[b]ALWAYS ACCEPTING CHARACTERS, RACES, MAGIC, GUILDS, RELIGIONS, AND CREATURES[/b] ---- [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1478160]Signups[/url] ---- The City of Karstberg… One of the largest cities on the continent of Almara, Karstberg has a huge population. It lies in the warm southeast, where spring and summer are pleasant, and fall and winter are mild. Within, there lay many opportunities, drawing in people by the hundreds. Karstberg is renowned for its vast market district, which has sprung up around the Noble Quarter, a massive ring around the center of the city filled with shops of all kinds. Within that ring is the Noble Quarter itself, the section of the city for the wealthy and the noble. Only the very finest of homes lie in this district. It is here that visiting nobility and even royalty stay, as well. In the very center of the city lies Tessilay Tower, where the Lord Mayor Arlai Tessilay resides. The tower stretches to the skies, visible from almost everywhere in the city. Outward from the market district, to the west, lays the Theater District. Popularly known as the ‘Dream District’, it is here that elaborate plays are preformed. While they aren’t cheap, the fee to see such plays is not out of the grasp of most citizens of Karstberg. The Dream District also holds the massive Carail Theater. Named for the famous playwright Farthing Carail, the biggest and most elaborate of plays are staged here. The Dream District is filled with the often-eccentric actors and playwrights, who make their homes there as well. To the east, opposite of the Dream District, lays the Guild Quarter. The Guild Quarter is, rather self-explanatorily, home to the various Guilds of Karstberg. Rumor has it that the fabled Thieves’ Guild… does not work out of this district at all, but most official guilds of the city inhabit this district. Neighboring the Guild Quarter is the Temple District, a vast district filled with religious temples and worshippers. It even posts the greatest Temple to Reon in Almara. Northward, the city’s magic academy resides. Almagest’s Academy of Arcane Arts is a vast building, with a huge library and a massive number of teachers and students. It is equipped perfectly for the study and practice of magic. Some people come from other continents to learn magic at the Academy. To the south lies the Karstberg Port. Airships carrying goods across the country, even across oceans, and here the drop goods and passengers, or pick them up. Within the city also lies the Karstberg Museum, exhibiting artifacts from all across the world. Surrounding all of this lays residential areas, scattered taverns and inns, shops, and a vast spiderweb of alleys and tunnels. Many of the tunnels lead below… It’s a well-known fact that a vast network of catacombs occupies the space beneath Karstberg. It is very difficult to guard or monitor this place, and it has come to house various, often dangerous, creatures. Dealings of dubious legality often occur in the catacombs beneath Karstberg… Surrounding Karstberg is a sturdy wall, built to defend the city from any possible attack. However, it is not the only wall. As the city grows, new walls are constructed, causing Karstberg to have rings of walls moving outwards from the center, expanding larger and larger as more are needed to protect it. The oldest has stood for years upon years, and has never shown one sign of faltering. Beyond is the fields and wilderness of the world outside, a place only for the adventurous to brave. Welcome to Karstberg. ---- This is Karstberg, a mostly-freeform fantasy RP taking place in a city known as Karstberg! Here's some ground rules. The GMs for this RP are Rin and myself. The setting resembles the late 1700s/early 1800s, or comparable to the Enlightenment era, in technology level. There are some exceptions to this rule, including airships and some steampunk-esque technology. If you want to make some addition to this, it will require approval from either Rin or myself. Standard fantasy fare, as far as races go, applies. However, you may also make original races. They, too, require GM approval. The RP is mostly freeform, about all different things that happen in the city of Karstberg. There's no grand plot, just the adventures of all the different characters. While this means the tone may very a great deal, I would like to point out that the setting is generally fairly light and I would like to keep it that way. [b]As stated, the tone for various events can vary but this is not a dark setting. It is fairly light.[/b] The Thieves' Guild does not exist. Really. It is entirely fictitious. Stop trying to look for it because it doesn't exist. >.> <.