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Monday, August 16th, 2004
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2:40 pm - Post #1
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The Rules:
This is the world! Interact with it, with the people, with each other. Give character actions, flesh out scenes. I won't be there tot ell you what happens every time you want to do something, so just go ahead, do it, and let me know what the outcome is. I'll give occasional posts to move things in one direction or another or to further a puzzel.
***
A cool grey pidgeon swooped down out of the sky towards Georgio's hand. The small cabin boy had been pointing out at the water, a Giant Turle swimming next to the ship having caught his attention. He startled back, but the avian's talons gripped his hand.
Kranker, the Cook's Assistant and fast friend of the small city boy, examined the bird, impervious to Georgio's discomfiture. She took a smalled rolled piece of paper that had been tied to the bird's leg, and kissed the head. The pidgeon then took off, leaving little red welts in the boy's hand.
Kranker took the note to Mira, the wiry first mate of the Rose Scale pirate vessel. "Messanger bird brought it, ma'am." he said in his gravely voice, handing it to her. He then backed away as quickly s possible. Mira was a good sort of first mate, but he would hate for that note to contain bad news and be nearest to her.
Inside on the rolled paper were the words:
Dove Harbor
Three Days Hence
A
***
The streets of Elaire were bustling as the denizens mingled around on Bazaar day. The price of lace and cloth was rising but the price of art armoury was dropping. Several young men were lingering around the booths chatting loudly about signing up for the city guard.
Invitations had just gone out for the fon Leon masquerade to the musicians. The date had been set for 12 days from now. Merchants were already bringing out their mask selections, and costume stalls, only around for the few days before the fon Leon Dinner, were set up.
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| Sunday, August 8th, 2004
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4:42 pm - Elves II
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Elves are a dying breed. Not much is known about them in the city, but there are those who spend their life researching them, scholars and explorers. An elf can sometimes seem to vibrate the air around them. What theya re doing is just spending time sensing what is around them. Elves are exceptionally perceptive and some say can even sense the pattern of fate, having premonitions or being aware in the fluxes of the magical energy around everything, specially if affected by Chanx. They have a strong affinity for magical items, and their society claims to have created most of the magical items in the world.
Long lived anf family oriented, fewer and fewer elves have been born in recent decades. A verys mall contingent of elves forming what they call the Life Society have taken it upon themselves to revive the dying breed. They are incredibly secretive, and often elist the aid of men and women through covert middle agencies.
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| Thursday, August 5th, 2004
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1:21 pm - OOC
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Mira: I'll post more about elves tonight. Once we get that ironed out, you're ready to go.
Marco: Name and build your ship, create a crew. Once that's done, you're ready to go. Send me a summary of it - it's mainly for your benefit only.
Daggo: Where do you live, and who are the people you interact with frequently? Get me that info as well as a brief background on your pre-pirate days (mainly for your benefit but also so I can be evil), and you're ready to go.
Other players: Submit characters! It's looking like we'll have a mainly pirate focus on the onset, but I am quite willing to do other stuff in addition. Just let me know.
~Megan
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, August 3rd, 2004
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3:46 pm - Elaire is just about Ready!
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Hey!
I've just finished typing up the backstory for Elaire. More will be coming, but this should be enough to help you guys decide what kinds of characters you want to play. Go back to the first entry for character concept creation rules. Reply to this entry with your character ideas and I'll get back to you. Once I have a couple people ready we'll start, and we'll toss people in as we go along.
~Megan
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3:40 pm - The couriers
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The couriers of the city have organized themselves into loose camps of competition. theya re divided up by colros; Blue, Orange, and Black. They eachw ear their respective colors. Some families iwll only patronize the Blue, especially many of the wealthy families. Common people can usually afford the Black. Each offers different levels of service. And indeed, even among the ranks there are personal squabbles, some trying to become the favorite courier of a certain wealthy family, or some trying to claim certain areas, making deals with local gangs or merchants.
