The land of fairy tales. No one called it that, of course. They were all under the impression that this was just reality. No one ever got into real existential quandaries about creators and the like. Magic was just something that existed even though every other known concept didn't seem to allow for it. Mystery was the spice of life and the world provided plenty of it. Of course, there were those in the know, that had an affinity for communion with the world beyond the veil, land of the supremely powerful entities that, while not necessarily credited with creation, were certainly unquestioned in their dominion. However, not all of these god-like beings agreed as to how the world should function and thus neither peace nor chaos were allowed to flourish unchallenged. However, balance was rather important to the majority of them, and it would take quite an upheaval below for them to take an active interest in the affairs of lesser creatures.<br/><br/>The four continents housed the various peoples and creatures of myth and the seas housed those that were capable of surviving in the waters. Conflicts of great scale were rare and the world was, for the most part, peaceful without even a hint of unrest that would lead to any major war starting or escalating. Diplomatic relations were good between kingdoms even within the same continent, although squabbles within individual kingdoms were sadly all too frequent, thus creating heroes and villains that become the stuff of legend we all know and love.<br/><br/>A great calamity shook the world one day, however, and things would never be the same. The Southwestern desert of the Eastern Continent saw its greatest, most bountiful kingdom wiped off the face of the earth, sinking into the sand like a ship at sea being pulled into a whirlpool. Even the tip of the tallest spire of the palace was buried beneath nearly a mile of sand. This horror could be witnessed from leagues away, the provinces of fairy tale pan-Asia and fairy tale India were the first to bear witness to this monstrosity. It would have remained a mystery as to who or what was responsible for the devastation but the dark overlord Rumplestiltskin appeared and made it plain he was the guilty party and that he was merely getting started. Anyone who wished to bow down to him and serve in his new kingdom or army was welcome to do so, otherwise the only options available were to fight and almost certainly die, or run as fast as they could and try to escape before he claimed the land they stood upon and made that impossible. The entirety of the Eastern continent was falling quickly, and nothing spreads faster than bad news, thus the other continents quickly found out that they were not safe from this threat.<br/><br/>Armies and great warriors from various kingdoms led a resistance effort, crossing the seas to their Eastern neighbors and meeting the growing forces of Rumplestiltskin to try and end his rule right then and there. It didn't go very well. It displeased Rumplestiltskin to have to slay so many powerful warriors when he could have used them to bolster his forces, but such was life. It would certainly serve as a warning to any others who wished to resist, how futile an effort it would be. His own armies were not without their losses, of course, but once he stepped in it was all over. It was so hard to find decent servants that wouldn't let him down constantly.<br/><br/>It was clear that mere soldiers were not going to win this war. Only those with gifts could combat a fiend with the combined magical talents of the three known types of magic. And he was growing in strength every moment. Time could not be wasted. It was time for anyone able to answer the call to stand against the end of the free world.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>Please observe the posting format as much as possible for each post, friends, to help facilitate easy tracking.<br/><br/><div class="codeheader">Code: <a class="codeoperation" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="return smfSelectText(this);">[Select]</a></div><pre style="margin: 0; padding: 0;"><code class="bbc_code">[floatright][IMG padding=10 height=200]http://(your face claim of choice-feel free to use different ones each time as long as it's still the same person's face[img]<br/>[b][b]Character Name/Alias[/b]: <br/>[b]Location[/b]: Continent (N, S, E, W), Province (Pan-Asia, Africa, Russia, South America, etc.), and Kingdom/Territory (Which royal controls this turf or is it like international waters?)<br/>[b]Current Action(s)[/b]: Traveling, searching, fighting, training, whatever you want<br/>[b]Tagging[/b]: None, NPCs or actual player characters[/b][/floatright]</code></pre>