The Game of Masters
The Game of Masters is the title of the gruesome web-show which was originally published to several social media websites through a powerful proxy, completely preventing investigators from tracking the source of the upload. Originally, the show was forcibly removed from all platforms, but it was quickly revived on an independent server where it receives thousands of views to this date.
The show was originally thought to be creative, clever, and even revolutionary, mixing together elements of classic Dungeons and Dragons lore, as well as traditional text-based adventure games, and various fantasy elements.
It starred a single player who awoke in a complex dungeon, who was left to search for various clues and relics in order to find their to freedom. Facing puzzles and dangerous traps, as well as beasts and foes of all strengths and sizes, the player gained strength and knowledge which would help them to solve the overall puzzle, and finally escape the dungeon to freedom.
As the original run of the game went on, however, people began to see that something was horribly off, and as the game came to a bloody close, all theories were suddenly confirmed, and the public realized, with sinking dread, that the game they had all eagerly followed, was a sadistically drawn out murder.
It was quickly covered up as hoax, said to be nothing more than a staged message to send the public into panic, but as a month passed and a new run began, nothing more could be done to hide the truth which lay within the show...
The Game Master was a sadistic killer, and the game was their weapon.
The Game Master
The Game Master is the self-given title of the "director" and "narrator" of the Game of Masters web series, and the hand behind every death the game has brought. No one knows much of the Game Master's identity, their face and even their voice cleverly hidden from all detection. A powerful voice modifier renders their voice undefinable, neither man, nor woman, and those who have survived the game and escaped with even a semblance of their sanity describe the Game Master as nothing more than a figure in a mask and cloak.
It is unknown what power the Game Master holds, and what more, if the Game Master is even human, and no record is held of how the Game Master obtains their victims, not to mention, there is no connection between past contestants, all those who have been chosen, varying in everything from age and gender to ethnicity and race, location and career, social standing and so much more. Not a single similarity can be found between those the Game Master claims.
Aside from the fact that they can all be killed...
The Players
The players of the game are the various victims of The Game Master, swept away from their lives at the dead of night on the full moon and cast into the darkness of the stone labyrinth that makes up the dungeon. They are people. Average people. Working class citizens, business owners, college students, homeless persons, and more. There's never been a rhyme or reason to the selections made for the players in the past, always different in every shape and way, and such still remains the same with the special anniversary run to come. The only thing certain among the players? There has never been a player who was still a minor, nor has there ever been a player incapable of taking care of themself. Players are always college-age or older, though never so old that they would not be able to face the challenges of the dungeon, and most importantly, players are almost always able-bodied and fit to take on whatever physical challenge may arise in the stone walls of the labyrinth.
The Twist
At the end of the last run, the Dungeon Master announced via their blog on their website that a new game would be beginning. A game different to what they normally set up. Though they never actually went into detail of what this new angle would be. Come the passing month, when those unfortunate to have encountered the Dungeon Master with the recent full moon awake in their new prison, the answer to the mystery is suddenly clear. For the first time in all five years of the Game of Masters' existence, the contestants are no longer alone...
Split into teams by a colored marking tattooed on the inside wrist of their dominant hand, the plot is clear: They must work with their team to make their escape; though whether or not that means all members will be going free is uncertain. Even more uncertain? Whether or not they can trust the other teams...
It's a race to the finish, and a fight for survival like the show has never seen. No one knows how it'll all turn out, and the Dungeon Master is proving to be just as helpful on the matter as they always are, never giving a clear answer to how the players are expected to play beyond stressing what every DM eventually must stress: "Never split the party."
Nature's Mystery
The world is full of mystery, as one may know. From the simplest of things such as the cycling of the seasons, right down to the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. We have science to explain these things, sure, but what is that science but a bunch of manmade mumbo jumbo? People have always found ways to solve the mysteries of the world, but one thing has always escaped that rationality: Magick.
Yes, that's right, magick. It exists, you know it does, you just refuse to acknowledge it because science has yet to find a means to resolve it. Yet, believe it or not, it exists, and where it comes from is as much a mystery as the rest of nature.
Some are blessed with its power, while most know it as nothing more than fiction. Stories among those who hold it tell that it originates from demons. Creatures of the night and darkness of the world who feed on the souls of the living and hold powers that science couldn't even begin to fathom. True, humans could never possess power even a fraction to what the demons are said to have, but the power that humans receive from these creatures is said to be remarkable regardless of what it may be, and all it takes to make it happen is one, teeny tiny, oh so insignificant contract...a contract of the soul...
Some do say that one can be born with this power as well, but for how that may come to be, no one who believes is actually certain. Some say it is the work of mingling between humans and demons, creating children of both light and dark, while others claim it is merely the descendants of those who have made pacts in the past. Whatever the explanation may be, however, very few born with magick are ever even away of the abilities they hold...
The Setting
As widespread as the knowledge of the game may be, the danger of the game spreads no further than the insignificant city of Fortehaven, with some activity in the surrounding tri-city area. The furthest the Game Master has reached since the start of the web series would be a small town about an hour's drive outside of the inland city of Camp Liberty called Seren Hills. There was only ever one player from this area, who just so happened to be the one person the GM eventually released.
There is little to note about Fortehaven, or really any of the surrounding cities that the Game Master targets, all of them being nothing more than a sea of towering buildings no different than any other.
Extras
