The Isthmus of Souls

ArQane

With blood comes life, with life comes death.
The First Occurrence: Reaper
It had been a quieter morning for the man. He had been strolling down a long pathway, no cars or people in sight. It was still too early for most, and being that it was a weekend, many have chosen to stay in their dwellings and sleep in. For him, it was a ritual to take a morning stroll. He never liked sleeping much, so clearing up his mind before the day begun suited him more.

He found it strange that there would be figure in front of him, especially one bearing the apparel that it had. Long black drapes covered its body completely, and a hood casted a shadow over its face. It was facing directly towards the man, which sent a shiver down his spine. Most surely, it was observing him.

By now, any sane man would have ran, or at least a half sane one would squeal. He did neither, rather, approached the figure at a steady pace. He wondered why. Perhaps it was his curiosity, or maybe it was just that fact that the man didn’t mind his body to be found dead in the middle of the sidewalk later in the day. Life had already been dead in this man’s eyes for a while, and he longed for change. Something that would invigorate him. And if it killed him, so be it.

As he approached, he was able to make out the figure’s visage. It was a man, or at least resembled one. Its physiognomy was skeletal, and its skin tone was darker than an average human’s. It appeared to be bald, but was unclear due to the cowl that covered its head. If it didn’t have its bright yellow eyes, he might’ve thought it was dead. The vibe it emanated was chilling; if felt like death. As it came in view, it… smiled?

“Ian Larkan. Yes, you are the one.”

That even made him freeze in his place. It knew his name. It had been waiting for him. He stood there surveying the figure, his brain screaming for him to run.

“One of what? How do you know my name?”

The figure smiled. “A man can only learn so much in a short life. Pick one.”

Ian looked confused. Pick one?

“You have asked me two questions.” The figure continued. “I will answer one of them.”

Ian’s brain raced. The figure in front of him spoke as if it was going to kill him. So what would he want to know right before his death? He cleared his throat. “In a life like mine? I surely have time for both.”

The figure’s smile widened, delighted. “So you do. Of course, I knew you would say that.” It glided over to him, with no sign of movement of feet. “Ian Larkan, I know your name because I am you.” It drew out a bony hand and pointed its long index finger towards his chest. “ I am the manifestation of your life force. A familiar. You are the one who has summoned me to this world. I am your servant, and your blade.” It finished, drawing out a long scythe that seemingly appeared from behind him. It was much too large to have been concealed beneath his robes all this time.

“And if I don’t want a servant?”

The figure smiled. “You don’t have a choice. The minute I came to being in this world, our souls have been bonded by the chains of death. If either of our bodies were unable to sustain ourselves, the other would surely have its life drained too. Tell me Ian, have you ever felt what it’s like to lose a soul?” It paused, but Ian didn’t speak. It grinned and continued, “it’s worse than death.”

It extended its hand out, as if expecting a handshake from him. “Here’s my last piece of information. We must continue to supply souls to mine in order to sustain it. If it means killing your peers, killing your family, so be it. Of course, their deaths can only do so much… We gain the most by killing the others— the other familiars and their keepers. They have the strongest souls, the anima. If we encounter them, I will fight. If you are attacked, I will protect.” It leered inhumanely. “So, Master, isn’t this what you wanted? The meaning of living? The thrill of death?”

Ian clasped it’s hand and chuckled. “Yes. I think it is.”


The Isthmus of Souls

Mysterious surges of anima (the measurements of the potential of a soul) consistently erupt all over Earth, which enable the creation of entities known as familiars. Those with higher anima levels, known as keepers, unconsciously create these familiars, which can take any shape or form and adapts to match the personality of its keeper.

A familiar can only be summoned whilst there is a plethora of anima present, however, after a summon no keeper has enough anima to sustain their follower, which, if ignored, will lead to the death of both the familiar and its keeper.

After someone or something dies while they still have anima in store, the anima will explode from the body, which keepers are able harvest. Once it’s harvested, anima is able to be used like fuel to keep the familiar alive. Since other keepers have much higher anima levels, they make ideal targets to harvest anima from.

A keeper’s anima level can sustain a familiar for a significantly longer time than that of a normal human’s, but some keepers opt to attack anyone they need to gain the necessary anima for their familiar. These people are usually flagged as serial killers by the unsuspecting bystanders, and will enter in rampages and mass killings. However, they also make themselves much easier for other keepers to identify.

Keepers will never expose their familiars and their abilities directly to the public. If they did, they would most likely be tracked down by officials and killed. If they tried reporting to the police, they will most like be psychoanalyzed and potentially dissected. Some of the familiars might even prevent their keepers from revealing them to anyone or anything. The safest path would be to lay low and tell nobody of the matter.

Keepers are both the hunters and the hunted. Everyone starts out not knowing how to identify other keepers, whether it is how they act or detecting their presence; as they become more experienced in the slaughter, they pick up skills that will save their lives.

Each familiar has a special attribute(s) that defines its fighting techniques. They could be in the form of passive skills all the way to incantations. Through the connection between it and its keeper, the keeper could also gain access to temporarily using these skills in combat. Note that the less anima a keeper has, the less access the keeper has to utilizing these enhancements.

Both the keeper and the familiar starts off as novices. They develop their skills together and develop a mutual relationship with one another. Both of them need to be present when killing other keepers; the familiars are required to combat each other, and the victor keeper has to be near in order to assist their familiars or collect the anima.


Sidenote
Each player will undergo selection and balancing before permitted into the RP. If the RP gains enough interested players, registrations will open that asks for interested players to create both a keeper and his/her respective familiar. This RP will include PvP, but note that consent of the other character is needed to kill their character. If the writer does something that I (or any other future GMs) might consider crazy, we will warn the player of impending death sentences.

This idea is still a crude one, but I want to know if anybody is interested in the concept before proceeding to refine it. If there is enough interest in the RP, the polishing process might take several days, but I will limit myself to no more than ~a week.
 
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Interest is certainly there. Let me know when you're about to throw this up for realsies.
 
Aight, here's a update:

I've done some work on the logistics of the RP, but I am going to be hit with 3 tests tomorrow (dammit school). That being said, I can't make much progress today evening, but expect it to be done really soon.

I'd suggest brainstorming powers and characters. Your Keeper is expected to be human, and make sure to develop the world that they live in (Do they go to school? Do they have a job?). These details don't have to be decided right before the RP starts, but should be developed as the story of your individual unfolds.

Familiars, on the other hand, can be any living being. Feel free to be creative, but you are by no means restricted from making a human familiar. Remember, if your character is non-human, make sure that the two have some means of communicating with each other (I.E. Telekenesis)

That's it for now. Bear in mind that your character might not be accepted. I will be judging your applications based on writing quality and backstory.

~Qane
 
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