Heh heh .. Zytor, Rigwyn is a troublemaker .. not me. I wont try to stir the pot OOCly.
And good point regarding god vs god conflict. Also from a player's point of view being that most players who follow Xiosia don't seem to like war like RP it might be good for the Veil to disike the Seeds ,, but leave them alone as there primary interest in the ultimate offering - those who have lived a good productive life. Being that Xiosia is against killing (senseless killing) and Dakkru is all for it, I would still make the Veil and the Seeds enemies in that they conflict greatly.
Here is my suggestion for the Dark Order (with some corrections and without the quests ). I PM's it previously.
It suggests a radical change to the way in which one trains magic and the time that it takes to reach mastery.
Bufs, stat levels and story may need to be tweaked but they illustrate the intended idea.
Dark Order- Proposed change to the magic system:
I would like to propose that with the new faction system magic ability is gained via quests and not via grinding. This reward outline should be implemented after a stat wipe and after ability to train stats is removed. A Player should be able to train about 1/3 of the way in a magic way without committing to the Dark Order. A priest should have 3 times more power than a non committed member. The items in the rewards list are more for show and recognition and have very small buffs ( +5 ). This is to discourage players from doing the quests OOCly in order to sell them in the market place. A Buff of less than +5 is pretty useless. Also the higher priestly items have a high buff so that they are worth more than say a sword or ax that has +20DW. A priest should use these items instead of buffed combat items.
-Overview
Dark Order is an order of Dark Way practitioners. They are not necessarily allied Dakkru or with any particular god. Their primary purpose is to advance in Dark Way.
-Insignia
A simplified line drawing of a crystal inside a circle ( like the one in the DR )
-History
The Dark order was started in the year 512AY when the diary of Jhaav Lernol was unearthed accidentally by an experimenter named Velwort Grellos who was rummaging though the howling well while digging for fresh cadavers for his experiments in necromancy. The diary contained extensive notes detailing his theories, experiments and observations. Much of the tome was written in an unknown argot perhaps to prevent others from learning of his discoveries. Velwort spent the last 20 cycles of his life decrypting the diary and had successfully translated most of the book to common. As some of the higher rituals required multiple casters he was forced to recruit and train a fold of devotees. This fold grew in power over time and eventually became know as the Dark Order.
In the year 532AY Velwort succumbed to the temptation to exercise a new ritual that he had deciphered. According to the diary it would imbue him with the strength and power of twenty men. He called upon twenty devotees and promised them a share in the tremendous power that he would harness. The ritual was to be performed at the next eclipse.
It was midday when the sky began to darken. Silence fell. Twenty men stopped their work. They dropped their hammers and plows leaving their work unfinished. They rushed to the howling well grabbing their ceremonial garb on the way. The draped themselves in black cloaks and wore around their necks a golden chain to which was affixed a small shard of the dark crystal. As the Ritual progressed the sky turned black and the wind tore though the cave with a fierce howl that brought the men to their knees with their hands over their bleeding ears. A black column of smoke rose in the middle of the circle and whisped around the practitioners. Velwort stood in the middle and cackled hysterically as he looked upwards raising his hands. A violet bolt of energy flashed from amulet to amulet and eventually struck Velwort in the forehead. He body was lifted off the ground and suspended in mid air convulsing and bending with the ebb and flow of the energy. It was too much. His bones began to shatter and his head exploded spaying his devotees with a red mist and a smattering of brain, bone and hair. His body dropped to the floor lifeless and still. The devotees also dropped to the ground as the withdrawal of the energy rendered them unconscious.
The next day the devotees awoke with pounding heads and shocked expressions on their faces. The ritual was a complete disaster - a product of greed and over-zealousness. They decided that such knowledge was too much for any one individual to possess without limitations to prevent such recklessness. They split the book into three parts and handed a part to each of the three eldest devotees who were to become the Order's three high priests. Each division would specialize only on the knowledge in their fraction of the book.
The first division became known as the Necromancers. These members possessed the knowledge needed to divine past and future events and to animate the dead. The high priest of Necromancy is NPC1
The second division was known as the Destroyers. These members possessed knowledge used for destroying life. It included advanced forms of Taste of Death, Blindness and Daemon Arrows. The high priest of destroyers division is NPC2
The Third division was known as the Parasitics because of their taste for blood. These members were takers by nature and chose to feast on the living - stealing what life they had. They had advanced knowledge in spells such as Weakness and Necrotouch. The Parasitic's high priest is NPC3.
