"Time is of the essence, hero. Will you ascend to the Throne? Or will you fall in the Cradle of Gods?"
—TheNohen, in the sign-up post
Cradle of Gods
is a Play-by-Post game hosted on the TVTropes forums.
In a fantasy world known simply as the Realms, godhood works...different. For starters, one must earn it by traveling through Shards, defeating Pretenders, and reaching the Temple of Divinity to claim a Throne. For another, even if you do, you won't rule forever—inevitably, the gods will die, the Cradle will open, and new gods must take up the Thrones.
Thus is the focus of the RP—the beginning of a new Cycle, and the journey to ascension. Specifically, it focuses on one particular Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, who end up traveling together on their quest for godhood.
Current members of this group include:
- Thrice-Owned Sword Inscribes The Horizon ("Sword"), an Oni guildswoman. Her Throne is Greed.
- Valentin "Val" Trémaux, a Rousson-born assassin. Disturbingly cheerful in spite of that, though there's more to him under the surface. His Throne is Joy.
- Poppy Blake, a Scion Sorcerer from the land of Kamelotte. Her Throne is Hope.
- Caitlin "Cait" Jessamine Holloway, a pirate captain from Panthalassa. Her Throne is Oceans.
- Shu Masaru, an undead general. His Throne is War.
- Nasira, a former slave fleeing her masters. Her Throne is Liberation.
- Kimiko Gomon, a Ratfolk former performer and current thief. Her Throne is Justice.
- Mori no Natsumi, a Kitsune of Onogoro's woods. Her Throne is Seasons.note
- Eines al'Maelenn, a fairy who has taken up the quest for godhood in her mother's name. Her Throne is Magic.note
- Seriel, a strange, unique individual made from two dying souls. Their Throne is Order.
- Yvenyra al'Setmos, a bitter war veteran. Her Throne is Peace.
- Mikias Kidane Anom, a doctor from a Lemurian kingdom. His Throne is Medicine.note
This RP contains examples of:
- Ambition Is Evil: Interestingly inverted if you look at the metaphysics behind becoming a Pretender. To become a Pretender requires giving up greater ambitions of godhood to instead rule over a mere Shard, meaning that the less ambitious characters are the villains while the more ambitious ones are the heroes.
- Arc Villain: Each Shard has a Pretender, the ruler of the Shard and the one who must be killed to move forward.
- Alvahnon: The Huntress.
- Thul: The Orphan.
- Nise-no-Tengoku: The Onna-Musha.
- Cast Full of Gay: The cast is mostly female, and a good chunk of them have no reserves about flirty banter with each other. Of the male members of the party, Mikias had a brief flirtation with another man (which he has some issues over) and Val is largely uninterested in romance.
- Cheery Pink: Pink-haired Val is aiming for the Throne of Joy, and is a very cheerful person. Occasionally overlaps with Psycho Pink, given certain other aspects.
- Common Tongue: The "trade language" as named in Nise-no-Tengoku, which almost everyone in the setting speaks (save Victor and Emmeline, initially).
- Cool Boat: The Lervondas, a living ship built by the main characters and powered by the magical Kiln. They take it into battle against the Orphan, and later bring it into the next Shard.
- Dead All Along: The Onna-Musha, as it turns out, was killed by Iande years ago, who has been running a cycle where Hinanosu and the Silver Host clash, fight the Pretender, only to then "reset" and do the same thing all over again.
- Death of a Child: After her death, the Huntress is revealed to have been a young girl, to Val's horror.
- Deity of Human Origin: Well, not necessarily human origin, but every god, no matter the cycle, was once mortal before claiming a Throne and ascending to godhood.
- Ending Memorial Service: The Shards tend to end on makeshift funerals: the Huntress's Shard ends with the Pilgrims burning her body and those that died fighting her, while the Orphan's Shard sees them bury Revache after her Heroic Sacrifice.
- Eternal Recurrence: The Cycles have been going on as long as anyone can remember. The old gods die, new ones ascend to the Thrones, rule for years, then die to repeat the process all over again.
- Godhood Seeker: Kind of the point, really.
- Gratuitous French: Downplayed with Val, who is actually French (or more accurately Rouen) and has it as his first language. He usually speaks the same language as everyone else, but slips back into his native tongue when under extreme emotion.
- Guest-Star Party Member: Both Dyersthel and Revache ended up being this, on account of their players dropping out.
- Improbably Female Cast: Downplayed; the supporting NPCs are a relatively even split, but the PCs are eight girls to three boys (two if you discount Masaru as a GMPC).
- In-Series Nickname: Caitlin is usually called Cait, Valentin is always called Val, and Sword is just Sword for fairly obvious reasons.
- Name That Unfolds Like Lotus Blossom: The insular culture of the Oni make their names hard to directly translate (as a Shout-Out to Kill Six Billion Demons)
- "Not So Different" Remark: Urzael notes that, despite their very different personalities, he and Val have similar origins. Val notices the similarities as well, and openly wonders if the reason he hoped Urzael could change was because Val himself wants to change from the person he used to be.
- Our Vampires Are Different: They're called Bloodlords (or Bloodladies depending on the gender), and they're native to Rousson, but otherwise, they're fairly standard. Emmeline is revealed to be one midway through Nise-no-Tengoku, and she and her brother had made a deal with a mysterious assassin for a way out of the city and a cure; in return, the assassin asked they find Val, for currently unknown purposes.
- Power Gives You Wings: Val gets butterfly wings as part of his second Ascension.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Let's see...a criminal, a pirate, an assassin, an outcast, a general, a fugitive, and a thief. Definitely not the sort of people you'd expect to become gods. Later characters are considerably less ragtag, though.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Vlavuel realizes Hinanosu is a False Utopia and attempts to escape, leaving behind a magical dish that reveals to Val and Poppy the true nature of the town. During their own escape attempt, they come across his dead body, revealing he hadn't even made it out of the town. Subverted when it turns out to be one of his clone bodies, and the real Vlavuel is alive and well.
- Shout-Out: Sword's guild culture contains references to pop culture and hiphop music, quoting Nujabes and John Wick for some of their customs.
- Stepford Smiler: As the story goes on, it becomes increasingly clear that Val has a lot of issues under his happy-go-lucky exterior.
- Team Pet: Periwinkle, a sea bunny adopted by Poppy in the second Shard.
