"Where brilliance is good and madness is better..."
Helovia Info
Helovia opened in February 2012! We are an active fantasy equine RPG
Where once the world narrowed into naught but gray dust and desolation, the gods called for life. Wielding the elements of fire and light, dark and wind, earth and water, spark and time, they have created Helovia. The realm is set within the mythical globe of Loorien, a planet rich with all variety of creatures and blessed with all manner of magic. Originally populated by nomadic, tribal characters, they've since grown into massive empires saturated with culture and history. Separated into four distinct segments of Helovia, called "The Regions," each band of horse strong enough and capable enough, took up the power and responsibility of leadership. Unicorns, old, wise and mysterious, took to the north, hidden in forests of mists and shadows and rarely making themselves known beyond their cliffs of the World's Edge. Equines, vast, organized and militaristic, split into two, one group went north to the Windtossed Foothills and the other group went south to the Dragon's Throat. Pegasus remained nomadic, making their homes in various parts of The Wilds in a migratory manner. For many generations, the land was peaceful and calm, but peace was never the way of the gods. With a clash of argument, war and bloodshed massacred Helovia, and in the aftermath, the realm was eerily quiet. Now, as newcomers sweep into this land, they are met with the lingering bitterness of the gods and the struggle to reclaim what was lost. Nothing remains safe or certain while sorcerers and soldiers alike brood and bide their time for revenge, honor and glory.
Site Wide Plots
Kaos :: The Beginning of the End ☼ - 6/2017 - Kaos placed Helovia in a time-bubble for a short period of time, but the Helovian gods are fighting back. But Kaos is powerful- far more powerful than anyone thought. This may be the beginning of the end of Helovia as we know it.
Kisamoa :: A New Kind of Kaos ☼ - 3/2017 - Kisamoa asks Helovians to help him restore the Spectral Marsh. Which side will you choose?
Invasions :: All Out War ☼ - 5/2/16 - New layout and the brand new invasion rules are up! Thank you for your patience and we look forward to getting started with this new adventure.
The Rift :: Gods Do Die ☼ - 8/2015 - Helovia Gods are saving the Rift from corrupt gods! Can Helovians band together against these foreign deities?
The Literal Ship ☼ - 2/8/15 - Oh no! You have to pair up for Valentine's day!
Sky Island :: Murder ☼ - 10/25/14 - Vesta has been found dead on the island, and the gods have called to you to solve the murder!
Sky Island :: Peace ☼ - 7/7/14 - An island has appeared in the sky! Clouds carry Helovians from the Veins to the sky.
Restoration :: We Welcome the Dawn ☼ - 9/21/13 - The sun has finally risen on this day, giving the land new light, but the Time God and the Sun God have yet to be seen.
Endless Night :: Broken Magic Plot ☼ - 8/30/13 - The earth god has returned and is walking across Helovia to heal the land. Every area can now be considered lush and prosperous, but the sun has still not risen.
☼ - 7/19/13 - The moon has risen in the sky, heralding the return of the Goddess of the moon. Lamp trees which light the paths have grown brighter, moon flowers which grow in dark places have begun to grow and prosper and the world is brighter, filled with a new hope.
Endless Night :: Dead Magic Plot ☼ - 6/22/13 - The gods of Helovia, in order to protect the world, have disappeared into the rift, leaving the world sunless, moonless and magic-less in their absence. Only the herdlands have a source of light, but lamp-trees with glowing leaves and branches sporadically line the popular roads and paths from place to place.
Doppleganger Plot ☼ - 6/20/13 - The God of Time is still struggling to close the rift though which the dopplegangers have come. He has requested that his brothers and sister assist in closing this hole, but without knowing why it opened, the task is proving difficult. Magic still remains faulty and hard to control, but the herdlands continue to be places of refuge for those who are fortunate enough to call these lands home.
ORANGEMOON cools off the lands with a a viscious force. Colder than normal, a sign of things to come during Frostfall, Helovia is bathed in a rich tropical lushness - albiet a cold one. The coastlines of the Dragon's Throat are pelted constantly by tidal waves, and the desert climate is humid but chilly. Ice begins to form early in the Aurora Basin leaving the winding trails slick and dangerous. The mists of the World's Edge coat everything in a glistening crystalline shine which encourages mould to grow everywhere. The Spectral Marsh is the only area which remains fertile, blissfully temperature and lush.
