forum "Watching Cityscapes Turn To Dust" | Small Group, CLOSED (5/5) STALKERS WELCOME

Started April 27, 2023 by @Vitae_

tune

a·poc·a·lypse
noun

1. the complete final destruction of the world.
2. an event involving destruction or damage on a catastrophic scale.
3. "to take the cover off".

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The veil between dimensions has been shredded. Chaos runs rampant and natural disasters shake apart the earth as residents of the Far Side begin their hunt.

The people cry out, “The apocalypse is upon us!” but it’s more than the end of the world. The very magic woven into the universe is unraveling, creating an entirely new realm where only the strongest will survive.

We are all marked for death. To live, you will first have to overcome yourself.

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This is all an elaborate set-up that I’ve created purely so I can establish a fantasy apocalypse roleplay. I’m pulling inspiration from practically everywhere to make this as inclusive, crazy, and creative as possible!!

The details are as follows…

LORE:

• The two dimensions are mirrors of each other. The Near Side and Far Side. The former is the world as we know it, while the Far Side is an aggressive and distorted version of it.
• The Far Side residents are known as doppels, doubles, copies, reflections, counterparts—take your pick. You know those mini horror shorts on doppelgangers floating around the internet? If not, here's an example.
• Anyone who tries to cross the remnants of the veil will suffer immensely until they lose all sense of reason and emotion beyond aggression, slowly becoming zombie-like.
• Dopplegangers are not human. They're highly aggressive and single-minded in their goal to kill their Near Side counterpart, wickedly clever and impossible to reason with. It's not uncommon to see them working together. If they succeed in killing their counterpart, they'll claim their memories and become immune to dimensional corruption. This doesn't make them any less aggressive.
• The only way to tell someone from the Far Side apart from someone from the Near Side is their eyes, as a doppel's will reflect light like a cat's.
• Doppels are very, very hard to kill. Only their counterpart can deal a finishing blow, and fighting them alone is practically a suicide mission as their strength directly matches your own. The best strategy is to outrun them for as long as you can in the Near Side, as the corruption will slowly weaken them until they are no longer able to properly function.
• No one quite knows how the doppels are able to hunt their counterparts, just that there is some kind of force driving them that enables them to track Near Side residents.
• The above is popular knowledge and may or may not be 100% accurate with the actual lore of the universe. That, you will have to find out.

I’m going to leave it at that for now in order to keep it as open as possible for other character backstories. Feel free to incorporate your own storytelling into this! As I mentioned before, this is also a fantasy roleplay so if you want to make your character a different species or give them powers, that's perfectly acceptable! I want this roleplay to be fun and not too serious, despite the heavier topics that might emerge.

Speaking of heavier topics! I’m going to give this a tentative rating of PG15. TRIGGER WARNINGS for:

• Graphic depictions of violence
• Swearing

I may add more as things come up. If there’s anything at all you want to avoid, just let me know and I’ll make a note of it in the starting post! The only RULES for this are as follows:

• andrew (Our Supreme Lord and Overseer)'s rules apply.
• Don't try and control characters that aren't yours without explicit permission.
• You can choose how many characters you want to play, but the cap is three at this time (note: while you are in control of your characters' doppelgangers, they do not count as one of the three slots available).
• Don't make your character overpowered or omniscient.
• Respond with an appropriate amount of content. There's no word count requirement and you don't have to match the amount that other people post, but read the room! Give everyone something to work with.

I'll post character templates sometime soon if anyone is interested! In the meantime, please reach out with any questions/comments/concerns, and I'll do my best to respond quickly :)

I am interested!

Alright, everyone! Thank you all for your interest; I was not expecting this many people so quickly, holy cow. I'm flattered!

I've been doing some thinking regarding the character template…and I've decided to make it completely optional! If you'd like to fill out the template and share your character here, that's, of course, more than fine. Alternatively, you can do what I'm doing and keep everything a secret for suspense… Entirely up to you!

Once again, let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns!! Either here or through a PM—I don't mind.

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OPTIONAL
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General Information
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Sexuality:

Appearance & Personality
[placeholder]

Backstory
[placeholder]

Miscellaneous (Such as any weapons, powers, or other fun facts)
[placeholder]

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I'm going to work on the starter post, although I can't give an exact timeframe for when I'll be able to post it. By the end of today, most certainly! I'll wait for confirmation that everyone is ready before posting, and when I do, I'll officially close this discussion.

