To be delivered to the Mayor's office
Vanguard, The Tear
The Desolate Plains
You're not getting a dear or a To Whom It May Concern, I know who you are and I don't care. As long as you keep people from dying, and a little history on how the world went to shit and people started suddenly turning into incredibly powerful murderbeasts will help you do that, it doesn't matter who you are.
It started ten years ago. No one's sure how, but most people blame it on something called ?The Wormhole Event?, and only a fraction of those people know what the hell that is. We were at the height of technology, and everybody was safe and healthy, and we had technology that could bring someone back from the brink of death. We thought we had the perfect society. Then something went wrong, the sky darkened, and The Tear, the meanest mother hubbard of a rift in space time you ever saw opened up, somewhere over the Mojave, like a scarlet wound against the sky. The darkness hasn?t lifted since, and neither has the horrible things it brought with it.
Some call them gods, most monsters, and fewer still aliens, but by most, they go by one name: Defilers, not a name that they gave themselves, but it stuck, and it describes their actions pretty well. There?s really only a few things we've managed to learn about these assholes, they remain mostly a mystery at this point. The first sure thing about Defilers: They hate each other more than they could ever hate us. Second: They?re extremely powerful, and can by no means be from this planet. And third: they're wiping us out. I?m not even sure they?ve noticed, but they are. They get inside you, and you change, you become one of them...the Manifested. See Defilers, they can't enter our universe, and they can't die, not properly, but they need a way to show their hate and anger for each other.
That?s where the Manifested come in. They tend to start as just normal folks, like you and me. That part of them is what?s called ?The Host?. Then a Defiler reaches their darkness into them, and their body?s twist and change, to reflect their new guest. Y'see each Defiler fancies themselves in charge of a something...flame, hate, music, light...and have a form that reflects that. The change is called ?Transmutation?, and it?s supposedly one of the most horribly painful things that can happen to a man. When it's through, their minds aren't their own anymore, at least not on the outside, and they're different. That's where a human becomes Manifested, nothing but a weapon, an insult, ready to be hurled by a Defiler at their siblings, a plaything. They don't live long after that, but those that do tend to...degrade...become even less human, change more to reflect their Defiler. If they survive for too long, the Defiler gets bored and abandons them, leaving them like a broken toy. You better believe they die soon after that.
Manifested, no matter how long they've been alive, have terrible powers, once again a reflection of their Defiler. Mixed with their almost non-existent regard for human life, this has led to more than few accidental casualties. There ain't much of us left, folks like you and me, and I get the feeling that even we won't be around for long. People did what people do and huddled together, formed settlements and cities, like the one you're soon to run. These places aren't as safe as people like to think, not in the slightest. Defilers can find you anywhere, and will reach inside and transmute you quicker than you have time to understand that you're becoming a demon. Settlements, cities...?Safe Havens?? They all become slaughtering grounds in the end.
They say that some places, you can glimpse at the Defiler's home, through the change that rifts bring while they help Defiler's into our world, and oh lord you better believe they ain't pretty. Boils of some material that waltz around the line between flesh and stone bubble and pop, and creatures, made of teeth and muscle, crawl about in pain. Some say that it's a glimpse at hell on earth, and from the sounds of it I'm inclined to agree. That part seem unimportant to most. ?Just stay away from those places? is what they'll say, but I'm telling you for three reasons: A. The Tear's definitely been getting bigger over the last ten years. B. Sometimes those things get out of their areas and cause more damage with their numbers than a Manifested ever could, and C. The city you?re running is sitting right next to the biggest one of these in recorded existence, so ?staying away? is out of the question.
That's not everything I know and it's certainly not everything you'll want or need, but I don't put much faith on your continued survival. If you can go 5 months with Vanguard under your care and remain alive and sane, write back and I'll tell you some things that will definitely save your life. Until then, you're going to hear very little of me, unless I happen to have to come for you. I hope that doesn?t happen.
