Check back here for updates, prompts, and other information regarding the Echoes of the Frontier Event. If you’re on Discord, make sure you check out the channels dedicated to this event!
About
Alright @everyone here is just a bit more info about Echoes of the Frontier. As strange echoes blur the lines between the past and the present, the shadows of histories long forgotten return to shroud Eclipse Ridge, ancient rites, blood-soaked rituals and horrors since consigned to folk stories rear their heads once more.
Prepare for a journey that bends time, tests your resolve, and challenges everything you hold most sacred and step into the Echoes of the Frontier. When Eclipsians wake, they’ll find themselves whisked away in the blink of an eye to a place both familiar and strange. From there, the struggle to return home begins.
Start: Saturday, 10am SLT (You don’t have to be right on time. So you have time for your coffee) Starting Point
End: Sunday (exact time TBD based on pacing & group consensus) We’ll have:
- Intermissions for breaks,
- A Discord room for those who can’t be in-world,
- Blog updates so everyone can follow along,
- Expect environmental effects (thunder, lightning, etc.)—with an opt-out option for photosensitivity.,
Think of it like a giant escape room:
- Some mild gore & moderate violence in one scene (optional participation),
- Potential IC consequences (injuries, confusion, unease, even lost time),
- Plenty of space to step back, take breaks, or roleplay at your own pace,
- Old west dress is suggested but not required (though there could be IC consequences). If L$ is an issue, jeans, a shirt, boots, and hat will pass!,
This is meant to be a fun, collaborative storytelling experience. We hope you’ll join us and dive in! Do you have friends that may enjoy this but haven’t visited Eclipse Ridge yet? This is a great time to invite them to see what we are about. Have them arrive as tourists or visiting friends or family. Must be a human avatar. Please view or website for a bit about who we are and our rules: https://eclipseridge.com/
So It Begins
In the gentle twilight before the sunrises, Sophia, a young new hire, uses her key card to enter the Sterling County Genealogical Society hours before her shift is due to start. Freshly minted with a Bachelor’s degree in Library Sciences, and from a local family, she was a quality candidate for the Archivist position.
Founders Day was a particularly busy weekend for the Genealogical Society. Many people gathered at La Maison Noire to explore the history of Eclipse Ridge and investigate potential connections to the notorious Wayward Sisters, the town’s founders.
No one could blame the new archivist for arriving early to prepare. Many in her position would be nervous. But that’s not why she was there.
Chosen specifically by the Llewellyn, she had a mission of great honor. Her family’s ties to The Severed Thread, dating back to the Great Vision, meant she had prepared her entire life for this service.
Her quest: retrieve the Sovereign Diamond, a Wayward bloodline heirloom last seen in 1889.
The challenge to perform this chronoskinesis spell was enticing. Though young, the witch showed exceptional talent, surpassing most of her peers in their mid-twenties.
For two weeks, during her lunch breaks, she scoured archives for images of the gem. A direct link was essential for the spell’s success.
Finally, she discovered an article in the Sterling County Sentinel. It mentioned a “rare and exceptional stone” worn by Mayor Michaelson’s wife, a piece she had borrowed from her close friend, Mary Wayward, during a soiree for Founders Day. It had to be the Sovereign Diamond.
Though not the ideal anchor, it was sufficient to get her close. She lacked a direct image of the necklace but knew who possessed it and its location. She was also provided with a set of shackles from a man hanged close to the event. Llewellyn said it would be enough to get there.
It was time. The Black Moon was at its peak. She had drawn a pentacle in chalk and placed the three items on its points. With a snap, the candles roared to life, casting an unsettling glow. A knot of unease tightened in her stomach. This spell was notoriously difficult, even for a witch who excelled in the Divination as a Major House. But hers was Terra. Divination was her Minor House. Sophia had been assured the energy would flow just as strongly. And she trusted Llewellyn’s profound knowledge of the Lode.
Diamond bright, my tether to time,
Image true, fragment divine.
Past unyielding, I beckon thee near,
What once was, let it appear.
By name, by place, by moment known,
Return to my hand, be flesh, be stone.
From age to now, I break the divide,
Object of yesterday, stand at my side.
The incantation complete, an unnatural stillness descended. The objects remained undisturbed until a sudden gust of wind extinguished the candles, sending papers scattering. A wave of fear washed over her; something was amiss. The ground trembled, and in an instant, she was gone.
