[OOC] TENEBRAE: The Rebellion of Shadows (Ladies Only)

[Estylwen]

TENEBRAE: The Rebellion of Shadows

Interest Check

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C:\Cryptography- Python\py-filecipher\pyfilecipher> decrypt py -i suzy.ssb -p p@ssw0rd
[+] Please wait... Reading file
[+] Please wait... Decrypting file
[+] Decryption complete
[+] Please wait...
[+] Check file R3BEL
[+] File is verified
[+] Opening file...

Suzy, I’m sorry you have to find out this way. I’m leaving. I won’t turn a blind eye while he carries out his plan. It’s wrong. I think you know it’s wrong too, but I don’t blame you for staying.

I probably won’t make it out of this alive. It’s likely that, in going against him, he will eventually find me and end me. But I just wanted you to know, even if you hate me now, I…

From the first day, I’ve loved you.

Yours,
Takeda

[+] Please wait... File auto-deleting
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Welcome to Tenebrae, a city known for its pier-side Ferris wheel, coastal waters, and sprawling metropolitan centre filled from edge to edge with luxurious skyscrapers. The weather is mainly rain, overcast, and moderate temperatures.

A once-bustling city with a lively night-life, the streets have grown eerily quiet in the light of foreboding news. The government’s ill-equipped containment of criminals with superhuman powers has made the streets unsafe for those foolish enough to stay out past sunset. Since the new legislation has prohibited the use of superpowers, those with even a hint of power-hunger in them have brashly gone toe-to-toe with the police in charge of enforcing the law, earning notoriety and nicknames fitting for supervillains.

With the Chief of Police chewing his fingernails to the bone on ways to better protect the citizens, some have broken the law in order to uphold it. Normal people on face-value, but taking to the streets as superpowered vigilantes at night. Many criminals have found themselves handcuffed to light posts outside the commissioner’s office, and many more battle it out in great, superpowered fights to stop the vigilante resistance. Gaining their own notoriety, the vigilantes have sparked hope in the hearts of the city, admired as superheroes.

Now, with a new threat on the rise, the hope that briefly sparked may be crushed again.

The shadows are coming to petition their heroes.

The king waits in the calm before the dark storm.

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Map of Tenebrae

Tenebrae is referenced after Chicago, just a bit more rain and overcast. Here is a link to the Clickable Map.

Some useful links for navigating Tenebrae:
- Highlights of 'Chicago'
- Neighbourhood Breakdown

Organizations of Tenebrae

Tenebrae’s sprawling city holds many secrets and shifting agendas. Taking a closer look through the closed doors and dark alleys of this great city, one can get to know the hands that have shaped Tenebrae into the dark city it is today.

The Institute of Meta Sciences

Backed by government funding, the Institute of Meta Sciences specializes in understanding the super powered phenomena that’s radically changed the political landscape of Tenebrae. With rapidly improving technology, they are one of the technocratic leaders in providing next-age meta containment tools and weapons that the military and police force are in extreme need of. In recent years they’ve expanded their horizons, seeking out business ventures with shady organizations and multiplying their own capital, only to have it mysteriously disappear in top-secret projects.

The Shadow Knights

Not much is known about this organization. Police investigations can only suspect that this name is linked to an increasing case of espionage, thievery, and disappearances over the past ten years.

The ROS

TBA

The Valkyiries

TBA

The Shen Merchant Guild

TBA

The Gray Dragons

Gray Dragons

In the early days of Tenebrae's meta population, to say the least, things were rough. Metas were ostracized, vilified, and left to die on the streets. Everyone was afraid of them, and no one would help them, so they had to help themselves. Out of this time came the concept of gangs, vigilantes, and villains. Groups of metas banded together for little more than the sake of day-to-day survival on the streets. They were too scary to be given jobs, so they worked for each other; non-metas were too scared of metas to interact with them, so children were pulled from school. That was, of course, if they were lucky that they weren't beaten up by non-metas badly enough. No gang was really concerned with territory or power beyond their block, but they were necessary to the minority population's survival. They were criminalized for various reasons, most commonly for petty crimes such as stealing food and water, or attacking people out of self defense mistaken for violence. One such gang was called the Gray Dragons. They only cared about one thing: Survival.

