Faendryl RP

[shad0ws0ngs]

Hello! I am stuck at work, having agreed to do a double and completed 90% of the work I have tonight and... 10 hours to go. So, I figured I would come bug people on player's corner.

I am curious to hear from people who RP Faendryl. Backstories and character bios, desired activities, storyline related things. Thoughts, concerns, etc. This isn't to promote the Enclave or anything, but I do feel the Enclave is very much just about the monthly meetings and events and not a lot beyond that. I'd also be eager to hear anyones thoughts on more regular activities or people who might want to use the spire for whatever. It's ;g02 8041 if anyone hasn't checked it out, feel free. Some of it's limited to members only, but it might not have had the barriers reset to that, yet.

My main Faendryl is Japhrimel Laurentiu Faendryl. I generally RP him as a mix of things.. gambler, storyteller, drunk, bitter cynic and such. I was thinking, when I made him, of a mix of: Mat Cuathon from Wheel of Time mixed with Setzer from Final Fantasy mixed with the red-haired mercenary Drow who lead the Dragon's Hoard band of mercenaries in some Forgotten Realms books. I went with despanal foxes for a symbol/icon primarily to annoy Nuadjha, since he was the briarfox. Japh was never going to be my main character, he was just an attempt at trying a bard. Then, after a few really fun nights, he somehow became my main character.

My back story for him is somewhat convoluted.. The longer backstory goes back to the Undead War. The story is that Japh's great great great-something grandfather was a simple pikeman during it and, when the summoners released the demons, the resultant energy backlash inflicted upon him a curse. One related to his pike and his bloodline causing the male heirs of the line to slowly go insane with bloodlust and eventually die, horribly, after having sired a son. I was lucky enough to buy a loresong spot from someone and added it into a dagger.
Japh-specific storyline, he grew up without a father and a bitter mother who blamed him for the father's leaving and subsequent death. Knowing the family curse, he tried to still be the dutiful son and join the Palestra, but wanted, instead, to live life as he saw fit and have experienced things before the inevitable horrific end. After an incident involving a summoner, a demon, some death, and a missing Palestra guard who was out gambling and drunk, he left and became a wanderer, a bard. Travelling the world, seeing the sights, trying to fit as much as possible into a short time and deathly affraid of siring a proper heir, that lasted for quite some time. Marriage, respectability, etc eventually followed and things settled down and the Enclave came into being and responsibility, leading us to more modern times.

In the back story his father died destroying the old cursed pike and since then Japh has a spectral version that he can call into being(sonic pike!). That was a long standing goal and I finally accomplished it at the last spitfire. I honestly don't have a great reason for the fake hand. It's fun to make up random stories whenever someone asks, though, with the dawning realization that no one will ever learn the truth as it was probably something either amazingly embarrassing or amazingly horrific. I also don't have a great reason for his pre-QC'd glamour tat, the smoke image. I've toyed with the idea that japh is actually horrifically burned and the glamour is actually his regular self.

I know, most people aren't going to care to hear all my yammering, but I've got a lot of caffeine in me and not enough sleep and far too much time to go. I welcome anyones own stories and plans for future RP and such. I was really hoping we'd get a Faendryl Mayor in the Landing.. more hopeful of Lylia than myself, to be honest, but even if I'd have dropped out it might have only added 9 votes and so not enough.

[Warriorbird]

Jacinto's Half Faendryl. He's from the distant island of Caital, a product of the Faendryl diaspora. The island's Patron was Eorgina and it became a matriarchal system under the sway of a series of Great Ladies and First Guards. His Father was a fairly renowned officer in the army which got him into a decent place in society in spite of his half Faendryl status. He went to bodyguard school but became disillusioned with the Great Lady he was assigned to and the murders he ended up performing. He was selected for a "Year of Glory" which was to be followed by a sacrifice but successfully fled to the Landing (with the help and sacrifice of his Father/Mother). He doesn't try to act like he knows everything about how things are in New Ta'Faendryl but I do appreciate when he gets to interact with proper Faendryl.

