- Invitation Status
- Looking for partners
- Posting Speed
- 1-3 posts per week
- Writing Levels
- Advanced
- Preferred Character Gender
- Male
- Female
- No Preferences
"Are you afraid of the dark? Don't be! Fear the light that beckons in the darkness, for behind it monsters lurk..."
A few words in advance:
First of all, before I even begin to touch on the story, I want to say that this RP, while being mostly a fantasy, will constitute elements of both the horror genre as well as some mysticism, since the main story will revolve around a mystery that seems unsolvable. For this reason, I would personally describe the genre of this RP as a weird fiction/fantasy.
The World
The story takes place in the mystical country of Fanagoria. The name of the world in which it is located is not known, except for perhaps the most diligent of researchers who would bother digging into half-burned elder scrolls (the Skyim reference is totally unintended). The country is extremely vast and it is divided into 3 regions, each ruled by a Noble. The government is quite simple: the five Nobles are all members of a council that advices the King. The only other person allowed to take part in this council is the Grand Marshal. The reason for this country not knowing and not being even remotely interested in the outside world is because it is the only place, where life exist on this planet. It is a utopian society, where although police is present, crimes, especially ones of violent nature are extremely rare and the culprits are punished without remorse. There is no money, as such known in our world, instead people are allowed various privileges depending on their usefulness to the society. That means that, while all can travel and enjoy good food, other luxuries such as alcohol, hunting, using the limited flying machines etc. are limited to those with higher position. Both sexes have equal rights and obligations.
At this point you might ask why would such a society in such a world require a military and that is an excellent question, for this is where the mystery begins. All of the country's borders are surrounded by huge walls what have even higher towers projecting a magical shield all over Fanagoria. There are no gates on these walls and no men patrolling them, however they are vital to the survival of the country's inhabitants, since they "keep the Dark away". Nothing else is known by the general populace about the Dark. It is perceived to be a single, gigantic spiritual or semi- spiritual entity or a multiple of spectral monstrosities with a single, highly intelligent hive mind which possesses insane powers. The Dark has enveloped all the known world, since almost forever, even though some of the elder scrolls tell of a larger world with multitude of city-states and different landscapes. How or why Dark came into being is not revealed even by them, though. A little more clarification is required to the concept of "engulfing the whole world", I believe. When a person looks beyond the shield, they would see empty black void, with sudden outbursts of violet or purple thunder-like things, which are, however, known to be no natural phenomena. No one is known to have ventured into it and, presumably, no one has tried. Inside the shield, the five regions are quire heterogeneous, but other than that, they look quite the same way as our perception of normal. I will give a thorough description of those regions, sometime after clearing the whole story, if there are people interested who would like to better understand the world.
We were at the point of describing the military, when we got carried on with The Dark. The Military, known also as The Ascended are selected individuals, who possess a certain substance concentrated in their hearts, their souls, their spirits and their minds. It's sole purpose is to defend the walls and reinforce the shield since The Dark is not passive, but rather an incredibly aggressive entity. The substance in The Ascended is known as Aether and allows them to perform marvels undreamed of by the individuals. As it is an extension of their very souls, forged into a weapon, its the only thing capable of harming The Dark. The abilities possessed by those with high amount of Aether include, but are not limited to: flying on Aether Wings, manipulating matter, forcing pure energy into their service, influencing the minds of others etc. As some of you might already see, it is similar concept as that of The Force in StarWars. The young people who possess these abilities are easily found as they tend to stand out and they are the only ones allowed to be recruited in The Military. This makes The Ascended the most highly respected social class as they safeguard the very existence of all else. Their privileges are same as those of the Nobles and in rare cases, they would be forgiven serious crimes, if they provide a good reason for committing them, which is always the case. It is considered incredible honour for a child to be recruited into their ranks.
Now, unlike The Force, Aether is neither eternal nor limitless and while those who do possess it can never fully deplete themselves of it, their Aether will eventually decline if it is put into constant use as is the case of The Ascended. Usually, after the age of fifty, those will retire, withdrawing either back to their home towns or to special recreational settlements especially built for ex-military. For the rest of their lives, they wound not have to do any work unless they fell like it. Although the majority of the populace expects those to be extremely happy of their deserved rest, the very few who do choose to go back to their homes instead of going to the recreational settlements are... quite different. The difference varies within personalities but some common features are: coldness, isolation and a sharp decline in their tendency to speak. Many were seen talking to themselves or having other symptoms of mental illnesses. The general population tends to blame this on their exposure to The Dark and thus sees martyrs in them. There is a very small minority, that suspects something darker and more sinister, but they never dare speak out loud for to speak against the Military and against those who have the Aether i equal to a blasphemy in Fanagoria.
Each Aether bearer has a different type of the substance, depending on their type of soul. Those different types are known as winds and it is only allowed for people with the same wind to be the same legion. It is believed that different winds will clash and thus cause trouble in their fury, instead of blowing the darkness away. That is somehow true, as to-be-Ascended with different winds often argue and fight whilst in their training. This is not often an issue, though, since people from one and the same region tend to have the same Aether wind with few exceptions.
