[b][i]"No living being knows when the Storyteller first blackened the sky above us. It came out of nowhere and began to poison our oceans, kill our lands and corrupt our people. Those who survived, human or otherwise, fled for their lives towards larger cities. These cities wasted no time erecting defenses, creating massive shields and walls to protect themselves from the slowly darkening world around them. For the longest time, humanity barely coped- struggling to survive in a world with little to no water or trees or food. Every single one of these cities was cut off from the others, kept isolated by the ever growing corruption that washed over the Earth like a tidal wave of misery. The cities stood tall, however, like beacons of light surrounded by an unending storm of darkness. Mankind was shoved into a corner and they were forced to adapt- Magick suddenly returned thanks to the corruption of Reality, and technological advancements that were hidden behind the concept of 'morality' suddenly became almost commonplace. People were given artificial limbs, Homunculi were created for a variety of purposes, and finally, mankind managed to create the Hermes System- a series of flying machines that were able to transport people, materials and supplies between cities. It seemed like humanity was finally getting back on their feet. At least, it seemed that way, until the first Nemesis appeared. They called it The Dreamer. It appeared out of nowhere, without warning, and destroyed several cities in the span of three days. Nobody knew how- those who witnessed The Dreamer were all killed. The only evidence of its existence were the panicked, horrified messages and pleas sent to other cities. The Dreamer went on a rampage, almost destroying two more cities, before something changed. A light appeared above a house, and within the week, a single person living inside had suddenly changed. People called them the Original Legend; the one who set out from the comfort of their city and fought the Dreamer and the army of corrupt monsters at its command. Humanity was so far gone by this point that when the reports came in that The Dreamer was dead, nobody could believe it. It was only thanks to a team of brave reporters and their helicopter that video evidence of The Dreamer's corpse spread around the world. Mankind cheered for the Legend that had saved them, but their victory was stifled by sorrow. The Original Legend had given their life to kill The Dreamer. "This is God's will." Those were the last words they spoke before collapsing, dead, beside The Dreamer's corpse. Mankind took a day or so to mourn, but this was a chance that they couldn't waste. They redoubled their efforts, making sure that, from now on, no Nemesis could ever destroy any of their cities. Armies were made, massive cannons lined the walls of the streets, powered by a mixture of Magick and Technology. And yet, despite this, mankind suffered one more crushing blow. The Dreamer came back. It raged and raged, attempting to shatter the defences of several cities before finally dying down. This time, however, it was much, much stronger. Another Legend was chosen by God above, and they proceeded out to fight the new Dreamer. They were hailed as a paragon of humanity, the epitome of what mankind should strive for. The name stuck. The Paragon fought The Dreamer with all the strength they could muster, finally besting the Nemesis, but then.. They too, died. There was a theory quickly spreading through the world- that the Nemesis and the Paragon were eternally linked, bound by fate to repeat an endless cycle of murder and rebirth. Every time a Nemesis appeared, a Paragon would soon appear afterwards. What, then, was humanity supposed to make of the several lights that appeared all around the world at once? It was a revelation that shook the world. There was no longer only a single Paragon. Which meant that there was no longer a single Nemesis."[/i][/b] [hr] [hr] So my silly self thought of the skeleton of this concept off the top of my head a little while ago tonight, and I thought the idea would be pretty fun. I'm still ironing out the details of the world and story, but I'd also like to take a moment to explain the tags I've listed above. If you don't really care about it, feel free to ignore it. Also, please keep in mind that this is just the Interest Check- I haven't prettied it up or anything, or laid down any particularly solid ground rules as of yet. I do have an ending in mind, but the journey there is up to you! Multiple endings, what?! [hider=Explanation of Tags!] + [i]Casual[/i]; I don't have any really strict requirements for post length aside from proper grammar and stuff like that, but this [i]is[/i] a casual roleplay, so don't feel forced to post essay length stuff if you don't want to or can't! Sometimes getting long posts is difficult, so the expectations are pretty lax. + [i]Small Group[/i]; I always struggle with this tag, because I never [i]want[/i] to put a limit on the characters that can join, but I feel like a smaller, more tightly knit group is better than a larger one. That being said, there's no real limit, so we'll accept as many people as there are people who apply! + [i]Horror[/i]; While it's not an overt thing, there will be moments in this story that are pretty