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Hidden 5 yrs ago 5 yrs ago Post by goodmode
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The North Road


THROUGH WITCHENED WOOD AND RUINED ARCH
SOMETHING WICKED GRIMLY PROWLS
TREAD THEE LIGHTLY, HOMEWARD MARCH
ELSE ON THE WIND HEAR DISTANT HOWLS


Fero Province is beautiful. It is dotted with some of the most idyllic and picturesque towns on the continent, and certainly the most fertile land this side of the Cinder River. If all were perfect, perhaps its capital, the Pigeon Citadel, might be the richest in the kingdom.

But all is not perfect. Fero Province is surrounded to the south, west, and east by impassably steep and inhospitable mountains. The storm water that runs down from these may well be what keeps the land so lush, but the mountains that trap the clouds also trap Fero's citizens.

The only open space that might connect Fero Province to the rest of the kingdom lies to the north, where moorlands, forests, and swamps make up the journey to the hinterlands.

Once, the wild yet alluring landscape was not a problem. The North Road used to have settlements scattered along it - inns, guard towers, farmland.

Now, there is a beast.

Accounts of what this thing looks like are scarce and highly contradictory. Perhaps you've heard it has teeth. Perhaps you've been told it took someone's father, or mother, or sister, or son. Maybe you think you saw it one evening, a shadow on the distant horizon, and maybe it looked at you with too many eyes at once. The children sing songs about it. The adults tell hushed stories and hang trinkets on their doors. The livestock go missing. Strange calls float across the wilderness at night. They say it brings fog, brings rot, changes the weather, turns you in circles until you're lost - and once you're lost, the beast will find you soon enough.

What is certainly true is that anyone who sets out to make the perilous journey along the overgrown, ruined trail of the North Road has never returned... At least not in one piece, and never with the same grievous injury as the last.

For Fero Province, ten years have passed in resigned, hushed solitude. The land provides for its people, and so long as they stay, they are safe. But the crown has not given up. The Pigeon Citadel finally put out the call: the royal treasury will generously reward anyone capable of clearing the North Road and putting Fero Province back on the trade maps.

You have decided to hunt the beast, or make a run for the hills.

THROUGH MISTED EVE AND RAINY NIGHT
THE HUNT ENDURES TIL MORNING FROST
SWIFT COURIER OR DARING KNIGHT
KEEP LANTERN LIT, OR ELSE BE LOST




The Goal


Slay the beast, or escape to the North.

Your character's exact motivation is yours to decide, but they must have lived within the closed-off Fero Province for the past ten years and have some reason to take the risk of travelling the North Road or hunting the beast. Maybe they have family up north? Maybe they're trying to win that sweet, sweet reward money? Maybe they want fame (or infamy), maybe they're just sick and tired of living in a place where nothing new comes in or goes out.

This is a dark-ish low-fantasy, medieval-inspired setting (bows and arrows, swords, and maybe just a little magic).

I will be setting the scene, giving information on the environment, sprinkling in events, and playing NPCS. I may or may not dip in with my own character, or have an NPC join the group temporarily(?).

You'd be playing one character each, in a relatively small group, with the option to split the party now and then. This will be played paragraph-style (though I'm not too fussy about length beyond that as long as there's enough to go on for the other players).

Characters are allowed to die, but I'll be leaving that largely up to the players' discretion. It is extremely likely there will be blood and injury.

There may be other strange things on the North Road than just the beast.

Let's see what you can do.

✧ ✧ ✧


Game Rules


COURTESY, CONSENT, CONTENT


╔ COURTESY ╗
Be polite, and be kind. Do not bring Out-Of-Character drama into the roleplay. Try to be mature, respectful, and remember that people aren't psychic. Remember not to totally disregard someone's post if it was directed at your character. Remember that IC opinions voiced by characters are not OOC opinions held by players.

╔ CONSENT ╗
This rule is to prevent godmodding, powerplaying, metagaming, etc. If you want to do something that will directly affect someone else's character, i.e. an attack, do not assume that the action automatically succeeds - phrase it as an attempt, and let the other player decide how their character reacts. (Also, don't be that guy whose character just fights all the other player characters constantly for the sake of it. A little strife and some scuffling here and there is fine when characters are under this kind of stress, but don't be a teamkiller.) Do not take control of another player's character.

