knightsmods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
knightsmods) wrote2012-04-29 05:20 pm
knightsmods) wrote2012-04-29 05:20 pm
Entry tags:
Premise
It wasn't long ago that Knight's Narrows was a fully-functioning, bustling town. The port encouraged commerce, trade, and travel, but its removal from the open sea prevented the town from becoming too commercialized. Pilgrims of the old religion were the most frequent visitors-- they came from all over the world to pray at the Cathedral.
The head priest at the Cathedral eventually succumbed to old age and passed away. The new priest, a younger man who'd taken his vows somewhere across the sea, took the reins and attempted to steer the religion as a whole into a foreign direction. Shortly thereafter, people began to go missing, seemingly snatched from their homes in the dead of night. The forest grew dark, and the mist that rose up off of the river started to rise with a cryptic purpose. Those locals who remained claimed to hear voices coming from the Cathedral at night-- some familiar, some not, and swore that only light could keep the dark voices at bay.
Stories circulated around town that a gateway to Hell had been opened somewhere beneath the Cathedral. Travelers who come in never seem to leave; they simply disappear, as though the town were a black hole, sucking people in across all walks of life, all different worlds, and all different dimensions. The evil that lures them in takes different forms, but it all serves the same purpose: feeding more people to the trap known as Knight's Narrows.
As of right now, we do not have a map for the town. As it turns out, after like four hours of trying to draw a map, we discovered that we suck at city design (and Elli says that Sirea's mountains look like boobs). We hope that the locations page and the FAQ have enough information in them to give players at least a decent general idea to the layout of the town. If any one of our players would like to be gracious and offer their mapmaking skills for us, that would be super cool and amazing.
The town of Knight's Narrows is a simple one. A few of the main streets are cobbled, but otherwise the roads are dirt. Buildings are mostly one-story-- exceptions being the inn, the courthouse, and the cathedral-- and built simply with lumber from the forest. Thatched roofs are common for the houses, and each home has a cellar. All of the buildings are spaced out considerably, leaving a decent amount of empty earth around town. For this reason, the town feels a lot bigger than it is, and the dwindling number of residents is much more noticeable.
However, there's more to a town than just its roads and buildings. The weather is similar to that of the US Northwest: cool and rainy most days with the occasional day of sunshine. Strangely, no matter what the weather is like, it's always difficult to see the sky. During the day, even if it's bright and sunny, the sky is gray and overcast with no breaks in the clouds. At night, there are no stars to be seen, though the moon is always visible and always full.
• Nighttime
Night lasts for a solid eight hours at the end of every day. No more. No less. Characters will be safe inside their homes from the terrors of the night. They may also take up shelter in other buildings, but inhabited NPC buildings go on lockdown when the sun sets and they will not allow anyone to enter, and abandoned buildings may have collapsing walls and wild animals living in them. Be very aware of where you are in town when the sun goes down.
Though there are streetlights lining the roads, the flames remain unlit. Any character who tries to relight them will find the task impossible. There is still oil at the bottom of the lanterns, but for some reason, a spark will not catch on it. A fire made outside of the casing will go out the moment it's put in. When darkness falls in Knight's Narrows, light becomes a precious commodity.
If your character is unfortunate enough to be roaming the streets, they will hear low, murmuring whispers all around them in a language that your character will not be able to identify. The voices seem to be coming from the Cathedral, though characters will hear them no matter where they are in town. Staying within a light source (a lantern or candle) will ward off the voices, so hold them close to you if you've been caught outside. (NOTE: Characters will not hear the voices inside their homes and will be utterly protected there.) If a character stays unprotected in the dark for too long, however, the voices will grow louder and louder and louder...
Eventually, it will sound like the voices are right on top of your character. In a way, they are. If your character is out on the streets for too long at night without a protective light source (and the amount of time is up to player discretion), they will be attacked by a shadowy figure that very much resembles a Shadow Person (warning: creepy). The attacker will be extremely difficult to see and pin down, but it can be warded off with firelight.
Unfortunately, there is no way to kill the shadowy attackers, no matter how much light you have. They will not be able to follow you into buildings that have all four walls intact, however, nor will they be able to enter the light radius of whatever fire you manage to start. They will disappear at daybreak.
Approaching the doors of the Cathedral at night guarantees an immediate attack, regardless of how long your character has been outside. Sometimes around the Cathedral, multiple shadows will come after you. Tread with caution.
• Nightmares
Once a month, every month, characters will experience communal nightmares. The mods will post a theme for that round of dreams, and players will have the option to write a nightmare for their character fitting that theme. Every character that chooses to participate will experience everyone else's dream, including their own. In between each dream, tying them all together, will be a larger scene (written by the mods!) somehow cryptically relevant to the game's plot.
When the event rolls around, send your character's dream to knightsnarrows@gmail.com with [CHARACTER NAME]'S DREAM in the subject line.
This event is entirely optional. You do not have to write a dream every (or any) month if you do not want to. Conversely, your character may experience the dreams if you want them to even if you do not write one for them that month.
• Character Death
It's not a pleasant experience, and not just for the dead character. Your character's spirit leaves their earthly body, but it does not move on. Yes, you will get the chance to play your character as its ghost. The spirit itself will look exactly as the body did when it died. If the character was beheaded? The spirit has no head. If it was beaten to death? The spirit will show those injuries.
A few general guidelines for a character who has become a ghost:
• The spirit itself will not be able to speak, and it will have trouble seeing clearly.
• Ghosts can move through walls and, unlike the nighttime attackers, can infiltrate a person's home.
• If a living character is in close proximity (say, within 10 feet) of a ghost, the living character will experience extreme migraines and nausea.
• A ghost can attack a living character if it so desires. However, if a living character is standing within a light source, they are completely protected from a ghost's touch and attack. They will still suffer from the migraine and nausea, though.
• A spirit cannot touch a living character in any way that can be described as “gentle.” Any touches from the spirit to a living character will go through the character's body and hurt like all hell.
As for the dead character itself, their body will not decompose for the duration of the death. However, regardless of where the character dies or where the spirit roams, the character's home will experience haunts of its own, as evil will be drawn to it. There might be ghostly shadows on the wall. The distant sound of crying may be heard. A dead animal might show up in the ice box. Feel free to get creative with these haunts, and have fun with it. Deaths last for one in-game day, after which the character's spirit will snap back into its body, and the character will wake up healed.