Die, monster! You don't belong in this world!

[Sierra]

By all rights, it shouldn't have happened the way it did: a small nation, untested in on the world stage, fighting back the voracious Nomeluk Empire and its armies of slaves drawn from across the continent? As imperial forces bore down on the young kingdom of Brislov, however, a young Duke by the name of Tadeusz Varas took control of the nation's armies and proceeded to outmaneuver the larger imperial forces by steadfastly refusing to fight them on their own terms, even enlisting the aid of magical creatures that typically shun human society in order to facilitate unorthodox guerrilla strategies and behind-the-lines sabotage that brought the overextended and slow-moving Nomeluk army to a standstill. Stymied and humiliated by lack of progress on the Brislov front, Nomel soon fell prey to slave rebellions in the far east and in time collapsed into a series of principalities overseen by bickering warlords (many destined to be absorbed by Brislov itself).

The ruling Nicoleus dynasty would in later years claim that Duke Varas only relayed the strategies of then-king Marcel to the field, but it was widely believed at the time that without him, Brislov would've ultimately been subjugated, yet another slave state of the great Nomeluk Empire.

With the war concluded, Duke Varas set to building a lavish new home for himself and his bride Romanja, a young noblewoman renowned for wit and artistic sensibilities. The expansive estate would cover everything needed to keep the Duke and his retinue fed and secure, as well as facilities for advancing the arts and sciences. It was supposed to be a beacon of enlightenment to mark the ascendence of a national hero, but the couple had only just taken up residence when Romanja was struck with an infirmity the Duke and his advisors could neither identify nor cure. Known healing techniques, even magical ones, proved fruitless, and ultimately the young Duchess wasted away over the course of several agonizing days.

In the wake of this tragedy, the Duke went into seclusion. The few old friends he would still receive as guests spoke of him acquiring a dreadful pallor and the obsessions of a madman determined to triumph over death itself. Unexplained disappearances soon plagued the surrounding countryside. Based on spreading rumors of strange experiments and rituals performed at the estate, the church of Norusk, the One God of Brislov, the Sun King, declared the Duke a heretic, unclean and damned in the eyes of the lord of order. In response, royal representatives set out to formally arrest Duke Varas, but upon their approach a great mist rose from the ground and covered the castle. When the mist dispersed, the Duke's grand retreat was nowhere to be seen, and for a time concerned locals could be comforted by the certainty that the mad Duke had surely been dragged to Hell where he belonged.

Until the castle came back.

Approximately every ten years--sometimes more, sometimes less--a rolling fog envelops some far-off pocket of the countryside, and from it emerges the grand stone bridge that once gave the Duke's castle its name. It has a different name now: Mistvalken, always spoken in low tones and with an air of fear, superstition, and sometimes morbid curiosity. Its appearance is an ill-omened thing, always followed by travelers vanishing from the roads, men and women plucked from city streets in the night by winged monsters, smaller villages sometimes taken en masse, leaving only empty houses as mute testament to the Duke's rapacity.

Sometimes there's talk of storming Mistvalken with an army, slaughtering whatever foul monster the Duke's become, and tearing the castle down stone by stone to finally see an end to the nightmare, but there's no predicting when or where it will return, timing and location both staggered and irregular as if directed with a will to confound any organized reprisal. The only assurance is the dread certainty that it will reappear once its master requires fresh fodder for whatever dark deeds now occupy his time. Sometimes Mistvalken's master chooses to terrorize some other corner of the world and Brislov can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that it's someone else's turn to suffer, but more often than not he chooses to prey upon his own countrymen.

For three hundred years Brislov has dwelt under the shadow of Duke Varas, entire generations living and dying with the supernatural threat of Mistvalken a constant background presence in their daily lives. On occasion some brave soul would enter the castle of their own will to try and put a stop to the menace, but none would return (save those who exercised the better part of valor and fled before breaching the castle gates). The brave, the mad, the occasional wild fortunehunter, never without any success.

This time, however, whether by design or by chance, the Duke's plunderings have swept up the only daughter of King Adrian Nicoleus. And a royal bounty awaits whoever can free her from the Duke's grasp.

~

And that's where you come in.

