ClocktowerEchos

Royal Invitation: Nations, Distrust, and Political Romances [ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS]

Can't wait to see whose next in this game of thrones to appear in Dawnhilt!

Underynth: The Light Below (What if everything was issekai'd?)

Sounds like from everyone's character ideas that people are taking the more comical side as opposed to the more serious side I originally envisioned

Not an issue though, I can adjust things as needed although I would like to remember that the Underynth is not exactly a pleasant place and plenty of Arrivalers end up dead in the caves without ever finding anyone or anything, either starving to death or being killed by something (don't worry, its not going to happen to you guys). Basically think of it as Metro Last Light instead of like, the Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks (I'm using the connection that they're both about/have trains but very different tones.)

Underynth: The Light Below (What if everything was issekai'd?)

Guess its going to be more D&D-like with a story and narrative with larger scale stakes and consequences.

Out of curiosity, is anyone here familiar with a HOI4 mod called "The New Order: Last Days of Europe"? Just checking.

Underynth: The Light Below (What if everything was issekai'd?)

Here be a wild OOC!

UNDERYNTH: The Light Below

Setting the Scene

Your light flickers, its a crude thing made of several glowsticks tied together on a stick. It wasn't ever going to last long but you thought you'd have a little more time before resorting to a torch, wrapped in fat-soaked cloth. With the remaining light you look at the compass tied to your arm, pressing your free hand to it and making slight adjustments. Before you can complete your calibrations though, your glowsticks finally give ou. Thankfully, the light of a Mana Well illuminates the next bit forward, a portion of some kind of temple that was pulled through, its arcane light blue hue accompanied by the gentle sound of sloshing liquid from within the well itself.

Out of curiosity, you peer into it, leaning one hand against the lip of the small crater. In it the swirling liquid slowly gives way to a mirror shine. You see yourself, your old self. The you before you were adorned with bone trinkets and scrap metal armor. The you who isn't wearing a WW2 US Army helmet with a football helmet grate in front of it. The you who isn't covered in scars from a hundred beasts that never existed. The you whose eyes haven't adjusted to the constant low light and haven't seen the things you've witnessed. The you before you were sucked into the Underynth, an endless labyrinth of tunnels, caves and caverns with no escape.

Something roars from the darkness behind you. Within a second you pull out a flintlock pistol, carved from magical Wytchwood and Orcish runes running along the barrel, a tradition of the master Orc gunsmiths who you bought it from. Cocking the hammer back you focus all your senses into the darkness. The thing roars again. And then another roar is heard. And another. Your eyes burst open as you turn to run. This tunnel is coming alive with monsters from who knows what kind of world but you are sure you don't want to find out. You no longer feel the weight of your hiking backpack or even the sword forged from the alloy armor taken from part of a starship. Out of options and out of light, you put the torch up close to your gun and pull the trigger, its sparks leaping on to the torch and setting it alight.

The sound echoes through the caverns and you hear more noises rising. You barely have enough time to look at your compass between the panting and the running, pounding at the hard stone with the sound of beasts only coming closer. The light from your torch dances wildly along the walls. There has to be a settlement nearby, a safe haven to rest at but until then you must run as fast as you can, unless you end up as another dead body that litters the endless caverns of the...

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U N D E R Y N T H

The Light Below

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We all know of issekai, how a plucky protagonist is pulled into a fantasy world. But what if everything in a world was pulled in and issekai'd from every possible dimension, setting, timeline, world, universe and history? That is what the Underynth is, an endless plane of caves, tunnels, caverns and rock full of things pulled in via the many Mana Wells scattered all throughout, strange arcane portals that fill the Underynth with magic that is wonderous, strange, sinister and everything in between.

The Underynth is a rough place that most would rather not be, its full of dangers, monsters, strangers and who knows what else, not to mention the sheer stress of living in a place underground you don't really understand. Its tone is best describe as "nobledark" (as opposite to grimdark); things are bad with tons of monsters, evil organizations and terrors and many believe life in the Underynth is meaningless since they've been taken from their previous lives but there are also people who have made a living and changed things for the better. There are cities and village and good people willing to help. Basically the Underynth runs on Earn Your Happy Ending energy.

