Fire Emblem Artier Saga

I found the text records from an old FE RP I did several years ago and started rereading it, and got an idea to make it a bit more streamlined and turn it into a story rather than an rp. Moving on to my reasoning for posting this is I was wondering if anyone wanted to make their own character to insert since we had some drop outs in various parts that we couldn't smooth out easily other than ignore their existence. So if anyone was interested in submitting I am going to leave the character format below in the spoiler tag, as well as the map of the area that the story takes place in.

Any additional questions please post them and I will try to answer to the best of my ability.

Format

Spoiler:

Map

Spoiler:

That's alot of laguz, I'd be interested in seeing how they were designed.
Also, where'd you get the map? Did you guys make that? That's pretty cool.

The map was made by one of the admins who ran the rp. The three admins who ran it spent a lot of time setting up the rp up.

Felt I should post the backgrounds of each nation.

Caerminan Empire - The home and birth place of the study of the Dark Elder Magic,
Caemina remains the largest empire to date, with its current Emperor Valstin Caermina XIV,
practitioners of elder magic are on the top of society with everyone else at the bottom,
Morphs made by court shamans act as the secret police enforcing public order and ensuring
loyalty to the throne.

The Republic of Corica - The newest nation of Aterier, founded by merchants and people wanting to
escape the looming shadows of Vallius and Caermina its an open refuge for anyone and welcomes
people from all walks of life, regardless of background.

Vallius Theocracy - The second largest country and the birth place of light magic,
the theocrat constantly saying Caermina must be annihilated, often leading to small
skirmishes between the two, Vallius having a much similar society ironically, anyone
outside of the church cannot advance in society.

Manchurian Military Republic - A country completely focused on building their military partially forced to
due to their positioning close to Caermina and Vallius, have a long and proud history of the best
cavalry units in the world and boast other strong branches of military as well.

Nomadic Kingdom of Kemet - The nomads of Kemet banded together not long after Caermina tried to annex
them leading to the founding of this kingdom where the 37 tribes of the desert came together under
a single ruler it has been a fairly stable kingdom though rumors of a inheritance dispute over the
next ruler is starting to spread through the kingdom.

The Confederation of Hrunder - Hrunder is a small confederation of organized pirates who for the most
part demostrate restraint in their raiding only stealing from people rather than senseless murder and
pillaging, Hrunder is left alone mainly due to the dangerous reef maze that surrounds the island
making it hard to ever approach the nation without guidance.

The Mageocracy of Raxputa - A neutral nation dedicated to the pursuits of all anima magic most citizens
of Raxputa are at least trained a little in the arts of magic while those who lack the skill serve
as the military of Raxputa favoring the flight cavalries of Pegasi and Wyverns.

Desa - The Laguz nation of Desa has no clear leader each tribe has their respective kings who serve as
the beast laguz leaders often making decisions and trying to benefit each group equally, they often
do business with Vallius and Manchur.

Trabera - Home of the Laguz Bird Tribes the birds often do business with most of Artier, they often
work as merchants dealing with goods from different nations that refuse to trade with one another,
the kings of each group let each do as they wish often only uniting if a major problem has come up.

Tirzelus - Home of the Dragon Laguz who are probably the most enigmatic of the tribes they often deal
with no one and choose to remain on their island, you occasionally have the adventurous dragon who
crosses the sea to explore the rest of Artier.

Here's a list of characters we have so far.
Adrian - Shaman, Mid-length messy black hair, dull blue eyes with simple glasses, dark green over coat over grey shirt and pants, shin-length boots, a travel bag over his shoulder.
Darius - Myrmidon, Neatly trimmed auburn hair, brown eyes, simple dark red shirt with leather chestpiece and gauntlets, brown pants with leather boots.
Vesper - Aqua Mage, Mid-length blue hair, cyan eyes, dark blue cloak over black shirt, pants and simple boots, carries a knife for protection.
Astor - Red Dragon, Short brown hair, red eyes, Simple green shirt, black pants and boots.
Neferiti - Cleric, Long black hair, blue eyes, simple white coat, grey shirt, brown pants and boots.
Zee - Thief, dull red hair covered by a green bandana, yellow eyes, Brown cloak over dark red shirt and pants with black boots.
Richard - Myrmidon, green hair, brown eyes, green cloak, dark blue shirt, brown pants and boots, right arm covered by a full leather gauntlet.
Ellen - Wyvern Knight, white hair tied back into a pony tail, green eyes, dark blue shirt with simple grey armor, white pants and simple grey armored boots.
Uriel - Paladin, short grey hair, blue eyes, white shirt and pants, white armor.
Justin - Cavalier, short brown hair, brown eyes, black shirt and white pants, dark blue armor.
Erik - Soldier, mid length blonde hair, green eyes, black shirt and white pants, dark red armor.
Hannah - Armor Knight, short blonde hair, brown eyes, dark grey shirt and pants, black armor.
Irina - Bard, long blonde hair, green eyes, dark blue cloak, white shirt and pants, boots.
Jun - Monk, bald, brown eyes, simple white priests robes, and boots.
Pamela - Cleric, mid-length purple hair, clear blue eyes, violet cloak, light blue shirt, black skirt and knee length boots
Julia - Wind Mage, long black hair, purple eyes, black cloak, white dress with black boots.
Kazan - Lightning Mage, messy short green hair, blue eyes, brown cloak, dark red shirt, white pants and boots.
Shelia - Heron, long white hair, dark green eyes, grey wings, black dress.
Tanya - Myrmidon,
Adonis - Wind Mage,

Still have room if people want to add a character to this.

*updated with most characters appearances.

Alright now it begins.

