Before The Dawn [OOC]

[Raja]

@Jakers & @Stuffies12
Banished/Lone were among my top choices, but that didn't seem quite right. I think it's because her character is first and foremost driven by notions of power; it was seeking power that got her disowned by Bellepoint, it was seeking power that got her expelled from the Tower. The powerful sorceress seems kind of absurd to assert upon my own character, even though it's true. I'm going to keep thinking... Thanks for your suggestions.

And Stuffies, you are totally right about the cast! But I think it's a good thing; far better than having characters who turn to heroism purely because they see themselves as beacons of virtue and valour. Our characters aren't strictly 'heroes'; they're adventurers, and they all have their own very real ambitions that have lead them along this path. I like that!

I think the inevitable dysfunction will also be a great point of progression as the group learns to work together.

 

[Stuffies12]

Yeah I get what you mean. If I thought of the lone adjective first, chances are you would have too. In the end you know your own character best! I also never said the conflict was a bad thing. I for one am looking forward to how everyone interacts with each other. Speaking of which, how will character interaction work here? Do we have a set order we reply in or is something else? I'm afraid I'm not very familiar posting in this format with this many people at the same time!

 

[Raja]

Yeah I get what you mean. If I thought of the lone adjective first, chances are you would have too. In the end you know your own character best! I also never said the conflict was a bad thing. I for one am looking forward to how everyone interacts with each other. Speaking of which, how will character interaction work here? Do we have a set order we reply in or is something else? I'm afraid I'm not very familiar posting in this format with this many people at the same time!

No posting order. It just tends to slow things down. People are free to post whenever necessary: two or more characters engaged in a private conversation will likely post more frequently than if they were in a full-group meeting. Collaborative posts between users are also encouraged; I personally recommend the use of TitanPad for writing these, but they can be done somewhat primitively via PM or other messaging services.

In terms of the IC; I'm debating whether to start with the King's meeting, or to skip that entirely and begin with us having our own meeting outside the city. I feel like in those 'being addressed by authority' introductions (i.e. headmaster at school), you tend to just get a lot of people responding similarly to what the figure has said. But it gives the characters time inside their own head, and you get to see their personalities via their thoughts.

Similarly, skipping the assembly has its merits in that it immediately opens up interaction between characters and allows them to physically introduce themselves to each other, at the expense of giving them that 'alone time' to reflect on how they arrived at the King's service, etc.

What are you guys thoughts on this? Also, I'm considering either arcane or formidable as adjectives for Ava.

 

[Stuffies12]

I personally feel with a cast this big and diverse I'd like to see them interact with each other straight away. We can see how each character's personality is conveyed through their interactions with the other cast members without the repetition of inner thought dialogue. Maybe just give a brief overview of the king's speech and then cut to the party outside the castle or wherever.

I'd go with arcane but either works!

 

[Raja]

I personally feel with a cast this big and diverse I'd like to see them interact with each other straight away. We can see how each character's personality is conveyed through their interactions with the other cast members without the repetition of inner thought dialogue. Maybe just give a brief overview of the king's speech and then cut to the party outside the castle or wherever.

I'd go with arcane but either works!

I think you're right on both parts. Thanks.

 

[Ythania]

Not entirely an adjective, but perhaps throw in my old friend 'Pariah', then you can smack in an 'Arcane', or powerful, or majical, whatever takes your fancy.

I'm for skipping the assembly. All this pomp and grandeur wouldn't quite click with the group as is; nevertheless, do give us a couple paragraphs on how it went down. Because if people haven't guessed the very, very subtle hint, the king in TYRANnia might just be a tyrant.

Means we can physically introduce ourselves, get right into the story, and the clever ones will include a psychological viewpoint into their intro posts.

As a side request, for the love of every old and new God that was crawled out of your glorious brain; please do all the little awkward things on our travels, such as "not-enough-room-for-all-of-you-so-you-have-to-sleep-nearly-on-top-of-each-other" tavern rooms, someone getting food poisoning (looking at you, Nosteryte owners), offending a native populace's culture, forgetting money/tents/clothes, the good ol' women bathing scene, needing the loo at the worst of times, getting woken up at the crack of dawn because our host is a crazy nut who loves to watch the sunrise...

