D
Dooley
Guest
Original poster
The Story
An era before time. A world unlike our own. Here battles were waged with eternal ferocity. Forces of light wrestled forces of darkness. Untold sacrifice given with neither claiming victory. Thus did continue such a grotesque cycle, souls born, lived, and ended; knowing naught but the shadow of war. No hope was held for change. No prayers cast to the heavens. Denizens of this world were content with the struggle they faced. If not for the emergence of a virtuous being, this may never have changed.Four lords ruling four legions governed the creatures of shadow and gloom. Indomitable generals, conquerors, with limitless power. Through them did chaos reign. Their armies spread carnage across the land, blanketing all they touched in ash. The Lord of Beasts, The Prince of Horrors, The Queen of Thralls, and The King of Wraiths. Against their might all were felled.
Save for one, The Herald. His appearance was unexpected, his origins unknown. Yet somehow this being possessed the power to force back the creatures of the night. One by one the four lords were laid low, until only one remained. A final battle would determine the course of history. The Herald and his knights rallied and stormed the fortress of The King of Wraiths. Many perished there, but not in vain.
A killing blow had been delivered to The Lord of Wraiths. The Herald had won, or so all thought. There, with his dying breath, a final curse was born. "To world apart we shall depart, all mind and soul and frame. To life again we shall begin, and so too our dark domain." All essence remaining in The King of Wraiths vanished then, leaving only a lifeless husk. The war here was finally done.
Yet The Herald did not rest. The words of his final foe haunting his thoughts. If the forces of darkness were to be unleashed on another world, he would have to stop them. Battle had drained the power once residing within. Giving chase to was not possible, at least not whole. One final sacrifice would have to be made. One final death to end the war for all time. With all strength remaining within, The Herald took his dagger and pierced his own heart. Connecting his life-force to The King of Wraiths in a final act of defiance.
General Information
ForewordIt's never easy to break into a new community. With Role-Play sites the way I've found works best for is to just put my ideas out there and hope something takes. This particular story is a bit of a pet project of mine. I ran it before on Role-Play Gateway a long time ago, where it enjoyed modest success. I actually adapted it from an RP I took part in on RP Nation before that. Then end product was completely different from the original, but the tone and feeling were the same. So now that I'm somewhere new I thought it best to go with something I know to showcase who I am as a writer. Without further ado, I welcome you all to Eden Forgotten! Nothing is set in stone as of yet. Part of doing interest checks is weighing ideas to make the role-lay the best possible for all involved.
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No genre appeals more to me than Dark Fantasy. I like the morbid atmosphere, the way it breaks from tropes associated with regular Fantasy, and the characters it gives life to. Eden Forgotten was born from my adoration of it. I worked on fleshing it out for a long time before it's initial run. In the end the story we created there sticks with me even today. With this reboot on a new site I'm hoping for lighting to strike twice.
The basic premise is an adventure story. Probably the most common incarnation of the Fantasy role-play. The reason why, it's proven to work! Our characters, bound be fate, destiny, or what have you; are brought together unexpectedly. They then have to learn who they can, and sometimes can not, rely on in order to fulfill their goals. Relationships form, decisions are made, and at the end a conclusion worthy of them alone will be reached.
One major difference you will notice about Eden Forgotten compared to other Fantasy is the setting. Instead of a romp across a medieval world we opt into a modern one. I've always liked seeing characters with more real and average backgrounds thrust into these situations. After all, character development is the most important part of a story!
To sum things up here are a few more things you might want to know:
- A small to medium sized group is preferable at the beginning. 5-8 writers.
- Post frequency can vary, but tends to be at least once per day.
- Post length can vary, but will normally be 3-5 paragraphs.
- This role-play tends to lean towards a more Seinen tone.
- There will be combat, but the role-play is not combat centric.
- Complex themes and issues will appear: Abuse, drug use, etc.
- A certain degree of realism is expected to be in play.
- There are mature elements so age restrictions apply. 18+ only.
- Discord will be used to organize and coordinate how the role-play progresses.
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In the last few months the city of Takeorai has been plagued by the unimaginable. People disappearing, others murdered. The nights no longer proving to be safe within the city hailed as New Tokyo. As authorities scramble to cease the atrocities and to coverup their failures, something unseen moves. A force not bound by mortal law unleashed for the first time in a millennia. Unchecked it garners power, biding it's time until it's full potential is realized. Yet as it awakens so to does something else.
In a certain set of youths, in a certain university, a gift is born. One that will pain them, curse them, mark them as outcasts to all. Yet so too is it a hope. For only the once dormant power within them does a chance for salvation rest. Unbeknownst to them fate has called, demanding as always an answer. For dark tidings rest on the horizon. The lives of many resting within their hands.