The Water Rats currently sponsor Alfonzo, an Orange and former member of the pack. He runs the courier for a few blocks worth of docks, some eating stalls, and a few rows of artisan housing.
Blacks usually are the cheapest, providing mai and message courier service without much protection. However, they are usually unbothered because each one supposedly is armed. The Orange ferry people around moer than messages, but have the best record of the 3 of the colors for not being interfered with. Blue is used by the wealthy, and they excell in every way including uniforms, boats, education and speech.
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3:35 pm - The Guilds
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The differing artisans, such as teh sculptors, the painters, the musicians, etc., each have their own guild. One artisan was not allowed to be in more than one guild. However, witht he influx of new artisans in numbers never seen before, more and more are slipping throught he Guild fingers and praticing their art without the permission and protection of the Guild.
Of each Guild there is a Grandfather or grandmother, who is the head Master and thought to be the bethe best and oldest of the artisans of their craft. Infrequently are they young, but the current Grandfather of the Cloth Guild (specializing in tapestries, clothing and weaving) is barely 30. Richard Tomei is said to produce such stunning tapestries so specific to the one who commissioned it, they they reveal secrets he couldn't possibly have known. By sheer popularity and worth of his pieces, and perhaps soem social engineering on his part, he managed to work himself up as Grandfather.
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3:33 pm - The Elves
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The elves are a mustical creature very vew in Elaire have seen. Those who have, have had to travel far away to see one, and even then the elves are elusive and wary of foreigners. Considered not-quite-human, they are definitely not normal. Many citizens, if confronted with an elf, would be afraid and wary. Wise elves passing through disguise themselves. A rumor that one is in the city floated around once, but the offending foreigner was never found and the stories started dropping away.
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3:27 pm - Music
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There are two kinds of music in Elaire. The first is a slow,s weet melofic kind. Usually sung, it includes operas and sonanats and mathematical patterns. String or wind instruments sometimes accompany. The form is always very formal, and is termed Classical music. The other type of music is usualy impromptu or not memorized, extemporaneous cacophony of any available objects that make noice. Voices may be added in, as well as clapping or other rhythmic beats. There is a lot of laughing and dancing. This is known as Common music.
Particular musicians from each are prized differently. Musicians of the first kind are highly respected and well paid, where musicians of the latter are usually everyday citizens with other jobs.
Obviously these twof orms of music are class divided, but it does not mean appreciation does not cross over. Many poorer families send their children for Classical voice lessons, some even owning string or wind instruments of their own. There is less cross-over for the wealthier families who view the Common music as los class, but there are those that are well-known to enjoy it, particuarly the fon Leon children, Emmanuela and Orlando. Common musicians are invited to play on boats through the canals and are paid the same price as their Clasical acounterparts, also in attendance.
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3:20 pm - Relgion and the Goddess Cult
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the religion practiced by the citizens is like the magic, Chanx. It just happens. They have no central deity, but believe in individual spirits that make up a thicks oup of energy that filters in everywhere, yet is stil intangible. To them, it is like the water that flows between the houses and under their boats - going everywhere. They believe in meditation and calming their own personal spirits. They believe in the soul, but the afterlife is just the rejoining of their spiritual energy with the rest of the world.
Not all believe this. Young children, cynical youhs, cranky older folk. But the majority accept the presence of something spiritual in their lives. Many will give names to this, such as Lady Luck, or will simply talk to their plants to make them grow.
The Goddess Cult is a religious movement that instead of focusing on innder strength, relies upon a deity, the Goddess, for the central themes. Symbol of fertility and life, she also stands for vengence, a prosperous home, power, and magic. Long ago the Goddess Cult was a peaceful religion, but in recently years the Cult seems to have taken amore bloody bent. Blood has focused in a lot of new ptractices. Tehre is more black and white, right and wrong, to the Goddess Cult, than the amorphous grays of the common spirituality and the former Goddess Cult path.
