Old Kingdom (Abhorsen) RP?

[ChristaEinheart]

me too x3

[Astarael42]

possibly interested depending on which level of RP you are planning. Either way glad to see that Garth Nix isn't unknown around here.

[Jinxer]

I apologise for the incoherence below - this is a smattering of notes I've drummed up between my lunch break at work, the train ride home and just now before I go to bed so it's a bit all over the place. I'll better organise it another time but I wanted to let everyone see what I had thought of so far and allow creative input into the matter.

Of course, if there's a different direction people wish to take then I'm all ears!

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@Astarael42

I'll be posting it in Casual but I intend to have it as high-casual (I.e. Advanced level posts, where applicable, but without the pressure to write pages of prose which I find Advanced tends to impose).

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I'm still fleshing it out (and actually writing it up into prose rather than bullet points) but so far the general premise I have is as follows:

This is set a bit longer than century after the events of Abhorsen. All the characters we know are long gone, as are their children. The Abhorsen and Royal families are now fairly numerous, enough so to have both head and branch families again although not so numerous that the individual branch families have set traits or traditions.

The Old Kingdom has recovered a great deal with its villages and towns repopulated (and with better day-to-day defences against the Dead, a hangover of practices introduced by Sabriel and Touchstone during the latter years of their reign). Belisaere has regained its old glory and built upon it further. The old city which had fallen into ruin was torn down and then rebuilt using the most modern and progressive techniques and styles, more natural spaces and running water incorporated into its sprawling streets than ever before.

However, relations between Ancelstierre and The Old Kingdom have been declining steadily after the Destroyer was sealed. Animosity, built up by the Destroyer's pawns in the government, against The Old Kingdom was too embedded and became a common consensus. Meanwhile, more wars on the continent South of Ancelstierre led to an ever-increasing flow of refugees who were redirected to The Old Kingdom.

Word is also spreading of a Cabal, a group of Necromancers, who have built up their strength at the far reaches of The Old Kingdom although their intentions are as yet unknown.

To add to the tenuous situation, the current Queen is ageing and there is little consensus on whom should succeed her, there being no surviving heir from the main family. The branch families have put forward their own suggestions, massing support from factions within the city to prepare for the Queen's imminent death so that they may seize power.

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This is just a summary - I will write it into nice prose rather than bullet points, promise!

As far as the characters go - I'd like to see people's suggestions. Generally, I'd like to follow Garth Nix's habit of fostering a 'new generation' - younger, adolescent characters who challenge the status quo instated by their parents and elders. Or are forced to. I myself intend to play as one of the younger members of a branch family, not their candidate for the throne and so somewhat ignore albeit with quite a considerably training in Charter magic and other important matters!

[Resonance]

Huh, seems interesting. Already know what my character is going to be. I was thinking a descendant of Sameth; being a Wallbuilder himself.

[Gisk]

My character would be a Northern Ancelstierran, and a former student of Wyverly College. She crossed the wall some time ago and took up Necromancy out of a typical sort of morbid curiosity. She didn't understand what it would mean for her Charter mark, and now it is corrupted, though not beyond repair.

She wants to remove the taint of Free Magic, but keeps finding herself using it out of necessity, and is trapped in a vicious cycle, not even able to cross the wall back to her home country.

[Astarael42]

@jinxer Ok. I tend to favor advanced RP but I can understand your point. Do you have a posting rate expectancy? I know each is different but ideally?

[Jinxer]

@Resonance

Excellent, a member of a rival family!

@Gisk

Yep, that sounds good to me. You'll have a lot to work with concerning the Cabal etc then.

@Astarael42

I don't like to specify but I would prefer once every two or three days at least where possible - largely due to the lesser length of posts I would expect the frequency to go up. I find Advanced RPs often suffer from a slow pace when long posts are made - other players then feel required to write something of equal length.

Although by all means, I don't wish to restrict people to short posts. I merely prefer quality and content rather than quantity to maintain a good pace and keep activity up.

[Astarael42]

thank you for the straight up answer @jinxer. At this time I can't commit to posting that frequently thanks to real life commitments. I am exactly the kind of slow paced long posting player you mentioned above. You have a good idea, and like I said happy to see that a good series is known around here, hope all goes well and happy RPing!!!

[Gisk]

Since we have some more info, can we start posting CSs?

