I could probably make a banner in PS. I'll do a few prospectives and post them here.

EDIT: Album

Also, let me know if you want one for your theme and I'll see what I can do.

Fyi, 0011001 is a friend of mine. Since we're starting this back up, and we certainly didn't have a surplus of people before, I thought he might make a nice addition to our merry little group.

Splendid, splendid! I'll get to work refining Monolith.

These past three or four weeks have to have been one of the craziest parts of my life. One component of this chaos was my entire computer's hard drive becoming corrupted beyond salvage. I still have yet to set up the replacement (I'm typing this from an iPod, sorry for the inevitable typos and such) but I do have it just sitting on the floor, without WiFi capability. Rearrangig some furniture and moving te router should allow an ethernet connection, and I intend to get that done this weekend. Until then, Anything more than the occasional paragraph or two if just toonyc of a hassle for me to type.

Anyways, with that one issue being solved and the other things calming down and returning to normal, I like BBeast will soon be able to get back to it. Good timing, eh?

Trapezoid, you can message me if you like but it'd probably be beat to just post it here for everyone to see.
More feedback and all that.

Edit: I almost forgot to welcome our newest member, 001. Welcome aboard!

Thanks for volunteering to make those banners! That top one you made looks the best in my opinion.

BBeast, I volunteer to do the entirety of the OP if you want. Of course, I'll update it section by section like last time so that writing and critiquing isn't such a tremendous task. Afterwards you (or whoeve does the Compendium) can be the one to post it.

0011001 said
I could probably make a banner in PS. I'll do a few prospectives and post them here.EDIT: Also, let me know if you want one for your theme and I'll see what I can do.

You are now Lab Member Zero Zero Yon! Cristina!

Ugh. PC problems are rather rubbish.
Glad to see you here, though.
Anyways, here are my thoughts on the ice witch demon things.

--¦ | ¦---

In the far off frigid world of Kyotos, the ice demons have lived for centuries in a rather frigid peace, the word used lightly. Their rather competitive nature, always wanting and needing to be on the top of the food chain, causes wars and skirmishes to break out constantly between the cold hearted devils. There was a certain cult of demons, a weaker bunch. Possessing less affinity for the martial oriented fighting styles of their brethren, this cult tore down their enemies with magical prowess. They were less than popular among their peers for this, and it often led them to be thrown around, beaten down by the icy demons who simply waded through magical blizzards, smashed their way through enchanted shards of ice.

It was this constant bullying that brought the cult to an interesting decision. In order to evade further attacks on their already diminished numbers, but still make a name for themselves, the cult set up shop elsewhere- Namely, Cyprus In this land of extreme climates- jungles, volcanoes, and uninhabitable deserts, none were quite prepared for the year long winter that struck. Flurries of slashing snow cut open the skin of the unwary, and massive crystalline catacombs rose in the mountains, monuments to the great power of this cult.

However, magical reservoirs soon ran dry, and brave crusaders came knocking, to deliver a coup des grace to whoever wrought such a plague upon their land. Luckily for the demons; however, they were spared by quick thinking and some minor magic. Disappearing into the icy catacombs, they sacrificed one of their own to satisfy the bloodlust of the natives who sought them out.

Years later, the demons resurfaced once more, hidden under the guise of a cult of witches. Though not much of an improvement on their earlier appearance, it helped them in attaining their goals. Over the next few years, groups of people were taken into the mountains, isolated from the world. Trained by the ancient witches, this cult learned the magics of old, and soon grew to be a rather large metropolis, thousands of cultists teeming within the icy catacombs. While the weak mortals were appeased with thoughts of finding true peace in the cold depths, the demons plotted something far darker- bringing back the blizzard, this time for eternity. But such thoughts could wait- Pressing matters were at hand, such as the dark volcanic sorcerers so near. Other things could be prioritized, for the time being.

For when Winter comes, fingers of doom will clutch the land- all beasts will shiver from the lion to the crow...

Try this on for size.

Since life first came into existence, so has existed its grim twin, death. For all things, returning to dust is an inexorable eventuality, but there are always legends of those who can cheat death. In a time long ago, far beyond all men imagine, there is a city upon a hill where legends are real.

