Redemption: The Shadows of Esarion is a collaborative story inspired by several mediums within the dark fantasy genre such as Demon Souls, Hexen, Akame ga Kill, Claymore, and Beserk. The idea came to me when I was bouncing creative ideas for a new project with my roommate; who, at the time, was playing through the Souls series in anticipation for the newest entry to the series. The idea is that prospective players will take the role of a rebirthed individual who are known due to this reincarnation as “redeemers”, a term that applies to the fact that they are supposed to redeem humanity and bring light back from the depths of the darkness. But such redemption is hardly a simple task considering the state of the world— a world that much like Dark Souls is one swallowed in misery and ruin.

The level of the setting is one that is centrally medieval with some variations to formula for creative options. When the characters awake they will find themselves face down in the dirt, gasping for air as their body is reawakened and regenerated by strange magic. They will be together in their confusion as there will be little people left in the world that they find themselves in that will be helpful, hopeful, or sympathetic— for this is a game that has been repeated several times. The rebirth of old heroes has happened for so long and with no “redemption” for the world following that they don’t see any reason to care. They choose to accept their reality. But if this is reality, why did the gods reawaken others? A valid question for many.

Player Characters are lost upon their rebirth: entering a world with no answers to where they are, when they are, and who they are. They may have a name, they may have some brief thoughts on what they did; but they do not have any comprehensive knowledge or wisdom beyond that fact. Outside of retaining their skills and talents, characters will also be reborn with a power that is reflective of them; but their access to it will be brief no matter the level of power existing from within. These abilities are called the “gift of rebirth” and are unique to those who have been brought back— but it also means their soul is far more valuable this time around considering it has been imbued with divine energy. Evil men, monsters, demons, and spirits will sense this and try to harvest it for their own gain.

So I'm going to need around 3-4 players excluding myself and @McMolly who sort of was my brainstorming drone utility.

So I leave you with two questions: who are you, and are you interested?

Anyway here's some more info:

Comments?, Questions?, Interest?

The world of Esarion has fallen into chaos following the apocalyptic event known as The Inalienable Dreamless— a harrowing event that consumed the world following humanity’s descent into sin. Even the goddess of creation, Lyriel, could not prevent the downfall of humanity and the calamity of the accursed energies that would bring a dawn of unfathomable evil to the world. This unfathomable evil would be the sin-spurred bringers of the fall of humanity as warped abominations like wraiths, monsters, cretins, demons, and other creatures crawled from the darkest shadows ready to devour what humanity had become. Cataclysmic disasters shook the realm and entire kingdoms faded into a distant memory. Humanity blackened as they were forced to witness their genocide.

The realm as it once stood was centered on seven kingdoms of humanity, all with opposing viewpoints despite a shared cultural ancestry. What happened following the Inalienable Dreamless is not particular obscure to the few factions of humanity that have survived— denying the genocide that dark magic had tried to commit upon them. However, for understandable reasons humanity has not rebuilt in the traditional sense. There are no more kingdoms, no more guilds, no more academies, and no more covens: the world has splintered humanity of any sense of unity they had and the majority of the surviving members of the race wander their fractured world like a group of senseless nomads as a dark shadow looms behind them as it stalks them at every chance opportunity.

But the ancestry is still there:

The creator of our world, Lyriel, has once again looked down upon the physical realm in search of those to be redeemed. The massive kingdom spanning graveyard that served as humanity’s final battlefield, The Hollows, is where the goddess returned her eyes to as the souls that have not left would now be ready to reawaken. However she only reawaken a few at a time and it is upon this unknown year that she has risen five.

When the Inalienable Dreamless dawned upon the world, many people died at the end of accursed creatures, deceiving blades, and unfortunate circumstances— falling down into the crimson-drenched mud of the battlefield as they prepared to meet their gods. It was a terrible fate, but a fate nonetheless… but for whatever reason there was no afterlife. Due to the effects of the Inalienable Dreamless there was no “end” and whilst people did die they would not stay dead for very long. Those who fell would once again rise, though this curse came with its own drawbacks and advantages.

These drawbacks would include the loss of identity, the loss of wisdom, the loss of knowledge, and for some… a loss of purpose. As the process of “Rebirth” could take centuries— when the individuals cursed with being reawakened did so they would not recognize anything and not remember who they were outside of a name and fractured thoughts of who they were. All they knew is they were “redeemers”. However, the advantage of being reawakened tempers this fact as redeemers with the abilities that comes with their soul being reinvigorated with divine energy: the gift of rebirth.

These gifts are immensely powerful, but have their own limitations; for example, you might be able to turn invisible but it will not be long… especially if you have just been reawakened yourself. There is also the fact that redeemers never truly know how to use their gift and it never utilizes when they really “want” it to, but rather when it “needs” to. A conflicting and fickle gift, for sure.

But for some it means something.