Fantasy Night Throne - A Dashing, Daring, Decidedly Dark Dungeon Delver

[RustyTI-85]

Every story needs a beginning, no? Well, this one has a rather silent upcoming, and fittingly is filled with ever so hushed whispers. The wonderfully worrisome world of Anbryn came to be in the Formless Age, where the world was little more than a sodden cloud of silence. From this silence, eldritch creatures by the name of Bodeons spoke the world into existence. With those words came a what we call solid ground, the endless sky, and the concept of sound. In their speaking, the Bodeons brought life to many things, and we Humans were among that lot.

There was, however, a small inkling of an issue. Our ancestors could not survive in their chaotic, whispering world. So, we did as our instincts told us, and hunted the weakest of them. The ones we managed to subdue granted us the secrets of their blood, and created the first Bodebloods. Bodebloods were humans that could survive the Whispering World once they came together with another sect of humanity, the Gateless, those that killed a Bodeon and were forever changed. Gateless and Bodeblood alike looked to their inferior kin and created a world they could inhabit, but hid their deeds from their innocent eyes. Of course, the fact that this story is being told goes to show that they failed to hide this information, but I digress.

Thus began the Blessed Age, a time when humans worshiped Bodeons for the false blessings that they themselves had engineered. In that age, structures known as gates were created in the shape of many things we see today. Doorways, mazes, concepts, and the infamous gate bones and thrones. You see, gates were locked until the combination of a Bodeblood and Gateless were to grace their presence, with the only exception being the gatebone itself. Every human except for the Gateless had a gatebone plastered into their body, and that prevented them from harnessing the powers of the Whispering World we live atop in the form of magick. Unbeknownst to our ancestors, the Bodeons left that world and went on to the next, leaving nothing but the Whispering World to show their involvement in our world. However, these whispers still affect us in the Throne Age, and bring us the continued miracles of magick.

Numerous kingdoms rose to power with a Bodeblood as their ruler, and a Gateless to tend to them as they sat on the Gated Thrones. Only four survived the trials of time. Gran was the eldest, a land dedicated to the study of whispers and the Gateless, their people guided along the track of a peerless pursuit of magick. Cleist came next, dedicated to the worship of whispers, Bodeons, and the Gateless themselves. Nathore, a kingdom dedicated to boded blood and independence from a greater power than man stood against Gran and Cleist, but made up for their lack of faith with the pursuit of technology and the taming of motes. Finally, Pandivmay, a seaside kingdom which stood tall and had a hand in the affairs of all other kingdoms through the power of trade and their ever present band of merchants, the Thoroughfair. Each of these kingdoms had a gated throne to call their own; Gran with the Witch Throne, Cleist with the Day Throne, Nathore with the Night Throne, and Pandivmay with the Golden Throne.

Then, of course, came the Throne Age, the centuries we currently live and breathe in. They began with the beginning of the Shadow Wars between Cleist, Gran, and Nathore. Cleist fought for the pursuit of gates and artifacts from the Blessed Age. Gran sought to further its own understanding of gates and Gateless, and sought to use their authority as the first kingdom to rise as leverage; surely enough, Cleist and Nathore would have nothing of it. Nathore, against all odds, sided with the rival that was Cleist and fought back against Gran. This was the most lively leg of the Shadow Wars, as Nathore and Cleist cared not for subterfuge or subtlety with their contraptions and paladins.

As time passed, Gran came to an agreement with Cleist in the form of bribery. Gran would open their libraries to the people of Cleist if the 'evil' that was Nathore was subjugated and put into its place. Thus began the fall of Nathore, wherein Cleist and Gran came together with the powers of faith and magick to capture the Night Throne of Nathore. The lands they attacked were liberated from Nathore, creating the Sable Districts and Bergen. As more and more of Nathore's land became liberated, the ruling power decided to use the power of the Night Throne to strike down his enemies. However, that power did not release correctly.

