EQUiTALE

[Julie Anna San]

''If the touch of man doth grace the flesh of beast, the power of the gods shall be taken.''

Name: EQUiTALE
Genre: Human and Horse
RPer Experience Level: All Welcome
URL: equitale.proboards85.com/index.cgi
Mini-banner Code: <a href="http://equitale.proboards85.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x69/BECKiEE23/sites/banner2.png" alt="EQUiTALE: A HORSE AND HUMAN RPG" /></a>
Other: Looking for active, fun members to help get this site up and running. Staff positions are availible to memebers we feel deserve them. You can claim lands and gather a herd. You can buy a house and find a family. But this isnt any ordinary RPG, your equine characters can be granted an element of their choice. Start the adventure, and join today!

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Summary:

- A spirit called ‘The Great One’ took charge of earth as creatures began to develop on it.

- He decided he couldn’t rule alone, and made the four elements.

-These elements were gods named Aer, Terra, Ignis and Aqua, they kept an eye on the earth while The Great One was not present.

- They four elements argued, and spilt into two groups, Earth and Fire, Air and Water.

- Ignis blessed man with his power of fire, but unfortunately, man destroyed anything he wanted and grew too powerful.

- The gods alone could not defeat the humans, so they blessed every beast on the planet with an element, and united, they beat the humans, and took away their power.

- When The Great One returned, he was shocked at what had happened, and said tha if man ever touches an animal, it shall loose its powers so he can not use them for himself.

- The Great One also said, tha new generations of creatures wishing to have an elemet, must vistit one of the seven shrins over the world. But the seventh one was hidden.

- Over the next few millennia, man forgets about the powers, and makes his own, in the forms of machines.

- A new country had appeared off the coast of San Francisco when an unknown underwater volcanoes erupted and made it.

- People first used the island for animals to live on as a nature reserve, but finally they began to move onto it themselves.

- The seventh shrine has arisen, the own that will grant any beast an elemental power of their choice, to help them stay away from humans.

- The people know nothing about this and only that at the center of the island is ‘Mt. Equitale’, a volcano that now erupts every ten years.




A new land to explore…

Many years have passed on earth now, but still we are no closer to finding a permanent anti aging treatment, achieving world peace or even finding those little green men on mars. No, the earth has stayed more or less the same, apart from the fact a whole new country has come into being off the coast of San Francisco. Twenty –five years previously, scientists discovered one of the largest underwater volcanoes they had ever seen. They were baffled by its size, location, as well as how active it was. None the less, on Christmas day of the same year, the deep see dragon finally blew. She poured great amounts of lava into the ocean, more an more, and as the lava began cooling when it reached the surface of the pacific ocean, it began to form an island. Days, passed, weeks turned into months turned into years, but the volcano just kept producing more and more liquid rock. Finally, four years after its discovery, ‘Mt. Equitale’ suddenly stopped growing, even now its land mass dwarfing the UK already.

And it didn’t take long for people to take an interest in this new island, and the growing demand for new homes and jobs gave developers a bright idea. What if they settled on the island? Scientists had said activity form the volcanoes was a bare minimum, and very rarely was there any major earthquakes. So, reassured, development began. Plants had run wild on the land with no real human activity on the island for the four years, vast amounts of birds had flocked to it, thinking they’d found the perfect place. As days went by, people began to argue that it should be made into a wild life reserve, knowing birds were already living there on the island, the ground fertile and already sprouting grass and small trees. The government agreed for the most part, and so a great animal movement was made. Animals were transported to the island, Bears, Boar, Cougars, Wolves, Deer, Horses, Goats, Cattle and more. They were all released to make homes for themselves.

But, five years after this, the government granted people permission to start living on the island, much to the previous protesters outrage. But the government argued that space, homes and jobs were in high demand, a new island as big as it was, was far too much of a waste on mere ‘animals’. And so, it started, people built houses, their largest city being Birchwood, eventually becoming the capital. More and more people began moving to Equitale, its soil was fertile and good for crops, the immense amount of wildlife was also an attraction for tourists, and the money the island began to earn certainly put its name on the map, and in the minds of many. But, there is something no scientist can tell them now, something that is far beyond any humans comprehension, that has arisen on this island, like many others. Something only dreamed of, or written about in books, but I shall tell you, for I know.


