Quincunx
inactive
So this is supposed to be a dark fantasy RP with an original world, but based off of a TRPG that was inspired by Madoka Magica (a dark version of magical girl anime). The characters are magical heroes, the short version of the plot is in the section labeled "Interest Check Blurb" and "Non-Blurb Plot and Setup", and the short version of the setting is "isolated but large and advanced city in the mountains, called Astrophel, facing impending energy crisis, possible resurgence of a dangerous cult, and presence of monsters that damage your soul". The tone is dark, but with hope.
My goals/issues for posting this are:
Interest Check Blurb (probably needs the most work)
"The Nadirs, the suffering, your suffering - you have a chance to change it all. Will you take it?"
Despite the monster sightings, the rumors of a resurfacing cult, and the impending energy crisis, you were managing life in the valley of Astrophel as it slowly got less idyllic. Or maybe you were afraid, or even desperate. It's not uncommon to see people who are. But nothing could prepare you for when a flower-adorned bird asked you if you wanted to become a Midheaven, a magical hero that could protect people and save your city. It was simple - each monster you purged dropped a sphere, and when you got seven, you could make a wish. Any wish you want.
When you said yes, you gained another self. And when you transformed into that self, you held a weapon of wood and jewels that could cut down any monster. Your magic could alter reality. People could practically feel the emotional energy you were radiating. But despite how powerful that self was, it didn't solve all of your problems. It was a good thing nobody recognized you, because they were terrified - you were strong, beautiful, alien, beyond comprehension. And with the help of that flower-covered bird, you've discovered secrets about the magical world that you're not sure you wanted to find out. You've met other Midheavens, but you're not sure if you're helping or competing with each other.
Can you still change Astrophel for the better like this? Can you balance your two selves? Even though this place is falling apart, can you and the other Midheavens find hope?
Non-Blurb Plot and Setup (just here so you guys know what's actually going on)
Lore/Setting (needs polishing, but I think the bulk of the work is done)
Cultural Details
Religion, Folklore, and Magical Details
[SIZE= 12px]Passed down by oral tradition is a creation story about how man burst forth from the ground, each with a resource of some sort (water, fire, soil, tagigite, etc.) to bring to the table. There is also an apocalyptic story about how the world will end with the roads splitting apart, lines of communication going dead, and everyone looking to leaders who crumble. The first story is taken only figuratively by a lot of people, due to scientists searching for a more plausible explanation as to how everyone came into being. The second is taken with various levels of literalism - some people believe it's a metaphor, some people believe it's a prophecy that will come true word-for-word, and others are skeptical of it entirely.[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px]Religion is a very mild influence on life in Astrophel, public in some ways but mostly personal. There are shrines set up all over the city, talismans for love or luck, and sometimes sacred spaces set up in homes for gods or spirits. For the larger sects, there are organizations that have yearly festivals and public services. Most people in the city follow some sort of faith and some seek out converts, but would think imposing their religion through force doesn't make much sense, and see faith as a part of one's personal routine.[/SIZE]
The exception to this was the Followers of Kara, whose deity was a goddess of the primordial darkness that the group says enveloped the world before tagigite was unearthed. Their practices celebrated the sacredness of the night, and eschewed the evils of high-tech modern living in an effort to return to a purer, more "natural" state. Despite aggressively trying to spread their ideals, they only amassed about fifty members. Their final act was to burn down to a brightly-lit arena. The end result of this was the fire spreading to nearby buildings before being contained, the Followers being imprisoned, and Astrophel gaining a true distrust for religious extremism. This occurred about fifteen years ago, but some still believe remnants of the Followers have escaped and practice in secret, perhaps preparing something else.
[SIZE= 12px]Regardless of which gods one prays to, each religion has developed an explanation for the surreal monsters that make their homes in the darker corners of the city. The things appear as bizarre jumbles of shapes and objects, living in regions of increasingly distorted reality. People affected by them sustain psychological damage - they lose the capacity to feel certain emotions for durations of time dependent on their exposure, or they forget personal memories, or their entire personality changes. Sometimes they disappear altogether. Different religions have different names for these creatures, but the most prevalent term is "Nadir".[/SIZE]
There is another type of entity that exists across religions, called Midheavens. A Midheaven is a hero who possesses beautiful, terrifying magical power, almost always seen saving someone from a Nadir. They radiate intense emotions, use weapons forged from jewels and wood and other strange materials, and command the power of the constellations. In fact, each one seems associated with a particular emotion and constellation. Nobody has seen the same Midheaven twice, and people suspect they somehow pass out of existence without truly dying. People are terrified of Midheavens, their magic and feeling holding an alien purity and intensity, but hold them in higher regard than the Nadirs.
