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Black Magic & Golden Hearts
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The StoryIn the quiet river town of Aldenburg, magical creatures secretly live alongside humans. The masquerade has been successfully held for several years now, especially with a declining belief in the supernatural.
However, a new force appears that threatens this quiet peace. An evil witch has set up an antique store in town and is selling cursed items to unsuspecting humans.
It’s up to the townspeople to decide if they want to chase her out and protect their lifestyle, allow humans to learn about the secrets of magic, or harness these dark forces for themselves and remove all humans to create a magical paradise. -
SettingOnce upon a time, fairytales and myths were all perfectly real. However, human greed is a universal constant, and magical beings were forced into hiding as human civilization became more brutal and bloodthirsty through their technology.
This brings us to modern day - specifically a certain, quiet riverside town where nothing much seems to happen, where no one seems to leave, and no one seems to get in.
AldenburgGreen and hilly in the summer, and a snowy murderous death trap in the winter. Aldenburg is usually a pretty uneventful place, its most notable feature is a big river bisecting the town – and the silent majority of non-human citizens. But shhhh, people aren’t supposed to know about that. After all, if everyone knows, then it's not a secret anymore! And then we'd have to kill you.
DowntownThe financial and shopping district of Aldenburg. It reeks of forced development, subpar construction, and the desperate attempts of suburbia trying to be hip and cool. That might just be the essential oils, though. On the bright side, it has Starbucks. And Chipotle. Bringing avocados to the impoverished masses is important, right?
High RiverThe one and only High River, that splits Aldenburg in two. It runs roughly north-south, resulting in the richer West Aldenburg, where downtown is, and the poorer, more residential East Aldenburg.
Miss Black's AntiquesA strange little shop that opened overnight on the east bank of the river, in what used to be an abandoned storefront. It’s owned and operated by Miss Black and her horde of cats. Although she mostly sells antiques, she also apparently dabbles in the occult. Strange things happen to people who go to her store.
Church of Saint DimasAn old Catholic church in East Aldenburg. It's a house of the Lord, named for the Good Thief and patron saint of undertakers, but it also seems to be its own bubble of inexplicable events. The building always smells strongly of incense, and sometimes something…. Danker.
Saint Dimas' CemeteryBehind the church is a small cemetery, protected by a stone wall and iron gates and filled with lush grass and artistic tombstones. Almost every ghost story from Aldenburg involves Saint Dimas's cemetery. Almost every zombie story, too.
Harmony High SchoolThe only public high school in Aldenburg, it was built in the 70s to "bring together" the two halves of the town. Yes, it saved money. No, it did not magically stop people from bickering about who is from the "right" or the "wrong" side of the river. No, no one takes its name seriously. The high school mascot used to be an angel until the 90s, when it was changed to a dove to be more religiously inclusive. It's unfortunate that there's a lot of hawks in the surrounding woods.
Oakley ParkA very pleasant and shaded park, full of old trees and wildflowers. It's a very popular place for long walks under the moonlight, if you catch the drift. Superstition says sharing your first kiss here will result in a long and happy relationship. Superstition also says that if you dump your girlfriend here, a nymph will rise out of the sewer grate and try to drown you, and also that said nymph is extremely fond of the third oak tree from the left of the municipal boat ramp.
Aldenburg UniversityA tiny liberal arts school where everyone has dated everyone else’s ex. It has a surprisingly wonderful computer lab, but that might be because the head of the IT department has a gaming addiction and never leaves the school basement. Unrelated, the pharmacy makes a killing in Vitamin D supplements. -
CreaturesBelow is a (very small and not at all comprehensive) selection of races you can choose for your characters. I don’t need any sort of specific ratio, so don’t worry about an even cast! All I ask is that if you’re the kind of person to play multiple characters, to please consider making a human at some point. I have a suspicion they will be vastly outnumbered by the monsters!
HumansTotally normal inhabitants of Earth, mostly. Some humans can sense magic energies, and an even smaller number can manipulate this, earning titles over history such as Witch, Shaman, Sorceress, Mage, etc. Some people believe that those who have magical abilities have supernatural breeding. That’s quite silly though, who even believes in this stuff?
MonstersThe monsters and creatures of lore that you grew up with are real – and chances are, if they aren’t romping around on Earth, they are probably... actually still romping around on Earth, just with a bit more stealth. Can't have those hunters wiping out the last branches of the family, after all. Commonly thought-of “monsters” include fairies, werewolves, and sirens.
Magic-EatersThese eerie blank-eyed shadow-like creatures do exactly as their name says – they appear in areas with high concentrations of magical energy and feed on it. While (mostly) harmless to normal humans, they can be a huge nuisance to magical beings by draining entire areas of energy. No one is entirely sure where they come from – some theorize that they’re the will of some sort of universal regulator, keeping the magic and the mundane in balance. Others think that they’re mutant chimeras or something, which honestly sounds way cooler. -
FactionsNeed an idea of what your character's motive is? There's not really official factions, but here's some fine and upstanding people your character might want to consider aligning with.
Citizens of AldenburgNothing strange happening over here! At least, not out in the open. These folks are just trying to live their lives in peace and quiet.
HuntersWitch hunters, monster hunters, demon hunters... The humans have a long standing tradition of seeing magic and deciding it is Bad, and Needs to Go. These people get hired to kill supernatural beings for a myriad of reasons, and it's not totally unheard of for someone to disappear in the night because some faraway businessman heard about some magical medicine to help keep his dick up.
International Regulatory Board of MagicPicture the United Nations, but even more ineffectual. That's IRBM. These guys are supposed to be an international agency that helps protect supernatural beings from each other. Individual agents are fine, but the official boardroom is known as a pathetic proxy war between ancient pantheons. Last year's open forum is now known as simply "The Revenge of Carthage". Investigations are ongoing.
Undead UnionLook, the dead want to rest in peace. But noooo, these whippersnappers gotta go and stir the pot, mess with ancestral burial grounds, disrespect the dead - it's sacrilege! Simply put, UU is a club of undead beings who host conventions all over the globe on Halloween and complain about kids these days and how no one really respects death like they used to. They are unsure of what to make of atheists. -
RulesBe excellent to each other.
Message Caracal with any questions.
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