It is the era of fear and faith, countless battles against unholy demons of magic and dreams, and women hunted as witches for crimes of heresy against the Holy Mother Church. The town lives in peace, under the jurisdiction of the Cardinal - answering only to the King - and his subordinates. Its trades are monitored, its taxes collected and its people, if the authorities are asked, cared for. The town is guarded by high walls and officers on every entrance, keeping the citizens safe - for as long as they have nothing to hide - and heretics and mages marked by the Devil himself unable to escape Justice.
Many people live in the city; merchants and sole traders, bakers and rare bookkeepers, performers and scholars - young and old, men and women. The city is divided into smaller sectors, based on the wealth of those living in them: above the area they refer to as District of Gold, where the ambassadors and official guests, as well as rare scholars in the mercy of the Church enjoy their homes and servants, tall towers are rising to the sky. That is the Cathedral, overlooking the city and offering punishment as often as sanctuary. Monestary, infirmary and the gardens accompany it, offering shelter for those too innocent to be stained by the world outside the walls.
On the opposite side of the District, covers its windows the Palace of Justice, hiding its Judges and Interrogators, its dungeons and prisons and everyone sent there. Stories are only whispered of the Palace and the Cathedral, and the mysterious catacombs and underground passages connecting the two, for a whisper too loud can cost a man everything.
Now, just before the new year is ready to be born, a new Head Inquisitor just arrived to the Palace of Justice, followed by his trust and apprentices, and settled in one of the villas in Gold. Aside from the Cardinal, he now holds the higher position in the city, and it is told his spies might be anywhere. Those few whispers which crossed the citizens' lips before now are frozen silent, as this person and his men are determined to crash every last seed of heresy and magic - magic which he very well knows is more real than is publicly known.
~ Where you come in
You have the (mis)fortune of being a citizen. Your character can be anyone from an imprisoned heretic to a real mage in hiding, a priest or a nun in training, believing in whatever you wish and hence in one of the various levels of danger.
Magic exists, truly exists, but rarely (if ever) is there more than one person in a family "gifted" this way. This gift - which really is more of a curse - can show itself at any point, and at any scale... And one word against you, even from your known worst enemy, is enough to get you interrogated and eventually killed, even if your curse is nothing but a rumour.
~ Things you must know
The Head Inquisitor (who is also the head Judge), as well as the Cardinal, are NPCs, and this is not discussable.
Although the town isn't named and the element of real magic is added, the point is to stay as historically accurate as possible. This means your characters will neither talk nor think like teenagers of the 21st century, they will not have weapons or gadgets of the future or anything of the sort. You don't need to use the language of the 1400s nor do enormous amount of research, but keep your characters believable. A 20-something-year old will not be working on a high position. An orphan, unless under very fortunate circumstances, will not know how to read or write. No one will escape the Palace's prisons or dungeons by simply outwitting the guards or doing anything without some serious inside-help. No one will be able to take hours of torture without letting out screams or begging (unless if their tongue gets cut off).
This also means that the main religion is Christianity, and those characters who take the roles of Interrogators/priests/religious figures would most likely be very devoted to it. That said, I couldn't care less what religion the writers belong to (if you declare as belonging to any), nor will I allow this to turn into a religious debate. The characters will have their beliefs, and think of each other as usurpers/heretics/demon seed/whatever, and every insinuation/insult/comment/action taken in the name of any faith in this Storybook will be for the purposes of the story, detached from the personal beliefs of the characters' writers.
In the light of what I said above about some characters being very devoted to their religion, it doesn't mean that all of them truly hold to their vows and God's orders. While some of them might simply believe that what they're doing is the right thing, others can care much less, and have other reasons (such as protection and wealth) for joining their lines.
The mages are rare, but being one is in no way connected to what the person does for a living. Their beliefs/fears on the matter, however, will naturally affect their choices and reactions.
~ On the matters of magic
Put simply, those characters who have discovered this gift will not (unless if they're suicidal masochists, which should then be stated in the profile) go on and brag about it. They will also most likely have no idea how to control this, but (if enough time passed since they discovered it) they might will have gotten good in using it to their own advantage, as well as hiding it very well.
Magic manifests in various ways, but it doesn't make people superheros. It gives them dreams and visions, makes the fire light itself as they enter the room, inflicts misfortune upon one's enemy and other relatively small things of the sort. It cannot be given or stolen. Some aspects of it, to a degree, can be learned from rare books which speak of it - from the same books, the ones cursed with the gift of it can learn how to control it a little bit. Those books, however, officially don't exist, and, if discovered mean death for every person caught near, as well as their family and relatives. Unofficially, behind the scenes, there might be someone knowing something, but with everyone being a potential spy and a possible enemy, it's questionable how wise it even is to ask about them.
~ Slots
There will be no slots added, but I'm not expecting all these to be filled either. As for which ones will have the gift of magic, it's one per Sector, though not all sectors must have one. The principle is first come first serve.
Spoiler! :
~ Character Template
Note that I will be very demanding and careful when approving characters, and expect pretty high standards. Feel free to consult me about anything before and after submitting your profile, though, I will answer all the questions and give directions needed.
- Code: Select all
Name: (it doesn't matter which nationality you go with, but try to google names of that period, aye?)
Age: (mind that your role and your age are very much connected. There are no age limits, though, you can be as young or as an old character as you desire.)
Role: (include the sector - Gold (rich), Silver (Middle), Bronze (Poor-ish) or Streets (those who have no choice but switch sectors if the authorities catch them dirtying the streets by their homeless presence), Cathedral and Palace of Justice for people working in there - if you're unsure, ask me about it and I'll explain it in details. Mention the sector you live/work in here, even if you were born in some other. Also note here if you're a mage/hiding heretic/imprisoned/etc.)
Appearance: (written as well as picture. Try to make the pictures be those of actual people or realistic enough drawings rather than anime characters - I won't be too harsh on that one, though. Don't, however, even try to pass with strange hair colour or rainbow eyes or anything of that sort. They are all humans, after all.)
Personality: (be imaginative.)
Background: (don't forget that some characters' public background might differ from the true one, especially if they're hiding due to their faith or magic.)
Relationship with other characters: (if aplicable. If not, leave it blank and edit as you talk to other writers and form these ;))
Other: (from "up for love" to "has a pet rabbit" or whatever you haven't mentioned so far. Feel free to add a theme song if it makes you happy.)
Gender:
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