Virvah Semi-Almost-A-Pitch

Powerful heroes and villains, immortality, nigh godhood...all of these belong at the end of a journey, right? Well, no. Not here. In this world, known as Virvah, such things are often the middle point or even the beginning of a person's adventure. Here, becoming tantamount to a Greek god is like an initiation ceremony. Heroes are a tangible existence; not the realm of folklore, but a label, almost a job. The planet is a conscious thing, able and willing to aid those who aim to aid it. See, there are no gods presiding over Virvah, nothing to hold the world together. Nothing except the determined assortment of people that the planet grants a specialized portion of its power to. These are the "Heroes" of Virvah; they are what keeps the planet functioning. That isn't to say that the planet isn't picky - it knows that these abilities, in wrong or weak hands, could be its downfall. Thus, one must earn this gift, and the power given isn't always up to choice, but rather what is most fitting.

So, what are the specifics of the Heroes of Virvah? Well, they are immortal, and they are usually quite powerful and well-liked, but strength and the favour of the people are not their defining characteristics. Wherever a Hero goes, the world around them changes, either slightly or drastically depending on the Hero's will and strength. Just how depends on the type of Hero - there are 16 "elements" that the world is made up of, and a Hero can be aligned to any of them. Each Hero and element affects the world in a different way. These elements are: Sound, Water, Light, Nature, Law, Darkness, Death, Fire, Wind, Ice, Metal, Life, Chaos, Earth, Lightning, and Balance. The element that a Hero acquires depends on their actions, while the specific effects of it depends on their nature. A very cheery Hero of Light, for instance, may make the area they live brighter, while a hard-boiled Hero of Earth may cause the nearby terrain to become more rocky and treacherous. Things only get more chaotic if multiple Heroes inhabit the same general area. Each Hero also has a personalized ability, unique to them and related to their power. They can hand out weaker variants of these in the form of cards, allowing anyone with sufficient favour in the eyes of the planet to use them.

Of course, to become a Hero, you must first draw the attention of the planet. Those that have done so but have not yet been deemed worthy or powerful enough to become true Heroes are referred to as "Vassals." Once one becomes a Vassal, they are effectively "on trial," and will be judged by the planet for potential Heroism much more closely. A Vassal typically does favour one element over the others, and as such, are usually referred to in the same way Heroes are - "Vassal of Earth; Vassal of Fire; Vassal of Death; etc." However, being a Vassal of a particular element does not mean one is guaranteed to become a Hero of that element - a Vassal of Water that goes around burning whatever he sees could well become a Hero of Fire or Chaos, or nothing at all.

Of course, this brings up just what Heroes do. The answer is practically anything that needs doing - Heroes tend to help the planet, and quite a lot falls into that category. When monsters need eliminating, the job typically falls to Vassals or Heroes, depending the monsters in question. If the world is going out of whack somewhere, as it is apt to due to the nature of the planet's existence, it's up to Heroes to fix it. Which Heroes answer which calls largely depends on convenience and the respective Heroes' abilities.

Now, for the nitty-gritty about your characters. There are a few restrictions in place here, the biggest of which is probably age: at the start of the game, your characters must be between the ages of 18 and 21. No higher, and no lower. However, you also need two tokens - one statted for Level 1, and another for Level 3. You will use the first token in the first session, and it must be a child - approximately ten years younger than you plan your character to be. The "real" campaign begins at Level 3, after ten years of training and tomfoolery. You're free to know the other PCs via background, either before or after the meeting as children. Your characters may not be of Evil alignment. You will start in the city of Johan-Selani, a place of strict rules that hardly anyone obeys. More to come on that later, most likely.

In addition to this, you must pick an element that you feel your character is attuned to. As a reminder, the available elements are: Sound, Water, Light, Law, Darkness, Death, Fire, Wind, Ice, Metal, Life, Chaos, Earth, Lightning, and Balance. Note that your character's abilities do not have to perfectly reflect their chosen element; it's completely fine for a Paladin to be something other than a Hero of Law, for instance.


Fluff Stuff:

Your character can be of any race you like, just about. No constructs or anything non-organic, though, and nothing over 17 RP. Lizardfolk, Fetchling, Catfolk, etc., all those are fine. This is because no dominant race exists anymore; races are fairly even in standing and representation across the globe. For races with different ages from humans, just use the equivalent age to 18/21 as your upper and lower caps. Your character doesn't need to be FROM Johan-Selani, but they must live in the city for the ten-year timeskip.

As for the city itself, there are two people that everyone knows: Johan, Hero of Chaos, and Selani, Hero of Law. These are the two presiding Heroes of the city, and of course this is where the town gets its name. They live on extreme opposite sides of the town; Johan in a messy 2-story sort of tavern at the east end, and Selani in a very structured marble castle at the west. The completely conflicting elements of the Heroes have caused something of a discordance with how the city expects people to act, and how they really do. Many laws are set in place by Selani, but very few are followed. However, in exchange for following exactly zero of Selani's laws and guidelines, Johan has agreed to one rule to actually be enforced: no one can leave the city to become a Hero until they are 18, and all wanna-be Vassals must report to Selani to be "knighted." That's basically just a fancy way of her tracking age.