At the peak of the mountain is the source of this anomaly: Providence. This arcane orb of incredible power radiates its Blessings weekly through the city built on, in, and around the mountain home. Called Monolith, this city is inhabited by tens of thousands of sentient golems called Workers, who rely on the Blessings to survive and must toil daily in the city to ensure that Providence, their deity, continues to sustain them. New Workers come to be as shells filled by the spirits of newly-dead humans, plucked one in five thousand from their flight to the afterlife and anchored to a mechanical body by a mirror called Salvation. With no memory of their previous life, they begin a new existence. Continued exposure to weekly blessings will, piece by piece, convert living things in the city into new Workers. In this way, the promise of immortality is real, but with a price, since no Worker may ever leave Monolith.

There is a ray of hope at the end of the tunnel, however. After an indeterminate but generally long length of time, a Worker can visit the temple of Providence and become a Traveler. Taller, more proficient in fighting and magic, and more diverse in capability and form, Travelers can leave the city for however long they wish. Upon ascending, they also regain the memories of their human life. It is a council of six Travelers, called the Journeymen, that act as Monolith's ruling body. They oversee its expansion, interaction with other nations, and superior manufacturing industry.

Monolith's origin is shrouded in mystery, but can, like all of its characteristics, be traced back to Providence. The records of the first Worker indicate that by the time he was created, the Light -Providence- and the Mirror -Salvation- already existed. Where the singularity of magic came from, or who crafted the artifact that brings new Workers to life, is utterly unknown.

So, if you want to live forever, seek the valley among the western range that harbors the legendary city of Monolith. There, you will find freedom in a vibrant solidarity of labor.

Dragons. It’s what you’ve heard about the great Jungle, it’s what you want to hear about more. Let none say the Stranger in Red is short of courage or that he does not listen to the desires of the people. I have scoured the wild and treacherous jungle for a whole lifetime to bring the people my answers.

Firstly, I must bring sad, disappointing truths to you. The dragons of the Jungle do NOT breathe fire. They breathe a toxic fume that brings death to pretty much anything not-a-dragon-or-its-rider that it touches. There is a chance that this fume is flammable, thus, giving birth to the rumors, but even I am not so foolhardy as to stand in a dragon’s breath and try to light it on fire, nor attempt to give orders to a dragon to breathe on a fire. These dragons, at least all those I encountered, do NOT have wings. While they are very agile and quick for their significant bulk and can even jump from outcroppings and large rocks, they possess no aptitude for flight. That is not to say you can outrun them. Like an elephant, when on the move, they are fast and have a tendency to destroy everything in their path. Similarly, while I found no indication that dragons are as intelligent as you or me, well, certainly not as intelligent as me, and can NOT talk; they are still not dumb, more akin to say, a particularly intelligent dog.

Onto the jungle itself, which in all good sense should be first, but you people are so enamored with your two ton scaly dealers of death (and I must put a disclaimer that I merely estimate their weight as I have no way of convincing one onto a scale nor can I carry such a scale with me on my adventures) that the jungle is second. In short, the jungle is not a fun place to be. Well, in long, it’s a very fun place to be, as long as constant brushes with death are your definition of “fun”. In an ecosystem where the alpha predator has to weight as much of an elephant, be armed to the literal teeth with natural weapons such as the infamous breath, and even THEN still requires a symbiotic relationship with a human utilizing traps, poisons, tools, and tactics, one will simply have to imagine how deadly the rest of the animals there are because there are too many to list in this abbreviated article(all of which are fully explored in my latest book, DRAGONS!, pick it up now for the low price of seventy coins of the realm!). And that’s not even mentioning the plants or the usually aquatic alpha predator of the dreaded River Wurm who requires swarms of dragons to push back into the waters whence it came. In short, if you’re in the jungle and you haven’t been eaten or eaten something poisonous yet, give it five seconds and that will quickly be taken care of for you.

