[OOC] The Lost Lands of Ialdia: A paired high fantasy RP

[Chai]

I'm trying to get all the mechanics/details of my character down (it's a lot to take in considering I just got here), however I want to let you guys know that for my bond, I'd like to have the whole "frenemy" idea going on. I know that my character will be Scael, and ideally I'm looking for that "I hate you and we're kind of fake, but we're also sort of friends" vibe in the bond I'll be sharing. Basically, they'd both be kind of- and please excuse the lack of a better term for it- bitchy towards each other. They don't necessarily act that way towards others, but the feel of competition and subdued hostility is present in their relationship with each other. Now, I know, I know, you're like, "But Aria, the Scael are peaceful and don't have a will for aggression!" Yes, that's true, but just keep in mind that sometimes the best way to provoke someone to anger is by keeping a calm, cool demeanor. It can end up being fun(ny) if we can pull this off right! Just contact me if you would be interested in this sort of bond, please!

(tl;dr: hmu if you wanna have some fun, witty banter in the bond yo~)

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Also, Dextkiller: With the Scael, are they water peoples? To my understanding, they are amphibious and ichthyic rather than reptilian, as the scales and fins seem more fish-like. Because they have the power to understand the oceans and seas, does this mean their civilization is purely above ground on the Coral Isles, or do they have underwater posts as well. I'm imagining their limbs to be somewhere between a human and a frog, but like random fins on their forearms and whatnot, with their entire body covered in scales. Is this right? I'm very confused.
As far as some more general character questions, do all our characters have to be magic users? Does the magic have to be tied to something indicative of your character's species (i.e orc having control over emotion, Raevan having wind magic, etc.)? How creative are we allowed to get with the magic type (as long as it falls within your limits, of course)? And lastly, can I get some other ideas on appropriate frontier occupations? My mind is drawing a blank right now, but that could possibly be because it's extremely late right now. Anywho, thank you so much! You have a wonderful roleplaying idea, and I hope this really takes off.

[masked_egg]

I'm not one for a frenemy idea. Plus my character is going to be calm as well, so there's going to be no spark there, unless we can work out a back story.

As far as frontier jobs go I'm thinking things as simple as carpenters, sailors, and even a representative of the higher-ups would be acceptable. Anything needed to start a basic city or livable environment. Think Pocahontas? Haha I'm going with a ranger/scout that can double has a hunter.

From what I understand you don't have to be a magic user, but it will be helpful not just for your character but also in the pairing. I'm going with magic that's just there to support her other skills. Just sound based stuff; my character can change her voice and throw it around within a certain radius, then she has a confuse ray type skill. That's it :)

[Skyswimsky]

Right, some more questions regarding the setting, can you tell me a bit about any existing sexism, slavery, racism and (different?) religions? Doesn't need to be detailed but a few quick points would be nice!

[Merrygold]

Skyswimisky you seem to have pretty twisted ideas in your head. I kind of like it. I wanted to make a little bit less virtuous char too.

Also I would want to ask something. Is there a way to counter Glorin vas? If I wanted, for example, to make a char.whose trick of trade is killing magic users, would there be a way to give him an edge over them?

[februari]

My take on the Raevan. Close or does it need more cowbell ... er, feathers?

Raevan

[Pasta Sentient]

I like both the looks of them. Just curious, but should we get a list going yet of who is partnered with who? Just to help new people coming into the thread or what not?

Edit: Chezka and I have partnered. Working out our story.

[Strudel]

SwordfishKnight and I have partnered ^-^
We're sorting things out in PM.

[Frettzo]

I've a question--Is it in any way possible to create a playable race?

[Dextkiller]

Really sorry about that guys!! My power went off for literally 7 hours and they just now sent somebody out to fix it, so that's what's been up with me..

And okay, hold on that's a lot of questions, this might take me a bit.

Ariamella said
Also, Dextkiller: With the Scael, are they water peoples? To my understanding, they are amphibious and ichthyic rather than reptilian, as the scales and fins seem more fish-like. Because they have the power to understand the oceans and seas, does this mean their civilization is purely above ground on the Coral Isles, or do they have underwater posts as well. I'm imagining their limbs to be somewhere between a human and a frog, but like random fins on their forearms and whatnot, with their entire body covered in scales. Is this right? I'm very confused. As far as some more general character questions, do all our characters have to be magic users? Does the magic have to be tied to something indicative of your character's species (i.e orc having control over emotion, Raevan having wind magic, etc.)? How creative are we allowed to get with the magic type (as long as it falls within your limits, of course)? And lastly, can I get some other ideas on appropriate frontier occupations? My mind is drawing a blank right now, but that could possibly be because it's extremely late right now. Anywho, thank you so much! You have a wonderful roleplaying idea, and I hope this really takes off.

