Midnight [OOC]

[Eggs]

[IC]

In ancient times, the world was not ours. Incredibly powerful and evil beings ruled over humanity mercilessly. A nearly species-wide enslavement kept them under control. They came without warning, and almost as soon as they appeared in our world, we were defeated. For almost three centuries, in a period of unrecorded history thousands of years ago, demons were the dominant species of the planet.

Humans, naturally, didn't take kindly to enslavement, but there was little that could be done. Rebellions flared up, and each time they were crushed without effort. They were simply too weak to do anything. For every demon they managed to even slightly injure, ten humans died in the battles. Despite many fruitless battles and devastating losses, giving up didn't seem to be an option. The rebellions continued, and managed to have one positive effect: inspiration. More people began taking up arms, and while this resulted in more deaths, it also led to something that would spell the downfall of the demonic hierarchy.

Within the ranks, other demons had begun to question the methods of ruling. The rebellions, while easily defeated, were not slowing down any time soon. Many believed that one day, somehow, the humans would succeed. And they were right. Nearly an entire kingdom of demons defected from the reign, and after some rocky negotiations, they convinced the humans rebels that they were on their side. What they did next was going to change the entire course of the war, and eventually lead the humans to victory.

The traitorous demons gifted the humans various abilities, which would allow them to fight the demons in equal combat. Heightened physical abilities, strength, agility, endurance, and acrobatics, all matched the power of the average demonic soldier. Other, more unique abilities developed as well, giving the humans an extra edge. Their first victory sent a huge message to the demons, and rather than ignore the threat of more losses, a full-scale war initiated between humans and the demons.

Over time, human motivation combined with demonic strength led to an overthrowing of the tyrannical rule, but the demons didn't go quietly. As a final attempt to cripple humanity's progress before they returned with backup, the demons destroyed their cities and any trace of their presence on the planet. It was a petty act, but they had hopes that humanity wouldn't be able to use the things left behind when they returned. However, it proved pointless. The demons that initiated the successful rebellion used a majority of their power to create a pocket dimension. It was much smaller than either the human world or the place the demons originally came from, but it did its job in sealing them. Forced into it by a magic ritual, a great majority of demons were taken from the human world and could not fully escape.

At first, the seal was shaky at best. Every night at midnight, the worlds would leak together again, and the fighting in the human world continued for decades while the seal slowly but surely became more stable. Eventually, the shifts to the other dimension stopped affecting the general population. Only demons left in the human world and the humans that were given powers could experience them, and in that dimension, the fighting continued. As more time passed, hostilities from intelligent demons ceased during shifts. They admitted defeat, finally, and simply hid away when their dimension leaked over.

With no reason to continue the fighting, the humans gave up their abilities. They lived normal lives, and over time, died. There was no hostility from the other dimension, and over thousands of years, it was forgotten. The seal had reached a point of strength and stability to last for thousands of years. The few demons left in the human world were severely weakened, cut off from any source of power. Any that attempted hostility were put down by experienced, but powerless humans. The only hints that they even existed in our world left were scriptures and carvings, both of which deteriorated over the years into undecipherable messes.

Thousands of years have passed since then. Humans took their place as the dominant species of the world, and technological progress increased exponentially over time. However, in their prison, the demons have progressed as well. Technology is not overly advanced, as they have no need for it, but they've shaped the prison to resemble their old world. Worryingly, they've noticed something. Their prison, without any sort of watchers keeping it up, began to falter. They could, in small amounts, leak through to the real world. However weak they were, it was a sign of potential disaster.

Seemingly at random, people were chosen by the few nonhostile demons left in the world. They expired, using the last of their power to gift abilities to a select amount of humans. With their deaths, the inevitable re-merging of the realms would begin sooner, but now there were people who were able to keep the demons from retaking the world. Unfortunately, they were given no warnings, no hints as to what was going on. When midnight comes next, they're in for a surprise.

