On Halloween Night, 2048, a tear in the fabric of our universe opens just off of the Californian Coast. Through it massive creatures emerge, completely rewriting our world with just a wave of their claw. Entire neighborhoods are spirited out of existence, and new buildings roll ashore like sea-foam or plummet like rain, spilling inhuman inhabitants in their wake.
After three days, the terrible onslaught ends. What colloquially becomes known as "the Void" now sits around the Bay Area like a bowl, eldritch beasts swimming ominously along its surface. The survivors are left in a world barely-recognizable, now filled with inhuman neighbors, immeasurable ruin, and existential uncertainty over what lies beyond the Void.
Humanity does what it can to recover, to restore some sense of normalcy. But changes begin to overcome a small percentage of survivors, otherworldly powers. And with this surge of power, the criminal landscape becomes more dangerous. Can humanity overcome the evil beneath the Dome and eventually venture into whatever lies beyond the Void? Or will society implode before such a time transpires?
It is up to you, the player, to decide!
if you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you
1 APRIL
Worlds Asunder is open for business. (No, it's not an April Fool's Prank.) Feel free to take a look around. To the right, you'll find this season's event prompts. They're player driven, and good until June 1st. Thanks for dropping-in! Hope you'll stay!
Most will typically think Oliver's younger than he is, because he has a young face. It's part of why the people in his father's gang call him "Baby" (in addition to him being the youngest child). He has a husky, muffled voice that pitches up or down in weird places, and a tendency to stare. Oliver keeps himself very clean-- no dirt under his nails, perpetual business casual, hair always combed. He probably doesn't even own a t-shirt. Smells good, too. He exudes an air of calm.
under the surface
PERSONALITY: Oliver's a dorky guy, charming and good-natured, and just the right amount of weirdness and sarcasm. He seems like the kind of guy to easily make friends, but Oliver keeps to himself. Most people don't have the patience (or skill) to communicate with a Deaf guy, and honestly waiting on them is just tedious, so he doesn't even bother anymore. Of course, with people who are just stubbornly friendly like his childhood friend Chiyoko can usually worm their way into his good graces. Just don't expect him to make the first move, unless absolutely necessary.
Chiyoko is always ragging-on Oliver about how white-bread he is-- how he's the kind of guy to rescue stray animals and call his loved ones at least twice a week-- and honestly, she isn't wrong. He's got a good heart and a strong sense of justice, leaping to the aid of whomever needs it simply because it's the right thing to do.
Things have taken a weird turn in the last few months, though. Oliver's been hearing-- yes, hearing-- a voice in his head. It seems to relish being mean, reckless, lewd, and entirely self-serving. Oliver's done his best to ignore it, chalking its presence up to psychosis of some sort, but its persisted.
FEARS/ PHOBIAS/ CONCERNS: the voice in his head 💀 turning into his father 💀 losing Chiyoko 💀 rejection, failure... the usual
HOBBIES/ INTERESTS: baking, especially cake ❤️ motorcycles, fast cars ❤️ live music/performances ❤️ theater ❤️ improv
HISTORY: Oliver is the youngest of countless children born to Victor Cortazzo, leader of the Cryptids Motorcycle Club. Despite his philandering ways, Victor was good at providing for his children-- at least, from a financial point of view. He offered very little in terms of actual fatherly care-- particularly for Oliver, whose deafness always made him uneasy. Oliver's mother, Lucille Blanchett, was a wonderful mother however. She was a young singer and actress who dazzled millions of viewers with her Broadway performances. Even as a small child, Oliver grew-up in the theater, and knew it well. He loved watching his mother perform, and seeing all of her beautiful costumes.
Even as a young boy, he was hooked.
He took to school with less enthusiasm. Because of his deafness, he was often accompanied by an interpreter. His classmates already seemed reluctant to hangout with him because of his differences-- adding an adult to the equation just made it worse. One girl seemed undeterred-- she clumsily introduced herself with fingerspelling, then signed to Oliver that she wanted to be friends.
She left no room for the boy to refuse. Oliver tried, too. He would pretend he didn't see her waving and walk the other way, too embarrassed to engage. He'd even run from her when she chased him down. Chiyoko was relentless. She'd chase him down and grab his arm, dragging him into whatever schemes she'd concocted. Chiyoko didn't know to many signs, in the early days-- but the sort of mischief she found for the two of them transcended language barriers. It wasn't long before Oliver forgot his reservations about running around with her.
The two were inseparable, attending the same schools through elementary and junior high school. Chiyoko was always pushing Oliver to be braver than he really was, which sometimes led to disappointment and rejection, but almost always turned-out for the better. Even when Oliver enrolled in the School for the Deaf in Fremont, he and Chiyoko shared a video call every night, eagerly telling each other about their days.
It was no wonder Oliver caught feelings for her. But... having a string of rejections amassed during his junior high days, he couldn't bear the thought of losing Chiyoko like that, too. They were best friends. He didn't want to ruin that with romance. Even as he grew more confident and more outgoing throughout high school, that attitude persisted-- he wanted to preserve the friendship that was so precious to him. He was active in the theater, but still made time to go to his mothers' performances, and hangout with Chiyoko on the weekends.
All the while, his father was an elusive half-presence in his life, sending gifts for Oliver's birthday and Christmas, but generally remaining scarce.
After high school, he got a job at a donut shop where he'd make donuts in the wee hours of the morning, while attending culinary school during the day. His eventual hope is to own a cake-shop.
