Zeroth

Enter the Dark Realm - A Castlevania/Gothic Fantasy Inspired Dungeon Crawl [DEAD - NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS]

@Vlad Tepes
I know from my own experience that mental health is a struggle, and wish you the best in recovery. I also understand the pain of having to pull out of managing a game when you really wish it would continue, and want to encourage you to use it as a learning experience going forward.

However, I also want to express some disappointment. If you felt the RP was moving too slowly, why not let us know? Looking back at it, it looks like we were easily averaging about a post a day (with some days having multiple posts offsetting days where there were no posts). I've been on the Guild a while, and let me tell you, there are lots of RPers around here that would kill for that pace. Lots of people would settle for two or three posts a week, because this is a hobby and a lot of folks have jobs, school, family obligations, and all that. It's unrealistic to expect a rapid-fire pace, especially in Casual games where people typically hold their writing to a higher standard compared to the Free section. (Nothing wrong with rapid fire one-liners if that's the kind of RPing one likes, I'm just pointing out the difference in expectations.)

Communication between a GM and players is ESSENTIAL to maintaining an RP community. There are no such things as stupid questions, the players don't (or shouldn't) expect you to be a perfect human being with an infallible schedule (and vice versa) and so on. Be willing to let your players know what's expected of them. It's okay to tell us, "Guys, would you mind picking up the pace a bit?"

I also want to express that I feel it's unfair to leave off like this with the comment that the RP's too slow, when you as the GM also have had a good opportunity to post in the last round of interactions. I and Shadowsaint had both posted, and while Kaze hadn't yet posted, 2/3 of the Chapel group had directly interacted. If you wanted to spur some action along, you could've easily made your next post for the "turn order," introducing something for Alistair and Chance to deal with, as well as having something "interrupt" Valentina and Naevys just as Kharne's about to give his piece. (No offense to Kaze, but he and I have RPed a long time together and I feel pretty confident telling you he wouldn't mind at all if he got to skip the talking and go straight to the skull-cracking.)

But again, I understand if there are other factors and pressures at play, and don't want you to feel beholden to this game if it's going to hurt your self-care. Like I said, I wish you the best, and just hope that this experience can be one you'll build upon in the future.

Enter the Dark Realm - A Castlevania/Gothic Fantasy Inspired Dungeon Crawl [DEAD - NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS]

Vlad and I are excited to see how Alistair reacts to Naevys, since she's a necromancer. <3

@Visyn

Alistair: "I cast Holy Radiation."

Everyone else: "Don't you mean...Radiance?"

Alistair: "No."

Enter the Dark Realm - A Castlevania/Gothic Fantasy Inspired Dungeon Crawl [DEAD - NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS]

@shadowsaint007@Vlad Tepes Whoops, forgot the mentions in the post, but it's up.

The "grave" Alistair thinks he saw is the small cross and a bumped up area near a tree on the right hand side (at least, my right hand, staring at my monitor) of the image with the Inn. If the fine details of the image itself don't factor into what's happening though, just assume he's extremely paranoid, lol. Because he is. XD

Enter the Dark Realm - A Castlevania/Gothic Fantasy Inspired Dungeon Crawl [DEAD - NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS]

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Barille Inn

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Chance was for the inn, but Valentina wanted to investigate the chapel. This caused Alistair to raise an eyebrow--he hadn't been sure Barille would still have any holy ground. Small rural settlements sometimes didn't have an actual church building, and when he'd searched the old maps and travel routes to find a way out here he had seen that the former parishes of Gransylva had been abandoned.

Mayhaps other brothers survived out here, somehow, someway, but even so...Alistair felt he was probably the first holy man to step foot over the Vampire King's borders in a long, long time.

The large dragonborn indicated that he wanted to investigate along with Valentina--was he anticipating conflict? Moreover, relishing in the idea of it?

"Miss Valentina, you and our large friend seem quite capable." He said with a nod. "I'm sure you'll be safe--" Then he turned to Bert and Chance, "But I don't believe the two of you have any form of holy protections, or experience with...the supernatural, correct?" Valentina clearly had an artifact or two on her person and had stated she was a hunter by profession. Kharne, of course, was the size of an outhouse of the brick variety. "I believe it's best if I stick with you for the moment."

