Shadows of the Kingdom OOC

[Realms of Chaos]

Welcome to Shadows of the Kingdom, a psychological and horror-ish campaign inspired by good old silent hill. You guys may notice that you are starting out alone. Everyone will meet in due time but for now, everyone gets a bit of personal attention.

NPCs will be using various shades of gray speech but you can use whatever other colors you please (You can use multiple colors for your different forms if you want but only if you're fairly certain that you won't get them confused... and they have different voices, I suppose).

Also, could everyone who hasn't already PM me your sheets so I'll have everything?

That's most of what I said out of the way so now for more background information than I'll ever end up using (well, at least it fleshes out the setting).

Setting Information (now with new stuff)

Spoiler

Drachna: The primary human kingdom and main seat of power in the surrounding area. The nation has taken a rather laissez faire approach to magical industry, resulting in tremendous strides in production and efficiency but a repressed and hungry lower class, among which a “resistance” of sorts has formed. With the exception of those descended from Daenalus, the aristocracy of Drachna has been known to be its own worst enemy and new families seem to dry up each generation, prompting a good deal of rumors about the descendants of Daenalus.

It is in Drachna that the King of the empire, King Corinth, resides. In most ways, however, the king is a puppethead beyond the borders of Drachna. The other nations possess their own martial forces and Corinth dare not force the casters of his own nation to do anything, lest he be seen as impinging on their freedoms. Even so, most other nations agree to smaller requests and still send some portion of their taxes to the capital. Though it is technically true that there is only one real “kingdom” (that of Drachna), the Tolungar, Vespin, Sheel, and even Syrin are frequently referred to in such a way.

The actual nation of Drachna consists of a town by the same name (the capital) along with the towns of Telvon (which is formed around the only wizarding college in the kingdom), Gorros (a town famous for boldly ignoring most laws and restrictions placed on spellcasters and thus attracting them in droves), and a couple of smaller farming communities.

Tolungar: Originally a fully-elven kingdom to the northeast, humans have built towns and hamlets within the Tolungar forests and along its borders, forcing a certain degree of integration. Tolungar is a haven for the fine arts and is known for eloquence and more gentle forms of magic. Eerily, necromancy has proven especially common in this area as the elves don’t bother distinguishing one form of magic from another and a force of elven hexblades actually act as the main defenses of the kingdom. The elves are an elusive bunch and are the only beings with good memories of Daenalus (at least from the few occasions where he came into contact with them).

Tolungar consists of a human town called Relse (a logging community under close watch by the elves), Elvesburg (another human town formed as a “utopia” where lesser humans can learn from the greatness of elves, an arrangement that has fed the ego of said elves quite nicely for the past decade) and a couple more towns by the boundaries of the forest. Elven “towns” in Tolungar include Aesanth (the capital, formed from a conglomeration of homes built into trees), Neth (a rumored necropolis of elven necromancers that may or may not exist in reality), and any number of hidden elven communities.

Vespin: the small seaside kingdom just to the north of the Makrin mountains with a few more rural towns further inland. Vespin is known for its fish, produce, peaceful atmosphere, and for the hardy folk who hail from there. Unfortunately, Vespin is almost perpetually in debt to the dwarves of the southern mountains, leading a good portion of what the people produce directly to the dwarves. On the bright side, the dwarves now have a solid investment in Vespin and have offered to protect the nation if it is threatened (giving it a defensive edge if combat seems inevitable). In most cases, the towns of vespin are ruled economically by the dwarves while practical matters are decided by town councils, each of which have elected elders that meet when all of Vespin must act as one. As such, Vespin lacks any form of capital city and most towns are rather similar.

Sheel: A couple of arctic settlements formed by Drachna before the orcs attacked a good century before. They declared independence during the war and as there isn’t much out there, anyways, nobody has bothered to reclaim it. They are the second-greatest fish producers behind Vespin and have proven to be a perfect place to run away to when somebody doesn’t want to be found.

Quite recently, however, a good supply of natural materials (including veins of gemstones silver) have been found in ice tunnels running underneath Sheel. If or how long the nation can remain independent has become a common topic of debate. Sheel is by far the smallest of the nations, consisting of only a single town.

Syrin: Though the plains were originally ruled by the orcs, Drachna and Vespin sent out men when the war was over to meet the orcs who still remained and impose a more peaceful culture. Humans and orcs live in relative equality here (this is the only place where orcs and half-orcs aren’t treated as second-class citizens and produces more half-orcs than the entire rest of he world) and many of the previous tribal traditions have been preserved by the those who live in the plains. Nobody has claimed formal ownership over Syrin yet but it is obvious that doing so too soon will start a war and doing so too late will make Syrin want independence, causing a great amount of political turmoil.

