MarieK
Junior Member
Backstory:
The history of the Var is laced with tragedy and senseless bloodshed. Once a region that belonged to five different people groups, the tribes traded and intermarried peacefully enough, until the first king.
King Darius, a cruel, yet cunning man, had ambitions to unite the five tribes and become their king. Delivered by a serpent's tongue, his speeches motivated and inspired the people to go along with the plan. At first, they prospered. The other kingdom's recognized and honored the rise of the new kingdom and began trading with Var. This peace was later disrupted by Darius's own hunger of power as he formed an army and plotted a sea invasion on the closest kingdom.
The people were not blind. They new their emerging naval force stood no chance, but there was little they could do to stop the king.
That was when the stone of legend was revealed.
In a desperate attempt to save the people, one tribe offered up their closely-guarded secret to stop the war: a blue stone. This stone was like no other and could bestow supernatural strength and protection to anyone who took up the five oaths:
To serve and protect the people with one's life.
To never kill a royal.
To never accept direct payment for services.
To give up the right to fight with (whichever weapon the individual should choose) and in turn, be protected from bring killed or harmed in battle by it.
To restrain oneself from falling in love with someone else within the guard or a royal.
Whoever took up the oaths were bound together. They were able to tap into each other's energy supply and truly be united as one in mind during battle. While they could not share direct thoughts with one another, some reported a sense of knowing that gave them an awareness of whether the others needed their help and where their fellow soldiers were located on the battle field.
Hundreds took on the oaths and were successful in pushing back the armies, but it came at a high price.
Nearly every Guardian was killed in the final battle, leaving only ten alive. The Blood Battle, as it is called, is still observed to this day and people remember it by placing thousands of candles along the sandy shoreline at dusk.
Following the battle, King Darius was dethroned and later found guilty by trial and executed. However, the kingdom saw fit to keep the Royal Guardians even after the king was gone. They are now in charge of seeing that history does not repeat itself and protecting Var and its citizens.
Oaths Overview and Additional Information:
Each guardian has the responsibility to uphold their oaths. They can choose at any time to walk away from the Royal Guard, but they will forfeit any supernatural qualities and ties with their fellow guardians.
As part of their oaths, they forfeit the right to use a particular weapon of their choosing in combat. In return, they cannot be killed or harmed in battle by that same weapon (it will merely bounced off of them, harmlessly). If they ever go against their oath and someone is killed as a result, they will lose their ties to the Guard and be stripped of any power gained by it.
Along with oath taking comes supernatural agility and strength. These aren't godlike powers, more like enhancements. However, it's more than enough to allow guardians to outlast and outperform their enemies on the battlefield.
Falling in love does happen and those who have in the past while serving, have been forced out of the Guard. A guardian can still marry someone who is not in direct line for the crown or in the Guard, but will be expected to live nearby if they wish to raise a family. This is so that they are close enough that they can be called upon if need be.
Most in the Guard reside in a building near the castle. Feel free to expand on the setting and add interesting details to this establishment.
They do not live alone, but many scholars and advisors live there as well. These men and women are either those who wish to serve and help the kingdom and believe in what the Guard stands for, or they themselves are guardians who are can no longer physically protect their land.
At any point that a guardian breaks any of his or her vows, she can be cut off. Sometimes this process is immediate. Other times the Guard comes together and decides if someone is at fault for not living up to their oaths.
In which case, the other guardians will have a trial and if the accused is found guilty, there will be a process to remove them from the Guard. This is a little involved since their ties to the group are supernatural, but the elders are the ones who oversee this process.
It is not clear how it is performed, only that the forceful stripping of the connection is agonizing.
Otherwise, the immediate severing that occurs when a guardian blatantly goes against his or her oaths is instantaneous and often too quick for the body to register any sort of pain. Some have reported a sense of loss and depression following these instances.
An example of this would be if one killed an enemy with the weapon they swore they would not use. This sort of blatant disregard for the oath is enough to cut the ties. However, the opposite example would be someone falling in love within the Guard. It's not necessarily against the oath to feel something, however much, for someone, but to go off and act upon it is. At any point the Guard fears the individual's feelings would put others in danger, then there could be a trial.
(Sorry this is all wordy, but hope this helps a bit. If you have any questions, just ask. Know that this all can be circumstantial and I'm open to work out the details so you can get the most out of the rp.)
