For a child, no moment is worse then the moment you realize you are different from others. For you, this wisdom turned out to be more true than you could ever have imagined.
You did things. Things that no one else could, not your friends, not your parents. Things that were dangerous. Things that hurt those around you, burnt their skin, broke their bones, made them scared or insane.
And then they found you.
The men in trenchcoats. Wiping out every memory you were ever in, removing any evidence of your existence on this earth. No one recognized you. You had nothing. There was nothing that you could do but run. Run, and hide.
If you were caught, no one would ever see you again. And even if you escaped their guns, their nets, their long tendrils of bureaucracy, there was only one way for you to go.
Down.
As a stranger to everyone but yourself, laying in the dust or huddled in a dark corner, starved, worn, tired, you heard the calls from beneath, felt the power of the luminous crystals seep into from the ground. So you went, and became part of it all.
From the diary of a lost traveler, the book that comforts those who cry in the dark;
The earth is not the dead rock we think it is.
Living beings are not the only things alive, and in some ways, they are less alive than the minerals beneath them.
They are dead to the energy, the streams of the positive and the negative infused in the fabric of this universe. Their very nature rebels against it, interacts with true matter on the most superficial of bases- the physical one.
But we are not.
We differ from everyone and everything else.
We are the bridge between the true nature of existence and the organisms that like to think they properly reside within it. It gives us powers. Makes us dangerous. A danger to the ones we used to love, or still do, and to anyone we meet.
That's why the people attack us. They want to preserve themselves, defend themselves by attacking us. But they also want to study us, drain us, take us apart physically and mentally, so that one day, or so they hope, they can use our power for themselves.
But there is nothing more dangerous than power, wielded by those who have none of their own.
So we rebel against the the rebels.
We survive against all odds, in the tunnels of the Earth's crust that only we can detect because of our affinity to the elements. We live in the dark, the half-dark and the light, for the leylines allow us to move freely to wherever we want, where our powers allow us to accomplish what we want and what we must.
We learn from each other, take care for each other, love each other and fight each other, because in the end, we are still humans. We are humans who have vanished by the hand of the ones we used to call similar to us. Therefore, we call ourselves the Vanished.
Our goal is to maintain balance, but also to maintain ourselves. Don't let the power get to your head, whatever you do. You will kill, and kill more, more than you thought possible. Our brain cannot truly fathom the power of the cosmic spirits it holds. But it can control it. And control it you must. Or you will have to be killed.
~~~
Since the Diary has been published, two centuries ago, and spread among the masses of the children, teenager and even adults that make up the Vanished, society has changed. And so have we.
Due to new technology, better education, and better understanding of our own abilities and the importance of fighting back, the Vanished are no longer the group of weary and lost we used to be, living on the scraps humanity unknowingly left for us to dine on.
We are a community.
An organization that has taken upon the job of spreading nurture and wisdom to all Vanished, an army with scouts that run like the wind in whatever form they wish to become, soldiers that spread chaos, fire and disease- But only among enemies, never the innocent- a home for all those who lost their own, so that even though you thought you would never live harmoniously again, you can still laugh, love, eat, read, play.
The caves are still our home, and we still travel to wherever we want, but there are now central locations. Entire cities the Earth carved into its own skin when we asked it to, so that we could accommodate many and much.
The Lost Traveler, the nameless, faceless and immensely powerful Vanished that built the foundation of what we have now has become a patron saint. Houses of prayer have been raised in his name by those of us who still hold true to religious ideals, and are given all freedom to do so. We hold him close to our hearts, study his writings and traces of him throughout history, and never lose hope that he, or his spirit, is still with us, somewhere we cannot see him.
But we must never forget that, through all of this, the surface is a warzone. The conflict of the powerful and the physical lingers in even the most peaceful of areas on Earth, as do mystic powers that neither side has been able to decipher. Our advantage against the combined forces of many governments and secret organizations grows by the day, as do our numbers, but a new enemy stirs more and more.
As technology and machines waste the resources that were not even theirs to begin with, the environment becomes polluted, and with it the energy we garner our strength from. The Earth combats and punishes humans by unleashing storms, floods, earthquakes and other disasters, but it's never enough. We are this planet's final line of defense.
And defend it we will.
This is our story as much as it is yours.
Odorom Esse; Savour existence.
~~~
The things the brain does at night.
Yep, this entire thing is based on an idea that spawned while I was listening to various pieces of music. I'm posting this here because it has been some time since I have RP'd, and I would like to see how many of you are interested.
I'm not entirely sure if this will be the replacement for Project Alpha or not, but fact is I haven't been able to write anything for Project Alpha since the on-hold message was posted by me. I simply lacked the inspiration for it. This, however, I can promise you will be different, because I've never felt more inspired to write something than for this.
I'm stating right now that this RP will not be like previous ones I've set up. It won't be wacky, it won't be lighthearted. This is a story I'd like to build with you, my dear reader, about the struggles of someone young who has lost everything he or she had in his/her childhood, and must cope with life in the dark, taking care of themselves and others, life in the literal warzone and the battlefield of hope and confusion.
That does not mean, however, that no one is allowed to have fun with it- Because that would defeat the whole purpose of RPing! The fun in this RP comes from the ability to devise new characters or reuse old ones, write in a different setting and from a different point of view than you have previously worked with.
It also doesn't mean that every Vanished is some clinically depressed Mary Sue with supernatural abilities trying desperately to not destroy everything. In the end, our characters are still every bit as human as we are, with all the emotions to go along with it- And because our characters will be teenage or young adult, humour and lightheartedness, feigned or not, are also a part of this.
A couple of things I'd like to explain;
1. The organization, or pact of multiple of those, that is in charge of discovering those with special abilities, extracting them and then remove all evidence of his/her existence, do not operate under a name. To the Vanished, they are simply know as 'Them'. They have technology that utilizes energy taken from the same crystals that are found in the caves below the surface. These crystals work as 'focus points' for cosmic energy, allowing someone who can properly focus the energy to do whatever he or she wishes.
However, trying to do this using scientific measures (The only measures available to them) will result in the desired effect, that of memory wiping, false memory implantation, perception filters and theoretically even weaponry. Fortunately for the Vanished, the unnatural usage of the crystals will make them incredibly unstable and likely to break at any given point. This makes Them incredibly careful when it comes to using the crystals.
2. Cosmic energy, when used properly, can be a very powerful weapon or an incredibly practical ability to have. The Vanished can perform anything from healing to transformation, from controlling the elements to telekinesis. The only boundaries are a person's creativity, their focus and to what degree they are in touch with the universe. A religious person may focus on their spirituality, but the key is always to believe in yourself and your own abilities.
However, Vanished are born with a certain affinity to a certain form of cosmic energy. Some are more skilled at healing than any other form of magic, others are better with fire or water or other ways of using energy in combat. This is entirely up to you.
I will post more information later, but for now I'll be more then happy to answer any and all questions you might have ^^