Regards, Copernicus
Vanguard, The Tear
The Desolate Plains
You're not getting a dear or a To Whom It May Concern, I know who you are and I don't care. As long as you keep people from dying, and a little history on how the world went to shit and people started suddenly turning into incredibly powerful murderbeasts will help you do that, it doesn't matter who you are.
It started ten years ago. No one's sure how, but most people blame it on something called ?The Wormhole Event?, and only a fraction of those people know what the hell that is. We were at the height of technology, and everybody was safe and healthy, and we had technology that could bring someone back from the brink of death. We thought we had the perfect society. Then something went wrong, the sky darkened, and The Tear, the meanest mother hubbard of a rift in space time you ever saw opened up, somewhere over the Mojave, like a scarlet wound against the sky. The darkness hasn?t lifted since, and neither has the horrible things it brought with it.
Some call them gods, most monsters, and fewer still aliens, but by most, they go by one name: Defilers, not a name that they gave themselves, but it stuck, and it describes their actions pretty well. There?s really only a few things we've managed to learn about these assholes, they remain mostly a mystery at this point. The first sure thing about Defilers: They hate each other more than they could ever hate us. Second: They?re extremely powerful, and can by no means be from this planet. And third: they're wiping us out. I?m not even sure they?ve noticed, but they are. They get inside you, and you change, you become one of them...the Manifested. See Defilers, they can't enter our universe, and they can't die, not properly, but they need a way to show their hate and anger for each other.
That?s where the Manifested come in. They tend to start as just normal folks, like you and me. That part of them is what?s called ?The Host?. Then a Defiler reaches their darkness into them, and their body?s twist and change, to reflect their new guest. Y'see each Defiler fancies themselves in charge of a something...flame, hate, music, light...and have a form that reflects that. The change is called ?Transmutation?, and it?s supposedly one of the most horribly painful things that can happen to a man. When it's through, their minds aren't their own anymore, at least not on the outside, and they're different. That's where a human becomes Manifested, nothing but a weapon, an insult, ready to be hurled by a Defiler at their siblings, a plaything. They don't live long after that, but those that do tend to...degrade...become even less human, change more to reflect their Defiler. If they survive for too long, the Defiler gets bored and abandons them, leaving them like a broken toy. You better believe they die soon after that.
Manifested, no matter how long they've been alive, have terrible powers, once again a reflection of their Defiler. Mixed with their almost non-existent regard for human life, this has led to more than few accidental casualties. There ain't much of us left, folks like you and me, and I get the feeling that even we won't be around for long. People did what people do and huddled together, formed settlements and cities, like the one you're soon to run. These places aren't as safe as people like to think, not in the slightest. Defilers can find you anywhere, and will reach inside and transmute you quicker than you have time to understand that you're becoming a demon. Settlements, cities...?Safe Havens?? They all become slaughtering grounds in the end.
They say that some places, you can glimpse at the Defiler's home, through the change that rifts bring while they help Defiler's into our world, and oh lord you better believe they ain't pretty. Boils of some material that waltz around the line between flesh and stone bubble and pop, and creatures, made of teeth and muscle, crawl about in pain. Some say that it's a glimpse at hell on earth, and from the sounds of it I'm inclined to agree. That part seem unimportant to most. ?Just stay away from those places? is what they'll say, but I'm telling you for three reasons: A. The Tear's definitely been getting bigger over the last ten years. B. Sometimes those things get out of their areas and cause more damage with their numbers than a Manifested ever could, and C. The city you?re running is sitting right next to the biggest one of these in recorded existence, so ?staying away? is out of the question.
That's not everything I know and it's certainly not everything you'll want or need, but I don't put much faith on your continued survival. If you can go 5 months with Vanguard under your care and remain alive and sane, write back and I'll tell you some things that will definitely save your life. Until then, you're going to hear very little of me, unless I happen to have to come for you. I hope that doesn?t happen.
