ᵀᴴᴲ 9ᵀᴴ ᴄᴉᴚᴄᴌᴈ: ᴼᴑᴐ & Sᴵᵍᵑ ᴜᴾ

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IC Thread​

“Congratulations sinners. You have just been awarded a Get out of Jail Free card. What will you do with this new found freedom? Will you repeat your past mistakes? Bear in mind, if you do not act appropriately, you will return here; and maybe in a worse location than before.” An ominous laughter fills the vast expanse. “Your freedom comes at a price, like most everything else. A series of trials must be completed in order to leave the nine circles. Fret not, you aren’t alone. You shall be given a partner to complete these tasks, but that partner is in a different circle. A looking glass will be your form of communication.”

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“Who am I?”

“That is of no importance. Just think of me as… your guardian angel. I like to see sinners given second chances. This hasn’t been officially approved of by those higher up. You and your partner are also not the only ones competing for redemption. Only four may reach the surface.”

“Why only four? I can’t let everyone through. Someone would catch onto what I am doing you foolish mortal,” more ominous laughter, “No one has ever made it all the way there. I will meet you in Limbo, if you survive. I do hope you do.”

The light began to fade. “Oh, one more thing: if you or your partner is unable to complete the tasks given to you, then you will forever be trapped in the circle you are currently occupying. Good luck.”

Blackness.....​

The nine circles, as described in the Divine Comedy, are depicted as suffering located within the Earth. They are categorized in this manner: Earth (the surface), Limbo (first circle), Lust (second circle), Gluttony (third circle), Greed (fourth circle), Anger (fifth circle), Heresy (sixth circle), Violence (seventh circle), Fraud (eighth circle), Treachery (ninth circle). The very pit of the ninth circle contains Lucifer, forever encases waist deep in ice. Even he is not without punishment. A brief description of each circle has been provided. This Role Play is 100% original. No knowledge on Dante’s Inferno is necessary to participate. While details such as the descriptions of the circles are provided from the Divine Comedy, it is an original Role Play.

Spoiler: Circles of Hell

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In Limbo reside the unbaptized and the virtuous pagans, who, though not sinful, did not accept Christ. Limbo shares many characteristics with the Asphodel Meadows; thus the guiltless damned are punished by living in a deficient form of Heaven. Without baptism ("the portal of the faith that you embrace") they lacked the hope for something greater than rational minds can conceive. Limbo includes green fields and a castle with seven gates to represent the seven virtues.

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Lust​

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In the second circle of Hell are those overcome by lust. They are the first ones to be truly punished in Hell. These souls are blown back and forth by the terrible winds of a violent storm, without rest. This symbolizes the power of lust to blow one about needlessly and aimlessly.

"... But to that second circle of sad hell,​

Where ‘mid the gust, the whirlwind, and the flaw​

Of rain and hail-stones, lovers need not tell​

Their sorrows. Pale were the sweet lips I saw,​

Pale were the lips I kiss’d, and fair the form​

I floated with, about that melancholy storm."​

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The English poet John Keats, in his sonnet "On a Dream,"​

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Gluttony​

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The "great worm" Cerberus guards the gluttons, forced to lie in a vile slush produced by ceaseless foul, icy rain. The gluttons lie here sightless and heedless of their neighbors, symbolizing the cold, selfish, and empty sensuality of their lives. Just as lust has revealed its true nature in the winds of the previous circle, here the slush reveals the true nature of sensuality – which includes not only overindulgence in food and drink, but also other kinds of addiction.

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Greed​

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Those whose attitude toward material goods deviated from the appropriate mean are punished in the fourth circle. They include the avaricious or miserly (including many "clergymen, and popes and cardinals"), who hoarded possessions, and the prodigal, who squandered them. The two groups are guarded by a figure names as Pluto, either Pluto the classical ruler of the underworld or Plutus the Greek god of wealth. The two groups joust, using as weapons great weights which they push with their chests:

"… I saw multitudes​

to every side of me; their howls were loud​

while, wheeling weights, they used their chests to push.​

They struck against each other; at that point,​

each turned around and, wheeling back those weights,​

cried out: 'Why do you hoard? Why do you squander?' "​

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Anger​

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In the swamp-like water of the river Styx, the wrathful fight each other on the surface, and the sullen lie gurgling beneath the water, withdrawn "into a black sulkiness which can find no joy in God or man or the universe." The lower parts of Hell are contained within the walls of the city of Dis, which is itself surrounded by the Stygian marsh. Punished within Dis are active (rather than passive) sins. The walls of Dis are guarded by fallen angels.

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Heresy​

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In the sixth circle, Heretics, (who say "the soul dies with the body") are trapped in flaming tombs.