I see 3 questions here, let me know if there's any more than that.
1. What are the scael like?: The scael are indeed amphibious, but they spend just as much time above water as they do below. They live on coral islands, but they do have portions of their cities that are underground. As far as looks go, they were inspired by Argonians from the Elder Scrolls games. They tend to look a little more fishy, (no feathers, instead fins and spines) but they still they have that look about them. In case you aren't familiar with Argonians, here's a picture.

picture

Imagine that, but with spines, and fins coming off the back of the elbows. Yes, they are scaled all over, their scales look quite a lot like an alligator's except in different colors.

2. The blessings are not tied to the magic of each individual. They are a backset of each race, but they do not affect how each individual uses magic. I tossed around the idea of magic that was tied to a blessing being more powerful, but I decided against it. Any individual can use any type of magic.

3. Appropriate occupations include scouts, guards, builders, explorers, representatives, botanists, alchemists, doctors, etc. Some do pay their way into a spot on the ship if they can manage it, so that they can come to explore.

Skyswimsky said
Right, some more questions regarding the setting, can you tell me a bit about any existing sexism, slavery, racism and (different?) religions? Doesn't need to be detailed but a few quick points would be nice!

Alright, that's kind of a big question, but i'll sum it up best I can.

Sexism in Veruulis has never been an issue. Considering that females are slightly more inclined to be blessed with magic, they are thought to be more powerful (speculation). Also, throughout the cultures of each race they hold certain powers because of their ability to bare children.

After the ancients were destroyed there was some warring between different factions. The blessings had yet to fully change each group to what they would become. During this time there was a lot of friction as the different factions began to drift further and further apart, finding themselves more different from one another every year. During these wars, the faction that was to become the elves were looking for a new source of power that they might use to reclaim the lost power of the ancients. During this search they enslaved the faction that was to become the dwarves, forcing them to mine deep into the earth in search of the core. Thousands died in these mining camps. And even to this day the dwarves have maintained a grudge against the elves, although nobody can remember exactly why because it was thousands of years ago that they were enslaved.

Racism however is something that is very prominent in Veruulis. As the Beings had given each a difference so that they WOULD fight one another rather than band together and reclaim their lost power. Each of the races has a preference toward their own race (as you might imagine), but similar to our world, racism is individualistic. There are of course slurs that each race calls one another, I'll list some in a hider a bit later, if anybody is interested.

Frettzo said
I've a question--Is it in any way possible to create a playable race?

Sorry no, all the races are worked intimately into the world, so new playable races would be a no-go.

[Chai]

Okay, that was so much clarification! Thank you so much. I see what kind of scales you meant now, the world makes sense.

[Dextkiller]

alright good. Sorry again for the delay, I'll go tp my power company tomorrow.

[Nevis]

There's a logical fallacy with there being racism and not sexism. Both are derived from the same basic problem-assuming people are or aren't or should or shouldn't be a certain way based on a boxing people into different groups based on a single shared quality. Racism assumes that because someone is of a certain ethnic origin, everyone from that race will fit into a stereotype. Sexism assumes that everyone of a certain gender has the same qualities based on a stereotype. They spring from the same assumption that stereotyping is an accurate and reasonable way of viewing and treating people and you literally cannot have and be one without also having and being the other.

[Pasta Sentient]

I think the difference here Nevis is that races act as more than just an ethnicity. This is not a case of skin color. It is not just a case of cultural or ethnic differences, it is a case of your race is your "Nation." There is a fundamental difference in the soul/biology of these races. So it's less a matter of civil rights in this arena and more a matter of nationalism. Tinged with a touch of Darwinism perhaps? Depends on how heavy the biological changes are and whether the races are actually different "species."

That said, I'm sure there is some sexism, but it is not done in the same manner as racism. There might be some beings that are chauvinistic or the opposite, but it's not in the sense of there being a lack of rights provided to the individuals because of gender. That's the vibe I get anyways.

[Voltin]

You do realize stereotyping and having prejudice are two different things, right? Just because an elf, let's say, thinks he's better than a dwarf doesn't mean he thinks he's better than an elf of the female persuasion, but may think that the stereotype of the brainy brunette as appealing.
It's not even as if Dext says there is no sexism; he says it just is has never been an issue. Making the assumption that it has never existed, even in a single individual, simply because he says these fictional people have never had an issue with it is a fallacy on its own.

