Mage Guild Type of thing

[Lucius Cypher]

To put it bluntly, I wish to revive an RP I first joined when I made an account on the old guild, and figured I'd take a crack at it a second time. The theme of the RP is a sort of magic school, though it's more accurately a magic guild: You are presumably some sort of adult person coming to the College of Aerta in order to learn about magic and possibly take up a career in it, though it's not unusual for people to only learn a few spells to help in their every day life. You can spend most of your time studying, or taking up jobs around and for the college for money or education, that sort of thing. Fantasy races are all abound, with one notable exception: Humans.

A sort of twist on the usual tropes: Humans as we know it no longer exist, and the oldest sources say that all existing humanoid races have humans as a common ancestor. Thus really, all your elves, dwarves, orcs, beastfolk, and even lizard people are derived from ancient humans. Just sorta a thing to keep in mind.

As far as expectations of the group, I plan to keep it small, no more than four at most. Whether or not you all work together I don't really intend to control, but you all will be sharing a singular dorm space. Lots of people from around the world go to the Aerta College, so housing is limited. As for the magic itself, I do have something of a system for it. It basically breaks down into different subsets of magic based off elements or concepts, though naturally some of these elements and concepts work well together so it's not unusual for a well versed mage to dabble in a few different schools. That being said, most people are born with an affinity towards one which means they're usually more capable of handling magics. Here are the Primary Schools:

Pyromancy - Fire and Light Magic
Vitamancy - Healing and Flesh Magic

Hydromancy - Water and Liquid Magic
Cyromancy - Ice and Cold Magic

Herbamancy - Plants and Animal Magic
Terramancy - Stone and Metal Magic

Aeromancy - Wind and Sound Magic
Electromancy - Electricity and Energy Magic

In addition, there are four Esoteric schools of magic, however these schools generally only allow exceptional individuals, and generally only with approval of certain nations or people due to their power. They're otherwise forbidden without proper licensing: something that the college takes very seriously.

Necromancy - Death and Reanimation Magic
Demonmancy - Summoning and Binding Magic

Psychomancy - Illusions and Mind Control Magic
Noxomancy - Hexes and Disease Magic

Additionally as far as settings go, we're in that funny point of time where it's actually kinda steampunk, but at the same time there's still plenty of knights and sword fighting to be had due to how magic makes that sort of thing a bit more practical than usual. Obviously for things like guns and such, they exist, but your conventional metal armors can be quite resistant to firearms for the simple reason that an enchanted breastplate takes bullets far more easily than what you'd think a bullet would, not to mention a lot of firearms these days are still in the form of metal shots being propelled either by magic or black powder. Cannons are not unusual to be used by various factions and recently airships powered by magic have started to become a more regular occurrence, for better or for worse.

Anyways I'll probably have more details up once I get enough interest. First come first serve. If I get any droppers once this RP starts, I'll simply have to phase out the ones who have been quiet and recruit new people as the plot demands.

[Jinxlynx]

This sounds like it could be fun

[EliteCommander]

I think I could be interested in something of the sort.

[Lucius Cypher]

That's 2/4! Also waddup Elite, I'm sure you'll be quite familiar with this concept. Yeah, it's basically my take on Blood Act. Figured I may as well chimera something from the remains.

[EliteCommander]

I would say there is a good chance I would be interested in joining. I am looking for something to join where I would be reasonably confident in having a good amount of activity. I think having a small group is a good start for that, to avoid the waiting game.

I'll need to think up a character. Maybe a huge, psychic winged lizard...

[Lucius Cypher]

Yeah here's hoping. I'm still on the fence on if I want to make sure the main four work together or allow people to do their own thing. On one hand, it'll be hella helpful for me if everyone cooperates. But at the same time, be whoever you wanna be. That being said, I'm not going to run a story for just one PC. If someone chooses not to work with the others I'm not just going to throw them a bone to keep them occupied, ya know? Anyways, feel free to invite any friends you think will like this sorta RP.