Any living thing within the once sprawling kingdom of Nathore became a shadow of its former self. Those closer to the throne when its power was released became indelible abominations, twisted and (often) insane versions of their former selves. Animals of all sorts became predatory and hunted for blood. Those that were lucky enough to be dead found themselves mindlessly alive, and they too had a hunger for human flesh. Animal then fed on carrion, and they themselves became warped into terrible beasts such as cockatrices, hellhounds, and even the dreaded chimera. The castle and capital city of Castel came to life themselves, twisting and churning their stone foundations in impossible ways, their rooms ever changing to imprison or kill intruders. At the center of it all sat the Night Throne, the structure responsible for such ruin; and on the outside sat the kings, queens, generals, and priests that looked upon the dark mess that was Nathore with slack jaws and pumping hearts. Just as they thought the nightmare was over, Nathore was cast into a state of eternal night, and the rest of the world too sat in a standstill. Days did not pass, then weeks, and then a plan was hatched by each and every kingdom, each and every party that had the bravery to do so.

They would venture into Nathore for their own reasons, and achieve their goals or die trying.

***​

Sorry for the large information dump, but I found it necessary to set the mood and climate of any discussions about this roleplay. This is Night Throne, a universe inspired by Magic: The Gathering's Eldritch Moon, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Dragon's Dogma, and many other medieval and/or dark/high fantasy settings. It is my attempt at a non-dice based dungeon crawling experience with shades of both psychological and "normal" horror. Granted, the horror is supposed to be for the characters, but if the players get a scare out of it, I may get a hoot out of it, without going overboard. Any questions about the setting or roleplay will be answer below, after I give a short bulleted list of other important information.

• The post requirement is at least one paragraph, or something else that other readers or writers can bite into to formulate a response.
• I myself am not skilled in coding, so this roleplay's OOC and such will be plain until I acquire templates from elsewhere, should people join.
• Character death is neither willing or planned in some scenarios. Nathore is a dangerous place, and mercy is in short supply...
• That is not to say that there will not be any soft or safe spots within Nathore. I will elaborate if anyone asks- I wouldn't want to overload any potential players with information.
• This was once an open ended personal project, and once this is completed in any capacity, it may return to that status, only to be improved in a way like this once more until it becomes adequate by my impossibly high standards for my own fictional worlds.
• I also have personally adapted to writing with the mannerisms of the high status people of my writing projects, and as such I can be a bit overbearing or extravagant. Apologies in advance.

With all of that in the water, I will leave this here. Any questions or notifications of interest should go down below as a reply, as per usual.

 

[Remembrance]

Sure, why not.

 

[RustyTI-85]

Sure, why not.

Wonderful. Do you have any questions or concerns about the setting or roleplay in general?

 

[Remembrance]

Wonderful. Do you have any questions or concerns about the setting or roleplay in general?

Well first, when Nathore used his great magical throne to cast his land into darkness, had(or I guess did) the lands that were liberated from Nathore also cast into darkness?

Also what kind of magick are we talking about here?

I'll probably find more questions to ask in a bit.

 

[RustyTI-85]

The lands that were seperated from Nathore were not as affected. It is eternal night for them, the dead do occasionally rise, and animals are more aggressive than in the more normal parts of the world. Other than that, only the most unfortunate of people were turned into abominations, and it had been observed that those that were closest in terms of power to the throne were turned into abominations, with those that were closer being affected in the worse ways. Handmaidens, stable boys, errant knights and the like, they would have been transformed while in Bergen or the Sable Districts, but a peasant would not have been.

Magick manifests in interesting ways, through whispers. Whispers come through objects and structures known as gates, and these gates are known to crop up almost at random. Whispers are also known to coalesce into a form known as a mote, and motes manifest as one of many things they become attuned to. For instance, if a gate was to be burned, a mote may materialize and be imbued with fire, and as such, can be used for fire enchantments.

There are also people known as Dreamers. They are individuals that ingest motes and go into a trance to have powerful out of body experiences, and are able to cast spells even if they are not gateless. However, this is something of a sacred art, and is used sparingly by the paladins and priests of Cleist.

As for normal magick, only Gateless can use it, as they lack a gatebone, and thus whispers can flow through them without difficulty. Magick comes through in the form of thoughts and concepts that truly speak to the gateless. For instance, a cleric of Cleist may have been taught that their powers must be used to heal and restore the the people of Nathore. As a result, they would not only have the typical healing magic, but the ability to cure disease, reverse death, and perhaps even reverse the evils that have taken root in Nathore. However, magick typically manifests in a limited number of ways, as the mind can only handle so many concepts at once before they begin to overwhelm the user.

