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Zoran

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    Zoranian Folklore: Terrors of the mind and spirit

    in Roleplay - How the West Was Won

    Posted

    Back again for another tale from the land of Zor? Well for this tale you better hope you don’t lose your head.

    There are many spirits that reside in Zoran, some as malevolent as the Urakti and others as peaceful as a visiting soul of a family member. But there is one spirit that is feared above all, the Crimson Rider. Every blood moon it is said that the Crimson Rider, on his wicked horse Cyprus, rides down from the moon to make his ride across the Zoranian isles to round up any stray spirits that remained in the mortal realm for too long. However, the Crimson Rider shows no mercy to any poor traveler it counters on its midnight ride. For you see, the rider does not see the mortal flesh of man, he only sees their souls and thus believes them to be lost spirits and he drags them with him on his midnight ride down to the underworld. Yet during the night, mortals will hear his eerie yet captivating call for the dead to return to their respective afterlives. This call causes many poor fools to cross paths with the Rider. One such fellow was Lagida Tle’-Maya’.

    Lagida was a beautiful woman who had suitors traveling from all thirty tribes of Zoran asking for her hand. But all these suitors were turned away for she believed that she needed no man to be happy. She sometimes saw her beauty as a curse as that was all men would see, they wouldn’t see her for her intelligence or for her singing voice. Unfortunately for poor Lagida, the people of her demanded that she either marry or become a seer, a mystic like position that existed before Adanvdo graced the land with his presence. She did not wish to live the life of a seer so she relented and decided to marry. But at this point no man was willing to marry her because she broke their hearts before. Unable to find a husband on her own she had to wait until her mother could arrange a marriage for her. But she made one request to her mother, she wanted a man who could sing. While her request was an unusual one her mother granted her daughter this.

    However, that night there was a blood moon and all Zoranians closed their windows and their doors for they knew it was time for the Crimson Rider to make his rounds. Lagida was never the superstitious type and always thought the stories of the elders were nothing more than stories to keep them from misbehaving. But that night her doubts will lead to her demise. While Lagida slept through the night, she heard an enchanting voice sing in the distance which caused her to wake,(Note: the words of the Rider has a similar meter to The Alan Parson's Project's song The Cask of Amontillado(yes it is based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story) listen to it a bit and then read it if you want to. It doesn't work perfectly with some of the lines but it is the best I can do to describe the way I imagined it)

    Hear me all spirits,
    Return to your halls;
    The master requires,
    Your return to your sires,

    Adhere to my call,
    And you might just find,
    The crimson rider
    Upon his night ride

    Lagida thought this was some man playing a prank upon the village people by pretending to be the Crimson Rider. Yet she found the voice of this nonexistent man to be enchanting and thought him to be the man she wanted to marry. She rushed down the steps and unlocked the door before rushing out into the streets to find this mystery man. Lagida ran out of the village in the direction she was hearing the enchanting voice,

    Seven hours till dawn,
    But the night will drag on;
    As the Great Spirit’s Liaison,
    Will ride on and on,

    Adhere to my call,
    And you might just find,
    The crimson rider,
    Upon his night ride,

    But as she drew closer, the enchanting voice grew eerier and eerier and the air around her grew cold. Despite the cold air, Lagida walked on determined to see the man she may wed. After a few more minutes of walking she soon noticed that frost soon formed on the plants around her as they died of the cold. She knew something was wrong but she did not want to admit the truth behind it all. It wasn’t long till the thundering of hooves filled her ears and she saw the approaching shadow which she hoped to be her mystery man. But as the shadow became clearer she came only to find the crimson rider upon his night ride. The rider rode a translucent black horse with glowing white eyes that showed all men feared to see. But the rider himself was a sight to behold. He wore a red cloak with gold trim and underneath he wore a black doublet that looked as though it were made of leather with a red undershirt. He wore black trousers and black leather gloves. But that wasn’t the frightening part about him, his face was what sent fear down Lagida’s spine. His head was charred, melted, and as black as coal and his eyes were like red tongues of fire. The rider stopped when he saw Lagida on the road, his red eyes staring deeply into her soul. Without saying a word, the rider extended his left hand towards Lagida and thin red wires spew forth from his arm. The wires wrapped around Lagida until she couldn’t move a single part of her body. She screamed in vain as the wires dug into her and burned her flesh before she fell to the ground tied up and helpless. The Crimson rider then signaled for his horse to continue on its way and it began to zoom through the night while dragging poor Lagida as he rode. She screamed and cried as was dragged through mud, dirt, gravel, and water but it was too late for her as the rider took her life and dragged her into the Underworld.

