[center][h1][color=4B0082]The Star's Dreams[/color][/h1] [i]A Night to define a [b]lifetime[/b][/i][/center] [hr] Nobody knows how or why she does it. Tales spread from world to world on the lips of mischievous storytellers, and from there local bards took the mantle and plied the tale to ravenous ears. In many worlds, the tale fizzled out and died—none of its inhabitants ever expanding the story or being selected. In a few select worlds, the story lives on. On the smallest collection of choice worlds, her eyes settle. Sometimes the invitation comes in the night; a letter or note left on a nightstand, or perhaps it is folded neatly over the recipient’s chest. Other times, the invitation is more aggressive—coming in the heat of battle, or during a particularly trying night after a fight with a loved one. No matter the manner it’s delivered, the invitation’s content is always the same. [center][i]A Cordial Invitation, To whom I have expressed interest. Should you reciprocate, and are prepared to give your time to satiate my desire, I invite you to my home for supper and pleasantries. Introductions and my statement will begin the night. Dinner begins at 8’oclock Entertainment in most rooms will begin at 9. My departing statement will take place at 3 AM. Guests should vacate the premise by 4. To accept this invitation, simply place underfoot and tarnish the seal. If unable to do so, hold the invitation to your chest and tear it. I anxiously await an affirmative reply, -A Lonesome Star[/i][/center] Those that receive the invitation begin to have strange dreams—nightmares, to some—of a lonesome woman in gold. She beckons to them as they sleep; occupying their dreams for as long at the invitation stands. It is no secret that she’s driven some to madness with her call. In their dreams, the invitees see the moment they accept the invitation. They see the world of wonder that she lives in. They walk down the grand hallway to her abode. They see her atop a fountain surrounded by thousands of silver chimes. She extends their hand to them, and while they can never exactly remember what she says, her final invitation is always clear. [center][i]"A story waits for you beyond my doors,"[/i] she says. [i][b]"It would be a shame to let it go."[/b][/i][/center] [hr] [center][h2]|Overview|[/h2][/center] A warm welcome to [i]The Star's Dreams[/i]. With few defined rules and an opulent setting overseen by an age-old celestial being, guests are encouraged to interact with each other and their surroundings to their heart's content. At the top of the hour every night, the host will introduce something new for the guests to marvel at, or will change something in the house to stimulate action. She can be a fickle woman, but generally her changes are pleasant. At the desire and preparation of the guests, however, she can introduce... less-than-pleasant scenarios. Worry not--death in her home is simply one way of leaving. [i]The Star's Dreams[/i] is wholly focused on the players. While the host may take some actions herself, she will simply observe them, for the most part. NPCs may come and go as the players interact with their surroundings, but will also generally keep to themselves. Guests may call on the host to reveal things to them, or point them in the right direction. Despite this, should someone interact with the host in particular, she will happily engage them. By the end of the night, the host hopes that the guests have enjoyed themselves, and have left her intriguing stories in return. There has never been a case of a second invitation, but perhaps another interesting story will arise and draw her attention once more. [hr] [center][h2]|A Note on the Host|[/h2][/center] While the intent is that existing characters in the midst of their own tall tales and actions, there are a few things that increase a person's chances of getting an invitation from the Host despite not having a tale to tell [sub]as in they're tailor-made for this RP[/sub]. She is particularly fond of long-standing romances a-la-childhood friends, [i]incredibly[/i] fond of forbidden romances, and [b][i]absolutely enamoured[/i][/b] by tragic romances--it's not at all far-fetched for her to send an invitation promptly after the death of one's true love. Aside from that, the Host seeks out romantic stories in the sense of heroes prevailing against all odds, Pyhrric victories, and beautiful visions of tomorrow. Those that lead the charge into battle and those that lead a kingdom into prosperity alike may find themselves invited. That is not to say that those of low birth and unremarkable lives aren't invited--sometimes she will take interest in