Prologue: On the Run

The sun was peeking over the horizon signaling the start of a new day for Cambyses, capital of Caermina, people were rising and heading to work. The city itself rested under the shadow of a large mountain. The mountain was more than what it appeared, it housed an immense fortress that served as the palace of the emperor of Caermina. The Grey Fortress as it was called was the center of all dark magic research in Artier, countless students of the art headed there hoping to make a name for themselves. Caermina had two types of people, people who could use dark magic and people who could not. Those gifted with the ability to use dark magic often offered their services to Caermina's Emperor Valstin in hopes of becoming a member of the nobility, as most mage's in his service were rewarded for their work.

In Artier, Caermina was a country very few visited for fear of its odd culture and the morph loyalty police. Morphs are beings born of dark magic, they were feared for their beauty that belied their more vicious nature, most were prone to violent impulses and had little restraint when it came to killing someone. Their undying loyalty to their creator also made them a great tool, never questioning orders and always performing tasks flawlessly. The people of Caermina did not fear them as outsiders did as morphs were part of their daily lives, they saw morphs as enforcers of the law.

Today was a momentous day, the presentation of the Emperor's heir to the public, many were already gathering where he was to be presented. Eager to see who would eventually become their next monarch. Though fate's wheels had begun to turn in a way no one had expected. What had started out as a day to be remembered would serve as a catalyst for what would be known as the largest scale war in the history of Artier.

Darius opened the door from his room checking his equipment one final time, solidifying in his mind that he had everything he needed. His hand slid to his rapier wrapping his hand around it readying it to be drawn in a second's notice. He hoped he would be able to side step most of the guards since they were probably forming up in the square where the ceremony would be taking place. He rounded the staircase heading down he had done this route hundreds of times, when he visited the library to study various subjects.

He stopped at a corner checking around it for guards or morphs, “No one they must all be at the square boxing in the crowd,” he thought as he continued, “Take this corridor all the way to the end and exit out onto the fortress wall,” he checked for his grapple hook, “Then lower myself down the wall and find a caravan leaving the city.” he went over the final steps of his plan.

Darius continued down the corridor approaching the exit out onto the walls, as he was about to round the corner a shadow moved to his right, he immediately drew his rapier thrusting at it. The shadow deflected the blow and revealed itself, “And where are you going,” the morphs' features were lit up by the sun coming in through one of the arrow slits, his face pale as ice, framed in black hair with a pair of red eyes, they possessed a intent to kill if needed.

Darius wasted no time it was a morph of the emperor he had to kill the morph. He immediately readied his rapier and charged in again hoping to land a blow that would kill the magical being. The morph grinned as he deflected the blow again and drew his short sword up in counter attack. Darius side stepped and aimed a blow at the morph's exposed left side. His blade connected but the morph didn't notice simply backing up and appraising his opponent, smiling the whole time, “A little old for this aren't you my student.” His eyes lit up with a fire that would consume forests as he rushed in towards Darius short sword ready to strike.

Darius backed up to the wall reaching for a tapestry on the wall, he threw it over the morph, buying him time to reposition himself, and hopefully end this fight as it was getting loud. He raised his rapier and attacked again. The morph still wrapped up in the tapestry was unable to block, Darius hit what looked like the head the mass stopped moving, carefully he kicked the extended leg of the morph who lay motionless underneath the tapestry.

Darius, feeling sure of himself on the morph being dead, spun on his heel and ran out the door looking for a non conspicuous spot on the wall he could lower himself on. Finding a good spot that no street had a good view of, he secured his grapple hook to the ledge of the wall and began to slide down the wall carefully. Reading the bottom he tugged on the hook till it dislodged collecting and putting it away he began looking for a way out of the city. “My best bet is a merchant's caravan,” he thought to himself pulling his cloak's hood over his head.

Darius enjoyed the sights of the city, it was probably the second time he had seen Cambyses from the street perspective. It had a certain feeling to it, almost a secure calm which not every country would be able to boast about from what Darius understood. He began to look for a sign of an inn or tavern hoping to find out if anyone was in need of a bodyguard of some kind. He saw a large inn located close to a portcullis that led out of the city he entered. The smell of ale and foods of various types invaded his senses, the owner, who was cleaning a dish, looked up, “Welcome friend what can I do you for, a room, some food and drink?”

Darius closed the distance, “Do you know of any merchant's that are hiring guard's right now?”

The owner closed his eyes thinking, “Yeah there was a fella looking for some guards for his trip back to Kemet, dangerous territory, all those nomads along the way, would make sense for him to want some guards.” he paused, “I think he said he was going to be leaving soon through the south gate, to get there head down the street to the right of the inn and it's a straight shot.”

Darius put a couple coins on the counter, “Thank you, sir,” he turned and headed for the door. Turning and heading down the street the inn keeper referred to.
Running down the street hoping the merchant had not left yet, he closed in on the street that led to the southern gate. He saw a man sitting with a wagon, two armed men stood with him. He approached waving to get the man's attention.

“What can I do for you sir?” The merchant turned and got off his cart, “Looking to buy something before I leave.”

“I heard from the inn keeper you're hiring body guards,” Darius paused, “I would like work for you.”

“I was about to leave,” The merchant paused thinking and looking at his two other body guards, one of large build with a fairly big ax strapped to his back, and the average build with a bow, “Sure, if your willing, it will be a long journey though and I won't pay you till I reach my destination with my goods intact.”

“Thank you sir,” Darius nodded, “I am Darius, a simple swordsman if you will.”

“Nice to meet you,” the merchant began to climb into his cart, “My name is Nicholas, that's Jack,” he pointed to the ax wielder then switched to the archer, “And the other one is Thomas.” he got into his seat and grabbed his horses reigns, “Hope your in for a long trip Kemet is a good full week's journey.”

“I will be fine,” Darius said looking back at the looming mountain fortress as he passed through the gates, “I have escaped that prison finally.” he thought to himself.