Castlevania: Ballad of Echoes *restart*

PART I

Title: Castlevania: Ballad of Echoes

Era/Year/Age/Epoch/Eon: Near Future, 2017

Location: The RPG begins in London, then travels across Eurpoe to the Transylvanian mountains to Castlevania, Dracula's enormous castle where most of the action is to take place. The journey across Europe stops at several locations where the evil of Dracula has distorted the world into a darker, ominous vision more closely resembling his castle. Castlevania itself is a gigantic castle, stretching far into the sky. It rests atop an island in the middle of an equally awsome lake that seemed to appear soley for the purpose of holding the mammoth castle. Castlevania itself runs the gamut of architectural design, from celtic monoliths on the island's northern side, to Classically designed Collosseum, a medieval-style village resting at the castle's base. Portions of the castle are designed in styles ranging from Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, to high Renaissance and the Victorian Era. What remains the same, however is the ominous atmosphere and subtle distortion of the surroundings that keep a person on edge as a heavy veil of evil shrouds them like the thick fog that lies over the vast lake on which the castle rests.

Genre: Action/Adventure

Source: This RPG is based on Konami's Castlevania series, though very few elements are lifted directly out of the series. Most of the RPG, from the characters to the locations are built from the ground up.

Characters:

Erik Le'Carte Belmont-The latest Belmont to wield the Vampire Killer. Since he was young, his father had trained him in various combat arts and trained him with various weapons, not for any special purpose, but just to expand his son's experiences beyond what they'd normally be. Although he was born in France, Erik went to London to attend school while his girlfriend stayed in Paris. One night, after a string of rituallistic murders throughout the city, Erik felt an irressitable urge to leave his home. His mindless wanderings lead him to a church where he discovers that an evil has re-awakened to the East, and his destiny will take him lead him to battle it. Eventually, he learns that his girlfriend has fallen victim to this evil, at which point his love for her drives him harder than destiny alone. It is Erik who is destined to enter Dracula's castle and put the beast to rest once more, but it is his desire to save his love that will drive him to succeed.

Michelle DeLand- Erik's girlfriend, residing in Paris. Michelle was abducted by Ricard, Erik's rival, long believed to be dead, converted to a Vampire, and brought to castlevania as Bait to lure the young Belmont into Dracula's grasp. In an act of cruelty, Michelle was converted into a class of vampire that allowed her to keep her humanity. She is ashamed by what she has become, a cursed being who's nature is to slay and feed on the innocent to prolonge her own, unholy life. A for whom death, and the spleandour of heaven has been denied, shaming her in the eys of God and even herself. Michelle's internal struggle and strength of will lead her to seek an escape, not just from the castle, but from the curse that has been bestowed upon her, hopefully, to reunite her with her love and regain control of her life.

Ricard Mayne-A childhood friend of Erik. These two had a more-or-less friendly rivalry for many years. Both were trained by Erik's father in the combat arts. Ricard has always shown far less discipline in his training than Erik had, preferring pure strength and power over finesse and technique. Regardless, their friendship continued until several years ago, when in a horrific accident, Erik, believing Ricard to have died, proceeded on to save himself. Ricard, who narrowly survived the incident, never revealed himself to Erik afterwards, letting his onetime friend believe he was dead and forever marking him with Judas' sin of treachery. His hatred of the Belmont brought him into the knowledge of Dracula, and his servant, Death. The skeletal demon made a deal with Ricard, granting him the power to surpass his now-enemey, in return for his aid in slaying him. He agreed. Ricard, however, has his own plans. Dracula will not take his revenge from him. He will obey Dracula, but he will torture the Belmont. He will make him suffer. As the Belmont joruneys toward and through the castle, Ricard will meet him, and make sure he realizes the gravity of his sin, and the futility of his mission. And in the end, it will be he, not Dracula, who slays the Belmont.

