Secret Villain Lair

[Toogee]

As was talked about in the Discord chat thread, Some of us are seeking to use our second character slots to bring in characters of a different perspective. We're talking villains, or rather those who benefit from a triumphant Lycian empire. Since there is a group somewhat interested, I figured it'd be cool to have a group of villains. I'll post some random thoughts of mine from the chat thread:

Quote:There needs to be a team of bounty hunters working for Lycia to make life hard for the good guys.

Quote:Maybe a resurgent Black Fang. Over a hundred years prior, the Black Fang promised a debt to Lycia after defeating Nergal. That debt was never claimed...until the current emperor. Now the group works to cause turmoil in Bern, weakening it enough for Lycia to strike.

New idea: A group that revisits game locations to recover legendary weapons for the empire. Obviously, all the magic ones will be "disgraces to Elimine" and be promptly destroyed.

Thoughts?

[WyvernSlayer]

(03-05-2017, 12:28 AM)Toogee Wrote: New idea: A group that revisits game locations to recover legendary weapons for the empire. Obviously, all the magic ones will be "disgraces to Elimine" and be promptly destroyed.

Thoughts?

I love this idea.  Mainly because I had initially wanted to work that into the backstory anyway, but I didn't really think of it until several months after Insurrection had launched.  Having RPers be involved in it would be awesome.

And probably better than me handwaving it with some half-assed blurb in the chronology, but you know.

[Lavi]

The recovering-legendary-weapons concept would make for a good overarching story that ties into Elibe lore. Perhaps the collecting of weapons also were for preparation to essentially continue the Scouring, forcing open the Dragons Gate and going to the other realm to basically genocide manaketes (as they are a living incarnation of magical things). In terms of more immediate things, a recovering-legendary-weapons quest would eventually lead to a desire to obtain the Sword of Seals, which I believe is residing in Bern alongside the dark magic tome Apocalypse. Bernese raids would also expedite the process of Lycia going to war.

Closer to the topic of characters, I find it a little difficult to brainstorm a specific antagonist since there is not very much to go on in terms of the Lycian Empire other than anti-magic because religious law. Should there a political or bureaucratic angle that turned public favor towards Lycia as an empire? If you think about it, it doesn't make much sense that a federation ruled by an oligarchy would transform into an autocratic empire overnight. The oligarchs would have to have been manipulated into submission in order for a single ruler to hold his claim to power. Wouldn't it be ironic if magic was involved? Some dude manipulating things from the shadows?

[WyvernSlayer]

(03-05-2017, 03:52 AM)Lavi Wrote: Should there a political or bureaucratic angle that turned public favor towards Lycia as an empire? If you think about it, it doesn't make much sense that a federation ruled by an oligarchy would transform into an autocratic empire overnight. The oligarchs would have to have been manipulated into submission in order for a single ruler to hold his claim to power.

Fear can be a powerful motivator.  And it didn't happen overnight.

[Toogee]

(03-05-2017, 03:52 AM)Lavi Wrote: The recovering-legendary-weapons concept would make for a good overarching story that ties into Elibe lore. Perhaps the collecting of weapons also were for preparation to essentially continue the Scouring, forcing open the Dragons Gate and going to the other realm to basically genocide manaketes (as they are a living incarnation of magical things). In terms of more immediate things, a recovering-legendary-weapons quest would eventually lead to a desire to obtain the Sword of Seals, which I believe is residing in Bern alongside the dark magic tome Apocalypse. Bernese raids would also expedite the process of Lycia going to war.

One of my ideas for an RP was to send the group to the Dread Isle and destroy the gate. That way, some uppity Etrurian Shad doesn't get any ideas about recruiting from the other side. It's possible that the Empire would continue the Scouring, but the more immediate threat of rebels allying with dragons would make them rethink that plan.

But yeah, I like the idea of a group hunting for legendary weapons. 

As for the reasons behind the magic ban, I always assumed it was a ploy to concentrate power to loyalists. The empire seeks to be the only ones with magic and legendary weapons. The religion thing is simply a means to do so.

[Swift_Assassin]

(03-05-2017, 06:00 PM)Toogee Wrote:

(03-05-2017, 03:52 AM)Lavi Wrote: The recovering-legendary-weapons concept would make for a good overarching story that ties into Elibe lore. Perhaps the collecting of weapons also were for preparation to essentially continue the Scouring, forcing open the Dragons Gate and going to the other realm to basically genocide manaketes (as they are a living incarnation of magical things). In terms of more immediate things, a recovering-legendary-weapons quest would eventually lead to a desire to obtain the Sword of Seals, which I believe is residing in Bern alongside the dark magic tome Apocalypse. Bernese raids would also expedite the process of Lycia going to war.

One of my ideas for an RP was to send the group to the Dread Isle and destroy the gate. That way, some uppity Etrurian Shad doesn't get any ideas about recruiting from the other side. It's possible that the Empire would continue the Scouring, but the more immediate threat of rebels allying with dragons would make them rethink that plan.

But yeah, I like the idea of a group hunting for legendary weapons. 

As for the reasons behind the magic ban, I always assumed it was a ploy to concentrate power to loyalists. The empire seeks to be the only ones with magic and legendary weapons. The religion thing is simply a means to do so.

Hey. The uppity Etrurian heading for the Dread Isle is Wolfram, thank you very much. And that's just into his pursuit of Nergal's research. Specifically into quintessence, and perhaps morphs down the road.

Also, the whole reason Lennox got the okay for Dyrnwyn was because of the concept of it being hunted as a quasi-legendary weapon. Hell, the only combat he's seen was because a group following him got to close during the Reclamation of Tania thread.

I kinda had the same mindset as well behind the ban. During the previous thread, Shad speculated wildly that Lycia wanted a war with Bern to try to seize Echesachs and the Sword of Seals.

[Lavi]

(03-05-2017, 02:46 PM)WyvernSlayer Wrote: Fear can be a powerful motivator.  And it didn't happen overnight.

The chronology started with the change in government, which suggested that it was an immediate change since there was no other referenced event that could suggest a gradual shift. Sorry for jumping to conclusions.