-Goals
The Dark Order is bent on advancing their knowledge in Dark Way. They recruit and train new practitioners in order to support their own advancement in the dark arts. The are not aligned to any religion.
-Methods
The Dark order places advancement in dark way above all else. Their research is performed in various ways including dark crystal meditation, magic rituals involving corpses, and leaching power off of other living beings. They will often wear an artifact containing a shard of the dark crystal to enhance their powers. Despite Dakkru's presence in the death realm, they are not necessarily allied to her. The fact that Dakkru inhabits the death realm is to them just a coincidence.
-Important members
Velwort Grellos ( Historical Importance)
Jhaav Lernol ( Historical Importance)
NPC1,2,3 - the three high priests
-Allies
Keepers of the Veil - inasmuch as the Keepers would also have a similar attraction to the dark crystal.
Conclave of Glyphs - In that they are a pure magical order.
Brown Order, Red Order - Neighboring ways
-Enemies
Crystal Order, Azure Order, Blue Order - In that they are opposing ways
Rewards:
I think that for rewards the character's stats should be changed to make them more mage like and less warrior like. The highest ranking players in this order would gain a clear advantage magically without the need to grind excessively. I don't think that path to being a great mage should be attained via grinding. It should be gained via the faction system. Also a priest should not be as strong as a warrior and should not be mining plat or running errands from town to town.
The stat increases as a result of being in this order would render priests and those just under the priesthood with clearly superior dark way skills. A priest would have an additional 100 points in dark way and an additional 20 in charisma. He would also be weakened greatly - a loss of 45 points in str and 45 in agility. The decreases in strength and Agility that are incurred at the highest levels should be permanent. A priest should not be able to train these stats back to 200.
Rewards at 10
A Letter of Recommendation to the Dark Order. (Quest Item)
- This would be part of the initiation process
+10 Dark Way
Death Glyph ( For casting Taste of Death )
Rewards at 20
1st Signature on Letter of Approval by High Priest NPC1
+10 Dark Way
Rewards at 30
2nd Signature on Letter of Approval by High Priest NPC2
+10 Dark Way
Rewards at 40
3rd Signature on Letter of Approval by High Priest NPC3
+10 Dark Way
Darkness Glyph ( For casting Darkness)
Rewards at 50
Ring of Darkness +5 Dark Way
This ring bears the insignia of the dark order. It shows ones alliance to the Order.
+10 Dark Way
Rewards at 60
Access to the Dark Order Temple.
+10 Dark Way
Entropy Glyph (Player will be instructed to find a hand glyph )
Rewards at 70
+20 Dark Way
An NPC casts a spell on the player empowering him with Dark Way skill
Rewards at 80 ( 100 total )
+20 Charisma
Dark Amulet of Velmort +5 charisma
Rewards at 90 ( 120 total, -20 str, -20 agi )
Staff of the Dark Priest +5 Dark Way
+20 Dark Way, -20 str, -20 agi
The character earns the title of "Low Priest"
Rewards at 100
Dark Priestly Robe with inlayed dark crystal Gems +10 DW
+30 Dark way -30 Str -30 Agi
An NPC initiates the character into the Dark Order Priesthood. During the initiation he is imbued with Dark Way skill but cursed with a weakening in strength and agility. This is part of the price that he must pay in order to be a priest.
The character earns the title of "Priest"
Art Requested
* Dark Order Temple
* Staff of the Dark Priest
* Dark Priestly Robe
* Dark Amulet of Velwort
Quest Suggestions:
( Removed - original suggestions were PM'd )
Ideally it would be nice if the quests gave the player a good feel for what the settings allow.
For example, quests might show the player that he/she may:
*Summon demons to obtain information, attack other characters, protect them
*raise corpses from the grave (zombies)
*perform rituals that involve eating corpses, wearing their clothes, using obscure symbols like protective circles etc...
Supporting ReferenceI think It should clearly illustrate *PlaneShift's* definition of what necromancy and the black arts are.
According to Wikipedia such definitions have changed over time and have been influenced by different religions.
