First off, this Role Play was inspired by the general feel and the lyrics of four specific songs. Follow This Link and listen to the first four songs on that play list. Lullaby for a Dead Man, The One, Beauty of Annihilation, and 115 are the songs that inspired the villain for the RP. If you don't like the songs, that's OK, you don't need too. If you do like them, you're welcome.

I have a handful of different ideas I want to try for the Role Play but for most of them I want the input of anyone interested. The one things that is going to change is the feeling of hopelessness that weighs on the characters and the dying world around them. They cannot win. They cannot fix things. The only thing left to them is to salvage what they can and build from their. Everything that was before is gone, and it will never return. This is the central point of the Role Play, rebuilding with what you have and stopping the world from decaying further than it already has. Aside from that everything's pretty much up in the air.

Dragons, Demons, and Dead Things, oh my! There are three different ways that the Role Play can go while staying within the same general form. Each of them will have a different sort of feel and different endings. What I meant in my tags by "Character and Player Driven" is that I am not going to interact almost at all. I will be constructing the world and guiding the forces of evil/good/whoever along their different paths but there is no far reaching plot or story. The characters rise up in the broken world they start in and make of it what they will. However, events are unfolding around you. Some of these won't be seen, but most of them will be. Eventually everything will reach some sort of head and the end game will be revealed, but for the most part there is no plot. Just the beginning and the ending.

The following are the three different fronts of the Role Play. Each will be going on simultaneously but the focus will be on one of the three, though if I get enough interest I will consider running all three simultaneously with characters on each front advancing the story.

Dragons: A more action oriented route the Role play will center around the exploits of the Draconic races and their struggle to hold back the tide of evil that threatens to engulf the world. The Players role on this front will be to battle with the various hordes of demonic and undead foes that ravage civilized society.

Demons: Definitely the slowest of the three the Demonic front is about political maneuverings and the general rebuilding of a political structure. Also somehow convincing the demons we're not better off as their slaves. There's that too.

Dead Things: This is the midpoint between the two and can really go either way depending on where the characters are situated and what sort of jobs they take upon themselves. This one really focuses on the desperation aspect as it's down and in the grit with the struggling remnants of humanity. As they try and rebuild their societies they must also contend with the undead horrors that now stalk the night, some strong enough even for the daytime.

Grab Bag: The grab bag option is another one I thought up while writing this post. Instead of focusing on a certain aspect, all aspects are focused on and are handled differently. Such as the human aspect would take place directly in the IC, with Dragon battles taking place in a different section and only when they crop up, and the political climate would be handled through votes on different bills and laws and so forth. Or something like that.

The basic plot line for the entire thing is thus:
In 1992 the world became aware of the Janus Foundation for Experimental Research. Founded by Maximus Janus the third in 1860 it was the spiritual successor to the Umbra Sect, a group of cultist obsessed with bringing about the end of the world through scientific research. With different goals but much the same methods the Umbra Sect, the Janus Foundation is brutal and unfeeling in their mad dash for scientific discovery. Unfortunately they overstepped their bounds in the creation of CaS Experiment #21.142.02, more commonly known as Cassandra. Breaking free of her constraints at the facility Cassandra proceeded to rip a hole in the fabric of reality, releasing hellish nightmares into the world. Followed by legions of undead followers, Experiment 142 searches the planet for the only thing she ever wanted...

If I get enough interest I will bother to write up the rest of the story of what happened, and what state the world is in now. By "enough interest" I, of course, mean anyone who mentions they're interested. I'm really not picky. Anyways, tell me what you think and if you're interested enough to see the plot line (which I shall edit into this post upon request).

Enjoy,
and don't forget to
bring me 1 1 5!

Well, I did indeed promise more story and whatnot should I get a shred of interest and... here it is. The interest. Yippee~! >_> Thing is I've got a lot of stuff to work on and college is right around the corner, so I will get your "how the world stands today" / "backstory" thing up, just not in a manner I would refer to as... timely. It will be up in, eh, the next couple of days. Until then... listen to the songs some more? :D

On the Brink~

Due to a untidy filing job by the scientists involved in Experiment #21.142.02 it is quite unclear what the true nature of Cassandra's actions were. Even if it were known how she rent reality asunder and released the monstrous creatures that she did, it would not change anything. Quickly asserting her dominance over the feral Infected hordes (Infected with a rare pathogenic virus that was originally discovered by the Umbra Sect and perfected, seemingly, by Cassandra herself) the unstable Experiment proceeded do march across the globe burning and destroying everything that stood in her way, and bypassing that which she was unable to decimate. In the wake of her passing creatures and monsters of legend sprang forth and stalked from the unholy ground desecrated beneath Cassandra's feet. The world writhed with sickness and disease as these armies and creatures ravaged the Earth and then finally all settled, and several prominent factions rose from the ashes - born from the decaying planet.

