CONCEALED PHANTOMS
Concealed Phantoms is a group that consists of a closed species known as Skelefiends. They venture the wilderness, bringing ruin and destruction with every step they take. Although common in population, they are incredibly rare to actually see. However, following all of the destruction they leave behind will eventually lead you to their hideouts. Whether you survive to tell the tale however, is not something that is deemed as "possible".
HOW TO JOIN
To join Concealed Phantoms; your character will have to be the offspring of a Skelefiend couple. However, offspring have to be born on a specific date (31st October) in order for them to be successfully bred as a Skelefiend. All offspring that are born before or after are born as normal animals and have no traits of Skelefiends. Therefore it is vital that any forms of mating is done at the correct time, as all offspring that is not born as a Skelefiend will be instantly killed off. As a result of being Skelefiend offspring you will be born with 2 skulls, positioned one on top of the other. When a Bloodling goes through it's first year of being born it will go through excruciating pain as the 2nd skull (that is underneath the 1st skull - which is on top) begins to outgrow the 1st skull and eventually rip it off of a Bloodling's body. As a result, as the 1st skull is pushed off of the body - it removes 1+ facial feature along with it (e.g tongue, eyes, nose, ears). The 1st skull is reattached to the body of the Bloodling, and that will be their mask for the rest of their life - they will never remove it or change it. The mask is used to hide the deformity of the Bloodling.
TO JOIN AS A SKELEFIEND BY BIRTH:
You can choose ANY animal body, ANYTHING you want but what is required is that you draw a mask - you can add your own things like horns, piercings, etc. to make it look cool but the mask must also be quite relatable to a skull, but it can have any colours, markings etc.
NOTE: It is also possible for animals who are not Skelefiends to have offspring that is a Skelefiend - if they are born under the Phobos moon - then they are born to be a Skelefiend. There is no possible explanation as to how this happens, why it happens, and there is officially no possible cure to prevent a Bloodling being born under a Phobos moon with normal parentage. All Skelefiends have the same scent, and over time the lonesome Bloodling will be hunt down by older Skelefiends and taken away from any parents that are normal animals.
There is also another way to join Concealed Phantoms -
if you are born as a normal animal but would like to be a Skelefiend, Concealed Phantoms offers an awfully painful ritual that newcomers can go through, consisting of infection.
The leader of Concealed Phantoms will infect the recruit with a certain venom that will flow into their blood cells and ultimately 'kill' them, and the corpse must be reincarnated into the creature, but they're not resurrected with 2 skulls like offspring. The recruit's first kill as the creature will become their mask, they will wear their prey's head for the rest of their life.
TO JOIN BY THE RITUAL:
You will remain as you are, permanently. The only difference is that you will be given venom from the leader of Concealed Phantoms, and your character's skeleton will only alter slightly - your spine will have two ending joints from where two skulls were meant to be. One joint will be connected to your head like it was before, but another will also be visible in the skeleton, the end of the top of your spine that is not connected to anything. This is what will happen to a creature as well when their 1st skull detaches. What you must also be able to do is accept that you must wear a head as your mask. Your first kill as a creature will justify the mask you wear. Your first prey's head will be removed, and you must wear this as your mask for the rest of your life, to symbolise yourself as both a creature and a member of Concealed Phantoms.
WHEN MAKING A REFERENCE SHEET FOR YOUR SKELEFIEND:
Be as creative as you want! Hybrids, dinosaurs, mythical creatures, aliens, humans, absolutely anything that can show emotion, physical movement and have the mindset to survive in the wilderness are accepted altogether. But remember: only high-ranking members are the ones with developed powers.
ELEMENTS
All members have a power. However - new and average-ranking members can only have one elements of Eath, Fire, Air and Water. Higher-ranking members can evolve their elements into a much more powerful skill. The downside for high-ranking members is that they can only use this skill once or twice before they're left in terrible condition. For example, The Glass Reaper (@admin) is like a Dementor from Harry Potter - he sucks the life from you, piece by piece. With heavy intakes of breath he first strips you of skin, then removes your skeleton with his breath, and then your organs are the last to be devoured. However, after his victim has suffered, Glass Reaper chokes on his own body, his defense leaves him for a while as he tries to regain his breath and basically can't breathe. The average-ranking members do not gain any terrible conditions such as lowering of defense, they can continue using their element endlessly; but do lose stamina and mana over time.
THE HIERARCHY
The Leaders
Soul Prowler - The Glass Reaper
(Captain)
Skeletal Master - ???
