Darkness Before Dawn (Sign-up)

[The Wandering Magus]

OOC: http://forum.legendsofequestria.com/index.php?topic=7407
RP: http://forum.legendsofequestria.com/index.php?topic=7421

G-rated "horror"/suspense without violence, mostly mental/psychological.  Supernatural spirits/creatures of fear take over a shadow-world of Ponyville as the players wake up in an empty and dark replica of the village/world, and are forced to face their fears and take sides in a terrifying war for the hearts of Equestria.

*****

RULES:
Forum rules.
No powerplaying (no controlling other ponies' characters or the NPCs)
No godmodding (no invincibility, no instant-win abilities, no time travel, no unreasonably meta knowledge)
No swearing besides pony swears (buck, horseapples, banish, mule, etc)
No flaming, trolling, personal attacks, or anything else of the matter, you will be reported and banned from the game.
No using "real" weapons, as per forum rules.  This includes "real" projectile and melee weapons.
No gore
No sex, drugs or anything that would be inappropriate for minors.
Violation of any of the above or any of the Forum Rules will result in being reported and banned from the game.

Only the GM and assistant GMs can run the game.  If you think you are qualified to help out, please PM me or assistants.
Please sign up before playing.
Keep OOC in the OOC thread.
All rules and conditions subject to change at any time by GM and assistants.

All players will start by waking up in wherever you consider "home" or "safe".  This will be your "base" and personal "safe spot".
NOPONY can EVER ally with or befriend the Antagonists or the Neutral party.  They are out for your soul, and cannot be reasoned or bargained with.
you will occasionally find Corrupted/controlled ponies.  These are their soul-shadows, their subconscious, and they do not act like this consciously.  The solution is to purify them or run, not to destroy them.
this is meant to be an entirely violence-free game on the player side.  That means that physical fighting will only make things worse for YOU and your teammates.  Remember that the enemies are manifestations of ideas, not actual physical beings.

*****

Antagonists:
Judge: It Which Sees All, the All-Seeing Eye, the manifestation of paranoia and the fear of being judged
Choir: manifestation of the fear of being manipulated by others, the feeling that everypony is lying to you
Embryo: manifestation of the fear of novelity, fear of foals, the "butterflies in your stomach"
Nemesis: manifestation of your darkest self, your subconscious, every evil thought you've ever had
Rake: the monster under your bed and in your closet, fear of animals.
Wooden Mare: manifestation of the fear of being controlled and not being able to make decisions, of being trapped
Plague: fear of illness and disease
It: fear of water, fear of drowning
Nothing: the fear of emptyness, of The End, of silence, of the Void, of the dark

Possible allies:
Blind Stallion: manifestation of the fear of strangers, fear of elders, fear of disability, fear of forgetfulness
Cold Foal: manifestation of the fear of death, fear of alienation, fear of what you find if look at somepony's face
Swarm: manifestation of the fear of swarms, flocks, the feeling of a hive mind, the crowd, the masses, the government
Xanadu: manifestation of the fear of doors, fear of what you will find on the other side, fear of being lost

Neutral parties:
Slenderpony: unknown

Celestia and Luna manifest as beings of purity, hope, and Harmony.  The Mane Six, if present, manifest as representations of their respective Element.

*****

Mission: free the world and overcome Equestria's Fears

Side Quests: purify important places and homes of Fears

*****

Places of interest:
Safe Spots:
Loving Homes - homes full of harmony and trust.  Enemy Fears stay outside.
Hope Beacons - gathering places that the ponies of Equestria have come to trust, and any place close to Beings of Hope

Dangerous:
Basements outside of Loving Homes
Hospital
Sewers
Everfree
Circus
Colgate's office

*****

Important objects:
Hope Orbs: used to restore Hope points, drive away Fears, and as light sources.  gathered during quests.
Notes: lost memories and notes from previous ponies who had found this place.  gathered during quests.
Flashlight: very useful tool for fighting Fears and restoring Hope points to allies, recharged with Hope Orbs.  default.
Hope Charms: used to nullify Hope-sapping environmental effects.  earned from and traded by quest givers.

end-game items, earned from Beings of Hope:
Embracing Shawl: Fluttershy's security blanket, protects one individual from Fears when used in kindness.  lasts as long as the target is wearing it.
Gift Box: Rarity's birthday present; if offered to another pony, will give them what they need most. vanishes on use.
Truth Chord: a strand from Applejack's lasso; when used on another pony, removes all Fear effects and restores all Hope points.  once per encounter.
Balloon: one of Pinkie's balloons; when given to another pony, restores half of Hope points to entire party.  can be used once per threatening encounter.
Torn Page: a priceless page from Rainbow's Daring Do book; when used on another pony, removes all Fear effects and restores all Hope points to entire group, but vanishes.
BFF Card: a letter from Twilight Sparkle reminding everypony that we are all friends together.  when used, drives away all nearby Fears.  only usable once every two encounters, and not on bosses.


