Fantasy Valiance OOC

[Kharmin]

I couldn't get the code to quite work properly in the end so we've just got something simple and old-school

I can't get that code to work either, so I'll be putting up something very vanilla. Sorry

 

[SkyGinge]

In the lore, it is stated: And there was no chance to fight, for magic and blade alike cannot harm their swirling flesh.

How, then, are we supposed to fight these things?

A great question! The answer to this is something our characters will be figuring out in the RP. But we won't just be facing Shadow Reapers (in fact, they won't be the first enemies we encounter); the Anarquesse has since created a collection of Shadow Creatures which have been pursuing our characters, and unlike the Reapers, these can be killed.

I can't get that code to work either, so I'll be putting up something very vanilla. Sorry

Yeah no worries, I think I messed something up with my tweaks. I'll remove it and people can just post vanilla forms or they can use their own code.

 

[Kharmin]

OK, SkyGinge . CS is up. Let me know what you need me to change.

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Shotgunpenguin : Sounds interesting: I like the idea of a character with a bit of a shadier background. When you're talking about tribes, are you imagining a new people group or talking about what I mentioned before about the ancient magic tribes? If the latter, I was thinking that the magic tribes would have died out/disappeared before the start of the forty years peace; if the former, my question is why people would choose to live a harsh life out in the desert when the fields and hills of central Valia are fertile and fruitful? That said, I did put a cheeky little grassy section on the far side of the desert which opens up the possibility of a town down there in the middle of nowhere, and I'm up for you continuing with this if you can think of a creative and logical work around.

In terms of being interesting to interact with, it's pretty unfair/hard to judge from just a concept paragraph imo, but played with the right amount of guilt and willingness to continue scamming to survive and I think it'd be an interesting addition.[/FONT]

For the tribes I was thinking the former, more of groups of nomads who travel from oasis to oasis in search of undiscovered ruins. There would be a small town near the southern edge of the grasslands that acts like a central hub for the tribes to barter and trade. As for why they choose to live in such harsh conditions, the reason varies between tribes. Some believe that the harsh environment makes them stronger, while some reject the idea of a materialistic life and instead choose to be nomads.

 

[ShadyAce]

Yeah no worries, I think I messed something up with my tweaks. I'll remove it and people can just post vanilla forms or they can use their own code.

I thought I noticed something missing (a rather important piece of the code, but alas). I think this type of RP honestly functions better without the code!

And before I go to bed, a couple rather vague questions I've been thinking about, all for various possible ideas and general curiosity:

Did you have anything in mind or some more in depth information for the Northern Wastes?

In Valia is there any interest in the past or past civilizations? For example, how we might study the Egyptian time period and be enamoured with the pyramids, is that the same with the ruins in the desert in Valia?

Would anyone outside of the Knights practice/study yellow magic? I presume yes, but is it uncommon?

Many thanks for any and all answers < 3 (time to crash, I should not be awake)

 

[swamp fairy]

My character is pretty much done. Can't wait to see everyone else's!

I was thinking of making a second character sometime later if that's okay.

 

[SkyGinge]

Shotgunpenguin : That all sounds good to me!

ShadyAce : Clearly I understand BBCode even less than I thought then as I removed some bits that I was pretty sure I didn't need Ah well, not the end of the world by any means. And now, your questions (or shall we say questioin's? (sorry Dogo, I just find it funny because it makes me think of Hououin Kyoma from Steins;Gate )):

1. The only things I was thinking was that they're pretty much uninhabited, and there's rumours that they were once home to a tribe of Silver Mages back in the days of the magic tribes. Do you have any ideas in mind?
2. In the pre-fall academic climate, yes! Though history hasn't been kept very long in Valia, scholars would have definitely been interested in the past, especially in some of the more mysterious locations like the ruins in the Calaslei desert, for their potential significance in connection with the ancient magic tribes.
3. If people could find a suitable use for it then yeah they definitely would, but as society as a whole still didn't really understand much of the potential of electricity, it hadn't started to be used for say crafting machines or changing up lights from being traditional candles and lanterns. Not all those who studied as mages neccessarily made particular use of their element in their practical day-to-day lives either!

Kharmin swamp fairy and anybody else currently writing up characters: Because I'm still intending to put a limit on the amount of participants involved, I'm going to hold off on giving feedback and edits just yet. At present we have eight people I know are definitely creating characters (including myself!), two maybes, and then there's a bunch of other people who either expressed initial interest or I've noticed lurking around the threads. Once I have a better idea of the number of submissions we're likely to get, I'll give you a few comments, probably in a couple of days. I hope the wait is alright, and I'm fond of all the ideas being thrown around at the moment!