I feel most RPs ignore these things. They're what make a journey all the bette, but it does invoke the use of time skips. Oh, and a sense of time during the day would be lovely, would like to know what meal they would be eating and how sleepy they are.

Just ignore the damned autocorrects, assume I mean what I mean and ask if its too difficult, I think I dislocated my finger trying that crap out. Grumpy Rainy.

 

[Raja]

Not entirely an adjective, but perhaps throw in my old friend 'Pariah', then you can smack in an 'Arcane', or powerful, or majical, whatever takes your fancy.

I'm for skipping the assembly. All this pomp and grandeur wouldn't quite click with the group as is; nevertheless, do give us a couple paragraphs on how it went down. Because if people haven't guessed the very, very subtle hint, the king in TYRANnia might just be a tyrant.

Means we can physically introduce ourselves, get right into the story, and the clever ones will include a psychological viewpoint into their intro posts.

As a side request, for the love of every old and new God that was crawled out of your glorious brain; please do all the little awkward things on our travels, such as "not-enough-room-for-all-of-you-so-you-have-to-sleep-nearly-on-top-of-each-other" tavern rooms, someone getting food poisoning (looking at you, Nosteryte owners), offending a native populace's culture, forgetting money/tents/clothes, the good ol' women bathing scene, needing the loo at the worst of times, getting woken up at the crack of dawn because our host is a crazy nut who loves to watch the sunrise...

I feel most RPs ignore these things. They're what make a journey all the bette, but it does invoke the use of time skips. Oh, and a sense of time during the day would be lovely, would like to know what meal they would be eating and how sleepy they are.

Just ignore the damned autocorrects, assume I mean what I mean and ask if its too difficult, I think I dislocated my finger trying that crap out. Grumpy Rainy.

Absolutely! I've explained this a few times via PM, but I think I should make it clear here in the public for everyone to understand:

I have an over-arcing plot planned. I also have several subplots that are fleshed out and ready to go. But, and here's the important bit: I will not be dictating a linear path for the adventurers to follow. I want the direction our adventure takes to be genuine, authentic and spontaneous; choices on where the group should head next and what their plans are should be decided in-character. (Though of course, you can discuss them OOC, too.) The main point of this is that you, the players, will be in control of where the story goes.

Of course, I'd be no excuse for a GM if I hadn't given this a lot of thought. The entire map has been planned over a long period of time, and no matter which route is taken, there will be some kind of mystery to solve; some of which are independent, some of which feed into the main plotline. It's taken a lot of work to strategically place things in such a way that (aside from villages intended as 'resting towns' for planning next steps), every location has a story to tell and can offer you a piece of the greater puzzle.

My role as a GM will be to react to the choices you've made, and (through my posts as The Narrator and NPCs), give you enough information to figure out what the next steps should be. I really want you guys to feel part of the adventure. It might seem lazy on my part, like I don't have a particular goal in mind, but I can assure you that I've put an awful lot of thought into the plot! I just feel that me saying "OK, now we're going here to do this" is not overtly engaging, so I've tried to make it a collaborative and interactive process that still fulfils my needs in terms of plot.

I hope that all made sense. TL;DR: I won't be making the decisions on where we go, what we do. You will. There is an over-arcing plot that affects all of Tyrannia and I have assured that, wherever you choose to visit, there will be secrets to unearth and plotpoints to address.

 

[Silvir]

BIOGRAPHY PHYSICALITY ATTRIBUTES BELONGINGS HISTORY

• 
  BIRTHNAME:
  Adrianna Forge
  
  OTHER NAMES:
  Adri
  
  AGE:
  23
  
  GENDER:
  Female
  
  RACE:
  Dwarf
  
  BIRTHPLACE:
  Amorynthia - Dray
  
  RELIGION:
  The old gods
  
  
• 
  HEIGHT:
  4.7
  
  WEIGHT:
  115
  
  
  APPEARANCE:
  
  
  
  
• 
  PERSONALITY:
  Adri's personality is rough and honest. With a certain lack of manners she tends to speak before she thinks. And while many will consider this woman rude and offensive
  There is a good side to this. With life experience this dwarf values honesty highly and once you have gained her trust she is fiercely loyal to her friends.
  However do not take this simple and rough surface for the whole character, behind this is intellect that has simply remained unpolished
  
  SKILLS, STRENGTHS & TALENTS:
  Adrianna is pretty much an unpolished intellectual. Good at grasping information from around her and putting it to use her brawling style of combat becomes something more complex than just brute forcing her opponents as one would probably expect at first.
  Skilled at dealing with several opponents or even go one on one vs more skilled ones to draw out a fight. She is a good vanguard to keep along in any party thanks to her ability to support a group both in battle and outside it.
  Thanks to a sharp memory she carries pieces of knowledge in many things without excelling in any except perhaps craftsmanship and repairs.
  