*****

interested ponies:
Flame (FlameandIce)
Arty and Tian (ArtVeigar)
Majem (Chirp)
Misty Moon (Dark Hooves)
Farsight (Seriack)
Confetty and Wavelength (Bravo 539)
JT (Agent: Everfree)
Super Nova (SuperNovaNightmare)
Hatsune Miku (narwhaliagames)
Laserbolt (bauccgia0)
Stardust (moonlight7starshine)
Bright Pen (Lucien)

*****

Sign-up:

Name:
Age:
Gender:
Race (only canon races, please):
Appearance:
Talent:
Personality and description:
Backstory:
Other information of importance:

[ArtVeigar]

Loved the idea, and it's a great opportunity for Arty to have some growth as a character, starting to really fight his dark side. And, if possible, having Tian there would be awesome too. Count me in!

[Dark Hooves]

Name: Misty Moon
Age: 18
Gender: Mare
Race (only canon races, please): Alicorn
Appearance: see black filly in profile pic
Talent: unique fire magic
Personality and description: a tomboy, playfully aggressive, strong appetite, and fun loving
Backstory: she wakes in a bush with the sky, land and water darkened by some unknown force

[FlameandIce]

Name: Flame
Age: 21
Gender:  male
Race (only canon races, please):unicorn
Appearance: left profile
Talent: Twilight arts (the magic between dark and light)
Personality and description: he is a quiet calm pony mostly a planner he is a skilled fighter
Backstory: he was born in the country Evillious at the age of 7 he was sent to war he was taken in by a general who taught him how to fight manage his power and senses at the age of 14 he returned to his home country and be and his sister (the princess) servant after his death he was reborn he currently resides deep withing the Everfree forest
Other: wears and eyepatch over his left eye carries a cat mask along with him (anypony get it) in dire situations he enters a more powerful mode under the influence of Ansem (probably wont happen in this RP)

[Seriack]

Name: Farsight

Age: 24

Gender: Stallion

Race (only canon races, please): Unicorn

Appearance:

Spoiler: show

Talent: Helping with Dreams and Nightmares

Personality and description: Kind, but can snap if pushed too much. His temper is short, but he is quick to forgive and he'll go out of his way to help others, even at the expense of his own health. This has led to a few trips to the hospital for him in the past.

Backstory: Grew up in Canterlot, but moved out to Ponyville because he couldn't stand the attitude of most ponies living there. Began to study Dream magic more in depth once he had moved. He realized his talent after having a dream in which he helped his mother to overcome a nightmare. Was enrolled into Princess Celestia's School for Gifted(talented?) Unicorns, but didn't pass his test. He may not show it, but he felt very depressed after it happened. Throughout his life, after his 'failure', he felt that his parents and friends tried to influence to do different things and resented them for it. He still considered his friends close, although he began to become more introverted. It was one of the other reasons, an unsaid reason, why he left Canterlot.

Other information of importance: A less Gary Stu/OP version of my original OC, Farsight.

[The Wandering Magus]

all accepted   will begin when the others get their sign-ups here.

[Chirp]

Name: Majem
Age: 19
Gender: Stallion
Race (only canon races, please): Unicorn
Appearance: Avatar
Talent: Water transformation
Personality and description: Chatty at first, but usually runs out of conversation fuel quickly. Calm, laid-back, lazy. Curious and slightly distrusting of complete strangers.
Backstory:

Spoiler: show

The moment he was born, his cutiemark and his talent were very clear. Majem was the perfect picture of the ocean, and he was reminded almost daily when his sister was still very little. She would often draw fish on his coat, about which Majem could only laugh. It made him feel more like the ocean, which he loved. He'd spend all the free time he had swimming, even if it was little. Majem is an excellent swimmer and can hold his breath longer than anypony he knows. But it was never long enough. At some point, he'd have to surface again to breath. Therefore, the little unicorn always practiced a spell to breath underwater, but he never quite figured out how to cast it. He spent several years practicing, but to no avail, it just wasn't the right element. Later on, he found a spell to turn his body into water, which the little pony learned much faster and he mastered the use of said spell. He never was the best student, but his talent quickly helped him to the job he loves more than anything.
Majem's dream is to one day become just like his grandfather and travel the entire world. Majem has only recently moved away from his hometown to live on his own, but he returns to his parents during the holidays and they occasionally visit him, too.