On that note, if you're interested and planning to submit a character but haven't posted in here yet, please do let me know either on here or via PM! I may be able to accommodate more people, but I'm steeling myself to try and remain firm on what I think is a sensible amount of players without promising to compromise!

 

[swamp fairy]

That's fine; gives me time to find a picture and do a few more small edits. I only want to know if my character at large is acceptable and I don't have to worry about my submission being denied a few days later.

 

[SkyGinge]

swamp fairy : I'll give a few general pointers in a couple of days time

 

[thefinalgirl]

My idea for my character is to be a gypsy that travels from place to place in search of her brother. She knows a bit of White Magic from studying it before the fall, just around the Creation level. She originates from the Calasei Desert from a small village that studies the stars and moon. She moved away when she was young to find a better life outside her village with her father but left her mother behind. She dances at taverns to earn some money and support her father's smithery. After the fall, she becomes lonelier in terms of feelings. Her father died and she is just alone since her village is probably destroyed and the only person she could trust died. I don't know if it's a good concept for a character but is it good?

 

[SkyGinge]

thefinalgirl :
A few questions. White and Gold Magic were normally reserved for those with 'proven noble character', so how she (not being a noble) have qualified to study it? What would be the motivation for a travelling dancer to specialise in healing magic? Why is a village with a particular field of academic study located in such a harsh environment? And obviously she'd need to be fleshed out further in characterisation than just being lonely, but I would hope to see that more in the character form.

Just a general heads up: I'm going to be quite busy tomorrow so will likely only be popping onto the site every now and again

 

[thefinalgirl]

Her backstory was that her father was expelled from the village due to comitting a crime that had something to do with the village chief's wife. They moved from the desert to somewhere in the Southern Valleys. She lived at least 2 years in the desert before the whole crime thing. The village was a sort-of secretive place that was exclusive since they didn't want contact with the outside world as they feared that their traditions and beliefs might get washed away with whatever foreign land that conquers them. It was basically an accident that she learned White Magic. She saved a noble's child from a pack of vicious wolves and tended to their wounds. The noble saw this and was moved by the dancer's actions which led the noble to helping her learn magic, specifically White Magic. Maria wanted to learn White Magic to help her father since he was getting weak and she wanted to strengthen him and such. So Maria got enlisted to learn White Magic. Although she was a bit shaky at first, she managed to get a grasp on it and Awakened to her true potential. That's sort-of the basic gist of my character's backstory so far.

(Also sorry if there's some incorrect grammar there, English is not my first language.)

 

[SkyGinge]

thefinalgirl : Nothing wrong there grammatically/typo-wise to my eye, and well clarified on all points!

 

[thefinalgirl]

thefinalgirl : Nothing wrong there grammatically/typo-wise to my eye, and well clarified on all points!

I actually semi-panicked because I thought you didn't like my character concept. Those words really mean a lot to me!

 

[ShadyAce]

1. The only things I was thinking was that they're pretty much uninhabited, and there's rumours that they were once home to a tribe of Silver Mages back in the days of the magic tribes. Do you have any ideas in mind?
2. In the pre-fall academic climate, yes! Though history hasn't been kept very long in Valia, scholars would have definitely been interested in the past, especially in some of the more mysterious locations like the ruins in the Calaslei desert, for their potential significance in connection with the ancient magic tribes.
3. If people could find a suitable use for it then yeah they definitely would, but as society as a whole still didn't really understand much of the potential of electricity, it hadn't started to be used for say crafting machines or changing up lights from being traditional candles and lanterns. Not all those who studied as mages neccessarily made particular use of their element in their practical day-to-day lives either!

Thank you for all of the answers!

The current idea I'm thinking about is a character with a father who was particularly interested in the history of the Northern Wastes (so the rumours about a tribe of Silver Mages works rather seamlessly), but perhaps went missing during an expedition. And then he/she became a bit of a nomad scholar, both continuing their father's work and searching for information or artefacts (both in and out of the Northern Wastes), but also holding onto a lingering hope he was somehow still out there. Any critique is welcome, I'm still not sure where I'm going to go with a character - so many possibilities!

