Darkreavers

[excited 10833]

Darkreavers

 

 

"And with strange aeons, even Death may die." 

Xionism, The Way of the Primeval Man

 

Origins

Nephilim Origin Tale
 

"Soul of the mind, key to life's ether. Soul of the lost, withdrawn from its vessel. Let strength be granted, so the world might be mended... so the world might be mended..."

 

Suffering was the curse Man paid for the sins of the gods, and in their utterances of the prayers of the deific they found no respite from the atrocities that had befallen them. The transgressions of the gods were far too numerous and their enactment of a most heinous First Sin nearly led to the collapse of all civilization, shaking the very foundations of the world with the brunt of the malignant tide. In uproar, Man cast his rebellious gaze away from the gods and instead to magic with high hopes that they could empower themselves -- but like all things magic casts a large shadow, new forms created solely for bending the world’s elements to Man’s will without the aid of external functions aptly named the Mortal Arts came to fruition.

 

Failure for the Old Lords craved new powers and held not the might to retain it, and so they withered away to ashes thanks to their ignorance.. Necromancy, the one mortal boon and skill set Man could exceed at alone had made its mark apparent as its adverse effects twisted and demented its practitioners. Thus their sight was then fixated upon the gods, not for reverence or worship by any measure but rather theft. How could they pry away what the gods had? How could they achieve mortality and how could they actually empower themselves?

 

Azdromoth found the key, because of his rivalry with Môrdring he sought greater powers for his own followers. He succeeded.

Summarization

This lore is focused on the Darkreavers, products of dragons' blood existing as morally grey characters. Pseudo-Immortals, unlike their counterparts they have no actual missive to adhere to and are played largely to the goals of the player instead while also serving as a utility for longevity and character development.

 

Properties of Dragon Blood
 

 

Dragon blood in retrospect is a malleable source for power. Greater and Lesser Dragonkin and their many variants are all descended from Dragur’s original creations. Because of this, it should be noted that immolation of that which rends the baseness of the soul astray is capable of touching most if not all of his creations -- is the birthright to which Darkreavers are endowed. Immolated, Enshadowed, and forgotten.

Laws of Functionality

 

Man’s bestial incarnate. The riveting shadows lurk amongst us.

 

Life-force acts both to maintain life and bring about “false” or new lifeforms; thence allowing it to diminish by fading away into nothingness. Ichor dabbles instead in which forces fall under the jurisdiction of life-force to retain a status of unrelenting constantness. Dragon blood however acts as the binding force to which death may transpire but the individual shall simply rise again. The dragon blood contained in Reavers is black when not wholly unseeable, and it does not reflect light in any quantity.

 

Darkreaver Physiology

When Reavers are slain or sustain heavy wounds they are incapable of living and left in a crippled state. This process is simply known as “Enshadowed”, the physical coil degenerating into a loose collection of particles until it reforms. This process is not not unlike that of a ghost’s own regenerative abilities. Identity Distortion is a product of this soulbound change, many Reavers face the eventuality of losing their identities and simply existing as they are, and unbound to their Drakaar they can grow aimless and wither away as the ages pass, unable to continue they just fade away completely.

 

These Enshadowed beings being forever ensnared by their fate cannot find their way into the soul stream, instead remaining aloof in the vastness of the Sunless Sanctum, forever haunting its ghoulish halls as the reminder of what happens when you try to change your fate. While they are not simple beings, the following could be understood well:

1. They have two forms, Corporeal and Enshadowed.
2. Gold pierces their ethereal forms more potently, but still cause immense pain to Darkreavers despite their mortal hardiness due to the small reservoirs of “taint” that lurks in their bloodstream and corrodes their soul.
3. They cannot use arcane magic, shamanism, clericalism, or any holy art. Nor can they possess spiritual connections.

