The buried city: where deep elves vie for political power, and tieflings run sprawling markets. Despite its isolation, Metra'lerith is a bustling gem marked by ambition and wit. If you're not smart you can easily be swindled by the movers and shakers, but if you can make it in Metra' then you can make it anywhere.

Howdy! I'm recruiting players for a pbp campaign I'll be running on discord. This game will take place in my homebrew setting of Kiaya, specifically in the gritty metropolis known as Metra'lerith. It's a high fantasy setting with touches of science fantasy and a contemporary flair. All of the major cities are loosely based on modern real world locales, with Metra' obviously being based on New York City. Any official races and classes are allowed, and homebrew is allowed on a case by case basis pending my review.

-As for character sheets, you are welcome to use ddb, dicecloud, or free text via google docs, as long as I have easy access to it.

-We'll be playing on my Discord server, using the plugin Avrae to roll dice for stats and for checks and saves throughout the game

-To apply, please comment on this post with your name or nickname, your preferred pronouns, and a short paragraph description of the character you would like to play. I haven't decided yet how many players I'll be accepting or how long I'll leave applications open for, but I will send you a pm with an invite to the server once you've been accepted

- Here is a google doc with some lore on Metra'lerith: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jVhX6AZ1r55zsmkWLkQcDXZ4yONX2vg4IGS0W_0xC20/edit# there are references in there to the larger setting, if you have interest in those I can fill you in on specifics. Otherwise there's still lots of room to create in this world and I value players that can add their own ideas to it!

- We'll be starting at Level 3, and I'm requiring that all the characters will start off living in the same building in Southtown. You can be a longtime resident or a new tenant; this is just to avoid a cliche tavern meeting or collective imprisonment. I'll provide more details on the building and your landlord later ;)

I look forward to seeing what you all come up with! 

Very interested! Thinking about making a merchant, a thri-kreen, or a pit guard character.

What level will the party be? Also, do you have any homebrew in mind for a thri-kreen if I choose to play one, or should I provide some if I decide to make a thri-kreen?

Awesome! We’ll be starting at level 3, and I do have a thri-kreen homebrew for the setting.

Very interested to play in an urban setting. My idea would be an elderly changeling bard, who is trying to get going in theatre in his later years.

He/him, Plaque on dndbeyond, can type in my discord later if you want me in. The character would have a favoured appearance and stick to that for the better part of his days. Another idea for this character is instead of being an old actor, he would be an old gambler. I like both ideas, but the first one seems more functional. 

Would you like a physical description?

Interested.  Looking at some character builds now.

Hey! The setting looks really interesting. My idea for a character is an elf cleric of St Celucian who's been given a secret assignment by The Gleamers, or maybe has some dirt on them? And is working to complete it.

Let me know what you think.

Josh

(he/him)

I've got a young elf thief with visions of helping his fellow street urchins by robbing the homes of the rich ready to go.

 Orphaned or abandoned on the streets of Metra'lerith, he doesn't know, but young deep elf Fenran was adopted by the cruel Master Ostoroth and trained to pick pockets, rob homes, and occasionally kill for his master's profit. The master was a monstrous father figure, but even more monstrous were the nobles that treated Fenran and his brothers and sisters as disposable trash. At long last, Fenran has escaped The Stairs, rents a small room on Southtown, and seeks to help the poor youth by bringing the rich down a peg and spreading their wealth among those who need it.

nurglich, he/him

When you say deep elves, what race is that? Based off of the description and lore I’m not assuming drow.

- You’re welcome to add a physical description but it’s not required at this point.

- the deep elves are mechanically the same as drow but with different flavor. Their skin is pale, nearly translucent, with hair that ranges from white to the lightest tints of pastel yellow, blue, or pink. Their society is meritocratic and they value ambition and personal accomplishment above everything. So no they’re not evil, but a deep elf who ruthlessly crushes his opponents and takes advantage of those around him would be just as praised as one who took a nobler path to reach the same results. The ends always justify the means.

LlamaOfChaos, he/him although for this campaign the character that forms in my head is female

She is a deep elf monk trained in the Way of the Open Hand. She has a background of city watch/investigator as she is a cop, maybe newly promoted to investigator. As a monk she would have been trained by those affiliated with the Gleamers, but she considers herself to be apolitical, focused on the job. She just moved into the building in the past few months.

Could I see the thri-kreen homebrew? Before I decide on a character, I want to make sure I won't be screwing myself over if the race is angled towards a different build.

