Fantasy A College For Mages

[Moolock]

Woohoo!

 

[AAndroidD]

Just a heads up I'm a little swamped by uni work at the moment. You'll have to give me two days (as of this post) before I get going on preparing anything for the RP.


Before I go dark these two days to clear out assignments and readings, I will leave this as sort of a to-come for all you and a reminder to myself to do it once I'm free.


With the current GM AWOL any hidden plans for future conflict are gone. This leaves us with a setting, the unique magic system, and the players themselves. This means its up the those taking over to develop some sort of overarching goal to spice up the mage's college one way or another. This could be via interpersonal drama, an outside force, or maybe something a little different. I have a number of ideas I'm storing elsewhere but I'll get to those once my uni work is done.


Additionally, one thing I noticed that needs a bit of clarification I think is the colleges floor plans. I will be drawing those up in accordance with existing posts and grounds descriptions posited, so be on the lookout for that, and once it's out, make sure to reference it when talking about your movements around the college! A lot of posts seemed to have many... inconsistencies about them which would be rectified by a floor plan. IC new students would no doubt have been given a map. By the way, only the living quarters and immediate entrances and exits have been substantially explored at all... So that leaves a lot of open liberties in terms of the market district and academic district. I know @Tetro mentioned a library but was vague about movements to and from the college - so as of now the only solid things about the college are that near the separation between living areas and college, there is a staircase nearby, which has the reception at the top of the stairs, and that a library exists in the college SOMEWHERE which I would have hoped was the case regardless.


Last but not least we gotta work out the IMMEDIATE direction, leading up to the inevitable primary conflict that will drive the main portion of the RP, at least in its first arc if we do indeed make it successfully to more (which i hope we do). It may seem to be an obvious tell of just classes, shoving students together, but only so much mingling can happen in class. I intend to have classes be treated as more of a way for the understanding of magic to be communicated between all RPers whilst remaining IC, whereas more focused social events that will mix characters up and allow everyone a chance to meet everyone else, and continue to get to know them (whether they like it or not - it's a college and sometimes you end up knowing people you'd rather avoid). I'm thinking group assignments, awkward social events, small competitions for students. I think as a good wind down "summary" time, weekly feasts that all are expected to attend would be a good chance to summarise events, give characters a chance to see each other in a very casual setting, where social convention prevents conflict, just as a brief way to get characters more reflective views on events that happen.


In particular, that first major conflict idea combined with the multiple smaller ways of developing characters together I think will lead to very good, dynamic relationships between everyone as long as managed correctly (and I have all intention to manage correctly).


With that, I'm off to bury my head in some law textbooks. I'll see you all in two days.

 

[Tetro]

Just a heads up I'm a little swamped by uni work at the moment. You'll have to give me two days (as of this post) before I get going on preparing anything for the RP.
Before I go dark these two days to clear out assignments and readings, I will leave this as sort of a to-come for all you and a reminder to myself to do it once I'm free.


With the current GM AWOL any hidden plans for future conflict are gone. This leaves us with a setting, the unique magic system, and the players themselves. This means its up the those taking over to develop some sort of overarching goal to spice up the mage's college one way or another. This could be via interpersonal drama, an outside force, or maybe something a little different. I have a number of ideas I'm storing elsewhere but I'll get to those once my uni work is done.


Additionally, one thing I noticed that needs a bit of clarification I think is the colleges floor plans. I will be drawing those up in accordance with existing posts and grounds descriptions posited, so be on the lookout for that, and once it's out, make sure to reference it when talking about your movements around the college! A lot of posts seemed to have many... inconsistencies about them which would be rectified by a floor plan. IC new students would no doubt have been given a map. By the way, only the living quarters and immediate entrances and exits have been substantially explored at all... So that leaves a lot of open liberties in terms of the market district and academic district. I know @Tetro mentioned a library but was vague about movements to and from the college - so as of now the only solid things about the college are that near the separation between living areas and college, there is a staircase nearby, which has the reception at the top of the stairs, and that a library exists in the college SOMEWHERE which I would have hoped was the case regardless.


