[OOC] The Caravan - A Halloween MiniRP

[ArenaSnow]

The Caravan

A Halloween Mini-RP

^{This image looked much bigger on google. D:}

Mmm... mmm... so you want to go north, do ya? Haven't ya heard of the crap up there? I mean, sure, life o' solitude n' all, but the strider demon thingies, horrid weather, worse n' worse roads-
Oh, a set mind is it? Fine, fine, I'll tell ya how to go north. Keep talk'in.
Not pulling your leg! I'm the only way north. Don' give me that look, ya had it coming just by asking to go up there in the first place. Hundred per-cent success rate, yes indeed. I always come back, after all. If 'tis north you're set on, north I'll take ya, given that seems the only point o' my existence anyways. Fifteen coins, the golden thingies. There's that face again. Come now, it's a good fee for a journey of that length. Unless ya have a mind for walk'in, that is.
You'll pay? Good good. I'll just wait for a few more poor sods to come along and we'll be well on our way, hopefully we can scrape on by those blasted storms comin' round this season...
Welcome to the caravan. Don't get the floors too dirty, you'll be sleeping on 'em for a while.

---

Welcome to The Caravan, a high-free/low-casual/up to mid-casual level roleplay where for whatever reason or another, you have a character that wants to go north. What's north? Peace away from kingdoms in constant civil war, where superstition is rife, demon worshiping is rampant and a necromancer is tearing the hell out of three nations at once. Sounds like a good reason to brave the unknown dangers of the Northern Wood? Only if you're mad, desperate or don't give a damn.

You can bring almost any sort of character that isn't blatantly "out there" in one regard or another - dragons, demons, angels, extremely or simply very powerful beings of other types, archmages are off the table*. Otherwise, you can bring pretty much whomever you want. The only thing, in fact, where I expect the crew to come together is the fact everyone just wants to leave the southern factions. If you're a dethroned lord, a fugitive highwayman, a political offender, a mage looking for some peace - up to you, there is no judgement in the caravan.

The caravan's occupancy is 8 folks plus a rather eccentric driver with two horses, which will either be filled by players (preferably) or a mix of players and NPCs. If you think you have the dedication to bring two characters, go ahead, but my feathers will be ruffled doubly if you sag along.

The action won't be set on the caravan, by the way - it's just the context. Without spoiling too much, the caravan's journey is going to be a little short - opening post short.

This is not a roleplay that will last many months; it'll last a month. A post every 2 days is preferable, even if it's something small. I'll start bugging ya if we end up waiting on ya past the 2 day mark, but up to that you're in the clear. I don't like to railroad; given the goal of being short I'll be sticking to a general plot that will come to fruition (given considerable influence by players, of course, as my works are not set in stone). The directions you go are your own; even if you drop off the group and take your own path I'll dedicate a spot to you each IC post.

The world is fantasy based with some cannons/guns to wealthier or better connected sorts. Otherwise, consider this a generally mid-fantasy context with 14th century Europe tech and some (as the concept image might suggest) diablo-verse referencing. The starting town will be skimming the edges of a desert in a plains area with large forests to the north, with relatively mild weather that is in contrast with the northern reaches. The southern part of the world is intentionally vast, meaning you can put in a pretty good variety of characters.

I'd like 8 folks at max; the large group tag is only partially applicable in my mind on a technicality. I doubt we'll hit that high number :p

Yeah. That's it. Oh yes, and boring mechanics and rules and junk.

Rules

1. I'm a somewhat lax guy in that I let ideas flow. But even though I can be a lax king, I'm still a king who knows how to hold his reign, if ya know what I mean.
2. Here's a simple one. No BS. I'll follow my own rule and summarize the above. I let ideas that don't damage the roleplay's environment fly, and if they do happen to cause issues or simply don't fit I'll shoot them down like the two-faced king I am.
3. This is a slightly faster paced roleplay, so do please make a little time out of your day just to check it, if not come up with a paragraph (it doesn't even have to go past small) one while you're looking. Do what you can - if you're getting a block and can't work past a little paragraph, keep things going and put up that little paragraph.
4. No bitching about other people's length unless I'm the one doing it, in which case I shall bitch politely. Work past one liners and get a paragraph up, realize this isn't the roleplay to write novellas.
5. Guild rules. Keep that sexy shit outta here. Swearing, well, *cough*
6. I look nice, but I bite like a mofo when people pull rule 2 stuff. So here's an excuse to use 2 rules on you instead of one if that happens.
7. Hate each other all you like IC. OOC, again, keep that shit outta here.
8. Adhere to the Micro-Unsaid-But-Applies-Anyway Codebook of Unsaid Codes 2016
^ English: Use your brain when you do stuff, eh? Mistake is OK. Chronic mistake after I point it out 5 times not ok.