[SIZE= 12px]Science hasn't come to a consensus on a naturalistic explanation for Nadirs and Midheavens yet, and the non-religious dismiss them as either paranormal phenomena or crankery. Therefore, they don't "exist" within the realm of the strictly skeptical. The oldest residents of Astrophel remember people first talking about Nadirs, or even encountering themselves, when they were young adults, but Midheavens only appeared as recently as fifteen or twenty years ago.[/SIZE]
My goals/issues for posting this are:
- Get a blurb for the Interest Check, and title, that properly encapsulates the tone and content of the RP
- Polish up the world-building/lore (is there too much? too little?)
- Find a name for the magical mascot so it doesn't have to go by "the flower-covered bird from the magical dimension", as well as a better name for the spheres the monsters drop (if it helps, the motif is astrology)
Interest Check Blurb (probably needs the most work)
"The Nadirs, the suffering, your suffering - you have a chance to change it all. Will you take it?"
Despite the monster sightings, the rumors of a resurfacing cult, and the impending energy crisis, you were managing life in the valley of Astrophel as it slowly got less idyllic. Or maybe you were afraid, or even desperate. It's not uncommon to see people who are. But nothing could prepare you for when a flower-adorned bird asked you if you wanted to become a Midheaven, a magical hero that could protect people and save your city. It was simple - each monster you purged dropped a sphere, and when you got seven, you could make a wish. Any wish you want.
When you said yes, you gained another self. And when you transformed into that self, you held a weapon of wood and jewels that could cut down any monster. Your magic could alter reality. People could practically feel the emotional energy you were radiating. But despite how powerful that self was, it didn't solve all of your problems. It was a good thing nobody recognized you, because they were terrified - you were strong, beautiful, alien, beyond comprehension. And with the help of that flower-covered bird, you've discovered secrets about the magical world that you're not sure you wanted to find out. You've met other Midheavens, but you're not sure if you're helping or competing with each other.
Can you still change Astrophel for the better like this? Can you balance your two selves? Even though this place is falling apart, can you and the other Midheavens find hope?
Non-Blurb Plot and Setup (just here so you guys know what's actually going on)
The characters are 8 normal people, aged 15 to 25, that live in the valley of Astrophel, where monsters called Nadirs from another reality are damaging people's psyches and making them disappear. A flower-adorned bird (that doesn't have a name yet) from the magical dimension, a world of talking and intelligent magical creatures, recruits these characters to become magical heroes called Midheavens and harvest the spheres the Nadirs drop when killed. When a Midheaven collects seven spheres, they get a wish, so that (and perhaps the idea of making Astrophel a better place) is incentive enough for each of the characters to become Midheavens. However, as the RP goes on, the characters start learning horrible secrets about the Nadirs and the city. (The bird and the magical dimension do fundamentally have the characters' best interests in mind, but things are still bad.)
The RP is about the characters trying to balance their Midheaven and human lives, gather enough spheres (whether helping or competing with each other), maintain peace of mind while shocking things are being revealed, and maintain a good quality of life in a city that's falling apart.
The RP is about the characters trying to balance their Midheaven and human lives, gather enough spheres (whether helping or competing with each other), maintain peace of mind while shocking things are being revealed, and maintain a good quality of life in a city that's falling apart.
Lore/Setting (needs polishing, but I think the bulk of the work is done)
Setting Details: Astrophel
Physical Details
Spoiler
Astrophel is a large but isolated city about the size of Rhode Island. It's located in a valley within a huge, craggy mountain range. The valley is full of green grass, trees and plants. Its climate is cool, and while the RP starts in the summer, the winters are very snowy. A magnificent waterfall flows into a river that splits the city. Wildlife includes many flower and tree species, as well as animals like bears, butterflies, wolves, hares, rams... the same kinds of animals you'd see in a place like this on Earth. The skies are very clear, and you can see many stars at night.
