[Extreme] Barbaric Castle, Realistic medieval FFRP Interest Check

[Edgar]

Greetings everyone,

From the 1990's to approximately 2008, there used to be a RP named  Barbaric Castle on the old irc.bondage.com IRC network, which is now irc.cuff-link.me. Its original founders' nicknames were Tusk and Lord Hawk. It was a realistic medieval free-form RP on a live chatting channel and later on it also had a forum.

The setting was basic: it featured a Dark Age keep ruled by the Barbarian lord Tusk and its concept was very simple: it had BDSM, Gor and historical aspects that involved collarings (enslavement) of females, branding, beatings, mutilation, medieval torture - so the real, rough, hardcore stuff, something true to the Dark Ages.

There were no fantasy elements like elves or dragons or magic.

Each individual came with a back-story for their own character and contributed to the general story of the channel while developing personal ones with others... you know how it works. It wasn't only about sex, as there were often attacks, feasts, and anything else we'd imagine of medieval life. It was fairly open.

The group wasn't big but had a tightly knit core of active members - from 4 to 6 of them I think, and as many or more occasional contributers. People interacted with their diversified interests and limits; everybody could find something fun to do: if most users were more into BDSM and sex, some of them were more into story,  historical and psychological development, and it all worked as a stimulating, creative whole.

Over the years, the idea of reviving old BC has been reappearing on and off - including here back in 2010, by Josietta. Sadly though, it seems that at some point it kept turning into something the new founders aren't looking for; or RL simply steered people away too easily as their interest waned, until the site just fell apart.

Yet, the idea of getting BC back on track for good, with its (adapted) original concept, never really died for a few old nostalgics like myself, despite RL obligations and other creative activities.

Okay... now .. on with the idea.

Picture the beautiful but cold harsh Scottish Highlands in the 8th century, where only the strong survive and many die of disease or in battles of land and power. Few people live to a ripe old age and women are tools for men to use. One malevolent, possibly deviant man (the barbaric Laird/Ruler of a realm) who seeks to subdue the population and extend his power to surrounding lands has found a way to lure an "army" of avid and bloodlusty warriors to plead fealty to him, by granting them protection and letting them enjoy the favors of indentured servants (basically, abducted and/or captive slave girls - so nothing consensual there). His more loyal followers could even be rewarded with the possibility of purchasing one if he so wishes. The Laird could be a young, freshly establish heir who's eager to prove himself as a harsh ruler; he can also be more seasoned and ambitiously scheming, malevolent or even mentally disturbed (think Ivan the Terrible); the role is pretty open to his player's creativity. What matters is that he's overall a very selfish man, possibly a medieval psychopath, one who's first and foremost about furthering himself, having others please him and serve him, as well as impose his dominance over any who may cross his path.

There would be few, if any female dominants (ex. Viking shieldmaidens or noble ladies from the more reffined courts of England's kingdoms). In this era, females were expected to submit to men's will: the reality of the time was that males were mysoginistic brutes who bathed ewin sheer violence, intimidation, and reputation (usually gained in battle).

However, it doesn't mean that the girls would have to be spineless doormats, on the contary; but they have to face the consequences of being sassy. The idea is to make this a base for challenging, non-con story development, so cookie-cutter-type sex-slaves or lusty "beat-me" subbies aren't what we have in mind.

The game is also open to an opposing Lord, kinder or evil, or even Viking invaders who'd be at war with our Laird, and who may try to overtake and kill or kidnap some slaves for their own. It's all open.

I would hope to have more than just these two males. Maybe we could have residents as well as "guests" visit the castle, leaving the RP as an open area for males to dwell.  Men who are warriors of the Laird's army, mercenaries, artisans, crofters, pilgrims, outlaws living in the forest, minstrels... or merchants passing through.

Now, onto my personal experience of BC: I had been drawn to it back in 1999 to RP my character who was then at the early stages of a medieval novel I was writing, about an executioner and torturer. As a matter of fact, it was that very RP that had given me the idea of his trade, after having seen a very anachronic assassin in the RP's midst... it brought me to thinking: there must be some medieval equivalent of assassins, and eveything fell in place for that character who had been in my mind for some years. Although my character was asexual, people still sought interacting with him as he was such a dark, intense entity, who wasn't unlike the slaves in the way he got "stuck" into punishing slaves because he was a fugitive executioner - so an outlaw, and he got blackmailed into entering the Lord's service. That isn'y unlike what would have really happened to a real executioner. Even though my novel character had to be adapted a little to befit the context, it undeniably contributed to fuel my creativity. Like here on Elliquiy, there were quite a few aspiring witers among us.

Now, I wouldn't want to run this as the ruler or DM: it isn't among my skills. But I'd love to "feed" the RP: with my feared main character (the torturer-executioner); I also would gladly partake in organizing some major site plot events (ex. battles, political intrigues, etc.)

Right now, our most sought characters would be:
- the Laird/ruler;
- a manager or steward, whose role would be to handle the keep's domestic matters;
(We already have a housekeeper, lisbet, who happens to be one of the players from the original BC)
And pretty much everything else!

If this appeals to you, or if you know someone willing to run this sort of RP, please let me know and I'll get an experimental thread started with a summary of what we've already got running on Discord, as a test.

Thanks for reading my long, drawn out sketch of an idea and I hope to hear from you!

Edgar/Louis

[Edgar]

I'm taking a chance to bump this.

[crabmouse]

I'd be interested in playing - I don't think you'll find a GM since you know all the details. If this moves forward you'll probably have to do it.