(Co-Captain)
The Faction Leaders
Tacent Messori - "Silent Reaper"
(Lead Assassin) [Role taken by The Silent Retribution/Coccyxia]
Merciless Massacre
(Lead Hunter) [Role taken by The Crystal Stalker/Kralkatorrik]
Cerebrum Magna - "Skull Crushing"
(Lead Guard)
Apocalyptic Atrocity
(War General/Lead Frontline Fighter) [Role taken by The Dormant Bloodstream/Satana]
Dolor Capitis - "Smart Skull"
(Witch Doctor) [Role taken by Rlaktoroura]
The Factions
Bone Reapers
(Assassins)
Moonlight Monstrosities
(Hunters)
Clavicle Crushers
(Guards)
Malicious Marauders
(Frontline Fighters
Menacing Mages
(Herbalists)
Factions That Require No Leader
Sadistic Savages
(Scavengers)
Vicious Vengeance
(Spies)
Graveyard Ghouls
(Caretakers)
Other
Bonelings
(Offspring)
Aging Corpse
(Elder)
Radiculam Osse - "Funny Bone"
(Jester)
Ossa Ululatus - "Howling Bones"
(Phobos Worshippers)
The Events
The Phobos Moon Festival
In celebration of the entire existence of the Skelefiends as a species - the Phobos Moon is worshipped on the 31st October every year. This is also to celebrate the birth of the new Skelefiends, and all Phobos Worshippers will host the event. Skelefiends who were created through the ritual will also praise the Phobos moon, as this was the day the ritual was performed upon the by a Witch Doctor. The event involves plenty of games for all ages, a huge party around a circular bonfire that is engraved into the ground of their territory. Coccyxia, our Tassent Mecori, proceeds to perform an act in praise of the Phobos Moon. They mimic the special moon with her magnificent wings and cosmic flare. This performance occurs every year of celebration, and will always be viewed as a holy act for the Skelefiends.
The Game of the Thrones
The Game of the Thrones takes place during 1st December - 1st January.
Any members of a faction can challenge their Faction Leader to a fight in the Arena of Cherika Valley. Faction Leaders can choose whether or not they want to accept the duels, and if they lose to a member who challenged them, they will swap places in the hierarchy. The Faction Leader will be downgraded to a member of the faction instead, and the winner will become the new Faction Leader. Whoever is the standing Faction Leader by January 1st stays as the Leader until it comes to the next December.
The Backstory
A long time ago, when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, the Phobos moon was revolving around its mother planet. The dinosaurs enjoyed many spectacles of shooting stars and meteor showers, but what they couldn't see was that a stray asteroid from a long destroyed and toxic planet, which was filled with radiation due to the previous owners, crashed upon the moon with such ferocity that it still clings to it this day. And each night, upon the 31st of October, this now radiated moon shines its mutating light upon the children of earth, creating the skelefiends. These creatures have stalked the earth for countless years under no surveillance from the world, and during each Halloween night, new skelefiends are born and old skelefiends are sometimes granted a gift, or curse, of new power. But, new power comes with a new horrific price to pay. The gifting of high teens powers to a skelefiend also curses them with the lack of longevity. With this in mind, some skelefiends crave the day when they are chosen by their beloved Phobos moon- others, pray that the day never comes. Centuries pass by, and the skelefiends live out their days feeding upon the unwary souls that dare come across their territory. One night, a traveling band of explorers are knee deep in Duluth, Minnesota, searching for a rare and worthy discovery for them to brand with their name. Unfortunately, they find exactly what they're looking for. Only two escape the clutches of the skelefiends. Leaving their friends behind to be consumed by the terrors of Duluth, they spread the word of what they call "skelefiends". The government gets word of these nightly terrors and find themselves eager to investigate and capture a monster alive. Lucky for them, and with a little blood, more blood, and a lot of pain and tears, they manage to capture a group of them! Using these as blueprints, the government sets out to recreate these ghastly ghouls in hopes that they may be able to use them for their own desires. After many years of trial and error, they were successful. They had created their own batch of skelefiends. Immediately, they began training their horde to fight, solve problems, and teach them the language of the humans. But, in practically all situations like this, the cliche "monsters escape" scenario happens and the man-made skelefiends lead their ancestors to freedom. And this is where the skelefiend ritual was created, in a governmental facility. They had learned they can turn any normal being into one of their own- even without their glorious Phobos moon.
That is the history of the skelefiends. What happens from this point on all depends on you, young skelefiends. Make your ancestors proud.
The Katarsys Disease
Katarsys: Mangling of a Spanish word, Catarsis, which means to go into a catatonic state, aka a pseudo dead state.
The Katarsys Disease is the disease that lingers within the toxic radiation of the asteroid that now clings to our earth's moon.
The disease itself is not contagious and can't just be caught out of no where - offspring of October 31st instantly catch this disease, there is no avoidance of it. The disease greatly depends on the hierarchy of a Skelefiend community, as when a member is given a higher rank - as an outcome, the disease evolves and produces a more diverse range of abilities, until eventually closing down on a small variety of powers for the Skelefiend to use for either everyday life or brawls.
Stage 1: Faction Members: the members of factions have Earth, Fire, Water or Air as a power that can be used for everyday life or battle. Their mana almost never runs out, and they can reuse the power as many times as they want.
Stage 2: Faction Leaders: the faction leaders develop a more complicated power, however lose mana quite quickly when the power is in use. Defense drops as the faction leader becomes exhausted, and usually takes a few days to recover when using it for battle, due to the great amount of damage that is delivered; and as a consequence, the great amount of energy that is knocked out of them.
Stage 3: Leaders/Royal: has more than one developed and complicated power, but loses mana, defense, strength, stamina, and agility in a matter of seconds after using their powers. Powers can not be used for everyday life and only for killing blows in battle.