The First Order

I know this is my first post and I'm obviously new to this community, but I'd like to just say now that I've been RPing eight years now on both GMod and The Specialists. In that entire time period I've been searching for a Fantasy Medieval type serious role-play. When I discovered this community, I nearly jizzed.



Many people would ask why "Mages" are feared if no one had ever seen one. But on the first glimpse of a Mage, Lich, Necromancer actually using magic to inflict harm the image sticks. This is the imagery that is spread throughout the world to every person. The reason Mages are feared is because they're abnormal, they're different. People are afraid of change, and because of the Mages abilities it frightens people into believing them crazed and dangerous. Some of them may be, while the true essence of Mages and their Magic is in knowledge. The study of knowledge is the core principal to all those who wish to call themselves Mages, Wizards, Witches, Necromancers, Liches, Priests. Through knowledge these individuals derive their power and strength. This power through knowledge is what I wish to replicate and employ in my faction. The ability to learn through role-play, to be strained, to be taught. Through this it leads to an educated individual both IC and OOC of the role they play.


Mages were once widely accepted because of their talents and the immense amount of help they could be. That all changed when some mages went bad, turning into creatures bent on rampage, destruction and genocide. This led the people of the land to create groups that hunted magic-users because of the fear. These men hunted and slaughtered most of the mages, wizards and magic bearing creatures to near extinction. What was once a great Order of knowledge, power and brilliance was now an underground society of the last few Mages and Wizards still believing in the cause to become masters of knowledge and their craft. Many of the Order turned to evil magics and became Necromancers and Liches. This led to a power struggle between the two groups while also being hunted by the rest of the world.

After years of being hunted and killed the First Order disappeared. It is unknown where they went or how, but that is the manner of Wizards. In fact the Order had decided the only way to elude extinction was to join the established society. Underground and hidden the Order met rarely and training of new Wizards was slow. The creation of a new home was underway but it was not certain how long it would take to build their new tower. When things seemed they might get better for the Order things took a turn for the worse. The Mages that had been corrupted believed it was time for revenge against the world. Their belief was to upset the established order, introduce chaos, anarchy and death. This is just what they did, hundreds of Necromancers, Liches and an assortment of Dark Creatures attacked and pillaged several Towns and Villages. This led to the full wrath of the world, not only did Mage Hunting Inquisitors come, but thousands of peasants and soldiers of the Army. The current First Wizard of the Order decided that in order to redeem Wizards still loyal to the Order that they should help in the defeat of the Fallen Mages.

After a bloody campaign and the defeat of the brunt of the enemy, the remaining Fallen Mages returned to the underground. After the campaign the soldiers, peasants and inquisitors turned to the First Order, they didn't trust them and resumed hunting them since the campaign was now over. The Order made little progess in showing they're not evil crazed monsters. The only faction to which they showed any progess was with the Army having saved many of the troops in the campaign. The First Wizard of the Order decided it was time the Order went underground permanently. What few Wizards and Mages left were sent to various towns to live amongst the people. Should the sign of young potentials be seen they were to be approached by the Order. Should the young potential want to learn the ways of the Order and study to become a wizard he/she would be assigned to a Master Wizard.

With the lack of new apprentices each apprentice is trained longer, harder and made stronger. This turned the Order from a vast many wizards to a select few. These few Wizards however are immensely powerful, yet so vulnerable should they be discovered by the people of the world. Always watching, always paranoid the Wizards of the First Order forge through the tides of war and anarchy to once again establish themselves as a single entity in the search of knowledge to better the Order and the World. The Order’s mission since its creation is to learn, simply put to become powerful through knowledge. In certain times when it is necessary the Order will help the populace, but this is a rare commodity. This is because of the knowledge and wisdom of the Order; they understand to use their resources that will benefit not only in the present but in the future. The goal is really just to learn, to shape the world to one of their liking if necessary.

Quote :

