5th Era, 22
The Empire has placed a young Imperial by the name of Lucius Cantius at it's helm. Tamriel has long overcome it's state of ruin and distress, and has progressed deeply into wealth and prosperity. Markets now pour over with booming clientel. The goblets of nobles and scholars are always full to the gold plated brim. Bards from far off lands sing and play melodies to lift drunken spirits and light their withered minds ablaze. The young children roam freely, without a worry of Necromancers, bandit raids, pitiful homeless folk, or creatures that spawn from the very breath of Oblivion. Now the Empire knows peace.
However, underneath this blanket of happiness there lies a beast far stronger than the steel of a blade. Or the spells of even the wisest of mages. She has been in Nirn since before the Mytheric Age. She was the rue of the Gods. She is still the rue of men and mer alike. She is spite. Jealousy. Lust. Anger. Betrayal. She is the echo in the darkness.

Great Houses
Hlaalu- Some would say without House Hlaalu, the Empire would have never been able to afford bringing Tamriel out of it's financial slum. Although there are still Hlaalu councilman who deal with the Cammona Tong, as a whole, House Hlaalu still represents the future of Morrowind.

Telvanni- Many knew the Telvanni would succumb to corruption. The darkness always suffocated the light. Most of the Telvanni traffick illegal goods and slaves with the daedra, as well as House Dres. The Telvanni are entirely anti-Imperial and openly hostile towards Imperial troops. The Empire has deemed House Telvanni and all of the territory owned by them as an unsafe zone for anyone who acknowledges the Empire in a good manner.

Redoran-Having repelled the Nords from their borders, House Redoran focused most of it's attention on repairing ties with the Temple. After the Nerevarine disappeared, the Temple became hostile towards House Redoran. Claiming that they didn't contain the corpus disease well enough. And that some other House would be given the rights to the land near Maar gan and Ald' Ruhn. Now however, both the Indoril and Redoran have chosen peace over war, deciding that Morrowind is in too good a state to start yet another conflict. The councilmen of House Redoran were thankful. The scars from the Nordic conflict were only just beginning to heal.

House Indoril- Once the Triune collapsed, the Temple fell into a state of disorder and confusion. It wasn't until 4E 621, the last year of the 4th era, that the Temple regained a grasp on it's baffled priests and even more uncontrollable servants. In 5E 7, a priest by the name of Orvas Indoth took hold of House Indoril, leading them into a brighter future. Although at one time they found themselves battling with House Redoran, Orvas was able to work with the Councilmen of House Redoran and bring peace between the two of them. The Indoril only focus on bringing a great understanding of the ancestors back to those who are willing to listen. There are still even a corrupt few within their brotherhood.

House Dres- In an attempt to catch up with the other Houses financially, House Dres decided that joining the Telvanni in trafficking with the Daedra would line their pockets. In fact, no only did they fatten their pockets, they also took over certain ebony shares owned by the East Empire Company. They managed to become the largest buys and sellers within the smuggling ring. They even prodcued fresh corpses for the Sload. For a price of course.

The Guilds
Mages Guild- The Mages Guild became a college for studying the Mundane. With the increase of Imperial forces, there was no need to send able-bodied mages out when low paying contracts for The Legion or a greedy House Dres knight would suffice.

Fighters Guild- Similar to the Mages Guild, the Fighters Guild was no longer a necessity. The Imperial Legion bought out the Fighters Guild, using it to train Imperial troopers and handle tedious tasks.

Thieves Guild- The Thieves Guild has never been acknowledged as an actual guild. Moreso, a family of pickpocketers and cat burglars. Although some still deny their existence, the occasional sighting of a man in a Grey Cowl has the Imperial Watch in Cyrodiil on high alert.

Dark Brotherhood- In 5E 20, a young spellcaster by the name of Devinius Levoticus lead a small search party across Tamriel, digging out and either killing or imprisoning members of the Dark Brotherhood. It is well known that 3/4 of the Brotherhood were eraticated by the hand of Devinius and his followers.

Morag Tong- Always known as the honorable assassins, the Morag Tong have remained untouched by a doctrine signed by it's Grandmaster and that of the Temple and each Great House- recognizing the Tong as a group of peacekeepers. Some say even the Legion have used the Morag Tong over the years to 'silence' unwanteds.

