[A] The Lucid Dream [Updated]

The Lucid Dream
A fiendish cult, or simple madmen?

Target of Worship - As it is right now, the cult worship the Old Gods very a like to that of the Twilight Hammer. Only that they do not wish the destruction of the world. However, there are many that claim them to be simple madmen, while others claim that the cult is under the influence of a powerful demon. What the real truth is, remains a mystery to everyone but the cult members. But there have been people who claim that this insane cult, worships the Death God, Yogg-Saron. However, it is commonly known amongst scholars and explorers that Old Gods have been whispering to the subconsciousness of mortal and eternal beings a like since the dawn of time. Who ever this target of worship is, it has made promises of unleashing insanity and nightmares upon the world, to return it to what it used to be.

Teachings of the Cult - To endure the approaching faith of the world, there are two tests Acolytes have to go through before they are accepted in the Cult. 'Test of Insanity' is the first one, where the Acolyte equip a Cursed Blindfold and is locked away in a dark room to survive one night with the blindfold equipped, without clawing the blindfold off, or their eyes out. The second test is the 'Test of Blood' where the Acolyte have to drink a cup of potent demon blood, rumours tell that potent demon blood can grant a mortal immortality if It's devoured often. On top of this, the mortal who drink such blood will be given unimagineable power, for a period of time, but it has a price - as the blood is highly addictive and can turn those with a feeble mind insane.

Organisation and Spreading - Cult members have been spotted in the north and south of the Eastern Kingdom, as well as in between. The Cult is strictly hierarchic, with a serie of ranks which start with 'Acolyte' and ends with 'Prophet'. The word of the Prophet is final, in a sense. He has written all the lore, teachings and rules of the Cult, because the Prophet is said to have contact with the Old Gods and is their herald in mortal form. What's tolerated one day, can be a crime the second. There is only one sentence for a crime against the Cult - To be sacrificed to the Old Gods, or somehow escape.

Recruitment and Ranks - The recruitment is a most odd one, should the Prophet or the Dark Patriarch/Matriarch find a suitable recruit, they will deliver this person a serie of dreams. In those dreams, the person will experience visions of what the world was like, what it could have been like, what it might turn into. This person will also be observed through magical means, in order to keep track of wether this person would show interest in joining, or not. Propaganda will be spread, as well - Be it in the shape of posters or pamphlets. It is not impossible, that either the Prophet or the Dark Patriarch/Matriarch would try to enslave people in order to strengthen the Cult aswell.

Prophet - The Prophet is the supreme leader of the Cult. Both spiritually and physically. His word is final.
Dark Patriarch - The Dark Patriarchs are the chosen men of the Prophet which helps him with what ever he might need help with.
Dark Matriarch - The Dark Matriarchs are the chosen women of the Prophet which helps him with what ever he might need help with.
Zealot - Zealots are the most loyal and faithful of members. They have proven themselves worthy of higher rank.
Worshipper - Worshippers are full-scale members who have gone through the 'Test of Insanity' and the 'Test of Blood'.
Acolyte - Freshly invited members, they are put through two tests to show where their loyalty lies.
Servant - Mindless drones of the Cult, servants who have been forced to the will of the Cult, or worse.

Artifacts and Unholy Items - The Cult got several religious artifacts within their grasp as well as other unholy items that they torture themselves with and what not.

Mark of Insanity - This object is made out of saronite and fused with dark magic. It's shaped like a pentagram and is used for branding members in the Cult. Once branded, a person with this object in his possession can call for a person carrying the mark. At first, the scar will itch and later a terrible pain can be felt. The person with the scar will then feel pulled towards the location where said person is. Only the Dark Patriarchs/Matriarchs and the Prophet have one of those each.
Cursed Blindfold - This blindfold is worn at times by the members when they choose to torture themselves with it, when wearing it - the person experience their worst nightmares.
Scourgewhip - This whip ain't exactly a religious artifact. But it is unique, for it has nine tails and each tail end with a hook - All the hooks different from eachother. Another thing which makes this whip unique, is the fact that the handle of it has hundred of small, small thorns which digs into the wielders hand as they whip themselves. The hooks are often dipped in different kind of liquids to irritate the skin when they tear it open.
Puzzlebox - This puzzlebox is made out of a hundred small cubes, a puzzle which seem impossible to solve. The more a person try, the harder they imagine they want to solve the puzzle. A mind trick, or shadow magic?

