About
Herein you shall find important information that is essential to your stay here at Black Shuck. It is strongly advised that you learn and remember everything that is detailed within these pages.
- About Black Shuck
- Golden Rules
- Netherworld Overview
- Wormpasses
- Wormholes
- Jobs
- Abilities
- Frequently Asked Questions
"All hope abandon, ye who enter here."
Black Shuck is a Persistent Browser-Based Game (PBBG) based loosely upon Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy" and various other incarnations of the afterlife in general. Different methods of game-play and world building are still in Alpha development stages.
Game Universe
Loosely based upon "The Divine Comedy" (Dante's Inferno), Black Shuck immerses players into the afterlife where they must compete for supplies, land, fame, fortune... I'd say survival as well, but since characters are already dead, that's sort of irrelevant.
Genre
Fantasy (supernatural); horror; simulation; play-by-post
Plot
Between the living worlds and the alleged world that awaits us after we die, there exists a transportation network called the Breath Tragger. This network works non-stop to deliver Shades to their various destinations, and in doing such, recycles their life essences and keeps the balance of the universe. However, like all transportation systems, the Breath Tragger is not without its flaws. Sometimes, more often when races are warring, the Breath Tragger becomes congested. It is during this time that the greedy Black Shuck likes to surface. Like a sticky-fingered child eyeballing candy, it hungrily selects Shades to serve its own purposes.
The Black Shuck can be described succinctly as an infinite pocket dimension. It is not known exactly how, but the Black Shuck manages to pluck Shades out of the Breath Tragger before they are able to reach their final destinations, thereby upsetting the natural flow. The captured Shades are tossed into the dimension of Black Shuck, awakening in a place referred to as Limbo.
There are many theories as to why the Black Shuck is capturing and holding onto Shades. The most popular one is the belief that the Black Shuck is building an army; an army so powerful that it will be able to usurp the entire universe. Whether it is creating an army or not, the demise of the universe seems inevitable if the Shade theft continues.
With each passing moment, the balance of the universe tips ever so slightly in the Black Shuck's favour as it continuously rips Shades from the Breath Tragger. Now that you've died on your world and have been ensnared by the Black Shuck's fierce jaws, please ask yourself one question: are you going to let this Shade plundering continue?
Intended Audience
Ages 17+
Platform
Browser-based RPG
Recommended Browsers: Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer 7+.
Development Stage
Alpha — Meaning that new features are still currently being devised and added.
Estimated Time of Arrival
Still up in the air. A lot of the basic functionality of the site has been completed. Still more features, artwork, and other such things need to be addressed.
Development Team
- Spectra (Jodie) — I can still call myself a team if I'm just one person, right? I'm doing all of the coding and graphics at the moment.
- Various Alpha Testers — It's these guy's enthusiasm that keeps me going. ;]
- Maybe You? — If you think you can contribute to the site, and believe you have something to offer, let me know. At the moment we're really hurting for some artists (I wouldn't mind some pixel artists...), and some more people to bounce ideas off of.