[shad0ws0ngs]

His Father was a fairly renowned officer in the army which got him into a decent place in society in spite of his half Faendryl status.

Have you ever read the pre-QC'd Faendryl Socio-political document? It was posted here on PC a while back. It included a section about half-Faendryl and presented them in a much more accepted light than what I remembered from back in the day. Not equal, or anything, but a part of society. I remember back when everyone was all like "kill the half-breeds!".. seems to be more of a dhe'nar thing these days, but I know some who still feel like that. It kept a number of people from joining the Enclave back when we were getting going.

Been waiting for that document for over 3 years now.

[Silvean]

Hi Japh, we should talk about creating another event for the Enclave sometime.

All of the Silvean stuff is here: https://gswiki.play.net/mediawiki/index.php/Silvean

I don't think I'll ever write a full character biography. I have started some short stories where Silvean is a minor character but I haven't yet been happy enough with any to share.

[Warriorbird]

Have you ever read the pre-QC'd Faendryl Socio-political document? It was posted here on PC a while back. It included a section about half-Faendryl and presented them in a much more accepted light than what I remembered from back in the day. Not equal, or anything, but a part of society. I remember back when everyone was all like "kill the half-breeds!".. seems to be more of a dhe'nar thing these days, but I know some who still feel like that. It kept a number of people from joining the Enclave back when we were getting going.

Been waiting for that document for over 3 years now.

It had a definite effect on Jacinto's background. I'd love it if it came out. And yes, I've always thought of him as a second class citizen but used as a tool by full blooded Faendryl (rather than a victim) until he ran afoul of society in his island kingdom.

[Silvean]

I take it back about the short stories. I forgot I had transcribed this Faendryl horror story last October:

https://gswiki.play.net/mediawiki/index.php/The_Summoning:_A_Faendryl_Horror_Story

[shad0ws0ngs]

That was your EG story last year. I remember, because I thought "fuck, Silvean and Lylia are competing? I'm not winning this year!"

[shad0ws0ngs]

Hi Japh, we should talk about creating another event for the Enclave sometime.

I'm trying to think of various events we have done or were hoping to someday to, off the top of my head.

Faendryl Wedding - need someone to get married - use Silvean/Lylia official document info

Funeral Practices - Silvean wrote up neat thing on it, also brief mention of funerals in Faendryl story. Got a body, but might be able to get a better body.

Murder Mystery - not Faendryl specific necessarily, but super fun

Imagination Hunt - Faendryl themed imagination hunt. You have single/groups and give them like 4 questions and they have to bring an object back that answers it, the more creative, the better.

Palestra/Demonology - standard fun stuff. We did a few different demonology and palestra events over the years. My favorite is a tie between the one we did in the summoning chamber in twilight and the imrpomtu one we did at a table after some demon attacks.

Faendryl Divination Practices - we did this once before and it was a huge hit. We have some items made for it, too, to make it easier. Aeavenne, Laelithonel, and Lylia have been working on doing this again.

Faendryl Food/cooking - a few ways of doing this. Our first event, ever, was a Faendryl dinner. We got a ton of ration kits and picnic baskets and let people test everything. We can do this easily now, with the structure. We also had "create your own dishes" which was part of how we got the foods in the building.

B.Y.O.M. - Not specifically Faendryl, stands for "bring your own monocle". This was fun, we sat around, smoked cigars, drank, and chatted

Murder and the Law in Faendryl Society - an event I've been wanting to do for a long time now, based on the Pre-QC'd socio-political doc, just been waiting for it to come out. I altered a Siolan dagger for this, ages ago, my plan was to murder Kronius because of reasons. Or Demyse because yeah

Masquerade/Ball - Did one for the Embassy openings, which was fun. I'd love to do another. We had a contest at the last over the most Faendryl-themed costumes. Allereli won the costume of Allereli. I remember Durakar and I spent forever trying to get whisper masks altered for this and caused a curfluffle on the officials. I now have 3 whisper masks ready if we do another.

Ashrim War - great lecture/history topic, we've done in the past. Would be fun to get an Ashrim to one, sometime.

