Kore
Queen Persephone, Maiden of Spring
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Story
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The night was filled with a flash of brilliant lights dancing in a flurry of colors. Reds and greens, blues and yellows; the colors beckoned people into the night. They invited passing souls into a time of laughter and music, with enough food, games, and rides to satisfy the town. Nearly every citizen had come, many savoring the sweet taste of fairy floss as they gazed among the booths emanating the decadent scents of freshly cooked food. Couples were lined up in an endless trail, awaiting their turn atop the Ferris wheel. A crowd cheered as a large splash announced the successful dunking of a man into a tub of water. Families were huddled together before a stage filled with various singers and dancers, resting their feet from the exciting events that left them wary. It was a festival bursting with life, sitting beneath the lustrous glow of stars that would lull the world to sleep. Yet as the party continued, two young souls were retreating back into the quiet town.
"That was so much fun!" beamed a young girl, her blue-brown eyes still shining with joy. She wore a fedora atop her head, her hair pitch black in the night and just barely reaching the length of her chin. She was clothed heavily in a long coat and dark jacket, with a blue scarf wrapped around her neck. Her cheeks burned red as she tightened her grip on the hand she held, "We have to do that again Aerie."
"Yeah," the girl, Aerie, agreed. She was smaller than the other, with tanned skin and auburn red hair that cascaded over her shoulders in ringlet curls. Her skin burned hot underneath her striped sweater, and her dark leggings and shorts clung to the shape of her legs. "Next year, when the festival comes back. I promise, Zizi," Aerie mumbled with a shy smile.
"Sounds like a date then," Zizi hummed as she snuggled up closer to Aerie. The two girls sighed, smiling gently as they walked along hand in hand. "I really enjoy being with you Aerie," Zizi purred, "You make me feel... happy. Haha, weird, right? It's just that my heart pounds so much when I'm around you... I've never felt this way before. I really care about you."
"Me too," Aerie whispered quietly, her face burning a brighter shade of red. She fumbled with the curls of her hair as her nervousness seemed to double in strength. "I... I think I..." she mumbled softly, tugging tighter on Zizi's hand, "I love you Zizi. I'm really in love with you."
"Huh? A-Aerie, you..." the taller girl gaped in surprise. She quickly recomposed herself, a soft smirk gracing her lips. Normally her girlfriend was incredibly shy and reserved, so it was touching to have her reveal something so personal. "I love you too," Zizi whispered as she pulled the girl closer, "I have been for a while now."
Aerie giggled quietly, her cheeks still glowing pink as she stared up at Zizi with almond brown eyes. The thud of her heart drummed in her ears as she leaned up onto the tips of her toes and pressed her lips against Zizi's. She felt the other girl's arms wrap around her waist, tightening with encouragement as Aerie wrapped her arms around the Zizi's neck. What seemed like an eternity passed before the lovers' broke apart, separating in a fit of timid laughter.
"Well, um, I should go," Zizi announced accordingly; it was already well past her curfew. "But, before I do," she added, "I have something to give you." From the depths of her pocket, the girl pulled out two red strings. Aerie watched in stunned silence as she tied each piece in a bow around their pinky fingers. "Promise you'll always be with me?" Zizi quietly asked, her pinky held out tentatively. Aerie's eyes began to brim with tears as she nodded and wrapped her pinky around Zizi's. "Ohh, don't cry," the girl laughed kindly, pulling her gently into one last hug, her lips spreading into an irrepressible grin. After one more kiss, she leaned down to whisper in the smaller girl's ear, "Good night Aerie, I love you."
Aerie mumbled incoherently, her brief collection of courage having completely diminished to leave her tongue tied. She watched as her girlfriend disappeared into the night, a bittersweet smile of joy and sorrow occupying her expression. Then just as she was about to turn to make her own way home, she seemed to have suddenly remembered something. In a brief fit of panic, Aerie searched through her pockets and procured a small circular piece of pink glass: a Rose Lens. She had bought it from Pixie Charm, the town's famous love and potions shop run by The Mistress and The Witch.
Aerie had heard rumors that their Rose Lens possessed the ability to reveal to people their true love simply by looking through the glass. Aerie hadn't planned to confess her feelings to Zizi until she had checked the lens, but she had felt unable to contain herself any longer. She loved the girl more than anything, and felt that the feelings between them could only be between those who were bound by the illustrious Red String. Despite her confidence, however, her hands still shook as she raised the lens slowly to her eye.
