Divine Comedy - Hellish Fantasy RP Signup

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

A monstrous landscape of fire and metal, darkened by shades of red and grey. Gigantic mountains made of red rock, jagged and imposing in their size.

A man sat on the edge of one-such cliff, pieces of metal and forgotten technology strutting out from under the dirt. He smoked a cigar, dropping the ash off the edge of the cliff. As if there wasn't enough ash in the air.

He watched as high above him, terrifying flying creatures grasped large metal crates in their talons. The Boxes, carrying more and more of the damned. Whisking them away to whatever punishment would be judged for them. There were hundreds to each crate.

As he prepared to walk away from his beautiful view, a small dog, with black starry fur that looked like the night sky crawled up to him, and spoke.

"It's time."

Hello, all! This is an RP idea that I brainstormed and came up with, about a magical journey through the Nine Circles of Hell. It is inspired of course, by The Divine Comedy by Dante, but also inspired by games like Bayonetta and Devil May Cry. It will combine fantasy elements of magic with the religious elements of Hell and demons, as well as a bit of modernization in terms of weaponry, as well as some demons we meet in Hell.

In this game, the players will playing as the very recently diseased, who are being whisked away to whatever punishment they will be subjected to for all eternity. It will involve our group of players being aided by a demon, who believes he can use us to escape from Hell, with our help. The journey will involve gaining magical items to help us in our journey, and defeating many of the demons that reside in Hell, and maybe saving a few damned souls along the way.

Your character will start human, but can become more Demonic or Angelic as the RP goes on. Whatever you choose will have different consequences. Technology in Hell is technically progressive, mostly to keep things look familiar for the damned, but demons can tend to prefer an antiquated style and look, rivaling something of the 15th-16th century.

In terms of religion, the world of this RP establishes that the correct religious is Christianity, but it's more of a broad Christianity, with some Greek and Romany mythology thrown in. I'm tailoring specific things to the moment. It will be a guided journey, with times of rest and respite. We will go through all Nine Levels of Hell, eventually meeting the Ruler of Hell himself, Satan. It's going to be a pretty dark adventure, but with a morbid sense of humor. Still, try not to be super silly. Standard RP rules apply, and try to keep up.

• Name: (What were you called among the living? Try to remember, because it's all you've got now.)
• Sex: (Male? Female? Transgender? The torment of the devil isn't sexist)
• Age: (Nothing under 17-ish. There are children in Hell, but we won't be playing as them.)
• Appearance: (I prefer pictures, but descriptions are A-Ok)
• Occupation: (What was your job on Earth?)
• Religion: (Are you Christian? What sect? Not Religious?)
• Personality: (It's hard to keep acting like yourself when faced with Hell)
• Magical Artifact(s): (The most important section. You will not have access to these at the very start of the RP. Your character will be gifted with a magical artifact or two that will help you in your journey. These tools have magical properties of MANY different effects. They tend to be ancient artifacts that belonged to heroes and figured of old, or mythological creatures. For example, "The Golden Necklace of Cleopatra" or the "Buckler of the Minotaur". I will allow a certain number based on the magical properties you give them. Could be something like controlling flames, or something like being able to summon animals. Be creative, but don't overdo it.)
• Weapon(s): (Swords, shields, guns, fists, etc. You can't really have more than a couple of weapons. These are materialized from your character's soul and tailor-made from their actions on Earth. Weapons can have magical effects like the artifacts.)
• History: (What was life like for you up to your Death? You'll want to remember this to, so you never forget how you ended up in Hell)
• Sins: (Tends to be one great sin, or a collection of little sins. What acts landed you in Hell? Could be anything ranging from not believing in God to being a traitorous murderer, or a thief and cheater, or an adulterer, or committing suicide. Be creative with this too.)

edited 16th Apr '14 1:34:37 AM by Saturn

Can I reserve a spot? I have to get to a night class and I may not be able to work on a sheet until later this evening or tomorrow morning.

You can reserve a spot. I don't know if there will be a limit, but I'd like to keep it less than 10.

Cool beans, I'll get to work as soon as I can. Very excited to start this thing...

Interest! Not sure yet what I'll roll with.

Reserving a spot, working on a Crusader type guy.