Mechanics

Standard roleplaying procedure, except I'll spare the ambiguity of the environment by posting environment screenshots for you. If you go into a new area, write until you get to that unexplored corner and say you turned the corner without mentioning seeing anything (because I haven't shown it to you yet). There's an element of exploration here I'm trying out. Feel free to explore IC; if you see a crate, go write about walking over there and pulling the cover off to see what's inside. Trapdoor? Have a peek. Want to go somewhere you don't have permission to go? I'm not my characters, it's not like there's a god rule saying you cannot move somewhere, just know there's consequences for every action :)

Accepted Players/Character List

@rocketrobie2's Baldur the Great, @Proxi's Raven, @xChrome's Jameson, @Achronum's Skylar, @Oliver's Ivan, and @Sombrero's Robart.

@ArenaSnow's presently nameless caravan master and the environment at large.

Story So Far

A guy posts and OOC and hopes people pop in.

uFAQ

(un)Frequently Asked Questions because nobody actually asked questions yet

Character Sheet

Paragraph for description, personality and backstory would be nice. Doesn't have to be a massive paragraph given the section, naturally.
[img]Image url, if applicable - not a requirement. [center] tag is nice too.[/img]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b] And/or apparent age (looks 20, is 60)
[b]Description:[/b] Broad appearance, in conjunction with image or by itself. What clothing, what's the general figure, and anything that stands out.
[b]Gender:[/b] I need this because of how badly I suck with genders. I give up on pronouns and use male unless explicitly otherwise is stated.
[b]Personality:[/b] What should folks expect from him in interaction, and what do you hold yourself to when using this char?
[b]Backstory:[/b] Don't think way too hard about this one, just a little on who ya got, how he got there and the like will do.
[b]Skills[/b]: Just tacked this on, a short blurb on the things your character can do.
[b]Extra:[/b] I'd like to start this up rather quickly, but if you want to stick more stuff in, feel free.

*sigh* I'm done. Poke me if I missed something. Oh, and yes, still accepting folks - but it'll be harder to get in given our progress. Post your CS and if it's acceptable I'll throw over a PM.

[ArenaSnow]

@dragonmancer, @Lady Athena, @Nikki Moonlight, @rocketrobie2, I summon thee!

This is the concept as defined more fully, if you don't hold an interest in it at this point I'll understand.

I posted this in casual, but know this is more of a high-free/low casual roleplay - I'd like a paragraph and folks can do more, but there's more room in here if you can't ek out something of too much depth in a short time period.

[xChrome]

First time rp-er here, I assume I apply over here?

Name: Jameson

Age: is 21, looks 21

Description: Jameson is your typical, run of the mill cowboy-type character, wearing a cowboy hat and a dark long overcoat. He is of average build and height, slightly bearded. He believes in travelling light and sufficient so he carries around a canteen, a knife and 2 revolvers (better safe than sorry he says). He looks worn from all the travelling but has the look of determination of a young man.

Gender: Male

Personality: Jameson keeps to himself most of the time but is a friendly guy who believes that travellers should help each other whenever possible, especially during times like these. However, he wasn't born yesterday and knows when someone is being "overly appreciative" of his kindness. He hates evil of all kind and will do his best to stop them whenever he comes across them in his travels even if it means bending over backwards at times.

Backstory: Jameson is from a land way down south, however he spent most of his adult years travelling and seeking a more meaningful life than tending to the livestock back home. He travelled to many places and has seen many things, but never did he leave the safety and familiarity of his own land. After hearing news of a caravan that brings people north, he decided that perhaps it's time to look for something more foreign to satisfy his adventurous young heart.

[ArenaSnow]

First time rp-er here, I assume I apply over here?

Name: Jameson

Age: is 21, looks 21

Description: Jameson is your typical, run of the mill cowboy-type character, wearing a cowboy hat and a dark long overcoat. He is of average build and height, slightly bearded. He believes in travelling light and sufficient so he carries around a canteen, a knife and 2 revolvers (better safe than sorry he says). He looks worn from all the travelling but has the look of determination of a young man.

Gender: Male

Personality: Jameson keeps to himself most of the time but is a friendly guy who believes that travellers should help each other whenever possible, especially during times like these. However, he wasn't born yesterday and knows when someone is being "overly appreciative" of his kindness. He hates evil of all kind and will do his best to stop them whenever he comes across them in his travels even if it means bending over backwards at times.