The Gray Dragons gang consisted of five metas, who came from less than desirable backgrounds such as a lack of freedom, or broken home. They engaged in illegal activities for their own well being in an attempt to better their situations. Each of them operated under a set of universal rules they never broke: Don't take more than you need. Don't use your real name, and don't cross one another. Other gangs tolerated them for their wanting to live, meaning they didn't make a lot of enemies in their earlier days, and tended to work out things like territory and boundaries with other gangs. One day, the power got to their leader, Fendrix.

Status
Dissolved

Members of the Gray Dragons

Fendrix
_{Deceased | Unidentified Assailtant}

Sunrider
_{Last Remaining Member | Vigilante | Mechanic at North Tenebrae Auto}

Rainsinger
_{Presumed Dead | Early Retirement | Former Criminal}

Carver
_{Serving Life Sentence| Convicted on Four Felonies | Diagnosed Pyromaniac}

Fadeaway
_{Last Seen Visiting Tenebrae Hospital | Current Whereabouts Unknown}

Gray Dragon History and Notable Information

- Often raided commercial warehouses containing food and profitable goods for the black market.

- Rainsinger defeated a well known vigilante group known as the Night's Hand on his own, outnumbered six to one.

- Carver was responsible for the majority of the offensive methods in the gang's late days.

- When Sunrider was roughly 16, the Gray Dragons began to adopt different strategies for interacting with others in Tenebrae's underworld, such as theft and the breaking of relations. As time progressed, they went from a tolerable thing to something people disliked. Members of rival gangs to who spoke to the Gray Dragons noted that Fendrix was the only one who agreed with these new methods.

- The member called Fadeaway is rarely talked about, even among the people who used to know the gang. Only those closest to any of them even recognize the name.

- On the day of Fendrix's death, three of the four remaining members went off the radar and were never heard from again, shortly after this came a curiosity among the Tenebrae underworld as to what happened. Carver was imprisoned after an attempted robbery without his companions to back him up, but no one could find the other three, their territory was quickly taken over, but no signs were found from anybody in either half of society.

- Carver has remained in Tenebrae Maximum Security Facility for the last 20 years, in conditions designed to subvert his pyrokinetic abilities.

The Hunters

After the black market exploded, this group has unceasingly hunted metas for the past ten years, finding those who don’t want to be found, taking people from their homes, and throwing any sense of moral decency out the window. If you asked them what they stood for, they’d probably just laugh as they continued to stuff their next victim in the back of a car. They like to play with their food before they eat it, so by the time a meta reaches the black markets, they’re actually relieved to be handed over.

Prominent Locations of Tenebrae

Tenebrae Maximum Security Facility

Located twenty minutes outside Tenebrae, this penitentiary specializes in the containment of meta criminals and has state-of-the-art technology utilized for the rehabilitation of society’s criminally inclined. One out of three inmates are publicly registered with a meta ability, making this one of the most dangerous, and well-fortified places in the country.

Merahin, Alaska (Far North of Tenebrae)

Merahin, Alaska

Location: Northwest edge of the Seward Peninsula, between Nome and Kotzebu

Population: 1,200 (79% Human, 21% Meta)

Geography and Climate: Mostly hills and mountainous forests, the town itself lies in a valley that opens into the sea

Average Yearly Temperature: 8°F

A coastal town on the edge of Alaska, Merehin is a place where the land is always in the hearts of the people who live there. Whether they fish out in the open Arctic Ocean, or living off the mountainous land they collectively refer to as the hills, Merehin's population is more than capable of taking care of itself. This is an area full of large mountains, cold valleys, and clear rivers, known well by many of its citizens. The town itself is situated on the very edge of Alaska, where the land meets the sea. Fishermen of various levels and forms come and go every day to provide for their families and the town, while some of the people who live further away from the center of the town take to living of the land in older, more hardened ways. Merehin's residential map shows a cluster near the water, stretching for a mile into the land, where downtown is. Here you would find things like a grocery store, a diner, a hospital, and many other things, but the further out you go, the less you see. Several more miles of winding, dividing roads that lead into the lower parts of the hills, where smaller clumps of people live and neighbor each other. As you pass these homes, you run into more and more hunters, and a particularly well-populated area called Ridge Point.

