Chapter 1: A Fine Collection Genre: Fantasy, steampunk, adventure and mystery.

Let's talk about the weather, just to break the ice. The sun of Eternus, referred to as the Blue Star, has a blue shine to it and appears smaller than your sun, but is in fact much bigger and brighter than yours. It's just farther away, so it looks smaller, you see. The two moons stands on opposite sides of Eternus. One moon is bigger, causing more extreme weather and tides every other day, while the other is much like your moon.

There are humans and other humanoid creatures (sharing the same ancestral origins) who have adapted to the environment they live in. Some have traits that help them climb, swim, dig, run faster, stay warm, stay cold and other animal-like features. Some humanoid races have learned to live together in peace; others live separately on their own continents. Conflict often arise when two humanoid races with different ways of living cross paths.

The animals are much like the ones you know, albeit more extreme. Like the humanoids, animals have evolved into several subspecies in order to adapt to the extreme environments of the planet. Some have taken on aspects of other animals, some have grown immensely in size and some even have the intellect of humans.

Animals can have magical powers to defend themselves or to help kill their prey. Abilities can be to walk on water, soar in the air, breath under water, walk on walls, become invisible, breath toxic gas, make the enemy or prey fall asleep, control an element, teleport over short distances, telepathy, etc. Some animals can share their power with others by touch or within a certain radius, so that pack animals can benefit if a member of the pack has an ability. Nature balances out the powers of predators and prey so that all creatures can coexist. If the balance is thrown off by, let us say humans, the results can be quite messy. There are creatures called the Guardians who can interfere if something is shaking the balance. Guardians are powerful creatures with an intellect greater than all other animals and humanoids, summoned when things go out of control. Some guardians solve problems by destruction, others by confining the problem or boosting the losing side with magical powers to balance the scale. Guardians can also take away magical abilities if a species or creature gets too powerful or destructive.

When a magical being dies, its soul will have to find a successor for the magical powers it possessed. The soul roams in the form of a wisp barely visible to the human eye, fixed on completing its last mission. The being will often choose someone it cared about in life, like a sibling, child, parent or mate. When the transfer happens, the successor will often have a dream where they can communicate with the soul that chose them, but only for a short period. When the wisp has completed its mission, the magical being’s soul returns to a guardian where it can rest and eventually, when it’s ready, become a new life form. If a guardian dies, it will transfer its powers and memories to another being and guide the new guardian, in the form of a wisp, until the new guardian is ready to take on the task alone.

If you actually read all off this, I'm impressed! Just out of my curiosity as to how many will take their time reading this, put "I like potatoes" in your post. [/spoiler] [Spoiler=Humans] Once, humans roamed freely in the world of Eternus, putting up settlements and even cities. The humans were highly ambitious and innovative. However, a darkness loomed over the human race, as they never could seem to get enough. Soon, human armies started colonizing and plundering other races to acquire resources and land, treating other races worse than cattle. The Guardians warned the humans of their ways, and as a consequence for their behavior, humans could no longer use magic and their lifespan was reduced to 100 years. The humans became furious. Up until now, humans had depended on their magical abilities to conquer and their lifespan used to be 500 years. The consequence triggered the humans to innovate weapons and technology that could fight magic, with a goal of bringing down the guardians so that humans could be the strongest creatures on Eternus. A thousand years ago, the humans killed one of the guardians in hope of claiming its powers for themselves. Their plan did not work out. The Guardians banished the human race to live on the far corner of Eternus, were their greed would eventually destroy themselves.

Magical powers are very rare among humans, only one in a million is born with a power. Humans have grown skeptical of magic, calling the ones who possess it cursed or freaks. It often ends badly. In other words, you do not want magic powers if you are a human, and if you have, you hide it well.

The humans know little of the other races and continents beyond their borders. Empera, the human’s continent, is surrounded by the vast ocean, dangerous shorelines, whirlpools and huge sea creatures (put up by the guardians in order to contain the destructive human race). Exploration by boat is nearly impossible. Even aircrafts have difficulties with navigating because of electrical storms raging over the ocean. Trading with or travelling to other continents is out of the question. Few explorers have returned to tell about their adventures, making people afraid of leaving mainland.

