Post by Residents of Paradise on Apr 12, 2018 19:32:06 GMT -8
The Residents of Paradise Island
There live many different kinds of people within Paradise Island. Some were born there, others washed up and found themselves as surprise long-term residents. Despite its hectic nature, there is life to be found on the island, and a place to call home.
The Natives of Paradise
Those who have been on the island for generations are heavily mutated and are one with the environment they live in. Some have decided to make tribes with individuals most like themselves- serpents with serpents, felines with other felines- while others have created tribes based on ideologies. These tribes are vast in number, outweighing roguish loners who decide to keep to themselves.
The oldest tribes worship the island’s guardians. Normally set in stone, the guardians can be invoked using a sacrifice, giving life by taking another. Two of these guardians have been demolished by the savior of the escaped villagers.
Often, there are skirmishes between the tribes as they battle for resources and territory. The guardians rarely participate, as it is for the tribes to decide how to manage these fights. Too much involvement from the guardians would be catastrophic.
The Aeries
High in the air, beyond the clouds, are an array of floating islets. Imbued within their cores are massive crystals that soak up the light of the sun during the day, helping keep the islets afloat.
Living upon these heavenly bodies are the Birds of Paradise, once a small tribe like the rest before they found the safety in the sky, where they were free to expand their numbers and advance their species. Though varied in some ways, all of the Birds depend on the energy of the sun to survive, becoming plain and human without it. No Birds truly need to worry about this should they stay close to the Aeries, feeding on the energy of the crystals. From clear observation, it would seem that they are all born with something precious adorning their bodies, whether it be opals, diamonds, or other such expensive, beautiful commodities. Most that lay eyes upon them would claim that they share ancestry with harpies due to their human-avian appearance.
Aeries function differently from one to the other, and they segregate depending on type. One of the most notable of them is the Gilded Aerie, comprised of wickedly intelligent, dark-winged birds emblazoned in gold. Though their ability to fight is limited and not at all renowned, they have survived for so long due to their skills in manipulation and their quick wit. Some use magic to assist them, but most can do without it.
Birds of Paradise multiply in a very different manner than most creatures. Though sex is a concept practiced by their kind, it does not lead to reproduction. Instead, Birds will engage in "The Fall," an act that requires any two partners to soar high into the sky together, embrace, and ignite all their magic as they plummet to the ground. Sacrificing precious memories, abilities, and a sliver of their souls, they create a third being that is half of both parents, but also so much more than the sum of their parts.
The feeling one gets from participating in The Fall is described as a remarkably intimate, spiritual experience that not only allows both partners to explore one another fully, but to spread their consciousness into everything in the surrounding area, experiencing all walks of life for a brief moment, magnified by the intense amount of magic that is created by the act, flowing through both partners.
The Fall must be an act performed consensually between both partners, otherwise, a monster or an abomination is created, and the unwilling partner is left vulnerable and damaged. It is because of this that Birds hold love and trust to a high standard and typically slaughter those who do not respect the significance of The Fall.
The Legacy of Mahaia Village
Once upon a time, ships that set out from Isra’s coast would occasionally be lost in the storms that mysteriously brewed around the island, masking it from view, and washing ashore the few who do witness it. From these survivors a village was built, housing as many lost souls as would arrive on their white sands, unable to leave due to the erratic weather.
As the survivors explored the strange island, they soon encountered those who had been there far longer than themselves. They were natives, born and raised in Paradise for as long as they could remember. They were hostile and slaughtered the first foreigners they came across.
The survivors begged for mercy, claiming that they meant no harm. In an act of mercy, the natives spared the survivors, but only on one condition: They would stick to their corner of the island, and never once roam outside their given territory.
For a while, everything was peaceful, and the villagers were able to make a rickety, but reasonable living. Their most immediate worries were over... or so they thought.
One day, the villagers awoke to a slaughter. Bodies were strewn about, blood trailing the dirt, children missing. Panic washed over the villagers. It was determined that, for some reason, the pact had been broken, and that they needed help.
A scout was sent out to call to Isra for aid, desperately hoping that the island would allow her to go.
Several nights passed, with more and more villagers slaughtered silently in the night. All hope seemed to be lost… until the scout returned, bringing with her a savior. For them he fought, finding the missing children deep in a crystalline cavern, tortured by a monster of the same ilk. The savior brought down the monster, saving the children.
This would not be the end of their woes, however: the natives had been angered, and set two more horrid monsters onto the survivors until the village as a whole was swept away in a mighty storm. It was only the savior and a mighty ship from Isra that saved them.
The survivors now reside in the Free Plains, trying to build a new life for themselves.
Currently seeking players!
Please PM this account or ask for Fishman on the TFS Discord if you have any questions. I need players to make tribes, Aeries, or even just individual characters unassociated. I’m also looking for adventurers to explore the island or characters who may want to go there for any other reason that we can think of.