Third Elven War and the Demonwall - this we did also, in Talador, which was fun. I died doing it, but still fun. It's a good topic to bring up when the humans are getting particularly uppity.

Undead War - classic, always nice to provide the Faendryl perspective

Date auction - we did this once. It was fun during, but I had a lot of random Faendryl bitch at me about selling my brothers and sisters for profit, not getting it that it was volunteer only. Actually, the Pit Vipers want to do a joint date auction with the Enclave this year.

Fashion events - the Mentor's had a series of weekends representing different races and when they had dark elves Inurtia put on a fashion related thing. That was pretty sweet. I've done similar, but made it more cobbling related since I enjoy that.

Hearthside Tales - Simple idea, just get together and tell a story. Preferably Faendryl related. I guess this would be similar to the obsidian tower's lectures/talks?

[Fallen]

Tours of OTF. You can animate folks past the level restriction. It's fun but requires a lot of preparation to pull off.

Also, exhibition of Faendryl items. The H4H stuff is great for that. You could use these to enhance some of Japh's event ideas.

[shad0ws0ngs]

We've been talking about the OTF tours since forever ago, heh. You mentioned it when we first got going. Over the years I've had a few people desparate Dhe'nar.. and I've done the same from time to time, but I like to point out how at our very first meeting we had you and Debia, who provided a cart from the Obsidian Tower, and how much the help was appreciated, especially in the beginning.

We were going to do a joint tower/enclave "Dhe'nar Versus Faendryl: Similarities and differences" type of event, for a bit there, too.

I've been trying to get some H4H items for a while now. I was thinking about that recently and how I regret we didn't include asparagus in the Enclave's food items. It's something I hope to add, at some point.

[shad0ws0ngs]

Less Enclave-specific, though, I'm curious to see what people are up to daily or regularly. Quirks of RP and interests and such. Opinions on Faendryl society and culture.

The desire stems somewhat from the recent discussions in the roleplay folder with regard to Faendryl and upward mobility, as well as some other discussions and rants about the staggering lack of development in the last 3 or so years. There has been some Guru movement lately, inquiries into art and shops and such, but I find myself wondering if this isn't a feeble attempt to sooth the masses after the aforementioned discussion.

Oh, and I do not want to ignore what has been done. The new Faendryl Wedding document is awesome and it is humbling to be mentioned in it. It just seems like if we want to see some progress towards creating a more rich and full culture we're going to have to do it on our own.

[shad0ws0ngs]

And Xorus just posted a link for the aforementioned Pre-QC socio-political document on the officials, which has been added to gswiki, it looks like - https://gswiki.play.net/mediawiki/index.php/Faendryl_Socio-Political_Structure

[Fallen]

We've been talking about the OTF tours since forever ago, heh. You mentioned it when we first got going. Over the years I've had a few people desparate Dhe'nar.. and I've done the same from time to time, but I like to point out how at our very first meeting we had you and Debia, who provided a cart from the Obsidian Tower, and how much the help was appreciated, especially in the beginning.

We were going to do a joint tower/enclave "Dhe'nar Versus Faendryl: Similarities and differences" type of event, for a bit there, too.

I've been trying to get some H4H items for a while now. I was thinking about that recently and how I regret we didn't include asparagus in the Enclave's food items. It's something I hope to add, at some point.

I hope to continue to RP with you guys if/when I come back to the game too. I've also RP'd a bit with you a while back as a different character. Quite enjoyable.

As for the issue of mobility, I really thought that the Embassy they were planning to open would have allowed for great roleplay potential. It would essentially be the first non-hunting ground area that is Faendryl in origin. I don't know what sort of support MHO's get for their events, but CHEs get influence points they can spend to get GM support for events. Maybe you guys could team up with a CHE and use influence to build an event which can have GM support in the way of items, or even an NPC visit.


And Xorus just posted a link for the aforementioned Pre-QC socio-political document on the officials, which has been added to gswiki, it looks like - https://gswiki.play.net/mediawiki/index.php/Faendryl_Socio-Political_Structure

Awesome. I'll have to shoot Allereli a copy of the Pre-QC Dhe'nar stuff if it isn't up there already, unless Xorus already has it and plans to add it.