The history of the Var is laced with tragedy and senseless bloodshed. Once a region that belonged to five different people groups, the tribes traded and intermarried peacefully enough, until the first king.
King Darius, a cruel, yet cunning man, had ambitions to unite the five tribes and become their king. Delivered by a serpent's tongue, his speeches motivated and inspired the people to go along with the plan. At first, they prospered. The other kingdom's recognized and honored the rise of the new kingdom and began trading with Var. This peace was later disrupted by Darius's own hunger of power as he formed an army and plotted a sea invasion on the closest kingdom.
The people were not blind. They new their emerging naval force stood no chance, but there was little they could do to stop the king.
That was when the stone of legend was revealed.
In a desperate attempt to save the people, one tribe offered up their closely-guarded secret to stop the war: a blue stone. This stone was like no other and could bestow supernatural strength and protection to anyone who took up the five oaths:
To serve and protect the people with one's life.
To never kill a royal.
To never accept direct payment for services.
To give up the right to fight with (whichever weapon the individual should choose) and in turn, be protected from bring killed or harmed in battle by it.
To restrain oneself from falling in love with someone else within the guard or a royal.
Whoever took up the oaths were bound together. They were able to tap into each other's energy supply and truly be united as one in mind during battle. While they could not share direct thoughts with one another, some reported a sense of knowing that gave them an awareness of whether the others needed their help and where their fellow soldiers were located on the battle field.
Hundreds took on the oaths and were successful in pushing back the armies, but it came at a high price.
Nearly every Guardian was killed in the final battle, leaving only ten alive. The Blood Battle, as it is called, is still observed to this day and people remember it by placing thousands of candles along the sandy shoreline at dusk.
Following the battle, King Darius was dethroned and later found guilty by trial and executed. However, the kingdom saw fit to keep the Royal Guardians even after the king was gone. They are now in charge of seeing that history does not repeat itself and protecting Var and its citizens.
Oaths Overview and Additional Information:
Each guardian has the responsibility to uphold their oaths. They can choose at any time to walk away from the Royal Guard, but they will forfeit any supernatural qualities and ties with their fellow guardians.
As part of their oaths, they forfeit the right to use a particular weapon of their choosing in combat. In return, they cannot be killed or harmed in battle by that same weapon (it will merely bounced off of them, harmlessly). If they ever go against their oath and someone is killed as a result, they will lose their ties to the Guard and be stripped of any power gained by it.
Along with oath taking comes supernatural agility and strength. These aren't godlike powers, more like enhancements. However, it's more than enough to allow guardians to outlast and outperform their enemies on the battlefield.
Falling in love does happen and those who have in the past while serving, have been forced out of the Guard. A guardian can still marry someone who is not in direct line for the crown or in the Guard, but will be expected to live nearby if they wish to raise a family. This is so that they are close enough that they can be called upon if need be.
Most in the Guard reside in a building near the castle. Feel free to expand on the setting and add interesting details to this establishment.
They do not live alone, but many scholars and advisors live there as well. These men and women are either those who wish to serve and help the kingdom and believe in what the Guard stands for, or they themselves are guardians who are can no longer physically protect their land.
At any point that a guardian breaks any of his or her vows, she can be cut off. Sometimes this process is immediate. Other times the Guard comes together and decides if someone is at fault for not living up to their oaths.
In which case, the other guardians will have a trial and if the accused is found guilty, there will be a process to remove them from the Guard. This is a little involved since their ties to the group are supernatural, but the elders are the ones who oversee this process.
It is not clear how it is performed, only that the forceful stripping of the connection is agonizing.
Otherwise, the immediate severing that occurs when a guardian blatantly goes against his or her oaths is instantaneous and often too quick for the body to register any sort of pain. Some have reported a sense of loss and depression following these instances.
An example of this would be if one killed an enemy with the weapon they swore they would not use. This sort of blatant disregard for the oath is enough to cut the ties. However, the opposite example would be someone falling in love within the Guard. It's not necessarily against the oath to feel something, however much, for someone, but to go off and act upon it is. At any point the Guard fears the individual's feelings would put others in danger, then there could be a trial.
(Sorry this is all wordy, but hope this helps a bit. If you have any questions, just ask. Know that this all can be circumstantial and I'm open to work out the details so you can get the most out of the rp.)
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