ARK-VERSE ZERO [HISTORY, FACTIONS, WORLD MAP & F&R]

[narxfang]

The Note: Ark-Verse Zero
Pain is temporary; Glory is eternal

History of Ark


The planet of Ark is full of several thousand different species, mostly humanoid in one form or another, but it wasn't always this way. Long before, there was a race created by the Grand One. This race was called the Arkan. The Arkan were shapeshifters gifted with the ability, and the duty, to create life! They created trillions of galaxies and even more species to fill them up, but one day they began inventing a machine designed to create an infinite amount of life in a single explosion. This machine was called the Ark'id. Not all Arkan were happy with this machine and a civil war broke out. The machine was sabotaged, but launched hastily due to the threat of destruction from the civil war. When it was launched, it exploded in a way it was not supposed to. It fragmented into a thousand pieces and blew apart the fabric of space time itself. Several realms were created in this horrific disaster, and within each realm were created trillions of galaxies full of life. A shard of from the Ark'id landed on a planet that later became what we call planet Ark. As it hosted the largest fragment of the Ark'id Machine. Through the ages, this shard was lost...


Current Setting


In an unstable continent known as the Nulis, there are rumors arising that a fragment of the lost shard has been found, and these rumors are stirring up all the nations within. The Elden (Elven) nation known as Naiøria has increased its scouting. The Chimera nation Tørstår has also increased its clandestine operations, such as sending out rogues to the far lands. Likewise the Nyfødthjem Wildlands have seen new tribal leaders arise with promises of great wealth. In the Rysękkę Skaglands the black markets have exploded with wealth from foreigners spending money on any gem, with the hope that it might be the shard fragment. Lastly the Ocean of Ødemark has seen several new pirate groups arise. The world is full of an energy that seems to suggest something big is about to happen.


Faction Details


Naiøria is home of the Elves who call them selves "The Elden," they also prefer to be called Elds as Elf or Elv is a derogatory name invented by their arch-rivals of Tørstår. Naiørians are not all elves, they can be of any species. Chimeras are the least accepted within their ranks and never achieve a high position due to the racism. Naiør is the name of their capital city. Which lies on the top of what used to be a mountain, but is now an impenetrable fortress that stretches above the clouds. Naiørians also have several small villages around their capital city that farm, but the most interesting feature of their empire is that they have floating island villages that are set in a specific orbit over the continent of Nulis. Naiørians are technologically advanced compared to most. They are believed to have descended from a sect of Elden, known as the Eldenark who have long left this continent in search of better land. They are believed to be responsible for the plethora of life on this continent. The Elden are characterized by their healing Runic (magic), and their soldiers are typically have swords and crossbows. They also are expert trainers when it comes to any avian creature. They fly on griffins to and from their sky islands. They are easily the the strongest military force on the continent.

Tørstår is the second most powerful nation that is the main concern for Naiøria. Tørstår the City of Light is the capital of this great country. Their capital is not nearly as large, and is built partially underground in a large rift in the earth. Tørstår and it's main villages are all in rifts, or craters. At first this would seem like a disadvantage, but Naiøria's primary strength is in the sky. Their griffins cannot fly into the rifts, and the sky-islands cannot effectively bombard the cities either. Within the rifts the Chimeras have a huge advantage. Naiøria has led 2 campaigns against the nation of Tørstår and both times they failed. It has been several hundred years since that time. Tørstårians are typically chimeras, which are animal-humanoids. Some are almost completely animal, but most look exactly like a human except with animal ears and tails. Tørstårians are characterized by their secretiveness. The have spies in every corner of the world and watch everything. They do not have a standard military, and thus use all sorts of odd weapons. Many of them use weapons with chains or ropes attached with which they use to climb through the caverns of the rifts. The do not often ride steeds, as they see animals as being friends, not slave labor like how the Naiørians use animals. Tørstår has a large crystal of sorts at its very center. This crystal gives off a tremendous amount of light, and has unknown origins. For a time people thought it might be the life shard, but as it does not produce life, but light. That idea was thrown out long ago.


Regions & Subfactions

Rysękkę Skaglands are in between Tørstår and Naiøria. This region is dark grey, a stark, miserable landscape with many tall mountains, and other sharp geographical features. Many poor refugees have wandered off into these lands never to be seen again. There are many nomadic groups within the Skaglands that do quite well. There are even a few black-market towns where all sorts of illegal things and creatures are traded and tormented. The most famous is a small city called Rysękkę that has an arena where combatants fight to the death. It also has a bustling slave trade.In order to pass through the Skags you usually need a merchant or nomad to guide you, or you might get lost. Tørstårians frequent the Skaglands, but rarely do you see Elden.

