OH! The rough version! Pardon the redundancies and lack of fancy format, but its my first time actually making a thread. ;/ [hider=The work so far]You know this story, told to you as a child before bed like countless thousands of others only to repeat them to your own. The names, places, feats and foes may change but it is a compelling story of how good triumphs over evil; how love prevails; friendship and peace manifesting into some ambiguous 'light' designed to strike down the 'dark'. You knew this story, it compelled bravery against adversaries and trials of spirit through your growth into something...[i]more[/i]. A hero? Perhaps that was how you were remembered, though power is not always so pure. Regardless, kingdoms and their throes of innocents depended on you, trusted in your experience and motivation to do what platoons of the king's finest could not. Holy purpose? Power? Other personal reasons? Maybe it was as simple as money that drove you to sign your arms away with the intent to strike down the darkening horizons that came to [i]your[/i] land. It may have even been so simple as being in the wrong place at the wrong time before The Cold King Kazzok jarred you as a trophy of his campaign. Your efforts were in vain, your gods failed you, and all of the words in all of the books in your world could not spell away the darkness that devoured your friends. Why you were spared is between you and King Kazzok, and some countless time has passed that you've been suspended in a sort of limbo-y stasis which may have only been minutes or years. How very...unheroic... __________________________________________________________ Its the same for every world. Dark clouds rumble, accumulating in the distance in a swirl of towering nimbus before the spike falls. An arrow being shot from the sky, the ground quakes and day becomes night as The Coffin's Nail strikes into the earth. Dust and debris fog the land and sounds can be heard from the storm of ungodly machinations and abominations alike. By the time the mess settles, all that's left is the smoke on the horizon of besieged settlements and crumbled castles as a black tower remains, silhouetted in the mire of the clouds above. To your knowledge, this is where the story ends. [i]You[/i] were the heroes sent to defeat the evil. [i]You[/i] were what light the kingdoms of the land set their petty squabbles aside to collect. Through some slip or misinterpretation, all hope was lost, the countryside and perhaps even the world looking on as the coming night sought to blot out the sun forever...another stepping stone for Kazzok and his conquest. _________________________________________________________ Well, this is where the story would have ended until lucidity returned to you in an instant, vision painting a blurry picture of bars to a cell. With a few blinks you realize you are in fact [i]not[/i] dead as the small cloaked figure ensures you while they feverishly unlock the door. They speak in a foreign tongue which holds no distinct shape, though an empathetic wash comes over your senses to simply understand what their goals are. This is their [i]only[/i] chance to make things right...and someone in these cells are their only hope. They move onto the next cell and the next with mixed results while you collect yourself, your gear gone and torpor replacing fervor of what was once an able body. Time and torment of the negative energy involved in your imprisonment has not been kind, but it is hardly enough to keep you down. At the very least, it shouldn't, as you can already hear the heavy boots of the keep's guards moving to undo the mess The Stranger had caused. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hi! U: This is my first attempt at actually making a thread, myself, and with it is probably going to come a ton of redundancies and missed explanations. First and foremost, please ask questions. I love answering them and it gives me an idea of what can be done for the sake of the thread's health and overall feel. Second, this is a Post-Apocalyptic Multiverse Fantasy with room for steampunk elements. [u][b]Post Apocalypse -[/b][/u] Ya goof'd. Or someone goofed that caused your previous crew to not do so hot in the 'stopping the big baddy' department. You're welcome to team up with other peoples to be from the same dimension and write all kinds of flowery prose about the world you came from. It might even be relevant, later down the line. [u][b]Multiverse -[/b][/u] Yes? Yes! It is! Kinda... Kazzok and his aspirations seek to consume the multiverse, and in this, all manner of heroes are capable of having opposed his will at some point. All races are a go (with explanation if they're non-conventional fantasy variants, though demons and angels get a special place in Kazzok's warm and welcoming heart, and, being entities of energy, serve a purpose that knocks them down a mortal peg. This isn't to even begin to mention the separation from their planar anchors. [u][b]Fantasy -[/b][/u] Magic, elves, dwarves, entities of the fay, nature spirits, undeath and all of that goodness. Matters are often settled by the sword and magic is a part of every-day life. Individuals from other dimensions may not see this the same way and conflict may arise, but such is the situation when unlikely allies are [u]forced[/u] to join. (I underline 'forced' because there may only be room for 4-8 people with situational room for more to join mid-way) [b][u]Stuff and Rules[/u][/b] - The thread [i]does[/i] have a definite series of events leading up to an end. - Its 18+ for certain hints to explicit content and gore. On that note, gore it up! Paint the walls with it! - I will expect posts to be 2-3 paragraphs in length, minimum. Give people something to read while providing constructive content, ah? - I'm intending on functioning with loose rotations. Being that there is a given group in mind, I will ask that interested individuals be willing to be invested enough to post. = Please state if you will be out of rotation for an extended period of time and I will make efforts to temporarily remove your character until you are able to rejoin. = I do not want to have to skip characters multiple times. I am willing to work with people about integration and side-plots, but no-showing is going to get your character removed and used as a miniboss, in all likelihood. - All common forum rules apply, of course. - 'Smooshing' belongs in PM, if it comes up. - Power-Playing shouldn't be a thing since you lost in the first place to get here and are building yourself back up. You're most certainly not perfect. - God-Modding shouldn't be a thing since I am more than willing to chat with people about what they want to do in combat against opponents. For the sake of narrative, we can collab brief bouts between a few mobs at a time to lump them into a single post with efficiency in mind. = HOWEVER altercations between PCs should be choreographed between players and not intended to be a means to settling OOC matters. If a person is intending on leaving and is unwilling to pilot their character, I am willing to do this for them, though there NEEDS to be [u]context[/u] [b]IC[/b] before people go about attacking each other, [u]or I will ask you to leave[/u]. Theres no room for murder-hobos in my rp. >;/ - A wild discord server appeared! (Maybe not quite yet...) - You are welcome to propose your own CS and template therein via PM. I'll do my damndest to provide constructive feedback.[/hider]