Regards, Copernicus
Now that we have world information out of the way, welcome to Manifest, a semi-episodic RP heavily centered around personal destruction and ruin at a the hands of a force more powerful than you in every way shape or form the extreme trauma and tragedy this situation brings. However, it is also about body horror, horribly messy descriptions, Lovecraftian superpowers and PVP. This is something of a love child of mine as it combines a lot of what I like with a lot of what my friends like.
1. The results of PvP will be decided randomly beforehand, but this does not mean that you should utterly resign yourself to losing. The joy of PvP roleplaying is to create an interesting scene in the reader?s mind, not to win and use is as your personal power fantasy. Additionally, if you lose, don?t try and win anyway, it?s just rather immature.
2. Just because you are possessed by a god does not allow you to god mod. You can?t just go, even if you do win the draw, ?X?s clawed hand rips up and tears Y in half?. It?s simply not good story telling or good role-playing.
3. Don?t just copy a humanoid abomination exactly. It?s okay to base them on something, but don?t just make a character that could be Slenderman?s identical twin.
4. Your person part of your character (See below) will die frequently. Accept this now, but still put effort into their development story-wise and background. Just because they?ll live a short existence doesn?t mean they don?t deserve to have the story of their existence told.
5. The world is futuristic and pretty damn fucked up, but apart from things made definite in the letter, it?s pretty open to your interpretation.
2. Just because you are possessed by a god does not allow you to god mod. You can?t just go, even if you do win the draw, ?X?s clawed hand rips up and tears Y in half?. It?s simply not good story telling or good role-playing.
3. Don?t just copy a humanoid abomination exactly. It?s okay to base them on something, but don?t just make a character that could be Slenderman?s identical twin.
4. Your person part of your character (See below) will die frequently. Accept this now, but still put effort into their development story-wise and background. Just because they?ll live a short existence doesn?t mean they don?t deserve to have the story of their existence told.
5. The world is futuristic and pretty damn fucked up, but apart from things made definite in the letter, it?s pretty open to your interpretation.
So character sheets will be divided into two categories: The character sheet of your person, which will change when they are destroyed in a duel, and the Defiler?s sheet, which is the one you will stay with as long as you like. When you lose a duel you make a new person sheet, but keep your Defiler.
People
Name: (Obvious)
Appearance (Prior to Transmutation): (What did they wear? What were their eyes, hair, skin ect. Ect. Coloured? You get the idea)
Personality: (Just like, one or two paragraphs on your character?s personality, so you have a clear idea of how to portray how the Defiler is changing them and breaking them)
History: (Your character prior to their Transmutation)
Additional Notes: (Whatever you feel doesn?t fit above)
Defilers:
Name: (Defiler?s make their own names from simple words they can get from anybodies brain, but still fit with their domain)
Domain: (What your Defiler feels they lord over)
Manifested Title: (The title given by people to the Manifested form of a Defiler, usually something starting with ?the?)
Manifested Appearance: (The changes in physical form a Defiler inflicts on its host)
Manifested Personality:
People
Name: (Obvious)
Appearance (Prior to Transmutation): (What did they wear? What were their eyes, hair, skin ect. Ect. Coloured? You get the idea)
Personality: (Just like, one or two paragraphs on your character?s personality, so you have a clear idea of how to portray how the Defiler is changing them and breaking them)
History: (Your character prior to their Transmutation)
Additional Notes: (Whatever you feel doesn?t fit above)
Defilers:
Name: (Defiler?s make their own names from simple words they can get from anybodies brain, but still fit with their domain)
Domain: (What your Defiler feels they lord over)
Manifested Title: (The title given by people to the Manifested form of a Defiler, usually something starting with ?the?)
Manifested Appearance: (The changes in physical form a Defiler inflicts on its host)
Manifested Personality:
Name: Cinder
Manifested Title: The Scorched
Domain: Defiler of Flame
Appearance (When Manifested): The Scorched's bodily fluids turn into fire that burns without need for fuel or heat, and does not damage The Scorched in a way that fire would normally, but does hurt them. Their skin turns black as charcoal and becomes gritty and tough. Small volcanoes dot the victims charred flesh, from which the aforementioned hellfire oozes in great quantities. Their mouth and eyes are full of fire, and the palms of their hands can be opened up to fire it in a projectile stream. They are in constant pain and feel constant anger. Pain can be relieved if the fire is removed in large enough quantity, though never enough to lessen the Scorched's endless anger.
