Your travels, long and arduous, have finally led to their dire conclusion. Seated now within the dilapidated tavern, the floorboards warped and caked in mud, you quietly sip from a battered pewter mug filled with a foul tasting brew. The poorly kept hovel is nearly empty; few patrons from the village seeming to dare set foot outside their own doors. Your arrival was met with shifty glances, the faces of the townsfolk bearing the haggard expressions of those subject to daily terrors.
This is not a place that welcomes travelers, though your money is accepted with a greedy smile from the obese tavern keeper as he wipes grease upon his shirt. His grin is rife with teeth rotted and blackened, and you feel a sense of disgust and contempt. As you survey the down-trodden citizens of this forgotten hamlet, you reflect on the moments that bore your adventures here…
A whisper of rumor, the passing of moldy parchment from one hand to the next, the allure of riches and fame. All things tied to one another in an elaborate and unknowable ballet of fate or chance. Your reasons are your own, but one thing is certain: this will be no simple undertaking.
A request, seeking those who wish to carve for themselves a name among the rocks. A promise of gold, knowledge, and relics forgotten and buried. You know nothing of your employer; no name was given. Only that you were told to meet here, in a village long since condemned to the annals of history. The single road wound with sinister purpose as your mind seemed to recoil at the unsettling miasma that grew thicker as you neared the end of your journey. There was a sickness here, an antediluvian evil that plagued the minds and bodies of those too poor or stubborn to leave. Everywhere showed signs of madness and corruption. A single sign harbored the finality of your travels, a name scratched out and left with a dreadful premonition of things to come.
“Abandon All Hope, ye Who Enter Here”
You took a moment to take stock of your quest, waiting upon the hilltop. The town lay just below, the glow of lantern light in the grime crusted and cracked windows casting a ghostly pall over the pitted cobblestone streets. A great forest lay beyond, black trees twisted with malevolent agony as their limbs reached skyward like talons in the night. And as your gaze drifted further, the breath caught in your throat and a chill ran down your spine.
Atop the cliff, dominating the skyline like a vile overlord, lay what once must have been an impressive estate. Cloaked in shadow, the ominous structure exuded a purely evil aroma. It was not one you could place, but something that itched in the back of your mind and made your flesh crawl. All senses told you to turn back, leave this place and its people to their damnable fate. Yet you press on, spurred by the promises of the anonymous stranger…
OOC INFO
This RP will be set in a gothic, low-fantasy semi-medieval society. The story will center around a group of travelers, scholars, cutthroats, mercenaries, and any other character that may have a reason to take up the cryptic quest. At the moment I am looking to fill this with up to 6 people, though depending on the amount of interest I gather I may amend this number.
This will not be a light hearted and pleasurable affair. This RP will center around dark and mysterious themes influenced heavily by Lovecraftian horror, tragedy, struggle, and mortality. Your characters will be plagued with any kind of terror my mind can come up with, and every choice will leave lasting consequences upon the party.
Choice will play a big part in this game. At various points in the story you will be presented with decisions. These decisions will have outcomes known only to me, decided by a random roll. They can be good or bad, but expect as the adventure continues that more foul afflictions will be placed in the pool than benevolent ones.
For myself I will be playing the part of your mysterious employer, as well as that of Dungeon Master. I will control all NPC characters and events, and provide you with what I hope to be an intriguing if not chilling story which will put your characters and writing abilities to the test.
Your characters can die. Your abilities in combat and interactions can be hindered by disease, injury, and madness. I am still building a CS, but the personality of the characters you choose to develop will be more important than most other RPs. Every character will be expected to have both boons and vices, at least in equal proportion. You will be expected to use these during the RP, both boosting the morale and abilities of your teammates, and hindering them with your dark secrets. You should expect that these will be used against you at some point within the game.
All rules within the Guild apply here. If I need to expand on this, I will. Given the dark and insidious nature of this RP it will probably teeter on the knifes edge of acceptability at times. For this reason, it will be an Advanced RP. While I want everyone to be creative and let their dark side out, please use your good sense when picking courses of action. If there is a question of the appropriateness of a post, do not hesitate to PM myself and we can discuss it with one of the Mods if necessary. I have no desire to shock anyone to the point of offense.
Most importantly I want everyone to have fun. If your character meets an ill fate, do not fret. There are always more heroes eagerly waiting to explore the dark depths of sanity.
