Let's Make A Nightmare Setting Veeky Forums

>All children are magic-users, and are capable of seeing the evil pervading all of reality.

In this world, the natural reaction of a parent hearing their kid cry about monsters in the closet is to put them to bed, assure them it will be ok, then quickly leave the house

>The type of magic user a child becomes is loosely connected to the zodiac star sign they are born under.

>the government is mostly controlled by monsters and their slaves

>The children who are 'blessed' with Sight and the ability to use magic are forever plagued by terrible nightmares, dreams of the world decaying as dark things rise up to dance in the death and ruin.

>All animals and plants can talk. The countryside is filled with screaming at the natural processes of life, predation, and death.

>The only ones who can truly hear the speech of the animals and plants are the mage children. Adults only hear the occasional garbled whisper at best.

>There are strange eldritch structures that can only be seen when one passes through the veil between worlds.

Everyone sleeps with masks that cover the entirety of the face along with the ears for there are common tiny worms that have nestling in a human brain as part of their reproduction cycle.

The infestation is mostly without warning signs. The final stage consists in the skull melted from the inside by the powerful acids secreted by the mature butterflies, which take flight as soon as it's open enough for them to pass.

It is said that their color is based on the personality of their host.

>Passphrases are often taught to kids and family

>Just in case of a doppelganger

Salt is an effective deterrent to most common paranormal beings. Thus, it literally is worth its weight in gold and almost never used in the kitchen.

>Many Mages have a tendency to be rather anti-social and distrust ingredients of most people who aren't children in situations similar to theirs.

Night terrors are actually cases of the children attempting to fight off possession.

...do you not know where the phrase "Salt is worth its weight in gold" comes from?

Spoiler alert: It's already valuable in real life.

>Descriptions of the things that assail the children are scarce, but common features include far too many teeth and an over-abundance of grabbing appendages.

Yeah, but not as gold.

>The darkness grows and festers, and only the young can see it, only they can face it.
>Ruin is coming, and each day It draws closer.

Imaginary friends are tulpas that kids build to protect their sanity.

I found a site where sodium chloride road salt sells for 350USD per metric ton.

So... slightly less valuable than gold.

Human society has evolved to be nocturnal so that they can stay awake and alert during the hours where the fiends are more active and rest when the daylight is strong and their powers are weaker.

Horror videogames and movies count as edutainment in this world

>As a result of this, most people look like they are almost restless, constantly on alert and watching for any sign of danger, especially so in the case of the Mages, who are the ones that must keep watch for many of the more insidious threats.

In Roman times, when that saying was created, it was indeed worth its weight in gold.

You fucking idiot.

People were literally paid in salt as a form of currency.

>children are the only ones who can see the supernatural evil that pervades the world
>the older you get, the more and more the knowledge drives you insane
>shortly before puberty, children put themselves through a memory wiping ritual to keep them sane as they age
>in their new adult life they have little to no recollection of their role fighting off the supernatural.
>As a result, children have a hard time passing on information to successive generations of magic users
>sure you can write your to be children a letter a letter, but if 20 year old you finds a letter from 12 year old you talking a bunch of supernatural nonsense that your mind literally won't let itself fully believe because to do so would drive you insane, would you keep it and give it to your future kids?

>Some Mages will often design a focus for their magic, be it a stone with runic sigils carved into it or some manner of amulet or trinket.

Bump.

These threads are neat when they're posted every now and then, not when we have one every fucking day. Make your own setting.

>Hurr DURR don't post anything relating to world building or any original content that might breath some life into the board, but letsspam the same 40k thread over and over repeatedly and have the same dumb circlejerks hurr.
Fuck off.

Please point out where I made any mention of 40k

Bump.

Children who do not wipe their memories will slowly lose their ability to use magic as they grow older and insanity sets in but they can retain it by killing and cannibalizing other children. This however slowly changes them into a malformed creature of the evil as it is an unnatural thing.

>they grow older and insanity sets in but they can retain it by killing and cannibalizing other children. This however slowly changes them into a malformed creature of the evil as it is an unnatural thing.
so they become Wendigo?