  WEAKNESSES & DRAWBACKS:
  With lack of length like a human and having a temperament Adrianna is held back from reaching true potential. This is evident even to her self and creates frustration whilst also making it a touchy subject.
  Further hitting her self confidence is the fear or destroying brittle things. With hands used to rough materials she is not good with treating wounds, cooking or gently handling people or objects. As such stress can make her over react emotionally to different situations.
  
  
• 
  ATTIRE:
  When relaxed she dresses lightly disliking the constriction of most clothing and also she is not very sensitive to cold even for a dwarf.
  But in battle she wears a patch work of thick cloth and pieces of metal as a good armour will cost you a hefty sum and this gal spends her money on other things
  
  WEAPONS:
  Focusing on brawling like battles Adri carries more counters then weapons. In the shape of parry knifes, things to throw and enchanted anti magic items to counter mages. But when venturing out she enjoys an armguard shield and a sword
  
  TOOLS:
  Repairing skills are welcomed everywhere and also helps save money as much as it can earn them and so a small wrapping of tools for repairs and maintenance is ever present.
  
  PERSONAL ITEMS:
  Carrying a beautiful necklace from her father, that has been enchanted to glow in the dark when a certain phrase is said. Beyond that Adri carries little else of personal value
  
• 
  Not everyone has an eventful past. Adrianna certainly didn't it was a rather dull common story of a young girl growing up in a family of Masons and Smiths dominated by men, the sole daughter of the family quickly developed a strong individual personality hanging with her brothers and the other kids on the streets of the shipyard town. Of course since humans dominated the place there was cultural change in the younger dwarf generations growing up there and they held a greater interest in what humans considered fashionable and cool.
  
  For Adrianna who turned out to grow taller then most dwarfs it was of course a bit more complicated as she also like some few other dwarfs discovered her first interest in the other gender to also belong to the other race.
  
  And as most first loves that blooms it is clumsy and filled with misunderstandings brewing a dramatic event to soon after shatter the young inexperienced views of children in love.
  A painful yet necessary experience that helps them grow up. For Adri it quickly dimmed the flame of love and interest for it in her heart and she focused more on learning her family trade even though it greatly bored her. "And as clichéd stories would have it" to quote the girl her self. Adrianna was of course similar to her father in personality and thus rarely got along with the old man.
  
  Tired of loud debates with her parents on future choices. And the boring town that felt like it was slowly drowning her in it's simple flourish, Adri the now teenage girl did an impulsive move, dropped a letter on the kitchen table, took her things and left. Of course deciding to do this on impulse over night created a whole set of issues for the girl as she trotted out of town.
  Like it being rain season, her choice of package being anything but fitting for an aimless journey.
  And as tough and cocky she might be Adri was still a child.
  
  But here started her true journey. at it's beginnings quite pathetic, poor and sleeping under bushes. But slowly, escaping bandits, helping travellers and working for a meagre meal the girl grew in body and mind. Until she found her self with an odd group of nomadic people that taught her the ropes of the wild.
  From there on she felt the taste of adventure and knowledge allowing her mind to roam free. She tried her ways in hunting, both bounties and animals and learned a thing or two before moving on to exploring the wilds and ruins often acting escort and guide for the academical people or the rich aristocrats playing their own little adventure.
  
  It was fun, it was free but it was not without cost as life is never to easy.
  Love once again founds it's way into Adriannas life, this time as an eccentric and well of young man who drew her in with his strange thinking and humour. It made her happy and relaxed her guard which is when he showed who he really was and dumped her with little but clothes on her body alongside the road unable to get back at him.
  The only stroke of luck was how close it was to her home town.
  
