The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - Printable Version

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - sir - 11-17-2014


Behold, gentle traveler, our proud Britannic home; step forth from your ship and walk the docks a while, with me. No harm will befall you in my company, for performers are well-beloved.

See the travelers from lands long past antique, now crawling forth again in yellow masks and full of appetites. They know that those who drove them hence, with many-headed watchful serpent and crimson-handed avenger, lie now in cordwood piles: a burning and an offering, and they are summoned thereby. These are men of lands of piping song and eternal summer, with much to sell, but do not mistake them for the tame merchants of Our Colonial Posessions. Ours is a world of new horizons.


Look upward, traveler! See the homes of the merchant princes and two-penny Dukes, titles so new they smell of ink and venom and the blood that was shed. They cannot build outward, on our sinking fens, and they dare not build down, whence comes miasma and all-concealing mist. So upward they go, in tottering towers, cabled together. A new babel, where all men speak the same tongue and no two give it identical meaning. But I sense, my friend, that the pleasures of the courts are not meant for you- no bishops, queens, nor councilors do you crave.


Look down again, then. There are whores here; commercial product, mass-produced, with no better a smell than the slaughterhouses boast. And if the sluices that bring them forth are birthing mothers, well, so much the worse; does not blood cleanse, say the clergy? And does not fluid lust, salt and sweet, defile? Therefore so much cleaner the pig, than the babe, perhaps- although both find their share of blood, and both suckle as greedily, those few months before they find their employ.

The ephemeral bloom is sweetest, traveler, and these are girls who shall never be women, who trust and betray. The sailors pluck them ripe and bruise them; the strutting gentry, masked and cloaked, pluck them ripe or rotten, and eat them whole- not even bones remain, they say. Inquire of apothecaries if the latter is true. You recoil upon me! I am wounded, my friend, but glad indeed. You have no appetite for these things, and I applaud your character.


Here is the theater, where I play. Mirdath had it from the count, who would have burned it for a half-crown or a smile; but ah, that would have been a shame. The outside’s timbered and I’ll not deny, unaesthetic- there have been many wings, you see, many additions. The backstage always needs a bit more room. But step inside, do. Just for a moment, just to see- and the night’s coming on, you know. There are worse things than whores here.

Ah! Yes, it takes you like that, doesn’t it? A thousand seats if it’s one, all in rows like tombstones, and all crimson and gold and royal. The lion’s colors, and a little of old Rome- they knew a bit about theater there. A full house, near as makes no difference, and I’m not surprised. The play tonight is Greed, and it’s always popular.

Oh, you weren’t to know. This is the Theater of Ends, you see- every night a different one, bawdy and grand alike. We show the end of it all, or our dream thereof. It’s a bit of a joke, you see, a bit of a folly, and it keeps us in bread that people want to see the world come to ash and ruin from this vice or that.


Yes, good old Greed. It’s a splendid play- at the end, they tear poor old Croesus to bits and gobble him up. It’s not entirely allegory; you can’t eat gold, after all. Did you see what it says above the door? Essurio, yes. It means hungry, if you’re posh. I, but a humble procurer, crave only custom.

I’ve seen what you’ve been looking at, though. It’s not the poor little freckled trulls whom you pity so, nor the tin-penny nobles you twist your face at. You watch the pimps and their purses, and oh how you hate those high houses, that you ought to own. Greed. Essurio.

What do you hate most in yourself, traveler? Stay, and we’ll salve it. There’s a private party, for the hungry, down below, upon the theme of the play. Stay a while. Eat gold for a night, and spend yourself on all the things it can buy, with the great and good at your feet. We will carry it for you, that stone in your heart. Gold is so, so heavy.

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - sir - 11-17-2014

Recruiting Information

Okay folks! So...there seemed to be the most overall interest in this concept, so I'll be recruiting for it first. The bootlegger thread is probably coming, too.

A few ground rules:

<ul type="disc]
<li>I match people/characters to stories wherever possible. If I don't pick you, it's not personal.</li>
<li>If posting starts to feel like a job, I'm not going to do it. I'll do my best to be reliable but, but exercise patience.</li>
<li>This particular concept has both sexual, and horror elements. If you only want one of those, consider not applying.</li>
</ul>

As of now I don't really have a format for character profiles, or anything of that nature. Just post and tell me the basic concept you're considering, and we'll discuss how they might fit into the setting and what directions we can take.

If you want to get especially in-depth, my Skype should be on my profile, although posting here is still appreciated.

Hopefully my first foray into for-reals RP posting works out.

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - thedarkwyrm - 11-17-2014

Before I decide who would fit here; how much magic/fantasy are you putting in this? Like, are vampires a thing? If so, is the Masquerade in effect?

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - sir - 11-17-2014

In order: minimal, and none explicable/replicable. If there is a 'magic spell' it will result in your horrible death 100% of the time, although not always immediately.

No vampires; there may be things that drink blood but they have virtually no other points of correspondence with the nosferatu of penny-dreadful fiction.

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - thedarkwyrm - 11-17-2014

The character I had in mind was named Gabriel Jinx, a wealthy, upper-class vampire, meaning he's strong and fast and drinks blood, and is not fond of the sun, but only to the extent that such problems actually exist in humans. If that's outside the scope of your setting, that's fine, I can use someone else.

