Setting:
Treymara is a land dotted with Castles and Keeps. Knights and Lords take post and rely on their sword arm and quick feet to protect their lands. Large trade cities filter merchants and tradesmen in and out on a regular basis. The horse is the preferred method of travel, and oxen still rule the caravan. Small towns and villages rely on strong backs and long days to make it through life. When the trade caravans pass through, stories from the more untraveled roads bring reports of monsters attacking the unlucky. Everyone knows a guy, who's sister's cousin heard that their brother's wive's uncle saw a monster once. Terrible creatures, so they say.
However absurd these stories are, the number of them has been rising lately.
Most of the folk you meet on Treymara are quite common. Cooks, farmers, innkeepers, blacksmiths and all manner of people just doing what they can to get by. Most Treymarians are not born under a lucky star, or blessed with a crazy uncle well versed in rituals and alchemy. No, most people keep out of trouble and high tail it at the first sign of danger.
It is a good thing you are not common. You are the ones that travel without a horse. Some of you don't even carry weapons. Some are warm in the winter without a coat, while others sleep underwater when you don't want to be disturbed. And that is just the beginning.
Magic/Powers:
There are no typical wizards or clerics living on Treymara, in a sense. There are no wizard academies or abbots where Paladins train. No, there are only Callers.
A select few individuals on Treymara are born with three parts. Three souls, if you believe in that sort of thing. The first and foremost is the human soul. This is the dominant part of their being. They have human features, human emotions, human dreams, desires and fears. But along with their humanity, they have two extra parts.
The second soul is the soul of an element. They are drawn towards it and it is drawn towards them. As they grow, so does their affinity for the element. Some have been know to spring fire from their fingertips, or freeze a cup of water by mistake. If honed, this second part of their being can become a very powerful tool.
The third soul is the soul of a beast. The nature of the beast manifests itself in different ways. Some reflect on their beast physically, while others take on the mannerisms of the animal. Bears sometimes like to sleep in, or are hardy, broad individuals. Dragons, on the other hand can be fierce and intelligent. Wolves favor loyalty and hawks have the keenest eyesight imaginable. Like their elemental soul, as the individual hones it, their animal becomes stronger.
Combining the three souls into one body creates a powerful and complicated being. Tri-Men, Callers, Devils, Angels - people have many names for these individuals born with three souls. They are lauded as heroes and saviors one day, and cursed as demons the next.
The ultimate ability of these three souled individuals is The Calling. This is the union of man, element and beast. When this occurs the Caller is drawing upon their full potential. Their power is enhanced tenfold, and their adversaries stand little chance. The Calling decides wars, topples kingdoms and alters history. It also comes at a heavy price.
Plot:
This battle will focus on the actions of a handful of Callers. Initially they will be following a band of monster hunters, or defending an outlying castle from the increasing raids from the growing threat of monsters. Callers can have a difficult time of hiding their abilities, so once they reach a certain age they typically take to wandering. The stars align and the bones fall in such a way that the participants of the battle all end up at the right place to be recruited for the initial endeavor.
Depending on the success of this preliminary story, we can continue on or say, "Eh, nice try." It's been a while since I've hosted a battle. If you have any suggestions I'll consider them. I'm flexible on the setting also. We can add a few decades/centuries and bring in cannons and muskets if your heart is set on it. If this doesn't take off I'll be forced to continue writing the little novel I had going with a similar idea. I just couldn't kick the thought that it would make an interesting battle while I was writing it. So here it goes.
Characters:
For the sake of diversity I want to use a point system. This way there won't be any vagueness concerning the abilities of the players, for my sake and yours. At certain "level up" periods you will receive a point to spend in one of your three souls. You can choose to be well rounded and keep your three souls even. Or you can focus on one or two of them. I realize that I typically focus on melee characters, and this is how I'm trying to incorporate options for more spell castery folk.
We'll begin with three points for you to place where you wish. Your overall power will be determined by your total points. Your skills for each soul will be determined by how many points you have in said soul.
Human Soul:
This is where your mundane human skills lie. Your skills with weapons are the main trait gained here. With 1 point in your Human Soul you are proficient with one or two weapons. Additional points give you increasing mastery. This includes bows and crossbows. Your Human Soul also defines your baseline strength and agility. These can be augmented by your Animal Soul, of course, but this is the starting point. Too few points in your Human Soul can make you clumsy with weapons and will cause a greater deficit to be made up for with your other souls. There are also some instances where you may be cut off from your other Souls, and you will be relying on your Human Soul entirely. I am going to implement a cap on Human Soul points, since Humans can only advance so far.