╔ CONTENT ╗
Due to the nature and theme of this premise it's likely there will be blood and action at some point - but try to use a little discretion and maybe don't spend six paragraphs detailing exactly how you're gonna gut a harmless merchant. Refrain from sexual content (anything further than a smooch, really). This is not a sex game and I'd rather it stayed that way, sorry. Also, no noncon/rape. Obviously no real-life politics.

✧ ✧ ✧


Character Form


NAME: 
GENDER: (male, he/him, etc)
AGE: (no characters under 18, please)

APPEARANCE: (an image, a description, or both if you really want)

BACKGROUND: (must have spent the past 10 years stuck in Fero Province, whether they lived there originally or came to the area before the beast first appeared)

MOTIVATION: (Why is your character going on the North Road? For example, are they hunting the beast, or trying to travel safely? Keep this short, and feel free to make it a little vague - the rest can come out in the roleplay)

GEAR: (SEE BELOW)


GEAR RESTRICTIONS
An example of what your character's inventory may consist of at the start of the journey is as follows:
-One major weapon that the character can effectively use (a sword, or a spear, or a bow and quiver of arrows, or something else entirely)
-Up to two "utility" items (for example a coil of climbing rope, or a small animal trap, or a musical instrument, or something related to a tradeskill, but you can be fairly imaginative here as long as it's not Another Sword)
-A bedroll and mess kit
-Maximum 4 days worth of food/rations

You can do less than that list or slightly different if you want to - if you aren't sure about one or more of your character's items, or want to swap something out because it fits your character's backstory better, feel free to DM me or ask in the OOC. I'm pretty open to suggestions, just try not to go too nuts.

PLAYER INTEREST: 6/6

I'll go up to a maximum of 6!

Magic will be in the form of magical artifacts, items, places, and the like along the journey - not grandiose innate spells your character knows by heart. (Sorry! Most roleplays I've run or played in have involved a huge amount of magic and spellcasting, and I'm trying something a bit different for this one.)

Please post your character applications in this OOC thread. I'll be posting a starter scene to IC and setting up a character page as soon as I've got my stuff together.

Feel free to DM me for any reason, including character ideas, questions, suggestions, plot ideas, etc. Please understand my timezone is GMT.

Whew! I think that's it. Tagging folks who were interested!
@Lugubrious | @Zoey Boey | @Fetzen | @Rina Daltis
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Lugubrious
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I've got a solid concept in mind for a character, but the sheet's not ready yet. Coming up tomorrow!
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by goodmode
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Excellent! I look forward to seeing it.

For anyone else who might be interested in this RP, casual reminder that I'm willing to go up to six players, but I'll post a starter as soon as we have at least 3 or 4 character sheets ready to go (or fewer if anyone drops).

If there are free slots and anyone apps after we've begun playing, late arrivals will be worked into the story as soon as it's feasible.

Feel free to DM me for any reason, I don't bite!
Hidden 5 yrs ago 5 yrs ago Post by Lugubrious
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Here you are. I hope Bowman does not disappoint.


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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by goodmode
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@Lugubrious
That sheet looks great to me! Accepted, feel free to post it on the Characters page at your liesure.

I'll be posting a starter as soon as I have a third sheet, or else within 24 hours!
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Fetzen
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Here's my application. Sorry it took me so long.




NAME: Talic Rastoch

GENDER: Male

AGE: 32

APPEARANCE:

Talic has blonde hair, a dark beard and gray eyes. Never having had to worry about food other environmental circumstances and suffering from mild giantism in childhood he has grown to a rather hulking behemoth standing taller than seven feet and wrapped in quite thick muscle. He has not taken much of an armor with him, but dresses primarily in light leather or just simple cloth.


BACKGROUND: The Rastoch were and still are an influential noble family living in the Pigeon Citadel itself. Unlike many other so called 'nobles' they actually have a significant amount of coin to their avail, so from a materialistic point of view it is safe to say that Talic's childhood has been a pretty pampered one. The same doesn't hold true though for other aspects since the Rastoch family is also known for their pride. Talic primarily had to function, to make his parents fond of him and to live in accordance to their rather strict rules. Dealing with lower class people ? Yes, but only if it yields some usefulness and not just because Talic would really have liked to make some more friends. Just enjoying life, going out casually at all times ? No!

