Erde Story

Erde Story is a currently-running roleplay hosted by Sqawl.

Setting and Plot Synopsis
Erde Story takes place in Luftav, an isolated but prosperous mountain nation on the continent of Erde.


 * "Luftav owes its prosperity to one elusive resource: brightstones. Mined out of the earth at a location known to very few (mostly only trusted government officials and people in charge of transporting it), brightstones act as an amplifier for magic. When properly cut and inserted into an amulet (understood to be any piece of jewelry using brightstones, although typically amulets /are/ pendants made to be worn around the neck), the amulet's owner can use a ritual to bind their spirit to it and draw upon the power produced inside the stone. An amulet is practically a prerequisite for anyone who wants to seriously use magic in battle, allowing its user to cast spells faster and with less incantation."

In addition, each person's spirit has its own affinity, or a type of magic that they are predisposed to casting.

The story is based around about ten characters, most of them youths, who were called to the Leitend, the capital of Luftav, by the ruling magical council of Luftav. The Meisters, members of said council, offer each character a magical amulet in exchange for undertaking a mission to foil the Firmament, a secret society which has found a brightstone mine (all of whose locations are kept secret) and now threatens to overturn Luftav's economy and way of life which is quite dependent upon the stones.

The main characters are split into two parties: one group is sent to infiltrate a suspected Firmament hideout while the other heads to an inn to negotiate with "August", one of its top men.

Affinity
Everyone is understood to have an elemental affinity: a quality of the spirit which makes one type of magic exponentially easier for its user and the others harder. It is a popular superstition in Luftav to try to divine someone's affinity based on their date of birth, personality, and/or ancestry, but none of these divinations have produced reliable results. A person's affinity is a largely unsure thing until they are paired with an amulet for the first time.

 The five affinities  (followed by their strengths and foils) : 

 Wind  (good against lightning; cannot use ice)  Lightning  (good against water; cannot use wind)  Water  (good against fire; cannot use lightning)  Fire  (good against ice; cannot use water)  Ice  (good against wind; cannot use fire)

Another type of magic with no known holders of affinity to it exists:  Earth  magic. While the earth can be manipulated with magic for purposes of farming and landscaping, earth magic takes far more effort and preparation to perform than the five other types of magic because there is no corresponding affinity for it. Earth is regarded by most Luftavans as sacred, given that the brightstones come from the earth, and there are ample myths and legends that claim humans to be made of earth as well. Despite this, many diviners (regarded by the higher classes as kooks, but their main customers are members of the lower class who do not expect to ever have an amulet of their own) swear up and down that an earth affinity exists. However, claiming that an individual has an earth affinity causes such controversy that diviners never dare to claim to have found the affinity, lest they be forced out of their livelihood.

Notable Characters

 * Savas Devlin


 * Karida Engelsch
 * Kilan Hazelwood
 * Etzel Hikari
 * Yuri Lonoff
 * Domus Opus
 * Aeronwen Pace
 * Celestina Seren
 * Tareya Sieglinde
 * Misty Trih