Nyfødthjem Wildlands is full of forests, meadows, hills, and grasslands. It is very green, and provides life to not just many barbarian tribes, but also great beasts. The forests are noticeably dark and ominous. The people from this region are usually wild, and often cannibals. These tribes are often hired as mercenaries for various jobs.

Ødemark's Ocean surrounds the continent of Nulis and is full of all sorts of vile creatures and people groups. Pirate nations reign supreme and fight for the best islands, or for chests full of wealth. The pirates typically do not go near the Elden seas as their sky islands and griffin riders can rip them apart with ease.


Additional Details


There is such a thing as "magic," but we do not call it such in this RP. Magic is synonymous with Runic in the Ark-Verse. Runic is a language. It has three forms. Written, Spoken, and Kinetic (Motion). You can cast spells by those three forms. We also call spells, 'Projections.' One can create a Fire-Ball Projection via any of the three forms of Runic. You can have a rune-script on your body that you press and it casts the projection, or you can do a Kinetic "Dance," that creates it, or you can say an incantation that casts the fire ball projection.  

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WORLD MAP

 

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Fame & Riches System

What is it?

The F&R system is an optional "in-game" status point system. You earn F&R points by completing missions for various factions in the role play. Not only do the two major factions possess an F&R system, but player made factions with 3 or more members (cumulatively) can also initiate an F&R system. The Fame & Riches system acts as a tie-breaker in combats where RPC levels are equal. The general idea is that the one with the most F&R has more experience, and resources to back them up. One should think of the F&R system has the number of NPCs that they have attained the loyalty of in this world, or the amount of wealth amassed (even if your character is an unseemly peasant). If I have 300 F&R, I have gained the loyalty of a small town that would willingly go to war with me, or I have amassed a small town's worth of wealth. This is purely conceptual, but in the future we may actually allow one to create an army of NPCs based on their F&R (if not in this RP, the next!).

How do I implement it?

All one has to do is copy the below format and create missions, and then submit the missions to Narxfang for approval. Once approved post them in your factions main hall, or headquarters and you are done! The faction leader may assign missions to specific members, or wait for members to choose specific missions to do. After it has been completed the faction leader can cross out the mission and the player(s) who completed the mission can gain the points (evenly divided among those who participated in the quest). There are a few things specific rules and examples listed below.

Here are a few guidelines when creating Quests/Missions.

Quests must involve some sort of player on player interaction (preferably inter-faction interaction). That is to say missions should spur players to meet others that are not in their faction and in some way interact with them. This does not have to be explicit in the mission description. Here is an example:


Quest 1 "The Healing Nightflich"
Quest Description: Jregardan (imaginary player) lost a fight against an enemy faction and is very ill. He has been afflicted with a runic illness that requires a special medicine to cure. The problem is that the ingredient needed is very rare and difficult to attain. You must go through the Skaglands, hire a mercenary, and then continue on to the city of Stragorth. There you will find a shop that specializes in selling Nightflich Talons. You need to purchase 3 of them, and then bring them back here so they can be grounded into dust for the healing suave.
Fame & Riches: 35

Firstly, notice how this quest was created in response to an in-game fight, they do not have to be so relevant, but a good faction leader will create quests very much like this. Now let's break down how one decides how much F&R a quest is worth. First notice that 4 things are underlined in the description. Each of these are the primary sources of the points. For each location you get 10 points. That is 20 points total as you go through the skaglands, and end up at some end destination (starting location does not count, and trip back does not count). Also hiring a mercenary is a player on player interaction that also earns 10 points Lastly the brief interaction between a shopkeeper will earn you 5 more points for a total of 35. To break that down even further; Brief interactions 5 points, more involved player on player interaction is 10 points, and each unique location is 10 points each. Let's look at another example.


Quest 2 "The Peace Tree"
Quest Description: Our faction is allied with the Guruti'i Pirates, but we offer them a weekly tribute in order to maintain good relations. Take the tribute to the Peace Tree in Stragorth and stay there until the Guruti'i's Envoy picks it up. Then return with word of how it all went down.
Fame & Riches: 15

In this quest you go to a single location (10 points), and have a brief exchange with another faction (5 points). Let's do another example.


