a light in the dark

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Jess Incognito

Edgepeasant
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  1. Look for groups
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per week
  2. One post per week
  3. Slow As Molasses
Preferred Character Gender
  1. No Preferences
Genres
Modern Fiction, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Historic/Period. I'm quite versatile and open. More prone to original content than fandoms, though base inspiration is welcome.
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INTRO TO THE PLOT
A city settled in a huge cavern begins experiencing earthquakes, small at first and then more violent. One night, the mouth of the cave collapses. No one can get in or out; half the population is dead. The first few days, everyone eagerly helps digging out bodies and survivors from the rubble or trying to reach the light. The rubble, however, is unsteady and they realize they must go carefully. The city's stores are enough to feed the survivors for one year, but surely they won't need it, right? The optimism dissipates after several weeks in the darkness. The pile of rubble must be a mile thick, because none have made it through and the rubble continues caving on the diggers.

The people lose their unified spirit. Crime spikes and the balance of peace is quickly disrupted. The Lord residing over the city was presumably crushed in his home near the mouth of the cave. After these weeks without leadership, one steps up to suggest a new route out. This person does not want to lead, but is quickly given respect and responsibility for lack of any other leader. His idea regards the tunnels leading from the back of the cavern. People have always been afraid of these tunnels, so not many volunteer. Nonetheless, they send out twenty groups of men and women to find a way out. The people have only to hope that one of these groups returns.

OPTION FOR THE PLOT
There are two ways we could take this and each would have a very different feel. Let me know which you would prefer when declaring interest.

A: we follow a group going into the caves to search for a way out.
B: we follow the panic in the city and the conflict that arises when the crime lords decide maybe they want to be in charge.



The city is called Dod (pron. dode), in the desert land of Dhoskar. Begun as a trading port, probably for pirates, it's become a major point of attraction for trade and even sciences, given the unique location in a seaside cavern. Legend has it Dod is only one half of a greater city that stretches beneath the sea and used to be populated by merfolk, but there is no solid proof of this. Above the cavern, the air is hot and the land dry. It's all scrub and desert home to strange crustacean and lizards. There are even some crab-like creatures as large as horses; their meat is highly prized, provided you can saw through the two inch thick exoskeleton to get it.

The city itself is half carved from the huge stalagmites and columns that crawl up into the darkness. Other buildings, mostly belonging to the rich, are made of stone with intricate arches and walkways moving above the water. Dod is called the vertical city for it's many layers. Sunlight here is a luxury and the rich live nearer to the bay and the mouth of the cave. Further back lies the slums, mainly comprised of wooden lean-to's, and if you're unused to such dim light, it may seem to be in darkness night and day. Torches burn at all hours and there are always people about. The concept of day and night has been lost here.

With the city ever-growing, the slums creep closer and closer to the back of the cavern, which splits off into many tunnels. They haven't been explored more than twenty miles from the city. Some go up, some go down, some lead to other caverns, some to underground rivers. In all of them, the darkness is like to drive a lone man mad. It has done as much in the past. It's uncertain whether the tunnels were man-made or natural, perhaps a bit of both. Either way, no one has done much further exploration in a long time. Strange subterranean creatures sometimes come out of the tunnels and for that reason, the city has set up a special guard to protect this border. They kill whatever comes out.

The earthquake that caused the cave in was followed by a volcanic eruption at Mt Aikos, which is quite a ways from Dod, but some legends claim the tunnels lead all the way to the ancient city of Hod'un, at the northern base of the volcano, which was buried by a similar eruption some few hundred years ago.

This is just one city in a world I've been toying with, so if you want to know more about the remaining lands, just let me know.

This will be fantasy, which means characters may be non-human, although this city is majority human. Elven-like beings, goblins (of an ugly or a more humanoid variety), and feel welcome to suggest/create a race. But I'll let you know if you aren't likely to see a centaur in Dod and etc. While there may be magic in the world, none of the characters should have a hold over magic themselves. We may discuss something that pops up later, but this world has largely fallen away from magic.



SIGN UP AND OOC AVAILABLE:
THE DARKEST NIGHT
 
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I will place my interest here!
 
I'm glad there's some interest. Really no preference on the direction, though?
I think the biggest difference would be group size. The city route would have much more potential space for players.
 
@Shayla @Lonewolf888978 @Teamug

So I think this has sat around long enough.
Four isn't so bad a number to begin with if you are all still interested and I'll go ahead and get working on a sign up in that case.
I'd like to pursue the story going on in the city.
So let me know here if you're interested still and I'll get to work on the sign up.
 
@Gooby
Ha, ugly is certainly suitable for a cave city.
 
The OOC and sign up thread is now available for those who are still interested.

THE DARKEST NIGHT
 
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