The world of Fanagoria is filled with both magic and science, the two coexisting in peace and often uniting efforts in a newly formed branch of knowledge now known as teachnomagic. (Magic is the causal magic, seen in every fantasy,while the science is a freaky, hipster version of fantasy science with,for example, steam-powered flying machines or robotic horses. There is electricity, but its seldom used, and gas lamps arethe common source of light. Carriages and horseback, though, are still most popular form of transport.) Magicians and scientists alike are encouraged to study every aspect of life which may benefit the people of the Kingdom, however it has been strictly forbidden to have any meddling or even interest in the nature of the Aether or The Dark. The citizens were told that it was too dangerous and must be left to the military to solve and research. While the majority sees reason in those arguments, very few see those as an attempts for those leading the society to stay in power using their negligence.
Another notable fact concerns the History. While history of Fanagoria is being taught freely in the schools and the research into it is permitted, almost nothing is known of the world and its existence before The Dark and before Fanagoria became the only country. Almost nothing, but few scraps of ancient lore, written in poetic form is left from those ancient times. Several of those last remnants of the world long ago bear the marks of fire and others have whole pieces of them torn away. Quite a peculiar fact for the few historians that would try to dig them out from the dusty shelves.
The Story:
Our story begins in the Lushlands, a part of the Fanagoria, with somewhat eternal summer. It's lush vegetation has given it that name. Summer, however, doesn't mean too much heat and doesn't bold too much rain either. There are all kinds of peculiar and even bizarre flora specimens in the Lushlands, however fauna is quite rare to be seen. This is also the most densely populated part of the country, with the smallest cities having no less than some 50 000 inhabitants. It is in one of those cities that Varoh, an Ascended who had finished his service, returns after only ten years of active duty. He did not choose to go back to his home at the Mountainlands, but instead asked to exchange his property there for a smaller one in the small town of Shulogg. Though puzzled by his reasons, the local authorities have agreed to the transaction. That is quite peculiar, since he is only 28 and when he was recruited, his Aether, although of a different wind from the general one in the Lushlands, has seemed incredibly high. Nevertheless, no one would intrude upon him their questions and the respect due to the military was paid to him. He, however, does not seem different and is, much to the people's astonishment, quite sociable and talkative. He loves to play chess and tries to make new friends amongst the townsfolk.
At the same day that he comes to the city, another person came to the town. She was a technomagician, quite skilled in her art and claimed she wants to move there to help the locals and test new ways to take advantage of the fertile soil in the Lushlands. She had also descended from the mountains, or at least that's what she claimed, and was offered a small mansion at the end of the city which was abandoned for a long period of time. Few know, however, that although her official research is quite interesting, her main goal is to discover the true nature of the Aether and what exactly it is, as well as how it interacts with The Dark. She abbandoned her previous residence, as she could not work in peace while in a busy metropolis, where she oculd easily have been caught.
This is the second hero, through which the story will be revealed. I will, of course, allow the person who wants to roleplay her to make everything from name and character to physical appearance, however she should be trying to unveil the secrets of the Aether winds and The Dark. As she is quite bright, I will openly tell that player some bits of the story, so he/she can have them as results of her research. From there on he/she will be on their own what to do with the information and how to proceed in obtaining more of it. I will also inform him/her of her previous place of occupancy.
Warning: please don't go any further unless you meet the age requirements for explicit content.
Everything has been quite steady and calm in the town of Shulogg, until a couple of weeks ago, no longer than a month after the two newcomers have appeared, two people were found brutally killed in different parts of the city. No one has heard of something like this in many years and the cruelty of the murders was unprecedented. A couple of days after that, several corpses have been found, washed up on the shore of the local riven by the fishermen. They were so badly damaged that it was impossible to discern who they were and the fishermen swore that no river dweller wanted to touch the corpses. After some days, the families of the victims who had though that their loved ones had gone missing reported them to the police and thus the detective was able to deduce the identity of the latter victims. On another occasion, a young woman was found skinned alive and her head had been smashed so badly and with such consistency and continuity, that it was impossible to discern the pieces of the skull from the grey matter of the brain. While the other murders had happened in the outskirts of the town, that last one had happened, apparently in bright daylight, near the centre of the town, at a park favoured by the locals. That made it impossible to hide the recent streak of murders any more and amidst a panic, the local authorities decided to force curfew and they called in a detective from the capitol of Fanagoria. All was quiet when he had arrived, until only a day ago. Around ten children from the families in the town had gone missing and, while they returned to heir respective homes on the next day, they were pure vegetables, without any reason or mind whatsoever. They were merely operating on "mechanical" level, not as thinking and feeling human beings.
The detective is also a key character and I would really enjoy if one of you would like to play him. He had come from the Capitol and was one of the very few detectives in the not too numerous police force of the country. Similarly to the scientist, you can make his background history, appearance, name etc. all on your own. The only thing you will have to do is investigate the crimes.
If all that sounded a little bit intriguing to any of you, feel free to apply in this thread :) I am still quite new here and this is the first roleplay that I host, so if you think any part of the information is unclear of you would like further elaboration on any part of it, please ask it here and I will try to answer as soon as possible!
Things that you need to explain ,when making your character (you can have more than one, if that is what you wish)
Picture: (I really think it's much easier for everyone involved to visualise your character, but if you absolutely hate it, then don't bother)
Name(s):
Alias(if applicable):
Outer appearance:
Gender:
Age:
Sexual orientation:
Birthplace: (he/she is a a local farmer, for example)
Occupation: (builder, farmer, fisherman, magician, technician, Noble, police officer, etc.etc.)
Brief back story:
Physical strengths and weaknesses:
Psychological characteristics:
Main character traits:
Biggest fear(s):
Common themes in nightmares (if applicable):
Anything extra:
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