Soul Distortion

 

The soul is kept in limbo as it attempts to keep itself from being immolated, but the Darkening that perverts the soul does not just damage and shatter it but also ensures that they have the capability to survive such a trying ritual. Reavers heal at a more proactive rate than the common man. They do not sleep, but instead meditate to heal their wounds or purge taint and diseases. Along with this, their identities are lackluster and they are capable of changing slight facial features such as pigmentation and ear shape, incapable of much more than that at the risk of their own demise.

 

Ritual

 

Gorging on dragon blood, the participant is transformed with the crude magics of the Arch Drakaar. Their bodies are transfused with both a steady supply of life-force in an excruciatingly painful change. It affects each individual differently, some are prone to growing ill or even dying from the change if they are simply not able to accept the transformation.

 

The Darkening
 

The Darkening, also known as “the Cataclysm” allows for a Reaver to stand at the permanent crossroads of life and death. An undying state of limbo, they therefore cannot perish in the same way the average person does. The ingestion of dragon blood itself is something that perverts their soul and allows them to rise again post-mortum, sheerly escaping the lull of death to once again claim what was theirs. When slain their ashes are scattered and blow away with the wind, eventually reconstructing elsewhere where they land. Death Rules do apply.
 

Enshadowed

This enashened state serves as a form of long-term collapse for a supposedly "deceased" or fallen Reaver to recuperate after a fatal fall. Unable to die, yet unable to feel like they can continue on their ripped, fragmented soul tries to re-piece itself together to no avail.

 

Pros

- Alive: Reavers are living, and therefore bear mortal functions while being imbued with the powers of their being.

- Pseudo-Immortality [Longevity]: they are unable to die, and the magic that keeps them existent and corporeal resurrects them after death, preventing PKs.

- Preserved Physique: dark magic and weapons/armor can be used kept in tandem, but strength and endurance remains average.

- Temporal Resistance: Reavers can resist some elemental wearing, but violent or hazardous degrees of elemental afflictions still harm them.

Cons

- Soulbound Aversion: holy or aengulic magic harms Reavers on account of the darkness that enshrouds their soul and the unnatural fusion of mortal and immortal powers within them.

- Darkened Soul: Reavers can only use dark arts on account of the shroud from which their souls are blanketed in. Voidal magic cannot be cast, power-gifting curses cannot be taken after the transformation (Shades, Frost-Witches), and deific connections cannot be forged (Aengudaemonic/Spiritual powers).

 

- Enshadowed: when corporeally-destructive death is inflicted upon Reavers or they experience the equivalent of permanent character death, their demise is resisted and they instead regress into an ethereal state akin to that of weak spectrals such as Ghosts and Graven. In this form, the Reavers are deranged and weaker, and their powers are circumvented to where they may only keep to their mastery of martial skills. The display of their unholy visage allows their inherent weaknesses to be exploited to a higher degree, as it cannot be disguised and lasts one month.

 

- Golden Suffering: the limbo which Reaver life-force is disrupted by the touch of gold, of which itself may pain them. Aurum weaponry is doubly effective against Reavers as a result, cleaving into their flesh effortlessly.

 

- Mental Contortion: the imbibing of Aengudaemon-essence-bearing dragon’s blood, and its infusion with mortal life-force, brings to Darkreavers an anguish of the psyche in which an incurable bipolarity plagues them forevermore.

 

Their Contribution to Role-Play

 

- Reavers don't exist as an antagonizing force, but a means to transcend by means of dark magics. This means their alignment may be dynamic and they may take any side depending on the qualities of the character.

 

-Reavers, in the case they do choose to become antagonists, can prove to be quite a force to oppose, though can be killed in reason. They may die like all other physical beings, which gives players a fair chance against a stronger force.

 

- Reaverdom can be sought by anyone who wish to go through the ritual, meaning players can have an additional, dark-sided goal to pursue.

 

MECHANICS:

- Due to the scarcity of the blood of Dragonkin there is no predetermined cap for Reavers. When created, they must make a magic construct application and list those who partook in their ritual (akin to Lich or Darkstalker creation). They gain no racial buff and retain the ones they held as mortals.

 

FAQ:

 

- Unlike most dark entities, Reavers are without a doubt alive.