For years things worked out nicely, at least for the outside observer and by Rastoch standards: Talic grew up to a healthy young boy with a level of education well above average who knew how to 'behave' himself. He also became an adept fencer and even took part in a few jousting games, or rather he had to take part. Internally resistance was growing, but he failed to release it in a meaningful way that would actually bring some real change with it. It was a slowly growing disaster waiting to happen and meltdown occurred only recently.

One day Talic was finally able to connect the final dot and to confirm a suspicion that had been growing for many months by then. He had always known that politics was a harsh business full of intrigues and action behind the scenes, but never would he have dared to accuse his own family of fighting using these methods: hitmen. His parent's previous favorite had decided to retire, so they had hired a successor in order to continue operations. Unfortunately for them the new man was a rookie and they didn't realize it until he decided that it couldn't hurt to show up at his employer's very residence under the screen of night. Not having seen Talic taking a stroll the assassin believed that the vast gardens around the house were devoid of any listeners and brought up the topic of an additional charge for the current contract openly. Believing the same thing, Talic's parents joined the debate with an equally loud voice.

Talic had enough. At which point in time would they have decided to introduce him to this particularly difficult aspect of family affairs now that he was 'grown up' ? He was clever enough not to confront them openly, but instead just eavesdropped until the metting was over. Documents had been exchanged and, knowing how much everyone in politics loved documentation, he decided to get this particular one in order to have proof. He intercepted the rookie assassin on his way back and grabbed both them and any additional payment the man had received. It would be the start-up capital for a new life that would begin that night.

Talic packed as many items as he deemed necessary and could carry with him, then left the resisdence. Hopefully forever.


MOTIVATION: Talic knows that it won't take an infinite amount of time for his family to notice what most likely has happened and that he, given the parchments he is carrying with him, has become a very high priority target himself. He also knows that his family's connections in Fero Province are far too good so he can't rely on local authorities to act properly when surrendering the documents to them. However those beyond the North Road could overrule those in the south if necessary. All he has to do is to make it there, preferably in one piece.


GEAR:
  • Long spear (can also be thrown)
  • A few pieces of cloth and a bit of alcohol intended for use as bandages
  • A coil of climbing rope
  • Bedroll and mess kit
  • Water, breat and salt meat for half a week
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by goodmode
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@Fetzen
Everything looks in order to me. And I like the little bit of extra flair your backstory brings to the capital. Accepted! You may post your sheet in the Characters section when you're ready.

And... posting the intro now!

Folks who have had their sheets accepted may post when ready. Please try to steer your character towards meeting up/interacting with the other player characters for the moment, but a little leeway is fine. Posts will go in rounds/turn order, but you guys can continue riffing off each other that way until I post again if you like.

How you begin is up to you, but bear your goal in mind.

Hope that's clear for everyone, and if not, hit me up. :^)
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Stitches
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Throwing in my interest, if that's okay. I can work on a sheet later today
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by goodmode
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@Stitches That's great! I'll update the interest count. Don't feel you need to rush your sheet or anything, a character that arrives later than the others will be worked in just fine.

Interest count now at 6/6, which is my max for the moment. Any further interested players will have to wait in case someone drops.
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Stitches
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NAME: Ardonne
GENDER: Female (she/her)
AGE: 19

APPEARANCE:


BACKGROUND: Daughter to a carpenter and a poet, Ardonne was steeped in the fantastical from an early age. She was one of the few girls in her hometown, the village of Bresh, to become fully literate before her tenth birthday; a precocious habit that stuck to her psyche like glue and became one of many damning marks against her. Her father needed a woodsman, not a daughter, and reared Ardonne as such. Her mother valued the virtues of femininity and oft imparted lectures and lessons to smooth the roughness of her eldest's character but only found purchase in deciding what Ardonne would read. Her weapon of choice in securing a steadfast daughter was the fairy tale and with it, the enchantment of the forest heightened to extremes. Ardonne never demonised the woods for taking her father at the tender age of twelve because of these tales.