"From these two, art and nature, it is fitting,​

if you recall how Genesis begins,​

for men to make their way, to gain their living;​

and since the usurer prefers another​

pathway, he scorns both nature in herself​

and art her follower; his hope is elsewhere."​

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Violence​

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The seventh circle houses the violent. Its entry is guarded by the Minotaur, and it is divided into three rings:

• Outer ring: This ring houses the violent against people and property. Sinners are immersed in Phlegethon, a river of boiling blood and fire, to a level commensurate with their sins. The Centaurs, commanded by Chiron and Pholus, patrol the ring, shooting arrows into any sinners who emerge higher out of the river than each is allowed.
• Middle ring: In this ring are suicides and profligates. The suicides – the violent against self – are transformed into gnarled thorny bushes and trees and then fed upon by Harpies. The trees are a metaphor for the state of mind in which suicide is committed. These suicides, unique among the dead, will not be corporally resurrected after the final judgment since they gave away their bodies through suicide; instead they will maintain their bushy form, with their own corpses hanging from the thorny limbs. The other residents of this ring are the profligates, who destroyed their lives by destroying the means by which life is sustained – i.e., money and property. They are perpetually chased and mauled by ferocious dogs. The destruction wrought upon the wood by the profligates' flight and punishment as they crash through the undergrowth causes further suffering to the suicides, who cannot move out of the way.
• Inner ring: Here are the violent against God (blasphemers) and the violent against nature (sodomites and, as explained in the sixth circle, usurers). All reside in a desert of flaming sand with fiery flakes raining from the sky, a fate similar to Sodom and Gomorrah. The blasphemers lie on the sand, the usurers sit, and the sodomites wander about in groups.

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Fraud​

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The last two circles of Hell punish sins that involve conscious fraud or treachery. These circles can be reached only by descending a vast cliff. The fraudulent – those guilty of deliberate, knowing evil – are located in a circle named Malebolge ("Evil Pockets"). This circle is divided into ten Bolgie, or ditches of stone, with bridges spanning the ditches:

• Bolgia 1: Panderers and seducers march in separate lines in opposite directions, whipped by demons. Just as the panderers and seducers used the passions of others to drive them to do their bidding, they are themselves driven by demons to march for all eternity
• Bolgia 2: Flatterers also exploited other people, this time using language. They are steeped in human excrement, which represents the words they produced.
• Bolgia 3: Those who committed simony are placed head-first in holes in the rock (resembling baptismal fonts), with flames burning on the soles of their feet.
• Bolgia 4: Sorcerers, astrologers, and false prophets here have their heads twisted around on their bodies backward, so that they "found it necessary to walk backward, / because they could not see ahead of them.” While referring primarily to attempts to see into the future by forbidden means, this also symbolizes the twisted nature of magic in general.
• Bolgia 5: Corrupt politicians (barraters) are immersed in a lake of boiling pitch, which represents the sticky fingers and dark secrets of their corrupt deals.The barraters are the political analogue of the simoniacs, and Dante devotes several cantos to them. They are guarded by devils called the Malebranche ("Evil Claws"), the sign for their march is provided by a fart: "and he had made a trumpet of his ass.”
• Bolgia 6: In the sixth Bolgia, the poets find the hypocrites listlessly walking along wearing gilded lead cloaks, which represent the falsity behind the surface appearance of their actions – falsity that weighs them down and makes spiritual progress impossible for them.
• Bolgia 7: Two cantos are devoted to the thieves. They are guarded by the centaur Cacus, who has a fire-breathing dragon on his shoulders and snakes covering his equine back (in Roman mythology, Cacus was not a centaur but a monstrous fire-breathing giant slain by Heracles). The thieves are pursued and bitten by snakes and lizards. The full horror of the thieves' punishment is revealed gradually: just as they stole other people's substance in life, their very identity becomes subject to theft here, and the snake bites make them undergo various transformations.
• Bolgia 8: Two further cantos are devoted to fraudulent advisers or evil counselors, who are concealed within individual flames. These are not people who gave false advice, but people who used their position to advise others to engage in fraud.
• Bolgia 9: In the ninth Bolgia, a sword-wielding demon hacks at the Sowers of Discord, dividing parts of their bodies as in life they divided others. As they make their rounds the wounds heal, only to have the demon tear apart their bodies again.
• Bolgia 10: In the final Bolgia, various sorts of falsifiers (alchemists, counterfeiters, perjurers, and imposters) – who are a "disease" on society – are themselves afflicted with different types of diseases.