< Be sure to have fun! ---- [b]Race Guidelines[/b]: Standard Fantasy Races Apply! Humans are humans. This is pretty straightforward. Elves are longer-lived the humans, good with magic, very slender and fae, and fairly standard as far as fantasy elves go. Dwarves are exactly the same as every dwarves ever. Orcs, however, are more overly boisterous then anything. They’re a bit crude and violent, and because of this somewhat unpopular with the other races, though. Most other races will be mostly like common descriptions of them. However, players will be allowed to make their own OC races. These races can basically be anything that the player comes up with, with some exceptions. They can’t be “all chaotic evil”. This isn’t the kind of RP for a race of evil even if there can be conflicts. ---- [b]Magic Guidelines[/b]: No reality warping, instant death, mind control, or future sight. None of these are good for RP’s. Otherwise magic is freeform. ---- [b]Guild/Religion Guidelines[/b] Be sensible. Don't go with anything ridiculous, like a guild that couldn’t exist or a religion that worships the sacrifice of sapient beings in the middle of a huge city. ---- [hider=All the Lists][b]Player Characters[/b]: Emi Demmric Tanya Palayen Aoika Mizuko [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1478466]Lakan Ting[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1479565]Irishtu Hayle[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1484555]Aron Aveldon[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1491035]Amelia Fairfax[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1500800]Aidan Thuman[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1507394]Heidi Schwarzwald[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1515208]Lord Duke[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1518006]Len Nakiya[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1481314]Calli Dockson[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1523079]Kobayashi Hitomi[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1528235]Callie Clearwater[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1532553]Adrianna Calabrese[/url] [b]Important NPC's[/b]: Arlai Tessilay The Not-Head of the Not-Thieves' Guild Franziska von Ramstein Grand Magus Morganite Angelwÿche [b]Races[/b]: Nem - Race Description: Nem are largely human in appearance. However, there are some important differences. All Nem have black hair, and their eyes are usually red or yellow. In addition, Nem never reach heights beyond 4'0, 3'5 to 3'7 being the average for an adult. They are usually slender, and all Nem are also very, very pale. Nem are best-suited for activity at night, having excellent night vision, but nothing keeps them from activity during they day aside from personal preference. Nem are rather physically fragile in comparison to other races. However, they are quite fast. Nem have a notoriously low alcohol tolerance, due to their small size. Beastkin(General) - Race Description: Beastkin is a blanket term for a variety of human-like races with animal traits. They can range from mammalian traits, like cat or wolf beastkin, to races such as squid beastkin. Beastkin(Squid) - Race Description: Squid Beastkin are a race native to the distant land of Akitsushima. Living on the costs, they are humanoid with a variety of squid features. Most notable is their tentacle-hair and their "hat". However, they also possess the ability to glow like some species of squid that live in the deep ocean, and regrew severed tentacle hair, as well as breath underwater. As far as their society goes, Squid Beastkin are often fishers or merchants, living in colonies built on rocky coastlines with easy access to the water. Vampire - Race Description: "Race" is a bit of a misnomer really, as there is no one definition for the various types of vampire. There are many, wildly varied types out there, all with different origins, innate abilities and weaknesses; really, the only thing most vampires have in common is that they need to feed on blood to survive. [url=http://safebooru.org//images/73/931be19eefd1183d396acf461c71c60e985286d1.jpg?73005]Mermaids[/url] - Race Description: Mermaids are an all-female aquatic race, possessing a fish tail in place of legs. They can breath on land and in water, but they have no easy method of moving outside of the water. Their upper body, and a hidden portion of their lower body, resembles a human body with the exception of their ears, which are larger, and webbed. Their lower body has a "sheath" that extends up and works, oddly, almost like pants, naturally covering embarrassing locations unless pulled down. Below this portion, they have a fish-like tail they use to move about underwater. Mermaids are skilled fishers. As they lack any males in their race, they are capable of reproducing with males of other races, including humans, beastkin, elves, and nem. The offspring are