Backstory: Jameson is from a land way down south, however he spent most of his adult years travelling and seeking a more meaningful life than tending to the livestock back home. He travelled to many places and has seen many things, but never did he leave the safety and familiarity of his own land. After hearing news of a caravan that brings people north, he decided that perhaps it's time to look for something more foreign to satisfy his adventurous young heart.

@xChrome

Welcome :) May you have successful adventures here.

The char itself works well, and I think he shall fit. What I will say, though, is revolvers aren't a common weapon by any means and that tech is still at the point where people will still find it practical to run around with a sword on the battlefield. That said, the lore of the world is rather open, so he should fit in (expect strange looks at the guns from some people, though :p).

Welcome aboard, feel free to stick your char into the Char tab.

I made a few adjustments to the paragraph on setting (clarification), if you'd like to modify in light of them feel free to.

[xChrome]

Thanks for welcoming me on board your caravan sir :D

Anyways, I made a slight modification regarding my weapon of choice and posted my character in the Char tab. It should be a bit more balanced now, you have my word that I won't go blowing heads off whenever I draw my guns.

[ArenaSnow]

@xChrome Oh, and I slapped a little section just above extra for skills, my apologies. if you can just stick a couple things your char can do in there that would be great :)

[xChrome]

@ArenaSnow Alright, not a problem, I was wondering where I should mention my skills anyway haha. Edited and added some stuff, should be the basic of my character now.

[ArenaSnow]

@ArenaSnow Alright, not a problem, I was wondering where I should mention my skills anyway haha. Edited and added some stuff, should be the basic of my character now.

@xChrome

Danke, welcome again and lets hope others pop in, eh? :)

[Lady Athena]

CHARACTER SHEET UNDER CONSTRUCTION HERE

"Keep clear!"

[ArenaSnow]

CHARACTER SHEET UNDER CONSTRUCTION HERE

"Keep clear!"

@Lady Athena

[Proxi]

(this is gonna be my first time playing as a male character on this site. Hope it goes okay.)

Name: Raven.

Age: 19.

Description: Raven has a fairly tall, muscular body. He's six feet and 2 inches in height and his build isn't like that of a bodybuilder, but one can clearly see that he is fairly strong and agile. His clothes consist of a chainmail jacket with a gray shirt underneath. His pants are dark green and have several pockets. His shoes are black boots. He wears clawed gauntlets that have spikes on the knuckles, these are his primary weapons. He also has a amulet on a necklace shaped like a dragon's head that gives him full immunity to unwanted spells, curses, hexes, jinxes, and the like. Although some things can bypass it. (like, a spell that makes an anvil fall on you. The emblem doesn't make you immune to falling anvils, just stuff like death spells, spells that turn him into something else or manipulate his body or mind, curses that make inexplicable bad things happen to him, etc.) his face is fairly slender and smooth as he dies not grow facial hair. His eyes are a bright green and his hair is black and medium length. His eyes are deep and intense looking, or cheerful and jovial looking, or fierce and wild looking, depending on his mood. Raven's skin is pale and smooth.

Gender: Male.

Backstory: Raven was a martial arts student in a city caught up in civil war during his teenage years. However he had a distrust of the military and the government due to some shady things he had evidence of them being up to, such as his friend's sister mysteriously disappearing and reappearing now remembering what happened to her but having injuries showing sighs of interrogation on her body. Not only that, but multiple times guards broke into and searched his private space, when Raven despised. So when he was at the age of 18, and was drafted into war because of his hand-to-hand combat proficiency and healthy body, he ran away from home. Not wanting to join the ranks of the same people who ransacked his room on multiple occasions and taxed the hell out of him as soon as he started his first job as an assistant to the teachers at the martial arts school. Not to mention the possibility of the violent interrogations. All these things were because his city was losing the war, and Raven didn't intend to join a battle that was pointless, a waste of time in the first place, and where his side was about to lose before long anyway. He definitely didn't want to end up dead on the battlefield all because some rich Noble in his city wanted more land and resources. So he fled from the military to head north, hoping to get away from the constant wars and commonly occuring street fights where no bystander was safe. (all the town guards had been appointed into the front lines and the wall defenses. The result? Near-anarchy.) along with other poor conditions. His family was barely connected to him, and his friends had moved on to other cities, became soldiers, or mysteriously disappeared. So with nobody to stay for, raven then left the city altogether and headed north where he found the caravan. Deciding that with his combat training, durable claw weapons, an amulet that was said to help him protect himself from sorcery and the occult, he could be of some assistance to the other travelers and stuck around them because they were likely to have food.

