Possessing a Problem

Silence falls over the auditorium as an officer walks in. Four guards flank him at every step, signifying his importance. They are all masked, but their perfectly synchronized movements give them away; you are all but certain these are high-level undead. Unless they are given specific orders, they will carry out their pre-determined orders with no regard to the their personal safety. 

The officer looks to be in his fifties, with a sharp uniform that fails to cover his large belly. He glances towards the teacher, who looks uncharacteristically nervous. The officer turns towards you and addresses you in a no-nonsense voice. 

"As you have been previously informed, your first official possession will happen two days from now. I will remind you that both before, during and after the possession, you are under military law, and will need to follow all orders from superior officers. While doing this first mission, you have the temporary rank of private 1st class, so every single officer is above you. We have high expectations of your performance, both in this upcoming task, and in the future. Once you graduate, you will be all be officers yourself, so make sure to use this opportunity to learn how you should act."

"Possessing a Problem" is set in a fantasy country, Astar. Officially, it is a meritocracy, but in reality, it is an oligarchy; a country ruled by a powerful minority where corruption is rampant. At the very top is the Leader, whose title is the only acceptable designation. Beneath him is a pyramidical hierarchy, where loyalty and connections often play a more important role than skill and merits. It is not the case that the latter two are useless, but a skilled person with no obvious connections or loyalty is viewed more as a liability than an asset, and accordingly rooted out. 

Beneath the elites are the common people, mostly peasants. They have almost no rights, and crimes against them by the elites are common and mostly go unpunished. As long as the people in charge demonstrate their loyalty to the upper echelons, they can easily get away with abuse and murder. There is a limit, of course; if they are responsible for a group of commoners that fail to meet their required production quotas and they fail to get around the problem in creative ways, they can quickly find themselves reassigned to less desirable positions. 

Six years ago, Astar won a two-front war against its two neighbors; the Garlands to the south-west and Lenuta to the south-east. The two countries are allied in their opposition towards Astar, since they both suffered under their cruel and unusual tactics. To the north of Astar is mountain range known as the Spine of the World, which effectively blocks any aggression with their northern neighbors. 

Astar prides itself on two of its unique features; possession and necromancy. Using possession, they can send in elite teams wherever they are needed that are practically expendable. When someone dies, they are shunted back to their real bodies. During the war, they converted enemy towns into zombie armies that attacked the enemies' backlines and civilian population. 

The player characters are sons or daughters of elite families, currently attending the Army Academy as officers in training. You are all around 20 years old and in your second year of officer training. As a result of your upbringing, you are not necessarily evil, but at least pragmatic about the current situation. Any thoughts you may have about changing the system are kept under lid. The secret police may arrest those that demonstrate disloyal actions towards the Leader, which is a death sentence unless your family can bail you out. 

As you are all members of the same class (around 70 students), you are all at least passingly familiar with each other. You can decide the exact details of your relationships. Some light to moderate antagonism can provide good roleplaying opportunities, but everything in moderation; the party will easily break apart if you absolutely hate each others' guts. 

There's room for both redemption and heroic personal arcs, where your character's experience may change their points of view. This is not a requirement, merely a possibility.

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I know some players don't like to be blindsided, so I'll include some spoilers on the early game plot that is unavoidable. After this initial railroading, you will be free to solve the problems in whichever fashion you want. If this does not appeal to you, there's no need to apply.

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System: D&D (2024), with some homebrew rules to fit the setting, listed in a separate thread.

Players: 6 players total.

Posting rate: Everyone including myself is required to post at least once a week, ideally 2-3. If you can't post within a week, let me and the other players know in advance in the OOC thread. I'd like to avoid death by inactivity. 
While I'm hesitant to do so, players may be booted from the game if they ignore repeated warnings.

Rating: I expect mature players. There will be swearing, and hints of adult activities. Nothing explicit, and we will follow Myth-Weavers' rules and guidelines.

Communication: Please let me know if you have issues with the game, another player, me or anything else. I'm unable to solve a problem I'm not aware of.

See also Rules and Guidelines.