General Concept
Our Last Hour is a setting which goes under the assumption that unusual, perhaps even perplexing and inexplicable things can and do exist - at least to a small extent. While the world outside is mirrored in this setting, elements which are explicitly unnatural do persist, but in no enormous, massive scale which can be readily recorded or counted; there are seemingly freak incidents of the impossible, but they are uncommon enough to largely be discredited by even the lowest forms of authority. These are your ever familiar cryptids, your urban legends, your folktales, and your myths. Most, by and large truly all, are just mere fantasy and fleeting thoughts; they are what people believe them to be, nothing more - just stressful situations and conditions expanded further by elaborate, imaginative minds, people see what they wish to see, or fear what they want to fear in them...
But not everything is a work of the human mind here.
In the setting of
Our Last Hour there are truly impossible things that can, and do take place, but for whom they involve, they are just as terrifying and unsettling as they are to any normal person; we, as a whole, are not taught or trained to cope with situations that blatantly defy what we know or understand, and as such we respond much as expected with lack of understanding, paranoia, fear and resentment. Rarely we as humans become conditioned to these events - some better than others - and most go about their lives either intentionally ignorant of what they have been involved in, witnessed or heard, or undergo great turmoil within to control their understanding. Many, unfortunately lead to some sort of disturbed or altered psychological state or a status as a social outcast due to lack of credibility.
These are your normal persons; those who cannot, or would not adapt without snapping or outright evading.
The characters of
Our Last Hour are not these same people.
By some past experience or raw force of will they survive what readily challenges their beliefs and their world as it stands. Many have previously witnessed, or even taken part, in terrible events - some are your physically scarred and mentally wounded heroes, while others are just your one in a million diehards, your "lucky" ones. Regardless of their exact means, they not only recognize and comprehend the realities that they witness, but have enough fortitude of the mind to not fall into the pit of disbelief and shock, but that isn't to say they
want to see... most don't.
Characters
In
Our Last Hour characters are divided into two distinct categories; those who can truly understand, rationalize, and to an extent, tolerate that which is seemingly impossible, and those who are capable of doing the seemingly impossible.
For the purpose of this one on one roleplay, there is a storyteller (myself) and a player; the player is a normal human who, unlike most, has enough psychological stability to endure the greatest challenges to what they know or experience. In this regard you have relatively free domain to build who your character is as a person, provided they are valid enough to be a plausible person in reality.
Brief examples of characters expected to endure such hardships include military personnel, emergency responders, wartime journalists, etc. However, other character archetypes are perfectly acceptable, other such examples include characters exposed to extreme violence such as a shooting or a character who experienced great loss of a person close to them directly. These are not the end all, be all options; you're simply expected to come up with a valid explanation for how, and why your character simply does not flee at first sight of the unnatural.
Keep in mind the modern setting, as well as an expected age bracket - characters below 18 are unsuitable.
Expectations
First and foremost this concept is primarily for roleplayers who don't mind a serious, fairly gritty and realistic story, with associated consequences there of.
To make life simpler, I'll list things in bullet format.
- This entire setting is using a storyteller means; I am playing a character as well as narrating, most likely. This however, does not rule out a player's free will and ability to do mundane and ordinary things without me micromanaging them.
- The interested party should be able to post two to three paragraphs at minimum; more is not always better however, so use your best judgment.
- This setting is not explicitly mature and is not specifically aimed to be; that, if ever, would evolve with character development in a dynamic sense. If you are interested in making that a significant portion of the story and wish to interact directly with my character in that way, I ask that your character is female. If not, or you have no interest in romance, anything goes.
- The story errs more on reality in terms of grittiness and realism, and by this I mean if you get shot, it hurts or could even be mortal. While it won't be explicitly graphic or in "gory detail", it will contain enough to get the point across; this applies to day to day life as well, as in the long run, this is still a mirrored reality.
- In terms of expectations of what to encounter, there is no "defined" story or plot here; it'll evolve a lot through interaction and what little bits of plot hooks I scatter. In terms of "the unnatural", think things that blur the lines between plausible and implausible; it is unlikely to run into elves, but it isn't implausible to encounter the undead.
- By "survival" I mean there are likely to be portions of the story where surviving and attempting to fight around a situation are likely; these are elements like your plane crash, stranded hotel, broken down car, etc. Primarily a plot point to get started and or delve into the strange. All the same, be ready to treat the roleplay like a survival scenario.
- A matter that likely deserves addressing is that while initially a character is "just a person", there is nothing to say a character can't change or alter that fate as they progress, but one should keep in mind the cost of what it means to be something more, or less, than human... Depending on story choices and events, this could alter, but solutions are just as likely to be present - but one shouldn't count their graces before they're granted them.
Examples
A few quick, brief examples of the sort of genre discussed.
- Human and Zoanthrope
- Human and Supernaturally Talented Human
- Human and Shapeshifter
- Human and Psychic Human
- Any combination of the above, please include a suggestion if interested.
For those interested, please send a private message or post below. If you have questions, feel free to ask for further details.