RP Time: Saturday, 1:02 PM
New Flash: RP not demolished, because it turns out most people are still around, just not posting for some reason...
A Study into Evil and Corruption *MATURE*
Before I begin, please forgive me if I become a bit garrulous. For those of you who are lazy or apathetic who wish to skip everything long, revealing, and interesting, I will clearly mark the point in which I begin to detail vital information for the RP.
Preface:
“ A Study into Evil and Corruption”, is a roleplay that will function, at least to me, exactly as it sounds. I would name it something more… fantastic or romantic, but looking upon the cold, formal, unfeeling title, coupled with the fact that it certainly looks different, led me to keep it as the title, I like it in an artsy way, basically.
As for the meaning behind the words however, I would like to explain. Throughout the history of man, we have been faced with, created, and dealt with evil. Starting prior to prehistory, man has had moral choice, however, the choice, to many, has been extremely difficult. The basic decision to do good or bad can be clouded by numerous factors (Will the right thing hurt more than the wrong thing?; Will anyone really suffer if I choose evil?; What is the right choice anyway?), and has been explored by every major culture, religion, and even period of thought. Christians believe man is born evil, and there are exact standards of right and wrong (some say “exact standards of right and wrong” sarcastically). Romantics believed evil was a product of society, and that nature is pure. In the US, age restrictions are placed on the consumption of alcoholic beverages, not the case for countless other countries.
However, despite many dissimilarities and inconsistencies, many agreements have taken place. Most societies deem murder inappropriate, rape to be inexcusable, and robbery to be degenerate behavior. Also, I’ve noticed, it is a popularly held belief in the US, of the secular and religious alike, that morals have gone to hell in a handbasket. Drug usage, underage , violence, it is all commonplace and disturbing. I have to admit, even I have a tough time finding a virgin in a highschool freshman class. However, I personally believe that, although it’s hard to believe now, this kind of behavior is not unprecedented, but rather unrecorded.
Characters in literary works didn’t spit or swear until the end of the nineteenth century, and it wasn’t until the 1900’s that a protagonist would commit a crime. Does that mean this kind of immorality was nonexistent? Of course not. One puritan, in his diary, confessed to numerous occasions of adultery, and although showing remorse, continued his behavior. Pope John XII would often rape his family members, and even went so far as to turn the sacred palace into a . In ancient Rome, Christians and captured enemies were thrown into pits to be mauled by lions, for a mass audience of spectators’ amusement. And if the argument is made that we have moved on from the barbarism of antiquity, one must simply look to the turbulence of America in the 1960’s, or especially 1968. Even the 1950’s, and age commonly known by its calm, clean, upstanding appearance, was riddled with knife-toting greasers, race rioting, and the underage sex. So evil has been omnipresent through our race’s history, and does not look as if it will leave any time soon.
But this is evil on the whole, and my goals concern evil on the personal level, or, rather, your person specifically. I am aware of, or have access to, the general ideas of evil by the various cultures, religions, and thoughts of the world. However, I believe that perceptions differ on the personal level, as each individual is blessed with a unique life experience, and that is my reasoning for taking my study to this place
Fortunately, although the book I’m researching for will have its slow moments, I intend for this roleplay to be much more fast paced, so I’ll add a few elements strictly for entertainment’s sake (for me as well as for you). If you have actually read up to this point, I thank you and commend you for your patience.
Backstory:
That’s the basic idea, but the story behind it goes a little deeper, and this one’s for you fantasy-fans. Two hundred years ago, on the spot in which the small town now lies, there was a brutal murder, carried out by three thrill-seeking teenagers. The victim, a woman of around forty, was jumped, beaten, raped, and then stabbed. The woman, however helpless she was at the moment, was, in fact, a witch. In her pain she screamed and cursed them in an inhuman tongue, and they were cursed. Removing their knives from the long dead corpse, the boys turned on one another, performing indescribable horrors to one another until only one was left. Dripping with blood, the boy shambled back into town. He had seen too much, done too much, and was himself guilty for the entirety of it. But in this, he took a certain joy, exploding with ed pride, the boy shouted into the night, turning his knife on himself, and carving two symbols, one in his forehead, and one in his chest.
The graphic scene was discovered the next morning much to the horror of those who saw it, the witch and two bodies, mangled nearly beyond recognition, and the true horror, the boy in the town. The body was about as mangled as the others, but there was something about it, something that made the onlookers feel as if they were held down and stabbed themselves. The feeling lasted only a moment, but it was so substantial that few forgot it. The bodies were cleaned up by law enforcement and buried. That night, a terrible spirit gripped those who had seen the symbols carved into the boy’s body half the town awoke during the night, frightened by the images they believed their own minds had produced. Although the images were horrible, no one suspected it was anything beyond an unpleasant reaction to the images they had seen.
The next morning, a man blinked, and saw glowing red, the symbol that had been carved into the boy’s skull. He was shocked, believing it to be a trick of the mind, some fluke of psychology, but, to his horror, when he closed his eyes and kept them closed the image remain for as long as he dared not to open his eyes. Similar events happened all over the town, and soon one man was seen talking about the phenomenon to a trusted friend, the passerby who overheard listened to the description and noted that it sounded like the one he himself saw. The next day, the man that had been speaking of the image was found, hanged in Town Square, a note pinned on his shirt that read, “ I am sorry, Petunia”. Similar deaths happened all over town, and before long, people learned not to speak of the symbols they saw.
They had children, and told them nothing of the symbols. The children, knowing nothing of the uniqueness of what they had, shrugged the symbols off as a normality, no different from any other person. Over the years, the town grew, as did the population of those who saw the symbols. The town had a sinister air, although it appeared perfectly normal on the surface. The murders became few and far between, and, through the generations, became public humiliation, limited physical violence, and a simple feeling of maliciousness toward those they knew bore the opposing symbol.
However, as the good hearted and easy-going townsfolk were otherwise peaceful besides their tendency toward powerful maliciousness upon the discovery of an enemy, there was a powerful amount of bad mojo. While the crimes against one another became more tame, the general tendencies of the individuals became more corrupt. Some fundamentalists believe the devil speaks powerfully to some people than others, and in this case, it is very true. At this point, the town was composed of “bad people”, who, although living in an upper-middle class suburb, were truly villainous.
Sorry for summarizing the event a bit blandly, but If I actually told the story in a tasteful way, I’d be going on for pages upon pages.