HALFLIGHT

[sun.]

A world drowning in an ancient war.
With an enemy that might as well be ourself.
To defend and maintain humanity, must we lose it?

Halflight is a roleplay mixing elements of dystopia, fantasy, horror, survival, slice-of-life, and action-adventure, set in an alternative history Earth in the year 1996.

Witches first appeared in ancient records as far back as the 8th century BC. Since then, a constant conflict can be traced throughout history. With well-known boiling points such as the large-scale persecution of women and men in the Middle Ages or the Salem Witch trials, a never-ending covert war raged on in the shadows. Various governments around the world established security bureaus concerned only with combating Witches. One of these was Japan's ARMA, founded in 1712 (then Alliance of Resistance, for Measures Against Distress and Affliction, or A.R.M.A.D.A. for short) by close associates of the then-Daimyō. A financial crisis during the 1920s that affected many nations in Asia severely damaged Japan's infrastructure, leading to a reduction of funding for most institutions, and A.R.M.A.D.A.'s eventual split with the government.

Due to the murky nature of the public's perception of Witches, they remained out of societal focus in the events leading up to, during, and after World War II. Combined with Asia's lack of protection against them, this resulted in Japan and other countries being flooded with Witches. Globally, Witches resurfaced in the public eye as late as the mid-70s, when a Witch-centric mafia organization dubbed "Blackpowder" swamped the United States, Russia, France-- and to a lesser extent Japan, China, South Africa, Venezuela, Mexico, and other nations--with drugs.

ARMA was rebranded promptly after, this time run independently by the descendants of the original leaders, receiving much support--even overseas, due to their zero-tolerance policy. Using the organization's century-old infrastructure and rallying the masses for additional crowd-funding, ARMA has since taken on the fight against Witches like a storm, drastically reducing the amount of disappearances and crime in general.

The city of Halflight is a large, sovereign territory within Helios (sometimes referred to as New Japan, as it was founded after the destruction of various Wards in 1962, to adjust to the damage as well as the rising sea-levels in Asia at large), serving as humanity's most prominent stronghold against the Witches. Being founded on the same soil ARMA was founded on in the 18th century, it carries great sentimental value to most of its citizens. Formerly a bustling port-town with industrial flair, it now is dominated by grey facades, neon-signs, and plenty of neglected districts crumbling.

Its most prominent structure is the ARMA complex, entailing both the formal headquarters as well as the academy. The area around the Old Port in particular is considered a hub for Witches, and polarizes the city's citizens, with some avoiding it all costs, while other's curiosity gets the better of them. Despite its history of conflict and the struggle of certain districts, Halflight is a jewel of human society, preserving urban and metropolitan spirits, and a high quality of life. Due to the elevated water levels of the East at large, and the nature of Halflight's founding, it's unofficial nickname has become "The Ark".

A couple of notes:
- Obviously, the exitence of Witches massively effected world history. I won't just magically erase key events of history, such as World War 2 or the like, but occassionally, such events might be adjusted retroactively to fit the story. If you are unsure about anything just shoot me a message and I'll give you either free-reign to fiddle around with it or work it out with you.

- This roleplay is heavily inspired by various animes and some video games. I know some people don't like "animu physics" but this will be a bit of that, for sure. It will be a mix of gritty dystopia for mature audiences and weeb-fest. Just so you know.

- Speaking of maturity: While I don't think the roleplay will ever touch on anything that'd necessarily make it a redstar roleplay, this is most likely not suitable for participants below the age of 16. If anything sexually explicit is about to occure (reasonably), please keep it out of the threads. Thanks!

- For convenience, a Discord chat is being made for most OOC interactions. If you're accepted, you'll be invited via a link. Please join there, it's super neato.