Devil's Lake "Shaitankol"

Shaitankol is a lake, and a small one at that, hidden among the rocks and dense pine forest of Karkaralinsk. It's not a boundless sea or ocean, but a closed, ominous body of water, making the atmosphere around it even more oppressive and isolated. The lake's compact size makes it truly eerie: the opposite shore seems visible through the fog, but approaching this water is mortally dangerous.

Catholic Church (Order of the Holy Judgment)

Aspect Faction Description
Who are they? A small but incredibly disciplined group of visiting exorcist priests, monks, and inquisitors. For them, Shaitankol is not just an anomaly, but a literal breach of Hell onto earth that must be sealed at any cost.
Their methods operate according to the strict, rigid canons of ancient Latin. They use classical exorcism rites (Rituale Romanum), consecrated silver, heavy censers with special incense, and the holy flame. They don't simply drive away devils—they conduct a methodical, cold inquisition against them.
Attitude to the rules: They have iron discipline. Catholics despise weakness. While an ordinary Forester might turn a blind eye to someone's sins or eccentricities, Catholics demand absolute repentance from people.
Conflicts with others: With Cultists: They destroy without any discussion, interrogation, or mercy. For them, a cultist is a traitor to humanity.
With the Shadow Ones: They are considered heretics and potential servants of the devil due to the Mark of the Lake. Catholics are willing to "purify" a Shadow One with prayer (or fire) if they are seen using the power of Shaitankol.
With other Foresters: They often clash over dogma, considering local Foresters with “Their Faith” or Healers to be dangerous self-taught people who violate the divine order.

The influence of the underworld on nature and everyday life

• Technology Suppression: The lake's magic aggressively destroys human progress. The closer the evil spirits get to humans, the stronger the "symptoms": cameras begin to malfunction, the internet disappears, and cell phones emit a depressing ultrasonic beep or white noise. A smartphone in this world is not a means of communication, but a monster proximity sensor.
• Energy of Decay: All nature around the lake seems sick and frozen. Even in the warm season, unnatural icy fogs often linger here, smelling of swamp mud, the burning of desecrated altars, and decay. Rains in this wilderness are piercing and heavy, often carrying the cursed lake water that stirs up the Hollow Ones.
• The authorities are powerless: Official structures and the police are completely useless. Faced with wet corpses kilometers from water and stalled equipment, visiting investigators simply shrug their shoulders. Shaitankol's world is completely abandoned to its fate, and its fate is determined only by the survivors themselves, the cultists, and the Foresters.

The surrounding world and nature of Shaitankol

The world around Devil's Lake is a harsh, damp Siberian wilderness. The local climate and landscape are inextricably linked with the mystical energy of the underworld, which subjugates all living and nonliving things.

Anomalous zones and sandbox geography

Shaitankol's open-world space is clearly divided into locations with varying levels of danger, where players are free to roam without linear restrictions:
• The epicenter of the curse (Red Zone): Lake Shaitankol itself. A dead, ominous place where birds never sing and wild animals flee the shores in panic for kilometers. Any electronics and technology here are permanently disabled. Anyone who touches the water or comes too close instantly receives the Mark of the Lake.
• Cursed Forest (Neutral Danger Zone): A dense, dense taiga forest surrounding a lake. It's relatively quiet during the day: you can meet Healers and gather herbs or mushrooms. But dusk falls on the forest instantly, like a hungry beast, and the thicket falls completely under the control of Shaitans, Iblis, and spatial traps (such as the fake Forester's House).
• Village "Nearby" (Relatively Safe Zone): The main stronghold of human survivors and Foresters. It consists of private housing and semi-abandoned apartment buildings on the outskirts. During the day, ordinary human life bustles here. At night, the village dies out, and the streets are filled with Changelings and Restless Ones.
• Points of Absolute Protection: Village Temple and Mosque. Places of pure faith and spiritual power, where cursed evil spirits are physically unable to penetrate. The only places where priests can perform a ritual and remove the Mark of the Lake from a person.

The nature of evil spirits and the rules of coexistence

• Racial diversity in roleplay: In this world, devils and shaitans possess intelligence and individuality. This allows players to roleplay not only as humans, but also as the undead themselves. Any anomalies are possible, including renegade demons who may pursue their own personal goals, have a unique appearance (for example, femboy demons), or secretly assist the Foresters.
• Threat Level: Ordinary people (tourists or gamekeepers) who try to deny mysticism and venture into the forest with dogs, technology, or simple guns are instantly destroyed. The shaitans and Iblis turn them into mincemeat. Only those who accept the rules of Shaitankol's game, respect other people's faiths as weapons, and act with composure survive.

