The Promise of Transience

[NewSun]

---

–§–

The last thing you remember was a darkness falling over your eyes.
You awaken in a strange place, shaded halls as cold as bone.
You question not the nature of this world, and you hear not but distant cries.
You wander for days in this wretched land, frightened, and seemingly alone.

–§–

---

I find myself with a hankering for something... powerful. Somewhere between a run-of-the-mill fantasy adventure and something a whole lot darker. I want to saturate an adventure with simplicity, where the tension and and interactions are the sole merits of the roleplay; no fancy gimmicks or stat tables or extravagant, intricate plotlines.

I propose to you prospective players: The Promise of Transience.

Without explanation, you have woken in a world different to your own. Your eyes take a few moments to adjust to the darkness, and you can feel stone underfoot. You have no memory of how or why you are here; you struggle to remember anything more than fleeting, ephemeral memories or the world you came from. You cannot even remember your name. After days of feeling your way through the endless stone corridors, it becomes apparent to you that things lurk here in the darkness, things more terrifying than you dare to imagine. You can sometimes hear mischievous cackling from the walls if you listen closely, and if you are truly unlucky then you will be subject to the monstrous screams of some eldritch horror lurking in the perpetual shadow. You have little to defend yourself with save for your mundane sword and shield, or your bow and quiver of arrows, so you stick to the darkest, smallest corridors of this maze and hope that nothing comes for you. If you are truly unlucky, you have already been killed, only to wake to once again the sudden and frightful realisation that there is no death in this realm, only pain and repetition.

You hope that another weary soul wanders these hallways, so that you may chance your way to figuring out what sordid and empty world you have found yourself in, and maybe even figuring out a way home.

---

So far, what I have figured out in terms of the way this RP will play as as such:

-You have no real name, only what you refer to yourself as.
-You have no history. You simply do not remember. Instead, you have a set of fleeting memories that will serve as your connection to the world you came from. As you dwell in this world, these memories may fade, or they may begin to connect.
-You are mundane, and you are terrified. This is no standard fantasy world full of goblins and trolls and other not-so-horrifying horrors. There are things in the night that are simply too fearsome to face.
-Finding another person is going to be a big deal, you have been alone and shi**ing yourself for days, months, or even years. You are not going to be instant friends. Fact. When the whole group gets together, well, damn. It should be dynamic and somewhat disturbing. This is a roleplay about people who have essentially been crapped out by the world and plunged into the most inhospitable and fearsome place there is.

I don't know. Who is interested in something like this? :)

[Ashgan]

Possibly interested. It's a matter of interpretation at this point, but it sounds as if this world could be a kind of purgatory limbo for the deceased - or the transcended, whatever that implies. Currently I picture the setting in a slightly dull way, as it's been described to consist of little more than stone corridors in endless twilight, and personally I'd wish for a little more variety. Perhaps some inspiration from Beksinski's paintings [1] [2] [3] [4].

Do you have any rough idea for a plot or something along those lines, some kind of goal that the story is moving towards?

[NewSun]

Tentatively, that was the idea at present. I had planned to present it as a state of death that is not necessarily linked to heaven or hell; so yes, a limbo of sorts I suppose.

But yes, I am aware of the potentially dull interpretation of the setting thus far. Naturally an interest check is just a medium for preliminary ideas to develop, and the 'crypt' archetype was admittedly the first I had envisioned, there will be different environments. I had plans to build it outward from a world that is reminiscent of a standard fantasy world, but permeated with an overriding sense of wrongness; empty for the most part, and equally dangerous. I hadn't considered any concept art to work from in terms of the environments design so far, but I will be on search of some. Most of what I had planned was mostly derived from things like Dante's Divine Comedy, a couple of past roleplays, and some slightly darker novels I have read recently.

There will be a plot; I think it would be irresponsible not to have one. Naturally it will come from the characters that join and the fleeting memories they hold on to. Other than that, naturally I don't know any more of that aspect at this time, but there will definitely be a goal in place. There will be motive, and it will be interesting.

