December 9th, 2018

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glossary

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A
Aristo Slang, slightly derisive term for aristocratic and socially powerful people.

Askavi A mountainous Territory in Terreille. Once home to the Eyrien race. Location of the Black Mountain, Ebon Askavi.


B
Birthright Jewel Obtained by the Blood in childhood, their first Jewel.

Black Mountain see Ebon Askavi.

Black Widow A witch who weaves the tangled webs of dreams and visions. Equal in rank to a Warlord Prince.

Bleeder Slang, offensive word for the Blood. Used exclusively by landens and employed frequently by the Hunter Guild.

Blood, the People from the Realms who wear the Jewels and utilize Craft. Volatile and powerful, they consider themselves the caretakers of the realms.


C
Cataclysm, the An event that destroyed large numbers of the Blood in Terreille. No one knows its cause.


D
Darkness, the The source of the Blood's power and the closest thing they have to a religion.

Demon-dead, the When a member of the Blood dies but enough psychic energy remains, they become demon-dead. The body can no longer tolerate daylight, and they require blood for nourishment. According to legend, the demon-dead make their home in Hell.

Draega The largest remaining city in Terreille, and the capital of Hayll.


E
Ebon Askavi The Black Mountain, located in the Territory called Askavi. Houses the Keep, the ancient home of Witch.

Ebon Council, the A council of the Blood with significant social influence within the city of Draega. They oppose the landen Guilds on nearly every topic. Their primary goal is to advance the Blood's power.


G
Great War, the Following the Cataclysm, the Great War nearly destroyed the Realm of Terreille as landens rose against the Blood. The damage done to the land by the war is what has caused humanity's decline.

GUILDS, the The driving force of industrialization in Terreille and the source of landen power. There are six landen Guilds: the Crafter Guild (called Crafters), the Elektriline Guild (called Elektrics), the Hunter Guild (called Hunters), the Medic Guild (called Medicos), the Tinker Guild (called Tinkers), and the Transport Guild (called Transporters).


H
Hayll Home to the long-lived Hayllian race, once the center of culture and power in Terreille. The strongets remaining Territory in the Realm.

Healer Refers to Blood who focus on Healing Craft. Healers may be naturally born or trained.

Hell's fire A curse used by the Blood. Usually denotes anger general exasperation. Akin to the use of "well, shit."

Hourglass, the Both how one refers to a coven of exclusively Black Widows and to the once powerful Hourglass Coven that oversaw all Black Widows.


J
Jewel A reservoir of power. Each of the Blood (and each Stranger) may obtain two Jewels during their life— the Birthright Jewel and the Jewel of rank.

Jewel of Rank The Jewel obtained later in life. This Jewel is gained after making the Offering to the Darkness and represents one of the Blood's adult strength.


K
Kaeleer Also know as the Shadow Realm. Stories about Kaeleer still exist in Terreille, but are largely considered myth as travel between the two realms was cut off thousands of years ago.

Killing edge A violent state of mind obtained by the Blood in response to a threat, real or perceived. Most often seen in Warlord Princes.


L
Landens A term for any non-Blood human. Landens have no access to the Jewels that the Blood have.


M
May the Darkness be merciful An oath used in response to a situation that drives you to drink.

Mother Night A curse often used to express disbelief. Akin to "goddamn it." May have once referred to a divine figure.


O
Offering to the Darkness A ritual through which the Blood attain their second Jewel, the Jewel of rank. The Offering can be made at anytime and takes a complete day and night. Usually, the Offering can be performed at any altar. Details about the precise process are unknown.


P
Priestess Witches who serve the altars, Sanctuaries, and Dark Altars and act as spiritual advisers.

Prince Both a caste of the Blood that shares the same status as Healers and Priestesses and the proper title used to address Princes and Warlord Princes. A Prince is less aggressive by nature than a Warlord Prince, but more aggressive than a Warlord.

Psychic scent A mental energy that carries with it a unique "scent," allowing one member of the Blood to identify another down to caste and Jewel. If someone is particularly well-known, a psychic scent will identify them as well. Psychic scents change in small ways to reflect emotion, and that change is often the only warning before a Walord Prince hits the killing edge.


S
Strangers, the Anyone brought to Terreille by Queen Fayura, the player characters.


T
Terreille The Realm of Light. Largely depopulated from both the Cataclysm and the Great War. Is a hollow shell of what it once was.

Twisted Kingdom, the A name the Blood give to a state of mind, rather than a physical place. When one walks the Twisted Kingdom, one walks in madness and may never return. However, it is said that in inspiration and power hide in madness, and sometimes the temptation for those things overwhelms reason.


W
Warlord One of the Blood male castes. Warlords are the least aggressive of the male castes and by extension, generally the most liked.

Warlord Prince The most aggressive caste of males. A Warlord Prince is a creature to be feared no matter the Jewel he wears for once his temper is pricked, violence is likely to follow. Often described as both violently passionate and passionately violent.

Winsol A winter holiday that spans 13 days and is a celebration of Witch. Occurs around the solstice.

Witch Often called dreams made flesh. Witch is a myth among the Blood. Legend goes that her mind and self are crafted by the Darkness to address the dreams and needs of the Blood.



NAVIGATION

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npcs

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MAJOR NPCS
The NPCs listed below are considered major NPCs, meaning that any interaction with these NPCs should be run by the mods in advance of a thread. Players are welcome to generate rumors about major NPCs or namedrop them casually ("I heard Grand Master Niall doesn't like cucumbers") but should not include them in threads without running it by the mods first. For simple interactions, the mods will advise players of NPC behavior. For more complex interactions, the mods will drive the NPCs.

Simple: Tony Stark wants to talk to Prince Allairavar about minor alterations to the city's defenses. Tony can make all the alterations by himself and with one or two other people. Allairavar approves of anything that will strengthen the city, and gives Stark his blessing.
Complex: Tony Stark thinks Prince Allairavar's defense is too myopic and has multiple, exploitable vulnerabilities. He calls the Prince out. Allairavar invites Stark for a conversation at his office, which may go either very well for Stark or very, very poorly.


Fayura Nishell
CASTE QUEENBIRTHRIGHT ???JEWEL OF RANK ???POSITION QUEEN OF HAYLL
ABOUT Quiet, eccentric, thoughtful, vicious. Territory Queen of Hayll. Believes that Blood and landen can live side by side if both parties just get over themselves. Does not suffer fools. Rumor has it she isn't entirely human. She appears to wear the Red, but it is unclear if the Jewel is her Birthright, her adult strength, or something else entirely. Many of the Blood find her unnerving and some think she's mad. Sometimes disappears for hours on end. Makes occasional references to Ebon Askavi being her true home, though it is common knowledge that she was born in Hayll.

Allairavar Ris
CASTE WARLORD PRINCEBIRTHRIGHT SAPPHIREJEWEL OF RANK GRAYPOSITION MASTER OF THE GUARD
ABOUT Methodical, stoic, kind, devoted. Fayura's Master of the Guard and absolutely devoted to her. Is not as sure that the landens and Blood can live in harmony as she is but is willing to pursue her goals. As temperamental as all his caste and inclined to snap bones or splatter someone on a wall when pressed. Incredibly competent with a sword. One of the few remaining Eyriens, and as such has massive, membranous black wings on his back.

Loren Sorey
CASTE WARLORD PRINCEBIRTHRIGHT PURPLE DUSKJEWEL OF RANK GREENPOSITION STEWARD
ABOUT Orderly, vengeful, melancholic, overworked. A generally well-ordered man with a wicked sense of humor and a vicious temper. Suffers fools even less than Fayura but with a temper a bit slower to burst than Allairavar's. While he supports Fayura's cause, he believes too strongly in the nobility of the Blood. Holds everyone to high standards, even himself. Often surprised when people don't meet those standards. Could use a vacation, probably.

Verim Bahl
CASTE WARLORD PRINCEBIRTHRIGHT REDJEWEL OF RANK GRAYPOSITION CONSORT
ABOUT Seductive, passionate, predatory, generous. Often said to be the most dangerous male in Hayll but as with the Steward and Master of the Guard is devoted to Fayura. Doesn't give a damn about the difference between landen and Blood and just wants to be with his Lady. Unlike Loren, will not hold back his temper. Surprisingly generous with the downtrodden and forgotten of society. Making a pass at him (or Fayura) is a quick way to end up dead. Verim is also a Black Widow, having studied the tangled webs of dreams and visions.

Grejor Shamael
CASTE WARLORDBIRTHRIGHT TIGER EYEJEWEL OF RANK PURPLE DUSKPOSITION COUNCILMAN, FIRST CHAIR
ABOUT Shrewd, petty, vindictive, power-hungry. First Chair of the Dark Council and a staunch traditionalist. Believes the landens need to be kept in their place at all costs and that only the Blood should rule. Despises Fayura and is always uncomfortable in her presence. Was once good friends with the Steward, Loren, but is now estranged from him. Hates Niall on a personal level as Niall murdered Grejor's younger (and innocent) brother.

Niall Berrenathy
GUILD HUNTER, TINKER, ELEKTRILINE GUILDSPOSITION GRAND MASTER OF THE LANDEN GUILDS
ABOUT Inventive, conniving, charismatic, brilliant. Leader of the landen guilds. Absolutely brilliant and incredibly magnetic. Hates the Blood on principal, but has a personal vendetta against them because of the two young males who brutalized and killed his sister Hana for sport. Has a surprisingly congenial relationship with Fayura, but this is likely because he wants to use her. Educated by the Hunter Guild, but is competent in most mechanical and elektric pursuits.

Raya Aguine
GUILD HUNTER GUILDPOSITION GUILD MASTER
ABOUT Vengeful, wary, suspicious, conniving. Raya Aguine is the blade at the throat of all the Blood. They fear her, and she revels in their fear. In her life, she has assassinated more than fifty of the Blood, from light Jeweled witches to dark Jeweled Queens, and she desires nothing more than to rip out Fayura's still-beating heart. She is perhaps a touch unstable, and so Niall guides her with a delicate hand.


MINOR NPCS
Players can include minor NPCs in their threads with impunity, though the mods expect that these characters will behave according to their traits. Prince Zaym should not be saccharine, and Councilwoman Rheea should not tell a PC all her secrets. If you want to use a minor NPC in a thread or as an impetus for action but are unsure how they would behave, always feel free to ask.

Fayura's First Circle and Court
As with all First Circles, Fayura's is filled by Blood males. They all serve Fayura without question or hesitation and are fiercely loyal to her. All of them have mixed feelings about a world where the landens and the Blood can live as equals but all of them are willing to work for it.

ZAYM
Prince ▪ Purple Dusk ▪ Opal
Sarcastic ▪ Independent ▪ Proud

GEHT
Warlord ▪ Summer-sky ▪ Green
Artistic ▪ Judgemental ▪ Helpful

DURNEM
Warlord ▪ Rose ▪ Purple Dusk
Easy-going ▪ Quiet ▪ Charming


LACHLAN
Prince ▪ Summer-sky ▪ Opal
Anxious ▪ Cynical ▪ Secretive

NOLAN
Warlord Prince ▪ Rose ▪ Opal
Talkative ▪ Gossipy ▪ Sly

YARL
Warlord ▪ Tiger Eye ▪ Purple Dusk
Bashful ▪ Honest ▪ Solemn


AUGUST
Warlord ▪ Opal ▪ Red
Brusque ▪ Athletic ▪ Creative

JARED
Warlord ▪ Purple Dusk ▪ Sapphire
Energetic ▪ Naive ▪ Optimistic

BARRET
Prince ▪ Yellow ▪ Tiger Eye
Scholarly ▪ Studious ▪ Thoughtful


JESIREE
Healer ▪ n/a ▪ Yellow
Sarcastic ▪ Determined ▪ Sassy









The Ebon Council
Each member of the Ebon Council believes in the superiority of the Blood or just hates landens for the devastation they wrought on the Blood in the Great War. Some are simply traditionalists, but some are vindictive and cruel.