Last but not least we gotta work out the IMMEDIATE direction, leading up to the inevitable primary conflict that will drive the main portion of the RP, at least in its first arc if we do indeed make it successfully to more (which i hope we do). It may seem to be an obvious tell of just classes, shoving students together, but only so much mingling can happen in class. I intend to have classes be treated as more of a way for the understanding of magic to be communicated between all RPers whilst remaining IC, whereas more focused social events that will mix characters up and allow everyone a chance to meet everyone else, and continue to get to know them (whether they like it or not - it's a college and sometimes you end up knowing people you'd rather avoid). I'm thinking group assignments, awkward social events, small competitions for students. I think as a good wind down "summary" time, weekly feasts that all are expected to attend would be a good chance to summarise events, give characters a chance to see each other in a very casual setting, where social convention prevents conflict, just as a brief way to get characters more reflective views on events that happen.


In particular, that first major conflict idea combined with the multiple smaller ways of developing characters together I think will lead to very good, dynamic relationships between everyone as long as managed correctly (and I have all intention to manage correctly).


With that, I'm off to bury my head in some law textbooks. I'll see you all in two days.

Just so you know though, you aren't the only one managing things. I hope that's clear. It's myself, Javax, and you. Solid ideas though.

 

[QuestingBeast]

I vote we give AAndroid allllll the power.


But if Justice comes back, praise be her name, then we go back to the ole monarchy. Kuz Divine Right.

 

[Tetro]

Well it isn't a vote since there isn't an official back up. So if three people colab then it would be more diverse and cover all the bases.

 

[Wrath Of Athena]

Well shit.


My internet was out for a while. Really sorry about that.

 

[Tetro]

Yaaaay she's back!!!

 

[Moolock]

the gm has returned!!!!! Huzzah!

 

[Wrath Of Athena]

Now that I am return from the hell that is no internet connection, I believe I shall name someone as my Co-GM and/or Back-up GM. I now realize this was too big of a responsibility to place on myself. My mistake.

 

[Javax]

I just got home; sorry. >~<


Welcome back, @Silent Justice

 

[9forgotten]

Im chill with AandroidD being co/back up GM :b

 

[Tetro]

I volunteer to be co-gm! :3

 

[Wrath Of Athena]

I choose @AAndroidD, as he seems to me like the most qualified. Sorry, Tetro.

 

[AAndroidD]

So I'm here a little early because I just submitted my assignment. Not quite done with everything yet, so you will still have to wait the full two days from when i posted that to finally see the fruits of my work


Thank you for choosing me as Co-GM @Silent Justice ! It's much appreciated and I look forward to building this world with you. Given you're back, I'll instead be sending what I promised directly to you once it's prepared for approval before sharing it with everyone else. If you had any conflict plans or story ideas on where this RP was going after classes got established, send them my way in the meantime to help me on working things out. As for the floor plans I'll be doing, message me directly also with anything in mind you felt was important to that design, because once I release a floor plan that will basically become a solid map for the whole RP to come! so its important that it comes out well.


Also, sorry to @Tetro for jumping ahead so much! I didn't mean to take so much charge all at one time, but I had other things to get out of the way and thought "hey, rather than leave people emptily grasping at claims of things getting done, why not get everyone hyped up for the RP's return by showing what sort of planning and events are to come"


I will admit now that studies will occasionally render me missing, but I should be able to at least oversee things near constantly, even if I can't be as fully involved as I'd like, and step in if anything important comes up that demands my immediate attention.


Depending on the status of the story and such, I'd really like, in fact, everyone here to PM me any concepts they had in mind to either myself or Silent Justice (If Silent is okay with that). Namely, whilst GMs are running this thing, I can tell you've all got a drive to be involved in making this RP as well, so I at the very least will be listening and considering what people put forward, if not directly, perhaps in spirit if it fits appropriately into whatever existing plans are there. It's a college RP, at heart, in my opinion it is that moreso than a magical one, and even if magic takes more hold, the fact that it is a college will not change - and colleges are about self expression and discovery. I want to capture that not just IC, but OOC as well, by letting the players have their own expressions of what they want shine through in the events of the story. If we do indeed implement the minor events, such as small competitions, tournaments, gatherings, excursions, etc. they would make an ideal opportunity to implement ideas in a way that will not divert the main story in such a way that we end up with an RP that disorganisedly sways from one path to the next, without a sense of mystery and discovery to the players (which in this case is equally important)


Hopefully ive conveyed myself properly! I'm currently running on 3 hours of sleep over the past 40-ish hours as I've been rushing to finish this law assignment as well as perhaps a bit too much caffeine for my own good, so i cant be sure. With that, I'm off to complete a few appointments I have and then likely crash in bed for a while before waking up to get to work on building this RP up further!

