Current
@Cleveraptor: Gallery might be your best bet for prose samples, or possibly Roleplaying Discussion.
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17 days ago
@Estylwen: If it helps I once did the same, staying awake for a total of about 36 hours and managing to force-write a little over 30k words. I'd say around hour 22 was probably when the mania began.
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17 days ago
PlayerTips: Awesome, your character did a cool thing! Now look at your co-PCs. Who HASN'T gotten to do a cool thing in a while? How could you subtly push them into the spotlight for a bit?
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23 days ago
A spirit appears in your room with a more successful-looking version of you: "--and THIS is what you would be!" "My God! Spare me these visions, I've learned my lesson!" Both immediately vanish.
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27 days ago
GMTips: Shrink your plots---No, even smaller than that! Don't let them pick from all the starting points on your epic sandbox map; 3 Plot Coupons are easier to collect than 7; keep stakes personal!
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Bio
On CST time, United States. Typically busy most of the week and do most posting/replying on weekends.
@Queen of Aces@Dark Cloud Here's the profile for Empusa, Seiji's contractor. Let me know if anything needs to be tweaked. As mentioned before, her only participation will be in character interaction, and only if stakes get extraordinarily high would she petition Gello to get involved in Events, battles, etc. Otherwise, the only one she'd bother would be Seiji...and maybe whoever has the bad luck to sleep on the other side of his walls. And maybe under his floors. And over his ceiling. And...probably just anywhere in the same building.
Empusa's special ability is to condense magic, demonic energy, alchemy, metallurgy both mundane and supernatural, and even the essence of living beings into specialized tools, most commonly weapons. If they are created solely from resources she has available, her own stores of energy, and so forth, they are beyond the greatest works of any human smithy. Their steel far surpasses the lost methods of Damascus, and even the microscopic edges made possible by carbon nanotube technology. The artistry of their work puts Masamune to shame, and their cursed power would make Muramasa scream in agony.
But when she is able to use the essence of another being in the forging process--whether through that given to her by a Contractor, taken from a defeated victim, or a few more "intimate" methods--then her creations truly shine. At their peak, with a strong enough essence, they could even surpass Holy weapons like Excalibur or the Lance of Longinus. Even if the essence is weak, they could still hold their own against such legendary blades.
Weapons are her true passion, but at a greater energy expenditure she can also make shields, armor, and tools for manual labor. Making more complex devices, or Artifacts with magical formulae attached, is far more intensive and takes too much time to be done without preparation. She can also easily replicate anything the human world can produce and optimize it, but modern technology doesn't seem to interact very well with the magical interference surrounding demon domains...
Full Fledged Demoness A graduate of Mistress Gello's Home, Empusa is a fully capable member of Hell's legions with all that entails.
Magic Though it doesn't come to her as easily as her forging abilities, Empusa has learned a great deal of magic. Her specialties lie in manipulating the elements of Fire and Earth, and her enchantments are befitting of her...physical assets.
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[P E R S O N A L I T Y]
|| The Face: The Innocent || The Soul: The Lover || The Self: The Creator || The Ego: The Caregiver ||
Empusa believes life must be enjoyed to be a life at all, and that such enjoyment can only be found with other people. She knows well the dangers of spending all one's time alone, having experienced long periods of isolation in her own forge, and firmly attests that the process of creation means nothing if those creations are not serving some purpose. If weapons and tools are made, there must be hands to wield them. Total freedom of action, expression, and intimacy are important to her worldview. This is part of the reason why she was drawn to Seiji--when she first met him, his friend brought her to the young man's house on an unexpected visit. From the state of his room, it was clear he had not left his seat at the computer in days. She wanted to pull him out of that dark, cluttered environment to see the true person underneath the baggy eyes and bad attitude.
Empusa desires stimulation of many kinds, mental, physical, and emotional. Creating new Artifacts engages her mind, as does studying magic, but lately she's also found it quite interesting to try and figure out the complexities of the human heart. What stimulates her body need not be said in pleasant company...but as of late, she finds her heart aches in a way it never has before. Emotionally, she desires intimacy of various levels with various kinds of people--sometimes, including that spark of hate or anger to spice things up.
Her strategy can be said to be either nonexistant, or extraordinarily adaptable. Empusa is known to make rash decisions and act on feelings in the spur of the moment, regardless of any information she's been given beforehand. With that said, she isn't exactly stupid, and her inventor's mind quickly engages when presented with any problem. In the blink of an eye, a myriad of thoughts pop into her head, and she fires them off like bullets. Whatever doesn't work is hastily tossed aside, and she's always willing to try something new.
Empusa cannot stand feeling alone or ignored, and after experiencing complete bondage to the will of another she also cannot stand to have her own independence hampered. However, she is sometimes too eager to please others in order to not be hated, and while she doesn't hesitate to spit fire in a disagreement, she can't take it nearly as well as she can dish it out.
Her lack of planning and forethought in the heat of the moment will often come back to bite her. For every masterwork she has produced, there are dozens if not hundreds of broken failures thrown aside. If she isn't careful with her behavior, she can do the same thing to any other kind of plan...and to people. She doesn't stress out about messing up--and by the same token, she doesn't make a special effort to be efficient or effective past the point of her goals.
She is also exceedingly impatient, and cannot stand being bored. She will often annoy others around her to the point of screaming if her needs are not being met, and some of those needs can be very...inconvenient. Especially to poor Seiji. That lucky sonnuvabitch.
Her creative mind is absolutely boggling. She will come at problems from angles that no one ever expected, and no reasonable person would ever consider possible. It is very hard to trip her up on a problem, even a two-sided ultimatum. Whether through sheer optimism, some spark of intelligence in that beautiful ditzy face, or just plain luck, she can and WILL come up with a third option.
It's hard to bring her down, no matter what happens in life. She seems to always bounce back, and is uplifting to others around her as well. Of course, the fact that she's a Demon probably means that maybe you SHOULDN'T do what she's encouraging you to do...but c'mon, it'll be fun, right!? Of course it will! Let's go!
And, in more somber moments, she is genuinely kind. This trait is not often found among the denizens of hell, and Empusa is wise enough to only show this side of herself to those who have earned her absolute trust. To those people, she is perhaps one of the only true friends a Devil can have.
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[H I S T O R Y]
"You want to know more about li'l ol' me? Sorry boys, I'm spoken for! Oh, there's my man now--isn't he so cool!?" Empusa was not traditionally "girlish" as a child, and was much more interested in playing with the big, shiny, sharp, and sometimes bloody instruments that surrounded her family's forge. In a volcanic environment where tongues of flame sprouted like grass, the Svartalfar beat infernal bronze into shape for the Legions of Hell. Among burly cyclopes, minotauros, and two-headed ogres, Empusa's first playthings were blades and bludgeons.
But as she grew up (and filled out), her seductive nature began to blossom as well. She left quite the pile of broken hearts--and impaled ones--in her wake during her schoolyard days at Gello's Home, and graduated at the top of her class. From here she took to the sorts of activities all Demons take to...until that day.