ABIGAIL
Healer/Black Widow ▪ Opal ▪ Green
Irritable ▪ Charitable ▪ Jealous

DANEEL
Warlord Prince ▪ Yellow ▪ Rose
Respectful ▪ Reserved ▪ Elegant

VERA (deceased)
Witch ▪ Rose ▪ Purple Dusk
Loud ▪ Intense ▪ Angry


Sharr
Warlord ▪ Opal ▪ Sapphire
Teasing ▪ Warm ▪ Pessimistic

Rheea
Black Widow ▪ Rose ▪ Opal
Gloomy ▪ Petty ▪ Withdrawn

Perik
Prince ▪ Summer-sky ▪ Opal
Smart ▪ Awkward ▪ Quiet



The Landen Guild Masters
Of the Landen Guilds, only the Hunter's Guild has any great influence. The rest of the Guild Masters, though highly skilled, have little social pull within Draega. The Masters and those who work and study under them have mixed feelings about the Blood, but rather uniformly dislike the Ebon Council.

Doriah
Master Elektric, female
Bitter ▪ Intense ▪ Cunning

Sorrel
Master Transporter, male
Cheerful ▪ Thrill-seeker ▪ Impulsive

Mari
Master Tinker, female
Clever ▪ Bombastic ▪ Willful


Kasik
Master Crafter, male
Twitchy ▪ Energetic ▪ Cruel

Lam
Master Medico, male
Severe ▪ Sarcastic ▪ Tired





REQUEST AN NPC
Any general questions about NPC behavior can be asked in response to the General Questions top-level below. Remember: you're welcome to make up unconfirmed rumors about the NPCs as much as you like and do not need mod permission for that.

To request an interaction with an NPC, reply to the appropriate NPC's top-level with the form below. You should have a reply to your comment within 24 hours, whether in the form of clarifying questions or actual NPC engagement.




NAVIGATION

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landens

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While the Blood may have come from the landens, they are no longer the same peoples. The difference between Blood and landen is as vast as the difference between a man and his dog, and like a dog, the landen should know his place. He is a small creature, powerless and impotent and desperate to crawl above his station. To that end, he will crush the throats of any man between him and his power. He is otherwise worthless except for menial labor. Tilling the fields and weaving clothes to gown his betters is all that he is good for and all that he can manage. A landen cannot wear the Jewels and thus cannot be a part of society in any meaningful way.

—Grejor Shamael



INVENTORS OF THE FUTURE
The landens are the people of the world who cannot wear the Jewels and have no Craft. Vastly outnumbering the Blood, they are the majority. They are the many. And they have been ignored by Blood society. In whatever events led up to the Cataclysm, the landens believe they suffered the most. The Blood forced them to tend lands that yielded less and less, and they received little for their troubles. In fact, the Blood consistently demanded more and more from them until there was nearly nothing left.

When the Cataclysm came, the landens seized the opportunity presented to them. In many Territories, they overthrew the power structure of the Blood and, unfortunately, destroyed the land even more in doing so. Between war and the deaths of innumerable Queens, the landens took much from the Blood—and the Realms.

So the landens turned to technology and created their Guilds. While the Blood would never admit it, the landens and their Guilds are now completely indispensable to everyone's continued survival. The landen Guilds guard the secrets of their trades fiercely. In the recent past, some of the lighter Jeweled Blood took to kidnapping landens guildsmen and tortured them for their secrets. This didn't go well. The landens would find ways to kill themselves rather than give the Blood any knowledge, which in turn set off more uprisings. The Blood may have Craft, but the landens have always had numbers and ingenuity.

In modern Terreille, most landens belong to one of the Guilds. The Guilds train young men and women in trades, and trade secrets are viewed with an almost holy reverence.

EDUCATION AND THE LANDEN GUILDS
Industrialization is a new thing to Terreille. No more than two thousand years ago, most landens were farmers and lower class. The advent of the landen middle class only came about with the founding of the Guilds, and with it a revolution of education. Before, only the most aristo of the Blood could afford tutors for all subjects. With the Guilds, an emphasis was placed on learning more than just a single trade. The Guilds provided a broad base of education to landen children through the winter and summer months, breaking for the harvest and planting seasons in fall and spring.

Landen children attend school from the time they are eight until their 20th birthday. At 15, seven years into their schooling, a landen child can declare a Guild. While there is still room for movement from one Guild to another after this, it's generally frowned upon. From 15 to 18, a landen teenager is an apprentice in their chosen Guild. From 18 to 20, the landen is a journeyman and allowed to do Guild work with their professors. At 20, a landen graduates from their Guild and officially becomes an adult (a notion borrowed from Blood society).

Should a landen decide to pursue further schooling to become a master, he or she stays with their Guild for at least 4 more years to attain the title of Master.

THE CRAFTER GUILD

Crafters named themselves to mock the Blood and their Craft. They are the oldest of the Guilds, formed shortly after the Cataclysm as the landens attempted to protect themselves from the Blood. Proud and vicious, the Crafter Guild is populated by two types of landens: the kind who want to get revenge on the Blood, and the kind who see the Craft as a puzzle and a challenge to overcome. While the Tinkers build technological marvels, the Crafters are responsible for the devices that identify Jewels and caste, and that nullify Craft; the weapons that pierce Craft shields; and the criers that function as an alarm system for the use of Craft.

The Crafter Guild is run by Master Crafter Kasik.

THE ELEKTRILINE GUILD

The Elektriline Guild is the youngest of the Guilds, formed only fifty years ago when a Tinker accidentally discovered elektric currents and lit an entire Guild Hall on fire. Elektrics are widely regarded as the craziest of the Guilds. The strangest. The quirkiest. They are beloved of the Blood, especially those who wear lighter Jewels and can't afford to use their power casually for light, heating and cooling. The Elektriline Guild literally keeps the lights on: they wire buildings and provide the power for light, cold boxes, and e-line heaters and coolers.

The Elektriline Guild is run by Master Elektric Doriah.

THE HUNTER GUILD

Though not the oldest of the Guilds, the Hunter Guild is the most powerful, the most feared, and the most effective. Unlike the Crafter Guild, which is equally split between those who want to defeat the Blood and those who find their Craft a fascinating puzzle, the Hunter Guild is full of landens who despise the Blood. The Hunters are devoted to protecting landens from the Blood (who they call Bleeders derisively). These men and women are competent fighters, ingenious thinkers, and the moving force of the anti-Blood movement among the landen population. They are highly skilled assassins who will take contracts against Blood sympathizers as well.

The Hunter Guild is run by Master Hunter Raya.

THE MEDIC GUILD

Those of the Medic Guild are pioneers in the field of medicine. They study human biology, offering non-Craft solutions to everything from the common cold to surgery. Medicos are very proud of their work and are some of the most respected landens in their communities. A well-trained Medico may not be able to wipe a wound away like a Healer, but they save a sick or injured landen a trip to someone who might not be so sympathetic. Of all the guilds, the Medic Guild gets along best with the Blood, especially Healers and Black Widows.

The Medic Guild is run by Master Medico Lam.

THE TINKER GUILD

The Tinkers, the thinkers, the strange machine makers. Just as eccentric as the Elekrics (though perhaps not quite as crazy, since they don't play with live currents for fun), the Tinkers make what they make with little thought to the ramifications of it. Working with the Elektrics, the Tinkers pioneered the creation of the e-line technology that makes Blood and landen lives easier. Currently, the Tinkers are wiring Draega for their far-talkers, a technology that allows people to communicate across great distances even if they aren't Blood.

The Tinker Guild is run by Master Tinker Mari.

THE TRANSPORT GUILD

Quiet, reliable, and steady, the Transport Guild keeps its head down and its people out of trouble. Their interest is in finding alternatives to Craft transportation, and they're the ones who created and now maintain the rail-carriages and railways. While the Tinkers may build the engines that power the railcars, the Transporters are the only ones who know how to install those engines and drive the the railcars. Rumor has it the Transporters are working on small, personal trains called autocars.

The Transport Guild is run by Master Transporter Sorrel.


TECHNOLOGY IN TERREILLE
Landens are at a constant disadvantage against the Blood. The Blood are living, breathing weapons, and the landens are essentially unarmed sheep next to them. To combat this wild imbalance of power, the landens employ a variety of technological tools to even the odds.

RAIL-CARRIAGE Also called a railcar. Railcars allow anyone to travel quickly from one city to another without relying on the Blood. They are maintained by the Tinker Guild and the Transport Guild.

SEEKERS Small rings set with a clear crystal, typically worn on the right hand. The crystal fills with a smoke that matches the color of a Jewel when in the presence of the Blood (e.g. a Green Jewel will turn the crystal green). The crystal pulses with light to indicate caste: once for a Healer or a Warlord, twice for a Priestess or a Prince, three times for a Black Widow or a Warlord Prince, and four times for a Queen. A Seeker will detect someone who is sight shielded, regardless of the Jewel shielding them.

CRIERS Criers are installed around the perimeter of landen communities and important buildings (like Guild Halls) inside of communities. They are alarm systems that detect the Blood and warn Guild leaders and local militia of the approaching threat. They are rarely installed inside homes as they're too expensive and everyone has a Seeker.

MUTERS Small devices installed in most landen homes. They can be turned on or off but are often left on. They strip away the Blood's power, rendering their Craft (and Jewels) useless. A landen will turn a Muter off as a show of good faith, and one of the Blood may carry a Muter when meeting with landens.

AUTOCAR The rumored pet project of Draega's Tinker and Transport Guilds.

BREAKER Shield-breakers, commonly called Breakers, are muskets that fire bullets capable of penetrating Craft shields. They are cheap enough that most people can afford them.

GUARDIAN A flat metal ring worn on the same finger as the Seeker, a guardian will reflect the attacks of most lighter Jewels. It can hold out against a White Jewel for hours though efficacy diminishes as the Jewel darkens. It fails at the level of the Green, able to deflect one blast of power from a Green Jewel and then no more. It cannot defend against Sapphire or any Jewel darker than Sapphire.

FAR-CASTER Far-casters are the landen equivalent of the modern cellphone. Because the Blood can communicate psychically, it became obvious to the Tinker Guild early on that landens needed a way to communicate across vast distances as well. Far-casters can send text messages as well as handle voice-only or full image communication between individuals. Far-casters can be used like radios as well, and even the Blood use Far-casters to listen to news reports as well as daytime programs. Ranging in size from large and bulky to small and hand-held, Far-casters can be found as speakers playing music in restaurants and homes, delivering the news in shops, or used to facilitate private, personal correspondence. The Far-casters are capable of sending messages that anyone can access, or they can be filtered to specific individuals or groups. For example, the Ebon Council maintains its 'group chat' that only they can access.


NAVIGATION

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the blood

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Politely, one might choose to describe the Blood as emotionally intense. They are a race—for though they might come from same races as the landens, they are not the same; kin but not kind as they are fond of saying—gripped by the madness of feeling. They couch their madness in etiquette they sneeringly call Protocol, which they seem to pick up and put down as they choose. Social structure among their kind is fluid and ever-changing, and it would be best for wise men and women who value their lives to avoid them in their entirety. If they are not to be avoided, they are to be tolerated; and if they cannot be tolerated for their strangling hold and conceit, they are to be destroyed.