Personality: Friendly, rarely that excited about anything, cheeky and sarcastic at times when someone does something to irritate him, confident, and easily scoffs at romance and sex. He is completely asexual and aromantic with no interest in being more then best friends. He is fairly energetic and optimistic, but will speak his mind when he's tired or the situation isn't good for him for a long period of time. Maybe even a little too much. Sometimes he strokes his own ego about his skill with the combat gauntlets and his athletic capabilities, but Raven rarely puts down the abilities of others and its not especially difficult to earn his respect. Earning his trust is a bit more difficult.

Skills: To sum it up, he is good at hand-to-hand and gauntlets and knives. Good at athletics and agility-based tasks as well. Fairly strong and can take a few hits if he has to. Knows a lot about the anatomy and weaknesses of the human body, and just how to take advantage of them. Also has lots of balancing skills as part of his athleticism.

[ArenaSnow]

(this is gonna be my first time playing as a male character on this site. Hope it goes okay.)

Name: Raven.

Age: 19.

Description: Raven has a fairly tall, muscular body. He's six feet and 2 inches in height and his build isn't like that of a bodybuilder, but one can clearly see that he is fairly strong and agile. His clothes consist of a chainmail jacket with a gray shirt underneath. His pants are dark green and have several pockets. His shoes are black boots. He wears clawed gauntlets that have spikes on the knuckles, these are his primary weapons. He also has a amulet on a necklace shaped like a dragon's head that gives him full immunity to unwanted spells, curses, hexes, jinxes, and the like. Although some things can bypass it. (like, a spell that makes an anvil fall on you. The emblem doesn't make you immune to falling anvils, just stuff like death spells, spells that turn him into something else or manipulate his body or mind, curses that make inexplicable bad things happen to him, etc.) his face is fairly slender and smooth as he dies not grow facial hair. His eyes are a bright green and his hair is black and medium length. His eyes are deep and intense looking, or cheerful and jovial looking, or fierce and wild looking, depending on his mood. Raven's skin is pale and smooth.

Gender: Male.

Backstory: Raven was a martial arts student in a city caught up in civil war during his teenage years. However he had a distrust of the military and the government due to some shady things he had evidence of them being up to, such as his friend's sister mysteriously disappearing and reappearing now remembering what happened to her but having injuries showing sighs of interrogation on her body. Not only that, but multiple times guards broke into and searched his private space, when Raven despised. So when he was at the age of 18, and was drafted into war because of his hand-to-hand combat proficiency and healthy body, he ran away from home. Not wanting to join the ranks of the same people who ransacked his room on multiple occasions and taxed the hell out of him as soon as he started his first job as an assistant to the teachers at the martial arts school. Not to mention the possibility of the violent interrogations. All these things were because his city was losing the war, and Raven didn't intend to join a battle that was pointless, a waste of time in the first place, and where his side was about to lose before long anyway. He definitely didn't want to end up dead on the battlefield all because some rich Noble in his city wanted more land and resources. So he fled from the military to head north, hoping to get away from the constant wars and commonly occuring street fights where no bystander was safe. (all the town guards had been appointed into the front lines and the wall defenses. The result? Near-anarchy.) along with other poor conditions. His family was barely connected to him, and his friends had moved on to other cities, became soldiers, or mysteriously disappeared. So with nobody to stay for, raven then left the city altogether and headed north where he found the caravan. Deciding that with his combat training, durable claw weapons, an amulet that was said to help him protect himself from sorcery and the occult, he could be of some assistance to the other travelers and stuck around them because they were likely to have food.

Personality: Friendly, rarely that excited about anything, cheeky and sarcastic at times when someone does something to irritate him, confident, and easily scoffs at romance and sex. He is completely asexual and aromantic with no interest in being more then best friends. He is fairly energetic and optimistic, but will speak his mind when he's tired or the situation isn't good for him for a long period of time. Maybe even a little too much. Sometimes he strokes his own ego about his skill with the combat gauntlets and his athletic capabilities, but Raven rarely puts down the abilities of others and its not especially difficult to earn his respect. Earning his trust is a bit more difficult.

Skills: To sum it up, he is good at hand-to-hand and gauntlets and knives. Good at athletics and agility-based tasks as well. Fairly strong and can take a few hits if he has to. Knows a lot about the anatomy and weaknesses of the human body, and just how to take advantage of them. Also has lots of balancing skills as part of his athleticism.