  Where this proud girl rejoined with her family, broken by previous events it was a good remedy to return home and be welcomed. And in the years gone past she had never thought she would have loved home sweet home as much as she did in this moment.
  The smell of the shipyards, mothers cooking and the sound of her fathers tools in the background. Safe and comfortable in well known places that moved in their own little world.
  
  But alas once the cub has tasted the feeling of adventure it does not easily forget it. And with a town like Dray news moved as fast as the merchants could move their wares. And Adrianna felt the tug of the world each tale and gossip. Hearing the Kings call the Dwarf girl couldn't help but want to try her own luck in things. Knowing what she did this she felt was something she had to take part of.
  

​

 

[Navi Jay]

No posting order. It just tends to slow things down. People are free to post whenever necessary: two or more characters engaged in a private conversation will likely post more frequently than if they were in a full-group meeting. Collaborative posts between users are also encouraged; I personally recommend the use of TitanPad for writing these, but they can be done somewhat primitively via PM or other messaging services.

In terms of the IC; I'm debating whether to start with the King's meeting, or to skip that entirely and begin with us having our own meeting outside the city. I feel like in those 'being addressed by authority' introductions (i.e. headmaster at school), you tend to just get a lot of people responding similarly to what the figure has said. But it gives the characters time inside their own head, and you get to see their personalities via their thoughts.

Similarly, skipping the assembly has its merits in that it immediately opens up interaction between characters and allows them to physically introduce themselves to each other, at the expense of giving them that 'alone time' to reflect on how they arrived at the King's service, etc.

What are you guys thoughts on this? Also, I'm considering either arcane or formidable as adjectives for Ava.

@Raja Suggestion: Maybe we all recieved a set of directions from the King or it was just posted somewhere I don't know that we had to meet in a certain spot and find out directive there and then it can be us all reacting to said directive and creating a point of attack. Why does the king want US? And what does he want is to do? Maybe the adventurers do not know that and it will all be revealed to them there.

 

[GreatWest]

Oooh, to see everyone so invested in this role play makes me so excited. And it's such a relief to see a GM who actually thought of everything, and not just the main plot. I believe this will be a long, but great journey. Honestly, I'm jumping on my seat, ready to make the first post.

Also, I'll have to agree with @RainyDays on the little details, I believe it's those awkward situations that might put this dysfunctional group on the right foot.

Damn, I'm so ready.

 

[Raja]

@Raja Suggestion: Maybe we all recieved a set of directions from the King or it was just posted somewhere I don't know that we had to meet in a certain spot and find out directive there and then it can be us all reacting to said directive and creating a point of attack. Why does the king want US? And what does he want is to do? Maybe the adventurers do not know that and it will all be revealed to them there.

I think you might be onto something there, Navi. If any of the adventurers were not skeptical of the King's true intentions, they ought to be when he doesn't even bother to meet the people he's sending on this mission. And we get to skip the tired of cliche of 'Adventurers addressed by king; leave city via some sort of parade in order to begin their journey, then ultimately end up stopping immediately outside the city gates to form some kind of plan'.

Great suggestions thus far, thank you all. Keep them coming.

 

[Navi Jay]

I hope this RP will last. I have not been in a long term RP in awhile, so much can happen in an rp that spans across months...

 

[Telfair]

As most have stated already, I can not wait until this story unfolds. This roleplay has taken on such a dynamic shape that I foresee it being quite the epic. Raja, thank you for including us in this story of your's, you are doing a bang up job as a GM.

I do agree with @RainyDays, little details are important and seeing how characters interact with those kind of scenes really fleshes them out.

In terms of beginning, I too vote for skipping the meeting. The king being himself would harbor little etiquette.

@Navi Jay had a great idea in being told to meet at a designated spot by means of letter, personally I love the thought. There would be so much confusion and interaction in the opening scene, as well as allowing others to state how they got their summons, even go back in detail in their minds.

I apologize about jumping in a bit late, this last weekend has been a busy one for me.

 

[Raja]

I would personally like to thank all of you who have applied thus far. I would be lying if I said I didn't expect the roleplay to gather attention, as everyone loves a fantasy roleplay. What has surprised me is the sheer quality of work you have all submitted; the characters, the discussions and the input from you all thus far has just been incredible.