The group thus split up, and Alistair walked a pace or two behind Bert and Chance as they looked through the derelict village to find an inn. Following a faded sign and rutted tracks from one of the broken carts, they soon found themselves standing in what could've passed for a swamp had the two story building not dared to defy the dead, grasping canopy of the trees around it.

Bert retrieved something from a pouch and put it in his mouth while he taunted Chance's caution. Alistair's mouth quirked in a frown--was the man chewing tobacco? Perhaps there were worse vices, and if anything the stimulant might sharpen his senses rather than dull them, but the priest still found it uncouth.

As the flighty man bantered with the mercenary, the Inquisitor took a good look at their surroundings. This stream had likely flooded in the storms brought on by the Vampire King's shroud of everlasting clouds; and without villagers and travelers, the inn had no doubt fallen into disrepair. Yet, aside from the signs of clear abandonment...

There were no bloodstains here, as there had been in the village. Aside from some birds in the distance, barely visible over the roof in the cloudy sky, no animals frequented the woods around them. There was a well---if it still had a working bucket and hadn't filled in with silt or debris, they might be able to get a water sample to purify.

Chance poked at the stream with a stick. The murky surface bubbled as he dug into the mud, and Alistair's eyes scanned lower to the ground--

A cross, near the roots of a tree.

The dark water churned.

"There is a grave there!" shouted Alistair suddenly, sweeping his mantle out as his hands rose in a series of sudden gestures! Oro, allevero, protego!

In the blink of an eye, a cube made of ethereal blue light expanded in front of Alistair's palm. As it grew in the space of another blink, it swallowed the Inquisitor, Chance, and Bert before freezing in place with a sound like crunching ice. The shallow water around their feet had been pushed back to the structure's edge, and the dead, blackened grass had been flattened under them. If not for the translucent glow, one might have thought they'd been encased in a glass prism somehow.

"This is a Holy Barrier." Alistair said, his voice tight. "If we are attacked, do not leave its light." Had he overreacted? For all he knew, the thing in the water was a jumping polliwog or a garter snake.

But people typically weren't buried right outside the front door of an inn. And in Gransylva, people had a habit of not staying buried at all.

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

Orc Camp

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@ERode

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Obtained New Item!

Flint Hatchet - Equip, Weapon/Tool - A sharper edge than a Stone Hatchet of equivalent size, but lighter and more brittle. Requires more strength and proper alignment to get a good chop, but most wood will be cut faster.

Borrowed Antler Pickaxe - Equip, Weapon/Tool - A pickaxe made with a sturdy piece of wood and a sharpened antler. Can harvest softer stones and some ores! It can be used as a piercing weapon, even on hard shelled creatures, but it wasn't designed for that. High Quality. On Loan from Bowbh.

You've attempted to Craft something!
Process: Handcrafts
Tools: Flint Hatchet, Jackalope Point
Materials: Elwet Antlers, Harpy Hide Strips, Tatzelwurm Hide Strips

...Success! However, a Tool was broken:
Jackalope Point > Broken Jackalope Point

Obtained Items:
Antler Bracer (Elwet-Harpy)
Antler Bracer (Elwet-Tatzelwurm)

Antler Bracers - Equip, Armor - A type of bone armor used to protect the arms. Materials such as fangs, teeth, horn, antler, etc can be quite tough, but typically aren't as hard as metals. They are somewhat resistant to physical damage, though less so against Blunt impacts. Light Defense Boost!

SYSTEM:Esfir

Before settling to her crafts, Esfir made another loop of the camp to search for any source of water. It turned out there was a mountain spring of some kind available...however, there also seemed to be a problem.

The spring came from somewhere higher up the mountain-side near the back end of the camp, and the orcs had constructed a rough channel from where it naturally spilled out of the rocks to a pool down on level ground. Piles of rock and bark made small dams to redirect the stream, another stone had been cracked apart and cleared so that a ditch could be dug into the dirt, then it led to a koi-pond-sized, circular hole lined with gravel at the bottom. Another channel had been dug that led under part of the camp's fence, so that if the pool ever got full enough to overflow the excess would be carried away from the tents.

