Saga of the Torchbearers: The Long Night's Journey

Status
Not open for further replies.
P

Persephone

Guest
Original poster
Saga of the Torchbearers: The Long Night’s Journey

new_americana_2320_by_z_grimv-d74epxy.jpg

Image by Z-Grimv
On January 1st, 2027 Anno Domini, the world as we knew it ended. Some say that someone had finally gotten fed up with the sorry state of the world, and launched the nukes. Others claimed it was divine intervention, that the Lamb of God had finally opened the seven seals. Finally, there were some insane few who were convinced that some form of alien space bats had launched an attack against the Earth. Regardless of the true reason for the onset of the Darkness, as the event came to be known, its effects were immediate and clear. All technology introduced after the Industrial Revolution ceased to function in its entirely. Planes fell from the sky, trains stopped running, the entirety of the World Wide Web was shut down completely, and international communication died out. Society, in one fell swoop, was sent hurdling back to the Dark Ages, with all the problems that came with it. Governments that had existed for years found themselves struggling to stay stable in the wake of these events, and while some suffered, others prospered. In the United States, the government fell apart, with new nations and societies cropping up around powerful leaders, as is the norm for most of history.

However, while some were trying to survive in this new world, a select few were ensconced within the safety of the Arks of the United Church of the Edenic Prophecies (UCEP). The church, which previously had been viewed as a fringe religious group at best, and another wackjob cult at worst, had clandestinely prepared for the end of the world that their founders had predicted would come in the future. To that effect, they funded the creation of three massive vault-like structures, to be used to store the faithful in the event of the End Times. As the world ended around them, the followers of the church filed themselves neatly into the Arks Adam, Eve, and Eden, in order to wait for the time at which they could reopen, and like Adam and Eve, they could reform society. Unfortunately, things did not go as the church leaders had planned. With the advent of the Darkness, the advanced technology that would’ve kept the Arks running shut down and fail completely. As a result, Adam was unable to function, dooming all those within to a slow death, while Eve was forced to open its doors prematurely, eventually devolving into a city-state rife with warring factions. Finally, Eden only just barely managed to survive, by making foraging excursions into the outside while staying isolated from the very same world they were exploring. Years, and then decades passed as the survivors of the Darkness rebuilt society, relearning skills that were now essential to life in the Post-Darkness world. Agrarian communities are an essential element of society, and are thus a target for raiders and other unscrupulous sorts.

In the time that has passed since the arrival of the Darkness, the society within Eden has flourished, so to speak, within the confines of their Ark and the surrounding area. However, all is not well in The Land of the Setting Sun, as encroaching strangers from the East threaten the independence of the Eden and all of California. In addition to the Easterners, other factions within the Californian state threaten to weaken the region, disrupting the status quo and plunging the region into chaos and warfare. Finally, the religious leaders of Eden have pronounced that the ancient prophecy of the Ophidian King will come true, coinciding with the arrival of the Easterners and the destabilization of the region. As a result, they have chosen a select group of apostles, known as the Torchbearers, to venture forth from the sanctity of Eden and save California from the designs of its enemies, while also searching for ancient lexicons of great significance to the UCEP, in order to bring them back into righteous hands.


10/10 Slots Open

  • Name: Pick something reasonable here, seeing as your characters will have either lived in the Eden all their lives or have only just converted to the creed of the UCEP.
    Age: Common sense dictates here, although no one younger than 16.
    Appearance: Be reasonable, no anime type crap.
    Biography/History: Personality and History go here. One paragraph at minimum, please.
    Skills/Abilities: Be reasonable here, there’s no need for your character to be the best at everything. Keep in mind that I’m not looking for a cast full of warriors; after all, a surgeon or a blacksmith is just as valuable as someone who knows how to kill someone else.
    Motivation: Why did your character choose to become a Torchbearer and undertake this quest?
    Romance: Agree whether or not you want your character to have romantic relationships with an NPC or another player’s character.
    Signature: Your username here, agreeing, as per the rules, that I can kill you off if you act stupidly in a life or death situation.
  • More will be added later, as you explore the world outside of Eden, and discover new information about the various factions within the state of California. For now, you only know about the Eden and the UCEP, with a little bit of info on the Eve, the contested city of Saint Francisco, and the walled castles of The Saint-by-the-Sea.
    One of the three Arks of the UCEP, the Eden still follows the precepts of the church, with the society within the Ark governed by both church and secular officials. The current leaders of the Eden are Pater Samuel Goodwell, one of the older members of the Eden’s clergymen, and Councillor Andrew Morris III, the son of the previous Councillor. The Eden has, for the most part, kept out of the affairs of the rest of California, only sending excursions out when they require food or supplies. However, times have changed, and with the signs of the Ophidian King prophecy appearing more and more, the elders have no choice but to send the Torchbearers out to try and save what remained of civilization.

