Welcome to Umbra Academy!
True evil is not something one can be borne to, but something that is fostered and nurtured within the hearts and minds of each generation! The potential for it dwells within the must mundane mortal, pathetic imp, and the lowest slime, just as deserving of the chance to grow as the most formidable arch-demon and cosmic horror.
Yet in worlds dominated by a blind lust for all things good and pure there are so few opportunities, where can such delightfully wretched souls foster their potential when evil is relegated to the shadows? Why, academia, of course!
A gathering of the most insidious minds and arcane masters drew their powers together and carved out a slice of Hell's abundant, well, Hellscape, to establish a community for the living who were destined but not yet damned to the infernal fires below. It was founded on the principles of the Seven Deadly Sins and encouraged all who congregated their to push themselves to attain their heart's every desire through their own guile, strength, and charisma.
Yet such a libertarian society would ensure a ceaseless cycle of usurpation those in power and ensure the lowest would be crushed without a chance. Even in Hell, laissez-faire can not function. To ensure that the those who possessed the drive to push themselves but did not possess the fortune of position that others would be born or bequeathed, a school was founded.
All may apply at no cost to them, room and board included. Anyone from the Netherworld and beyond can flock to the lecture halls and soak in the wisdom of the venerable paragons of Evil. There is no homework, no mandatory clubs, and no prom dance. A student's only concern is pushing themselves to greater heights, and passing the rigorous tests presented by educators and their own peers.
Because failure could mean certain death, or having your ambitions eternally bound to wills of their betters. But such is the cost of achieving a Greater Evil.
Welcome one and all to Umbra Academy, an RP about evil people trying to become even better at being evil! Here we're aiming for a relatively light heart-ed atmosphere in the vain of such games as Disgaea or Overlord- The old playstation games, to be specific, but the far more popular anime is just as applicable- where upon you the RPer shall the take role of an ambitious student eager to make their way on the path of True Evil! No wizard gets by without studying, after all, and no hulking brute would survive if they didn't ace Physical Education.
You will all be starting as students in the middle of the school year, having just survived your Midterms and are to enjoy an easy week before going on a Field Trip to reward the surviving students. As such you are reasonably experienced and educated in which ever field you choose to dedicate yourself as one would expect for being half way through the school year. No one is applying as a teacher, and the RP will be directed away from what happens during lectures, leaving the characters open to interact with relative autonomy outside of important occurrences like Tests, Field Trips, and School Wide Events.
You may be asking what is the incentive to join this RP over the scores of fandom or Slice of Life school adventures that already exist. The answer to that is; Being evil for evil's sake is it's own reward. Start weak, grow strong, and rise to new heights alongside or against your fellow RPers and the challenges thrown your way. Whether you kick down or punch up, cooperate or conspire against, the myriad paths to power are open to all who aspire to see their reach equal their grasp!
The Universe
Good. The Light. That which is Holy. A force which spreads like cancer and robs people of their free will through prophecy and destiny. That which instills a close minded fervor to expel and purge all those whose inquests are not shackled by their narrow morality. Were it not the guiding force which galvanizes most worlds together into functioning societies it would be vilified as the blackest cruelty in all the land!
But alas, Good has really good public relations. Angels. Unicorns. 'Noble' Dragons. It's hard for an honest purveyor of the Black Arts to convince a crowd of medieval peasants of the greatness of personal enlightenment when the doe eyed feather duster flashes her cleavage and extols the virtue of dedicating yourself to cabbage farming. Words are then exchanged, hair is soon pulled, and inevitably feather's are ruffled by miasmic bolts of darkness. Thus was the state of things, till ye old dark lords decided that if the world had no need of them, then they had no need of it.
There had always existed an assumption that raising demons from Hell was some great challenge that required complex rituals, ordained blood moons, and lengthy incantations ripe for a hero to interrupt at the midnight hour. And to an extent there is some truth, but only in one direction. Travel to Hell is as easy as stumbling down the right cave, and for those of an Evil nature they have little to fear of the guardians of such paths. They are scattered all around the world, whether in the wilds or buried in the crumbling infrastructure of urban settlements, and whenever one is closed another shall open to ensure all roads lead to Hell.