Remember this "takes place" in 2014. I mean, it's Hell, so the year doesn't really matter. But at the time of your character's death, it was the modern day.

Mine's is intended to be a suicidally depressed musician/student.

Crap, I'll think up someone else then.

Yeah, sorry. All the player characters died at the same time, at the start of the RP. But, your magical artifacts/weapons could be Crusades-based.

May I suggest you make him a modern day crusader type? Namely a moral crusader fundamentalist who thought he/she would be going straight to Heaven? If you don't I think I'll grab at it.

edited 16th Apr '14 2:55:24 AM by tricksterson

• Name: Crystal Spring
• Sex: Female
• Age: 36
• Appearance: You asked for it.◊
• Occupation: Businesswoman
• Religion: Atheist, sort of.
• Personality: Cold and ruthless, Crystal idolizes herself and thinks of herself as a Goddess, leading to her becoming prideful and arrogant, as well as rather competitive to show the world that she was as good as she believed herself to be, and vengeful against anyone who wrongs her. After all, who is strong enough to wrong a goddess? She also lets nothing get in her way and is staunchly against believing that someone is better than her, be it a rival businessman or God. This also means that she is always striving for herself, and extremely selfish, the concept of helping someone just to be good or being nice without some sort of gain being completely foreign to her, as is friendship. All in all she's a nasty piece of work.
• Magical Artifact(s):
  • The 30 silver coins paid to Judas to betray Jesus; they are equivalent to about $1 million, but anyone who is paid them will be betrayed, in a disastrous way, thrice and then arrested and convicted.
  • The wings of Daedalus which allow her to fly. They are also improved, being impervious to heat and water. Furthermore, they automatically take Crystal to where she wants to go if she is in a maze.
• Weapon(s): A silenced pistol, which suits her cold and ruthless psyche, and a sniper, that can also become normally semi-automatic, with laser guided sights , which suits her vengeful yet precise personality.
• History:
  • Born in the bustling and busy city of New York, Crystal's parents, her father a banker and mother a scientist, were always pushing her to be the best, and do the best for her with little regard to anyone else, much like how her father scammed himself to where he was, and her mother was paid solely to report that Global Warming didn't exist by people in the fossil fuels industry. They broke their own rule though when they spoiled her endlessly, showering her with gifts and money. Taking their teaching to heart, Crystal got her Bachelor's degree in economics and then proceeded to blackmail her parents into giving her money, or else she's report their crimes.
  • Driving them to bankruptcy, Crystal then went on to flip the bird at global warming and environmentalists, creating a company, with her parents money, that gleefully chopped down rainforests, allowed the elite to poach in their land (for a price), endlessly mined the Arctic and Middle East, becoming cushy with the leaders there, and ended up rolling in the cash, silencing anyone who came near to opposing her ... permanently.
  • This endless rubbing in environmentalists faces eventually proved her downfall as a particularly extremist group, frustrated at her carefree attitude towards the Earth and murder of their friends, assassinated her by posing as an employee in a hotel she was staying in and killing her in her sleep.
• Sins:
  • Authorizing assassinations of people who opposed her.
  • Thinking of herself as a Goddess, and s such not believing in God.
  • Taking advantage of the poor and bribing governments.

Gonna put what I've done so far here as a place holder and finish it up later. I basically know what to write, I just need sleep :P Let me know if there's any problems so far.

• Name: Lucille “Lucy” Brayne

• Sex: Female (Gender-queer; Androgynous/bigendered)

• Age: 21

• Appearance: Sans bass guitar…◊

• Occupation: Musician (recently unemployed) and student of music

• Religion: Non-religious; sympathetic to Buddhism but doesn’t like the idea of a God/intelligent design

• Personality: Lucille doesn't seem to be the kind of person to be a downer much less commit suicide, at least upon initial appearances but has in fact suffered depression and anxiety since 16. She is a warm, friendly and open individual with the look of someone who knows what they're doing and where they're going - perhaps why everyone seems to ask her questions all the time, though she doesn't appear to mind. At heart she's an outgoing, quirky extrovert however social and personal anxieties make her jumpy around people she doesn't know. It also fuels her perfectionism, ruthlessly self-critical and always with the pessimistic voice of her depression droning in the back of her mind.