The cold wind howled past the lonely girl, as her memories with Zizi began to rewind. The lens grew misty and blurred, and as Aerie pulled it away she realized the glass had been fogged up with the heat of her tears. She couldn't stop them though, as more continued to travel down her cheeks. Her voice shook with disbelief as she muttered quietly to herself.
"Zizi... We're not soulmates?"
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Plot
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It's a magically fact of life: everyone has a true love. They are tied to this person from birth, by a thread of fate called the Red String. It's invisible and intangible, but it's unbreakable and bonds souls together, even in death. The Red String is revered, considered to be the most important truth of life. As such, love is revered as well. Finding one's soul mate is the biggest accomplishment a person can make, and they should cherish the bond they share. The world caters to couples, celebrating the success of their journey towards true love. However, finding the one someone is destined to be with can be difficult when the Red Sting is, again, unseen.
Luckily, there are those born with an intrinsic sense of power. Their rare souls, drenched in magic, grant them the ability to see the Red Strings of all souls. More so, they have the power to cast artes and brew potions. They sell their talents to the commonfolk, offering spells and elixirs of love, but for a price. In a world obsessed with following the Red String, these unique beings are worshiped. It is them that are to lead the sea of lonely hearts to salvation.
In the quaint little town of Astreia, there are two such special humans. They are known as the Witch, a long standing veteran of the town and highly trusted and valued for her talents, and the Mistress, a mysterious new woman of stunning beauty who came to work under the older woman in recent years. They own a small shop together called "Pixie Charm", but when one is running the shop, the other is pushing a large cart around town to sell their goods to any that can pay.
It has been a system that ran smoothly for generations over the world. Except, the new generation is entering into the politics of love and with them, they brought new problems never before seen. This generation is falling in love, but not with the true love that the Red String bound them too. Despair is beginning to blossom in Asteria as these young souls struggle to choose between the person they are destined to be with, and the person they have fallen in love with that was never meant to be theirs.
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Rules
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1. All Rules of RpNation Apply.
2.
PaddieCake
is my GM. Be sure to respect them.
3. Keep things rated PG-13. Any further ratings either need to be kept out or fade to black.
4. Be Semi-literate, No Oneliners. All posts must be at least two paragraph long.
5. No 1x1s. This is a group roleplay, not a private one. Please wait until at least three other members have posted before you post again. If one whole week has passed since your last post, then you don't need to wait three posts.
6. Original Characters Only. Characters based off of or inspired by something are fine, but characters from preexisting works are not allowed. They simply do not fit within this rp.
7. One Steve Limit. Only one Steve is allowed. This applies to all names. Please do not use a name for your character or characters that is already being used by another member. Duplicate or too similar names tend to create confusion.
8. No God Modding. Understand that while certain potions and spells can "control" characters, it is still up to their creator to control their character. Under no circumstances are you to control someone else's character without permission.
9. No Mary Sues/Gary Stus. Characters cannot be perfect. If I feel that a character is not detailed or realistic enough, I will not accept. Unsure of their Sue statues? Try out the Mary Sue test.
10. No Bunnying. If someone tries to engage your character IC, do not ignore them or leave them out. Be inclusive to the other players.
11. No Meta-Gaming. Using your Out of Character knowledge to give your In Game character an advantage can cause tension between roleplayers. Sometimes letting a secret stay a secret can be better for a story than someone who knows everything.
12. Spots Are Unlimited. However, if I feel the need to because of an unbalance of characters or anything else then I will limit them.
13. Multiply Characters Are Allowed. Feel free to make as many characters for yourself as you like. So long as you can handle them all then it's fine by me.
14. Be Accepting. I am open to characters being of any sexuality, gender identities, race, etc. If that makes you uncomfortable, then I warn you not to join.
15. Post Character Profiles in the Character Sign-Up thread. I like my threads to be kept clean.
16. OoC Talk Belongs In The OoC Thread. Any questions also belong there. Any solely OoC posts in the main thread will be deleted. I strongly encourage everyone to take full advantage of the OoC Thread and be active there. I would like for everyone to be able to befriend each other and talk comfortable with one another.
17. Be Active. While I will not require for a responding post to be made within a specified amount of time, understand that if a response is not made within a week then any members interacting with your character are thereby allowed to leave your character. This is simply to avoid any characters getting stuck waiting in limbo and to keep the roleplay moving. If you will be unable to post for over a week then please announce it so that any effected roleplayers can act accordingly.