 

[Tetro]

@Silent Justice So when are you gonna make stuff happen so we can continue the RP?

 

[Wrath Of Athena]

Soon, if everything goes according to plan.

 

[AAndroidD]

Just a little progress update:


Content incoming! although not necessarily what I promised earlier (that will still be coming later, I'm still trying to work out how to make the map work)


I've been in contact with Silent Justice to add detail and clarity to what makes each school of magic special, and help give you all a bit of a clearer idea of what you can do with your magic (and what you will be able to learn).


In addition I wrote up some history of the world to add depth to the origin of magic itself - and I'll be either getting Silent or myself to write up a bit of a history of the college so it has more backstory than just being the cool place to learn magic and has a bit more to give it a sense of prestige and reputation.


Just waiting on the green light to post this up! It is Silent Justice's RP so do expect a little delay if adjustments need to be made for their specifications.

 

[AAndroidD]

Alright, approved and ready to go!


We now have a History of the world's magic and a deeper magic description so you can better understand the concepts behind how each school of magic works! If you have any questions about magic or history, feel free to throw them at me. They're up in the Overview.

 

[Dhuum]

I would like to join your wonderful story, if I may. Do you need students or teachers? I am up for both ^^

 

[AAndroidD]

I would like to join your wonderful story, if I may. Do you need students or teachers? I am up for both ^^

Currently we don't really have an allocated "slot" system with roles or places to be filled, so this RP is fully able to grow to anyone willing to write up a character sheet. I'm the Co-GM and also a player of one of the teachers.


Just so you have an idea on the numbers, we have 2 teachers at present and 7 students (out of accepted characters) - feel free to choose either based on whatever inspiration strikes you by posting a character into the Character Sign Up tab with the provided template. Feel free to tinker with the template a little if you'd like, as long as all the info is there and in clear sections, because rearranging for separation between teacher and student may be necessary, or just make it easier to understand for what you want.


Currently the RP is in a bit of... pause due to the main GM's prior absence, but they've returned and things will start to get going (presumably) very soon. Silent Justice, the main GM, had some issues accessing their computer... the details aren't clear but they don't matter either.


What you do need to know is that I will be able to deal with approving your character when you write one, student or teacher, and if @Silent Justice doesn't continue the story with a timeskip we've been planning or otherwise make contact before I decide I'm going to bed (probably around 5-ish hours from the time of this post) I'll make sure to put something up to keep things going. We've discussed what is to happen in the timeskip so I should be able to get the ball rolling without infringing on their intents.


I'll make sure to tag all current players when that happens so we can all come back to our little magical studies.


Also: Brief update on that floor plan I promised. I may have been a bit overambitious with my original vision and made an oversight in regards to visualising the castle. I've changed my approach and will have to start over from scratch.


Basically what happened was, with my original vision for a floor plan, the problem was that I would not be able to really let the player VISUALISE the college itself in a standardised structure... so I've instead gone on a hunt to find a suitable illustration to represent the collge, and then will be using that as an exterior to derive and design floor plans within. It means it will take longer but I think the link between visual image and floor diagram will make it far more accessible and engaging.

 

[Dhuum]

Currently we don't really have an allocated "slot" system with roles or places to be filled, so this RP is fully able to grow to anyone willing to write up a character sheet. I'm the Co-GM and also a player of one of the teachers.
Just so you have an idea on the numbers, we have 2 teachers at present and 7 students (out of accepted characters) - feel free to choose either based on whatever inspiration strikes you by posting a character into the Character Sign Up tab with the provided template. Feel free to tinker with the template a little if you'd like, as long as all the info is there and in clear sections, because rearranging for separation between teacher and student may be necessary, or just make it easier to understand for what you want.


Currently the RP is in a bit of... pause due to the main GM's prior absence, but they've returned and things will start to get going (presumably) very soon. Silent Justice, the main GM, had some issues accessing their computer... the details aren't clear but they don't matter either.


What you do need to know is that I will be able to deal with approving your character when you write one, student or teacher, and if @Silent Justice doesn't continue the story with a timeskip we've been planning or otherwise make contact before I decide I'm going to bed (probably around 5-ish hours from the time of this post) I'll make sure to put something up to keep things going. We've discussed what is to happen in the timeskip so I should be able to get the ball rolling without infringing on their intents.


