The Grand Dungeon

A world In the California Bay Area, where the line between myth and media is violently thin.

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Posted by jamesdsoup, 2 weeks, 6 days ago. Permalink

[LEAKED DOSSIER] “The Ledger” Is Hunting Contractors — Motive Unknown

Source: Internal Contractor Network Leak — Clearance Omega-Black
Compiled by: Network Analyst “IcarusNull”
Date: March 12, 2025
Classification: Contractor Eyes Only

SUBJECT: The Emergence of "The Ledger" — Anti-Harbinger Organization Operating in Russia

An emergent organization known as The Ledger has begun making moves across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Based on current intel, this group appears to be targeting Contractors—specifically those confirmed to have active ties to Harbingers.

And they’re not offering jobs. They’re disappearing people.

Key Facts:

  • HQ believed to be in a blacksite facility in the Ural Mountains, repurposed from Cold War infrastructure.

  • Organized like a paramilitary intelligence agency mixed with a cult-level belief system.

  • Funding sources unknown, but suspected to involve private warlords, rogue state actors, and possibly non-human entities.

  • Operatives are highly trained, highly armed, and not above killing Contractors on sight.

Since January, at least 14 confirmed Contractors have vanished after Ledger contact. No bodies. No traces. No Contract revocations. Just… gone.

Witness Reports:

  • Ledger agents posing as researchers, bounty hunters, or wealthy benefactors.

  • Use of unfamiliar tech—possibly anti-Harbinger.

  • One survivor described them as “cold, polite, and convinced they were saving the world.”

Opposition to Harbingers:

Every scrap of info we’ve scraped points to ideological opposition to the Harbingers. The Ledger believes these entities are manipulating reality for their own ends—and they see Contractors as willing pawns. Their mission?

“Cut the tether. Kill the game. Free the world.”

That’s a direct quote from intercepted Ledger comms.

No one knows what happens to the Contractors they take. No ransom. No public spectacle. Just silence.

Contractor Advisory:

Avoid contact with suspected Ledger operatives. Be wary of unknown Contract sources, especially if they promise “liberation,” “correction,” or “healing.” Do not disclose your Harbinger status publicly. They are watching forums, chats, and public feeds.

Survival tip: If someone approaches you with questions about your “role in the system,” walk away. Fast.

The Ledger doesn’t negotiate.
The Ledger doesn’t warn.
The Ledger erases.

Posted by jamesdsoup, 2 weeks, 6 days ago. Permalink

Blood, Bali, and Billions: Eccentric Tycoon Announces Global Combat Tournament with $10M Prize Pool

By Ade Clarke | The Verge of Truth | April 20, 2025

In a livestream that’s already hit 200 million views, billionaire crypto baron and supernatural investor Victor R. Caliban has announced the Arcadia Initiative, a global combat tournament set to take place in Bali—two years from today.

“Power should be tested,” Caliban said, seated in a marble throne on the back of a moving aircraft carrier. “You’ve got two years. Train. Ascend. And show me what you are.”

According to Caliban’s announcement, the tournament will be invite-only, but participation can be earned through a series of qualifying events and “notable feats.” How those feats are tracked remains unclear, though sources close to Caliban suggest a network of hidden watchers already exists.

The final event will be held on April 20th, 2027, in a purpose-built arena on a remote volcanic island off the coast of Bali—already under construction. Caliban claims the $10 million prize pool is just “the start” and that “what’s truly at stake can’t be measured in money.”

What is this, really?

To the untrained eye, this could look like a vanity stunt by yet another rich eccentric playing with the occult. But those who move in certain circles know better. Caliban isn’t new to the scene. He’s been linked to Harbinger summoning rituals in New York, pocket dimensions in Dubai, and that failed immortality auction in Berlin. Wherever magic and money overlap, Caliban is already there.

The announcement has sent shockwaves through the Contractor underground. Some say this is the beginning of a new era of public supernatural sport. Others are calling it a suicide trap. Many just want to get strong enough to qualify.