 

- Reavers are capable of reproducing, but the child will not be a Reaver themselves, nor will they hold any special abilities/be able to be harmed by Holy magic.

 

- Reavers can hold four possible dark magic subtypes. One masterful, three adept.

 

Reaver blood is black.

 

- The curse is capable of purging an individual of deific curses or deific influences.

 

Red Lines

 

Reavers cannot remember deaths, death rules still apply despite the fact they don’t necessarily die. They lose memory and can only reconstruct when it’s safe to (i.e. no foes in the vicinity).

Reavers cannot cast the Voidal arts under any circumstance. If a Shade or Frost Witch undergoes the ritual and successfully transfuses their blood with that of dragons, the Shades are driven up the wall as the parasite conflicts with the change and it takes time for it to settle down and conform to the new physical state. Frost Witches would find themselves unable to feed on men as their bodily changed are purged by the latent healing factor -- with this however comes depression akin to that of an experienced cleric's disconnection from a deity and others forms of malcontent such as undying hunger. They are also cold forevermore.

 

Creation of Reavers is only possible with the blood of powerful Dragonkin.

Reavers do in fact tire during combat, and cannot use spells in conjunction with swordplay.

 

[excited 10833]

Those with further inquiries may also inspect the common section of the last piece.
Link

[Mephistophelian 972]

I liked it before and I like this 'polished' version just as much! I hope you guys make some good RP from it. +1

[Malaise 1569]

Very interesting and detailed. I like it.

[Angmarzku 1247]

Pretty dark people. I enjoyed reading it.

[ToodIes 1188]

The Harbingers Darkreavers of Setherien Azdromoth.

That's the first thing I'm not fond of with this Lore. Basically, it would give a single event character the ability to create a limitless amount of powerful entities. And, unless Azdromoth isn't that smart, he's going to make sure they're loyal to him before he makes them a Darkreaver.

 

Secondly, some of its abilities aren't very logical. Hooray, you have Dragon blood; now you can switch around your skin tone and ear shape.

Basically, this gives any humans or elves the ability to imitate another respective race of humans or elves. 

 

Many of my old arguments against the precursor to this Lore still apply, but I'm not going to repost them here. Basically, it makes people aesthetically immortal when they already are mechanically. It negates the largest disadvantage of dark magics (physical weakness), as well as absorbing some of the weaknesses they already would have had due to practicing them (being weak to gold, holy magic, et cetera; I know Mystics have these weaknesses, not sure about the others). Not to mention, it being able to wear armor practically negates its weakness to gold:

Phil stabs the Darkreaver with a gold sword, its dire weakness!

Darkreaver laughs. A small dent appears on his armor from the aurum blade.

 

And now to analyze the "Contributions to Roleplay".

-Means to transcend without being evil.

Attainable in so many other ways. There's hardly anything on the server that requires your character to be evil; except for Wraiths, and debatably Shade magic. Other beings categorized as Transcendents may have to drain life-force or eat the flesh of men, but that's merely an obstacle to overcome.

 

-Are a powerful force that can still be killed.

Also entirely un-unique. Look at anything more powerful than the average human for this.

 

-Additional dark-sided goal for players to pursue.

It's just another way for people to get more powerful through dark magic. Although it's not even that; it restricts a player to have to join the Arch-Drakaar to get this goal. It plays right into the hands of those supporting the Arch-Drakaar.

 

-1

[mmat 7461]

30 minutes ago, Toodles78 said:

The Harbingers Darkreavers of Setherien Azdromoth.

 

Were you even around when these guys were? You could literally make this comparison with anything at all. And if you weren't then you really aren't in a position to make such a comparison.

 

I won't critique the rest of the post because it's nitpicky at best and im too lazy

[BonesOfTheEarth 1564]

Okay so what happens if I just walk up and drink dragon blood? I mean, it more than likely will never happen, so think hypothetically

[excited 10833]

7 minutes ago, Fury_Fire said:

Okay so what happens if I just walk up and drink dragon blood? I mean, it more than likely will never happen, so think hypothetically

It kills you. The ritual is based around transfusing life-force with the individual as they drink it while being warped by the magics of the Arch Drakaar. 