Where he had gotten the grimoire was anyone's guess. One reason Gello's Home existed now was for this very reason--to keep track of Human Contractors. Because if they didn't, not only did they risk the Humans misusing whatever powers they might be granted, but they also risked exposure to the mortal realm. At some point in history, probably during the medieval period, surviving Contractors and occultists had pooled their knowledge into this tattered little book. Somehow, it fell into the hands of what the modern day Humans in this land called Japan referred to as a NEET--a fat, greasy, neckbearded slob with nothing better to do but fall deeper and deeper into his illusions of grandeur. Whatever he learned from that book, there was no denying it was powerful. And it was a power that Humans had cultivated for themselves--Demons had helped them attain it, but they had mastered it all their own, and passed down their secrets. So it was no wonder Gello's agents hadn't marked this fellow already. What was surprising, was just how proficient at it he had become.
Empusa found herself trapped in the human world, her powers and even some of her speech sealed away, and a slave to this unappealing waste of flesh. Luckily, he knew that if she shared any form of essence with someone else that she could use that power to try and free herself, so there were certain abuses even he abstained from. But he was clearly growing more powerful day by day...if left alone for a decade or so, this ugly bastard might actually become a threat even to Demons. Empusa kept a sharp eye out for anything, anyone, that she could manipulate or entice into helping her escape...and when she saw Murakami Seiji for the first time, everything else went out of focus.
She didn't have her powers, but she was a Demon, Satan-damn it! With good old fashioned psychology and charm, she pushed things along. Her "master" got along well with this young man, so he never suspected the seeds she had planted until the other boy had finally had enough. Murakami Seiji came storming into the house that day, and found her--along with what was left of the many sacrifices. Just like those Heroes the two youths always talked about in their video games, cartoons, and wild imaginations, he swept her off her feet. Even though his life was on the line, he didn't have to accept that Contract. For her sake, he did.
But there was no denying now that his world would forever be changed. So to help him on this new path, she brought him to her world.
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[P A R E N T S]
Volundr Svartalfar || Beadohild Svartalfar
+Head Smith of Hell's Forge || Nag of Hell's Forge +Stoic as the steel he shapes, but dotes on his daughters. || Fawns over Volundr. Whips her children into shape. +Perhaps the greatest smith since the days of legend. || An absolute terror to any smith that isn't her husband.
Since @Queen of Aces has approved Seiji, I'm posting him for y'all to see. There's been a few small tweaks, I promise I didn't try to slip anything past the GM, but if anyone wants to give feedback I'm ready for ya, lol. His Demonic companion, Empusa, will be finished later on.
Summoned Space The sword is called freely from a pocket dimension, perhaps Seiji's astral body. If it moves more than 25 feet from him it returns automatically to that space. If he is disarmed or drops it, so long as it is not bound in place he can freely return it.
Mundane Masterwork Compared to swords from Earth, it is at the peak of quality. Though it can't be said to be "enhanced" in any supernatural way, its sharpness, durability, balance, etc. are all at the greatest level possible for earthly steels and a sword of its dimensions.
Special Ability:
Rather than a native ability, it might be more accurate to call this power an Artifact gifted to Seiji by his contracted Demon. Nonetheless, as it was born from his essence given shape and strength by her power, its magic is his own. Its name, a bastardization of Welsh elements, can be translated as "Twisted Cleft," and it is not coincidental that it shares its etymology with legends such as Excalibur, Caladbolg, or Gae Bolg.
The sword embodies a perversion of ideals, a "Distorted Heroism." Seiji's desire to be a hero was originally founded in upright morals and imitation of exemplory figures, both fictional and real. But, his own neurosis and hubris grew over time, and as a result those ideals are now tainted, muddied with the refuse of human nature. Such a thing is certainly abstract in its conceptions, but can be defined by examples of philosophical questions: If Heroes use violence to Defeat Evil, and violence is also seen as evil, is a Hero just a popular brute who rules by strength? Are they any different than a tyrant just because the masses love them? If Heroes are defined by a self-sacrificial nature, is a Hero truly no more than a tool wielded by the cause or the people he fights for? More obvious distortions like this are the extremism, arrogance, or outright mistakes of otherwise heroic figures, people who wanted to do good things but found that their intentions paved a road to Hell. Seiji has begun his journey upon that same road.
The power of the sword has been greatly diminished by several factors, not the least of which are Seiji's own unfamiliarity with the ability and the limiters placed on it by Gello's domain. Right now, all he can manage is to "Twist" something within his influence. A nail held in his fingers can become a screw. A metal bar in his hand could become a spring. If he stands in water, he could generate a small whirlpool, and do the same with a stiff breeze blowing past him to create a short-lived whirlwind. While it seems to be a mere parlor trick compared to some of the greater magics of even a half-demon, there is a strange hint within its nature that points to something much darker.
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[P E R S O N A L I T Y]
|| The Face: The Everyman || The Soul: The Explorer || The Self: The Ruler || The Ego: The Hero ||
Seiji believes that all people are created equal, but has a...unique take on the concept. For instance, if someone were to ask him "Do you think men and women are equal?" he would probably shrug and answer "Do you think spoons and forks are equal?" He also believes that where there's a will, there's a way, but holds the opinion that other people who believe that phrase fail to consider what happens if someone else's will is to get in your way. His sense of justice is...perhaps too developed, and too hard-line.
His core desire is a paradox, as he wishes to connect with others but hates to feel fenced in or contained. He wants to find out more about himself through exploration and experience, but is afraid of standing out too much or being left behind by others. If one were to question his goals in life, he wouldn't be able to give a clear answer, but a few things that came to mind might be vague phrases like: Being part of something successful and fuliflling, becoming a great person (like a Hero), seeing wonderful things, and maintaining solid, down to earth values.
His strategy to achieve those goals and desires is very simple: bust ass. This is something that has only recently come to be a strong part of his life philosophy--the realization that while working hard doesn't guarantee success in life, successful people have more than likely put forth some kind of effort that normal people have not. Sure, someone might be born into money, but if they don't make the right connections and learn how to invest, that wealth can easily be taken from them or lost. However, Seiji's methods tend to be rather simple minded, brute force oriented. He hasn't learned enough yet to really know how to do it any other way, so when he runs up against something he can't exercise power or control over he immediately feels discouraged.
While he doesn't like being in the spotlight, he also dislikes the idea of never being someone who stands out from the crowd. He doesn't want to be bothered by others, but he also doesn't want to be someone who never accomplished anything and became just a face in the background. He also fears that he doesn't really know himself, or that his personality isn't "genuine," and is just a collection of cliches and behaviors he's learned over his life.
He can never settle for anything less than the best. This perfectionism holds him back and, ironically, makes him more likely to give up before he even starts, to procrastinate, or to obsess over something far past the point of usefulness. Even if he manages to accomplish a goal, he can't stop looking for something else worthwhile. It is very difficult for him to ever feel content. He doesn't like people to find this out about him because he doesn't want to seem like a "tryhard." He wants to present the image of someone who can do it all with minimal effort.
Very rarely does he feel like he fits in, or like he is among friends. He holds himself apart from people because he is afraid of their reactions, and doesn't have much self-esteem. He tries to hide it with apathy, snark, and witty humor, but it's clear from his body language when he's uncomfortable.
