[Gath]

You're one of a handful of legendary champions of the Shulukar Empire. The Emperor has called you and a few others forth to honor you with a chance to defend the realm. Word has spread through the Great Dragon Council that Nurelf'an Alakzur, an elder black dragon, has awoken from his thousand year slumber.

History tells of the doom that is Alakzur; his armies of drow and all manner of creatures amassing under the Dragon Bone Mountains. The twisted vile nature of these monsters have tested the boundaries of life and unlife so much over the milennia that only horror and terror is said to be found in the depths of these mountains...

Do you have the courage to stare death in the face as you march on Alakzur and his armies?

Somehow you've managed to make it to the Hearthstone Valley. The Serpent River is the main source of economic income and the two mountain ranges to the north and south respectively are the Brimstone Mountains (made mostly of granite, nobody really knows how they came to be known as Brimstone...) and the Dragon Bone Mountains.

The Emperor's name is Jarvis Drake, and he has been Emperor for nearly a century. It is said that he has dragon blood, which is why he has been able to last so long on the throne as well as gain the favor of the Great Dragon Council.

The Hearthstone Valley has a relatively rich economy. The Brimstone Mountains apparently have an endless supply of Jade and the Serpent River is consistently stocked with salmon, and the lakes that are fed by the river are always filled with abnormally large trout, grayling and pike. In addition, bears, moose, dear, buffalo and other animals provide meats and hides for all manner of utilitarian and dietary needs. The valley is filled with thick forests, which provide for sturdy houses and other buildings, which are often reinforced with granite imported from the mountains. The palace is made entirely of marble and granite, and there is a wizard keep that is built into the face of a massive cliff at the base of the Brimstone Mountains. Everyone steers clear of the Dragon Bone Mountains, however, save for the few adventurers who seek fame, glory and the thrill of the hunt searching out the evils that lurk within.

The Sapphire Sea, noted for its crystal clear blue waters, provides access to the other neighboring continents, offering plentiful trade routes and access to other cultures and goods otherwise unavailable to the valley's otherwise plentiful resources. With the exception of a few unsuccessful skirmishes, the valley has been relatively at peace for the past few centuries, being well sheltered by the mountains to the north and south and easily defensible at the shoreline of the Sapphire Sea.

As to power levels, you are among the most powerful of the valley. The Emperor and a few of the high mages of the keep are the only ones who rival you in ability and power.

The Emperor has made the call, and you have been led to the Brimstone Mountains of the North. There, the Great Dragon Conucil has offered to hold a meeting on your behalf. The journey has lasted nearly a month and, it being the winter months, has been a trecherous and uncomfortable trek. Several of the sherpas have died along the journey, due to falling off the frozen ledges or being frozen in their sleep.

You finally make it to the massive cliff overlooking the entire valley. The view is breath taking. Across the miles of land below you find the small bits of life dotted along the Serpent River that winds its way throughout the majestic valley below. Beyond the valley lay the dreaded Dragon Bone Mountains, dark and sinister, looming up towards the sky; a black spot on the beauty of the Hearthstone Valley.

A deep booming voice calls out, "Greetings and welcome. We have been expecting you. Please, join us inside..." Turning back towards the voice, you find a rather large human standing waiting for you to notice him. He is dressed in a silvery white outfit (not quite robes, more like a kimono would be today) that shimmers in the misty light of the setting sun. Once he is confident that all of you have taken notice of him, he turns on his heels and begins down a rather long pathway cut into the granite cliff face.

Following him through the passage, you are led to a truly magnificent antechamber. Pillars and columns of exquisite craft adorn the architecture of this granite palace. Tapestries several yards tall line the sheer walls in between the pillars and columns telling tales of the milennia surrounding the Hearthstone Valley and the creation of the Great Dragon Council.

The ubiquitous long red carpet lines the center of the polished marble floor and leads to a small dais upon which resides an ornate throne. The man leading you walks along the carpet to the empty throne and takes his seat. As soon as he does, eleven more figures appear inside the antechamber.