Ridge Point Outpost

One of the most striking differences between Merehin and Tenebrae is the general outlook on meta individuals, in Tenebrae, they face constant scrutiny and threat of violence. In Merehin, however, metas are treated with dignity and respect, children are raised to not look at each other any different when one of them can breathe fire. A major factor in this is likely due to the presence of the Snow Rangers. They are a collection of volunteer metas forming an unofficial system to patrol and conserve the wildlife of Merehin's backyard, the place where people go to hunt and live off the land. They have established themselves in the last 30 years by showing dedication to helping and maintaining the safety of Merehin's people. Ridge Point is their base of operations, overlooking the Fernburg Pass, the main road into the hills. Here, they can communicate with Rangers out in the hills for anything from weather reports to rescues and medical assistance. Merehin's weather is often drastic, with large snowstorms able to creep up out of nowhere. These Rangers train themselves and each other to prepare for these incidents, as well as severe-weather navigation, medical aid out in the hills, meta power affinity, and wildlife preservation.

There have been times in the past where a hunter or two got themselves lost, with no way of communicating with anyone. Thankfully, their absences were noted, and the Rangers coordinated with the police to form search parties. The police were capable of very little, compared to the extensive experience of the volunteering Rangers, and their grasp of their own powers. Because of things like this, the Snow Rangers have always held a highly respectable reputation among Merehin's people. Their news station makes a habit of getting their input about the weather, in case it is too bad for hunting, and they're always around for a good drink at the local diner, May's Roof. Most of the Snow Rangers do not make profits off of the work they do, and are therefore only part time, coming in after working at the docks or after hours at their jobs. A few older, retired individuals dedicate themselves to the life however, and often carry a lot of respect with them after doing the job so long. while not every Snow Ranger has meta powers, most do, as it gives them a way to get in touch with who they really are, and the way they train and respect their powers shows the kind of life people could live if Tenebrae's metas weren't persecuted. Lives have been saved from the ability to levitate above the clouds of a snowstorm, and natural disasters have been averted thanks to the ability to block off rivers pushing boulders with superhuman strength. In Merehin, no one has any bad blood against metas, because a great many of its hunters and hikers owe at least one meta their life.

"Yep, those rangers- they're good people. They know how to stay frosty- and toasty- when things get bad. I got a lotta respect for places where people like me ain't got much to worry about. There's not a soul here who gives a damn that I can make it rain with a snap. Used to think I'd retire here, maybe I will, y'never know. The cold don't bug me much, the seas're always chilly. Real peaceful..."

"Gettin' soft on us, are you?"

"Sure am, icy. Sure am."

Theme and Character Creation

Theme and Character Creation

Set in a place with a similarly rich, dark atmosphere as Gotham, my vision for this roleplay does draw a lot of inspiration from the Batman/Joker relationship. The immovable object meets an unstoppable force. Tailoring that feeling into our game, our OCs will be split along two lines: Us vs. Them. This versus mentality will be the undercurrent while each OC is petitioned by the supporting cast to do something right or wrong. These goals will cause the OCs to cross paths again and again through the plot, most often directly in each other’s way and creating conflict that’ll push for character development.

I am envisioning a fair amount of PvP, and I am also envisioning a points system that rewards victory, defeat, and acts of will in the game. This will encourage players to worry less about winning and more about just getting their character into the action.

The power scale is purposefully tipped to the low end, along the lines of Batman Vs. Mr. Freeze, where the special ability is flashy and cool but has clear limitations. We are aiming to hit the level of 1v1 or 1 versus small group combat, but not a level high enough to shatter buildings or bury large groups of enemies. A lot can be done with a low-to-mid level skill, and I want to reward the willpower and struggle behind the actual superpower more.

This roleplay is about YOU, and what YOU can do the change the world. I will do my best to make this a rewarding and memorable experience for you, so please engage with this world and with me fully. We will all really enjoy it a lot, I’m 100% sure.

