"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.
She hovered in place high above the restless sea, the delicate face a stiff mask of concentration as she struggled to remain on the same spot. Though it looked effortless, her midair dance required minute precision and a thousand small adjustments of muscles, wing position, feather angle and the occasional flick of the tail. The wind was fickle today, undecided between north or west, steady or erratic, warm or cold; but over the course of the day these persistent changes had favored arctic chill a bit more each time, until Erthë imagined she could smell snow in the air again. Surely it wouldn't be long until the next storm blew in now. A week before she could have sworn winter would never arrive, then the skies had opened. Now, the peaks above the Edge stood with powdered hair, glistening and cold in what might well be the last sunshine of the year.
She had really looked forward to it. The warm season had lasted so very long, and it had been much too intense for her taste. Now, give her icy rains and drifting snow, offer her the inky blackness of a midwinter sky and the cold blue light of a distant moon. Give her the vast expanse of the northern tundra, the silence beneath barren trees the birds have long since deserted, and let her sleep peacefully in the pale morning light tucked in safely amidst family and friends...
Wasn't that the way to live.
But, lately, her peaceful existence had trembled at the very foundation. Scars marred her pristine hide and the confidence that had been absolute from the moment she first touched the ground was faltering. Illusions were shattering under her feet like broken glass, the jagged edges cutting her open to the grim reality of her own weakness... and this would not do. How could a follower of the Moon permit herself to be less than fearsome, when the Lady herself could make grown stallions tremble simply by looking at them?
Being weak was unacceptable, and there were certain things she couldn't learn by merely observing. This meant that she had to train, grow strong and wise and able. It meant she had to change, and by the four winds she would!
In a sudden burst of added force the wind changed direction again, and this time the young seraph didn't react in time. She was thrown backwards in the direction of the beach, tumbling through the air like a mad spinning top with swinging legs and wings that flapped desperately to break and level up, or at the very least regain a sense of bearing. Round and round she spun until the world becomes a blur of blue and gray and sandy white, and somewhere in the midst of all of this she noticed something dark in her path where she hadn't seen anything before. Panic only truly grasped hold of her innards when she realized that it was growing larger for each dizzying spin. Unless it proved to be nothing more than a ghost of her mind she was on a collision course with it, and all she could do, it seemed, was to brace herself for impact.
So much for growing stronger. Apparently she should learn how to fly again before trying anything else.
PC: 1/3 + closing
WC: 551
Summary: Erthë is hovering over the ocean when a strong gust blow her backwards. She tumbles toward the beach, loosing height and flailing around wildly to get level. Spots something dark (presumably Tae?) in her general path and braces for impact.
Setting: Endless blue, in the air above the sea about 500m from shore. Windy, midday and overcast, a slight lull between winter storms.
tae in places deep with roots entwined
i live the life i left behind
So Tae's first spar as an official warrior of the Dragon's Throat had been a bust. The mandible-marked mare tried not to let this wear on her mind; tried being the key word. She knew that despite her Father's impressive battle record, not all of those battles had been fought to completion. Many would simply run when her Father engaged them, despite having agreed to the battle in the first place. Still, to know that her first time was such a ... such a disappointment, wasn't something she could easily shake. Like other firsts that the young mare would experience, her first spar would be something she carried with her forever. And now, looking through the bitterly clear lens of hindsight, she regretted not putting more forethought into it.
But her Father had also taught her not to dwell on the past, and despite her past decisions sitting heavily in the back of her throat like bile, she tried to do just that. Instead, Tae tried to direct her thoughts towards Gaucho's more positive teachings. The Wildfire had taken almost every opportunity presented to him, to train his body in new ways. He trained in the rain, in the snow, and in the blistering heat. He trained in the skies on overcast days, and during thunderstorms. He trained on the ice, the snow, and the muddy earth. He trained in any and all conditions, so that regardless of what his opponents threw his way, he was ready for it. That was why, as the days grew shorter and the temperatures dropped, Tae left the warm refuge of the Throat to seek out a different climate.
She sands felt familiar beneath her hooves, if not slightly more rigid than she was used to, but it was the wind that got to her. The wind peeled her feathers back and penetrated her body with icy fingers that threatened to work their way into her core. Unlike Erthe, Tae preferred the long days and sweltering heats of Tallsun, and felt entirely sluggish like some cold blooded creature during Frostfall. And this wasn't even the worst of it yet.
Neither Mal nor Hel were particularly pleased to be out on the beach either, but they bore Tae's leadership without question. She had always been the alpha in the pack, and had never steered them wrong. They too were looking forward to extending the limits of their abilities on the battlefield, but without the emotional attachment to Gaucho as fuel, they were less convinced that this exercise needed to be done in the cold.