[Draconfound]

Sounds like it might be interesting

[DJAtomika]

Sounds like Dark Souls, in a way. Count me in!

[NewSun]

Well that's a pretty good turnout so far. I'll keep developing it in this case. :)

Does anybody have any questions or requests or anything they wish to discuss so far?

[DJAtomika]

What sorta equipment will we be expected to equip ourselves with?

[NewSun]

Very little. You will start out with little more than the most mundane of equipment; a rudimentary iron sword, perhaps? A rickety old buckler shield. You might have some leather and furs on your back, or you might (if you're really lucky) have an old set of plate armour. That said, the equipment is secondary to the characters. But you may find... more powerful items along the way. They will not be easy to find, however, and will come with a price.

[DJAtomika]

Alright! Sounds very much like Dark Souls.

[Ashgan]

Somebody sure likes Dark Souls. You're not alone. ;)

Some more questions here if you'll indulge me, NewSun.

-Do characters age? Life and death are, after all, convoluted in this world.

-By the same token, do characters need food and drink to survive, or are they relieved of those needs since they cannot permanently die?

-How exactly does the whole resurrection thing work? Are their bodies fully repaired when it happens? What of their equipment? And do they awaken in the same spot that they died, or somewhere else? (Near a bonfire? ^^)

-Since you liken it to a fantasy setting in some regards, is magic a thing? If yes, how does it work, how is it limited, etc.?

-In how far are fantasy races a thing? Personally speaking I am not very thrilled by seeing orcs and elves and dwarves, but it's your setting. Did you have anything like that in mind, or is it just humans? Or maybe some more creative species?

-Do all characters actually come from the same world, or is this setting some kind of focal nexus where perhaps multiple realities converge and characters from various places could end up?

This is probably a mouthful, so thanks in advance for your patience and time.

[NewSun]

DJ: Precisely! I love those games, so expect similarities :)

Somebody sure likes Dark Souls. You're not alone. ;)

Some more questions here if you'll indulge me, NewSun.

-Do characters age? Life and death are, after all, convoluted in this world.

-By the same token, do characters need food and drink to survive, or are they relieved of those needs since they cannot permanently die?

-How exactly does the whole resurrection thing work? Are their bodies fully repaired when it happens? What of their equipment? And do they awaken in the same spot that they died, or somewhere else? (Near a bonfire? ^^)

-Since you liken it to a fantasy setting in some regards, is magic a thing? If yes, how does it work, how is it limited, etc.?

-In how far are fantasy races a thing? Personally speaking I am not very thrilled by seeing orcs and elves and dwarves, but it's your setting. Did you have anything like that in mind, or is it just humans? Or maybe some more creative species?

-Do all characters actually come from the same world, or is this setting some kind of focal nexus where perhaps multiple realities converge and characters from various places could end up?

This is probably a mouthful, so thanks in advance for your patience and time.

@Ashgan

-Yes, characters age, albeit in a way that feels exceptionally slow. Time flows in such a way that wandering the world is perceived an agonising and lengthy process. The idea is that a character's soul (or life force or what have you) cannot escape the realm, but the physical form of a wandering person still degrades with time; the end result being that a fully living wanderers body will fail so much that they eventually they become an inanimate, yet conscious husk of a being after an extraordinary length of time.

-No, they do not need food and water to survive, only to keep their bodies going. The lack of the physical essentials has the same effect that it would on a living human, with the single difference in that the body will not outright die.

-The reawakening will work in a way similar to a person awakening from a dream: they are dazed and confused, but ultimately in a similar state to that when they 'died'. Say for instance a character had their head lopped the f*** off, they would awaken again in an agonising state of pain and confusion, unable to completely remember what had happened, with a gash in their neck and their equipment scattered about them, likely certain items lost to the ether. I had not planned for distinct resurrection points, but I will consider it.

-Not through characters directly, I would imagine magic does not extend to this realm of beyond through normal means if it ever did exist above (that detail, however, is not remembered by the characters, nor does it matter). However, certain magical items that reside in the world would be capable of unleashing magical powers should they be wielded. Each item of course would be specified and have their own pros and cons, ect.

