IC | Discord
Co-OPed by Bingellia
December 1918:
The Great War has come to an end, but the world seems as much on a precipice as it did a year ago. The Russian Czar and his family have been executed by Bolsheviks while the flames of revolution have spread to Germany as well; only a few days ago, German soldiers in Brussels mutinied against their officers and briefly tried to convince the civilian population to join them in setting up a Communist Government.
Even where the stories aren’t doom and gloom, change is afoot. In Great Britain, suffrage has been extended to women over the age of thirty, along with the right to stand in Parliamentary elections.
Behind all of this a deadly disease stalks Europe, killing people faster than the bullets ever did in the war.
Against this backdrop, you have received a mysterious letter inviting you to a meeting of the ‘Order of Saint Thomas of Canterbury’ at the Four-Horse Club in London. Apparently, someone has recommended you to them, though who that was, is a mystery…
Welcome to the Wild Beast of the Earth, a Gothic Horror inspired RP set in England in the early 20th century, against the backdrop of the 1918 Flu Pandemic. In this RP, you will take on the role of one of the ‘Order of Saint Thomas’s’ newest recruits, tasked with investigating paranormal and occult phenomena and putting a stop to them.
Over the course of this RP you will slowly unravel the mysteries behind some of what is occurring in the world around you.
Character death will be a real thing. While I don’t intend to play this unfairly, if you make a suicidal decision, the results will be predictable and, as such, I will recommend that people consider making a second character, just in case number one ends up getting eaten by an eldritch horror.
You will be outclassed by most, if not all, of the creatures you encounter, but you have a team at your back and by working together you should be able to prevail. There will also, usually, be more than one possible way to tackle the beast… provided you have investigated thoroughly.
Finally, if you aren't quite sure about what you want to do in the RP, feel free to join the Discord and throw some ideas about!
WHO ARE YOU?
You can be anyone you want to be, provided the person is someone who could have existed in 1918. Perhaps your character is a big-game-hunter? A reporter? A demobbed soldier? A nurse? A member of the clergy?
The RP is set in London though I am very flexible about backgrounds. If you can write a reasonably sensible reason for them to be there, I’m even open for you to have a character from the Central Powers in the RP (just bear in mind the section on early 20th century attitudes).
I’m assuming everyone is generally competent, but depending upon your background, at certain points, I may give you with additional information that other people might not be able to glean on their own, so a mix of different backgrounds will make the team stronger.
The only limits to your character are:
- You are not a child. It doesn’t make sense for the setting – this is gothic horror, not an anime or YA novel.
- Magic users/carriers of magical artefacts are currently not allowed, though I do intend to open these apps up later in the thread.
- You are not a supernatural creature. The supernatural monsters you will encounter are not misunderstood or secretly nice, they are hard-wired to want to kill you in creative and horrible ways.
- If you create multiple characters, make them separate, not people with pre-existing relationships. Feel absolutely feel free to make a pre-existing relationship with someone else’s character though!
THE SECRETS OF THE WORLD, KNOWN ONLY TO A FEW...
This section will be expanded as the RP goes on and you discover more about the world.
Monsters
There are monsters in the world. They want to kill you.
This section will be expanded with the information you learn from the various things you encounter in your travels.
Demons
Demons exist in Wild Beasts of the Earth and they are extremely dangerous. Demons cannot be killed though you can exorcise them or kill the host body. The exact wording of the exorcism is unimportant, though it’s likelihood of success depends upon the righteousness of the person attempting it.
Magic
Magic similarly exists in the setting and can, theoretically, be learned by people, though the spells are subtle and generally involve gathering ingredients before they can be cast. Similarly there are magical artefacts in the world, most of which are extremely dangerous to people unfamiliar with the mystic arts.
Religion
The existence of demons and hell is established in the setting and some characters may decide that this implies the existence of a deity/force for good as well. That being said, there is no direct IC evidence for or against the existence of a benevolent higher power and you may realistically write a character of any religion or philosophical belief.