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - sir - 11-17-2014

It's outside the scope of the setting.

To clarify: anything magical is directly or indirectly the result of interference by Ghastly Thingummys from Beyond Time and Space ™.

A book of magic, magic artifact, etc., is always going to be, essentially, a telephone that puts you on the line with the Ghastly Thingummys.

People who are physically different from baseline humanity are either genetically descended from Thingummy-Human breeding projects of the far past, or have been directly warped and shaped by those beings, or some combination of the two.

Also, tonally speaking, this is a pretty bleak sort of thing and the exact opposite of a power fantasy.

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - thedarkwyrm - 11-17-2014

Gotcha. I'll come back when I figure out who to throw to the dark gods.

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - tanith - 11-17-2014

I thought I had a grasp on what you were looking for, but perhaps not. I get more of a Victorian feeling from this, but thats just me, and either way I still enjoy most historical settings. While I was at work I had an idea for a character, but its only a basic idea. I have a feeling she wont quite fit, and is probably more appealing to me than anyone else. But, I am willing to make adjustments if it does pique your interest.
Lets see, a young woman, golden hair and sky blue eyes. If this is more on the victorian side of things, depending on which time she could possibly help with a family business. If more regency perhaps a daughter of a country gentleman. Basically someone of enough wealth to attend social events, yet not enough to be well acquainted with well to do society. I don't want to describe her as innocent, but she would be someone without knowledge of the underworld, or what takes place beyond her little world. I guess somehow, maybe though invitation from someone who finds her appealing, she ends up at the theatre. (or she visits for whatever reason) There she discovers a whole other world beyond her imagination. She would discover things about herself and other people. I guess she would keep some of her innocence, but slowly lose her inhibitions. Maybe? No idea. Sounds sexy to me, bahah.

*flops and nervously bites lip* Ah has no idea.

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - sir - 11-17-2014

Sounds like an excellent place to start!
It's not so much specifically regency or specifically Victorian, it's just generically anglophilic- either the virtuous helper with the family business, or the innocent debutante, works well.

Where do you see her as ending up? What are the things she's inhibited about?

The theater has a fairly broad clientele in terms of social class- it's part of what makes it both popular, and infamous, that you can stop by and see how the other half lives (or at least, how they watch a play).

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - tanith - 11-17-2014

Erm? I'm still working on her, I just wanted to see if this type of character would work for the RP :p
As for where she ends up, I'm not sure, thats the exciting part! She will always be a good girl, but just ends up doing bad things? *hides* I know that's pretty vague, but I'm still figuring things out. Any more information on the setting, or main characters would be good. Or, if you have any ideas or suggestions let me know ^^

*holds head* everything is a mess in there.

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - sir - 11-17-2014

Well, please do keep working on it.

What specifically would you like to know, regarding the setting?

Basically the setting is the colonial British Empire, except instead of being sneakily genocidal, expansionist, and isolationist, it's openly and proudly all of those things. A recent mutiny in India has been put down with fiery thoroughness. There is one set of laws for the titled and another for those of no rank; luckily, titles can be bought. True aristocrats are generally inbred and insane, false aristocrats are decadent parvenus, the common folk are just trying to get by, but have a regrettable habit of stabbing people for their coppers and shoes.

Other details can be made up on request.

The only main character so far established is M. Mirdath.
Mirdath dresses impeccably in a mixture of styles- one day might bring a high-collared shirt, tailcoat, and indecently tight trousers, while on another they might sport an elegant gown.
Their hair is pale and unfashionably short, eyes swollen and dark with the aftermath of belladonna; their lips are full and dark against worm-white skin.

Mirdath is the absolute ruler of their theatrical domain, and has been known to personally select clients for the revels. However, they are neither playwright nor stage-walker. Most visitors assume they're the one with the money, and this is true- but not exhaustive.

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - tanith - 11-18-2014

Thanks! That helps actually.
I'm off on wednesday so I will have some time to put more thought into a character.
Yay *happeh*

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - sir - 11-18-2014

Always happy to assist. :3

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - Kat - 11-18-2014

<sub>The site ate my post. qq

I was going to ask if there was a position you were looking to fill/an archetype you hoped to see.
Making a character isn't too big of an issue, but I'd like to slot fit the role play if I can.</sub>

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The Theater of Ends [Recruiting] - sir - 11-18-2014

Not in very concrete terms, no; I usually construct a role for a character instead of the reverse.

But if you'd like a bit of a starting point...
Essentially, there are two categories of characters for this: players, and clients.The separation isn't actually 100%, since the players are also susceptible to...things.

But essentially, if you want someone to be a player/employee of the theater, they should represent a specific appeal to a particular vice (either general, like gluttony, or very specific); if they're part of the inner circle, they've likely been physically changed to better fulfill this role. Outer-circle players are actors who are complicit but not (usually) active participants.

Clients should be people who have a specific want they can't express in society at large, and which induces them to have self-destructive impulses. The ultimate goal of the theater is to drive people to a self-inflicted death that is in keeping with their essential vice.

If you need something more specific than that, ask and I'll brainstorm a little.

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