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[prof]

BGM ~ Overture

Dragon Quest Valor

Ten years ago, the world of Valonius was thrown into chaos with the advent of Dark Lord Velga. Under the power of a dark curse, monsters everywhere were bound to her power, acting as an army led by her four dark generals. None could stand up to her wrath... until the rise of the Hero.

Elika was a humble farm girl, but when the monsters came, she took up a sword and fought to protect the weak. Swiftly, her power grew, and four mighty warriors became her stalwart companions. Elika became the symbol of hope itself as she crossed the world, facing Velga's dark generals in life or death battles. With the Shield of Light she protected her friends from danger, and with the Sword of Light she cut down the forces of evil. One by one, the dark generals were slain, but one by one, her allies fell as well, until Elika and Velga had their final duel atop Death Isle for the fate of the world.

Nobody knows exactly what happened in that fateful battle, but the aftermath is known. Velga's dark castle now lays in ruins, but she and Elika were never seen again, with the only memento remaining from the battle being Elika's sword and shield. With the defeat of the Dark Lord, peace returned to Valonius, monsters once again free to mostly leave humans alone, the occasional skirmish or random encounter aside.

Ten years have passed since the fall of Dark Lord Velga. While no new evil master has announced their presence, the curse of darkness has returned to Valonius. Monsters are losing their minds, turning to brutally attack humanity at every turn. Who is behind this new invasion? Will a new hero rise to stand against them?

So Yeah
It's a Valor campaign. Standard rules, 1-20, five PCs. I'm not ready to pick a party yet, but I will at some point.

More Details

• The full world map isn't ready to be revealed, but the majority of Valonius is dominated by two large continents - Helenia in the west, and Yamatonia in the east. Death Isle is in the sea between the two, surrounded by ship-crushing reefs. The campaign will probably start in Helenia.
• Monsters are everywhere in Valonius, but they aren't usually as hostile as they are now. Monsters don't get along with humans well, so they mostly keep away from human settlements, only occasionally attacking towns or isolated travelers. Monsters also differ from humans in that they lack our aversion to death - for most monsters, being defeated and spared is considered a greater insult than being killed.
• The Curse of Darkness is an innate power of the Dark Lord, which covered the world when she arose. The curse covered the entire world, and turned nearly all monsters into her unwavering servants. However, some random monsters were spared by chance, and areas of powerful magical significance shielded any monsters there from her control. The new curse seems to operate on the same rules.
• Dragons, the strongest race of monsters, are immune to the Curse of Darkness, but many of them served Velga willingly, because one of her generals was a powerful Elder Dragon.
• Velga was not the first Dark Lord to attack Valonius. It seems that something like this happens every century or two. They have varying degrees of success, some even establishing dominion over the world briefly, but all of them have met their demise at the hands of human heroes.
• Elika's coming was not prophesized, nor was she of any great lineage. What made her the Hero, the source of her incredible power, is a mystery. Perhaps it was a natural consequence of her powerful, pure heart. The world is looking for a new Hero, but the truth is that nobody knows exactly what that means.
• The majority of Valonius adheres to the same religion, a Christianity-like order following an unnamed Goddess. Odds of it being a secret evil doom religion are surprisingly low.
• Elika had four party members, Velga had four dark generals. All eight of them are probably dead, and I'm declining to describe them, because those are some rich plot hooks.

Interested?
Yeah you are. Hit me with this in a comment:
1. Name or handle
2. One or more character ideas
3. Tell me about one of Elika's party members or one of Velga's dark generals

Comments

[rimingcouplet]

1. Lily!

2. Meet Raze, who's... honestly, Raze is still fuzzy on who, exactly she was. There are a few fractured impressions: immense power, immensely cruelty. A great battle against two lowly humans. A heart pierced straight through, along with a basic desperation to not die, not yet, not now. A shooting star entering the heart of a lonely girl who wanted a friend.

Everything's clearer after that. The burning rage and desperation within Raze was at first stoked by the sheer indignity of having to live behind the eyes and over the shoulder of a meek, lowly human, even though she lacked a frame of reference for why she was so indignant. But through witnessing the everyday life of a shy girl who nonetheless did her best to show kindness to everyone she met, the simple joy of dinner with her mom, the grief of her dad never being at the table brought the blaze down to a smolder. It was finally snuffed out with all the tales of heroes in the adventure logs that Rina so loved, and replaced with a fierce fire of protection.

Raze was there for Rina when she felt the loneliness keenly, and slowly backed off as she grew into a... well, not confident young woman, but at least grief weighed less heavily on her shoulders. Raze was content to sit and watch until Rina finally snapped and confronted a man disparaging her mother, who would've snapped her in half like a dry reed if not for Raze's intervention. Unfortunately for both of them, this manifestation had consequences, as my dear sibling just outlined, and Raze views herself as responsible for Rina's predicament- and is all the more determined to protect her.

3. Strike, a human battle freak who was willingly augmented into a monster solely because she wanted to fight the greatest foe: the Hero of the age. Think lesbian Zenos.