Minor Characters:
Dracula-Ressurected Lord of Castlevania. Although Dracula is a completely developed character on his own, his main role in the RPG is minimal compared to the others. He seeks to curtail the Belmont line, so that he could be free to punish mankind for their sins. His mission, he feels, will shame him in the eyes of his long-dead beloved, but he cannot allow humanity to continue on in their ignorance.

PART II

One hundred years ago, during the heat of the first World War, Dracula arose in the death and discord the war brought. His existence went unnoticed, save for the rural villages surrounding the site of the grand Castle. Soon however, Dracula's evil would escape the Transylvanian mountains and infect the world. As destiny would have it, a deserting soldier journeyed through the Transylvanian mounts seeking escape from the horrors of the war. This soldier, a Belmont, was drawn, as if by destiny, to face Dracula in the keep of the grand Castlevania. Since then, Dracula has lain dormant, his castle only a myth told by Villagers to foreigners and children. However, Dracula's machines never cease to move. His agents remain on earth, preparing it, culturing it for his arrival. Finding suitable sacrifices and pawns in the coming game.

Today, London, 2017, Erik Le'Carte Belmont, the latest in the long line of Vampires is investigates a series of rituallistic murders that lead him to a church. Within, a cult member reveals to him the rebirth of evil to the east. Castlevania has re-appeared and with it comes Dracula, forever the enemy of the Belmont clan until the day the skies fall in Armageddon. Some time prior, Ricard Mayne, once friend to Erik, now his sworn enemy, and long thought dead, enters into a pact with Death and Dracula's forces. They will grant him the power to defeat Erik on the condition that he aid Dracula in bringing the Belmont to Castlevania, where the master, Dracula, will end the bloodline once and for all. Ricard agrees, but his revenge leads him to make his own plans with the new power granted to him by the demons. To his ends, Ricard journeys to Paris, where Erik's longtime girlfriend, Michelle DeLand, is attending school. Ricard abducts the girl, and converts her into a vampire, and imprisons her in Dracula's castle. As Erik journeys across Europe, he faces Ricard, who informs him of Michelle's situation. This news fuels the Belmont. He now seeks to rid the world of Dracula, not only for the sake of the world, but to rescue his beloved Michelle.

Throughout all this, others souls, sensitive to the supernatural evil that is Dracula emerge. Some, like Belmont, seek to defeat the evil itself. Others know their part in the great plan is limited. Still, they come. Scholars of archaic writings predict the coming of darkness and warn travelers not to proceed deep into the mountains for the forest has gone silent, and an ominous fog looms over a gigantic lake explorers swear only recently appeared. There are reports of monsters in the mountains. Reanimated piles of bleached-white bones, hybrids of man and beasts; people have been found mauled, as if attacked by wild beasts, young women have gone missing, and domestic animals appear greatly disturbed, many preferring to take their chances in the forest agains the wolves than remain under the cloud of darkness that continues to spread over the mountains and threatens to spill across the globe.

PART III

-Being a restart, I ask all those who participated in the original RPG so many years ago to return and reprise their roles: Delphi as Michelle and Mitch as Ricard. Other than that I don't believe there were any other important roles...Nope, I am not at all forgetting anyone of any sort of importance in the orignal rpg.

-If you'd like to join, be sure to have a suitable character, typically human, no futuristic technology, should be able to fit in an occult setting. While magical abilities are allowed, I do not wish to have an army of super-powered mages destroying anything that comes by with not struggle. If you'd like to join, contact me via PM and give me a quick overview of your character. Afterwards, you're left up to your own devices.

-If your character isn't working out in the story, I may contact you and attempt to rectify the problem (i.e. refit the character into the story). I hope there will be no need to expel anyone from the RPG, but if its absolutely necessary, it will be done.

-While there is no length quota for your posts, I ask that you at least try to move the plot forward or reveal something important in your posts so that they're not a waste of time to read.

-All standard RPG rules apply. These include god-playing, controlling other peoples’ characters without permission, and making no contribution to the story whatsoever.

Castlevania: Ballad of Echoes restart

#1 DarkLink_14

#2 DarkJuno

#3 Nevermind

#4 Delphi

#5 DarkJuno