Welcome to Gaia! ::

Do I have to say? *shifty eyes* Like...we haven't figured out I'm human...I mean...vampire *cough* Vampire *nods*

Vampire

Kai is special! blaugh

*Has no idea wtf he wants to be* ~~prolly vampire

Oh, and also, it seems a major deciding factor involving the stories is whether it's in an alternate reality... is that what people want? I get that feeling.

I like the ideas of Teddo and Master K. However I propose that humanity is in fact the minority race, and knows it. I'm tired of there being lots of ignorant humans all over the place. I live in a world like that already. Plus, I feel like the emphasis in this game should be on the conflicts between Vampire and Lycan, not humanity and either.

I hereby dub this setting "Out of the Dark" because it needs a cheesy dramatic name.

The Fall
Centuries ago, or so the legends say, humanity was the most populous creature on the planet, second only to cockroaches and mosquitoes. But through their own folly, and the onset of a mysterious disease seventy-five percent of the world’s population died.

This disease was thought to have no cure, and over the ten years that it ravaged humanity, various sects of the metaphysical world watched in horror. Vampires in particular were devastated by this, and worked furiously to find a cure to save their best food source. Lycans and Weres had a more dethatched view, humanity had been raping the planet for far too long, but they too mourned the loss of the few mundanes that had gained the respect of various clans.

Humanity in its panic began to cannibalize itself, so to speak. Each nation thinking another had found a cure and was holding out on the rest. Some even thought that another nation had engineered the virus. War broke out, and the dying race sped itself ever closer to annihilation. At long last, when it had seemed that all hope was lost, a series of cures were found.

The first, Vampiric saliva, and blood, were found to have a purifying effect. They never found a way to turn it into an immunization as the effects were short term. When the substance hit the bloodstream of an infected human it traveled throughout the body and destroyed every trace of the disease. It was also found that an infected human if “turned” was no longer contagious, but would never have the full strength and health as their healthy-turned brethren.

Second, the Lycan clans, in an effort to save their adopted human cousins, sought the aid of their spiritual guides. After much deliberation, the spirits and the very earth itself granted the clans a boon, a ritual that would cleanse the subjects of disease and bind them to the clan.

And now I shall explain the state of things now:

There are no longer any countries; there simply aren’t enough people anymore. Humanity has integrated itself quite fully with either Vampire or Lycan culture. Civilization now huddles in a series of city-states, each populated predominately by a different bloodline. In the wilds outside the cities there are dangers, rabid beasts, Lycan Clans, and who knows what else. This is why all of the cities have a tall wall enclosing them.

Vampires have, one way or another, risen up to rule each of the known city-states. The Lycans and the Vampires have never been able to see eye to eye. In each race there are sects that feel the other is nothing more than an abomination, something that’s only good when it’s dead and gone.

For the most part they’ve maintained a tense neutrality towards each other. However, in recent decades The Cities have gone through a renaissance of industry. With the rebirth of humanity’s need to create, innovate, and explore, vampiric culture has gone from clinging to the rocks for survival, to as flourishing and decadent as it was in the Old Days.

But this steam and clockwork fueled grandeur has come at a high price. The Cities have had to send expeditions out into the wilds for resources. Cutting down the forests, and digging up the hills and mountains, building railways to connect the once distant cities to each other, all these things have earned the ire of the Lycans. Since the Fall, Lycans have been working diligently to set nature to rights after all the wrongs that humanity had caused. And here are the Vampires, starting it all over again, without a single thought about the consequences, without an ounce of respect.

Yup, so, if you're interested in the rest lemme know. I've got a rough map, rough cultural differences between The Cities, and a few different Lycan clan cultures as well.

It would seem to give werewolves a huge advantage. That would be my only gripe. Vampires would have been decimated by the disease, as their food supply would have run low. It likely leads to vampires becoming cannibalistic, or at least murderous towards their brethren in order to save their food.

The setting is cool. I love using disease. Just...yeah, as a vampire I kind of feel like the werewolves could simply walk into the city, and remind the humans and vampires that the world is no longer theirs. Which happens in one game, where in the dark ages, werewolves would regularly "prune" cities of human population to make sure things didn't get out of control. Eventually they decided Gaia wouldn't be happy with the whole sale slaughter of humanity and let them grow.

I like your idea El, I can see the I Am Legend idea there but still has an original shift. I did get confused when you started talking about states and what not. I’m guessing you were just using the term states in the generalized manner not the U.S.A idea.

My gripe is on the other two settings, which I like as well, and saying Lycans only feed on humans? I would see Lycans to be more, live for hunting wild game and not humans. Hunting the humans would only bring human eyes on them, even if they thought the forest was cursed. I see them killing humans for harming the land or maybe the idea of trimming the hedges, like Kess put it. Though since Kess is more vampiric I could see how he would leave the Lycan side less developed. To avoid some extra vampire biases ideas let me see what I can do here.

Lycans: Should work in just about any setting

They have roamed the land for generations and keep watch over the land they hold sacred. Always vigil always alert the guardians of nature stand the against all who would destroy it. The Lycan he raised to be a warrior and protector from the moment they are born. Taught to be on with the earth an understand all the powers that come with it. They despise all things unnatural and seek to keep the land as it was. Humans are tolerated and some even liked but Lycans still see humans as part of nature and do there best to simply guard against them, for to much guarding and a war might erupt. The true enemy of the Lycan is Vampire and all its unnatural power. Lycans see Vampires as a disease upon the earth and must be cleansed from the land. Lycans take every chance they get to dispatch any and all Vampires they come across. Which has led into the war unseen. The Lycans stand shield to shield, spear to spear, sword to sword, claw to claw, and fang to fang against there worst enemy.

That’s a nice little sum of the Lycan idea I was going to run with.

Er, Lycans don't just eat people. They eat people from time to time when they can get their hands on them. People are a lot of meat, and honestly if you find them in the right situation, they're fairly undefended. Actually, most of the attacks against humans in mine occurred because the city was encroaching on the forest. To be honest, my overall view (as much as I love vampires) is that lycans are good guys. A vampire can be good, or mean well, but they're condemned and generally what they do is tainted.

Also, a steam punk game puts power in the vampire's hands. When technology develops to a certain point, the people with the tech are the people with the power. However, the vampires have no power in the woods, which is where the lycans set up shop. Basically, the war is a stalemate. Lycans keep hold over the forest, vampires over the city, and due to dwindling resources, the vampires can't blow through the forest. Really, if they had enough coal, they could just make machines to level the forest and slaughter the lycans. That's the issue with tech being this advanced and everyone knowing exactly who and where the other sides are. True Victorian, non-steam punk, then the technology isn't that developed.

This is also why I was saying originally werewolves should be more powerful than vampires of equivalent age (a 24 year old vampire should get crushed by a 24 year old lycan). Vampires have a hundred and one tricks up their sleeves, only hampered by the creativity of humanity and their own devious scheming. Werewolves basically have what they've had at their disposal for the past several thousand years. They hone their skills and their gifts, but really in the end, a vampire's power is ever evolving if he's willing to keep up with the times. Also, emphasizing the more primitive nature of the werewolves takes away some of their powers. Werewolves more integrated into the societies become more dangerous, as they have a deeper understanding of what is around, even if it's just like one or two tribes that infiltrate the cities.

I do like Ronyo's use of the lycan. That's more or less what would have happened in mine, along with basically they're protecting their home.

...crap that was longer than I intended.