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[center][u][h1]Fairy Tail : Smothered Lights![/h1][/u][/center]

Welcome to Smothered Lights! A Fairy Tail rp featuring an original guild named Sapphire Falcon. This guild is raised from the remnants of two previous Light Guilds who were rivals with very different philosophies on the path to greatness. After both guilds were attacked and suffered heavy losses, they formed an alliance to a single guild! Yet many of the old rivalries, both respectful and bitter, still burn bright between those now suddenly put into the same faction. New friendships have of course been formed, but overall the air is often tense, especially with both guilds having lost many friends only a few months prior.

As if that wasn't enough, the Dark Guild Hydra Tongue, who nearly defeated the two light guilds, continues to operate in the shadows. They grow in power, in members, and wealth in the underworld. For months they have been unchallenged, and their goals of eliminating all Light Guilds seems ever more feasible.

Welcome to Smothered Lights! A Fairy Tail rp filled with old rivalries mixed with new encounters and battles to be had. Enjoy!

[center][u][h3]Story[/h3][/u][/center]
Two Guilds, locked in rivalry with each other, were known as the twin guardians of Oak Town. Sapphire Hornet boasted the finest teams of mages who worked together, bolstering each other's strengths and covering their weaknesses. They were known for daring rescues, thorough investigations, and sports teams. Falcon Flight was the opposite and focused instead on making every member the best they could be. This didn't mean leaving the lower members behind. No, they helped each other improve and get better, so that every member of the guild could soar to the heavens. Their fame as bounty hunters, treasure seekers, and olympians was unmatched in the city.

Both of these guilds were also a major thorn in the side of any Dark Guilds in the area and Fiore at large, and seemed to compete with each other in how many they could each take down. They were a thorn that needed to be removed...

In the shadows, a Dark Guild calling themselves Hydra Tongue had grown massively in power and members. Many of those members being remnants of guilds that had been past defeated by the vaunted twins. After nearly a year of planning, they struck. Posting numerous fake job requests to both guilds and hosting seemingly legitimate activities in town, they attacked Falcon Flight first. The members of Falcon Flight were scattered across the land, vulnerable to the numerous enemies that descended on them. The Guild Hall was attacked while most of its members were elsewhere, and Master Fianna was ambushed while she was enjoying being with some of the younger guild members at the seemingly legitimate circus.

Falcon Flight would likely have suffered enough losses to be effectively disbanded, but Sapphire Hornet launched into action the best it could to help. Despite their fierce competition and sometimes animosity between guild members, the two Masters, Fianna Fireheart and Siegfried Brickwell were as much friends as they were rivals. Siegfried was not about to let his old friend die, and moved into action as soon as word of the attacks echoed throughout Oak Town and the countryside.

While the sudden assistance of Sapphire Hornet caught Hydra Tongue off guard, the assistance proved much less successful than it normally would have been. Many of the Hornet teams were off chasing the false jobs and were too far away to help, or if they were close enough to assist in other fights, many were not in teams formed for combat. The others who joined Master Brickwell were in groups they were not used to, made suddenly in an emergency. The chaos spelled disaster for them. At the end of the fighting, the Tongues retreated with heavy losses, yet ultimately it was their victory. Both the Hornet and Falcon Halls were decimated, Siegfried was wounded badly enough where Hydra believed he'd been slain, and many members of both of the light guilds were taken out. Those that weren't killed were in various states, many wounded, scattered and unsure of where to go with the halls destroyed. It had seemed they would be disbanded after all.

Fortunately this was not the case, as Fianna took care of her friend well enough for him to recover, and Siegfried had magic that allowed him to send instructions to others from near any distance. Every member of Sapphire Hornet and Falcon Flight was told to meet at a ruin at the coastline to the north to recover... Many didn't show up.

Their guilds decimated, and desire for revenge and justice burning within, the two Guild Masters announced a new decree to their members. An alliance. They would come together as one guild, Sapphire Falcon!
With old rivalries still burning, alongside bonds of suffering and a common goal, the members were pushed together into one mixed guild, the old ruin becoming their new home. However they would get along after, was unknown...

[center][u][h3]Rules[/h3][/u][/center]
[u][i]Don't be a dick, and have a spine[/i][/u]
Disagreements are fine. Even heated ones. But start fights, needless drama, get easily offended, or have a rotten attitude, and you won't last long.
I am not a tyrant, but I will kick people out who are a negative influence in the rp.

[u][i]Expect Criticism[/i][/u]
I am, as a Thread Lead, a lot more concerned with power level and background story consistency than many others. Most character sheets that come in will need to be discussed and altered in some way. Most of the time these changes are minor, but they vary. Know beforehand that the first draft of your profile may need editing, and that any criticism is [b]not[/b] a rejection unless outright said so. It just means that some things need altering or worked on.

[u][i]Guild Rules[/i][/u]
Follow them.

[u][i]RP 101 Things[/i][/u]
No godmodding other characters, auto-hitting, meta-roleplaying, etc.
You should know what I'm talking about with this stuff. However, if you do not, I have no issues with explaining privately. It ties largely into the first rule.

[u][i]I can kick out anyone I want[/i][/u]
For any reason. I can wake up one day and decide to roll a dice and see who gets the boot. I won't actually be doing that, but the fact remains that I can.
There are no technicalities for you to hide behind. Act right.

