Premise & Arrival

[rhodosmods]

WELCOME TO RHODOS

PREMISE

Rhodos is a panfandom horror game inspired by elements of the Silent Hill franchise, particularly the psychological aspect where a character's repressed guilt and fears are reflected back at them by the setting. The game is set on a seemingly abandoned Mediterranean island, in a seaside tourist town that exists within a medieval fortress town, both of which were built upon the bones of a much older city. The dark and bloody secrets within that ancient town may be buried, but they are certainly not dead.

The game follows a 1:1 calendar and functions within a monthly cycle: days 1 through 20 take place in the sunny, pleasant, eerily empty seaside tourist town of Rhodos. Nothing living moves within the town except for the player characters. For days 21 through 27, a thick fog rolls into town, heavily scented with smoke, reducing visibility to a mere ten or fifteen feet. Monsters emerge from the fog, including each character's personal Manifestation, the monster that represents their own sins and fears. For days 28+, the entire town descends into the Nightmare World, with between one to four days of total darkness where the monsters are faster and more savage, and there is little comfort to be found.

ARRIVAL

Upon arrival, characters awaken in one of the main plazas of the town, lying on the paving stones around a central fountain. Unless a Test Drive Meme states otherwise, it is a bright sunny day, and the weather is seasonally appropriate for an island in the Mediterranean at the current time of year. A light breeze brings the scent of the sea, but there are no cries of sea birds to be heard.

The buildings of the plaza are all of medieval stone construction with modern awnings and glass fronts. Tables out front display tourist wares: little plastic statuettes, postcards, t-shirts. Among these, it's easy to identify Greek lettering, Greek gods, and photos of Athens and Crete. Predominant among the souvenirs are items marked with the name Rhodos.

But there are no vendors selling their wares. Even if characters wander into the shops, all are empty as if their owners just stepped away for a moment. Lights are on, and some of the larger and nicer shops even have the whirr of air conditioning. Food stands waft the aroma of freshly grilled kebabs, and a gelato cart is cold to the touch and the ice cream inside is frosty and delicious.

The plaza where you arrive is set on a slope, and the direction of the sea breeze and the faint sound of waves against a shore suggests that the sea is down that slope. In that direction, however, you can see an open archway in a tall stone wall, and beyond it is nothing but mist. Despite the clear sunny day in the plaza, the mist is a dense fog with barely three feet of visibility. You can see your own arms in front of you, but nothing beyond that. Within the mist, the breeze has gone still and the sound of waves has shifted into something like sobbing. If you investigate the mist, after about five minutes of determined walking across what feels like flat ground with no other landmarks, you find yourself back at the archway.

As you settle in to the town, housing is easy to find. Not far from the fountain square you can find unlocked doors that lead into clean and welcoming interiors. The beds are freshly made, as if it is a hotel that's been prepared for you rather than anyone's personal residence. And yet once you've settled upon a place to live, you then start to find little signs that you have lived here all along. The photographs on the wall (which weren't there when you first arrived) depict you and your family and friends, even if you came from a world without photography. Upon arrival, you have only the clothing you are wearing, but within a day the closet begins to fill with familiar outfits from home, and within the first week you may find up to five of your own possessions around your new residence. (Wardrobe is limited to what you can reasonably fit inside a non-walk-in apartment closet, what your character would reasonably wear and possess in canon, or what can be scavenged around town. There are two very small clothing boutiques where you can find most basics and a few cute outfits. For starting possessions two may be magical/weapons, but you may have an additional three mundane items. All other personal items can only be obtained through regains or events.)

Welcome to Rhodos.

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