Rules

- Standard Guild rues
- Be mature and nice to each other
- Do not purposely try to kill or harm another PC unless they've agreed OOC
- Do not be "that guy" and try ruin the RP or otherwise be malicious
- Try to keep OOC knowledge separate from what your character would know IC
- No posting requirements but please show effort. If you make a long post, I encourage you to make a summary at the bottom.

FAQ

(Taken from the Int Check, will be replaced with a proper lore post later, probably in the 0th post)

Clicky (Temporary)

Q: So what is the Underynth beyond issekai world?
A: The Underynth is an endless system of caves, tunnels, caverns and underground terrain that seems to go on infinitely. Some speculate its sort of like its own plane of existence as there's a lot of ambient magic that floats around causing all sorts of weird environments that normally wouldn't be possible like frozen pine forests and even oceans.

Q: That seems really convient, are you really just going to say "its magic" and use that as a pass?
A: Its magic, I don't got to explain shit.

Q: Is there anything else besides caves and magic weather?
A: Yes, there is civilization in the Underynth that go from small homesteads to fortified villages all the way up to bustling cities and multi-region states kingdoms and nations. By the time your characters appear, the Underynth already has a few thousand years of history and development behind it. Its not all the same and you can have two widely different tech levels next to each other, sort of like Rimworld.

Q: How does all of this work? Wouldn't it be hard to live let alone make a city in the Underynth?
A: Yes, but lucky for you, you don't have to figure that stuff out since generations of new arrivals before you already have. In addition, there are Mana Wells all over the places that have a habit of spewing stuff up depending on their size. Smaller ones might throw out materials or foodstuffs or other items while some can throw out new people, books and other things. The larger ones can even throw out vehicles. There are even many cases of entire buildings or facilities being transported to the Underynth through unknown means.

Q: What if I don't want to stay in the Underynth? Can I leave?
A: Out of character, yes. In character, no. There have been hundreds of thousands of attempts to get out of the Underynth including digging straight down, digging straight up, wandering and looking for a "surface exit", trying to use teleportation magic or jumping into a Mana Well. The mostly likely outcome for them are: returning tired, returning exhausted, maybe returning if you don't get lost, phasing into solid stone and instantly dying (if you are lucky).

Q: How does language work? Wouldn't everyone be speaking a different language?
A: As part of the magic of the Underynth, everyone can understand everyone else both speaking and written. Think of it as the magic automatically translating it to your known tongue. If you look at something in a different language you'll be able to understand it but you also know there's the feeling of the magic at work like a slight pressure or hum in your head.

Q: I have a question about the lore or how something works.
A: Then ask away and I'll answer as best as I can. While I probably have an answer for everything, I do ask that you suspend your disbelief at least a little bit. You are in an endless magical hell cave after all

Q: What kind of characters would we be playing?
A: Everyone would be playing a new arrival/"Arrivaler". You can play anyone you want but I would say it should lean towards more mundane and less Coldsteel the Shadow Hedgehog or Mr. Totally-not-Doom-Guy. You'll get your chance to get stronger and make an impact, its about the journey and not as much about the destination. Things like an orc office worker, a student at a magical academy, a spaceship engineer, a noble bastard turned knight, a wasteland survivor, a steampunk merchant trader, etc.

Alternatively, if you really want to start out as someone powerful then you can but you will be severely limited in your abilities if you even still have them. Your going from a level 100 Mafia Boss to a level 1 crook and starting from there again. There could be some interesting stories to tell with a character who no longer has their powers and everything that entails.

Character Creation

Starting characters are all going to be brand new arrivals (Arrivalers) to the Underynth. Many of the people who are taken are not the super elite spec-ops or heroic chosen ones but fairly run of the mill and average people: office workers, students, steampunk merchants, truck drivers, line infantrymen, peasant farmers, starship mechanics, monastery monks, wasteland survivors, etc. They can be skilled, but they should otherwise be "mundane". If you want to play as someone who was really powerful in their old world, then please talk with me so we can figure it out. They are going to be nerfed quite heavily coming into the Underynth having weakened or even none of their old abilities at all.