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Treachery​

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The ninth and last circle is ringed by classical and Biblical giants, who perhaps symbolize pride and other spiritual flaws lying behind acts of treachery. The giants are standing on a ledge above the ninth circle of Hell, so that from the Malebolge they are visible from the waist up. The traitors are distinguished from the "merely" fraudulent in that their acts involve betraying a special relationship of some kind. There are four concentric zones (or "rounds") of traitors. These rounds correspond, in order of seriousness, to betrayal of family ties, betrayal of community ties, betrayal of guests, and betrayal of liege lords. In contrast to the popular image of Hell as fiery, the traitors are frozen in a lake of ice known as Cocytus, with each group encased in ice to progressively greater depths. In the very centre of Hell, condemned for committing the ultimate sin (personal treachery against God), is Satan. Satan is described as a giant, terrifying beast with three faces, one red, one black, and one a pale yellow:

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he had three faces: one in front blood red;​

and then another two that, just above​

the midpoint of each shoulder, joined the first;​

and at the crown, all three were reattached;​

the right looked somewhat yellow, somewhat white;​

the left in its appearance was like those​

who come from where the Nile, descending, flows.​

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Satan is waist deep in ice, weeping tears from his six eyes, and beating his six wings as if trying to escape, although the icy wind that emanates only further ensures his imprisonment (as well as that of the others in the ring). Each face has a mouth that chews on a prominent traitor.

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• This is a partner based Role Play.
• If you will not be regularly active DO NOT JOIN! I cannot stress this enough. You partner will be depending on you to move forward.
• You will be granted two weeks to complete each layer of Hell. It should most definitely not take you longer.
• If your partner abandons you, speak to me immediately. Otherwise, your character will be trapped in the current circle they are occupying and you are out of the Role Play.
• Only one character per person. I will not be creating one. Having one for myself benefits me little.
• If we end up with an odd number of characters, then and only then will I be allowing someone to make an additional character. You may state when filling out your CS if taking a second character is fine with you. I will choose the best candidate based off of those who offer.
• This Role Play is about you the players. Any characters I use will solely be there to guide you forward or oppose you.
• Working with your partner is crucial. I will assign partners. I will also assign which section of Hell you are from.
• There will be no Bio or Personality. Your character’s personality will be based off of the circle they are assigned to. I apologize if this is upsetting to some of you, but that’s just how it is.
• I will be using various items for assigning partners and circles along with challenges. (i.e. dice rolls, RNGs, coin flips, and so on)
• KHV rules apply.
• There will be no romance. It’s hard to become romantically involved with someone when you primarily work alone.
• Mature language and graphic images/descriptions are allowed here. It is Hell, after all.
• I know a lot of this may sound like I am straight up ripping it out of Dante’s Inferno, but I am honestly not making a DI Role Play. It is original. For starters, they are ascending out of Hell, not descending in order to eventually come out on top.
• Your character will receive a mirror at the start of the Role Play. This is your form of communication with your partner. You can only speak to your partner through it.
• There may be other characters in the same circle as your character. Your character will have no clue the other is also being set free.
• Interaction with them will be fruitless.
• Although people will eventually face the same monsters, the challenges will be different each time. There is no copying someone else. You need to think outside the box.
• If your character is in one of the higher levels, (i.e. two or three) they have the option to descend a level, bringing themselves closer to their partner. The pairs must cross over into Limbo together. Their final challenge must be faced as a team. Bear in mind, the two week rule still applies. If you descend, you have two weeks to ascend. Once back up the next level, your character must face a new challenge before they can descend again or ascend to the next circle.
• I know it seems like a lot and is probably really confusing. Just talk to me if you have questions.
• Do you understand why being active is so important? You can quite literally screw your partner over if not.
• For the most part, parings will be done at random. If I deem a pairing to unequivocal, I may alter what the RNG tells me.
• Have fun. It really is meant to be an interesting brain exercise. This Role Play is meant to make you think outside the box, work together with someone you may not have much prior interaction with, and to be enjoyable in a dark way. LOL
• I will PM tasks and challenges to you (the pairs). You may not discuss them outside of your pairing. It is meant to be a surprise to the other members.
• I will add things as I deem fit.

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Code:

[SIZE=3][FONT=helvetica][COLOR=#c4241f]Username:[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=helvetica][COLOR=#c4241f]Name:[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=helvetica][COLOR=#c4241f]Age [between 23-55]:[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=helvetica][COLOR=#c4241f]Appearance [actual human images (dA works great for that)]:[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=helvetica][COLOR=#c4241f]Partner: do not fill this out[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=helvetica][COLOR=#c4241f]Circle: do not fill this out[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=helvetica][COLOR=#c4241f]Willing to make a second character? Yes/No[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

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• Pair One
• Pair Two
• Pair Three

• Username: Firekeyblade
  Name: Allison Su (trolololololool)
  Age: 23
  Appearance: http://browse.deviantart.com/art/Female-91716460
  Partner: Kyle Williams
  Circle: Fraud, Bolgia 9
  
  Username: Master of Keyblades
  Name: Dante Vale
  Age: 24
  Appearance: Dante
  Partner: Jane Taylor
  Circle: Violence, Inner Group
• Username: cstar7777
  Name: Caroline Murphy
  Age: 25
  Appearance: Caroline
  Partner: Rick Alan
  Circle: Fraud, Bolgia 5
  
