Both Needed Waking The Gods - An Adventure In The Middle Kingdom (Egypt/Low Magic)

[Cheshire Cat]

OVERHAAAAAUL!

>Ahem< Welcome, ladies and gentlemen ... and others, to my first request thread upon unannounced return from an unannounced departure. Sorry again. I'm looking for 4-5 individuals for an epic adventure through ancient Egypt. There will be gods, monsters, drama, kings, queens ... did I mention gods? Characters will range from priests and scribes to palace guards and peasants, all chosen by the hand of fate to save the great kingdom and her people from certain doom. ... I'm also taking some historical liberties for flare, no offence meant to any ancient or existing cultures.

... how's THAT for a pitch, nyaaaaaaa? U w U

Alright, so, in case I have caught your interest, I should probably give you a little more substance than ... wull ... ^

SO! Our story sets itself in Egypt's Middle Kingdom (2040-1782 BCE). Long after the rise of the great pyramids, of Egypt itself, before the warlike Pharoahs of the New Kingdom would spell the doom of an empire, there stood a jewel of culture nestled amid arid desert and verdant delta. Thebes grew from a small city along the nile to overtake the former capital at Memphis, reuniting a land sectioned off by opulent nomarchs protected by cults of richly rewarded followers. Art and astrology, religion and trade, by the 12th dynasty, Egypt was a bastion of culture rivalled only by the neighbouring Kushites. This was not a land of slaves and taskmasters, oppression and war, but of the written word, of veneration and thought and betterment. A land where gods deigned to walk in secret among the people who worshipped them, where even the moon disguises himself to frequent the street-markets and night fairs.

Splendid as it was, great lights cast deep shadows, and in the deep shadows of Egypt's splendor there was growing a rot; The cult of Set. Power-hungry, violent, wrathful and tyrannical, the red beast draws only the most vile into his service, whispering from his underworld prison to any person foul-of-spirit enough to hear him. His followers have been working for untold decades to bring about his return and the downfall of his rivals. From every dark corner they slither out to unearth and steal ancient tomes of power and artifacts given by the gods, to build their stores of secrets-kept and favours to call on, to spread their influence.

Evidence of their works can be seen throughout the land in recent years; drought and famine, poverty and plague, strife and civil unrest, wounds marring the body of a great society. Desperation has set in where once faith lived, and in their desperation people have turned, demanding, to the gods. Egos bruised, outrage stoked, powers weakened by disenfranchised masses, the gods have taken to bickering, those who care to consider overstepping their realms to act upon the Nile. How can a problem be solved before someone is found to be at fault, after all? And leave it to immortal beings not to see the pressing urgency in solving matters of such mortal importance as life and health.