—Niall Berrenathy



CARETAKERS OF THE REALM
For as long as they have existed, the Blood have been the caretakers of the Realm in both a literal and political sense. While not all Blood are politicians or aristocrats, politicians and aristocrats have historically been Blood. With the Cataclysm, this has changed, and not all the Blood are pleased by that change. In the more literal sense, the power the Blood wield is part of what keeps the land alive. Without the Blood, the land is less fertile. It withers and dies—just as has happened in Terreille with the die off of the Blood.

More than the landens of the Realm's races, the Blood need to be in contact with the land. They need greenery and fields, forests and open plains. They need the raging winds that cut through the mountains, and they need the soft rain that waters the coasts.

The Blood as a whole are matriarchal and matrilineal, though men will sometimes take their male parent's surname. Throughout their history, Blood females have wielded more power in every sense of the word. Women have a deeper, darker power than Blood males, and part of the reason it is so imperative that Blood males serve is so that Blood females don't have to step onto a killing field because they are far, far less merciful.

JEWELS AND CASTE
Power among the Blood is a complicated dance of social standing, Jeweled power, and caste. The least important of these is social standing, though some would rather this be otherwise. A wealthy, aristo Opal Jeweled Warlord Prince should yield to a poor, Gray Jeweled witch because when push comes to shove, that Warlord Prince is a corpse.

THE JEWELS
The majority of the Blood wear one of thirteen Jewels. Power is described in terms of darkness. For the Blood, the mind is an abyss that reaches into the Darkness and is visualized as a chasm across which the mind stretches in the form of a web. The darker the power, the further into the Darkness the person in question can reach. Jewels are meant to be containers for the vast power of the Darkness that spills into the body of the wearer. Without a Jewel, this power would destroy the body.

From lightest (weakest) to darkest (strongest), the Jewels are:
White
Yellow
Tiger Eye
Rose
Summer-sky
Purple Dusk
Opal
Green
Sapphire
Red
Gray
Ebon-gray
Black


This hierarchy of power is immutable. There is no reality in which the Rose could ever overpower Summer-sky in a direct confrontation.

Opal is unique among the Jewels as it is the dividing line between the light and dark Jewels and can be considered either depending on the wearer. One witch may wear a "light" Opal, and one may wear a "dark" Opal. Though a spectrum of power exists within each Jewel, the only time that spectrum really matters is in determining whether someone wears a light or dark Opal.

The Opal is unique again for the purposes of the game because it is the place of Jeweled strength where one's canon powers are neither enhanced or limited. When a Stranger wears the Opal, they can use all their canon powers as they would in their home world. If they wear a Jewel lighter than Opal, they will find they need to expend more effort and energy to get less results. If they wear a Jewel darker than Opal, they won't need to use as much effort to get the same results as they would in canon, and can in fact stretch themselves further than they might be able to in canon.

Keep in mind that the hierarchy of Jewels trumps canon powers. For example, a Stranger with the Opal who can control another's body will find it difficult to exert that control on someone whose Jewel is darker than their own.

The Blood will wear two and only two Jewels over the course of their lives. Their first Jewel is called their Birthright Jewel and is obtained in childhood. The second Jewel is their Jewel of rank, obtained after they reach the age of majority and perform their Offering to the Darkness. A Jewel of rank is never more than three steps darker than the Birthright, meaning Birthright Purple Dusk can descend to Sapphire but never to Red. Not everyone descends three full ranks; some of the Blood walk away from their Offering with the same Jewel as their Birthright, but marginally darker.

Even the Strangers brought to Terreille by Queen Fayura have a Birthright Jewels, a physical manifestation of the Darkness inside them. They receive what the Blood call uncut Jewels, meaning the Jewels can be cut and polished by a jeweler into wearable jewelry. Each Jewel is large enough to be cut into a necklace and a ring (traditionally worn on the right hand). Some will opt to have their Jewels set in different ways, such as into cuff links or earrings.

THE CASTES
Every member of the Blood has a caste. This is determined by genetics and is often detectable within hours or days of a child's birth. Unlike the Jewels, a person's caste will never change.

While the Strangers Queen Fayura drew to Terreille wear the Jewels, none of them have a caste. This is an alarming thing to the Blood, who cannot conceive of wearing the Jewels without also having a caste. As Grand Master Niall has written, the Blood can be politely described as intense, and so understanding and respecting caste is imperative to survival among a people who have no law against murder. Antagonizing a Black Widow or Warlord Prince is a great way to send yourself to an early grave, and while the Blood can comprehend the ignorance of these Strangers, they will not tolerate it for long.

Blood females

BLOOD FEMALE A general term for all females of the Blood; mostly refers to any woman of the Blood who doesn't wear Jewels.

WITCH A Blood female who wears Jewels but isn't one of the othe other hierarchical levels; also refers to any Jeweled female. "Witches" is the caste-neutral catchall when talking about a group of Jeweled females. The proper term of address for a witch is Lady.

HEALER A witch who heals physical wounds and illnesses. A skilled Healer can bring a person back from the brink of death and mend life-threatening injuries with little scarring. Not all people capable of healing Craft are Healers, but the best are. Equal in rank to a Priestess and a Prince. The proper term of address for a Healer is Lady, unless she is working and then it is best to call her Healer [First Name].

PRIESTESS A witch who cares for altars, sanctuaries and Dark Altars; witnesses handfasts and marriages; and performs offerings. She often offers guidance or a kind shoulder to those in need. Her connection to the Darkness is unique among her kind. Equal in rank to a Healer and a Prince. The proper term of address for a Priestess is Lady, unless she is working and then it is best to call her Priestess [First Name].

BLACK WIDOW A witch who belongs to the larger Hourglass coven. Black Widows heal the mind; weave the tangled webs of dreams and visions; and are trained in illusions and poisons. As with Healers, not every illusionist or poisoner is a Black Widow, but all of the best are. Equal in status to a Warlord Prince. The proper term of address for a Black Widow is Lady. Black Widows are considered the second most dangerous female caste, and as such should be approached with a great deal of respect.

QUEEN A witch who rules the Blood. Queens are considered the land's heart and the Blood's moral center; as such, a Queen is the focal point of Blood society. Territory Queens are the most powerful of the Queens, followed by Province Queens and then District Queens. The proper term of address for a Queen is Lady; calling her "Queen" or "Your Majesty" will get you an odd look.

Blood males

BLOOD MALE A general term all males of the Blood; also refers to any Blood male who doesn't wear Jewels.

WARLORD A Jeweled male equal in status to a witch. The least territorial and aggressive of the male castes. Often considered the easiest to get along with and most congenial. The proper term of address for a Warlord is Lord.

PRINCE A Jeweled male equal in status to a Priestess or Healer. A moderately aggressive caste of males. The proper term of address for a Prince is Prince.

WARLORD PRINCE A dangerous, extremely aggressive Jeweled male. Warlord Princes crave service to a Queen and are not content in life without this relationship. Slightly lower in status than a Queen. The proper term of address for a Warlord Prince is Prince. As with Black Widows, it is imperative to approach Warlord Princes with a great deal of respect. Especially if you're particularly attached to your limbs in either an emotional or physical sense.


THE CRAFT
Among the Blood, the skilled application of power is called Craft. While the untrained can draw on the raw power of the Jewels to enforce their will on the world, it's messy, inefficient, and typically draining. Explosive blasts of power are effective in painting the walls red with someone's blood but will leave the attacker vulnerable. Training in Craft focuses the mind and the will, allowing for a more delicate and subtle use of power.

As the Jewels are a reservoir of power, if that power isn't used, it builds up and spills into the body. The build up of power in the body will consume fat and muscle quickly (more quickly if you wear a darker Jewel). For the dark Jeweled Blood, using Craft in casual ways every day is a necessity. While landen technology has made life easier for the lighter Jeweled Blood who have less power to spare, those with Jewels darker than Opal find no use for heaters or coolers when they can simply cast a spell to accomplish the same task.

The Strangers who have come to Hayll will find that they are able to use their Birthright Jewel as though they have been trained in Craft. Knowledge has been given to them so that they don't destroy themselves with their new power. Some may find the use of the Jewels easier than others, and some may find themselves drawn more to certain types of Craft. Players are welcome to be creative with the use of Craft.

Some canonical examples of Craft are given below.

BASIC CRAFT

WITCHLIGHT Little globes of light that function as lamps. Often used by the darker Jeweled Blood as a way to bleed off excess power.

WARMING & COOLING SPELLS An easy way to keep warm in cooler weather and cool in hotter weather. Blood homes typically don't have fireplaces because the residents can simply use Craft to stay warm.

SLEEPING SPELLS Less a "spell" and more of a suggestion dropped into the mind of the target. Fussy males who believe their ladies require rest will often utilize this kind of Craft. It is viewed as an irritation not a mental invasion, much the same way someone might be annoyed at their loved one insisting they wear a heavier coat after a cold.

PSYCHIC THREADS

Long-distance communication and private conversation between members of the Blood happen on what they call psychic threads. One mind reaches out to another (or many) and a connection is formed. This connection can be wide-reaching (any mind within an area), narrowed down a single gender, narrowed to a single Jewel, or narrowed to a person. Communication can only occur on the lightest level of the people involved. So if three people wearing the Opal, Sapphire, and Black want to chat, the conversation has to be on an Opal thread. The Blood can't use these psychic threads to communicate privately with landens or Blood children who do not wear a Jewel. The touch of a mind bonded to a Jewel destroys minds that aren't.

PSYCHIC STORAGE

Anyone with a Jewel has what amounts to a private, pocket dimension in which they can store items. The dimensions and carrying capacity of this space depends on Jewel. Someone who wears the White may only have space equal in size to that of a small suitcase, but someone who wears the Black may have enough space to store all the furniture that fits in a 3500 square foot home.

Similarly, the Blood can "call" and "vanish" objects—sometimes, items are called from this space and vanished into it, but often the Blood can call a personal item to them from anywhere nearby. Someone who wants their shoes from another room but doesn't want to truck up the stairs to get to that room can simply call those shoes into their hand. Likewise, if someone is wearing shoes, they can be vanished to that storage space and called back in later.

SHIELDS

PHYSICAL SHIELD A physical shield sits above the skin and protects from physical harm and blasts of power. These kinds of shields can be layered, so someone who wears Summer-sky and Opal may layer a shield of Summer-sky over Opal over Summer-sky again to add more layers of protection. Just make sure to leave a hole in the shield so you can breathe and another to take care of necessities.

SIGHT SHIELD If you want to remain unseen, wrap yourself in a sight shield. This kind of shield renders you invisible, even to those who wear a darker Jewel than you, but the darker Jeweled person will be able to sense your presence or notice the ripples of refracted light.

AURAL SHIELD An aural shield blocks sounds and keeps conversations private. If a conversation is private, it's polite for the darker Jeweled person to shield. When a darker Jeweled person senses a shielded conversation, it's possible for them to overhear but is, again, polite to either pretend they cannot hear or outright ignore the conversation.

PSYCHIC SHIELD Most Blood combine psychic and sight shields to be as unnoticeable as possible. A psychic shield prevents other Blood from detecting someone's unique psychic scent, the mental impression that uniquely identifies them. As with other shields, someone who wears a darker Jewel will be able to detect that something is off when someone near them is using a psychic shield.

TANGLED WEBS

While only women are born Black Widows and only Black Widows have an innate knowledge and understanding of how to weave the tangled webs of dreams and visions, anyone can learn. Once, this knowledge was monitored by the Hourglass coven, a collection of powerful and respected Black Widows. That is no longer true. Tangled webs can reveal potential futures and be used to create elaborate illusions that trap and damage the mind. They can also be used to heal the mind, as only Black Widows have the training that allows them to walk through madness, what the Blood called the Twisted Kingdom.


