THE CREEPING PLAGUE: A sickness that has stricken the developed countries, deadly and without a cure.
LEGEND'S FORGERY: A cargo-turned-passenger ship full of survivors, headed for a safe haven across the sea.
RULEEN: An island that doesn't appear in any map or history book, locked in eternal night.
ARTIFICERS: The technologically advanced, civilized inhabitants of Ruleen.
KITH: The masked, ageless children who inhabit the dark forests and command the Beasts.
THE WITCH: The only neutral party between the Artificers and the Kith.
THE DRAGON: A controversy at the heart of a centuries-long war, and the only way to leave the island.
LANTERNS: Far more than sources of light.
THE PLOT
While a horrible plague wipes out much of civilized society, ships like the Legend's Forgery leave port with the last of the healthy people, evacuating to a promised safe refuge. On the way, a terrible storm sinks the ship -- and the only survivors find themselves washed up on the shore of an island blanketed in eternal night. In order to survive, they must choose sides in an ancient war. In order to leave, they must change the island forever.
THE WORLD
The world that the characters grew up in was rife with rich folklore, strange natural phenomena, and inventive clockwork machinery. Magic is known only as folk superstition: weavings placed over the door, bowls of milk on the threshold, a turned cup for good luck. Cities flourished with DaVinci-esque contraptions, painted royalty, sweeping farmland, traveling circuses and a problem with pirates -- but there is no one now whose life has not been touched by the plague.
Ruleen, the setting of our story, is in perpetual darkness. "Days" are counted by moonrise and moonset. The Artificers carry lamps and candles, or brighten their settlements with the eternal illumination of the Lanterns. The Kith, by contrast, have bonfires and fireflies and wield the glowing fruits of strange trees. In darkness the forests have become pale and brittle, thick with ghosts and the chilling calls of night-creatures. Without a source of light, navigation is near impossible except by the full moon.
INSPIRATION
MUSIC
- Eluveitie (The Arcane Dominion, Carnutian Forest, Rebirth, Helvetios)
- Woodkid (The Deer, Land of All, Iron, Run Boy Run)
- Loreena McKennitt (Prologue, All Souls Night, Dante's Prayer)
- Poets of the Fall (The Poet and the Muse)
- Jonathan Young (Phantom of the Opera)
- Thomas Bergersen (Children of the Sun)
ART
Andrew Mironov, Leesha Hannigan, Chaehwa Min, Asen Liy, Max Bedulenko, Igor Sid, Dawid Planeta, Qissus, Naznemati
THE CHARACTERS
Kings and queens, pirates and thieves, clockmakers and mercenaries all boarded the refugee ships together. Everyone is equal when death is at your heels. Our heroes may be of any background, as long as they had all been aboard the Legend's Forgery before it sank.
A NOTE: I strongly encourage all players to please either choose a dialogue color, affix an image or heading to each post, or both. This greatly helps in recognizing immediately who's who, especially in the beginning as we learn names and personalities. I can make you a fancy text header if you like. :)
GAMEPLAY
Characters are free to make their own decisions, to decide their own course. They could join the Artificers, join the Kith, or attempt to end their eternal war and leave the island. The fact that our heroes grew up in sunlight has given them certain advantages that neither the Artificers nor the Kith possess -- but that is to be discovered as the story unfolds.
Players shall control nothing but their own characters -- environments and NPCs are controlled by the GM. Exploration and mystery are the main focus; characters will be presented with environments and curiosities, and should be prepared to investigate on their own.
Characters may get separated, and this is ok.
The seven-day-rule will apply here: once the latest post counter reaches "7 days ago" the GM will post, whether or not anyone has declared they're working on a post.
SOME NOTES
"Lantern" is an RP that is currently (very slowly) ongoing over in the Casual forum, and is over three years old. I love it to bits, but looking back there is a lot I would've done differently. This redux is almost an entirely different story, which hopefully will incorporate everything I've learned about GMing and storytelling in the past three years. If you know anything about the previous iteration of this story, none of your assumptions apply this time around.
THANKS AND CREDIT!
The setting, plot and origin stories are a collaboration of the players of the original Lantern. A ton of the concepts and ideas you'll see here had their origin with these awesome, creative and inspiring people. I hope we can continue to build up a rich world together!
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