always mermaids, and as mermaids are always female, so are the offspring. A kingdom of mermaids lives near Karstberg, their Queen frequently meeting with the Lord Mayor for diplomatic endeavors. [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1491035]Beastkin(Fox)[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1487703]Snow Elves[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1502830]Dark Elves[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1505364]High Elves[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1505721]Pixies[/url] [b]Magic[/b]: Summoning Magic - Magic Description: Summoning Magic is not one of the easiest thaumaturgical practices. This is largely due to its nature, the piercing of the veil between realities to draw an entity from another dimension. Sibling to the plane of existence that Almara and the rest of the world lies in, this Realm of Summons is not entirely known to even those who specialize in summoning magic, as travel to it is nearly impossible. A being is drawn from this world and bound to the summoner until dismissed, though permanent bindings are possible with more advanced spells. [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1478466]Face-Off[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1479565]Necromancy[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1491035]Healing Magic[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1491035]Augmentation Magic[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1528235]Velocity Magic[/url] [b]Guilds[/b]: The Alchemist's Guild - Guild Head: Franziska von Ramstein - Guild Description: A guild formed by those who are ever so eager to pursue knowledge, the Alchemist's Guild experiments with a variety of unusual elements found throughout the world. Their goals are creation, transmutation, alteration, the ability to mold the elements that make up the world without the usage of magic. The Alchemist's Guild is housed in a large, dark building, with many pipes leading out of it to vent off smoke from experiments. In fact, it is often renovated due to damage from less stable experimentation. [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1502729]Warrior's Guild[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1502830]Gladiator and Charioteer's Guild[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1506145]Association of World Explorers[/url] [b]Religions[/b]: The Church of Reon, also known as the Church of Lilies. - Chief Deity: The Sun Goddess Reon, depicted as a small girl with pale blonde hair, fair skin, and green eyes. Her symbol is the Fleur de Lis, as her favored flower is the Lily. Mayon, a Moon Goddess closely connected to Reon, also shares some devotion. Mayon has short, black hair, fair skin, and dark red eyes. She is also taller then Reon. However, the focus is on Reon. - Religion Description: Devotion to Reon is devotion to the Sun itself. A religion practiced mostly by women, the worship of Reon is practiced by prayers to the sun and an offering of a single fresh-cut lily every day. Temples to Reon are filled with depictions of the Sun Goddess(sometimes together with Mayon), and solstones(a glowing rock) cut into the shape of the sun mounted in the walls or hanging from the ceiling. They are also filled with lilies. The Church of Mayon, also known the Church of Roses - Chief Deity: Mayon. In a reversal of the Church of Reon's beliefs, Reon is a secondary deity to Mayon. Mayon's symbol is the rose. - Religion Description: A sister religion to the Church of Reon, the Church of Mayon is very similar, instead emphasizing Mayon as the chief deity. However, they offer some devotion to Reon as well. Worship includes the sacrifice of roses, but as opposed to the burning lily sacrifice of the Reonites, Mayonites sacrifice roses by casting their petals into cool, flowing water. Mayon temples are filled with cool blue lighting, and they often neighbor Reon temples. [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1492632]Church of Beltine[/url] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1505510]Akitsushima Traditional Beliefs[/url] [b]Creatures[/b]: Skywhale - Creature Appearance: [url=https://www.weasyl.com/~xenoximen/submission/77033/xenoximen-wailord-1054998.png]Like this, but in the sky[/url] - Creature Description: Skywhales describe a small number of species of giant, flying mammals. They fly using giant airbladders carried inside their bodies, which allows them to drift through the air. They can siphon gas in and out of their airbladder in order to raise or lower altitude. Skywhales feed and drink through very unique methods. The immense creatures consume whole clouds for moisture, and they feed both by absorbing sunlight and consuming vast swarms of tiny flying creatures. Skywhales are placid