-----

tl;dr: Demons ruled the ancient world like tyrants, enslaving humans. Human rebellions showed up and failed. Demons that disagreed with the treatment of humans gave some of them abilities to help their cause, and then fought with them. Demons were defeated, and destroyed any progress they brought to the human world. Demons were sealed in an alternate dimension that leaked into our world until it stabilized. Demons stopped showing up so much, and the humans given abilities gave said abilities up so they could live and die normally. Thousands of years pass until the world's in the modern day. The boundary between the alternate dimension and ours is weakening. A few people were selected seemingly at random to fill the roles of protectors, but they have little to no idea what the crap's happening for the first few trips into the other dimension.


Rules

1. Be respectful to others, don't start too many arguments. Basic stuff really.
2. For unique abilities, try to be just that: unique. If someone has a certain power, do your best to have something different.
3. Powerplaying is an interesting thing. Against NPCs, it'll be fine, because they can take it, but only once the story progresses to that point. Against other players, don't do it unless all parties involved are fun. Considering how crazy things are gonna get, it's likely.
4. Stick with story progression. Even if you aren't involved in the main plot, it affects you. No chosen using their powers in the real world, no normal people wandering around the midnight dimension. That kinda thing.


Races

Humans: The most intelligent and advanced race on Earth. Humans are adaptable, but physically frail compared to other things that lurk in their world's darkest corners. Few have any knowledge of the midnight dimension, and fewer still can even interact with it. Those who can generally cannot enter it without great effort, but some minor manipulation of what's within it is perfectly reasonable. While not inherently given any sort of abilities, some people can use magic to a small degree. It's a lifelong commitment, however, and takes a long time to master.

Chosen: Human by birth, demon by ascension. Chosen are the result of a pure demon gifting a piece of their soul to a human, merging it with theirs into a sort of halfway point. They still appear human, and their abilities only come with the shifts into the midnight dimension. At all other hours, they are indistinguishable from ordinary people. During shifts, they are very strong, fast, and acrobatic, and each one gains an ability that will augment their natural skills. They are naturally compelled to work together, but human nature is impossible to predict.

Demons: Originally beings from a realm of light, something occurred that made them fall from grace. While not inherently evil, a great majority are. They left their realm, and came to Earth, where they enslaved humanity for hundreds of years before being overthrown. While spiritual in nature, they do have physical bodies. Some may take on a humanlike appearance, but a majority don't bother, preferring their own bodies. Their abilities and appearances differ greatly, but many follow a mostly humanoid shape, and all of their powers are markedly unholy in nature.


The worlds

Earth: The human planet. Over time, it has changed, and cities full of people span the landscape. Cars, planes, and skyscrapers are clear signs of human achievement. Nature still exists in massive amounts, of course, but the world is simply no longer the unadvanced and easily conquered land it once was. It has few places where travel to other worlds is possible. However, transitions to the midnight dimension come every night, and affect any Chosen within the area.

The Midnight Dimension: A pocket realm created between the physical and spiritual planes, it serves as a prison to the demons that once ruled the world. Its landscape, once barren wastelands, has become an impressive display of architecture in old gothic styles. Along with intelligent demons, creatures born from their energy have sprung up from the darkness of the realm. They are oftentimes trained, used as guards and living weapons, but wild ones roam the wilderness and attack any they see. On occasion, they may wander into cities during the times shifts occur. The sky of the world is grey and foggy, while a black sun hanging in the sky emits only enough light for visibility compared to Earth's nights.


Character sheet

Name:

Race: (Human, Chosen, or Demon)

Age:

Gender:

Appearance:

Personality:

Abilities: (Everyone has enhanced speed, strength, endurance, and demonic power absorption to a degree. Anything more unique goes here.)

Equipment: (Weapons and anything else that could aid in battling demons. Or just swagtacular accessories.)

History: (Huge novels aren't needed, just give us a basic idea of who your character is.)

Other: (self explanatory)


My characters

Name: Salem Redgrave

Race: Chosen

Age: 22

Gender: Male

Appearance: Standing at five foot nine and weighing about 160 pounds, Salem's in pretty good shape due to his general lifestyle and hobbies. The other half of his lifestyle has resulted in him not getting quite enough sunlight at long enough times to get much of a tan. He's a handsome guy, but isn't out of the realm of believability. He's ethnically Greek, but lacks the sweet-ass accent, as the last four to five generations of his family were raised in a small town in the southeastern United States. His hair is brown, and kept in a medium length layered hairstyle, the fringe usually combed to the right so it doesn't fall into his dark blue eyes. Unfortunately, he can't grow facial hair too well, and usually barely manages more than stubble, if even that.