the life of an unremarkable person to see how they fare standing amongst living legends. [hr] [center][h2]The Home of a Star[/h2][/center] The building itself is meant to be explored, but after arrival all guests will be given a general map. As the layout of the building changes at the Host's desires, only a list of the rooms is presented. Rooms may also change, but the following are almost guaranteed to exist. [hider=A List of Rooms] [list] [*][b]Entry Hall[/b]: Always present; is the fixed location all others are based on. [*][b]Cedar Commons[/b]: Always present; fixed at the end of the Entry Hall. [*][b]Dining Hall[/b]: Always present; fixed at the opposite end of the Cedar Commons from the Entry Hall. [*][b]The Host's Chambers[/b]: Always present, though its position will meander throughout the night. [*][b]Guests' Chambers[/b]: Present when needed; will be affixed to the Cedar Commons if summoned. [*][b]The Hall of Stories[/b]: Often present. [*][b]World-in-A-Room[/b]: Often present; contents may vary. [*][b]The Study[/b]: Often present; may also take the form of the Library. Contents vary. [*][b]The Garden of Stars[/b]: Often present. [*][b]The Observatory[/b]: Often Present--if the Garden of Stars is also present, the Observatory is situated at its center. [*][b]The Site of A Tragedy[/b]: Sometimes present [*][b]Memory Lane[/b]: Sometimes Present [*][b]An Abyss[/b]: Sometimes Present [*][b]The Heart's Repose[/b]: Often present, but typically concealed. [*][b]A Chance Meeting Ground[/b]: Present when circumstances are too tempting to pass up. May only appear to certain guests. [/list] [/hider] [hr] [center][h2]The Rules[/h2][/center] [hider=OOC Rules] Not much to see here; just the normal stuff. For the love of all that is good, please treat each other and myself with respect. I'm not expecting you to fellate me at all times because I'm the GM either, but at the very least you shouldn't be immediately attacking other people for making a mistake or--heaven forbid--making an error in their writing. That said, if someone points out an error, it would be nice if you'd edit your post for future reading. If there's any sort of fight or disagreement, run it by me. I'd like to avoid dealing in absolutes, but when it comes to many aspects of how this will play out, I have the final say. [/hider] [hider=IC Rules] These rules are typical of the guild; I don't expect there to be a need for godmodding or anything of the sort, but please remember that other people exist. I do [i]not[/i] want any cases of people suddenly teleporting behind people or anything, and doing that and adding something along the lines of, [i]"Pssh... nothing personnel... kid,"[/i] is grounds for a toxic and immediate ejection from the RP and banning from my future RPs [sub]not really; that was a joke.[/sub] Please avoid it anyways. Mature content is allowed--that means you can swear, you can drink, you can inject one whole marijuana and disprove reefer madness (or prove them right somehow), and the beginnings of sex are OK. If you want to go any further than shutting the door and getting that mushy stuff (the foreplay foreplay) out of the way, unfortunately I'll have to tell you to take it to PMing ("unfortunate" being relative [sub]I know there are degenerates out there that love hard-core RP [sub]hand-holding [sub]and consensual cuddling[/sub][/sub][/sub]) Post quality is incredibly important. As per what I said on the interest check, [i]"The minimum I set is at least two paragraphs, as per usual, but please aim to have longer, or narrative-rich posts as well. Narrative-rich means not simply including every single bit of detail in an attempt to make up for lack of quality with sheer volume, but instead crafting your work so that the most impact and important information is conveyed. I have recently listened to a book that would have been wonderful, if not for the clumsy application of detail, and I am not looking for anything like that."