[Jinxer]

By all means. I haven't got a set CS but I'm confident that everyone knows what needs to be there. I'll ask for more detail if needed and get the CS structure up in the OOC sometime tonight hopefully.

[Gisk]

Fun freaking fact I just discovered.

http://oldkingdom.com.au/default.html#.VfxQNt9Viko

Garth Nix's website has(in the bonus material section) essays by the author about Free Magic, Charter Magic, Bells and every other bloody thing.

[Gisk]

Name: Jacel (Juh-cell), the Impure
Age: 19
Appearance: Tall, slim, and blond. Jacel has an thin, angular face, with tired green eyes. She looks, quite rightly so, as someone who doesn't get a proper meal very often. The hair on her head is sheared extremely close to her scalp, and she covers her head with a blue headscarf, in the fashion of the Southerlings that have lived in the Old Kingdom now for nearly a century. She chose this as it allows her to cover her tainted charter mark without attracting very many questions.

She dresses in an amalgamation of clothing from both sides of the wall, and many walks of life. Her boots and trousers are those of a Crossing Point Scout. Made in the military style of Ancelstierre, but by hand so that they can withstand being in the Old Kingdom. She wears a button-up shirt that is faded and colorless. Over this is the bandolier of bells, signature to a Necromancer. Her belt is brown, and the seven handles that stick out of the pouches are of sandalwood. Her bells are typically covered by a wide triangular cloak, similar to a poncho. This she got from a band of Travelers, and it bears their clan markings and sigils embroidered in the fabric. Her head, over top the blue scarf, is adorned with a wide brimmed hat, the left side being pinned up in a cavalier fashion.

She has a sword belt on her waist as well, hanging with a plain shortsword that is Charter spelled. With the Free Magic flowing in her veins now, it hurts her to wield it and she only does so out of desperation.

Bio: Born Bethany Hooke in Ancelstierre, the Necromancer who would later be known as Jacel was a native of Bane. She came from a well off family that had long lived in the Northern part of the country, and grew up on stories of superstition and magic about the Wall and what was beyond. It was a subject she was immensely curious about, and so was always willing to hear scary stories of times that things had come across(though it never happened during her childhood).

She attended Wyverly College, and was all too happy to jump to the magic lessons that were taught this close to the wall. But she found it lacked something, she wasn't sure what. Some element of the stories and superstitions she had been told just seemed to be missing. She hungered for it, but couldn't place what it was. For two years at school she studied hard, but still found her magical education lacking. Over this time she fantasized about running away to the Old Kingdom, but it wasn't until she was fourteen that she finally did it.

Getting across was easier than it should have been. She put on a blue head scarf and hid in a group of refugees who were being forced across. Not only did the army not stop her, but they actually helped her!

The refugees were beset by all sorts of nefarious characters shortly after being shuffled across, but little Bethany Hooke was the only one among them with a Charter Mark, and so she attracted the worst of the attention.

Even these days, Jacel believes she was lucky with who got to her first. A Necromancer looking to recruit an apprentice. Anyone else might have killed her, she reflected later. Used her Charter Mage's blood for ritual, taken her soul and body for their own purposes. Instead, she learned those same dark arts that could easily have been used upon her. By age fifteen she had walked in the First Precinct, and eschewed her own true name.

By seventeen, her master had gone missing. She didn't know where, he often left to go about his own business, leaving her with tasks to complete. It was months before she realized he wasn't coming back this time. She set out on her own, but didn't have a clear plan at the time. Since then, it's become clear that her kind is wanted in very few places. Without the influence of her teacher, her own better nature was able to blossom, and she tried to use her powers for good. She would ring Kibeth to walk the dead back where they belonged, or Ranna to quiet a graveyard. Once she even used Belgaer to discover the identity of a man's murderer, and inform his family.

In some places she has gained a sort of respect. She is called Jacel the Impure, a semi-derogatory title. They dislike her powers, but these are places out of the way, where the Abhorsen doesn't come very often, and she is often their best defense against the dead.

Jacel wants to put Free Magic behind her, but she finds it hard not to use the Bells when she finds a village beset by the Dead.

[Jinxer]

OOC

There we go.

Now I'm going to bed as it's 11:32, I've been up since 05:30 and I'm doing the same again tomorrow before I go out for a work do. Don't expect entirely coherent responses from me until lunch time Sunday!