Max

The House the Dark Built

CaptBoobgrab said
Please let me in. I want to tell you a story.

This guy gets it.

Anyway, whoever reads this who's participating can post in the IC whenever they want. You don't have to wait for me to start.

The House the Dark Built

azarhiro said
Sounds cool :-)

Glad you think so. Hopefully others will come along and say the same, maybe stay for a while too.

The House the Dark Built (Surreal/Horror/Open World)

I'll say first that I know how these things work. You start something, hope it gets attention, see what happens. So I'm here to garner whatever attention I can from whoever I can find that likes the kind of stuff listed in the title.

The House the Dark Built is going to be all about creation. I want to see how myself and others can make up scary stories and bring them into a world that connects them all and makes them interact with each other. Maybe it won't be entirely horror per say, but I do have some stories planned ahead that have already made people queasy in the past when I read them aloud. I mainly just want to see where this goes. If it works, great. If not, I'll try something else.

To finish, I plan on doing a lot more drawing for this role play alone. My own characters and creatures, and those of other players'. Like the ones here, for example.

Here's the thread for those interested. I'll be waiting eagerly for entries.

My "Creature Compendium"

THE RAT MAN



He used to be a little boy, living in a lavish house with his strict and arrogant guardians. He had a pet whom he loved, a little mouse he found in the fields near his home. He fed and cared for it, and called it his friend, but when his parents found it, they took it away from him. “Filth!” They said, “Filth that does not belong in this house!” The boy was distraught, but he found another mouse to call his friend. Every time his parents would find his new pet, take it away, and kill it. But he just kept finding more. Eventually, the two had enough. They dragged the boy to a graveyard, and imprisoned him within a crypt vault. With the intent to leave him there to be eaten alive by rats, they drove away and returned home.

The boy was scared at first, but soon he found many, many rats within the vault. They were larger, and more menacing than the field mice he was accustomed to, but they treated him like a friend just the same, for the mice had put a good word in for him. But the rats were… malicious beings. They told him to do away with his clothes, until he was left with nothing but a loincloth. They fed him rancid meat from the recently dead brought to the graveyard. And though it took time, the chain of his iron collar was bitten and chewed through, and he was free. By then, he was no longer a little boy. Many years had passed, and the vault had changed him. He was tall, and he had spindly limbs and jagged, filthy hands and feet, with prickly fingers. He was emaciated, living on nothing but the meat of the dead. His eyes became wide and their lids shriveled, leaving him blind. His nose became flat, but still worked as it was intended to. His grin stretched into a thing of evil, never dropping, and his teeth became giant and menacing.

One night, when his parents were old and withered, the boy – now calling himself “the Rat Man” – returned home with his many rat companions, all of them quite hungry. They laid siege to the parents’ opulent mansion, infesting it, and devouring them in their beds. The Rat Man merely stood there and watched. As he left the mansion, he saw the field mice, and approached them. But they fled from his sight, horrified by the monster the rats had turned him into, no longer the little boy they called their friend.

The Rat Man, disheartened by the mice’s’ retreat, returned to the crypt vault. To this day, he feeds on the remains of the bodies the rats bring him, and he still very much enjoys their company. He remains a gentle soul, but grave robbers and miscreants meet their end when he prowls the cemetery at night, with his legion of rats at his side.

My "Creature Compendium"

I figured I might as well find a place here to put my art, and give some information on the subject matter in each piece, seeing as I'll be using them all in my first role play. I don't like character sheets all too much, so I'll be doing little short stories instead.

EDIT: I didn't know there was a gallery forum here before I posted this. If someone could clarify where this should go, I'd be grateful.

The House the Dark Built

They’re real. All of them.

You’ve just never looked in the right place.

I’ll tell you where to find it, and what to do.

Maybe you’ll go there without really knowing why.

In any place, anywhere in the world, wait until nightfall and go to the edge of the nearest forest.

Do not bring anything with you, save for your clothes and a source of light.