Other servants within the Coven - The Cult members summon demons from the Twisting nether. To use them in the common war against the Church of Holy Light, and the (un)faithful. However, they experiment a lot and dig deeper into the twisting nether than others - Thus find and summon other speciments of Demons. An example is the Rakhaz - A demon which looks more like an ooze, slimey transparent skin which reveals the demons intestines. It has four arms which drips of acid, and got the body of a bulb, or ball. It heaves itself forth with the arms, rather than having any legs or so. The face contains two green eyes and a huge mouth, with hundreds of razorsharp teeth. Undead servants are quite common as well, considering they are entirely mindless and follows their masters will without any questions.

Goals - One can only wonder what the hideous goals of this cult might be, as the target of worship presumedly is an Old God. One can only suspect chaos, havoc and lust for power. Rumours say that a mysterious man in gloomy clothes visited the Mage Tower in Stormwind and in a subtle way, asked questions regarding the transformation into a Lich.

What's known ICly? - ICly I imagine that not much is know about this guild just yet, but people who think their character should know about the cult could always discuss something with us. Sites where dark rituals have been practised, where humans have been sacrificed, have been found through out the Kingdom of Stormwind on rare occasions.

What we expect of you - We expect of you to be a decent person who doesn't make a scene of every possible thing, the type of people who simply want to have fun. The guild concept is quite demanding, strict rules and the like will be introduced as the guild develops further. But in the end, all we want of you - Is a decent mood and decent activity.

What you can expect of us - No matter wether the guild grows or not, there are many plans for the future. Powerful dark rituals and the gathering of materials and knowledge in order to achieve immortality. Distant trips to lands where only mad men would go. To try and uncover evern darker rituals, that are not meant to be found! In the future, only Insanity awaits...

In-Character Story - Nightmares. Why did the thought never strike him before? If he had done this years ago Stormwind would have been reduced to pebbles and ashes! He glances down at the preparations and smiles wickedly for himself, the servants had started chaining the five young women to the floor with heavy chains made out of saronite. He narrowed his eyes behind his mask as someone entered the room behind him. 'The preparations are soon finished, my lord.' a calm voice said. 'I am aware of that, Karkath. Did Jahi arrive yet?' he spoke with a tone lacking any form of interest in reality. 'Yes, he is preparing the objects as you requested.' Karkath frowned briefly. 'Felfather, will this work?' Jezzek then turned with a silent sigh escaping his nose. 'I cannot answer that question, Karkath. It might work, It might not. Nonetheless, it is a risk worth taking... is it not?' He arched an eyebrow slowly while talking. The now gaunt face and the thick, black colored blood veins made him look more like a corpse than anything else. 'I certainly do hope so, though.. What exactly are the risks?' Karkath narrowed his eyes upon asking his question. 'Oh, but Karkath... You have nothing to fear. I... assure you.' Jezzek laughed loudly, then shook his head as he glanced down towards the preparations. Karkath didn't have any time to answer before he spoke again. 'Go and help Jahi, this ritual have been delayed for too long already.' Jezzek reached up with his boney fingers and stroked his beard in thoughts. 'Very well.' Karkath turned and muttered something under his breath as he left the room.

Shortly after Karkath had left the room Jezzek walked over to a chair and sat down in it, correcting his cloak and then leaned backwards. He closed his eyes and slowly, the whispers within his head slowly grew louder, and louder. In the end he could make out a sentence. 'You... will... be... rewarded...' He opened his eyes again and found himself looking at Karkath and Jahi staring at him. 'Felfather?' Karkath asked with a worried expression upon his face. 'Yes?' he coughed lightly and stood up again. 'You sat like that for nearly five minutes without answering us, are you well?' Karkath continued an eyebrow arched behind his blue mask. 'Don't blow your load, old man.' Jahi snickers lightly but stopped as Jezzek glared at him. 'You have done most that was needed of you, Raendiel. Do not forget that at this point he is far more important.' Jezzek glared once more. Jahi didn't pay much attention to it, and continued. 'The preparations are finished, are you ready so we can get this over with?' Jezzek gave him a nod. 'I will be downstairs in a minute, go ahead without me.' They both nodded and turned to leave the room once more. Jezzek walked over to a table and wiped his face with a hand, then picked up his helmet and equipped it. Instantly, his eyesockets flared up with a blue flames.