I know the synopsis is lack in great detail. I didn't want to risk spoiling anything too consequential to the overall plot of the role-play. I have a good bit already planned out depending on how to story unfolds. It was hard to fluff those two paragraphs up without revealing too much, but it worked out.
I'm a huge fan of sharing the spotlight. In role-plays I think everyone deserves a chance to be the main character and let their personal story shine through. When it comes to anime based role-play this is a lot easier to implement than other genre. The story will consist of Arcs, and each arc of chapters. With each chapter I tend to focus on a different character.
Now what does this mean exactly? Well, for example, say you wrote in your character's bio that you had a little sister. Then let's say people are going missing in the city, and turning up dead some time later. I'll make your sister be taken, propelling your character into a search to find her before the time runs out. It may not always be something so dire either. It could also be something on a smaller scale. Say you write your grandfather gave your a pocket-watch or some other memento. Perhaps that watch has a greater meaning than you think. Perhaps it even ties into the plot itself.
Depending on how much it effects your character I may ask you first over DM. Then again...it may be a surprise to both you and your character!
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The main area we will explore within this role-play is the city of Takeorai. A large spiraling metropolis in southern Japan. It is comparable in size to Tokyo with many distinctive districts and areas of import. Suburbs dot the outskirts of the city. Some more developed residential areas, while others are just small gatherings of communities. Further out still are more rural areas. Forests, farmlands, mountains, things of that like. Takeorai itself is billed as The New Tokyo due to it's steadily increasing population and the number of opportunities it seems to offer.
I try to leave the specifics of the city kind of ambiguous. When dealing with the real world things sometimes become restricted, limiting opportunity of role-play. The city man be in Japan, but it and the areas around it are entirely fictional allowing us to do what we see fit if the story calls for it. It is very unlikely our characters even venture out to a real world location.
The main constant we will be dealing with is Takeorai Academy where all our characters will be enrolled. It is a private, highly prestigious university, in one of the more wealthy districts of Takeorai.
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The Psychic Abilities our characters will possess are intrinsic to the plot of the story. That is why this is the part I always have the most trouble doing. As a writer I like to have as much freedom as possible when creating facets of my character. As GM though, pacing is important. The degree to which one character's power effects others or the world around them is critical to the overall plot. For this particular role-play I've developed a method I hope will work when it comes to creation.
~1. Remember to start small. Abilities will grow over time and with use. Your character needs room to advance and grow. If you start off powerful your character may find himself stagnating while other continually develop.
~2. Abilities should be character extensions. They aren't just a tool you have at your disposal to use, they are a part of you. Therefore an ability should in some way relate to it's bearer. For example: A character that fights a lot may have precognition; or a studious character may be a telepath; and so on.
~3. Fighting isn't everything. There will be combat in this role-play, but combat will not dominate the story. Non-Combat related abilities could prove all the more valuable in the long run. I make an active effort to write in scenarios where these sort of abilities truly shine.
~4. There will be a toll for use. No ability comes without some form of cost to it's user. The more powerful the ability and the longer it's used, the greater the cost. Bloody noses, blurred vision, headaches, nausea; whatever it may be. Just remember to keep this in mind when creating.
~5. Be original. Just about every role-play I've been in like this there are the same sets of people. The kendo master that can form energy swords, the person with the talking magic familiar, the emo with shadow powers. Try to be extra creative. Think outside of the box. Show me something as unique as the characters you bring life to.
~6. That's it! Other than that your are free to create whatever powers or abilities you wish your character to have.
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The best part of any role-play is it's characters! I tend to be a touch torn when setting up characters rules for role-plays. Again, I like as much freedom as possible when I make my own characters. As GM though, I have to be smart about it. This kind of role-play can be extra tricky due to having it's roots in reality. A much larger, diverse, range of characters can appear here. I try to take that into account, while keeping in mind what's best for the role-play.
Rules to follow for character creation:
- Japanese style names only. Last, First.
- Characters 18+ only.
- Male/Female genders only.
- Anime Play-bys only.
- No Mary Sue characters.
- No clones of anime characters.
- All information on the character-skelly must be on your character sheet.
- Please, for my sanity, use proper grammar.
Character-Skelly:
Code:Name: [Lastname, Firstname order.] Age: [18+ only.] Gender: [Male/Female.] Sexuality: Height: Weight: Hair Color: Eye Color: Ability: [Your ability's name, what it capable of, and the cost you suffer from using it.] Appearance: [At least 1 paragraph.] Personality: [At least 1 paragraph.] Biography: [At least 3 paragraphs.]