[EliteCommander]

I don't think I have anyone to invite, unfortunately. At least no one that I'm not pretty sure is too busy.

How do you think you are going to approach player characters this time around? Is everyone going to be students again, or are you going to make things more flexible based on the preferences of the collection of players you get? I'm just trying to decide on if I want to try a new approach to a character, or re-tread old ground.

[Shard]

I am interested in this. I have actually created a species I would love to use. Sending you a PM.

[rush99999]

If you're still selling tickets, I'd like a ride on this train.

[EurmalEye]

Looks like that's 4 people, but if spot opens up I am interested!

[Lucius Cypher]

I'll keep you in the loop. With four hopefuls, I'll see about starting a proper OoC sometime this weekend.

[Shard]

@EurmalEye

I am actually going to dip out, so feel free to take the spot I had been gunning for!

Thanks for the opportunity, and I hope you all have fun!

[Lucius Cypher]

Unfortunate, but understandable. In any case I'll hopefully have something by Sunday.

[Bliss Audacious]

I remember being in a game just like this way back when, though they got very esoteric with the schools. (I think the GM just liked making magic categories, which is valid)

If the group limit expands or if anyone needs to clear out, please keep me posted. I'd be quite excited to join this if possible. Cheering you all on in the meantime!

[Thinslayer]

I'm up for this.

[Lucius Cypher]

We're fullup right now, but I'll keep you in contact if we get any droppers. It's father's day so I might not be able to get the OOC complete, but I do have most of it done.

[EurmalEye]

-wrong thread sorry-

[Lucius Cypher]

Reopening this Interest Check for anyone who wants to tag in. Looking for at least two more PC's.

[AelitaJezebelle]

I think this sounds interesting. Is it one character per person or are multiple allowed? I have a set of triplets I'd like to use, but if there's a limit, I'll choose one.

Also what qualifies a person to attend the Esoteric schools? Two of the triplets fall into that category. I have a necromancer and a telepath/illusionist.

[Lucius Cypher]

At the moment I would prefer just one character per player, as the RP is intended to be focused around a small group.

Generally speaking, there are three things that allows a student to take lessons in the Esoteric Schools of magic. The first and most obvious is simply being a well-known and long term student of the college. The students who don't really bother to stand out in any positive way at the school will often be denied access to the Esoteric schools simply because the college doesn't know them well enough to trust them with such magics.

Secondly, it requires sponsorship from an organization outside of the college. There's a lot of backdoor politics about the Esoteric schools of magic, so basically anyone who wants to learn them must be held responsible by either a reputable organization or even a government. Aka if the Fantasy CIA of the Elven Kingdom sends a letter to the college and says "this person is going to be one of our agents and we want them to learn Necromancy".

And the last is simply testing and passing to show you do have the ability to control the various magics of the Esoteric school. Usually this is simply a show of magic ability that you would presumably have learned and honed as you were taking primary schools, but it can also rely on how well you respond to magic of the esoteric school as well. So if you want to be a necromancer, you'll be tested to see how well your body and mind handles having your life energy directly manipulated, since that's a thing that Necromancers will do. Or if you're going to be a telepath, how well your mind handles being invaded or constantly hearing everyone's thoughts, emotions, and so forth, often over the course of a few days or even weeks.

Magic itself is already dangerous for people who only have an academic knowledge of it, and even well practiced mages must be careful not to over do it. The Esoteric school is even more dangerous not just because of the power they wield, but also because using them generally is more threatening to the user than the primary schools. There's a very real possibility that even if you have enough control over magic not to suffer from blood sickness, the spells themselves could end up doing yourself in if you aren't adequately prepared to handle them. But again, that's what the school is for, and why most students would never really touch the Esoteric schools beyond whatever they may research on their own time. Naturally, you as players could be the exception if you're willing to take on the trials to learn. But don't expect this to be a thing you can do right off the bat.