The buildings look like a bowl of tiny lights from above. Up close, they're mostly houses in deep colors with green (garden) roofs. The exceptions are infrastructure buildings, the angular district government buildings, and the structures next to the mines. The burnt-out husks of an arena and a few surrounding buildings can be seen in the northwest corner of town. Food forests and terraced gardens can be seen for agriculture.
Technology includes electricity (from the tagigite crystals in the mines), running water, cosmetics, modern medical advances, television, computers, phone/computer/TV tablets, and an internet limited to the city. Automobiles, guns, and musical instruments are very expensive, and almost exclusively owned by richer residents and commercial enterprises. Electricity is in limited supply right now, and shows no signs of picking back up, so it is very expensive.
Tagigite, a yellow and sky blue crystal, is mined for electricity here. The crystal functions like a powerful battery. It powers Astrophel, and is its main export. In recent years, there have been warning signs that it will run out in the near future - perhaps within the decade, perhaps within the year.
Physical Details
Spoiler
Astrophel is a large but isolated city about the size of Rhode Island. It's located in a valley within a huge, craggy mountain range. The valley is full of green grass, trees and plants. Its climate is cool, and while the RP starts in the summer, the winters are very snowy. A magnificent waterfall flows into a river that splits the city. Wildlife includes many flower and tree species, as well as animals like bears, butterflies, wolves, hares, rams... the same kinds of animals you'd see in a place like this on Earth. The skies are very clear, and you can see many stars at night.
The buildings look like a bowl of tiny lights from above. Up close, they're mostly houses in deep colors with green (garden) roofs. The exceptions are infrastructure buildings, the angular district government buildings, and the structures next to the mines. The burnt-out husks of an arena and a few surrounding buildings can be seen in the northwest corner of town. Food forests and terraced gardens can be seen for agriculture.
Technology includes electricity (from the tagigite crystals in the mines), running water, cosmetics, modern medical advances, television, computers, phone/computer/TV tablets, and an internet limited to the city. Automobiles, guns, and musical instruments are very expensive, and almost exclusively owned by richer residents and commercial enterprises. Electricity is in limited supply right now, and shows no signs of picking back up, so it is very expensive.
Tagigite, a yellow and sky blue crystal, is mined for electricity here. The crystal functions like a powerful battery. It powers Astrophel, and is its main export. In recent years, there have been warning signs that it will run out in the near future - perhaps within the decade, perhaps within the year.
Cultural Details
You've lived in Astrophel all your life, and your people have been living in it for years upon years. The caravans full of abundant, varied goods that arrive every few months imply that there is an elsewhere, but you don't know where they come from (and, unbeknownst to most, the trading companies don't know much more than you do). Due to the treacherous mountain conditions and a sense of closeness with the valley, nobody really leaves. If they do, they don't return.
Young people might go to school, but it's just as common to see them as apprentices in art, infrastructure, farming, or other duties. Only adults are allowed to work in the mines. Recreation includes the internet, computers, sports, art, and fiction, among other things. As for government, each district has its own elected council of leaders, as well as a set of inviolable basic human rights. The economy is capitalist, and one cloth bill of cycle (Astrophel's currency) is about equal to one US dollar, although some people barter. The districts on the eastern side of the river, where the mines are, have a higher concentration of poor households than those on the west. There's definite class stratification, especially now that electricity is so expensive.
People here value craftsmanship, beauty, hard work, and close relationships. A deep sense of closeness - to the land, to tagigite, to each other - is part of why people don't venture beyond Astrophel. The closeness to the tagigite is also causing a subtle sense of anxiety throughout the entire city, beyond what people would normally feel for a looming energy crisis.
The traditional aesthetic is modern and intricate, with an emphasis on flowers, animals, detailed prints, jewel and earth tones, and comfortable fabrics. It's not directly based on any single culture, but the architecture is Scandinavian-inspired.
As written on the character sheet, children are named after single-word nouns parents consider beautiful. This can result in names that are common or at least plausible to English-speakers on Earth, like "Rose", "Alder", and "Honey". It can also result in less-plausible names like "Ram", "Screen", and occasionally "Tagigite". Surnames are based off of occupations and characteristics of ancestors.