[excited 10833]

3 hours ago, Toodles78 said:

The Harbingers Darkreavers of Setherien Azdromoth.

That's the first thing I'm not fond of with this Lore. Basically, it would give a single event character the ability to create a limitless amount of powerful entities. And, unless Azdromoth isn't that smart, he's going to make sure they're loyal to him before he makes them a Darkreaver.

 

Secondly, some of its abilities aren't very logical. Hooray, you have Dragon blood; now you can switch around your skin tone and ear shape.

Basically, this gives any humans or elves the ability to imitate another respective race of humans or elves. 

 

Many of my old arguments against the precursor to this Lore still apply, but I'm not going to repost them here. Basically, it makes people aesthetically immortal when they already are mechanically. It negates the largest disadvantage of dark magics (physical weakness), as well as absorbing some of the weaknesses they already would have had due to practicing them (being weak to gold, holy magic, et cetera; I know Mystics have these weaknesses, not sure about the others). Not to mention, it being able to wear armor practically negates its weakness to gold:

Phil stabs the Darkreaver with a gold sword, its dire weakness!

Darkreaver laughs. A small dent appears on his armor from the aurum blade.

 

And now to analyze the "Contributions to Roleplay".

-Means to transcend without being evil.

Attainable in so many other ways. There's hardly anything on the server that requires your character to be evil; except for Wraiths, and debatably Shade magic. Other beings categorized as Transcendents may have to drain life-force or eat the flesh of men, but that's merely an obstacle to overcome.

 

-Are a powerful force that can still be killed.

Also entirely un-unique. Look at anything more powerful than the average human for this.

 

-Additional dark-sided goal for players to pursue.

It's just another way for people to get more powerful through dark magic. Although it's not even that; it restricts a player to have to join the Arch-Drakaar to get this goal. It plays right into the hands of those supporting the Arch-Drakaar.

 

-1

1. Any Drakaar or Dragaar can actually produce these, not many of them of course because it's quite an investment. Whether or not the blood takes hold during the ritual is decided by the creature app and is at the discretion of LMs.

2. Abilities are logical. Soul distortion equates to a lack of substantial identity, that's why they can change slight things about their body since their soul blueprint has been mangled.

3. It's a means to transcend that's grey, it could be good or evil depending on perspective.

4. Gold doesn't cleave through armor. That doesn't mean holy fire won't still burn them, they are classified as tainted creatures therefore it'd be illogical to take one on with a clunky golden weapon directly.

 

5. I don't see really why it wouldn't be cool for there to be a playable kind of lesser Dragonkin for those who strive for it. That's just me though, I'm biased since I wrote the damn thing.

6. Contribution - You cannot overcome the need to feed on life-force or meat for either Necromancers or Frost Witches. That makes them "evil" no matter how justified. 

7. I don't see how something isn't unique when it's a lesser kind of Dragonkin that doesn't suffer from pestilence and disease and can hold Dark Arts without being withered away. Either way, with spell-casting you'll always end up using one or the other.

8. Yes, it's a method to change yourself with Dark Magic. But also note the impact and self-sacrifice the character has to undergo in order to be mutated. Of course it plays into the hands of a Dragonkin, you need their blood in order to be transformed. 

9. If people're already immortal there's no sense in prohibiting something that could define them as it IC. Whether the character thinks they are or aren't is the question. 

[drfate786 1639]

6 hours ago, aerialkebab said:

"And with strange aeons, even Death may die." 

 

You plagiarised this from HP lovecraft. This is unacceptable, if your going to quote lovecraft then give him credit ffs.

[Drak3 365]

3 hours ago, drfate786 said:

 

You plagiarised this from HP lovecraft. This is unacceptable, if your going to quote lovecraft then give him credit ffs.

 

It's a quote from Xionism as well.