@Proxi

This shall work. Seems to be a trend of young folks. So many young, healthy gents that would rather brave the northern reaches than engage in southern bickering...

One thing I will say on the subject of the amulet, given other character abilities, is that out of my five level scale of magical immunities it ranks as a 2. That means absolutely nothing to you at the moment, just a detail I'll have in the background.

Throw him in :) Welcome to the caravan.

@Lady Athena


@dragonmancer, @Nikki Moonlight, @rocketrobie2
Still have a marginal interest?

[rocketrobie2]

@ArenaSnow Shoot! I forgot about this but I am defiantly still interested. Sorry about that! I'll get a CS going.

[Proxi]

@ArenaSnow Okay thanks for accepting me.

[rocketrobie2]

Name: Baldur the Great
Age: 50 and looks it
Description: Baldur is in decent shape for his age but his ‘experience’ is beginning to show as his hairs are getting greyer and whiter.
Gender: Male
Personality: Baldur was once a very chipper and passionate magician and mage but now he is little more than a husk of a man. His previous attitude towards life is now buried beneath heaps of experience in the world but sometimes one can catch a glimpse of the wide eyed struggling magician beneath his beaten exterior.
Backstory: Baldur keeps his past pretty secretive but what he is more than liberal of sharing is his failed stint as a Magician. When he was younger he began studying slight of hand and similar fake magics while also learning some real magic on the side to spice up his act. His act didn’t go very far and he ended up needing to give up on his dream of making it big. Later on in life he worked as a librarian but decided that he wanted to move up North to get away from the political drama of the south.
Skills: He’s shown that ability to cast a few basic spells such as small fires or magic lights. He’s still very adept at slight of hand tricks and subterfuge overall. He’s pretty good at stick fighting and he can tell a mean story when he’s in the mood.
Extra: He carries around a notebook and has a strong wooden staff that he uses to bash people when in trouble.

[ArenaSnow]

Name: Baldur the Great
Age: 50 and looks it
Description: Baldur is in decent shape for his age but his ‘experience’ is beginning to show as his hairs are getting greyer and whiter.
Gender: Male
Personality: Baldur was once a very chipper and passionate magician and mage but now he is little more than a husk of a man. His previous attitude towards life is now buried beneath heaps of experience in the world but sometimes one can catch a glimpse of the wide eyed struggling magician beneath his beaten exterior.
Backstory: Baldur keeps his past pretty secretive but what he is more than liberal of sharing is his failed stint as a Magician. When he was younger he began studying slight of hand and similar fake magics while also learning some real magic on the side to spice up his act. His act didn’t go very far and he ended up needing to give up on his dream of making it big. Later on in life he worked as a librarian but decided that he wanted to move up North to get away from the political drama of the south.
Skills: He’s shown that ability to cast a few basic spells such as small fires or magic lights. He’s still very adept at slight of hand tricks and subterfuge overall. He’s pretty good at stick fighting and he can tell a mean story when he’s in the mood.
Extra: He carries around a notebook and has a strong wooden staff that he uses to bash people when in trouble.

@rocketrobie2

I'll go for that. I do warn you, the driver's a little skeptical about magical folks. But I'm sure an extra piece of coin would settle the "concern".

Welcome to the caravan :)

[ArenaSnow]

Word from the caravan master, the caravan departs 25 hours from now. Anyone lingering should get something up, even if it isn't completely done, so that they may join the ride. If the caravan master doesn't have enough volunteers, he'll be forced to pick up some shadier folks to fill in the numbers.

Currently signed up are @rocketrobie2's Baldur the Great, @Proxi's Raven, and @xChrome's Jameson (Though Jameson is loaded into the caravan, he would like Baldur and Raven to enter as well [Feel free to stick your chars in the Char tab]). He heard about some fellow from @Lady Athena, yet he has no idea who to expect, or if indeed said fellow shall be coming. He also heard rumors of interest from @dragonmancer and @Nikki Moonlight, yet he has heard nothing further and worries they will not appear. He still seeks any who wishes to undertake the northern journey to declare their positions now, and for any lurkers to make themselves visible.

[Proxi]

@ArenaSnow I'll try to be there, but at that time I'll probably be asleep. So I might start IC'ing the morning after.

[ArenaSnow]

@ArenaSnow I'll try to be there, but at that time I'll probably be asleep. So I might start IC'ing the morning after.

@Proxi

Perfectly fine, acknowledgement that you're still in is good enough for me.

[xChrome]

Can't wait to get this caravan moving, Baldur's card tricks are starting to bore me and Raven's fists look kinda restless.