 

[Remembrance]

The lands that were seperated from Nathore were not as effected. It is eternal night for them, the dead do occasionally rise, and animals are more aggressive than in the more normal parts of the world. Other than that, only the most unfortunate of people were turned into abominations, and it had been observed that those that were closest in terms of power to the throne were turned into abominations, with those that were closer being affected in the worse ways. Handmaidens, stable boys, errant knights and the like, they would have been transformed while in Bergen or the Sable Districts, but a peasant would not have been.

Magick manifests in interesting ways, through whispers. Whispers come through objects and structures known as gates, and these gates are known to crop up almost at random. Whispers are also known to coalesce into a form known as a mote, and motes manifest as one of many things they become attuned to. For instance, if a gate was to be burned, a mote may materialize and be imbued with fire, and as such, can be used for fire enchantments.

There are also people known as Dreamers. They are individuals that ingest motes and go into a trance to have powerful out of body experiences, and are able to cast spells even if they are not gateless. However, this is something of a sacred art, and is used sparingly by the paladins and priests of Cleist.

As for normal magick, only Gateless can use it, as they lack a gatebone, and thus whispers can flow through them without difficulty. Magick comes through in the form of thoughts and concepts that truly speak to the gateless. For instance, a cleric of Cleist may have been taught that their powers must be used to heal and restore the the people of Nathore. As a result, they would not only have the typical healing magic, but the ability to cure disease, reverse death, and perhaps even reverse the evils that have taken root in Nathore. However, magick typically manifests in a limited number of ways, as the mind can only handle so many concepts at once before they begin to overwhelm the user.

I need clarification on the Nathore abomination thing, if for say, by happen stance an Errant Knight was outside the lands of Nathore as well as the liberated ones, would they still be affected or not. (I'm unsure if you said this earlier and I'm gonna say this bluntly; your writing gives me a really hard headache.)

Are gatebones actual bones? I imagine them as like the pelvis bone for some odd reason. Are they removable, and if so, is it detrimental to remove them?

 

[Demonsoul]

This looks interesting. I love me a good horrific dungeon crawl!

 

[RustyTI-85]

I need clarification on the Nathore abomination thing, if for say, by happen stance an Errant Knight was outside the lands of Nathore as well as the liberated ones, would they still be affected or not. (I'm unsure if you said this earlier and I'm gonna say this bluntly; your writing gives me a really hard headache.)

Are gatebones actual bones? I imagine them as like the pelvis bone for some odd reason. Are they removable, and if so, is it detrimental to remove them?

One is only turned into an abomination if they were on the soil of Nathore proper. A knight, noble, or anyone else close to the king/throne was out of the country, then they would be spared from the throne's effects.

I also apologize for my written voice or written style. I can try to make things more smooth for everyone, but it may be difficult for me to do. Though, I do ask, honestly, what the issues may be. I truly want to know out of the desire to improve.

I also have found some of my notes on gateless, magic, and gatebones, if they would help. They are older notes, but still have the necessary information. Depending on how they are received (if they are received at all), they may become the reigning canon.

Spoiler: Old Notes

Gateless are individuals that lack a structure in their bodies known as the gatebone. This gatebone is responsible for regulating the flow of whispers through the human body. As far as the people of the world know, gateless are born that way, but there are ways to have the gatebone removed in order to allow one to attain that status. As the whispers flow through people, so do their powers. Thusly, it takes a gateless to understand whispers and channel their powers through magic and spells. No one gateless can understand it all though, and some whispers can only be understood after intense bouts of meditation and study. Gateless are the main reason we understand so much about the Formless and Blessed Ages, and they may just be the key to understanding why the thrones themselves are what they call gates.

Gates are objects and locations that have immense levels of whispers flowing through them, enough for a non-gateless to hear them. These gates can come in almost any form, and the most well known cases for gates are the thrones that sit in the heart of each and every major kingdom of the world. It is said that the Bodeons themselves hand crafted each gate in an attempt to understand the mulling and ramblings of humanity, and that is the supposed reason why a gate can be so functional for us humans. However, gates have one small tic that prevents a single gateless from reigning over their powers. Most gates require both a bodeblood and a gateless to "witness" it, and different gates are witnessed in different ways. The thrones are witnessed when a bodeblood sits upon it while a gateless channeling whispers into it. Other gates have more extraordinary forms of being witnessed, and it is due to this that humanity is not in control of more gates. Gates that are witnessed and unused attract entities known as motes, creatures that embody the environment around them by reflecting its true "elemental" nature. It is through these motes that some gateless are able to derive more powerful forms of spellcasting, and in general they can be used to magickally charge equipment.