The residents of Eclipse Ridge were jolted awake by a powerful earthquake in the early hours of August 23rd, a rare occurrence that rattled their homes and belongings. Despite the initial shock that should fuel an adrenaline rush of alertness, an overwhelming sleepiness quickly overtook them, their heads sinking back into their pillows. Upon their next awakening, they found themselves disoriented and still in their nightwear, seated in St. Andrews Church. The experience felt like a vivid, peculiar dream until they noticed their equally confused neighbors and friends occupying the surrounding pews.
The Awakening
People are opening their eyes to find themselves inside St. Andrews Church trying to decipher what is going on.
The Watcher: A static electric buzz fills the air as people get their bearings. A bright flash of light suddenly reveals they are in St. Andrews Church. Thunder shakes the sanctuary, and another flash reveals the absence of modern amenities
Our characters are still trying to figure out what is going on with discussions of finding the Sheriff or making their way to the Pub, unaware that either option is not an option.
Ryder states they are not alone in the church.
The Watcher: The church air grew heavy, as if it had become an airtight room. A man’s voice, initially muffled, boomed against the church walls, suddenly as loud as the thunder outside. Glowing bodies began to fill the pews, all staring forward at the brightest body, the Preacher.
The Preacher: Those harlots of Satan lurk at our very doorstep, yea, they prowl like jackals beneath the shadow of our Lord’s house! They cling in lurid repose in our saloons. Once places of honest fellowship, now debased into dens of iniquity, houses of ill-repute and dark sorcery!
It is there, brethren, that they consort with devils and traffic with the powers of Hell! It is there they lift their profane incantations, summoning forth Lucifer himself to lay claim to the Christian soul! Beware, I say, beware! For each glass raised in drunken revelry is a chalice offered to the Adversary. Each card dealt upon the table is a covenant writ in blood with the Prince of Perdition!
How will I group react?
Group is not reacting well. There is confusion, fear, and uncomfortable humor as The Preacher continues.
The Watcher: The Preacher’s eyes, though translucent, bore into your soul, igniting a disquieting heat of discomfort within you.
The Preacher: Will you stand idle as the Devil stalks your wives, your children, your very hearth? Or will you rise as men of God, clad in the armor of righteousness, to drive out the pestilence that spreads from these wicked haunts? For the Lord is a consuming fire, and He shall not suffer the witch, the whoremonger, nor the deceiver to dwell among His people! Repent, O ye sinners, lest the flames of Gehenna find you unprepared! For the hour is nigh, and the judgment of the Almighty draweth near!
The Exodus
It appears our group is feeling it’s time to leave the Preacher to his preaching and see if they can get a better grasp on what is happening.
The Watcher: There was an eerie pause as the glowing orbs remained seated. Then as if someone stuck a quarter in the jukebox, the Preacher slammed his fist on the pulpit and began to speak again.
“Evil, like harlots of Satan, lurks at our very doorstep, prowling like jackals in the shadow of our Lord’s house! They brazenly gather in our saloons—once places of honest fellowship, now debased into dens of iniquity, houses of ill-repute and dark sorcery!
It is there, brethren, that they consort with devils and traffic with the powers of Hell! It is there they lift their profane incantations, summoning forth Lucifer himself to lay claim to the Christian soul! Beware, I say, beware! For each glass raised in drunken revelry is a chalice offered to the Adversary. Each card dealt upon the table is a covenant writ in blood with the Prince of Perdition!”
Following the disastrous collapse of a powerful ritual (see “So it Begins” above), the inhabitants of Eclipse Ridge find themselves ripped from their time and dropped into an alternate 1889 frontier.
What was, in 1889, a bustling frontier town is seemingly deserted, only glimpsed echoes of conversations, laughter and life filter through into this strange shadowed place.
As rain pours, a storm rolling and roiling around them, the streets ankle-deep in mud, those among them who possess supernatural powers feel them dampened, as though disconnected from the Lode by some distance; others may feel more if they have a strong connection due to their connection to the pasts.
Our group has found clothing and made their way to the Saloon. Unfortunately, what they hoped would be a place for safety and revelry instead was a grim and gruesome scene. Shattered dishes, overturned furniture, and scattered trash litter the area. Most disturbing is the trail of blood leading through the center of the room. Near the bar, evidence of an occult ritual suggests a sinister past. What transpired here?
Find out tomorrow 8/24 at 2pm SLT when we start part 2 of Echoes of the Frontier.
Fun & Games
Using blood found in the saloon, a few witches cast a psychometry spell. It appears a witch attempted a spell beyond her capabilities, causing it to backfire and send people to the past. This allowed the group to make some headway. Three crucial items are required to recreate the spell, and two have already been found thanks to notes scattered around the saloon. The final item, and the spell to return everyone home, are yet to be discovered.
The story continues tonight (8/25) at 6pm SLT.
Eclipse Ridge 
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