Re: Emoria: World-Building OOC

[Gabe]

Ah, whoops! I edited the post with somewhere that wasn't taken. My apologies.
Oh, and this will be my place-holder for when I finally finish my profile.

Username: DeadEye
(I'm currently working on getting my avatar redone, so please ignore discrepancies with my description)
Character Name: Nilus of Izic ((Nye-luss) and (pronounced like the name Isaac)) Ayre men and women alike take the first name of thier biological father, which becomes their surname.
Species/Race: Ayre (pronounced 'eye-ruh')
Physical Description: Nilus fits the bill for a full blooded Ayren male. He stands about 5' 10" with somewhat meager bone structure countered by incredibly well-formed muscle mass. His hygienic practices are better than most of his colleagues, leading to a more professional air about him that earns him favor with his superiors. His skin is slightly pale and has immaculate complexion, with bright blue eyes and carefully styled hair that's sandy in color. His youth is painfully evident in his face, which takes a bit away from his negotiating appeal (except in cases where violence is involved). As a symbol of his rank, he wears a white-gold chain around his neck, an illustrious decoration in Ayren mercenary groups.
His body is covered mostly by a lightweight derivative of silk woven around incredibly fine strands of steel, giving his garment a gray appearance. While very durable and hard to tear or pierce, the material affords very little protection against crushing blows from heavy weapons. Similarly, a strike from a sword wouldn't cut the flesh beneath the armor, but would bruise skin and break bones easily enough. As a bowman, Nilus wears minimal hard armor made of leather over his shoulders and on his forearms, secured in place by metal buckles. His trousers match his upper body garment in color, but because of it's extreme cost and difficulty of production, the material is not the same. His abdomen is partially covered by a tough leather belt secured by a pair of steel buckles. His boots are of the same build, reaching about halfway up his calf, also buckled in place.
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Occupation: Guard captain and bowman. Politically speaking he is a stand-in for his commanding officer when he is unavailable to appear in official meetings.
Skills: Nilus is trained as an archer, but compared to most Ayren warriors, his skills leave some amount to be desired. His main interest is working for the greater good of his people as a representative, and hopefully someday reversing the notorious barbaric reputation the Ayrens have earned from their belligerent ways.
World-space: Idona is perhaps the smallest recognized nation in the world. This is the fault of the Ayrens who would rather go out and fight than stay home to proliferate the small provinces of their tiny peninsula nation. Resources of all kinds are traded for hired swordsmen and armies to do the bidding of whoever requests their services. Idona even lacks its own dedicated currency, simply borrowing those of other countries and valuing them based on the actual materials they are made of in most cases, and almost always traded for whatever goods the war-machine needs to keep turning.
Culture: Idonan Ayrens are most easily noted as mercenaries. They will fight for anything they believe is worth having. The actual government is officially a monarchy, but the true power lies with the various warlords and their mercenary armies. Any interests pursued by these warlords can be very bloody, and many conflicts have even pitted Ayrens against their own kin in the event that the opposing army hired a band of Ayren mercenaries to bolster their ranks. To a mercenary, this is part of the business and completely acceptable. This has also garnered a reputation for being sell-outs by other cultures and civilizations, whoring out their lives to fight anyone for anything. Such practices are seen as extreme by most, but useful to those in need of their nigh-unmatched combat prowess and flexibility. Skills and services not found among typical Ayrens are contracted to hired laborers who may or may not be Ayren themselves. Above all, buying and selling of the self is the Ayre way.
To facilitate the amorphous nature of an official-unofficial military life, children are commonly rotated through several families during their upbringing. This improves adaptability in young Ayrens, but conversely causes their people the be somewhat detached in nature. The benefits for making fit warriors are generally accepted to outweigh the social drawbacks outside of their own kind, and the practice shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Something the Ayre pride themselves in is their complete equality of gender. Males and females are treated as the same in all regards to matters where gender could have influence. Female Ayren warriors are not few and far between.
Physiology: Full blooded Ayrens are very rare. Because of their wide-spread deployment, many Ayrens end up settling down in their later years and abandoning the mercenary life for an enjoyable retirement, only to send their children back to Idona to start the process over again. Anyone boasting to have Ayren blood is likely a warrior in some regard, but there is a glaring physical weakness associated with it. Ayrens have an inexplicable susceptibility to disease. As preposterous as it sounds, their immunities are weak, and any wide-spread illness is almost guaranteed to end the lives of many Ayrens. While this is the concern to them, the term 'Ayren Scholar, scientist, doctor, etc' is almost an oxymoron. Give an Ayren the choice between money or immunization, and he will take the money every time.