Actually, scrap that, I've got a new concept for a derro character, and I've got a very good homebrew race from Kobold Press, an excellent third party publisher. I'll PM you with details.

Actually, scrap it again, sorry, I just realized that I really do not need to be playing a homebrew race, and I don't entirely feel like going through the hassle of putting it in DDB. I'll post a character soon.

Quote from WoobyDoobyDoo >>

Actually, scrap it again, sorry, I just realized that I really do not need to be playing a homebrew race, and I don't entirely feel like going through the hassle of putting it in DDB. I'll post a character soon.

 
haha fair enough. I’d say Dicecloud is really excellent for homebrew content but good god it is a pain to set up initially.

Hi there! I'm interested in this campaign. My name on DnDBeyond is RemCultist. I'm a guy, so he/him work, but I don't really mind what you call me. The character I'd like to play as would be a male Elf (Eladrin), who's class is Blood Hunter. He's a reserved 20-something year old who recently moved into the building. I haven't figured how religion plays into his life, but if he does happen to be religious, is there some sort of darker deity? I'm still thinking about a backstory, but I really like the idea of him being a ruthless, exacting fighter, but a methodical, cold individual otherwise. If there's anything that you think should be changed, I can do that. Thanks (:

Spectrum first heard the voices as a toddler. By the time they were ten, they were no longer just voices. They had bodies too, faces and personalities unique to each one. By the time they were an adult, they were one of them. After all, it would be rude to keep the body all to theirself. Soon, they learned that they were more than just voices and bodies and faces and personalities. They were people too. It was hard for them to interact with the world without the body, but they could still do it. They later learned that they didn't really have to share the same body, either. Each one could mold it in their image, and finally become themselves. While others found them odd, they could generally operate well enough in society. Their talents were rather helpful, as well, and they could make a nice income peddling them, which was very useful when you need to rent several rooms to contain all of your imaginary friends.

Spectrum is a changeling psionic soul sorcerer with something along the lines of schizophrenia, but with more than just voices. Their different 'colors', as they call them, actually have bodies and personalities, and can even take over their body. On top of that, their body actually molds to that of the color inhabiting, and the colors who are not currently in the body can still slightly interact with the world, which is essentially how they get their spells.

Forgot to do this earlier, My name's Woobydoobydoo, though I go by The Humbug everywhere else. My preferred pronouns are He/Him, and my preferred phylum is arthropod. I look forward to adventuring with y'all!

Yuknow (you know) on dndbeyond him/he.  Interested in playing a Merchant Tiefling Bard.  Loosely..based off my boss.

60 year old, "Leap'n" Leucis owned and operated, Furnishing Gallery, back in the southern region of the continent.  It was the most successful furniture store for hundreds of miles around.  When he wasn't jumping up and down on furniture, hence the nick name, to prove how durable it was.  You could hear him tell of how his giant tent of a shop sold more furniture per square foot, than any in the land!  He used this statement normally, as a lead in, to owning the greatest furniture store in all the land!  

Leucis was always self motivated, and hard working.  So, after 30 years of wheeling and dealing in furniture, his shop operated like a well oiled time piece.   The only rusty cog, being his son,  Leucis Jr.  Who would time and time again, remind his father, that most of the land considered Metra'lerith to be the greatest city, and if he truly wanted the greatest store, he should surely have a presence there. How Leap'n Leucis was getting on in age though, and how he would be honored to and well suited for the task of establishing that presence for his father and family.  Jr was quite the salesmen in his own right. 

But he would be both ecstatic and disappointed all at once when Leap'n Leucis announced that he would be opening a Furnishing Gallery in Metra'lerith, and he would be making the move himself, leaving the task of running the original store to his son.   "You know what they say, if it is to be, its up to me!"  He told Leucis Jr. on the day he set off for Metra'lerith.

Things were different in Metra'lerith, he didn't have the sway and pull he had back south, here.  There was no room for a giant tent of a store in the Nine Market.  His gold didn't seem to go as far here either.  He was an outsider to members of the guild here, and they didn't seem impressed with his pedigree.  Where he had a manor he called home back in the south, here he made residence in an apartment building.  He didn't complain though, the neighborhood was eclectic and interesting.  The city just seemed to move too fast for a Teifling his age, and though he was able to open a modest shop, his jumping and boasting didn't stand out as much here.  

