[OOC] Carpe Noctem: Seize the Night (A Mixed-Genre RP about Dreamscapes)

[gohKamikaze]

Back in the day, I used to spend my time around the RP boards over at Planet Minecraft. While I participated in and helped create a lot of absolute garbage, there were a couple of rather successful concepts I managed to create and run for a fair period of time.

Through the use of powerful necromancy, I've decided to give a few of these a new lease on life. Without further ado, I present to you...

Carpe Noctem: Seize the Night

(A Mixed-Genre RP about Dreamscapes)

Welcome to Saxtonvale Maximum Security Prison, the harshest prison in the UK.

For crimes you may or may not have committed, you find yourself confined within its walls for essentially what is a life sentence. Every inmate is kept in solitary for a vast majority of their stay, and have no real contact with their fellow prisoners. Beatings from the sadistic and brutal guards are all too often, the food is barely enough to live off, and you have no contact with the outside world. You know you cannot win, you know there is no escape. The depressing monotony of your imprisonment crushes your soul and reduces you to a hollow shell of a human.

The only escape from the endless torment is sleep. In your dreams, you are free. You can be whoever, do whatever - and there are no guards to beat you, no four walls to hold you in. Every time you wake, you begin counting the hours until the lights go out and you can withdraw into your mind once more.

But recently, something strange has been happening. Although you still dream every night, it has been a strange series of dreams that are always disturbingly vivid and real. And with every night, you realize that in your dreams you are not alone...

'So, what is this roleplay about?'

As an inmate of Saxtonvale, you are pretty much hopeless and defenseless to begin with. As a guard, you are allowed free movement through the prison but are never allowed out of the walls - you signed up for a tour of duty, and as a result live in the prison. However please bear in mind the the RP WILL revolve around the prisoners, so I'd like to see prisoner applications. Guards will be denied if I think there's too many.

Every in-RP day, you will play your character in the prison. As an inmate, most of your time will be spent in solitary but you will be allowed to, on occasion, visit some of the recreational areas of the prison - library, pool, gym, etc. However the prison is heavily guarded, so there's no chance of escape... yet. As a guard, you will perform many guardly duties - patrolling wards, escorting prisoners, talking to the Warden, beating up inmates, etc.

However, every so often I will call 'lights out', and the real fun begins. Every night when both the day guards and the prisoners fall asleep, they are all transported to the same dream world. Although they don't realize it, everyone they meet is a member of the prison - both staff and prisoners. This dream setting will be a different one every 'night'; for example, one dream could be set in a fantasy world with orcs and wizards and knights, and the next could be set in a shopping mall. Every dream you will become a different character to suit the setting, with a different job/gear/looks/dream name/etc. When I call 'Breakfast time', your dreams will abruptly end and you will return to roleplaying as prisoners and guards until the next 'lights out'.

TL;DR, It's basically two RP's in one, with a whooooole lotta crossover.

General rules & housekeeping

1) Same ol' RP etiquette as usual - no metagaming, godmoding, OP characters, killing others without consent, etc.

2) There is no escape... yet. The idea of this RP is to try and make a plan to escape with your inmates, but to do that you first need to figure out who is who in your dreams. Take it easy on the plot development - we don't want you sussing everyone out on page 3 and breaking out by page 5, that would ruin the story I have up my sleeve >:)

3) As per usual, romance is PG only. Not that you'd be able to hook up in the prison or anything, anyway.

4) Two sentences minimum per post, please. And remember kids, use proper grammar. If you type like you've bashed your head on the keyboard, I will not hesitate to hit you repeatedly with a hardcover copy of the Oxford dictionary. And trust me, those things are heavy.

5) Weapons are fine, but only in the dream world. As things progress, you might be able to fashion some weapons to take on the guards with, but only time will tell.

6) The dream world and the real world are interlinked - if you break your arm in the dream, you break your arm in reality. Coincidentally, if you die in your dream you die in your cell.

And now, on with the character sheets!