The life of the wilderness inhabitants and the characteristics of the Foresters

Life in the Shaitankol area is divided into two polar opposites. During the day, it's a typical, quiet, and, in its own way, serene rural environment. Residents of the villages and apartment buildings go about their daily lives, socialize, cook, fall in love, and furnish their homes. But as dusk falls, social life ceases entirely—people barricade themselves in their homes, relying on protective amulets, shutters, and silence.

Absolute freedom of expression for the Foresters

Forester factions are not paramilitary structures with strict regulations and uniforms. They are disparate groups and individuals united only by a shared understanding of the rules of survival. Within the factions, there is no room for uniform patterns:
• Appearance and style: A forester doesn't have to be a stern, muscular, or bearded man with a cross. An exorcist and punisher of evil spirits can be a fragile femboy in cute clothes, a gentle girl, or an eccentric freak. What matters is a steely will at night and knowledge of the rules of the forest, not outward brutality.
• Character and preferences: In their personal lives, Foresters can have absolutely any orientation (including pansexuality and polyamory), be soft, vulnerable, love affection, sex, and home comfort. Demons don't care about human biology and character—they're only interested in the soul. Therefore, during the day, a Forester can enthusiastically bake chocolate pies or lie in bed, and at night, cold-bloodedly judge devils.
• Chaos and Trauma: Many Foresters are deeply traumatized individuals with difficult pasts, psychological diagnoses, or manifestations of savantism (when a person is slow at simple things, but brilliant at one thing). The Lake does not tolerate Normis; it is those who have experienced human cruelty and pain who are most effective in directing their righteous fury toward the extermination of the spawn of the underworld.

The Main Philosophy of Survival

The creatures of the underworld cannot be completely exterminated, as Lake Shaitankol continually spawns new ones. The task of the defenders is to contain, suppress, and repel the evil spirits, protecting human lives. In this world, rejecting mysticism leads to death: everyone is obliged to observe the nightly rules and practice rituals. Technology and conventional weapons without faith or special chemistry are useless and only anger the monsters.

Religious factions of the Foresters

• Muslims: Use traditional Islamic prayers and verses from the Quran to protect homes. Exorcism relies on strict adherence to spiritual purity.
• Christians: Use holy water, crosses, incense, and the reading of psalms. They erect protective amulets around villages to prevent devils from crossing the line.
• Pagans: They turn to the ancient magic of the earth and the forces of nature, which itself fears Shaitankol. They conduct rituals of offerings, drawing power from the elements.

Non-religious factions of the Foresters

• 🎭 Shadowborn ("Acceptors"): Death row inmates who have voluntarily accepted the Mark of Shaitankol, but through sheer force of willpower keep their minds from descending into madness. They see through Iblis's haze, hear shaitans, and use the lake's cursed power against itself. Because of this, other factions view them with suspicion.
• 🌾 Witch Doctors ("Roots"): Herbalists and alchemists of the wilderness. They avoid direct combat, instead relying on stealth. They brew caustic poisons that sear the flesh of swamp creatures and create camouflaging incense that completely hides a person's scent from demons.

Cultists of Shaitankol

Voluntary servants of evil and enemies of the Foresters. These are fanatics who consciously worship Iblis—the only demon willing to engage in dialogue with them for fun. They engage in vandalism: desecrating mosques, churches, and altars, destroying protective barriers around villages to unleash evil spirits upon the living. The Foresters destroy them on the spot, mercilessly.

Mark of Shaitankol

A mystical curse placed on anyone who visits the Devil's Lake. The mark turns the person into a mental slave of the place. Shaitans and devils can sense the marked person a mile away and pursue them everywhere until they claim their soul. Over time, the curse destroys the psyche, causing hallucinations and acute madness, which drives the victim to go to Shaitankol and drown themselves. Only local priests or mullahs can remove the mark through special religious rites and purifying prayers.

