Note: This is not a roleplay of the Tales series nor is it of a certain spunky pokemon trainer, no - this is a play about a group of unwitting youngsters who get thrown into a seemingly cold and heartless world. The world of Grimgar.The young man slowly open his eyes, lifting their lids that already felt heavier than iron, awoken by some nervous shuffling that surrounded him. The room was dark to the point that he could not see anything. but it was a room - he was sure of it. The lack of a breeze, the still air soaked with the ever slowly rising temperature of body heat. He recognized the farmiliar signs of a crowd even without light. He was not alone.
"Hello. I-Is anyone there?" The scared voice of a girl echoed softly, ringing across stone. A chorus of grunts, 'yeahs' and other intelligible sounds followed shortly. Each seemed as lost as she was. But her voice gave him courage to stop lying completely still and finally lift his head to sit up, unfortunately though - not enough to stand.
Until the click of a door. When marble ground against marble letting a single shard of bluest moonlight pierce the darkness then did everyone stand and were immediately compelled towards it, slowly they all shambled out into a foyer of ancient stone. Creeping vines surrounded them upon this grand ziggurat, two ironclad guardsmen backed out of their way as they emerged from a single room and the night air reinvigorated their lungs as they all took deep breaths like it was their very first. In the pale. He could finally see their faces, no names come to mind, but he felt like he could relate to them.
Farmiliar. Yes, that was the word. Not on a personal basis but they were not strangers either.
Everything new seemed strangely in place, everything, ...except the crimson moon in that dark dark sky .
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You are one of those who emerged from the room and seem to be in a situation similar to the boy recounted in the story, you know not how you got there in the first place and where you're from. In fact, you don't seem to remember anything about yourself. Save your own name and the most basic of things like how to breathe, how to speak. Even the clothes on your back only give you fading sparks memories you cannot grasp, the feeling that you didn't belong here.
Yet.
Here you are.
You are brought to an office with a feminine looking fellow sitting cross legged on a worn chair, the guards who escorted you here could not answer your (and the other's) many questions as well as you thought they would have. Only that they "found you" and that "finding people" was not a rare occurence.
"Call me Brittany!" The pink haired odd fellow finally spoke after taking a good look at all of you, "Or Miss Brit, if you would prefer." he continued in a sultry tone.
"The world out there is harsh and we humans have been scraping each day by the skin of our teeth, we've sent for reinforcements to deal with the monsters around Ortana-" You hear someone unnerved amidst the group upon the word. "-but they could not spare anyone so we have to deal with these things ourselves."
Then Brittany suddenly sits up and drops a small cloth satchel on the table, two silver pieces and couple of copper coins roll out.
"Volunteer soldiers. That's you." He/she clarifies.
"Will be granted these to start off with if you're willing to work with us on this problem as Volunteer soldiers." A long moment of silence fell upon everyone.
"Of course,I can provide OTHERr ways to make dough. Like being my companion..." "
BUT it won't be an easy life either. In this world and in all things, you have to fight to survive. There's no such thing as freeloading. Of course that also means you have to pay me back. Once you've gotten 20 silvers you may purchase your badges as official citizens, they will let you trade fReely and frequent places outside of Ortana. Then you'll truly be on your own. How you get the funds is up to you!"
Then Brittany puts on a mischievous smile, a wink and a single slender digit to those bright pink lips. "
I'll give you sweeties a hint. Make groups amongst yourselves. Get to one of the guilds and become a member each, that'll be your best bet."
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Guilds are organizations that train their members with specific skills according to what the guild does for a fee, while it is not entirely impossible to be given the certain benefits of a profession without the governance of a guild, much of the ground work and foundations are already run by guild members and they do not like it when a non-member steals their business and will boycott or may even intervene with anyone trying to do so.
By asking around the tavern near the slums you're given a place to stay, the more commonly known Volunteer's guilds are:
The Knight's Bastion, members publicly call themselves Warriors or Knights.
The Thieves' Den, members are skillful rogues and thieves who sometimes work outside the law.
The Magician's Guild, members are spiritualists and academics who study phenomena.
The Church of Luminaris, members are healers and devotees who channel the divine.
The Hunter's Guild, members are survivalists and wayfarers who bridge mankind and the wilds.
The Crusaders' Headquarters, members are paladins and zealots who dedicate themselves against darkness.
The Church of Skulhei, members are dark knights and cultists who channel the profane.
Though there are possibly more (bards, dancers, alchemists etc), the barkeep really does not have the time to list them all for you. But you know joining one will mean a fee of 80 coppers and a 7 day crash course in your profession, what that means - you don't really know.
Still... tonight will be your last night jobless. It's been a fortnight and everyone else has left to go their own ways, seemingly leaving you and several others in the dust as you struggle to survive day to day on what coppers you have left while learning the ropes of the world. You all huddle around a campfire under a shack by moonlight and plan tomorrow: your very first hunt.
This is loosely based on the setting of 'Grimgar of fantasy and ash' the animated adaptation of a light novel by Ao Jūmonji and illustrated by Eiri Shirai. Make no mistake - The setting is a real world, no 'respawning' no HP bar no floating text above anyone or anything. Everything is reality, monsters don't respawn. They are living (or otherwise) creatures that are part of this world just as you are. Once a monster dies, THAT particular monster's life is GONE. Humans call them monsters because they harm mankind.
Your HP bar is the blood in your veins, the breath you take and the adenosine triphosphate that lets you move your limbs. And when words are spoken, they reach your ears and are heard.
So in everything you roleplay, even such as a Cure potion healing a wound. Though you feel better, it is not because of some non-existent red bar filling up. It is because that was expensive water blessed with Luminaris' divine protection that closes your wounds, or a topical medicinal tincture made by a herbalist which coagulates blood and dulls your sense of pain. Something along those lines. Sometimes you might not even know.
The premise of the roleplay would be how everyday folks (No imba gamer kids who cheese their stats!) like your character make living possible in an unforgiving world where they know nothing about. As you can see though I've not really gone into the details of things because this is just an interest check for now (written in the span of an hour after watching the last episode) OR a place someone could direct me to an already present Grimgar roleplay. XD.