Inmates

Name:
Age:
Appearance (pictures are fine):
Nationality:
Former job:
Convicted crime(s) & falsely accused or not:
Backstory:
Personality:
Ideals (these are concepts that your character holds in high regard. Money? Power? Beauty? Kindness? There's a huge range to choose from):
Bonds (some sort of tie to the outside world that gives them a reason to want freedom. Family? A job? A location?):
Fears (Pretty self explanatory. What is your character afraid of?):
Flaws (Nobody is perfect. Is your character a liar? A drunkard? A gambler? Are the egotistical?):
Anything else?:

Guards

Name:
Age:
Appearance (pictures are fine):
Nationality:
Backstory:
Personality:
Ideals (these are concepts that your character holds in high regard. Money? Power? Beauty? Kindness? There's a huge range to choose from):
Bonds (some sort of tie to the outside world that gives them a reason to work at Saxtonvale. Providing for their family? Proving yourself to someone? Saving for a dream holiday??):
Fears (Pretty self explanatory. What is your character afraid of?):
Flaws (Nobody is perfect. Is your character a liar? A drunkard? A gambler? Are the egotistical?):
Anything else?:

If this sounds like your kind of thing, drop your character sheet here and I'll take a look at it. If you're approved, move it to the Character tab and get stuck into posting!

And for those that are interested...

Saxtonvale Maximum Security Prison: Lore/Historical Details

This section is a work in progress - bear with me!

History of Saxtonvale

Construction of Saxtonvale

In the wake of Britain's exit from the EU, a series of consecutive Tory governments held sway in both houses and conservative attitudes once again swept across the UK.

Perhaps the loudest of these attitudes was a call from the people to be 'tough on crime', especially after several high profile criminals were released on bonds only to re-offend in horrific ways.

With pressure to act mounting, several bills were passed through Parliament - the first making it easier to sentence the most heinous of criminals and re-offenders to terms equalling 'the natural length of their lives', and the second an agreement to support the construction of a new private Maximum Security complex just on the edge of Saxtonvale, a small hamlet in the Northwest of England.

Over the course of two years and using experts in prison design from across the world, the once empty field was transformed into a huge, grim fortress of concrete and steel - almost more military base than prison, and modelled heavily on the infamous ADX Florence Supermax in Colorado.

The First Five Years

Although numerous protests delayed the opening of Saxtonvale (dubbed 'SaxtonMax' by both its detractors and supporters), for the most part support for the prison was quite positive and the new Warden, Harland Glovell, was seen as something of celebrity.

The first few years were surprisingly unmarred by scandal, and at its peak Saxtonvale had 26 inmates under Glovell's watch. Glovell eventually retired five years into the position to focus on his family, and the position of Warden was filled by Daniel Roebuck.

The Next Ten Years

Much younger, less experienced and considerably more idealistic than his predecessor, Warden Roebuck took a notably softer approach to his style of governance. Under his tenure, many of the inmates recieved privileges that normally weren't afforded to those in Supermax facilities - better quality meals, increased recreation time, decorative items for their cells, limited contact with other inmates, and even (albeit briefly) access to radio so they could keep up with external affairs.

But despite his lengthy tenure, Roebuck's time as Warden was fraught with controversy. Allegations of corruption, preferential/soft treatment of the inmates, several escape attempts and a short-lived riot placed Roebuck's career in jeopardy. Roebuck maintained that these were the results of 'Agents Provocateur' and not as a direct result of any mismanagement on his part.

When Roebuck eventually did resign, the announcement was surprisingly sudden - almost as sudden as news that Saxtonvale's parent company, British Correctional Services Pty Ltd, had sold the site to a private firm based offshore for an undisclosed amount.

Within three weeks of Roebuck's emotional announcement, more than 3/4 of the staff had been laid off and replaced by workers from the new firm's talent pool - including a new Warden whose details were suppressed by the company. Roebuck himself, oddly, was never heard from again; perhaps preferring a graceful fade into history over the rigours of being an prominent public figure.

[shylarah]

@gohKamikaze I might maybe be intrigued~ I see this is modern era, but I do wonder, is it modern realism or modern fantasy in the world of the prison? Naturally dreams can be stretched. I perhaps have a character that would work, though she's...rather broken. And I'm not sure if she'd do much of anything during the day, given her mindset. But I am indeed interested. Might even have a few ideas for prisoners.

As a warning, I do have a tendency toward the brighter end of things, but hey, not everyone can be a murderous maniac, right? And I might even be able to justify someone who is outright crazy. I'm told I play a good crazy. ^.^

[gohKamikaze]

@gohKamikaze I might maybe be intrigued~ I see this is modern era, but I do wonder, is it modern realism or modern fantasy in the world of the prison? Naturally dreams can be stretched. I perhaps have a character that would work, though she's...rather broken. And I'm not sure if she'd do much of anything during the day, given her mindset. But I am indeed interested. Might even have a few ideas for prisoners.

