Those who enter the underworld not only forfeit their lives, but bring oblivion to all mankind.
The Republic is at war.
For reasons upon reasons no common person can seem to understand, the Western Kingdoms have united to invade despite so many years of peace. The troops have been rallied and almost all men of fighting age have been levied into the war, leaving behind the women, the children, the elderly, and the bare minimum amount of Proctors. The Proctors are stretched thin- they can only watch over so much with so many of their number fighting to the West- so the criminals and bandits who have previously been suppressed and forced into hiding in the forests have reemerged. While the cities remain safe behind their walls the common towns are more dangerous than ever. Many a house have been burgled, farms burned down, innocents killed for their possessions. The citizens of many villages have taken defence into their own hands, angry mothers, eldest children and the occasional veteran with a limb or two missing have built walls and organized militias. But there is only so much to be done. Indeed, though no one knows it, the Republic is almost fighting a war on two fronts. And yet, something sinister is brewing. Far from the front lines, one of the safer trade routes has had a few mysterious disappearances. Another common tragedy- perhaps they could be saved when the Proctors managed to clear out the forests. The family would weep, but would be forced to move on. But these disappearances are for a far more insidious purpose.
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- The regional head of the Proctors in a county far away from the fighting, Lady Kardona has been pushed to her limits. Only two hundred men to spare- by the Gods, they were practically outnumbered. It was only a blessing that the bandit clans spent just as much time battling each other as they did raiding settlements. Gods know what the Proctors would do if the clans were to organize. And these disappearances were driving her mad. Her Seconds told her not to worry about them. We’d find that band of scoundrels ma’am, we would. We’d make them pay, like we always do, ma’am. Eventually. It didn’t always used to be this way. Before this damned war these disappearances would have been sorted months ago! But she couldn’t convince a single Proctor Sergeant to send one of their soldiers to investigate. They were all too busy fighting! Why was this so damn annoying? Why was she so focused on this? It was so small. So insignificant in the grand scheme of things- yet she couldn’t shake the feeling there was something darker at work. Bah. Her gut was often wrong. But still. But still.
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- Heavily guarded merchant caravans are the only things to safely travel the roads now- when bandits attack them to battles are often bloody, and as such they do not happen much. They are a nerve-wracking journey, sometimes bandits watch the caravans go by, making no effort to hide themselves. Committing to attack would leave the caravan open to the ambush that almost surely lies in wait. But, one caravan scheduled for arrival would not arrive. Another caravan with even more guards followed the same route, and got to their destination safely. But there was no sign of the other caravan. No bodies or battle sight. Mysterious. This would prove to be enough to garner the attention of the Proctors, but too late for the caravan.
This is the story of events following the vanishing of the caravan. You will play as a denizen of the Republic. You have, in one way or another, whether voluntary or not, have ended up in a sprawling subterranean complex of unknown origin. Many dangers populate this dungeon, and you will have to take your life into your own hands and escape.
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Welcome to the underworld. I wish to inspire full collaboration between myself and you, the player. Google Docs, Titanpad, whatever it is, I want this to be a smooth experience. I’m not going to spring anything on you, keep you in the dark, whatever. This is a storytelling process, not a game. When the characters encounter an enemy, I will inform you on what the correct courses of action are, and you will decide what your player character would do, and then we can collaborate on what what happen next. Would they engage in the fight? Run away? Use the environment to their advantage? Something completely different? It’s up to you, and whatever you do I’ll tell you what exactly would happen before you do it, so you can confirm whether or not you’re happy with the outcome.
No pressure, but character deaths would certainly up the ante and be welcome, and I’ll allow infinite replacements. You can also make as many characters as you want at the same time. This is challenging for the characters, but not for you. I hope to provide an engaging experience, along with your help. Thanks for reading, and I hope you join.
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Let me lay the foundations. Due to the war, most strong men of good character and fighting age have been conscripted. If you are in the dungeon, there a few things that a more likely to be true about you than others.
If you are a villager you most likely to be a woman. This is set in a relatively realistic medieval universe. Most men of fighting are conscripted, and the women are probably to stay behind. You could be a mother, or merchant, tailor, artisan of any description. If you’re a soldier, you’d be fighting in the war right now.
You could be a person above fighting age, 40’s and 50’s. A farmer’s life is hard, so you are likely to be a little exhausted. You could have been a veteran or a Proctor, but now you have retired to something a little less intense.
You could be a merchant. Though still more likely to be female, not all males were drafted for the defence of the Republic.
You could be a Proctor. This is a gender neutral role, but there is a stipulation. It’d be a few in game days before the Proctor’s reacted to the disappearances as they are currently engaged in conflicts against the larger bands of criminals in other regions.
You could be a mercenary, hired to protect a caravan.
Maybe a nobleman or noblewoman who wouldn’t get drafted.
And, you could be a criminal or bandit.
Those are just some guidelines for making a character. You could be any mixture of these things, or something new. Chances are though, you aren’t a twenty-something man of common birth who’s quick of wit and of common background. If you are that person, you’re in a warzone right now.
I’m against forcing you to write a personality in the sheet, as well. I believe it to be a little constrictive and it might be to the story’s benefit to have your change your character’s personality to be a better (or worse!) match for the other characters. Maybe to inspire conflict amongst the survivors or to bond with someone else. Personality sheets mean you have to hope you can shoe-horn in a friendship between characters that probably would just be neutral to each other. I see only problems. Still, have an idea of what personality you want your character to have. That can only help.
You can use a face claim for your character. I’d rather it be a real person than a drawing. Use gifs or images or whatever from any time, it doesn’t need to be an image of a person dressed up in a knight costume.
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Name:
Age:
Gender:
Physical Appearance:
Apparel:
Items:
Backstory:
Thanks for considering joining EX ANIMA. IF you're interested in the concept, I recommend checking out the game this roleplay is based on, Exanima.
In a pirate pad or google docs we can edit each other's words and place sentences directly in the middle, and collaborate real time. Makes for some really smooth fights and coversations with back and forths. It will be for the group, as well. I'm going to make one soon.
And yeah, like you said, that CS is going to need a little work XD
well ive never used google docs and i try to avoid google when possible. but if you show me how, i can try. but i dont want to hinder anyone else's progress. i also dont know if i like the idea of someone being able to change something i write without my permission
Well, everyone here is mature enough not to troll. You'll be able to tell when people change your text, and people will not even do it. I've done this several times and it works pretty smooth. It's not like it'll be a huge party where it's anonymous and people can do stuff just because there's so many people.
I mean, you don't have to join if you're worried about stuff like this.