Please reply in this OOC or PM me, and I will send you a copy of the CS for creating your character.

Rules (the standard stuff):
- Please post at least once a week, and at least 3-4 paragraphs
- Please refrain from auto-hitting
- Adding to the plot is recommended, please PM any plot/character ideas
- Please enjoy a lot and have fun

[Estylwen]

We've got a really nice reverse going on at the moment. I'll be playing the good guy while two hardened villains get to earn some extra style points. (Normally it's the other way around, huh?)

I'll create some PC and NPC sheets here tomorrow, and have an IC post up for us in the next 3-5 days.

We're still open for business, but there's no fun in boiling a pot of coffee and waiting until it gets cold to drink it. So we will start the game meanwhile.

@Shu,@Lady Seraphina, do you think your characters are the type to get along?

[Lady Seraphina]

@Shu What do you say? You wanna be friends? Or grudging allies?

[Shu]

@Shu What do you say? You wanna be friends? Or grudging allies?

@Lady Seraphina

Hmmmm... grudging allies who will betray each other when the pot of gold is in sight. What do you think?

[Lady Seraphina]

I don't know that gold is what Phantasm is after but she'll definitely throw you under the bus if it furthers her ends.

[Shu]

I don't know that gold is what Phantasm is after but she'll definitely throw you under the bus if it furthers her ends.

@Lady Seraphina

I meant metaphorically. Ha ha...

[Estylwen]

Insightful! Our suicide squad may benefit from some team-building exercises but currently won't work together unless absolutely necessary. This kind of dynamic is exactly what makes villains so fun.

I'm sure after Phantasm and Scarlet Shadow see how useful the other is, they may say different later on. Especially if the obstacles they face require each other.

[Shu]

Insightful! Our suicide squad may benefit from some team-building exercises but currently won't work together unless absolutely necessary. This kind of dynamic is exactly what makes villains so fun.

I'm sure after Phantasm and Scarlet Shadow see how useful the other is, they may say different later on. Especially if the obstacles they face require each other.

@Estylwen

SS is pretty self-serving. She’s not the type to be illicitly relied on even grudgingly.

[Estylwen]

@Shu It's gotta be pretty lonely at the top though, huh?

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I'm still working on character sheets, it's proving a bit more difficult to make someone that I hope will be a great suit for Phantasm and Scarlet Shadow. But we are still on schedule for the first IC post in 1-2 days.

[Blizz]

This is neat I’m interested

[Lady Seraphina]

[Blizz]

lol

[Estylwen]

@Lady Seraphina Such memes! So great!

@Blizz Thanks for the interest, I have sent a CS to your PM. What kind of character are you thinking of? I am looking for a hero to counter our villains, or did you want to villain it up as well?

[Blizz]

@Estylwen

A former villain who is in the middle of a redemption arc who’s not so much here to prove she’s the hero, but more to prove to herself she’s not the villain. She’s a vigilante who is out to make up for stuff she did in the past, hand over fist or fist over gun.



Imagine a mashup between sage mode from Naruto and the golden gun from Destiny 2

[Estylwen]

@Blizz The redemption arc idea sounds great. Nice Naruto reference! I’ll be happy to review the CS tonight.

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Apologies on the short delay, IC will be up in 12-14 hours. So excited now that we’re four people strong.

[Estylwen]

Hey! Just in case you would like a reference to what locations are mentioned in the IC, here is a link to the crime map of Chicago, I mean Tenebrae, split up by neighbourhood.

I'm so excited to get started.

[Shu]

I’ll get to work on my post tomorrow after work. Everything looks great and I too am eager to get this going!

[Estylwen]

@Shu Hey sounds great! No problem, just take your time. Work is important too.

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@Lady Seraphina,@Blizz The posts look gorgeous, really nice to read. I am working on a response and will reply to you both in 1-3 days. I will try to be a bit quicker to keep the momentum.

[Estylwen]

@Shu Very nice post! I’m currently working on a response. Should be up at the same time as Lady Seraphina and Blizz.

[Blizz]

@Estylwen

Have you considered making a discord server where we can all talk abt the rp and our character interactions easier? I’m asking because most rps I’ve been in have one.