The Scorched's blackened charcoal flesh has a tendency to break off and fall to the wayside. Veins and cracks of glowing red and orange pattern The Scorched's body, which have been known to break open and expel a highly pressurised stream of fire that is so hot it melts stone like butter. The Scorched's movements are slow and deliberate, but have been known to become erratic and jerky, as if trying to move through intense pain. The original clothing of The Scorched burns onto them and fuses with their flesh, so they have a tendency to have blackened, irremovable rags cling to them.
Personality: Cinder knows very little in the way of self control, or anything beyond world ending hate and anger. His hosts are generally quick to act and slow to restrain themselves. They usually have short tempers, and have been known to destroy cities with no other Manifested within them, simply to relieve the pain or release some of their anger. The Scorched are always destructive, both to themselves and others, and Cinder has gone through a lot more Manifested than any other Defiler. Most of his hate is directed at his brothers and sisters, meaning that he will not forge any alliances in duels, no matter how temporary they may be. In battle the Scorched has a tendency to care for their environment even less. As a result most battlegrounds of the Scorched are blackened, smoke filled, inhospitable death zones, where fire has scorched and burned everything.
Name: Marcus Pleasant
Appearance (Prior to Transmutation): For the ten years after the wormhole event, Marcus has alternated between wearing a jumpsuit of patchwork scraps and a robe that allows for comfort ability while not being easily recognized. These two items of patchwork comprise mostly of brown, black and navy materials, but do have the odd white and actual colour here and there. His feet are clad in knee high black combat boots and he always wears a harness, within which is contained a bottle of water, a combat knife, a pistol with five bullets left in it. The bottom half of his face usually has a red and white rag wrapped around it, and his eyes are concealed by a pair of aviators.
His hair is dark brown with grey lines, along with his magnificently untrimmed and mangy beard. His skin is tanned and scarred in multiple places shallowly, with only two deep scars. One travels across the bridge of his nose, a large chunk of which is missing, and another travels in a curve from the bottom of his left cheek to the bones of his right. His cheekbones are high and his nose is crooked, obviously broken multiple times. His eyes, hidden though they may be, are extremely bloodshot, and his teeth are yellow and black. He has a muscular build, one expected of a military man, and is missing his right arm. The fingers on his left hand are mostly intact, minus the end of his ring finger. His entire body is matted with and blackened by dirt, and scars litter his body, again, many shallow ones but only two significantly deep ones. One comes across his chest vertically, and the other from his hip to his right armpit.
Personality: Marcus is not a kind man, and is not friendly in the least. He is quick to avoid others, mostly due to his past, and is filled with self loathing and general loathing for the world in its current state. His temper is short and his patience shorter. He is also heavily paranoid, and does not like to stay in one place for too long. This is also heavily tied to his past. Marcus cares little for human life, and his willingness to kill to save his own borders on the sociopathic. His hatred for the Manifested borders on obsessive, and he has endured many an injury while trying to tip the scales from a one sided conflict into a scenario containing mutually assured destructions for both Manifested. Marcus has been known to try and rescue groups of survivors, usually in an attempt to angry or weaken a Manifested.
History: Marcus was nearest the wormhole event you could be without being completely obliterated when it happened. He was the one that had pulled the trigger, figuratively speaking, on the device that caused it. He saw the tendrils of the first witnessed Defiler crawl into out dimension and cut tanks apart like they were fruit. He saw it reach into people and change them, turning them into twisted beasts that clawed and mauled each other like beasts with the great claws that had sprung from their hands. He had seen its physical form retreat, but the wormhole widen. He had seen the hellish dimension of the Defilers' at its purest, and couldn't help but do nothing other than run away. So traumatizing was the event, that Marcus, an idealistic private at the time, had run away until his feet bled and been left with a sudden but deep rooted hatred of humanity. Originally, Marcus had been told that the weapon he would be firing was a new non-lethal weapon that would incapacitate the military of the city while leaving them unharmed.