-Personally, I am an advocate of dark fantasy, so if it were up to me I would limit it only to humans. That said, I know people can be extremely creative when it comes to new interpretations of fantasy archetypes, so I am not going to limit it to only humans, on the condition that all races used are humanoid, and if any version of the standard 'elf, orc, dwarf' types are used, they maintain their own unique style and twist.

-I envision that all characters come from the same world; but as it is pretty nondescript, you have freedom of definition there. Not as though you will require a character history, though.

I hope I answered all your questions.

[Chapatrap]

Yo, this sounds cool. Count me in.

[SirBeowulf]

I'm also real damn interested, and like Ash, I will also barrage you with questions because I am Jon Snow. What will the RP be like if you want people meeting each other to be scarce? I envision the rp becoming a bit stale with everyone just running around doing their own thing. Part of roleplaying is creating a story with other people, but if we spend a lot of it just detailing our scared characters, what then?

Another thing, what about the dangerous creatures? Can we get any idea of what they might be? Also, aside from magical items and stuff, will there be remnants from our world? Like, places and structures we might recognize. Maybe even little bits and bobbles ranging from fishing hooks to old tools.

[Ashgan]

I hope I answered all your questions.

@NewSun

Yup, thank you. If it were up to me I'd probably also limit it to only humans, but let's see what happens. When I find the time I'll start tinkering on a sheet.

Edit: Actually, one more thing on the resurrection part. What happens to bodily disfigurations that are not strictly lethal? Like, imagine a character who lost an eye or an arm, but managed to pull through. If at some point they're killed, do they "respawn" fully restored, or are they simply returned to the most recent, non-dead state?

[NewSun]

<Snipped quote by NewSun>

Yup, thank you. If it were up to me I'd probably also limit it to only humans, but let's see what happens. When I find the time I'll start tinkering on a sheet.

Edit: Actually, one more thing on the resurrection part. What happens to bodily disfigurations that are not strictly lethal? Like, imagine a character who lost an eye or an arm, but managed to pull through. If at some point they're killed, do they "respawn" fully restored, or are they simply returned to the most recent, non-dead state?

@Ashgan

Then most most recent non dead state, I'd say. There will probably be exceptions to this somewheren here along then line due to rule of cool, but as a general rule of thumb that is a good premise to abide by.

I'm currently working on an OOC as we speak, and the character sheets will be done in an unusual way (I.e no history field, but some other, weirder ones instead). So if you do start on something now, I would hold back on character history for the moment.

[NewSun]

I'm also real damn interested, and like Ash, I will also barrage you with questions because I am Jon Snow. What will the RP be like if you want people meeting each other to be scarce? I envision the rp becoming a bit stale with everyone just running around doing their own thing. Part of roleplaying is creating a story with other people, but if we spend a lot of it just detailing our scared characters, what then?

Another thing, what about the dangerous creatures? Can we get any idea of what they might be? Also, aside from magical items and stuff, will there be remnants from our world? Like, places and structures we might recognize. Maybe even little bits and bobbles ranging from fishing hooks to old tools.

@SirBeowulf

Never fear, Jon snow! (You know nothing!). The rp will be a story of an exceptional occurrence within the world. It will become more detailed in the OOC for sure, but all characters are going to find something that leads them together; the rp will primarily focus on the results of this and the ensuing journey.

And yes, I am looking into getting a more solid idea of the creatures myself. But think somewhere along the lines of 'Dark Souls' bosses and overpowered horror monsters. I will get back to that later, though.
And I'm very glad you asked about items from the other world! One field from the character sheet is a list of lingering memories of your character's. A narrative device that I will be using will incorporate these memories (or memories of specific items) into the storyline.

[SirBeowulf]

Sugoi. I've been thinking of making my character the son of a butcher, except it might be a bit difficult if we have no backstory section. I'll go ahead and wait to see the character sheet, then. git ert durn.

[NewSun]

OOC

I opted for a name change, but at least something is up.