ON BREAKING
Power is in the mind, and the mind is a fragile thing. Any Blood male or female can be broken, meaning they are sealed off from the abyss and can no longer access their Jeweled strength. They maintain the ability to do most forms of basic Craft but will always feel less.

The easiest way to break one of the Blood is to rape them. Brutal trauma that causes the individual to turn into their own mind and plummet into the abyss (which is the Blood's source of comfort and strength) will often send them hurting through the web of their mind, breaking it. Rape is certainly not the only way to break one of the Blood, but it is the most common and is thus answered with execution when an offender is caught.

Traditionally, if a member of the Blood is to be broken as a form of punishment, someone who wears a darker Jewel takes the individual deeper into the abyss than they would otherwise be able to go. The power there tries to fill the vessel of the mind, but the mind cannot hold that darker power, and so the individual's power breaks without damaging their mind or their self.

Breaking is considered the punishment of last resort among the Blood.


NAVIGATION

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joy sorrow death birth celebration spirals of power and endless abysses plunging into the darkness the darkness the Darkness all around linked together by webs the webs they stretch into darkness touching worlds so many worlds and lives with a little bit of darkness in all of us within all of us all of them within strangers within Strangers within friends and the city the city just to the left of the heart of the world I've seen the city in my dreams in my webs in the webs I weave so many webs searching searching searching

— ???



THE CITY CALLED DRAEGA
Capital city of Hayll in the Realm of Terreille, Draega is the center of all culture in Terreille. Over the years, what that means has changed. First, Draega was the heart of Hayll, a glittering gem in the Realm of Light. Under the rule of Hayll's self-appointed High Priestess, Draega became the center of all society, but not for the benefit of society. The horrors that the High Priestess committed in the name of the pursuit of power soaked into the ground and twisted the city.

And then the Cataclysm came, wiping out almost everyone in the city and leaving it a starved corpse.

Much of Draega stands in ruin now. Buildings crack and crumble. The once magnificent buildings are patchwork and frail, but life continues. As it always does, life continues. The residents do what they can to rebuild and to eke out a life in what remains of their broken, shattered world.

THE EBON COUNCIL
For the past five hundred years, the Ebon Council ruled over Draega with an iron fist. Originally formed shortly after the Great War as an alliance against the landens, the Ebon Council has ruled in the absence of a Queen in Draega since its inception. Recently, due largely to a loss of power because of the Guilds' presence, it became possible for a Queen to set up her court in Draega. This forced the Council to be less of a council and more of a special interest group. They seek to subjugate the landen people and make the Blood the unquestioned authorities in the land once more. As a general whole, they despise any technological progress the Guild makes. They want to see greater restrictions on the sale of Guild goods and services and to see the landens return to living in separate communities.

Not everyone who wears the Jewels will is an active member of the Ebon Council, but most will tell you they generally support the Council's actions.

The Council stands in direct opposition to the Guilds. They see no issue with sabotaging research or damaging Guild buildings. If a Guild member goes missing, it’s an open secret that the Council was behind the disappearance. Often, the Council will outright brag when they kill a prominent Guild leader.

It would be easy to mistake the Ebon Council for a group of evil sociopaths, but it is important to remember that the Council clings desperately to what they know, to what is familiar. Though they have lost much, they understand that without the Blood, the land will fail, and they will trample anyone who comes between them and keeping the land alive.


This map was drawn by a proportionally-challenged mod. The scale of this map is whimsical and subject to change without warning.

ONE: THE OLD TOWN BAZAAR
The Old Town Bazaar is home to the remaining middle class of Blood and landen residents. The buildings here are worn and rough, but it's a safer part of town where the wealthy can shop and pretend the world isn't pulling everything it has for one last showing.

For someone looking for fresh fruit or vegetables and fine(ish) clothing, the Old Town Bazaar is the place to go. Locals often differentiate between the residential streets and the shopping and restaurants, calling the former Old Town and the latter the Bazaar.

Where all the streets converge stands a pavilion with thirteen pillars, each made of a different marble set with precious stones that reflect one of the Jewels. Unlike other places of interest in Draega, there is no residual fear or despair at the pavilion. The pavilion is new: shortly after setting up her court, Fayura ripped out whatever building used to stand here and built the pavilion in its place as a social project.

TWO: THE QUEEN'S RESIDENCE
Just north of the docks and the Old Town Bazaar, the Queen’s Residence used to be the best inn in Draega. Over the past several hundred years, it has undergone many renovations. A hodgepodge of building styles blend together on its facade, and inside its halls are a labyrinthine maze. Here, Queen Fayura lives with her Consort, Steward, and Master of the Guard. While the residence is large enough to support her entire court, most of them live in the city itself as part of her attempt to foster positive relationships between her court and the locals.

The residence is largely available to the public (another of Fayura's policies). With the exception of the Queen's private garden, the court's personal quarters, and places like the laundry and the kitchen (where the staff is at work), the residence is open to visitors. There are public receiving rooms where Fayura sees visitors and hears requests from her people, a grand ballroom where she hosts parties (invitations are based on a lottery ensuring anyone has a chance of visiting), and a public library where anyone can borrow a book from the Steward.

All Blood homes are marked by their power, but the Queen's Residence is kept clean. Tangled webs meant to absorb the psychic power of the Blood exist in every room, carefully integrated into the decor or tucked in hard to see places. The residence has no psychic residue. For landens and the lighter Jeweled Blood, this makes the residence much more comfortable. The darker Jeweled Blood find the lack of psychic power in the residence bizarre, but have noted on occasion that there is a great power in Fayura's Court, something that sings in the abyss.

THREE: THE EBON COUNCIL
Few people like traveling to the Ebon Council's building. The sprawling estate was once the Queen's Residence, and no matter how much the walls are scrubbed and how many tangled webs are hung in its halls, the psychic stench of fear and despair lingers. The Blood take their tempers from those psychic scents. Even the most mild-mannered witch grows uncomfortable and irritable in the halls of the Ebon Council.

Surrounding the building are old theaters and museums, re-purposed into administrative residences. They are in better repair than many other buildings in Draega. Behind the Council building and against the Heartsblood River is an amphitheater meant for orators and outdoor plays, but like the Council building, it reeks with lingering psychic fear.

FOUR: THE GUILD HALLS
Centuries ago, the landens took over the large university campus in Draega, turning the buildings into their Guild Halls. They would have overrun the administrative buildings around the Ebon Council if they could stand the dark temper of the Blood who live and work there.

All the Guild Halls are connected by underground tunnels. Many of the Guild Masters live in the small residences across from the Guild Halls, called Wall Town. Since research is done primarily on campus, the Masters want to be close to their projects.

The buildings themselves vary in appearance inside, though outside they are all red brick. From the austere Medic Hall to the veritable hunting lodge of the Hunter and Crafter Hall, each building has decorations that reflect its trade. You can barely take two steps in the Tinkers Hall without tripping on a dropped gizmo or misplaced gadget. The Transporters seem to have forgotten to finish the Hall of Motion, leaving pipes and wiring exposed. The Elektriline Hall glitters and glows, lit up inside and out with neon lights.

FIVE: RIVER NORTH
North of the river and the Guild Halls is River North, where landens who don't work in and for the Guilds make their homes. This part of the city is heavily monitored by Queen Fayura's court, because Fayura is no fool. She knows well that if tensions grow too high, the landens will pour into River East and murder the Blood who live there. They will tear up the gardens and libraries and altars—and that will kill the heart of the Blood.

In general, shopping here is cheaper than it is in Old Town. That's not to say the quality of the goods suffer. In many industries, the River North provides superior goods. It is home to the best textile shopping—whether for clothes or for fabric—in all of Draega. It is also one of two places where you can buy products made by the Guilds. Guild services can only be purchased from the Guilds itself, but here can be found the Muters, the Seekers, the Far-talkers.

SIX: THE SLUMS
Poverty is everywhere in Terreille, and in spite of Queen Fayura's best efforts to make sure everyone who comes to her city is cared for, the slums persist. A hodgepodge of hovels and mud, of Blood and landen, the slums are the worst place for anyone to live in the city. Both entrances are guarded by members of Fayura's court. Whenever someone new comes to the city, they inevitably end up in the slums unless they have a fair amount of money or previously established connections.

The Council and the Guilds recruit from the slums with equal fervor. Here they can find the people who are the angriest, the ones who want to see the other side fail and hurt.

SEVEN: RIVER EAST
Here live the Blood, steeped in power. River East is an uncomfortable area of town for the landens because of how thickly the Blood's power carpets the buildings and ground here. The homes are larger than they are in the Old Town Bazaar and in the landen district, making them expensive to heat or cool both in terms of e-line technology and power. As far as the landens are concerned, River East is the most dangerous place to live. Reaching this part of Draega from other neighborhoods is time-consuming, and the city's second entrance is located here. In an emergency, residents will be on their own. The Blood, of course, are not bothered by this.

River East is home to the city's library and most of its parks. At the southern most point in the neighborhood stands the one altar in all of Draega. It is a large building though unassuming from the outside.

EIGHT: THE DOCKS
Draega is a walled city, and Queen Fayura's court patrol its walls to keep it safe. The easiest way to access the city is via the Heartsblood River to the south east. The docks are a bustling place that smell of refuse and fish but is full of color and trinkets from the war-roughened lands beyond. Here, the people of Draega can hear the most rumors. Sailors from other Territories come and go, mingling with the local population of natives, refugees, and Strangers. Of all places in the city, the docks are the best guarded by all factions in Draega. The Guilds, the Ebon Council, and Queen Fayura's court are all very careful about who gets into their city.

And who gets out.



NAVIGATION

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THE CATACLYSM
Some five thousand years ago, a dark power swept across Terreille. Where it passed over the land, the Blood died by the thousands. The survivors among the Blood were few but the landen population remained largely untouched. A handful of scholars postulated that the Cataclysm was the price demanded by the Darkness for the Blood's corruption at the time, but scholars just like to hear themselves talk and no one had much time to consider the whys of a thing when survival became even more fierce a competition than before.

With the death of so many came a crumbling of government and social structure. The Blood, who never had a law against murder, let go their admittedly rather limited sense of self-control. Old feuds resulted in wars with massive casualties. Wielding their impressive powers, they butchered each other, their livestock, and the land itself. And the landens, who had always been more numerous but possessed of none of the Craft practiced by the Blood, took advantage of the in-fighting. They rose up with the rage of those desperate and hungry for more.

The Great War followed, a war in which the landens and the Blood fought for control of Terreille. The slaughter was incredible, drenching the land in rivers of blood. While the War has ended on paper, the Blood and landens still struggle for power.

THE REALMS OF THE BLOOD
According to myth, the Blood once spread across two Realms to live their lives, and when they died, they traveled to a third Realm called Hell. This is, of course, nonsense. There is only one Realm: Terreille, sometimes called the Realm of Light. It is here that the last vestiges of humanity struggles to survive, and few believe there is any solace to be had in an afterlife.

Some hold out hope that Kaeleer, the Shadow Realm, isn't a myth at all. There are those who believe it is a land rich in power and ancient tradition, but they are fools who cling to ephemeral dreams. Others believe Hell is real. They claim they've seen the demon-dead wandering the midnight walks of the Dark Realm and heard the hell hounds' baying cries.

But the wise man knows this is folly. There is only Terreille and the slow decay of a world that has not yet realized it is dead.

TERRITORIES
Once, myriad Territories existed in Terreille. Barely any remain. We are concerned only with Hayll and perhaps Askavi, for Hayll is the source of the Realm's poisons and Askavi is the seat of all her imagined salvations.

