Under the Embers of the bask, we go on

This is a tale all Flesh and Fleshless of the Boreal know well. It begins in the time of myth.In this time, a great feathered beast, with a luminescent mane and wings alight with flame, breathed fire into the sky. Where the breath hung, burning in a ball, we called the sun. It burned so bright it lit up the whole of the world. Crops flourished and people frolicked in the infinite green hills, and infinite prosperous kingdoms. The light would fade into evening, then to darkness, bringing night. The beast would take to the sky, sleeping above the people's heads, until a new day dawned when it awoke.This beast became known as the Bask.It lasted for many, many years, this splendorous peace. But one day, the days began to grow darker. They shortened. The Bask's breath no longer could abate the Shade which lurked in the hidden corners of the Realm. Somehow, its strength had grown. Until all that the Bask could manage were brief windows of twilight.The sky grew black, and the Realm wilted.So the Bask called upon noble hearts, and bestowed upon each a blessed feather plucked from its own mane. Each would become bound to its magic and to its duty - bound to serve the Realm.Then the Bask took flight to the sky. It dove into the Shade, beating it back with blows from its powerful wings, burning it with its fiery breath. And once it had won the battle, and the sky burned like it had never burned before, the Bask closed its eyes one last time. It fell into a deep slumber overhead, as it had done so many times before. Only this time, it would not awake. As it rested, its Light would continue to disperse.Once the blaze had passed, the embers of the Bask's battle twinkled and glimmered. The stars formed a cage we call the firmament, behind which the sea of infinite Shade would stay caged.We don't know why it happened. We don't know how to stop it. Yet, we must continue.

Boreal Echoes is a dark fantasy roleplay group taking place in an original universe known simply as The Realm. It is a world doused in eternal darkness, equal in parts both gritty and wondrous. Think of Boreal Echoes as our very own dark fairytale. It takes heavy inspiration from many sources, perhaps most evidently from Scandinavian folklore.Boreal Echoes was originally conceived of as a limited campaign "short-run" group with light ttrpg elements. Since it's creation, it has undergone much change, and now has the potential to expand far past its initial scope. However, this first arc will still be small and streamlined. It is intended to give you a taste of the world, and act as a sort of "prologue" if interest is high enough for further continuation. There is no rush for completion, but the campaign has been written in such a way that it should be able to be completed within 2-3 months.The world is full of many more stories to tell, with room for expansion beyond the initial run of the group. Boreal Echoes is not only open to (and encourages!) creative input from members for fleshing out the world, but also member-run events. If the group so decides, Boreal Echoes has the potential to continue on until players see fit to close the book.✦ This group will operate primarily in EST (GMT-5)

The Realm can be a scary place.Expect to Encounter:

• General violence
• Gore
• Death (including children)
• General horror tropes
• Psychological horror
• AbuseAnd fictionalized depictions of the following within the context of the setting:• Politics
• Sexism
• Classism

Premise

The Boreal is the northernmost region of the Realm. When the world as mankind knew it ended, the corrupting Shade overcoming the lands, civilization fell apart. The Realm was cast into a state of eternal darkness and lowered temperatures, with only the auroras cast by the Bask sleeping in the sky to serve as daylight. In time, these would stabilize somewhat into consistent seasons, marked by variations in heavensward light.In the many eons since the Realm's collapse, the Boreal has managed to erect five magical mountainous structures know as Aeries, each grown from a feather off the divine Bask's radiant mane. Where the Aeries grew, Rime - the physical form of the Bask's Light, used for magic - flowed, burning the Shade back. Settlements of survivors grew into great cities, which grew into empires expanding their reach and further forcing the Shade away. And each Aerie repeated this, again, and again.No civilization stays forever in the Boreal. Eventually, the Shade becomes too strong, barelling out once more in floods which wipe the land clean of life. The dozens upon dozens of ruins across the Boreal are evidence enough for this. Still, life persists. Heroes are chosen by remnants of the Bask's light, miracle-working spellcasters known as Starlings. Still some grow envious of such power, instead seeking out the fleshless spirits of the wilds beyond to form pacts, passing into vassalhood. The Aeries quarrel with each other. And people fight, cry, fall in love, and feast - same as they always have, and always will.✦ To read more about the lore, view the✦ COMPENDIUM ✦link at the bottom of the page. ✦In the past, the Boreal experienced the largest known flood of shade since the first. It originated from the far northern reaches of the Gilded Downs, the domain of the Geldbrei aerie. Now, 400 years later, much of Gelbrei remains to be reclaimed. The admittedly small but critical town of Byrgstjarna sat at the edge of Geldbrei's occupied lands, and at the cusp of a new era of reclamatory expeditions. The Boreal's Empyrean had an eye to expand the region's reach, and wanted to begin here.But the lines between the stars, it seems, divined a different tale. A flood befell Byrgstjarna, eradicating the town and all those in it. All save for a small group of survivors, who witnesses a mysterious figure single-handedly hold the flood back during their escape. Led by the Empyrean's right hand, the Thane Sefa Ragnasdóttir, the survivors now find themselves wrapped up in the local politics of the isolated town of Sablesworn. With more succumbing to a mysterious plague by the day, creatures stealing people away in the woods, and talk of bandits, the survivors must decide where to put their efforts. Not to mention the looming presence of an ancient Echo in the canyon nearby, which seems to call to them nightly in twisted dreams.It is here story has led . . .

