You're sitting there, alone, huddled in a corner shaking with fear and terror, only slightly numbed by shock. Outside you can hear nothing but pure turmoil, the shrill screams of people being torn down in the streets to the rhythmic echoes of gunfire and pounding explosions. Hours earlier you were carefree, living in the city of splendor and going about your day. You were filled with hope, the war on your home soil was finally being won, life was good. Then, as if on the drop of a dime, everything fell to ruin. Every two out of three people fell to the ground, catatonic, a blackness creeping into their eyes and in veins that spider-webbed across their skin.

You'd later know to call these people, these creatures, the Feral—but for now you sit there and listen as these things of nightmare rampage across the city. Destroying everything you've ever known, your loved ones, your friends, literally ripping your hopes and dreams from you. Hope is fleeting, as the chaos outside seems to pick up to a roaring cacophony of noise. The metallic door begins to screech, you look up, peering into the bleak shadows of night at the profusely bleeding hand trying to desperately to get at you. The body connected to the arm lets out a guttural roar, you've seen first hand what these things can do. How fast they are, how strong, how they hunt with reckless abandon-trampling and spilling over one another to get at their prey. It's time to move.

As you head for the back, a disturbing though crosses your mind, one from earlier in the day. Watching from an alleyway as a horde of people.. no, they're not people anymore are they? A horde of these ferals, swarm down the street as a man perched atop a bus guns them down in the dozens. They keep getting back up, uncaring of their wounds, only truly stopped by being shot in the head, or at least crippled. But what's truly frightening was their speed, their carelessness. They were sprinting towards the bus, leaping and smashing into it, the force of all these bodies pile-driving those before them until the bus began to tip, and finally rolled over.

That thought scares you, a fear that settles deep into your bones. Yet, somehow, there's a deeper feeling sinking inside of you. A dark pit resonating from within you, because you know... It's only going to get worse from here. As you dwell on this thought, you can feel something stirring deep within you. Some sort of resonation of change, of power.

Garden of Shadows is a unique take on a viral, apocalyptic roleplay. The monsters are bigger, and meaner; Our characters powerful, and unique. The events to come, extraordinary and terrible. I've collected my favorite elements from a wide range of movies, games, and stories and compiled them all here. With superpowers comes odd, twisted mutation. With change, comes resistance, prejudice. With hate, violence, and the inevitable struggle to survive. All set in a world that will do it's absolute best to swallow your character into the darkness, to break them physically and mentally. A world that is shaped by your decisions, and ultimately, your goals.

The roleplay centers around a select group of people, affected by the Pandora Virus in such a way that they become something inhuman, something powerful—The Changed. A higher ascension of existence, our characters now have to struggle with their new powers, the social discrimination, and the cruelty of the world. How they approach their new found talents will shape the world, for better or for worse. Some may sympathize with The Pure, humans who are either unaffected, or have yet to be, by the virus.

In addition to this, over the course of the roleplay our characters will deal with survival against the Feral, The Nightmare, and The Twisted. The characters still very much require food, and water, and so do their followers if they have any. Settlements will need to find a way to benefit from others, through mutual alliance, or force. The world will also be subject to, what will at first seem like, paranormal events. However, there is a reason for everything, a root cause to all problems. Finding out those answers are also up to you.

However, in all of this, there is a goal. A driving plot, surrounding P̸͜͏͞r̨̡̛̛͞ǫ̸̀̕͟j̢̢̧͢͡ȩ̵c̵͘t̵͟͟ ̧F̛͡i̸r̸s̸͞t̡̡͜͝ ̷͟͜͞Ç͜h͟҉҉̴a̧̛͠ò̧s͘̕҉ . Sorry, I meant P̵̡̢r̴̛͡o̷j̸́e̵͟͜ç̶̕t̨ ̡͟F̀͜i̸̷r̵̕sţ ̷͜͜C̴h̨͟a͘͠o̴̴̧ś͠. Dammit. Anyways, that, and its subjects. How does this relate to what's happening the world now? Will it explain your powers? The Feral? The anomalic events? Will it explain why the sun set, on that first day, and never rose again?