disturbing and heavy. On top of that, I tend to be rather morbid with the descriptions of 'monsters' I throw out, so I think that's deserving of this tag. There's also the.. + [i]Fantasy[/i] - Along with Superhero (before the tag limit made me throw it away, at least), I think it's pretty self-explanatory. That being said, the majority of the 'fantasy' comes from the Nemeses, not the appearance of typical fantasy beings like Elves, Orcs, etc. Oh, also, [i]Magick[/i]! + [i]Anime/Manga[/i]; While I wouldn't say it's exclusively sticking to the tag's description, I tend to always tick this box by default. Mostly because anime character pictures are preferred. + [i]Slice of Life[/i]; Despite being Paragons, there's not always a war going on. In fact, the possible multiple Nemeses are awfully quiet right now.. It's not all doom and gloom; people can have lives outside of being Paragons, and non-Paragon characters have their own lives entirely. + [i]18+[/i]; I mentioned this earlier in the Horror tag description, but certain elements of this story are pretty dark- that being said, I also don't want to stop my players from making their own plotlines, especially if they're delightfully demented. That being said, the site rules still apply, so keep them in mind. [/hider] If I had to choose, I'd also select both Military and Future since the world is essentially at war, and for the latter, the technology available in the story is far off from modern technology, so.. I'm horrible at not mixing genres. My bad~ [hr] [hr] Here's where I'll be putting down some bonus stuff that'll be being worked on in the future. [hider=The World as It Stands] tl;dr- Every city that remains is a massive metropolis full of almost too many people with everything outside being corrupt and dead (or undead, I guess?). The cities are run quite strictly, and are all self-contained and well-defended enough that only a sufficiently powerful Nemesis could actually pose a threat. I'll get into defenses and stuff later on, but they exist, and they have to be good, right? They're thrown into a trial by fire every single day. [/hider] [hider=The Hermes System] "Fleet of feet and skilled with bows, we shall save you from your foes." tl;dr- The Hermes System was created to facilitate quick and easy transport between cities. It also evolved to provide services to Paragons and the Crimson Breakers. The ships are quite large, mostly designed for function over form, and are equipped with shields and special turrets called Cupid Turrets capable of firing energy to fend off Adversaries and mildly annoy Nemeses. [/hider] [hider=Magick, Technology, and MagiTech] "Our sins have manifested, but we shall survive their rage." tl;dr- Magick is a thing, Technology has advanced to the point where some people are converting themselves into androids, and there's giant mechanical cannons that fire Magick bullets the size of cars. [/hider] [hider=The Crimson Breakers] "We fight for our people, and fight for our future." tl;dr- An international organisation comprised of able-bodied men, women, androids and really any living being that act as a defence force against the Adversaries. They can help fight off a Nemesis, sure, but only a Paragon can truly kill one. [/hider] [hider=The International Committee of Mankind's Survival and Evolution] tl;dr- The ICMSE is an organisation that is very eager to provide for any Paragons and they work in tandem with the Crimson Breakers. They're more logistics oriented, and they also help the MagiTech Conglomerate with many of their projects. [/hider] [hider=The MagiTech Conglomerate] tl;dr- A group of.. groups.. dedicated to the advancement of both Magick and Technology, with a third division being specifically tasked with the combination of both trees of research. The [i]Mage's Guild[/i] and the [i]Society of Magickal Advancement[/i] cover the Magickal side; the [i]Bureau of Technological Advancement[/i] covers the technological aspect; and the [i]MagiTech Specialist Institution[/i] covers the final portion of the pie. [/hider] [hr] [hr] [center][b]~ [u]The Players[/u] ~[/b][/center] Now, what roles are available? Paragons, Nemeses, and those in-between. I love discussions about the lore and stuff, so if you have any ideas, feel free to drop them in and we'll chat! However, keep this in mind; Every Paragon has a Nemesis. That being said, The Dreamer is open for you guys to play, but the role is a bit different from the others. I'll be discussing that with The Dreamer when the time comes. On top of this, playing a Paragon does [i]not[/i] force you to play their Nemesis, and vice versa. I'll leave the character sheets up to you, but the one thing that you need to know about Nemeses is that they're named a single word. 'Dreamer, 'Breaker', 'Corrupter', etc. That's the general naming convention for them, but the rest is up to you. At least one picture is a necessity. Please read the info below before planning a character, however, and ask me any questions you want to ask~ [u][b]EDIT: I've made this obvious because it's important, but now every Nemesis is able to be known as a title instead of a single word; three words maximum, though![/b][/u] [center][b]~ [u]Paragons[/u] ~[/b][/center] [i]"Heroes and Legends, the best mankind can offer, yet.. Will they ever be enough?"