HAYLL
For as long as it has existed, Hayll has been the center of culture in Terreille. Of course, that was before the Cataclysm. Now, Hayll is still the center of culture but less so in the sense that culture comes from Hayll and more in the sense that there is no culture outside of it.

Once the great capital city, Draega is now the failing heart of a dying world. Many of its buildings lie ruined and abandoned. Its people starve. They steal from each other in the night and murder each other during the day.

And yet the zeitgeist of the city is largely one of innovation. Residents in Draega move away from the traditional, classical nature of the Blood and into something frenetic and manic. This furious cultural energy is offset by the utter despair all around Terreille. Some say it's as if the vestiges of human life are giving their one last hurrah—and that in one hundred years, everything will have turned to ash (if you're landen) or returned to the Darkness (if you're Blood). While the landen Guilds and the Ebon Council claim to be doing everything they can to forestall the end, their only real interest is preserving their own lives at the expense of everyone else's.

Hayll is the historical home of the long-lived Hayllian race, marked by their brown skin, golden eyes, and black hair.

ASKAVI
The center of the Realm, Askavi is the original home of the Blood. At the center of the Territory of Askavi stands the Black Mountain, Ebon Askavi, where the once-proud Eyrien race lived. Though long-lived as the Hayllians and sharing their coloration, the winged Lords and Ladies of the Black Mountain are now mostly extinct.

It is said that Askavi is not just the center of the Realm of Terreille, but the center of all things. The Blood view both Territory and mountain with something as close to reverence as they get. Even now, if anyone travels to the Black Mountain, they may receive sanctuary from its seneschal if they ask for it or permission to study in its massive libraries from its ancient historian/librarian.

Those who live in the shadow of Ebon Askavi believe the mountain is haunted. From time to time, Queen Fayura travels to the mountain. She calls it her home, something many of the Blood find deeply unnerving.



NAVIGATION

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influence

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SOCIAL POWER
You've just implied Queen Fayura's dress makes her look fat in front of her Consort. You had a stressful day and snapped, telling Councilwoman Rheea that she's a bitch. You're exhausted and you've just told a landen Guildmember very proud of their new idea that, no, perpetual motion machines aren't possible and they should just give up on their dreams.

In short: you're dead, and you know it.

Good thing you have some influence to spend and your reputation with NPCs to lean on.

By helping the people of Draega, you gain influence with the different factions trying to control the city and reputation with those who lead it. This social power can only be gained, never lost, so when you put yourself in a bad position you can always leverage that one time you did that thing for the person you've just insulted. You can remind the Consort of that time Fayura liked you so much she invited you to take tea with her. Don't let Councilwoman Rheea forget how you protected the Ebon Council from a landen attack a week ago! And, really just because a perpetual motion machine hasn't been invented yet doesn't mean that this Guildmember won't be the one to figure it out. With influence, you can gain access to the NPCs who call Draega home more easily, and you can ask them for favors they'll be more willing to fill.

While reputation is purely personal, influence doubles as a measure of a faction's support. The more influence the Strangers wield on behalf of the Ebon Council, the more power the Ebon Council has within the city.

INFLUENCE
Influence is the measure of political power a Stranger has with a given faction. The higher your influence is with a faction, the more likely you are to have an impact on them. For example, the Guilds wouldn't pay any attention to a character's opinion if she has only 1 influence with them, but they will put more weight on the opinion of someone with 8 influence.

Every month, the mods assess cumulative influence from the current and prior months. We use this to determine which faction has the most support in the city overall based on what your characters have been doing, the jobs they've taken, and who they have helped.

REPUTATION
Reputation indicates how much an NPC likes your character. It's similar to influence but rather than working on an entire organization or faction only works on a single person. You could have only 1 influence with Fayura's Court but have 5 Reputation with her because you've taken actions within the city that she approves of. In a conflict of opinion, if Fayura likes you, she may side with you over the opinions of her court if your reputation with her is high enough.

Reputation doesn't impact a faction's overall influence within the city. It is most often gained through interactions with the NPCs in logs or on the network. The NPCs all value and are motivated by different things. You receive reputation by acting in way the NPC approves of.


INFLUENCE AMONG THE FACTIONS





THE EBON COUNCIL
4%

FAYURA'S COURT
10%

THE GUILDS
12%


GAINING INFLUENCE AND REPUTATION
Word travels fast in Draega, be it by mouth, Far-caster, or psychic threads. Be a good neighbor and help the people of the city to gain influence with different factions. Sometimes, a clever solution to a complex problem will yield unexpected gains.

LEVELS OF INFLUENCE

Indifferent | 1–5
At this level, a faction doesn't know who you are or if they can trust you. They don't hate you, but they don't like you either. There are no perks at this level.
Friendly | 6–17
Characters who are Friendly with a faction have formed a basic relationship with the faction. The faction views you as a potential ally. At this level, you can:
Come and go inside faction-owned buildings without suspicion
Assume a passing relationship with any minor NPCs within the faction
Expect better treatment from any NPC aligned with the faction

Respected | 18–32
Achieving Respected status with a faction means you have done them either many little services or a few larger ones. At this level, you can:
Offer advice to the major NPCs and except to be heard
Gain additional influence for every completed job
Use some faction resources to accomplish your goals
Expect to be recognized on the street by the cityfolk and receive discounts at businesses run by those involved with the faction
Hold sway over groups of minor NPCs—meaning that if something goes down in the streets of Draega and you call for assistance, you will be answered

Favored | 33–40
When you're Favored by your faction, you have been welcomed into the top echelon. For all intents and purposes, you're treated like a Master by the Guilds, a Councilmember by the Ebon Council, and as First Circle by the Queen's Court. At this level, you receive all the perks of previous levels as well as:
Nearly unfettered access to faction resources
The ability to countermand Guild Masters, Councilmembers, and the First Circle*; in any kind of showdown your word will be obeyed
All your purchases will be against the faction's accounts
Access to faction secrets
The ability to determine the faction's direction, meaning that if your character is aligned with the Guilds and wants to build a gundam, you'll be able to do that
Burning the faction at this point will result in a loss of all influence with that faction, so double-cross wisely
*The First Circle is the list of minor NPCs within Fayura's Court. Your rank won't supersede that of the Master of the Guard, the Steward, or in the Consort.

Renowned | 41+
You might as well be in charge. You're seen as the faction leader's second-in-command by the rest of the city and are treated with great respect. Nothing you do is seen as an action taken against the faction. You receive all perks from previous levels as well as:
Complete access to faction resources
Unquestioned loyalty from all minor NPCs and staunch support from major NPCs
Burning the faction at this point will result in a loss of all influence with that faction, so double-cross wisely

LEVELS OF REPUTATION

Stranger | 1–5
The NPC knows you exist and has seen your face but has no other opinion about you.

Colleague | 6–10
You’ve made a bit of an impression on the NPC. As a Colleague, they treat you well and like someone with whom they work. They’ll listen to your opinions but probably won’t act on them.

Ally | 11–15
The NPC trusts you in social and political situations. You don’t know all their secrets, but they know they can rely on you to support them—and you can rely on them to support you. You don’t need to make appointments to see the NPC anymore and can expect they’ll set aside all but the most pressing matters to talk to you. They’ll still tell you mostly what they think you want to hear, but you’ll start to learn some of their more closely held beliefs.

Friend | 15–20
You’re friends. You have almost unlimited access to the NPC, and they are deeply invested in your well-being. They will strongly consider your opinion when making decisions and will share intimate details of their lives with you. While they may hold some things back, you can generally rely on what they’re saying as the truth.

Confidant | 21+
The NPC will lay down their life for you. Not only that, but they treat you like a member of their extended family. When you ask them questions, they will give you the entire story instead of only part of it, and they will not lie to you or mislead you. Except in crisis situations, the NPC will make time for you. In a crisis, the NPC will rely on you to help them out.


INFLUENCE JOBS
Follow the example comment structure below for how to submit your threads for influence. Jobs from previous months can be found in this Google doc.


PALATE CLEANSER
Since the Black Widow attack, the people of Draega have grown more afraid. Lady Abigail and Queen Fayura have asked you to weave cleansing web to absorb negative feelings and hang them around the city. The two witches have also asked you to weave trap webs as well, and have provided you with detailed instructions.
WRITE 5+ comments
GAIN 1 influence. You may gain this reward up to three times. +1 reputation with Fayura OR +1 reputation with Grejor. You may gain this reward once.


TRADE WARS
Mercenaries are harsh trade partners and the mercenary groups coming into the city to trade do not get along with each other. Keep the peace on the docks by diffusing (or finishing) fights and preventing sabotage between the gangs on different ships.
WRITE 5+ comments
GAIN 1 influence. You may gain this reward up to three times. +1 reputation with Allairavar if you are not a guard. +2 reputation with Allairavar if you are a guard. You may gain this reward once.


STREET RATS
You’ve learned from Esso how truly rough things are in the slums. While food is scarce everywhere in Draega, it’s scarcest in the slums. People are starving. Bring food to the slums, help repair homes, exterminate the plague-ridden verim crawling out of the sewers.
WRITE 5+ comments
GAIN 1 influence. You may gain this reward up to three times. +1 reputation with Verim. When you complete this mission, a slums resident will tell you a rumor. You may gain this reward once.


RUMOR HAS IT
With the warmer weather, ships make their way into Draegaís ports. Sailors bring warnings of the mercenary bands roaming the wilds: hunger makes them fearless and far more willing to attack. Help the sailors unload the supplies, and theyíll bring you yet more rumors over a drink.
WRITE 5+ comments
GAIN When you submit this thread, you may elect to ask any three questions about the city and receive responses as though the sailors are telling you rumors OR you may simply receive 2-3 random rumors.


BUILD YOUR OWN
If you've written a thread or have an idea for one you think deserves influence, either post the thread or the idea for mod review. For a thread already written, we'll let you know how much influence you'll receive. For an idea, we'll give you a minimum comment requirement and a reward.
WRITE Variable
GAIN Variable



NAVIGATION

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the offering

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For one of the Blood, making the Offering to the Darkness and attaining their adult strength is a seminal moment in their lives. It is an intensely private communion between the one making the Offering and the Darkness itself.

—Loren Sorey



THE OFFERING FOR STRANGERS
As with the Blood, the Strangers can make their Offering whenever they choose to. Characters under the age of 20 will receive caution from Draega's Blood residents against making their Offering too soon, but the Strangers are otherwise free to go to the altar in River East at the time of their choosing.

From a canonical perspective, little is known about the Offering except that it begins at sundown and lasts until dawn. The individual walks out of the altar with the Jewel that represents their adult strength, whatever it may be, and there is no second chance. If someone makes the Offering while stressed, injured, or otherwise compromised, they may not walk away with a Jewel that represents their true strength and they won't get a do-over.

Choose your moment wisely and remember: there is Darkness in all of us.

THE MECHANICS
In game, player characters can make their Offering only after they have learned something about themselves, overcome a flaw, or otherwise changed in a fundamental way over a period of time. The more work you put into this change as a player, the more likely the character is to receive the darkest possible Jewel after making their Offering.

As a general rule of thumb, a conflict that can be solved in one thread will not be enough for an Offering. If your character is hot-headed and learns to control their temper or chooses not to snap in one thread, that is a small victory, but not indicative of a long-term change in behavior or personality.

Here's an example of what the mod team would like to see for someone to descend three ranks using Bruce Banner:

FLAW Bruce wears the Green (haha, this is not funny), and he is worried what the Hulk can do with that much power at his disposal. He is paralyzed by self-doubt.

