Thread: Down to Brass Tacks(Closed)

RE Down to Brass Tacks Anthro Based Roleplays Farming Magic In the dark, magical word of the middle ages, it used to be that great wizards, shaman or other magical persons would have to travel far and wide to find the regents they needed. Crafting potions or charms, it sometimes took months or years to reach the goal these driven men and women reached for. But as time wore on, magic began to seep into the soil and permeate the land, often being concentrated around where such magic users lived. This had an affect on the local wild life and the domestic animals. At first the affects were barely noticeable, a talking wolf here and there or a pig that would begin floating for no reason at all. But over the generations, some of these animals gained more humanoid traits, walking on two legs, gaining near human levels of intellect and even growing arms to manipulate the surroundings. At first these creatures were ignored, or more often killed. The hardest hit were the cattle, who the local minotaurs would seduce on an occasion when they couldn't find mates of their own. Owing to this magical heritage they mutated faster than most. However, before a full blown panic started, some very smart and enterprising young mages had an idea. They began to gather all the 'problem' animals and create farms for them to live on, with the promise they and their families would never be killed for food. These smart magic users soon found that the milk, hair, eggs of these creatures yielded valuable magical traits which could only be found in regents that were considered almost impossible to reach. Thus a new business was formed and grew rapidly. Though some of the human-like animals from the forests were still a problem, taking livestock and people alike, a few were given the chance to settle into farm life. The wild boars and sheep quickly fit in on the farm among their domesticated cousins and even a few wolves or foxes were bribed over to act as the farm dog, guarding the farms from other wild creatures. These new 'Magic Farmers' still remained weary of the wild creatures, but over time a sort of balance was stuck between the magically created creatures and the remaining normal animals still used for food. As one can imagine, these farms are hectic, with each and every animal able to voice his or her own opinion as well as take up arms if they feel threatened. At their hearts they still have to go off of instinct, but instinct and their new elevated minds tend to get a bit blurred as they try to make sense of their new world, often relying on their farmers to help sort things out. Loving your Pets In a world where animals are anthromorphic, how far does the love of a pet owner and hisher pets really go? It always starts out innocently enough, bonds forged in every day life but even in humans nature guides wants and desires. Perhaps it started as an accident, a petting hand moving too far and then the temptation starts to show as the bonds of pets and master begin to deepen into something more. Once that line is crossed they can never go back to a normal life, only accept this new reality forged by their own hands. Of Rocks and Rooks Back in the dark ages of human history, England's great empire was starting to crumble, they were at war with their neighbors and just about everyone else, every able bodied man and sub-adult were in the army, leaving very few back at home to till the lands and grow crops. After all if they couldn't feed their armies then they would swiftly end up losing these wars and be forced to give up power. However desperate times call for strange bedfellows, the King himself secretly contacted a necromancer, law decreed that any witch or magic user be put to the sword, but with his kingdom about to rip itself apart he had little choice. He asked for undead servants, the sort that can work without tire and keep his armies afloat, the King would deal with the negative backlash from his people when the wars were over. This necromancer on the other hand was quite clever and very powerful, he suggested to the King that resurrection might be more favorable, as the most loyal and dedicated warriors could be brought back, heroes to walk the Earth. As they discussed these matters, the King noticed a giant leg bone in the back of the necromancer's hut and demanded to know what it was. The necromancer said it was a bone from creatures long dead, massive reptiles that make the dragons of myth seem like salamanders. The King instantly demanded that these creatures be brought back to serve him and the war effort, certainly victory would be all but won if even a single of these creatures stomped onto the battlefield. The necromancer was hesitant, he warned that such creatures were primitive and near impossible for him to control, they would just as likely attack the King's own men as the enemy, maybe even more so. Disheartened the King went back to the first plan, telling the necromancer that he had two weeks to bring back as many fallen heroes as possible and bring them to his court. The necromancer on the other hand