*A torn, ripped and ragged old scroll*

-So passed the last great Wizard of the First Order whom had shown the world the glory and good in the core of the Order. The new First Wizard to be decided would come down to the decision of the remaining 4 War Wizards. This would be the biggest decision of the council in this time because of the need of a united Order. Because of the death of the last First Wizard the Order had split, each side backing its own candidate. This caused chaos not only in the Order but in the rest of the world. The last First Wizard had shown and pledged the future of the Order to guard and protect the land. But because of his death there was a power struggle. One side wanted to continue the old ways and keep to themselves and leave the matters of the world to itself. The other side wanted to follow the last wishes of the greatest First Wizard known. Because of this power struggle that led to a split in the Order, each side chose their new leader and sets of laws. The side who supported the last First Wizards apprentice, Durinos Rahl, whom believed in the wishes of the last First Wizard kept the name of The First Order. He also was elected the leader of the First Order, whilst the other side of the conflict elected another hugely impressive Apprentice. This apprentice was considered by many to be evil; in fact it seemed to be true. He began teaching his followers dark magic and to show no mercy if shown conflict with humans. This led to the defining act of the First Order, showing its true place to the people of the world. First Wizard Durinos Rahl rallied the strongest, wisest and most powerful wizards of the First Order. This act would have impact to alter the fate of the world and all the people in it. Durinos Rahl led his finest wizards to a gorge between several mountains by a village. This gorge would forever be hated by the people of the land because of the bloodshed it spawned. Hundreds of wizards gathered from either side to face each other for dominance over the world of magic. Durinos Rahl led his finest into a battle of unspeakable horror, carnage, anger, hatred and death. Corpses littered the ground for miles, craters, destroyed rock and trees and thousands dead. This battle brought a race of wizards of thousands to mere hundreds or less. It would never again rise to its former glory; both sides lost numerous wizards of great importance. Though each would side would survive they now had a new problem; Because of the carnage wreaked by the wizards it had angered the populace. This led to the formation of groups like the Inquisitors which would drive wizards underground where they would stay for another 100 years. After a century of the underground Durinos Rahl, now 152, would try once again to lead the First Order out of the darkness and establish a new home for his few remaining wizards.

*A burn mark in the scroll prevents further reading –continues from further down the scroll*
 
-So was the belief of Durinos Rahl and the First Order. As Durinos himself, led his four War Wizards out of the underground to speak with the Lord of a piece of land and province. The five greatest wizards in the Order had left hiding on a mission to come to terms with the Lord. They believed that he would be the proper man to speak with to help in their cause. They easily evaded and maneuvered to his Fortress and into his council room. Taking him by surprise whilst he was speaking with fellow nobles in support of his cause he called for guards. Durinos then convinced him that they meant no harm and were there to discuss his proposals. After a long night of discussion they had concluded that because of the public’s fear of wizardry that the Order couldn’t help openly. Durinos agreed that he would stay underground for the time being and would try to stop the now corrupted wizards and monsters from harming the world. In return for protecting the people and the Lord’s land from this threat the Lord agreed to fund the building of a tower in the gorge of the great battle. Durinos believed for the honor of all the fallen wizards who gave their lives in that battle that this was the only way they would be properly remembered. The Lord used the guise of the tower being the beginning of a new fort in the gorge to supply the masons for construction. After the construction was complete Durinos planned to imbue the Tower with magical properties to hide it from humans. Among other enchantments and security measures it was to be the new home of the Order.

*The following is a small snippet of an ancient proverb by a great wizard in a piece of the scroll*

Emotion, strong as the biggest waves of the ocean
Sadness, the cause of the greatest madness
Anger, the beginning down the path of power
Together, the start of true corruption

Wizard's First Rule: People can be made to believe any lie, either because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it's true.

Wizard's Second Rule: The greatest harm can result from the best intentions.

Wizard's Third Rule: Passion rules reason.

Wizard's Fourth Rule: There is Magic to heal. In the forgiveness you grant, and more so in the forgiveness you receive.

Wizard's Fifth Rule: Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds will betray a lie.

Wizard's Sixth Rule: The only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason.

Wizard's Seventh Rule: Life is the future, not the past.



The way the Order works is based around Passive role-play, whilst also very hands-on. A Wizard will go through training and then be sent on missions ranging from assassinations of Fallen Mages to ensuring the protection of Barons, Dukes and Royal Family Members. Each Wizard/Mage moves through the ranks of the Order based on skill and knowledge. If you believe a higher ranked member of the Order is weak and you feel strong enough to replace him/her it is your duty to do so. Should you fail however, you will be slaughtered in agonizing pain. This leads the Order to being based on around trust and loyalty. Weakness is not an option, beware of that before ever accepting an invitation from a Wizard.

Heres to sum up, specifically we'll do a lot of passive role-play and then some hands-on work. We will also be ALWAYS be undercover when in Towns or Cities. To give away the presence of a Wizard is a threat to the Order. At all times in the public we are disguised. Our missions range from recovering artifacts, assassinating Fallen Mages and other duties assigned by the Order's Council.

I’d also like the chance to explain the Wizards in my faction. I mentioned in some portions of them being born with “The Gift”. This is obviously the gift of magic; this with the proper training will increase the life span of the wizards. This doesn’t make them immortal, simply makes them live longer based on their powers and abilities. Magic, as I teach it will not be taught from some spell book either. I’ll be teaching practical magic, for example, I’ll teach how to use surroundings and environment to survive; this being like taking water and applying magic to create ice. I will also teach things like studying the people you speak with, noticing speech patterns to discover their motives and talents. Thus then using knowledge and wisdom to make the best rational choice. I will of course also be teaching magic to kill, but in a practical manor like said above. I will also if need be I will make a race request for my “Magic Born” wizards that will be in my faction.