The Desecrated still roam the planet, fulfilling Cassandra's every whim and will while simultaneously crushing what little life still clings to the earth beneath its feet. Most conventional governments have crumbled but the Bastion of Eden rose in their place, the last stronghold of humanity. Camped in fertile grounds of deep southern America this is the largest remaining force of humans on the planet, and have held their own against the Desecrated for some time. Fortunately for Bastion of Eden and it's inhabitants a mighty army came forth to defend the dying planet. The Draconic Legions aim only to wipe the Desecrated from existence and cares little for any who gets in its way, or between it and its enemy.

In recent times several new factions have come to light, nearly four years into the aftermath of Cassandra's rampage. A small army of Demon's have surfaced, supposedly hiding in deep caverns below before surfacing only recently. Camped nearby the Bastion of Eden they have just begun to attempt negotiations with the Bastion of Eden, and seem to be quite adamant in their demands. The New Earth Federation (rather misleading name, as they have only one source) has begun an all out campaign along the Dragons against the Desecrated, and have even had several clashes with the Demon's outside of the BoE. Not to be outdone by the commotion a faction of the Desecrated has split from the main group, calling themselves the Enlightened of All Creation, and have begun a mysterious campaign towards an unknown end. Their intentions seem, however, to include the eradication of everything that is not a part of their own sect - and they have begun this mission with the utmost enthusiasm.


Factions~

Desecrated- Comprised of undead monstrosities and failed experiments from the Janus Foundation, Desecrated are led by Experiment #21.142.02 Cassandra. They operate with no central leadership, save for Cassandra herself, and seem to have an agenda of reckless mayhem wherever they can spread it. They are considered to control the central regions of North America, as this is where Cassandra has been sighted, but continue to be a blight across the globe (wherever there are still living things).

The Bastion of Eden- Massive stronghold of humanity, the Bastion of Eden call themselves the last hope for all of human kind. While the reports are not complete and details are sketchy it is theorized that the BoE is currently the single largest grouping of humans on the planet. This makes them a prime target for Desecrated, and have even fallen under the steely glare of the Demons. Their fortress home is sound however, built and fortified from the ruins of Old Society.

The Draconic Legions- Calculating, Vicious, and Powerful the Draconic Legions stand between the Desecrated and everyone else. Unfortunately any of the "anyone else" that happens to stand between the Draconic Legions and the Desecrated is soon considered nonexistent or a target. The DL have no hope for the rebuilding of society and merely strive onward to see the destruction of the Desecrated. Several attempts have been made by other factions to contact them about their motives. The messengers have yet to be returned.

The Demons- The Demons are an oddity on Blighted Earth. They seem to have no agenda, no secrets, and no central leadership. They merely do what they want, when they want, and however they want to do it. Thus far these things have mostly been political maneuverings with the human Bastion of Eden, and despite their lack of central leadership they have come surprisingly far in their negotiations.

The New Earth Federation- The New Earth Federation is the fancy official name for the army of criminals who've taken it upon themselves to take what they will from the dying planet and crush the Desecrated while they're at it. Most criminals of any caliber from the BoE end up in the NEF, and they're more than happy to take them. The NEF operates on a set of rules, that all of the scum of Old Earth seem to have taken to with abandon. These rules are a strict code of honor that basically boils down to "Take what you will and do what you like, as long as you're not messin' with nobody else" and they enforce these rules with sadistic glee.

The Enlightened of All Creation- Crazed fanatics the Enlightened of All Creation most certainly have an agenda. The sanity and cohesion of said agenda cannot be attested to with any accuracy, yet their movements have purpose and their actions have intended results. Thus far very little is known of this group, save that most who meet up with them don't stick around long to tell the tale or if they do they don't live to tell of it...


Thus is the status of Blighted Earth as it stands today, for good or ill (though most are hedging their bets towards ill).

Well, my first role play nearly met its doom at the hands of lack of interest so I'm going to try and garner some more for this one. If you three could help me out with that it would be great. In the meantime I'll be writing up reports on the different factions and on the different sorts of monsters that have sprouted up. Also in the meantime characters, factions, and other miscellaneous topics should be discussed and whatnot. I'd like to start off more informed with this one, and we need more people so the alternative is... twiddling our thumbs and waiting.

Oops, I forgot this existed... well *bump for sweet justice* and for anyone interested I'm actually back around on the site, I'll be digging around for more people and the RP will go ahead and go up - upon which time I shall post a link to a Roleplayers Wanted forum topic (if enough don't show up) and will be PMing the original people interested. Sorry for the wait, but I shall be moving forward regardless. Happy Days~! :D