Anno Tenebris

And so it was in those days that the people upon the earth were wicked. No king but greed ruled over the people and evil schemes existed in their hearts. And so Candor looked upon the people and was displeased and he said to the Angel Mihel, "No more shall man walk on the face of the Earth." And thus the heavens were opened. Prophecy fell from the lips of the young and visions came upon the old and wonders came from the heavens in accordance with the scriptures, saying:

"Then the angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given power to scorch the people with fire. And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of Candor, who had authority over these plagues; yet they did not repent and give Him glory."

And so it was that the people sought shelter in the depths of the earth that they may be spared the scorching. And Candor looked upon those who sheltered and said to the Adversary, "Everything they have is in your hands; let your legions be held against them. They will have hard service under the earth, they will be allotted months of futility and misery, and they shall be hidden in the grave until they return to Me."

And in this way, the sixth age ended.

Eskhat 1:1-9 

 

Gate of Hell by Gustav Dore

Okay I know I spent a whole bunch of time writing up that old setting but actually I have an idea that whips way harder so I'm gonna do that instead okay? Now this is an adaption of a novella I wrote a few years ago - the original version was fairly grounded (or as grounded a story can be about people living underground being plagued by visions), but I think I'm gonna get funkier with this one. This is gonna be more explicitly some experimentation with OSR and particularly GLOG as I think it adapts fairly well. Tentatively calling this setting/system - and this is very much intended to be both - Anno Tenebris (Latin: in the year of darkness). 

Augustine of Hippo was right: Judgement came in the year 500 AD. And the people were found wanting. So people live underground now and it suuuuuuucks. You know how hard it is to maintain civilization without fucking sunlight? Well it's not easy, I'll tell you that much. Notable inspirations I'm pulling from are - hey looking through the GLOG discord this is kinda on theme for what's going on hold up. Okay this is an informal Appendix T I suppose. Okay mindless pontificating done we're gonna get into the inspirations:

BONES by the Oblidisideryptch: This has a lot of mechanics and concepts I quite like - from the stats-as-inventory to the power of friendship, there's a lot to pull from here! We'll see if it works at all even a little bit, but for now it's a nice mechanical anchor.

The Blasphemous Games: I may be so so bad at video games forever but god this series captures the sort of religious fantasy that I love so much. There's a deepness to the lore and vibes and the feel that makes the faith in Cvstodia feel real and lived in. It's even got the fantasy-post-apocalypse vibe that really inspired me. I think this series is actually what got me down this rabbithole in the first place. 

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler: Another dying earth narrative with religious undertones. The 2024 that Butler portrays sucks to live in but even so people continue to persist. They make communities, they band together, and they believe in. . .something. When the world changes, so to do the beliefs and rituals of those who live in it. Or in this case, under it. 

Medieval Catholic Mysticism: Okay so labeling it 'mysticism' is sorta academically fraught, but there are a lot of beliefs that have been kinda mystical (in the modern sense, at least), particularly in monastic traditions and folk practices. This is kinda the bread and butter of what I'm working on and my knowledge is more than average, but certainly far from an expertise. 

Magic the Gathering: I used to really like the lore and then I took a break and then I came back and found out that WOTC doesn't give a shit about the lore anymore. Then I looked back and realized a lot of it always sucked but it's still a design/narrative style that I find really intriguing.

Elden Ring (Kinda): Again I'm so bad at video games forever but I've watched my brother play it and I've read some of the lore and there's definitely something pseudo-gnostic about it but honestly I just like the aesthetics more than anything else. 

Darkest Dungeons: Nothing here that isn't really provided by something else on this list, but I was playing a fair bit of it a week ago so it felt appropriate to mention. 

My Church History Professor: He's really Catholic and I think would lose his shit if he read this but he has a lot of knowledge on the 4th-5th century church that this is kinda arising out of, so he gets a shoutout anyway (I will not be linking his blog). 

Okay I'm tired of writing now I'm gonna go back to skonging it but I'll be back at some point later with real rules and worldbuilding and stuff instead of just a little bit of flavor and some inspirations.