Alright. The sheets are in, and while everyone did some really great work, I unfortunately have had to make an executive decision about who gets a spot. @XxLyraxX and @Pathfinder, you're in, and with that we are unfortunately full. I very much appreciate the work that everyone else has put in, but sadly I promised myself I would only take five, and five is the number we are at.
IC will hopefully go up later tomorrow, or I guess it's technically today, but that's just because I stay up too late. I still need to finish rewriting my CS, the beginning of which I've posted, and then hopefully I'll be able to get us started.
I'm very excited to RP with you all, and I hope everyone has a fun time! Well, maybe not fun, because a lot of Changeling stuff is pretty fucked up, but you know what I mean.
@Bishop I'd be down to have our houses have fought back in ancient times - I'd actually be glad for it, since I'm trying to build them up as a strong warrior culture. Need someone to have been at war with, so I'd be cool if we wanted to say that they basically fought to a standstill for a long, long time. Bosanda is in the southeast, so maybe the dragons could have landed further north?
Though I'd imagine that in the modern day, there'd be less bitterness and resentment and more 'grudging respect and good-natured ribbing'. The fighting would be history, after all, and they'd have been allies for some time. At least, that's how Bosanda would probably feel.
@SisyphusAre Fae and Changelings aware of how the Mask looks?
In most cases... sort of. They might have picked up what they look like from descriptions of mortals, or many of them have the power to 'strengthen' it temporarily (like, a few minutes), so that they and other Changelings can see it, but as rule they don't like to dwell on it. That's one of the reasons meeting a Fetch can be so traumatic for a Changeling; it's literally your Mask, everything you could have been if the Fae hadn't claimed you, staring you in the eyes.
Ah, god! I'm here! I slept through my alarm but I'm here now, and that's what matters!
@Medjedovic, you knocked it out of the park, my dude. Love the detail, love the darkness, love the take on the 'won freedom in the arena' story. Accepted.
I do have one note, however, and it's more of a clarifying point about how the Mask and Mien work - the Mien is the true form of a changeling, and other changelings and true fae always see it. The Mask is just how mortals perceive you in the mortal world; a fae illusion that basically edits mortal's perception of reality to keep them from seeing weird shit.
I had most of the history written and then when I was switching tabs I hit the refresh button. It's all gone. ;-; *Wanders off to a corner to think about what I've done*
I feel that. I'm still trying to work up the momentum to remake my entire character sheet - it's a rough life we're living.
@Sisyphus I just got a killer idea for Jemaine, though I don't think he'll be Jemaine for much longer. Anyway, you know how the Stonebone Ogres have a bit of elemental stuff imbued in them from their Durance well I was wondering if I could do the same thing but with fire and tie it together with the Mount St. Helens eruption? It's a little off canon but I thought it was a neat idea.
Sounds weird, do it. My only note is on the Mount St. Helens thing - if that were him escaping, then that would provide him with a much longer time frame of being a changeling than would really work.
I new here, but have been in Rps before. Just not on a site quite like this lol. Anyway, I was wondering if I could join? I wasn't sure if I'm suppose to ask or not.
Hey, you're welcome to throw up a sheet and apply. Just PM it to me or leave it in the OOC, though I feel obligated to warn you that the competition for spots is looking a tad fierce.
@Medjedovic Nicely done, my dude! I'll get a more thorough review up in a bit, I just lost my entire CS in that random bit of downtime and morale is currently dreadfully low.
@Rawk Well, you're welcome to throw your hat into the ring! I'm looking to take five players, so there's still room.
I, too, decided to elaborate a little more on stuff - in this case, a more detailed writeup of the religion of Bosanda.
The people of the Eastern Savannah have had but one faith for all their history - the faith of the Four Gods. Tradition holds that on the first day of the first men, the Four Gods came one by one to the first village to offer their wisdom and their blessings to mankind. The Stork came by dawn, the Lion at midday, the Eel at sunset and the Spider in the dead of night. On that village, the city of Konsak was founded, where House Bosanda has ruled ever since. (Many modern practitioners have come to view this story as largely metaphorical, though in the name of tradition they continue to act as though it is literally true.)