As for flags and models, personally I would like flags but they don't need to be complex. If I could use normal "Citizen" flags but with a coded magic swep for the wizards that learn it. These magic sweps are all over gmod.org or if you wanna make one for my faction either works. Basically my students get this flag when they learn a magic ability. And if you're feeling generous a flag for War Wizards/First Wizard that has the magic SWEP and a robed "Wizard-looking" model. I don't exactly need these for the faction but I think it would help.

So essentially the faction is neutral, seeking to influence the world to one that suits the Order. We will do whatever it takes to ensure the survival of the Order. If that means assassinating someone then it will be done, if it means helping the Empire in a war, it will be done. So thus I would surmise the faction as strictly neutral.

The OOC rules are as follows:
1. Never use your abilities unless absolutely necessary when in public.
2. Loyalty and respect are the highest provinces of the Order, weakness is not an option.
3. Do not power-game, even though you may have the powers to destroy many, it doesn’t mean you are allowed to. Thus the reason why I’ll only recruit people that I know won’t run around showing off.
4. I expect near perfection when role-playing in such a position of power both in the faction and out of it.


NOTE: I WANT THIS TO BE A VERY EXCLUSIVE GROUP WITH VERY LIMITED AMOUNT OF PLAYERS. BETWEEN 1-9 IN THE FACTION.

Thanks for the read, I'll be adding more.




Birth of a Master, The Story of Durinos Rahl

Born into an age where magic was widely used an accepted by many people. It was common at this time for children to be born with the gift of magic. But it was rare for them to be attuned to it before they received training from a wizard. Such was the story for a young boy named Durinos. Neither his mother or father had been wizards yet he possessed immense ability for the gift of magic. It is believed that he received the gift from his grandfather, Panos Rahl, on his father’s side. His grandfather had been a remarkable wizard in his time but after many years of service to lords in the military he died. It is unknown how he died all that is known is that he was serving as the personal bodyguard of an heir to the throne. So with the birth of Durinos Rahl and the discovery of his gift his parents were ecstatic. He was found at a young age by a very powerful wizard of the renowned First Order. He left with the wizard at the age of 8 to begin his life as an apprentice learning the ways of magic and wizardry. As was tradition upon becoming an apprentice young Durinos was assigned to the War Wizard who would be his mentor for the many years to come. His new master Clivantus Zorander was among the oldest and most respected War Wizards in the Order. The beginning of a long, hard path towards the truth of knowledge had begun for one of the most important to ever tread it…

The Simplest Rule

Durinos soon discovered the one rule to advancement in the First Order. He had surveyed Master Zorander use it many times. The simplest rule of being a War Wizard, one single word that contained the answer to hundreds of questions: “Cut”. The single word, whether it be with a sword of air cutting an enemy in half or cutting the ties of emotion to solve a problem. Whatever the issue the one word and code of War Wizard is sure to solve it. This one word may seem very simple to anyone who doesn’t fully understand what it is to be a War Wizard. To them their power is driven by emotion and need causing the words simple nature to be as complex as their emotions. This single rule was a marker to young apprentices; it showed when they had reached the level of ability to become a wizard. After several years Durinos finally perfected its meaning in his mind. He did this when he witnessed his master become First Wizard without a single objection. The previous First Wizard passed away at the age of 431 leaving several candidates for the position. Master Zorander simply walked to the body of the great wizard and removed the symbolic amulet from around his neck. He placed this amulet on his neck in front of every wizard present. He announced in a simple phrase of “I am the successor”, not a single wizard contested his statement. This made “cut” second nature to young Durinos; he had witnessed its awesome power and understood the meaning of it. He was ready to advance but found he had before he knew it. Simply by being the apprentice of the First Wizard Durinos found that he had become somewhat of an icon. He was viewed with envy by other apprentices and watched carefully by the master wizards. His abilities surpassed that of any other apprentice after only 4 years. On his twelfth birthday there was a ceremony promoting the young apprentice to a full wizard. This was but the first marker stone on the long path he had started…