He entered the ritual room and gazed at the preparations, everything was perfect. The five virgins were sobbing silently, the heavy saronite chains binding them to the ground forcefully. The ground had been carved out in the shape of a pentagram and a thick red liquid filled the 'drains'. Karkath had placed out five palm sized purple gems, hoovering over each of the virgin females. 'P-please... have mercy.. I have a little sister.. I must-...' One of the women had obviously not given up hope just yet. 'Be silent, you're not making it easier for us.' Karkath looked down at her, then turned to look at Jezzek, while she stared up at him in disbelief. 'My lord, shall we begin the ritual?' Jezzek walked towards the center of the pentagram and nodded deeply.'Yes, let us begin. Remember, you have two gems each you have to activate. Then keep them activated, understood? This will require full focus.' His voice echoed within the room due to his enchanted helmet. The two of them walked over to their positions, between the two wings of the star on each side - as Jezzek had the top one. Everything turned completely silence, save for the sobbing women who only cried louder than before as they soon would be reunited with the Light, or so they thought.

The silence between the three was shattered by Jezzek as he crouched together slightly and started making evocations with his hands and arms. From his lips a prayer of old could be heard, but not a single word could be understood. Both Karkath and Jahi raised their arms and shot out their palms towards the gems hoovering in the air. From Jezzeks palms a thick, black fog started pouring out towards the ground - only to engulf his body. The fog crawled towards Karkath and Jahi aswell, slowly, like an incoming doom. 'STOP IT! PLEASE! I BEG O-..' the woman suddenly found that she couldn't talk anymore, no matter how hard she tried. Jahi's gem on the top shot out a beam towards Karkath's, which then shot a beam to Jahi's lower one, up to Jezzek's, down to Karkath's last one and then back to Jahi's first gem. As the pentagram was created a lingering presence could be felt within the room, a presence which made your stomach turn. Even though the women couldn't make any noises, all of them threw up onto the floor.

The purple beams connecting all the gems slowly started absorbing the shadowy energies resting above the ground like a thick fog. Both Jahi and Karkath pressed their eyes shut while focusing as if their lives depended on it. As the fog was completely absorbed, the beams had changed to a pitch black color, with purple lines swirling around in the middle of it all. Jezzek let out a deep sigh and then shot his arms up and with them, a large purple colored beam. 'Oh, Elder Beings - Beings of Chaos, you who have promised nightmares and insanity to be released upon this world! We, your humble servants will on this day - offer these souls to your glory! In return, we ask only that you fulfill our ritual and release it upon the city of Stormwind!' The lingering presence grew stronger, Karkath channeled his beam upwards to connect with Jezzeks and Jahi came only a couple of seconds after him. The pentagram started spinning in a slow pace, the blood in the drains started boiling in the matter of seconds and the women started shrieking loudly in agony as the gems connected with them. The women could do nothing as the ritual parted their souls from their bodies. The screams of this night would come to haunt their memories for eternity

As their bodies slumped down onto the ground, the ritual settled and the three looked at each other and then the pentagram which didn't seem to disappear. 'What is the meaning of this?!' Jahi shouted, no doubt he thought that he had been decieved. Jezzek started laughing loudly, his twisted voice turned into a cackle as he leaned his head backwards. A minute passed, and he abruptly stopped and looked at Jahi. 'It would seem that this is a seal, and as long as this seal remains... untouched, so will the curse remain. Do you know what this means?' Karkath grinned. 'That as long as no one finds this seal, they cannot lift the curse?' Jezzek gave him a nod. 'Correct, Karkath.' Jahi snorted silently. 'This amount of energies must have been felt through out the Kingdom, no doubt the Kirin'tor will hear of this and try to find the source of it.' Jezzek sighed again, his succubi ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist as he was close to falling over. 'Master, you must rest. You have drained yourself again, oh.. master...' The demon ran a hand down along his back. 'They might find the source, but they will never find and break this seal. We must see to that.' Jezzek then turned and started walking toward the room he came from earlier. 'I will head upstairs, if you need me...'