As a warning, I do have a tendency toward the brighter end of things, but hey, not everyone can be a murderous maniac, right? And I might even be able to justify someone who is outright crazy. I'm told I play a good crazy. ^.^

@shylarah

Hey hey, glad to see you're interested :) The prison world will be more modern realism - the RP is set in the not-too-distant future, but the dreams will be where the real fantasy/Sci-Fi elements kick in.

Also, that's fine! The prison doesn't only cater to murderous sociopaths, but also people with extensive life sentences or skillsets that would make them a danger to society. The last time I ran this, I had a character who was in for Embezzlement & Tax Fraud because he was a brilliant accountant and IT expert.

[shylarah]

@gohKamikaze Hm. I usually stay in a fantasy/scifi base setting, but the concept is interesting enough that I'll hang around. Looks like Rey is out, at least in his standard form, since it's his magic that's the whole reason there was a crime in the first place (even if he didn't do the killing). Might make someone else that's wrongly accused, though.

Alys looks like she'd fit alright. I'd need to rework her for the modern era instead of Victorian London, and that means her title will have little significance, but that's fine. A short synopsis of her would be...strongly moral but pragmatic woman with a messed-up past who does whatever's needed, even when she knows it's wrong, to avenge her brother. And then she goes and turns herself in. Pretty much resigned to prison, might not bother trying to escape. She's where she should be, given the awful things she's done, after all. ...Actually, I don't know how much interaction she'd be interested in dreamwise, either. Might need to kick her to get her to pay attention, I'd need to think on that....

[gohKamikaze]

@shylarah That could definitely work! Also, keep in mind that Alys could have been framed for a serious crime and then wound up here, so that's always an option too.

[Crooked Vixen]

The Deceitful

Name:
Kelpie Duffy

Age:
Twenty-three

Appearance:

The Shapeshifter

Nationality:
1/2 Scottish, 1/2 Irish

Former job:
Elite Escort

Conviction:
Prostitution, Identity Fraud, and (falsely accused of) Murder.

Backstory:
Kelpie was born and raised in the rural lands of Scotland. Her Irish mother and Scottish father kept to themselves most of the time-working average-Joe type of jobs that could keep them and their four children afloat. Being the youngest of the children (2 older sisters and 1 brother), she was soon left behind due to her being born at least five years after her brother, Brett. She was the black sheep of her family and was considered the local troublemaker from the moment she could merely toddle. With little guidance from her siblings, all of which moved far and wide throughout Europe, she was left to her own devices from a young age--and time was something that a mischievous child should not have.

Her peers often blamed it on her blood--being half-Irish and half-Scottish had definitely brewed much better than the rest of her siblings--making her an easy target for the blame of many mishaps throughout her childhood. Gradually, once she reach her teen years, she had begun to tone down and was one of the brighter students at her school. She was as crafty--almost too much so--as a fox and as resourceful as an raccoon. Despite her lack of trouble making those later years, she never was given a break when it came to being pinned with the blame of others' actions. One could say that the luck of her Irish blood had run dry with her older brother. She barely made it through high school without being expelled.

Once she had graduated, she moved to London in hopes that she could make a new start and get away from the ever-disappointed gaze of her parents. Alas, making it in the big city was practically impossible to get by without picking up jobs on the side to make ends meet. Kelpie started prostituting herself out in hopes of keeping a roof over her head and food in her belly. As she learned the ropes of the "business", she progressively moved up into the world of escorting to try and achieve an easier lifestyle. She escorted to men her age and men that were more than twice that--she was willing to hang off of any man's (or woman's) elbow and attend their luxurious lifestyle. From there, she grew to enjoy being the "other woman", so long as their money ended up in her wallet.

Her final escort was the one that got her sorry self in Saxtonvale. One such older, cancer-ridden gentleman, Martin Oldham, had grown very fond of her--fond enough to offer to write her into his will so long as she stayed with him until his sickness took him. Kelpie was quick to agree and did everything in her power to keep him happy until his final hours. His children had abandoned him once they had sucked as much money as they could out of him and didn't bother to give him the time of day, even after he had gotten sick. She was the only one that had shown him more compassion and companionship than his nasty children.

The night that he drifted into his eternal sleep, she was the one to call the police and have all of the arrangements for his body to be taken care of. His greedy children were angered at the sight of what their "beloved" father managed to leave behind... his entire fortune for the Miss Duffy. They called it fraud, immediately throwing her to the wolves as a gold digger (well, they weren't completely off) and a fraudulent little beastie. They claimed that she had forced him to write her into his will. Once their high-end attorneys were brought into the fray, she was also pinned with the murder of her former client.

