[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/nFNb8cT.jpg[/img][/center]
[center][i]Note: This is just a quick check for a casual horror/mystery concept I had. If anything about it interests you, then feel free to leave a message or ask questions. Though it does have elements based off research into various possible afterlives, this is not meant to be offensive to anyone's beliefs regarding the afterlife.[/i][/center]

[b]It is the night of December 18th, 2021. In the otherwise quiet college town of Formica, a group of people die at the same time. For different reasons. In different places. When they wake, they can't remember their death. They have no idea what's happened to them. No idea that their soul now rests in eternal slumber, their original body left behind on an entirely different plane.

It's dark. There's a strange, disturbingly sweet smell in the air. All they have on hand is a tiny note:[/b]

[quote]Welcome to Purgatory. 

And a very special welcome to The Cold Hell's 40th annual Elimination Round![/quote]

[hider=Plot]
Your character has died in some way. Post-mortem, their soul drifted towards a realm referred to here on out as simply Purgatory. They wake nearest where they died with no memory of their death and the note above in their hands. It will be up to each of them to locate each other, figure out what's going on, deal with the fallout…and make plans for their future.

But there's a problem. They have not been inducted into the afterlife normally. Rather, they've been brought in as part of a larger game known as the Elimination Round. A scheme of which the origin is quite hazy. The adventure will not end when they are able to look in a mirror, see no reflection, and say "I am dead." Rather, it will have only just begun.
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[hider=Setting]
Purgatory operates using a series of smaller closed realms jokingly called 'Snow Globes.' Each globe houses a single town or plot of land. And, the inside of each globe is split down the middle by a Silver River, on either side of which the town or landscape is mirrored. Spirits experience each half differently.

On the east side of Formica's globe, the town lies in perpetual autumn daylight. Golden yellow, red and brown trees line the streets, drooping. People can be seen interacting or going about their business as if alive. Though many of their eyes are glazed, hollow. Trying to leave is out of the question. Every street, the forest, the surrounding lands, they all loop on themselves, endlessly bringing you back to where you started.

Here the TVs, radios and computers work as normal. But there's something just a little…off…about the way reporters, movie stars and even music tracks speak to you. As if they are judging you personally. Some spirits pray, hoping to purge their sins. Others party, enjoying every hint of sunlight offered and appreciating the fact they didn't really die forever. Still others haunt their homes or try desperately to leave, becoming quickly stuck in the loop.

On the west side, the town lies in a permanent frozen night. The trees are dead. The streets play tricks on you, disappearing and reappearing. On the wind, you can hear terrifying voices growing closer and closer. Almost like growls.The chill in the air makes you shudder.

Here electronics often malfunction, and when they do work, the nightmarish, threatening way everything speaks to you will inspire you to shut them off. Your fellow spirits are not friendly, choosing often to "give up" in some way: doing something irreversible that will transfer them to another plane. Others haunt, but in full malicious intent. Still others hunt their fellow spirits for an essence known as 'soul.' A bridge guarded by stern soldiers prevents you from crossing the River into the east. The surrounding forest does not loop, but does become thicker and darker the deeper you go.

Rumor has it that it is possible to travel to other globes. But then, rumor also has it that it's possible to go back to Earth as it was. What sort of secrets will you be able to dig up?
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