However, currently it seemed like only a bathtub's worth of water was left in the pool, and it looked somewhat cloudy. As Esfir turned from it to seek out a place to do her crafts, she would see two orcs lowering a large clay pot into the water and then hauling it out between them, reducing the supply by a gallon's worth.

"Won't be long afore we gotta start goin' to da lake again with them stupid big tubs!" grumbled one. "Why's it keep stoppin' like dat!?"

"The place it comes out is all clear--gotta be somethin' higher up on da mountain!" snarled the other, as his companion foisted all the weight onto him. He hefted it easily enough, but didn't look thrilled about it. "Either the underground is blocked, or somethin' plugged it at the mouth!"

Esfir now had new tools, new armor, and at least one new objective. Giving away her Harpy meant that she might need to find another meal before the night was over--although, based on what her body felt now, it seemed going without three squares a day wouldn't starve her even if she was a growing Runt. Aside from that, the only thing left to do on her "checklist" following Auguz's orders was to find some shelter.

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@King Cosmos

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Despite the "System's" similarities, this certainly wasn't the same as a videogame even compared to an "immersive" RPG--in something like that, a task like "tanning leather" simply required killing some randomly generated animal (a task she now knew from experience to be painful, scary, and tiring) hitting a few buttons to "loot" it (compared to physically carving the bloody things open with a rock, or skewering their meaty bits over a fire, or lugging them over one's shoulder down a mountain), and then walking to some arbitrarily assigned merchant or crafting station to hit a few more buttons. Boom, instant leather, which with a few more clicks would become a piece of armor or something else useful.

No. Her hands kept cramping; she was covered in gunk up to her elbows; the salt stung the tiny cuts and scrapes holding the rock's sharp edges gave her; the tanning solution apparently had brains and who knew what else mixed into it, and the smell was more than positively foul...

Was Shamar making her do so many things just to make it more convenient for herself? Or was this just how it had to be? The orcs were primitive, and crude, and brutal...and yet, humans had been forced to do these same things at some point in their history. Hunting one's own food. Making tools and shelter by hand.

Forced. Akeno didn't consider herself a hard worker, but neither had she exactly figured out what it was she would've done with her life if she hadn't had someone else breathing down her neck all the time. School, extracurriculars, college--it was all just a matter of meeting her parents' expectations. Karate had been something she'd chosen for herself, and she had been able to choose how much effort she wanted to put into it. But now, here she was again, being forced to do things just to...just to survive?

Not for her parents' approval. Not for a grade. Not for money. Maybe not because she wanted to...but not because anyone else made her, either. This was for her survival.

By the time she finished, her hands felt like she'd been holding them up to a sandpaper grinder, her forearms ached, and her nose hairs might've singed. But, if she ever had to go it alone in this new world, at least now she had an idea of how to tan pelts...right?

"Hmm!" Shamar, whose hands were also bloody up to the elbows--save that hers looked much fresher, considering the bowls under her kills were slap full of crimson goop--laid a freshly harvested hide over the fleshing board Akeno had cleared. She looked over the Runt's work, occasionally sniffing a hide or clicking her tongue. The "finished" set that Akeno had just finished tying to the drying racks caused the Head Hunter to curl the corner of her lip up over one fang in a half-smile. She watched Akeno combing the last of the pelts before nodding her head.

"Good job, Runt! Yas got a lot betta hand-eye-quarter-nations den any o' dese udda mukhs! Wait right dere!" Shamar disappeared into the yurt for a moment. Akeno heard several kinds of shuffling and objects tossed around, before the scout reemerged...with a rough, yet warm looking hide vest. It even had a design on it, which looked like it'd been "burned" into the material with a hot piece of charcoal or something--a rough outline of a deer's head with antlers like lightning bolts.

"It's a little big, but ya tug dese here cords on da side to tighten it up!" The hunter pointed out. "You's lucky ya did every-ting right--if ya had messed up or tore my pelts, I was only gonna give ya some strips and cordage!" She practically shoved it into Akeno's hands, but thankfully all the gore both of them were covered with didn't seem like it would permanently stain. "Made it myself wif a Bowhorn buckskin!"