Quest 3 "The Frost Tower"
Quest Description: There is a new faction, "The Frostlings," who live in what they call "The Frost Tower." It is far away and thus you will need to travel through Stragorth, Philtor, and Jraldor before you reach it. This quest requires 3 faction members to start, and you also need to recruit at least 5 more people to join you along the way. You will lay siege and attack The Frost Tower which has 4 members in their faction. Win or Lose report back with the result.
Fame & Riches: 110

This is a complex quest that involves combat, let's break it down in a simple way. Firstly you have 4 locations; Stragorth, Philtor, and Jraldor & the Frost Tower. Each worth 10 points (40 total so far). Then you have to hire 5 individuals, or a faction of 5 to help you (10 for each personas it is an involved interaction, thus 50 points total). Lastly you will attack the Frost Tower Faction of 4 people. Whenever a mission involves combat you get 5 points per enemy you are attacking. That is 4 times 5 (20 total). 40+50+20 = 110 F&R. Which will be split three ways as this mission requires three people to implement. The mercenaries hired can be additional F&R from your faction that is separate from this quest amount. Whenever you hire a mercenary they can be given up to 5 points per enemy player you plan to attack. That is 20 points of F&R that you can give to each mercenary as a reward. This is if they would not receive ANY F&R from any other faction (no doubling up). That is to say that if they belong to a faction, and you hire them as an individual mercenary, but then go hire their whole faction, and their faction creates their own quest for this siege/attack, they cannot get rewards for both quests (which are the same quest in essence). They can fight beside their faction, but they either get the 20 F&R from your faction, or they get the divided amount of F&R from their faction's quest. Not both. Let's do one more.


Quest 4 "Rose of Sharon"
Quest Description: Your Faction leader loves roses. Particular the Rose of Sharon, travel to Philtor's famous gardens and pick a Rose of Sharon and bring it back.
Fame & Riches: 15

If this was all their was to this quest then make sure you only have one like it on your whole mission board at any given time. As it does not necessarily cause player interaction. When submitting this quest the faction leader might also state that secretly they intend to PM another player and have them show up on location to interact with their faction member. If this is the case the faction leader can have multiple Quests that seem this simple on their board. Remember player on player interaction is the single most important factor of a role playing guild. If a person shows up and causes hardships, for example by refusing to let the faction member take the rose unless they win in a duel, the faction leader may reward an additional 5-10 F&R. 5 if it is a brief hardship/interaction, and 10 if it is more involved. Even if it is as simple as hiring a person to carry back a basket full of the roses to the Faction HQ they can receive an extra 10 points. If they have to fight a short duel make it only 5, if the duel lasts more then 10 posts they can have 10.

Summary

5 Points for brief interaction between two players.
5 Points for each enemy you are to attack, rob, or have some sort of unique interaction with.
10 Points for involved interaction, usually involving a partnership, or contract of sorts. If you have to deal with them for multiple game days it probably falls into this category
10 Points for each location you need to pass through on the way to an end location (and 10 points for the end destination itself!)

Additionally

5 Points for miscellaneous actions that force you to be somewhere where interaction is likely to occur.

Rules

① Anyone caught cheating the system will be severely punished. This system is loosely regulated as any group of 3+ is able to implement and manage it, if you are caught just automatically granting F&R points for missions that have not actually been carried out, then you will receive one mark of exile (3 marks and you get banned from The Note). Not only will you hurt yourself, but members of your faction will have their F&R cut down because of you, so please use the simple system the way it was meant to be used.

② You do not need to be a member of a faction to take on their missions (Faction Membership NOT Required), you merely need the faction leader's approval. If you accomplish a mission without their approval and then inform the faction of your actions, they may accept your deeds and reward you with the F&R, or they may reject your actions altogether. That is why it is important to firstly get their permission (which once given cannot be taken back unless it is a huge plot twist)

③ F&R points are the tie-breaker in combat unless Capt'n Narx, or VC says otherwise.

④ Faction leaders do not have to implement an F&R system, they can choose if they wish to do it or not. They are not required to maintain mission boards, or update them. They get to choose what they do, and when they do it. A lazy faction leader may be a pain, but they have no obligations other then to do it correctly when they do it.

⑤ All missions and F&R point rewards must be approved before being posted in the RP.

⑥ No "Doubling Up" on Quests. You cannot accept two quests that are the same, from two different factions, and get both rewards. You only get one reward for one quest. You will be forced to choose which. If you are confused you may ask your kind, and generous Capt'n for clarification! If you make a mistake don't worry just let me know and I will help you sort it out!

⑦  

[narxfang]

Here is the general mission Board & Quest Format, the code is listed below. Usually this will be the second post after the Faction profile in the Faction HQ. You may alter this format, all that matters is that the information is there, you will never be punished for creating/altering the format to be better! You do not need to include Quest #, though it cannot hurt you to keep track.