The School
Classes are taught as open forums, lectures dominated by discussion and debate between seasoned lecturers and students sparring with them both verbally and physically. Attendance is not mandatory, and a student is free to ignore or attend as many as they wish, as their ultimate fate rests in how they push themselves to absorb and exceed the offered knowledge of their elders.
Field Trips are a common occurrence, whereupon students are sent beyond Hell where they shall put their knowledge and skills to the test spreading disorder among the world above which is most heavily entrenched in the tenants of Good. Generally the students are free to act to their discretion, and souvenirs are encouraged to be taken.
Tests are where Umbra Academy demonstrates it's sadistic sides, monthly gauntlets to weed out the weakest students in ever escalating trials dead set on killing the unprepared. Survival means growing stronger and living for another month amidst the increasingly rigorous lecture halls, while failure means expulsion from the Mortal Coil.
The Rules
-If you have any problems, questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to let the GMs know.
-Keep your IC posts at a minimum length of one or two paragraphs (i.e.: around 500 to 1000 characters), for each character in your post, and please try to write as well as you can. We know that English is not everyone's main language, but that's no excuse to being negligent.
-No Godmodding, Power Gaming, Metagaming, Mary Sues/Gary Stus, and or similar types of characters/behavior. I'm all for going balls to the wall with power levels here, but you need to make the character interesting to back that up.
-All interactions between player characters and outcomes of any them should be handled respectfully between the involved parties. If no agreement can be achieved in any reasonable way, the GMs will issue a decree saying how to proceed.
-If you are going to be inactive for an extended period of time, please advise the GMs of this so we can accommodate.. IRL will always come before RPs, and we will understand if you need to focus on real life issues for a few weeks, but if you do so without a word then we can't be very understanding.
-Post all Character Sheets on the OOC for review before moving to the CS section afterwards.
-If at any time IRL or other outside concerns conspire to make posting anything of adequate length possible, please advise the OOC to your lack of writing opportunity rather then posting a single paragraph. Better to be told there is a delay then receive disappointment immediately.
- Read the rules. This one is a given.
CS Skeleton
• Appearance: Self-explanatory. Anime/cartoon images are preferred. Text descriptions are also fine.
• Name: Self-explanatory.
• Title: Self-explanatory and Optional.
• Species: What kind of being your character is?
• Abilities: Any supernatural powers that your character has goes here. If you don't have any, you don't need to add this.
• Skills: Any noticeable mundane skills possessed by your character, like cooking, singing, exceptional aim, martial arts proficiency, etc., should be placed here. If you don't have any, you don't need to add this.
• Inventory: Any noteworthy possession that your character may have should be placed here. Commonplace mundane items don't need to be listed. If you don't have any, you don't need to add this.
• Sample Post: Write a small post describing your character overcoming their Midterm in Hell. This can be any test of your own desire, whether one of intellect, might or guile, but use it to show us your character through their actions. Do they struggle bitterly? Excel with ease? Do they overcome some grand challenge or luck out with an easy test? (What you write speaks more to your character then any flat personality / backstory section.)
• Other: Optional. Anything else not mentioned above that you may wish to add goes here.
• Name: Self-explanatory.
• Title: Self-explanatory and Optional.
• Species: What kind of being your character is?
• Abilities: Any supernatural powers that your character has goes here. If you don't have any, you don't need to add this.
• Skills: Any noticeable mundane skills possessed by your character, like cooking, singing, exceptional aim, martial arts proficiency, etc., should be placed here. If you don't have any, you don't need to add this.
• Inventory: Any noteworthy possession that your character may have should be placed here. Commonplace mundane items don't need to be listed. If you don't have any, you don't need to add this.
• Sample Post: Write a small post describing your character overcoming their Midterm in Hell. This can be any test of your own desire, whether one of intellect, might or guile, but use it to show us your character through their actions. Do they struggle bitterly? Excel with ease? Do they overcome some grand challenge or luck out with an easy test? (What you write speaks more to your character then any flat personality / backstory section.)
• Other: Optional. Anything else not mentioned above that you may wish to add goes here.