QUEST COMPLETE!
Quest: Tannery Crash Course

Reward Obtained: Bowhorn Deer Vest - Equip, Armor - A simple leather vest, but Bowhorn hide is tougher than that of a normal deer. It is somewhat resistant to physical damage, though less so against Slashing blades. Light Defense Boost!

SYSTEM:Akeno

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South Caves

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@Kazemitsu

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As Grunthor closed in on the spider, from this side he could see the earlier wound his companion had talked about. It wasn't one either of them had inflicted--but there was a gash of some kind across the back of its thorax, and one of its legs had been injured. How long ago? That didn't seem like a clean blade swipe, but whatever it was had at least given them a helping hand.

His club came down on another leg, eliciting a loud crunch as the chitinous joint gave way! Considering the damage the dark orcling had done, that should be three of eight down? The spider screeched! But, even as he dealt it a wound, Grunthor barely saw two more legs flash. One of them slammed into his shoulder, and he felt the bite of two small (relatively) hook-like claws. But they only poked him hard enough to draw blood; the spider's goal had been to push him away, and thus it had. He landed on his bum just in time for its other claw to slash at his club--with a crack, another one of the bone spikes shattered and the wooden haft lost a splintery chunk!

"[Miasma Bolt]!" The distinct sound of dark magic followed the other Runt's voice. "Make it worth--Yeah!" The spider screeched again and reeled back, rotating its body on the wall. Part of its face was now covered in the blue fluid that passed for its blood, but now its head was upright and its fat bottom hung low.

Low enough that it sprayed a wide arc of liquid web at both of them!

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Deep Forest

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@ReusableSword

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Agar crept further north, and found himself coming across the same game trail he had encountered when he first entered the area--or, at least, it was roughly the same width and seemed about the same age judging by the state of plantlife around it. In this area, too, the trees had thinned somewhat and most of the ground was covered in grass and moss. He could see, clustered around the roots of a tree less than two meters from his current position, several mushrooms!

A single Red Cream cap stood out due to its distinctive colors...as did a lone Turtleshell! There were three more, pointy-capped mushrooms that were shiny silver towards their tops, dulling to gray, then black, then rusty red towards the base.

Further on than that, to the west-side of Agar's vision, was a cluster of black bushes. Even from here, he could smell something like...dog poop? Rotting eggs? Whatever it was, it was NOT pleasant. The plants were short, scrabbly things with hanging seed pods that looked like...well, the kind of thing that would smell like dog poo.

And underneath those bushes, almost unnoticeable save for the fact that Agar's muffled steps hadn't alerted it and thus its head swiveled slowly from the opposite direction...A Tatzelwurm!

He'd seen a lot of this creature before and could probably take it, especially with the advantage of surprise--it wasn't an unknown quantity like that horned gator or the beetles. But, maybe he could also just grab the mushrooms and go...?

Enter the Dark Realm - A Castlevania/Gothic Fantasy Inspired Dungeon Crawl [DEAD - NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS]

@Visyn Hi, nice to meet you, but did you happen to get Vlad's approval beforehand or anything? Typically a Character Sheet is submitted to be looked over by the GM first before you jump into the game.

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

Working on an update!

EDIT: And we're up!

Enter the Dark Realm - A Castlevania/Gothic Fantasy Inspired Dungeon Crawl [DEAD - NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS]

@Eviledd1984@Kazemitsu@Vlad Tepes

Since Kharne seems like he'll follow Valentina, Alistair will accompany Bert and Chance to the inn. Internally, he's thinking that while the chapel might be the one place with any protections against evil that might've allowed people to survive, the inn is going to be in a central location and may have more clues as to what's happened to the place due to having more people present before everything went to hell. As well, if there's anything left unspoilt, the inn's larders may be better stocked than those of the chapel. He's also still trying to figure Chance and Bert out, whereas he already has a rough understanding of the other two.

Enter the Dark Realm - A Castlevania/Gothic Fantasy Inspired Dungeon Crawl [DEAD - NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS]

Posted!