Message boards are now tracking sightings of “Arcadia Scouts”—figures who reportedly approach unknown fighters and offer them mysterious Contracts. No proof has been verified. Yet.

One anonymous Contractor sent us a screenshot from a dark web Contract board. The message reads:

OBJECTIVE: Become strong enough to be noticed.
REWARD: Invitation to Arcadia.
RISKS: Global.

We’ll keep following the Arcadia Initiative as it unfolds. One thing’s certain: the countdown has begun, and not everyone’s going to make it to the starting line.

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The Grand Lineage: Bay Area, 2025

The supernatural is public knowledge, but understanding it is a luxury. In the Bay Area—now a battleground for influencers, cults, and hidden powers—Contractors are rising fast. Most don't survive. Those who do? They change everything. The Grand Dungeon is the name whispered in chatrooms and message boards. Part guild, part cult, part urban legend. No one knows what’s real—but everyone’s watching.

House Rules

Contractors from The Grand Dungeon Are portable, and may play in Contracts in other Playgroups.
The Grand Dungeon grants 6 Experience points to GMs who achieve the Golden Ratio.
  • Citizenship: Active Players are expected to GM Contracts from time to time. If you have played as a Contractor in your most recent six Contracts, you are barred from playing in The Illumination again until you GM.
  • Supernatural Powers: All non-mastery, non-concealed Powers must be supernatural when activated or grant a mutation that marks the wielder as supernatural or bizarre if discovered.

  • Contractor Creation Rules

    • New Contractors must be submitted for approval in The Contract Discord server's #approvals channel before their first game.
    • At creation, Contractors cannot take more than a combined 5 Assets and Liabilities that cost/grant Exp. Free Assets do not count toward this limit.
    • Contractors cannot be direct ripoffs of pop-culture concepts, to the point that NPCs in-game would notice the similarity. For example: you could play a heroic strong-man or a famous weapons-developer but not specifically Superman or Iron Man.
    • Contractors may not start out as a concept that is likely to disrupt Contracts (e.g. being a walking, talking fox, being as notorious as Osama bin Laden, having a bomb in their chest that detonates when they die, etc).
    • Contractors are mundane people who would see their ambitions through regardless of access to powers. That is why a Harbinger offers Gifts, and why they are willing to risk their lives for the power to make their dreams come true.
      • Your Ambition must be a core driver to your character's actions, is a large point of tension for their story, and is likely to get them into trouble. Craft your Ambition carefully and be open to suggestions and changes from Endorsed GMs in order nail it.
      • Keep in mind, however, that Ambitions can (and will) change over time as your Contractor develops. It's simply part of character development! No matter what, Ambitions are why a Contractor risks their life continuing to participate in Contracts. 

 

Power Creation Rules

  • Cohesive Powers: Manifested Gifts must be in-line with Character Concepts and requires Endorsed GM approval. 
  • Logical Flavor: Players must be able to explain how and why their power works in a given situation, otherwise GMs have license to cause them to fail. 
    • For Example: a Blast flavored as a ball of fire might not work underwater. But at the same time, that same Blast power might do extra damage to enemies vulnerable to fire. GMs always have final say, but must remember to make Powers feel powerful. 

 

 

Downtimes

Interacting and addressing Loose Ends, Conditions, and/or Circumstances require Moves during the Downtime between Contracts. This connects your contractor with the world in some tangible way. 

  • Treacherous Loose Ends: A Contractor who waits for a Loose End's threat to manifest without taking any precautions against it during their Downtimes will see the threat revealing itself at the worst possible moment during downtime. Ask Endorsed GMs and Playgroup Leaders for Moves to help control Loose Ends before they control you.
  • Neutral/Unknown Loose Ends: Some Loose Ends are Unknown, meaning that they give the *Player* a hint of moving parts behind the scenes, but not necessarily the *Character*. A Neutral Loose End usually means that the dangers or benefits of the Loose End are obscured or up to the Character's actions once it manifests.
  • Investments: Some Loose Ends bestow benefits at the end of their clock. Investments are usually rewards for Moves and Hustles, but they might come from other sources as well. Ask Endorsed GMs and Playgroup Leaders for Moves to further your Contractor's goals.