Mistvalken is very consciously modeled after Castlevania. The word "stolen" may in fact be applied here with considerable accuracy since my desire was to make a game that focused exclusively on exploring one huge structure. Outside of a very brief introduction, the castle will comprise the entirety of our setting. Once you're inside, it'll be a matter of figuring out how to accomplish your goals and getting out alive. Combat won't necessarily be the only way to deal with the castle's denizens, but you should be able to handle yourself in a fight and have the experience to confidently seek the head of an undead overlord. Seasoned warriors, adventurers, wanderers and troubleshooters wanted. As such, I'm aiming to run with a moderately high-leveled party (presently looking at level 12, which I believe is high enough for the PCs to be able to do cool stuff without making NPC generation a total nightmare for me) in Pathfinder.

The PCs needn't necessarily know each other at game start (I leave such decisions up to the players here), but you may wish to make sure you wind up with a group that works together well mechanically. There won't be any retreating to civilization to resupply; as such, attrition will be a danger of its own and you'll want to make sure you can go for a long haul (spending all your money at chargen is encouraged--you won't otherwise need it). And as always, I approve of PCs having personal reasons to do things (in addition to having a royal bounty waiting for you when you get back, of course).

As the castle is our principal setting and the world at large essentially just a backdrop, I have not really sketched any more detailed a picture of the world than you got in the flavor text above. Think of a fantasyish eastern Europe somewhere in the middle ages and you've got the basic idea. Feudalism, powerful monarchy and monotheistic church that don't always see eye-to-eye, etc. As this isn't a globetrotting game, I don't see a need to go greatly in-depth here when I've already got plenty of other prepwork to do. As such, you are basically free to make up places and even other countries to suit the background of whatever character type you want to run (international adventurers are totally welcome as long as they can get the job done) as long as it fits the general atmosphere of a low-tech society where magic is common but not overwhelmingly so.

Am presently considering running Fridays from 4-7PM (EST). Possibly very early Saturday mornings if Rat's game runs its course before this is ready and if two games running Saturdays proves not to be a source of fatigue.

[Ebiris]

This game clearly needs an inquisitor. Count me in.

[Carthrat]

I'll play if it's in the saturday slot; my game shouldn't be an imposition unless you want to start like now. <_<

[Corwin]

I will show my True Gaming Spirit and play through the night (or on saturday). I don't know what the game needs just yet, but when I do you'll be hearing from me, clearly.

[Corwin]

Is this what the game needs, Cid?

[Carthrat]

I'm just going to step in and veto that

[Sierra]

I'll play if it's in the saturday slot; my game shouldn't be an imposition unless you want to start like now. <_<

Nah, not looking to start for a few weeks anyway.

[CyMage]

I'd be interested, but won't be able to join unless the time changes to somewhat earlier in the week or earlier in the day.

[Carthrat]

Ok, I actually think I can play at either time. Count me in!

Thinking of playing a half-elf arcane archer who was one of the Princess' childhood friends (bastard of human and elven branch families, very sordid tale of 'what do we do with the mongrel, you take her' 'no you take her!') in my effort to hit like every Mary-Sue criteria

[Dracos]

Badass opener.

How early on saturday?  I'm intrigued if...I can potentially make a time.

[Dracos]

Ok, I actually think I can play at either time. Count me in!

Thinking of playing a half-elf arcane archer who was one of the Princess' childhood friends (bastard of human and elven branch families, very sordid tale of 'what do we do with the mongrel, you take her' 'no you take her!') in my effort to hit like every Mary-Sue criteria

Named Mary?

[Sierra]

Thinking of playing a half-elf arcane archer who was one of the Princess' childhood friends (bastard of human and elven branch families, very sordid tale of 'what do we do with the mongrel, you take her' 'no you take her!') in my effort to hit like every Mary-Sue criteria

That's fine (I assume the Mary-Sue part is a humorous exaggeration right right) since I intended to keep the standard "Yeah the usual fantasy races are out there if people want to play them, they just do the normal thing and mostly keep their own company."

How early on saturday?  I'm intrigued if...I can potentially make a time.

Somewhere in the vicinity of disgustingly early like I normally do, especially since I would need to avoid conflicting with GF. Given timezone differences, it would surely be something like 2AM starting time for you. So not sure how feasible that is for you. >.>

[Dracos]

oh.  :(

sadness.  yah, I wouldn't vouch for my own consciousness at 2 am PST.

well, have fun.

[CyMage]

Heh, when I said 'earlier in the day', I wasn't quite expecting that early.  :/

[Merc]

It's early in the day though!