 

[Trappy]

Ahoy! New face here!
I have an idea for a noble Yellow Mage who had the basis of his powers imparted upon him by his predecessor. He is the only heir of a knightly house loyal to the Hero King, out to do his part amidst the crisis, and for vengeance against those who brought ruin to his house following the Fall. He is conscious of his responsibilities as the heir to his family, so he's not completely fixated on revenge, nor will he be throwing his life away recklessly. Depends on how things go, I'm thinking he'd also assume responsibilities towards those around him, influenced by his upbringing.

I wanted to get something up ASAP, so this is definitely still in development x) Any critique is appreciated!

 

[Kabboom]

i appear

My idea for my character is a Blue Magic adept merchant who ran a flower shop in Alsiere before the fall. Due to her inept business skills, she'd found herself in quite a pinch and put in an involuntary business partnership with some criminals, who've taken her flower shop as a front for their activities, while paying her to keep quiet. After the fall, the criminals fled the city, and perhaps out of pity, brought my character with them as they headed for the South Valley. Due to the harshness of the journey, most if not all the criminals had died, leaving her alone as she reached the Southern Valley.

Does that sound good?

 

[SkyGinge]

had the basis of his powers imparted upon him by his predecessor.

The rest seems fine, but I'm wondering what you mean by this?

ShadyAce : Sounds fine to me in basic concept!

Kabboom : Sounds like an interesting concept! I'm curious to see how the whole ideal would have affected her persinality!

 

[WalkingDogo]

I like the idea for your character - the fall effectively gives him a second chance having been a poor squire beforehand, which could be interesting character motivation. Having ran away to survive like a coward 'heroically retreated' would mean he would have an interesting relationship with Skyre's ambition of taking down the Anarquesse…

Yep, it's forcing him into being a proper knight who takes things seriously! And runs away from fights, a lot. On a more serious note he definitely feels guilty over the whole, 'running away whilst his city was under attack' thing. He would love to try liberate Valia, to avenge the fallen knights. He just don't think he can, it's not like he's a legendary hero or anything even close. Though I don't think he's entirely realised that, it is in dire situations like this when heroes are truly born.

And yeah, I definitely look forward to him meeting Skyre.

...and I can also see a fun dynamic with somebody in the group trying to tutor him in magic. Of course, for much of the first half of the RP he'd still not be capable of much beyond very basic, desperate stuff, but there is a point in the RP where we will all be able to grow dramatically in our magical ability - at least, if we get that far in (here's hoping!)

Aye, getting tutored by one of the other character's would be fun. At first he'd likely be a bit hung up on wanting to learn Yellow Magic in particular, and wanting to do so from a fellow knight or a least one of their tomes (this would still likely have some tutoring from someone else). Failing that, he would likely eventually give up and let someone else try teach him.

So, wait can say a red mage teach someone else how to be a blue mage? Or does it have to be another blue mage? Or would they partially be able to do it? Does it depend on the teacher? Could a muggle successfully teach someone a type of magic if they knew enough?

Answering your questions now: Great question regarding the knights. When King Lyram trained the army in magic to take out the previous Anarquesse, I imagine he would have taken both commoners and distinguished houses in to the army, especially as casualties rose up. However, perhaps there was then conflict in the forty years of peace between the historical families which had churned out knights and newcomers graduating and coming into the service from the University of Magic? I'm open to any ideas you have on the matter. The knights were in effect the police of the kingdom beforehand, being able to use their magic within strict regulations to keep the peace (because of course, thieves, brigands and other such criminals still rose up).

I imagine fighting alongside each other would had forged a some respect between nobles and peasants
Perhaps after the threat of the Anarquesse was dealt with, many of the nobles wished for the peasants to be honourably discharged? For if the knights were to return to their duties as peacekeepers, then surely not all of the common folk should be trusted to act with required integrity? Some nobles opposed, having a respect for the common man forged in the fires of war. They claimed it would be disrespectful to the memory of the common folk who laid down their lives defending Vaila to strip their peers of their status. The arguments ended with the infamous case of Dagmar, formally of House Easone. A highborn knight found guilty of murder, which fairly handily dealt with the elitists' arguments.

