[Archived] Active from 1. June to 21 July 2023
Year 4, Month 1
Introduction, Event Prompts, Event Rewards, How to Play
Italics indicates herbivore language.
Bold indicates carnivore language.
Life in the Scarlands is never easy. Today, things look especially bleak.
Low hanging clouds rolled in from the East in the morning, cores glowing vividly from the thunder and hail within. As the storm roiled, survivors from all over the seared plains returned to the Hollow Hill, seeking a sturdy shelter for the night.
The Hollow Hill, despite sounding like a cave, is clearly a buried structure left behind by mankind. Even those unfamiliar with such a place can recognize the artificial nature of it. Many of the artifacts left behind use materials you would never see in the wild. Refined metals, transparent plastics, and brightly colored art decorate the interior of the space, though most of it has been too damaged over the years to be of any use.
The entrance to the Hollow Hill is a broken window, once mounted high on the wall of the house, now made easily accessible as the growing mound of sand and dust built up over time. Most visitors gather here, favoring the easy shot at an escape route if needed.
Now, as the sky grows ever darker, a lone rabbit returns from his scouting mission.
The walls quaked from low, rumbling thunder as Brongo dropped in. "It's not looking good," he grumbled as he shook the water from his ears. "Reckon we'll be stuck here all night."
"Good thing we're in good company," Kraft chirped in herbivore, waving his artifact at the small group that had gathered in the hill. He quickly translated the news for the meat eaters in the group.
"So...we're stuck here then?" Jonsie asked, toying with her fancy new hide as she lounged on an old, worn out couch.
"You want to leave?" Krunsch replied with a shrug.
"Nah, I'm good," Jonsie replied with a smirk. "Already caught my prize for the day."
"Tell us about it," Bernese asked, ears perking up. "Might as well pass the time."
"Don't want another rant," Krunsch griped, earning a sympathetic pat from Bernese.
"Not a rant, a story," Kraft corrected, tail flicking back and forth as he sought out something he could do. "I think I'll keep tinkering with the magic box. Still haven't gotten it to work yet."
"I'll help," Krunsch declared, following Kraft away from the main room.
Welcome to the Hollow Hill! You may have been here before, or maybe you have not. Either way, you're here now, and it looks like you'll be stuck here for a little while.
This starting event is designed to help get everyone's backstories tied together and give you a chance to get used to your character before we get into the meat of Chapter 1. The prompts below serve as guides for things to try out while you're here. You're welcome to work outside of these ideas as well with art and roleplays unrelated to the prompts. Who knows-maybe if you're clever you'll get something special out of it!
Tie your history together with another character in the group! This can be a player character or an NPC.
Reward: +20 Karma Bonus
Reward: +1 Group Morale
The luckiest visitors of the hollow hill come away bearing an abandoned item from the old world.
Reward: 1 Random Item
Reward: +1 Group Morale
Interact with someone who isn't a native speaker of your tongue. How you characterize the lack of understanding is up to you, but here is what we recommend:
0 Skill - Your character knows words are being spoken, but it all sounds like gibberish to you. Carnivores have a more gutteral language, filled with hard consonants and hisses. Herbivores use shorter syllables, focusing on softer consonants, using more vowels, and including huffs, chirps, and whistles into things. Omnivores naturally use a combination of the two, speaking pure Herbivore or Carnivore when pressed, depending on which they better grasp.
1 Skill - You know a handful of key words. For example, you might know curse words, greetings, yes, no, and a couple other words. You're starting to get a feel for tone, but misunderstandings are common.
20 Skill - You speak this language fluently.
Reward: +1 skill point in the featured language
Reward: +1 Group Morale
Complete any of the Chapter 1 Act 0 prompts.
Reward: +1 Flux
Reward: +1 Group Morale
You've become a known face around the Hollow Hill. Others are beginning to learn you name, for better or worse. The communal spirit inspires you to look inward and meditate on who you are, who you'd like to be, and what it means to be a survivor of the scarlands.
Requirements: Complete all 3 Chapter 1 Act 0 prompts at least 1 time
Reward: +1 Stance skill of your choice (Friendly, Authoritative, Deceptive)
Reward: +1 Free Power in an unlocked branch
Reward: +5 Group Morale
Earned by providing feedback during the Beta Test period. If you gave feedback on the website, asked lore and mechanic related questions in discord, tested the character tracker spreadsheets, participated in a combat test, or made a beta test character, you have access to the beta reward. Just link to your beta contribution in the submissions channel, and we'll see that wish granted!
The beta tester's wish must be made in character, and must be made using a single word. What do they wish for? This wish represents something your character deeply desires, and is something they will pursue in the roleplay. They will be gifted something related to their wish when they enter the group.
Wishes will be granted in character via admin writeup.
Reward: +1 Flux
Reward: +1 Wish
This event has no hard requirements on what is needed to participate. Generally, there needs to be enough information there to see how it's related to the prompt, what impact you are having on the Hollow Hill, and maybe a little touch of flavor related to your character. More detailed and extensive works may receive bonus rewards! If we need more details, we will ask.
Prompt rewards are available as soon as your submission is accepted by a mod.
Public Roleplay: Use the #Hollow-Hill channel in discord to participate in a public roleplay. These roleplays can be joined and left by anyone at any time, including other players and admins. If a character isn't here, you can assume they're in a different room of the Hollow Hill. If a public roleplay relates to a prompt, you can link to the post in the #submissions channel.
Private Roleplay, Solo Writing, and Art: These can be submitted by compiling/uploading them on a public website and posting the link in the #submissions channel.
Public Mini-Events: These are short term events run by mods in the public roleplay channels. These may occur in real time, or may come with a time limit. Anyone who posts during the mini-event will canonically have been there, so if you see one, feel free to drop in something as simple as "Kraft is there, watching things go down!". It'll give your character first person information on what went down instead of having to ask others about it later. It may also come with special rewards, depending on how the mini-event pans out.
Other: Polls, audio based entries, videos, etc. If you've got something else you want to try, let us know and we will figure it out. Or you can just try dumping it in the submissions channel and see what happens. Same thing.
