Lord of Azure Flame

An RP started by some crazy people over at the Serenes Forest forums, a Fire Emblem fanbase. It follows the misadventures of the wielders of the Crimson Weapons, a set of weapons that might either free or defeat the eponymous Lord of Azure Flame, the demon king.

Thus far^[when?], our player characters (whether or not they are heroes is debatable) have assembled the various Crimson weapons. In the process, they have gotten themselves on the wanted list in one of the three most powerful countries in the region, fled same, and gotten in a truly astonishing number of fights, resulting in some permanent enemies: Helenos, a dragon who seeks the Crimson Weapons for her own reasons, the Septimian Reform, a religious movement that condemns the weapons as demonic, and several other groups with less clear motives. At the same time, civil war has broken out in another of the big three countries, the third has attempted to invade it, and a powerful demon has halted the invasion simply by eating a fair amount of the forces on either side. The group has begun to whittle down the number of enemies, leaving Helenos, the demons, and the Reformists as the primary threats again. Currently they are on a bit of a Sidequest returning the princess Charlotte to her conquered nation in order to try and liberate it, and a meeting between the various countries to try and organize a less ragtag force against the demons is set to take place after they have done so.

The Lord of Azure Flame has been moribund since 2014, but all its content can still be found at the forums, starting here.

Character tropes go on the character page.

Tropes used in Lord of Azure Flame include:

• Aerith and Bob: Some of the characters from particular countries hold true to internal naming conventions, but characters not from those countries have names ranging from mundane to strange.
• Aborted Arc: Various story branches have been abandoned or put on the back burner because of player disinterest.
• Anti-Hero: The party is full of them as follows:
  • Type II: Kelas, Alex, Alferis, Esphyr, Helios
  • Type III: Morgan, Luc, Iso
  • Type V: Reika
• Automaton Horses: Players (especially the group's resident equestrian)have attempted to avert this with horses/wyverns/pegasi, but due to the pace of the RP it still tends to happen, at least with regards to food.
• Attempted Rape: Several of the villains have a decided disregard for consent.
• Batman Gambit: Attempted by some players. Not always successful.
• Bad Dreams: Very common, unsurprisingly since so many characters have troubled pasts.
• White and Grey vs Black Morality: While the group has many good people in it such as Tessa, Arrin and the like, some of the group are morally ambiguous such as Reika and some members are willing to work with evil individuals to defeat the demons. Their foes however, are almost entirely on the black scale of morality.
• Bubblegloop Swamp: One of the locations visited; site of a battle with the rot dragon Helenos.
• Clingy MacGuffin: The Crimson Weapons, unless they are severed. Of course, that tends to cause its own share of problems.
• Continuity Lock Out: A potential criticism, as the RP is on its 25th chapter and still going. However, efforts have been made to combat this.
• Crapsack World: From the very start of the RP, the world has been constantly called a horrible mess. Most nations are in tatters or barely holding together and only three nations are actually considered to be in a state that could be considered 'functional'. Given that two countries are now having civil wars, it can probably only get worse.
• Dark and Troubled Past: It's easier to count the characters that don't have one.
• Darker and Edgier: Certainly a lot darker than regular Fire Emblem, even FE4.
• Dysfunction Junction: Played straight with both the characters and player base. Rare is the day when either group is in full consensus about what to do and not at each others throats in some way, shape, or form.
• Empathic Weapon: The Crimson Weapons, to varying degrees.
• Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Jerdonian is an exact copy.
• Everything Trying to Kill You: In addition to the major recurring threats of the Lord and his minions, Helenos, the Septimian Reform, and at least one shady group seeking to claim the weapons, the group regularly encounters threats that consist solely of being in the wrong place at the wrong time: bandits, invasion forces, local minor demons, more bandits, border patrols who misidentify threats, the party members themselves, and the weather.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Animals react badly to the presence of demons, if said demons can't or don't mask the effect. It appears to be possible for humans to develop this sense too, though the Crimson Weapons tend to cause false positives for humans.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Zaftra is based on Russia; Jerdon, at least linguistically, is based on France. The nomadic tribes are based on a mix of several real-world groups.
• Gambit Pileup: Given that it's easier to count the players that aren't plotting against each other, it was inevitable. In-story it's also true, with multiple villainous factions out to get the party.
• Horsing Around: Some of the PCs' horses (or pegasi, or wyverns) have distinct and not always friendly personalities. Examples should go under the mount's owner on the character page.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Under the previous GM, chapters were generally named on the GM's whims, not by what was going on at the time. This has (some would say thankfully) changed.
• Indy Ploy: Many. Do not always end well.
• Loads and Loads of Characters: Just see the sheet...
• Love Triangle: With so many characters, there's sure to always be at least one.
• New Neighbours as the Plot Demands: Partially responsible for the staggering number of enemies; earlier on, creating a new enemy group or conflict was a frequent player response to boredom. Continues less drastically in the form of throwaway NPCs created left and right, though this is justified by the party moving around so much.
• Not in This For Your Revolution: Applies to many characters who find themselves brought along with the main group.
• Out-Gambitted: With so many people attempting to play Xanatos Speed Chess, people inevitably lose.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Given the makeup of the group, you'd never expect that they're trying to save the world.
• Real Dreams Are Weirder: Played straight and subverted, at different times by different characters.
• Run for the Border: The inevitable conclusion to the aforementioned "criminal arc".
• Schrödinger's Gun: There's been quite a fair bit of world-building flexibility.
• Sleep Cute: Daaawww. Multiple instances.
• Stoners Are Funny: Occasionally applied as a one-off gag.
• Traveling At the Speed of Plot: More than one instance.
• Wham! Episode: The thirteenth chapter sees a major character's Crimson weapon severed and an allied NPC brutally killed. After more severances, the twentieth chapter sees several characters come very close to death in an attempt to get one of the weapons back, and then drops a civil war on the country they're currently in.
  • Chapter 21: Eric.
• Wizarding School: Subverted. TISME may indeed teach its students magic, but The Institute for the Study of Magical Elements does just what its name implies it does. Namely, they are there to study and advance the cause of magic, not serve as a school; more of a research university than a teaching university.
• Zany Scheme: Many characters and players have these.