Other information of importance: Great swimmer. Can hold breath for extended amount of time. Great reflexes. Weak fighter. Smaller than the average pony.

[The Wandering Magus]

Majem is accepted!
Post Merge
RP has started!  please use OOC for OOC.  I will be putting up rules shortly.
Post Merge
update: rules have been posted.

[Bravo 658]

Name: Wavelength
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Race (only canon races, please): Earth Pony
Appearance: Yellow-gold coat, brown hooves, Roman-style pale yellow mane and tail.
Talent: Resistance/absorption of radiation.
Personality and description: Up-beat, content-with-what-he-has realist.  When there's no reason to be happy(which is rare), he'll resort to unbiased logic.  Never having been afraid before, nor having reason to be, Celestia knows what behavior this change of events will bring out in Wavelength.
Backstory: Wavelength was raised to the age of 5 in poverty then taken in by a scientist to provide a better standard of living for Wavelength and some much-needed muscle for the Atomic Research Center's handling division.  Since then, Wavelength has been raised in a positive environment, both loving and educational.
Other information of importance: Wavelength was raised by adults with no peers for miles around; he was raised in a well-lit facility, he never heard ghost stories, and never witnessed childish pranks.  The darkness, while not outright fear-inducing to him, is extremely unfamiliar.


Name: Confetty
Age: 9
Gender: Female
Race: Earth Pony
Appearance: Green coat with white-tinted hooves, chest, and muzzle.  Thick pink mane and tail.
Talent: Undiscovered
Personality and description: Her father's cheerfulness makes Confetty feel like nothing in the world can go wrong.  She exhibits a happy, helpful attitude whenever Wavelength is near, but exhibits unmistakable uncertainty when they aren't in the same general area.
Backstory: Adopted from an orphanage at the age of 7, parents lost in a jungle expedition at the age of 2.  With no memory of that loss, Confetty has been raised in the cheerful--if boring for a child--research center for two years.
Other information of importance: In the few times Wavelength was annoyed by something, Confetty found it contagious.  Fear, also, would likely grip the filly's heart if her daddy were to become afraid.

Spoiler: show

[The Wandering Magus]

both accepted

[ArtVeigar]

Spoiler: Arty Brightshadow • show

Name: Arty Brightshadow

Age: 17

Gender: Stallion

Race (only canon races, please): Unicorn

Appearance:

Spoiler: show

Talent: Apparently, light based and dark based spells, depending on his state (light spells get better the better his personality is, and dark spells get better the worst his personality is), but his real special talent is gather the magical powers that comes from the feelings of ponies, animals and even from the nature that surrounds him. He can't control that yet, as even he doesn't understand how his body works, and because of this he is aways gathering the energy from the environment, making his abilities, personality and appearane unstable.

Personality and description: Usually, when he can use his magic, his personality is unstable and changes with the environment; when the environment is good, and ponies around him have good feelings, he has a good personality, being kind, generous, happy, loyal and honest. But when the environment is bad, and ponies around him have bad feelings, he has a bad personality, being mean, rude, selfish, violent, mad and crazy or sad, frightened, coward and melancholic.
Normaly, the environment isn't completely bad nor completely good, so his personality becomes a mix of the environment's feelings, having traces of good and evil.
When the bad and good feelings in the environment are really strong (something really rare, what would happen only in a war between good and evil), his body can't process the mix, and he loses all his feelings, becoming a neutral and logical being.