Though he doesn't think so himself, Seiji is actually quite adept at reading other people and empathizing with them. Sometimes he projects a little too much of his own thought process onto others' actions, but if he's given enough information about a person he can draw conclusions with surprising insight. He doesn't feel that he has to agree with someone in order to understand why they do what they do, and can ask pointed questions that others might shy away from to get to the heart of a problem.
His independent streak might sometimes border on contrarianism, but never let it be said Seiji can't march to the beat of his own drum. While he doesn't ever feel "confident," it's clear he has some degree of "competence" in a few fields--though they probably aren't fields one would consider pragmatic. He doesn't consider himself as brave, but doesn't usually hesitate to speak his mind when provoked and can be as stubborn as a mule on matters that disagree with his values.
And though it is a double edged sword, Seiji is also no stranger to responsibility. In fact, he often takes so much onto himself that he won't let others share the burden. But he feels that he has to "make everything right," no matter what, and while sometimes he is rigid or narrow-minded in this regard, he will never give less than 110% of himself if he truly believes the effort is worth undertaking.
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[H I S T O R Y]
"My name's Murakami Seiji, and I'm just your average, every day guy...and boy am I pissed about it!"
Seiji never stood out among his peers. He wasn't athletic or sickly, he wasn't academic or stupid, he wasn't attractive or ugly. He grew up in Tokyo, the middle son of three, raised by a strict, somewhat absent salaryman and a lenient, somewhat overprotective stay-at-home mother. His older brother was wild and irresponsible, his younger sister was spoiled and talented, and Seiji was just...kind of there. As a child, he loved video games, books, movies, and going on trips to his grandparents' home in the countryside. Some of his fondest memories were hiking the mountains with grandpa, or running through the fields after grandma. In middle school, his grandparents died and his father chose to sell the old family home so as to invest in the childrens' college funds.
In high school he discovered the internet, and thus began a downward spiral. By the time he graduated, Seiji was practically invisible in his class. But on the forums and image hosts, he had become an expert, nay a legend, in the art of shitposting. He was also a pirate of the highest calibur, with multiple harddrives full of anime, games, and other things that probably are best left unsaid. And, it must be said, he was extremely unsatisfied with the state of the world. He hated his own life, and though he had no real family problems the household dynamics were starting to fray at the edges as he spent more and more time alone in his room.
He became a Ronin, referring to young Japanese men who fail their college exams the first time around and thus have to spend the next year studying up to try again. Because of an early birthday in the academic year, he was already 19 as a high school senior, so being 20 as a college entrant made some examiners assume he had already failed twice over. From the distant window of social media he watched his classmates continue moving up in the world, while he stayed the same in a rut that got deeper with every turn he tried. Of the small handful of people he could consider friends, only one of them really knew the same struggle. The two jokingly made a pact one night, during a late night gaming session, to become Wizards together--a nerd-culture joke about obtaining magical powers by preserving one's virginity past age 30.
Little did he know his friend took that very seriously. Though neither one of them were in the greatest state of mental health, Seiji's friend deteriorated at an even faster rate. The other boy started to disappear without warning, at first just for a few days, then for weeks at a time. Seiji started to fear that his best friend was probably moving up in the world too, and leaving him behind. In reality, his friend had somehow come into possession of an odd book from a shady store that apparently closed down and disappeared from the street corner the very night after Seiji's pal bought it. And he somehow met a girl.
Her name was strange. She didn't speak much. And the relationship between her and his friend didn't seem healthy. As time went on and he got to know her, Seiji berated himself for being envious--he convinced himself that he was projecting problems onto their relationship, because he wanted a girl like that. No...maybe not like that. But he couldn't chalk that chain around her neck up to his imagination.
He didn't mean to see anything by accident. He didn't mean to stumble into his friends' "laboratory" either. He tried to talk to his friend one night, though he was too cowardly to do it face to face. After a disturbing series of communications, Seiji biked over to his friend's house to solve this mystery once and for all. Here, he found an unholy ritual in all its gristly terror, and his friend well on the way to becoming something much worse than a wizard. From bloody carvings all over the walls, power gathered. Its existence seemed impossible, and yet for the first time since his grandparent's deaths Seiji felt his heart of wonder ignite.
The thing that used to be his friend had summoned a Demon. It did not seem to be the first time he had done so. Yet this Demon looked like nothing more than a girl, to Seiji--a girl who did not deserve to be enslaved, or worse. A girl he had started to consider a new friend.
He tried to save her.
"Seiji, what are you doing!? You don't understand!" A malfested hand knocked him aside like a cat batting a mouse--or maybe, he'd thought as he lay gasping for air as blood poured down his face and his bones screamed in agony, a tiger bitch-slapping a gazelle. "This is how we're gonna get back at them, Seiji! This whole stupid world, all these disgusting people! They don't deserve Heroes!" Despite his wounds he had managed to hold on to her. Even as he put his broken body between her, the monstrosity, the abomination grew until the roof creaked against its back.
"C'mon, Seiji! Instead of Heroes, let's be Demon Kings!"
The girl's breath was hot against his ear. He didn't know if he could trust her words, but at this point anything was better than dying or being eaten alive.
"What will you wish for?" He had barely managed to stand and roll them both out of the way.
"Shit, a weapon would be nice!" He coughed, and blood had speckled his lips. "Don't Heroes usually get some kind of Holy Sword to fight a Demon King?!"
"The Contract is Set! I, Empusa, agree to the terms of Seiji, House Murakami: He shall become my protector, and I shall provide him a weapon befitting his desires!"
He had already known those terms were too vague. But in that moment, he had also known that what his friend was doing was wrong. Empusa's true nature didn't change that. Though she withheld her secret from him, he felt that certain things about their friendship were still true. And, despite everything...the bitterness in his heart, the cold, harsh realities of life, the loss he had suffered...
He still wanted to be a Hero.
"I accept." His fate was sealed with a bloody kiss. He couldn't help but smirk against her lips. Not only was it his first time, but it happened just like the first episode of a damned anime.
They survived. Seiji's life changed forever. And all too soon, he found himself dragged off to Hell.
"Just think of this as like, a new school!" She had giggled. "Heroes have to Level Up, right!?"
"God dammit."
"Hey hey hey, watch the language mister! The big G word is a no-no around here!"
"God fucking dammit."
He didn't want it to be this kind of anime!
An absolutely average, unsuccessful, bitter and depressed loner for most of his life, Seiji's only claim to fame was his status as many forums' top shitposter. He and a fellow loser made a joke pact together to become Wizards by protecting their virginity from 3D Thots until age 30. But it turned out his friend took that literally. There was some shady business with a sketchy book shop, an old tome with that aged-paper smell tinged with blood and sulfur, and a hot girlfriend who popped up out of nowhere. Seiji got suspicious that such things were too good to be true when he saw the chain around the neck of his friend's new companion...and the blood and corpses in the guy's spare closet, that was a clue too.
