overbringer: (Default)
Eric ([personal profile] overbringer) wrote in [community profile] overbox2018-03-04 04:05 pm

Spark in the Gloom

The Spark in the Gloom
A panfandom Smut Adventure RP Sandbox


Somewhere in the twisting paths between universes is The Archipelago. A world made of the flotsam and jetsam of a thousand different realities. An endless chain of islands, each one made from the seed of a different world. Local culture, weather, and even laws of physics can vary wildly from island to island. Without any kind of guiding will behind its creation, the Archipelago had always been a place of live and let live for the various people who found themselves there.

Until the Gloom arrived. This unnatural force of darkness coveted apathy and depression. Passion, pleasure, and happiness are its anathema. The islands over which it holds its grip aren't necessarily PHYSICALLY dark, but they always have a darkness of the spirit about them. The people it leaves behind are little more than mindless drones, performing the bare minimum to survive but lacking the energy to do anything else.

The Spark is an order of people from this world that have taken a stand, and they have chosen their primary weapon well. It is a weapon that most sentient beings know of. It is a force of passion, of creation, and pleasure.

The Order's weapon is sex. The very act of physical intimacy of any kind repels the Gloom and merely being NEAR anyone who is having sex or who has recently had sex causes the Gloom's agents physical discomfort. As some kinds of undead are to holy ground, the Gloom is to orgasms.

You poor lost souls were somehow lost between the cracks between realities. Maybe a sciece experiment or spell gone wrong. Maybe just a freak fracture in time and space. One minute you were home going about your life, the next you were in the Archipelago, and an agent of The Spark was pulling you out of the ocean. The Spark has the ability to send you home, but the Gloom is currently too strong and would surely block any such attempt. So if you want to get out of here, your best bet is to help The Spark in their fight.

Firebrand Island
The Spark's HQ is set up on a beautiful island deep in the nigh infinit expanse of the Archipelago. On the surface, it appears to be an enormous luxury resort surrounded by a thriving tourist town. A huge sprawling hotel/casino/shopping center forms the main body of resort, but with various smaller beach cabins villas, and other sattelite structures dotting the coast for miles in either direction. If you take the cable car tram going inland, you will find yourself going up the side of a mountain to a secondary resort, which instead of swimming pools and snorkeling tours, offers skiing and hotsprings.

Regardless of where you go on the island, you'll find the locals have very little in the way of a nudity taboo. Public bathing, sometimes of mixed gender, is the norm (In some neighborhoods, the houses don't even have their own showers, with everyone sharing one centrally located bathhouse.). You might get some weird looks if you started going at it in the middle of the street, but in general the people here aren't very judgey and will let you get away with whatever.

Image references: 1 2 3 4 5

The Order of the Spark
The Order is well known on Firebrand Island. It's something of an open secret that beneath their fabulous resorts are elaborate underground facilities devoted to tracking the spread of The Gloom, training their field agents, supplying them with state of the art equipment, housing planes and ships for traveling across the Archipelago, and other such things. The Order might use non standard weapons, but they are still fighting a war. They have to be READY.

Image references: 1 2 3 4 5

The Gloom

This supernatural force of darkness and depression has been slowly spreading across the Archipelago for decades. It isn't a physical THING you can fight with conventional weapons. It is, at the most basic level, an psychic aura of depression that drains the joie de vivre from wherever it spreads. Acts of supreme happiness, pleasure, and satisfaction will cause the Gloom to retreat.

The Gloom DOES have physical agents, though. People who live with The Gloom for too long will start to change. Most people end up as like blank faced shuffling zombies, but every once in a while, someone will become an Avatar of the Gloom. They mutate in monstrous ways and become devoted spreading the Gloom. It is unknown if the Gloom itself is sapient, or if it merely uses the sapience of its avatars. Either way, the MOST effective way to free and island of the Gloom is to find and either kill or chase off the avatar upon it.

The other thing the Gloom does is drain the power of others. While in Gloom enshrouded territory, you will rapidly grow weaker and lose and supernatural abilities you might have had. The only thing that can protect you from this effect is Mojo.

Image References: 1 2 3

Mojo

Mojo is the name for a kind of power that exists in this world that is the opposite of Gloom, though it is much rarer. You can generate small amounts of Mojo from masturbation, or from acts of creation (art of all kinds, hard but rewarding work, etc), but the best way to get Mojo is through sex with another person. Trying out new kinks has also been shown to produce some bonus Mojo, so it's always worthwhile to experiment with something new. Simply put, the more sex you have, the better protected you'll be from the effects of The Gloom. You can feel it as a sort of pleasant, metaphorical warmth in your stomach. It is the Order's greatest weapon in this war.

