- Invitation Status
- Look for groups
- Posting Speed
- 1-3 posts per day
- Writing Levels
- Advanced
- Adaptable
- Preferred Character Gender
- Male
- Genres
- Horror, fantasy, sci-fi.
"I have a private theory, Sir, that there are no heroes and no monsters in this world. Only children should be allowed to use these words."
- Alfred de Vigny, Stello
The City is often called simply that; The City.
The thanatocrats call it Umbra without a trace of irony, and well, they would know, one supposes.
It is found on no map, and some say that by the twisting, arcane nature of The City the idea of mapping it is a hopeless dream besides - the streets sprawls endlessly inward from the dark sea and the lights of its towers can be seen far beyond the farthest known avenues. Who dwells in those lost boroughs, no one knows.
The living of The City disagree on the date, but most will suggest eighteen-hundred-and-something.
The sun does not rise, in this place. Only moons of varying size and colour give any living rhythm to The City. Surprisingly, this seems to have no physiological effect on the living. Unsurprisingly, no scientist remains unchanged by their new home; either driven quite mad by the revelation that much of the natural sciences seem to collapse in the City, or inspired to dark brilliance by the possibilities.
"The sinister, the terrible never deceive: the state in which they leave us is always one of enlightenment."
- Thomas Ligotti, Medusa
Umbra is a Thanatocracy.
On Lily Hill, the promontory overlooking the bay, live the elite of the City; the lich-lords in their finery and funeral masks, their stately sepulchres and mortuary-mansions. The Undead. The Dead Who Rule.
They rarely descend from their palatial and silent district of the city, preferring to use necromantic constructs and living agents to conduct communications.
The Docklands are controlled by the vampires, the Ab-Dead, or Dead Who Reave.
Sailors, thugs, and pirates, the vampires are tenuously under the command of the liches. When the night is without a moon, the vampires sail out to kidnap new tenants from the world left behind.
A share is taken in slaves, pets, playthings, minions and companions, but most captives find themselves in the City proper. Outlanders can often trade blood to the vampires in exchange for items wrested from the wider world. The Docklands are probably the most bustling and vibrant part of the City known.
"He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man." - Samuel Johnson
The Botanical Gardens, sprawling for a couple of miles to the far west of the settled streets, are inhabited by the Thropes - beasts that walk like men. Dissidents against the lich-lords' regime, they are dangerous to know both for their radical politics and dark appetites. They support anarchists and undermine the Thanatocracy at every opportunity, and ably subvert Strangers or frustrated Theurgists to their cause.
Strangers In A Strange Land
There are two kinds of living in the City, mostly in the district of Providence at the heart of the inhabited region. The first kind are the Outlanders; those taken from the outside world by the Reavers and left to fend for themselves. The oldest have been here thirty years, the youngest less than a month - and are young as twelve, in some cases. The Outlanders are the largest group of mortals, and most are slowly spreading out and refurbishing the City under the guidance of the Reclaimers Guild and the Governor.
The Strange are the other kind of people; the children born in the City. The eldest is twenty-four, now, a young woman best known as The Witch of Isley Row. The Strange are young, yet, and still mostly in whatever group to which their parents might belong, but they're easily recognizable and the moniker is well-deserved. The Strange are paler than their parents, with darker eyes, and hair in abnormal hues. Sooner or later they demonstrate a kinship with the shadows of the City, a talent for becoming unseen or finding their way in the dark, or can call on eerie powers.
Understandably, relations between these generations are somewhat tense.
Likewise, relations between the 'unaligned' persons and registered Guild members are fraught, as Anarchists infiltrate both sides to foment unrest, and still more mysterious forces are abroad in The City.
Umbra is waking up. Where do you fit in?
Five players. Experimental diceless system, should be quite light. Get yourself a playtester credit by getting involved.
Characters may be Outlanders or Strangers, ideally in the Reclaimers Guild - and if you feel like something more complicated, your character could be a dark science-harnessing Theurgist or sinister Sorcerer.
- Alfred de Vigny, Stello
The City is often called simply that; The City.
The thanatocrats call it Umbra without a trace of irony, and well, they would know, one supposes.
It is found on no map, and some say that by the twisting, arcane nature of The City the idea of mapping it is a hopeless dream besides - the streets sprawls endlessly inward from the dark sea and the lights of its towers can be seen far beyond the farthest known avenues. Who dwells in those lost boroughs, no one knows.
The living of The City disagree on the date, but most will suggest eighteen-hundred-and-something.
The sun does not rise, in this place. Only moons of varying size and colour give any living rhythm to The City. Surprisingly, this seems to have no physiological effect on the living. Unsurprisingly, no scientist remains unchanged by their new home; either driven quite mad by the revelation that much of the natural sciences seem to collapse in the City, or inspired to dark brilliance by the possibilities.
"The sinister, the terrible never deceive: the state in which they leave us is always one of enlightenment."
- Thomas Ligotti, Medusa
Umbra is a Thanatocracy.
On Lily Hill, the promontory overlooking the bay, live the elite of the City; the lich-lords in their finery and funeral masks, their stately sepulchres and mortuary-mansions. The Undead. The Dead Who Rule.
They rarely descend from their palatial and silent district of the city, preferring to use necromantic constructs and living agents to conduct communications.
The Docklands are controlled by the vampires, the Ab-Dead, or Dead Who Reave.
Sailors, thugs, and pirates, the vampires are tenuously under the command of the liches. When the night is without a moon, the vampires sail out to kidnap new tenants from the world left behind.
A share is taken in slaves, pets, playthings, minions and companions, but most captives find themselves in the City proper. Outlanders can often trade blood to the vampires in exchange for items wrested from the wider world. The Docklands are probably the most bustling and vibrant part of the City known.
"He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man." - Samuel Johnson
The Botanical Gardens, sprawling for a couple of miles to the far west of the settled streets, are inhabited by the Thropes - beasts that walk like men. Dissidents against the lich-lords' regime, they are dangerous to know both for their radical politics and dark appetites. They support anarchists and undermine the Thanatocracy at every opportunity, and ably subvert Strangers or frustrated Theurgists to their cause.
Strangers In A Strange Land
There are two kinds of living in the City, mostly in the district of Providence at the heart of the inhabited region. The first kind are the Outlanders; those taken from the outside world by the Reavers and left to fend for themselves. The oldest have been here thirty years, the youngest less than a month - and are young as twelve, in some cases. The Outlanders are the largest group of mortals, and most are slowly spreading out and refurbishing the City under the guidance of the Reclaimers Guild and the Governor.
The Strange are the other kind of people; the children born in the City. The eldest is twenty-four, now, a young woman best known as The Witch of Isley Row. The Strange are young, yet, and still mostly in whatever group to which their parents might belong, but they're easily recognizable and the moniker is well-deserved. The Strange are paler than their parents, with darker eyes, and hair in abnormal hues. Sooner or later they demonstrate a kinship with the shadows of the City, a talent for becoming unseen or finding their way in the dark, or can call on eerie powers.
Understandably, relations between these generations are somewhat tense.
Likewise, relations between the 'unaligned' persons and registered Guild members are fraught, as Anarchists infiltrate both sides to foment unrest, and still more mysterious forces are abroad in The City.
Umbra is waking up. Where do you fit in?
Five players. Experimental diceless system, should be quite light. Get yourself a playtester credit by getting involved.
Characters may be Outlanders or Strangers, ideally in the Reclaimers Guild - and if you feel like something more complicated, your character could be a dark science-harnessing Theurgist or sinister Sorcerer.
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