Cotm
Character of the Month for
June, 2017
WEAVER, Corporal of the Aurora Basin, is a relatively recent addition to Helovia and has taken it by storm. Branded with the seal of Death on her chest, intrigue and interest follow both her past and present. Though she is assuredly beautiful, her sometimes sharp personality reveals that there is more to this uni-peg hybrid than meets the eye. Proving herself able on the battlefield in the Basin’s warrior ranks, we can’t wait to see her test her mettle against the looming Kaos happenings! Congratulations!
Helovia RPG was created by Tamme and Blu and coded by Tamme also known as Schwartze. All coding, palettes and imagery are copyrighted to the website and are not for use outside of Helovia. Thank you to our ServerMaster for hosting Helovia. A special thanks goes to Neo for all of her coding help and fixing Tamme's errors, Boom, for her loyal service and creation of the Time God, and to Ali for her consistent contributions and dedication.
10-15-2015, 09:02 AM (This post was last modified: 10-15-2015, 09:02 AM by Chernobyl.)
CHERNOBYL
A full moon – rounded, swollen and watching. It's light spills like silver water over the trickling river she drinks from. She is alone in her travels, as per usual. She's been many places but everyone stays away- to her relief. It is rare that she wants company, and when it happens it's usually a specific sort of want. Like Murdock. She stops mid-sip, swallowing hard before jerking her head up and moving on. She's on a deer path that winds and curls under the Falls herdlands, she can hear the churning waters, can feel the humid fingers reaching out. She moves more southern, finding a new path that crosses rivers and flows over small aspen littered hills of the area between the Meadows and Threshold. She moves swiftly and silently passed this, an owl the only thing spying on her liquid movements beneath the gnarled branches of a few old oaks hanging over.
The silver light finds the thorn-horned mare as she melts into the open, her charcoal fur dancing with chrome ribbons of moonlight, eventually grabbing at each ripple across her dark skin. She tilts a black eye to the sphere of glow, she is so bright that Bull cannot look for very long, the shape burned into vision as she blinks and looks toward the ground. She shakes the temporary feeling from her eyes and picks up her worn cracked feet into a slow trot toward the mouth of the caves. She can feel the heat pulsating from the opening...it is a cool night but not cool enough to keep the caves from feeling as if they're boiling. It will be empty though, and so hopefully she can study in peace.
She finds the room she is looking for easily enough, only having to squeeze passed a few others – a few sweaty others. She does not get too hung up on being smeared with another's moistness... she wouldn't be able to walk on if she allowed her mind to ponder than fun little detail. So she comes upon a room of moss, mushrooms of all kinds and broad flat walls with carvings that come alive with the gleam the orange-red of magma. They are covered, but she can see them through the incandescence provided by some of the mushrooms as well as the actual glittering of bright lava against darkness. She cannot understand them, but begins to brush the debris aside with her nose, trying to uncover all of them. Shit.. They're utterly not understandable. She stares harder, backing up and coming closer, feeling them with her nose and squinting and widening her bright black eyes.
“I wonder.” Her voice rings quietly through the empty halls. Anyone about would easily hear her muttering to herself like a head-wound victim.