Morbid, violent thoughts constantly stream through her brain though fortunately her own macabre delight in the dark and gorey makes this more fun escapism than overtly distressing. Lucy hides her darkest emotions and fears behind cheeky humour, childish or bizarre games and focusing on the wellbeing of friends/family - they coming before herself. Music, art and martial arts are the few activities solely for herself she readily engages in.

She doesn't identify as exclusively male or female and expresses this through ambiguous or androgynous dress. Asexual but likes dirty jokes.

• Magical Artifact(s): Occam’s Razor: This artifact appears to be an old-style razor with a gleaming six-inch blade and a plain, wooden handle. However this powerful tool can cut through the thickest armours and strongest hides with the precision to slice the head off a dust mite. The razor’s blade glows red in the face of any deception, illusion or lie and seems compelled to point towards the simplest or fastest solution to any problem.

• Weapon(s): Prefers fists, feet, etc. but often uses switchblades or other small knives as an extension of herself when under great duress. These can also be thrown with reasonable precision.

• History: Lucille Brayne was born in Melbourne, Australia to an engineer and an artist, the youngest of too children and only daughter. She was exposed to music at an early age, even being named after B.B King's famous guitar(s) and always knew she want to be one of those amazing musicians she heard. Growing up in the South Eastern suburb of Frankston, known for it's pristine beaches and filthy drug dens, life was difficult on insecure wages but the lack of luxury helped fuel a creative mind. Unfortunately she was often bullied and ostracized, making her more shy and reserved. However the rest of her family were often sick and struggled for any degree of success in the world, so she never complained to them. At least it caused to focus on her studies, taking up piano at the age of eight.

After transitioning to high school her social situation improved somewhat, making a number of good friends and treasured them dearly though she probably insulted them more than people she hated. Though Lucy was intelligent and hardworking enough to excel at most of her subjects, her mind continually drifted back to music - it was certainly better than the deteriorating condition at home. The few romantic relationships she tried were disastrous in the long run as even she hadn't understood her sexuality yet. In year 10 her father died of a heart attack, setting off the worst of her depression.

University seemed to offer a hope for a better, more fortunate life - She entered a course for a Bachelor of Music in Melbourne, finally gained a black belt in karate and joined a paying pub band. Even her current antidepressant seemed to be panning out ok, at least for a time. After a few years, however, it began to lose effectiveness and her doctor recommended a new one that would take a few months to settle. Her luck only went downhill from there as her student and rent welfare were stopped, the government finding out about her pub money. Her band replaced her as a bassist and although she was better at piano they decided she 'wasn't into the genre'. Understandably upset Lucy made a big mistake - she got drunk with her friends. Roughly three quarter of a vodka bottle through the night she found herself back at her apartment, her friends having left one way or another. Her mind clouded by the alcohol and antidepressants, she found as much aspirin as she could, put on her favorite album and swallowed it all.

• Sins: Suicide via deliberate overdose and heresy (atheist her entire life, if a fairly conscientious one

edited 16th Apr '14 8:36:39 PM by Lt.BGob

Both sign-ups look great so far. I like the artifacts.

