The Untamed Lands
The Wilds are untamed land next to Rumor. This area teems with extraordinary flora and fauna: mushrooms that glow and drip, vines that ensnare anything that moves, and creatures resembling fuzzy moths. It’s also home to monsters that no Echo has seen– and lived. Rumors are rampant of what all lies within the Wilds.
The monsters may have once been human souls, but like everything in this dimension it is just a rumor. Witnesses have seen citizen’s sanity drop to its lowest, and then flee into the Wilds, never to be seen again. But all the monsters being former citizens seems unlikely. There is always a feeling of something beyond echoes in the Wilds – something more profound.
With such a place existing so close to the city, it is not surprising that monster hunters formed eager to see what rewards killing such a monster may bring them. As of right now? It is a very impressive trophy and an even more impressive story. Other than that? All meat from these monsters is tainted and cannot be consumed without causing some effect. It’s almost like the meat is laced with something; yet, it seems to be natural. There is a rumor that there is a store under the Fiery Pit that deals in the drugged meat.
Everything besides the meat? It can be used. Citizens of the city have been coming up with inventive ways to use those resources to recreate luxuries they knew in life. Shoes, wallets, belts are some prime examples of this ingenuity. This has slowly started to expand the wealth gained from monster hunting.
The Arena
Deep within the Wilds lies the Arena, where hunting monsters is surpassed only by fighting them for profit! Built by the brave—or the foolish— it was originally created deep in the Wilds so they could easily capture wild monsters. Over time, it has evolved into a neutral battleground for any type of fight. What happens in the Arena stays in the Arena.
One of the biggest challenges for the building of the Arena was the Wilds’ desire to consume and expand. The Wilds have always pressed in on the Lower City. Sometimes it gains a lot of ground, sometimes none. There have been attempts to expand the city of Rumor into the Wilds, but the only evidence of these attempts are ruins and rubble, almost entirely overgrown by the vegetation. Thus far there have been no successes of colonizing the Wild’s.
More Information
Recently it has been discovered that salt slows the growth of the Wild’s flora. Monsters on the other hand seem to be unaffected, however it should be noted that no real investigation has been done to test this. But for the citizens in Lower Rumor, sprinkling salt around their businesses and homes seems to keep the flora from overtaking the salted area.
Currently the Wilds is regarded both as a blessing and a curse. The Wild’s will eat an echo without a second thought. Yet, it also provides a vast amount of raw materials allowing the echoes to have their luxuries. Ultimately, each echo must form their own opinion of the place.
[OOC Note: If you happen to WANT your current character to be turned into a monster, or if you’d like to NPC one, the table below gives you some ideas of what those monsters would be based on your character’s genre. Something to remember is characters as monsters do not think, their purpose is to try and consume other players’ essences and expand the Wilds.]
| Genre | Normal | Monstrous |
|---|---|---|
| The Quiet | Looks like an average human being. | Undead-like shades, or creatures that are human but “wrong”. Slenderman-esq for example. Other monsters of legend that are men-gone-wrong like a Wendigo. |
| The Fable | Looks like a fairy tale or fable character. Fairy, mermaid, angel, etc. | Giant fae moths. Mindless dragons of myth. Night-prowling bogeymen with murderous intent. |
| The Quarry | Looks like a humanoid animal. Werewolf, cat girl, etc. | Werewolves of myth, without reason and only seeking blood. Any manner of “wild animal” but with small hints of being once human. |
| The Fused | Looks like a humanoid chemical-infused creature or a cybernetic humanoid. | Rotting husks driven by mechanical parts. Sentient computer viruses. Kill crazy cyborg murderers. Swarms of meatmoss-infested machines. |
| The Horror | Looks like monsters from horror films like vampires, orcs, demons, etc. | The orcs and ogres of myth, hostile and brutish. Any number of tentacled, fanged, flailing horrors without humanity. |