[shad0ws0ngs]

As for the issue of mobility, I really thought that the Embassy they were planning to open would have allowed for great roleplay potential. It would essentially be the first non-hunting ground area that is Faendryl in origin. I don't know what sort of support MHO's get for their events, but CHEs get influence points they can spend to get GM support for events. Maybe you guys could team up with a CHE and use influence to build an event which can have GM support in the way of items, or even an NPC visit.

MHO can get calendar items, news items, we can have like 5 crier messages ready at a time. We have tent rental, cart rentals. We have prize closets(up to 12 items added to it per half-year, which can really add up). The tent, cart, and prize closet items costs come from the MHO's endowment, a fund set aside to cover costs, similar to a CHE. We have our own thought net we can use. We have insignia. We can get and now have permanent structures. They can't have lockers and max out at 10 rooms, excluding the officer-only prize closet room. The prize closet room also has a nice trunk to store stuff, which I filled with random items I've had made for the Enclave. Still not sure where Leifa's altered enclave-themed ranger box is.

We can do a few raffles yearly. If we provide the item the money goes to our endowment, if the guru provides it it doesn't. We can get merchant work, but I'm not certain how frequently. I believe we can request 15 minute alter sessions also, but not sure how frequently on that, either. If we have multi-day events or joint events with other CHE or MHO we have access to other things also.

If we have a regular, annual event, we can design a tent for it. For example, the siegery event we do regularly. However, we've always held it in the arena in town. But with the structure I was hoping to have it at the spire in the training hall. There is a combat ring in there and if you look at it you see broken remains of siegey mini's.

I'm at work and don't have my regular links, but I googled it and found this: https://sites.google.com/site/gs4mho/home
- ok, that link before was the old one Kenstrom set up. This should be the most recent site.


Another event I wanted to do for a long time was a joint Human/Faendryl one. Focusing primarily on the third elven war and the demonwall, but a big part I wanted to include was a lecture on tactics against demons from a human perspective.. like a golvern star knight and then also from a Palestra. I spent a while trying to contact the azure something group, but they weren't active. Since then it kind of turned into just a lecture on the demonwall and my death. But, with the azure something group being more active, maybe we could try that. I dunno. Random musings.

[shad0ws0ngs]

The Clerisy was responsible for compiling the original Enchiridion Valentia, and they continue to maintain control over reviewing the data presented for publication within its pages. In addition, it was the Clerisy that was responsible for “salting the earth” of old Ta'Faendryl, calling the Ithzir into our world that our traitorous cousins would never be able to use the land they stole from us.

There are a great many Clerisy research teams dedicated to the study of the valences, so many, in fact, that this research takes up at least fifty percent of its budget on an ongoing basis. While each team has a different specialty in regards to valence study, there is one particular team that all others rely upon for their research – the Extrachthonic Cartographers Guild.

If valence research takes up at least fifty percent of the Clerisy's yearly budget, it is likely that the Extrachthonic Cartographers Guild alone takes up at least fifty percent of that. This is due to the fact that, while theory is all fine and good, serious research requires hard data. It is the ECG that provides this data, because only they are capable of assembling teams that physically travel to the various valences and acquire it.

The original role of the Guild was just to map the discovered valences, thus the designation as cartographers, but the Guild's responsibility has long since expanded to measuring the properties of the valences, running experiments within them, and even returning with samples of native matter and “wildlife.”

As one might imagine, this is not a career for the faint of heart.

Cartographer field teams, the members of which are known colloquially as “Harrowers,” are extremely difficult to qualify for. There are very few Faendryl who meet both the physical and intellectual standards required to even apply for training, and amongst those, typically only ten percent pass the selection process. Every Harrower is both a scientist and a soldier, and must be able to apply all their skills under extreme stress, and in conditions that may be, and often are, entirely alien to those found on Elanthia. The threat of assault by native lifeforms, especially when trying to procure one of them either dead or alive, is but one element of danger the field teams regularly face.