Young people might go to school, but it's just as common to see them as apprentices in art, infrastructure, farming, or other duties. Only adults are allowed to work in the mines. Recreation includes the internet, computers, sports, art, and fiction, among other things. As for government, each district has its own elected council of leaders, as well as a set of inviolable basic human rights. The economy is capitalist, and one cloth bill of cycle (Astrophel's currency) is about equal to one US dollar, although some people barter. The districts on the eastern side of the river, where the mines are, have a higher concentration of poor households than those on the west. There's definite class stratification, especially now that electricity is so expensive.
People here value craftsmanship, beauty, hard work, and close relationships. A deep sense of closeness - to the land, to tagigite, to each other - is part of why people don't venture beyond Astrophel. The closeness to the tagigite is also causing a subtle sense of anxiety throughout the entire city, beyond what people would normally feel for a looming energy crisis.
The traditional aesthetic is modern and intricate, with an emphasis on flowers, animals, detailed prints, jewel and earth tones, and comfortable fabrics. It's not directly based on any single culture, but the architecture is Scandinavian-inspired.
As written on the character sheet, children are named after single-word nouns parents consider beautiful. This can result in names that are common or at least plausible to English-speakers on Earth, like "Rose", "Alder", and "Honey". It can also result in less-plausible names like "Ram", "Screen", and occasionally "Tagigite". Surnames are based off of occupations and characteristics of ancestors.
Religion, Folklore, and Magical Details
[SIZE= 12px]Passed down by oral tradition is a creation story about how man burst forth from the ground, each with a resource of some sort (water, fire, soil, tagigite, etc.) to bring to the table. There is also an apocalyptic story about how the world will end with the roads splitting apart, lines of communication going dead, and everyone looking to leaders who crumble. The first story is taken only figuratively by a lot of people, due to scientists searching for a more plausible explanation as to how everyone came into being. The second is taken with various levels of literalism - some people believe it's a metaphor, some people believe it's a prophecy that will come true word-for-word, and others are skeptical of it entirely.[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 12px]Religion is a very mild influence on life in Astrophel, public in some ways but mostly personal. There are shrines set up all over the city, talismans for love or luck, and sometimes sacred spaces set up in homes for gods or spirits. For the larger sects, there are organizations that have yearly festivals and public services. Most people in the city follow some sort of faith and some seek out converts, but would think imposing their religion through force doesn't make much sense, and see faith as a part of one's personal routine.[/SIZE]
The exception to this was the Followers of Kara, whose deity was a goddess of the primordial darkness that the group says enveloped the world before tagigite was unearthed. Their practices celebrated the sacredness of the night, and eschewed the evils of high-tech modern living in an effort to return to a purer, more "natural" state. Despite aggressively trying to spread their ideals, they only amassed about fifty members. Their final act was to burn down to a brightly-lit arena. The end result of this was the fire spreading to nearby buildings before being contained, the Followers being imprisoned, and Astrophel gaining a true distrust for religious extremism. This occurred about fifteen years ago, but some still believe remnants of the Followers have escaped and practice in secret, perhaps preparing something else.
[SIZE= 12px]Regardless of which gods one prays to, each religion has developed an explanation for the surreal monsters that make their homes in the darker corners of the city. The things appear as bizarre jumbles of shapes and objects, living in regions of increasingly distorted reality. People affected by them sustain psychological damage - they lose the capacity to feel certain emotions for durations of time dependent on their exposure, or they forget personal memories, or their entire personality changes. Sometimes they disappear altogether. Different religions have different names for these creatures, but the most prevalent term is "Nadir".[/SIZE]
There is another type of entity that exists across religions, called Midheavens. A Midheaven is a hero who possesses beautiful, terrifying magical power, almost always seen saving someone from a Nadir. They radiate intense emotions, use weapons forged from jewels and wood and other strange materials, and command the power of the constellations. In fact, each one seems associated with a particular emotion and constellation. Nobody has seen the same Midheaven twice, and people suspect they somehow pass out of existence without truly dying. People are terrified of Midheavens, their magic and feeling holding an alien purity and intensity, but hold them in higher regard than the Nadirs.
[SIZE= 12px]Science hasn't come to a consensus on a naturalistic explanation for Nadirs and Midheavens yet, and the non-religious dismiss them as either paranormal phenomena or crankery. Therefore, they don't "exist" within the realm of the strictly skeptical. The oldest residents of Astrophel remember people first talking about Nadirs, or even encountering themselves, when they were young adults, but Midheavens only appeared as recently as fifteen or twenty years ago.[/SIZE]
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