Bummer! Oh well, the money and fame would have been nice, but it was fun writing this up just the same.
I think I crammed in way too much for my own good (using a 9 pt font -- I can imagine those reading it cursing me out for that decision, lol) so, among other things, that was probably my undoing, heh. Anyway, below is my lone entry (only had mental energy and time to write and send in one). Congratulations to those who got selected and I really hope the end product will blow our socks off!
Dragonaire: The World of Inmerset
1. Core Ethos Sentence
Dragonaire: A world caught up in religious fervor and threatened by imminent conflict between warring gods and rival nations, the fate of Inmerset lies in the hands of those strong enough to fight with the heart and soul of a dragon.
2. Who are the heroes?
Heroes are typically commoners who rise up from their lowly station and set out to defend and fight for what they believe is right. Be they former escaped slaves from the great city of Izmaragrad, the children of humble farmers eager to prove themselves, proud berserkers descended from the brutal taiga warriors of the Verkhosian tribes, wandering nomadic mystics from the insular Darjevic clans, savants of the old gods who walk the land seeking to preserve the fading ways of magic, or noble Dragonaire knights mounted on saurians and wyverns from the kingdom of Mordrake, the heroes of Inmerset are varied and have numerous motivations that drive them to seek adventure.
3. What do they do?
Honor and glory are lofty goals to attain in the eyes of the people, but survival is first and foremost in a land caught in a tide of religious and political turmoil. Relying on brute force, wit, and magic, adventurers must rise to the challenges they must face and do battle against corrupt nobility, unscrupulous slavers, malevolent spirits leftover from haunted ruins such as Lichtesfaust, wizards who have sworn their souls to dark powers, belligerent war chieftains, monsters and undead torn from the Veil, were-creatures that ravage the countryside, and the machinations of influential churches and cults. Only by drawing strength from the dragons of old can heroes aspire to fame and fortune.
4. Threats, Conflicts, Villains
The feudalistic Mordrecht seek to expand their mighty kingdom and so they send their most revered champions, the Dragonaires, against the barbarian tribes of Verkholund that constantly threaten their borders. The Brotherhood of the Rood ensures that the will of the sun god Izlandur, banisher of the monstrous demon Greymalkin to the frozen Bite Lands, is done, meting out justice and destroying the taint of sorcery wherever they may find it. The fierce but disparate Verkhosian tribes call upon their merciless war god of eternal winter Krennag to fight back against the Mordrecht, while the witches of the north draw their arcane power from Suspiria, the White Lady and Bone Mother. The drabardi mystics of the Darjevic instead turn to Umbra, the Gray Witch and Moon Mother, to shield them from the conflict between both sides. However, the Umbral, a fanatical cult led by a blind but charismatic zealot named Raschesohn, seeks to restore the land to the Darjevic, the rightful heirs of Inmerset. The ancient city of Müllenkant – built for the purpose of harnessing mystical energies in order to keep horrific creatures and undead from penetrating the Veil and entering the mortal world – is a center of dispute within the sovereign Graylands.
5. Nature of Magic
Magic, including psionics, as a whole is a rare and awesome force to be reckoned with as it is the last lingering vestiges of the old world that refuses to make way for the new. The powerful goddesses Suspiria and Umbra created and molded the realm of Inmerset to suit their needs, a land of ancient magic and dragons to populate it. Then came the Sundering, when the land was nearly split in two in a titanic battle between the two witches, followed by the Goetterdaemmerung, or Twilight of the Gods. It was then that the new gods Izlandur and Krennag appeared, and the era of magic began to ebb and fade from the memory of a newly risen mankind. Divine magic is now the ruling power, and arcane magic has been pressed to the edge of the abyss. The Brotherhood of the Rood, in their religious zeal, created the Benandanti – men and women chosen to be imbued with the power to touch others and rob them of their will – in an effort to seek out the truth and stamp out sorcery. This plan turned against the Brotherhood when Teufelova, a power mad Benandanti, instigated the Great Perdition, a bloody civil war from which Mordrake has never truly recovered. Magic still exists in small pockets, such as runes inscribed upon both skin and armor, and in artifacts quenched by the souls of those who once wielded them and can only be keyed by those strong of heart.
6. What's new? What's different?
Demihumans are rarely encountered, if at all, being the stuff of legends. The savage elves of the Tal-Re make the primal forests home and will defend their land to the death with the help of totem spirits, elemental nature magic, and fierce dire beasts at their command. The Khazanbar dwarves have retreated into their mountains, using advanced stone and steam technology as the foundation of their enduring civilization. The idyllic Brevir halflings have all but forgotten their history based upon war with the vicious Daosha, a race of shadowy humanoids who have degenerated into bloodthirsty hordes that roam the barren Graylands. Dragons, keepers of ancient lore and once bonded spiritually to the Dragonaires of old before the time of the Great Perdition, have all but vanished save for a select few such as Demminaskyxx – or Demaskus as it is commonly known, a legendary wyrm that makes its lair beneath the forbidding peaks of the Drachezaehne Mountains. Magic is fast fading into endless twilight but remains a powerful force that struggles to survive within Inmerset as the gods of the old world fight against the harbingers of the new.
