Monastic Tradition, Army of Spirit (E), Army of Gold (E)

Mikaela - the Southern Zone

Gee

The Black Eagles - The Black Eagles are the military wing of a formerly underground (Literally as well as figuratively) political movement in southern Mikaela. They wear a lot of olive drab, carry a lot of weapons, and are not generally known to burn people alive very often.

Shrike

The Forged - A race of traumatized former nature spirits (dryads) that have been magically remade, exiled from their ancestral grove on Jibril after the Chosen destroyed it and have now made a new home on Mikaela. They will put the crumbling, baroque edifice of the Chosen to the flame just as was done to them.

Requesting No Gods Only Men, Revolutionary, Forgemasters, Jannisaries-equivalent, Hedge Wizards (maybe)

Potential goals: Retrieve Mana Sapling(s) from the Black Grove and plant a new one in Mikaela

100thlurker

Kaisareia tou Hayastan

An ancient empire seemingly content to be privileged traitors, the Kaisareia surprised many when its armies - banners flying - hurled themselves against the mercenaries from Jibril as the first ashes of the War in Heaven drifted from cerulean skies; the first martyrs in the conflagration that freed the continent.

Exhack

The Gamyaza Khanate - (Mikaela) - A fledgling empire of landless nonhumans once ruled over by their neighbors as second class citizens, the War in Heaven has allowed them to seize their own destinies under the leadership of the Yaza tribe. They are masters of mounted desert warfare and have seize control of many of the cities they once defended as slave-soldiers, using the mighty and fast Simurgh birds that only they may tame. Their religion is a mix of sky and fire shamanism and ancestor worship that has been syncretically transformed into a formal doctrine by the record-keeping and proselytizing of NotShinto missionaries.

Mal (alt)

Eeliland

Eelits are a race of female near-humans with a cultural penchant for adventure, athletics, art and social life. They have varying, generally dark skin coloration and horns, giving them an exotic (to Jibrilites) demi-demonic appearance. Following the Cataclysm, surviving Eelit established themselves in a region of central Mikaela. Owing to the overall state of oppression, this "Eeliland" remains small in scope, though Eelit still have a tendency to explore wherever they aren't in too much danger of being killed or enslaved.

Eelit culture revolves around events and activities rather than structures or records. They have historically remained bystanders in the grand scheme of things, tending to be caught in the crossfire or drawn reluctantly at best into the fray of larger regional unrests. In the past two centuries, rapid Jibrilite development and the resulting explosion of their colonial and working populations fueled a dark trade in demihuman trafficking. Much of the modern changes and increased militance of the previously primitive society are a result of those Eelit fortunate enough to escape and return home.

Rafaela - the Northern Zone

Oseng

The Mound Builders - A federation of tribal kingdoms who share blood and cultural ties, all under the guidance of the Son of the Sun aka the highest chieftain. Knowing for building vast earthen mounds for temples and their impressive fortifications.

Mound Builders, Fortification Specialists

Arc

Crucis Federation - A ramshackle conglomeration of weak states descended from Jibril refugees that were denied entry into Hylel by the accords of the Sunset Treaties, held together by the force of will of a self-admitted dictator. Fighting with a hastily established army, General Kohl has utterly capitalized on the lapse in Chosen power in order to carve out a personal empire for himself as the first step of an intensely ambitious plan. Regardless of his methods, the common people are enamored with his promises and, more importantly, his results. Laying down an apparently lasting framework of stability supported by law and order has made most quietly suppress questioning exactly how the General came by his force of arms so quickly.

Man of Iron, Ebony Road, I Am The Law

Someguy16

Confederacy of the Damned - A diverse faction made up of failed Jibrilite expeditions to the Rafaela interior that has coalesced into a single state. Its capital city is a floating Venice consisting of floating gunboat and troopship hulks, and their civilization is built on the backbone of their riverine forces. The Damned measure their borders by the range their guns can reach from the rivers, and their plantations and paddies tend to cluster around the wetlands. They're natural rivals to the powerful local tribes, and has fought dozens of river wars with them trading back and forth territory, tribes, and resources over a century.

Duncan Idaho

Daughters of the Yochlol - The Daughters are one part terrorist cell, one part priest(ess)-hood. Regardless, they accept only Drow females into their ranks, and work tirelessly to spread their influence and that of their goddess, Lolth, among surface-dwellers in the lawless reaches of the Zones. Like their companions in the Underdark, the Daughters are sometimes allies and sometimes rivals of the Derro. Their equipment and resources are therefore a ramshackle mix of magitech, magic, monsters and rare scavenged artifacts, shocking cruelty, and fanaticism.

Magic, Rogue Derro Client, Beasts and Monsters, Fanatic, Secretive, Treasures, Pariah, Sic Semper Tyrannis

The Underground

Holle

The Krav Directorate - the Dero have persisted for centuries deep beneath the earth, their hatred keeping them warm in the lightless depths - dreaming of revenge, and creating the tools to exact it on the Chosen. The Krav Directorate is one of these tools - an artificial species created by the Dero, one of their various vassals and allies in their long struggle. An average Kravian bears a certain resemblance to an albino crab - although their eye structure is different, and they possess both facial tentacles for precise manipulation and rudimentary wings that allow them to glide short distances.

They were made by the Dero to work many of their factories - a task to which they took with enthusiasm, dwelling in their vast forge-cities, reverse pyramids hanging from the ceilings of caverns, surrounded by smoke made of ash and magical residue, creating engines of war for the great revanche of their masters. It is there, too, where the Krav workers refine living beings into magically-imbued fuel to power those machines, serving as a bulwark against surface incursions deeper into the underground.

The Chosen sent many things down into the tunnels and caves to hunt down and kill the Dero and their servants - and the Krav political system is something of an adaptation to that. The head of the state is the Great Leader - ever infallible, ever elusive, ever immortal, a seemingly omniscient, commanding presence that gives every Krav citizen a certain feeling of safety that someone who knows what he is doing is in charge. In truth, however, the Great Leader does not exist - nothing more than a facade propped up by generations of High Council members, invincible to any Chosen assassin by its very nature. Meanwhile, the vast bureaucracy of Krav continues to work - sharing and following orders by an ancient figment of imagination, whose status as such is being slowly forgotten even by those who have set it in motion in the first place, preparing for the great war above.

Now, the time for that has finally come.

(exact location to be determined later)