Allies: Whoever conscripts them for duty. As long is payment is made, Ayrens will fiercely defend their clients. This unfortunately makes them seem untrustworthy, but because they produce almost nothing of their own, this behavior is the result of extreme desperation. Nearly every nation has found some use for at least a handful of Ayren warriors, and the contracts are respectfully kept secret with the client.
Enemies: Anyone, just as allies.
Religion/Deity(s): Ayrens' religious beliefs are about as solid as their government structure. That is to say, it's almost a joke. There is no official religious practice among them, but they are free to adopt the beliefs of any group they please. None is favored or looked down upon.
Governing Body: Described mostly above. Warlords have the real power because they control the armies. Idona is the home province with its capital which shares the same name, but other than an overpopulated city with the most basic facilities for sustaining itself, there is little worthy of mentioning.
Details
Alright, so obviously Nilus is a bit of an oddball among his people. He's straight out of Idona and has a desire to make his people known as more than worthless swords for hire. He has the utmost respect for his warlord superiors and his official King, Arrington IV, and has resolved that he will be the first official to meet with the other nations as Idona's ambassador. He hopes to someday make Idona a prosperous nation that needn't rely on warfare to survive. This is long in the offing, as he is a warrior himself, but if the groundwork can be laid for such work, the Ayrens' crash course with extinction can be stopped.

Oh right...weapons!
Nilus' primary weapon is a longbow. It's wooden frame is lined with steel interior pins, with the entire exterior wrapped in an oily leather which is baked in a furnace for extra rigidity. Drawing the bow requires great strength, and forearm protection is a must. A bite from the drawstring can rend flesh from a novice's arm.
On his left hip Nilus carries a medium length sword of simple construction. It is well shined with a double edge and an intricate handguard built to catch and deflect an incoming blade. A smaller knife used for last resort defense, as well as general purpose utility is tied to his right boot.

Holy jeebus that took a long time...and I'm sure I'll be editing it...a lot. Enjoy!

[Kathryn Lacey]

Well, actually, Kalon, I was going to go ahead and make descriptions of the spirit plane and the light planes. However, if you want to do the light plane, I'll PM you about the ideas that I had for it. It's very tentative, so you'll have a lot of free reign with it.

Silvone, I think I'll PM you, too concerning the location of the fire portal in case collaboration is in order.

[ImmortalSin]

I thought I'd quickly post again and let you guys know that we've currently got torrential rain here due to two cyclones-turned tropical lows that are just off the coast. Our satellite broadband hates weather like this, so I've been struggling to remain online.

I'm so sorry that it's taking this long for me to get my character sheet up but things just haven't been going my way lately.

[Guest]

Hermes is right that the portal for the Material Plane is going to be located in the sub-basement of the library,

I have an issue with what you have done. My Character was made and plans have been made for interactions with other nations and everything already. What you have done with your singular, limited portal nonsense has completely ruined my nation, my character and all the things I have created.

I do not mean to offend or sound harsh but I am rather annoyed

[Bird of Hermes]

I have an issue with what you have done. My Character was made and plans have been made for interactions with other nations and everything already. What you have done with your singular, limited portal nonsense has completely ruined my nation, my character and all the things I have created.

The portal to the Shadow Plane is located in your mountains. Check the new map.

I will try and update the map whenever I can as new information comes.

[Guest]

I do not mean that part. I mean the part that nothing can be seen besides the simple mountains.

The Shadow plane directly overlaps, as in is one with the material plane at that location. You need a portal to travel from the mountains to the shadow plane, but the mountains themselves a part of both and the inhabitants can be seen by and interact with both. That is what I am trying to say.

The other part that I have a slight issue with is that according to Kathryn anyone traveling in any way to the material plane has to appear in her library which causes direct issues with Morgarath and his entire nation

[Gadreille]

Bird of Hermes, you used the wrong islands for Elric's area. His islands are directly south of the ones you marked, including that small "florida" shaped bit off of the main land. Other than that it looks great! Thanks!

Raptorman, perhaps you should PM Kathryn with your ideas. Rather than being accusatory, just offer examples of compromise. This role play isn't going to work if you get annoyed and throw around terms like "nonsense". Basically, I know I wouldn't put up with someone talking to me that way, so I'd appreciate not talking that way to anyone in this roleplay.

We are all big kids here.

