[b][u]Apologies to anyone hoping to join, but we are currently not accepting new characters other than those made by people who have already expressed interest beforehand. If you are still keen on joining PM me and I will save a spot for you if one of our members unfortunately drops from the roleplay.[/u][/b] [center][u][b]Seekers of the First Flame[/b][/u] [img]http://gamingbolt.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/dark-souls-2-cover.jpg[/img][/center] In this cold and dark world, you only find comfort at the bonfire. It was never once like this, or at least that’s what you believe. Distant memories of a life before this plague your very thoughts. You find that no matter how hard you try to desperately hold onto the life you once lead, you can’t help but question what is real and what is an illusion. You are an undead, branded by the accursed Darksign. Forced to live free from death at the cost of your very being. Your thoughts, emotions and ambitions will all slip away. You will become a Hollow. What if there was a way to avoid this fate? That is, after all, why you sit here in Lordran, the land of ancient lords. You may not remember your past life, or your loved ones, or even your dreams: but you remember the prophecy that brought you here to this accursed land. [i]“Thou who art undead art chosen. On thine exodus from the undead asylum, maketh pilgrimage to the land of ancient lords. Once thou ring the bell of awakening, the fate of thy undead thou shalt know.”[/i] These words are the only hope you have left to claim what was taken from you. It was you who escaped the asylum that your kind are imprisoned, along with all the undead you see around you at the bonfire. You look upon their faces and see how their despair matches your own. All of you warm your souls at the bonfire, the only warmth you’ve felt for a very long time. Despite your differences, all of you have come here for the same reason. The question is; which one of you is truly the Chosen One who will end the curse of the undead? The fire is fading, and soon the world will be shrouded in darkness. If that happens, your soul will truly be lost. [u][b]Roleplay Information[/b][/u] This is a dark fantasy roleplay that is entirely based off of the world of Dark Souls. The setting will be taking place in Lordran around the time of the First Flame fading. Don’t know what the first flame is? Maybe you don’t even know anything about Dark Souls, but that’s fine! Dark Souls is a game that has a very obscure way of telling it’s lore to the audience, so whether or not you’ve played the game is irrelevant. If you just want to be a part of a dark fantasy based roleplay then you’re more than welcome! The basic premise as you’ve guessed from the little summary above is that all of our characters are afflicted with the curse of the undead. We are immortal beings incapable of death, but in exchange our humanity is slowly slipping away. We are beginning to forget who we are or where we came from. All our characters know is that there is a prophecy that speaks of a Chosen Undead travelling to Lordran to seek the fate of the Undead. Whether this leads to the lifting of the curse, or submerging the rest of the world in its darkness, is unknown to us. Our characters are desperate people trying to cling onto their humanity. The process of an undead fully losing its humanity is called hollowing. Because our characters are undead, I feel like it’s going to introduce a very interesting mechanic to the roleplay where death is irrelevant. When we die we are brought back, but each time we are brought back we are closer to hollowing. So in essence, going hollow is the true equivalent of a character dying in this roleplay. The state of your characters hollowing at the beginning is completely up to you. Perhaps you’ve been in Lordran for a while and are on the brink of going hollow. Maybe your character only recently turned undead and still has a relatively good grasp of their life before the curse. In any case I’m hoping to find a group roleplayers that would be willing to participate in this little adventure. The progression of the story will be entirely reliant on these characters, as I’d like to stick to the nature of Dark Souls and not try and spout a lot of exposition on the lore and the story. Our characters can slowly piece together the world they find themselves in as we venture forth. Whether we end up discovering anything about the curse or why it came to be will be completely up to us and how we choose to live the story. [u][b]Roleplay Rules[/b][/u] [hider=Roleplay Rules]- Generic Roleplay rules. Make sure every post aims to progress the plot in some way. It’s very hard to respond to a post that is vague and where not much happens in it. - Please listen to the GM’s final word when disputing anything, and always be respectful. - Please make your characters realistic. I don’t mean in terms of appearance; you can do whatever you desire for that. Just try not to make your characters overpowered. - If you have played Dark Souls, try not to metagame information about the game into your posts. For example, we are all starting at the same situation of trying to find the Bell of Awakening. In the game there are actually 2 Bells, however our characters would not know this fact. - If you haven’t played Dark Souls and wouldn’t like the experience spoiled to you, then perhaps this isn’t the best roleplay to join. I can’t guarantee whether or not there will be plot spoilers in this roleplay, as that will depend on how we choose to advance the story. - On the note of spoilers, if you have played the game and there are people in the roleplay that haven’t: use spoiler tags for everything. Literally everything. They can choose whether or not to read them, but let’s try not to ruin the experience of a pretty snazzy game in my opinion.