LINK TO NETWORK THREAD Bruce asks other Strangers how they're adjusting to their Jewels and if they've discovered ways to control their power. He talks to CharA, CharB, and the Steward about managing Jeweled power.
LINK TO LOG In an open thread, Bruce practices drawing on the Green just outside of the city. This goes horribly wrong. CharA and CharB witness this loss of control. CharC is gravely wounded.
LINK TO NETWORK THREAD Bruce admits to CharA and several canonmates that he is terrified of his Jewel after injuring CharC.
LINK TO EVENT THREAD During an event, a landen attacks Bruce. He changes into the Hulk, and the Hulk uses the Green to brutally murder the landen. Bruce is even more horrified of his ability to harm people.
LINK TO LOG Bruce talks to other characters about how they're adapting to their power, and how they've kept control. He reached out to the mods for a complex interaction with a darker Jeweled member of Fayura's court, and ends up having a conversation with Fayura herself about how the Blood view his attack on the landen.
LINK TO LOG Bruce asks CharA, CharC, and a few canonmates to spar with him and the Hulk while they use their Green strength. He asks for a simple interaction where Prince Allairavar is on standby to break up the fights if anything goes terribly wrong.
LINK TO EVENT THREAD Hulk and Bruce use their Jeweled strength to protect landens and Blood during an event, and Bruce comes to understand that the strength he and Hulk wield isn't something to fear.

RESOLUTION Bruce begins to reconcile this new power with who he is and who the Hulk is—and that, among the Blood, his strength is considered an asset, not something to fear.

PREFERRED JEWEL OF RANK Gray


While reviewing all these links, the mod team notes that Bruce consistently exceeds AC and contributes to other characters' threads as well as his own. They see from his threads that his player has built a small character arc for him with a conflict and a resolution. They agree that that he should descend three ranks and receive the Gray as a Jewel of rank.

To be considered for an Offering, please use the form below. Add as many links as you believe are necessary to show the initial conflict or character flaw and how the character arrives at a resolution.



THE OFFERING FOR BIRTHRIGHT SAPPHIRE AND RED
For Strangers whose RNG rolls give them Birthright Sapphire or Red, they won't be able to descend beyond Gray as a Jewel of rank. As compensation, they will instead receive a large amount of influence with the faction of their choice.


NAVIGATION

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calendar

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APRIL

OOC Dates

01–07 March activity check ends

04 Test drive meme, live at 8PM eastern

08 April AC post, live at 8PM eastern

11–17 Application review

16 IC event (locked) and OOC event plotting post, live at 8PM eastern

18 IC event post unlocked at 8PM eastern

25 Influence jobs and faction standings updated at 8PM eastern

IC Dates

WEEK ONE  ☀

WEEK TWO  ☀

WEEK THREE  ☀  |  Amphitheater renovation begins

WEEK FOUR  ☀☀

❄❄❄❄❄ « ❄❄❄❄ « ❄❄❄ « ❄❄ «« 50° » » ☀☀ » ☀☀☀ » ☀☀☀☀ » ☀☀☀☀☀



NAVIGATION

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hiatus, swaps, & drops

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HIATUS
Real life can be a hassle. If you need to take a break from A Gentle Night, you are welcome to take a maximum of a hiatus 1 out of every 3 months. A hiatus is not a get out of jail free card for AC: you must have posted your hiatus prior to AC beginning. AC always occurs from the 1st through the 7th of every month.

If an emergency occurs and you can't make AC or need a hiatus longer than a month, please reach out to the mods as soon as you can, or have a friend do so in your stead.

HIATUS FORM



SWAP
Not every character fits a game. Because A Gentle Night has a rolling app system, we are offering our players a one-time option to swap a current character with a new character. Each player can only use this swap option once, even if they leave the game and come back at a later date. You must comment to this post using the form below to utilize swap.

SWAP FORM



DROP
Sometimes, things just don't work out and you need to leave a game. We understand, and we hope to play with you again soon.

DROP FORM



NAVIGATION

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application

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A Gentle Night uses rolling apps. You may post your app at any time as a comment, using Character Name | Canon as the comment's subject line. Paste your full application into the comment. Do not link to your app. Be sure to make your application friendly to those who may be canonblind by explaining canon specific terms.

Apps will be reviewed beginning on the third Thursday of each month, usually over the weekends.

Our Jewel RNG is permanently open, and you may request a Jewel via RNG at any time. If you don't want to try your luck, you are welcome to choose your own Jewel as long as it is no darker than Opal. Any app requesting RNG (the mods will not provide Jewel options at the time of application) OR any app submitted with a Green, Sapphire, or Red Jewel that did not receive that Jewel through RNG will be automatically rejected. All applications will be screened. Please make sure your Jewel roll was made in the app round you're apping in. If you rolled in February, for example, your roll is no longer valid and will need to be re-rolled.

Want to see what we're looking for? Check out these applications for:


applications are Closed
Applications will open 5/9/2019 at 8PM EST. Applications will close 5/15/2019 at noon.

characters 19/60

MAY APPLICATION QUEUE




CHARACTER
Name Your character's full name.
Canon Your character's canon.
Age Your character's age. Remember: your character must be at least 16 years old or have the mental capacity of a 16 year old.
Birthright Jewel Your character's Brithright Jewel, determined either by you on your own or RNG when you placed your hold.
Dreams made flesh What boon does your character ask for from the Queen of Hayll? Remember, she is not a god and cannot alter reality.
Canon point Describe the point in canon from which your character was pulled. You may lead with an episode name/number or something like "the end of book 2," but please also provide context.
Canon Powers Use this section to talk about your character's superhuman powers. Any mundane skill that can be learned (like being especially sneaky) doesn't need to go here. This means that a character like James Bond or Batman wouldn't need to put anything here, because their abilities (while top-tier) aren't superhuman. Consider how your character's Jewel may impact powers, either by increasing the potency of an ability or weakening it. Remember that Opal is the equivalent to canonical powers, and the Jewel essentially acts as a battery and power source for all powers or magical weirdness. Please do not link to wikis in this section, as the mod team would largely like to see powers divorced from in-universe jargon and such things as game mechanics (for video games and TTRPGs) as those do not exist in Draega.

Personality Describe your character's personality, considering what strengths made the Queen of Hayll select them as a hero and how their weaknesses can be utilized as a character arc for obtaining their Jewel of rank. You need not be explicit about either of those things, but this section of the app should be written with those concepts in mind.

History A link will do just fine. If informational material is scarce or is written laden with canon-specific jargon, please provide a short summary as needed.

SAMPLES
Network Sample Provide a sample of a first-person network-style post. This can be one part of a conversation over psychic threads, or a text or video message via Far-caster. It should be at least 100 words and strongly showcase your character's voice. Test-drive threads used for this sample do not require a single post of 100 words, but should be a minimum of 5 comments from your character and strongly showcase your character's voice.

Log Sample
Provide a sample of a third-person post, either in long form prose or action spam. It should be at least 200 words and strongly showcase your character's voice, personality, and mannerisms. Test-drive threads used for this sample do not require a single post of 200 words, but should be a minimum of 5 comments from your character and strongly showcase your character's voice.

PLAYER
Name Your handle.
Are you 18 or older? Yes/No
Contact How you prefer to be contacted, whether by email, plurk, pm, or other.
Current character Any characters currently in-game.


APPLICATION CODE



NAVIGATION

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jewel rng

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When considering your Jewel, you may:

Choose any Jewel as your character's Birthright from White to Opal OR
Request an RNGed Jewel under the RNG Requests top-level. The mods will roll 3 random numbers from 1-10, representing the Jewels from White to Red. You may ask the mods to reroll any one of these if you are unsatisfied with your options, but once you've rerolled you must select from the three options provided. This will become your character's Birthright Jewel.


Any app submitted with a Green, Sapphire, or Red Jewel that did not receive that Jewel through an RNG request will be automatically rejected.

Post your RNG request with Character Name | Canon in the subject line as a top-level. The mods will respond.


A GENTLE NIGHT HAS CLOSED



NAVIGATION

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taken

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Top-level with your character's canon as the subject. Use the following form as the content for the comment:



BERSERK
Opal
Aran | [plurk.com profile] hematite


CRITICAL ROLE
Summer-sky
Ilana | [plurk.com profile] ltmutiny


DRAGON AGE

FATE/
Green
Steve | [plurk.com profile] opticblast


FINAL FANTASY XIV
Purple Dusk
Bon | [plurk.com profile] bonpuns


GAME OF THRONES
Green
Lance | PM / [plurk.com profile] howletts
Purple Dusk
Cerie | PM | sheikah#5408


HUNGER GAMES, THE
Summer Sky
Cerie | PM | sheikah#5408


MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

ORIGINAL CHARACTERS


RIORDAN MYTHOS
Opal
Celen | [plurk.com profile] celen


Stand Still Stay Silent



NAVIGATION

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mod contact

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REACHING THE MODS
Feel free to reach out to the mods with any questions you have. The mod team lives and works in North America and is most active on weeknights. We will always do our best to respond to you within 48 hours of your question or comment, and if we suspect we will be delayed longer than that, we will do our best to keep you informed.

For general questions, leave a comment on this post or PM us. All comments on this post will be screened.

For questions about events, please comment on the OOC posts or the plurk event announcement.

You can find us on plurk at [plurk.com profile] agentlenight.

If you would like to run an event, please reply to this post with the following form:


Note: Only player plots with wide-reaching or world-altering consequences need this form. If you and your friends would like to open a bakery and have it get ransacked by one of the Guilds, you can run that on your own. If you want the bakery to be a front for money laundering for the Hunter Guild, that should run by the mods

THE MOD TEAM


THE MOD OF HEARTS
Your resident Sapphire Jeweled Healer. Here to answer plot questions, game concerns, or generalized feedback. Drives Fayura, Niall, and Grejor.


THE MOD OF SPADES
A Warlord Prince who wears Purple Dusk. Here when you have plot questions or game concerns, or need Verim or Allairavar.


THE MOD OF DIAMONDS
A Red Jeweled Black Widow. Manages the lists and the codes, and can help you with setting or NPC questions. Maintains Loren and Raya.



NAVIGATION

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story summary

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IN THE BEGINNING…
There was death. The Blood died first in the Cataclysm that swept across the land, and then in the Great War with the landens. The landens, too, died in devastating numbers. With no thought for the future, only the hunger for survival in the present, the two peoples warred with each other. Blood from the dead saturated the land, and where it fell, no crops grew.

For nearly 5000 years, the Realm of Terreille has struggled to inhale its next, wheezing breath. For 5000 years, it has been dying.

Now, in the city of Draega in the Territory called Hayll, Queen Fayura has sent out a desperate plea into the universe: help me save my land, my people, and I will embrace the Darkness inside of you and weave your dreams into flesh in return for your faithfulness. She draws heroes to her side in the hope they will stand with her. In the hope that they will support her and her cause.

These Strangers wake in her residence with the dark power of the Blood to aide them, but the decision is theirs. They may assist the strange, eccentric Queen who claims to want to revitalize the land, or they may choose to throw in their lot with the two factions who want to squeeze the last drops of power from the world for themselves.

Everything has a price, and there is Darkness in all of us.

FIRST MONTH
In first month, Queen Fayura summons a group of people called Strangers from myriad other worlds. Though she told only the twelve males of her First Circle the morning of the summoning, somehow the Hunter Guild heard of her intentions. They struck against the Queen's Residence in the middle of the summoning, presumably in an attempt to stop the Queen. They failed, and were met with angry (if somewhat disoriented) Strangers, who quickly repulsed their attacks.

While some of the Strangers remained at the residence to help tend the wounded, others went into the city with Prince Allairavar. To cover their escape, the Hunter Guild lit parts of the Old Town Bazaar on fire. Strangers helped save the trapped and injured, and they assisted in putting out the fires.