"How then, if the jungle is truly so fearsome, did you survive so long, oh devilishly handsome Stranger in Red?" you might ask? By making a deal with the natives, I must admit to my chagrin. As much as I might hope to weave a tale of my own daring, I am bound ever to the truth. Simply making a "deal" took me the better part of a decade. The Dragon Riders, as we call them, have no language. They communicate entirely with their body language and with inarticulate cries. While they are able to understand the intricacies of social interaction on a basic level, their lack of language or interaction for that matter makes things difficult to say the least. After many failed attempts, dodged spears, arrows, and deadly dragons, I managed to strike up a relationship with a new mother that gladly accepted my traded goods of food and clothing due to her exasperation with being burdened with a child. At the side of her and her dragon, I explored the jungle and saw many sights (all of which are fully explored in my latest book, DRAGONS!, pick it up now for the low price of seventy coins of the realm!), learning about her peoples ways and those of dragons. Her people, as far as I can tell, are completely immune to poison, whether from their diets or something of birth, I do not know. They mature startlingly fast, only 3 years from birth to adulthood, yet also die at the age of thirty. That is why I had to leave, as when the lady rider I knew grew old and died, I was no longer welcome in the jungle, by the way. This matches that of their dragons, each one being born at roughly the same time and, barring violence, dying around the same time. Any child conceived without a dragon is left to die, any egg hatched without a rider exposed to the elements. Speaking of conception, that brings me to the only time the dragons and their riders interact with each other. There is an annual "festival" of sorts where they meet, under a great towering spire of rock where a great dragon of immense size lives. I believe that dragon and its rider are immortal or something, because neither aged in all my years in the jungle. Regardless, all payed the pair deference.

Now, alas, this article must come to an end, and while you can find the full story, including that of the battles between dragons and the River Wurm (all of which are fully explored in my latest book, DRAGONS!, pick it up now for the low price of seventy coins of the realm!), for now, I must bid you all a fond farewell.
~The Stranger in Red

Very nice. I shall find a way to incorporate those into the OP.

Speaking of which, I've already made a start on the OP. I'm doing a sizeable amount of restructuring, hopefully for the better. I'll get the first sections for critiquing down below. I'll add further sections with more detailed information about various things if we're happy with it so far.

And welcome, 001. I'm writing from an old machine at the moment which can't access imigur, but I'll take a look when I can. Thank you for joining.
EDIT: Nice. Simple, yet effective. I like the top one the most too.

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Dungeon Keepers

Long ago, in a distant world, the godly being the Devourer created us, the Keepers. We built incredible fortresses called Dungeons to harbour our magical might, and from them we sent out great armies which slaughtered the humans of the land and razed their cities. The reign of our evil soaked the land, until we finally unleashed the Apocalypse and destroyed that world. But we did not die with that realm.

We have moved on to a whole new world. This land we have entered is called Cyprus, and despite being small it is rich with humans. But these humans are not peaceful. Four tribes, wielding rich and diverse magic, surround a grand kingdom and are often at war with each other. These humans will not be easy to conquer and enslave, for they are adept at the art of war and are as cunning and treacherous as we, the Keepers, are. But we shall seize their villages, conquer their cities and slaughter their armies. The denizens of this world will bend to our might or be crushed by it. There is power to be had, and there is nobody who shall stand in our way.

Basis:

As one may have guessed, this roleplay is not focussing on being the 'good guys'. Rather, you are the evil overlord you have always been trying to beat (in more archetypal stories). You must build your army and Dungeon and set out to conquer this land. The humans of this world are not to be scoffed at, for they are experienced in warfare, especially against magical foes, and they have a firm hold of their territory. They won't be defeated too easily.

Humans aside, the greatest threat is your fellow Keepers. We are not a very organised or friendly group, and have always been known to fight each other. And in this small land with finite territory and manpower, conflict is inevitable.

Getting Started:

You are a Keeper. Keepers are like demigods, with nigh immortal souls and the ability to create life. Your soul will have just entered this world from the Void into some random place in the world, but now you need an Avatar, a physical form to incarnate as. This body is vulnerable to destruction and manipulation by physical and magical means, but is may also be whatever form you choose, provided you have the power to do so. In creating your form you can forfeit certain things for others - you could forgo magic in order to have great physical strength, or lose all considerable physical prowess to become ultra-magical, or somewhere in between.

But you have just entered this world, and your power is no greater than that of a sorcerer. You don't yet have the power to create an Avatar capable of flight, telepathy, vast destruction and near indestructibility all at once. You must earn and develop such powers, and try to be original too.