Additionally, no one remembers how they ended up in the Underynth. They can have memories of their past lives that could be true, could be fake or maybe lack any memory at all, but no one remembers the events leading up to their awakening next to a Mana Well in the Underynth. They will also be starting largely unarmed. You can have personal effects on you such as wallet, keys, notepad, backpack, cell phones, tools, but in most cases you will not have anything like a knife or other melee weapon and will certainly not be starting out with a magical sword or automatic rifle.

Your characters are no super heroes or chosen ones. Hell they probably wouldn't even be considered "protagonists" starting out and would more than likely be background extras, but they don't need to be special to be great characters for this RP. You will get stronger throughout the RP and while I might main or seriously wound your characters, I won't go out of my way to kill them unless its been discussed and agreed upon.

The following is a character sheet guide. Your sheet can use any format (as long as its readable) but it must have all of the information somewhere.

Character Sheet Info

Name: (Duh)
Age: (Don't make them a child or really old. Both children and the elderly do end up in the Underynth but for the purposes of this RP, keep everyone at an age where they can reasonably keep up.)
Description: (Their appearance. You can have written description, picture or both. If you use a picture, I prefer drawn. Anime is "ehh" to "okay" but I don't really like pictures of real people.)

Origin: (What were they in their original world? Office worker? Adventurer? Space Pirate?)
Background: (The background world they came from. It should explain their outlook on life and their Origin.)
Outlook: (How do they view the world and now the Underynth? Did they see their old world as a great place and now they're in hell? Or do they see the Underynth as a release from their old world they hate?)
Personality: (Personality section, it should be their prevailing moods and attitudes. They don't always have to show these traits but it is their "default".)

Greatest Dream: (What is the thing they want the most out of life and what is their "happy ending"? You can have "escape the Underynth" but if you do, put something else here.)
Greatest Fear: (What is the thing they fear the most on a personal level, basically their "bad ending" and not like a fear of spiders. You can have "being stuck in the Underynth" but if you do, put something else here as well.)
Misc: (Anything else you want to add not mentioned above.)

Example Character

Wisher

Description:

"Wisher" is an Asian man presumed to be around his late 20's to early 30's. He is exactly the type of person who would blend into a crowd without being noticed and there is nothing particularly strange about his appearance. His eyes are brown, his hair is black and he has no identifying markings, scars or tattoos. When he first arrived to the Underynth, he was wearing a fairly plain outfit of jeans, a white t-shirt, a green outdoor jacket and sneakers.

Having spent considerable time in the Underynth, his current apperance is different. He changed the sneakers for sturdy boots and his green jacket for a tougher one made of canvas and kevlar. For armor he wears a British WW1-styled helmet and a half-mask rebreather scavenged from the wreck of a submarine as well as a metal chest plate forged by a friend made from a chunk of starfighter armor, with an armored skirt that goes down to his shins and opens up at the front and back. To store items he primarily uses a square Napoleonic-esque backpack with bedroll, hooks, pouches and sacks attached to it, assisted by modern police leg pouches. In terms of weapons Wisher carries a kite shield with an unknown mark on it, a bill hook halberd, a pouch of molotovs, an enchanted burning cutlass, and a flintlock hidden behind his back.

Origin: Unknown

When Wisher awoke in the Underynth, he had absolutely no recollection of his past life or even who he was, having forgotten even his name. He was lucky and saved by a well meaning old Orc but failed to give his name as he didn't even have a wallet or ID card on him and the only thing on him was a note that began with "I wish" with the rest too illegible and smudged to read. At the Orc's suggestion, he took on the name Wisher and continued to live a new life in the Underynth.

Outlook & Personality:

Without much of a grounding in a previous life, Wisher takes his new life mostly in stride, trying to make the best of everything while continuing to search for anything that might connect him to the life he forgot. He tries to see the good in people and in the world around him.