In the aftermath, Grand Master Niall condemned Queen Fayura, who had vanished, for acting on her own without consulting the Guilds or the Ebon Council. First Chair Councilman Grejor Shamael paid lipservice to the Strangers by claiming them as brothers and sisters to the Blood of Draega.

Some of the Strangers later took an opportunity to speak with Queen Fayura. To some, she explained her world, and to others she explained her reasons for summoning the Strangers, but all of the Strangers who spoke with her were able to see how severe a cost she paid with her health to bring them to Draega.

For the remainder of the month, the Strangers agreed they should exchange information where they could and try to play all sides for the time-being. They helped rebuild and repair the damage of the fires, as well as accomplishing various tasks around the city to aide Draega's people.


SECOND MONTH
Another group of Strangers arrives at the Queen's Residence, which catches Queen Fayura by surprise. While she goes to investigate how this unexpected development occurred, the Strangers settle in and learn about their new (and hopefully for some) temporary home.

Throughout the month, the Blood and the landens tangle with each other. Tensions rise and ultimately the Blood strike out against the landens by sabotaging the power plant just outside the city. While the power plant burns, a young landen man approaches The Last Meal with a group of friends and confronts Councilwoman Vera while she goes to dinner with her family. The young man shoots Vera before fleeing the scene.

Strangers rally together. A few help talk down tensions between the Blood and the landens in the Old Town Bazaar, but many more rescue landen workers from the power plant. This gives the Guilds a not inconsiderable amount of power throughout the city, especially with the Stragners' apparent support.

In the aftermath of the killing, Queen Fayura reaches out to the Strangers. She explains her difficult decision: turn the young man over to the Blood for justice, and the Guilds will riot (particularly dangerous with their new sway in the city); turn the man over to the Guilds and deny the Blood justice for the murder he committed. The Strangers offer her many unique suggestions for how to deal with the young man, from conveniently forgetting about him to arranging an accident to forming a tribunal. This last intrigues the Queen, and she decides to form a tribunal of three Blood and three landens. They will listen to arguments from both the Blood and the landens about what happened and attempt to piece together the truth.



NAVIGATION

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faq

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ON THE GAME

What genre of game is A Gentle Night?

The Black Jewels books are from the school of super edgy, over-the-top type of late 90s/early 2000s dark fantasies. The books feature such triggering content as rape, abuse, sexual content, slavery, and more. While A Gentle Night will not be going out of its way to highlight those triggering topics, they exist in the background of this world and are to some degree unavoidable.

A Gentle Night takes its cues from dark fantasy, but is largely soft apocalyptic in setting. The world is dying. People cling to the skeletons of a once-great civilization. The tone the game takes, whether hopeful or melancholic, whether optimistic or depressing, will be determined largely by the player base. As characters interact with the world, they can build it up—or tear it down.

Is adult content allowed in this game?

Yes. A Gentle Night is not a sex game. It is not trying to be a trauma conga line of horror, either. But as mentioned above, the source material is, at times, exceptionally dark and triggering. Players are invited to write whatever content they desire, but it must be locked if it merits an R-rating, properly tagged, and warned for. If you are uncomfortable with or triggered by rape, abuse, sexual content, and/or slavery, then A Gentle Night may not be the game for you. Due to the types of content mentioned, we require that all players be at least 18 years old.

Do I need to be familiar with the Black Jewels canon to play here?

No, not at all. As this game is set in the far future of the world, as Terreille is cut off from the other Realms, and as much is regarded as myth in the game world, all the lore you need to know is on the info pages. We've included all basic information in the FAQ and greater detail in supplemental pages. However, please do not feel that you need to know all of the supplemental information to app. Neither PCs nor players will be expected to know everything out of the gate!

Can I talk about this element of canon that isn't in the info pages?

We ask that you don't. Some canon elements have been removed so that they might be introduced later. Other elements may not ever appear in game.

Will there be large-scale events? When will they run?

There will be group events, and those logs will be posted the third Thursday of every month.


ON THE WORLD

WHAT IS THE GIST OF THE BLACK JEWELS WORLD?

The setting of the Black Jewels is a world that is divided into 3 separate but somehow connected Realms—Terreille, Kaeleer, and Hell. The living (and sometimes the dead) are in Terreille and Kaeleer while the dead occupy Hell. Though there are multiple races in the Black Jewels canon, they are divided into two main categories: the short-lived races (who have roughly the same life span as a normal human), and the long-lived races (who can live for thousands of years). A Gentle Night will not dive too hard into the various races.

While the distinction between the long-lived and short-lived races can be important, most of the human denizens concern themselves with who is Blood and who is landen. The Blood are those who can access magic, referred to in this world as Craft. Landens are those who do not have Craft and can never learn it. Originally, all humans in the Black Jewels world were landens. A very small percentage gained magic many, many thousands of years ago, and those people became the Blood. In game, only a handful of native characters are aware of this origin.

WHAT EXACTLY ARE THE REALMS?

More or less three worlds that mirror each other, layered one over the other, with a few similar landmarks between them. As we will only be dealing with the Realm of Terreille, you needn't worry about how the Realms function. Both Kaeleer and Hell are regarded by the locals as legends.

HOW SHOULD I UNDERSTAND TERRITORIES?

Think of Territories as countries. Within each Territory are Provinces (like the French provinces or American states) and within Provinces are Districts (often a single large city or a grouping of villages). Because of how few people live in Terreille now, Provinces and Districts are of little importance. The main action of the game will focus on the Territory of Hayll in Terreille, specifically the capital city of Draega.

CAN MY CHARACTER LEAVE THE CITY?

Yes. No one is trapped within Draega. However, Hayll is a dangerous place. Mercenary groups, wild men, and wicked covens desperate to survive make their homes beyond the walls, and they won’t hesitate to attack someone who might make a tasty meal or provide them with money.

Just outside the city walls are farms maintained by both Blood and landen. These are vigorously protected by everyone, as without them the city will starve. Beyond the farms are forests, and beyond the forests… Miles and miles of cracked and blasted land stretches in every direction. Here, the world is mean and cruel, and the survivors outside of Draega struggle to continue. Skeletons of old houses rot in the sun, and few animals larger than a mouse scurry across the dry ground. Birds fly overhead, but none of them land. PCs traveling over this land will get a sense of wrongness and discomfort, a hollow feeling in their hearts as if something important has been ripped from them but they cannot remember what it is.

Some influence jobs will send PCs out of the city, but if your character would like to pursue something specific, please reach out to us!

WHAT LANGUAGE DOES EVERYONE SPEAK?

Along with a basic understanding of Craft and Jewels, Fayura gave each Stranger knowledge of the common language (both written and spoken) shared by the people in Hayll. That's the language PCs will need to use to communicate to each other, and it is effectively a second (or third, or fourth) language. Characters retain knowledge of any language(s) they already knew and may also use those to communicate.


ON THE PEOPLE

WHAT, EXACTLY, ARE THE BLOOD?

Lore holds that the Blood are the caretakers of the Realms who, through some mysterious means, gained the ability to wear the Jewels and use Craft. No one in Terreille knows when or how the Blood separated from the landen people, and the landens in Terreille generally regard the idea that the Blood have some special significance as malarky. It's fair to say that some of the Blood see themselves as caretakers only in the sense that “caring” for the land expands their own power and importance by allowing them to own the land.

The Blood can come from any race, and their power is inherited. Landens and the Blood can have children together, but the child of that union is always half-Blood, never capable of wearing a Jewel and always an outsider among both Blood and landen societies. Two landen parents will never produce children who are Blood.

Every member of the Blood is born into a caste, something that is genetically determined and does not change after they’re born. This caste is indicative of specific abilities among females and a territorial temper among males. Because of their ability to wear the Jewels, the Blood have typically ruled in the Realms. For better or worse.

SO, WHAT ARE THESE JEWELS?

Anyone who is full Blood (that is, anyone who was not born from a landen and full Blood parent) can wear the Jewels. There are 13 different colors of Jewels, and each Jewel looks similar to a precious stone. A Green Jewel, for example, looks an awful lot like an emerald, and the Red looks like a ruby, but the two are impossible to confuse even for landens. Canon has its Special Exceptions, but for A Gentle Night, we’re sticking with the base 13. The Blood page has more on the Jewels and Jewel colors, but for now, remember that Jewel strength runs White as the weakest and Black as the strongest and represents how much power a particular Blood has at their disposal.

If Craft is magic, you can think of the Jewels as a Harry Potter-style wand with an attached battery pack. A Jewel stores power for the one who wears it and allows the wearer to cast complex spells. The color of a Jewel indicates how strong that Jewel is. The lighter in color a Jewel is, the less powerful it is. In terms of Harry Potter-style wands, this means a light Jewel such as the White might only be able to cast expelliarmus twice a day and will never disarm someone who wears a darker Jewel. Someone who wears a Red Jewel, however, could cast expelliarmus say 100 times per day, and can disarm anyone of their rank or lighter. This isn’t a perfect analogy as canon gives us no hard and fast rules about Jewel strength or what can be done with them.

To understand Jewel rank, think of power in the Black Jewels world as an uncovered well in the middle of a desert. The top level of this well is the White, and the water is warm, sandy, and not very thirst quenching. Just beneath that “layer” of dirty water is a layer that represents the Yellow. The water here is somewhat cleaner and a little cooler. This continues until you reach the level of the Black Jewel, the most powerful of the Jewels, where the water is pure, icy cold, and savagely refreshing.

WHY IS OPAL SO SPECIAL?

For two reasons. Canonically, the Opal Jewel can be considered both light or dark depending on who wears it. Sometimes, a person wears the Opal and it feels lighter to everyone around them. Sometimes, another person wears the Opal and it feels darker to everyone around them. Same Jewel, different depth of power depending on the person.

For our purposes in-game, the Opal is equivalent to canon powers. If your character wears the Opal, they will be able to use their powers to their full extent as they would in their canons. If the character wears a Jewel lighter than Opal, that capacity diminishes. Using their powers and abilities requires more effort to do less. If the character wears a Jewel darker than Opal, they’ll find they can do more, they tire less quickly, and their abilities are more powerful. They’ll also find they’re hungry constantly and will eat considerably more.

Keep in mind the hierarchy of Jeweled power. Your character's ability might have the strength, duration, and potency of a canon skill with the Opal, but someone who wears the Green is still more powerful. If your character can cause someone to see visions and wears Opal, someone who wears the Green will find it easier to shrug off or see through those visions.

HOW WILL WEARING A JEWEL IMPACT CHARACTER ABILITIES?

The Jewels that player characters receive act as a reservoir of power for both canon abilities and Craft. This means that when a character uses their powers, they're drawing on the strength in their Jewel, not whatever might canonically feed their abilities. If they wear a Jewel lighter than Opal (Purple Dusk and up), then they have less of a reservoir to draw on. If they were darker than Opal (Green and down), they have more of a reservoir. If they wear Opal, nothing changes.

Precisely how characters are impacted by these limits or boosts is up to you as a player. The mods may make suggestions or adjustments as needed to ensure the setting doesn't break.

THE BLOOD GET TWO JEWELS?

Indeed they do. The Blood receive their Birthright Jewel when they are children during the Birthright Ceremony. The second Jewel is their Jewel of rank and, as the Blood say, represents their adult strength. The thought here is that as you grow older, you grow stronger, so you get a second Jewel to contain all that additional power.

The Jewel of rank is obtained through the Offering to the Darkness and is usually (but not always) darker than a Birthright Jewel. Someone can walk out of their Offering with another Jewel that is exactly the same color as their Birthright or one up to three levels darker. We're never given exact details on what happens during the Birthright and Offering—only that they typically happen at altars (sort of a church), that the Jewels simply appear before the person trying to obtain them, and that the Offering specifically takes from sundown to sunup.

