The Masquerade (a steam punk rp)

[ClockworkDaisy]

Okay so here's the thread for making this a reality.

So far.. The ideas we have are..

the whole idea is that magic in this world grew alongside science, and magical creatures like my wolf-girl here, live alongside ordinary people and live ordinary lives, with some exceptions as my character is a mercenary.

The Masquerade

It is a time of great celebration.
The aging King has finally sired an heir (albeit upon his Mistress) and with the already reclusive Queen retiring to their country estate, her face long faded from the minds of the people, celebrations have begun in earnest.
The Topsy Turvy festival is underway, the beginning of a month long series of festivities which will culminate on the night of the Grand Ball.
The citizenry clock to the revelry, all their inhibitions drowned under the guise of taking on new roles for but a single night, prepared to mingle rich and common in the glorious light of His Majesty's great triumph.
Yet a taint spreads through the masses as unusual incidents begin to occur.. A shadow spreads itself ever outward from the source of the joy, spiraling faster and faster...

Based in a Victorian style era
The threat. A foreign power is secretly invading. Enslaving nobility through mind control (to be defined how, though possibly some sort of chip in the brain?) and harvesting human limbs/organs etc in order to create the ideal physical forms.
At first small incidents occur during the festivities..
The more nosey/adventurous/trouble-making your character the more they will encounter. The larger enemy pulling the strings
Culminating the night of the Masquerade Ball (for now, depending on participation/interest)

What will you do when you grow suspicious?


Looking forward to fleshing out the bones with you on this.

Name/Title
Nick name (if any)
Age
Appearance (pic or descrip)
Personality
Skill/occupation
History

[Wanderer of Philosophy]

Ok, so here's a pitch or 6. Just as steampunk is High-tech from low-tech power sources, So to do man's high goals remain nestled in basic drives. To reach these ends, the nobles are willing to do anything and everything, including using the 'rabble' to feed these plans. As more and more people disappear, citizens begin to worry that they'll be next. It's falls on the shoulders of those strong enough to root out this nefarious plot and discover secrets not meant for the common folk.

[ClockworkDaisy]

What's the basic need of the nobility? Immortality? Literally needing body parts to replace their own?

[Anomaly]

I think The Masquerade has a good start. I like the spirit of the roleplay. As for the antagonist, it could be an infiltration of pretty much any kind. I was thinking a rival nation of some sort. This could be a great spy vs. spy roleplay if we had one or two collaborators (perhaps you and I, seeing how we are the host and co-host) to be said antagonist. Eventually, as the rival country begins to make itself clear by attacking civilian cities, Wanderer's idea can come into play. The two countries will be at war and the once simple ball-goers will have been hired into a sort of small covert military troop to either make peace or war with the enemy nation. It is the protagonist-players' goal to uncover the sinister plot behind the sudden attack, which could be something as simple as a take-over or perhaps, as I was thinking, a diabolic scheme by the nobles of this opposing country to sacrifice civilians in order to achieve immortality. Maybe the latter option is too... Strange? But I think it might work.

[ClockworkDaisy]

Actually I like it a lot. The Nobility working to achieve immortality through the sacrifice of the common man. Its kind of what I was thinking at the very start.
Using alchemy to harvest the.. souls.. of those around them/the rival country, enslaving those on a lower echelon through use of some sort of mind control as everyone needs a good minion and the fools that stumbled upon the plot and must make the ultimate decision about what they (if anything) should do.

I do have a rough idea for a story arc involving the King, Queen and Mistress that I think might tie in very nicely as well.

[Anomaly]

Well, as much as I love Fullmetal Alchemist I must admit that I think it would be a bit... unoriginal to use souls. Maybe they do something like replace their own decay with the fresher body parts of their victims as you said awhile back. That seems more steampunk to me. And mind control works out pretty well; but you have to play it smooth. Make it a unique way in which they perform this mind control. Like have the agents physically implant something- like in the matrix how they spy on people with electronic "bugs".
Let's have some fun with these ideas. And as of now, we need to get a solid plot together. It looks like we have the basic elements (more or less) so let's try this.

[ClockworkDaisy]

Well souls was just thrown out there as a random lol but yes, harvesting limbs/making themselves perfect is a great concept. Those that are controlled shouldn't know they are being manipulated. I also like command phrases to 'program' them.
Now.. What do we out in the punch to make them nice little subservient beasts

[BigBullCrocker]

Is it possible for me to have more than one character? You see i was thinking of making some sort of villain, but then that would make me feel like someone just shot a cannonball through my chest and i must fill it with a hero/heroine.

[ClockworkDaisy]

It definitely is. We would hate for you to bleed out all over our shiney new rp.

[BigBullCrocker]

Name/Title: Caleb Wolcott
Nick name: The good doctor
Age: 40
Appearance:
Personality: very good at thinking things through, calculating, one part of him is very good at lying and telling a persons gist' while the other is very trustworthy and would help a beggar get a job even if he had killed his mother.
Skill/occupation: Doctor/murderer, very good with knives or sharp objects, can improvise very well, he also carries a flintlock pistol just in case, he can see different things others wouldnt such as escape methods or enemies that hide.
History: Caleb grew up dissecting things like small animals or insects. He liked to see the inside of things and so he grew up to become a doctor. He earned loads when a disease hit the town he lived in and he made a cure for it. But he didn't sell the full cure, oh no that wouldn't earn him enough money. He sold a watered down version of it that would only subdue the cure for a short while, all the while he would take the full cure and stay fit as a fiddle. Eventually he left his town and made it to another place leaving his town to die of disease. He has lived in this place for many years, 20 actually and switches between two personalities. Usually they stay in their respective time-zones, one comes out at night the other at dawn. The night personality is the murderer he creeps about and stabs his victims, usually his victims are pretty young women he can fool with his money. By day he is a kind and generous man who helps the sick, that is until the evil side takes over sometimes and kills his patients.