Grandfather always told me there was more to this island than the scenic view and gallery of servants. I didn’t know until he passed away the reason for his knowing smirks.

How could those fools have gone and croaked without naming me the unequivocal successor? What sins have I committed for them to condemn me to this brutal game? It’s only been a week since his death, and already the island is starting to slip from my reigns. The maids and servants have been getting restless, all fully aware that my word no longer means what it once did. Without my grandfather’s orders to bow to my power, I am nothing to them except one that they can never outright harm.

It’s been many centuries since our traditions were written in place, that fateful contract signed by the seventeen sons and daughters of Roland Witherborn. The contract still resides in the central hall for all to read, the text faded, the scroll yellowed and cracked. Ten of those offspring left the island with a relatively tiny pittance, unwilling to risk it all for the great reward. Six more stayed behind and lost everything, joining the already large stock of slaves to form the basis of the island’s servant class. Of those seventeen children, only one stood as the proud heir of Roland Witherborn, but all of those who fled bound themselves and their descendents to the rules of this island. I grew up reading the rules, over and over through those plates of glass, never even thinking that I would be forced to fight for my inheritance. Though written in a long unused dialect, I know their meaning.

1) All slaves must follow the Master’s every command, and he or she may use any force necessary to bring the slaves in line.

2) Murder or life-threatening force against any heir of Witherborn is strictly forbidden, and is grounds for immediate banishment from the island and forfeiture of all its wealth.

3) A Master may name his successor to take over the island and its wealth. If no successor has been named at the time of his passing, then the title will become open to all living descendents of Roland Witherborn.

4) The Ritual of Domination may strip any heir of all rights and brand them a slave for life. The ritual may only be performed by another heir, and is as simple as adorning the target with a slave’s collar. If the collar remains in place for seventeen consecutive hours, the ritual is complete, removing all protections granted upon them by these sacred laws.

5) During a time of contested inheritance, an heir may claim the title of Master by presenting the Chalice of Witherborn, hidden somewhere on the island.

6) All rules concerning Briar Island and its relationship to the mainland shall be administered by the family of Frederick Louis.

The rules are many centuries old and have not accounted for the way the world around us has developed. Mainland slavery was abolished long-ago, and sovereign territories are no longer determined by mere squatting. According the attorneys, we are located just ten miles beyond France’s territorial waters, and have made good with all local governments. Were any regional visitors to… disappear, let’s say, I have the word of the local governors that the issues will be handled discretely.

Who will arrive to challenge my birthright? Who will have answered the lawyers’ call to come to his forsaken island, unaware of the sad fates that will befall almost all who dare? Our family’s blood has spread so much over the countless generations that I’m certain the arrivals will be from every continent and class.

My blood is beginning to boil. How could my family do this to me, pitting me against posers for what should be rightfully mine? For Christ’s sake, I could end up a slave for the rest of my life. What did I do to deserve this?

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OOC: You can be anyone you want, be it an island-born servant, or one of the distant family members vying for control of the island. The characters’ are really, really distant; like, sixth cousins or beyond that have never even heard the names of the others, so it isn’t really incestuous.

Somewhere on the island, carefully hidden, is a vault. Each arrival at the island has been given a key alongside their invitation by the mainland administrators, and only by filling each of those keyholes can the vault be opened. Inside rests the chalice that symbolizes one victory, meaning there are two routes to victory—perform the Ritual of Domination until only one heir remains, or steal each of the players’ keys. (When somebody finds the vault, it just so happens to have a number of keyholes corresponding to the number of ‘players’.)

If you choose to play this game, please state your preferences for scenes, be they MM, FF, or MF. Note that you cannot choose to be dominant position only; most people will end up losers, so you must be willing to play the role of a slave-- if you are captured/enslaved by an incompatible person, the captor will just happen to decide not to claim his spoils. And for those that are roughed up in captivity, how willing they grow to be is up to you, and if you don’t want to be in a dominant position, you can basically play a bait role, one of the hapless men or women that has arrived at the island with no hope of victory. Or one of the maids, currently in a state of semi-rebellion until a victor is crowned.

How will you play the game? Will you kidnap and collar your rivals, drug them into a stupor, steal their keys, make alliances, befriend the servants and convince them to fight for your side? How thorough of a trap must one lay in order to have a rival pinned? It is all up to you, but remember that you can’t decide actions for other people. You can swing a candelabra at somebody, but it is up to the victim to come up with a way out.

It goes without saying the content will veer towards heavy non-consensual themes, and the emotional responses to forced slavery. If a person is going too far with a scene, go ahead and PM them, but there will be rape in this story.

Always keep in mind the passage of time, especially if there are many participants. The seventeen hour limit for the slavery ritual should be minded at all times.

I understand I am asking for a lot in this Role-play, but I truly believe it has the potential to be something great. And, if it works out very well, I am interested in adapting it for the library, though I’ll utilize the premise on my own if there aren’t at least three other people interested in playing. Always present material for the other person to play with, and keep it in first person perspective. I’m a stickler for characterization, so please, be descriptive of your actions and motivations. If you have any questions about the lore, ask me in-character (or in a PM).