Bradok
Serf
- Local time
- Today 10:08 AM
- Messages
- 6
- Age
- 30
Veil of Vitae
In a different time Jorrik was a prosperous county. A land on the rise. It's people happy and numbers ever-growing. Then the war came. The shores that had delivered so much wealth gave access to misery. Three times Jorrik was blockaded and fired upon from the water. Parts of Jorrik died during the war. The rebuilding that took place after war's end could not revive them. When something teeters on the brink things forsaken can so easily be regained.
The year is 1705. Sixteen years since the war ended. Sixteen years since Jorrik buried it's dead, rebuild it's homes, and locked away it's secrets. For many years the good Count Rotem has held the adoration of his people and the respect of his peers. Under his reign Jorrik has once more ascended to a place of affluence. That was, until the cold winter months fell.
The first death was ignored wholly. A farmer, killed on his land in the late night. More than likely a starving wolf many thought. Then a clerk was found dead at the edge of the city. Then a whore in an alley. Then another, and another. Fourteen now lay dead. Magistrates still cry wolf when asked about the deaths, but has continued to grow. Talks of things in the night, shadows, voices calling from the darkness. Count Rotem doubled patrols to no avail.
The goings on in Jorrik have drawn the eyes of the world. A terrible mystery unfolding for all to see. While some venture to aid Jorrik in it's most dire hour, the machinations of a most sinister breed are beginning to bear fruit. To battle for a the county's soul has already begun.
In a different time Jorrik was a prosperous county. A land on the rise. It's people happy and numbers ever-growing. Then the war came. The shores that had delivered so much wealth gave access to misery. Three times Jorrik was blockaded and fired upon from the water. Parts of Jorrik died during the war. The rebuilding that took place after war's end could not revive them. When something teeters on the brink things forsaken can so easily be regained.
The year is 1705. Sixteen years since the war ended. Sixteen years since Jorrik buried it's dead, rebuild it's homes, and locked away it's secrets. For many years the good Count Rotem has held the adoration of his people and the respect of his peers. Under his reign Jorrik has once more ascended to a place of affluence. That was, until the cold winter months fell.
The first death was ignored wholly. A farmer, killed on his land in the late night. More than likely a starving wolf many thought. Then a clerk was found dead at the edge of the city. Then a whore in an alley. Then another, and another. Fourteen now lay dead. Magistrates still cry wolf when asked about the deaths, but has continued to grow. Talks of things in the night, shadows, voices calling from the darkness. Count Rotem doubled patrols to no avail.
The goings on in Jorrik have drawn the eyes of the world. A terrible mystery unfolding for all to see. While some venture to aid Jorrik in it's most dire hour, the machinations of a most sinister breed are beginning to bear fruit. To battle for a the county's soul has already begun.
Premise:
The overall of the plot is a simple one. A series of grisly deaths have occurred in the County of Jorrik. Officials have declared it the act of rabid animals, and Inspectors concurred that nothing points to foul play. However, the strangeness of it all cannot be masked. The first few dead had indeed been found where a beast may prowl. In fields, alleys, the edge of the wood. More recent victims could not so easily have their circumstances explained away. Found in their homes, their beds, throats torn open. Only one theme persists among all the victims. The lack of blood.
You had read the papers. The articles reporting on these poor souls and the beast that ended them. For reasons your own you have decided to visit Jorrik. Perhaps you can make sense of all this madness where others have failed. The only thing you know for certain, there is something sinister happening in Jorrik.
The Kindred:
The main antagonists of our story. I've been wanting to do something with Vampires for a long time. It seems like every time I see a Vampire RP pop up it's either a romance or very combat oriented. I wanted something more dark and mysterious. For the purpose of keeping the story fun and surprising I won't go into too much detail here. Vampires in this Role-Play will be varied, but leaning more towards traditional vampires than anything else. Think Bram Stoker's Dracula or the cast of Anne Rice's novels. Other than that, I really can't say without ruining the plot!
Characters:
Generally speaking our protagonists should be ordinary people. They should have no clear knowledge on what is actually going on in Jorrik. Whatever compelled them to make the trip, whether personal, professional, or simple curiosity; is solely up to you. I will say that I prefer complex characters over typical archetypes. When it comes to the actual creation of characters I only have a few concrete rules.
- No characters under the age of 20. (I would prefer older characters.)
- No characters with preexisting knowledge of Vampires.
- No characters that are Half-Vampire or anything akin to it.
- No characters that are Vampire Hunters.
General Information:
What's up guys! I've actually been work-shopping this idea for a while. I've posted the premise on a couple of different sites that I am on trying to weigh the overall interest for something like this. So far I haven't garnered as many hits as I've hoped. Here's hoping that will all change on this site!
So this is essentially a Horror/Mystery Role-Play. I want the main focus to be on character psyche. Their mentality when pushed into these odd and terrible situations. The idea is to see how well these semi-average people can retain their sanity when faced with the unfettered madness around them. Yes, there will be bouts of combat and fisticuffs. However; I do not want for this to devolve into a "Hunt down X and kill it" Role-Play. Our characters are in vastly over their heads. The danger is very real. It will take skills of all kind for them to succeed in their goals.
I was toying with the idea of using Discord's dice rolling feature for this, but ultimately decided to go pure Free-Form. I don't want to hinder the creativity of those involved in any way. As a general rule though, just be reasonable. Chances are if you think something shouldn't be done, it shouldn't. Remember the golden rule of RP, when in doubt as a GM.
Posting & Activity:
I like things to move at a fairly steady pace. I try not to be unreasonable about it, and sort of use my own life as a template of how active a person can be in a Role-Play. I live a fairly busy life. Taking that into account I tend to go with "If I can, you can." policy. Which may not be the most popular view of things I know. Typically though, for everything I GM, I use these standard rules.
- Everyone should post once per 24 hour period from the time of their last post.
- If you do not post within a 24 hour period you will be skipped in the posting order.
- On return you can write a "Catch-Up" post describing your reactions to what you missed.
- If you know ahead of time you will not be able to post let a GM know.
- If you do not post within 1 full week without informing a GM you will be removed.
Role-Plays tend to sputter out and die a lot. People get overwhelmed, lose interest, and just stop posting one day. One of the best ways I've found to avoid this is to stay in touch with one another. Discord has made this really easy to achieve. For all Role-Plays I create a Discord Server to use for organization if nothing else. In certain cases it can even be used to augment a Role-Play if such is called for. For those reasons I've outlined what I expect in that area here.
- Joining the Discord Server is mandatory.
- Information about the Role-Play will be posted on the Discord Server. (This includes Lore, NPC Information, Locale Details, and etc.)
- Small Scale Role-Play may be done on the Discord Server. (This includes simple conversation and actions between characters or NPC's.)
- Large Scale Role-Play must only be done on the Forum. (This includes any major actions, such as attacking a character or NPC; or anything that may be plot relevant.)
- When a Role-Play on the Discord Server concludes a synopsis must be typed and posted on the Forum.