Port Leiry might seem like a bustling west coast city with plenty to do and a sense of modern local flavor, but that's just half of the story. Monsters lurk in a secret world beneath the polished surface that gleams in the daylight, fighting an endless and hidden war as they vie for dominance.
City of Ruin is a horror-themed supernatural city RPG with an emphasis on character-driven plots, seasonal events, and a continuous narrative around which to weave your characters' stories. home. nav. disclaimer.
Restricted:
Fire & Air Elemental Witches.
With Annalise carrying the keystone and Briar and Daniella's subsequent actions at the mirror lake, the strange magical void cutting Port Leiry off from the rest of the world has been broken, and most of the doppelgangers and mimics (but importantly, not all!) have been destroyed.
The city is restored to the normal flow of time and elements, and Summer has hit Port Leiry like a runaway train!
Of course, this presents its own challenges - while Port Leiry's citizenry was terrorized by their body-stealing captors and our beloved characters put aside their differences (mostly) to keep each other safe, Briar Greensmith's magic spell has sought to protect what she can of the supernatural world's secret and wipe these events from mundane minds, protecting the secret world from full-on exposure to the unwitting masses.
Still, Briar's obscuring mask is imperfect - any humans already aware of these things may see through the veil, and immortals and the magically attuned have long been aware of the existence of such anomalies. Further, while the world is left magically unaware of Port Leiry's blinking in and out of existence, there are visible seams - the sudden thaw in Mid-June leaves flooding. The damage from the doppelgangers' attack is still left behind.
There is also the question of the impostors that survived the shattering of the ward - those who have either escaped into the dark places or who have already slipped into their roles - some of whom have loose ends they've neglected to silence.
2026 is City of Ruin's THIRD YEAR, and with the hot hot summer weather returning and a new host of creatures released to haunt the dark corners of town, we want to thank everybody who participated and who makes this group what it is - a fun creative space in which to tell monstrously good stories with friends!
The rest of the Summer (and the seasons beyond) have more in store, and we look forward to seeing what you all get up to while we cook up the next big thing!
OOC Notes:
The Winter Hex on Port Leiry was broken on June 21st, 2026. The sudden shift in weather and the damage from the doppelganger attacks, as well as the sudden restitching of the city into the world, create a strange sense of lost-time or deja vu or a 'hiccup' in various services, adding to the strange air of Port Leiry's already notoriously spooky atmosphere.
MOST Non-Player Humans/General Citizenry have had the details of what happened fogged from their minds, with only the understanding of a strangely cold spring and some odd happenings that are just out of recalls' reach. Along side with the strange mismatch of their memories versus the physical evidence of what's come to pas. It is up to players if this affects them fully.
While Briar and Daniella's spell destroyed the font from which the Doppelganger creatures were spawned, not all of them were destroyed, and some still lurk, available for thread and plot ideas. Further, some Doppelgangers have likely already replaced people (maybe even people you know), and not all of them have disposed of those they're impersonating.
The cycle of day and night has returned to normal and the magical ley-lines have calmed without the Mimicked Moon's influence, meaning werewolves' turns have also normalized, vampires are now confined to the dark hours, and witch magic is less unpredictable, and with the doppelgangers defeated, Hunters no longer have as much leeway to violate treatied territory lines.
Skeleton Keys and a new Key Item, the SILVERIRON BEAD, have been handed out for event participation! Make sure to check the Key Items page for more info!
The Solstice is supposed to be the shortest night of the year...
Of course, this is Port Leiry, so nothing's ever cut and dry. The Doppelganger feel something ethereal tugging on the magics that bind the city into this dark, never-ending winter. Enraged by this, they fling the city into Chaos. The Mayor, Jonahs Harding, tries to get the word out - several shelters have been organized across the town to offer safety from these strange body-snatching invaders.
Disaster strikes though, when something cuts off the broadcast. The creatures show themselves - some in the guises of friends and family, others shrugging off the illusion of treasured or trusted items. These imposters are not the only troubles among us however - the Solstice aggravates all magic, amplifying the leylines that run under the city and hiding the sun, presenting opportunistic moments for monsters of all make and model to ply for territory or wreak havoc. The city is plunged into chaos as people are caught unawares, both in their homes and out in the open as they attempt to reach safety.
It's going to be a very long night, Port Leiry - let's hope we're all still here in the morning — if morning even decides to come!