Bumping.

...

Just wanted to thank you guys for expanding on this. I thought it was a pretty cool idea and am glad it'll be a part of the setting. Let's keep this thing going!

What kinds of magics were we thinking of having? Should they depend on certain circumstances?

yeah but not in modern times

go smooth that edge brah

Strangely enough once someone reaches their twilight years their magic may return with them memories as their sanity erodes

alzheimer cause a powerful and dangerous resurgence of magic.

>Wild, untethered energies flow within the deepest forests, twisting and warping the places in which they gather into eldritchaikovsky reflections of what they once were.

What we think as forests - trees, bushes, animals - are in fact the way of the nature to deter what lives DEEPER from entering the natural realm.

This is also why people get so easily lost in forests:
1) so they do not accidentally reach the DEEPER REALMS
2) the denisens of the Depts get lost as well.

TR DR: Forests = Barriers between Us and THEM.

God is that dude from Trash Humpers who sings about blowjobs. He plays nonsense on his cosmitar and rocks in the rocking chair of chaos. When he forgets his songs the universe ends.

>The Deeper Realms are nightmarish places where all logic and sense has evaporated, and only alien madness reigns. The dark forces dwell in these places, feasting upon the rotting carcass of reality.

It has been said that even humans (children in particular) are transitional beings touched by the Deeper Realms.
The only "Real/Permanent" things in this world are the mountains and everything what can be dug from Stone.

>World what exists is there only because the Deeper Things have corrupted the Things of Stone.
> Yes it feels too much bit law/chaotic, need some twists? The Forgetting Ritual is wicked stuff!

>Quite a few Mages have taken to delving into the forests in search of things that may aid them in their neverending fight.
>Some return, some do not.

Bump.

...

With age the ability to see and hear fades... but somehow, the knowledge that THEY are there watching and breathing down your neck drives many to suicide.

The detail and horror of the creatures the children sees constantly is in flux, but it is accepted that the creatures become more terrifying with age as children's minds become more capable of grasping what they see, up until they lose the sight entirely.

It is speculated that this blindness is caused by when the comprehensibility of the creatures overtakes the child's ability to see the beings.

Adults senses can still see the things, but the brain does not recognize them except when under the influence of some drugs. Taking these drugs is often a one way trip to indefinite madness or a heart attack... they remain available on black markets for unknown reasons to most.

No it fucking was not go fuck yourself off with a rusty spoon.

A soldier's salarium was NOT payment but rather a bonus much like a rum ration.

Think about it. You know how you get Gold? Find it in teeny tiny veins deep underground and spend a massive amount of effort and time smelting it down and purifying it.

You know how you get salt? Boil sea water. Any sea water at all. Fuck you dont even have to boil it. You just need to let it evaporate in a bowl. BAM, infinite supply of salt.

>The Ethereal Realm that most Mages tap into is a terrible and alien place.
>Ever shifting and changing, this realm is home to nightmares beyond imagining, things so ancient and terrible that most would crumble like dust before them. These realms of madness and terror have been catalogued and studied by many Mages over the years.

Can we *please* cease with the salt autism? It does nothing to contribute to the thread, and actively derails it from its original purpose. If you want to have this discussion, please find another means of doing so,

And don't even get me started about fucks who over salt their food. I mean a little bit of saltyness is good but too much and you just cant taste whats under it. Just yesterday I was at a resturant with a couple friends and one of them put like 2 tablespoons of salt on their steak. I'm all like "Come on man you're eating a steak not a salt lick".
He goes all "Oh well the steak tasts like garbage anyways" and I say "Then complain and get something else". He starts going on about how he doesnt want to do that because he'd feel like a dick but I mean if the food you got is bad then you shouldnt be forced to put too much salt on it and eat it anyways.

Also, when salt was created....WHEN SALT WAS CREATED?!?!

Thats a level of autism I dont usually see outside the mirror.

Curse you SaltAnon, curse you.