-----
[ So, a while ago I proposed that some Helovians discover and study a written language. There was a lot of positive feedback but I poofed and it got forgotten about, I believe (at least by me lol). At the time I only had one character and she really didn't fit the whole thing, but Bull here is perfect for it. So anyways. Join in if you'd like to play a part. EVERYONE IS WELCOME <3 !! ]
Calista took one last look at the night sky above as she descended into the mouth of the cave. Tall grasses gave way to a deep crater that housed the heat-emitting grotto. The painted hues of her body wove between the rocks, bearing the grace of her mother and the battle prowess of her father, she held the memories of her kin dear to her heart and everything she did was to make those memories proud. While she still didn’t have an exact location in mind, she had already decided within herself to stray away from the main territory of the herd to find new friends and discover the secrets that Helovia held. From the moment she spotted the Heart Caves, the woman knew she had to explore their depths. Passing through a wave of warmth, she slipped through the entrance and into the tunnel. Soft, slow breaths escaped her as her eyes traced the stone walls which shielded her body from a boiling pit of flames, rolling down every glowing tendril of moss, sifting down the underpass and the many rooms lined up before her. Triangular formations hung from the ceiling like jagged teeth. True beauty and mystery resided among this underground world, but beauty wasn’t enough for Calista. She had a thirst for knowledge that needed quenching. All was silent except for the roar of the churning heat, so the unicorn thought herself to be alone. It was dusk, after all - not exactly the ideal time for a horse to be out and about. She was actually surprised that the plants hadn’t wilted and that everything looked so alive despite fire's lack of respect for nature and its relentless temperatures that threatened to devour anything any everything in their wake. All her thoughts had been quite cheerful as of late, since she has decided to stay in the World's Edge. And even here among the roaring belly of lava, she felt oddly at ease. Perhaps it was because she no longer had to wander, she no longer had to try and pretend to be satisfied with that life, try and convince herself she liked being in exile, not that she had done a very great job of that in the first place. No, today wasn’t meant for bitterness, it was another silent farewell to the loneliness she would never see again, as had been every day since she found her calling. As she moved, an echo resonated in the dark, and caught her attention. Calista turned toward where she swore the sound came from, her eyes narrowing curiously as she continued forward. The voice was followed by silence. Moving along in the dark, Calista picked her way down the hall at a slow pace, peering into each room. Her eyes could hardly make out anything in the chambers, so she continued walking. Swallowed by pitch-black, the only source of light around her was the soft orange light of magma and the bluish glow of mushrooms. "H-hello? Is anyone there?" a whisper left her tongue, bouncing off the stony surfaces that engulfed her and was carried further into the caves.
Herbs. Gather the herbs. Heal the sick, mend the broken. She slipped through Helovia with this in mind under the cover of night and grace of moon. She wasn't sure where she was going, perhaps she just wanted to get acquainted with her new home. Her irregular colored hooves bring her south, through wood and creek, to a fiery pit. The alabaster and onyx mare circles the fire, making a mental note to ask someone about the science of this ever burning fire. It didn't seem to be a threat, so she moved on from it.
Agnodice was prepared to leave the area entirely, but a gleaming caught her turquoise gaze. She turned to find a hole in the ground, very much large enough for a horse to fit through. Curious and uninterested in anything else around her, the mare slipped into the hole, finding it to be quite a large cave, in fact. She weaved through it's corridors, going from room to room and being careful not to get lost.
She paused to admire a glowing flora, wondering if it had any use in the medical field. She was about to pick some before she heard a few callings from deeper within the cave. She flicked a curvaceous ear to the sounds, the rest of her body soon following. The dainty mare was interested, wondering who, or what was here. It was a strange feeling to know that she was not alone down here, but she knew not who she was with.
The mare slipped quietly into the room in which she had heard a few muffled noises from. The room itself was lit by glowing flora and magma, it was quite an astonishing sight to the mare. Her lips fell apart, mystified by the wonders of the land she had found herself in. Maybe she would stay in this Helovia for a while longer.
Her attention shifted to a couple of mares who shared the space with her now. One was dark as night, the other pale as snow, though her coat had a bit of ebony splashed upon it. The paler girl seemed more uncertain of being here, though the onyx one seemed purposeful in her endeavors. Agnodice chose that one to approach first.
She sulked out of the shadows, walking to the ebony mare's side to see what she was looking at. Agnodice was dwarfed by the mare, though she took no note of it. She had gotten used to being shorter than everyone else. Her brow furrowed as she examined what the mare had been looking at. There were etchings in the wall. She got closer to them, brow lifting upon her examination.
"Hieroglyphs!" She softly exclaimed, stepping back from the mare's side and looking to her expectantly. She assumed the mare knew something of them, or else she wouldn't be here examining them so closely. Her gaze moved to the rest of the wall, certain that more hieroglyphics were here. She recognized their presence from her years studying in a land that used the glyphs. Though, that was a long time ago, and her knowledge of it was filled with cobwebs.
