Tower of Eternity
Alternate Title: Nobody has to die: an RP where almost everyone has to die
”She might be a witch, but she’s our queen.”
That was everyone’s sentiment when the blood witch first took power. Surely she can’t be as bad as the rumors say. Surely we will still live fulfilling lives. Surely we can still be happy. Surely we can still live with ourselves.
But dictators are seldom content with their station. More and more wealth was directed away from the common people and into her coffers for greater conquests. Her power grows, as do the number of oceans and continents under her control, but life for the masses never gets better. No one is happy. Life for the common man is a cycle of work, broken only long enough to eat and sleep, and occasionally produce more civilians for the blood witch’s expanding empire. The young are fortunate if they can afford food after they pay their taxes, and the old hope their weary bodies won't give out. All crime is punishable by death, so long as it interferes with the witch queen’s ultimate design.
As you sit there with barely enough food to survive the day, you wonder out loud: “Why do we work so hard to support someone who does so little for us?”
You are overheard.
They know exactly who you are talking about.
But rather than rushing off to get you executed, they join in your pondering, and aren’t able to come up with a good answer themselves.
That was everyone’s sentiment when the blood witch first took power. Surely she can’t be as bad as the rumors say. Surely we will still live fulfilling lives. Surely we can still be happy. Surely we can still live with ourselves.
But dictators are seldom content with their station. More and more wealth was directed away from the common people and into her coffers for greater conquests. Her power grows, as do the number of oceans and continents under her control, but life for the masses never gets better. No one is happy. Life for the common man is a cycle of work, broken only long enough to eat and sleep, and occasionally produce more civilians for the blood witch’s expanding empire. The young are fortunate if they can afford food after they pay their taxes, and the old hope their weary bodies won't give out. All crime is punishable by death, so long as it interferes with the witch queen’s ultimate design.
As you sit there with barely enough food to survive the day, you wonder out loud: “Why do we work so hard to support someone who does so little for us?”
You are overheard.
They know exactly who you are talking about.
But rather than rushing off to get you executed, they join in your pondering, and aren’t able to come up with a good answer themselves.
The Basics
NHTD:ARPWAEHTD, or Tower of Eternity (ToE) is a roleplay based around an uprising against a tyrannical witch queen. Rather than playing a small group of plucky heroes that fight her directly, you will play as the Silver Myth Rebellion. They are a nation-sized faction of rebels made up of everymen and woman. They are not particularly skilled fighters, what few magus among them only know basic incantations, but they are numerous. They would rather face certain death than spend another day serving their greedy queen.
The queen may not oppose the rebels directly, but the forces she’s left behind have been the death of any foolish enough to oppose them. And they will kill many more over the course of the RP. That said, they aren’t used to fighting such overwhelming odds. Can a nigh unlimited number of civilians overwhelm a castle keep’s fortifications? This RP attempts to answer that question.
The queen may not oppose the rebels directly, but the forces she’s left behind have been the death of any foolish enough to oppose them. And they will kill many more over the course of the RP. That said, they aren’t used to fighting such overwhelming odds. Can a nigh unlimited number of civilians overwhelm a castle keep’s fortifications? This RP attempts to answer that question.
The Plan
The blood witch queen is much too strong to be faced directly in battle. Armies stronger and bigger than yours have fallen before her spells, often while staring at her apathetic face. Instead you are attacking the source of her power, which is locked deep inside Silver Myth Keep.
The queen’s terrifying powers come from a sleeping goddess she captured. Or rather, the goddess has been locked in an eternal slumber by a curse, and the witch derives her power from the despair created by her nightmares. Said nightmares are visions of the word, which creates a feedback loop. The worse the witch makes things, the more upset the goddess gets, and the stronger her powers become.
The goal is to break into the keep and locate the goddess. An altruistic soul might try to wake her up so that the nightmare can end, but a curse this strong won’t be easy to lift. The pragmatic option would be to kill her, which would be unfortunate, but might be the only way to end the nightmares. Goddesses are surprisingly vulnerable when they are asleep, which is why this one is so well protected. Either way, her fate will be in the hands of those that find her.