Adding into the trouble, Syrin has been going through something of a drought for the past century or so, making it difficult to create and maintain order. So far, a single large town called Kar’too and several smaller villages and trading posts have been founded in the wastes.

Daenalus, the person and bloodline:

Spoiler

The early life of Daenalus is, for the most part, completely unknown. He never shared his family name with anyone and in fact turned his name into his own family name after he exterminated the orcish menace, becoming Daenalus Daenali. The little bit of information that people do know is that Daenalus had been married during the early conflict to a woman named Madeline, a fact only held in town records. Nobody knows became of Medeline (if anything happened at all) or who she was but nobody has come forth as Madeline’s child and there are no other mentions of her. There are also stories told by the elves of a wizard matching Daenalus’ appearance meeting with the Elven king during the ongoing conflict, an honor beyond honors even among the elves.
After the casting of his spell, Daenalus lived the life of a king and was known for his wise rule, his wondering eyes, and love of laughter for the rest of his life. The many descendants that the mage bore have been viewed in a special light and been held up to higher standards through the generations, even though the true talent of Daenalus doesn’t seem to have been passed on into any of them.

The house colors of the family Daenali are Gold and Crimson.
The Daenali family seal is an odd but meaningless arcane symbol, one that he apparently used as the great mage's arcane mark in life.

And now, a couple of disclaimers:

Spoiler

• If you are familiar with silent hill, you may notice a few differences to the formula (such as a lack of area maps, which won’t be needed as much here). I’m sorry if this offends anybody.
• As this game revolves in part around your entire kingdom as well as yourselves, there may end up being bits of pseudo-political ramblings (either subtle or overt). Be aware that any such ramblings apply only to the particular kingdom of this campaign within the context of this campaign and that even then, they do not necessarily represent my own views.
• Some parts of this game may be considered violent or cruel.

And now, the single most unreasonable request I'll make of you throughout this entire campaign

Spoiler

When you see spoilered text directed for someone else, I ask that you don't read it. I know that this is the general assumption for most games and that this may be automatic for some or all of you but as this is a psychological horror game, I ask that you put extra effort into it if you've had a spotty record for things like this in the past.

Similarly, I ask that you reply directly to spoilered text with spoilered text unless other players would naturally be aware of your response (such as telling them what you see/hear/know).

IC Thread

[vikingofdoom]

"Dave" will speak in blue.

[Starsign]

I'll have Sheila speak in Dark Orchid since she doesn't really change her voice in her different forms, just her tone.

EDIT: and it's Sheila not Shiela, and it's pronounced "Shee-illa" or "Sheilla" How it's said depends on the person really.

[Ridai]

Nicholas will speak in dark red.

[Monodominant]

Normal Persona is Red
Sneaky Persona is Orange
Angry Persona is YellowGreen

[Realms of Chaos]

Yay, everyone has assembled. Now to get things really started.

Starsign: oh... I somehow thought that the entire PM chain with the mispelled name was started by you rather than myself so I... something about your character just keeps messing me up, I guess.

[Realms of Chaos]

Hmmm... forgot to make a dice roll.

(1d4)[3]

[Monodominant]

hey I realised I am missing something in the character sheet!

Languages!

What languages are available in the setting? You make mention of elves and dwarves but is any of them available? Are there diffrent human dialects that one would learn in order not to betray where he is actually from?

[Starsign]

Are we still using spoiler for our posts or can we stop using them now? Just wondering.

[Realms of Chaos]

Monodominant: Unless you've been rather keen on travelling, it's unlikely that Ishmael has had anybody to teach him elven/dwarven. That said, there are probably tutors willing to teach you just about any language that you'd desire. As your alternate forms need not speak the same language as you and are their own entities, they can know any languages you wish (within normal limitations).

Starsign: you can abandon the spoilers now.

[Starsign]

DM

Spoiler

Originally Posted by Realms of Chaos

OOC: Don't worry about it. Trapped in this alleyway, you don't have too much to work with (the world opens up a bit more outside of this crampt alleyway). For that matter, I'm kind of surprised that you've managed to stay in the alleyway for this long.

...

You know, upon reflection, perhaps using a legendary source of evil and suffering to "block" the path was a bit too effective at dissuading you guys.

Well to be honest I'm worried of the possibility of instant death through actions not considered a violation of common sense. To me, horror games are like trial and error in a way, except in these games, there are no save points. Go through it all in one go or die and start from scratch. So I guess you can say it makes me worried to do anything.