"Welcome to the Great Dragon Council... My name is Ilikan and we are honored to have you among us. Please, tell us about yourselves before we begin. I am sure your journey has been a long one. We will soon retire to the dining hall where we can go over the situation in more detail over a most excellent meal."

Disclaimer:

These rules are a bit on the rigid side. I apologize for that, but it is necessary. I have been away from the game for nearly a year and while it is coming back fast, a lot has escaped me. These rules are for my benefit and to help simplify the game. Please point out anything I haven't covered in the OOC thread.

• Characters will start out at level 9 [nine] with 36,000gp and conveniently enough, 36,000xp.
• On the topic of XP, I will not offer any extra to start with for crafting, but I will allow you to go into debt up to 1,000xp. Meaning, you want to craft, but have no experience. You take away from your own life force as it is meant to be and you remove the used experience from your 36,000xp pool. This will not de-level you, but it will make it harder for you to level up in the future as you will constantly be behind.
• Any crafted items must be illustrated in a formulaic presentation in a spoiler button under your Class Progression table.
• Custom items are to be limited to approval by GM on a case by case basis. Lateral merging of items and item properties is not considered customizing, but should still be noted and explained clearly.
• No single item above half your starting wealth.
• Stats are to be determined by 36 point buy. Slightly more powerful than the DMG's 'High Powered' point buy. Be smart and get good stats.
• While Human is the preferred race, your character race should have no Level Adjustment or Racial Hit Die. For example, you can be any of the standard elf types except Drow.

Source Material

Source Books: To start, the list of source books will be limited to the following:

• If there is an obvious omission it may be a mistake. Please make mention of it. Thank you.
• If there is something not on this list, anticipate its rejection but feel free to ask anyway.
• PLEASE LIST YOUR REFERENCES FOR ANY OBSCURE MATERIAL
  • Core: (PHB I & II, DMG I & II, MM 3.5)
  • Magic Item Compendium, Spell Compendium
  • Completes: (Warrior, Scoundrel, Adventurer, Mage, Arcane, Champion, Divine and Psionic)
  • All other source material should come from the d20SRD.org

• Please format your posts as such: (Also, feel free to make incriminating information private. However, I suggest you come up with a suitable cover rather than just leaving a blank field.)

Basic Information

Name: hyperlinked to sheet
Age:
Race:
Religion:
Alignment:
Class Progression: Please map your character progression in sequence using a chart to outline your class progressions, saves, bab, feats and special features. All of that should be shown in

tags

.

Description

Please write a few candid paragraphs expressing the nature of your character's personality and physical features.

Background

This doesn't need to be a novel, but a few pages would be nice. You are to be heroes of the land, let's hear how and why you earned those titles. Please use

to display your masterpiece.

.

Notice

I am BACK! 2/15/10

Addendum 2/13/10:

More on applying to this game...

I know these guys (the ones already in the game) are making crazy builds. I haven't had a chance to look them over but I have played with them for so long I kind of know what to expect. You new (to me) folks need some screening. Right now I am looking for a few key things in order of priority:

• Fun: Does it appear likely that you will have fun and create fun for others? This is a game, and I take that seriously.
• Writing style: I need to know how you are going to respond to me in the game. One liners or one pagers? Are your posts going to be filled with typos or spelling/grammar errors? Most of all, can you capture the magic of fantasy?
• Concept: unique perspective on a plausible and likely powerful build.
• Discipline: Are you able to follow instructions such as making a table for your character build progression? When you don't follow instructions do you do so with style or in a manner that is irritating and distasteful? Are you able to post regularly for an extended period of time?
• Getting into Character: Are you going to spend most of your time spamming the ooc thread about the upcoming encounter or are you going to start formulating how your character would respond independently and with consideration of the newly formed group? You don't know each other. You may know of each other, but planning a battle to a t before it even begins will be highly frowned upon and will likely result in closure of the ooc threads during encounters. In fact, I will have a private thread for each of you and there will likely not be an ooc thread for the game talk. Just the mainstream social club which will be closed if metagaming arises.
• Build: You need to be strong, but don't fret about that right now. Work on your concept, writing style and whatnot but present your build idea. We will help you optimize your build if and when you are accepted.