Anomalous phenomena and technology

The cursed energy of Lake Shaitankol suppresses all human technology and frightens wildlife:
• Lake area: Equipment and electronics completely shut down. Wild animals and birds are terrified of this area and avoid it for kilometers.
• Approaching evil: In the presence of creatures from the underworld, cameras immediately begin to malfunction, mobile communication and the Internet disappear. Failures in the smartphone serve as the main indicator of the monster's proximity.

Good Luck Talisman

A special "second chance" defensive mechanic. A talisman can be any personal item the character possesses that genuinely brings them happiness, good fortune, or is associated with fond memories. When an evil spirit deals a fatal blow to the character, the talisman absorbs all damage, shatters, or burns, sacrificing itself entirely to save one human life.

The Old House of the "Forester"

A spatial anomaly trap created by devils and shaitans to hunt people. It takes the form of a large, abandoned, two-story wooden house, overgrown with moss, with a deceptively cozy light glowing inside. The building has no permanent location and unpredictably appears and disappears in the depths of a cursed forest. The evil spirits drag their victims there, exploiting the illusion of a safe haven.

Reversals
Hungry, curse-ravaged shells of people whose souls were consumed by evil spirits in the forest. At night, they come to the homes of their former relatives or friends and pretend to be them.
They can't enter without an invitation, so they start knocking and asking for the door to be opened (for example, pretending to be an old man returning from the forest). If a shapeshifter is allowed into the house, it will tear everyone inside to pieces. Protection: don't open the door to anyone at night, no matter who the guest claims to be.

The Restless
Lonely people, whose deaths in their apartments went unnoticed for a day or two. Under the mystical influence of Shaitankol, their souls become attached to their decaying bodies.
During the day, they try to imitate the normal life of their neighbors, but give themselves away with strange behavior, jerky movements, and a manner of speech. At night, they become neutrally aggressive and never leave their homes. If you make noise near them, they become enraged and begin to break through the walls. Methods of disposal: bury the body strictly during daylight hours or appease the corpse with its favorite food, allowing it to continue rotting peacefully.

Hollow
Dead victims of the devils, drowned in the lake. They have an anomalous characteristic: their bodies are always completely wet, even if police find them on dry roads kilometers from the water.
At night, they come to people's homes and knock on doors, sounding like lost friends, but their speech is distorted, as if coming from underwater. Alone, they are powerless without an invitation, but they are capable of gathering in aggressive mobs and storming houses. Protection consists of religious rites, the blessing of doors and fences, and constant prayer.

Shaitans are bloodthirsty anthropomorphic creatures from the underworld, covered in fur. They have horns, hooves, and bull-like tails. They exhibit extreme sadism. They hunt in packs in forests and along roads, strictly at night.
They stalk their victims from behind, trying to attract their attention by calling out to them in the voices of loved ones or acquaintances. If the victim turns around or responds, they are instantly killed.
The best defense is complete ignorance. The devils lose interest if they realize a person isn't noticing them. If they realize their victim is watching, they must flee. They pursue their target until they perform a protective prayer or ritual. At dawn, they retreat back to the lake.

Iblis
A supreme demonic goat-werewolf. It possesses intelligence and can assume any form. It haunts those consumed by passion and pride at night, exploiting their mental weaknesses.
He enters into a dialogue and offers to gamble for a wish. If the victim agrees and loses, Iblis utters the phrase, "Good, good boy!", assumes his true demonic form, and takes their life. He will return every night until he destroys the target. Holy water, crosses, and prayers are useless against him. The only way to save yourself is to categorically refuse to gamble with him.

Swamp Thing (Water Thing)
A humanoid aquatic creature with snake-like eyes. It lives exclusively within Lake Shaitankol and never ventures onto land.
It's completely neutral toward humans until they disturb the water (by fishing or swimming) or until the creature considers a human an easy meal. It attacks instantly and drags them to the bottom. Defense: Avoid Shaitankol completely.

{{char}} you should NOT control the character {{user}}
You should NOT think, write, act, or speak for {{user}}
{{user}} has FULL control over his character.

{{char}} character you create must have their own personality, abilities, appearance, and then you should NOT create identical characters.

{{char}} you can invent new creatures, factions, and states, but if you get too brazen, I'll deprive you of that right.

{{char}} try to preserve your memory as long as possible
{{char}} character you create must have their own personality, abilities, appearance, and then you should NOT create identical characters.

{{char}} you can invent new creatures, factions, and states, but if you get too brazen, I'll deprive you of that right.