18. I Will Post First. Only I can officially start this roleplay. Members are not to post until their characters have been approved and my introduction post has already been made.
19. Reading Posts Is Important. I will not require that members read all posts, but I will warn that skimming my posts in particular will likely cause you to miss important details and information. It is for this reason that I suggest reading at least my posts.
20. Quitting Policy. Unless otherwise requested by you, should you quit or disappear for an unexplained and long length of time (long enough to stall the roleplay) then I will resume control and rights over your character. Chances are that I will only do so if absolutely necessary though.
21. Joining This Roleplay Means You Agree To Follow These Rules.
22. Rules Are Subject To Change If and When Necessary.
23. I Reserve the Right To Ban/Accept Anyone Within This Roleplay.
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Asteria
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The lovely little town of Asteria is a suburban residential community. Its borders are defined by the beach coast, two major cities, several neighboring small towns, and a train station. It is mostly inhabited by houses and streets of small, family owned shops, although there is at least one large mall. It is fairly modern with very little wildlife, having only a small preserved section of woodland maintained for camping trips.
Date: Saturday June 23th, in the midst of summer.
Time: The day finds itself at the fine line between late morning and early afternoon, nearing 10 o'clock.
Weather: A sudden cluster of clouds has swept over the town, pouring a torrent of rain over Asteria. Bring an umbrella if you wish to stay dry.
Events:
~List of upcoming events, not available yet~
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Pixie Charm
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There are many magic love shops located throughout the world, each of them run by the seers of the Red String. Asteria's famous little shop is known as the Pixie Charm. It's located in the old part of town on a cozy street lined with mom-and-pop shops and antique stores, but there is also a Pixie Charm kiosk booth that gets push around town selling wares on the go. It's owned and run by Mabel Medora and Idalia Seasons, but the citizens of Asteria know them as...
The Witch:
Name: Mabel Medora
Personality: She's an older woman with grey hair and covered in a lifetime of wrinkles, with expensive jewelry hanging heavily upon herself. She is also often referred to as a crone or old hag, but never to her face. She's lived in Asteria for so long that few know what her true age is. She is feisty and full of energy, with a sharp tongue and stubborn attitude. She never haggles, yet she never lets her customers say no to a deal. She is aggressive in her sales and always looking for opportunity, and clever enough to still get away with it. Being the kind of woman who is always on the go, she normally pushes the cart around town.
The Mistress:
Name: Idalia Seasons
Personality: She's been living in Asteria for a few years now, but she still remains a mystery. Her memorizing beauty is renowned, however. She is very sweet and charming with her customers, complimenting them and flirting subtly so that they're more likely to buy from her. She feigns naivety and gentleness to earn a living. Ever the talk of the town, the townsfolk have created all sorts of rumors and theories about her, but none have learned what secrets she may have. She's most often spotted in the shop.
The Shop:
Words of Wisdom - Advice, value of 2 points.
Charm Trinket - A simple charm for bracelets and jewelry, value of 6 points.
Mood Stone - Jewelry that changes color depend on the emotion of the wearer, value of 12 points.
Happiness - Candy with a 24 hour pleasurable improvement of mood, value of 16 points.
Prophecy - Divination of the past, present, and future, value of 20 points.
Rose Lens - Glass to view the Red String, with a magic lifespan of 5 minutes, value of 26 points.
Shimmer - Perfume to become attractive to all with an effect of 10 hours, value of 35 points.
Dash of Love - Weakened love potion with an effect of 24 hours, value of 40 points.
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Random Relationship Assignment
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While this is a semi-realistic roleplay, it does contain some game-like qualities. In addition to Pixie Charm's point system, there is also an event known as the Random Relationship Assignment (RRA), although it is more popularly called "Reroll". The Reroll is a very popular event for my roleplayers when I first introduced it, so I decided to continue using it. However, this event is also completely optional, so if you decide you don't want to try it than you don't have to.