To save his life, and the girl's, Seiji made a pact. He finally obtained the power to become a Hero, just like his favorite games and anime. Unfortunately, the girl dragged him to her house immediately afterward. And the house was in Hell. And she and her family were all Demons. And life got weirder from there.
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[P A R E N T S]
Murakami Soujirou || Murakami Chisami
+Company man, Manager || Housewife, mother of 3+ +Strict, but distant. || Lenient, but overprotective+ +Mundane and Average. || Mundane and Average+
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[F A M I L I A R]
Daughter of the Brimstone Forge, Infernal Arsenal
Empusa
As the Holder of Seiji's Contract, Empusa is a full-fledged Demoness. Her profile will follow shortly, pending further approvals from GM. She will not participate in major Events unless requested by Gello, and is bound by the rules of the Home. Knowing that Seiji must learn to control his powers on his own, and that he will need to rely on Gello's education about Demons and Hell, she tries to limit herself to more...personal interactions with him. THEIR ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP DYNAMIC:
I do have a few, actually, although GM and I are still working through the PM part. These should be more general though: I've seen some powers that stick to solely supernatural events, and some that are more descriptions of capabilities. Is the intention for a Power to be only something like "Fire Manipulation" or "Teleportation?" Or do all of our character's abilities need to be included--things like "Hand to Hand Combat" for someone who knows Karate, or "Enhanced Strength" for a Demon whose body-type is yoked out? I know the GM wants the big powers to progress in stages, and I'm not sure what the overall "power level" of the RP is yet.
Also, if we had to assign a genre to this, would it be more Slice of Life, Romcom/harem (just with multiple couples), or something like Highschool DxD that throws a little action in there too?
If you are still accepting I'd like to throw my hat in as well, with another Contracted Human/Demon Pair. I don't know if I'd be using the Demon as a full Player Character, I feel she'd fit more as kind of an NPC/supporter, but I'll be sending you the CS as it is over PM shortly since it may need a lot of tweaking or clarification.
Mentions are listed in no particular order. I am deeply thankful to all of these players, and those of you who were only with us for a short time at different points. Please see the above announcement, and again I apologize.
A list of mentions will follow after this, as there are too many to fit in one post.
As much as it pains me to say so, I am sure it is obvious at this point. Those of you in the Discord know what I've been struggling with for a long time, but please know that I still feel absolutely terrible about my inability to perform my duties as a GM. As of now, I do not think I am capable of continuing "I, The Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!" and I feel it is best to go ahead and announce it instead of dragging anyone else along with false hope. In addition to my own IRL problems, we have lost several players, and between writer's block, depression, and other things I am in the paradox of feeling like I do WANT to keep going, but at the same time don't have the drive to actually put in the work. You all have my absolute deepest apologies, and I want you to know that watching you enjoy this world I worked so hard creating--biting off so much more than I could actually chew--has been one of the best roleplaying, creative writing, and group gaming experiences I have ever had in my 10+ years of this hobby. This RP lasted for almost 3 years, the longest and most successful of anything I've ever written, and again I apologize that so little actually happened in terms of plot and so forth during that time frame.
In the hopes of leaving a better taste in one's mouth and perhaps providing a little bit of closure, I wanted to elaborate on a few things that were planned for this RP--maybe it will provide inspiration for those of you who wish to look back on this story in the future, as I know some of you like Rune have even participated in other RPs with similar Isekai, reborn Monster themes.
The Demon King ripped the players' souls from Earth upon the moments of their deaths by hijacking a Hero Summoning ritual performed by the Heilicht Empire--a thriving, successful, but highly humanity-centric nation in the world's setting somewhat opposed to the Kingdom of Viskard where you all started out. The Empire had figured out a way to reduce the stringent requirements of the ritual, which is normally a last resort for any nation in the world because of the immense magic power and approval of the Spirits it needs in order to work. This reduction also affected the outcome of the ritual, however, meaning that humans could basically be chosen at random rather than because of any heroic qualities, childlike belief in magic, or whatever other cliche "chosen one status" a usual Summoned Hero would have. These Heroes would also not have the protection of any Divine Spirits like a Reincarnated Hero would be granted when such a Divine Spirit summons them for their own purposes. Nonetheless, these "lesser" summoned heroes from our world would still have things like modern education, more varied imaginations, and other such things that would give them a big head start compared to the humble farm boys of this world trying to become knights. The Heilicht Empire's plan was to create a Heroic Army, in order to not only render Demons and other Feral Races extinct but to eventually expand their empire over the entire continent. They didn't care that they were essentially kidnapping people from Earth. These goals, however, would merely be background material that players could interact with or ignore.
The Demon King told the players at the beginning of the game to "find my palace." The Demon King's castle was located on a lonely island to the north, full of dead trees and covered by black clouds lit by crimson lightning. It was the island that appeared in players' visions, the black mountain that "held them in sway" whenever their souls separated from their bodies. They were free to get to this location however they wished, but going straight there by ocean would have been very, very difficult due to enormous sea monsters, dangerous demonic coral reefs, and malignant, willful storms swirling in the skies all around the island. The easier way, as hinted by the Demon King, would be to find the Greater Dungeons scattered around the lands. Featured in wars of ancient past or ruled by high ranking demons subordinate to the king, these dungeons would be found in various places and feature all kinds of challenges. At their innermost chambers, a teleportation array could be found along with lots of other things--treasures, weapons, and so on, with the journey also teaching the players about Dungeon Cores and the nature of Demons and Monsters and all that jazz.
These arrays wouldn't take them straight to the Palace, however, they'd have to survive the Island as well. But once they made it to the Demon King, once they confronted the being that brought them to this world face to face, he would sit upon his throne and look down at them over the rim of a glass of wine. And he would ask them one question:
"Having seen so much of it, do you think this world is worth saving?"
The Demon King wouldn't want to reveal too much about himself or the world, at least so long as he didn't see it as pertinent for his plans. And the players would already know by this point his stance on giving out "help" or "cheats." But, he did have a goal and he did need the players to be strong enough to accomplish it. If they didn't want to, he would not force them, and would instead give them some fitting reward and let them do as they pleased within the world. He would even offer hints, if they wanted to try and find a way back to Earth. But otherwise he would begin to explain himself at least a little bit. Essentially, Demon Kings and Heroes both exist because of the nature of magic. In this fantasy world, there was no Afterlife. Worshipping Divine Spirits or the Maker doesn't guarantee one some kind of heavenly reward, it simply influences the strength of various forces within the world, how much they can interfere, and so on. Souls are recycled after death and reincarnated, but the Memories, Will, and Emotions that are scrubbed off of those souls to prepare them for rebirth enter the world as a form of energy, which is Mana. Mana responds to the Will of a magic user to impose that will onto the World. The closer one's will aligns to the World, the easier the magic is to perform--sheer reality warping is possible to some degree, but it takes an enormous amount of energy and has significant side effects. There's more detail to this, but there are two big takes: 1, Summoned Heroes have more knowledge of how something like "fire" or "lightning" works, so their imagination of a "fireball" or "thunderbolt" aligns more closely to non-zero percent possibilities that the World can allow more easily, hence why they tend to become more powerful with magic even if they don't have Cheats. And 2, the collective "wills" of people (such as worshippers of the Divine Spirits) and the "acceptance" of those wills by the World, can cause independent magical effects.