However, keeping the policing force of Valia incorrupt was not the elitists' true agenda. You see whilst a family churning out a Valiarum Knight is officially a honourable duty and service to the state, it comes with many privileges and is pivotal to the powerbase to many Houses, and of at least significant concern of many more. (If you want, I could expand upon my logic behind that.) Losing control over population of knights was not something they wanted to happen.
So some nobles brazenly approached the Hero King Lyrm, long may he live, with their concerns. Demanding that the commoners be forced to submit to one of the houses after being knighted, The king, in his wisdom, realised that this would greatly displease the common folk, who would not appreciate the sudden change. Alas, he was also understanding of his nobles' concerns and did not wish to loose their support more so then he already had with his radical polices. So he devised a compromise: the peasants would be allowed to submit to one of the Noble Houses (or none at all) and become a pseudo member of it. This may sound like the exact same plan, but framing it as a reward would please the commoners instead of enraging them, it prompted healthy relationships between the classes, having the peasants choose their House submit too forces the nobles to be competitive with their offers and not mistreat their lowborn knights whilst in the end it still gave the Houses what they wanted: control.

Though it wasn't all good, many commoners now joined the knights with the sole aim of increasing their social status, which was good for numbers but not the integrity of the Vailarum Knights. Whilst their were Knights who did not submit to any of the Noble Houses, their options for advancement thusly became much more limited (for some infathomable reason) and the sheer amount of politicking most of the peasant knights go through has made people mockingly refer to the Academy as the 'Knightly Court'.

I'd imagine the politics would turn Thomas (my character) off, it'd be partly be way he was so lazy.

So what do ya think Ginge?

Could you please expand on the training of Knights? I am unsure of their relationship with the University.

Shotgunpenguin For character interactions, maybe you could lean into their motherly/fatherly side? Maybe over the course of the game they slowly start going from just having a soft spot for kids, to having one for the rest of the party. They could become Team Mom or Team Dad. So yeah, just an idea you could be interested in.

Kharmin My character has a horse! That could lead to some character interaction!

Also, perhaps before the fall, the Tom sometimes went to Jayson's shop. I find the idea of Tom finding out that the pretty shop-keep he vaguely knew was secretly an assassin kind of funny.

Trappy
Another knight! Tom may have a magic trainer! Also, I;m curious about what you think of the politic stuff I made up (see above) as you also plan on playing a knight.

Unless they had some sort of friendship or acquittance pre-fall (I'm open to the idea) he would not likely know of Thomas. But he would likely know of his master, Sir Aldrich of House Easone and Tom currently has a shield with his coat of arms which may lead to certain misunderstandings...

(or shall we say questioin's? (sorry Dogo, I just find it funny because it makes me think of Hououin Kyoma from Steins;Gate )):

Oh, and this means war Ginge. WAAR.

 

[Trappy]

The rest seems fine, but I'm wondering what you mean by this?

Oh! I meant like he was enlightened by a veteran knight in the family about Yellow Magic and basically has some background knowledge before attending the University to further develop these skills. Just background stuff, if it’s okay!

WalkingDogo Ohoho~ Essentially, it's about a compromise between commoners' opportunities and the nobles' privileges regarding the Vailarum Knighthood, yes? It's interesting, definitely.
Once we get our CSs up, I look forward to discussion and develop more into Theodor (my character)'s knowledge of Sir Aldrich

 

[WalkingDogo]

Trappy Thankayou , and ya, it's trying not to upset anyone or be injust.

I originally was just intending for Theodor to know of Sir Aldrich by virtue of them both being nobles, but I like the idea of them knowing of each other. So like old friends maybe or (if Theodor is a lot younger) as a uncle-nephew relationship (regardless of their actual blood relation). But yeah, expand on that after the CSs are up.

 

[thefinalgirl]

Oof, I feel like my character barely would have any cool interactions with the group. She's just a gypsy from the desert who learned about White Magic.

 

[MToki]

Oof, I feel like my character barely would have any cool interactions with the group. She's just a gypsy from the desert who learned about White Magic.

It's alright, bro, my character and yours will be in the back cheering the others on

 

[thefinalgirl]

It's alright, bro, my character and yours will be in the back cheering the others on

Yay! I'm just a supporting character.

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Oof, I feel like my character barely would have any cool interactions with the group. She's just a gypsy from the desert who learned about White Magic.

Hey don't beat yourself up about it. My character is just a scammer from the desert who wanted to learn Green Magic because he felt bad that he couldn't save a kid. Although tbh I might change what magic he wants to learn since we already have a green mage.

Also WalkingDogo it's funny that you mention the team dad angle, since that's actually my character in the D&D campaign I'm in now. Goliath fighter that carries spare weapons for the rest of the party, stocks potions in case the healer isn't around and is just all around the voice of reason in the group.