The Crucible

The Crucible (also known as CRUX Crucible, or simply CRUX), was an ARG based on The Fear Mythos that ran from September 2011, until January 2012. It involved a tournament held by the eponymous CRUX, following the events that unfolded around them, and a slow descent into terror. While originally intended to last well into 2012, occurrences both in and out-of-game caused it to end early.

For more information about the Crucible check out its wiki, which be found here.

Synopsis
On the 13th of September, various people from across the internet (mainly Tumblr and SlenderNation) received an e-mail from someone calling themselves 'CRUX Crucible', who invited them to play a game. When people responded, they were sent a message with the details to be filled in, with the games beginning on October 1st. After corresponding with participants over e-mail, CRUX reveals various details, including the fact he knows of 'The Slender Man'. He also gave links to his Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook profile (which have since been deleted). After a handful more people join his games, he begins issuing practice challenges to participants.

Later, two more parties made their presence known. The first was D (Dante Niccals), who claimed that CRUX wasn't all he appeared to be, and was researching him to prove this point. The second was ARC_Providence, who held some kind of hatred toward CRUX, but refused to elaborate. By this point, the Mibbit Chatroom appeared, and participants began to speak to CRUX. The participants and CRUX quickly became friends, and bountiful mirth filled the chat. D even changed his tune somewhat, and became more relaxed.

But then the weird stuff began to happen. The full summary of what happened can be found here.

Protaganists

 * CRUX Crucible
 * ARC is an employee of CPIRA, also known as Operative 1711. His area of expertise is Providence (religious incidents). He is adamantly against the Crucible and refuses to talk to CRUX, viewing the game as "evil". Little else is known about him.
 * D/Dante

Players
They include the following: David, Psedumuse, Crusergirl, Banana Brains, Zander, Inkflamewriter, Pryex, SingeroftheLost, Sam4books, Tiro1000, NearTheEnd, Mennos, the_amazing_cam, Intrepid_Cat, Skye, DarkForestWarrior, KillstheBeat, Xuchilvith, Eion, TheJudge, Bard, Kashi, Quofomo, MediaGARBAGE, Shayde, and Xander.

Antagonists
Throughout the course of The Crucible, various creatures have made their presence known. Some of these creatures include The Slender Man, The Rake, EAT, The Empty City, The Cold Boy, The Plague Doctor, The Smiling Man, The Window Creature, Mothman, The Flatwoods Monster, and "The Texter".
 * The Seven Deadly Sins
 * "The Window Creature" was a being Dante was kept on seeing through his upstairs window, first seen on September 16th. He describes it as "a featureless human skin frame that was harshly pushed up against the window." The creature appeared to be holding the window shut, and Dante describes the feeling of being watched whenever he turned away from it. He also says the house began to shake and the creature shrieked whenever he tried to leave the room. The second time he encountered it, on September 17th, Dante tried to shatter the window and discovered that he couldn't for some unexplained reason. However, when the creature touched it, the glass began to crack. Dante described the creature as having features under it's skin, and that it began to smile. He quickly taped up the window and all activity stopped.
 * Skinwalker Sarah was a being RED saw several times in the Empty City. It had the appearance of his then girlfriend, but was shown to be brutal and violent. It was never revealed what type of creature it was.
 * "The Texter" was a creature that was possibly messing with text, as well as vision. A notable example is when CRUX was stalked by the Cold Boy, in which D began to say horrible things about CRUX. It is unknown whether this event was caused by a new Fear or the influence of The Choir.
 * The TREE was a supernatural phenomenon/location which targeted RED with its "branches".

Sites involved

 * Arc: Providence, Arc's Twitter
 * Dante: To Find The Truth, Always, Dante's Twitter, Dante's Facebook.
 * REC: Catalyst Chronicles Division