The Reroll is a method I like to use to help set up some pre-relationships between characters. In other words, this event will allow character ways in which they may have known each other from before the rp's beginnings. It's a process that involves lists, dice rolling, and drawing numbers/names. The first part of this process will begin with a list of Reroll Participates in the orders they will take their turns. This list will include their names, sex/gender, sexual orientation, and length of Asteria Residency. Here's an example list:
1. Adam Alphabet - Homosexual, Male
2. Bob Biscuit - Bisexual, Male
3. Carly Carson - Heterosexual, Female
4. Darleen Dixie - Homosexual, Female
5. Eddie Edson - Heterosexual, Male
Following this example, "Adam Alphabet" would be first. So I would then roll a 6-sided dice. This first roll will determine the number of pre-established relationships he would have. If he rolls the number 1 that means one relationship, 2 means two, 3 means three, 4 means four, 5 means the player gets to choose the number (1-4), and 6 means zero.
In this case, Adam rolled a... Three!
So Adam would be rolling the dice another three more times. However this time, the dice roll will be determining the kind of relationships that he has/has had. Each relationship has been assigned a value, which is listed below with an explanation/definition for each.
Number rolled:
1. Enemies - A form of hatred or dislike, or any type of negative relation (such as fear, for example) exists between the characters. It does NOT need to be mutual, only the player character needs to view the relationship negatively.
2. Acquaintances - The two characters are aware of each other and may have interacted before, but they don't really know each other. Perhaps they work together, etc, etc. This DOES need to be a mutual relationship.
3. Friends - There is a positive relationship between the two. This is mostly a mutual relationship, at least usually it is.
4. Crush - A lingering attraction exists within the relationship. This does NOT need to be mutual between the two parties, and only needs to exist on the player's side.
5. Love - At some point, a "romantic" relation existed between both parties. It does not need to be of a sexual nature nor does it imply dating, it simply implies that some form or romantic or intimate behavior has occurred. Love being taken from the idea of "Lovers", which has a loose connotation and can be used in many contexts. This can include innocently dating for a week in preschool, or even a one night stand as adults, or anything in between. Note that these "Love" are generally past relationships and have already ended some time before the roleplay starts, but members have been known to have the Love relationship as still within current existent. This DOES need to be a mutual relationship.
6. Player's Choice - The player gets to decide on the relationship value.
After the relationship value has been decided, I will then provide a list or lists of the possible characters he might have these relationships with. Now, because I understand that not every relationship will fit with certain characters, I will be editing the lists accordingly to match each character. For example, say that Adam's roleplayer decided for him to have a past Love relationship. In which case, since Adam is attracted to men, the list I would provide of a Love dice rolling would not include any females. Once receiving this list, "Adam" can then roll the dice one last time, but this time the number of faces will be adjusted to reflect the number of possible options (in this case, it would be a two sided di, so a coin flip basically).
However, because I am bound to make mistakes with characters that are not my own, I am attributing each character with four lifelines. These lifelines cannot be exchanged between characters, moved around, multiplied, or "bent". These are the lifelines and their explanations:
Opt-out - The entire randomization process is an opt-out system, which means that at any point the player always has the ability to opt-out their character, which includes even after the process has been completed for their character. This erases ALL randomized assignments for the character, it is not meant as a "pick and choose" option.
Veto - This lifeline allows the player to ban any possible relationship value or person from the listing. The veto is best used for banning a relationship that conflicts with a character, or for banning a character that the player would prefer for their character to be a stranger with at the beginning or the roleplay. This life line must be used BEFORE any rolling has occurred, but I also suggest holding on to you veto until you have seen the edited version of the list for your character. (A veto can also be used to "un-ban" any bans I have made, such as un-banning "Love" from the value list.)
Reroll - Unlike a veto, a reroll is to be used after a character has gone through the randomizing process. A reroll allows a player to choose a relationship that they would like a second chance at. This means that if a character has rolled a "Crush" but the player doesn't like who the crush was on, then the player can choose to reroll it, but it will only be rerolled once. Alternatively, a player can also choose to reroll the relationship value if they want to keep the two characters involved but wish to change the type of relationship between them.
Restart - While Opt-out will remove the character entirely from the RRA process, restarting will simply allow a completely reroll of the entire thing for one character. Be warned that using a Restart will not bring back the Reroll or Veto option if they have already been used for the character.
Revive - This allows you to bring back a previously used lifeline, but the revived lifeline must have originally belonged to your character and not to someone else's. In other words, say used Reroll, but you wind up wanting to use it again then this will allow you to revive it. The Revive is specifically designed to be used after a Restart lifeline has been used, but it can be used whenever.