The final piece of revelation I have for you is that the world is shrouded in darkness. After that first day, the sun didn't rise again. Instead, in its place loomed roiling banks of dark clouds. A perpetual brewing storm in abyssal shades of black and gray, filtering out nearly all of the light. Fortunately, the power plant is secure and the municipal lights are on. Sure, they may kill your night vision at times, but it's better than the eerie darkness that lays over everything right? However, the world is dark, but it's not pitch black, and with streetlights on, it's not so bad right now.

Creatures of this sort have been depicted in many different ways, but the Feral are something different, yet familiar. They're fast, always sprinting with their heads bent low into the wind. They don't tire, they don't ache, they just run without care. They are strong enough to tear through the walls of a house, or rip down that metal screen door you always tried not to slam. However, the feral can't see well, so they're mostly attracted to noise. If you're being blatantly obvious, they will see you, so remember to stick to the shadows.

Interestingly enough, the feral don't seem particularly smart. They don't seem to grasp the concepts of navigation, rather seeing the path to their target as a straight line. They are wild, and become frenzied during the chase to the point where they will tumble and run over one another, or continually smash themselves into something until they a certain they've lost the hunt, or their obstacle is moved. Hordes of them can topple a bus, by continually throwing themselves against it. Together they could smash through a brick wall, or even scale several stories by climbing the gathering pile of their brethren.

The Feral are characterized with dark eyes almost entirely the color of coal. Their pale skin is spider-webbed with black veins, but otherwise they still resemble the people they once were. The feral also have near perfect regeneration, able to come back from any wound within about a day, less for minor wounds. You can slow them down by crippling them, but the only way to truly stop them is the same, classic strategies—destroy the brain or spinal column.

There are two types of changed, the kinetic, and the somatic. Those that deal with the forces, or essences of nature, natural or not; or those that are affected physically or mentally. The lucky individuals to become changed, instead of something worse, have the unfortunate side-effect of mutation. These mutations always come in colors schemes relating to what the mutation provides and in typically darker hues, most notably black, with vibrant details or trimmings. Almost the same way how natural predators are marked, such as how a deadly black snake will have bright markings to visually warn potential predators of how dangerous it is.

Those with kinetic powers of manipulation can feature neon colors in the form of glowing energy. For example, a changed that can generate an acidic coating on their skin may be covered in glowing bubbles of flesh, like blisters, that glow a vibrant green. One who could generate blasts of lightning may have their back and the outsides of their arms covered in black spikes, that gather the electrical energy in the air. Perhaps while doing this, bright blue arcs jump between the spikes, like a "Jacob's Ladder" electrical device.

The Somatic however, have enhanced physical capabilities, senses, or mentality. A changed of great strength may have their arms covered in a thick, black chitin acting like armor. One that could run at accelerated speeds may have strategic, aerodynamic fins and so forth. It will be up to you to create these creepy, otherworldly mutations.

A very important note, The Changed are not an instant genetic bomb like the Feral. These powers could take some time to manifest, the mutations wouldn't be so virulent as to cover their entire body. For the most part, The Changed still look like people, if a bit different and terrifying. The Changed will face trials in dealing with, and learning to control their new powers. Elemental or manipulation, also known as Kinetic, powers may only work sporadically, where a somatic may find their stamina depletes rapidly. And always, as the world turns, so do people fear changed and the unknown.

In this land of violence and despair, it's not unlikely that you'll eventually encounter other beings. A volatile thing, the Pandora Virus is bound to have plenty of offshoots of hard-coded, and variable strains. It's predicted that entire species of animals can fall prey to these mutations. You'll encounter people similar to the changed, but pushed beyond their humanity—The Twisted. At other times, things of nightmare will stalk you throughout the endless night, creatures so fearsome and terrible that it may not be worth the trouble to fight them.

Then there's the Protogenoi, so little is known about them. Are they like the Changed? The Twisted? Are they people of nightmare, or gods among men? Are they the scientists, or unfortunate subjects? And most importantly, are they to blame? What about the uninfected, unaffected humans—The Pure? Are they truly immune, or just safe for now? Is there a way to prevent that, and keep them genetically pure? Or are you looking for a way to ensure everybody is changed, one way or another, for better or for worse?

Sometimes it's pointless to add in rules when most people should know what they are doing in the first place, but alas, if we do not then we are only hindering the roleplay itself.