[/i] Similar to some other RPs, given the nature of the building, it would be helpful if you had a small note regarding your location at the beginning of your posts. [/hider] [b]A Note on the Posting Requirements[/b]: As it stands, I aim to make this a faster-paced, shorter RP. To facilitate that, the RP will be broken into segments ("hours," loosely.) Within each segment, I hope that players will at least make [i]one[/i] post describing what they intend to do. Technically there is no limit to what you can do within that hour, but to move things along and have the Host introduce new elements, we will advance into a new "hour" when: [list] [*]All players 'declare' in their post that they are done taking actions for the hour. or [*]All players have made at least one post and I move the clock ahead. I won't do this often; maybe I'll do it after around a week of posting. This will be mentioned in OOC. After the announcement, you have 3 days (negotiable) before the clock moves ahead. or [*]Some players have made at least one post, but one player is inactive even after I announce that time will soon advance. At that point, they're considered either drunk or otherwise predisposed, and time will move on. If this happens twice in a row, we'll roll dice in OOC and see what to do to the person. [/list] I write this in a really laid-back manner to show that I'm fairly relaxed most of the time, but I'll come down harder on rule-breakers in return. Let's not let it get that far, okay? [hr] [center][h2]On Character Creation[/h2][/center] This is an advanced roleplay, and a character-centric one at that. Applications are required. I'm hoping at least one person uses a character otherwise engaged in another RP and manages to write this experience into their character (ask your GM first!) but that's just a gimmick. You can use that character's CS, but make sure to retool it to the one that I lay out. This is incredibly important: [color=red][b]DO NOT USE A CHARACTER THAT HAS SEVERE ILLNESSES--MENTAL OR OTHERWISE--OR DISABILITIES UNLESS YOU CAN ROLEPLAY IT WELL[/b][/color] I say this because, for quality's sake, and from the perspective of the RP, I want to end up with some engaging stories. The caveat to this is if you contact me beforehand that your character is going to [i]fake[/i] either of the above--I say that, but make sure to [b]GIVE IT A GOOD REASON[/b]. Bonus points if they're doing it to run from a marriage or something; just make it interesting and at least plausible. It's fine if your character just happens to have a cold or something, but please note that the Host has the capability of temporarily "curing" it during your stay[sub]she may leave it if she thinks it'll make for an interesting plot device[/sub] Characters will retain any abilities that they have in their world. If you're a wizard in your world of magic, you can use that magic, or if your character is some sort of John Carter analogue they can have superhuman strength. Characters from different worlds, however, cannot use their special abilities on each other; the wizard's fireballs won't do anything to John Carter, and John Carter would have to put in the same amount of effort to lift the wizard that a person of similar physical muscle mass would have to. However, physical objects inside the Host's world are affected by [i]all[/i] special abilities, and retain any energy put into them. If the wizard can levitate a piano, set it on fire, and toss it at John Carter, John Carter would have to throw it back or dodge. Issues that come up from different-but-similar worlds will have to be taken care of OOC (e.g. can your wizard that uses mana drain mana from the wizard from a world without it to stop their spells?) [hider=Character Sheet Template] [b]Name:[/b] *[b]Gender:[/b] *Not necessary to fill out, for interest's sake. Just know that the Host will pick and choose pronouns based on your appearance[sub]and may choose to ignore any complaints[/sub] *[b]Age:[/b] [b]Appearance:[/b] [b][i]Be vivid[/i][/b]. If you'd like to include one, photos of any style are allowed. [b]Bio: [/b]Doesn't need to be a full life story, but there's a reason you've been invited, so [b][i][color=green]be detailed[/color][/i][/b]. Make sure to include interesting tidbits and such. Give enough for the Host to have as much information as a new friend. I'm hoping for some racy details! [b]Abilities / Type of Abilities: [/b]"Magic," "Biological Feat," "Divine Gift," etc. [b]Equipment / Clothing:[/b] Let us know what you've got coming into the party. You can bring your axe, and odds are you won't be asked to hand it over unless you do something stupid to the Host and her belongings. You don't need to mention things that aren't immediately visible, but send me a PM, and be fair if someone is looking you over (best to handle it OOC and then write the staring in afterwards) [b]What you were doing before you came:[/b] [b]Other:[/b] [/hider] [hr] As it stands I think this is everything I needed to mention for this post, though if some more information comes up later I'll make sure to post it here. I'm looking for around at least 6 players, though more would always be welcome before we start (maybe even after!), and I can work with less. I understand that it might be a busy time for some people, so we may start a little later; it depends on everyone's needs.