Once materialised, your first step to world domination is to create your Dungeon Heart, your inner sanctum, the core of your Dungeon, nexus of your power, centre of your operations. Either you gather slaves to construct it, enchant some artefact, or at worst build it yourself. In the Heart you can do many things. You can manipulate your Avatar, command your forces directly, expand your consciousness across your entire Dungeon and, most importantly, create new Creatures and Constructs.

Before you can expand your Dungeon and construct whatever rooms you need or desire, you require a workforce. In Ages past, we would summon Imps from the Void, but alas we can no longer do that in this world, so we will have to enslave the limited human populace, or get them to work for us by other means. In order to do that, you need an army. And for that you need creatures.

To create your first creature, you simply enter your Heart and begin the creative process. You can invent just about anything, although its power is limited by that of yourself and your Dungeon, so your first creature will be fairly weak, hardly more powerful than a human if at all. While creating the blueprint for this new creature, however, you are completely incapacitated and quite vulnerable. Any significant disturbance could be catastrophic. The time it takes to create your first blueprint is 3 posts made by other people (not your own posts).

Once you've created your blueprint or original, you can easily create many more of that creature. A summoning chamber, a hatchery, transmutation of other creatures, or something along those lines will allow more of that creature to be made. Just make sure not to lose every copy of that creature, or else you will have to create it again from scratch.

So, with your meagre army you can head out, raze a village and capture some humans as slaves. Now what? You can get them to work on your Dungeon, that's what. If word gets out that you razed a village an angry army might come knocking on your doorstep, so you'd better build some defences. You'll also want a solid means of summoning more of your creatures. Additionally, you've got to house, feed and equip your army and slaves, so you'll probably need barracks, shelters, farms, mines, blacksmiths, and workshops. Facilities for training is a good idea, as are storage rooms, prisons for rowdy slaves, and whatever speciality rooms and buildings you might need. Get creative.

The greater your Dungeon, the greater your power. And the further your conquest, the greater your power. So get out there, enslave humanity, extend your Dungeon and be a blight on the world.

Should we mention the Fibonacci sequence of creating minions in there somewhere?
Otherwise, looks great so far BBeast. Looking back on this old OP, I think we can keep the old numbered sections, save for section 4, which needs changing.

I also wondered if we should have some systematic way to increase our keepers power. Maybe something like an upgrade of your avatar (within reason) every three new minions, or rooms, or constructs created.

The Fibbonaci sequence will come under more detailed information. When you're getting started, you're only really concerned about the first minion.

An objective measure of Keeper strength does sound like a good idea. I personally believe Keeper power should be directly proportionate to the extent of your conquest. Want more power? Raze more villages and capture more cities. Or enslave more people. That might just be me, though.

Despite how twisted that sounds, it sounds like a good idea.
If you want, I could start running through the index, and scrubbing out whatever has been changed.

I'm wanting to redo the entire OP. While the content will be largely the same, I'm hoping to have it expressed in a simpler, more concise manner. That means writing it out almost from scratch (with reference to the original, of course), but that's OK because since exams have finished I've got little better to do.

Alright, sounds good.

I've completed the next section. Do tell me if I need to rephrase anything anywhere in the new OP.

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Creating Creatures and Constructs:

As mentioned above, to design a new creature you must enter your Heart and spend a while there distraction-free. The amount of time you spend there is determined by the Fibonacci Sequence. Your first creature takes 3 posts to create, your second takes 5 posts, third 8 posts, fourth 13 posts, fifth 21 posts, and so on. These are posts of other players, so you can't simply spam posts to create your creature. Each successive new creature is typically more powerful than the last, but it will be weaker than a Keeper or Construct and its power is limited by your own. Additionally, creatures don't get more powerful as you do. You may change their equipment and make minor, largely cosmetic changes, but any major overhaul will require starting from scratch.

While you are in your Heart creating a creature, all your attention is focussed on the creation of this new blueprint. If your concentration is broken, such as by a pesky hero kicking open the door of the Heart, then bad things happen. In short, your Heart explodes from misdirected magical energy, probably taking out your Avatar, your new blueprint and a sizeable chunk of your Dungeon (and hopefully whichever enemies were beating down your door too). Try not to let that happen.

While you personally can not attend to anything while you're busy creating new creatures, the other denizens of your Dungeon can continue working. Your armies will still defend your Dungeon and do whatever tasks you left them to do, and if you have any Constructs they can arrange raids, organise your troops and the like.

