Welcome to the Meta Plot Open Roleplay Thread.
Anyone may participate, whether you currently own a Hound or not.
The ORP will be available from Oct 12 to (ending date TBD).


Magic is returning, and so are the hounds. The first of the Summoners were just normal men and women before all of this, living their lives just as everyone else. Aside from the ability to hear the tolling, the magic, they were not so different from their friends and families.

Now, everything is changing.

In the span of a single night the old stories are coming true. Hounds walk the earth once more -- little more than squirming pups now, perhaps, but if the legends are true (and who that have witnessed this night may doubt them?) they will grow to become huge, fierce, creatures of cunning intelligence and ancient wisdom. So what, then, can this mean for their new partners who, before tonight, were nothing more than regular men and women the same as everyone else?

The Meta RP

How to Play (IMPORTANT)

  • READ If you have not yet gotten a character approved, yet, please head over to the Character Profiles thread and do so now. You will not be able to RP anyone until that is done. c:
  • Only characters who are currently bound to a Hound may RP as such -- no RPing characters as Summoners who don't yet have hounds.
  • This doesn't mean you can't play as a non-summoner with latent magic abilities (i.e someone who hears the tolling and is drawn to the tunnels), it simply means you won't be able to roleplay the actual summoning yet. Until you actually obtain a hound through the event, this portion of the RP will be restricted from you.
  • Note that those who have obtained a Hound before this event may RP as if they summoned the hound prior to this if they wish though this must also reflect in the character's history in a way that makes sense. This event merely marks the point in time where there is a mass summoning and the Hounds officially return in great numbers.
  • Non-magic humans are perfect to play, as well, if you want to go for that.
  • Both the capital of Arkenvale and the tunnels are available to all characters (except the Summoning Chamber, to non-summoners).
  • Although there is only one official ORP with special RP events, that doesn't mean you can't start your own RP thread in here set in Arkenvale or the Tunnels. In fact, we encourage it! Just be sure to mark it properly as an Open RP [ORP] or as a Private RP [PRP] or a Solo RP [SRP], as well as the setting [Arkenvale] or [Tunnels].
  • YAY META!


The Settings

The Capital of Arkenvale
The Official Meta ORP will be placed in this portion of the Setting.

The Capital is located in the upper north-west of the country and is a major sea and trade port of the land. The city itself is enormous and the tall spires of the Queen's castle can be seen for miles on a clear day, gleaming atop the sheer cliffs where it is situated. Men and women from all over the country walk through these streets, and from all different walks of life.

In the market district where crowds press and gather in the morning, shifting from one hawker to the next, ever fickle, the shops are drawn tight and the men and women away to bed or off for other fun.

Near the lower portions of the city, closer to the sea, the bars are open even during the daytime, and on the night of the full moon with the shadows shifting and jumping all around, most opt to walk in groups or pairs. The city holds many wonders, and also many dangers. Thieves are likely to pick the pockets of the unwary traveler.

The city is alive and awake, even at this time of night, and, in some places, music fills the quiet corners of the world. Laughter echoes down an alley, men and women's shadows flitting across the walls and, as they dance, their breath forms clouds over their heads in the chill weather while a warm fire crackles merrily from an overturned barrel.

And, in the corner, apart from the revelers, an old man mutters about bells and darkness, and hounds and demons.

The Tunnels
Anyone can enter the tunnels, but only those who have characters with Hounds may enter the Summoning Chamber.

The tunnels themselves are immense, and though many of them are completely collapsed there are still plenty to explore. Ruins of homes carved into the earth remain, with bits of old relics strewn about, most of which are decomposed or rusted beyond recognition or repair. Some of the tunnels are so vast that they open up into large caverns of small towns, while others are smaller and were clearly used as roads or means of, possibly, transporting goods.

At the very bottom of the tunnels lies the greatest cavern by far. Though not the largest, it is still quite big and spans a hundred feet in every direction and is carved entirely out of stone. The walls are covered in ancient glyphs of what the people know, instinctively, are magic. That same magic permeates the air and causes the hair on the backs of everyone's arm and neck to stand on end. It stirs the air like a whispered breeze and can be heard inside the mind like a wordless voice -- a calling and welcoming that grows stronger with every breath.

Scenes of battle rage across the walls in epic relief fifty feet high. Huge hounds carrying men and women to war with horrible beasts. It is a terrible and beautiful sight that puts any written account of the legends to shame and is difficult to look at for any length of time.

The Hounds
What big teeth you have.

A fog enters the minds of those within the room and when it passes all that's left is an understanding of the writings carved into the walls and a sense of knowing that what is to come will change the lives of those involved forever. It is magic, and it is ancient. The runes tell how to summon the Hounds, the great spirit creatures from the Other Place, the Abyss, Hell.

The ingredients are in the room, guarded through magic to withstand time. Cauldrons of stone and other ingredients, along with the knowledge and power that has always belonged to these particular men and women.

The Hounds want different things, the least of which not being access to Earth which is so much more beautiful than their own realm. What the people may want from the Hounds may vary.

When the contract is set, and the words spoken with the will to activate them, the Hounds take shape -- small pups that will grow to fearsome and powerful companions. Their eyes are keen with intelligence, and though their forms are young, and thus their minds unable, yet, to express their full intelligence, it is already clear that these are no mere animals. The creatures brought forth in the tunnels are ancient and powerful -- they are Hell Hounds.