Name: Misty Calloway
Nicknames: N/A
Age: 17
Ethnicity: English (British)
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Bisexual

Appearance-
Hair Color & Length: Ashy white, long straight
Eye Color: Deep violet-grey
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 117 lbs.
Skin Color: Albino white
Face Claim (Optional): N/A
Voice Claim (Optional): N/A
Conditions: Albinism

Personality-
Basic Traits: She's a very quiet and reserved person, tending to stick more to herself. She enjoys reading and poetry, and if you express an interest in either she will, without regard to if you know her or not, talk you ear off about it, though if she realizes what she's doing she gets very awkward and quiet. She's not a particularly religious person, but if someone can give her a convincing argument as to why she should be religious, she'll gladly follow God or Yahweh or Allah or Zeus or whoever. She doesn't like loud people or noises and hates bright lights, preffering darkness and quiet to anything. It has to do with her hyperacusis, light sensitive eyes and albinism. She is extremely loyal to her friends and family, and anyone that threatens her loved ones will find their reputation ruined and their limbs possibly broken. Physical touch for her is basically a no-no unless she's know you for a while, and we're talking "raised side-by-side in the crib" while, which means there's only one person who's allowed to hug her, hig-five her, fistbump her or playfully push her around.
Biases: Doesn't like rude people, bright lights/noises, or daytime.
Political Lean (Optional): She doesn't lean more to one side or another, instead adopting the most acceptive principles of each group and leaving the racist/sexually biased views behind.
Motivations (Optional): N/A
Flaws: Tends to get very awkward around people she considers hot/cute, and will sometimes shut down if there's too much going on around her.
Hobbies: Reading, writing (short stories and poems), debating, cooking for her family, martial arts, painting
Talents: Reading, writing, painting, cooking, debate, fighting

Power(s)- Sixth Sense, True Sight, Pitch Perfection, Directional Noise Mimicry
Basic Outline: Sixth Sense gives her what ammounts up to a short range sonar/radar that lets her know if there's something dangerous nearby. True Sight lets her see through minor camoflauge and invisibility. Pitch Perfection is a passive ability that lets her identify or sing any note she's ever heard. Directional Noise Mimicry allows her to cast her voice out to a certain range and mimic noises she's heard, such as a car alarm.
Drawbacks: Most of these rely on her eyes and ears to work. Sixth sense only works when she's alert and awake, meaning whenever she's asleep, she's vulnerable, and it's actually most of what causes her aversion to loud noises and bright lights. Pitch perfection can only work with notes organic beings can make, such as the squeaks of a bat or a bird call. Directional Noise Mimicry only works out to a 30 foot radius, but can work around corners and inside walls, and can mimic anything up to the loudness of an amplified electric guitar in a rock concert. And lastly, True SIght can't work through glass or walls and only lets her see up to the max distance a normal human can with the naked eye; it does work through mirrors, though with. . . unintended results at times.
Special Applications (Optional): (Idk yet lol-)

Character #1
General Information
Name: Raiki
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Asexual Aromantic

Appearance & Personality
Looks: Tall, with silver hair and yellow eyes.
Personality: He is a friendly fella, always offering a helping hand to those who need it. Pretty chill, doesn't take initiative in too many social interactions, but forms bonds pretty quickly.
Flaws: Gets pretty defensive when people assume things about him, he sometimes forgets to sleep, and
Hobbies: Hiking, running, climbing trees,

Miscellaneous (Such as any weapons, powers, or other fun facts)
Powers: has a pair of swords, and some lightning based powers mostly involving enhancing his physical speed and strength.
He is a cat lover, and a Wolf-born/person.

Character #2
General Information
Name: Hex
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Unknown/Undiscovered! He didn't talk to people much, so he probably hasn't thought about it, like, ever.

Appearance & Personality
Personality: Very relaxed and often oblivious to social cues. He does his own thing, often just getting lost in thought. He also really likes Squirrels
Hobbies: drinking Coffee, saying hello to squirrels, reading while drinking coffee, going on walks,
Flaws: A bit oblivious to social situations, and not very self-reflective.

