[A] The Web

The Web is both a guild and an organization. You can join an actual guild or role-play closely with us without sharing the guild tag as long as you accept some minor inconveniences as lack of access to Guild Information, Message of the Day and automatic invite-lists (you will be auto-invited to all official guild events, but if individual members make one they may forget to send you an invite

All desires are valid to a man who has the power to seize his dreams. Why should we hold back for the sake of those whose sole claim to authority is vested in hollow words such as justice, virtue or righteousness; even that, whose authority flows from the fear inspired by their swords, courts and dungeons. We should not fear. In the endless war between perspectives, truth is established by power - not by justice; why then should we accept perspectives of others when we can enforce our own? Let us be a law onto ourselves, architects of our own perspectives and masters of our own destiny.

Ambition is the sole virtue,
Power is the only law,
Fear is the true limitation.

The Web is a new cult built around mysteries (secret knowledge) and an unbridled strife for power and self-realization. It is not a group of demon-worshippers or dark visionaries, it lacks the regular dark theme of most cults. Agenda of the cult is decided not by ideals or dark gods, but by characters who are part of the cult. Personal ambition is king. This however means that if a character’s ambition is the realization of an ideal, that ideal will be on the agenda of members who support it while not being The Ideal of the cult as a whole.

Another important thing to mention is that this organization is meant for antagonistic role-play. Adversity. Conflict. Conflict means taking risks and playing at high stakes. I want to go out into the world and cause roleplay to happen. If you are just looking for ‘dark side’ roleplay, so that you can discuss necromancy in some far-away cave with like-minded people and avoid confrontation and discovery indefinitely - you should not join.

Immersion
Immersion is important, it is the reason many of us role-play. First of all I want this to feel like a cult. That requires some preparations from my side (and I have done my homework!) and it requires steps from the members.

Secrecy is taken seriously and brought to its logical conclusion. Even though the Leader of the cult knows identities of all members, members don’t know each others’ true identities. That makes communication much harder. Each member has a unique code-name they are known under within the cult. Communication happens through coded messages, for instance graffiti painted on the walls of Stormwind, advertisements placed on the notice board, or encoded letters sent as orders for more wine. If several members work together, they must make their own system of messages and agree on drop-off points. The deal is…that all communication must be role-played out (you must actually go to the place and emote placing the graffiti and actually go there and emote reading it). Placing all exchanges into the Rumor Mill on this forum is encouraged, but not mandatory. OOCly- you can just whisper or use guild chat to relay info, but I will look into using TRP system of caches as well.

Hunger for power is what the cult is about. People who want power usually have no scruples and show no mercy. Having officers take members by the hand and protect them just doesn’t feel right. This is reflected in the way things are done. Members are rewarded for success and punished for failure. We will use various enchantments, runes, curses and arficats to create the rewards and punishments. Ambition, assertiveness and success are what it is all about. Promotions are not given but demanded. If a member is successful and serves well, there is no reason why the Lords would want to lose a loyal and capable minion by giving him more power and freedom. Unless the minion takes matters in his own hands and demands his promotion, he will be forever a servant.

Every cult is engaged in a war with the Light Side in one way or another and that war must be reflected in cult’s roleplay. Cult’s power is not some ethereal entity out there, it is vested in real assets: money, contacts, deals, artifacts, magical knowledge, sources of magical power. These assets can be attacked and seized by the Lighties. The power of the cult overall will be reflected in roleplay. If they cult is weak, it will camp far away from civilization and scheme on obtaining additional assets or even escaping justice and surviving another day. If the cult is strong, it will be in Stormwind, planning the final assault that will topple the Church.

Ambition of characters is driving force behind the cult. This cult does not serve some Demon or Dark God. There are no ideals. The cult is a collection of people with power, who want something for themselves and will try to use others to get it done. Deals are encouraged. Offer to assist a Lord with his tasks and demand reciprocal favor. Unless your character shows assertiveness and ambition he will just be dragged into plots of others and used as a tool. Do you want to be used like that? DO YOU? In the end it is all about relations, not ranks. Who cares what your title says? If you can talk others into doing your bidding and fulfilling your dreams…who is to argue that you are not a dark lord? Oh, and since it’s about your character, there is no reason why you can’t advance your agenda of demon-worship or some ideal. Just because the guild as a whole is not about that doesn’t mean that your character and his cronies can’t do it.

The Web is all about control, mystery and manipulation. Ideally every member and ally should have three agendas - one they truly follow, one they tell their friends and another they tell their enemies. The Web is about contacts and connections, deals struck in dark alleys and rituals performed during fool moon away from prying eyes. Nobody knows everything and nobody can possibly control the whole network - it is all about smoke and mirrors and an intricate game of make-belief played for the highest stakes.