Elemental Soul:
This is where part of your magic lies. Again, this focuses on the natural elements of the world: Fire, Water, Sky, Earth & Holy*. Skills like throwing fireballs or summoning tornadoes come from the Elemental Soul. You can imbue your weapons with your element for increased skill and damage. An archer attuned with Sky can use the wind to guide their arrows, or to increase their speed as they fly towards their target. Holy deals in protection, healing and the warding of evil. They are great support Souls and are potent against monsters.
As you put more points into the Elemental Soul you will gain more powerful abilities. Your skills will rival mother nature at her best, and your foes will toil vainly against your raw power.
The Caller's elemental abilities are slightly enhanced when in the environment of their affinity. I'll call this out at certain times. For instance, if it is particularly windy one day then the Sky element will be a little stronger than normal.
The Elemental soul can also affect the Caller's personality. A water element could especially enjoy rainy days. Maybe their favorite thing will be to take a swim or soak in a tub. A fire element might always want the closest seat around the campfire. They could also be absolutely miserable when it snows.
* A bit of foreshadowing, the Dark Elemental Soul is reserved for villains.
Animal Soul:
The Animal Soul is where the majority of your physical enhancements will come from. Like I wrote earlier, Human Soul points can be capped out. Animal Soul enhancements can push you above and beyond. Obviously, the abilities gained by your Animal Soul will vary greatly. With one point into this soul you will be able to enhance your senses to match your inner animal. You will be able to make some simple transformations with your body like growing claws or sharpening your teeth. If you're a bird Soul you could sprout feathers on your arms to glide short distances. You will also be able to increase your speed and strength (animal depending) with your Animal Soul. More points will allow you to transform into your inner animal. More points after that will allow you to transform into larger, more stronger versions of that animal. Your senses will become the perfect pairing of animal and human. And your strength, speed and agility will be pushed to the extremes.
You may have noticed I mentioned a dragon during the introductory post. Yes, your animal soul can be a dragon, or a griffon. You can pick a fantastical animal, just don't expect it to be overpowered. You can also be a scorpion, spider, wasp or a simple gnat. But I would advise against the gnat. Bears, tigers, wolves, hawks, and snakes all fit the bill nicely too. I was initially going to say, "No fish, that's just crazy talk..." But if you think you can make it work go ahead. I'm not going to rattle off an encyclopedia of animals, birds, insects and reptiles for you to choose from. It's open ended. Just make sure you're not helpless in a fight.
The Calling:
The skills gained by your three Souls are powerful on their own. As a Caller you are far above the majority of your Human brothers and sisters. But Humans are not the only danger roaming Treymara. As mentioned before, there is a growing threat of monsters. And other Callers themselves can and will pose a problem.
When Callers are born, their Human Soul is predominant. Their other two Souls gradually emerge as they grow up, but the individual is still split into three separate parts. The Calling is when the other two Souls are called to the surface. It is the merger of the Callers three parts into one being. This is a physical transformation that reflects the sum of their Human skills, Elemental skills, and Animal skills.
Your Calling will be based upon where you spent your points, and it will be different for everyone. Some examples include:
* Bear Predominant Fire Secondary : The Caller lets loose a mighty roar and is enveloped in a violent blaze. He transforms into a giant grizzly bear the size of a small house. His fur smolders and flames, and his roar expels superheated air that burns all in its path. His claws are like red hot iron that cut through stone and steel like butter.
* Sky Predominant Wolf Secondary : A torrent of wind blows through the immediate area and concentrates into a tornado around the Caller. Their physical body is engulfed in the mighty wind and fades away. The tornado settles and reveals a pack of translucent wolves. Their bodies waver with the gusts of wind still tearing through the landscape. The wolves travel together in a group and their speed blurs their translucent bodies. They descend on their enemies with biting teeth and scratching claws. A strike of lightning fries the last opponent standing in their way.
Calling upon your beast cannot be used all of the time. It is more similar to a fight or flight instinct than a power that can be utilized at will. So you can't just flip The Calling switch whenever you want here. In a sense, The Calling calls you. I'll point out in the OOC thread when someone can Call if they so choose. Or, if my writing is good enough I'll try and make it clear in the normal thread.
Like your other powers your Callings will get stronger as the battle goes on. And as your point allocations change so will your Callings. This is an additional aspect to consider while deciding where to place newly acquired points.
Poll