The Crash threw a wrench in those plans. On Halloween night of last year, at the beginning of his second year in college, Oliver and Chiyoko were watching horror films at her place. There were screams from the street below, a commotion of sound, and they assumed that a party had gotten too rowdy-- but then an explosion of colors lit the living room, overpowering the light from the t.v. The first wave cut the electricity, leaving the two to watch in darkness as monsters descended upon the city.
They stayed in Chiyoko's apartment, electing to wait the torrent out. Chiyoko tried to call her family-- tried to call Oliver's mom-- but got dead phonelines no matter who she called. Oliver pushed furniture against the windows, leaving only crevices to peer through. They tried to sleep in shifts, but neither really could until the calamity settled.
Once the Crash subsided, Oliver nervously insisted that he had to see if his mother was alright. Chiyoko insisted on coming, too. The pair armed themselves with household items, and set-out together on Oliver's motorcycle, limping through the ruined hell-scape to Oliver's lifelong home. The streets were familiar yet foreign, some jutting out at odd angles while others had buildings replaced or completely removed. And the creatures that filled the streets-- oh, they were terrifying. But they seemed just as scared as Oliver and Chiyoko were.
Finding their way home was monumentally difficult.
And, when they arrived, the plot of land where Lucille's and Oliver's home once stood was now occupied by a tree the size of skyscraper. No Lucille, and no home, to be found. They stood on the corner for hours, scared and occasionally tearful. Just before nightfall, Victor Cortazzo arrived. Oliver should have been relieved to see his father, but instead a knot of dread twisted in his stomach. His mother, his home, all of his belongings were gone, and yet his father was left behind? That snake?!
Victor insisted-- practically begged-- for his son to come live with him, where the protection of the gang could keep him safe. Even "his friend" (his friend, being Chiyoko, the lifelong practical family member) could come, if she wanted. Overwhelmed, and frankly a little aghast, Oliver declined, insisting that they needed to keep an eye on Chiyoko's place and keep it safe from any looters in the coming weeks and possible months. Victor conceded.
A few weeks later, Oliver began to to hear a voice-- quiet at first, then growing louder and more insistent. It was a rich, cruel voice-- speaking from the back of his head, antagonizing him, goading him into doing things he didn't want to-- Oliver wrote it off as stress-induced psychosis. Who wouldn't go a little nuts over a rift between worlds opening up? He thought his best bet would be to try and restore some sense of normalcy, some sort of routine, to his life. Maybe with some structure, the voice would go away?
But no, even to this day, the voice has persisted. As much as he tries to ignore it, keep it a secret, it persists.
-- Please note, any information beyond this point is presently unknown to Oliver. --
power
NAME: Vapula's Inferno
TYPE: Soul-Bound
LEVEL: 1
DESCRIPTIONS: Vapula-- the winged lion from Hell-- haunts Oliver. A cruel, sardonic creature that deigns to associate with such a whimpering, pathetic excuse of a creature as Oliver (in its opinion), and would sooner do away with its newfound master than serve it. It lingers in the back of Oliver's mind, berating him and commentating on the day-to-day without any impression on the outside world.
When Vapula gets summoned, however, he possesses Oliver and compels Oliver's physical form to change. His skin turns night-black, with wild, glowing eyes, arcing black horns, dagger-like fangs, claws, and a spiked, whiplike tail. Upon his black, two inky black wings like a crow's. A mane of blue-pink flame crowns his skull, lines his back, and tips his tail. His ears stretch into fine, fluffy points.
While his appearance is unnerving, and vaguely bewitching, it's Vapula's conduct that really unsettles those around it. It acts with little care of collateral, and little regard for its host, whom it encircles like a living armor. He's incredibly self-serving-- and being out for too long could even potentially kill Oliver, a fact that Vapula seems to not care one bit about.
FUNCTIONS:
PRIMARY: DAMAGE. Incinerates wood in one turn.
SECONDARY: STRENGTH. Can hold 500 pounds aloft with relative ease.
TERTIARY: PERSISTENCE. Can go 1 round at full-power.
LIMITATIONS: The first and most glaring issue is that Oliver's body is not capable of enduring the heat generated by Vapula's possession. He can only endure one turn at full-power (which takes three posts for him to get to). As the heat mounts, he'll be confused, experience random pain and shortness of breath. By six posts of being transformed, he may fade in and out of consciousness, hallucinate, or even have a seizure. If Oliver faints or loses consciousness in any way, Vapula will disappear. This does not, however, remove the effects of his summoning. Oliver will continue to be scalding to the touch. And, if he's not cooled down within ten turns of being transformed total, he'll simply die from his insides being cooked by Vapula's power.
It is possible to interrupt the possession by dousing Vapula with water, earth, or religious iconography. Extinguishing the flame immediately ends his possession, and he will not return for the remainder of the thread. Knocking Oliver out has a similar effect. Oliver will remain in whatever state of disrepair he reached during the possession, however, and will likely still need medical attention.
Lastly, Oliver and Vapula will never have stealth. Since Vapula is always roiling in blue-pink flames, it'll always be apparent when he's in-charge.
abilities
FIERY BLOOM (2T)
DESCRIPTION: Vapula can send flames cascading up to 40 feet away, either by rippling out from his body, or by throwing them with a gesture of his hand. Regardless of the approach, ranged attacks always originate from Vapula himself.