[/i] Paragons are essentially regular people, or people that are as regular as the circumstances can allow. Your Paragon can be anyone from the clerk at a grocery store to a specially trained operative for the Crimson Breakers. Whatever they are, they wake up one night to find themselves branded on their body with some sort of tattoo. As soon as they were chosen, a faction known as the 'Servants of the Chosen' snapped them up and collected them in a single city- Washington, D.C. That said, the Paragons can come from any cultural background you want them to. They're stuck in America for now, though~ [b]~ [u]The Mark[/u] ~[/b] The Mark is what confirms that a person is indeed a Paragon- a mark somewhere on their body, whatever you want it to be (within certain limits, obviously). It's a dark, black tattoo that pulses whenever the Paragon approaches the corruption, and it glows brightly when their abilities are in use. On top of this, the pulsing grows more pronounced when the Paragon approaches [i]their[/i] Nemesis, and their Nemesis only. [b]~ [u]A Paragon's Strength[/u] ~[/b] What makes a Paragon a Paragon? Their God-given abilities, of course! The Paragon is given a single blessing unique to themselves to combat the Nemesis they're supposed to face, and what that ability is, I'll leave to you. Keep in mind, it could be the most diverse ability in the world, but you're only allowed to have one! [b]~ [u]The Desire[/u] ~[/b] A Paragon doesn't always have to fight their Nemesis. It's not encoded in their being- in fact, the Paragons are able to be outright cowardly, avoiding their duties as long as they want, but eventually, something will hit them. The Paragon may find their personality changing, losing themselves to the sudden urge to go and fight their Nemesis. It's perfectly fine to resist, but it's a lot like a drug; once it stops, it gets harder and harder to ignore. Something deep within themselves urges them to go and hunt and kill, but.. Some people can resist even the most overwhelming urges, after all. [center][b]~ [u]The Nemeses[/u] ~[/b][/center] [i]"The Dreamer was only the first to drag us into this endless nightmare.."[/i] The harbingers of the corrupting death that engulfed the planet, the Nemeses exist purely to wipe mankind off the face of the planet. They, too, have an ability unique to each of them, generally reflected in their titles. That being said, the Nemeses can also corrupt living beings by ripping out their hearts. Eating the hearts of humans results in the Nemesis getting a power boost of double, and eating the heart of their assigned Paragon gives a quadruple boost. The Nemeses don't [i]need[/i] to do this, but their goal is to wipe humanity off the face of the Earth as commanded by the one who created them; the Storyteller. [b]~ [u]The Corruption[/u] ~[/b] + The Nemeses can corrupt life simply by being around it, though sentient beings are immune to this effect. The black liquid that coats the planet can empower the Nemeses if they ingest it, but it also drives them into a wild, frenzied state. The Nemeses can also corrupt those whom they kill, resurrecting them as smaller, weaker beings called Adversaries. These beings have a will of their own, and even have personalities that reflect who they used to be. They are, however, driven by the same desire as the Nemeses- to eradicate all life on the planet. [b]~ [u]What is a Monster?[/u] ~[/b] Each and every Nemesis has a personality, is sentient, and if it weren't for their function or the overriding will of the Storyteller, each Nemesis would likely be a normal human. With that said, every Nemesis can have a human(oid) form and a monstrous form, or both. It's really up to your imagination. [center][b]~ [u]The MagiTech Conglomerate[/u] ~[/b][/center] [i]"Those who seek greatness often find that sacrifices must be made to achieve it."[/i] The characters from the MagiTech Conglomerate can be a variety of roles, from researchers to CEOs of companies, to spies, to whatever you really want. There's no set roles or rules here, as long as it isn't too outlandish. Perhaps even an artificially made Supersoldier can be made? But, then, what kind of ripple effect would that have..? [center][b]~ [u]The Crimson Breakers[/u] ~[/b][/center] [i]"Those who seek peace often find themselves drowning in violence to achieve it."[/i] The Crimson Breakers operate in the same vein as the above, albeit instead of being mostly civilian or researcher roles, the Crimson Breakers are made up mostly of soldiers and those who command them. That being said, the Crimson Breakers [i]do[/i] have their own R&D Division, you know? Who knows what could come outta that wacky oven? [hr] [hr] With all the above put down in stone, please ask if you have any questions about literally anything. I'll be happy to answer them here or in PM's. If you'd like to reserve a role, let me know here, but I won't confirm it [i]just[/i] yet, mostly because if anything changes you may want to back out- especially if you're looking to snap up The Dreamer. Please also keep in mind that this is the bare skeleton of an idea I hatched at 1 am and have spent the last hour and something working on just to upload. Thank you for reading if you got this far. I appreciate it, and look forward to chatting and playing with you!