The wilderness and the thrill of its stalked borders fascinated the youth and became a symbol of escapism, of paternal guidance, and of immeasurable danger. In her father's absence, Ardonne brought hares and even the odd doe to the table. In the hardships of famine during winter she scraped the lichen off the cairns and chopped the firewood herself. She stared into the depths of the North road and waited to be acknowledged by its fearsome resident, figuring herself as less of a damsel and more of an errant knight. These fancies were dashed quite swiftly with her mother's remarriage and though Ardonne revelled in the beauty and allure of Bresh's transformation for a springtime wedding, the veneer faded into the tight grip of patriarchy. Her younger half-brother was the golden child and placed before her in most aspects of life. Ardonne started to find a bitter satisfaction in the sting of the false father's palm on her cheek because, to her, it signified a step in the right direction. Make no mistake - the villagefolk regarded the biligerent Ardonne as churlish, coarse, and airheaded. She was being stubborn for the sake of stubborn and chased her childhood to its ragged edges. She spent too long replicating her fairy tales and clutching to the ghost of a brave but foolish carpenter who underestimated the horrors in the woods and it was widely believed she'd go down the same path. What Ardonne perceived as mystifying solitude was simply her peers' aversion to her surliness. What she saw as daring skirmishes along the forest borders were dangerous and stupid forays into hostile territory. The only benefit to her gambols came in a sometimes bloodied burlap sack and went unacknowledged into the meals for a few days after, and her shirking of her familial duties resulted in the dictation of her future without her input as she was too busy traipsing in mud to notice.

When Ardonne did notice - when Bresh readied itself for a grand springtime festival, her measurements were taken, and a middling merchant man often frequented her home - she took to her heels and found solace in the one place she'd always flown back to at the slightest instance of discomfort. Only this time, in her typical fashion, she submitted her fate to whatever lurked between the branches; wholly disregarding the very real and not-so-fantastical stories from whoever was lucky enough to crawl out of its murky depths.

MOTIVATION: Some short weeks prior to the group's venture into the forest, Ardonne decided that she found death in the jaws of the Beast preferable to life in the arms of the Province. That said, her ambitious escape attempt is distorted and romanticised by her choice in literature; it is far more likely that her dreams will be met with a narrow escape or a rude awakening.

GEAR:
-A yew shortbow with a quiver containing 15 arrows.

-A butcher's knife, wholly unsuitable for combat due to its one-sided sharp edge and utilitarian blunt-tipped shape, but heavy enough to be used to skin and dress animal carcasses.

-A field guide for local fauna and flora in the Faro Province, dogeared and kept in a waterproof leather satchel on her belt.

-A bedroll and mess kit.

-Two flasks of water and a bag full of smoked rabbit, dried blackberries and chanterelle mushrooms. Chunks of stale bread.
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by goodmode
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@Stitches Everything looks perfectly in order. Love her backstory too! You're accepted, feel free to post in the Character page and join in when you're ready.
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Lugubrious
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@Stitches, what do you say to a prior connection between our two characters? What if Ardonne was one of the youths Mort taught to show a bow?
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Stitches
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@Stitches, what do you say to a prior connection between our two characters? What if Ardonne was one of the youths Mort taught to show a bow?


Nice idea! I had already singled out Mort as someone Ardonne might get along well with, he probably taught her when she was 10-12 before her dad disappeared.
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Hidden 5 yrs ago 5 yrs ago Post by mickilennial
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by goodmode
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@Inkarnate Accepted as we discussed! You may post your sheet in the Characters section and join in with the IC whenever you're ready.
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by goodmode
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A note: (folks are already doing this, which is great!) it's worth saying if you guys could more or less begin the story as a grouped unit, that would be really helpful to ease us all into the story.

You can decide with each other whether characters know each other or not, but even if they're strangers I'd like for everyone to begin the journey together for the moment. (If you guys want to split the party and start wandering off into the night later on, you may do so! It's just for the moment so I can shake off the dust and everyone can start getting to know each other.)

If it helps, a convenient hook for anyone who's stuck: a gaggle of strangers who are headed the same way through a dangerous area might think it's wiser and safer to keep pace and travel together.

A sidenote: I accidentally wrote "North Mile" instead of "North Road" in the IC intro post, because I was tired and coffee wired and I forgot to edit all my notes. It's fixed now. Let's all pretend I'm functional. B^)

Sorry for the double post, wanted to make sure players definitely saw this one.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by mickilennial
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I just followed what Lug and Zoey established, ngl.
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by goodmode
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That's fine! We can assume the call to arms was made with messengers and posted flyers at around the same time everywhere, so it makes sense folks might try to join up and form a hunting expedition. It's a good point to start from.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Rina Daltis
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Zoey Boey
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are we allowed to post more than one time per rotation?
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