I'm flattered by all the generous comments you have been leaving in my favour; and as excited as you are to get the show on the road. As most of you have said; something about this group just gives me a really positive feeling. I have faith that together we can do some really cool stuff.

Thank you all!

 

[Navi Jay]

I would personally like to thank all of you who have applied thus far. I would be lying if I said I didn't expect the roleplay to gather attention, as everyone loves a fantasy roleplay. What has surprised me is the sheer quality of work you have all submitted; the characters, the discussions and the input from you all thus far has just been incredible.

I'm flattered by all the generous comments you have been leaving in my favour; and as excited as you are to get the show on the road. As most of you have said; something about this group just gives me a really positive feeling. I have faith that together we can do some really cool stuff.

Thank you all!

We wouldn't have anything to be so interested in without your amazing writing and attention to detail!

 

[Navi Jay]

Hey, guys when exactly are we going to get started?

 

[Raja]

Hey, guys when exactly are we going to get started?

I'm going to be closing the roleplay to new applicants on Wednesday 28th evening, UK-time. Anyone who has previously displayed interest will still get the chance to submit a sheet to be reviewed but the IC will be going up in time for the weekend, and when that happens no new sheets will be accepted; with the exception of several people with whom I have already discussed an extension.

Regarding your own sheet, I'm liking what you have so far. I'm assuming it isn't finished as I haven't seen anything from you implying otherwise; but I may have missed it. As it stands, what I really need to see is more backstory. So far all you have is the events leading up to her birth, which is good, but what I'm really interested in is seeing her life up to now so that I can get a feel for why she has turned out the way she has. Her personality is very similar to that of Avarielle, my own character, but this isn't an issue as it can create an interesting dynamic between the two. A good backstory should make me believe in the character's identity, so keep that in mind when finishing yours.

It would also be good if you could adjust the formatting, as Iwaku seems to be behaving particularly unforgivingly for you! I would suggest switching to the 'BB Code' editor in the top right corner of the text area, and deleting any stray bits of code that are causing your tabs to split and your fonts to change.

Hope this helps! And rest assured it is looking good so far.

 

[Navi Jay]

I know and i've played around with it SO much to the point of me almost screaming, this is all new to me i've never used this formating before and I really like it it makes everything so easier to be honest. And now that i'm reading your CS deeply for the first time (I read it before of course, when I first joined) and our characters do have similar personalities....damnit. I don't like when this happens, i'll try to adjust Feyre a little but I swear I didn't copy yours or anything.

 

[Raja]

I know and i've played around with it SO much to the point of me almost screaming, this is all new to me i've never used this formating before and I really like it it makes everything so easier to be honest. And now that i'm reading your CS deeply for the first time (I read it before of course, when I first joined) and our characters do have similar personalities....damnit. I don't like when this happens, i'll try to adjust Feyre a little but I swear I didn't copy yours or anything.

No, that's not what I meant at all! They are very different characters with similar personalities; I think that's pretty realistic! I didn't invent the 'betrayed' archetype and I didn't think you were copying at all; I think her personality is fine, I think it just needs to be justified through her backstory some more. For example, you mention within the personality section that she has been betrayed; flesh things like this out in the backstory and everything will be brilliant.

Also, don't be so hard on yourself regarding the formatting! You're not the only one to have struggled; it's an inconsistency on Iwaku's part that makes using lots of code in the Rich Text Editor somewhat problematic. It likes to add rogue bits of code for no particular reason. If you switch to the BB Code Editor through that button on the top right, then go to the places in your text where the 'splits' happen (for example, one of your splits is between the lines "What are their views and beliefs?" and "WEAKNESSES & DRAWBACKS".)

You should find in these splits some sort of rogue coding when using the BB editor. It will usually be closing tags with no openers, i.e. "[/FONT][/LEFT]", which seems to be the most common ones in my experiences. Delete these bits of code and it should all slot together nicely!

 

[Navi Jay]

Alright thank you, and I am going to elaborate on the whole 'betrayed' bit, I just really really hate histories because I get all excited and then bite off more than I can crew and it ends up being 5 docs long and it takes forever...I like detail and I love to be specific and i'm about to update it again of about a page in a half more content, thats as much as I could hash out tonight, and i'll probably finish tomorrow.