Bound in Service
Lights dance in the stillness of the mind, soft and warm. Memories fade away, inconsequential for whatever comes next. A voice sounds from afar. 'Awaken... Awaken.' The lights grow brighter, hotter as the voice grows to a crescendo and then ends. Your eyes open. You have arrived.
Many dream of alternate worlds, places of mystery and magic, of vibrant fantasy and epic tales. So many of these dreams are influenced by games, stories and legend. They tell of amazing worlds ripe for adventure, where you can be free and powerful and live out your wildest fantasies. But not all in the multiverse is sunshine and roses; many worlds are desolate, depressing places or else are much like our own. This tale is set in one of those less-than idyllic worlds, where life can be brutal and short.
Unlike ours, this world has no name. Here humanity exists in a constant state of conflict with itself and the world around them. Great empires rise and fall, tyrants dominate, get overthrown and all the while the others that inhabit this verdant world hunt the unfortunate. Magic is one of humanity's only advantages, giving it just enough of an edge to become the dominant race, but nevertheless their borders are always tested. From the lowest goblin to the mightiest dragon, every other sentient being has a bone to pick.
In the midst of all this grimdark fantasy, some bright spark came up with an idea; a way to create soldiers that were utterly loyal, capable of surviving the most horrific injuries and most importantly, cheap to produce. Using sorcery to bind a living spirit was an old trick, but one mage found a way to bind them to themselves, forcing them to use their own souls to create a physical body. These bound spirits could be controlled through runes and were effectively immortal; you could chop their arms off and so long as they were sewn back on, the wound would heal in a matter of hours. The mages created hundreds of these Servants, selling them to kings and generals as bodyguards. With a bit of training, a Servant could become anything. Naturally as Servants became more common they started to be used for other things; cheap manual labour is always helpful.
But that's not what's important right now. What's important is where these spirits come from. What if I told you that when we dream, our souls leave the body and start wandering off? Sometimes these souls stray across the boundary between worlds, resulting in lurid dreams as they experience things beyond our comprehension. Now most souls get back home in time for morning, but occasionally one will get... waylaid. You get where I'm going with this. Servants are the bound souls of humans from our world, unlucky sods who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The act of binding drains most of their memories, leaving them confused but capable when they awaken. Most Servants understand that they came from some place else and a few can even recall echoes of their past lives, but it hardly matters. Servants cannot die and can only be released when unbound. Of course even if they were to be unbound, there's a good to high chance the original body would have died, so... let's not try.
And that, in a round about kinda way, is why you're here. Welcome to Heinrick's Tower, producer of discount Servants since 899. You've just been bound, so I imagine you're all rather confused at the moment but don't worry! I've been through it myself, so I can vouch for the Master's talent. You won't remember any of this when you wake up anyway. Right now I'm just doing some checks on your bodies as they materialise, seeing how much we'll get for you. Don't worry girls, this is an upstanding establishment. We only sell to trusted clients after all.
In any event, I look forward to seeing you when you awaken. Cheerio!
Roman, Slave Trader's Servant
I've been toying with this idea for a while now, adding influence from difference sources over time. The idea is that the players are Servants summoned from Earth, then sold as slaves to someone who needs bodyguards. This guy has a plan but s/he ain't letting anything slip. The story would roll out slowly over time, leading on from the moment they're sold, through him training them and such. I'd probably be aiming for about 3/4 players, plus my character (the buyer) to round it off. Wouldn't be against having a few more if there's enough interest though. This INT is in both casual and advanced because I'm aiming to keep literacy at high-casual/low-advanced level.
So... anyone interested or have a burning question they need answered? The answer is always bacon.
Btw, the title is terrible. If anyone comes up with a better sounding name for this RP, pls tell me.