Edit: No worries ImmortalSin, just do the best you can with what time you've got

[Bird of Hermes]

Bird of Hermes, you used the wrong islands for Elric's area. His islands are directly south of the ones you marked, including that small "florida" shaped bit off of the main land.

I will fix that as well. If anyone else sees anything, let me know. I did it in pencil so I can change things.

[Guest]

Bird of Hermes, you used the wrong islands for Elric's area. His islands are directly south of the ones you marked, including that small "florida" shaped bit off of the main land. Other than that it looks great! Thanks!

Raptorman, perhaps you should PM Kathryn with your ideas. Rather than being accusatory, just offer examples of compromise. This role play isn't going to work if you get annoyed and throw around terms like "nonsense". Basically, I know I wouldn't put up with someone talking to me that way, so I'd appreciate not talking that way to anyone in this roleplay.

We are all big kids here.

Edit: No worries ImmortalSin, just do the best you can with what time you've got

Well considering I had no issues having mine be an exception to the rule, until that is she pmed me and told me I had to change to fit it, I feel entitled to some annoyance.

How would you yourself like it if you had made your stuff, made plans with several other people for history and events and then had someone tell you, "oh it can't work because I already made the planar system and gave myself control over the only way onto the material plane"

[Gadreille]

I'm going to respond to you, but I need to read up on the planes. Give me 15 minutes.

Edit:

First off, you are not 'entitled' to annoyance. You are making the choice to complain about Kathryn in a rather rude manner, which is not my cup of tea, considering that someone can hit me with a car, blame me for it, and I still won't show any dark emotion.

Moving on, Kathryn perhaps we can make some sort of exception for the Shadow Realm? Much like how Tolkien made the Dark Lord differently than the other Valar because of the darkness within him?

I personally am not fully grasping the planes, but I'm sure we can reach a compromise. According to what Raptorman is saying, it would be odd for evil beings to have to travel through the library.

Edit Edit: Or perhaps there is a section of the library that is unknown even to its keeper? A super deep underground area that is teeming with horrible things...

I don't know, I'm just throwing out ideas.

[Bird of Hermes]

How would you yourself like it if you had made your stuff, made plans with several other people for history and events and then had someone tell you, "oh it can't work because I already made the planar system and gave myself control over the only way onto the material plane"

In my knowledge of the planes, if the portal to the Shadow Plane is in your land, you can enter and leave the Shadow Plane through that portal.

And, don't blame Kathryn. I came up with much of it too. It's not her fault either way.

[Guest]

Edit:

First off, you are not 'entitled' to annoyance. You are making the choice to complain about Kathryn in a rather rude manner, which is not my cup of tea, considering that someone can hit me with a car, blame me for it, and I still won't show any dark emotion.

I am not attempting to be rude. And If I have sounded or appeared to be rude then I apologize.

Maybe it would help if every else understood the picture I have. The Shadow plane only truly borders the world in one place. The Mountains of night. Now here is the thing. Morgarath is the lord of the mountains of night and the shadow plane. The Mountains of night are part of both the material and the shadow plane and therefore can interact with either and be seen by either. That is what I am trying to convey.

Does that make sense?

[Gadreille]

Ok, I see what you mean, but I also see why that is not working with the rest of the planes.

It's a hefty request to ask to be able to move throughout the planes without cost while other plane living species cannot. Do you understand what I mean? We don't want one character to have a lot more power than another.

As for creatures living on the plane, I say they are separated, and have to travel through the single portal in the shadow realm to move back and forth. Perhaps though, Morgarath and only Morgarath can travel between the planes at any location - but not without a cost. The cost might be that traveling weakens him physically and magically, so that he must recover for a day or two. That way he can't just pop up and attack you at any moment in time.

Also, he should be limited to the shadow realm, no other area on any other plane. You had also mentioned being limited to shadows, not light, so his weakness would be certain light spells.

Does that seem fair to everyone?

[Bird of Hermes]

Perhaps though, Morgarath and only Morgarath can travel between the planes at any location - but not without a cost

The way the planes work is that you can't travel to another plane without going through a portal.

[Gadreille]

Perhaps though, Morgarath and only Morgarath can travel between the planes at any location - but not without a cost

The way the planes work is that you can't travel to another plane without going through a portal.

I know. But what I am suggesting is that there is a dark power that can be learned that makes one able to do so. If you have read the Sword of Truth series, the dark leader learned how to travel the world of the dead in order to pass through a magical boundary. I am suggesting that Morgorath had learned a similar power, but to use it he is severly weakened for a short period of time.