    Formed in 2022 by Adam King and Evelyn Queen, who proclaimed themselves prophets of a new church, the United Church of the Edenic Prophecies. The two preached an apocalyptic worldview, proclaiming that within a few years, the world would end in a conflict more destructive than any before, as nuclear fire cleansed society of the nonbelievers and other sinners. By the time the Darkness arrived, they had amassed a medium-sized following of celebrities, blue-collar workers, and people from all walks of life. As society crumbled around them, Adam and Eve led their followers into the Arks, in order to supervise the rebuilding of society once the time was right. However, due to the failure of the Arks, with the exception of Eden, both of the founders were rumored to have died in the doom that befell Adam, or the dissolution of Eve. However, recent reports from the Eve seem to indicate that people matching the description of the founders exist within that city, although by all rights, the pair should be well into their older years by now.

    The remains of what used to be San Francisco, Saint Francisco is apparently contested between three major factions stuck in a stalemate: The House of Golden Dreams, The Fraternal Order of Franciscan Monks, and The Empire of Bears. However, information on these factions is limited, and more investigation will have to be performed in order to gain a full grasp of the situation.

    The only other Ark besides the Eden to survive the Darkness, Eve is little more than a collection of gangs and warlords constantly fighting for control of the Ark. Other than this, there’s no real information on the status of the Eve, and will require more investigation beforehand.

    The rebuilt city of Santa Monica, the castles of Saint-by-the-Sea are some of the more impressive of all the fortifications within the Californian state. Reclusive and insular, the most information that one can find about them without making direct contact would be that the city appears to be a great hub of trade, both by land and by sea, amazingly enough. As with Saint Francisco and the Eve, more investigation is required before we can learn more about them.

    The Tripitikas is the mobile base of the Torchbearers out in the California wastes. It consists of an armored caravan of several wagons, containing supplies, weapons, and other such essentials. The Tripitikas will be the main means of transportation of the Torchbearers when they are not in a city, enabling them to move through the wasteland in safety.

    The Edenic Prophecies are a set of prophecies created by the founders of the church that make up the basic tenets of their followers’ beliefs. There are several prophecies that the church based their belief system upon, with the most significant ones being the Eden Prophecy, the Ophidian King Prophecy, and the Seven Trumpets Prophecy, all of which deal with some form of apocalyptic end of the world. Other minor prophecies are also rumored to exist, but the Torchbearers would need to find out more about them from church elders, before even trying to locate these lost prophecies.

    • No Powergaming, Metagaming, Godmodding, etc, etc
    • Be polite to other players
    • Respect the GM
    • Follow the rules
    • If you have a problem with another player, take it up with me or them via PM. The OOC is for discussion and chat, not a shitstorm of arguments and childish bullshit
    • Don’t be stupid
    • I can change these rules as I see fit, in the event that rules need to be changed
    • Use common sense before you post
    • In the end, everything goes by me, so, if you post a character sheet, I’m the ultimate arbitrator of what is and isn’t accepted
    • If you’ve read all of these rules, write the phrase, “Darkness falls” somewhere within your character sheet application

    • Q: What caused the apocalypse (and also the functioning of all the things we rely on in society to cease working)?
      A: No one knows. Well, Alien Space Bats did it, but nobody knows this as a concrete fact.

      Q:Any way, what's up with the lack of tags?
      A: I don’t want to advertise something that later doesn’t live up to the expectations that are set, plain and simple. So, nothing other than the writing level.

      Q: Are characters going to die?
      A: Yes. But not without reason. If you try and fight a group of armed bandits all by your lonesome, and you’re a surgeon, you’re fucked. Play to your strengths, and let others pick up where you’re weak.

      Q: I’m a special snowflake whose character is a cool and mysterious loner who wields a katana and somehow has a functioning firearm, and he also wears a leather jacket. Fuck teamwork, I can kick ass all by myself.
      A: Well, that’s good for you. Now go die in a fire, and take your horrendous character to another RP.

      Q: So, what’s the overall theme of the RP?
      A: Good question. The theme is that of a religious pilgrimage/quest set in a post-apocalyptic world inspired by Journey to the West, Fallout, and the Emberverse, among other things (like A Canticle for Leibowitz, which I’ve never read, by the way).

      Q: Wait, so, everything that’s post-Industrial Revolution is off-limits? What about cannons and gunpowder? Can we have those?
      A: Nope, the ASB broke those too.


    Edit: Finished Reformatting
     
    Last edited by a moderator:
    I'm interested. Just what level of apocalypse are we talking here, though? Dark Ages and Industrial Revolution have a pretty big gap between them. Like, is this a Fallout style crapsack world or just a faux-medieval crapsack world?

    In the meantime, if someone wants to PM me to coordinate a relationship/romance between characters since that's an option feel free to do so.
     
    I'm interested. Just what level of apocalypse are we talking here, though? Dark Ages and Industrial Revolution have a pretty big gap between them. Like, is this a Fallout style crapsack world or just a faux-medieval crapsack world?

    In the meantime, if someone wants to PM me to coordinate a relationship/romance between characters since that's an option feel free to do so.
    It's a mixture of the two, to be honest.
    It's not as crapsack as Fallout, and it's very much a medieval crapsack world.
    Hope that helps with character creation.
     
    I'm interested!

    I'll start coming up with a character later this week—pretty busy on weekends.
     
    Status
    Not open for further replies.