EARLY 20TH CENTURY ATTITUDES
While OOC, racism, sexism etc. is definitely NOT, in any way shape or form, ok, many forms of bigotry were alive and well 100 years ago.
While I do not, in any way, condone any of them, I also don’t think it is helpful to sanitise the setting and pretend they didn’t exist; that does a great disservice to all the people who campaigned against them over the last century. While the Order, in this RP, is an egalitarian society, and the world is increasingly as well, some of the NPCs you encounter may display bigotry of one form or another (which might well be exploitable to a cunning character). Similarly, if you want to explore those topics in your own characters (an older gentleman being opposed to women’s suffrage, for instance), I’m not going to censor that, provided you do it sensitively.
NB: This is not an invitation for you to spout hate speech. Remember that you are still writing in the 21st century, on a PG13 forum, and some words are ALWAYS unacceptable. If you have any doubts, ask on the Discord.
The bigotry you almost certainly see in the thread is classism and (if someone brings in a character from the Central Powers) hatred of Germans and Austrians; the British population has spent the last four years being told that Germans are inhuman murderers and rapists and they know people who died in the trenches of France and Belgium. It will take a while for that hatred to break down.
CHARACTER APPLICATION
You will notice some things about this character application form aren’t normal.
First, I haven’t asked for equipment. When you go into a mission you will be given equipment from the Order armoury, so there is no need to say you have a pistol and six bandages before the thread starts up. The Order don’t want you to die and will give you the stuff you need to stay alive, if you ask for it. That being said, there is the option to list some personal effects, to help develop your character.
I also haven’t asked what your skills are. As I said previously, I’m assuming all characters are generally competent, however, what you’ve written in your background will determine whether I make things easier for you, or not, if you attempt something. For instance, a librarian might know how to use a rifle, but probably won’t be as good at hitting a moving or distant target as a former Ottoman sniper.
Finally, there is no personality section. Your backstory should give a good idea of how your character is going to behave, but more importantly, I don’t want you to feel like your character is fixed. In a good RP, characters grow and develop over the course of the story and might end up being totally different from how they started.
All of this is intended to make it easier for you to write an app… while also allowing me to throw an occasional plot curve-ball your way!
When filling this out, delete the bits in parentheses - they are there to give you guidance.
- Code: Select all
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[size=150][b]Character Description[/b][/size]
[list][b]Name:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Nationality:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b] [spoiler](Feel free to describe with text or put pictures in here. If you are using a picture, owing to the general high quality of what people have done so far, I will ask you to change it if it is blatantly anachronistic.)[/spoiler]
[/list]
[b]Personal Effects[/b]: (Any personal belongings you have in your suitcase. No magical artefacts and if you want to include a weapon, limit it to something small and concealable such as a pistol/revolver/derringer… anything bigger and you’ll be in prison, not at the Club.)
[hr][/hr][size=150][b]Background:[/b][/size]
[list][b]What is your job[/b](Are you a soldier returning home? A poacher? A singer?)
[b]Backstory[/b]:(How did you come to be here? Feel free to reference an encounter with the occult, though if it doesn’t work with the plot I will ask you to make modifications)
[/list][/box]
THE RULES
And because it seems important to state these, here are my few rules for keeping the peace:
- Decisions
My word and the word Bingellia (and anyone else who gets appointed as a Co-OP) is binding. If you don’t like a decision, you can, of course, ask for us to reconsider it. Once. If we made a decision you don’t like, complaining for pages and pages is not going to endear you to anyone. Not me, not the Co-OPs and not your fellow writers.
On that note, I intend to run this thread as an anarcho-communist cooperative. This is an unnecessarily complicated way of saying that my word DOES NOT overrule theirs. If there is an appeal and a dispute amongst the Co-OPs we will take a vote on the matter. - Post Quality
I don’t have a problem with short posts but please use proper spelling (I don’t care what regional variant), grammar etc.
