User blog:T050189/Watery Graves

Well, the last RP idea I had was a complete fail, so I guess I'll have to be a little bit less ambitious :P

Anyways.

The Setting
The year in which the RP takes place is 6E 401. Near the beginning of the era, an unknown major event raised sea levels all over Nirn, flooding the majority of Tamriel. The coastal regions of the mainland and the entirety of the Summerset Isles become archipelago settlements, many of them floating villages and seaside towns.

The Story
Current year: 6E 401

20 years ago, we were driven from the seas.

They came unexpectedly; swift, ruthless. Superior firepower and inpenetrable armour made them gods amongst men.

The Fleet of the Mirage, or simply the Mirage.

Reports of strange, ghostly ships first began in the year of 378, described as "luminous warships" of various forms and classes, "adorned with glowing runes and decals" unlike any known design made by men or mer. They would shadow human and elven vessels, often becoming the topic of rumours and bar tales accross the continent.

Everything changed on one summer day in the year of 380. The Mirage converged on all sides of Tamriel, driving humanity back from its roots, from the oceans it had sprung from. The Summerset Isles were overrun, along with most of the coastal areas of Tamriel. Cryodiil became the final bastion for men and mer alike. Surrounded completely and with no chance of retaliation, we became the figurative fishes in the barrel.

Now, after 20 long years of stalemate, something's changed.

Somewhere in the Sea of Ghosts, a single soul was seen on the deck of a Mirage ship. The first ever to set foot aboard the sworn enemy of men and mer.

The first One.

Technology
The human technology in Watery Graves is around 1850 in real world terms. Steam engines have just started making an appearance on ships, but they are unreliable; the sail remains the main form of propulsion on the sea. Iron and other forms of metal armor are commonplace, but mainly as somewhat thin armor sheets over a wooden frame. The armor is effective against high explosive and incendinary shells, but is still vulnerable to solid rounds. Cannons with explosive ammunition have just been introduced, though they are rare and expensive; many ships still use solid shot. On person guns are limited to muskets and pistols; no automatics.

The Mirage Fleet technology in Watery Graves is much more advanced. Much of their technology is centred around souls and manipulation of physics. While they appear similar to human ships, they are capable of moving far faster than human vessels. They are much tougher than human ships, and possess cannons that fire concentrated wavelengths of soul energy. They have no crew, so they lack any form of personal firearm technology.

Factions
There are two main factions in the lore of Watery Grave.

The first is the Remnant. The Remnant is whatever remains of the once prospering human and elven ciivilisations, survivors of the initial Mirage onslaught. Most of their naval power was wiped out defending the coast by superior Mirage forces, and whatever few remaining ships are drydocked to save them for when the time comes to retaliate.

The second is the Fleet of the Mirage. The otherworldly invaders of Nirn, these sentient, unmanned ships are superior to the Remnant's military prowess in every way, but their form means that they are incapable of traversing on land. The more advanced members of the Mirage (Anything above corvette size, ie. 18m +) are capable of producing Soul Mirrors, a human or mer like representation of the ship as an individual. Creating a Soul Mirror detracts from other processes, but a Mirage with a Soul Mirror can interact with humans in a way not consisting of gunnery duels. The Mirage follows a higher command known only as the Admiralty Creed. The Creed details all actions of the Mirage. One of these rules is that they may not attack any onshore settlement.

Rules
Standard stuff. However, there are some additional ones:

- If you are a Mirage character, you may not start off with a ship any larger than a sailing frigate (<41m). You may not have more than 26 guns.

- If you are a Remnant character, you may not start off with a ship any larger than an armored frigate (<43m). You may not have more than 32 guns.

- The ruling criteria for Mirage characters will be, naturally, much stricter than on Remnant characters due to balance purposes.

- Mirage characters may NOT go on land, unless they go on land as a Soul Mirror. Soul Mirrors are not much stronger than the average human and do not possess the powers of a full Mirage ship.

- Mirage characters may not attack an onshore settlement, even if it is coastal, without a good explanation (ie. rogue, miss, etc.). This is a gameplay variable to prevent camping and stuff.

WIP, more to come