Dreams? - Many must have questions now, and I can understand that. This curse's purpose is to spread nightmares within the walls of Stormwind, nightmares which are shaped by the Lucid Dream so that they may recruit through them. Now, to the point of my ranting - This curse isn't forced upon anyone, it won't even effect some. It's entirely up to -YOU- if you want your character to have nightmares, they can have nightmares. Now, as for the energies unleashed in this ritual - Powerful mages, priests and perhaps even paladins could have noticed it. -NOTICED- it. This doesn't mean you may metagame and assume what's happened. So if you have any questions regarding the curse, or want your character to have noticed it - You can speak with me on either Jezzek or Jehorius. I will now write a couple of examples, so that people who want their characters to have had dreams know what the dreams may look like. I hope this is to your liking and not the opposite!

[1] - The Nightmare is seen through a beings eyes, an unknown world drenched in chaos. The different elementals rages across the worlds surface, battling each other. The dream shifts and again you can see through -somethings- eyes, high above Stormwind - down below, the city is going through yet another day of the normal life as a human. Time flies rapidly and day turns to night, a scream is heard in the night. A child runs out through a door while crying loudly. A man screams in rage and confusion, and kills his wife. Day refuses to return to the kingdom and the city is left in darkness and chaos. Hours turn into days, days turn into months, months turn into decades. Stormwind stands abandoned.

[2] - You're breathing heavily, your legs soon threaten to give in and something is chasing you. The environment of the dark forest you are fleeing into sends chills up along your spine. The warm and disgusting breath of your hunter constantly reminds you of how close it really is. Tears start streaming down your face as the beast gets closer and closer as your final moment has come you wake up with a scream. A beast with a thousand maws...

[3] - You are seated by a campfire close to a road in Westfall. The moon is large and bright, the stars are many and shines brightly. The caught rabbit resting above the fire reeks of delicious spices. Suddenly, the fireplace starts to flicker in a tainted green color. A sinister cackle fills the air surrounding your camp and suddenly the fireplace burns into large flames as a silhuette can be seen within the flames. A wicked figure with skulls and beads hanging from It's robes. It's voice is twisted and gluttural, it is impossible to decide wether It's a male or female. It speaks 'Mortal, you have been chosen to spread chaos and havoc in this world. The Titans came and took from us that which was ours first. Their creation will be erased from the pages of history.' directly afterwards a hand shoots out through the fire and burns against your chest. As you wake up, you notice that your chest hurts a great deal. But no marks of abuse are seen.

Give in indeed!

Kill it with fire.

I was just handed a GHI pamphlet by these guys. I don't believe any guild has ever made me smile with glee and admiration in quite so short a time as this one.

Very nice work!

Thanks, Geneviéve! Those words mean more than you possibly can imagine! Gives one motivation to continue.

Yes our (mindless) servants are awesome! Here a picture of the poor two, handing out the enchanted/cursed pamphlets that will cast whispers into your subconcious mind:

This is very intriguing - I love having new ideas for guilds, and this is so different than the usual cults. I wish you great luck!

One thing I was thinking reading over it. The two tests for new acolytes seem pretty hardcore - the idea being, I assume, to weed out the unworthy. But most real cults have operated more on a 'draw them in slowly and give them the real content when they're well brainwashed' philosophy. Are there really many people who would ever want to join this organisation if to even begin you have to drink a cup of demon blood?

Just some questions and curiosity, but on the whole I like the possible RP you lot can provide!

You have an excellent point right there and we'll discuss it in the guild, cheers !

If you take a look at the Twilight Hammer-events pre-Cataclysm, I would say that a lot of people joined them out of their free will in order to 'save themselves' due to the cataclysm. If you look at my quote that's how I've always pictured Stormwind, and in some senses, how Stormwind should be according to various of sources. Had that been the case, we'd never have gotten a single recruit, ever.

But now, the world is being torn asunder and people turn to organizations, orders and other groups because they are afraid and search for 'salvation' where ever it can be found. That's at least how I picture it, in times of need, people place their lives in 'other hands' than their own. Had I been in the warcraft universe I probably would've 'put my life in the hands of the Light' and spent every waking hour preaching about how unfaithful people should save themselves and turn themselves over to the Light. Back to the topic, though!

Then we have the other side of the coin, the more criminal and evil sort of people who can be found in the Kingdom of Stormwind. Who gladly would drink a cup of demon blood in order to bask in the power they gain by drinking it.

Also, I believe that if we let this guild explode and flourish freely - It'll be the end of it, It'll be too much out of the blue. Thus, we should probably take the recruitment slowly. The first people to pay us a visit, or show interest, are probably the ones who share the same goals as we do.