When dealing with the valences, often the environment and the natural laws themselves are anathema to the Harrowers' presence.

Cartographer field teams are also supported by the most advanced equipment and experimental magics the Faendryl have to offer. Though much of their gear might easily inspire jealousy in less-heavily funded groups of soldiers or scholars, one piece of kit in particular has become almost iconic in its connection with the Harrowers.

Obviously, without the ability to see, a Cartographer field team has no chance to perform any aspect of its various missions. In dealing with valences where light may operate differently, or not at all, this becomes a key obstacle to overcome, and so the Clerisy developed the panoptic. A melding of Faendryl enchantment and science, the panoptic is a piece of headgear allowing a Harrower to see in a variety of conditions where one might normally be utterly blind. Depending on the options selected, a panoptic can view different types of light, as well as translate various non-light-based energies into an optical analog viewable by normal Faendryl sight.

Though such a piece of equipment obviously has numerous uses outside of the duties of the Extrachthonic Cartographers Guild, currently the cost of producing even a single panoptic renders it impractical for larger-scale manufacture, and so only a select few outside the Harrowers have access to one. The methods of panoptic construction are also highly controlled, and they are illegal to export, or even to carry outside of the Faendryl nation without special dispensation from the Patriarch.


From the Pre-QC'd socio-political document - this was one of my favorite parts. I really wanted to RP something with this, sometime. I could see a group of Faendryl using the confluence as a means of mapping other valences.. RPing out trying to reach additional valences from within the confluence or searching through it to reach new ones. Things like that.

Though my favorite part of the document was this:

Regarding that particularly unique resource I mentioned earlier, I speak of the Logotheosis Caverns, which the Agrestis originally discovered and currently maintain.

Some time after the settling of our new capital, Agrestis miners breached the walls into a cavern full of crystalline growths they had never before encountered. After the area was ensured to be stable, the Clerisy was called in to assess the crystals. It took some time, and some collaboration with a group of conveniently visiting Dhe'nari scholars and lorekeepers, but it was eventually determined that the crystals had one unique property: the ability to record and store sound-based (occasionally referred to as "bardic") magics.

This alone was an intriguing characteristic, and spurred all manner of experimentation, which eventually resulted in the discovery of an even more useful attribute. Stored information in one crystal could be acted upon/modified by a wielder of magics, or even by another crystal in close proximity once the two had been harmonized with each other.

Initially, these crystals were limited to producing small magical effects and minor calculations, but those studying them rapidly learned to introduce even greater complexity into the system, and these early crystalline networks soon became useful tools in many different types of research. It was then that the Clerisy petitioned the Patriarch for jurisdiction over the cavern, which was granted over the objections of the Agrestis.

This state of affairs lasted until the Clerisy's lack of practical knowledge regarding mines and underground operations led to a collapse that destroyed the cavern. The fact that those directly responsible died in the catastrophe barely mitigated the Patriarch's wrath. The only thing that spared the Clerisy from even greater punishment was the Agrestis' fortuitous discovery, during the excavation and rescue efforts, of another cavern of similar crystals in close proximity to the original.

Once the Agrestis learned what to look for, they were able to discover multiple such caverns deep in the earth beneath our new homeland. The Patriarch granted Agrestis miners full control over access to and maintenance of these caverns, and the Clerisy, to their credit, has never complained again about this state of affairs.

Working together again, cautiously, the Agrestis and Clerisy first learned how to safely harmonize all the crystals within a cavern, and then learned how to harmonize multiple caverns with each other. Eventually, they discovered how to utilize the inter-cavern networks to quickly perform incredibly advanced calculations, and over time even determined a way for the networks to "understand" non-magical verbal input, once attuned to it by those fluent in sonic magics and the "language" of the crystals.

Over the last 20,000 years, the Logotheosis Caverns have become indispensable to numerous Faendryl endeavors. Even our Dhe'nar cousins maintain a small presence here specifically to utilize the crystals for some of their particular branches of study, a boon granted by our Patriarch in thanks for their assistance in developing the caverns' potential.


Loved the idea of having something sonic/noise related, as a bard. I made a prismatic crystalline shard cravat pin after reading this, with this in mind.

