Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Leafar Oct 01, 2009 19:46:15	My vision for this thread is to build a campaign world from scratch intuitively.  The way I will do it is to place a character in a cold, dark room in a dungeon, and then build from there.  The character will have no memories of his past, and will only know his name:  Leafar.       As he leaves his cell, my hope is that the world will be built around him.  Feel free to interact with him, but I only ask that you do it in character.  Make up whatever you want, and I will enjoy the challege of trying to come up with an appropriate response.  If you have a question or comment for me, please address it to me:  My name is Rafael.  That way it won't be part of the story.  I love feedback, both good and bad. I have no idea if this will work, or if it will be a big waste of time, but why not give it a try?  I like the idea that I have no idea where this will lead.  I only know where it starts, and that starts now...
#2 Leafar Oct 01, 2009 19:56:51	1 He woke up in a cold, dungen cell.  The stone walls were gray with cracks of age.  The only light came from a torch outside the bars of the cell.  The cell door was wide open.  The man immeaditely noticed that he was nude.  He looked around for something to cover himself with, and he noticed a skeleton in the corner.  It was wearing a gray, hooded robe.  The man's need for clothing overcame his fear, so he tried to take the robe off the skeleton.  He was shocked when the skeleton grabbed his hand.  He screamed when he saw red lights burning in the skeleton's eye sockets.  Instinctively, he struck the skeleton's head with his free hand, and with a loud "crunch" it shattered.  Within seconds the skeleton crumbled into dust, leaving only the robe. After taking a few minutes to calm down, the man slowly put the robe on.  He felt a little warmer, but not much.  He tried to think about how he got here, but he couldn't remember.  In fact, he couldn't remember anything before waking up in this cell.  The only thing he could remember was his name:  Leafar.  Not knowing what else to do, he walked out of the cell into the dungeon...
#3 Leafar Oct 01, 2009 21:02:09	2 He left the cell, and the hallway stretched to the left and right.  The hallway was lit with torches.  That told him that this dungeon was not abandoned.  Someone or something was still maintaining it.  He decided to got left. All along the hallway were empty cells on each side.  Some had the skeletal remains of former prisoners.  A few of those skeletons were still moving, trying to get out of their cells.  "Why was my cell open?"  Leafar asked himself. He kept walking down the hallway, until he heard a voice behind him. "You look like you're lost."
#4 Leafar Oct 02, 2009 4:33:53	3 Leafar turned around and saw a beautiful, transparent woman smiling at him. "Who...what are you?" he asked. "My name is Abigail, and yes, I am a ghost." "How did I get here?  What's going on?  Who am I?" "If I answered all of your questions now, you wouldn't understand.  In time all of your questions will be answered.  You have a role to play in the Great Game." "What is the Great..." Leafar's qustion was cut short when he heard a noise behind him.  He turned around and saw two, heavily armored, and armed, men approach him.  They were wearing  black clothing, and the symbol of a skull was their shields. "What are you doing here?!"  the tallest one asked.
#5 Leafar Oct 02, 2009 15:22:51	4  Leafar didn't know what to say, but Abigail whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, they can't see or hear me.  They think you are a priest of Latrom, the god of death.  Tell them you are lost and looking for the bodies." Leafar told them that, and the tall guard scowled.  "Follow me, priest!  This area is restricted!"  The guards led him down the hallway to a stairway.  They went up the stairs for two levels, and then they entered another hallway.  This one wasn't as decrypted as the lower level.  He saw other guards, and they were all dressed in black with skull symbols on their uniforms.   At the end of the hallway the guards opened a door, and pointed inside. "There are your bodies, priest!" the tall guard said. "We'll wait outside until you're finished.  Be quick about it!"  Leafar stepped inside and saw a horrific site.  13 bodies were lying on the floor.  They all looked to like they had just recently died, and it must have been a horrible death.  Their bodies looked shriveled up and blackened; their faces were frozen with looks of horror. "It's the Black Death," Abigail told Leafar, "It's a terrible way to die.  They just got sick this morning." "How do you know that?"  Leafar asked. "They just told me."