    When you hear my song,
    Know you do not have long,
    Till I come along
    To take what does not belong

    When the moon bleeds red
    Know that the dead will be led
    By the Crimson Rider
    Whose tale has no end

    Zoranian Folklore: Terrors of the mind and spirit

    in Roleplay - How the West Was Won

    Posted

    Gather around young and old as I tell you tales best left untold.

    Many moons ago, before Advanvdo blessed the land with his presence, there was a man named Yeminose. Yeminose was a renowned hunter across Zoran, it was said he once killed twenty Jaguars all on his own in less than an hour. He was the ideal man, strong, humble, wise, athletic, pure of heart, and charitable. But as his fame and renown grew he lost his way and grew prideful, greedy, pompous, and arrogant. It was though he was a whole different person.

    One day, Yeminose was making his rounds through his village when he encountered a shaman who had heard of the great hunter who had lost his way. The shaman wore rags and old tattered clothes made of elk skin. Yeminose looked down upon the old shaman with disgust and said,

    “How can a man who speaks to the spirits present himself in such an indecent and filthy way.”

    Little did he know that this shaman was an aparition of the Great Spirit who had come to teach a lesson to the prideful young hunter. The shaman spoke with a stern voice,

    “Young hunter, you may be strong and you may be fit but your heart is as black as the deepest depths of the sea. How can you speak of the spirits when your own soul is as vile as the mouth of bottom feeders like the crab?”

    Yeminose was enraged at these words and said,

    “How dare you, you old fool! Do you not know who I am!? I am Yeminose! Slayer of Jaguars! Bane of sharks! Master of the jungle! I demand you get on your knees and beg my forgiveness!”

    The Great Spirit did no such thing and instead challenged the prideful Yeminose,

    “How about this, there is a monster in the deepest part of the jungle. It is known as Toranas, an Urakti that has taken the form of a muscular hairy creature that stands at 8 feet (2.44 meters) tall that bears great strength and invokes fear in any being or creature that encounters it. If you can slay this beast then you shall earn my apology and be known as the greatest hunter in the world.”

    Yeminose, who was one to never turn down a challenge, accepted the challenge. But his pride and arrogance will get the better of him.

    He ventured into the darkest depths of the jungle. All sunlight was blocked by the canopy of the great and ancient trees. The jungle was unnaturally quiet, no creature made a sound, not even the platypuses in the rivers. But there was a parrot, who stood on a branch, that spoke,

    “Turn back *squack* death and doom ahead *squack*.”

    Yeminose ignored this parrot, only laughing at its mimicry of some cowardly fool.

    No creature or beast can best me! I am the greatest hunter in Zoran!

    He thought to himself as he crossed a riverbed, going into the deepest part of the jungle. He has never traveled this deep into the jungle before. His previous confidence faded from him and was replaced with uncertainty. The trees were twisted and covered in thorns. The roots were black and were visible above the ground and a thick fog covered the floor of the jungle. The silence along with the reduced visibility put Yeminose on edge

    Suddenly, the earth shook under his feet as he heard stomping in the distance. His legs began to tremble and he found himself unable to move. From the fog he saw a silhouette of a giant hairy creature with glowing red eyes. It stood on two legs and had arms that were the size of Yeminose’s body. He could hear its heavy breathing as it drew closer and he saw the face of the humanoid-like creature. The creature had huge feet and it walked in a strange manner. The proud hunter struggled to raise his bow up in time before he let out a blood curdling scream that echoed throughout the jungle as the creature picked him up, threw him onto the ground, and mercilessly stomped on him. That day many Zoranians heard the strange roar of the creature and when people went to investigate all they saw were the remains of a human corpse and giant humanoid footprints.

    It is said that Toranas still roams the jungle till this day, and some say that there are more of his kind out there. But when you hear its thundering roar you know your end draws near. Let this be a lesson about pride, no matter how great of something you may be there will always be something or someone greater than you that will crush you.

    The Zoranian Civil War

    in Archive Esferos

    Posted

    April 30, 1420
    12:00 PM Over Time
    In an undisclosed location that is definitely not in an ancient fortress from the height of the rule of Saint Mark over Zoran

    “What do you mean you lost her?! How can you lose the daughter of Ani’-Wah’!?” exclaimed Wohali Lanusila, leader of the Monarchist Forces,

    “We’re sorry sir, but this guy in a really cool black armor just took out the GSC forces that were in the apartment, took Auraelia to his vehicle, and drove off at fast speeds with her in tow. Since then we lost track of her.” said the soldier on the encrypted phone. Wohali took a deep breath and pinched the ridge of his nose before asking,
    “Did you even attempt to follow the vehicle this mystery man was in?” there was a moment of silence before the soldier answered,

    “No sir.” Wohali was about to throw the phone at the wall but instead he just poured himself a glass of Mist Over the Lake Badgerian whiskey with a shaking hand and downed it in one go. He let out a sigh before asking,

    “What did this armored man look like?”