Powers: Has mid-range teleportation, telekinesis, can make a smoke, and plenty of other things he hasn't discovered yet. They manifested at a young age, and they always have the form of a mildly eerie purple energy. People were mildly unnerved by this, so he was a mildly lonely child. Mostly in the sense that he had no friends, but he was fine with that, he's always been alright being by himself. Besides, he has squirrel friends.
He also has a job at a coffee shop

Name: Mercy Hayes
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Straight

Appearance: Mercy is a young Caucasian woman who is 5’11 and 138 lbs. She has fair skin, deep blue eyes, and curtain bangs that frame her long-ish, round face. She has loose honey blonde curls that go down to around mid chest. She normally dresses in a vintage-y style and will often wear a small amount of makeup.

Personality: Mercy is an INTJ. If someone were to describe Mercy, they would most likely use the words intelligent and calculating; she plans out all her moves before she makes them, and she is very cautious. She’s quite the bookworm, and while she is very friendly towards other people, she can be untrusting and reserved. It takes a long time to get into her close circle, but when you do get close to her, she will be very loyal and compassionate towards you.

Powers/Weapons: (I’m not exactly sure if there are any rules for the powers, so lemme know if I need to change anything. xD) Mercy can control water, but she tends to avoid trying to use her powers unless she truly needs them. She will often carry around a knife to defend herself.

General Information
Name: Spade Willow
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Pan

Appearance & Personality
Long, silky, red hair, curvy and loves it, forest green eyes, super-cute dimples. - Spunky, sassy, comedic-relief kind of character. Loves having fun, absolutely hilarious, but behind it all extremely smart (if y’all know iamJordi from TikTok, similar to her personality)

Backstory
Recovering from an ED and a nasty and abusive relationship (hence why she had the eating disorder). She’s questioning her sexuality. Comes from a good family. Her most visible (of many) scar on the back of her neck from her ex throwing a broken plate at her.

Miscellaneous: She wants to become a doctor!

I love all of these characters!! We've definitely got a variety, which is always fun to see. I'm excited to read how they'll all interact!

Speaking of, I've gotten the starter post all written out. I'll post it once StarlessSkys give the affirmative. If anyone happens to be lurking and considering whether or not they should join, this is the last call!

Edit: I moved the topic to Wildcard Roleplaying 'cause I didn't realize I was in the Fandom World tab lolol

Alrighty, I've given it around five hours and I'm a little too eager to get the ball rolling to continue waiting. StarlessSkys, you're more than welcome to still post a character template if you want to, but I'm going to close off the discussion and post the starter momentarily! Feel free to simply jump in whenever you're ready.

Heads up that the order in which everyone responds will be first come, first serve, and we'll go in turns from there unless that method proves to be unreliable. For example, if you respond directly beneath my post, your turn will always come after mine unless otherwise specified.

Be as creative as you'd like when it comes to fitting your characters into the scene! You can follow the prompts given or deviate from the expected and throw a little chaos into the mix—whatever makes you happy!

The sun above was absolutely unforgiving as it beat down on the valley below. Not all that unusual, given it was the summertime, but the vapor from the evaporating snow sludge beneath Thatch’s boots made the weather seem more than just a little bipolar.

He grunted and shook the front of his flannel, trying to fan air over his sweat-soaked undershirt. He was reluctant to completely shed the garment, despite the heat. Weren’t you supposed to wear long sleeves in hot places? Something about retaining moisture and slowing down dehydration, Thatch wasn’t sure.

“Whatever,” he muttered, the word barely audible even to himself through his heavy breathing.

It wasn’t like the other decisions he made today had been all that smart. If they had, he supposed he wouldn’t be here—in one of the ruined cities looking to replace some supplies he’d lost after an encounter with a couple of zombified doppels.

He huffed and set his backpack on the ground, then shucked his flannel off and tied it around his waist.

Much better.

He slung the backpack back over his shoulders, fixing his eyes on the empty stretch of space about a hundred feet in front of him. A parking lot—or what used to be one, before it was practically decimated with ominous craters of varying sizes.

The parking lot belonged to a small plaza, lining the entrances to all sorts of storefronts. He recognized the mostly broken signs marking an Ace Hardware, a Subway, and a CVS. At least two of those might be useful.

While the craters in the parking lot gave him the heebie-jeebies, the teen swallowed back his nerves and set his shoulders determinedly. He had come this far, and it wasn’t like he could go back.

Counting his lucky stars for the silence up until now, he crept forward through the parking lot, using the very edges of the craters as his footholds. Most weren’t large enough that it’d hurt him if he fell, but he stayed light on his feet regardless. There was no telling what made them, after all.