The Four Gods are considered to be both timeless and genderless, depicted as old and young and male and female all at once. Though the faith is strongest by far in the Savannah, it has spread to a certain extent throughout the kingdom - most large cities will at least have a shrine to the Four, though some see more traffic than others. All worshippers of the Four Gods are expected to make pilgrimage to Konsak at least once in their life, and are encouraged to seek the blessing of the Lord Bosanda as well.
The Four Gods are:
Stork: The god of art, song, celebration, the sun, joy, carnal love and ease. The patron of lovers, poets, and dancers, it is said that the Stork came at Dawn, his arrival heralded by the most beautiful song known to human ears. It was the Stork that taught the art of glassblowing, led them in a dance and celebrated the dawning of the new age with a raucous feast. He taught people to love one another, to drink deep from the cup of life, and to be ever joyful, and he departed.
Lion: The god of war, courage, loyalty, laws, fire, mercy, and strength. Patron of warriors, kings, and parents. The Lion came in midday, when the sun was at its highest, and he made soldiers of men. He taught them to fight and protect, to build walls and to defend them. Honor and laws were the greatest of the Lion's gifts, for it was his decree that the strong must always protect the weak. He looked down on his people and saw that they were warriors, and roared, and left.
Eel: The god of home, family, farming, maturity and marriage. Patron of farmers, fishermen, merchants, and husbands and wives. The Eel came in the evening, and from his place in the river he taught men to fish, and to farm, and to mine the ore of the land. Under his gaze, the people built homes, took wedding vows, planned for the future. When the Eel knew that they were ready to live, to grow old and die together, he returned to the sea, and the sun sank below the horizon.
Spider: The god of wisdom, cunning, magic, craftsmen, and death. Patron of sorcerers, smiths, scholars, and the grieving. The Spider came at night, and he taught men the secret lore of the world; to pursue knowledge, to learn, to study. Magic was his gift, as was the art of blacksmithing. When he left, it is said he took one of the people with him, the first of the dead, for that was the spider's final gift: impermanence, so that men may always value what time they are alive.
@coffeetime Very well done! I like the detail of the history and the way she expresses her paranoia through superstition; you did a good job nailing the 'Changeling' concept, I think.
@BubblegumQueen Also very well done. The history section in particular is out of the park, and I really like your vision of the fae captor and his strange childishness.
My only note for both of you before acceptance is that you could beef up the supernatural powers, if you wanted to; I know I didn't do a fantastic job of establishing just where the power level is. If either of you wanted your powers to be a bit more versatile or robust, that'd be fine; if you're happy where you are, that's cool too, though.
@Pathfinder I like him so far! I know you're not done, but just thought I'd chime in on that. I was sort of hoping one of the characters we'd get would be a big, nasty ogre like him, and I think the 'overstimulation from cheering' weakness is very cool and original.
@XxLyraxX To answer your question, not all changelings are grievously malformed, though as a rule they tend to be recognizably inhuman and sort of bizarre looking; the exception being some of the Wizened, who might just appear as diminutive or shriveled people, or the Fairest, some of whom look just like people who are sort of inhumanly beautiful and graceful. It's up to you, really.
Really like the CS's so far, guys! I'll go over the complete one more thoroughly in the morning.
@Pathfinder Glad to have you on board! Excellent question. We're not gonna use Kiths, as those are mostly just a method to provide rules backing to different character concepts, i.e. making it so that you could, say, play an ogre that is mechanically incentivized to eat people, for the example of Gristlegrinder. Since we've softened the rules so much, we don't really need that sort of thing - you can just roll what the kith would give you into your generic supernatural skills section.
That being said, however, I welcome you to look to kiths for character inspiration. Some of them are really cool, particularly the Darkling and Fairest ones (though that might be personal taste on my part).