Gransylva's highway department was murdered by a bloodthirsty vampire hundreds of years ago. The roads ain't been maintained ever since.

@Vlad Tepes

Alistair: "Ridiculous." *kicks dirt into a pothole* "How then, does this Vampire King expect to provide for his horde of horrors? And how does he pay them, with no functioning economy? They can't possibly all be hell-bent on supporting his dark rule for no recompense!"

*A zombie steps out of the shadows next to him* "Yeagh...We dun even havegh dental..." *Its teeth fall out*

Alistair: "You see? They don't even have dental." *cuts its head off and sets the body on fire*

Enter the Dark Realm - A Castlevania/Gothic Fantasy Inspired Dungeon Crawl [DEAD - NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS]

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Barille Outskirts

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The next to speak was an olive complected man dressed in dark leathers. He stank of gunpowder, but his scarred face--though perhaps not as disfigured as Alistair's own--said that he had fought up close more than once. Maybe losing those fights was why he relied on firearms now. He had darting, sharp eyes...but spoke frivolously, and with dextrous skill flipped a deck of cards between his fingers.

A smooth talker and opportunist. Possibly with a proclivity for violence. said Alistair's Inquisitive instincts. But he withheld judgement, and when Chance suggested a game the priest simply declined and held up his palm in understanding. The other fellow, however, a burly sort with weapons and armor openly on display, seemed irritated. Chance introduced the man as Bert and teased him. Clearly some sort of mercenary, or perhaps law enforcement. A bit uncouth, perhaps, for the latter. Yet either they're close enough friends to tolerate a bit of ribbing...or Chance knows Bert can't bloody his nose in present company. Their dynamic didn't seem to be a normal one.

The Dragonborn, Kharne by name, said only a single word. Actually, maybe it was an assumption to think that was his name? Maybe "Kharne" meant something in the dragon tongue like sod off you filthy humans? Alistair didn't think that was the case, but it was clear from the big one's body language that he wasn't comfortable being social. However, the warrior had been the second one on the coach, and thus Alistair had observed him the longest.

He didn't like the animals, to whom the feeling seemed mutual. He didn't seem to know exactly what the cues were for getting off or onto the carriage, each time the doors had opened to admit another of the party. And when Valentina had introduced herself, there'd been a tiny sigh and twitch that Alistair recognized as a disdain for social activities.

Barbarian, then.

The Inquisitor continued to watch his erstwhile companions as they played or refused to play Chance's game, constantly filing away new information. Whenever the thick fog outside provided any opportunity, though, he also took stock of their surroundings. The dead lands couldn't tell him much...save just how bad things had gotten in the once prosperous lands of Grandsylva.

Soon their ride came to an end. The coach driver was only too happy to leave them behind, but Bert seemed just as eager, if far from joyful, to press ahead. The way he dragged Chance with him suggested the card dealer was not of the same mindset.

"May God speed ye on your return, and keep you safe all your days." he prayed for the driver, as the cart's creaky wheels grew more distant

Here under duress. Bert is a keeper of some sort. Meaning Chance is...needed, somehow? For what?

As they walked the rutted, puddle-spotted road of churned mud and overgrown roots, ravens cried overhead. A chill wind brushed them with wispy, wet fingers. Although most of Alistair's body was covered, his breathing quickened as he felt the clammy air upon his face. He pulled his mantle tighter and pressed his lips in a stony, grim line.

The village of Barille was a wreck. Blood, long dried but moistened just enough by the breeze and soil to smell, stained the streets. And an upturned cart...and a fallen basket of fruit, now rotted and covered in flies. The dirt smelled like gravesoil.

"...It seems this place is in dire want of the Lord's blessing." he finally said, the first to break the silence. He glanced around at the others, and then at the seemingly empty buildings. "What say we search for an inn to get our bearings?" Or perhaps it'd be better to look for survivors. But no. Alistair suspected that, if anyone remained in Barille, they were no longer human. Yet, hope against hope, he wished that his instincts might be mistaken...

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@Eviledd1984@Kazemitsu@shadowsaint007@Vlad Tepes