"How long have you been reading them?" Agnodice spoke, head still upturned, though her turquoise gaze had fallen to the mare. She hadn't asked for her name - she didn't care much, really. She was more concerned by the writing on the wall.
[ The real Agnodice studied medicine in Alexandria. All I did with my Agnodice's history is use her real history and make it fit in an equine situation. Therefore I assumed she'd know something of hieroglyphs from living and studying in the equivalent of an Egyptian civilization in Loorien. If this isn't okay please let me know and I'll change the post!! @Chernobyl ]
11-26-2015, 01:33 PM (This post was last modified: 11-26-2015, 01:34 PM by Chernobyl.)
CHERNOBYL
Beneath the earth's crust, in the caves, there is no day or night. It's a perpetual night, but at the same time there is no moon or night creatures – it is simply black and red, and then the room with the waterfalls appear to pour ebony oil-water. A mare spills into the room, her feet gentle, unsure, upon the stone floor. Bull bends only her closest ear when the girl approaches, her baby-voice chiming into the ill lit room. Without a word the dark unicorn swipes a curtain of moss off of the wall, letting a beam of magma red illuminate the room. With one more swift motion she kicks some debris from the floor into the corner, beneath them the center of the room glows with a thickly-lined compass [which is accurate]. The room is aglow with a soft red light, the pale mare stands in the doorway with her doe-eyes and rather confused expression. “Hello.” Her voice is sharp and hard, cold like the wet stone that weaves between the veins of lava. “Have you ever seen – ” She is cut off and only now does her gaze fall from the pulsating carvings. The mare that swoops in seems to instantly be drawn to the symbols...the hieroglyphs.
Her purpose makes Bull's nerves stir, her mind flicks on and her black eyes swim across the buckskins smaller form. “I've seen some like them before, but never these ones, I'm thinking they're made by the original discoverers or conquerors of Helovia.” She looks across to the opposite wall. “And over there is a map of Helovia – and weirdly enough it seems as though all lands beyond have faded and only ones we have currently settled appear. As if enchanted.” Or perhaps it's just because the carvings are old and no magic is involved. That is the mystery of Helovia's inhabitants and it's lands – past and present. “I am Chernobyl.” Her eyes float over the palest mare, and then to the buckskin. “And my goal is to decipher and eventually use this written symbolism to communicate and find out more about Helovia's history...”
It was odd how well-lit her surroundings were, considering the mare was far down in the dark depths of the earth. Soon it became apparent that she was not alone, for the dull murmur of voices drifted from the cavern and she turned the corner to find two unknown mares intensely studying something on the wall. Peering across the gray chamber, two bright sapphire orbs searched for just what it was that they were so interested in. The licking flames of magma illuminated the small room so well that Calista was able to see the runic writing inscribed in the stone. The alabaster mare hung in the background for a moment, watching.
Calista couldn't help but wonder, watching the shadowy mare pace a bit. She presumed she would ask more about why they were there at such an hour, though she could not even answer the question for herself. The rapt expression she wore remained, her watery gaze widening. It was amazing, these words on the wall, just like everything else the mare encountered in Helovia so far. Calista had never seen anything like them. The deep, careful lines were etched into a monumental slab of igneous rock that must have been older than time itself.
The black and white painted mare wandered closer, a small grin tracing the lines of her face as she now stood beside the others, drawing her charcoal ears upright on each side of her angular head. "My name is Calista, by the way." she greeted, establishing herself over the soft crackling of the lava's movement, her hooves stopping at the edge of a small current of the vermillion molten rock, at the bits of cobble that brushed against her feet, and then stepping over the stream with care. "These lands certainly are full of life during the hours of darkness," she mused, she didn't go a day without meeting someone, new or old. Helovia had turned out to be a good place to settle, and this was why she hadn't chosen to move on. Calista was indeed liking what she was seeing, the patterns she was finding. Her thoughts touched home only briefly, missing it every now and again but feeling far more confident in the choice she'd made to leave. The woman's gaze returned to the strange text, written in a dialect with which she was unfamiliar. Awe washed over her, sending chills running down her spine. Words left her throat in a hushed whisper. "Hieroglyphs... The-they're absolutely breathtaking. I've never come across anything like them. Do you know what they say?"