Because people believe in Good and Evil, and because it's easier to look for others to save them and others to blame rather than taking any responsibility for themselves, Mana collects around powerful Souls and transforms them to some degree by the Will of the World. These are the native born Heroes, those who are called to Save, and the native born Demon Kings, those who are called to create Bad Ends. Non-native Heroes, those who are Summoned, are imbued with power and will by their summoners in addition to other advantages they have, and these can become the source of "Cheats," or as the inhabitants call them, "Codes." They have some aspect of the Maker's Design "encoded" into their being, allowing them to bend the Maker's Rules or else otherwise exploit them in some way.
Our story's Demon King, however, is a unique case. After becoming aware of the cyclical nature of Heroes and Demon Kings, he also recognized that there could be no peace between them. Demons aren't just "misunderstood," they are destructive and bear fundamental natures opposed to humanity. Humans aren't "the real monsters," they are driven by survival and there will never be enough resources for them to share endlessly. There was never any way, whether among each individual race or across the world's cultures, for there to be any kind of permanent, lasting peace. So a Hero who was supposed to destroy Demons decided instead to Rule them. A savior became a symbol of Evil and Treachery to his people, and a symbol of Salvation and Order to his enemies. By seizing power over Demons, by engineering an arms race, by holding territory, and by planning both war and peace, he turned the entire world into his "game." One sword kept another in the sheath, and rather than pursue the Hope of Progress he carved the world's Stagnation into Stone. Because, at some point, something would have to force a change in the very nature of the world in order to get it back on track. Someone outside the game would have to flip the board to end the stalemate. And so, hated by those he saved and a hero to those he killed, he became the first "Damned Hero" and called himself a Demon King.
However, the Demon King's research into how to make this happen would uncover something worse than what he originally intended. And this is why he began researching the process of Summoned Heroes, and tried to push the world into using the ritual in order to set his plan into motion.
He would give the players more limited information, not just because he believes in struggling to be strong, but because giving them too much would put his plans at risk--their opponents may be capable of taking said information from them by force, according to him. He would task the players with finding, and specifically capturing, three people.
Nikolas Lanzeknecht, the King of Swords. A young man who was one of the few natives of the world born with a Code of his own, though some might say it was more like his nature as a human had been distorted. Unlike Monsters, which have all the same qualities of being from the moment they are born and normally only change due to external factors (the Players' various Transformations are of course, an exception) or Demons, who Inherit power from their ancestors, or the similar True Dragons who share Memories through their genetic line rather than engraving it upon their souls, Humans' abilities are like the throw of the dice at birth. A Goblin will always be "about as strong as a human child; about as cunning as a wolf; and having enough magical energy for a mere handful of spells." A Goblin in a magically rich area might change into a Bluecap, or a Goblin that has plenty of natural food in its territory might grow large enough to be a Bugbear. Humans, however, will always be human...yet one human might be Stronger, another might be Faster, and a third might be more talented with Magic. When the Dice were thrown for Nikolas, they determined that his perspective of the world would rest upon the edge of a sword.
Yes, he's based on Shirou Emiya and a specific fanfiction, shut up. Essentially, his Code made the nature of his magic and abilities geared towards only one thing. If he were to cast the Wall spell, his Wall would not manifest as barrier in front of him, but as a barrier placed perpendicular to him--so that its edge, not its flat, faced his enemies. If he cast an ice or earth element spell, the structure would always take a bladed form. Spells like Mana Slice were almost instinctive for him, while something as simple as Mana Orb took an incredible amount of concentration and used more Mana than usual. With the Templar Knight Zieglar, who was then just a Squire, and the retired Adventurer-turned Farmer Lear who he once called the Stone General of Viskard, and other members of a previous generation's Hero party, Nikolas earned his title in the last war against the Demons that drove them almost completely out of Viskard save for the area immediately around the western mountains and northern forest. His ultimate trump card, the true manifestation of his Code to impose his Will upon the World, was the Endless Edge Horizon--a world in which everything he sees is a sword.
It was originally intended that the players would encounter him first during a shortlived war against Orcs, then again at various points, culminating in a battle between him and his nemesis Zawisza, the Black Knight Lord of the Demon King. With the player's help to buy time, he would activate the Endless Edge Horizon and face Zawisza upon a grassy, open field under a starry sky. When Zawisza took a step, however, he would hear not the soft rustle of plantlife under foot, but the clink of steel. Literally everything in this world would be a sword to Nikolas, whether it be blades of grass, a layer of stone that rises from the ground like a great shark's fin, or the very wind itself. Zawisza would still, of course, be a powerful opponent, and force the King of Swords to call down the stars themselves as celestial, raining swords--a spell called "Last Stardust," of course. Followed by condensing the very light of this Endless Horizon into a blade, the "Brave Shine," which with a single swing would bisect Zawisza while utterly exhausting the hero. Allowing the Players, at that point, to capture him.
Their second target would be the Sword Saint of Yamajima, Miyamasa Mushimura. Yes, that's a mashup of Masamune, Muramasa, and Miyamoto Mushashi, again shut up. If Nikolas is "one who has been granted authority over all swords," then Miyamasa is "one who has purely pursued the path of the sword as a worshipper on pilgrimage." Asking either one of them who would win in a fight is met with a scoff by both parties. Miyamasa is a native Hero in his own right, but does not possess a Code, or any blessing from a Divine Spirit, or even any special enchanted weaponry unique to him. Rather, he has perfected an absolute technique of the blade arts, first from his homeland and secondly from across the nations. In his hands, even hair or cloth can tear flesh and split bone, and a tree branch can defeat a dozen blademasters. The pinnacle of his studies is the "Zansabetsu Ken," or the Sword of Discrimination. While many forms of martial arts and swordsmanship seek "nothingness," to ascend from the mortal plane, to leave behind materialism and selfishness, Miyamasa's ultimate breakthrough came from the realization that his opponents could never do such a thing--for if they could become one with the universe, they would not seek to fight him. So instead he sought to understand their materialism in its entirety, and by applying this to his art he became capable of "discriminating the cut." If he deems that the heart is to be the target of his attack, his thrust will not pierce skin, muscle, nor bone otherwise. If his slash is to cripple the wrist of his opponent, their sleeve remains intact. Such a technique allows him to take away whatever worldly fetters hold his opponents back, though sometimes that may mean their lives.