I'll make sure to tag all current players when that happens so we can all come back to our little magical studies.


Also: Brief update on that floor plan I promised. I may have been a bit overambitious with my original vision and made an oversight in regards to visualising the castle. I've changed my approach and will have to start over from scratch.


Basically what happened was, with my original vision for a floor plan, the problem was that I would not be able to really let the player VISUALISE the college itself in a standardised structure... so I've instead gone on a hunt to find a suitable illustration to represent the collge, and then will be using that as an exterior to derive and design floor plans within. It means it will take longer but I think the link between visual image and floor diagram will make it far more accessible and engaging.

Thanks, ill be sure to give you a CS as soon as possible. Ill be going for being a teacher ^^ I also have a few ideas that I hope you will like, but first...the character.

 

[AAndroidD]

I apologize @Dhuum, your character sheet will need tweaking before it is accepted but its partially my fault for not expressing how various "conventional" (that is, magic common to other systems as opposed to this RP's version) in the magic descriptions, and raises a good point of information I should elaborate on. I will be doing a sort of brief, 1 sentence explanation as to how each general form of magic you might see elsewhere slots into the categories this world has. Oh yeah and with nature magic, the sun making his magic useless would not apply. Nature magic has to do with, well, nature. And Nature flourishes in the day. As covered in the Overview, it works by harnessing spirits of nature and effectively commanding them to do your 'magic' for you. That's not to say the concept of sunlight dampening magic can't exist, but Nature magic and Wizardry really just aren't the place for that - that's more of an effect to be had on Faith and Sorcery.


Because I need to make these changes to the magic system, you will need to hold on a little bit before making any changes, and it will really just be to bring your character in line with the existing magic system, which currently he falls a liiitle bit outside. Another minor qualm is on his half-elf unknown age and appearance...


It's okay to state the age as unknown but I feel it would be best to give some sort of estimate range. With characters ages here ranging from late teens to almost three-thousand, it's important to know just how much of history he has experienced to within some general margin. Additionally, and this is less a change to be made and more of a word of caution, but the historic lore of the world is being written and worked on between myself and Silent Justice. This will factor in several points so if you do want to take the historically knowledgeable and quick-to-correct route then I recommend making sure you stay up to date with any information that Silent Justice or I release to make that element of your character really work as opposed to possibly accidentally putting in some wrong info about history yourself!


In the meantime, take a look at Overview to familiarise yourself with the history and current details on magic. It was the idea of aligning your character with both nature magic and necromancy. At first it confused me, but it opened me up to this oversight in how I've approached detailing magic.


Also, you mentioned divination, and unfortunately I will have to say that as the current magic system exists, divination exists in only three ways (and this is stuff I will be expanding on later, once I get more things sorted out with Silent Justice)


1: Outside of magical application, but rather by observing and deriving a future from that, based on a knowledge (not application) of various magical systems. As the magic history details, magic spilled into human, elf, and dwarven use by the acts of the gods, and their rule impacts the future.


2: Sorcery. Sorcery is basically our go-to for anything that doesnt slot well into other magic systems, and has basically no restrictions as to what you can have, though the power will obviously need to have weaknesses and strengths in some way. if that happens to be Divination, then it can take almost any form you can imagine in terms of magically determining the future, but I would say limit it to a few specific methods, maybe 3 at max, ideally similar ones (just as an offhand example, someone with sorcery in divination may be able to tell the future via dice rolls, card draws, and coin flips in a fortune themed future telling, or for a nature themed divination, perhaps seeing the future in the ripples of water and swirls of smoke and steam - though your imagination would be the limit here)


3: Faith. As Gods brought magic to the world, so too do they influence it. The freedom to choose a deity reigning over anything also opens up the ability to have a deity that rules the future (Such as Janus, the Roman God of the Future - though in this case you will be making up your own deity OOC to represent this). Through worship, they may be granted visions of what is to come, some way or another. You could also creatively relate it to a different god, say a god of dreams and sleep granting the faithful prophetic dreams, or a god of the harvest granting a faithful knowledge of the weather to come to help prepare farmland appropriately.


Nature magic, in the system it exists in for the world here, would not work.


hopefully this will be more clear once I lay out the proper info so you and everyone else can have access to it.