The Call to Arms

Wizard Rahl of age 15, a prodigy of the Order was in for the toughest year of his life. Following a dispute with a neighboring land, the lord the Order had allied was at war. A swift invasion of thousands of enemy troops attacked the lord’s land striking deep. First Wizard Zorander sent out a memorandum that all of the rank Wizard and above were hereby called to serve in the war. He took with him a formation known as “The Fist” the 500 best wizards and mages available to attempt to turn the tide of the invasion. After a week of travel “The Fist” had reached the front lines to find a wasteland of corpses. Immediately going to work the Order showed no mercy in their relentless assault on the invaders. Young wizard Rahl learned the horror of battle but he coped with it because of one aspect of his training. Wizards 6th rule: “The only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason.” This one simple phrase decided the fate of thousands. Its opposite led to the death of a great wizard. “Wizard's Third Rule: Passion rules reason.” This was the case that caused First Wizard Zorander’s death. Attempting to defend young wizards from an enemy master wizard he gave his life to save them. He invoked the rite of Wizards Life Fire, giving his life to save others causing massive destruction at the hands of great fireball. He incinerated the enemy wizard, his own body falling to a pile of ash on the ground. Soon afterwards the invasion was halted and the enemy pushed out of the Lord’s land.

New Age, New Leadership

With the death of First Wizard Zorander the Order now lacked a leader, but that would not last. War Wizard Ander stepped up to the task and due to the actions and abilities of young Wizard Rahl he promoted him to the status of War Wizard. Rahl was among the most powerful wizards of the time yet with such a young age. War Wizard Rahl aged and learned and grew stronger for the next 37 years. He gained power, knowledge, wisdom and respect in this time period. Then things changed and would never be the same with the death of yet another First Wizard. Wizard Ander died and left Rahl as the next First Wizard. He took up the mantle in a time of desperation and conflict with the factions of evil wizards using their abilities to harm the innocent. He led his finest wizards in war and swore an oath to destroy every single one of these monsters. This hatred spawned a bloody war that in turn would cause the creation of groups that hunt Wizards. After the brunt of the campaign was over the Order would go underground a broken and battered act of desperation of the last surviving members of the Order. First Wizard Rahl now lives to restore the Order to glory and its rightful place in the land of Olden…


Name: Durinos
Family Name: Rahl
Age: 152
Hair Color: Raven black
Height: 6"0'
Weight: 180 Pounds
Eye Color: Gray

Medical: With being a wizard of such great power causes some side effects that many claim not worth the power and knowledge. For those that reach a certain status in the path of wizardry there is an ailment that begins. This "disease" is a "magic-driven" tumor in the brain of the wizard. It causes random seizures of pain and amplifys emotion to great extent. Though it will not kill the wizard from its presence in the brain, it can cause the wizard to use actions that will kill him. This tumor is also the cause for the long life of wizards that reach this degree. It helps the brain regulate the body after extreme aging to stop the deteoration of organs and cells.

Attributes: By being the First Wizard, Durinos Rahl is immensely powerful. This is obviously because of his status in the Order and ability with magic. Though by being in such a position he crucially understands he must be discreet and not flaunt his powers.

'S great to see the effort you put into this, but one thing I gotta note right off the start is that mages arn't really all that rare, and most are very respected, hell, the Imperial Legion even uses squads of Battlemages to support their soldiers on the field. I'll give a more detailed go over of it soon but just a bit strapped for time atm.

I meant in my faction, not broad spectrum.

Very well detailed, and some original ways of using magic. I'd support this as a replacement for the currently deceased Mage's Plenary.

So it's an underground group of elite magi?

That sounds cool.

Hyper, if ur gonna be sarcastic make it obvious, cuz I really can't tell.

Bump

Interesting.

Rutabega wrote:

Hyper, if ur gonna be sarcastic make it obvious, cuz I really can't tell.

If I was sarcastic I would use the orange text.

Gawd.

So how long do I leave this here until I gets an answer?

I still haven't been able to completely look through it, considering my limited internet access. Due to events beyond my control, I still haven't been able to get the full grade report. Currently typing this in class. O'Brian, we'll have much to talk of when I get back.

We really don't know, Obrian.

On one hand, your faction is very well made and it's obvious your effort should not go to waste. On another hand, will there be anyone to make a character to join this faction, aside from you? Keep in mind, we still have a very small amount of members.

My faction is very small and doesn't need many players, at the maximum it operates at 9. But yes, we will have a lot to discuss Pat. Just keep me posted of your situation.

And...I'm back! Internet has been returned. Currently want to roleplay for the first time in a bajillion years. Sooo...

I don't see why not. Clearly been thought out, and if no-one joins now then I'm sure people will later.

Also magic. You know I can't say no to magic.

I suspect that Krug wants everyone to rely completely on magic so that, one day, he will walk into the bar or otherwise public area and kill everyone with their own magic. I'M ON TO YOU


But anyway, regarding this faction--It's certainly well written, and, from what I've seen of O'Brian, he's trustworthy--Though granting a faction is somewhat different than granting a character. So, this application is currently pending acception, until I am able to see him Roleplay more.