#6 Leafar Oct 02, 2009 15:23:38	5  "What is the Black Death?"  Leafar asked. "It's a demonic disease that the death masters have created to use as a weapon.  These soldiers were deliberately given it as test.  It definitely worked."  "What did you mean when you said that they just told you they got sick this morning?" "The souls of these men have not left the world yet.  They are still attached to their bodies.  You can't see or hear them.  Here, let me open your eyes." Abigail "touched" Leafar's eyes, and suddenly he could see 13 ghostly soldiers looking back at them.  They were hovering over their bodies.  "It's the job of the death priest to send their souls over to the Other Side. " "But, I'm not a priest of anything.  I can't help them."  Leafar said. "I know, but I can lead them away to another place.  Maybe a real death priest can help them.  To be honest with you, they are better off staying here.  Their souls are stained by Darkness, and they are all damned.  I will have to leave you for awhile.  I will return as soon as I can." Abigail floated over to the other ghosts, and she spoke a few unintelligible words.  Then they all disappeared.  Leafar was alone in a room with the 13 dead bodies.  He knocked on the door and the tall guard opened it. "I'm done," Leafar said, "Get me out of this place."
#7 Leafar Oct 02, 2009 15:55:55	6   The guards took him down the other end of the hallway where he went up two more levels of stairs, and then he was led out of two, double doors into a large courtyard.  He found himself in a very large, walled courtyard that was filled with people.  He looked around and saw black clothed soldiers, wizards in colorful robes, entertainers dancing or singing, venders selling all sorts of exotics goods, and priests of different gods preaching to anyone who would listen.    This was the first he noticed people that were definitely not Human, like him.  He saw human-like people with pointed ears and pale skin.  He saw very small, stocky people with long beards.  He saw very tall, muscular creatures that had horned heads.  He saw red skinned creatures who liked like devils.      "Hey, you there, come here!"  he heard someone shout at him.   He turned to look and he saw a group of gray robbed priests of Latrom, the God of Death.  Leafar didn't move, so one of them walked over to him.  It was an older, thin man with balding, gray hair and a bad limp.  He was carrying a staff   "Who are you?  I have never seen you at the temple before!  What is your name?"    Leafar didn't know what to say or do.  If he ran who would be captured and put back into the dungeon cell he escaped from.  Or he would be killed.    Then, the old man's eyes opened wide, and he fell backwards.  He saw Abigail smiling next to him. "Quickly follow me.  I know a secret way out, "she said. "What happened to him?" Leafar asked. "I scared him to death."
#8 Leafar Oct 02, 2009 17:12:43	7 Abrigail led Leafar through the crowd of people in the courtyard.  He looked back for a moment and saw a group of gray robbed priests around the dead priest of Latrom.  She led him to a building near the western wall of the courtyard.  Leafar immeaditely noticed the smell. "Yes, it's an out-house," Abigail said.  "We are going behind it." Leafar walked around it, and he noticed some boxes stacked up near the wall.  A short, dirty, and smelly humanoid was sitting up next to the wall with his eyes closed. "He's not asleep," Abigail said. "He's paid to stand guard here.  He will sound an alarm if you don't give him the daily password; today it is elimsa." Leafar walked up to him and said, "Elimsa."  The humanoid eye's opened and he stood up instantly.  His ears were slightly pointed, and he had hairy feet.  He knocked three times on the wall, and it slowly opened.  He pointed into the opening and then waited.  Leafar looked at Abigail, and she smiled.  "Go ahead.  I'll see you on the other side."
#9 Leafar Oct 02, 2009 18:05:26	8 Leafar crawled through the hole in the wall, and in a few minutes he was on the other side.  There were no guards guarding this section of the fortress.  All around him was a desolute looking landscape of dry plains.  Off in the distance he could see a tower.  He looked up in the sky, and it was covered in dark clouds.  In the west he could see that the Sun was setting.    "Head for the tower," Abigail said, surprising him.  "It's the first outpost of the city of Nighton.  You are leaving the Fortress of Nighton, which is in the land of Nevara." "So that's where I am?  What is this place?  Why am I here?"  "So many questions, Leafar, and too many answers.  You will just have to trust me, and you really don't have a choice anyway.  You need to hurry.  You need to be in Nighton before nightfall, or I won't be able to help you.  Mortals should not be out at night in the land of Nevara." "Why is that?" Leafar asked. "Because they end up being food for the Nephilim."