» Fri Sep 14, 2012 5:51 pm The wind blew a blinding white sheet across the Eastmarch, biting at the skin of the small company of men trudging through the snow. They moved as quickly as the blizzard would allow, a rope tied between each of them so they wouldn't lose their way, hastening towards the old tower leaning ahead of them. They hurried inside, taking a deep breath and shaking the loose snow from their cloaks, pausing when they noticed the blazing fire - and the hooded man sitting beside it.
Their leader, tall even by Nord standards, stepped forward. "Hail, fellow traveller," he said loudly, "Pray forgive us the intrusion, but we seek shelter from the stormy night. Might we share your fire? We'll gladly share our stores with you in exchange for the hospitality." The man gave no answer, indeed, he hardly moved at all. The company shifted uncomfortably before the statue-like figure, a few of them jumping as he finally moved, slowly grabbing a stick to prod the coals beneath the fire with an ashen grey hand.
The leader grew restless, his hand falling to rest on his sword as he growled at the man "I'll ask politely one more time, may we have rest by your fire?"
Calmly, the hooded man raised his head to look at the company, the firelight barely revealing a thick white beard and leathery skin over his ash-colored face. His piercing red eyes went from man to man, each one shivering in turn as his gaze fell upon them.
His patience at an end, the head of the company strode forward, shouting "Enough niceties, move over, Greyskin!"
He suddenly stopped in his tracks, mouth and eyes wide. His men watched in horror as he first turned grey and then black, his skin shrivelling and cracking as if being burned. No sound escaped his gaping mouth as he fell to the ground, his body breaking apart and disintigrating into dust. Then the fire went out, and they saw nothing more.
-----
4E201, a year of great unrest in Skyrim, is drawing to a close. At the urging of the Dragonborn, the Imperials and the Stormcloaks have put their weapons down in a truce to deal with the dragons. Tensions remain high, but people are beginning to calm down and use the temporary peace to heal what wounds they can before the fighting starts again. Everybody takes a deep breath... and then a few of them start coughing.
From Winterhold and Eastmarch, a plague is spreading. Men and women suffer from terrible nightmares, tumorous growths forming on their bodies as they go mad and attack one another or disappear entirely. The finest doctors and mages alike can do nothing to stop the spread of disease, and in the end it is the Dunmer who realize the terrible truth: It is the Corprus, the terrible demonic disease thought destroyed by the Nerevarine 200 years ago.
Pouring over old records of the time, the finest scholars come to a conclusion - Somebody has kep tthe Corprus alive all this time and is unleashing it anew, this time on the people of Skyrim. On their word the Jarls are scouring the countryside for any sign of this devious malefactor, but there has been no trace of him as of yet. Growing desperate, they start looking for hired help to bolster their search.
You are part of a company of these adventurers, searching for clues to the whereabouts of whoever is purpetrating this new Corprus outbreak. You have uncovered a promising lead directing you towards teh Mages College in Winterhold. The sooner you can leave, the better!
Character Sheets
If you wish to join this RP, then you can either PM your character sheet to me or post it in this thread. This should be a fairly standard sheet, including:
Name
Race
Age
Birthsign (Optional)
Class/Skills (limit of 5 skills)
Appearance
Equipment
Background/History
The usual warnings apply as well. No god-moding, no controlling other peoples' characters without permission, etc. etc. As the GM, I also reserve the right to kill off your character if I feel you are no longer contributing positively to the group.
Speaking of which -
My Involvement
I will be the GM of this roleplay, and thus will have total control as I see fit. However, that doesn't mean I will be controlling your every move. If you are familiar with tabletop gamin in the vein of D&D or Shadowrun, I will be using a similar GM style - Providing you situations to react to, and also detailing the reactions to you actions. For the time being at least I will not have a personal character in the RP, since I find it too distracting if I have to run a fulltime character along with the entire friggin world.
In Conclusion
This is just going to be a fun little romp, a way to play Skyrim outside of the engine's limitations so to speak. I'm hiding certain plot details to make it a little more interesting, but if that proves an unpopular move I'll consider changing it - It will be revealed over the course of the RP anyway.
So come on and join! Or tell me how you think it could be better, I'm always open to suggestions. Just remember, we're all here, first and foremost, to have fun!