The queen’s terrifying powers come from a sleeping goddess she captured. Or rather, the goddess has been locked in an eternal slumber by a curse, and the witch derives her power from the despair created by her nightmares. Said nightmares are visions of the word, which creates a feedback loop. The worse the witch makes things, the more upset the goddess gets, and the stronger her powers become.
The goal is to break into the keep and locate the goddess. An altruistic soul might try to wake her up so that the nightmare can end, but a curse this strong won’t be easy to lift. The pragmatic option would be to kill her, which would be unfortunate, but might be the only way to end the nightmares. Goddesses are surprisingly vulnerable when they are asleep, which is why this one is so well protected. Either way, her fate will be in the hands of those that find her.
The Gimmick
You may have noticed this is a jump-in RP. That’s not because this is a pseudo-free RP.
Your characters are very likely going to die on their first post.
You can make more of course, and they too are probably going to die on their first post. As is the next character you make, and the one after that, and the one after that….
Your characters are civilians. Maybe they have access to a weapon or a basic spell, but you aren’t nuthin’ compared to the royal guards who are tasked with protecting the source of their evil queen's powers. They have eaten the best food, received the best training, have been amplified with all kinds of magic, and you’re just a malnourished peasant with a death wish. They are not invincible, they can be defeated, but not with the ease that your character can be. They are dug into a fortified position and will fight tooth and nail to keep you out. They are intelligent and devious, strong and swift. But with each sacrifice, the rebellion will learn something about their enemy. And gradually, they will make their way inside the keep and towards their goal.
However, that is only the most likely scenario. very likely does not mean they will die for sure. To make things interesting, I will be rolling a dice on RPG to see if your characters survive the post rotation. They have a five out of six chance to die, which is to say they will survive if I roll a six and not a point lower. It is possible to increase (and decrease!) your character’s odds of survival through actions taken by you and other players. I will present hints as to how to do that as the RP moves on, but barring special circumstances, no character will ever have more than a fifty percent chance to survive a post rotation. Your character will likely not survive the RP, so it’s best to play with the mindset that surviving an extra round should be treated as a pleasant surprise rather than an outcome to fish for. It’s just some uncertainty to make things interesting.
Your characters are very likely going to die on their first post.
You can make more of course, and they too are probably going to die on their first post. As is the next character you make, and the one after that, and the one after that….
Your characters are civilians. Maybe they have access to a weapon or a basic spell, but you aren’t nuthin’ compared to the royal guards who are tasked with protecting the source of their evil queen's powers. They have eaten the best food, received the best training, have been amplified with all kinds of magic, and you’re just a malnourished peasant with a death wish. They are not invincible, they can be defeated, but not with the ease that your character can be. They are dug into a fortified position and will fight tooth and nail to keep you out. They are intelligent and devious, strong and swift. But with each sacrifice, the rebellion will learn something about their enemy. And gradually, they will make their way inside the keep and towards their goal.
However, that is only the most likely scenario. very likely does not mean they will die for sure. To make things interesting, I will be rolling a dice on RPG to see if your characters survive the post rotation. They have a five out of six chance to die, which is to say they will survive if I roll a six and not a point lower. It is possible to increase (and decrease!) your character’s odds of survival through actions taken by you and other players. I will present hints as to how to do that as the RP moves on, but barring special circumstances, no character will ever have more than a fifty percent chance to survive a post rotation. Your character will likely not survive the RP, so it’s best to play with the mindset that surviving an extra round should be treated as a pleasant surprise rather than an outcome to fish for. It’s just some uncertainty to make things interesting.
The Setting
Diesel Punk meets Medieval Fantasy. Most nations have World War II level tech, but it’s expensive. City folk get around using automobiles for short distance transport and trains for long distance transport. Country folk use horses and make due with very little technology. Country folk live like medieval serfs and do lots of physical labor. City folk don’t have it much better, as they work for corporations that are run directly by the witch queen. They often have to make choices between starving or freezing come wintertime. The only upside to this is that everyone has access to really good vanity products. Everyone looks as hot, cool, or cute as they want. This is largely due to glamor magic that can make those touched by it look like whatever they want.