It wasn’t until he reached the side of the CVS that he realized something was off. A shadow retreated from one of the windows, off to the right.

A chill ran down his spine, pulse rocketing as a cold wave of dread washed over him. Shakily, he forced himself to keep his breathing steady.

There was only one shadow—that he knew of. Was it possible it was his doppelganger, lying in wait for him? His heart thumped, but he swallowed back his fear. The shadow had been too small to be any copy of his. Benefits of being so tall, he mused.

It could be a zombie, but Thatch thought that was unlikely. The doors were closed behind whoever was inside—foresight a zombie wouldn’t have possessed. Whoever it was had definitely used the front doors, he decided, noting the fresh, watery footprints that he cursed himself for not noticing earlier.

The figure must be someone else’s doppel, then. Or another survivor.

Neither prospect was particularly tempting, but if it was only one person, he might be able to fend off any attacks. Briefly, the thought of cornering another survivor and stealing their supplies crossed his mind, but the thought made him so sick that he rejected it without hesitation. No, if there was another survivor, it was best to leave them be.

That said… It had been so long since Thatch had encountered another person from the Near Side. It was a lot of risk for very little reward, but the temptation and curiosity momentarily drowned out his fear.

Surely it wouldn’t be so risky just to take a little peek?

Instinctively, his hand drifted to the large kitchen knife looped through his belt. He drew it with shaking fingers, slipping the blade between the crease of the sliding doors before shouldering them open as silently as he could.

His eyes took time to adjust to the dimness—time he didn’t have if he wanted to be stealthy. He ducked and dipped behind the first shelf to the left, waiting until he could see properly to do any real scouting.

The gravity of what he was doing hit him like a truck and he had to suppress a groan. Stupid, he cursed himself. You should’ve just left, you moron.

He noted that most of the shelves seemed empty, which was discouraging, but luckily he’d given himself a bigger, riskier problem to work around, first.

Seeing the empty counter with the registers ahead through the gap in the shelving, he decided to make that his goal and crept as quickly as he could toward it.

His back would be against the wall and he’d have reliable cover if anything went wrong. The only issue was how close the registers were to the window he’d seen the shadow in.

Tense, he lept the counter with a hand pressed firmly against the top. His landing would’ve been silent—something he’d learned to do quite well after the end of the world—if it weren’t for the money, copy paper, and prescription sheets scattered all over the floor.

The bottom of his boots touched the papers that promptly slipped out from under him, bringing him down hard.

There was a loud thunk as his body hit the floor, followed by an explosion of flying paper and a metallic clack as his kitchen knife clattered against an abandoned register divider.

Thatch scrambled to get up, cursing under his breath as he propped an elbow on the counter and straightened out his knee, but he knew the moment the shadow fell over his face that it was too late. He’d been found.

“Haaahh hi,” he squeaked, lips trembling in a nervous smile. “So, uh, funny story…”

Misty had been rummaging, her powers alert and very active for her to flee at even the slightest hint of danger. Her Sixth Sense had been pinging just slightly, but it always did in the city. Ever since the Near Side had started slipping through, at least.

Which is why, when she heard the thud and went to investigate, she wasn't particularly worried about it. She just held herself firmly upright.

"So, uh, funny story…" the man says and Misty shushes him. Partly because safety, also because even soft speaking aggravated her ears.

"Not here. Not particularly safe. I can tell you're not one of Them, so as long as you aren't being actively stalked by a Shiny Eyes, you can follow me to my hideaway." she interrupts cooly, her voice soft and mellow.

Mercy should not have survived. Yes, she had had a number of situations where her life was on the life. Heck, she had even had multiple run ins with her doppelgänger. But, no matter how bad those situations were, she had never experienced anything as horrible as this.

After this so-called incident, she had dragged herself for hours through the sweltering heat, blood staining her sweat-soaked clothes. At first, she wasn’t going to make it; she was new to this town, and she had no idea where to go to find medical supplies. However, an hour of wandering, she felt relief wash over her when she finally managed to find a small CVS. She couldn’t get her hopes up too much, though. The place had likely already been ravaged for supplies. All she could do now was explore the building and pray to whatever deity was out there that she would be able to locate medicine.

Without a second though, Mercy limped over to the building, clutching her stomach as she walked. Normally, she wasn’t the kind of person to break into an abandoned building without a plan. There could easily be a doppelgänger inside, waiting for her. But, with the agonizing pain from her leg and stomach urging her on, she opened the door to the CVS and peered inside.