    “Well we didn’t see anything that could make his identity stand out but he wore black armor and had a helmet mask.” The soldier stopped and the sound of discussion distant explosions could be heard on the other end of the line, “The scouting party just got back from the apartment and they found something which gave us the identity of the suspect. Sending you a photo now.” Waholi then looked at his messages and saw a photo of a purple card with black crown and a cookie on it.

    By the Spirit CGZ has gotten into this, what is going on in this country anymore.

    “Tell all forces to be on the lookout for any sign of CGZ, we need to find the future queen to be safe in our hands!”

    “Sir yes sir.” Wohali ended the call and poured himself another cup of Mist Over the Lake whiskey to calm his nerves.

    Without that girl our faction will be divided among who should succeed. I was able to unite the factions into supporting Adsila as the Queen but if she dies or goes missing then our forces will lose their purpose and we will lose this war.

    He let out a sigh as he looked at his watch to see that it was time for him to meet with the delegation from Saint Mark. As a monarchy itself he hopes that their similar alignments may allow for some support to be arranged for the monarchist cause.

    This country has been left ungoverned for far too long. While the ideals of the founder were noble it was flawed and chaotic. People have been stuck in poor conditions while the Council tells the world that there are no problems. President Ani’-Wah’ was the closest unifying force this country has seen since the days of Austenaco. Only a strong unifying figure with the power to enforce regulations and to create laws to protect Zoranians from unfair and unjust conditions can save this country. All this can be done through a monarch and the Ani’-Wah’ family are trusted by the people because of the late president. The GSC has practically already lost after a large number of their troops defected to our cause or to the theocratic cause. While the theocrats have a fire and a passion, they are few in number and lack support from the Divine Shaman himself. The only real threat is the Corporate faction because they have money, resources, connections, and influence.

    Waholi thought about all this and more as he marched down the ancient halls of the Saint Markian fortress to meet a potential ally in his fight for a truly united and better Zoran.

    The Zoranian Civil War

    in Archive Esferos

    Posted

    April 30, 1420
    11:00 AM Over Time

    “Adsila Ani’-Wah’ under orders of the Grand Defense Council you are under arrest for treason!” yelled a soldier from the other side of the door. Adsila looked at the door in fear as the thought of being put in a prison cell crossed her mind.

    I didn’t ask for this! I don’t want to be queen! I wasn’t part of any of this!

    She thought to herself. The soldier banged on the door again,

    “Adsila Ani’-Wah’ if you do not open the door this instant we will be forced to use force.” yelled the soldier. Adsila could hear the soldiers planting charges on her door. She just stood there, paralyzed with fear.

    Great Spirit please help me!

    “Hey what’s the deal here? Don’t you guys think that ballistic breaching is a bit much for a normal apartment door?” said a muffled and unrecognizable voice. The sound of gunfire followed along with the sound of bodies hitting the floor, people being grappled, and a...wilhelm scream? Adsila leaned against her wall and slid down to the ground out of fear. Then there was silence and no sound was outside...until there was a slight click heard from the door followed by another click and a third click. After the third click the door unlocked and the door opened to reveal a man in a black reflective helmet mask in some strange black armor. Behind him were the unconscious bodies of six Zoranian soldiers and the man looked completely unharmed. He walked into her apartment casually as if nothing happened and looked at Adsila.

    “Sorry about that, hope they didn’t cause you too much trouble.” said the man. Adsila could tell that the man’s voice was modulated as it sounded too deep for it to be natural.

    “Who are you?” asked Adsila. The man’s body language shifted to give the idea that he was insulted,

    “How can you not know who I am?! I am the one and only CGZ and I am here to save your hide from the idiots in the GSC, the fat cats in their towers of false power, the fanatics that use the Great Spirit’s name for their own desires, and from the monarchists that are the closest thing you have to a fan club. Look I am not on any side of this war but seeing as you are an enemy to three of the four sides and a potential pawn for the fourth and that just makes you a target. Now I am offering you the chance to come with me and hide until the war ends. Just going to say it now, I am probably your only hope kid.” CGZ offered his hand to Adsila. Adsila thought about her situation for a minute, what he said was realistic as without her one side in the war effort would fall into divisions over who to make into a monarch and so she would become a target by the two other sides. Also she already is considered a traitor by the GSC so it looks like she has no other choice. She takes the legendary thief’s hand and is pulled to her feet.