I hadn't gotten around to thinking about how the Players would capture him yet, but he was a very Kenshin Himura-esque personality. They would at least have to travel across the ocean to the other continents and the nation of Yamajima to find him. He would be able to explain to Players some of the concepts surrounding Souls in this world, and the strange nature of their connection to their new bodies. One of the advantages of a Reincarnated Hero is that, because their Soul is from outside the World, its memories, will, and emotions are not stripped from it the way others are during the reincarnation cycle. However, the Demon King's alteration of the Summoning Ritual placed their souls in Monster bodies, which undergo frequent change. During these changes, their Souls temporarily disconnect because the new Monster body isn't meant to hold a Human soul, and while the Demon King's modifications will keep them anchored in most circumstances, the World's "filter" still recognizes them as a foreign entity--essentially, they are setting off the game's anti-virus/cheat detection programs and they have not been whitelisted as an exception. Yet this also poses a danger to them, because while they are certainly exceptions, they are not the only exceptions of this kind. Sometimes, a Memory, Will, or Emotion is too strong to be dispersed through the Mana after it is separated from a Soul. Because they hold on to some semblance, they have a "clinging" nature, and collect other memories to themselves. When enough of the same memories (such as negative feelings, or matching ideals even from different persons) coalesce, they cause Mana to resonate to a Will that has no Soul, and an "Intelligence without Essence" is formed. It cannot exist in the physical world, because it has no Soul to tie to a body. It continues to grow in the astral plane outside the world, until it perhaps has the opportunity to latch onto a drifting Soul, or until a Divine Spirit or some other means disperses it properly. Such an existence is miserable indeed, and given the usual nature of their form, these "Things" exist in an incomprehensible state that can only do two things--observe the world as they grow, and wish for the destruction of that which they cannot have. Thus are formed the Mazoku, the "Divine Demons," and their Greaters, the Eldritch Powers.
The third person the Players would be sent to retrieve is the foremost Archsage of the world, the living library of all magic, Zebulona Acacia Artz. And here, if the players had not met other NPCs involved in Heilicht's Summoning Ritual or a few other planned characters already, they would finally meet someone else who had been called from Earth. Zebulona, once known by another name, died a truly wretched death in our world and was given a chance to reincarnate, if she would serve the will of a particular Divine Spirit. Upon accomplishing her task, she chose to remain in this world and continue trying to understand it--perhaps with the hope that she could not only return to Earth on her own terms one day, but bring the magic back with her as well to fix the problems she saw in "the real world." She would be found living in an isolated tower deep within the Demon Wastes north of the Heilicht Empire. To reach it, the Players would have to traverse the Labyrinth Seal, an enormous tower with an exponentially greater maze beneath it, connected to a myriad of natural tunnels running beneath a mountain range. The tower was built as a method of funnelling all the Demons in the dark underworld of the peaks into one location. If they tried to physically cross the mountains, the armies of mankind could meet them in the field. If they tried to sail around the coasts, the icy storms of the north and the navies of humanity could head them off. And if they tried to burrow beneath, they would find themselves trapped within the tower. Even if they could escape, it would buy time for the Empire to amass their troops and predict the point of emergence from the tunnels.
Zebulona would be able to explain many aspects of Magic, Skills, and the history of the world and its Heroes both native and summoned. From her, players could learn several interesting tidbits about the Maker and Divine Spirits as well--including events like "Days of the Dark Sun," when the very "rules" of the world seem to change for some reason...usually after someone discovers great and powerful magic, or a Hero performs some deed that literally shakes the world to its foundations. For example, the great Hero Adelwulf, who was also summoned from our earth, was responsible for a Dark Sun that turned the Pyromancy magic into a Lost Art, making it impossible to freely manipulate the Fire element to that same degree ever again. Zebulona would speculate that the Maker decided to break up the spell formations for that power because Adelwulf, using his knowledge from our world--"the desire for a weapon he came so close to possessing"--not only used it to control fire, but was able to impose a Will upon the World that aligned with the natural order in such a way that something like the core of a sun itself was unleashed upon Demonkind during that war. If such a thing had become common knowledge, the Heilicht Empire Adelwulf helped expand would probably have accomplished his dream goal of "the annihilation of the Demonic races on Aedven." For Humans this wouldn't be such a bad thing, but the Maker seems to want the demons to exist for some reason and thus they continue.
If the Players could actually reach her, given the hordes of monsters and the tower full of traps and the chaotic mazes they would have to get through--they could possibly go over or around the mountains I guess, but there were a lot of issues either way because that area was like "end game" levels of random encounters--then Zebulona would come willingly, as not only is she intrigued by everything that's going on, but she would have had some inkling of what the Demon King was planning.
While I've listed them in order, the Three VIPs wouldn't actually have to be "captured" in that manner. In any case, if the Players ever succeeded in getting them all back to the Demon King's Palace, the next bit of the story would unfold as such:
The Demon King takes his three "prisoners" aside and explains something to them that the Players are not made privy to just yet. Against all odds, the Heroes agree to help the Demon King, and he gives the Players another task--to find a specific "newborn" Hero. Not a literal baby, but someone who is destined to become a Hero, someone whose power has been growing. And someone whose path they have already crossed.
At this point, depending on who the Players had interacted with and who I felt would elicit the greatest response, I would reveal the "new Hero's" identity as one of several possible NPCs. The young Squire of Sir Zieglar, Trent, could be the one. The angry, troubled Geir could be as well. As could the amiable, yet strangely cold-blooded young swordsman, Wulf. And a multitude of others, out of many groups of characters the Players would inevitably meet in their travels.
But the Demon King would have something else to say: This Hero does not know he is a Hero yet...nor does he know that he has been a Hero many times before. And the Demon King would ask the players to imagine something for him.
Imagine your typical otaku NEET who gets summoned into these Isekai stories. Imagine that this absolute loser, this big nerd, this dumbass who wanted to be special so bad but never made an attempt to connect with other people or better himself or do anything that would have made his life happier, finally got to come to a world that catered to his every whim. He got a harem for no real reason, because he's clearly not a ladies' man or a real eyecatcher, but somehow they just fall in his lap. He got an overpowered cheat code because why the hell not. So on and so forth. Now, if you were that guy, when the end of the adventure came around...would you give any of that up? Imagine that you choose to stay, to live out the rest of your days in a fantasy. There's nothing really wrong with that, in the grand scheme of things. And imagine if you were to Reincarnate a second time--oh boy, a brand new adventure, all over again, right? You mastered the sword the first time, so what about focusing on magic this time around?
And in the process of learning magic, you learned even more. Enough to understand the kind of game you were really playing. And it's a fun game. A game you never want to end. But even the best open world, free choice, radiant quest RPGs can get boring at some point. You played every class. You even did a couple of Evil playthroughs. You've used every customization option for your character, swapping back and forth between gender and race and whatever else.
But you still don't want to stop playing. Is it possible to add some mods? How can you make the story fresh, when you've seen it all before? If only you could erase your own memories, so that you could really experience it all over again...
A humble farm boy becomes a knight and saves a princess. He lives and dies happily, and you wake up from his dream. A plain peasant girl who's clumsy somehow is also beautiful and has a special power, and two hot boys want her! How will she ever save the world? When she fails, you wake up and wonder what you could have done better. Next time, a young monk finds out he has a great destiny but he doesn't feel ready. He tries to run away, and ends up dragging new friends into a war he was supposed to stop. In moments of desperation, he loses himself to a power...a power that you gave him, and you step in to give him a little help before you sit back and keep watching the newest episode. And when it ends, you decide to watch something different--maybe something about a vicious child-king, who beheads a northern lord too honorable for their own good and plunges the kingdom into war...
