"I miss the days when stars were saintly" "They sang to me in ways innately"
I ran out ideas on what to write, so, if anybody's ever going to read this, tough luck. My head is just full of all sorts of shit, and I can't find myself the willpower to concentrate. And god, god, the itch is getting nigh unbearable. I've taken a dose of Xufilerium in the morning, but I just can't seem to get the damn itch to go away, no matter how much I take. I knew what I was getting into when I took the first dose, but, this shit is going to drive me mad sooner than later. That and I can't stop thinking about, well, everything. I keep wondering, did I do the right thing? Is Orthi selling me shit, or does he truly have the best intentions in mind? And even if he does, how does that make him any better than the council? Both just want one thing - control. Can't live your own damn life without some otherworldly abomination peering at you down through the ceiling. Didn't pray today? Tough luck, eternal torment! I mean, what the hell.
No, truthfully, I don't have the right to feel sorry for myself. I got myself into this shit myself, I'll have to deal with it myself. Just... I wish there could've been another way, a way without Charles getting killed annihilated. Orthi's keen on not telling me what happened to him, but, I'm fairly certain I've got a good idea. Honestly, sometimes I wonder, was he better off getting obliterated? I mean, hell, he's left the accursed loop of pain and torment. But, at the same time, he's gone. Gone as can be. No longer with us. God, I shouldn't be thinking about this right now, I have enough on my plate as is.
Well, not like I have much time to dwell on it anyways. Orthi's got another job in store for me tomorrow. Better get some sleep.
It is done. The first contract in service of Juru, the harbinger. A simple extraction operation, aided and completed with the aid of our current form. There is little to be said of the mission itself, so perhaps we shall write on other happenings instead. We have become acquainted with two others. A local specimen with the name of Tanaka, and a surface-dweller bearing the name Albert. Tanaka does not interest us, however, the metal giant is a wholly different endeavor. He must possess an astounding amount of information on the world beyond the walls, as such, great care must be made to make him more receptive to our words. Together, we may yet unravel the secrets of this fascinating location we find ourselves within. He may yet perhaps know how to read the surface-dweller's journal.
Yet,
We must admit, his self-inflicted wounds may prove to be a challenging obstacle to overcome in the quest for knowledge. Communication over written text is both inefficient as well as prone to error, and as such, we must take effort to prevent such a debacle from happening. Luckily, with consultation with the spirits, we have devised a new contraption. We have decided to name it the hand. A simple mana-device mounted on the inside of a helmet, intended to make the wearer more submissive and open to instructions. Unfortunately, brain damage may be a possible unintended side-effect were the helm ever to be removed. An unfortunate yet worthy sacrifice. Perhaps this may help us in our quest to extract the knowledge from the iron giant.
Below are ineligible scribbles written in divine text and a few illustrations of the helmet of the deep soul.
I have returned to work at the orphanage. Situation continues to be harsh, but my labour remains continued and unimpeded, for lest at least good come from the vessel of dark that my body has become.
There is one thing that was highlightable form these two weeks, being another man from the orphanage, whom in his sin, saw himself be rotten inside by small cherubs that came to strike the sinner in the name of his gluttony, a shameful affair. Taking pose of combat, I was able to see that the passage of time and penance had not hindered the capacity of my body to kill, to murder, to fight.
A worrying revelation for I reside within a vessel particularly skilled towards violent affairs. Maybe even specialized in such affairs. I worry, for can a weapon plant the seeds of concord? Can such a weapon be safe within the orphanage?
During the riots at the city center, I hit a young man. I hoped to deter him and his cliques from attacking me, yet I appear to have done him, unkowingly, way more injury than I intended. I fear I am unable to control a body that yearns for his single purpose.
Times of yore have repeated upon mine flesh, as another harbringer took attention of my body and decided to conscript it for furthering his own interests in the midst of a divine fight.
Just as in yore, I have resolved the task at hand swift and promptly. Worrying, for this determines the persistence of the evil within mine, which has been manifest during this contract.
A maiden with a child that hath been rescued, despite they had no knowledge of the peril they faced, nor they sought any sort of protection. They were weak, and it was rather easy to leave them unconscious, stuffed into a box, and dragged through half the city, away from the hands of petty brigands whomst preyed upon them and their storage.
I became particularly worried by the parallels by maiden and child in the desert. Just like them, woman and kid, forcefully taken by my hand, the later to be also threatened and pushed into a box, albeit these were to find worse destinies that the woman that in this contract we were tasked to protect.
I tell myself that this was for the best, for we minimised any deaths derived from such affair, and both maiden and child's safety was ultimately assured. Yet I can't help but notice the parallels with the actions of yore, and how instinctively these were performed. 'Tis is clearly the best evidence that evil remains within me, and the atonemt performed until now is, and most likely shall be unable to erase it for it may have become and overtaken me.
Atonement or punishment. Both are fair and neccesary. Halaita.
The Underground is part of the Khortos Universe, it is however the most isolated place of the whole world. Caverns stretch above until a layer of indestructible rocks block the way, and below into infinite fires incinerating those daring to explore it. In the middle is the Blue Line, the most open area where the majority of known human civilization sits at.
The Blue Line is comprised of a single landmass surrounded by ocean where a cylinder of Gold stands at its center believed by many to host their respective deities inside. Beyond surrounding blue oceans is an infinite ocean of fire believed to be the underworld also accessible if one digs down deep enough, though that has yet to be achieved. Above the Blue Line is of course, more cavern stuck to a mysterious ceiling that cannot be broken through. There are those who think the Blue Line is a separate sphere or planet stuck to a greater object, nothing is known.