[center][u][h3]Character Guidelines[/h3][/u][/center]

[u][i]Character Power Levels[/i][/u]
I want things to be closer to early Fairy Tail to where characters are strong and you can have cool shounen fights, but not to the point where every Dragon and their Cat is rocking four separate magical powersets and are a walking nuclear bomb. Think more towards Episode 1 where Natsu wrecks a boat and causes a lot of collateral damage but not where he's going to destroy the city with his dragon breath.

Characters should also stick to one, maybe two magic types if they can. Some characters will be allowed two if the concept needs the supplementary abilities. Such as Celestial Mages having some back up attacks to defend themselves with so they aren't useless half of the time.

[u][i]Mage Ranks[/i][/u]
For the purposes of this rp I'll define what the ranks generally mean to give a better idea on what ranks your characters will be. This may deviate from canon.

D Rank :
Beginner mages that are not very skilled yet. Usually a child or a younger teenager, this is a mage who is still getting their cantrips down. They are not much more competent than a regular civilian. One may have a slight advantage over Bartender John in battle due to having magic [i]at all[/i], but John's trusty flying frying pan of justice might be stronger than those magics.

C Rank :
A mage that has gained some level of competency, but not to where they'll want to be charging into a fight. Usually this level is for mages who have trained a good amount and are confident in their abilities. They would surely have the advantage over Bartender John. However, they are not capable of much destruction and should try to stay out of obviously dangerous situations.

B Rank :
This is a mage that is fully competent in their magic and would be considered quite capable in a fight. Bartender John at this point doesn't stand a chance. A character at this stage has enough magical ability and fighting skill to be able to take on combat missions without too much worry, however they should still be cautious. They are strong, but they are not the top of the food chain.

A Rank :
Through varying combinations of skill and sheer power, A rank mages are considered highly competent in battle. Whatever abilities they have, they know how to use to great effect. They have enough battle experience, wisdom, or instinct to handle most dangerous situations without much difficulty. While many A-Rank mages rely on skill more than destructive force, all at this rank are able to bring out at least some measure of powerful attacks.

S Rank : 
Absolute powerhouses of battle. S Rank mages are both highly skilled [b]and[/b] are able to bring out building shattering levels of power. A class all of their own, S Rank mages are quite rare and quickly become well known. The amount of S Ranks a guild has is often an indicator of how strong the guild is, and having even one is a big deal.

[u][i]Dragon Slayers and S-Rank Mages[/i][/u]
I am not going to be putting a hard cap on how many of these there can be, but know that I will not be allowing very many. I will be comparing the amount of them to characters that aren't at this stage and making a judgement. For now, assume that in each guild I will be accepting three of each at most.

I will not be allowing an S-Rank Dragon Slayer into Sapphire Falcon. I may accept one for Hydra Tongue.
Dragon Slayers are allowed [b]ONE[/b] element, full stop. You will never get a second magic element or backup magic. You get one, and only one, and you will stick with it. The closest Dragon Slayers can get to two elements is having their one element be a "mixed" element such as mud being earth and water. That does not mean that a Mud DS can start shooting off water or earth spells or that they can recharge by eating either one. They have to eat mud, however they go about creating it.
Only First and Second Generation Dragon Slayers exist. No third or beyond.

[u][i]Character Limit[/i][/u]
Generally you can have as much as you like so long as you can keep up with them all. However, I will say that each person will only be allowed one of the 'limited slots' positions so to speak.

Also, make as many npcs (one off or recurring) as you like, but I will request that you pull back on main character amount if you have too large of a portion of the total character cast.

[u][i]Ice Make Magic[/i][/u]
Ice Make is absolutely welcomed, however in canon, Ice Make is so all encompassing that there really isn't any need to have any other Ice or Cold powers. So I will be requiring Ice Make characters to be a bit more specialized in what kind of things they can make instead of just "everything".

[u][i]Technology level[/i][/u]
Fairy Tail's tech was kinda weird and inconsistent as a lot of anime can be. So I'll be putting in a general rule of having it be late Coal Power age and a bit before things got all Steamy (steam power). And then add in all the magic capabilities to further pump that stuff up. Not a lot of electricity powered stuff. No TV or radios. But there's internal plumbing and coal trains and all of that stuff.
I'll be a bit more lax on things that are more self-contained and don't matter as much. Such as a big waterpark. Sure.... you can have your water slides that are probably more technologically advanced than they should be. That's fine. Just don't whip out a gameboy or a car.

[u][i]Banned and Limited Powers[/i][/u]
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Godslayer Magic - No "dragon slayer but better" things.

Time-based powers - These, when it comes to roleplay, give pretty much nothing but problems. They are often times an "I win" button, on top of just being one of the most difficult powers to roleplay against properly.

Mind effect/control powers - This is more of a heavy limitation rather than ban. I may consider very balanced exceptions. These kinds of powers can easily cross the border into god-modding, controlling another character's thoughts, actions, or feelings. It is very difficult to roleplay correctly and overall is just a nuisance.

"Logia type" powers - Yes, I shamelessly stole that term from One Piece. This basically means any character that can turn their entire body into an element. Such as someone who can fully become water. These types of powers just provide way too much defensive capabilities. They render the majority of all attacks against them entirely useless, minus a few, select specific weaknesses. This is unfair to the majority of the rp, and will not be allowed.

Mimics/Copycats - No. Use your own powers. Don't just copy other characters in the rp.

Telekinetics - These are also not fully banned, but will be heavily limited as they can be some of the most overpowered for lowest effort. No Ravens.

List can be updated at any time.
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[hider=Update List]
Meaningful changes/additions to the frontpage go here.

08/26/21 - Added in rank expectations.
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