[/hider] [u][b]Hollowing and Humanity[/b][/u] [hider=Hollowing and Humanity]The way you can reverse the hollowing process before it becomes irreversible is to consume the humanity of others. Humanity can be found in small doses on corpses, but pillaging it from a healthy undead seems to be the most effective way of restoring one’s humanity. You are not allowed to play as a hollow, but that does not mean your character can’t be chaotic or have ulterior motives. In the order of making things interesting, backstabs and betrayals between characters are allowed. This is assuming that both participating parties are alright with said betrayal happening. Essentially our characters are treading on thin ice. We are all at risk of hollowing and we would all do anything we could to avoid this fate. In desperate times, one of us may even be tempted to try and steal the humanity from another character less likely to hollow anytime soon. Or perhaps they would prefer to steal it from corpses bit by bit. Maybe your character won’t even need to gather humanity. Hollowing is simply the process of giving into despair and letting go of our humanity. As long as our wills stay strong, we cannot hollow. The question is, how long can you go through this endless cycle of death and misery before your will shatters?[/hider] [u][b]Classes[/b][/u] In Dark Souls there are classes you can choose at the start that determine starting items and stats. This is a forum roleplay so I personally don’t like relying on stats or dice rolls and whatnot. So we aren’t going to use classes. You can be as creative with your character as you like, as long as it sticks to the dark medieval theme of the roleplay. [u][b]Covenants[/b][/u] [hider=Covenants]Covenants are also a big thing in Dark Souls! I want to keep them included because I think they offer a nice edge to our characters. Covenants can also grant certain bonuses. The in-game covenants are as followed, but you are more than welcome to incorporate your own covenants if you want that extra edge to your character. [u]The Way of White[/u]: The Church whose influence spreads so far that it even reaches the forsaken land of Lordran. Worshippers of Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight, their old abandoned churches can still be found littering the land. The Way of White is speculated to have been the cause behind the fear of the undead. Its clerics and paladins are known for their wrathful miracles that reflect the God’s fury, as well as their ability to keep themselves healthy in combat. Undead members of the Way of White are sent to Lordran on pilgrimage to attain the Rite of Kindling; the ancient technique of feeding one’s humanity to the bonfire to keep the flame alive. [u]The Sunlight Warriors[/u]: Worshippers of Lord Gwyn’s first born son, a God of war and battle. The unnamed deity was stricken of his God status by his father, yet his Sunlight Warriors remain ever faithful to him. Paladins who utilize miracles and sorcery that gather the power of sunlight in the form of glorious spears of lightning. These lightning spears are recorded as the tool Lord Gwyn used to defeat the mighty everlasting dragons, thus ending their reign over the world. [u]The Princess’ Guard[/u]: Sworn protectors and worshippers of Princess Gwynevere, daughter of Lord Gwyn who resides over the magnificent city of Gods; Anor Londo. These faithful guardians, usually clerics or paladins, are ready to fight for their princess even at the cost of their own life. Princess Gwynevere grants them the ability to cast powerful healing memories powered by the Sun’s warm radiance. [u]The Darkmoon Blades[/u]: Skilled mercenaries who pledge their allegiance to Gwyndolin of the Dark Sun, youngest child of Lord Gwyn. Unlike his siblings, Gwyndolin’s powers came from not the sun, but the moon. As a result of such a feminine affliction, Gwyn raised his youngest child as a woman. Gwyndolin is the deity who rules over the Darkmoon Blades, granting his power of the moon to bolster their strength in battle as they hunt down sinners across Lordran. [u]Forest Hunter Clan[/u]: A group of hunters who pledge their allegiance to Alvina of the Darkroot Wood. They patrol the Darkroot Garden, hunting those who would dare intrude to desecrate the graves of the forest. Alvina as the covenant leader only asks that they hunt for her, but the spoils of battle are kept by whoever scores the kill. For this reason the Forest Hunters are a rather popular covenant for undead wishing to live through battle. [u]Chaos Servants[/u]: Worshippers of the Fair Lady, a daughter of Chaos who resides in a nest at the bottom of Blight town. Her sister Quelaag guards the entrance to her home, murdering all who dare to enter and bringing their humanity to her sister to keep her alive and powerful. Those who pledge their life to the Fair Lady vow to bring her Humanity so that she may