This week was fairly calm, sadly I still couldn't make time to come on until now, mostly due to a few stuff that doesn't really matter at the moment. I do apologize though. I could have at least popped on for an hour but personally I like to horde my time and sit down for several hours online so I feel like I'm tackling a lot. At any rate, I'm about to be stuck in a construction hell hole (our kitchen and bathrooms are being gutted) and my parents will be gone in a week on vacation, tie that with the last few weeks of the semester and I'll be busy. Which is why I regret not having logged on a day or so sooner. That aside, once the semester is over, I will have several months off before I get to tackle my final 2 quarters of college before I try to go aboard and teach or go be homeless out of state...

Ahem.

But yes, I am still here, still interested. I'll try to compact my reply so it ties to what we're first going to tackle. So don't think I'm ignoring a bit of information or something, I just want to make sure our focus is geared toward something and not a dozen things because then we get confused and drained.

Tomorrow and Sunday though, I should be free for chatting. Some plans fell through so I'm going to take advantage of that and try to get ahead on some upcoming essays and OOC shiz.

[indent]Priority:

1. Land/History

2. Factions

3. Magic/Weather

4. Characters

5. Starting Point/Direction[/indent]

So to tackle the first priority, which I think may tie into factions...

Did any of the photos I linked stick out to you (in the IntChk)? I do have others which we can sift through. I do think if we can but it certainly isn't necessary, we should give important/major locations a picture and general description. I'm not here to make a map or huge layout. Unless we want to. But generally I find that effort could be spent elsewhere. So Earth is pretty self explanatory. I suppose we should at least confirm if our characters are residing in Japan or America or somewhere in Europe.

I think we should also assume that when the Earth was first created, a twin planet (Rathe) was also created and was in turn, tucked in another portion of space/time but its likeness and connection to our planet was still in tact, as it still is to this day.

The history of Rathe reflects the history Earth went through. When the Dark Ages hit Earth, Rathe was developing and without much death or disease and conflict. When various wars hit Earth, Rathe had peace and comfort. But when Earth began to push into the mid 20'th centuary, Rathe began to struggle and weaken. Because magic is a living thing, it needs both Rathe and Earth to breathe and distribute itself evenly. When the major connections became blocked or somewhat risky, magic began to infect Rathe's land, leading to infertile land, disease and such. Because of the strain, wars would break out between kingdoms which were once friendly. Sustenance and life itself was beginning to dwindle with each passing decade.

And for a long time, travelers would have safe (enough) passage through each realm but around the same time magic began to build in Rathe, travelers vanished from existence, found themselves trapped in one world, or if they did manage to go over, their physical body would be much different, almost to the extent of deformation. With the risks apparent, travelers ceased trying to flee. Many living on Rathe tried to flee from the hardship but none were heard from, assumed to have perished during the transition. Now, nearly 200 or so years later, two people have found a way to slip from Earth to Rathe without harm or incident.

So that's what I have for the general history. I don't think we need to go in to too much depth with I feel like the factions will be able to add some color or interesting events. I kept it pretty simple but if you'd like to tweak it or add something, let me know. I'll add it to your first post so you can change it there if you want. 

Now factions...I assume we're sticking to two because it's the most basic and easiest to handle. And I also assume that we'll keep one faction per world so also keep it simple. Also, their motives can be flipped if you'd like, so tell me what you think. I'll also add this to your post so you can fiddle with it. We can decide on names or use something from Latin/Greek, I'm not picky on names.

Earth's Unnamed Faction: They have been in the shadows for centuries. They decided after WWII to begin destroying and hindering the many passageways from Rathe in order to push the world into a better era. New things were in turn discovered and invented. They knew without the flow of magic, Earth would be free to function without unpredictable chaos. Their group has been able to keep magic at bay and has sent in a few of its own to Rathe, in order to ensure its eventual collapse. They truly believe once Rathe is no more, that Earth will be able to continue to progress without the threat of war or turmoil. In order to keep the lines of communication and travel closed or hindered, their group has had to spread itself throughout the world, guarding and sometimes even destroying things/places.

Rathe's Unnamed Faction: Their numbers are far fewer than Earth's faction. Since they are kept in the dark, they have had to fend for themselves. They have had to struggle for survival as their world tips further down a slippery slope. Their members are limited so they have not been able to try sending someone through a connection. The risk while great, would be difficult to manage with their lone member in Earth on their own. This faction believes that both worlds need to carry the burden of magic. While the energy can be used for amazing feats, in high concentration, it is deadly and volatile. The faction is more passive than aggressive, unlike their counterparts. If the thought ever crossed their mind that destroying Earth would solve their problems, they would surely decline and consider another means to finding peace and stability. This faction's goal is endure and reopen the blocked channels.

So that's all I can think of right now...I know you mentioned not being overly comfortable with factions. Since we're doing so much, I think keeping the details as simple as possible, will help us in the long run. If you're happy, we can move onto magic and it's aspects. If not, we can still hash out other ideas with the factions and such. 

EDIT - Last time I used the GM Function, it let the co-GM edit GM posts but I don't think that's the case anymore...so you may have to just edit them in yourself. >___<'