His clothing style is incredibly casual. Longsleeved shirts and fitted jeans, paired with simple black and white shoes. Generally, he'll also add a hooded jacket. His preferred colours are blue, red, and black, though he has one particularly nice jacket that's white and grey. Whenever he goes biking or climbing for long periods of time, he'll wear a pair of black gloves without fingers, but he generally doesn't. A beaded wristband that was a gift from his older brother, along with a couple rings, are generally worn on his left hand when he doesn't have the gloves on.

Personality: Salem's very friendly and loves to have fun, but also takes pleasure in calm, slow days in nature or old structures. He loves company and spending time with friends, but at the same time doesn't really enjoy parties or other huge social gatherings too much. Reading is also a favorite pastime of his, and while he's not very good at it, he's tried his hand at writing and before. While not incredibly artistic, he enjoys playing music, and knows a few instruments. He's best with a flute, and proudly displays the instrument on one of the walls in his house. Generally, he's a bit of a dork, but he doesn't mind too much.

Abilities: Salem's personal ability manifests as short amounts of 'bullet time' from his perspective. Dodging and lining up shots would become easier, while fighting in melee combat would allow him a few free strikes, a dodging opportunity, or simply faster attacks. He can't use it for huge amounts of time, but with experience, it would grow into something more potent.

Equipment: Salem isn't much of a fighter, but as something that's been passed down in his family, he owns a customized M1911A1 handgun. For the most part, it stays locked in a box underneath his bed. He has experience shooting rifles, but he doesn't own one. While it could hardly count as a weapon, he owns a simple woodcutting axe that could be lethal if used in a fight.

Most of the time, he wears a silver locket around his neck holding a pair of small family photos.

History: Early in his life, Salem lived mostly as a shut-in with a deep interest in all sorts of odd things. Stories about things lurking in the shadows and just out of sight were his favorites, and he had a love for psychological horror movies. One of the only people he really interacted with was his brother. The two were raised together in a nice household by a loving family, and in general, they had a desirable if simple life. When he was around 16, some terribly unfortunate events resulted in the destruction of his family's first house by fire. The family moved, and upon taking residence in a smaller home, continued their happy, if a bit less materialistic lifestyle.

Salem's older brother recently moved to Italy, less than a year ago, for study reasons. He wanted to go with him just to tag along, but he couldn't afford it, and instead stayed behind to attend a college that he's been in for two years now. While not quite as exciting as going abroad, he's been happy, and is waiting for his brother's return. The two keep in contact, and have similar interests. Things have recently quieted down in his life a little, but hey, he's not complaining.

Other: His interest in reading can occasionally get the best of him. Getting caught up late at all hours of the night browsing amateur-made stories is one of his favorite pastimes.

Player List
Eggs
Salem Redgrave

WeskerV2
Lucas Anderson

AoStar
Alyssa Lewis

Zepherial
Wize, Qize, and Kize

Metal Zeta
Johnny Jonan

JerkChicken
Javier Villanueva

Nyxella
Lelia Valence

Cry of the Celt
Vikke

TheStinger
Frank Brooks

[WeskerV2]

Well, here be my character.

Name: Lucas Anderson

Race: Chosen

Age: 32

Gender: Male

Appearance:


Personality: Lucas is a natural liar and gambler, rarely telling the truth to anyone in any form, let alone one that could lead to the truth. He will take very little seriously, masking his true intent behind jokes, an easy going facade, and the odd bet for anyone to take him up on. Being an ex cop gone underground, his prior training shows through when confronted with increasingly serious situations, using the liar's facade to investigate or otherwise gather information for whatever his current reason happens to be. Being a firm believer that everything can be explained, the man does not believe in the super natural in and itself, only that such things are what people use until they can logically or reasonably figure out what is actually going on.

Abilities: The only unique power beyond the normal powers granted to the Chosen that, while it has not manifested yet, is a projection of power absorbed from daemons slain through foci, whether it is weapons or other objects he has at hand. Each weapon or item has a specific kind of projection, and the more daemon power absorbed, the stronger in force it grows. The draw back to this being he cannot use himself to project, needing a foci of some sort to make it work, and until he projects through a new item, he cannot know what it will actually do.