OOC:
These threads are themed around the event, and take place on the evening of the 'Summer' Solstice, JUNE 21st.
These threads are largely for fun, and to mark the end of the Endless Winter story. While the event officially 'ends' on JUNE 28th, this is just the deadline for threads set during the events of the Solstice; you may finish your threads at your leisure.
For further info on Locations or Monsters, refer to the BESTIARY and LOCATIONS pages on the main! If your answer isn't there, hit us up in ask-staff in the discord!
Please tag any prompt threads with: #cor.solstice26
Anybody who reasonably participates in their prompt scenarios will receive both a Skeleton Key and a new, to-be announced Key Item.
The characters in each prompt were randomized by King and I - if you'd like a different character substituted in, or need to back out of a thread for any reason, let us know - we have backups on deck!
And now peek under the cut for your night's flavor of chaos!
Unable to to trust anybody, RIVEN VICTORS and AOIFE O'SULLIVAN find themselves broken off from evacuation routes and forced to cut through Hoyt Salvage, but it's not all rusted out car bodies and discarded TVs - Mimics lurk the piles in every shape an size.
With the Solstice putting the barrier in flux and meddling with the barrier sealing the city away, LARA RIVKIN finds themselves seperated from their group and stuck in the barren woods at the edge of the barrier. TOMÁS PRIESTLEY can hear them, but can't see them through the blustery snow. Little do they know that Doppelgangers stalk both of them, ready to strike.
CAITLIN SILTSHORE and VIKTORIA LOMIDZE are being shuttled to a safe zone when the vehicle sprouts legs. That's one big Mimic! Better get out before that plush leather interior starts drooling and chewing… oh wait.
REMI FELIX is nearly run over by WINTER YI while fleeing from a horde of mimics seeking to corral them into being easy targets. These Mimics have taken on the shapes of objects commonplace in both of their thoughts!
COLT MERCER, ROSE HALSTEAD, and GARRICK CALLAGHAN are trying to rescue civilians from a situation at Port Leiry Boat Rental as several pleasure craft seem to have grown mouths, eyes, and ... tentacles? Mimics... it's always mimics...
BIRDIE TEMPLETON and MADISON PAIGE are trying to get to safety, forced together after a pack of mimics turn on them in the streets. They're separated briefly, but after stumbling back into each other, can either of them spare any trust for the other?
As chaos spills out of the Mirror world and into the city, AURELIA KENNEDY and MAJA GRIMHJARTA take up refuge in Aftcastle Mall with some other citizens. Too bad the shelves are lined with mimics laying in wait amongst all of the other products!
Dopplegangers chase SADIE EASTON and ZOE VAN BRUNT into THE DEN but quickly give up once they barricade the door. Too bad the Pixies had the idea first. (Hold onto your teeth).
ANIKA BOOKER follows ANNALISE HALSTEAD inside a location designated as a shelter from the chaos. Once inside however, it becomes apparent that everyone inside has been replaced by Dopplegangers!
Spurred on by mistrust, a group of vampires shepherded by THAO NGUYEN clash with a pack of werewolves guided by MICHELLE BARRIOS in Olympic Metalworks while seeking shelter, trapping ETHAN PARKINSON and his crew in the middle of the violence!
Tideview Stadium is full of Port Leiry Citizens trying to hide from the increasingly apocalyptic snow and cold, little do they know, Althea's evasive FALSE VAMPIRE has taken up residence there since the city's wintry shut down. Upon finding the keys to escape, ATLAS JAY ASTOR is dragged off by it right in front of VANESSA KOBLIZKA!
A SLIME finds its way out of its sewer midden and into the pipes of the building. BLUE FELIX finds a nasty surprise when they try to run the water for TJ ASTOR'S drink.
DANIELLA GREYSON and BRIAR GREENSMITH have happened upon the source of the Mirror World's bleeding into our own and found… wait… ANNALISE HALSTEAD? Wasn't she already in another prompt?
In a city locked in a winter that never ends, minds have become as numb to the strange goings on as fingers have become to the cold.
"What's going on?" It's a question everyone knows they should be asking, but as days begin to blur into each other, a sense of lackadaisical reticence begins bleeding into the people of Port Leiry. "Some weather, huh?" turns into a dismissive shrug. This is just the way it is, and this is just the way it probably always be.
Even those who have only recently entered the city and found themselves unable to leave its icy bounds find their misgivings and fears dulling with each passing hour of each passing day until they, like the frost-rimed glass and snow-covered buildings, simply freeze in place.