From as far she could tell, no one was in the CVS. Sure, the cash register and shelves were already barren of supplies, but that didn’t stop her from looking. Mercy ducked behind the shelves, searching desperately for medicine, when she heard something that made her heart drop. Someone else was in the CVS.

Still clutching her injured stomach, Mercy crawled back towards the exit. She could hear two individuals talking across the store, but she didn’t pay attention to what they were saying. She was too focused on escaping without them noticing her to care.

(Decided not to make a character sheet! But for simplicity's sake, this is Kane Lowery, think Dr. Medical Malpractice. Sorry for the wait!)

The syringe was filled with a clear, slightly cloudy liquid, the 1 mL of anesthetic was held by a man with simple clothes. He didn't look like someone in the medical field, with a patchwork coat and thick military boots, but a bit of cognitive dissonance was a simple sacrifice for efficiency.

Kane was leaned against a wall, breathing heavily. He placed the syringe on his lap, scrambling around to find a sanitizing wipe, ripping the casing open with his teeth and roughly scrubbing his right shoulder, he dropped the wipe to the ground. Picking up the syringe again Kane carefully used his left hand to administer the shot, grateful for the hundredth time that he was lucky enough to be born ambidextrous. He slumped to the floor, leaning his head back to try to pull in more oxygen.

Most of his materials were still in reach, so with a brief grunt of pain, Kane leaned over to grab what he needed. 1 liter saline and betadine combination to sterilize and clean the wound, sterilized bandages painstakingly gathered over weeks, antibiotics to stave off infection.

The man had a deep slash across his lower torso, almost reminiscent of claw marks and he was busy working in cleaning and bandaging the wounds by himself, deftly moving with an urgent, but calculated speed. Kane held the last end of the bandage in his teeth, snugly finishing his wrapping. The anesthetic was working and he made a mental note to still not move too quickly, just because he couldn't feel all the pain didn't mean it wasn't there.

Finishing his patch job, Kane breathed out a sigh of relief, looking over his work with a satisfied air. It was neat and clean, the best he could do in this situation. He was in his current safe-house, an apartment building long since abandoned. It was on the higher floors and the doors had locks and most importantly, he had space for all of his things.

This hide-out was tolerable compared to some of the places he'd been forced to camp-out, the worst being a sewage plants control room, the best oddly enough being an abandoned Waffle House. It had been remarkably comfortable. Still, he needed to move soon, he'd been in place for too long and his risk-factor was starting to rise to the red. But the area had been rich in resources and he'd been loathe to move when it was wise.

Kane shuffled carefully over to a couch, the coffee table across from it scattered with papers and notes. His emergency bag slouched right next to it, filled with food, water, medicine, money in case there were survivors who still traded in the paper currency, backups of his notes, and guns. If he needed to take off quickly, he had the opportunity to.

Clutching his side to avoid jostling too much, Kane sat down carefully, holding his chin in his hands and staring pensively at his papers. He should head South, back home, see if he could start picking out landmarks. But he needed to spot out a likely place to hide-out while he could, map out what he could, try to travel as safely as possible, especially now that he was injured.

Ironically, he'd gotten injured acquiring the medical supplies he'd used to treat it. No risk, no reward, as they say. Kane chuckled wryly, then grimaced. Perhaps a lower-risk expedition next time, to restock and resupply?

Hex waves hello to a small squirrel sniffing around the dirt. He holds out a hand and it sniffs tentatively, but scurries away as a larger figure approaches. "Hex, focus!" Raiki runs up to Hex with an exasperated expression on his face. "C'mon, leave the squirrels be, they need to focus to survive as much as you do." Hex sighs and stands back up. "Okay….. uh… did you get… whatever we needed?" Raiki nods. "Yep, we've got some food now, so long as you don't have anything against burritos for the next while." Hex nods quietly and yawns. "Time to go again?" "Yep, we can't linger too long…. try to stay focused this time!" Hex nods, and they walk away from the demolished gas station, Raiki warily looking around, and Hex staring peacefully up at the clouds.

Spade sits down giddily at a table outside, looking around the beautiful plaza surrounding her. Eager to eat her açaí bowl, she grabs a plastic spoon. And off she goes. Gosh, isn't food good? It keeps your body up and moving, and it’s a sensory extraordinaire. She remembered, though, that it’s hard to eat sometimes.