[Realms of Chaos]

Starsign:

Spoiler

What type of DM would give you an instant-death trap in the first dungeon "room" and disguise it as the exit... oh, right, Gygax...

Anyhow, if it will help inspire a bit of bravery, let me share with you the following little "secret": The series of games that this campaign is loosely based on is known for protagonists with borderline-suicidal levels of curiosity/bravery (defining bravery as willingness to face the scary) and instant-death scenarios in these games (and in most horror games that I've played other than clocktower, come to think of it ) are rather rare and far-between.

Though I won't stop you from playing Sheila as a shy and fearful sort (variety is the spice of life, after all), it's unlikely that I'll spring instant-death on you without some sort of way out.

Besides, not all of the horror will come from what's happening to you.

[Starsign]

DM

Spoiler

Originally Posted by Realms of Chaos

Starsign:

Spoiler

What type of DM would give you an instant-death trap in the first dungeon "room" and disguise it as the exit... oh, right, Gygax...

Anyhow, if it will help inspire a bit of bravery, let me share with you the following little "secret": The series of games that this campaign is loosely based on is known for protagonists with borderline-suicidal levels of curiosity/bravery (defining bravery as willingness to face the scary) and instant-death scenarios in these games (and in most horror games that I've played other than clocktower, come to think of it ) are rather rare and far-between.

Though I won't stop you from playing Sheila as a shy and fearful sort (variety is the spice of life, after all), it's unlikely that I'll spring instant-death on you without some sort of way out.

Besides, not all of the horror will come from what's happening to you.

Oh, okay. So if I took the sword from the orc that's digging into him, would he absorb my soul? ^^; I promise I won't keep asking these questions, but I'd rather not get killed at the very beginning...

Actually, what kind of sword is it? My character can only equip simple weapons.

[Realms of Chaos]

Starsign:

Spoiler

...I can promise that he won't suck out your soul immediately but what your actions do in the long-term is anybody's guess.

Also, I'm pretty sure that there are no forms of sword that you possess proficiency with, though the heavy mace in his guy does count as a simple weapon...

[Ridai]

Since Starsign's last IC post wasn't there when I started writing my response, I edited my last post to react to Sheila's question.

[Starsign]

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! I never mentioned in my IC that Sheila decided to take out the weapon. Could you fix that please? (I can make weapons anyway )

[Realms of Chaos]

Darn, that's my third Sheila-related error. Well, fixed.

I really need to start paying better attention.

[Starsign]

It's all right... so long as you don't make a Sheila-related error that results in a significant change in the story or otherwise puts Sheila at a huge disadvantage, then I'd be upset.

[Realms of Chaos]

Spoiler

(1d20+4)[16](1d20+4)[17]

[Ridai]

Nicholas picked his knife back up and put it away. He is currently shielding her with the torch in hand. Won't help much, but I guess the sentiment counts.

[Realms of Chaos]

Understood.

Spoiler

(1d20+4)[18]

[Ridai]

Count of Silent Hill references: rising rapidly. Glad we aren't in a diner.

[Realms of Chaos]

going to give the others a bit more time to respond before posting up the cobbler shop tomorrow morning (Don't be afraid to make your opinion heard or at the very least make your presence felt rather than putting yourself on auto-pilot. I can't even tell if we've lost anybody at this point).

[Starsign]

Well I'm having fun with this game. I don't have anything else to add though, just waiting to enter the cobbler shop.

Actually I've been wondering if Sheila should have a relationship with one of the guys as the story goes on.

[Realms of Chaos]

Now I'm beginning to grow concerned about the lack of activity from some of us. Monodominant and Vikingofdoom, could you please post something to let us know that you're still there? If I don't get any response by this weekend, I'm going to assume that you are gone for good.

[vikingofdoom]

I'm here, posted my actions in the IC thread.

[Realms of Chaos]

good to know that you're still with us. I was getting a bit nervous, there.

OOC: Are people waiting for something to happen? I'm personally waiting for you guys to do something but if you want me to move things along, it probably won't be all that pleasant (horror campaign and all that).

Also, Monodominant has officially missed the deadline.

Edit: I just finished writing up an essay that has been keeping me incredibly busy and that's leaving me feeling totally wiped out. I'm still here, though, though I'll likely have to wait until tomorrow to have the time/energy needed for a real IC post.

[Starsign]

I uh, forgot to make a listen check Making one now.

(1d20+1)[20]

[Realms of Chaos]

Ugh... sorry for my late reply.

My finals are over and I am in the process of recovering from a surgery (which may take a couple of weeks). If you guys are still out there and willing to continue, I'd be more than happy to resume this game.

So... are you guys out there?

[Starsign]

I'm still here. I wouldn't mind continuing