[quote=@Kibaro][sub][i][/i][/sub] [b]QUESTIONS:[/b] 1. regarding the lore, how do Licentia survive on other worlds? does every world have energy imbued lands from which they can harvest energy? The Licentia seem the hardest to grasp for me (even to they have a hard time understanding themselves apparently :)) ), but also the most interesting of the races. 2. Also, i'm sure interspecies experiments have been made in worlds such as this (cause everywhere you can find mad scientists and such), for example stuff like taking out Prae's forehead crystal and surgically/magically/magi-surigcally implemented in another species and so on, anything on that, or that's for us to find out in future adventures? :) 3. What will be our MAIN focus as a team, since every character (i suppose) would have their own focus in their life? so yeah.. battles? military? politics? exploration? 4. what exactly do YOU understand by OOC drama? 5. do you intend on using any sort of mechanics? either for battle or discussions and such, skills etc? :)[/quote] 1.) Licentia, as Gan mentioned, are predators--or you could consider them parasites, it depends. Licentia take essence from living beings (animals or sentient beings such as Humans or Prae). The part of Torqueo, their home realm's, description that you're quoting is referencing their cities, not the inhabitants of those cities. What it's saying is that the Licentia design their cities to pull energy from the land itself to power their tech/magitech for their amenities or the like. As in any realm, Licentia survive by consuming the vis of other beings--mind you, this does not mean that they have to kill the being they are siphoning energy from, though some do. 2.) Yes, interspecies experiments have, and do, take place. Most of these, at this point in time, are not done willingly. So if someone gets a surgically/magically implanted crystal from a Prae, it better be somewhere they can hide it, because it's not unlikely that they could get arrested and then investigated for having such a thing. If someone simply has a forehead crystal though, it might be because a dying Prae gave it as a sort of inheritance to someone, or--on a darker note--that it was bought on the black market (likely after someone killed some Prae so as to harvest their crystals). Another thing that exists, but is largely considered illegal would be the harvesting of the Licentia "soul core," or "solid soul," which also takes on a crystalline form. While it is illegal to harvest them (take them from an unwilling Licenti), it's not illegal to have them because Licentia can split their soul if it gets large enough, and some--rather than have a child--will simply give them to others or sell them. They are highly valued as magical objects that are useful for a variety of purposes. 3.) The main plot, at least at the beginning, or in the "first arc," will be centered around those involved in the small rebellion within the city of Ominar. Depending on how many people we get and how many characters people decide to play, the story will expand considerably. I fully expect there to be people playing Prae, Humans, or Licentia that are in realms other than Medius, or individuals who are fighting against the resistance in Ominar--be they Prae or otherwise. People in cults, small or large organizations (whether secretive or otherwise), black market brokers, informants, and the like to pop up provided things go on long enough. I'm basically using Ominar and the conflict going on there as the starting point from which we branch out as the RP, and the world/its lore grows. Call me ambitious, but yeah, this is what I'd like to happen. If not I've got plenty of ideas for plot that we can use to keep things new and interesting ;) 4.) As Ganryu said, hopefully we don't have to find out. In short though, disagreements about how lore works getting out of hand (emotions and insults becoming involved in what should be a civil discussion), personal grievances or disagreements getting out of hand. Basically things going beyond "civil conversation," and into "argument," territory is what I'll likely consider drama. Mind you Arguments are not the same as debates, the latter of which tend to be fairly civil. 5.) I'm not sure in regards to mechanics to be honest. In regards to skills and abilities right now I think I'm going to handle it on a case-by-case basis while keeping in mind the general "medium level power," that I mentioned in the first post. As to combat, not really? Ganryu said it, combat won't be with dice or anything, but it will be sort of proctored by the GMs (Ganryu and I), who will watch over and help make sure everything is fairly clear and clearly fair :P. While I'd like to have a system for lore discussion and implementation, having one tends to intimidate people, so again I'll probably just do that on a case-by-case basis rather than having a hard-lined system for it. Conversely a system will naturally develop over time and I'll use that.[hr] Ostium is the term used to describe what connects the Anima(soul) and the vis(aura or external energy in general). The word Ostium, like many of the other words used in MA, is latin, and it means "gateway." Think of the Ostium as the primary points in the body (which are typically non-physical) where Anima is exuded to form the aura/vis. A normal person's Ostium is almost entirely closed, and because of this they can't release sufficient amounts of energy to utilize in magic. Additionally, the connection between the Anima and Vis, when the Ostium is closed is interrupted. To explain more simply I'll use a metaphor. If Anima is the source of a river and Vis is where the river enters the ocean, then Ostium is a dam on that river. If it were entirely closed it would cause the river's source to overflow as it gains new water from rain and whatnot, and if it is fully open the source of the river can flow easily to the ocean. Normally the dam is partially closed, allowing some water to flow, but leaving the majority within the river's source. Hopefully that helps make some sense of things :)[hr] With us having Celaira, Ganryu, Kibaro, and myself, I think I'm going to start working on the Opening Post for the OOC thread so that I can get that up either ASAP, or when/if we get one-three more people--though three more people is not the player limit or anything. I'm pretty much open to any number of people. Although beyond a certain point might get a little ridiculous. We'll play it by ear.