If-Then Rule - Each character is allowed to have one "if-this-then-that" Rule in place, which will act as a guideline during the relationship value rolling. Examples of Rules would be: If Love was rolled, any and all genders are allowed (useful for characters that might be hiding their sexuality or who may have experimented at some point). Or If Friends is rolled, no goat owners are allowed (perhaps because they are allergic or have a debilitating fear of goats). Rules can only be made if they include/exclude more than two characters, as Rules are specifically meant to include/exclude multiple characters. In other words, no rules that only exclude one character, such as "no characters with unnatural hair colors". If you want to exclude a specific character then use a Veto.
Note that, when listing character options, I will be adding two more options to the lot: NPC and Player's Choice. Player's Choice is self explanatory, as it allows the player to choose who their character has the specified relationship value with. NPC (standing for Non-Playing Character) refers to a random character that the player can create to fill the relationship role but is not being played by any members in the roleplay. The NPC option has been included because I believe it has the chance to add some depth and/or drama to the roleplay. However, the NPC option can be DISABLED if you so choose, yay! It's enabled by default, but disabling it is a simple act of letting me know.
Finally, after a character has undergone the randomizing process, there is a chance that I may eventually remove them from any future relationship value listings (or the mutual ones at least). This is to prevent any one character from having too many assigned relationships. Hopefully, that answers any questions or concerns anyone might have about the randomizing process. If not, well feel free to ask. With that, members can officially opt-out at any point they desire (up until the rp starts, that it).
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FAQ
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Q: Can anybody control the Witch and the Mistress?
A: The short answer is no. Mabel and Idalia are incredibly important to the roleplay and will occur quite frequently. They also have predetermined personalities and background. Allowing anyone and everyone to control them risks the chance of these characters' behaviors and histories being changed. As such, only I will be controlling the Witch and Mistress unless otherwise stated.
Q: Do all magic love shops use the point system?
A: All genuine magic shops do, yes. There are fake magic shops that will charge money, but all of their merchandise are hoaxes and will not work. Magic shops are generally funded by the town they are located in and have no need to money from their costumers, plus charging only points is much better for them. Magic shops that charge money as well as points are quite rare and fairly short lived.
Q: How does the point system work?
A: The point system is a mystery at the moment. The Witch and Mistress charge for all their supplies, but they charges points instead of money. No one besides them really know what "points" really are or worth. Sometimes items can be bartered for points, and sometimes the a person will simply have a collection of points from over their life. That's the in-story explanation for it though. Out-story, the point system is simply a reward system for interacting with the other characters, and for developing the story further. Certain actions will cause progress in certain events, and there will be little competitions in-story/out-story to win more points.. As events in the roleplay further, I will slowly reveal how the buildup of points works in accordance with what the members of this roleplay have discovered. Now most of the points will be awarded in secrecy, so members won't actually know their point build-up unless their characters check in-story (although I will at least tell members if they have enough for certain items; i.e. "Does Character A have enough for Happiness Chocolate?" "Yes." And so on and so forth.). There is a logical explanation for my secrecy though. It boils down to the fact that characters will be awarded points for performing certain actions, but if members knew what the action was then members would simply have these actions occur for an easy build-up of points. Furthermore, members will be award points should they make a correct theory as to what action was being rewarded (for example, "This person got points for performing action X"). At which point, the value of points awarded for that specific action has a chance of either decreasing or being removed altogether. Clearly, this leaves my characters exempt from winning points since I will always already know what the action is, unless there is a specific and reasonable explanation for why I would allow my characters to earn points for said action (which is probably unlikely, but who knows maybe a situation will actually come up). Also, and this is very important, but members can be awarded points by correctly guessing certain things about the roleplay. There are a couple of secrets already woven in that will slowly be hinted at more and more throughout the roleplay. For now they will remain extremely subtle, but the faster someone correctly guesses a secret then the more points they will earn. Also, remember how I mentioned about my characters being exempt? Yeah, so that kind of leaves the question as to how my characters will earn points. For me, it's kind of the opposite as it is for everyone else. The longer it takes for members to correctly guess a secret or the specific action, the more points I will accumulate. If no one correctly guesses the action or secret before I reveal it, then I will be awarded all the points that would have been awarded if a member had guessed correctly. This is all likely still a bit confusing, because the truth is I'm still trying to figure everything out. Being able to actually test it out in the roleplay is a huge part in helping me trying to figure out all the little details. Chances are, I'll probably be changing certain little aspects to the point system the more I get to test it out until I finally feel satisfied with however it'll wind up.
Roleplay located at: https://www.rpnation.com/categories/the-red-string.623/
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