Her world spiraled out of control and she was quickly thrown into Saxtonvale to "prevent her ungodly ways from destroying the beauty and honor that London had been built upon".

Personality:
Kelpie is a very ambitious woman that does not understand what it means to back down from overcoming her own demons. She is unafraid to utilize anything to get whatever she wants, and when she does, she will move along as if it were nothing more than a simple game. Failure is not an option. She is unafraid to get down and dirty to achieve her desires, but deep down, she is actually very insecure about her own self and bottles up all of her "hindering" emotions up to prevent herself from showing weakness. In front of others, she is the belle of the ball, but the moment she is alone--she wallows in self-hatred. She enjoys the comforts of being solitary, yet she can also find joy in being among any number of people. Although she is not willing to show her true self beneath the smiling mask, she is willing to listen to anyone and everyone.

Ideals:
Self-achievement, money, and a comfortable living.

Bonds:
Kelpie longs for nothing more than to gain her revenge upon Oldham's children for destroying her life.

Fears:
Being completely alone, the uncertainty of what tomorrow will bring, and being left in the dark.

Flaws:
Despite Kelpie being the epitome of charisma, she is a compulsive liar. Her pride is probably going to be the death of her.

Anything else?:
Kelpie is very good at covering her tracks and can become practically anyone that she wants to be, especially since she's learned to speak in several differently languages throughout her "dating" history. If she were to ever return to the normal world, she would probably vanish without a trace and return to her rich lifestyle without any second thoughts.

[gohKamikaze]

The Deceitful

Name:
Kelpie Duffy

Age:
Twenty-three

Appearance:

The Shapeshifter

Nationality:
1/2 Scottish, 1/2 Irish

Former job:
Elite Escort

Conviction:
Prostitution, Identity Fraud, and (falsely accused of) Murder.

Backstory:
Kelpie was born and raised in the rural lands of Scotland. Her Irish mother and Scottish father kept to themselves most of the time-working average-Joe type of jobs that could keep them and their four children afloat. Being the youngest of the children (2 older sisters and 1 brother), she was soon left behind due to her being born at least five years after her brother, Brett. She was the black sheep of her family and was considered the local troublemaker from the moment she could merely toddle. With little guidance from her siblings, all of which moved far and wide throughout Europe, she was left to her own devices from a young age--and time was something that a mischievous child should not have.

Her peers often blamed it on her blood--being half-Irish and half-Scottish had definitely brewed much better than the rest of her siblings--making her an easy target for the blame of many mishaps throughout her childhood. Gradually, once she reach her teen years, she had begun to tone down and was one of the brighter students at her school. She was as crafty--almost too much so--as a fox and as resourceful as an raccoon. Despite her lack of trouble making those later years, she never was given a break when it came to being pinned with the blame of others' actions. One could say that the luck of her Irish blood had run dry with her older brother. She barely made it through high school without being expelled.

Once she had graduated, she moved to London in hopes that she could make a new start and get away from the ever-disappointed gaze of her parents. Alas, making it in the big city was practically impossible to get by without picking up jobs on the side to make ends meet. Kelpie started prostituting herself out in hopes of keeping a roof over her head and food in her belly. As she learned the ropes of the "business", she progressively moved up into the world of escorting to try and achieve an easier lifestyle. She escorted to men her age and men that were more than twice that--she was willing to hang off of any man's (or woman's) elbow and attend their luxurious lifestyle. From there, she grew to enjoy being the "other woman", so long as their money ended up in her wallet.

Her final escort was the one that got her sorry self in Saxtonvale. One such older, cancer-ridden gentleman, Martin Oldham, had grown very fond of her--fond enough to offer to write her into his will so long as she stayed with him until his sickness took him. Kelpie was quick to agree and did everything in her power to keep him happy until his final hours. His children had abandoned him once they had sucked as much money as they could out of him and didn't bother to give him the time of day, even after he had gotten sick. She was the only one that had shown him more compassion and companionship than his nasty children.

The night that he drifted into his eternal sleep, she was the one to call the police and have all of the arrangements for his body to be taken care of. His greedy children were angered at the sight of what their "beloved" father managed to leave behind... his entire fortune for the Miss Duffy. They called it fraud, immediately throwing her to the wolves as a gold digger (well, they weren't completely off) and a fraudulent little beastie. They claimed that she had forced him to write her into his will. Once their high-end attorneys were brought into the fray, she was also pinned with the murder of her former client.