The humans are slowly but steadily destroying themselves. After the steam machine was invented, industrialism took over and cities emerged all over Empera, destroying forests and bringing wildlife to the brink of extinction. People moved to cities to get work and to live an easier life than the life of farmers. The human population grew rapidly while food and medicine became limited. Where cities grew, slums appeared likewise as there was not enough work to go around for the steadily increasing population. Only the best was chosen for work; the young and strong. Without work, people went bankrupt and had to give up their home and live in the slums.

Farmers struggled with bad crops and livestock often fell ill to diseases, tainting the meat inedible and making the animal sterile. The government tried calming the people by sharing the rations of food left with coupons. However, the aristocrats are not prepared to give up their privilege and persists that common people must pay taxes, rent and pay up their loans in exchange for protection and food rations. People are starving and desperate. Soldiers and police patrol the streets to keep the people quiet.

If you actually read all off this, I'm impressed! Just out of my curiosity as to how many will take their time reading this, put "Po-ta-to." in your post. [/spoiler] [Spoiler=Let's Play] You'll be roleplaying a human, for now. You will have the option to change or play more than one character as the plot evolves. I'll be the moderator, adding events to the plot to keep it going, as well as playing NPCs and one minor character. I have a general idea of where this is going, but you are welcome to come with suggestions as to where you would like the plot to go.

Setting: Brightvale.

What you need to know: Brightvale used to be a nice place, but now it's a dusty, industrialized city. The streets are either muddy or lied with bricks and the crooked houses are crumbled together. Railroads go straight through the city and the coal mines are just to the north. The aristocrats of Brightvale live close to Brightlake on a hilltop in the "South End District", away from the commotion of the coal mines, factories and the railroad. Aristocrats live comfortably in nice houses and are often landlords, renting out houses or apartments and claiming debts. The police patrol the South End District, keeping common folks away. The northern district of Brightvale, where the common folk live, is simply called Downtown.

In Brightvale, as in all the other cities of Empera, the unemployment rate is rising. Only the strong and healthy get to work in the factories and mines, and even they can quickly be replaced.

The technology in Empera is somewhat equivalent to Europe in the 1890s-1900s. The steam engine has made its entrance (yes, I'm a fan of steampunk) and industrialism is growing. Railroads transport wares from the major cities to the capital. There are a few passenger cars, but the tickets are expensive. Electricity is something the privileged may use, but oil lanterns, fire and coal gas are more common as light and energy sources. The automobile, telephone and radio have not been invented. People travel by horse drawn carriages and use horses to plow fields.

The humans of Empera date their years from when the continent became unified by king Artas Lightbringer the 1st, 635 years ago. The descendants of Artas Lightbringer still hold the crown and the royal family has for many years proclaimed themselves to be a divine family; Empera's saviors. Aristocrats and the majority of the common folk believe in the Lightbringers for protection and prosperity, giving gifts to the royal family. However, the royal facade is slowly crumbling, people are starting to see the royal family as a scam and wants to bring down the empire. Riots are breaking out, especially in the capital.

Making your introduction: Feel free to post your introduction at any time. A paragraph or three will suffice nicely, I won't stop you if you make it longer. If you want, you can use a scheme in addition to the paragraph(s).

You chose the motive for being in Brightvale - maybe your character lives there or is just passing through. You can be an aristocrat living comfortably in the South End District; someone who's lucky enough to get work; a stranger passing by; a beggar... Bottom line, you're a human and you're in Brightvale, the rest is up to you.

Human characters with magic is restricted to 1 or 2, as it is extremely rare for humans to possess magic. Your character may not have any powerful abilities at this point, but the power can grow stronger as the plot evolves.

Cycle There will be a cycle to how we respond after the introductions.

1. Moderator
2. Player 1
3. Player 2
4. Player 3
5. Player 4 (and so on)

Rules Be nice, play fair and follow the general rules. Use a form of ooc: (out of character) when not roleplaying. Keep the ooc to a minimum, though. PM me if you have questions or suggestions. Subscribe to the thread and ping the one who comes after you in the cycle. Romance and violence is ok, but not the main focus. I would rather encourage friendship and solving conflicts with intellect. I think that sums it up. Anything you would like to add? [/spoiler]

There's a rumor on the street -

a blue light appearing in the night, making people disappear...