continue living. In exchange, the Fair Lady shares the secrets of Chaos Pyromancy: a most fearsome form of fire magic. [u]The Darkwraiths[/u]: Evil, twisted enemies of man who pillage the humanity of others for personal gain. These demonic undead are granted the power of Lifedrain: the evil art of siphoning humanity from an undead through touch alone. The entire city of New Londo was flooded to stop the spread of these malicious beings; yet some still remain throughout Lordran. [u]Gravelord Servants[/u]: Worshippers of Gravelord Nito, the first of the dead who rallied together with Lord Gwnn, The Witch of Izalith and Seath the Scaleless to annihilate the everlasting dragons. These servants fulfill the will of their master by spreading death and madness to whoever they encounter. They are granted the ability to plague the minds of others by summoning Gravelord Phantoms to haunt their victims. [u]Path of the Dragon[/u]: Worshippers of the last Everlasting Dragon who resides at the bottom of Ash Lake. These warriors seek to attain immortality by turning into dragons. The Everlasting Dragon offers them the ability to turn into a human/dragon hybrid permanently in exchange for offering Dragon Scales. Members of this Covenant are constantly at war with one another, seeking to murder each other for scales to appease the Everlasting Dragon and eventually ascend to his state of living.[/hider] Originally, I wasn’t going to have people start in covenants. However I changed my mind because Covenants are a great way to justify character motives as well as add an edge of individuality to our characters. You don’t need to be in a covenant, and your covenant can change numerous times throughout the roleplay: Although you can only keep the benefits of the current Covenant you are in. [u][b]Current Locations and NPC’s[/b][/u] [u]Firelink Shrine[/u]: The main hub of Lordran, and possibly the safest place from the horrors that lie in wait. Central to almost every other area available, the Firelink Shrine acts as a rendezvous point in our adventure. The shrine is simply a large stone circle surrounding the bonfire. North of the bonfire there is a little pool of water with a fountain. Here at the Shrine players can talk to [u]Mother Jeanne of White[/u], an influential priestess belonging to the Way of White covenant. She is willing to share her supplies with other members of her covenant free of charge, but expects a payment of Souls from all others. Also at the Shrine is [u]The Masked Firekeeper[/u], an unnamed woman who wears a porcelain mask to hide her appearance. She tells you that she is the keeper of the bonfire and that is all she is willing to share. At the very least she offers comfort to weary travelers. [u]The Catacombs (Entrance)[/u]: Located just North-west of the Firelink Shrine, down a set of steps, is the entrance to the Catacombs. This is a packed graveyard that, while usually is quite deadly, is now completely safe thanks to the work of Mother Jeanne and her two Paladins [u]Sir Jerome[/u] and [u]Patrick[/u]. Currently one can find Patrick resting in front of an unmarked grave. He offers friendly advice and companionship to players and is always willing to spar if one wishes to practice. Sir Jerome has gone further into the catacombs in order to seek the Rite of Kindling. Patrick worries that he has been gone for too long, but he is afraid to enter the tomb alone. [u]New Londo Ruins (Entrance)[/u]: Underneath the bonfire is a large elevator that goes all the way down to the entrance of the New Londo ruins. A dark, cold and wet place, filled with hollows so far gone that they sit passively; never provoking those who enter. In here you will find [u]Darkwraith Caitlyn[/u] who tries to seduce the undead into accepting the gift of Lifedrain; joining her covenant. If a member of her covenant, she will share secrets about the other inhabitants of the Firelink Shrine. Hidden a fair distance from her will also be [u]Darkmoon Blade Nicolas[/u], an assassin waiting for the perfect time to take out Caitlyn for her sins against man. He warns you that associating with a Darkwraith will also put you on his list. Finally there is [u]Theresa of Vinheim[/u], a Sorceress who watches patiently over the ruins of New Londo in the distance. She tells you that there are ghosts wandering New Londo and she is using her purification magic to make sure they do not escape the city to plague the residence of the Firelink Shrine. She is also willing to enchant weapons and armor with magical effects; for a price. [u][b]Character Sheet[/b][/u] Name – Age – Gender – Sexuality – Appearance – Image or description. Any form of image is acceptable. Land of Origin – You can use the lands from Dark Souls or make your own up! Covenant – Personality – Arsenal – Your characters tools, weapons etc. Magical Traits – Is your character a sorcerer or a cleric? If so give details on the extent of what they can do. Please don’t feel pressured to stick within the bounds of the Dark Souls world. You don’t have to make your character use Soul Sorceries or Pyromancy if you do not want to. If you do, then that’s perfectly fine. Just be as creative as you like without being overpowered. Biography – Talk about your character before they came to Lordran and what happened when they were afflicted by the curse. Miscellaneous – Other information you want to include.