"Talk?"
"it's my life, it's now or never, i ain't gonna live forever, I just wanna live while I'm alive"
Crimson light flooded the room. The duchess looked to her ebony counterpart, listening to her words. The mare was perhaps a bit dismayed by her lack of knowledge on the hieroglyphs. Agnodice was, in truth, a stranger in these particular lands. Did it's own inhabitants fall short on extensive knowledge on their own language? She considered that possibility too dismal to dwell on. No matter, these were just two anomalies, yes? Agnodice was positive she could decipher some of it, but not all. It was not exactly like the writing and the languages she had become fluent in to study medicine. If it were, then it would take her a few minutes to decipher this, but there were certainly discrepancies that would make this a challenging job.
Her turquoise gaze shifted to the other mare, the one with a bit of black masking her eyes. The duchess's lips turned into a smirk, thinking that the mare looked the part of a spy, but played the part of one much more submissive. Agnodice listened to the mares' introductions, noting that she had not yet given her own name. She mentally groaned at the prospect. She always found introductions to be a waste of her time, but they were certainly useful to others. (The maiden is far too self-centered to consider that who she is might mean something to someone else. Or perhaps she is too self-removed to think of this?)
"Agnodice," the duchess stated simply, not wasting much energy on her terse introduction.
The mare listened partially to each of their words, only thinking about what they had said when it either interested her, or was aimed at her. She began with the primarily white mare, addressing her question first. "You know what letters are, right? Some of the glyphs pertain to letters, others are representative of morphemes, or specific things and horses, and it's possible that some have double meanings," She stated, rearing on her hind legs and placing her front hooves on the wall before her for balance. She nosed a specific hieroglyph, a large one, looking like a sun. "This one is a sun, there's fire next to it and another symbol by that. Noting it's size and the two next to it, this one most likely speaks of the Sun God and his magic, with the unknown glyph representing the God status," She continued, removing herself from the wall to step back and move to a different section and assume a similar position. "Here - there's the God symbol, but also, there's water and a tree. The Earth God," she was beginning to get more invested in the glyphs as she deciphered them.
"They tell a story," She murmured, stepping back from the wall to look at the big picture. "Four Gods, many smaller glyphs below them, though not entirely different from the glyphs representing the Gods...horses, perhaps? In that case, it's an origin story. How Helovia came to be, I believe," Agnodice's voice trailed off into a whisper, deep in thought as she studied the glyphs. There had to be more to the story, but as it progressed, the glyphs got more complex, and therefore, progressively difficult for her to decipher...
12-03-2015, 01:53 AM (This post was last modified: 12-03-2015, 02:03 AM by Rei.
Edit Reason: Prissy snuck a post in on me (;
)
Rei
Their voices dropped and rolled through the caves. All around the talk of stranger's bounced before slipping into Rei's dark ears. The pegasus had ventured into the caves in effort to entertain her bonded. She and Anka had enjoyed a rambunctious game of hide and seek before they lay down to nap. A quiet chirping sound of contentment rumbled in Rei's throat; it was rare for her to see Anka in such a deep sleep.
After a gaping yawn the pegasus nudged the otter from her folded forelegs to the mossy floor. Will be back soon. Stay here. Rei pressed the thought through the link their souls shared hoping to leave an impression of the request. The area the pair had napped in was empty besides themselves but still the mare worried over leaving Anka on her own.
'I will only be gone long enough to see what the gathering is about.' Rei thought to herself while nodding her head in agreement with herself. She had spent many days exploring Helovia's Heart before but it was not often to hear such a fuss in the caves; normally they were rather quiet.
Ears perked Rei allowed the voices who had sought her out to guide her to their source.
"And my goal is to decipher and eventually use this written symbolism to communicate and find out more about Helovia's history." Her heart began to race and her eyes widened as Rei stepped forward to view the center of everyone's attention.
"These lands certainly are full of life during hours of darkness." Rei's racing heart skipped a beat and then dropped to a slow rhythm that was the feeling of guilt.
"I am Rei of--," Dragon's Throat; it was what she had started to say, but it was no longer true, "I am Rei of Helovia I suppose." Rei laughed uncomfortably and dipped her head to the others she felt vulnerable among the others while not belonging to a herd. Her thoughts filled with remorse for having left her herd. "I can write. I gladly offer my assistance in your adventure with the hieroglyphs."