Constructs are like your general, sergeants and champions. They are far more powerful than ordinary creatures, although still weaker than all but the most pitiful of creatures. Constructs are also capable of leading and organising your forces in your absence, which makes them even more valuable. As well as greater power and (usually) intelligence than your ordinary minions, Constructs have a much closer link with Keepers, and can be empowered or even possessed if the need should arise (although you may need to be in your Heart at the time).

The creation of a single Construct requires the same process as creating a new blueprint for a creature. You must be in your Heart, undisturbed, for a period of time determined by the Fibonacci Sequence, as before. The more Constructs you already have, the longer it takes. However, the number of blueprints you have does not influence how long it takes to make a Construct, and vice versa.

Should you so want to, you can destroy all of the copies of one of your weaker creatures in order to lower the number of blueprints you have in order to speed up the creation of newer blueprints. The same effect occurs if you are unfortunate enough to have all of one type of minion wiped out. The same can be done of Constructs. Just be sure to do so before you start creating - no distractions or things go boom, remember?

Shouldn't it be 'weaker than all but the most pitiful Keepers?' Because them being stronger than creatures but weaker than creatures doesn't make sense.

You forgot to mention that creatures can be upgraded and constructs needn't necessarily be just bigger or otherwise better versions of the same leveled creature. Those have been two frequently asked questions so we should address them now.

@Kaben, Ah, yes, I meant that.

@Cyclone, I'll put those in. I have a paragraph for upgrading below. While in the original OP it said that this process does not have to take place in the Heart, I personally think it should take place in the Heart. Also, do upgrades affect all members of that species, or just future ones?

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If, later, you wish to make a major modification to one of your pre-existing creatures, then you have the option of upgrading it. This process takes the same amount of other people's posts as it took to originally create that creature. Unlike the original process, upgrading does not completely incapacitate you. If things go wrong, then there won't be an explosion, although completing the upgrade may be compromised.

For my assistance I demand a Keeper-style WMD! Mwahaha!

I've got the next section ready. It's a new one, pertaining largely to the need for human resources which we hope will drive greater interaction.

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Dungeon Management:

So you've got a massive army of ferocious monsters led by loyal Constructs living in an imposing Dungeon constructed by your hoard of slaves. You feel indomitable, but what does everyone eat? Where do they sleep, rest and recover? How do you keep your army armed? What happens if your slaves start feeling rebellious?

These are all very important things to consider as a Keeper of a Dungeon. These logistical problems are the second most important reason for expansion (the first, of course, being more power). Enslaving the denizens of this realm or bringing them to your side otherwise is the only way to obtain a workforce, because none of your Creatures are be capable of such menial tasks as construction, farming and mining. While capturing slaves appeals to many Keepers, some may prefer some means mind control or brainwashing, or even convincing the humans to willingly join their forces. Just be sure to keep them under your control. If they rebel and you have to kill them all, you'll be out of workers.

Even if your minions are untiring automatons, your slaves still need care or they will die and you'll have no more slaves. Chief among the requirements for your slaves and likely your army is that of food. You could construct farms around your Dungeon, and send slaves to work on those farms, although then you'll need more slaves to balance that out, and have the land around you secured. Alternatively, you could take food from others, either by raiding, demanding tribute or even trade.

Another thing to remember is that if you have an army you will need weapons and armour, and if you have a Dungeon you will need materials to build it. You'll need to log forests for lumber, dig quarries for stone and mine in mines for metals, and whatever other resources you'll need. Fuel will also be a good idea, to run your foundries, kitchens and fireplaces (your slaves are no good if they freeze and die, now are they?).You could assign some of your labourers to these tasks, or alternatively you could steal or trade. Whatever gets the job done.

Of course, you are not limited to stealing from the humans. The Keeper next door has done you a favour by gathering a large amount of resources and slaves in one place, ripe for the picking. I'm also betting you won't be happy when that same Keeper comes by and pillages a few towns which you had been earning tribute from, or intending to pillage yourself. Of course, if fighting that Keeper and taking their slaves, resources and Dungeon for your own won't work for you, you could always try to make some kind of alliance, trading goods and joining forces in battle. Just watch out for when they stab you in the back, for Keepers are a treacherous lot.