House Rules
Contractors from The Underground
Are portable, and may play in Contracts in other Playgroups.
Character Creation Rules
No assets forbidden as long as reasonable explanation and matching backstory is given.
Backstory Settings
Other than standard ContractRPG rules, there are some things you would want to consider when making a character:
- Background
- Race: Refer to the worldbuilding channel to see races.
- Current status: Where do they live? Do they have a job? Do they have friends or relatives?
Full Setting Description
(literally copy pasted from discord)
Creation
The origins of this world is a much debated topic. According to the two major religions of the surface world Khortos, known as Orthidism and Alfalyhism. Two celestial beings emerged from a sea of chaos in a dying world, and married in a covenant to restore the world as it once was. Orthi created Sabisia, the god of solidity and stability, whilst Alfalyah (Ortha) at the time tended to the gardens of the surface, creating other deities such as Immilem (goddess of compassion), Alnicti (god of temples and worship), Lantemot (goddess of fertility and healing), Evai (warrior goddess), and Kinolast (god of wisdom and faith). What happens afterwards differ greatly. Alfalyhist claims Orthi's methods of stabilization required great suffering from mortals, and that he was careless which forced Ortha to break the covenant and flee to the other side of a celestial river with the rest of the gods, forming the Divine Council. She would build her own realm of Khortos from the ground up, until Orthi chased after her and Sabisia betrayed her, starting a kind of Heavenly War which the Council won. Orthidists are more split on what happened. The mainstream Luurgist-Orthidian church of the west stated Alfalyah to have betrayed Orthi for her own selfish desires, and Sabisia, a once rightful guardian found a clever way to stop her. The war ended in a stalemate with Orthi agreeing to occupy the underground world and Alfalyah occupying the surface world. Another denomation known as Crusader Orthidism suggested Orthi lost with the Sabisian betrayal never happening, and that he is still fighting to this day. It's certainly strange to find myth so well-integrated to mainstream history. This is mainly due to the unknown and scientifically impossible nature of the Tree of Life and Khortos' existence. Nobody knows where it came from.
Furthermore, the mythology of every major ancient culture appears to always have two major forces clashing during the early period of the world, both Alfalyhism and Orthidism had grown to become the two major religions of Khortos, and reported accounts of encounters with Harbingers which records are still kept today by many civilizations appear to refer to these deities from both religions. Although, some very rare exceptions do occur which claim some other deity or even a one true God was mentioned, primarily in records from the far east which mention of a deity named Ameratesu as bearing some semblance to Alfalyah, depending on the local culture the accounts came from. Thus why, to this day the creation story or at least the 'two forces clashing' myth, despite many changes and integrations to other theories of creationism, evolution, etc, has been widely and begrudgingly accepted by scholars as an explanation of where the world came from.
Heavenly War
At some point, mentions arise of a 'heavenly' or 'celestial' war occurring in the surface world. To Alfalyhist and Orthidists, it is the clash between good and evil and the new world it creates. To Moriists, it's the divine realm splitting from the mortal, leaving only a few spirits to dwell in the earth. More rational accounts in the underground world only records this event in the form of mass earthquakes and the Golden Wall surrounding Paradise rusting and cracking. Most accounts, whatever was kept at the time, had been lost. And it was up to the people's interpretation to discern what happened. Alfalyhists claim the Council occupies Paradise after the war, Orthidists claim Orthi instead. Some assumed Paradise has been destroyed and the golden walls are a mere façade, others claim chaotic entities have taken over, and many more that end in mere assumptions.
Age of Mortals
The age of mortals lasted for around 5,370 years, which saw little to no supernatural or paranormal happenings aside from possibly mythical and fake encounters with Harbingers. In the underground world, the isolated nature of the caverns made growth much slower. By the early 200s, the underground paired to that of the medieval ages. A conquest by a power known as the Tergeshi Imperis occurred, consolidating power over the eastern lands, they would prove to be a pioneer of the things to come.
Technological Revolution
Due to a number of factors ranging from simply 'lucky' resurrection events and the unified nature of the Imperis at that time, a number of innovators rose up and in the span of about 170 years, revolutionized the lands from feudal city-states to a booming industry. Technology immediately leapt from swords all the way to rifles. The Tergeshi Imperis, previously benefitting from this innovation, were unable to adapt with the times and quickly fractured. One of the splinter states being that of the Empire of Moyoyari, the current setting of the campaign. Though, as fast as the world accelerated, it grinded to a halt.
Era of Darkness/Era of Miracles
Around 370 celestials, out of nowhere, resurrections from all over the caverns immediately stopped, causing a major religious crisis and mass chaos. Nations fell apart as soon as they rose, including the Empire which fell into anarchy, only to be restored by clans and warlords. Many blamed the technological revolution as a cause for this demise. The era which saw purgatory and the underworld explored and charted. Every stranger phenomenon discovered actually risked the populace returning back to their obsession of old superstition. And now they were starting to interpret this event as divine punishment for man’s transgressions for attempting to doubt the architects of their creation. Although many of the faith believes that this is in fact an age where miracles are realized and heroes born to save the downtrodden as an opportunity from the divine. Rationally speaking, the stagnancy experienced before the tech revolution was returning. And with it, humanity's systems returned to the old times.
Western Enlightenment
This period would not last in certain areas of the subterranean however. Modernization started in the western nation of Luydont and its neighbors, and Moyoyari was reunited under a new Shogunate that were remarkably quick to embrace these changes. A drop of oil to the rusted gears of innovation. The present remains uncertain, lawlessness still plague the lands and Moyoyari stands as one of the few major factions of the underground that somewhat is in the process of modernizaton.
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