Thread: The Cursebreaker Rules

Countries, Cities or Factions of Power Dietanstad A powerful but corrupt and decaying Holy Roman Empire-esque 'elective monarchy'. The Tattered Marches A fractious hodgepodge of tiny, intertwined city-states, baronies, counties, dukedoms and religious fiefdoms, ala pre-unification Germany. The Stormlords A HunMongol like nomadic horde with the secret of gunpowder stolen from Chinese-flavoured alchemists. Vystarr An expansive, frozen land of taiga and tundra, currently being overrun by the Stormlords. Canavia The Kingdom of the White Raven, a small but proud and militarily defiant nation. People of Interest Bolivar Jackson Cursebreaker bBiob Bolivar Jackson was a Cursebreaker, had been for a few years now. And like everyone before him, and those that would come after him, he had graduated from the Guild of Cursebreakers located deep within Dietanstad. It was a place were men and women without purpose, would come and train. To become Cursebreakers, monster hunters and mercenaries though with a higher purpose. They cared little for politics, or who sat on the throne. A Cursebreaker, like Bolivar, cared for gold and gold alone. Business had been good. There was always someone in need to have a curse broken, a powerful monster slain or a lingering ghost banished. These were the things Bolivar and his kind did, they solved problems no one else could, problems that required a special finesse and knowledge to complete. Problems that did not come cheap. He had been born to a seemingly unimportant Father and Mother somewhere deep within the lands of Canavia. Not that it held any meaning to him, his loyalty, his purpose was with the Guild and them alone. Had been ever since he came there on that fateful winter night, alone, tired, cold and scared. He had been taken in as a young boy and like many of those before him, he had been put through rigorous training in both sword fighting, alchemy, stealth, survival and archery. A Cursebreaker worked alone, and would need to rely on himself in any situation. They were a family, but they rarely worked in groups and rarely even spoke unless two would meet out in the wilds. Over the years, Bolivar had done many tasks and jobs, ranging from minor monster infestations to the banishment of the Undead. In return, he had earned gold and fame. Though it resembled infamy more than fame. But he didn't mind, at least then when he was given jobs, they would know that he could be trusted to carry it out. Not all was perfect though, there had been a job he had taken in the Tattered Marches, a job that seemed easy but was anything but. It strained his body and mind however he eventually managed to fulfill the contract. When Bolivar returned to the Baron for payment, he was met with nothing but betrayal and promise of death, a fate he escaped of course, yet the Baron never really forgave or forgot. He had been tasked with ridding the county of a Werewolf and had done so. Though the Werewolf had been the Baron's only daughter and like many others, the Baron blamed the Cursebreakers, for being the reason such a curse happened upon his daughter in the first place. bPictureb Maddalyn Ersabet von Sarzwald Arcanist bBiob Maddalyn Ersabet von Sarzwald is the daughter of a minor rustic lord from the hinterlands of the Dietenstad Empire. Growing up, Maddalyn never knew her mother a powerful sorceress from the wilderness she was abandoned with her father as soon as she was born. Her father did not know how to deal with the intelligent, wild child, and she grew up as something of a tomboy, running through the woods, tagging along with hunting parties and playing in the kennels, falcon roost and stables, and reading in the library at all hours. Odd things happened around the girl, a sign of her in-born magical ability. Candles would gutter out or burst to life, inexplicable breezes rose and fell, objects would float and she would vanish and appear where she was least expected. When she was 16, her burgeoning talent and mind combined with her father's exasperation, and she was sent to the imperial capital to enroll in the Academy of the Arcane Arts as a boarding student. Maddalyn soon learned that those with a natural gift for magic were distrusted, even persecuted by scholarly wizards, and had to suppress her talents to avoid this. Fortunately, she had an aptitude for the formal study of arcana as well, excelling in the history and theory of magic. In private, she worked to harness her natural sorcerous abilities with the rigorous formulae of wizardry, and developed them into a synthesis more powerful than the two. To all outward appearances, she is simply a wizard of unusual verve and imagination. She graduated at the age of 21, a Doctor of Esoteric Mysteries. At the Academy's graduation ceremony her skills caught they eye of the recently elected Emperor himself, and he recruited her as his personal agent and eyes and ears at the court. Maddalyn was flattered by the appointment and thrilled to be thrust into the glamour and excitement of courtly intrigue, and has devoted herself to serving the Emperor. Now, as his five-year term nears its end and factions gather in preparation for the next imperial election, she finds herself being used to secure his re-election, and must decide whether to continue to back her benefactor, or one of the other political magnates of Dietenstad. bPictureb