So then, who will save us? Who will find a way to free the people from the grip of this evil? Who indeed ... *Leers expectantly. Taps foot.*

~~~

There you go. So, post here if you're interested, and we'll see where that goes ^_^

So who is to save us then? Who is to save Egypt ... who indeed ...

 

[dteagle12]

Now I want to play berserker my Cheshire. With thoughts of D&D I would like to toss my hat in the ring. *tosses hat but misses ring, tries again and makes it*

 

[Cheshire Cat]

lol, and here I was worried I would make people want to go back and play AC Origins, or even Conan Exiles XD

Deal! So, to start thinking about your character, you prolly need a lil primer on Egyptian culture!

I'mma try to put some kind of primer together for people, or at least find a site that synthesizes it nicely :p

EDIT: I'mma also give more setting information on like ... what walk of life your character should come from :P

 

[Cheshire Cat]

DERP, heck, I forgot all that like ... good info ...

So ... Middle Kingdom egyptian culture was agregarian, and relied heavily on the silty goodness of the nile for feeding the population, getting them drunk, and maintaining trade with other nations. Most households had their own gardens or small farming patches, while larger homes and residences of officials had much larger fields worked by peasantry or underlings, often taking part of the yield as payment. So prevalent was agriculture that grains and processed goods like flour were often used as currency. This practice was so prevalent that the national currency was seen as primarily ceremonial, setting the price by which things could be traded, but not in actual circulation.

Farmers and peasants were among the lowers in society, but enjoyed a level of freedom and prosperity beyond many in the ancient world. There were very few limitations on professional pursuits with regard to gender or class, and education was seen as tantamount to a right. A farmer could pick up a hammer and become a carpenter, or work hard enough to become a merchant or trader. Scribes and priests could grow to hold wealth rivalling local rulers, and were not seen as any kind of threat for it, as there was an expectation of generosity toward the people of egypt when someone came into wealth or power. Egypt rejoiced at the awesomeness of Egypt ... why wouldn't you want to reinvest in the best place on earth?

Yes ... there were slaves ... lots of captured warriors, criminals, debtors, but the back-breaking public works of the first kingdom were a thing of the past, and it was an honourable thing to help in the construction of more contemporary architecture, a thing for which one would often be reimbursed. The warrior class was said to suffer the harshest life, but most records of a soldier's life were written by a scribe's hands, hands without understanding of hard labour or the joys of camaraderie, the rewards of honour.

Your character will be marked by a star .... a "star," followed by priests in the king's council, and can be from basically any walk of life. They should be the kind of person who will ... y'know, NOT be uselessly dragged from event to event, and prepared to fight, run, think, and survive adventures for and in tandem with gods and monsters ... but they should, by no means, have expected any of this!

 

[Sanity43217]

You say Low Magic? So how much Magic is acceptable?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

You say Low Magic? So how much Magic is acceptable?

Basically, in super-duper short ... only the world and the gods will be magical. Middle Kingdom culture embraced the gods and magic in day to day life, and had rituals and superstitions and yadda yadda, but speaking from a strictly mechanical, role-playing perspective, characters will not be able to cast spells, summon magical affects at will, anything like that. Priests will have certain talents that may be magical in nature, like ... I dunno, purifying water, entering a divine trance, blessing an object, but no one is going to be laying on hands or curing light wounds.

The kind of magic you'll encounter is like ... godly intervention ... spirits ... enchanted items/gifts from the gods, but nothing overt. Only the gods and the most powerful monsters can like, throw a fireball ... is any of this helping, or am I just rambling in circles?

 

[dteagle12]

I already have an idea for a character.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

@waldo3030 bump :P

 

[Cheshire Cat]

So, in MY mindbrain, I'm thinking that characters will be average egyptian citizens from all walks of life ... but like, pretty normal people; When building a character, think of them as being ... as having three-to-four life skills. One of those skills is farming. No question. I don't care where they're from, one of those three-to-four skills is farming. Even the most hardened warrior helped grow their own food. I can see it being their worst skill, but it's a default.

Skills two-through-four are things like ... pottery, writing, religious studies, astrology, medicine, hand-to-hand combat, swordplay, spear fighting, that kind of thing ... but you're still an ancient egyptian. Even if you only have three skills, and the highest tier one is medicine ... you are not a modern doctor. Someone who puts medicine in their lowest skill position would like ... know that a fever isn't caused by spirits, not WHAT causes a fever.

I would also like to mention again that none of those skills will be magical. As a priest, your like ... religious skill includes praying to the gods, making offerings, that kind of thing, but ... that's kind of like calling helpdesk ... it's not fast, it doesn't guarantee results ... sometimes no one answers, and a lot of the time what you get is incomprehensible garbage that only kind of helps with your issues ...

 

[PolikShadowbliss]

I would like to throw my hat into this ring. Ancient Egypt is among my favorite civilizations and I also love their pantheon! Plus I have to get started somewhere and this seems be a good bet.