Prologue

Dust swirls through the dark streets of Brightvale. The air is polluted with black smoke coming from industrial chimneys and dust from the coal mines outside the city. It's barely dusk and yet it's as dark as midnight. A crowd has gathered around an oil barrel, warming their hands over the blazing coal. On the stone bricked ground, blankets and tents are spread out and made ready for the night. The fire sheds a warm light on the surrounding dozen people. Faces are covered with scarves or bandanas, not to breath in the air unfiltered. It would ruin your lungs in just a few breaths. Their troubled voices murmur how taxes makes it impossible to pay for rent and food; today, yet another family was forced out on the street by their greedy landlord; the young ones don’t survive for long out on the streets; Brightvale is becoming more and more like the capital of Empera; slums are appearing even here.

Sore coughs break the discussion now and then. People on the streets don't usually live for long, especially not the old and weak.

A slim figure leans toward the brick wall, nearly cloaked by the shadows of the alley, observing with arms crossed. A pair of goggles cover her eyes, reflecting the sparks coming from the fire. The rest of her face is covered in a red crimson scarf and a leather hood. Behind the goggles, her green eyes are stern as she watches the pitiful state of Brightvale.

She shook her head as she started mumbling bitterly to herself, in a low voice careful not to interrupt the others. “Brightvale, how ironic. There’s nothing bright about this place anymore. The damned aristocrats ruined everything, and we let’em do it. Let's step on the weak so that we can have it all. People are starving? That's okay, as long as I'm comfortable. Forests? Let's chop'em down, they're only in the way! We're all ignorant bastards, it makes me sick. We deserve what's coming for us.” She suddenly noticed that she had spoken louder than intended. She coughed awkwardly, as if to say she was done with her outburst, stepping back into the shadows away from their gazes. She didn’t like drawing attention, not like this anyway. Lately, she couldn’t help but feeling a bit looney, and the empty stomach wasn’t helping.

Even though being an educated and resourceful woman, attractive even, there was no luck at finding decent work in this city, or any city for that matter. Maybe it would be wise to get married already, but her heart was still torn, telling her not to trust anyone. What a cliche. Now she’s on the street, yet another victim to taxes so that the landlords can live comfortable lives.

An uneasy feeling unexpectedly crept down her spine. She turned, only to stare into the black alley. Was someone watching her? She perched her ear and held her breath to focus, but the mumbling voices coming from the crowd and the cracks from the fire made it difficult to hear anything from the dark backstreet. She recalled a rumor she had heard just the other day, that people were disappearing from the streets at night after seeing a blue light. After staring into the dark for a while and seeing nothing, she shook off the feeling and figured it was probably best to go stand by the fire and blend in. Just in case.

OOC: Wow, this RP actually looks really good! I'm surprised no-one else has written anything here yet. I hope I'm not too late to sign up! I like potatoes. Po-ta-to.

A young man shivered as he held his hands to the flame of the barrel. He eyed the girl in the alleyway, but nothing valuable on her caught his attention. She was just as damn poor as the rest of them, but she didn't exactly look like it from a glance. She seemed healthier than the folks around, so she must have some kind of money to her name, right? What good is a thief on the streets if the people around him don't have anything but the clothes on their backs? Times were hard indeed. Not even the factory workers had much to their name either, spending all the money they have before it can be taken from them.

Matt sighed through his sketchily repaired respirator, the makeshift cloth cover on the broken left valve quietly whistled as the young man exhaled. His tall, fit figure and relatively kempt brown hair made him look a bit more high class, but the soot on his face and ripped clothes told a different story. His hazel-brown eyes gazed down at the scars on his hands, from times of work before his employer decided a machine would do his job better than him.

Matt looked up once again at the goggled woman, who seemed to be mumbling some pretty daring stuff. The young man silently nodded. Most of what she said was true, but what could homeless blokes like them do about it? It would be best to just stay quiet and do what you can in order to survive these days instead of complaining about it. Nevertheless, it was impressive to hear someone talk like that without being crazy. "But then again, she might very well be..." Matt muttered to himself as the girl suddenly became jumpy and was looking around behind her. As the girl in the goggles made her way over to a fire, Matt positioned himself to be next to her. He handed her a piece of salted jerky, saying "What you were saying over there was pretty ballsy. Most people keep there mouth shut about that in case a policeman comes by. Just out of curiosity, how are you scraping by out here?"