Wisher was heavily influenced by the old Orc who rescued him and characterized by a relentless determination and a stalwart anti-nihilist view, believing that the Underynth is some kind of after life and nothing in it matters and can be pretty terrible at times but uses it as fuel to try and do good and help others. Once he sets his mind to something he will go to great lengths to pursue it but the trouble is getting him to set his mind on something.

Dreams & Fears

Wisher desperately wants to learn anything about his past beyond the note in his pocket thus finding it out is his desire while being unable to is one of his fears. The other is a deep instinctual fear of being completely alone, isolated and outcast, for reasons he isn't quite sure of but believes is also tied to his past.

He also really fucking hates the giant bugs in the Underynth and will go to great lengths to avoid any tunnels or caves that has a nest of them inside.

Misc:

He's proven to have an iron stomach, able to eat and drink things that others find unappetizing or even get sick from.
Prefers to carry torches, lanterns and other non-electrical lights after a bad exprience with them repeatedly shorting out in dark tunnels.
The only reason he also has a section describing his armor and weapons is because he is an example of a character who has spent a long time and "acclimated" to the Underynth; your own characters will not have the same level of equipment starting out.
(Also if you couldn't tell, the Underynth typically has a post-apoc vibe with anachronistic elements thrown in, although this isn't universal, especially with more established settlements, groups and nations.)

Underynth: The Light Below (What if everything was issekai'd?)

As for what I plan on playing, I have two words: Skeleton Cowboy.

@rush99999

<Snipped quote by rush99999>

And here I am thinking of making a centaur bandito. Mover over medieval fantasy, we a western movie now

@DracoLunaris

Underynth: The Light Below (What if everything was issekai'd?)

@deadpixel101 Welcome aboard and hey, until I actually have an OOC up we ain't quite at the next stage yet

Royal Invitation: Nations, Distrust, and Political Romances [ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS]

<Snipped quote by ClocktowerEchos>

I second this notion, though on the other hand it might defeat the purpose of this being an NRP.

Still, I world build as a hobby so I don't mind filling up the world if need be with background nations, then if anyone wants to use them they're free to do so.

@DegenerateThree

That's the idea behind the "you make a character and someone else can help make a domain". People who NRP tend to be more active world builders and don't find it as daunting. Basically lowering the barrier to entry as instead of wondering how to make both a fleshed out character and country, its just a character.

Royal Invitation: Nations, Distrust, and Political Romances [ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS]

So I don't mean to sound impatient or rude, but how many players are we looking for to start this proper @Wavy Wallaby?

If we're still wanting some more, you could try to post another int check in like general or advanced sections. Can even say that they don't have to make a nation/kingdom and get help from another member who can do that, they just need to make a character. I know that for some people, making a nation is a big difference than making a character that they just don't feel as comfortable with.

Underynth: The Light Below (What if everything was issekai'd?)

CS time! Here is what should be on your character sheet, feel free to use whatever format you want. Some additional things to keep in mind:
- You character is coming in as closed to unarmed as they can be. They can have something like their wallet and keys, school bag or tool belt but they aren't going to come in with a gun or 2 handed sword.
- They can basically be whoever you want in their past life but if they were a powerful mage or legendary warrior, their are going to be scaled down/nerfed heavily. Going from level 100 to level 5 at best.
- Its possible that your character might have lost some memories going through and not know or misremember certain things (this is to give some flexibility if you want to alter your backstory later on).

My Hider

Name: (Duh)
Age: (Don't make them a child or really old. Both children and the elderly do end up in the Underynth but for the purposes of this RP, keep everyone at an age where they can reasonably keep up.)
Description: (Their appearance. You can have written description, picture or both. If you use a picture, I prefer drawn. Anime is "ehh" to "okay" but I don't really like pictures of real people.)