Your place in Tamriel

You can play a bard working to afford those new clogs you've had your eyes on. A mercenary who's passing through the city. A young child playing in a meadow. I'm open to all types of characters. However, I'd like things to remain peaceful in our starting point, so refrain from creating any dark characters at the time being. The story will begin in Cyrodiil in the city of Skingrad. Don't worry about action or killing or the quest, war, adventure in the topic description. I'm trying to start an rp that will last a while. Until something even better than mine comes up. I want your ideas, as the story progresses, to flow out. And by that I mean I want you to say what you think may have happened in lore. I mean, you'll need to PM me first so I can approve the idea, but that's how this rp will need to work. There are questions that need answering I'm sure. But maybe everything is so good in Tamriel now that no one is willing to ask them.

Rules

*No spamming
*No trolling
*no flamming/flame-baiting
*No character killing
*I dictate how the world changes
*No dremora, vampire, lycanthropsy, homeless folk, or vagabonds(at the moment that is...)
*Please have only 1 character at the moment, but you can keep up to two others on stand-by
*Follow the forum rules
*Keep OOC pvssyr to a minimum
*PM all character sheets for approval then post afterwards.(If approved of course)
*Have fun!

Character Sheets
(Should look something like this. Feel free to add more as you go)

Name:
Nickname:
Race:
Age:
Birthsign:

Height:
Weight:
Build:
Misc:(Scars, tattoo's, etc...)

Psyche:
Hobbies:
Interests:

Clothing:(This can include armor but please refrain from using anything uber ie dremora, glass, ebony)
Weapons:(Same as above)
Misc:

Class:
Class Description:
Occuption:
Residence:

Bio:(opt.)
Other: (Anything else you'd like to add)


Like I said, the story will begin in Skingrad. All of the NPC's from the game are long dead. (Just keep that in mind.)
If you have any questions just PM me. The story will begin after 4 others join.
Thanks!!

I'm interested but worried that there won't be much direction to begin with

I get what you mean, but the point is start out and live your life. As we progress, I'll send NPC's that will interact with you. It will slowly lead to a "Crash" type of story. Some will meet their NPC's early in the story, and some will meet them a bit later. I've been planning this story for quite some time. Trust me, it has order.

Okay, the only problem I found is that there is not enough background to why Tamriel is in its current state, and that may affect our characters.

But apart from that.... I LOVE THIS! I'm not sure why, but I just love this 'beast' concept- it's vague but... I don't know I just like it. I guess the story just appeals to me.

Of course, with my lack of time, I doubt I'll be able to join. But maybe some day it'll be possible. :shrug:

I look forward to reading the RP as it advances.

The past is irrelevant in this rp. People tend to start their rp's the same. With some sort of disaster in Tamriel. I want to start this rp in Tamriel, but with lore that can be entirely manipulated by us.

Okay, that's pretty good, actually.

I like the fact you're including flexible lore but obviously don't make it too far from canon.

Haha. Understood.

While "the past doesn't matter" is cool in theory, it would be nice to know a little bit more for practical purposes.

For example, say I want to drew up a 200-year-old Altmer scholar who has spent the last 50 years of his life studying the Dwemer in Morrowind. I'd need to know a couple things, just to create the character:

-How long has it been since the Nerevarine and the Oblivion crisis (aka, how long was the 4th era)? Was my Altmer alive during the Crisis?
-Have there been any wars in his life? If so, where and when?
-What's happened to the Tribunal Temple since the fall of the gods? Do they still have a presence in Morrowind, and how?
-What are the Great Houses up to? Did House Redoran survive the attacks by Skyrim?

It might also be nice to know how the Empire got in its current state, where the roads are safe like that. Is there a stronger Legion presence? Has the Thieves Guild been scattered or something? Or is it that it's really so easy for people to find work that no one has to resort to crime (which I find doubtful... I suspect a richer empire means the recreational drug trade would be going strong)?

All this would just be background, used to help us build our characters and our understanding of the world. Otherwise, we're dropping characters in that have been displaced in time, seemingly in a vaccuum. For me, that's an unpleasant experience.

Heh. I tend to badger RPs I'm interested in with questions.

And that's what I was expecting. I guess I should edit my post and let everyone know how this is going to work. I want your ideas, as the story progresses, to flow out. And by that I mean I want you to say what you think may have happened in lore. I mean, you'll need to PM me first so I can approve the idea, but that's how this rp will need to work. There are questions that need answering I'm sure. But maybe everything is so good in Tamriel now that no one is willing to ask them. Here, I'll just edit the post and keep you all from spamming the thread. haha.