[ToodIes 1188]

1 hour ago, aerialkebab said:

1. Any Drakaar or Dragaar can actually produce these, not many of them of course because it's quite an investment. Whether or not the blood takes hold during the ritual is decided by the creature app and is at the discretion of LMs.
Check the first sentence of your Summarization, then. As well as the first sentence of your Ritual.
2. Abilities are logical. Soul distortion equates to a lack of substantial identity, that's why they can change slight things about their body since their soul blueprint has been mangled.

I'll concede the point on being able to change their ear sizes and skin color as I don't know enough about soul blueprints to argue. Their abilities may be logical; what of their limitations? How does a soul get Darkened, and yet, lose proficiency in Dark Magic? (i.e. only being able to hold 3 subtypes.)
3. It's a means to transcend that's grey, it could be good or evil depending on perspective.
In that case, every means of transcending is grey. It can all be good or evil depending on perspective. It's just a matter of opinion. Not unique.
4. Gold doesn't cleave through armor. That doesn't mean holy fire won't still burn them, they are classified as tainted creatures therefore it'd be illogical to take one on with a clunky golden weapon directly.

And thusly, they only have one real weakness, that only a small minority will be able to exploit. Other things are merely limitations.

5. I don't see really why it wouldn't be cool for there to be a playable kind of lesser Dragonkin for those who strive for it. That's just me though, I'm biased since I wrote the damn thing.
When did I say it wouldn't be cool?
6. Contribution - You cannot overcome the need to feed on life-force or meat for either Necromancers or Frost Witches. That makes them "evil" no matter how justified. 
Firstly, have you ever heard of the Redshrouds? Or merely draining life-force from things that deserve it, thus justifying it? It's not unjustifiable by any means.

Again, there are still Transcendents that don't have to drain or eat anything; like Wights.
7. I don't see how something isn't unique when it's a lesser kind of Dragonkin that doesn't suffer from pestilence and disease and can hold Dark Arts without being withered away. Either way, with spell-casting you'll always end up using one or the other.
Lesser kind of Dragonkin: Aesthetic. Not suffering from pestilence and disease: disease is hardly roleplayed anywhere from what I've seen, as well as it sharing this characteristic with every Undead. Holding Dark Arts without being withered away is firstly what causes it to have so few weaknesses... And correct me if I'm wrong, but do Frost Witches also not wither from using Dark Magics?
8. Yes, it's a method to change yourself with Dark Magic. But also note the impact and self-sacrifice the character has to undergo in order to be mutated. Of course it plays into the hands of a Dragonkin, you need their blood in order to be transformed. 
Also note the impact and self-sacrifice required to mutate any character into anything else with Dark Magic. No one gets through it unchanged, this is un-unique in that regard. 

The Arch-Drakaar being the only thing able to make one of these was exactly my point as to why the one extra dark-sided goal it provided was limited. What are we trying to prove here?
9. If people're already immortal there's no sense in prohibiting something that could define them as it IC. Whether the character thinks they are or aren't is the question. 

Death is so convoluted, with monks reviving everyone, people never remembering dying, people being physically unable to express how the monks will revive them without a PK. It's like everyone is already immortal, and should be able to express it IRP, yet OOC rules prevent it.

But I digress. It's just aesthetic, and it'll take a lot out of roleplay. These things can be like "Ha, kill me, I'm immortal," without fearing a PK, as they can't physically be PK'd. They'd be able to acknowledge the fact they can't die, as normal characters aren't allowed to do with the monks. Unless you add some sort of clause in there, saying how they can't acknowledge their immortality... But that would just bring us back to characters not being able to believe they're immortal. It's sour or useless either way.

 

[excited 10833]

23 minutes ago, Toodles78 said:

 

. These things can be like "Ha, kill me, I'm immortal," without fearing a PK, as they can't physically be PK'd. 

These aren't common creatures. They're not going to be played by retards, don't you fear. The point of this lore entirely is aesthetic, not material gain. On one hand, it depends -- good characters fear things. If it happened to my character in that kind of circumstance he'd go "****" because he'd give in to fear and panic and likely realize there was a **** up and maybe he wasn't so empowered as he thought. Fear and pain changes somebody, no matter the creature. 