Equipment: When it comes to weapons, Lucas owns a folding knife that he was given as a gift, and carries at all times. He also owns a Taurus Model 454 revolver, commonly chambered in the less powerful, but cheaper and more common .45 Colt, but he does own some .454 Casull rounds for the weapon. Lastly, he keeps a sawn off double barrel that he picked up as payment from an early client after he left the Police in favor of a Private Investigator, which he keeps in his car at all times and brings with him if a situation looks unusually dangerous or suspicious.

Lucas drives and maintains a Volkswagon Beetle for personal transport, to and from a small apartment that doubles as his office whenever he happens to be doing any PI work.

History: The son of an ex cop turned instructor at a local academy, his mother an unknown, Lucas had a rough relationship with authority growing up. Being quick to lie, cheat, or otherwise do whatever he saw necessary to get what he wanted meant a very rough time getting along with his father, a man who was by the book and honest to a fault. He barely passed every class he was in, and was threatened with a Military School on multiple occasions, barely keeping his grades up enough to avoid such a fate. As soon as he graduated high school, within days of the event, his father passed away due to complications after his first heart attack. Despite what people believed, he attended the funeral, not realizing he would miss the old man once he was gone until the man up and left for whatever happened after death. He decided to at least try and honor the man's memory by going down the path he would have wanted, a police detective.

That path wasn't easy, and was almost closed to someone well known to the police, but technically with no record. Spending several years in the same Academy his father had taught at, Lucas found all but one or two instructors wanted to see him fail and fall out of the program completely. Out of spite he didn't, and was begrudgingly given his certificate, and hired by the local department. That barely lasted two years before he moved out on his own to open a private service. Constant red tape, corruption that he found was worse than anything he could claim to have been part of, and being constantly watched and hounded for results 'by the book' drove him insane. So he left, opened a private business, and started the paycheck by paycheck style of living that has lasted to this very day. Accepting various forms of payment, from cash to items he had a need, or want, of, Lucas barely made ends meet, only the desperate sort of folk who had no where else to go came to him, mainly due to his reputation and opening warning to anyone seeking his services. "I don't promise a happy ending, or some nice little white lie that you can sleep soundly with. I just find out what you pay me to find, and relay it. That's it."

Other: Lucas' lack of belief in the paranormal or supernatural, even being a borderline atheist at times, means he will not be willing to accept daemons are returning to the world easily, let alone his own developing powers because of a friendly being of such a daemonic persuasion.

[Eggs]

I like it. Once we get at least two others, I think we can start up the IC.

[Korean242]

Definitely want to join this, I'll have a CS up later this night.

[AoStar]

Name: Alyssa Lewis (or just Lyssa)

Race: Chosen

Age: 22

Gender: Female

Appearance: [attachment]

Personality: Alyssa is a girl who knows when to be playful, and when to be serious. Although some may say she's shy, she doesn't see herself as such; just as someone who doesn't feel like talking most of the time. Like a shadow, she doesn't like to stand out much, constantly hiding from the spotlight. An otaku, Alyssa is obssesed with anime and manga, but she knows how to hjde it. She's not interested in little things like relationships. Strong-spirited, stubborn, lazy, yet gentle, she's doesn't she herself as different from any other girls.
Abilities: Mild telekineses. She has only used it by accident.

Weapons: She often carries a pistol and pepperspray in her bag.

History: Alyssa grew up in what was called the "bad part of town". She was raised by her brother after her parents were shot and killed when she was too young to remember. Constantly being exposed to such things as sex, drugs, and alcohol, Alyssa did her best to avoid them, and kept her head on school instead. After graduating from highschool, she was shocked when she recieved a scholarship for law school, of which she is currently attending.

[Eggs]

One thing to clarify: The abilities don't manifest except outside dimensional shifts at first, and even then, nobody's experienced one yet. Otherwise it looks pretty good.

[AoStar]

Oh okay thanks

[JerkChicken]

I heard from a source that this might let me get jonesing for some Curhaazy shenanigans

[Eggs]

Incredibly cuhrazy.

[JerkChicken]

Bueno