hollowworld.uk

There is one less constellation in the sky than usual. It winked out of existence overnight. Archon’s stars, which have been a fixture of the night sky ever since the former angel sacrificed himself against Jishrim, are just gone.

Piece by piece, errant boulders and stones that dot the isles get up and start walking away into the sea to parts unknown.

Some among us have trouble sleeping. Every time they close their eyes, they are filled with gnawing anxiety and a sense of impending doom.

OOC:

Hi! The campaign is now live.

Attendees of the campaign are going to be divided into parties, with their own private events. There will also be public events, which any member of any party is welcome to attend.

How is this going to work? Well, I’m going to give you a little under two weeks to find the time to roleplay with each other and hit up your pals OOC to figure out what party you want to be in (the campaign’s first event will likely be August the 8th or 9th). You can have more than one character involved in the campaign, so feel free to play an alt within other parties if you like.

There is no maximum party size, but there is a minimum. Every party must have at least four members. For a party to be valid, I just need to know who is in it, who the party’s wrangler is, and why they’re together.

What’s a wrangler? Instead of me just arbitrarily setting a time and date, or trying to schedule with however many people are in a party, each party is going to nominate a wrangler. This is the only person I’m going to talk to for scheduling with the whole group, so make sure it’s someone that’s on the ball. 

Is the reason we’re together important? No! It just gives me something to riff off of for the events. So if the characters are together because they’re just close friends, I can work that into the events. By the same token, if it’s a religious order I can try to work some stuff to do with their gods into the event.

Lastly, if your party has a formal leader or spiritual guide or something, let me know that too.

Where do I post my party? Here, on this thread. I don’t have a template for you.

OK! So make your parties, make peace with your gods, and prepare for your characters to die no later than the second week of August.

appr

baller art choice

On the cold shores of the northeastern isle, where salt and ice meet, there lies a grand castle in ruins.

Its gate is opened, fires inside are lit, and all who come there are guaranteed their safety.

Tonight's occasion is a grand masquerade, and all contestants are entered into a game.

The winner may claim the gala's modest prize, an artifact.

The Game
Each contestant will be given a target, a charge, and a rival.
- If you kill your target, you gain 3 points.
- If your charge survives the night, you gain 3 points.
- If you can convict your rival of someone else's murder, you gain 4 points.
- If you fail to kill your target by the end of the night or protect your charge, then you gain no points.

How do you kill someone? Each contestant will be given a glass bead. If someone finishes their drink and finds a bead at the bottom of their drink, they will realize they have been poisoned. They must declare that they have been poisoned. (in the event that someone drinks their bead, the would be assassin is to inform the host so that their target may be politely informed they in fact died and to expect mild gastric distress in their near future.)

If you are able to lure someone away, and you end up alone with them and one other person who is willing to "kill" them, this also qualifies. In that case, just inform the person they have been killed.

How do you convict a rival? First, you or someone else has to accuse them. If a majority of all remaining contestants agree that the accused was the murderer, then the accused is removed from the game. This counts as having them killed, as well. If however the accused is deemed innocent by the majority of remaining contestants, then the accuser is removed from the game, and counts as having been killed.

What can a dead person do for the rest of the game? Continue to enjoy the gala and commiserate with the other corpses, but informing other contestants of who killed them or how is strictly forbidden.

How do you win? By having the most points, and being alive at the end of the game. In the event of a tie, the host chooses the winner.

The Prize
The Skeleton Key
A beautified talisman crafted by Melarue, carved of bone. It conforms to the shape of any small, nonmagical lock. It can be used to see the correct shape of a key (thus allowing a copy to be made), or it can be used to close a lock, but it can only be used to open a lock once at which point the enchantment is broken - and as with all talismans, this frees the angry spirit trapped inside.

MUNDANE STONE (0)
For now, you can just have rocks. Someone somewhere out in the rock has a quarry for whatever kind of stone you're after.

MUNDANE METALS (0)
Ditto with stone, someone somewhere out in the world has a copper mine. If it's not listed on here, it's safe to assume you can just kind of have (poor, limited) access to it by fiat.

GEMS (10)
Gemstones of whatever kind you fancy. Once an age, a gem refinery produces a gem that is usable as a master hearthstone for Eviscism.

GOLD (20)
Gold is as beautiful on Altera as it is in our world.

GLIMMERSTEEL (30)
Translucent steel, like cloudy glass, that glimmers. Small, almost invisible shards of Immortal Diamond lace this steel, giving it the signature, glimmering shine. Due to these shards, the material is extremely abrasive, and sharp. Running a bare hand across a flat surface will cause shredded, bleeding skin. Deep cuts or thrusts caused by this weapon will induce intense bleeding, and wounds that are difficult to heal. Local Glimmersteel mines produce Glimmersteel of only one hue, such as red, blue, or purple. 

IMMORTAL DIAMOND (n.a)
Immortal Diamond can only be created as a rare byproduct of Glimmersteel refining. Once every age, enough Immortal Diamond dust is accumulated that a single craft (such as a breastplate, sword, etc) can be made out of Immortal Diamond per mine supplying the refinery. It is the same hue as the local mine that produced it (or multicolored, in the case of combining multiple mines).

Immortal Diamond's primary utility is that it is totally unbreakable, it never tarnishes, and it is utterly inflexible. It is glassy in appearance, not cloudy like Glimmersteel. It can be formed into shape once within a kiln, and then never changed again.

IRSIZ-FYR (10)
Irsiz-Fyr is able to absorb and hold onto heat better than any other material. Leave it in a fire for a few minutes, and it will emerge glowing red hot, and stay that hot for days afterwards. How hot Irsiz-Fyr can get before melting and how long it stays hot depends on the skill of the manufacturer. Irsiz-Fyr naturally has a coppery appearance, even though it is functionally interchangeable with iron outside of its unique heat-retaining property.

SILVER (15)
Silver is as beautiful on Altera as it is in our world.

STARBLOOD (30)
Starblood is antithetical to the divine. It causes blessed flesh to rupture and burst on contact, and wounds caused by Starblood cannot be healed by divine magic. Blessed objects that come into contact with Starblood permanently tarnish where the two met.

Starblood has a dark, dusky appearance. It develops a harmless red patina after being exposed to the air for more than a day. Some prefer to allow it to develop the patina, and some meticulously clean their blade once a day to erase it.

STEEL (5)
Steel begins as an iron mine, which is then refined into steel and so on. Steel functions as our mundane, real life steel does; it's just less common on Altera because of the difficulty and mystique of its refining process.

THE MAGE'S REWARD (30)
TMR is antithetical to the arcane. It causes enchanted flesh to rupture and burst on contact, and wounds caused by by TMR cannot be healed by arcane magic. Enchanted objects that come into contact with TMR permanently tarnish where the two met. Arcane objects confined by TMR such as chains or a container are rendered inert for as long as it remains that way.

TMR resembles coal, with white flecks. It is infused into steel by burning it, and allowing the steel material to rest on the burning TMR as it cools, thus infusing the metal with it. Once infused, it takes on a much darker and patterned surface like Wootz steel.