At the root of the Goddess Cult are statues by an anciet sculptor, Radicci fon Ferial. It was said he was a great follower of the Goddess, and his revelations came to himt hrough his art. His works were of naked curbaceous women, some in poses of prayer and relaxation, others conquering foes and holding symbols of power.
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3:11 pm - Magic
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Magic is something rarely seen, although is does exist. Everyone knows it exists and believes in it, in the way that you believe in weather phenomena nevr in your area. Whenever a magic item or a magic user enters town or makes a flashya ppearance, the entire city hears baout it within a day. Magic items are possessed by the larger families, who generally keep it a secret. They are passed down as family heirflooms, and treasured. Sometimes, in later generations, they bearer does not even know that it contains magic.
Much more common magic is nicknamed Chanx, whichis teh art of coincidences, charms, and hexes. Older men and women are prone to this, but many people pass off their ramblings as the nonsense of the old. Fishermen use it when weaving their nets, and mothers when singing to their babies. Most of the time the user doesn't even know it is magic they are using, but instead just supersitions, or for "luck".
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3:07 pm - The Market
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At the heart of teh city exists the market disctrict. A huge platform has been built aboce the water to allow for the citizens to gather unimpeded by the flowing canals and transact their daily shopping. Fresh food sellers are there seven days a week, but different merchants come to the market on different days, including antiques, fabric, silver, lace, art, weaponry, and sweets.
On one day ever seller is out and those days are known as Bazaar days. There are so many merchants for one area that they start to spill out into the side platforms and some set up their wares in bots which they padle back and forth along the nearby canals, hoping to catch customers on their way in and out. Candy is cheapest these days, and security the tightest.
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3:01 pm - The Dinners
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Some say it is the prominent families' returning to the way of ostentatious displays of wealth that are bringing the pirates back. In the past few years, coinciding with the rise in the amount of artists and high economy, each of the wealthy families have been holding a Dinner. All together teh events are known simply as the Dinners, but are actually festivals. Some families chose to throw themf or the whole city ending in a wild revelry, and others have a lavish ball for only those of Elaire's upper crust. Each is a way for the families to show themselves off, and each is a stewing pot for local gossip.
Examples:
Emmanuela was known for throwing large city-wide masquerades, where paper masks were given out to the citizens lining the streets. Bands would float down gondolas int he canals and fireworks would go off in elaborate displays. Orlandow ould have each of the soldiers of fon Leon dress in costume for the ebent.
Rosa Arendale holds a hige art gallery showing where she displays the art works of all her proteges. Carolina Jumack hosts an elaborate ball for the upper crust, in which the young ladies of the city are properly presented for the first time as being adults, or old enough in to circle in society. Kelfa fon Ignio fills the streets of the market district with flowrs and provides fresh exotic fruit at an elaborate sporting event int he center of the market. All business closes downf or the day as the city is allowed to stand outside and watch in, from rooftops to impromptu watching towers.
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2:57 pm - The Gold Fleet
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The Gold Fleet is the name for the host of merchant ships that trave; out from Elaire's ports. Recenty they have been carrying away more and more art than ever before, as well as importing it. In the past few years a surprising number of artists have moved into the area, supposedly at the invitation of the Arendale family, a prominent family in the art world and espeically of the city. They house the largest gallery of Elaire art, and as a family, are patron to dozens of artists. Rumor has it that each of the three Arendale children favor their own art form, and since forbidden to create their own art, they each patronize their own specialized favorite artists.
Many speculate the rise in the art and prosperity in the city is what is making the pirates come back, thirsty for more raids, blood, and wealth.
The leading merchant outfit in Elaire is run by a woman known as Nightengale. Each of her merchant ships has a bird emblem on the side, and each one has recently been outfitted with a company of cannons.