✦ Your character will be introduced through an in-universe event. You will have to come up with some reason to place your character in this situation. When you join the server, you will be informed of the circumstances secretly (it would be spoilers for our current cast!)

RULES

  1. You must be 21+ to participate. This group will include heavy topics. Many of the darker subject matters explained on the "About" page will NOT be tagged or spoilered outside of extraneous circumstances. If this will be a problem for you, please consider whether this group is right for you.

  2. NSFW. While general discussion and jokes involving things like gore or NSFW will be allowed anywhere in the server, lengthier in-depth discussion or artwork of these things should be kept to the NSFW channels.

  3. Be kind. You are expected to be polite and respectful to your fellow players. Please avoid conflicts, especially within the server. Take things to DMs. If you have an issue with another player to such an extent that you feel unsafe or uncomfortable in the server, contact mods. Additionally, please make an effort to include and welcome others.

  4. No hate speech. While Boreal Echoes will feature fictionalized depictions of some sensitive topics, any sexist, racist, homophobic, etc. behavior from members OOC is not allowed. If we feel that a player is using the presence of these topics in the fiction as an excuse to act out their bigotry, moderators will take action. It will most likely result in an instant and permanent ban.

  5. Keep RP within the server. Please try to keep as much RP as you can within the confines of the server. This helps keep a sense of community and continuity, and prevent feelings of exclusion.

  6. Communicate with each other. All healthy relationships are founded on good communication, and that is no different within an RP group. Talk with your RP partners to ensure that everyone is alright with what is happening. If a problem arises, try to discuss it first. And take care not to blur the lines between characters and players.

  7. No traced, stolen, or copied art. No AI. Simple as that. If you are found out to have done any of this knowingly, you will be banned.

  8. Respect the mods. Do not harass the mods. Be respectful of their time and effort. If you'd like to discuss something pertaining to the mods, open a ticket.

Rules will not be written to cover every single scenario. In general, we expect you to understand how to conduct yourself in a shared space, with consideration for the setting and players.

CHARACTER

For this opening, we are restricting the kinds to tarred and man only. We will also be putting a heavy emphasis on accepting non-male characters.We will be accepting 5-10 new members.

Your application must have the following information:


Character Name ✦ Keep in mind the lore related to names!Character Age ✦ Must be 18+Kind ✦ Man or Tarred.Gender and pronouns ✦ Exactly what you think.Appearance ✦ Maximum of 600 words.Personality ✦ List at least three positive, three neutral, and three negative traits. The prose should be no longer than 600 words.Backstory ✦ While there is no minimum, your backstory should be substantial and cover relevant factors. A maximum of 2,000 words. Please provide a tl;dr that does not exceed 300 words. Remember to provide content warnings.Combat Sheet ✦ This should be completed or near completion. If there are questions or confusions, those can be addressed after acceptance or within a ticket.



App Art
✦ App art is NOT a requirement. However, a visual app will be provided for those who would like to use it. While it may not be required, we would still love to see them! You are free to use commissioned or gifted art (or any other art you have permission to use). AI art is not allowed; please refer to our rules.



You are not required to use the provided written app template. But it would be pretty cool if you did.

When creating your character, you are given freedom in many areas to get creative.Though the lore may be plentiful, the world of Boreal Echoes has intentionally left many, many blank spaces to be filled as you wish. Use existing locations and region descriptions to help guide you if you want to create an original town for your character to originate from. Use existing societal structures or organizations as inspiration for that shadowy thief network your character is a part of.While not anything goes, we will attempt to accommodate all ideas that feel fitting for the setting, making adjustments and working with you as necessary.Even in mechanics, you have freedom to reflavor as you wish. For example, reflavoring one of the theurge's "devotions" to fit a different Vigil. The owner is even willing to rework certain mechanics to better fit your character post-acceptance.If you have ever played a ttrpg campaign before, the goal is for Boreal to feel much the same. We will endeavor to make the experience decently personalized for the cast, and to allows players to genuinely effect the world they're interacting with. This starts in character creation - we want to see your ideas for this world!

Of course, we are looking for some specific things while reviewing applications which will factor into your acceptance. These are:



• Players with a decent grasp on the world's lore, and showing a genuine interest in it. We are looking for people willing and excited to dig into the world, exploring not only what exists but also to expand on it with their own contributions.• Players showing a clear understanding of the tone of both the RP as a whole and the world.• Characters with connections to the world, who feel deeply integrated into it. Characters should not feel like they belong a different setting.• Characters who fill a narrative niche or a unique space in the cast. We do not want a cast with too many characters that are too similar to each other.