Stand at the edge of the forest and say aloud, “Please let me in. I want to tell you a story.”

Begin walking slowly through the trees. Never stop, not even for a second.

If you did everything right, you will soon begin to feel a cold, disturbing breeze.

You will hear whispers in the air, speaking of horrible things. Do not pay them any mind.

You will feel as though you are being watched, or followed. Again, ignore it.

Eventually, you will see a faint light in the distance. Follow it.

You will come to a clearing, and you will find an old, decrepit mansion.

You will see an old woman dressed in rags, sitting in a rocking chair on the porch, with a lantern at her side.

Walk up to her, and don’t speak until she does.

She will raise her head, revealing her pale eyes and waxy skin. She will give you a crooked smile.

“What story will you tell me?”

Tell her a tale about a monster, or many. Something you’re afraid of. Describe them in as much excruciating detail as you can muster.

Tell her everything you can think of, leave nothing unsaid. The more you tell her, the happier she will seem.

She will raise her hand and stop you before you can end your story.

“That’s enough. Go inside.”

The front doors will open by themselves. The old woman will lower her head and refuse to acknowledge you any further.

You will have to make a choice. You can leave the forest now, and forget any of this ever happened. Nothing will harm you.

Or you can climb the steps and go inside, and meet the monster you made.

Either way, you’ll know it’s real.

All of them are real.

Your monster, and everyone else’s.

---

The House the Dark Built

---

So you’ve read the first IC post, hopefully. Here I’ll let you know the ins and outs of this particular game.

I wanted my first attempt to be something free, nonlinear. Give the players the opportunity to make up their own things with only a few easy guidelines. You have your character, who can be anyone you want so long as they’re a relatively normal human being. No mutants or fairies or anything, at least not until you’re inside the house.

Next thing is your monster, or monsters. This is what I’m really interested in, and I look forward to seeing some really interesting, well-made creature concepts along the course of this game. They can be anything you want them to be, as long as they are what the title of “monster” should imply. Something your character was afraid of when they were young, and maybe still are now. Or something they read or wrote a book about, and want to see in the flesh. Or something they make up completely on the spot. Your monster can be one entity, or many. A hulking beast or a pack of ferocious critters, humanoid or far from. They can be mindless and bloodthirsty, or gentle and misunderstood.

The House is a place where stories meant to scare people come alive. Where the monsters live, away from the world. In peace, rest, or murderous contempt.

For where your characters go, I set it up so you can bend things to an extent of your own will. The interior of the mansion is not just what you would expect. It holds a world of its own. They might take their first step into a factory, or another forest, or even their hometown. And every world created by the few who dare step inside the mansion intertwines. Your characters will meet each other and their monsters in between the twisted seems of the places their stories involved. If you so choose, that is.

You can make as many monsters as you want, but your first should be the one tied to your character. The Crone asks for every newcomer to make a contribution to the list of residents. After that, they are free to come and go as they please. If they don’t die.

I want this game to include a nice amount of cooperation amongst everyone, so here. It’s a dandy public document system we’ll use that anyone can join at any time, to cooperate and produce great stories for everyone to read. Of course, it’s your choice to visit or not. No pressure.

TitanPad: The House the Dark Built

You can post whatever you want here in the OOC, from character biographies (or sheets, whatever you prefer) to pictures of the monsters you make. Keep everything IC within the IC, and it’ll all flow smoothly from page to page. A few paragraphs at the least will be perfect.

Anyway, that’s the gist of it. Play nice, and feel free to ask for any assistance you may need.

Enjoy yourselves.

Hey

I'm Max. I have some experience in writing and I wanted to try something interactive. Found this place, decided to give it a shot. I have some ideas for stories I'll be putting up in the casual section pretty soon, after I'm done with school. Got one now that I'm working on in my free time.

I draw, too. Plan on drawing a lot for this. I'm into the freaky/surreal stuff so this will give you a little insight into what my stories will feature.







Just these for now. More in the future. Thanks for reading.