creatures by nature, proving to be harmless to airships unless their is a collision. However, they were hunted for a long time for their airbladders, which were used in earlier airship designs in order to provide them with a method of lift. They are also still hunted by some cultures for their meat. Rarely, skywhale calves are sometimes available for purchase, alive. The only natural enemy for adult skywhales are western dragons. Dragons(Western) - Creature Appearance: [url=http://i.imgur.com/ztfA2N0.jpg]One of several species[/url] - Creature Description: Western Dragons are one of the most feared creatures in the world. Large, intelligent, and dangerous predators, Western Dragons possess extremely hard scales(though there are certain areas on their bodies that are not as well-armored) that make it difficult to inflict harm upon them. They have extremely sharp claws and teeth, allowing them to tear through the flesh of their prey, and even fortified walls. Thankfully, even the most aggressive species tend to stay well away from large settlements(though dwarves are liable to deal with dragons more often then many other races). However, their attacks are often classed as a natural disaster, when they do occur. Dragons are even capable of breathing fire, through a combination of an organ that produces gases and a poorly-understood thaumaturgical process that ignites them. These gases also enable dragons to attain lift even with their massive size. These processes are kept in perfect balance while a dragon is alive. If a dragon is killed, proper measures must be immediately taken or the corpse will explode within seconds of the creature's death. Dragons also exhibit the unusual habit of hording precious metals and gems, often sleeping on vast quantities of horded gold and even laying eggs in them. A dragon's gas-producing organ is prized by alchemists, but due to the dangerous nature of the creatures both before and after death, very few people are willing to attempt to slay one and harvest the organ. Dragons prey upon many creatures, including the mammoths of the far North, and even the massive skywhales. Kaiser Lizards - Creature Appearance: [url=http://0.tqn.com/d/dinosaurs/1/0/a/B/-/-/tyrannosaurusSP.jpg]An adult Kaiser Lizard[/url] - Creature Description: Kaiser Lizards are large, rare predators most frequently found on the borders between forests and plains. Reaching huge sizes, they are one of the most dangerous land-based predators on Almara. In spite of their size, they can run quickly for short bursts and rapidly outpace smaller or less athletic creatures. Kaiser Lizards are adept ambush predators, lying in wait in forested areas and bursting out of them to attack their prey. These massive predators will feed on anything that they can get their huge, bone-crushing jaws around, though they are more likely to go for larger prey items then smaller ones. Very little is known about the life cycle of Kaiser Lizards, though some reports state that adults have been seen bringing kills back to very young individuals. Mammoths - Creature Appearance: [url=http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/the-woolly-mammoth-is-a-close-relative-charles-r-knight.jpg]A mammoth[/url] - Creature Description: Mammoths are large herbivorous mammals dwelling in the far north. The live in small herds, and roam the tundra feeding on various plants that they find in the wilderness. Their large, hairy bodies retain a great deal of heat, which allows them to live in extremely cold temperatures. While mammoths are not one of the more threatening creatures, they will attack when frightened, or when protecting their young, their large size and tusks making them a formidable threat. Rarely are mammoths seen in regions with warmer temperatures, but their woolly bodies moving in small clusters across the snowy plains are quite a common sight in the far north. Skyshark - Creature Appearance: [url=http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/239/b/c/_garchomp__by_arvalis-d5clb21.jpg]Um... ignore the Pokemon stuff. <.< >.>[/url] - Creature Description: Skysharks are coast-dwelling predators. Similar in appearance to aquatic sharks, they are in fact a very different species, taking flight rather then swimming beneath the waves. Their physical similarity to the ocean-dwellers is simply a trick of nature. Preying on birds and some ground-dwelling animals, skysharks are capable of prolonged periods of flight, using their fins to make rapid directing changes in the air as they fly. Skysharks sometimes gather in small flocks and attack larger flying prey. They can even take out Skywhale calves in flocks like this. The largest flocks can kill even adult Skywhales. [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/1492646]Dire Rat[/url][/hider]