Spellcasting for a gateless is often simple. They channel the energies that flow through them into a palpable and controllable force, at least, if they are born with the ability to control it. Not all gateless can grasp control of their powers, and that in turn attracts motes that reflect the true nature of the whispers that flow through them- chaos. This discordant nature means that many gateless must resort to intense meditation or study to wield their powers effectively. As a result, they are more powerful than gateless that have had their gatebones unnaturally opened. Gateless artificially created often have this achieved via imbibing themselves in the presence of a gate and a bodeblood, as such exposure tears reality and imagination asunder. The chances of it tearing the concept of a bone from one's body should be a simple feat.

Gateless that are born without the gatebone often find themselves holed up in the Brightchain Academy of Gran, as they hold enough knowledge, boded blood, and gates to help them grasp their power. Artificially created gateless are often property of Cleist and Pandivmay, as they are used as clerics in healing rituals and other types of sermons. There are also individuals known as dreamers that are normal individuals that have learned to open their gatebones naturally, but only when they are in a sleep-like trance. Not much is known about them, but they are rumored to be able to experience a state of consciousness that allows them to command whispers and motes directly. The deaf and mute too have interesting connections to whispers. The deaf can only hear the effects of whispers, and the mute have had the ability to speak taken away from them by their gate bones.

This looks interesting. I love me a good horrific dungeon crawl!

Thank you for showing interest. Do you have any questions?

 

[Demonsoul]

My only question is: Is every person part of a nation or are there wanderers?

 

[RustyTI-85]

My only question is: Is every person part of a nation or are there wanderers?

There are people that don't align with the remaining kingdoms, and they are seen as many things. Bandits, nomads, or perhaps even people with hearts full of neutrality. Cleist sees them as simple wanderers, Gran sees them as people with something to hide, and Pandivmay sees them as potential customers. The Sable Districts and Bergen don't see much of wanderers, but when they do, they are typically adventurers looking to profit off of their former kingdom's suffering.

 

[Remembrance]

One is only turned into an abomination if they were on the soil of Nathore proper. A knight, noble, or anyone else close to the king/throne was out of the country, then they would be spared from the throne's effects.

I also apologize for my written voice or written style. I can try to make things more smooth for everyone, but it may be difficult for me to do. Though, I do ask, honestly, what the issues may be. I truly want to know out of the desire to improve.

I also have found some of my notes on gateless, magic, and gatebones, if they would help. They are older notes, but still have the necessary information. Depending on how they are received (if they are received at all), they may become the reigning canon.

Spoiler: Old Notes

Gateless are individuals that lack a structure in their bodies known as the gatebone. This gatebone is responsible for regulating the flow of whispers through the human body. As far as the people of the world know, gateless are born that way, but there are ways to have the gatebone removed in order to allow one to attain that status. As the whispers flow through people, so do their powers. Thusly, it takes a gateless to understand whispers and channel their powers through magic and spells. No one gateless can understand it all though, and some whispers can only be understood after intense bouts of meditation and study. Gateless are the main reason we understand so much about the Formless and Blessed Ages, and they may just be the key to understanding why the thrones themselves are what they call gates.

Gates are objects and locations that have immense levels of whispers flowing through them, enough for a non-gateless to hear them. These gates can come in almost any form, and the most well known cases for gates are the thrones that sit in the heart of each and every major kingdom of the world. It is said that the Bodeons themselves hand crafted each gate in an attempt to understand the mulling and ramblings of humanity, and that is the supposed reason why a gate can be so functional for us humans. However, gates have one small tic that prevents a single gateless from reigning over their powers. Most gates require both a bodeblood and a gateless to "witness" it, and different gates are witnessed in different ways. The thrones are witnessed when a bodeblood sits upon it while a gateless channeling whispers into it. Other gates have more extraordinary forms of being witnessed, and it is due to this that humanity is not in control of more gates. Gates that are witnessed and unused attract entities known as motes, creatures that embody the environment around them by reflecting its true "elemental" nature. It is through these motes that some gateless are able to derive more powerful forms of spellcasting, and in general they can be used to magickally charge equipment.