You don't HAVE to have sex, of course. The Order of the Spark idolizes freedom and personal expression. There are, as mentioned, other ways to build it up. They just are so much less effective, and sex can be so much fun. And let's be real, if you aren't interested in smut, why are you even looking at this post?

Image References: 1? 2?

SOME PROMPTS
1: Relaxation - It's a hard life, fighting a world devouring supernatural malaise. Fortunately, when you're not doing that, your accomodations are Top Notch. Go to a fancy restaurant. Hang out on the beach. Go skiing. Relax in the hot-springs. Get a job. Paint a picture. Go to the library. Watch a movie.
2: Mojo - To fight the Gloom you need Mojo, and to get Mojo you need SEX. Firebrand island has a million places to slip away for a steamy encounter, if you're away from the privacy of your room. And they say that if you try something you've never done before, you can generate even more.
3: Mission Prep - You've got some Mojo, you've got your mission. You're safe for the moment. As your speedboat/helicopter speeds you towards the next Island determined to house The Gloom, you've got some time to chat with your allies. Any last minute things you want to get off your chest? Want to strategize how you're going to take on the next Avatar? Just want to chat? Now's your chance.
4: Hunting - An island is a big place, and the Avatar isn't always somewhere obvious. The locals are usually too depressed to do much more than stare at you, so you have more or less free reign of the island, but good God is this place a dump. There's a dirtiness of the soul here, that your Mojo is holding at bay for the now, but is still omnipresent and overbearing.
5: Battle - Avatars are strange and terrifying creatures. They could have tentacle arms (not THAT kind of tentacle arms. The Gloom hates that stuff), ripping claws, jaws that can chew through steel, acid spitting glands, or worse. But you're a badass too. Protected from the Gloom by a shield of Mojo, with your friends and lovers at your sides, you are as ready as you're going to get. So go kick some ass!
6: Emergency Recharge - Something went wrong, and one of your friends has run out of Mojo. They're getting weaker by the minute, and it won't take long for them to be reduced to one of the shuffling mindless drones that the Gloom turns most people into. Fortunately, you found them, and there's one sure fire way to restore them to normal.
7: Victory - The Avatar has been defeated, and without it to anchor the Gloom here, the thrill of victory has started to erase the malaise covering the island. As people wake up from their long depression, they start to realize what happened, and BOY are they happy to do so. A grand party is held in your honor. The agents of the Order of the Spark are off on the side, making deals with the island's govnerment, but in the meantime, everyone is celebrating YOU. Enjoy your victory. Go dance. Sign autographs. Pose for selfies. Get drunk. Hook up with an attractive stranger. Tomorrow, it's back to HQ to get ready for the next fight. For now, you have NO responsibilities.
8: Training - Swing that sword, lift those weights, get in that sparring ring. You gotta be ready for the next island. And if your clothes starts to get pulled off or ripped during a sparring match, well, that would just be AWFUL, wouldn't it?
9: Recon report - Before all the cool sword havers can run in and fight the Avatar, you have to know what it looks like and what it can do. That means infiltration and recon, which is a risky business on it's own, but also uses up a lot of Mojo. By the time your extraction came, you were basically a drone. Upon getting home, you have two tasks. 1: Get Mojo'd back up and 2: Tell everyone what you learned about the new Island and its Avatar.
10: A Dirty Job - Fighting the Avatar is all very dramatic and important, but there's a lot else that needs to get done. There's a base camp on the engloomed Island's edge to maintain. There's maintenance to be done on the boat that carried you here. There's locals who can't really take care of themselves right now. Plus, if you end up with some spare time, slipping off somewhere quiet with a friend and generating some Mojo is always helpful to the mission.
11: Wildcard - Between the Slice of Life of living on Firebrand Island, the action/adventure of fighting the Gloom, and the Endless Smut of building up enough Mojo to SURVIVE fighting the Gloom, you have a lot of options. Make something up!

I'm testing the setting concept out. If people seem interested then who knows, maybe this will grow into something bigger!
skyknightone: (Default)

[personal profile] skyknightone 2018-03-06 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
"Magic... huh? You're one of... those spellcasters? Still's new... to me. My world doesn't have any.... of that. So it's been something else... seeing it in action."

That she kept going was good, definitely. For his part, he kept running, though it looked like his treadmill began to accelerate further. Probably was using one of the exercise programs.
jetsetwitch: (Zzzzzzzz)

[personal profile] jetsetwitch 2018-03-06 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm a witch." She explained.

"We normally...keep to ourselves...So there might be...witches in your world...that you don't know about."

Akane was about at her limit, though. She could fly and teleport, so she probably didn't get quite as much exercise as was healthy. It was only an unfair metabolism that kept her as thin as she was.
skyknightone: (Snark)

[personal profile] skyknightone 2018-03-06 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
"If... there are... they're really good at... hiding!"

He laughed, giving and honest smile as best as he could while keeping pace with his machine.