The nation where our story starts and ends is called Gilla. It is known for its mountain ranges, exotic monsters, and for being the birthplace of the blood witch who became an illegitimate queen. Other than it’s world renown cosmetic effects/magic, it’s also a goldmine of, well, minerals. Almost everyone has a job that pertains to mining and manufacturing, before the rebellion of course.
Tech level is WWII but the rebellion doesn’t have access to military grade equipment. Pistols and bolt-action rifles are fair game, but no automatic weapons. The serfs have made lots of weapons for the queen, and most common medieval era weaponry is available to the rebellion. Improvised weapons like molotov cocktails are also allowed. Cars, trucks, and horses are allowed, but they won’t fit in all areas of the keep.
The world has a lot of magic in it, but the really cool stuff is off limits to the rebellion. Nothing more potent than a standard D&D 5E cantrip, as listed here. Magic takes a lot of time to practice and get right, and very few have mastered anything stronger than a cantrip. If someone wishes to play a mage, they may cast a level one spell instead, with the tradeoff being that they have no weapons or at least nothing impressive.
Fantasy races do not exist in the traditional sense. With magical glamors, your characters can look like any humanoid fantasy race you can think of. But it’s purely cosmetic and doesn’t give them access to any special powers. A human, elf, oni, and lizard man are all going to function the same.
The nation where our story starts and ends is called Gilla. It is known for its mountain ranges, exotic monsters, and for being the birthplace of the blood witch who became an illegitimate queen. Other than it’s world renown cosmetic effects/magic, it’s also a goldmine of, well, minerals. Almost everyone has a job that pertains to mining and manufacturing, before the rebellion of course.
Tech level is WWII but the rebellion doesn’t have access to military grade equipment. Pistols and bolt-action rifles are fair game, but no automatic weapons. The serfs have made lots of weapons for the queen, and most common medieval era weaponry is available to the rebellion. Improvised weapons like molotov cocktails are also allowed. Cars, trucks, and horses are allowed, but they won’t fit in all areas of the keep.
The world has a lot of magic in it, but the really cool stuff is off limits to the rebellion. Nothing more potent than a standard D&D 5E cantrip, as listed here. Magic takes a lot of time to practice and get right, and very few have mastered anything stronger than a cantrip. If someone wishes to play a mage, they may cast a level one spell instead, with the tradeoff being that they have no weapons or at least nothing impressive.
Fantasy races do not exist in the traditional sense. With magical glamors, your characters can look like any humanoid fantasy race you can think of. But it’s purely cosmetic and doesn’t give them access to any special powers. A human, elf, oni, and lizard man are all going to function the same.
The Rules
Metagaming, godmodding, and the like are prohibited. The GM determines your success and the Dice determine your survival.
Keep OOC drama as low as possible. If you have an issue, try to settle it in PMs. Should you need me, I frequently log into discord and check my PMs daily. You’ll have a response within twenty-four hours most of the time.
If it's been a week since your last IC post without any word from you, I may take control of your character. They may not be there for you to take back if/when you return. But that’s kind of a given in this RP huh?
You get two named characters at a time. You can make more once they die, which shouldn’t take long.
ToE deals with dark themes, but does so tastefully and with a tongue firmly tucked in cheek. Posts are expected to follow Guild guidelines and not get overly edgy.
Keep OOC drama as low as possible. If you have an issue, try to settle it in PMs. Should you need me, I frequently log into discord and check my PMs daily. You’ll have a response within twenty-four hours most of the time.
If it's been a week since your last IC post without any word from you, I may take control of your character. They may not be there for you to take back if/when you return. But that’s kind of a given in this RP huh?
You get two named characters at a time. You can make more once they die, which shouldn’t take long.
ToE deals with dark themes, but does so tastefully and with a tongue firmly tucked in cheek. Posts are expected to follow Guild guidelines and not get overly edgy.
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