[Read the whole of this post, please!]
A long, long time ago...
When the world was born, the faerie and human worlds were not two, but one. Faeries mingled among humankind, elemental spirits wandered the peaceful earth and nymphs danced with young men and girls until the nights grew old. Faeries and humans lived in peace together, helping one another when needed and laughing together when so desired.
A long, long time ago...
When the world was still young, humans began to drift apart from the faeries. The beautiful fay things once seen by all were now unseen to some of the more prejudiced and narrow-minded who wished to have nothing to do with faeries or magic. It was at this time the most beautiful and sacred of faerieland began to drift away from the human world. Where a non-believer might see something plain and ugly, a believer of faeries would see past the thin, misty veil that hid the magical land beyond and see into a place of unspeakable beauty. It was a veil so thinly woven that anyone could have seen past it and walked through it if they wanted to -- but this was the beginning of the time when some no longer wanted to.
A long, long time ago...
When the world begins to age, there are some who will have nothing to do with faeries anymore. Faeries and magic are still very present for those who know how and where to look for them and there are still a number of magicians. However, the faeries have separated more of their world from humans and parts of it no longer merge together.
In some places where the faeries' land still touches humans' land, where the mist is thin, a person may stumble in by accident. Wards have been set up to prevent non-believers from entering at all but even few believers accidentally fall into this magical world. If humans enter at all, it is usually by the invitation of a faerie. Few are invited to do so and even fewer are permitted to return after they enter. The misty veil that hangs between the worlds where they touch each other is thickening slowly and even a believer may not be able to see into the other world no matter how much they try.
Whenever a human stumbles upon the faerie world, they find it is so completely removed from the human world by now that it has geography of its own. Where a valley in the human world might be, a hill of the faerie world will be situated. There are different joys and troubles amongst the faeries, who now have their own concerns and are not as involved in human affairs as they once were. In fact, so different, strange and removed is the faeries' land that when a human enters there can be no mistake that they are in an entirely different place -- a place that has come to be called the Otherworld.
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Technical Stuff
This is an experiment of mine I call a "summer role play". Unfortunately, this means that I cannot allow just anyone to participate, as much fun as that may be. This initial experiment relies heavily on the experience and activity of role players I can trust will not let this die prematurely, although there's still more to come.
The role play will run from July 1 to July 31 (GMT). The idea is to post -- fast. I don't mean necessarily mean fast posting time (although that might help), but fast in terms of time within the story. The story must get started and keep moving as quickly as possible in order to be well wrapped up and finished by July 31. Good-quality, regular role-playing is good. Poor-quality, breakneck-speed posting is not-so-good.
Every post needs to keep the storyline going for two reasons. One is to reach the meet the time limit. The other is in courtesy to other players, many of whom may not have enough time to read pages of slow, inactive posts and write their own posts as well. Slow conversations and passive posts (i.e. dilly-dally without doing anything) are no-nos.
If you know me well enough, you probably have an idea of the quality I'm talking about. I'm not asking for quantity in terms of length or number of posts; I would just like posts that keep the story moving no matter what its length is. A few words often have as much effect as a few paragraphs. For those of you who don't know me as well, I cannot emphasise the importance of a believable, well-written post strongly enough.
In terms of plot and storyline for this role play, there is none -- yet. Plot is up to the players to write as we go along. Some of the best role plays I have seen developed from players' originality and ability to spin a story out of thin air. (That doesn't mean I want a plot twist in every post, though.)
One very important factor I ask for is commitment. I realize that you may not be here throughout the whole of July and you may not be able to role play every other day. I'm not going to be here for a good half of the month either. Sign up only if you will really be commited. This means you cannot disappear without a word or quit the role play for a flimsy, foreseeable reason. If something unexpected really does come up I will, of course, immediately forgive you. Otherwise, please keep on playing out of loyalty, if not inspiration. Do, do give prior warning if you leave for a while and return when you say you will return.