At some point, people just stop tracking time - what is the point after all, when every day is the same?
At some point, people stop worrying about the people who go missing, lost to the snow or the myriad new creatures that seem to have entered the city alongside this endless, looping blizzard.
At some point, people stop noticing that their friends aren't quite the same anymore, changed but in ways that seem hard-to-place or innocuous - maybe even happier than they've ever been before despite the strange times.
But then, something shudders. The sun, a pointless dull glow of light behind endless clouds, decides in its infinite wisdom that it simply won't return, plunging the city into darkness that lasts not just a dozen hours, or even just a day.
And with the dark comes the cold, and with the cold come shapes in the dark, no longer content to sneak about.
Now that the doppelgangers have established their foothold in the city, at nearly every level, they choose to reveal themselves - with Port Leiry sealed, they can harvest its citizenry without fear of exposure to the outside world.
The first attacks seem like random acts of violence. Police, Fire, and Paramadic services, made lethargic like the rest of the city or infested with this hidden menace, lurch into confused and inconsistent action.
Mayor Jonas Harding issues a desperate plea, one that goes out via static-riddled television and radio broadcast as a new round of blustering snowfall begins in the endless dark.
"There have been multiple reports of attacks by both disturbed individuals and strange, well, creatures that have swamped our emergency systems. I am imploring those who cannot flee to the designated shelters listed following this broadcast to barricade your doors and shelter in place until we can contain this situation. We must seek to band together to weather this as a uni-"
But that broadcast is cut short abruptly amid the sound of shocked screams, an emergency signal replacing it on any screens, and a looping message, looping through various 'safe shelters' around the city.
The creatures now know they are under attack in their own domain, and so they decide to retaliate, to sweep the city beneath the snow and replace each and every soul inside their ward's bounds.
Across the city, the Mimics reveal themselves first, the tiny homunculus spies of the mirrorfolk hidden in items both treasured and mundane. The Doppelgangers themselves attack next, both those who have completed their transformation and those who still hunt their tethers, moving en masse, no longer fearful of exposure; the city is sealed, and if replacement is no longer an option, then extermination of its remaining people will have to do.
As you seek to shelter in place or make your way to a safe place, however, disaster strikes!
Welcome to the finale of Frost and Mirrors: Solstice!
The Doppelgangers have now fully sealed Port Leiry off from the world, and as the Summer Solstice arrives, the veil between worlds begins to thin enough that the world beneath Mirror Lake has begun to merge with our own!
With the worlds bleeding together, the Doppelgangers sense a handful of would-be interlopers in their domain, seeking to leverage the Solstice in another direction and free the city from Winter. But the city is sealed off fully now, and there is no longer need for pretense. Both those who have been fully replaced and those still seeking to replace their tethers grow bolder and begin attacking people in their homes to facilitate their takeover.
Mayor Harding and the secretive Human Council has designated 'safe shelters' across the city in the wake of last year's strange Hurricane, and while these might offer some respite, not everyone can make it to them.
Darkness has descended upon the city, a darkness that seems like it won't ever end, and even as the city seems to circle closer and closer to ruin, opportunistic creatures (and people) usually warded off by the light of day see fit to take advantage...
OOC:
All features found in the Prologue and Part One posts found HERE and HERE are still in tact, but for brevity's sake:
This part of the event will run from Friday, June 19th to Sunday, June 28th, but this is only the starter deadline; you may finish threads at your own pace!
No daylight jewel? No problem! The Sun has gone, allowing vampires the run of the city so long as they can dodge the esoteric menace of the Doppelgangers.
The Mirror Moon has risen, and it's strange light is allowing werewolves to rebuke the change or embrace it.
The Solstice Ritual is making the leylines flare, amplifying magic power for the event duration!
New elements include:
In the strange, fluid time of the unending dark, a constant snowfall has started, and the temperature is slowly dropping. The power is even spottier than before!
As time wears on, the city grows colder and colder, and the night grows ever longer, setting in exhaustion even on those who never sleep. Will the cold and fatigue drive you to madness, or are you made of sterner stuff?
Mimics run rampant and Doppelgangers no longer fear exposure; being seen by more than two people will no longer prompt them to tear themselves apart! Remember; unless they've already transformed, you must shatter their reflection to destroy them. Otherwise, they take on the weaknesses of who/what they've turned into!
If there are any further questions, don't hesitate to DM an admin!
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