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2:53 pm - The Black Fleet
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The Black Fleet was teh name of the fleet of pirate ships, independent operations joining under the banner of one man by the name of Ariel Robeson. 20 years ago they raided the city of Elaire, trying tot ake control of it, in what is now known as the Pirate Insurgence.
The raid was unsuccessful, but bya ll accounts, it should have worked. Ariel himself had stormed the fon Leon mansion and takent he family as hostages. Hundred of townspeople died or went missing that night, including Carmen fon leon's wife, Esther. Ariel Robeson reportedly signaled the fleet tor etreat early in the morning after the initial attack, and by noon the fleet was gone without a trace. Today's ruling body congratulate sthemselves on a miraculous victory but immediately strengthened the defenses of the city. The physicall barriers are still in place, but the high number of corrupt city guards work against the city as a drain for resources and economy.
For a while the pirates have been out of sight, but more and more a few are being seen. A few merchant ships are now being attacked again per season, and recently a new rumor has started abotu Ariel Robeson been alive.
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2:44 pm - The fon Leon family
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Orlando fon Leon is heir to the fon Leon family fortune. His family, one of the earliest merchants to arrive, retired from transportation of goods and moved into the buying and selling. They are unarguably the wealthiest family in the city. 20 years ago just after the Pirate Insurgence, Orlando's father, Carmen, gave the city of Elaire 200 soldiers from his personal guard, to look out for the city's protection.
These soliders are better trained, equipped, and paid than the city's own guards, who are corrupt and rumored to be running a good chunk of the black markets in the city. So the fon Leon soldiers, still ruled by the fon Leon family, are considered the actual authority in the city, and the fon Leon family, the actual rulers.
Orlando, Cptain of the Guard, was not supposed to be the heir. His older sister, Emmanuela, committed suicide not long ago. Since then he's had to spend less and less time with the fon Leon soldiers and more time learning politics and running of a large fortune that his sister had excelled at.
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2:36 pm - Water Rats
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Not all organized crime is a highly elaborate operation, nor doe sit bring in a lot of money. The Water Rats is the largest og the local gangs that roam the waterways of the seedier parts of town that litter the south side of the docks. Made up of a core of children from the start, the older ones have grown up and assumed a more structured control fo the gang. Frequently orphans or runaways, they squat in warehouses and do odd jobs around the docks, including pick-pocketing.
Water Rats slang is one of the most colorful and vivid dialects that exist in Elaire. They have nicknames from the different walks of life in the city:
Peggers = pirates because in legends they all have peg-legs. Water rates hate and are jealous of pirates and their success. Fre pirates are aware of Water Rats
cats = soldiers of Leon. To the soldiers, Water rats are bugs that need to be swatted when annpying and ignored when not.
dodgers = the city guard
the bowl = the market district
the chapel = the hang's headquarters, the Dockside Cafe
The Dockside Cafe is used by the water rats as their main refuge. In actuality, the DoCa is a dirty, grungy, ramshackle fast food place on the edge of a pier that caters cheap fast food to passing boats carrying travelers, merchants, fishermen, and anyone in a rush on the water. Jervin, the old man who runs the DoCa, lets the boys and girls steal scraps of food and hang out in the large usually unused eating room because he figures it keeps them out of trouble and off the streets.
Cray is one of teh oldest members and self proclaimed leader of the pack. His Lieutenant, as he calls her, is Gracela. Little is known about these two.
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| Monday, July 26th, 2004
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1:21 pm - Character Creation
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If you would like to play a character, reply in a message containing the following:
Player's name:
Character's name:
Profession:
Physical Description:
Social connections/coterie:
Motivation:
Goals:
3 strengths:
3 weaknesses:
Look for ideas amongst the following entries. Each one is designed to give a snippet of the way life is in the city of Elaire for different groups. Pick one you resonate with.
Group characters - like you and your friends - is acceptable. It's almost better if you know the people, because that way you'll have more fun interacting.
You'll hear back from me shortly.
Welcome to Elaire.
~Megan
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elaire's journal