Now I realize that all this may sound very daunting. I don't mean this to be a big, pressurising thing. This is for anyone who really cares about doing this role play and can be counted on to fulfil the above. Post well, post quickly, but most of all, post because you want to. Have fun. There's no point in this experiment if you aren't going to enjoy it.
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More on the Otherworld
At the moment, time in the Otherworld runs more or less along the same lines as time in the human one. Months are known by different names but it is, for now, more or less the same.
In the human world, it is currently the medieval ages and there is still magic for those who know where to look for it. Witches and wizards still exist although there are also witch-hunts going on in some places in the human world, so mages tend to keep quiet. In this way, there is an element of traditional fantasy in this role play although it is rather limited.
Not many humans enter the Otherworld. If you want to be a human, you will need a very good reason why and how you are going to enter the Otherworld.
Other races include anything and everything: faeries, pixies, elves, dwarves, brownies, goblins, trolls, ogres, dragons, unicorns, nymphs, phoenixes, merfolk...
Some sites you may be interested in looking at for ideas and reading up on faeries:
http://faerie.monstrous.com/
http://www.flowerfairies.com/UK/start.htm
http://www.efairies.com/fairy_lore.htm
http://www.brigids-haven.com/bos/fae/faeries.html
Do your own research as well, if you have the time.
The Otherworld has its own countries and oceans -- it is basically a very, very different place from the human world.
Beyond all this, the Otherworld is up to players' creativity. Free reins -- really. Since I'm asking for responsible attitudes and commitment towards the role play, it is only reasonable that I give free reins to players. It also means that the people who do play will be ones I can definitely trust not to ruin the role play for anyone else.
Priority will be given to those who requested places a few weeks before. After that, it runs on a first-come first-served basis. If you are an old or new player who hasn't spoken to me about this RP beforehand and you want to participate, do apply. Even if you're new. I've met many role players who played better than their veteran counterparts when they first started posting.
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Biographies
Players who joined before July 5 may now apply for a second main character. Non-player characters are unlimited (within reason). NPCs do not need bios.
Applications are open again, but places are limited. As I am abroad and have limited internet access, it may be a long time before I get to read your biography, so only apply if you're willing to wait.
Name:
Race:
Gender:
Age:
Physical description:
Personality:
History:
Other:
Timezone:
Sample writing:
Note to GC:
Name: Full name and nicknames
Race: Faeries, trolls, ogres, etc. (Remember, if you want to be a human you will also need to specify why in the Note to GC section and humans are living in medieval times at this point.) Give some general information about your race so other players know what it's like without having to search online for ages.
No more humans please.
Age: How old your character appears to be and how long s/he has really existed for. There are some races which appear younger than they are and some which appear older.
Personality: Not just personality, but what they think, how they feel about things, what their strengths and weaknesses are -- everything to do with the inside of a character.
History: As well as past, please also mention family, whether alive or dead.
Other: What does your character do for a living, where does he or she live, what is s/he interested in, etc. Up to you exactly what you put.
Timezone (GMT): Check your forum profile if you don't know. Unless you don't want to share this because of safety reasons (you will need to tell me so), you must write this down so we know whether you're sleeping or not.
Sample writing: A paragraph or two of whatever you like (preferably creative writing) if I don't know how you role play or if you just feel like doing it.
Note to GC: Any days you may not be available that you know of now, how regularly you can update, any questions or comments you may have.
It's really advisable to look up at least one of the sites I have provided to help in writing in terms of races. If you want to make up a race of your own, though, that is absolutely fine by me. Just give information like you would any other race.
Please PM your biographies to me.
Do not post on this thread until I okay it, please.
When posting bios, do not post the sample writing or note to GC sections. Those are for mine and your eyes only.
You may post your bios if I okay them before July 1. You may not start the actual role playing before July 1.
(And if you don't get in, it's not because I don't like you or you did something wrong or something silly like that. I am not sure of anything with this experiment and I need to play on the safe side if there is absolutely any doubt at all. It means I would probably like to play with you in another role play.)
The role play officially begins July 1 (GMT), if there are no problems. Any player is free to start as long as it is July 1 (GMT). (I am GMT +8 so I might be sleeping for the first 8 hours.)