Other people also have the potential to learn this power, but they will be evil and corrupt.

I know you have made these rules but the reason the world-builder project is so much fun is because we have multiple ideas and points of views thrown into one world. I'm asking if you will accept this new rule to the 'game of planes'.

[Bird of Hermes]

I know. But what I am suggesting is that there is a dark power that can be learned that makes one able to do so. If you have read the Sword of Truth series, the dark leader learned how to travel the world of the dead in order to pass through a magical boundary. I am suggesting that Morgorath had learned a similar power, but to use it he is severly weakened for a short period of time.

We need to run this by Kathryn too.

I like how it would be a dark power that corrupts. Perhaps the denizens of the other planes believe it to be unnatural and the user of the said power would be initial distrusted by those from planes that are not the Shadow Plane.

I also think that a user of this "dark portal crossing" couldn't use it to enter the Plane of Light since it is a Dark power.

How does that sound?

[Gadreille]

I agree with everything. Kathryn needs to give her thoughts on the idea, and even more than your Plane of light restriction, I think he should not be able to go to the Plane of Air, Fire, Water...his power only works for the shadow realm and...material plane? material plane is regular land, right?

Raptorman, I hope you are ok with these restrictions.

To move on from it, perhaps that there are others who have the plane-crossing power in different planes, but are completely enveloped by their power. Like, maybe there is a fire plane crossing being, but has become completely engulfed in flames and can only take the shape of fire...same with air, water...makes for some interesting backstory!

maybe after hundreds of years of use Morgorath would eventually turn into a shadow...hmm...such cool ideas!

[Guest]

A few points I would like to make.

Firstly is that I dislike the fact that certain people have to approve before things can be created by their respective creators.

Secondly, it still doesn't work so well with what I have. The Mountains of Night as a kingdom have to be able to interact with the material plane through more than just morgarath passing from one plane to another. Hence my saying that they are part of both at once. The only actual denizen of the shadow plane within the kingdom is morgarath. The rest of the people and creatures in the kingdom were people and beasts he changed to fit his image.

Thirdly, morgarath is a quasi immortal being, he isn't going to turn into a shadow, though he is tied into them.

Fourthly, I agree that morgarath can only use his power to cross from shadow to material and back, but I still have the fundamental difficulty due to the fact that the Mountains of Night are supposed to be between planes. They have to be for it to work.

[Sighlent]

Ok, truth be told Ryona I as well am not fully certain one the whole planes portal thing but I think that what you're proposing with Raptorman is very nice! The thing that's getting me about this whole situation is that this RP is about us working together, not just saying 'Hey it HAS to be THIS way' or something to that degree and expecting everyone else to comply and that is what it seems like it's being done.

Ryona has a point! How many times have the rules been broken in any a number of stories and in that they end up turning out just fine! It's one small detail and it seems to mean a lot to Raptorman so I'm in favor of granting his character the aforementioned ability of being able to transverse from the Shadow plane to the Material plane via the Mountains. I understand that though there are supposed to be no planes visible from the Material Plane that these mountains are in fact visible and perhaps through this they are often warded off by many of the countries in the Material Plane, seen as an ill omen?

Anyway, I know it probably doesn't count for much but I thought I would throw that out there.

[Gadreille]

1. I just want to let Kathryn know because she created the rest of the planes, and should know how yours works. I told Kathryn I would PM her on important subjects so that she doesn't have to keep up with the thread.

2. YOU haven't given me any of your ideas that would work with the original planes ideas, or at least compromise with them. If you don't like my stuff, propose your own. I'm tired of trying to come up with stuff on my own.

3. It was just an idea. you don't like it, fine.

4. Whatever you want.

5. I agree with Sighlent. No one is wanting to bend their rules but we are all going to have to to make it work! I'm trying my damned best here!

[Bird of Hermes]

I like the restrictions and the possibility of other planes having creatures with similar plane crossing abilities for their respective plane.

To be clear, all creatures in the Shadow Plane can go through the portal in the Mountains of Night and enter the Material Plane, not just Morgarath. This is true for all planes.

Does that make sense and clarify it?

[Sighlent]

-Pats Ryona's back-

Take a breath. In...and out...in...and out.

Ok Raptorman I understand that you created your entire plane/worldly existence off of this one fact but we came into this knowing that some things would have to change into accordance with everyone else's ideas. I'm not saying you have to change everything but you have got to ease up and work with us.