FACTION NAME HERE

Quest # "Name of Quest"
Faction: (Which Faction Assigned this Quest)
Quest Description: Requirements to take up quest underlined. (Specify what one must do, where they must go to do it, and any other information that is relevant)
Fame & Riches: (Reward Amount)

Quest # "Name of Quest"
Faction: (Which Faction Assigned this Quest)
Quest Description: Requirements to take up quest underlined. (Specify what one must do, where they must go to do it, and any other information that is relevant)
Fame & Riches: (Reward Amount)

Quest # "Name of Quest"
Faction: (Which Faction Assigned this Quest)
Quest Description: Requirements to take up quest underlined. (Specify what one must do, where they must go to do it, and any other information that is relevant)
Fame & Riches: (Reward Amount)

[size=20][align=center]FACTION NAME HERE[/align][/size]
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[b]Quest #[/b] [i]"Name of Quest"[/i]
[b]Quest Description:[/b]
[b]Fame & Riches:[/b] (Reward)

[b]Quest #[/b] [i]"Name of Quest"[/i]
[b]Quest Description:[/b]
[b]Fame & Riches:[/b] (Reward)

[b]Quest #[/b] [i]"Name of Quest"[/i]
[b]Quest Description:[/b]
[b]Fame & Riches:[/b] (Reward)


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Reserved

 

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Player Made Faction Information

How to create a faction?

In order to create a faction you must get a group of three total (you and two others), and establish a base of operations. Your headquarters, your home. This will be some location topic. You can choose almost any location topic. You could use the Caverns in Tørstår; Land of the Light, or secure a floating island in Naiøria. Though if you are not part of those two major factions then they might wage war against you to eradicate you. This is more likely to happen in Naiøria than Tørstår. Tørstår is more "gang/small faction" friendly so long as you do not hurt their country. Most player made factions will be based out of the three neutral regions; Nyfødthjem Wildlands, Rysękkę Skaglands, and Ødemark's Ocean. In these regions you will never be sought out and destroyed for merely existing. Though any actions done against the two major factions might cause them to want you dead. After you have claimed or seized a base of operations create a new topic in that same forum with the title of the topic location you took, but also add the name of a type of building. This will function as your actual base. In this topic the first post should be reserved to host your F&R mission board (if you have one, ignore otherwise), and a list of faction members. If you wish you may also add additional information such as faction purpose, codes of conduct, profiles, or whatever you want. You may also just write "Faction Name: HQ." Lastly remember that your player made faction can be apart of one of the two major factions Naiøria and Tørstår. If you decide you wish for this all you have to do is write that you have an allegiance to one of the two main factions. If you do this you may have access to even more F&R quests.

Summary:

-Create a group of 3+

-Take over a location topic for your base of operations (by force if you have to).

-PM Narxfang so he can change the name of that topic (include your faction name in that PM).

-In that same forum as the topic you took over as your HQ. You will be allowed to create a new topic where your actual business goes down. This is an associated topic to the location you took. This topic will usually represent a building within the location you own. If you took over The Caverns, then you would create a Topic titled "Faction Name's HQ; The Citadel, or The Castle," or whatever your building is.

Additional Rules:

Ⅰ. Each Faction is allowed to take over as many topics as they have faction members.

Ⅱ. If you have 3 faction members total you can only take over wilderness topics.

Ⅲ. You can take over town/village topics once you have 5+ faction members

Ⅳ. If you have 7+ faction members you can take over city topics.

Ⅴ. Factions may ally and form aggregate factions. Together they can take over a city (if 7+ members in both factions combined), and have duel ownership of said city.

Ⅵ. In a Wilderness Location base/HQ, you have a +1 level defensive combat advantage. In a Town/Village you get a +2 level advantage, and in a city you get a +3 level combat advantage.

Ⅶ If your faction breaks up or is disbanded you must notify Narx. If one or more of the members wishes to keep the faction alive, I will give them a month to recruit new members. If they fail to recruit enough members to take the current location they will be forced to downsize to a smaller base (e.g. if they have 3 members after the break up, but owned a city they will be forced to downsize to a wilderness location).

Ⅷ. When a Faction base or location is attacked, the defending faction has 12 hours to respond. Only the members that post within 12 hours can engage in combat to defend.

Additional Information:

Periodically macro-quests will be created that whole factions can take up. These quests will reward F&R that will be divided up among the faction that completes the quests. Also F&R might be allowed to be spent on creating infrastructure within a faction, or building up a location. That is to say you may be allowed to turn a wilderness location into a village, and eventually a city with F&R.

[More to come soon!]

List of Prominent Factions:

[None]