Backstory: Besides his unique colorshift mane and coat, there was another unique thing about him that draw the looks of everypony: he was born with his ying yang cutemark, due to him using his natural ability since his first breath, but it was something that nopony ever understood.
He was raised by a good and happy family in Canterlot, so he was almost aways in a brighter state. His magical talents began to show up at early age, and he easily entered the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns.
But with his shifting personality, things could get bad. And it got. The tragedy happened whe he was 12. It was a really stormy night. It was a family reunion, and things weren't very good. A very terrible family discussion was happening when the clock reached midnight. From the feelings of angry coming from his family, Arty's coat got black, and in a wave of madness, he used his dark magic to cause blinding and weakness debuff on everypony there, but stoped. When the feelings from his family and relatives changed from angry to worry and fear, Arty became afraid too. Afraid of himself. After seeing what he was about to do, he started crying. He dismissed the magic and then ran away.
He ran away without a destination for hours, without stopping crying. He ran until he couldn't anymore and then isolated himsel in a cave somewhere near the road between Canterlot and Ponyville.
He, then, started to live on his own, trying to understand his mind, his body and his magic, but without much success.

Other information of importance: Extremely vulnerable to emotional changes.

Spoiler: Tian Long • show

Name: Tian Long

Age: 18

Gender: Mare

Race (only canon races, please): Earth Pony

Appearance:

Spoiler: show

Talent: Eastern martial arts; good (but not perfect) sense of the natural energy that conects everything in the world, having a good animal empathy, better sense of hiding beings and can predict movements to a small extent.

Personality and description: Peaceful, cheerful, friendly and kind. Trained by the monks, she learned to respect and love all living beings and all the world itself, but she will aways fight for the sake of the innocents and weaks, because the same way you can show love by protecting, you can show love by teaching a bad pony how to be nice. But even though she is usually sweet, gentle and cheerful, she is very sensitive and can easily get sad and/or angry because of any disturbance on peace and harmony.

Backstory: Tian doesn't know her family. She was found abandoned in front of the monastery inside a basket and with her name writen in a piece of paper, but to be abandoned in a place so hard to reach, but with the fame of being the most peaceful place in Equestria, besides having already a name, shows that her parents loved her, even if they couldn't be with her.
She was created among the monks, helping taking care of the temple with cleaning, gardening, making food and other type of "house works", as the monastery didn't accepted anypony to be monk, and they needed to see if she had enough determination as she grew.
But even if she was told not to start her training until she was old enough, she was aways studying and training by herself whenever she found a chance. She learned to read and write the ancient languages that were still used in the temple, and studied the ancient culture and philosophy of Equestria, things long lost for anypony outside this monastery. But what she liked the most was martial arts. Whenever she could, she watch the monks with their training, and she would aways train late at night, when everypony would be sleeping, and it was one of this nights that she earned her cutie mark. She lived like that until she turned 18 and had her coming of age ceremony.
In this ceremony, besides some traditional rituals, the great monk would tell a prophecy. When the great monk saw Tian, he spoke almost immediately: "You must find what aways changes from white to gray and to black, and show it the color of yout heart."
She couldn't think about anything else. She never understood the words of the great monk, but they say that few are the ones who understand the prophecy before it happens. But one thing was clear: she wouldn't find whatever it was told her to find inside the monastery.
She packed her things, but it was too hard to leave the place she loved so much. She still spent one week there doing what she usually did; enjoying her last usual days in the monastery, until she got the courage to leave.
After leaving she started traveling without a direction, helping anyone who seemed like needed a help and looking for any clue about what would aways change colors, going first to the Hollow Shades, then to Canterlot and arriving, six months later, in Poniville.

Other information of importance: Student of the "Harmonic Arts", a type of art that gathers knowledge in all fields of study focused in bringing and maintaining harmony, and that's the base behind her sense of energy.

[The Wandering Magus]

both accepted.

[rileyrun99]

((Hmmm... May I sign up as Slendermane? Like, a good version. Not an evil Slendy.))

[The Wandering Magus]

((Hmmm... May I sign up as Slendermane? Like, a good version. Not an evil Slendy.))

Slendermane was supposed to be a neutral NPC that couldn't be allied with, but if you really want to, please PM me how you intend to portray him and all.  Fears are rather OP by default, and in a horror/suspense/survival game, being OP is bad.