Marcus saw now that he was nothing more than a patsy to use in the testing of a new super weapon so destructive it broke the world and twisted men into forms thought impossible. A few days after the wormhole event, Marcus returned to the city and found it in ash, with inhuman beasts roaming the streets and great flesh appendages growing from walls. Convinced that the city was now hell on earth, he gathered up what few scraps of cloth he had left, and left as soon as possible. He sewed himself a cloak of the victims of his sins, to remind him constantly of what he had done. Marcus didn't see his first true manifested until a year later. Witnessing the wormhole event had let him see the signs, and he saw it for what is was. Using a variety of controlled explosives, he dropped a building on it, destroy its mortal form. However, the death of the Manifested released a great amount of energy as the Defiler escaped, killing many of the refugees he was trying to save and taking his right arm.
Marcus decided that he would spend the rest of his life trying to eliminate as many manifested as possible, no matter the cost. Marcus' newfound purpose twisted him, however, and soon the only thing he could seek to do anymore was hunt down and weaken the Manifested. Few people recognized him as the trigger of the Wormhole Event, and those that did met a quick and silent death at the end of his knife. Marcus justified himself by saying that if he was lynched, as he was sure to be if he was found out, who would be left to fight the manifested? Scars manifold have been inflicted on him, in both body and soul.
Additional Notes:
Manifested Title: The Scorched
Domain: Defiler of Flame
Appearance (When Manifested): The Scorched's bodily fluids turn into fire that burns without need for fuel or heat, and does not damage The Scorched in a way that fire would normally, but does hurt them. Their skin turns black as charcoal and becomes gritty and tough. Small volcanoes dot the victims charred flesh, from which the aforementioned hellfire oozes in great quantities. Their mouth and eyes are full of fire, and the palms of their hands can be opened up to fire it in a projectile stream. They are in constant pain and feel constant anger. Pain can be relieved if the fire is removed in large enough quantity, though never enough to lessen the Scorched's endless anger.
The Scorched's blackened charcoal flesh has a tendency to break off and fall to the wayside. Veins and cracks of glowing red and orange pattern The Scorched's body, which have been known to break open and expel a highly pressurised stream of fire that is so hot it melts stone like butter. The Scorched's movements are slow and deliberate, but have been known to become erratic and jerky, as if trying to move through intense pain. The original clothing of The Scorched burns onto them and fuses with their flesh, so they have a tendency to have blackened, irremovable rags cling to them.
Personality: Cinder knows very little in the way of self control, or anything beyond world ending hate and anger. His hosts are generally quick to act and slow to restrain themselves. They usually have short tempers, and have been known to destroy cities with no other Manifested within them, simply to relieve the pain or release some of their anger. The Scorched are always destructive, both to themselves and others, and Cinder has gone through a lot more Manifested than any other Defiler. Most of his hate is directed at his brothers and sisters, meaning that he will not forge any alliances in duels, no matter how temporary they may be. In battle the Scorched has a tendency to care for their environment even less. As a result most battlegrounds of the Scorched are blackened, smoke filled, inhospitable death zones, where fire has scorched and burned everything.
Name: Marcus Pleasant
Appearance (Prior to Transmutation): For the ten years after the wormhole event, Marcus has alternated between wearing a jumpsuit of patchwork scraps and a robe that allows for comfort ability while not being easily recognized. These two items of patchwork comprise mostly of brown, black and navy materials, but do have the odd white and actual colour here and there. His feet are clad in knee high black combat boots and he always wears a harness, within which is contained a bottle of water, a combat knife, a pistol with five bullets left in it. The bottom half of his face usually has a red and white rag wrapped around it, and his eyes are concealed by a pair of aviators.