Again, and again, and again. How many lives have you lived? How many times have you splintered your personality? What happened to all those memories? Does it really matter, as long as you have your fun? Are you good, or are you evil? Who cares! You're the one who decides how to play the game!
This is the being that the Demon King won't name, the being he fears will tear your minds apart if he knows that you know his secret. This is what he needs to save the world from, if he wants the "games" being played with this world to end. This is the "Chosen One."
The players would have to discover the Chosen One's whereabouts, and try to figure out how far along "he" is with his newest playthrough. How can they trigger him? Are his various "characters" real people? Are they split personalities? Is he always aware of what's happening to them, or does he only see it in retrospect? Upon finding a few McGuffins in other dungeons, and defeating a few other big name creatures in the world--essentially depriving the Chosen One of what he needs for his perfect story to play out--they would eventually come to the time of the final battle.
The Demon King, with the help of the King of Swords, the Sword Saint, and the Archsage, has crafted a weapon. It is a cursed, distorted blade. However, upon summoning an incredibly weak monster, the Demon King strikes it for a total of one point of HP Damage. But, there is a point behind this. This is a sword of sealing, not necessarily a sword of killing. All the same, he will need time to use it. You must buy him that time.
The fight with the Chosen One would require the players to use every power, every skill, every racial monster ability they have accumulated up to this point. Legends, heroes, maybe even lesser demon kings in their own right, this motley crew of reincarnated beasts would throw everything they had at this "Hero." Upon forcing him into a corner--maybe feeling betrayed by his friends, even--the NPC would pull a Naruto, an Ichigo, a "Super Powered Evil Side." The fight keeps going--and again, if they've played their cards right, the Damned Heroes are winning! And then the Chosen One's true personality emerges. He might try to change the battlefield, or plunge them into a dungeon, or give them some other obstacle besides a direct fight. They keep going. Then, after exhausting so many different Skills, the Chosen One speaks yet another chant...
"Open Console. Difficulty Down: Hardcore Extreme to Hardcore."
With this, a whole new level of power unlocks for the Chosen One. He would most likely be able to defeat the players (or at least that's what I planned) at this point. However, before he can strike a killing blow, the "NPC" speaks up. Whether the Players were their friends at some point or not, this "partitioned personality" is not dealing with the exposure of their fake existence very well. To deal with this mental distress, the Chosen One does a sloppy job of trying to "finish off" the Players, and uses one of his near-infinite repretoire of powers to warp away.
Some kind of Training Arc, or another Dungeon Run, or something would occurr here. Maybe at this point players are questioning their motivations, or they're affected by the loss of the NPC friend or some other disaster that has happened over the course of this monumental battle. Eventually, they get geared back up to engage the Chosen One again, and this time the Demon King's Generals (most of whom they would probably have met by this point) will come to back them up.
Twice more they manage to wear down the Chosen One. From Hardcore to Very Hard, to Hard mode. He uses some kind of skill to separate the group, so that he can kill the Generals without the Players interfering. He has figured out that they are somewhat like him. During the time that the Players are separated from allies and each other, the Chosen One will appear to each of them to try and tempt them, while also trying to tease out their stories. He is able to discern the plans of the Demon King...but somehow, that strange enchanted sword doesn't make sense to him, even with all the Analysis skills in the world.
As the Players make their way back to rejoin each other, the Chosen One has rallied up the various kingdoms to start a war against the Demon King. The Three VIPs MIGHT be able to talk some of this down, depending on what actions the Players also took within the kingdoms--did they befriend the prince, or did they terrify the village, and so on. During this war, things just keep going downhill for the Chosen One, and it seems like he's starting to lose his grip. The game isn't fun anymore. From Hard mode to Intermediate. From Intermediate to Normal.
The Players have gained enough power at this point, and have enough allies, that the Chosen One is starting to wonder if they're really able to kill him. After so many loops, so many acquired Skills, so many Cheats, so many weapons...how can nothing he has really be enough? While the war continues to rage, he warps away and the Players have to chase him down. I figure they're like, dragons or teleporting sorcerors or super speedy naruto-runners at this point, so it's not another extended mini-arc like before.
On a field far from their allies, they continue the battle. From Normal, to Easy. And then the Three VIPs join the fight! The Endless Edge Horizon, the Sword of Discrimination...and the Lost Art of Pyromancy, are all brought to bear! From Easy, to Very Easy, but the battle is coming close!
The Chosen One has his "villainous breakdown." How dare they!? This is his world! His game! He makes these characters, why shouldn't he do what he pleases with them!? He doesn't deserve this! This world is supposed to be payback for his shitty life in the real world! The life that he never wanted, all the bad things that were never his fault!
The Players, who have worked and grown for everything they have, with no cheats and very little help, can tell him to go shove it.
"OPEN CONSOLE! ENABLE: GOD MODE!"
Your MP is set to Infinite. Your HP is set to Infinite. Your SP is set to Infinite. HP Regeneration set to Instant. MP Regeneration set to Instant. SP Regeneration set to Instant. Skill Cooldown set to Instant.
In a blink he overpowers the King of Swords, the Sword Saint, the Archsage, and all the players. He doesn't even have to try anymore, and of course he feels like teabagging, like taunting.
Then the Demon King goes for the Sneak attack. Before that cursed blade can touch his skin, the Chosen One dodges--even while wondering why he should even bother to do that. In an instant he raises a hand to smite the Demon King. But the Players, whom I assume would of course interfere, manage to knock him off course even if they can't wound him. The Demon King attacks again, but a barrier is raised. It will never run out, because the MP is infinite. But with the player's combined strengths, they can shatter it--and the strange sword plunges into the Chosen One's chest.
"Normally a 'cursed sword' does something like, increase damage when the user's HP is low." The Demon King would smile maniacally as the Chosen One screamed, a thousand shadows of a thousand Heroes echoing behind his eyes. "This one does more damage the higher the target's HP is, and right now? Yours is a sideways 8."
The Chosen One's form warps and distorts. The "characters" he cultivated over so many years turn on him, and despite fighting agonizing pain he manages to destroy those personalities one by one. The pain is so intense it damages his very Soul, and he continues to suffer as his Skills are broken down like layers of peeling paint. Soon he cannot even remember his past reincarnations, as this personalized Hell consumes his entire being. The Demon King turns to his Damned Heroes.
"This is it. No more final forms. Just one more cutscene to watch. And a choice to make." He points at their foe.
"After everything you've seen, everything you've lost and gained. Is he worth saving?"
If they choose to let him live, the Demon King is able to disable the God Mode with, of all things, a prayer to the Maker. With a single HP point, and barely a single memory left in his head, the Chosen One is now just like any other human--or at least, your normal amnesiac Hero, and not some kind of abomination masquerading as one. If they choose to kill him, the Demon King again disables the Cheat, and as a boy with no idea what is happening to him or why pleads for his life, he rips out the Chosen One's heart with a solemn look in his eyes. "This is what it means, I guess, to be a Demon King. Killing Heroes."
At this moment, the cursed sword--sticking up in the ground, point first--releases a pillar of light that engulfs them all.
