Dark Before the Dawn

Dark Before The Dawn is an ongoing epic forum RP on the There Will Be Brawl forum. The members of the forums play themselves; ordinary humans who have been summoned against their wills to the High Fantasy world of Dragnia, told they are The Chosen Ones and are expected to fulfill a heroic destiny.

The world is divided into two regions: the Northlands, which is split into 8 independent city states, and the mysterious Southlands. An evil dark force, the Nameless Army, under the ruthless Big Bad, the High Commander, is sweeping its way into the Northlands, commencing a blitzkreig and slaughtering its way through the city states. Unable to form a coherent defence on their own, some have turned to an ancient prophecy that fortells that heroes from another world will arrive in their hour of need and drive back the forces of darkness. They ended up with the forumites instead.

The RP focusses on the adventures of the forumers as they travel the land, attempting to unite the city states and drive back the Nameless Army. But with shenanigans, trying to control their new powers, their own slew of personal drama and angst, and the threat of perma-death, will our heroes overcome their challenges and save the world?

This ain't no game, after all.


 * Anyone Can Die: Played straight. Anyone can die in Dragnia. Once more, this ain't no game.  died in the very first encounter, even; cut down while heartily charging forward to attack.
 * Badass Long Robe:  and Ansem. Avalanche doesn't count, that's a dress.
 * Badass in Distress:, after being kidnapped by
 * Battle Cry: PEEEERRRRRRYYYYY GOOOOOOOOAAAAATTTMAAAAAANNNN!!!!!!!
 * Battle of Wits: The situation in Leknaat between the Hierophant and Ashvald until the Champions get involved.
 * Berserk Button: Don't touch one of Perry or Raya's friends.
 * The Berserker: Raya is slowly becoming one.
 * The Chessmaster: The Hierophant,
 * Also Ashvald, through
 * Chivalrous Pervert: ANSEM. Can't enter a town without trying to enter all its NPCs.
 * Chronic Hero Syndrome: Sahrimnir
 * Collateral Angst: Several examples, mostly centered around characters' deaths.
 * About five characters have a subplot revolving around how useless or helpless they feel, or how they can't protect those they care about.
 * was particularly notorious in this aspect. Coupled with, this caused Avalanche, Camilla, Raya, and   to sink into despair.
 * This was especially appropriate for  however:.
 * Perry outright ragequit the party before
 * Combination Attack: Avalanche and Sahrimnir combine their attacks whilst fighting a demon
 * Dance Battler: Fedaykin knows capoeira
 * Department of Redundancy Department: "With those words, Sahrimnir again charged forward with his charged sword and charged the demon."
 * Dreaming of Things to Come: The eruption of essence from the dead Shu'Sharradin inflicts a vision of the future on everyone.
 * Fantastic Racism: The city state of Leknaat is extremely intolerant of the non-human races, to the point of calling them sub-humans and treating them like animals.
 * The faefolk of Sylvania are mentioned to be the same against the non-fae, though they haven't been properly met yet.
 * Fauns and Satyrs: Perry
 * Five-Bad Band: The leaders of the Nameless Army:
 * Big Bad: The High Commander
 * The Dragon: Victor
 * The Chick: Dunya
 * The Brute: Nimisch
 * The Evil Genius: Ernstrad
 * Foreshadowing: There's some of this in nearly every one of Raya's posts. Nobody notices.
 * Full-Frontal Assault: Technically Perry. It's a good thing he's censored by a lot of fur, otherwise being charged by a giant rampaging goatman would be a LOT more pants-wettingly terrifying.
 * Glowing Eyelights of Un-Death: Fedaykin.
 * Good Angel, Bad Angel: Played with. Rather than having two angels, Sahrimnir has got five representing Justice, Compassion, Self-preservation, Curiosity and Fun respectively.
 * Heel Face Turn:  although arguably
 * Heroic BSOD:  after Perry bursts in
 * Heroic Sacrifice:  stays behind to try to fight Victor and fend off the Nameless Army so the Champions can escape.
 * Horror Hunger: When Fedaykin's body sustains serious damage the instinctual Hunger takes over and he goes into a feeding frenzy to heal himself. Being undead, that feeding frenzy tends to involve live human beings...
 * Identity Absorption: The identities of people Fed has consumed remain in the deep recesses of his mind.
 * I Did What I Had to Do:  only with the intention of gaining enough power to stop the greater evil of the Army.
 * Invisibility: Snake
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: Perry. Just... Perry.
 * Also, TD as of late.
 * YO DAWG. I HERD YOU LIEK CHARGING
 * Ironic Fear: Sahrimnir is terrified of heights. Sahrimnir has got wings.
 * I See Dead People: Requiem.
 * Jumped At the Call: Sahrimnir at first did this when the forumers were told they were supposed to save the world.
 * Lampshade Hanging: The entire bloody game.
 * Last Stand: The Highland army make one after liberating a camp from the Army's clutches, only to find  They stand their ground to defend their homeland to the last.
 * Les Collaborateurs:, and oh how obvious it was.
 * Luckily all our heroes are Genre Savvy.
 * Light'Em Up: Sahrimnir's powers.
 * Mama Bear: Raya said she'd get the others back home safely, and she takes her job very seriously. At one point there may have been a reference to motherly powers rising up and allowing her to kill a boss. Perhaps.
 * Manipulative Bastard:
 * Arguably Ernstrad as well.
 * My God, What Have I Done?:
 * Naked on Arrival: Technically Perry.
 * "What was going on here? What happened to the class room? What was with his legs?... WHERE THE HELL WAS HIS PENIS?!"
 * Never Found the Body: Spont's body was tossed off a cliff.
 * Poke in the Third Eye: Done quite literally and with extreme overkill when
 * Power Copying: Requiem is able to absorb part of the lifeforce of his dead friends and gain a watered down version of their main ability.
 * Running Gag: The mafia game the forumers were all playing before they got sucked into the world.
 * Screw Destiny:
 * Shot in the Ass: Snake by Omicron.
 * Shout-Out: There are a hell of a lot of references to other RPGs scattered about.
 * Also other video games.
 * And Movies.
 * and an occasional trope or two.
 * Spin-Off: The mafia game based on the RP.
 * Spirit Advisor: TD rescued a spirit, Aurora, from Ashvald's mansion and she now accompanies him.
 * Spot of Tea: Raya drinks an awful lot of tea, mainly after stressful situations. She's not afraid to admit she's a stereotype.
 * Technical Pacifist: Snake hasn't killed a single person. The only time he came close- stabbing the Hierophant- he was revulsed by his actions.
 * Avalanche never killed a person, but this might have more to do with his role as obligatory white mage
 * Tempting Fate: "And after all," Raya cracked a weak smile "Things surely can't get any worse."
 * The Archer: Omicron
 * The Dead Can Dance: Quite quite literally in Fed's case.
 * The Paladin: Sahrimnir
 * The Prophecy: Apparently great warriors from another world were fortold to save Dragnia. Rather than wait to see if it would come to pass the inhabitants cut some corners and forcibly summoned them instead.
 * The Teetotaler: Sahrimnir
 * The Undead: Fedaykin
 * Tin Tyrant: The High Commander is clad entirely fullplate that covers him head to foot, including an ornate draconic helmet.
 * Treacherous Advisor
 * Arguably,  before the Heel Face Turn
 * Warmup Boss: BREAD, who will clearly return to win the game.
 * arguably fits this as well, although he was certainly capable.
 * White Mage: Avalanche
 * Winged Humanoid: Sahrimnir and the Wyndian race.
 * White Mage: Avalanche
 * Winged Humanoid: Sahrimnir and the Wyndian race.