Her music box collar had been tinkling out its faint melody throughout her time in the caves and it served as her voice while she pulled her writing supplies from its compartment. After a few tries she pressed her metal tip to her writing feather and dipped it in ink. With her tongue stuck between her lips in concentration and her eyes narrowed on the hieroglyphs Rei copied them into her book.
"See?" She said to those around her, and not without pride, "What if I wrote them, and then traveled about in search of more like it or asked to see if any others have seen more like them?" After being quiet for a moment she added, "I could also make copies for anyone else who may volunteer to do the same."
Looking around Rei offered her friendliest look to everyone gathered. She could be facing the opportunity of finding purpose and she felt vastly in debt to the voices who had led her to it.
Quietly Rei listened to the mare who began to delve into the meaning of the wall writings. She was entranced by her words and drank in the equine's knowledge. While the stranger spoke Rei placed her writing tools back into their storage compartment. Rei's hooves then moved her in closer proximity to the other mare. Already questions formed for the stranger; Where was she from? How had she made such easy sense out of what had puzzled the rest of them?
"Wow." Rei breathed. "My grandsire would have loved to have met you." Politely she dipped her head to the seemingly wise mare.
The black and white unicorn chimes in, her voice gentle enough to hardly echo off of the hot clammy walls. Chernobyl doesn't ignore her but leaves her self out of the responding category. She knows nothing of what these symbols mean, short from the obvious sun, moon, water, fire and earth figures. She too is curious about what they actually mean. She keeps a black ear bent to their voices while her eyes search the walls of the hollow rock hall.
Agnodice quickly proves useful to the cause and takes over with her strong, smooth milky voice. Some part of Bull wants to reach out and thank the woman for happening upon them with such knowledge. It would have taken the black mare hours to decipher such a thing. And when she compares them to letters, something rarely known to anyone nowadays, Bull's mind clicks completely she looks at the carvings with a wider stare, stepping back as Agnodice rises to plant her feet on the wall and explain further. She listens carefully and remains silent, keeping her eyes and ears on the buttermilk unicorn and nodding while her mind soaks in the information.
Suddenly the tinkling music begins to slither down the cave corridors and into the rooms. The sound dancing all around so very faintly it almost seems not to exist. Bull's charcoal eyes dart to the entrance of the room when a pale and speckled figure comes forth. Her dreaded mane flops to the side with her quick head movement and chunks of her thick forelock tangle on her viciously prickly horn. She blinks slowly and dips to head to greet the pegasus, finding her spots to be of interest – they reminded the dark unicorn of someone. Who? Who else has those markings? She did not stay on the subject long, instead she interjects the small bout of quiet with her own oily silk voice, cold like mountain stone and steady as the, “Well I'm Bull, that's Agnodice, and that's Calista.” She doesn't smile but there is no frown threatening to wrinkle her long, curved face. “That would be wonderful. Meet us back here, maybe, when you find out more..” She looks to the buttermilk unicorn and then the golden horned mare, if they had any thoughts this was the time; her eyes say this plainly and without emotion. Afterward her eyes drift back to Rei and the book at her feet. This was beyond helpful, truly. Chernobyl's mind begins to wander into the depths of the knowledge this move may yield. They could potentially find out so many things they never knew. Maybe even more about the Gods and their shifty shady fucking ways.
“And these.” She's moved to the western wall, more God symbols, one for each and some others she can't figure out. They are smaller and under the main deities' glyphs. What was more interesting to her, however, was the stars intricately etched into the stone. They were constellations – groups of stars laid by the oldest of Gods when the globes and their moons were forming alongside them – one of her old teachers had taught her about some long ago. She remembers a lion and bull, most of all, and nothing else of prudent detail. “They are the God's constellations.” She looks over her shoulder to them, one eye veiled in chunks of her raven-black mane. “Are you guys familiar with those?” She doesn't cast a judgy stare or bare a tone of snottiness. Her voice is like frozen stone, flat and somewhat cold, lacking any social courtesies or eloquent charm.
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