began to ponder something. The two weeks passed and the necromancer did show up at the King's court, but not with the warriors promised. The King was moments away from ordering the mage burned at the stake and his ashes spat on, at least until he noticed two very large creatures walk in behind the necromancer. Two legged giants, reptiles both, one had a fearsome set of jaws that would make the most holy of men wet himself and the other had a long snake like neck and tail. Both towered over the men and women of the court. But they were not the mindless beasts the necromancer warned of, they had powerful human leg arms, a defined upper torso and the one with the jaws even had a large pair of mammalian mammaries. The necromancer apologized for his two slaves appearing without clothing, as he had not the time to nit together entire tents for them to wear. The King waved off his words and walked right up to the two twin behemoths, they were perfect. Giants who could be trained, taught the ways of war and weapons before being pointed at the opposing armies. The Necromancer explained that he experimented on the old giant bones, he tried several times to make a creature that was controllable, but failed. Until he used both human and giant bones together, creating a sort of hybrid that would serve the King as well as any of his human subjects. Pleased with these results the King offered the necromancer a place in his court, even lifting the law against the 'dark arts' so the necromancer could train others to in turn bolster the growing efforts. These newly resurrected giants were coined Titans in honor of their vast size and strength. Though not all of these reptiles were truly giant, some were only as tall as the average man, some even shorter, but the name stuck. As one might expect the King won his wars, with only 20 of these super soldiers under his sway the rest of the territories fell to him with extreme ease. When the war was other and the Titans lost their function, the King simply ordered that no man or woman should be allowed to keep other humans as slaves, a practice that had flourished due to lack of manpower on all sides of the war. Instead these new sub-human Titans were to be used, tilling the fields and in general doing grunt work. While not overly common there were enough that most households could have at least one. Meanwhile the necromancer and his coven continued to work under the king's orders, pulling other bones together he managed to fuse the great woolly Titans of the frozen ages to human bone, bringing back new humanoids that were not quite as alien. But due to how rare these mammals and birds were, they were often owned only by the rich or collectors. In the Shadows This roleplay is somewhat inspired by the Redwall series as it has a similar set up with some exceptions. In this world rodents rose to power, they remain the same size but gained the ability to walk on their hind legs, use tools and form complex societies. There are other animals, cats, snakes and birds of prey, however they remain just animals and are more or less the dragons and demons of the rodent world. The rodents themselves are divided up into five main groups, the first one being the rats. They are the largest and most adaptable of the rodents, they are also very industrious and build great stone cities about the sort that could be comparable to the Medieval sorts of human history. Rats prefer to live near the sea and have entire cities all based around fishing and naval trade, they are a hearty and rather off-putting folk but are loveable rogues at heart. Mice live out in the plains, open ground that is good for farming. They are made up of mostly traders, gypsies and farmers. Mice are typically not well liked as they have a reputation for stealing and swindling others, however they are a friendly enough people who are more than willing to sing songs and share a few tales. The shrews are a grew of warriors who live down near the river, they are masters of stealth and can come or go with nothing giving them away. Some of the most dangerous warriors known are shrews, with a venomous bite and an infamous track-record for taking prisoners. Shrews live in floating villages, never in the same spot for long they travel the landscape. It should also be mentioned that shrews are a female dominate race, the males are servants while females take up arms and act as the tribe's warriors. Then there are the squirrels, with homes in the deep forests far away from prying eyes these rodents are a very secretive bunch who the other races know very little about. One thing that is known is that they are master trappers, any poor rodent going into squirrel territory has to watch his feet and his neck, you can avoid one or two squirrel traps but you can't dodge them all. Squirrels keep to themselves, what little the other races know about them is from their habit of sending youngsters out of the forests on a sort of quest for adulthood and to learn about the world outside of the forests. Last and certainly not least are the most feared race, even the shrews steer clear