• Username: Dinny
  Name: Kendra "Kenny" Diallo
  Age: 27
  Appearance: Kenny
  Partner: Aiden Scott
  Circle: Fraud, Bolgia 1
  
  Username: cstar
  Name: Aiden Scott
  Age: 31
  Appearance: Aiden
  Partner: Kendra Diallo
  Circle: Fraud, Bolgia 7

credit to jayn for the layout and graphics <3​

 

Username: Monochrome
Name: Jane Taylor
Age: 24
Appearance: Here
Partner:
Circle:
Willing to make a second character?: Yes

 

Username: cstar7777
Name: Caroline Murphy
Age: 25
Appearance: Caroline
Partner: Nothing
Circle: Here
Willing to make a second character? Yes

 

Everyone is accepted! <3 I just thought I would post this here fore anyone else that has confusion on the matter:

Spoiler

[12:34:26 AM] Cstaaah: "There will be no Bio or Personality. Your character’s personality will be based off of the circle they are assigned to. I apologize if this is upsetting to some of you, but that’s just how it is."
Does their personality change every circle or are they based on the first one?
[12:35:12 AM] hyuge~: there initial personality will be based on where they start, but they can change as they progress through the circles and near the earth
[12:35:29 AM] hyuge~: if they don't change, they will most likely wind back up in hell again
[12:35:56 AM] hyuge~: that's why i didn't include them, so that no one feels pressured to come up with anything, when they have no clue where they will be located
[12:36:19 AM] hyuge~: i was going to let people choose initially, but then realized how bad of a decision that would be
[12:36:24 AM | Edited 12:36:31 AM] Cstaaah: Are we allowed to slowly create a story about their mortal life on earth? I don't have ideas yet but I was wondering because of the "no bio"
[12:36:29 AM] hyuge~: (choose their circles)
[12:36:39 AM] hyuge~: yes
[12:37:04 AM] hyuge~: i said no bios, because their backstory would be the reason they wound up dead in that circle
[12:37:15 AM] hyuge~: and you can't create a story when you don't know where you're starting
[12:37:23 AM] Cstaaah: this is true
[12:37:44 AM] hyuge~: but once everyone is assigned a level of hell, then you are free to create the personality and bio for them as you please

I hope this clears up any confusion.

 

Username: Master of Keyblades
Name: Dante Vale
Age [between 23-55]: 24
Appearance [actual human images (dA works great for that)]: Dante
Partner: do not fill this out
Circle: do not fill this out
Willing to make a second character? Yes

 

Accepted <3



Edit: Well, at least we have an even number. Will wait a couple more days to see if anyone else joins. If not, then I'll probably have the main thread up this weekend.

 

Update: pairings/placements/OP will be done after I get home from work tomorrow (if I don't spend hours with my boyfriend). Not sure on an exact time. If I come back right after work, probably between 5 and 6 central time. So if you would like to join, but haven't gotten around to posting a CS yet, please do so or let me know and I will wait. Otherwise, we will begin with the four of you. I hope you're still excited to get the ball rolling. I know I am. :]

 

I would like to join, but currently I've got extremely limited internet. Though I'll try and do something about it fast.

 

thank you for letting me know. as soon as you can get a CS made up, we'll get started and I'll pick someone to make a second character. :]

 

OH HAHAHAHA JUST KIDDING FINALLY FIXED MY ISSUE AFTER FREAKING TWO WEEKS. Yays. XD

Username: Firekeyblade
Name: Allison Su (trolololololool)
Age [between 23-55]: 23
Appearance [actual human images (dA works great for that)]: http://browse.deviantart.com/art/Female-91716460
Partner: do not fill this out
Circle: do not fill this out
Willing to make a second character? Nah.

 

Looks beautiful, accepted~ I will post the IC today. Mono, I used the RNG and it picked you if you would still like to create a second character. If not, I'll do it again and choose someone else. Thanks guys!

 

Username: Monochrome
Name: Kyle Williams
Age: 20
Appearance: Here
Partner:
Circle:
Willing to make a second character?: Third? Yeah, if it comes to it.

 

Thanks mono. I will get the IC Thread up today for sure.

Edit: OP has been updated with all necessary information. thnx <3[DOUBLEPOST=1361862463][/DOUBLEPOST]IC Thread is up!

 

To be honest I had a story planned around being in Circle 7, but I'll try to think of something for this.

 

Sorry Fire. xxx:`[ xxx Everything was random.

 

Lols yeah it's cool. XD I was just hoping to be as lucky as Midnight but eh.

 

well regardless, it was a really good post.

 

maybe I will join have to get back into rping ... :)

 

if you decide to join, let me know so i can get a partner for you. i would be glad to have you here. :]