EDIT: Skys and I are also working on our character, btw. :P

[Frettzo]

Dextkiller said
Sorry no, all the races are worked intimately into the world, so new playable races would be a no-go.

That's a bummer.

[Dextkiller]

Nevis said
There's a logical fallacy with there being racism and not sexism. Both are derived from the same basic problem-assuming people are or aren't or should or shouldn't be a certain way based on a boxing people into different groups based on a single shared quality. Racism assumes that because someone is of a certain ethnic origin, from that race will fit into a stereotype. Sexism assumes that everyone of a certain gender has the same qualities based on a stereotype. They spring from the same assumption that stereotyping is an accurate and reasonable way of viewing and treating people and you literally cannot have and be one without also having and being the other.

Lets not fall into an argument gentlemen.

Perhaps I wasn't specific enough. When I said sexism wasn't prevalent, I didn't mean it was non existent. Something I did fail to clarify however is that I meant derogatory sexism, in the fashion that we are familiar with it in our world, is not prevalent in Veruulis. Sexism is always going to exist, it's something that we have gotten quite used to. To say it is non existent would be to say that everybody gets along all the time, which of course is not true. In a sense, sexism is prominent in an uplifting way as far as the female side of it goes. Females are generally seen as being stronger because of their slightly increase chances to produce mages, and also for their ability to birth children. Their strength is noted.

under that situation, however, the males would then be the bigger target for sexism. Because they are not able to birth children, and are slightly less inclined to have magical ability, females could hold that over them, and they could be said to be the weaker sex, at least magically. While as males generally have better physical strength, that could be held over females.

I don't have any type of degree in communications or social science, so I can't give you some sort of break down on sexism and the like, but in a world where females have an advantage that males do not, something that brings their power level to an equal standard to men, would it not make sense if sexism was less prevalent than in our world? And to verify, I am not saying it doesn't exist at all, just that there is less of it.

But I'm not writing a series of long novels here guys and gals. These miniscule ideals will hardly be touched upon unless someone has the intention of doing exactly that (looking at you, skyswimsky). While I'd have no issue opening up this topic if it comes up in the IC, this is not what the RP is focused on. I have many sets of plans for where this is going, and I won't have them totally thrown out of whack because somebody wants to go on a imaginary feminist crusade or something. If that's your deal, go do it for real. We're here to create a story together, not to dig into the mostly irrelevant social intricacies of an imaginary world. Things like sexism and racism (especially in a sparsely populated place like Ialdia) will come on a case by case basis. This is a new frontier, and how social behaviors will develop here is entirely up to the people that inhabit it.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Still looking for a fighter/warrior for my mage.

[Dextkiller]

Alright, who else is looking for a partner still? Dizzy is looking. Anyone willing to pair up with her? I think there's a few pairs working on CSs, hope to see some soon, I'm excited.

[Skyswimsky]

Voltin and me live in completely different time-zones and he also works on weekends while I work during the week. We try to get most of our stuff done on Monday though.

Regarding my questions, while I tend to play twisted/insane characters I don't really plan for that in this RP, in fact, my character is going to be very harmless.

The first question(about killing and absorbing) was because, after reading the setting, it reminded me about many different games and some books. One of those games has like X different resources to cast magic(Mana, Paradox, Negative/Positive Energy, Vim, Hatred, Equilibrium, Psi and Feedback if I remember right). And Vim is basically "taking the life essence of enemies to fuel your own corrupted(literally) magic." so I randomly had that question in my head <<.

My other question about racism, sexism, slavery and stuff was merely because I have the feeling Dextkiller planned this world more thoroughly compared to what I usually see(then again, I am more around the casual section) and when I plan a RP those are always things, among others, I ask myself too when forming cultures. However, I did have something in slavery in mind but that did not work out. I never wanted to start any sort of discussion or similar.

[Nevis]

Ah. Well that sucks; details like that are generally the best ways to draw me in.

Also, if that's the case, you should probably rewrite your OP as it sounds way more sandboxy than what your last post implies it will actually be-and sandboxes tend to have exploration and tiny details like those that you just said aren't a major focus as one of if not the major focus/foci.

So let's make this a little more convenient and organized; who here does not have a partner for their character yet? Please summarize their concept again so we don't all have to go searching through multiple pages of the thread.

My character is a human or half-human, half-elf spellsword who uses blasts of magic (fire, lightning, etc) more as an off-hand weapon rather than generic sorcery.