of them. Though the bats eat only fruit and insects, their ability to fly and nocturnal habits put the other races on edge. They live in caves, carving grand stone cities into the rock wall where none can bother them. In spite of the stories bats are scholars. Holding vast amounts of information in their hidden libraries where only a chosen few may enter. By nature bats may not be warriors however they do train in the use of spear and javelins to keep their foes at a distance and away from their fragile bodies. Together the five races live in a very uneasy harmony, they keep to their own and try not to insight a war. The truce lasts between them and keeps the races from turning on each other when it is hard enough just surviving when their walls are tested by great serpents, battered by fearsome badgers and cats or dragged off into the sky by hook taloned birds. Life for a rodent is hard and short, but they never give up trying to survive in their hostile world, do you have what it takes? War of Insects In the land of Entomalia there are four great kingdoms, Vespidia, Formidon, Anthi and Isopterin. Vespidia to the west is the realm of wasps, silent hunters who rule a fast desert spotted by lush jungle oasis, a nomadic people they roam through the region and swear loyalty only to their queen, all outsiders are either slaves or prey. Barbaric and violent the wasps only understand power and brute force, they often sell out their services as assassins to the other kingdoms, though they are quite heartless the wasps are not evil, they believe in a strict code of honor and are known for their brutal honesty. Showing a disdain for technology the only weapons a wasp warrior will use is her own mandibles or crude stone and chitin blades crafted from the animals of her homeland. Formidon of the south is the great war based superpower, their people live in massive stone buildings and tunnels underneath a dry forest terrain which they call home. Death and glory is what they live for, to die in battle and serve their queen to the bitter end, surrounded by the dead of their foes, this is what all ants desire. Working the stone of their tunnels they craft granite weapons, stone blades sharp and powerful enough to hack through the heaviest armored chitin. Though most ants prefer spears, they wield any number of weapons in combat, the most loyal and powerful of these will one day be given their queen's blessing to visit the drone chambers and sip the rare wine that is the highly coveted male ants. Anithi of the east is relatively peaceful compared to the other kingdoms in a lush forest, on the surface the bees seem like jolly farmers, content to harvest pollen and sap to their hearts desire. However, the bees are fearsome warriors and will defend their territory with a furry every bit the equal of their sister kingdoms. Having a great knowledge of the healing arts, there is a good chance that every downed warrior may get right back up again if the other kingdoms aren't careful. Using mainly ranged weapons such as bows, crossbows and slings, the brave bees will pelt their foes from afar and if threatned they are more than willing to strike back, dealing ten times what they were dealt in revenge. Isopterin in the north is made up mostly by a large mountain range, the hearty termites burrow even deeper than their ant sisters dare venture and pull up from the depths metal. With this they craft towering metal spires and deep mining towns, creating wonders and deadly weapons. Termites use steel swords and heavy shields when they fight, backed up by the heavy cannons sitting on their fortresses and single shot pistols, the termites are only stopped by their slow defensive nature and poor eyesight, otherwise they might have brought the other kingdoms to the torch by now. Each kingdo is ruled by a queen, each as ageless, beautiful and eternal as the seasons, each just as fickle and each just as ruthless. Under her are her daughters, the 'lesser queens' who were given mates and went on to breed smaller colonies. While these ageless creatures rage on at each other they threaten to destroy their peoples and the very world they live on. It may just be up to one lone drone, broken away from his shackles as a prized breeder, to him the future opens up to a world where perhaps the queens are brought to heel under the rule of a king. The Experiment Brave men and women signed themselves up for a new sort of test, it was a radical gene-therapy that is supposed to get rid of genetic born diseases. There is however a problem, the early version of the therapy involves being spliced with animal DNA which had a variety of strange effects that the scientists are still trying to fully understand. This project had gained a lot of attention, the army is looking for super-soldiers while other branches of scientists are looking for a way to make people better adapted to surviving in space or on other planets. The problem with all of this is the several hundred test subjects are kept in a large natural enclosure for study, to see if human iltilect will be overwhelmed by animal instinct.