His hair is dark brown with grey lines, along with his magnificently untrimmed and mangy beard. His skin is tanned and scarred in multiple places shallowly, with only two deep scars. One travels across the bridge of his nose, a large chunk of which is missing, and another travels in a curve from the bottom of his left cheek to the bones of his right. His cheekbones are high and his nose is crooked, obviously broken multiple times. His eyes, hidden though they may be, are extremely bloodshot, and his teeth are yellow and black. He has a muscular build, one expected of a military man, and is missing his right arm. The fingers on his left hand are mostly intact, minus the end of his ring finger. His entire body is matted with and blackened by dirt, and scars litter his body, again, many shallow ones but only two significantly deep ones. One comes across his chest vertically, and the other from his hip to his right armpit.
Personality: Marcus is not a kind man, and is not friendly in the least. He is quick to avoid others, mostly due to his past, and is filled with self loathing and general loathing for the world in its current state. His temper is short and his patience shorter. He is also heavily paranoid, and does not like to stay in one place for too long. This is also heavily tied to his past. Marcus cares little for human life, and his willingness to kill to save his own borders on the sociopathic. His hatred for the Manifested borders on obsessive, and he has endured many an injury while trying to tip the scales from a one sided conflict into a scenario containing mutually assured destructions for both Manifested. Marcus has been known to try and rescue groups of survivors, usually in an attempt to angry or weaken a Manifested.
History: Marcus was nearest the wormhole event you could be without being completely obliterated when it happened. He was the one that had pulled the trigger, figuratively speaking, on the device that caused it. He saw the tendrils of the first witnessed Defiler crawl into out dimension and cut tanks apart like they were fruit. He saw it reach into people and change them, turning them into twisted beasts that clawed and mauled each other like beasts with the great claws that had sprung from their hands. He had seen its physical form retreat, but the wormhole widen. He had seen the hellish dimension of the Defilers' at its purest, and couldn't help but do nothing other than run away. So traumatizing was the event, that Marcus, an idealistic private at the time, had run away until his feet bled and been left with a sudden but deep rooted hatred of humanity. Originally, Marcus had been told that the weapon he would be firing was a new non-lethal weapon that would incapacitate the military of the city while leaving them unharmed.
Marcus saw now that he was nothing more than a patsy to use in the testing of a new super weapon so destructive it broke the world and twisted men into forms thought impossible. A few days after the wormhole event, Marcus returned to the city and found it in ash, with inhuman beasts roaming the streets and great flesh appendages growing from walls. Convinced that the city was now hell on earth, he gathered up what few scraps of cloth he had left, and left as soon as possible. He sewed himself a cloak of the victims of his sins, to remind him constantly of what he had done. Marcus didn't see his first true manifested until a year later. Witnessing the wormhole event had let him see the signs, and he saw it for what is was. Using a variety of controlled explosives, he dropped a building on it, destroy its mortal form. However, the death of the Manifested released a great amount of energy as the Defiler escaped, killing many of the refugees he was trying to save and taking his right arm.
Marcus decided that he would spend the rest of his life trying to eliminate as many manifested as possible, no matter the cost. Marcus' newfound purpose twisted him, however, and soon the only thing he could seek to do anymore was hunt down and weaken the Manifested. Few people recognized him as the trigger of the Wormhole Event, and those that did met a quick and silent death at the end of his knife. Marcus justified himself by saying that if he was lynched, as he was sure to be if he was found out, who would be left to fight the manifested? Scars manifold have been inflicted on him, in both body and soul.
Additional Notes:
Just a side note, it'd be helpful if when you do a collab post you colour code speech, so as to keep it easy to understand. Some of us like to think in colour. A new episode will begin when a set of duels are complete (Let?s say when everybody?s had a chance to fight once at least). Anyone can enter the RP at any time, as long as the clear it with me first, provide some flavour text so I can measure their abilities, and agree to the rules. I reserve the right to blacklist some people from the RP if they break rules purposefully and often, so if said people make posts ignore them. I don't mean to be overly harsh but since this is a PvP RP there is a higher chance that people will come in and just not be able to bear with their babies being killed.