    “Now before I take you with me I am going to have to blindfold you.” He says, taking out a black blindfold, “While I want to help you I can’t trust you with the location of my secret hideout. So if you could put that on it would make my job ten times easier.” Adsila sighs and begrudgingly puts it on. The thief then grabbed her hand and began to lead her out of the apartment building, through the conflict filled streets and into what she can assume to be a car. She was buckled into her seat with help from CGZ before he accelerated causing her to be pushed back into her seat.

    “When did my life get so complicated?” she said out loud without even realizing it,

    “Probably when your father died. Just stating the obvious here.” answered CGZ.

    As they sped down the streets they could hear the sounds of gunfire and explosions. While she could not see, Adsila already imagined what must be going on. A few bullets even hit the car but they didn’t do any damage to the vehicle due to how armored it must be.

    “Jeeves play My Mix!” said CGZ and a posh sounding voice answered,

    “Right away sir.” A drum solo began to play from the speakers of the car and classic rock filled Adsila’s ears.

    “How are you so calm during all of this?! People are literally dying around us!” Adsila says trying to yell over the classic rock music,

    “Look it isn’t that I don’t care but it's the fact that I have to worry about getting you to safety without drawing too much attention to myself by using secret tunnels that I have all around the country. The thing is that the closest entrance to one of these tunnels is in the middle of one of the conflict zones. It is going to keep a level head when driving anyways.” says CGZ as he manages to swerve around a very obviously placed landmine that was set in the middle of the road.

    “Damn that was a famous Dalimbari mine! How much funding do these private militaries have!? Anyways, as you can-oh wait you can’t see, well if you could see you would understand why I am having to be so calm while driving. If I wasn’t calm then we wouldn’t survive so if you would be so kind try not to interrupt the music.” Adsila didn’t know what to say about this.

    By the Spirit I don’t know whether I am with a bold genius or an adrenaline junky madman!

    Death of a President

    in Archive Esferos

    Posted

    April 30, 1420
    9:30 AM Over time
    Adsila Ani’-Wah’

    Sarcophagi lined the walls of the mausoleum with statues of great Zoranian men and women standing erect behind them. Light shone through the stained glass windows as Adsila and the SIC agent walked off to a secluded corner of the mausoleum to discuss her future.

    “I would like to first give my condolences, your father truly was a great man.” said the man,

    “Thank you, might I ask what your name is?” asked Adsila,

    “I can’t give you my true name but you can call me 4012. You already know why I am here, I came on behalf of the SIC to ask if you plan on continuing your family tradition.” said 4012. Adsila let out a sigh, she knew that this would come up shortly after her father died.

    “I am not sure. There is a lot of change currently and I am not sure if I want to go into the SIC.” She answered with uncertainty in her voice. 4012 nodded in response seemingly understanding what she must be experiencing,

    “That is completely reasonable, but when we saw your father named you the new head of the Ani’-Wah’ family we looked into your academic record and we were impressed by what we saw and is very typical of almost all Ani’-Wah’s who entered the SIC. Graduating from high school early, being in your final year of university at the age of eighteen, having straight A’s, being fluent in three languages, and studying political science. You would make an ideal agent in the SIC.” Adsila was surprised at the amount of information that 4012 had on her. She didn’t know whether to be flattered or creeped out by what he knew.

    “I can understand that but I don’t know. It is just a lot to think about and I am going to need some time. If you could contact me in a few days then I might have an answer for you.” said Adsila. 4012 nodded as his phone began to ring. He pulled it out and let out a sigh,

    “I will be sure to do that. If you would excuse me I have to take this.” he said as he answered his phone and walked away.

    If this is any indication of things to come then my life is about to get very complicated.

    Adsila thought to herself before walking down the halls of the mausoleum to attend the ceremony that is being broadcast across the nation. She took her seat at the front of the ceremony and watched it while thinking about the future of her life.

    11:00 AM Over Time

    The statue of Apenimon Ani’-Wah’ was unveiled and blessed by the shaman as the ceremony was drawn to a close and the casket was carried into the crypt. Adsila wiped her eyes as she walked down the steps of the mausoleum, thinking, once again, about 4012’s offer to join the SIC and her family tradition. The crowds of people behind the barricade were slowly let into the mausoleum to pay their respects to her father and a majority of them stopped to bow to her as though she were royalty. They all kept their distance out of respect as she made her way to the limo that was waiting to take her back to her apartment. But as she entered limo, she thought she overheard someone in the crowd whisper,

    “Is that her? Is she the girl that people online have been saying should be the first Queen of Zoran?” 

