Lugubrious — Roleplayer Guild

I just need a team

unless Luke's gonna have to

go it alone

4 beds to himself sounds nice as hell though@HereComesTheSnow

You're going to be with team RCJM, but at this point I'm almost certainly making Sho leader, so the name will likely be remade.

Oh, and @Kabensaal, you mentioned being a 'black ranger' and only showing up every now and then, but I'm afraid that doesn't sit well with me.  If your interest or ability to post are so limited that you'll be able to be on only once a week or even less, you don't make the qualifications to continue being a part, and your post is likely going to go to Plank.

That said, Plank, while I would be happy to have you I would very much appreciate your assurance of commitment to the RP.  This story's fixing to get it in gear, so any dropouts are going to be even more serious a blow.

I will officially begin the first mission in a few minutes!

As it turns out, I did indeed come up with some monsters, along with a couple of other things.

The shades are creatures of pure malice. They form in areas where many have died, or where suffering is high. Their bodies are solid masses of shadow, cruel mockeries made to resemble the living serving as a shell to protect the stone heart that sustains their being. One can cut the shadows away forever, but their bodies will continue to reform until this heart is destroyed. The nature of the shades is a mystery, and a subject of much debate. Some believe them to be a variety of demon, feeding on suffering and the lingering memories of the dead. Others think them to be angry souls still anchored to the realm of the living, lashing out in jealousy and rage. Others still see them as personifications of negative emotion that have formed from an excess of fear, grief, sorrow, hatred, and pain. The worse off an area presently is, or the more death it has seen, the more powerful the shades will be. This has led to a system of tiers, ranking the shades by power and rarity.

Tier I shades are the weakest and most common of the bunch. They can be seen in small numbers in areas struck with poverty or crime, terrorizing the populace and bringing in more of their kind. This tier usually takes on a humanoid form, ranging in size from that of a dwarf to a human, with clawed hands and feet paired with dagger teeth. They're fast and ferocious, but their weak bodies will quickly crumple and fade after a good swing from a sword, making them a threat to unarmed peasantry, but only an annoyance to most armed fighters.

Tier II shades are a bit tougher. They're uncommon, usually only appearing on battlefields, inside plague stricken lands, or within places of dark and bloody history. They take on a larger humanoid form, standing at or above the size of a traveler. They trade tooth and claw for weapons and armor formed from the same shadows as their body. They seem to be more intelligent, often serving as leaders for bands of weaker shades, organizing them into a more effective fighting force. With their troops they can be quite fearsome, but even alone they can put up a good fight with their weapons, and larger, more armored bodies.

Tier III shades are powerful and fearsome creatures. They can rarely be found wandering ancient battlefields, where battles of a grand size occurred, or sleeping in the depths of ruins that were once home to long dead civilizations. Their bodies are large, often of enough size to fill a moderately sized room, and varied in form from wolfish monstrosities, to slithering snakelike beings. Their tough and thick forms serve as an excellent defense for their core, and their attacks can fell the strongest men. These are the kinds of monsters that heroes face in legend.

Tier IV shades are in possession of both great power, and surprising intellect. They're very rare, to the point that nobody is entirely certain as to what causes them to from. Theoretical causes are: Long wars of a grand scale, calamitous events resulting in mass destruction and casualties, the death of civilizations, and even the suffering of those in Gehenna. These shades tower above buildings, and their forms are more varied than those of any other, often morphing whatever it is their based off of greatly, some even taking on forms that are unrecognizably alien. Some will happily roam the land causing terror and destruction. Others have taken over entire lands, becoming powerful rulers over the kingdoms of man. A few have been content to lie in rest in secluded homes, offering dark deals and impossible tasks to those who cross their paths. There have even been recorded cases of these powerful shades being worshiped as gods. The slaying of these creatures is extremely difficult, and success is a monumental feat. Those who have successfully done so have become legend, ingrained in history for ages to come.

(To put it into video game terms, Tier I are Mooks, Tier II are Elite Mooks or Mini-Bosses, Tier III are Bosses, Tier IV are End-Game Bosses.)

The Willows, also known as "Squigglys", are a variety of a demon. These poor souls have long since lost their humanity, their minds decayed and their bodies twisted into an impossible form. Willows are easily distinguished by their great height, twisted black flesh, and incredibly thin stick-like limbs. These creatures are incredibly flexible, able to contort their bodies in ways that shouldn't even be possible. A wide grin is usually plastered across their faces. There are a great many stories about Willows killing livestock and stealing children, but despite their appearance, Willows tend to be harmless. They like to play pranks on people, and they tend to scare any children unfortunate enough to come across them, but they're actually quite cowardly themselves and will flee at the slightest sign of danger. They're also fairly weak, posing little threat in direct combat.

Ghouls are dead souls corrupted by the influence of Gehenna. Ghouls largely retain their human form, and some even escape to Protea with their minds unaltered. They look as they did in life, but with varying degrees of decay. The majority are violent and mean, a memento from their time in Gehenna, and many of those who's minds remain uncorrupted would still be called monsters for what they did before. However, there are a small few who have managed both to avoid the influence of Gehenna, and to become a better person than who they were before. The threat of a ghoul varies greatly, as they retain their skills and attributes from before death. They are also known as "Zombies", "Rotters", "Blighted", and less commonly "Robes", due to the tendency for less brazen ghouls to cover themselves with robes and similar garments.

These creatures resembling giant millipedes make their home in the deserts of Feldspar. On average they reach a height of about 6 feet, and a length of 20. Their soft and squishy flesh is covered by a thick carapace, usually colored black or brown, but sometimes white and dark green varieties are seen. They can be spotted wandering the desert on their many legs, but their name comes from their ability to borrow beneath the sands, both as a defensive measure and a means of catching prey. They've also been known to float along the sand seas. The Sand Sifters are carnivores, but haven't been known to eat people outside of rare circumstances. People have been known to tame for use as mounts, but they're more commonly hunted for their tough shells, which are given a variety of uses, such as armors, dishes, oddly fashionable outfits, and even toys.

Peaceful herbivores that make their home on the plains of Chalcedony. These creatures are a little bigger than your average truck. They have tough leathery skin, and a rock-like shell covers their central body. They have a symbiotic relationship with an algae-like substance that grows over their shells, and down their blocky eyeless heads. They walk on four large feet similar to those of an elephant. While they could potentially kill somebody if they were to step on them, the Mums are benign unless threatened. Some people harvest the plants that grow off them for food, and a few have tried to use their hide in place of other leathers, but Mums and people generally live independent of each other.

As you can probably tell, I spent most of my time on the shades.@Oswald The Penguin

That's pretty darn cool.  Did you think about having ghouls playable?

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