[Guest]

1. I just want to let Kathryn know because she created the rest of the planes, and should know how yours works. I told Kathryn I would PM her on important subjects so that she doesn't have to keep up with the thread.

2. YOU haven't given me any of your ideas that would work with the original planes ideas, or at least compromise with them. If you don't like my stuff, propose your own. I'm tired of trying to come up with stuff on my own.

3. It was just an idea. you don't like it, fine.

4. Whatever you want.

5. I agree with Sighlent. No one is wanting to bend their rules but we are all going to have to to make it work! I'm trying my damned best here!

1. I understand that, though i feel that each should be able to make his or her own thing as they see fit, that applies to everyone not just me and I stand by that.

2. I am not trying to be difficult, really I am not and I am grateful for your attempting to help.

3. once again I appreciate the idea and I am sorry if I am coming off as harsh or mean

4. I said I liked your idea.

On a seperate note my entire thing depends on the fact that the Mountains are between planes and part of both at once. If I change that fact I have to completely retcon every single thing about my character and I might as well leave.

That is why I am making such a big deal over it and I am sorry

edit- I had this made before Kathryn and Bird of hermes posted their system, I just was waiting for my Character picture first.

[Gunneh]

I hate to throw out the Moderator card, but I'm afraid if this goes too much farther it'll end up being flaming. I know I'm not an IC Mod, and neither is Kalon for that matter, but we have that obligation to make sure that everything is going smoothly everywhere. If it does get to that point, I'll have to start issuing warnings, and I REALLY don't want to do that. PLEASE don't make me do that.

Anyway, I might have a suggestion that can solve this: Raptorman, you keep saying that the Mountains of Night, as a kingdom, needs to be able to interact both IN and OUTSIDE OF the Shadow Plan. Well, what if there were two separate kingdoms in the Shadow Plane and the Material Plane? With your character's ability to move back and forth between the planes without a portal, this would be quite an easy task for him. Plus, it would add a certain air of secrecy if our party had to travel through the Material Plane kingdom: We feel as though someone is watching us, but there's no one there...

This is just an idea, mind you.

[Gadreille]

I'm going to have to solve this later, I just had a tremendous amount of shit dropped on me (literally...) and I have to clean it all up. I am not sure how we are going to resolve this, but I'd just like to say Gunneh that I've seen a lot worse than this before so I would save the Moderator card for a bit later. We are all trying our best to work this out.

[Gunneh]

I know, Ryona, I'm just trying clear it up before it has to be done is all. Plus, I'm letting you guys know how against warning a group of very awesome users like the whole lot of you

[Guilty Carrion]

Hey, if no one minds, I have another possible suggestion. Morgarath is a quasi immortal being, so that means he's pretty strong right? Well, what if all his warping inbetween the two realms in the mountains has caused some cracks and such in the barriers in between the darkness and the material realm. So, the darkness is bleeding into the real world, but this only further helps whatever goals Morgarath has. So, all the creatures and people have been 'corrupted' as the dark leeches in. So, maybe in specific places, one can pass through these cracks, but mostly the portal is still vastly necessary.

Would that work? Or did I overexplain my thought too much and it's just confusing? Or should I keep quiet?

[Guest]

Hey, if no one minds, I have another possible suggestion. Morgarath is a quasi immortal being, so that means he's pretty strong right? Well, what if all his warping inbetween the two realms in the mountains has caused some cracks and such in the barriers in between the darkness and the material realm. So, the darkness is bleeding into the real world, but this only further helps whatever goals Morgarath has. So, all the creatures and people have been 'corrupted' as the dark leeches in. So, maybe in specific places, one can pass through these cracks, but mostly the portal is still vastly necessary.

Would that work? Or did I overexplain my thought too much and it's just confusing? Or should I keep quiet?

That works and I suppose the two kingdoms thing works too, he technically rules both but the material one is the one that requires his attention the most

Thanks.

[Bird of Hermes]

Well, what if all his warping inbetween the two realms in the mountains has caused some cracks and such in the barriers in between the darkness and the material realm. So, the darkness is bleeding into the real world, but this only further helps whatever goals Morgarath has. So, all the creatures and people have been 'corrupted' as the dark leeches in. So, maybe in specific places, one can pass through these cracks, but mostly the portal is still vastly necessary.

Good solution!

Plus, it offers some plot ideas as well.

[Gadreille]

Thank you for your ingenious solution, Plaguewalker I am going to assume everything is settled, and bugger Silv into updating the info.

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