• Name: Giovanni Fellini
• Sex: Male
• Age: 47
• Appearance:He's da Boss◊.
• Occupation: Mob Boss
• Religion: God-Fearing Roman Catholic
• Personality: Calculating and greedy but otherwise warm, jovial and friendly. He puts his family and friends first before the business which is one of his few redeeming qualities. Outside of that he'll exploit anyone and anything for fun and profit. He willingly committed sins to provide for his family so he's not surprised he's here in hell.
• Artifact(s):Pluto's Bident. The Bident wielded by the Roman God of the Underworld and conversely the Earth itself Pluto. This Bident can produce and shape any precious metal the wielder desires, provided that they not directly use it for purchases or profit.
• Weapon(s): The boss knows full well to protect himself, thus he rarely goes anywhere unarmed (save for church). His main arms include a Thompson Machine Gun; iconic weapon of any mobster, an M29 Revolver, a switchblade, and a baseball bat.
• History: Giovanni was raised in the Chicago based Fellini Mob Family. After his father, the boss and patron of the family, died Giovanni took over the family business. Over the next 20 years the Fellinis would become Chicago's most notorious crime syndicate, having a foot in almost all of the city's operations. During this time Giovanni attained the moniker 'Windy Demon' as he murdered, stole, blackmailed, exploited, coerced, assaulted, intimidated and did just about every possible bad thing imaginable while teaching his children good Christian morals and attending Church every Sunday. He saw bringing weapons upon holy ground as a big taboo and refused to arm himself during services, much to the chagrin of his security. News of the boss's one weakness was quietly exchanged throughout the criminal underbelly, until a rival mob gunned him down after Sunday mass. Now the 'Windy Demon' finds himself amongst real demons.
• Sins: Murder, other violent acts and thievery. Surprisingly he has never committed any acts of treachery or adultery. He never told a lie in his life, nor would he have to seeing as the police couldn't touch him. He himself never promoted prostitution as it went against his moral compass, delegating the management of the sex trade to his lieutenants. He only engaged in coitus when he got married and all of his children were born in wedlock. Whether God will give him leniency or not remains to be seen.

edited 16th Apr '14 1:50:57 PM by PhilosopherStones

Accepted, if you remove/change the Bident's ability to summon the undead. There are no undead in Hell.

• Name: Joshua Heller
• Sex: Male
• Age: 31
• Appearance: Joshua is a well built man with messy brown, neck length hair and a messy goatee. He has numerous scars and a black eye, along with a cut lip, he wears a ripped up orange jumpsuit, with the number 1113447 on the back.
• Occupation: Convict
• Religion: Jewish
• Personality: Joshua's a punk, he's sarcastic abrasive and loves violence, he's also extraordinarily ruthless, he however, is suprisingly cultured, with a knowledge of literature.
• Magical Artifact(s): TONGUE OF DANTE A chain necklace piercing a dried human tongue. The tongue of Dante isn't combat oriented. Instead, it provides commentary that all can hear, often describing the situations before them.
• Weapon(s): Weapons of the Violent Joshua's weapons take multiple forms, resembling what his weapons were in life. The weapons, in their nromal form are in the shape of a heavy chain, however, it can transform into a shiv with a regenerating blade, a pair of brass knuckles, a crowbar, and a powerful Magnum,
• History: Josh grew up to an abusive father, was bullied throughout high school, and, when his father died, he had to give up his dream of becoming a poet to support his family, however, he was forced to turn to a life of crime, during which, he did things he wasn't all too proud of...However, eventually, he was arrested, and sent to prison, where, he was brutally stabbed to death in the prison showers.
• Sins: A lot Murder, Wrath, Adultery, Thievery, Fraud, Treachery, Greed, Gluttony, Lying.