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[My bio.]
Name: Senya Thl'sa (pronounced Thla-sa)
Race: Selkie -- lives in the water in the form of a seal. Selkies can discard their seal-skins and take the form of beautiful men or women on shore. A mortal man can get a selkie wife by capturing her seal-skin and hiding it from her. If she ever finds it again, she will return to the sea. Male selkies raise storms and upturn boats to avenge the hunting of seals.
Gender: Female
Age: 18 both in actual age and appearance
Physical description: When not a small, silky black seal with dark eyes, Senya is a typically beautiful selkie when in human form. In human form she retains her large, dark eyes and equally dark, flowing hair hanging loosely down to her waist. She is quite small, a reflection of her size when in seal form, about five feet two in height. Since selkies do not often come onto shore with the purpose of tanning their human forms, she has very pale skin.
Senya has an arrangement with a friendly naiad to lend her some garments whenever Senya casts off her seal-skin. These garments are of a sea-blue colour that often fades into seaweed-green before it shimmers back to blue and white foam-like decorations hang on the hems and sleeves. Although she would be enchanting in such a form, her face appears sullen and unfriendly, discouraging others from approaching her.
Personality: As a selkie child, Senya was quiet and shy by nature although she still liked to play with the other selkies. Deep in her heart she was an affectionate, caring child who liked other faeries. Ever since her mother was killed by a seal-hunter, though, Senya withdrew into herself. Refusing to associate frequently with other faeries, even those of her own kind, she wanders the oceans alone deep in thought. Her thoughts are usually unhappy rather than otherwise, thus accounting for her miserable face.
However, the ocean is large and the inhabitants who know her are many. She still greets them politely or exhanges a passing word when custom deems it necessary or when she is attempting to be friendlier than normal, all in vain. Others generally let her alone because she appears so unhappy but their evident avoidance only increases her sorrow, unaware that she herself is partly to blame for it. Thus she comes to shore more often than other selkies do, and hardly ever with any other selkie, in an attempt to be alone and be unhappy in peace.
Sometimes she does forget her sorrow and can walk among the forests without thinking of anything at all. These moments of peace are rare and short-lived, causing Senya's heart to close itself to affection and friendship year after year. Only a few childhood friends have remained loyal to the lonely selkie girl and still sometimes talk to her.
History: Senya's selkie father was killed when she was still a babe by a seal-hunter. Never having known her father and with most of her siblings already grown up and left home, Senya developed a close bond with her mother. She regarded her mother as her personal property and her mother had no real desire to remarry yet, as few selkies were as 'dashing' as her previous husband. The mother and daughter became inseparable.
When Senya was sixteen, however, her mother suffered the same fate as her late husband -- death by the hands of a mortal hunter who wanted several seal-skins. Her mother had gone out swimming with friends leaving Senya at home and one of them survived to tell the tale. They had swum too far and entered an ocean still shared by humans and faeries alike. Broken-hearted, Senya never really recovered from the shock of hearing the news.
To this day, she still cherishes a dying hope that her mother is alive. Deep in her heart she knows this is not true but she is not willing to let go.
Other: Being considered old enough to look after herself when she was sixteen, Senya has been left to her own whims and devices since the death of her mother. There is not much harm in her, but not much happiness or life either. Her company is not really very enjoyable at all.
Her magical powers are limited, not being a male selkie, although she can cause a little rain to fall. She has neglected her abilities since the death of her mother and so she can currently bring up a drizzle instead of a shower.
Timezone: GMT +8
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Updates
Please check back regularly for updates and re-read this whole post before beginning the role play on July 1.
June 25: Changed concept of time. Added few lines on witches/wizards, revised a few words.
June 30: No more applications for humans accepted from this point on. I may change my mind at a later date.
Important: new note on number of characters per player under Biographies. Biography layout has additional timezone, please read section on that.
July 5: Applications for a second main character are open to current players. Applications for new characters are open. New players enter at my discretion.