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[sub][h2]W H A T [color=2e2c2c].[/color] L I E S [color=2e2c2c].[/color] B E L O W [/h2]
[color=808080][i]A rural gothic urban fantasy with heavy horror elements, set in a modern South Dakota mining town built over ancient secrets.[/i][/color][/sub][/center]
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[indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][justify][color=808080]Pine Ridge was once the kind of town people swore could survive anything. 

Born during the height of the Black Hills gold rush in South Dakota, it began as a rough frontier settlement carved into the shadow of the mountain itself; a place of prospectors, saloons, churches, and shallow graves. When the gold dried up, Pine Ridge endured by turning deeper into the earth, transforming into a thriving mining town fueled by coal, iron, quarry stone, and the sprawling tunnel systems beneath the mountain. Families stayed for generations. Neighbors left their doors unlocked. The mine became the heartbeat of the town, humming day and night beneath the streets like something alive.


Then, in the winter of 1987, the mountain swallowed nearly half of Pine Ridge. One of the deepest mining shafts collapsed without warning, triggering a chain reaction beneath the town that tore entire streets apart. Homes, businesses, churches, and whole neighborhoods vanished into the earth beneath thousands of tons of stone and debris. Rescue crews claimed they heard voices echoing from tunnels long after anyone trapped below should have died. Some survivors stumbled back to the surface days later, burnt, delirious, and whispering about tunnels that did not exist on any map and things moving in the dark beyond the reach of their lantern light. 

Within a year, much of Pine Ridge was abandoned and condemned. The surviving half of town was rebuilt farther from the mountain. Modern Pine Ridge grew along the outskirts, where ranch homes, diners, gas stations, and newer neighborhoods now stretch beneath endless South Dakota skies. 


The official story blamed unstable tunnels and decades of reckless excavation beneath the town. The truth was buried much deeper. Long before prospectors arrived, the mountain already belonged to older things. Vampires lived hidden beneath Pine Ridge for generations, eventually building an entire underground settlement within the forgotten mining network beneath the newer half of town. Entire streets, chambers, and hidden halls exist below the surface, untouched by sunlight and unknown to most humans above. The werewolves guarded the forests and plains surrounding the Black Hills, keeping whatever lived deeper in the wilderness from wandering too close to civilization. And the witches, hidden among Pine Ridge’s oldest bloodlines, maintained ancient seals buried beneath the mountain to imprison something far worse below.


Now, nearly forty years later, Pine Ridge is beginning to thrive again. Wealthy investors have transformed the condemned half of town into a restored ghost town attraction built around old western folklore, abandoned streets, and guided quarry tours through the surviving mine shafts. Roads have been repaired. Businesses are reopening. New families, drifters, thrill-seekers, and descendants of former residents have started returning to the valley, drawn by cheap land and the strange charm of a town frozen in time. For the first time in decades, Pine Ridge feels alive again. But the town does not want to be disturbed.


The deeper tunnels beneath the mountain have started opening on their own. Mine elevators descend at impossible hours despite having no power connected to them. People vanish along quarry trails without tracks. Livestock are found drained of blood beyond ranch fences, while strange symbols appear carved into trees around the valley overnight. Worse still, the witches responsible for maintaining the ancient seals are dying one by one under increasingly unnatural circumstances.


The fragile balance that once kept Pine Ridge alive is beginning to fracture. Vampires hidden beneath the town grow restless as their underground sanctuary becomes threatened by expanding excavation. Werewolf packs become increasingly territorial as something in the wilderness drives them toward violence. Human residents begin noticing too much; strange noises, figures watching from the treeline at night, lantern lights drifting through the condemned streets long after closing hours. Rumors spread faster than the truth ever can, and fear settles over Pine Ridge like another layer of mountain fog.

Because something beneath the mountain is waking up. Older than the vampires. Older than the witches. Older, perhaps, than Pine Ridge itself. Whatever survived inside the collapsed mine in 1987 did not remain trapped there alone, and now the prison beneath the mountain is beginning to fail.

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[sup][color=e7e7e7][b]R E Q U I R E M E N T S[/b][/color][/sup]
Thank you so much for taking the time to read what we have so far! I'm hoping for this to be a small to moderate sized group of writers, with 4-5 minimum! [@Mjolnir] has helped with a lot with coming up with this concept, and will be writing in the RP as well. I'm happy to welcome anyone I currently write with, anyone I've written with in the past, or anyone new. I'm excited to hear any ideas anyone may have. 

[list] 
[*] [color=86ACBA]Literacy -[/color] Strong, literate writers capable of consistently writing detailed posts around 500+ words minimum
[*] [color=86ACBA]Commitment -[/color] Writers looking for a long-term roleplay with active participation and communication; please do not join if you tend to ghost. 
[*] [color=86ACBA]Variety -[/color] Preference for writers comfortable playing multiple characters with a variety of personalities, and genders. We will be using realistic face-claims for this RP. 
[*] [color=86ACBA]Activity -[/color] Ability to maintain activity with at least one post per character every three weeks. Allowances are, of course, made for collab posts and IRL emergencies. Just communicate :)
[*] [color=86ACBA]Engagement -[/color] Players interested in taking on important faction roles (pack leaders, coven heads, vampire leadership, monster hunters, etc.) are especially encouraged; these roles will be limited and selectively assigned. Alongside this, we're looking for writers who are both reactive and proactive with plot development, character dynamics, and world interaction. There will be an application process for all character submissions. 
[*] [color=86ACBA]Collaboration -[/color] Interest in collaborative storytelling, faction politics, supernatural mystery, horror elements, and character-driven plots.
[*] [color=86ACBA]Tone[/color] Comfortable with darker themes, tension, violence, and slow-burn supernatural horror atmosphere. 18+ writers only.
[*] [color=86ACBA]Immersion[/color] Willingness to contribute to a living, evolving setting. Writers will be strongly encouraged to create their own subplots that can run alongside the main plot.[/list]

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