To be honest, and this is just an outside critique, your character seems very suited to be a Faith mage. Specifically, one that serves a god of SOMETHING thematically appropriate, I would say deception would actually be a very nice choice. As a God of Deception, magical spells granted could be very varied. Necromancy by deceiving the dead into acting as the living. Shadows, I believe, are inherently deceptive by nature - you can go crazy on that one and it fits very well. As for divination, the god grants the gift of future sight for sake of allowing Dhal'Um to deceive others with that knowledge, spreading the god's influence. Ultimately it's up to you, but with some good thought you have the bare bones of what could be a very unique faith mage. The raven you've mentioned in the backstory could even well be an agent of said god, deceiving his captors and leading him under the god's care. It's ultimately up to you though.


If you'd like to spend some time detailing your character and tweaking it one on one, throwing ideas back and forth to keep to your vision whilst in the constraints of the RP's rules, I'd be happy to do that with you! just start a conversation with me in the site (If you aren't sure of how to do that, you can just click my profile pic, then on the little pop-up of me, click "Start a Conversation")


Sorry for the long post! I can get a bit messy with my thoughts sometimes, do feel free to ask for clarification on anything you're unsure of

 

[AAndroidD]

@callmenox @9forgotten @Yesman @Neuton @Javax @Moolock @DerekMess @Tetro


Time to get the ball rolling again! It's kind of necessitated at this point a timeskip occur to get things going, and with Silent Justice again not responding {though i do hope for their soon return} I'm taking charge with setting a scene to get all sorts of characters interacting for the time being. Dialogue will play a big role for the moment, though it should just be brief filler until Silent Justice comes in with a promised headmaster announcement - so I guess I'm just setting a scene for her to do that in!


In your responses I recommend doing a slight flashback to cover bases with what's gone on. If their room was not already assigned at the time of the timeskip, either mention they dropped by admin to get that sorted or if they're just confused and settling for random allotment. Also their reactions to being ushered to the dining hall, likely, to set the scene for how things are on arrival and their opinions on the situation. At the very least this is a chance to force every student together and get them knowing each other.


Oh and Tetro I haven't forgotten you, but as your character is a teacher it's just not giving me a lot of room to force things in. Best option if you want to get involved and are itching to post is to take a teachers' seat on that stage table, possibly get some interaction with Morund going on.

 

[Javax]

@AAndroidD


I'm a bit busy with various things tonight and tomorrow, so I'll see about working on a post the first chance I get. ()

 

[AAndroidD]

@Javax No problem, look forward to it!


Also... @Moolock um...


Your post... seemed to ignore a lot of what my timeskip post wrote... sorry.


Specific points of note that seem to have been ignored are as follows:


"patterned around the circumference by a string of painted roses" " the pattern was entirely identical no matter which two were looked at beside each other." referring to the plates, where your post suddenly has... ice crystals as their design. I thought my post was pretty clear that every single plate had the string of roses around the outer edge. I'm using that as a bit of a thematic touch.


This is off on a bit of a tangent but I'll just note OOC now that just as a bit of flair, the design will change at various feasts based on recent events, but as the start of a school year I chose roses because A: Flowering in general represents blooming in all respects, in this way heralding in the bloom of learning and knowledge. B: They, in their way of being presented, symbolises all 4 magic schools without going overly complex. The beauty and thorned nature of Faith magic's wrath and favour of the gods, nature magic is self explanatory, the consistent design amongst each plate to a point of perfect similarity represents the structure and control of wizardry, and the "growing" appearance of them by their detail (which is on my part more of a literary trick than a trick based on visualisation) is encompassing the growth and massive potential that Sorcery holds above the other magics.


Also you've stated that Alexandra chose to sit at a table off to the side of the hall, when the post I put forward stated "First years were grouped..." which I (admittedly vaguely, editing now for clarity - mostly my bad on this one) meant to mean that first year students were directed to tables by the staff, not left to choose their own.


I realise it does cut a bit of freedom of choice but it prevents the awkward situation where one character chooses to sit off to the side, like yours is, and the remaining characters amass in, say, the centre. Not quite a problem normally but since this interaction is likely just to be brief filler before a headmaster announcement THEN leading on to a more free interaction period, I though it important to set it up like that. That's also why i specified that the 7 player characters for students were all at the same table.


Sorry to cut down the post like that :/