Pretia Libertatis, or the Price of Freedom

Jays

Olives and Fear
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per week
Writing Levels
  1. Prestige
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Primarily Prefer Male




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A piece of paper or a number on a screen, they hold no value of their own, yet they control our lives, or rather, we give them the control. Not silver or gold or any tangible object, only the idea of value that we attributed to it, and the unyielding faith that the giant that is the social monetary system will lumber along.

We kill in its name, bleed in its name, serve it, dedicate our whole life to it unquestioningly. More of us worships it than Jesus or Buddha or Allah or all of them combined. It's considered as essential as food or water or air, and it isn't even real.

In that way, how is Money any less than God himself? Everyday we go to its churches and labor away in our prayer booths. Everyday we watch its High Priests in their Wall Street Temples praising its name and miracles. And everyday we put our lives into its hand, without doubt, without hesitation, without regret.

All that unfiltered, unfaltering faith funneled into a single idea was unprecedented in human history.

Behold, the greatest God of them all, the currency system of the United States!



But even Gods fall when their sacred Temples are burned to the ground

God was crippled during the great Sundering.

The country spiraled into crisis, their faith faltered, fear and doubt worming into their heart, poisoning God from the inside out. Its Temple was in rubble, its worshippers wavering, and despite all of the government of the United States' efforts, God was murdered and broken into a hundred thousand pieces. Given time, and restored faith, it would have risen out of the ashes and be reborn. But there were wolves at the door.

Corporations tore its pieces apart and devoured the remaining. Each fragment was a seed, a potential released into the world to be cultivated. And the more fragment each scavenger devoured, the more powerful they got. A war was waged for the remnants of a dead God, its battles fought over stock markets and negotiating tables, its weapons takeover deals and competitive targeting.

The war climaxed with the Dark Ages of the 2007-2008 financial crisis that destroyed the livelihood of millions just as sure as guns and bombs could. When the smoke finally cleared, a new Era came about for the United States, the Era of Corporational Godlings.

The seeds had taken roots and grown into entities of power. Every church of the old God, regardless of size was now its own sect with its own worshipped deity. Their domain are Consumerism and Capitalism, their weapons Marketing and Behavioural Targeting, with which they enslaved human in masses. The more capital each gather, the more powerful they get. A hundred thousand Godlings for a hundred thousand pieces of the old God's corpse, dividing America between themselves like pigs on a farm.

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But the old God left behind more than its body. Artifacts remained, small gateways to tap into the ocean of faith, its pool of power. Scattered across the country, the artifacts are insignificant on their own, but together, they are a direct threat to the Powers that Be that cannot be ignored or tolerated.



Pretia Libertatis, or the Price of Freedom is a hyper-realistic social/corporate thriller with a tinge of underlying mystical/supernatural theme. Your characters will be in a possession of artifacts that have great potential, and so will be a threat to certain powerful organizations that will stop at nothing to eliminate you and obtain your artifact.

 
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I really like this.

I can't shake the hidden terrible desire to play Maximillian Pegasus from Yu-gi-oh!.... but I like this.
 
What is the writing level, posting speed and business savviness you seek? I like the idea, but I have ill-confidence in the last.

or I just play some scrub who cashed in on luck.
 
What is the writing level, posting speed and business savviness you seek? I like the idea, but I have ill-confidence in the last.

or I just play some scrub who cashed in on luck.

Writing level I'd say...Adept? (I can't remember the site's official writing ranking, as long as players can coherently convey their idea in a somewhat descriptive manner I'd say it's good enough).

Posting speed ideally is once per week, but I know it's not gonna happen so probably once every two weeks or longer is going to be the reality.

Business-related knowledge is completely dependent on the characters when/if a cast is chosen. I can tone that up or down easily to fit everyone else. It's another approach, but not at all required. I can run this vanilla paranormal thriller if it's needed.

Thanks a lot for showing interest.
 
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I'm gonna go ahead and post my interest! :3
 
I love the premise, but I'm kinda at the capacity of what I can feasibly manage in terms of commitments. Hope it goes well!
 
Can you gimme a little more info on the general basis of plot? Like... What will be the overarching storyline? I get the aspect of playing keep away from the big bads, but will it be a group effort? Or just sort of spaced out? Is this an RP where survival isn't guaranteed?
 
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Can you gimme a little more info on the general basis of plot? Like... What will be the overarching storyline? I get the aspect of playing keep away from the big bads, but will it be a group effort? Or just sort of spaced out? Is this an RP where survival isn't guaranteed?
I do have a general idea of a plot in mind, though it may very well change drastically in term of details according to the cast of characters. There is a large overarching storyline with an end goal that you're supposed to be aiming to complete (I'm debating between revealing it early or let the players find out for themselves, the first's easier but the latter's much more satisfying). I'm planning along the line of a mad escape follow by some roadtrip and maybe some heist thrown in here and there. It should be a group effort, although there are certain points where it might be a good idea to split (always the players' choice).

Death is an option, but not early on. The danger will accelerate as the story move along, with more obstacles and higher stakes. Eventually there will be worse things than death. I'm working (slowly) on the Lore.

Does that answer your question at all? I don't know.
 
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Yes for the most part. On the death is an option thing... Would it be something inescapable? Or no? Basically, I hate making characters if they're inevitably or potentially gonna die without my say so lol. Just determining if that'll be a thing.
 
Yes for the most part. On the death is an option thing... Would it be something inescapable? Or no? Basically, I hate making characters if they're inevitably or potentially gonna die without my say so lol. Just determining if that'll be a thing.
No, there won't be unavoidable deaths unless the player wants it to happen. As I said, there are other options that I think will be just as horrible fun that I can potentially explore without the finality of death. Ideally story-wise unavoidable death should be on the table, but I wouldn't want that to happen to me so I won't make it a thing for players.
 
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No, there won't be unavoidable deaths unless the player wants it to happen. As I said, there are other options that I think will be just as horrible fun that I can potentially explore without the finality of death. Ideally story-wise unavoidable death should be on the table, but I wouldn't want that to happen to me so I won't make it a thing for players.

Alright, cool! Thanks :) I'll keep an eye out for more info!
 
Apologies, folks. Due to an untimely circumstance, the idea behind this RP's no longer ideal for me to pursue. I developed the world, system, culture and story with a friend who had since decided to turn it into a book and so kindly asked me to withdraw from using it elsewhere. Again, my apologies guys. Thank you so much for showing interest, I greatly appreciate it. I will most likely replace this with another of my own idea for an RP. Until next time.
 
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