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Welcome to Snakebite

07:17, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Snakebite

Taurica has never been a peaceful place.

It was first colonized in the age of myth by the immortal dragons, who brought order to its wild and shapeless forests and turned vast mountains into unimaginable cities of basalt and granite, populated by their elven servants. None alive know the history of that splendid and terrible time. The races of men were to arrive later, following their masters the giants, whom came from the north to conquer the endless riches of the dragons.

The giants came in unimaginable quantity, and possessed artifacts and magic ripped from all corners of their northern continent. The terrible war that followed threatened to rip the very fabric of reality itself. None can say for sure, but legends speculate that gods themselves fell in the fury of the endless war.

At some point, centuries in the past, the war came to an end--the nature of which the sages ponder in their towers and caves.

The giants that remained retreated into forests, ruins, and mountains; dragons have not been seen in generations. The vast legions of men found themselves able to overpower what few giants remained in the cities, and in months Taurica had become a frantic bloodbath as the slaves slew their captors, then took up their arms against one another.

Little has changed in the generations since.

SNAKEBITE is a barbaric game set in a barbaric world. The world is dichotomous: fabulous ruins dot the world, products of an age of ancient magic and prosperity, but the men that vie to control them are savages, brutes, and killers without exception. Strength is the currency of the era, followed by self-interest, pride, and audacity. Fathers expect their sons to conquer and their daughters to be beautiful bribes to offer ambitious suitor-soldiers.

The realm of Taurica is divided between dozens of warring kingdoms and clandoms; most are human, though elves still linger in the old places of power and dwarves ply their crafts in their remote fortresses. Dragonborn are common outcasts, like any offspring of the great race.

Politics are personal and immediate: no great dynasties have yet risen, and ambitious men are free to cut themselves paths to greatness. The ruins of the elder races are lethally trapped and populated by all manner of aberrant creation, yet within lie the tools to seize absolute power. All manner of slayer and warrior vie to control the secrets of the dragon's splendor and the giant's power.

And behind them all meet secretive congregations of wizards and sorcerers. Strange and warped men, they seek to decipher ten-thousand years of secrecy, to rebuild the knowledge of life and death that once was charted, to obtain even a fraction of the deep arcana that once flowed from the emerald towers now lifelessly gleaming over the lands.

None of this is done politely. Kings and warlords collect slaves by the thousand to build their castles and to populate their armies. Dark priests pray in caves to profane entities, offering blood to entice the spirits to share their secrets. Orcish tribes, once slaves of the giants, now offer their entire communities as mercenaries. Like anyone else, they turn to raiding and banditry whenever it seems profitable.

This is a low-tech and low-magic world, more akin to Robert Howard than Robert Jordan. There are few traditions, few conventions, few organizations, but there are monsters and armies by the legion, there is treasure in dizzying quantity, and there are powers undreamed of sleeping in remote vaults and dread temples.

This particular story begins in the realm of Kocari, a relatively stable, small domain ruled by the titular Lord Kocari. Gray-haired yet exceptionally strong, he seized control of the local tribes and settlements decades ago. Despite a few minor raids, his rule has been peaceful--a rarity in Taurica. The old warrior seems happy to bask in his palace, surrounded by slave girls and good food.

He has turned his attention to the draconic ruins scattered across his domain. One in particular, the Metataxal Priarch, lies within view of his palace. For years, adventurers have been deterred by the wards and guardians, but each season they grow weaker. At last, Kocari has decided a serious effort to seize the ruin would be appropriate. And so, he began to assemble his team...