I'm new to this site so I don't expect to integrate right off the bat (my last site took almost a year before I found an RP group). But like I said, have to start somewhere!

 

[Cheshire Cat]

hourray, welcome to the party ^_^

 

[Cheshire Cat]

PROFILE!
Name: Yo name here. Google can give you a good idea of olde egyptian names ^_^
Age: How old you at?
Gender: Whatchudentifyas?!
Primary Occupation: There were a lot of jobs in Egyptian society, feel free to do a little research. No action movie/D&D campaign inspired characters, you normal. I expect like ... priests, guards, farmers, brewers, tradespeople ... people you wouldn't think qualified to be chosen by fate for a grand quest.
Skills: So, we're doing something a lil weird with this. You gonna pick 5-6 skills in descending order. Those skills, and the order they are in, and the number you have, determine how good you are at each thing. Every character has common sense, and due to the agrarian nature of the society, everyone has to put "Farming" into one of those spots, tho you could totes put it at the bottom of the list and be real bad at it. Your character is assumed to have a basic education, which, in this century, means you can speak the local language, do basic math, and have a basic understanding of geography, history, and the significance of the gods. The skills are;

Spoiler

Acrobatics - Whether it be from dancing, sports, or passing the time, your character has a keen balance, great reflexes, and total positional awareness.
Artistry - specialization list is below, I've probably forgotten something, but list whatever kind of art your character is good at in brackets.
-Architecture - you know how to design a building that won't immediately fall down.
-Calligraphy - you know all the letters, and numbers, and how to put them together to make knowledge.
-Dance - you can do more than just flail around, you know how to convey something with your body.
-Painting - you are a master of the brush, even if you're not sure what those scribes are doing.
-Pottery - you a kilner queen, glaze-coating, patterning,
-Sculpture - like a potter, but you can make like ... people and faces and monsters and stuff.
Athletics - Your character is strong, tough, and fast. Maybe they're a warrior, maybe they love sports, maybe they've just been turning a grinding wheel all their life.
Combat - pick a specialization!
-Archery - you know how to competently fire and care for a bow.
-Hand-to-hand - you know how to competently fire, and care for, your body-weapons.
-Improvised weaponry - Style be damned, you know how to wield chair-legs and throw sticks like a champ.
-Weapon Skill - Pick a weapon, you know how to use it without losing an eye or an ear or a genital. You also know how to take care of it.
Craft - pick a specialization
-Blacksmithing - you know how to whack metal into shapes and stuff. This includes weapony shapes, and armoury shapes.
-Carpentry - you can shape wood into big things and small things.
-Fibrecraft - you can harvest the materials for, and process them into, fabrics, including papyrus.
-Foodsmithing - you can forge noms.
-Leatherworking - you know how to turn an animal into a stylish coat or a piece of lightweight armour.
-Sewing - you know how to make cloth into fashin bish.
-Stonemasonry - you know how to turn rocks into places and things!
Etiquette - your character is knowledgeable when it comes to interacting with officials and royalty above street level. Required for anyone working in government.
Manipulation - SPECIALIZE!
-Deception - you know how to craft the kind of lie that won't arouse suspicion, the kind of disguise that won't get a second look.
-Intimidation - you know how to instill fear in someone without doing permanent damage, if any at all.
-Mediation - you know how to bring closure to dynamic conflicts.
-Seduction - you know how to liberate people from their inhibitions.
Profession - SPECRATIZE!
-Farming - bring a bucket anna hoe for this wet-ass parcel,
make a polycultural plot on this wet-ass parcel ...
-Herding - you are a capable herder and raiser of livestock
-Literacy - that's right. You know how to speak with a basic education, but you dunno how to read. Literacy allows your to both read and write.
-Religious Studies - you know the gods by name, know their realms and rituals, their writings and stories.
-Soldiering - you've been a soldier, and know how that whole deal works.
-Tradecraft - You know how to appraise, barter, and run a basic financial exchange, and possibly even how to run a business.
Science - SPOTIALIZE!
-Astrology - part story-teller, part fortune-teller, part scientist, you know the names and paths of the stars above. You can also navigate by them.
-Chemistry - more like alchemy in this century, you know how to chemistry ... :3
-Engineering - you know about the six simple machines. You know, the six simple machines!
-Medicine - while ancient Egyptians didn't have MRI machines or dialysis, they had a working knowledge of anatomy, and a lot of anecdotal evidence about health.
-Meteorology - you know how to read the weather up to four days out ... mostly ... with a varying degree of success ...
-Zymology - you know what kinds of things rot to make other things, wink wink.
Wilderness - LASTONE!
-Fishing - you know how to fish by both pole and net, as well as how to gut/skin.
-Foraging - you know how to identify and harvest safe and useful plantlife.
-Hunting - you know how to track, stalk, kill, and prep game.
-Survivalism - you know how to endure the elements, be it making or finding shelter, starting a fire, or finding water.

Spoiler: Appearance

A description of your character's appearance. NOFACECLAIMS >,<

Spoiler: Background

A description of your character's past. NOSNAPSHOTSINTIME >,<

[b]Name:[/b] X
[b]Age:[/b] X
[b]Gender:[/b] X
[b]Primary Occupation:[/b] X
[b]Skills:[/b] X
[spoiler=Appearance] [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Background] [/spoiler]