"To every story there is a beginnning..." -- (If you don't know where this quote is from you need to get out more...)
But where was the beginning? A group of people getting a phone call from a total stranger inviting them to attend the reading of a will? A group of people with almost nothing else in common..? It's a bit irregular, certainly. The sort of thing that only happens in books...
"... there are more things in heav'n and earth, Horatio, than are dream'd of in your philosophy..." -- Shakespeare
It can be a pretty bloody strange world out there! Especially if you get tossed into it headfirst without even a by-your-leave. This is first and foremost a game about people, characters, human beings. It's a journey of discovery, no promises about it being a nice journey of discovery, but we hope that you enjoy the trip^D^D^D^Dview. Characters will find themselves drawn slowly into a strange and enigmatic web, woven by people who have come bearing grudges that seem to have been brewing for centuries... or even longer.
The setting is to be (mainly) London, a city that has been a capital, a financial centre, heart of a mighty empire, birthplace of punk (and numerous other fashions), and still the largest and most energetic city in Europe. A city with a long history, which casts long shadows, and never lets go of her sons and daughters. Never.
[It is also likely that there will be opportunities for some wide-ranging international travel, so don't forget your toothbrush]
"Is he in Heav'n? Is he in Hell?..." -- Baroness Orczy
Everything you think you know is wrong. Throw away your IN rulebook -- even if some of it still applies to the world in which you will find yourself , there are no guarantees that any of it will ever apply to you. No guarantees of anything at all. The world is a dark and unknowable place. Anything could happen and probably will.
Perhaps in some corner, the powers of good are really fighting the powers of evil in a no holds barred steel cage match for the future of the universe. But in your little corner, you have to worry about whether your car will start this morning, whether you remembered to pay your phone bill, and who is going to look after your cat whilst you are away. In some corner of the world, haunts and visions from the past stalk through nightmares and drain their victims into pale shadows of their waking selves but in your corner, Freud and Jung between them explained all that crap away years ago. You'd have to be crazy to believe anything else. Absolutely bloody crazy.
"... for the future can affect the past, even though the past is a road which leads to the future..." -- Susan Cooper
And what is the mysterious secret from the past which ties our heroes together? Or was it all a giant mistake which is about to blow up in someone's face....
"It is a far, far better thing I do now than I have ever done." -- Charles Dickens
So you want to play?
Here's what we are looking for: no more than a paragraph or so of background for your character, which can be absolutely anything you like as long as it fulfils the following criteria.... (some to fit in with the campaign, some for game balance and some just cos we liked them!)
1. Character must be human
2. Character must be of an age/ physical ability to move around unhindered (ie. Over 18 and under
70 is probably a good guideline)
3. Character must be a fluent English speaker
4. Character must not have a criminal record that would prevent him/her getting through
customs
5. Character must be capable of being sociable/ working with others
6. Character must have a modicum of adventuresome spirit (ie. Probably better if it isn't the type
to curl up and have a nervous breakdown at the first sign of danger)
7. Character must not have had any previous direct experience of the War (occult weirdness is
fine, if you like but no actual knowledge)