Sky- Mal suddenly snapped into Tae's mind. Simultaneously the mare also heard Hel's voice. -Fall-. Narrowing her pale gaze, Tae looked up, in time to see what it was her two companions had already spotted.
"What the-" Tae mumbled, unsure if the mare above her was falling, or flying. Staring dumbstruck (for horses didn't just fall out of the sky), Tae realized too late that Erthe's descent was more kamikazee than control, and was forced to scramble out of the way. Though Tae was fast, Erthe's descent was faster. The pale mare clipped Tae's hindquarter on the right, thrusting her hip awkwardly to the left. Despite Tae's familiarity with moving on the sands, she was unfamiliar with horses falling out of the sky and landing on her. Pain radiated down her right side as she scrambled to keep her momentum moving forward to distance herself from the flying trainwreck. An incoherent slurry of curse words in both the native tongue, and her Father's tongue, left her mouth as her right hind-leg touched the ground again to propel her forwards.
Snarling in response to his bonded's pain, Hel called down a shower of hellfire from the blustery sky. Pockets of fire appeared and fell down around them, oblivious of the icy winter winds that had pulled Erthe from the sky in the first place.
With her balance regained and the pain in her hindquarter at a more manageable level, Tae turned back around to face her attacker. Had the pale mare fallen on her, on purpose? It was possible. But Tae was here to spar, and she would take any opportunity which presented itself.
Besides, Erthe attacked first, right?
With a war cry that would likely have made Gaucho chuckle, Tae lunged back towards where she had been standing. Her goal was to collide her left shoulder against Erthe's, hopefully destroying whatever balance the pale mare might have gathered while her back was turned. And, should Erthe try to take to the skies, Tae's attack could be executed there as well, or so Tae believed. So far, Erthe hadn't shown even an ounce of competence in the sky, making Tae feel confident she could overtake her there, as well as on the sands.
WC: 800
Attack: 1/3
Erthe clips Tae's right hindquarter with her fall. Hel rains down hellfire, and Tae turns back and tries to run into Erthe's shoulder with her own.
I'm going to do my teaching notes based on the categories of the rubric! Overall, wonderful post! You set up the setting really well!
REALISM
When I read this attack, I sort of made a :/ face. I think it's quite realistic to have Erthe blown off course and for her to falter, I'm just not sure that it makes sense for her to tumble all the way to the beach and seemingly crash-land. But this is where the anatomy gets sort of weird, because it's almost like we simultaneously allow that pegasi can be lifted by their wings (and so presumably have lighter bones? If not their wings would need to be HUGE), but that they are also just as big and sturdy as the rest of Helovia. So on the one hand, could a strong breeze blow a bird off course and send it down to the beach? Sure. And it could probably take the hit and bounce back up. Could a full grown mare fall from the sky and hit something on the shore and walk it off? I'm less sure of that. So realism-wise, I don't actually know where this fits, due to our weird pegasi anatomy. Not necessarily a critique, just something to consider when planning attacks.
I'd also caution you against attacks of this sort, because if Tae somehow doesn't roll damage against Erthe, then you've fallen from the skies, hit a solid target, and somehow gotten away unscathed, which IS unrealistic. So be careful not to put your character into a situation where they should realistically be taking damage from the environment already.
EMOTION
Lots of description about the weather and how Erthe feels about it, in comparison with the "oh shit oh shit oh shit" feeling I would have expected at falling towards the beach and towards a target. You've mentioned panic, but does Erthe feel bad about potentially knocking someone out? Is she going to be embarrassed? And since this will be a spar, and Erthe is already concerned about her training, I was expecting some foreshadowing about how Erthe was going to play this afterwards. Something like ... "Well, sometimes battles are chaotic. I guess I'd better just go with this."
PROSE
Good! I don't think I saw any typos - and there was just one place where you switched tenses ( Round and round she spun until the world becomes a blur of blue and gray and sandy white, and somewhere in the midst of all of this she noticed something dark in her path where she hadn't seen anything before. should have been 'become' given your current tense.) So nothing really to say here at all!
READABILITY
I would have liked a bit more information about Erthe's actually attack. There is a fine line between being vague and powerplaying, and it can be difficult to parse out an attack without stepping more to one side than the other. But as you have it, basically Erthe is flailing downwards towards.. ??? You leave it entirely up to me what part of Erthe's body hits, as well as who it hits - it could be Tae, it could be her hellhound or wolf, or hell, it could be a rock. Erthe might not know what she's careening towards or what part of her body will hit, but as the writer you can give some contextual clues. "At the rate of her revolutions it would likely be her hooves which struck first.." etc.
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Crash Course [Erthë vs Tae]
HP: 1100