"So, what kind of magic... can you use? If you're willing to... talk about it?"
jetsetwitch: And judging (Big Sister is watching)

[personal profile] jetsetwitch 2018-03-06 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
Fuck it. Akane slowed her treadmill down to a walk and spent a moment catching her breath. "Hah....Well, I like to think I'm pretty good at magic."

An understatement. She was considered a genius by the magical community. There hadn't been a spell she'd tried her hands at yet that she hadn't been able to master. "I guess I'm a terra type. Good with earthy stuff. Also I'm pretty good at teleportation."
skyknightone: (Conversation)

[personal profile] skyknightone 2018-03-06 03:23 am (UTC)(link)
Meanwhile, Manfred kept running, but turned his eyes over to her while she spoke. He gave her a quick nod.

"Teleportation? That sounds... really, really useful. But... I don't... know what 'earthy stuff' really means. ...Like, molding the earth... or making earthquakes? ...Sorry, don't know much about it."

His treadmill began to slow down, finally, but it was at a measured rate. Something of a longer cooldown from the high mark.
jetsetwitch: (I'm incredible)

[personal profile] jetsetwitch 2018-03-06 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
"Hmm....I could probably start an Earthquake if I actually wanted to for some reason, yeah."

She'd once turned a whole mountain to sand. She hadn't meant to, honestly, and was a little embarrassed by the whole debacle. "Teleportation is much more useful. Check this out!"

Akane got off the treadmill and pulled a piece of chalk out of her pocket so she could quickly sketch a magic circle on the floor. Then she stepped on it and was gone without so much as a puff of smoke to show she was ever here in the first place.
skyknightone: (Concerned)

[personal profile] skyknightone 2018-03-06 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
He was probably lucky she was no longer there to see him. When he watched her vanish into straight up nothing right before his eyes, he practically tripped over his own feet and stumbled right off the treadmill. He only barely didn't take a total spill, though his recovery was about as graceless as it could get.

He quickly tore off the wrist weights as he walked closer to the magic circle she had drawn, and he stared at it, dumbfounded.

"How in the...? She actually did it, didn't she? ...Didn't even get her name."
jetsetwitch: (VICTORY)

[personal profile] jetsetwitch 2018-03-06 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
The magic circle was maybe 18 inches across, and honestly not too complicated to draw. There was more to it than just drawing a picture, though.

About thirty seconds after she had vanished, Akane reappeared and pasted him with a snowball she'd just gotten from the top of the mountain by the ski lodge. She still had rapidly melting snow on her legs and the tip of her nose was red from the cold up there.
skyknightone: (Snark)

[personal profile] skyknightone 2018-03-06 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
Only having just finished speaking, he looked back up just in time to catch a glimpse of her before his vision was covered in snow. And cold. Lots and lots of cold. He brushed the snow out of his eyes, and then laughed quite heartily.

"Well, that's not quite how I thought I'd cool down after a run."

He brushed the rest of the snow out of his way, skin still chilled and stinging from it, but wow, that was something else. He never saw it coming.

"Consider me impressed!"
jetsetwitch: (Definitely)

[personal profile] jetsetwitch 2018-03-06 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
"It's my specialty." She said, as she brushed her hands off on her shirt, and stomped the snow off her shoes.

"Sorry about the snowball, by the way. I'm Akane."
skyknightone: (Slight Smile)

[personal profile] skyknightone 2018-03-07 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
"No problem," he returned. That was a hell of a way to get his attention, and boy, did it work. It just made him smile.

"Manfred Vaeris. I'm a mercenary fighter pilot by profession."

Not as impressive as Witch, he figured, but still unique enough.
jetsetwitch: (Spill it sister)

[personal profile] jetsetwitch 2018-03-08 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
It depended on your point of view. Akane lived on 21st century Earth, and mercenaries were more often spoken about than actually met face to face.

"Wow. That sounds pretty intense. I guess we can both fly, then, huh?"
skyknightone: (Smile)

[personal profile] skyknightone 2018-03-13 07:44 pm (UTC)(link)
"Guess so," he replied. "I like flying my F-4 Phantom the most, though I have a couple of other planes I take out from time to time."

He couldn't help but wonder if she was a pilot too. Sure, a joke about flying a broom crossed his mind, but he decided that'd be way too kitschy to make. Plus, she'd probably heard that one a thousand times.

"What do you like to fly, Akane?"
jetsetwitch: (Definitely)

[personal profile] jetsetwitch 2018-03-13 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
“A broom, obviously.” She explained. “There are other options. I know a witch who rides a flying motorcycle, but the classic broom always suited me best.”

Turns out the stereotype existed for a reason. “Afraid it’s not as interesting as a fighter jet but then, I’ve never had to blow anyone up with missiles.”