 

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And correct me if I'm wrong, but do Frost Witches also not wither from using Dark Magics?

You're wrong, only in the circumstance that a Witch didn't know magic before being cursed. Their body is frozen in the state it was when it was living.

 

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Firstly, have you ever heard of the Redshrouds? Or merely draining life-force from things that deserve it, thus justifying it? It's not unjustifiable by any means

I'm a Necromancer. I know this. My point is it depends on the point of view regardless because it can still be justifiable by some and considered evil by others. A matter of perception.

 

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I'll concede the point on being able to change their ear sizes and skin color as I don't know enough about soul blueprints to argue. Their abilities may be logical; what of their limitations? How does a soul get Darkened, and yet, lose proficiency in Dark Magic? (i.e. only being able to hold 3 subtypes.)

It's both a matter of balance. The soul is what holds magical connections or abilities, that's why Necromancers can't raise a Mage's corpse and use its magic without raising them instead as a sentient being, a Lich, which holds either a soul shadow or an actual soul, I'm still unsure. I believe it's an actual soul.

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The Arch-Drakaar being the only thing able to make one of these was exactly my point as to why the one extra dark-sided goal it provided was limited. What are we trying to prove here?

That not all evil entities have to be undead and can be more Death Knight esque. 
 

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Again, there are still Transcendents that don't have to drain or eat anything; like Wights.

Difference is Wights are undead, these are living beings. These're not undead transcendants, They're Reavers, creatures spawned from dark magic and dragon blood who have the capability to reach the pique of mortality instead of being a withered husk of somebody. Reavers do need to eat, just not at the same intervals as the common person. I didn't include their dietary habits for the sake of not making the piece convoluted, but there's very few circumstances where a character eats anyhow. 

 

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Unless you add some sort of clause in there, saying how they can't acknowledge their immortality... But that would just bring us back to characters not being able to believe they're immortal. It's sour or useless either way.

They can acknowledge that they are long lived at the max, no further. 

 

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 Holding Dark Arts without being withered away is firstly what causes it to have so few weaknesses...

I don't think you realize the scope of what holy magics and aurum can do, along with the debilitating mental strains and limits on magic. A quick warrior could drive an aurum weapon into the crook of a Reaver's armpit during a fight or a cleric could light them on fire -- holy flames feed on either taint or soul-bould afflictions deciding on the magic sect (i.e. Ascended and Tahariaens). These creatures may very well end up hunted constantly, that's enough to warrant them being somewhat strong.

 

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The Arch-Drakaar being the only thing able to make one of these was exactly my point as to why the one extra dark-sided goal it provided was limited. What are we trying to prove here?

Just before now I told you that Azdromoth isn't the only one capable of making these. It's not rocket science, while it has some complications it's rather simple from an ooc standpoint. It's just a matter of whether or not the LT would open up these as being able to be created by other Dragonkin. 

 

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And correct me if I'm wrong, but do Frost Witches also not wither from using Dark Magics?

You're wrong. It again depends on whether or not they learned after they were cursed. Let it be noted Frosties have five kinds of magic they're open to and Reavers would have three, one masterful, two adept all from one pool of Dark Arts such as Mysticism, Blood Magic, Necromancy, and Soul Puppetry and Shade. All of those are plenty to find a good power set. 

 

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When did I say it wouldn't be cool?
 

You've given the implication constantly with "un-unique un-unique un-unique." These're balanced, as well. Frankly, you don't seem to realize that these things aren't immune to normal weapons like most other dark beings are, it's a potent path for those who want to be disguised as normal people while also being able to hold their own in martial combat. 

[Mephistophelian 972]

I know it isn't relevant to this lore, but it is relevant to lore:

- Shades are not inherently evil, nor do you need to be evil to become one.

- Frost witches are affected by the weakening of their body due to magic, but it does not necessarily show, as they are able to change form. Instead, it reflects in their actual strength.