edited 19th Apr '14 1:24:46 AM by TroyAndHawk

• Name: Helen Archer
• Sex: Female
• Age: 19
• Appearance: Judgment of the Righteous
• Occupation: Full time student, part time serial killer.
• Religion: Vaguely Christian, of the Protestant Church. Baptized and has received communion.
• Personality: Helen is a girl of strong convictions. Possessed of a strong moral compass and a highly analytical mind, she spent most of her life being the shining example of a restrained, happy and good girl. She led a healthy life, studying hard despite a general feeling of lack of purpose. Without knowing what career path to commit to, she covered all bases by studying hard and maintain high grades in all of her subjects. She was also drawn since an early age to media depicting righteous heroes, worlds of magic and the like. This manifested in her choice of entertainment coming from comics, animated series, fantasy and sci fi books and the like. However, after a certain incident a trauma grew into an obsession which in turn spawned a darker side to the girl. Her need for justice and revenge, to rid the world of 'evil' made her into a ruthless killer, fully aware of her actions and who despite them, continue to hunt down her fellow humans for what eventually developed into a lust for blood and a selfish desire. However, this could just be interpreted not as a corruption of her self, but merely a darker outlet for what was already there. Though behaving like a good girl and delighting in acting in a correct manner, there was always a certain degree of selfishness to her actions. While capable of being selfless and helping others, the path she walked was one she walked for herself. Since arriving in hell, its horrors and the darkness she experienced in life, she's starting to lose her composure... sometimes her moods and beliefs spring out and she can't contain them, or the darkness within herself.
• Magical Artifacts:
  • Collar of the Werewolf of Bedburg: Awarded to her due to her darker side and violent blood lust, this was once a belt given by demons to a man, which allowed him to go on a bloody rampage for years, causing many deaths and destruction. Now in the form of a dog collar, it affords Helen the powers of a werewolf, their keen senses, physical abilities and eventually the ability to morph into one of the beings. On lower levels, it allows to manifest characteristics of a wolf, such as claws for combat or ears to listen on quiet sounds. It also grants the instincts and ferocity of a such a hunter. The darker of her two relics, it draws onto her most fell feelings, fostering selfishness, enjoyment for battle, blood lust and the like.
  • Ring of Nimue: A relic in the form of a silver ring with a sapphire set on it, imbued with the magic of the Lady of the Lake from Arthurian Myth. Awarded to Helen due to her scholarly attitude and righteousness, the ring holds the secret to wielding the very magic once possessed by Merlin as taught to Nimue. It takes a long while to learn all of its secrets, but slowly it awards its user with greater wisdom and enhanced mental faculties. In direct battle, it can shoot missiles of pure magical energy from the sapphire set upon it.
• Weapon:
  • Seijin: Helen's weapon of choice, a self defense knife with its own sheath. However, upon being manifested from her soul, the knife obtained the ability to change in appearance until it becomes a katana, with its own sheath and a strap for ease of carrying it. It became a weapon which Helen considers 'cool'. Upon the blade, the name Seijin is written in katakana. The weapon is a magical blade which drinks the blood of the wicked. While the blade can glow when wielded with righteous intentions, its pommel is forever stained in the red blood of its victims. As for magical properties, besides its strength and sharpness, it has attributes of wind element due this being Helen's favored element.
• History: For most of her life, Helen Archer was a completely normal girl. Slightly smarter than her peers, with some nerdy interests and a strong sense of justice only reinforced by the media she consumed, but she led a life like anyone else. She had loving parents, funny and beloved friends and did well at school. However, her peaceful and happy existence was shattered one day when she was 18 years old when she got mugged going back to her home. While she knew that the smart thing, indeed, what she should do was to comply and not resist, something in her mind snapped at this... and she resisted with all she had. She ended up hurt and beaten hugging her school bag to herself but in the end made enough noise that the mugger had to leave before things could get worse. The event scarred Helen in spirit, but also fostered something dark within her. After recovering for a few weeks, she grew a grim determination. She took pride in her own resistance and a complete hate and disgust for those who would use force to rob people of their belongings, to force themselves on their body or take away their lives. She had her parents buy her a knife for self defense and then took on a reckless, dangerous and stupid hobby of walking alone through bad parts of town inviting trouble. She was surprisingly effective as she lasted quite a long while doing this... and brought death more than a dozen people who assaulted her during these times. Surprise, ferocity and a knife are a deadly mix for a robber who thinks they are facing a harmless girl. However, Helen became more and more reckless, her righteous attack on the scum of the city giving way to enjoyment in the struggle and her own pride in bringing low evil like a hero out of a tale. Eventually, however, she died miserably on a cold alley when she faced a thug who saw her attack coming and simply shot her to death.
• Sins: Mortal Sins of Wrath and Pride. Actions which brought her to hell are the repeated murder of other humans for selfish purposes. Whenever or not she would be in hell had her heart been more pure is unknown.

edited 16th Apr '14 7:55:35 PM by daltar

Troy, you can have the gun if you want. Otherwise, accepted.

Daltar, sorry but you have to pick a different artifact that the seal of Solomon. I'm using that for story purposes.

I dunno, giving him a gun kind of makes him Op, allowing him a weapon for any situation, and the knowledge of how to best utilize it, I just think it makes him overpowered.

Well, I can tell you now, that I know the enemies you will be facing, and no, it isn't OP.

Alright, adding gun.

Thanks for the changes, Dalt. Accepted.

Ok, finished (though I made need to proof-read the history). Love everyone else's characters, incidentally - this should be very fun.

I'll be done with my character within the hour, going for a Priest/Vietnam Vet.