Ah, okay. So this basically takes the communal storytelling aspect farther than most. That should be interesting. :twirl:

Name: Laurenne Bielle

Race: Breton

Gender: Female

Age: 18

Talents:
Laurenne, despite all her faults is first and foremost a musician, she can play a fair variety of common musical instruments from flute to lute and takes pride in giving a good performance, it's just about the only thing she does take pride in. Unfortunately, as necessity of being a traveller on the roads of Cyrodil she has also become a reasonable swords woman, nor is she a bad shot with a crossbow. During her travels she's also managed to learn the rudiments of first aid and alchemical treatments though she couldn't hope to compare with a professional.

Physical description:
If not for her height, a grand total of 5"4, Laurenne would bear a striking resemblance to a Nord, due to her light blond hair and pale skin, as well as blue eyes. She could probably could pass for one at a distance. However as the viewer gets closer it becomes more obvious that Laurenne is about half a foot too short.

About the character:
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players"
Some things in life are unavoidable, no matter how much effort and planning goes into avoiding it. At least according to Laurenne. Her belief isn't exactly unfounded, again and again throughout her childhood she has been subjected to misfortune at the hands of the unforeseeable ? Her parents died in a bandit attack when she was 8. Nobody had planned it, the group of outlaws had simply run across their little hamlet by accident whilst fleeing the legion. The soldiers that had been meant to close the trap on the bandits and protect the village had arrived late because of a river bursting its banks to the north. There had been nothing anyone could do. Fate had killed Laurenne's family.

This and the events of the ten years that followed her parent's deaths has given Laurenne a very fatalistic attitude towards life; what will happen will happen, all Laurenne is doing is playing her part. It has made her unambitious, unreliable and very driven by her desires. She's a gambler and a petty thief if she needs to supplement the earnings she makes through her performances. Despite all this Laurenne is invariably good natured and a good friend, so long as you don't mind that any money you lend her is never coming back.

Armour/Clothing:
Normally dressed in comfortably loose tan tunic, tied about the waist with a leather belt and worn over a pair of dark trousers, Laurenne also owns a thick, hooded greatcoat that she uses for travelling and provides her with slightly more protection.

Weapons:
Shortsword with a foot and half long blade, obviously well worn although kept in good condition.

A light crossbow, small enough to hang comfortably from Laurenne's shoulder, the design places greater emphasis on being easy to carry than actual power but the weapon works well over a reasonable distance.

Miscellany:
A purse that is conspicuously empty as well as a mess of alchemical ingredients and some heavily preserved rations. A flute.

I think it's time we began the rp. I have 4 people counting myself. Hopefully others will join. I'm going to approve 2 people then we'll begin.

Hmm, well, I was going to say that this looks like another RP without obvious direction and too much emphasis on mystery, but I'm starting to have my doubts As with many RPs, you seem to give the "everything's good" vibe, and then introduce some unstoppable evil. However, you also say that, unlike many RPs, it is up to the person to create the lore up to now. Normally I would say that you should include some more details, but that idea is pretty good. Give the players a chance to create their own RP. Nice.

So, instead of directing this at you, I'll talk to everyone else Lore shouldn't be in just one direction, there is never a period of time where everything is good or everything is bad. All life should be gray, whether that is characters, organizations, or countries. Be as detailed as possible, don't just tell us there is a war going on in Hammerfell because you said so, give us realistic reasons. You kind of need a good understanding of politics and history in order to do this, but one should be able to have some good ideas of their own regardless.

However, I still say you should give a bit more backstory yourself, just to get things going. Kind of like a story prompt, you see. Say, a natural disaster crippled the economy of Morrowind, and now they are facing poverty, famine, and riots. Then leave it up to the players to decide what the government of Morrowind will do (this would be especially interesting given the great house scenario). If you leave things too free form, they tend to either get jumbled and messy or, worse, no one does anything. Mystery is good, especially in fan fics, but in RPs you need to reveal a bit more.