Ideally also try to include a 'hook' when you write a post, which is to say something that gives other people something to respond to. If your post is something along the lines of 'Bilbo Baggins stayed in his room and read a book while the world was ending', don't be surprised if nobody responds to you. - Posting Commitment
Nothing is worse than making an RP only for it to die. Please try to make at least one post every 48 hours or so. If you find yourself unable to post, please let me know in the OOC thread or Discord. If it looks like you've abandoned a character in the middle of a fight scene I might decide to kill them off. - Posting Speed
On the flip side, blitz posting can also be infuriating. So, especially during the important scenes, I recommend giving your fellow players a reasonable time to make a reply. We all have real lives. That being said, if someone leaves everyone waiting for over 48 hours, and the rest of the writers are rearing to go, feel free to carry on the scene without them. - OOC thread Manners
Nothing annoys me more than bad manners on an OOC thread/the Discord. Swearing, passive-aggressive sniping or any other rude behaviour are not welcome. You will be warned once. If you can’t control yourself, slow-downs, temporary bans etc. may be applied on the Discord. If you continue to cause problems these may be made permanent. I don't want to do that, so play nice! - IC thread Manners
Remember, we are writing a story together, not playing to win. - Character Death
Player death is possible in this RP, though it will be avoidable if you play to your character's strengths, work with the team, investigate a situation thoroughly before running in and don't do anything too stupid. Likewise, if someone goes inactive in the middle of a fight scene without explanation and cannot be raised, I may decide to kill your character off. - Godmodding
In general the enemies in this thread should be treated as major threats, write that you took the shot on the vampire, not that you took the shot, killed it and everyone went home for tea and medals. I will, however, write damage for you if you get into a bad situation with a eldritch horror. - Keep it PG13
Shouldn’t need to be telling you this really but keep the erotica and gorn off the thread. Hopefully you all know how to write forum-safe stuff. I will be extremely disappointed if the mods have to pay us a visit. - Banning Players
I really don’t want to be doing that but reserve the right to do so if you cannot follow the (hopefully, rather simple) rules above.
CHARACTER LIST
Edwin Abernathy - Discharged British Soldier (Nachfolgia)
Narek Ashjian - Armenian Physiologist (Europa Undivided)
Rémy Battier - French Private Detective / Crippled Veteran (Endem)
Luis Cargotta - Discharged Italian Soldier (Romextly)
Dragoslav Čarapić - Jeweller/Demobbed Serbian Sniper (Europa Undivided)
Jean-Martin de Florac - Pied-Noir (Franco-Angerian) Doctor (Reverend Norv)
Gordon Graham - American Con Artist (Scurvy Sea)
Aleyn Deyne - Discharged British Soldier (Theyra)
Jesse Dredlen - American Gambler (Lessoni)
Kazamir Durnovo III - Exiled Russian Noble (Lavan Tiri)
Frank Martelli - American Engineer and Gunsmith (Sarderia)
Eleanor Martin - Order Librarian (Dyelli Beybi)
Cowal Mulloy - Irish Factory Worker (New Udonia)
Quinn O'Hearn - Demobbed Tanker with a secret (Demencia)
Ciaran O'Sullivan - Irish Undertaker (Kylantha)
Eric Liu - Former Chinese Police Officer and Martial Artist (Kowloon-California)
Ismail Rasimoğlu - Woodworker/Demobbed Ottoman Soldier (Miekzhemy)
Viviette Sinclair - British Actress (Bingellia)
Zacharias Uhrman - Swiss Watchmaker (Sudbrazil)
Sabina Vallée-Masson - French Zoologist and Taxidermist (Kylantha)
Renier van der Valk - Acting Master of the Order (Dyelli Beybi)
Victoria Wasserman - Retired British Adventurer (Voxija)
Lady Yalin - Quing Socialite (Khasinkonia)