[Silvean]

They really don't seem to want to pull the trigger on releasing this document. I'm not sure why.

[shad0ws0ngs]

My most recent bitching about it got GM Valyrka and Scribes responding. Which, granted, I felt like a dick. Not to take away from your wedding doc, that was great, but I've been eagerly awaiting this doc for ages.


I am so glad we got this out there. I love how it was written.

As I said before, I had to do rewrites on the document before I even sent it to QC, and then it needed fixes. Trying to do the fixes it needed was rewriting it essentially, so Scribes and I are working to write a new document with the original ideas as the foundation. This is taking us a bit of time.

When it is ready you will know!

In the meantime enjoy!

~ Valyrka ~
Ta'Illistim
Elves
Dark Elves
Sylvans
Half Elves


Since Valyrka mentioned my involvement, I will just state that I thought while the original document that was drafted had great ideas, the form and execution were not quite up to par to what you guys deserve as a finished doc, especially one with such importance to the player base. Thus, I asked Valyrka if we could work together to refine the ideas and produce an even better document and that's what's happened. It definitely was a brave decision on her part, as she's quite aware of how long it's been in the works and the pent up desire to see it. Kudos to her!

I will be focusing much of my attention on it now and into the near future, above other personal projects, so hopefully you guys won't have to wait too much longer. Your patience has been awesome.

GM Scribes

That was in november, at the time of the wedding doc release.

[Silvean]

Let's hope for the best with the recent art request.

[Fallen]

Regardless of the terms he left on, they should definitely credit the original author for the creation of those docs if/when they arrive.

[shad0ws0ngs]

Let's hope for the best with the recent art request.

Faendryl Art requests, Faendryl merchant ideas, and dark elf event threads created by GM Valyrka in the last few months. I am cautiously optomistic.

Anyone actually submit much, if anything?

[Enceladus]

Another event I wanted to do for a long time was a joint Human/Faendryl one. Focusing primarily on the third elven war and the demonwall, but a big part I wanted to include was a lecture on tactics against demons from a human perspective.. like a golvern star knight and then also from a Palestra. I spent a while trying to contact the azure something group, but they weren't active. Since then it kind of turned into just a lecture on the demonwall and my death. But, with the azure something group being more active, maybe we could try that. I dunno. Random musings.

I actually wouldn't be entirely against the idea of an event like this at some point in the future. We've got some internal stuff to work on that'll be taking up our event schedule for the next few months, but since Elfwar III was a pretty noteworthy turning point in the empire, a joint history lesson like this isn't out of the realm of possibility and is something we'd probably be up for doing with you sometime.

[shad0ws0ngs]

Cool. Hopefully no one shoots japh with a crossbow bolt in the neck, if so.

[Rozy]

Again?

[Jeril]

Hey Japh, why don't you and Silvean get together and co-write a bunch of stuff to submit to Simu? Not like they are going to get around to anything anytime soon.

[shad0ws0ngs]

Hey Japh, why don't you and Silvean get together and co-write a bunch of stuff to submit to Simu? Not like they are going to get around to anything anytime soon.

Not a bad idea, really. I'm not the most well written, though. Silvean, on the other hand!

[Silvean]

Not a bad idea, really. I'm not the most well written, though. Silvean, on the other hand!

Thanks for that. I know some things were submitted for the art request.


Hey Japh, why don't you and Silvean get together and co-write a bunch of stuff to submit to Simu? Not like they are going to get around to anything anytime soon.

Best for me just to say that it doesn't work like that.

[Jeril]

Best for me just to say that it doesn't work like that.

Hey, I never said what Simu would do with your work once submitted :P

[shad0ws0ngs]

Speak of the devil, right? http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthread.php?95386-A-Faendryl-Symposium

I am hopeful that this is freaking awesome. I am cynically expecting it to be a "players are bitching, I don't want to do anything, let me organize something they can do for themselves" patch. Anyone submit event ideas? I mostly referenced what I'd heard around lately for events and people who were talking and threw in a few ideas offering to do whatever.