Hardcore
After role-playing for six years, I realized that I am in this game to role-play - not to sort OOC trouble or spend hours and hours talking about plots.

Promotions and demotions are purely In-character. So just treat it as such. Sometimes your character gets rewarded, sometimes he gets punished and sometimes he gets unjustly punished. So what? Take it In-character and vow revenge! Overall, good members will rise and bad stay low, but it won’t be a straight road for either.

Fighting the Lighties is purely in character. If that paladin just won’t go down no matter how many cultists attack him, it’s cool. Just let him win, run in righteous terror and avoid him in the future. No need to get worked up about it.

All full members and above will be given plenty of options to get a degree of immortality. Soulstones and necromancy included. Even if the Law decided to turn you into a quadruple amputee – we will sort something out. Your character won’t ever get off lightly, resurrections and restorations will always cost something. But the price is meant to add to roleplay, not take roleplay away. So if you are cornered with no way to escape, you should not be afraid to let the good guys win and go down like a man. It is better to go through an elaborate resurrection-plot than become guilty of god-emoting, right?

Most officer work is purely In-character. Officers discuss plots together in character. Only work that is done out of character is keeping drama as far away from the guild as possible (includes kicking dramaqueens and godemoters) and organizing an odd Huge Event That Just Can’t Be Done 100% IC.

Take it easy, enjoy the roleplay and go with the flow!

The Golden Guild Rule: go with the flow and create no Drama

How large will the guild get?

Doesn’t matter. Even two competent cultists can create enough chaos that will keep goodies busy for two weeks. We are going for quality here. Even though it is fun to have 20 members online to stand up against the Chapter and beat them into pulp, this guild is a cult and not an Army of Darkness. If we ever need numbers, we can ask some friends to role-play as summoned demons or …hire actual mercenaries.

Are outsiders allowed?

We role-play with everybody, regardless of guild tag. So yes, just because you are not part of the guild does not mean you cannot roleplay with us. Similarly, there is nothing that prevents you from becoming a minion of a guildie. There is nothing to prevent you from turning some guildies into your minions and being as important as a Lord. We prefer that people who want to roleplay closely with us actually join the guild, but as long as you can endure some inconveniences and being occasionally forgotten on event-invite-lists, you should have no trouble.

Are we against organized RP?

Nope, we just try to do everything in-character and provide tools to make it so. If you want to break our communication-codes, all you have to do is follow suspicious people around and watch them make graffiti and try to make sense of it. If you want to claim cult’s assets, just pay attention – we will place hints in our everyday RP that would allow you to figure it out. If you are impatient, just contact me and we will sort something out.

Are we open to alliances?

The guild is about roleplay, not any solid structure. At the end of the day the relationships between characters is what matters. Allies of the cult - individuals or even other guilds can easily be incorporated into the network of secret signs and coded messages and get involved in plots and roleplay with the members of the Web.

Ranks

Sleepwalker: sleepwalkers are the recruits of the web. They do not know anybody in the organization except their immediate superior. Their master will make use of their skills and hopefully teach them a thing or two about how things are done. Upon recruitment every Sleepwalker will be told that to be promoted he must find a way to contact the Web behind his master’s back and demand his rightful place...and he must do some with solid list of achievements to back his claim. Once a sleepwalker’s claim has been granted, he will undergo a secret ritual to be entrusted with some of the Web’s secrets: mystery-lore, communication codes and the cipher used to encode messages.

Initiates: rank and file members of the Web inducted into the mysteries. Initiates receive assignments from the leadership can pursue their own agenda within the Web and contact other members to establish their own circles and plots. Initiates may choose their code-name.

Adept: adepts are initiates with a claim to excellency in some field and a reputation for trustworthiness and loyalty. Capable initiate must approach the Web and demand his recognition as an adept - if nobody of importance protests, the promotion is granted.

Master: an honorific title given to those who have succesfully trained a sleepwalker. Unlike other titles, this one is given rather than seized.

Executor: trusted members of the Cult uplifted by the Lords and Ladies to serve as personal enforcers. Powers and duties of an enforcer depend on the Lord he serves; some are partners in their master’s schemes while others are merely glorified bodyguards. Every Lord is entitled to one executor only, Leader of the cult may have as many as he wishes.

Lord/Lady : leaders of the Web. Once a member has built up his own circle within the Web and commands great respect, he may approach the Lords and demand to be seen as their equal. If the claim passes, the member becomes accepted into the inner circle and receives the final part of the mystery-lore; he may also choose a new code-name.

Yay

My mind...

Admirable

Yay. Had awesome first recruitment event. One more incoming this week. Lets see how that goes. The Web, its rising!

Bump - We're still there, behind you, under your bed etc.