"Its a fight.  Thats all, damn it! Just another type'a fight!  I love to fight!" He can be heard telling employees on slow days. 'Granny was slow, but also old,' so Leucis felt he had no excuse to make. At 60 he felt he still had plenty of fight left in him.  He'd just keep at it, cause that's what had always worked in life for him.

Quote from RemCultist >>

I haven't figured how religion plays into his life, but if he does happen to be religious, is there some sort of darker deity? 

 
The darker deities primarily worshipped in Metra’ would be:

-Kyrisos, a nature deity who represents the savagery of the natural world. He is typically worshipped in different aspects that take the form of specific predatory animals, so a blood hunter might worship him in the form of a wolf or tiger. In the city, Kyrisians (reflavored Yuan-Ti) worship him as a serpent.

-Magarand, an elemental deity associated with volcanoes, fire, and pure aggression. He is mostly worshipped by the duergar, but could certainly find patronage from a blood hunter, especially one who wreathes  their weapons in flames

That's identifies really well with my character. I'll definitely work on incorporating a slightly darker form of religion into his life, maybe something along the lines of offering the lives of those he kills to Magarand.

 As an Eladrin Elf, Aefir grew up in the Feywild for the majority of his life. Reaching adulthood at 100 human years, Aefir decided to leave the Feywild. Aefir wandered in the Mortal Plane, not sure of what to do. He wasn't a compassionate, caring Elf, or even a haughty, proud one. He was, in accordance with his Winter nature, a cold, methodical Elf, who, while not expressively evil, chaotic, or bloodthirsty, was not afraid of violence, and was rather ruthless in his nature. Aefir had three codes he lived by: (1) his well-being reigned supreme, (2) abuse of the innocent was intolerable, and (3) as a general rule, the breaking of codes and laws, and the betrayal of trust was a sin unimaginable. Along his travels, he had one encounter that nearly killed him, but, in an act of uncharacteristic aggression and violence, was able to slaughter the roadside bandits, and escape. About a day after the encounter, Aefir entered the city of Metra'lerith. After wandering around for a while, Aefir noticed a building that looked like some sort of shrine to a Deity. Aefir entered the shrine, and learned that it was a shrine to Magarand, god of fire and aggression. Aefir, sure that this was the deity responsible for his escape, inquired about how he might become a worshipper of Magarand, and was told that he was able to worship Magarand in his own way, if he pleased. Aefir left the shrine an acolyte of the deity of fire, Magarand, determined to, in some way, win the approval of this being. After leaving the shrine, Aefir went and found a place to lodge, a building in Southtown, and spent the final two days of the week learning about the city he was in.

Aefir Naïlo is a 102 year old Eladrin Elf (Elf equivalent of 19/20 year old) Blood Hunter and has a cold, methodical way about him, which also extends to his ruthlessness. His alignment is Lawful Evil, and, as long as it doesn't conflict with his codes, he will do whatever it takes survive, or better himself off. He interprets the teachings of Magarand a bit differently than most might, and his main show of respect towards Magarand is his violence and ruthlessness towards those opposing him.

Ceuk24 (he/him) both here and on Discord.  Interested in playing a GOO warlock, all about manipulating people.

Very roughly, would be rolling a half-elf or deep elf noble, altercation/power struggle with family leaves her kidnapped and/or dumped in the Underdark (maybe the Hive?) to die.  However, she stumbles upon,or is contacted by, a presence that imbues her with the power to escape to Metra, where she manages to find accommodation to regroup and plot revenge/climb up the ranks/social ladder.

Half-elf would possibly mean coming from somewhere else in Kiaya, if you think this character could be a starter, mind if we chat more in a PM to flesh out the details?

Gronk Dracmirev#2484 on discord. He/Him. Interested in playing a thiefling barbarian. 

Mordecai (Creed) Themos grew up as the third son in a family of priests. As the much younger brother he had to learn to stand up for himself, which he did by learning to channel his anger into a fighting spirit. As he grew he learned and trained in different fighting techniques. His training was noticed by some of the thiefling entrepreneurs who came and worshipped at the temple and the took him on as a bodyguard. 

As he gained experience he moved on to more and more important clients, eventually making his way up to guarding members of an important house. He served well and in favour for many years but as new members of the family came into more prominence they had their own people they wanted to promote. As he grew older he also started making some more mistakes, not fully willing to take into account his own aging. Eventually he made a mistake big enough to be dismissed for. For now he's looking for something to do with the next stage of his life.