 

 

Full Setting Description

They named that time The Grand Lineage, and it was by the flash of a camera phone.

 

The Grand Lineage: Bay Area, 2025.
A hyperconnected world where truth is viral and nothing stays hidden for long. Since the early 2000s, humanity’s worst suspicions about the supernatural have been confirmed—live-streamed, dissected, and monetized. Monsters trend. Magic sells. Cults copyright their sigils. Witch hunts are crowd-funded. And somewhere deep in the chaos, people are still trying to survive.

In the Bay Area, power is up for grabs. Tech billionaires run shadow experiments from orbital data centers. Ghost-hunters have HBO deals. And in Oakland, something ancient stirs beneath the city—like a dungeon crawling out of the earth. Those in the know call it The Grand Dungeon, and they say it’s a convergence point for powerful forces. Or maybe it’s just branding. Either way, if you want a seat at the table in this new world? You’ll need to fight for it.

Supernatural phenomena are common—but understood only through fear, myth, and spectacle. The average person knows ghosts exist but still goes to work. Demons might trend on TikTok, but exorcism remains a niche gig economy job. Cults have PACs. The world adapts to its own nightmare.

Contractors and Harbingers are mostly unknown to the public, but not for lack of sightings. They operate in the margins—on forums, black market apps, urban myths, and whispered referrals. When they’re caught on camera, conspiracy threads explode. They’re the ghosts of the information age: everyone sees them, but no one understands what they’re seeing.

The Grand Dungeon serves as a loose, semi-secret cabal of up-and-coming Contractors brought together by shared obsession—combat, freedom, power, and the stories that shaped them. Many are anime heads. Some think they're just playing D&D until they wake up with scars from battles that never made the news.

What starts as a game might just end in godhood. Or total annihilation.

World Events

Posted by jamesdsoup, 2 weeks, 6 days ago. Permalink

[LEAKED DOSSIER] “The Ledger” Is Hunting Contractors — Motive Unknown

Source: Internal Contractor Network Leak — Clearance Omega-Black
Compiled by: Network Analyst “IcarusNull”
Date: March 12, 2025
Classification: Contractor Eyes Only

SUBJECT: The Emergence of "The Ledger" — Anti-Harbinger Organization Operating in Russia

An emergent organization known as The Ledger has begun making moves across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Based on current intel, this group appears to be targeting Contractors—specifically those confirmed to have active ties to Harbingers.

And they’re not offering jobs. They’re disappearing people.

Key Facts:

  • HQ believed to be in a blacksite facility in the Ural Mountains, repurposed from Cold War infrastructure.

  • Organized like a paramilitary intelligence agency mixed with a cult-level belief system.

  • Funding sources unknown, but suspected to involve private warlords, rogue state actors, and possibly non-human entities.

  • Operatives are highly trained, highly armed, and not above killing Contractors on sight.

Since January, at least 14 confirmed Contractors have vanished after Ledger contact. No bodies. No traces. No Contract revocations. Just… gone.

Witness Reports:

  • Ledger agents posing as researchers, bounty hunters, or wealthy benefactors.

  • Use of unfamiliar tech—possibly anti-Harbinger.

  • One survivor described them as “cold, polite, and convinced they were saving the world.”

Opposition to Harbingers:

Every scrap of info we’ve scraped points to ideological opposition to the Harbingers. The Ledger believes these entities are manipulating reality for their own ends—and they see Contractors as willing pawns. Their mission?

“Cut the tether. Kill the game. Free the world.”

That’s a direct quote from intercepted Ledger comms.

No one knows what happens to the Contractors they take. No ransom. No public spectacle. Just silence.

Contractor Advisory:

Avoid contact with suspected Ledger operatives. Be wary of unknown Contract sources, especially if they promise “liberation,” “correction,” or “healing.” Do not disclose your Harbinger status publicly. They are watching forums, chats, and public feeds.