The story of the Beast and the Man

Long ago, long before man even learned to tie his own shoelaces, the beasts ruled the lands, untamed creatures, ferocious and strange. But the ice age managed to help them on their way to how we see them today. As they evolved, ‘The Great One’, the almighty power every beast and man alike believed in, known as ‘God’ or ‘Fate’, decided that he alone could not rule this kingdom. He needed some help. So, he created Ignis, God of fire, Aqua, Goddess of Water, Aer, God of Air and Terra, Goddess of Earth. The four gods were left in charge of the world, whilst The Great One, took care of other affairs. But in the absence of the ruler, the four gods had a bit of an argument, as the creatures on the earth became more intelligent, Ignis wished to give them powers, Terra agreed with him, But Aer and Aqua did not. The gods fought ferociously, creating some of the most devastating weather the planet had ever seen. But finally after ten years, they settled down, but the two groups ignored one another, and from then on, became opposite elements, ones that do not mix well. But Ignis was cunning, he had been watching man, and thought he was intelligent, and so he bestowed his destructive powers upon the race of humans.

They created true chaos. They grew mad with their power, they destroyed anything that did not please them, they didn’t understand, or did not know about. They murdered each other, they tortured animals and made them their slaves. Man became dominant, all feared him, and even Ignis began to regret what he’d done. Terra had never agreed with the decision, and ran to Aer and Aqua, and told them of the terrible thing that had happened. Aer was furious, and was well on his way to marching straight to Ignis to remove him, when Aqua stopped him. Being the most level headed, the goddess suggested, that, instead of punishing Ignis, they let him learn, and then remove the powers from man. But when the four gods reunited, and tried, man defeated them easily. He’d built strange things to help him, mastered the beasts against their will to help as well. That was when Terra had an idea, if they bestowed some creatures they knew they could trust, those strong and noble, they could unite, and defeat man.

So they did. Aer blessed many a creature with the power of air, they became faster than anything else. Ignis blessed others with the power of fire, they could give the most damage. Aqua blessed some with her power of water, they could be elusive and adaptable, and finally, choosing carefully, Terra gave her powers to the remaining species, the power of earth, each became stronger than any other. With the forces united, they battled man together, freed his slaves and destroyed his machines. They arose victorious and stripped man of his powers. But when the elements returned to the skies, they wondered about the other animals, should they all have powers to keep? All gods unanimously agreed, and so each was allowed to have the power, apart from man. But soon enough, The Great One returned, and was stunned by what he saw, he was angry by what had happened, and what made it worse, was that when man realised every beats had a power, apart from him, he became jealous, and stole animals with it away to use against the others again.

Outraged, The Great One yelled on a stormy night, his voice shaking the earth to the very core. ''If the touch of man doth grace the flesh of beast, the power of the gods shall be taken''. The world fell silent. Man grew tired of trying to capture the powers as the years went on, they vanished as soon as they laid one finger on the animal, and instead he made his own artificial ones. Animals avoided man at every possible point. Some were foolish, and were caught and tamed, when man touched their hides, their powers left them forever. He wooed them to trust him, and it worked. But those who remained free were able to keep their power. But some wished to be rid of it, that was when The Great One announced, that to gain a power, from then on, upon reaching adult hood, they may visit one of the many natural shrines he placed across the world. There were seven in all, but the seventh, was hidden. The Great One said, one day, when the time was right, it shall arise. An it did, Mt. Equitale was the hidden shrine. Man has long since forgotten about the powers bestowed on beasts and continues to destroy and create new things without the aid of the elements. But still, Ignis, Aqua, Aer and Terra live on, occasionally they fight, creating freak storms, flooding, earth quakes and wild fires, but man never pauses to think that maybe, a scientific answer for the strange weather, isn’t the best one.