    Adsila was confused as to what she heard but she didn’t think of it too much on the ride back to her apartment. When she arrived at her apartment not too far from the Platypus Island University campus, she looked outside her window that had a view of the Grand Security Council Meeting Hall. She thought about what must be going on inside the emergency meeting that was called today when she saw an explosion erupt from the building. She stared in horror at the event as she saw Zoranian soldiers run around the building as security went on high alert. She then heard the sound of gunfire coming from the direction of the Meeting Hall. Adsila got away from the window at this point and went on to see what the news was saying about this. The first thing that popped up was a live video feed of what was occurring. She saw soldiers fighting against what appeared to be normal Zoranians. It was pure chaos, people were shouting, guns were fired, people were dying, and fire was burning.

    What in the world is going on!?

    She looked further into the event and read the headlines of major news sources in the country. 

    Explosion at GSC Meeting Hall! 

    Corporations Declare War Against Government

    Monarchists Take Up Arms Against the Security Council!

    Religious Fanatics Declare Crusade, Claim Divine Shaman is True Ruler of Zoran!

    Zoranian Civil War has Begun: Understanding the Four Factions of the War

    The list of headlines went on and on and Adsila was shocked as to what the country has become. She soon recalled what she had heard back when she was leaving the Mausoleum as she saw a headline that read, Monarchists Declare Adsila Ani’-Wah’ Queen of Zoran. That was when she heard someone banging on her apartment door.
    To be continued in a new thread: The Zoranian Civil War

    Death of a President

    in Archive Esferos

    Posted

    April 30, 1420

    Grand Defense Council Meeting Chamber

     

    “Have you seen the crowds gathered in the streets? Not even Austenaco’s death gathered this many people.” said Rep. Lunase,

    “Indeed,” agreed Rep. Tsolaquo, “the people’s reaction was unexpected. However, social media is lighting up with talk of a regime change. While I tend to ignore rumors on social media, the popularity of the topic is concerning.”

    “A regime change? But why? I thought the people supported the current government?” asked Rep. Nowego,

    “They did but the people of Zoran have become intrigued by ideologies and policies practiced abroad. There are four forms of government being thrown around. The people are calling for either a theocracy or a monarchy, however; there have also been rumors that corporations are planning on taking power.” said Rep. Gayuhe.

    The room erupted into discussion as the representatives talked about their fears of a civil war or a revolution. Some of the older members of the Council were in denial of these rumors. They believe that the rumors on social media only represent a minority of people within the country and don’t truly reflect the majority opinion of the country. The younger members of the Council did believe in the rumors and believed that the people truly wanted a new government. But as they discussed the credibility of these rumors there was one word that they all feared, revolution. The Speaker banged their gavel and called order in the Council room,

    “If these rumors are true, who do they propose should lead the country under these systems?” asked the Speaker. Rep. Quadelo rose from his seat to answer the question,

    “There seems to be a three way divide amongst those who support a monarchy, one group proposes that the Ani’-Wah’ family should be the royal house of Zoran as President Ani’-Wah’ was the most recent president of Zoran and thus it should continue from his line. Another states that the Ah-ni-di clan should be the royal house as Austenaco unified Zoran and thus should have divine right to rule. Then there is the third group that proposes that Zoran should invite a royal from another country to rule Zoran, the most popular house name being tossed around is that of House Halohin. In terms of the theocrats, they propose that the country should be ruled by the Divine Shaman stating that he would have the nation’s best interest at heart all while keeping us on the Great Spirit’s path.”

    “But what of this corporate conspiracy? Is there any evidence that supports the idea that it is more than just a rumor?” asks the Speaker.

    “There isn’t much evidence but there are some very worrying transactions in the public records between some corporations and private military companies. I doubt that any of these groups will strike today as it would be dishonorable to do so during a day of mourning. But we should take this day to prepare for a potential civil war.” answered Rep. Lunase.

    An uncomfortable silence fell over the room as the word they all feared left her lips. The Council now had to make a decision on how to deal with this threat to the stability of the nation, the lives of millions rests in their hands now.

    Should've Done This Before

    in Information and Introduction Centre

    Posted

    Welcome! We are glad to have you join! You don't have to just do a newspaper there are infinite number of possibilities for you to do in RP but a newspaper is always a good start! Another note about RP that you should know is that we don't use NS stats, they aren't very realistic and so we have our Questionnaire thread that you can fill our and post there after you make a map claim (if you haven't already that is) to get some of your stats sorted out. Feel free to ask any questions about RP in the RP discord server, everyone is happy to help! Also consider joining one of the ministries to become more involved in the community!

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