Survival tip: If someone approaches you with questions about your “role in the system,” walk away. Fast.

The Ledger doesn’t negotiate.
The Ledger doesn’t warn.
The Ledger erases.

Posted by jamesdsoup, 2 weeks, 6 days ago. Permalink

Blood, Bali, and Billions: Eccentric Tycoon Announces Global Combat Tournament with $10M Prize Pool

By Ade Clarke | The Verge of Truth | April 20, 2025

In a livestream that’s already hit 200 million views, billionaire crypto baron and supernatural investor Victor R. Caliban has announced the Arcadia Initiative, a global combat tournament set to take place in Bali—two years from today.

“Power should be tested,” Caliban said, seated in a marble throne on the back of a moving aircraft carrier. “You’ve got two years. Train. Ascend. And show me what you are.”

According to Caliban’s announcement, the tournament will be invite-only, but participation can be earned through a series of qualifying events and “notable feats.” How those feats are tracked remains unclear, though sources close to Caliban suggest a network of hidden watchers already exists.

The final event will be held on April 20th, 2027, in a purpose-built arena on a remote volcanic island off the coast of Bali—already under construction. Caliban claims the $10 million prize pool is just “the start” and that “what’s truly at stake can’t be measured in money.”

What is this, really?

To the untrained eye, this could look like a vanity stunt by yet another rich eccentric playing with the occult. But those who move in certain circles know better. Caliban isn’t new to the scene. He’s been linked to Harbinger summoning rituals in New York, pocket dimensions in Dubai, and that failed immortality auction in Berlin. Wherever magic and money overlap, Caliban is already there.

The announcement has sent shockwaves through the Contractor underground. Some say this is the beginning of a new era of public supernatural sport. Others are calling it a suicide trap. Many just want to get strong enough to qualify.

Message boards are now tracking sightings of “Arcadia Scouts”—figures who reportedly approach unknown fighters and offer them mysterious Contracts. No proof has been verified. Yet.

One anonymous Contractor sent us a screenshot from a dark web Contract board. The message reads:

OBJECTIVE: Become strong enough to be noticed.
REWARD: Invitation to Arcadia.
RISKS: Global.

We’ll keep following the Arcadia Initiative as it unfolds. One thing’s certain: the countdown has begun, and not everyone’s going to make it to the starting line.

Posted by jamesdsoup, 2 weeks, 6 days ago. Permalink

“Blank Brick Terror”: Tower of Mose Appears in Midtown, Nobody Who Enters Comes Back

By Mallory Sato | Wired Witchcraft | April 1, 2025

NEW YORK, NY — A massive brick tower appeared without warning this morning in the middle of Bryant Park, Manhattan. Eyewitnesses report the structure did not rise or fall from the sky—it simply wasn't there, and then was.

The tower, now dubbed the Tower of Mose, is roughly 70 stories tall, made entirely of weathered red brick with no visible doors or windows. There is no signage, no markings. Just a featureless, lifeless slab of architecture placed like a tombstone in the center of the city.

Despite its simplicity, the effect has been anything but mundane. Midtown experienced a 17-minute blackout coinciding with the tower’s appearance. Phones within a quarter-mile radius either freeze or brick entirely when pointed toward it. Animals won’t go near it. People, however, keep trying to get inside.

As of this writing, at least 26 individuals have approached the tower and found a single, narrow archway that sometimes appears on the ground level. Witnesses describe it as "an opening only visible if you stop looking for it." Every person who has entered—including influencers, curiosity seekers, and one decorated military Contractor—has not returned.

City officials have been tight-lipped. The Department of Supernatural Oversight has issued a Level Three Advisory and deployed a containment team, but no official statement has been made.

Social media has, as expected, gone nuclear. Conspiracy theorists suggest the tower is a divine test, a hellgate, or some kind of Contractor crucible. Others think it’s a metaphor. Most just want to know what’s inside.

The only detail confirmed by all observers? It is quiet. Too quiet. Even the city seems to hold its breath around it.

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