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| A perception of a Knightly Low Fantasy; Something I would love to see in response to Onime's idea | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: August 29, 2012, 4:14 pm (341 Views) | |
| NTNP | August 29, 2012, 4:14 pm Post #1 |
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Thanks to speaking with Onime about the idea of a Knights RP, I got to thinking about what I would love to see. I wanted to tell you all about my perception of this idea… In the tales we hear in bedtime stories where magic ruled the day. It talked about a world full of imagination where the very rules of our world are little more than playthings. Broken bones mended in hours instead of weeks. No one ever perished from illness, old age or infection but only died in their sleep or in the heat of a glorious battle. Mighty battles with nameless, faceless hordes constantly waged war over the fate of entire worlds, warrior gods wielding all the power of the elements, of life and death walking the battlefields with we mere mortals only watching with our redshirts ablazed as they. These mighty heroes and villains, truly greater than ever deserved to exist alone turned the tide of a battle with hundreds upon thousands of combatants but only a dozen that truly mattered. We would hear of the villainous plots of vile sorcerers would watch the entire world burn along with all the men, women and especially the children that live in our fair kingdom just to gain a little more strength, just to command a little more power. Night after night, we all heard the stories of our heroes through friendship, unity, honor and righteousness would come together to overthrow this abomination and save the day, forever it seemed. This world is not a fairy tale. The world we live in is far from a land of amazement and magic, if it ever existed at all, has never graced these halls in any age and it is the effort of many that change the world, if only ever so slightly. Our story begins in the Kingdom of Rhine, nestled deep in a small valley surrounded by ancient mountains and long forgotten rows of oak and pine with a great river pouring down from the northern slopes and into the bowels of the earth. The town is built not upon the ancient, majestic ruins of some diminutive alcoholic men who crap stones and it wasn’t created by some knife ears fancy words. No our town was made atop a limestone cavern with a mighty river splitting it twine before sinking into the shadows of the earth just outside of town leading it to a place we call the undersea. Once upon a time, this kingdom… our kingdom was just one part of many. In my great grandfather’s time, an Empire of some renown owned this entire region. Our valley, the plains to the south, the coastline and our racist, dress-wearing supremacists to the north and they even had the half-dressed savages that live in the woods and up in the mountains under their thump back then. Its name, its history could not matter less now than the condition of a coin when it’s nestled in the stomach of a pig. In truth, it would probably take a year of riding day and night to reach the boarders of our former master’s lands assuming they still even exist at all anymore. Back when, the Empire ended up receding, as they always seem to. A decision, as stupid and practical as you could ever imagine came from a thousand miles away that our little corner of the world would have to be “sacrificed” to maintain their holdings. For most of the civilized folk, that was enough for them. They walked the long road back to our homelands. My great grandfather along with a few others chose to stay though. The Dynas family, they were bigwigs here in our little neck of the woods but back in the Empire they would have been nothing, barely even worth an invitation to a banquet for a girl’s 14th birthday. With everyone else gone, the Dynas family became the royalty of the land… admittedly after a rather brutal civil war that landed my grandfather the ownership of the mines on the eastern slopes and since then the Dynas family has been the kings of this land. That was, to my mind, perhaps 60 years ago or 70 years ago. Looking forward to today, our kingdom has not changed too much since the Empire bid us a due. The Castle is still every bit as magnificent as it was when it was constructed nearly 100 years ago. The great wall surrounding the ancient buildings of our ancestors is like that too, built to withstand the passage of time just like most of the things in the old district. It has withstood a dozen assaults since the creation of our little country. I’ve seen the scars of when our dear neighbors have clawed their way through the newest parts of our town but never have they pierced our final sanctum. Speaking of the ruins that we have rebuilt so many times now, our city is split between three districts. The old district as I explained, is protected by our old stonewalls. The new district was recreated about fifteen years back. Most of the things created from brick and wood, a little shotty but nothing to be ashamed off. Of course, the same cannot be said for our rather pitiful excuse for a wall. Bricks so thin that I swear I could probably ride by horse straight through them, let alone with a single bolder send the entire thing toppling down. Outside of it though, there are dozens upon dozens of little shacks. Most people living out there are farmers, traders, workers and a good deal of our guards as well. Anyone that is anyone, such as myself, has one of the rare estates in the old district. The new district is for those who can afford it, the betters of Rhine. Everyone else, mostly the stinking, piss poor ones are stuck outside, living by the riverbanks and washing him or herself in low tide. That is the type of place we live in, not pretty but livable. The city is not the only thing that we have. A few villages out there owe us allegiance, of course once we had a lot more too. Most of the places have been lost to all sorts of things like disease, war, rioters and all sorts of bad things I would rather not know about. But that isn’t what you truly want to know about is it? You want to know about us… the Knight of Rhine! I don’t know what you have been told about us… about the exploits that have been laid at our feet, the enemies