Origin: (What were they in their original world? Office worker? Adventurer? Space Pirate?)
Background: (The background world they came from. It should explain their outlook on life and their Origin.)
Outlook: (How do they view the world and now the Underynth? Did they see their old world as a great place and now they're in hell? Or do they see the Underynth as a release from their old world they hate?)
Personality: (Personality section, it should be their prevailing moods and attitudes. They don't always have to show these traits but it is their "default".)

Greatest Dream: (What is the thing they want the most out of life and what is their "happy ending"? You can have "escape the Underynth" but if you do, put something else here.)
Greatest Fear: (What is the thing they fear the most on a personal level, basically their "bad ending" and not like a fear of spiders. You can have "being stuck in the Underynth" but if you do, put something else here as well.)
Misc: (Anything else you want to add not mentioned above.)

Example Character:

My Hider

Wisher

Description:

"Wisher" is an Asian man presumed to be around his late 20's to early 30's. He is exactly the type of person who would blend into a crowd without being noticed and there is nothing particularly strange about his appearance. His eyes are brown, his hair is black and he has no identifying markings, scars or tattoos. When he first arrived to the Underynth, he was wearing a fairly plain outfit of jeans, a white t-shirt, a green outdoor jacket and sneakers.

Having spent considerable time in the Underynth, his current apperance is different. He changed the sneakers for sturdy boots and his green jacket for a tougher one made of canvas and kevlar. For armor he wears a British WW1-styled helmet and a half-mask rebreather scavenged from the wreck of a submarine as well as a metal chest plate forged by a friend made from a chunk of starfighter armor, with an armored skirt that goes down to his shins and opens up at the front and back. To store items he primarily uses a square Napoleonic-esque backpack with bedroll, hooks, pouches and sacks attached to it, assisted by modern police leg pouches. In terms of weapons Wisher carries a kite shield with an unknown mark on it, a bill hook halberd, a pouch of molotovs, an enchanted burning cutlass, and a flintlock hidden behind his back.

Origin: Unknown

When Wisher awoke in the Underynth, he had absolutely no recollection of his past life or even who he was, having forgotten even his name. He was lucky and saved by a well meaning old Orc but failed to give his name as he didn't even have a wallet or ID card on him and the only thing on him was a note that began with "I wish" with the rest too illegible and smudged to read. At the Orc's suggestion, he took on the name Wisher and continued to live a new life in the Underynth.

Outlook & Personality:

Without much of a grounding in a previous life, Wisher takes his new life mostly in stride, trying to make the best of everything while continuing to search for anything that might connect him to the life he forgot. He tries to see the good in people and in the world around him.

Wisher was heavily influenced by the old Orc who rescued him and characterized by a relentless determination and a stalwart anti-nihilist view, believing that the Underynth is some kind of after life and nothing in it matters and can be pretty terrible at times but uses it as fuel to try and do good and help others. Once he sets his mind to something he will go to great lengths to pursue it but the trouble is getting him to set his mind on something.

Dreams & Fears

Wisher desperately wants to learn anything about his past beyond the note in his pocket thus finding it out is his desire while being unable to is one of his fears. The other is a deep instinctual fear of being completely alone, isolated and outcast, for reasons he isn't quite sure of but believes is also tied to his past.

He also really fucking hates the giant bugs in the Underynth and will go to great lengths to avoid any tunnels or caves that has a nest of them inside.

Misc:

He's proven to have an iron stomach, able to eat and drink things that others find unappetizing or even get sick from.
Prefers to carry torches, lanterns and other non-electrical lights after a bad exprience with them repeatedly shorting out in dark tunnels.
The only reason he also has a section describing his armor and weapons is because he is an example of a character who has spent a long time and "acclimated" to the Underynth; your own characters will not have the same level of equipment starting out.
(Also if you couldn't tell, the Underynth typically has a post-apoc vibe with anachronistic elements thrown in, although this isn't universal, especially with more established settlements, groups and nations.)

ALSO! IMPORTANT!
What kind of plot do you guys want to have? Something mostly freeform and exploratory, a story more akin to a D&D plot with larger consequences or a story with a narrative but less consequential?

OOC Thread to come soon-ish, probably around the weekend!