Looks good though, I withdraw my first impression that you are just another lazy RPer that wants the players to make up their own stuff However, you might want to wait a little longer, I think that if you told people about the whole "Make up the background for all Tamriel" thing in your OP you might get a few more than four. Then you can pick and choose depending on who you think the best RPers are

Thanks, keep it up :goodjob:

Name: Isriil Cantius
Nickname: Isriil
Race: Imperial
Age: 32
Birthsign: The Mage

Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 185
Build: Athletic
Misc:

Psyche: Isriil is a level-headed Imperial with few regrets and even less motivation. Making him a perfect citizen in this dull, bleek existence.
Hobbies: Isriil enjoys a good read and can be seen riding his chestnut horse near Skingrad.
Interests: Roaming Cyrodiil freely

Clothing: Leather curiass, gauntlets, boots, greaves- Red silk robes, red dress shoes
Weapons: steel shortsword
Misc:

Class: Noble/Adventurer
Class Description:
Occuption: Writer
Residence: Glarthir's old house

Bio: N/A
Other:

Name: Jailian
Nickname: (Grand Champion nickname) Messenger of Death
Race: Wood Elf
Age: 24
Birthsign: The Theif

Height: 6'
Weight: 180
Build: Fairly Slender and Fair
Misc: Long Auburn Hair

Psyche: Dark and Cold
Hobbies: Leaving poisoned fruits in Guard Quarters, Inns, etc.
Interests: The Study of Soul Trapping and The Unholy Matron

Clothing: In battle: Mithril Cuirass, Black Hand Hood, Elven Greaves, Silenced Gauntlets, Silenced Boots. Out of battle: Black Finery (Shivering Isles)
Weapons: Dagger of Soul Voltage, Ruin's Edge (Shivering Isles), Dark Seducer Shield (Shivering Isles)
Misc: Scales of Pitiless Justice

Class: Assassin of Sanguine
Class Description: An Assassin of Sanguine is a friend of the the night who prefers to kill at night rather than in the morning or afternoon
Occuption: Hired Killer
Residence: Deepscorn Hollow

Bio: N/A
Other: Listener for the Dark Brotherhood

Here's my sheet


Name: Suryn Athones
Nickname: Ordy, name give to him by he city guards
Race: Dunmer
Age: 25
Birthsign:

Height: 6' 1''
Weight: 225 lbs
Build: Muscular, a blue skinned Dunmer
Misc: A four inch scar over his right eye. It runs perpendicular to the eye.

Psyche: Zealot toward the law, religion and anything he decides is evil. Because of this he is stern, and can be heartless.
Hobbies: Fishing, reading
Interests: Learning about the Nine Divines

Clothing: Full suit of Indoril, Expensive Pants and Indoril belt. The armor has been blacked to a burnt yellow color instead of the normal Gold.
Weapons: Steel Long Sword
Misc: None

Class: Ordinator
Class Description: Ordinators are special guards employed by the Tribunal Temple to guard its premises and the city of Vivec
Occuption: Farmer
Residence: Small House outside of Skingrad

Bio: Five years ago Suryn Athones was a Temple Ordinator under the Office of War. He would be sent out to kill heretics and Deadra worshippers alike. One day the squad of Ordinator's he as a part of attacked a small fishing village near southern coast of Morrowind near Vivic. During the attack Suryn found evidence that the villagers where not Deadra worshippers, but indeed Temple patrons. To Suryn's dismay the village was attack so that the Temple could expand the land it controlled. Suryn and three other Ordinator's disserted the Temple. They could no longer live under such a corrupt system.
For three years the Temple Ordinators, under the same Office that they where one a part of, pursued them until they made their way to Cyrodiil. There the three parted ways, but before they did they scared their armor with destruction magic until it was darkened.
Today Suryn has taken up farming and is now a patron of Julianos and the Nine Divines. It has been two years since he wore his armor, but something tells him that might change.

Other: Suryn has traded one religion for another, but you can expect the same fanatical attitude one would expect from an Ordinator. The town guards know he was an Ordinator, and gave him the affectionate name of Ordy.

*BUMP* come on people...

*Bump*
I'm not doing this anymore.

Dren!! Wait! I want to join.

Veneficus is showing interest... Wow. Maybe I should keep the rp open. I need to gether up what few members I have and get this show on the road.

YAAAY!
Will you make a new thread when it starts or will you just start writing here?

awsome, me and Ordy are ready when you guys are

@MCBEANIE!!!!!:

I'm not trying to be an ass or anything, but I have a real problem with this character sheet. Too many in-game mechanics and words in this thing. Man, it's tacky. Sorry.

What's going on with this, I got a pm saying it was starting yesterday...

^ I did too. What's happening here? Let's not give up before we even started! We can make this work! :goodjob: