Since the light of civilization was first established, it has been present. Known only as "The Labyrinth", it is said to have contained all manner of hellish monster, the likes of which could not even be conceptualized outside of its domain. Tales of it have been passed down by word of mouth, from generation to generation, of heroes who have ventured into the Labyrinth, of Demon Lords who plotted from within its depths, of unimaginable treasures gilding those cavernous walls. An underground dungeon with a depth unknown, and the deeper one ventured, the greater the risk and the greater the reward. Yet, times have changed. For reasons lost to the sands of time, the Labyrinth was one day sealed. Mankind lived on in an ordinary fashion, as the tales of heroes and monsters drifted from memory to history, and from history to myth. The Labyrinth became a sealed-up cave only notable as a historical landmark with its relevance forgotten. Historians and archaeologists analyzed what unsealed parts of it could be observed, and subsequently left it to gather dust. Mankind grew complacent, ruling over the animals of the world with their superior might. Magical arts were lost and forgotten, and the world kept turning as it always had. In this year, to be known henceforth as the First Year of the New Era, this peace was shattered. The boundary between the Labyrinth and the outside world had been broken. It is unlikely that mankind would have even noticed this change for some time had a second occurrence happened at this same time: "The Descent of the Gods". Transcendent beings descended to Earth, and spoke to man for the first time in eons. To the rational world of man, the arrival of these beings, humanoid in appearance but wielding power that defied the common sense of humans, was far more shocking than the mere opening of a cave. These beings, calling themselves Gods, announced to all members of mankind that this slumbering Labyrinth had awoken once more. Due to their compassion for humans, they had come to give mankind blessings of power, such that they can venture into the Labyrinth once more. The area around the Labyrinth was established as an independent zone, free of the desires wrought by worldly kings; none would dare to defy that rule, lest they invite the anger of the Gods. Greater agility, endurance, power, and the blessings of the God they chose to ally with. With these gifts at their back, those members of the human race that came to the Labyrinth began their foray into its depths. And that's where you come in. Wealth, fame, power, justice, bloodlust, pick your purpose and journey forwards. Oh, and try not to die. [hider=Rules] No autohitting, no controlling other people's characters, no doing things you shouldn't be able to do. This is entry-level stuff. If you don't know how to act in a roleplay, I don't know what you're doing. That said, if you have legitimate questions, ask me. It's good to know that, if someone is waiting on you, after a 24 hour period of waiting they are free to post again. If you're in a conversation, they're free to walk away after 24 hours. If you're in a fight and they swung their sword at you, they're free to say that the sword hit after 24 hours. This means it's a very bad idea to not post before that deadline, should you be in a fight. Of course, if you won't be able to post for more than a day, let me know so I can extend this deadline for you; I won't penalize you for real-life circumstances. Don't be a bully Out-Of-Character. At the same time, don't be easily offended by everything someone says out of character. If someone's messing around, don't get all upset. If they're taking it too far, I'll talk to them. In-character, be as rude, offensive, or blatantly horrible as you like.[/hider] [hider=CS] Name: What is your character's name? Any nicknames? Title: You won't acquire this until you're recognized by the gods for your accomplishments, so leave it blank until then. Age: How old is your character? Gender: Male, Female, or Apache Helicopter? Appearance: Describe your character. A picture is also fine. Personality: Self-explanatory. Biography: What happened to your character before the events of the roleplay? Skills: What sort of things your character can do. Everything from swordplay to singing should go here. Also explain the level of skill they have in each skill. With combat, do not just put down "sword fighting", put down the style of sword fighting they use and what it entails, such as the sort of movements it focuses on and if it's offensive or defensive. Guild: Which god have they formed a pact with? Equipment: What do they have with them? Regarding money, the currency of the roleplay is measured in Golds and Silvers, where 10 silvers is one gold. 20 gold is the max you should start off with, and even that's only if you're pretty rich. [/hider] [hider=FAQ] [hider=So what is this Labyrinth thing?] Think of it as an underground dungeon, just outside of the city that the roleplay will be taking place in. The entrance to the Labyrinth is a cave that leads you underground to the first floor. From there, you can progress down into the Labyrinth. In classic dungeon style, the lower down you go, the stronger the monsters get and the better potential drops get. Don't expect monsters to drop gold or something, though. Killing monsters will net you their corpse, whatever they were carrying, and some nice experience. That said, other treasures might be around, whether guarded by a monster or just laying on the ground somewhere.[/hider] [hider=What are the gods doing here?] Who knows? They probably have a reason, but you'll have to get in their good graces before they start telling you secrets. All they'll say for now is that it's because they love humans so very much. At any rate, the Gods give you blessings that raise your abilities past those of a normal human's, so that you're able to fight monsters on-par. A good way to think about it is that, by joining a God's guild, your strength, speed, endurance, and so on are raised to being "five times that of an average human". That's the baseline you hit, meaning that a nine-year old girl and a twenty year old bodybuilder will actually be on par with each other in raw ability, so app whatever kind of character you like. It's also good to know that all people contracted with a God have accelerated healing, particularly when asleep. Typically, eight hours of sleep will be enough to heal non-fatal wounds. Wow, how convenient! By joining a God's "Guild", you agree to follow the rules of that God in exchange for power. Every god will have a personal viewpoint and dogma that will only be fully known to members of their guild after joining, so be careful as the God who you're joining up with might want you to do stuff against your own principles. When in a Guild, you will start off with a God's "first-order blessing" and "first-order detriment"; these are traits you obtain that are unique to being in that God's Guild. As you gain favor with that God and progress through the dungeon, you will be able to unlock their second-order blessing, third-order blessing, and so on. For specific God information, blessings, and the like, see the Lexicon below. After joining a Guild, you're allowed to leave it if another God looks more enticing to you, however you might need to do a quest of some sort to be allowed to leave the Guild you're currently in, depending on the God's temperament. Also, when you leave a God's Guild, all blessings you obtained from that God will be lost, so if you're in Hermes Guild and you leave it to join Ares Guild, you won't keep any Hermes blessings or detriments.[/hider] [hider=How do I get stronger?] The god you're in the guild of is in charge of that. After you've done some fighting in the Labyrinth, or basically anything that could be indicative of "training", you can go to your god and get your status updated. When that happens, the experiences you've accumulated will be converted into "boosts" to your respective stats. Say that you were running nonstop to get away from monsters, or you got beaten to the verge of death a couple times, your agility or vitality would go up, respectively. This also applies to your skills. Essentially this is how you "convert EXP into stat-ups". As this isn't an RPG and you don't have stats in a numeric sense, it's up to your common sense to decide how strong you think you are. Of course, if you ask, your god will personally let you know how strong they think you are. Here's roughly what each "parameter" stands for. Strength: Physical strength, obviously. You increase this through general combat; killing monsters does the best job. Agility: Reaction time and speed of movement. You increase this through things like dodging and running; obviously, doing a few laps around the city won't give you as big a boost as, say, dodging a Goblin Shaman's fireball will. Vitality: Force of physical life and innate physical defenses. Increased by taking physical damage. Intelligence: Magic attack power. Increased by practicing magic. Wisdom: Force of the spirit and innate spiritual defenses. Increased by taking spiritual damage.[/hider] [hider=How do I magic?] That's a secret. The methods for recovering the lost art of magic are hidden in the Labyrinth, it's up to you to find them. [s]Alternatively, just ask the God of Magic.[/s][/hider] [hider=What sort of monsters are on each floor?] Who knows? Go find out.[/hider] [hider=Can I enter the Labyrinth without a God's blessing?] Sure. If you're alone though, you'll die horribly. You won't have a chance against even the weakest monster.[/hider] [hider=What's the tech level?] Swords. Bows. Torches. No guns.[/hider] [hider=I have a question you didn't put here!] ...Ask it, then.[/hider] [/hider] [hider=Lexicon] This area is where publicly available information will be stored. The List of Gods is known to all characters automatically, even if they've yet to join a Guild. The Monsters and Artifacts, however, are different. Essentially, the Monsters and Artifacts lists are stored in a mental "bank". All Gods are capable of viewing information that people in their Guild see. So, whenever someone discovers a monster or artifact in the Labyrinth, their patron God automatically adds that information to the Lexicon. However, the information may not be complete. If you're the first to fight a slime, then "Slime" will be added to the Lexicon, but if the next day, someone else figures out a weakness of the slime, then that weakness will also be added. All members of a Guild, regardless of which Guild they're in, can access the Lexicon just by virtue of thinking. In other words, if it's in the Lexicon, you automatically know it. It's also good to know that when you discover something and it's added to the Lexicon, you'll be given a finder's fee which you can collect at any time from your God. If you're the one to discover a slime, for instance, you might get a couple of gold for your trouble. The amount of gold you'll get depends on the quality of the info. So yeah, this is basically magic mental Wikipedia. Use it well. [hider=List of Gods] [hider=Ares] [img]http://i.imgur.com/LNBfOWK.png[/img] A brash, no-nonsense fighter whose policy is to fight first, and ask questions later. Values the powerful, disdains the manipulative. In her eyes, power is everything. Members of her Guild are ones whose blessings are oriented around overpowering the enemy. This generally takes the form of increasing innate combat potential in a variety of situations, and is best suited for person-to-person combat. The first-order blessing is one of superiority in straight combat; between two fighters of equal skill, a follower of Ares will almost certainly be the victor. The first-order detriment is that focus in battle is single-minded, making one more susceptible to ambushes or traps.[/hider] [hider=Loki] [img]http://i.imgur.com/ikatrhW.jpg[/img] A mischievous, young-looking girl with a black innocence. Fond of toying with others, be they gods or humans, and rarely, if ever, takes an offense seriously. At the same time, she can never be trusted in full. Taking her at face value is a foolish move. Members of her Guild are ones whose blessings are oriented around nothing in particular. It is a mixed bag of tricks as varied as can be, though it rarely operates in the realm of straight combat. While each blessing is powerful, their disjointedness means that finding synergy between them requires an innovative mind. The first-order blessing is an innate ability for deception and concealing their true intentions; lies are easier believed. The first-order detriment is that one's aptitude for direct combat is marginally reduced.[/hider] [hider=Vishnu] [img]http://i.imgur.com/d9DN45J.jpg[/img] A sagacious man who practices a doctrine of purest serenity. The most "forgiving" of the gods, though at the same time he is heavily difficult to read. A mysterious old grandfather. Members of his Guild are ones whose blessings are oriented around preserving their own lives. Rather than "killing the enemy", they are focused on "not being killed", and excel in that field; one who has mastered Vishnu's blessings is absurdly difficult to kill. The first-order blessing is an increase in vitality, their force of life. The first-order detriment is that physical strength is slightly reduced.[/hider] [hider=Hephaestus] [img]http://i.imgur.com/6C9Lxpw.jpg[/img] A precocious girl who takes pride in her craft, and cares for little outside of that. One has gained value in her eyes when one has devoted their life to the path of the smith. Members of her Guild are ones whose blessings are oriented around creating and forging. While applicability to combat is low, outside of combat they are invaluable for being able to create all manner of items. The first-order blessing is gaining a talent for the forging of items, providing they have raw materials. The first-order detriment is that agility is slightly reduced.[/hider] [hider=Hermes] [img]http://i.imgur.com/e1EZ8zE.jpg[/img] A perverse woman who lives life at an incomprehensibly fast pace, and is renowned as an airhead. Somehow though, her capacity for negotiation with others is practically unmatched. Members of her Guild are ones whose blessings are oriented around maneuverability and efficiency; while similar to Loki in that most blessings seem to be far distinct from one another, they all share the abstract theme of "getting from A to B in a better way". The first-order blessing is an increased propensity towards conducting business, being able to haggle and conduct trade more efficiently. The first-order detriment is that their bodies are more frail than they would be otherwise.[/hider] [hider=Heka] [img]http://i.imgur.com/ASrFCZ7.jpg[/img] A prideful and ridiculously proper individual, who considers matters of proper etiquette to be of heavy importance. At the same time, she is easily flustered, making her compatibility with people such as Loki low. Members of her Guild are ones whose blessings are oriented around increasing the depth and breadth of magical abilities to the utmost; they are singlemindedly focused on magic. The first-order blessing is an increase in magic efficiency. The first-order detriment is that non-magical parameters are slightly reduced.[/hider] [hider=Cernunnos] [img]http://i.imgur.com/5WsoZuN.png[/img] A very quirky, sarcastic girl with a sharp tongue. She seems to always be busy doing something, but doesn't actually seem to value anything she does as important. Members of her Guild are ones whose blessings are oriented around the idea of a "ranger", using ranged weaponry, high speed, concealing oneself, and the like to win a battle before it begins. The first-order blessing is gaining a bonus to ranged damage. The first-order detriment is that melee damage is slightly reduced.[/hider] [hider=Thoth] [img]http://i.imgur.com/1V0mVlc.jpg[/img] A bookworm of the highest degree. Someone who never leaves her lab and rarely looks up from whatever she is doing when talking with someone else. Tone of speaking is inordinately meek. A "nerd comma fucking" without peer. Members of her Guild are ones whose blessings are oriented around alchemy and the mind. Specializing in the brewing of magical substances, they can be seen as a halfway point between Heka and Hephaestus. The first-order blessing is the acquisition of minor alchemical abilities, allowing the creation of Basic-Class potions. The first-order detriment is a slight reduction in combat parameters.[/hider] [/hider] [hider=Monsters] Goblins: reen-skinned, short-statured beings. There are actually multiple species and subspecies of "Goblin", this is merely the most basic kind. They excel in agility, being a hair faster than a starting blessed human, but are relatively weak even then, their strength and vitality both being notably weaker than a starting blessed human. An average adventurer should certainly be able to defeat one in single-combat. Wield Goblin Swords and wear rags that are barely qualifiable as clothing. Slime: Magically constructed beings of slime. They generally exist as simple blobs, and seem to lack full sentience. Control over their own bodies is negligible. They possess a "core", which can be seen as their sole vital organ and a source of their magic nature. It is this core that “creates” the slime that surrounds it. Physical attacks not dealt at the core are rarely efficient, as due to a slime's biology they are inconsequential, and so most physical attacks must either be aimed at the core or used in a way that will prevent the slime from simply blobbing back together. Poison Slime: A variant species of Slime, distinguishable by its sickly green hue. Like the standard Slime, it has little control over its body. The slime generated by its core has a moderate poison attribute, which inflicts that status upon anything susceptible that it comes into contact with. Acid Slime: A variant species of Slime, distinguishable by its pale red hue. Like the standard Slime, it has little control over its body. The slime generated by its core has a moderate acid attribute, which corrodes anything it comes into contact with. Enchanted items are capable of resisting its effects, however. [/hider] [hider=Artifacts/Items] Goblin Sword: A rusty sword commonly wielded by Goblins. In offensive potential, durability, and any other metric of value, it can be called "trash-tier". One who uses a weapon such as this seriously is either desperate or deranged. Basic Health Potion: Pale light-green, viscous potions. Appear unappetizing at best. Accelerate natural healing while bypassing negative effects such as accelerated aging. The degree of acceleration will lead to minor injuries being healed in full, and more threatening wounds being at least mitigated. While it will not make a fatal wound non-fatal, consuming one will at least buy the user some time. It is worth noting that the effects will only be actualized if the full potion is consumed; drinking a fraction of it will not lead to a proportional recovery. [/hider] [hider=Important Terms] Floor Guardian: A term used to refer to a certain type of unique class "boss" monster, generally ones that are improportionally strong compared to monsters of both the immediately preceding and succeeding floors. As can be gauged from the name, these are beings directly appointed by the Labyrinth to guard the floor they are positioned on, preventing others from passing to the next floor and killing intruders as needed. As such, they are incapable of leaving the Labyrinth floor they are set to guard, unless explicitly permitted to by the Labyrinth. Further information unknown or undisclosed. Temporal Distortion: An altered state of being that seems to be inherent to the Labyrinth, though for a decent stretch of time following it being unsealed, the distortion was not in effect. The "flow of time" inside of the Labyrinth progresses faster than it does outside. At the current point in time, one second inside of the Labyrinth passes at the same rate as twenty seconds in the rest of the world. For unknown reasons, no disorienting change or damage occurs when exiting or entering the Labyrinth. [/hider] [/hider]