. .FAQ. .
Welcome to the Frequently Asked Questions page. Actually, most of
the following is rarely asked, but we didn't want to call this
the Frequently Unasked Questions because that acronym sounds
lewd. Maintained by GdbyMrBond.
"Just
what IS Caerleon?" More to
come!
Sound question. According to our mythology, Caerleon is the very
first Kingdom to appear on the Moon, long before the Silver
Millennium and lasting just as long, if not more. Caerleon was
young when the Moon was young, hence the varying environments
found here: mountains, deserts, forests, lakes, oceans.
Footnote: Caerleon is the original name of Camelot in the
Arthurian legends. You may have noticed quite a few references to
King Arthur in the game: the Faerie realm Avalon is the name of
the resting place of Arthur and his knights. And the many
Counties of Caerleon are all named after various knights of the
Round Table.
"How complex is the game mythology?"
Quite complex. The background of Caerleon and its theology are both entirely fictional, with only references and moderations of actual cultures and religions. According to the game mythology, there is an eternal war between Light and Darkness ocurring, which has only recently created a front on the Material Plane, with we humans as the targets. The Light and Darkness all have their various fictional heroes, villains, artifacts, talismen, holidays and rituals. We make them up as we go along. There is an established religion on the Moon, but we purposely keep it vague. It's a sort of pseudo-Christianity thing. As such, we ask that members use their imaginations when dealing with this subject: no direct references to actual religions and histories (for example, don't say your character witnessed the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ or is the deity of the Hindus, Muslims, Wiccans, etc. The names of those deities may be used, but change the backstory. Names of various nationalities are accepted, so as long as you recognize that these names are now native to Caerleon ONLY! (we have villains with French names, heroes with Japanese, for example) The reason being that Caerleon's timeline is before any actual civilizations on Earth.
The vagueness of Caerleon's universe is on purpose, to allow members more creative license with their characters. Just as long as you do not claim your hero serves under God (Caerleon is, at best, agnostic) or your villain is a minion of Lucifer (there is no single Devil! We have thirteen different demons; Darkness has a coalition leadership).
"Explain this Order to me."
This subject is fun. The Order of Azazrael is a loosely organized
collection of villains from all backgrounds (which gives more
creative license to our members), herded into Caerleon with the
objective of destroying it. The Order (as it is commonly known)
is led by Azazrael, the Maiden of Misery (more on her later).
Aside from being an age-old demoness, she is also an egotist. The
Order of Azazrael has been around for almost as long as Caerleon;
hence the denizens of the Moon Kingdom know very much of their
threat.
The Order is led by several demons (known as demonic hosts) with
devils ranking just below. Below them are all sorts of spirits,
undead, indigenous monsters, and humans who have been corrupted
by Darkness. The Order has many members, numbering in the
hundreds of thousands, although no one has ever taken count. The
villains of the game tend to be stronger than the heroes, simply
because the Order has more powerful backgrounds, and it has more
influence in Caerleon than the Senshi.
The Order's main base is the Shadowy Woods, where the Altar of
Azazrael is located. The Altar is the focal point for all the
evil energies the Order thrives on. All over Caerleon are other
lairs kept by the Order (the Forgotten Tower, the Grim Tomb, the
Chamber of Bone, etc, etc).
The Order are not your average Sailor Moon villains. For
starters, the Order's members are all intensely smart and
cunning, with not a whit of cuteness to be found in ANY of them,
and they never try the same scheme twice (traits rarely found on
the show). Luckily for Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon, the Order was
wiped out around the time that the Silver Millennium began its
rise to power. We're getting ahead of ourselves here, but ... The
Order did succeed in scarring the Moon into a lifeless wasteland
of its former self (Caerleon) which is why the Moon looks the way
it does today. The Order eventually failed in destroying the
mortals there, but that joy was reserved for another evil...
"There's a lot of talk about planes and realities. Why?"
Again, this is more game mythology. Accordingly, there are three
different planes (or realms, or realities, or whatever you wish
to call them) in all Creation: the Ethereal, the Astral, and the
Material (also known as the Mortal plane). The demons and angels
of the game all come from the Ethereal realm, where they make
their homes in places known as Heaven and Hell (but there are
literally dozens of other names for these places). Lesser beings,
such as the Faeries, hail from the Astral plane, which is also
known as the "planes of the dead" because the souls of
mortal humans ascend to the Astral plane. Finally, there is the
Material plane, where we humans dwell. Caerleon is located in the
Material plane.
"Explain who the Evils are."
The Evils are the thirteen beings who have ruled over all of
Darkness since the Beginning. There were originally only seven,
but that number has jumped up six more, presumably because the
Servants of Darkness had a slew of victories over the Light in
some ages past and gained new ranks. Here is what we know (mostly from the rantings of Azazrael and what information is stored in Caerleon's Monastery):
The Prime Evils (strongest) are known as "Fathers" to
the other ten Evils. The Primes are Mephisto, Lord of Hatred;
Baal, Lord of Destruction; and Beelzebub, Lord of Terror.
The remaining ten Evils, known as the "Lesser" and
referring to each other as brother and sister are, in born order ...
Azmodan, Lord of Sin; Antedeus, Lord of Betrayal; Belial, Lord of Lies; Hubris, Queen of Vanity; Megalo, Lord of Greed; Lurconis, Lord of Gluttony; Azazrael, Maiden of Misery; Moloch, Lord of Pain; Lilith, Lady of Lust; and Kristatos, Lord of Flies.
The Evils are special in their names, also: the names are unique, specific, and reflect their personas (many of the Evils' names are found in archaic languages). Lesser demons will have hodgepodge names (Moonslime Brokenclaw) or a title describing their specialty (The Unraveler, The Flayer).
"...And the Light?"
The Light is a general term to describe all those who stand for
good (again, allowing prospective members more freedom when
applying characters). The Servants (those somewhat passive individuals who declare allegiance to good) and Champions (active warriors engaging in battle with Evil) of Light are as varied as those of Darkness. The Soldiers of Light of the game are mostly mortals (the Senshi we all know and love) and their different allies. There are the Faeries, who are more of an independent group but sympathizing wit the mortals. There are also beings we call angels (or SHOULD be, but we haven't any in the game as of now; apply as one and help out!) but those that once protected Caerleon have all been exterminated by the Order. Other beings of the Astral Plane fight alongside the Soldiers of Light.