My, somehow feels as if this post has gotten out of hand already. I hope this is enough of an answer for you, Aniane.

Edit: I forgot to mention, that the whispers of an Old God itself is powerful enough to twist the mind of a mortal. So should anyone feel that their character have gone mad due to it, that's a possible recruit aswell. No? So I'll end this post with one word. Corruption.

We gathered at the Dark portal and travelled to Netherstorm. We managed to use "magical ways" to locate us from the Hellfire Peninsula to the southern part of Netherstorm, and our destiny was all the way up North!



Here you see us travelling through the rough lands of... DOOM! While this may seem like a boring picture, we had some fun casual RP, someone played a dungeon master for the surroundings and npc's, and we were preparing for...

This!



We had finally reached our destination, we had great interests in this creature... We had to weaken him first in order to do what ever we wish to do with it.



A great battle followed, at the start it looked like a mess, curse the powerfull demon. But how did it end..?

(( Again we made use of dungeon master Rp, someone rped the demon in the raid warning chat! This was our first and succesfull, joyfull event. Stay tuned for moar!))

( I cannot make the screenshots larger for some reason, sadly . The demon looks so small while it was huge! )

A quite witty and original guild idea, one we could even lend our support to IC; any group undermining Stormwind is doing us a favour.

Drop by for a Fel shake next time y'all in the Netherstorm!

We did see you guys in that town =) We have no crossfaction RP on our agenda at the moment for as far as I know but it's deffinitely something we could look into for in the future

Helsythe wrote:
( I cannot make the screenshots larger for some reason, sadly . The demon looks so small while it was huge! )

*Climbs out of his Void'terror costume*
Huge I tell you, huuugeee!!!

Eventhough I quit for quite some time, this guild actually got my rp genes back to work, really looking forward to more events, heck I'm already building some!

Sinnadrin wrote: Drop by for a Fel shake next time y'all in the Netherstorm!

We did see you indeed, my fingers itched I must admit! But aye, crossfaction RP... Haven't had any of that since my time in Kingdom of Arathor. But who knows, perhaps the elves stumbles over something that interest us, or vice versa? ^^

Part two of our event has been done succesfully. Great fun!

At the first event, we managed to lock the great demon into the realm of Shadows and we went back to Azeroth. Several days later, after regaining our strength again, we found a perfect location on Azeroth where we could imprison the demon.

Here a picture of how we summoned the demon from the realm of shadows to Azeroth. The green smoke is fel-smoke. They were nine souls being sacrificed during the ritual:



Then the demon appeared ( of course we had to use our imagination a little! ) And he spawned several other demons along, resulting a great battle. Again, awesome dungeon master skills and a final fantasy battle system! Here a pic of the combat:



In the end we managed to weaken the demon and imprison it on azeroth.
But for what purpose? Well.. no wait, perhaps next time!

So you..."Experimented" with that group of demons huh...

Nawww read the text ^^ We did some "random" rp the other day, experimenting with demon blood on a worgen, but I doubt you refer to that

Lucid.... Dream~

Nice concept idea right there. Might approach a minion handing pamphlets. :3

Eira wrote:So you..."Experimented" with that group of demons huh...

Beats a demon "experimenting" with a group of humans.

I see what Raelan did there!

Anyways Darrid, feel free to poke any member of us ( or their alts/mains as you can see on the forums ) to set something up, when ( or if ever ) ever you want to.

I spot a familiar face On those screenshoots.

I'll approach you sooner Or later, when the time Is right...I'll join your ranks even if as a "servant"

Good work sir! Using your imagination is what it's all about! ^^

Servant or respected cultists, what ever floats your boat Tylean. I think it's even save to say that we got 1 or maybe even two officer spots open, but I'd have to talk to the guild about that and such positions would most likely require an actual application or something

And yah, Jayse o/\o

With that being said, we've also created a new and interesting artifact for our guild.. more information about that artifact will be posted soon (tm) I guess!

I wouldn't count on the fact that any 'Officer' spot is 'open'. Such ranks are handed out to people whom are trusted, and a person not known to the leadership in the cult wouldn't get such a rank. However, we are working on our active way of recruitment and this post will be updated in the near future.

I am going to add an artifact to the original post, so you can take a peek at it if you wish.