Her world spiraled out of control and she was quickly thrown into Saxtonvale to "prevent her ungodly ways from destroying the beauty and honor that London had been built upon".

Personality:
Kelpie is a very ambitious woman that does not understand what it means to back down from overcoming her own demons. She is unafraid to utilize anything to get whatever she wants, and when she does, she will move along as if it were nothing more than a simple game. Failure is not an option. She is unafraid to get down and dirty to achieve her desires, but deep down, she is actually very insecure about her own self and bottles up all of her "hindering" emotions up to prevent herself from showing weakness. In front of others, she is the belle of the ball, but the moment she is alone--she wallows in self-hatred. She enjoys the comforts of being solitary, yet she can also find joy in being among any number of people. Although she is not willing to show her true self beneath the smiling mask, she is willing to listen to anyone and everyone.

Ideals:
Self-achievement, money, and a comfortable living.

Bonds:
Kelpie longs for nothing more than to gain her revenge upon Oldham's children for destroying her life.

Fears:
Being completely alone, the uncertainty of what tomorrow will bring, and being left in the dark.

Flaws:
Despite Kelpie being the epitome of charisma, she is a compulsive liar. Her pride is probably going to be the death of her.

Anything else?:
Kelpie is very good at covering her tracks and can become practically anyone that she wants to be, especially since she's learned to speak in several differently languages throughout her "dating" history. If she were to ever return to the normal world, she would probably vanish without a trace and return to her rich lifestyle without any second thoughts.

@Crooked Vixen

Absolutely fantastic! You're accepted; feel free to move your sheet over to the Characters tab; I'll get to making a first post and starting us off when some of the others get their sheets sorted.

[shylarah]

@gohKamikaze Oh no. Alys wasn't framed. She very much did all those things, and probably framed others for them when needed, to escape justice long enough to obtain revenge. ^.^ Very dark, Vendetta!Alys is. ^.^;; The framed person would be a different character, if any.

[gohKamikaze]

@gohKamikaze Oh no. Alys wasn't framed. She very much did all those things, and probably framed others for them when needed, to escape justice long enough to obtain revenge. ^.^ Very dark, Vendetta!Alys is. ^.^;; The framed person would be a different character, if any.

@shylarah

That's okay! Just thought I'd throw the option out there :)

[gohKamikaze]

@The 4 Winds @CallSignCorsair @Nyxella @Growl

You guys still interested?

[The 4 Winds]

@gohKamikaze
I am still interested but at the current time I will not be able to make a character. I have finals that need to take up more of my time. Would it be ok if I post a WIP and flesh it out over the next two weeks?

[shylarah]

@gohKamikaze I won't be able to make a character sheet tonight. My neighbor just passed away, and everyone's pretty broken up. I might be able to do some writing, but I'm not sure how much, and certainly not anything that requires a lot of attention.

[gohKamikaze]

@The 4 Winds No stress! Just thought I'd check in and see if everyone was still on board. Best of luck with your finals!

@shylarah Jesus, I'm sorry to hear that :( Take it easy, and just ease yourself back into it whenever you're ready.

[gohKamikaze]

Just to let folks know, this hasn't been abandoned - although we're off to a slower start than anticipated.

Roll call! @The 4 Winds @CallSignCorsair @Nyxella @Growl and @shylarah! How are we all? Still up for this?

[shylarah]

@gohKamikaze *facepalm* how did I lose this thread?! I'm such a derp. x.x Right. I'm still pretty worried about Alys doing...well, /nothing/ during the day. *fusses* Also she feels like an echo of Kelpie. I'd feel awful for dropping after letting you think I was in for sure, though, and I was looking forward to playing with Gowi...so I'm around, I guess, but not certain. ^.^;;

[The 4 Winds]

I still have interest so I will be making a character within the next few days. Work has been constant since my finals ended for school last week.

@gohKamikaze

[gohKamikaze]

@shylarah The way it ran last time was the day was used mostly for exposition and plot development, while the night was where the bulk of the RP took place. So don't feel too bad if your character isn't doing much during the day at first, because that will come as the RP progresses.

@The 4 Winds Cool beans! I figured I might just check in and see if we'd been buried or not, and 2 & 1/2 weeks would give everyone a chance to wind down after Finals.

[gohKamikaze]

Alright guys, went on hiatus for a bit but I'm getting back into it.

That being said, it looks like there isn't as much interest in this as I hoped. I'm going to give it another couple of weeks to see if anyone else is up for it, but if we don't get the numbers I might just cut our losses and retire the RP.