[Vick McBread]

Name: Vick
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Race: Pegasus
Appearance: Short orange pony with shaggy brown hair. Along with a blue thought bubble cutie mark
Talent: Critical Thinking
Personality and description: Flamboyant, Ruthless, Willful.
Backstory: Gained Thug's trust. Then was a stand up comedian. Then in the prime of his life: made up his family, home, and company.
Other information of importance: Lots of fears. Needs a Shovel to Fight (Not gonna have one. One of his fears)
//If you want his fears. (Also Flaws) Go to the OC Page : D http://forum.legendsofequestria.com/index.php?topic=861.msg40740#msg40740

[The Wandering Magus]

accepted.  if you have a Loving Home, you start there.  otherwise... better start running.

[Agent: Everfree]

Name: JT

Age: 18

Gender: Stallion

Race (only canon races, please): Earth Pony

Appearance: Avatar

Talent: Creativity

Personality and description: Calm and cool but can slip into rage or depression very easy.

Backstory:  JT is a gaming nerd who lives with his parents in Ponyville. He got his Cutie Mark when he began to see that he was creative with most things he did like with Art work, building things and such. JT loves to watch Horror and Si-fi movies when not playing videos games, since he doesn't have many friends to hang out with he mostly keeps to himself, mostly staying home unless his mother kicks him out to do some shopping or to get him out of the house. When not at home JT likes to read by the shade of a tree or by a lake to relax however JT is not a big fan of the dark, not that he is scared he just doesn't not being able to see around him so carries a lantern with him when he knows its going to get dark outside.

JT got his lantern from the Attic in his house, after a stormy night with his parents out, the power was cut and he had no light, after trying and failing to sleep JT heard noises in the attic, His parents always tell him to say out but JT went up there, which lead him to find the lantern and send him on a roller coaster of nightmare will never soon forget.

Other information of importance: Carries around a lantern most times, also has a big fear of the unknown like whats around him in the darkness

[The Wandering Magus]

Name: JT

Age: 18

Gender: Stallion

Race (only canon races, please): Earth Pony

Appearance: Avatar

Talent: Creativity

Personality and description: Calm and cool but can slip into rage or depression very easy.

Backstory:  JT is a gaming nerd who lives with his parents in Ponyville. He got his Cutie Mark when he began to see that he was creative with most things he did like with Art work, building things and such. JT loves to watch Horror and Si-fi movies when not playing videos games, since he doesn't have many friends to hang out with he mostly keeps to himself, mostly staying home unless his mother kicks him out to do some shopping or to get him out of the house. When not at home JT likes to read by the shade of a tree or by a lake to relax however JT is not a big fan of the dark, not that he is scared he just doesn't not being able to see around him so carries a lantern with him when he knows its going to get dark outside.

JT got his lantern from the Attic in his house, after a stormy night with his parents out, the power was cut and he had no light, after trying and failing to sleep JT heard noises in the attic, His parents always tell him to say out but JT went up there, which lead him to find the lantern and send him on a roller coaster of nightmare will never soon forget.

Other information of importance: Carries around a lantern most times, also has a big fear of the unknown like whats around him in the darkness

accepted glad you've got the good luck of having a Home and a Light

[SuperNovaNightmare]

Name: Super Nova
Age: 14
Gender: Adolescent Male
Race: Naturally a Alicorn, but to be fair, Pegasus
Appearance: Coal Black with flaming mane and tail. Has tufts of fur before the hoof that lets fire trough.
Talent: Solar Explosions
Personality and Description: Very quiet, humble pony. Nova has a dark secret, Nightmares from the dream realm are born with two souls, but the first becomes a dynamo spirit of rage, anger, and all things alike, but Novas is the strongest in recorded Nightmare history. A pony that can use its own energy, for a price...
Backstory: After leaving the Dream Realm, due to the hate for hurting any pony in any way. Has a battle with first soul, wins after losing control for a short amount of time, then finds a town and makes a hovel at the river bank near the town and makes home within it.
Other information of importance:
Due to being from a realm of dreams, and how dreams can vary in type, can adapt and change self to better the situation, which causes different powers, all costing some energy that can be replaced with meditation, coal or charcoal. Will keep Alicorn mix Spirit, but is safely locked up within his mind... for now.

For more in-depth details on Super Nova, so I don't make this really long post, visit: http://forum.legendsofequestria.com/index.php?topic=9022.0

Thanks and Gubai!

[The Wandering Magus]

accepted, SNN do note that this is PRIMARILY a mystery/survival-horror/suspense game rather than a fighting game, and that enemies will scale with your power.