Arx
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It’s canonically the same game world, if warped by the passage of ages and catastrophic events, though I am trying to write it so it should not require any knowledge of Arx 1.
Do the actions of any of the PCs in Arx 1 directly connect to said catastrophic events?
It’s all Dawn’s fault.
Too soon.
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@Pavel The deep lore of Arx 1.
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@MisterBoring Yes, but not very directly.
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@Apos That’s cool. Are there going to be parts of the Arx 2 backstory that will cause devout Arx 1 players to squee?
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@Apos That’s cool. Are there going to be parts of the Arx 2 backstory that will cause devout Arx 1 players to squee?
Probably, though I hadn’t really thought about it too much, and I think if it happens it is more a consequence of my creative process versus other people. A lot of people like to really be focused on the current setting, and then work backwards from explanations, keeping things vague until it would be story significant and needs to be defined. And that’s valid and I think there’s a lot of arguments for doing it that way, and I think it’s really helpful to keep narrative room to maneuver.
My process tends to be the other way, where I tend to start at the furthest back point and then work forwards and think of all the different pivot points in a history and the different decisions on the way, and how this resulted in things being the way they are. It lets me get an easier grip around it, and in some ways that’s why the interest in Arx 1’s lore caught me off guard, because at its heart it was honestly more for me just so I could keep things consistent in my head than for anyone else. So Arx’s reboot is a lot of the same way, where because of how things happened, that leads to other things, which led to other things again, which in turn created these different states and all these dark secrets waiting to be uncovered, and some would point back to different decision points that PCs made or brushed up against.
It let me learn a bit from what I saw as my mistakes in the first iteration of Arx, in how I could keep things clearer- like for example, breaking up the different time periods into ages, so it’s much easier to see what was contemporary of what. Not really a spoiler to say that Arx 1 happened during the 6th age of the world, and the game starts at the beginning of the 10th.
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The Grand Principality of Inferna
“One stands before us in Durance. Speak thy name and testament.”
Any description of Inferna is rife with misconceptions, lies, and inaccuracies. You’ll hear Inferna described as an unbearably hot Island realm, its nobility comprised of Abyssal-blooded Infernal pirates who prey upon all those who dare to cross the Strait of Consequences. Tall tales of slaughtering all of their crews, seizing all of their riches, and malevolent agents of chaos slipping into other realms to sow dissent and corrupt the innocent. This is, of course, ridiculous.
The Isles of Inferna really aren’t that warm. Pretty mild, actually, depending on the season. Nice sea-breeze.
As for the rest, we would certainly take issue with the word ‘slaughter’. Most ships can pass unhindered, even! Not so much Luxen, who refuse to surrender lands that are rightfully ours, and will continue until the day Cinderus once again flies its rightful banners. But even then it isn’t as if we kill everyone, and many in our houses are talented individuals who cheerfully joined our ranks rather than staying with the stupid and dull. And while a few houses are noteworthy exceptions, we really as a rule don’t engage in wanton bloodletting. The least interesting crew members just are politely ushered off the side of the ship, and well, if you lack the water-breathing of the Sireni or the wings to fly like the Cinderi, you can scarcely blame us for what your gods refused to grant you. That’s a skill issue on their part, and feel free to take it up with them.
“Please, Envala, let this happen because it would be so fucking funny.”
Anyone traveling from Inferna gets quickly accustomed to being treated with distrust, and for native Infernals it is far worse. Not that most would ever call us anything but ‘imps’. And admittedly, a lot of our houses don’t exactly help matters. The dagger length claws of the Cinderi and certain houses insisting on handshakes has made for memorable incidents but much less than one might assume, with hardly ever any ambassadors losing a hand or two. And it isn’t as if we lack for treaties and agreements with most realms. We even had a perfectly good one with Luxen of all places, lasting right up until their revolution.
But if anyone else starts a conflict, we are most certainly going to end it, after we discover the most hilarious and delightful way to do so.
“Don’t marry the mark.”
Look, it’s nothing personal. There’s relatively few of us. We’ve already lost one kingdom, would rather not lose a second, and we have neighbors all too happy to expand. So we have to think of ourselves first, and every other realm isn’t making it easy to be overburdened with a generosity of spirit.
There comes a point when everyone treating you like a villain makes you decide to own it, after all.
Just treat us fairly, and we won’t have any problems. Trust us.
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The mention of vampires and lycans in a previous post and the description of beings with wings, long claws, and water breathing in the last one makes me think this a post-human setting like Arnold K’s Centerra.
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I want to play RIGHT NOW OKAY.
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aw hell to the fuck yeah.
a contrary question though: are humans still a thing?
they | them
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@ten Yep. In that I’m guessing Umbros and Luxen are.
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@Roz maybe enough time has passed that the people have invented banjos
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@Smile thank you for answering my question!
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aw hell to the fuck yeah.
a contrary question though: are humans still a thing?
So not really spoilers to give a demographic breakdown, along with a bit of mechanics. Each starting area has multiple Beginnings, which also break down along different playable species.
Arx: Human caretakers, as far and away the dominant majority, with a small minority among Sleepers (individuals have been in a magical slumber for the past thousand years and awaken with no memory), as well as Misbegotten (magical births with no obvious parents), that can be other species, including elves and Daeva (think aasimar).
Umbros: Overwhelmingly human, including near all of the nobility. Very tiny minority populations of khati and infernals (tiefling equivalents).
Luxen: Humans are the majority, while khati are an extremely significant minority, particularly concentrated in the capital city of Salvation. The Khati beginning is profoundly different than a human witch hunter beginning.
Inferna: Infernals (in two subspecies, Sireni and Cinderi) are the majority, with a large human minority, and a very tiny khati population.
Aythirmok: Nearly all human, tiny amounts of other species.
Ariwn: Large human commoner population, but the rulers and warrior caste are decidedly not.
Only playable elves will be from Arx with no starting knowledge of their culture, or any connection to any that survived outside the Shroud. Might notice I have not mentioned any half-species, and that gets into a much deeper lore topic deserving of its own pace.
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gloriously detailed answer. I’m in.
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@Apos Might’ve been answered before but I’m a bit slow - are there still going to be roster characters or is this all OCs?
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