A black void, yet three walls are filled with screens of light. A man in all white--his suit, his gloves, his hair--sits on nothing with his hands folded. He watches the group through spectacles that reflect the blinding light. The Demon King is just as flabbergasted as the Players.
"Oh, NOW you show up!?"
At this point, the Maker would ask questions of the players, and answer their own. He would explain that neither he, nor any of the Divine Spirits, are true "gods" in any sense that the Players would think of the term. He is merely a being, of a higher realm than humanity, engaging in the act of "sub-creation." Souls are not truly his domain, so he cannot guide them to a heaven or damn them to a hell--thus the endless cycle. But to retain everything from their previous lives, would turn them into the same twisted creature as the Chosen One, thus their memories, wills, and emotions are purified. Yet he cannot destroy these things any more than he can destroy matter or energy, and thus they are simply converted to the new form, Mana. The changes Mana has wrought on natural development requires that a System be put into place to control it. When Humans became aware enough to use the System for their own benefit, some also chose to defy it, and the Ancients split into "Demons" and "Humans" which further subdivided. The Maker has been tweaking his System ever since--it needs to be perfect, it needs to make sense, it needs this and that and the other. Yet no matter what he does, it is never enough. He cannot create a perfect world.
The Demon King would argue in a heated debate. The System tries to define and measure everything, and in doing so only discovers its own limitations. The changes to the System ripple out to everything that relies on it, from monsters to men, and they're stuck repeating scripts and exhausting every option tree in a pointless cycle for eternity. The Demon King argues that, by comparison, the Earth--with all its flaws, with all its stupid people, with all its culture clashes over this that and the other--is a far better world, because it is a truly Free world where Will doesn't have to have magic in order to come to fruition.
Thus the Maker would turn to the Players.
"Then, I ask of you. Of the two worlds, which do you prefer?"
Depending on your answers, a lot of different things COULD have happened. Personally, I would hope you'd probably all have seen enough hell in fantasy land that you'd actually choose Earth. I also debated throwing some Christian religious references in there (the Maker being something like an angel who isn't fallen, but who wanted to share the experience of the Creator and realized in the process some facets of the Creator's being that nothing else can emulate), but I know that wouldn't be cool with everyone and at the end of the day it's an RP, not a sermon. But, overall, I wanted to emphasize some of these concepts--the inability of imperfect, falliable beings to create a perfect world, the importance of making efforts to change what's around us instead of expecting or hoping for it to fall into our laps, our own inability to fix every problem in life even if we work hard for it yet still managing to move on. Things like that.
If players chose the Earth, and wanted to return, they would be returned to the moment before their death. And, in a flash of insight, they are able to do something they couldn't do before that changes the outcome of events. Whatever happens would be influenced by their skills and experiences in the other world, and those things that they couldn't take back with them were "converted into magic" that allowed a single change to the chain of causality.
If players came to some conclusion that the fantasy world couldn't continue as it was, then something else would happen to change their fates as well. A really touching scene I had imagined a few times was that of poor little Miiba, an eight year old girl kidnapped off the streets. As she re-awakens from what seems like a day dream, the difference here is that she thinks to yell out for help when the car pulls up alongside her. She starts to run from the hand that reaches for her, but it still snags her backpack. With some goblin-like ferocity she tears free, but another person in the car has run around the side to grab her as the trunk pops open...Then he gets KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT by a tall, broad shouldered teenager with a couple of piercings, fiery red hair, and a mean scowl. The car takes off, and the boy crouches down to look Miiba in the eyes. Then he smiles, pats her on the head, and asks if she's okay. While they wait for her parents to come pick her up, he takes her to the bakery he works at, where his bosses--a huge burly guy and his lovely wife--offer her a cupcake with a little Goblin Hero face on it.
Another example--a big burly dude, walking out of a boxing gym and thinking that he's overworked himself, his knees hurt, and he's getting too old for this shit, suddenly has an epiphany that if he doesn't take care of himself his heart is probably going to give out. He needs to find something to do that would relax him, give him some kind of calmness in his life, and on a whim decides to go to the park. As he's sitting on a bench, just people watching, a young lady comes by and pins a flyer on the park's bulletin board. It's a flyer for a local fundraiser, something to help a local children's home. And, bouncing happily after the woman, is a little girl with chubby cheeks and a big hat shaped like a blue, wobbly lump of jello. Her dress, with big frilly skirts, matches the color. As the big man watches, unable to help smiling a little bit at the child's antics, she notices him and comes running right up. She doesn't seem to speak too clearly...but somehow, the man feels like he understands her. The young lady comes to retrieve the girl, apologizing, but the big man waves it aside and asks if she works for the children's home. After a bit of small talk, the lady mentions that they could use some strong hands to help around the place, someone good with fixing things, landscaping, a few things like that. As he stands with popping knees, the man offers to come take a look, and they head off--the blurbling girl in blue clinging to his leg the whole way.
If the players chose to leave the fantasy world as it was, and to stay in it, then their epilogue would be one of many more adventures to come--perhaps they would even found their own kingdoms, ascend as Divine Spirits, or other such things. If they chose to change the fantasy world, but to still remain in it, the ending might have a bittersweet flavor--they might change or remove the system, which would alter the course of magic and vastly affect the existence of the Divine Spirits that show favors, and though it might be more free, the world would never be the same.
No matter what happened, the Demon King and the Maker would be left behind in the black void room. They would have a conversation, which like everything else would depend on the Players' actions. Since I like to think most players would choose to return to Earth, I had always imagined that the final scene would be a panning shot over several Players' new/resumed lives...and ending with an interview on a big TV screen somewhere in the city, where a new game designer with black hair, red sunglasses, and a hairband in the shape of horns behind his ears, is eagerly discussing his next project, something he wants to design to really test players' creativity, and how it's based on the Isekai genre boom from Japan...
Again, I am so sorry that I simply did not have the skill, the time, or the emotional energy to finish this RP with you all. My job's crazy, I live a crazy life in general, and the System I put so much time into turned out to be just way too much for me to handle. With the loss of several players, I feel it is time to go ahead and close the shop, rather than try to force it now that we've lost so much momentum. It's entirely my decision, and I felt I needed to make this announcement so as not to drag you all along any further. I cannot apologize enough.
I will be leaving the discord group up for the foreseeable future. Feel free to send friend requests, PMs with questions if you really wanted to know something about the setting, so on and so forth. If you want to get in touch with me on discord, my tag there is Zeroth#2130. I will certainly keep on the lookout for you all when and if I ever have the time to try and GM again, or just if I get the chance to join other RPs. Again, I have enjoyed our time together immensely, and thank you all for giving me this opportunity.
@Borosev Thanks! It's mostly just practice. I'm the type of writer who can ramble on or go on tangents easily, so what I've found helps me get more detailed without making walls of text is using a thesaurus and the Hemingway app to make my word choices and sentence structure more effective. As far as making it look nice goes, there's a cheat sheet at the bottom of the site with all the code tags in it, and if you look up stuff for BBCode (like color hexes, different fonts, etc) you can usually find other cheat sheets pretty easily. I tried to get the right shade of orange-brown to bring to mind a rubber band, lol.
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