Spellcasting for a gateless is often simple. They channel the energies that flow through them into a palpable and controllable force, at least, if they are born with the ability to control it. Not all gateless can grasp control of their powers, and that in turn attracts motes that reflect the true nature of the whispers that flow through them- chaos. This discordant nature means that many gateless must resort to intense meditation or study to wield their powers effectively. As a result, they are more powerful than gateless that have had their gatebones unnaturally opened. Gateless artificially created often have this achieved via imbibing themselves in the presence of a gate and a bodeblood, as such exposure tears reality and imagination asunder. The chances of it tearing the concept of a bone from one's body should be a simple feat.

Gateless that are born without the gatebone often find themselves holed up in the Brightchain Academy of Gran, as they hold enough knowledge, boded blood, and gates to help them grasp their power. Artificially created gateless are often property of Cleist and Pandivmay, as they are used as clerics in healing rituals and other types of sermons. There are also individuals known as dreamers that are normal individuals that have learned to open their gatebones naturally, but only when they are in a sleep-like trance. Not much is known about them, but they are rumored to be able to experience a state of consciousness that allows them to command whispers and motes directly. The deaf and mute too have interesting connections to whispers. The deaf can only hear the effects of whispers, and the mute have had the ability to speak taken away from them by their gate bones.

Thank you for showing interest. Do you have any questions?

About your writing, it’s just the wording, I wouldn’t worry too much about it cause I can deal and no one else as really complained about it so.

One more question and I’ll probably hit the hay tonight, you said this was a personal project before, (I’m assuming you mean you were building the lore by yourself and crafting the stories as such) does that mean the events happening in this role play will reach the main lore or is this just the darkest timeline?

If the question above is totally wrong than I deeply apologise because it makes me sound like I’m prying pretty hard.

 

[RustyTI-85]

It is all one timeline, and (not to be cheesy) if your characters survive, they could start a new age. Each rendition of Night Throne (it began as a tabletop project in the image of the Dark Souls Board Game) changes things up so story and play can be synchronized in a way that makes them work together. Ever since it has hit the scene of text based roleplays, I have removed gameplay elements and began to work solely on the lore and setting.

 

[Remembrance]

It is all one timeline, and (not to be cheesy) if your characters survive, they could start a new age. Each rendition of Night Throne (it began as a tabletop project in the image of the Dark Souls Board Game) changes things up so story and play can be synchronized in a way that makes them work together. Ever since it has hit the scene of text based roleplays, I have removed gameplay elements and began to work solely on the lore and setting.

Ahhhh, I understand now. Thanks.
I’m gonna hit the hay now, have a wonderful night or afternoon or evening in whatever time zone your living in.

 

[RustyTI-85]

Thank you for the wonderful wishes. I will probably drop more content and lore today to see if that attracts more people or changes preexisting ideas.

 

[Aeshae]

Hey! I'm pretty interested, I've been wanting to try a dark fantasy delver. Do you have any pages up for character vaults or lore compilations yet?

Also, this is just a side thing and not related to my willingness, your top post, in my very humble opinion, would be a more pleasing to the eyes if you divided up the info a little better either into more clear cut paragraphs (right now its in big chunks at a time) or through tabs (maybe doing a tab for each major piece of info, like the first age, what the boreons are, and what are Gateless for example). I can tell you've put a lot of love and care into the lore and idea of this and it really shows!

 

[RustyTI-85]

Sorry for the delayed response. Yesterday was quite busy and I couldn't find the time to sit down and type.

I do not currently have pages for characters or lore for the RP, but I think I should get to work on that. With me finding my notes on it, it would be easy to put the information into circulation. Now I just need to figure out how to organize and trim it. Speaking of which, when I post the notes, they will be used as the canon material over the pitch on the top of this page. It's easier and requires less reworking. Sorry for any confusion.

 

[RustyTI-85]

I hate to double post and to bring this bad news, but it is beginning to look like I am going to be unable to GM this. As more time passes, more things begin to pile up. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I do believe that I will be either cancelling or postponing this RP.