that have sworn their lives to destroying us or the fact that we are probably the only thing holding back all sorts of bad from descending upon our home. First I should tell you what KNIGHTS truly are. At our core, the Knights are soldiers, but no mere rank and file. They are battle hardened champions, some of which have trained their entire lives like myself in the finest forms of battle, chivalry and horsemanship. Others of course aren’t like me. Also those lesser soldiers who have come to our liege’s notice might also eventually come to rise up and join our ranks. Of course, the nobility… some not as impressive as others also stand beside us thanks to their blood rather than their deeds. King Dynas has told me that he has been forced to hire mercenaries to bolster his armies in order to hold the gates from the savages in light of the looming conflict to come. The men and women of the Knights of Rhine, yes I said women as well. I have to admit, those dress wearing elitists have managed to impact our culture in at least one positive way. I suppose the savages and the warring clans have offered their bits and pieces to us as well. We are probably no more like the Empire of old than we are anyone else now. Oh where was I? Oh yes the Knights of Rhine. We serve upon a council and act as the military strength for our nation. We are the captains of the army, the scouts of our legion, the envoys of our king. As equals we sit at our table in the heart of the castle, with our liege atop a great throne overseeing us. When the winds demand it, he will command us to action. He will decide whom among us shall lead, whom shall follow and what our tasks shall be. All the time, our Order is looking for new recruits, those that impress us upon not only the field of battle but with spirit as well and that we in turn can gain the respect and admiration for. But the process of admittance is not easy ((for new members, which would be fine, a recruitment event might be needed)) but neither is maintaining your place among us. All those that bear the responsibilities, rights and privileges of nobility must uphold their oaths. While we are soldiers through and through at our master’s beckon call that is not our only role in life. Many of us have jobs, responsibilities that bind us to this world as well. We have more than just our honor to give us strength, we have our own personal motivations and desires as well. I for one, my family owns the mines that supply us with iron and silver. I myself am the owner and head blacksmith in town. While you would think my specialization would be weapons of war, I am much better with the finer things like rings and silverware that the nobles tot for status. I have a family, a wife and son. I have friends like our steward, good King Dynas and of course my prodigy the Prince. My dream, that which guides me and gives me strength, is to see the Prince grow into a kind, noble and fair ruler for this land when the King heart skips it’s final beat. There are many others as well that have desires like mine. Some of these motivations are personal, like ancient vengeances waiting comeuppance or bitter rivalries boiling to a fever pitch. Others wish to see the Kingdom of Rhine changed entirely to better fit their visions. Perhaps even one or two would like to wear the Dynas crown themselves. But we are all united by our desire to be guardians for this nation because it is our home and we will not see those we love be butchered, our belongings stolen and everything we have worked for destroyed. As a new day rises upon the horizon, just another challenge presents itself. Like so many times before, a summons has appeared beckoning me to a meeting of the Round at the Castle. All the Knights of Rhine shall attend along with the King. I suspect that conflict is on the rise yet again. Perhaps another of our brothers and sisters are foolish enough to wish for war and seek rebellion. Maybe it is our forgotten sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters who have turned their strength to pillaging their neighbor and require our hand to bring to peace, in this life or the next if so necessary. Rumors of a young conqueror from the coastline has been coming down the roads of late, perhaps he has finally taken his sights upon our lands to add to his own? Or have the pretentious matriarchs of our supposedly “more civilized” neighbors decided that once again they would enjoy taking ownership over our farm lands and intend a war to bolster their craps? Truthfully the possibilities are nearly endless, there are so many things that could have gone wrong as they always do. But at the very least we don’t have to fear some necromancer summoning an undead horde, a story about some sort of an artifact that would cause the owner, should they collect a half dozen stones, allow him to transform into a giant lizard or some otherworldly glitter covered sprites causing havocs for giggles. No, our foes are just like us… human, fighting for their own motivations, struggling desperately to attain their dreams. It’s a difficult conflict for all involved, everyone has friends, families, children, parents and friends who will mourn their death just like those who care about you would mourn your loss. But that is fate. We cannot always chose our ends, but we can choose how we live. And we all have chosen the way of blood, pain and steel in order to attain our dreams. Edited by NTNP, August 29, 2012, 4:28 pm.
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| The Best | August 30, 2012, 9:50 am Post #2 |
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Scout
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No, don't kill AWD, you're supposed to be a mod. Go post in AWD instead of thinking about this |
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| NTNP | August 30, 2012, 12:10 pm Post #3 |
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Actually I was the author for WD, but unfortunately due to grad school stuff I don't have time for the day to day runnings of anything. Reasonably this is about the full extent of my involvement in this RP as well. Baring you know, free time where I might RP like you do Best, infrequently and in short burst but with great enthusiasm. |
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5:59 PM Jul 10