No one knows where the Jewels come from.

ARE THE JEWELS MEANT TO BE WORN?

Yes, they are. Jewels can be cut and polished by a jeweler into wearable jewelry. Each Jewel is large enough to be cut into a necklace and a ring (traditionally worn on the right hand). Some will opt to have their Jewels set in different ways, such as into cuff links or earrings.

DO THE BLOOD KEEP THEIR BIRTHRIGHT JEWEL OR IS IT TRADED IN AT THEIR OFFERING?

They keep it. The Blood can use both their Birthright and their Jewel of rank until they die or are, for whatever reason, broken.

AND MY CHARACTER CAN GET THESE JEWELS?

Short answer: yes.

Longer answer: Upon answering the Queen's summons, characters will gain the equivalent of a Birthright Jewel (more on how a Birthright is decided can be found in the On Applying section of the FAQ and the App page). Just like it does for the Blood, this Jewel will act as a reservoir of power for the character's canon abilities and will enable any character to learn Craft (the Blood’s version of magic, though calling it magic to anyone native to the world will get you a funny look). Through the course of the game, characters may, just like the Blood, make an Offering to the Darkness to try and obtain a Jewel of rank. The Offering page has more detail on that process.

COOL! BLACK JEWEL, HERE I COME.

Well… no. Due to the insane power of the Black and the Ebon-gray, those two Jewels will not be in A Gentle Night. In canon, one wielder of the Black Jewel literally erases an entire nation—all the people, signs of their civilization including art and discoveries, and even the land itself from all three Realms. Overnight. For IC game purposes, no one in Terreille has worn the Black or Ebon-gray for at least 5,000 years, and most everyone thinks those two Jewels are a myth.

CAN I STEAL SOMEONE ELSE'S JEWEL?

In theory, yes, you can physically take someone’s Jewel and walk away with it. But Jewels are a fundamental aspect of the person who wears them. The original owner can use Craft to summon that Jewel right back. Taking someone’s Jewel would be a massive betrayal of trust, require incredible effort to even attempt, probably wouldn’t work out, and would be massively dangerous to the thief. Trying to steal Prince Verim’s Jewel, for example, would likely end with him turning the perpetrator into an impressive red smear over all available surfaces.

Moreover, you can’t tap into the power of a Jewel that isn’t yours, anyway. And even if you could, stealing a Jewel darker than your own and attempting to use its power would certainly kill you.

I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE CASTES

We're glad you do! The Blood page goes into the castes in greater detail but for now a simple introduction: caste determines special skill (for females) and is an indication of temper and need to serve (for males).

The Blood are born into their castes, and signs of that caste are detectable through a Blood child's psychic scent (think mental fingerprint) as early as the toddler years. Caste cannot be changed by anyone or anything. Though the skills of one caste can be learned by those of another, the person not born into the caste will never be as skilled as the one who was. A Warlord Prince is always a Warlord Prince no matter how much Healing Craft he learns, and his psychic scent will never carry overtones of a Healer.

For males, caste is relatively straight forward. There are three castes: Warlord, Prince, and Warlord Prince, and the main identifier is their level of natural aggression and intrinsic need to serve. Insulting a Warlord might get you a snarl whereas insulting a Warlord Prince might get you rushed to a Healer, assuming he left enough of you to put back together.

Females have more castes: witch, Healer, Priestess, Black Widow, and Queen. These castes determine a natural specialty in the kind of Craft one practices. Healers will always be better at healing Craft than Black Widows or landen Medicos, but no one can repair a damaged mind like a Black Widow. The only exception to this is the Queen’s caste. No one can learn how to be a Queen. Males and females can learn to rule, but an agile political mind does not make a witch a Queen.

It is possible for females to be born into multiple castes but it is exceedingly rare. It happens, but not often. As of the start of the game, Councilwoman Abigail is the only known dual-caste witch in Terreille.

PAUSE, PAUSE. WHY DO YOU KEEP SAYING MALE AND FEMALE?
It's a canon thing. Blood typically use "male" and "female" as opposed to "man" and "woman", though the same does not hold true for landens. They think calling women "females" is a little pretentious and kind of insulting.

SO HOW DOES SOCIAL STRUCTURE WORK WITH ALL THIS JEWEL AND CASTE STUFF?

Carefully. A rich, Purple Dusk Jeweled Warlord Prince (whew what a mouthful) outranks a poor, Green Jeweled witch in caste and social standing, but if he pisses her off, she can put his insides on his outsides and there isn’t anything he can do to stop her because of her Jewel’s strength relative to his. However, his social status as a rich man might make her reconsider murder since the consequences might be more than she wants to deal with.

A Green Jeweled Warlord Prince will defer to a Summer-sky Queen because of caste, and it is in her interest to know how to manage his temper because her Jewels won’t help her if he decides to use his Craft on someone.

The Blood’s social structure is an incredibly fluid and complex dance of dominance and submission. Knowing when to yield will save your life, and knowing when to stand your ground may save someone else’s.

Can Blood males or Blood women who aren't Queens even hold positions of power?

Absolutely. Ruling a Territory is only one kind of power. While a Queen may be a Territory's executive power, she needs people who will act on her behalf and see her laws upheld on a local level. The Ebon Council, for example, is profoundly powerful (and led by a man), and they constantly seek to subvert and undermine Fayura's authority.

If only women are Queens, can a Blood male rule?

Yes and no. In the past, Queens have given strong Warlord Princes purview over large swaths of land within their Territories, but no male and no other caste can take the place of a Queen within a Territory. The Blood will often gravitate to female power before male power anyway, making it harder for males to be seen as leaders.

WILL MY CHARACTERS BE GIVEN A CASTE ALONG WITH A JEWEL?

No. Characters that are not born to this world will not have a caste. We do not want players to feel limited by the rigid structure of the Blood. However, if this proves to be of significant interest, we'll consider it.

THERE'S AN ENTIRE PRIESTESS CASTE AND STUFF ABOUT ALTARS. ARE THE BLOOD RELIGIOUS?

Yes and no. There is no formalized religion among the Blood (or the landens). However, the Blood do have some consistent beliefs. All the Blood revere the Darkness to some degree, and while neither characters nor writer ever bother to define exactly what the Darkness is, the Blood believe they are born from the Darkness and return to it when they die. This belief does not extend to landens.

This belief appears in a handful of phrases the Blood regularly use: Mother Night, may the Darkness be merciful, and becoming a whisper in the Darkness (meaning someone has died).

There are also the legends of Witch: a female who isn’t just a witch, but Witch, who is crafted from the hopes and dreams of the Blood. How seriously anyone takes the myth depends on who you talk to.

All that said, altars, Sanctuaries, and Dark Altars are primarily places of peace and meditation for the Blood and are tended by Priestesses. You don't go to one to confess your sins or listen to sermons, but you may go to might seek spiritual guidance or a place for quiet contemplation. Altars are commonly the site for the Birthright and Offering Ceremonies.

ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE BLOOD?

Generally speaking, due to the castes, the nature of Warlord Princes, and varying Jewel strengths, the Blood have developed a complicated set of social rules that they have largely forgotten in Terreille.

Oh, and they have no law against murder.

HOW DO BLOOD AND LANDENS INTERACT?

In a word: poorly. The power wielded by the Blood carries a psychic weight the landens generally find oppressive. Historically, the Blood have held all the social and political power in the Territories such that it’s not only their Craft that the landens find oppressive.

A landen can fall back on the same social strictures that the Blood use to manage each other provided they know what those strictures are. Most don’t and so most die, and while the Blood might not have a law against murder, the landens certainly do.

Okay, back up a second. You mentioned dead people at one point, what's up with that?

Oh, yes, we did. Bear with us for now: we want to introduce that later in game.

WHAT ABOUT LANDENS?

Landens are the non-magical people of Terreille, and they vastly outnumber the Blood. They live, work, and behave much like modern humans, aside from the fact that they regularly brush up against the wildly temperamental Blood. Their society is not as volatile as that of the Blood, nor is it as dangerous, but it has become unstable from centuries of war.

In Draega, that seems to be changing in part because of the broken power structure of the Blood and because of the opportunities created by new technology.

Landens largely regard Blood society as strange and violent, and often think of them as particularly vicious, unwanted pests. While some are curious about Craft, they don't revere Queens the way the Blood do, and all of them (except the Hunters Guild) give Warlord Princes a wide berth.

Why are any of the intricacies about Blood society relevant to the PCs?

By wearing a Jewel, PCs have become a part of Blood society, even if the Blood find the PCs very, very strange and their lack of caste a little alarming. By no means will anyone (either in-world or OOCly) expect the PCs to seamlessly integrate into the world overnight, but the Blood will expect them to figure it out.

Dealing with the Blood, as many landens know, can be a difficult and dangerous endeavor. Knowing that male temper stems from a need to serve and protect means knowing how to redirect an angry Warlord Prince. Understanding that Blood females are always considered dominant in a social situation when all other things is equal means not insulting the wrong person.

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR FORCES IN DRAEGA?

The Guilds in A Gentle Night represent the landen interests and their desires to no longer be slave to the whims of the capricious Blood. The Ebon Council represents those of the Blood who believe that only a return to the old ways can save Terreille. Queen Fayura believes that saving Terreille can only happen if the Blood and landens work together.

Why should PCs care about these forces if they can go home?

There’s always the possibility that Fayura lied about being able to send the PCs home, or that she didn’t lie but overestimated her own abilities.

Soon enough, PCs will discover that her request isn’t cut and dry. They can’t save the world in a day and then return to the world they left. The land itself is dying, and whatever hope the people carry is wrapped in a grimly pragmatic view that even if they can’t stop the end of days, they can try to go out well. The Blood view landen optimism about the saving graces of technology as misplaced, and the landens are convinced the Blood’s insistence on a return to the old ways are outdated and tired. Moreover, no one entirely believes that either of these things will prevent their extinction, and they quarrel relentlessly about which side has the right of it.

There is acceptance to be found here, too, for those who come from the fringes. Among the Blood, there is little that is considered taboo or morally contemptible. Among the landens, no one questions innovation for innovation’s sake. Perhaps, for some PCs, this will be a new start and a new home. Perhaps, for others, it is merely a stepping stone along the longer journey of life.


ON CRAFT

WHAT IS CRAFT?

Basically magic. The Blood can use the power in their Jewels to do pretty much anything they please. All the Blood can be easily observed using Craft for tasks large and small as a way to bleed off excess power. The darker the Jewel someone wears, the more likely they are to use Craft for things as simple as stirring their coffee or opening blinds. It is necessary that they expend power in this way in order to maintain an internal balance. While canon does have some special categories, we are not limiting Craft to just the things the books directly talks about.

Does Craft replace my character's canon power?

No, but your character's Birthright Jewel may impose new limits on your character's power. Tony Stark won't be able to build a new arc reactor in Draega if he needs one, but he could probably figure out how to power his Iron Man suit with his Jewel. With the White, that power won't last long. Maybe he'll figure out how to combine Jeweled power and landen tech to create a new power source!

Harry Potter will find the strength of his spells constrained by his Jewels, too. If he wears the White, he might only be able to cast a handful of spells in a day as opposed to the number he was capable of casting in his home world. If he wants to pour all of his Jewel power into one spell, he will be tapped out until the Jewel replenishes.

Characters with reality bending and gamebreaking powers will find that they cannot use those abilities in Terreille. The mods trust that players will not abuse this, but will step in if they have to. No one should be creating black holes over the city for fun.

Can I make up my own spells?

Yes. By and large, the mod team expects that players will not abuse this privilege and that they will use their better judgment when using Craft.

ARE ANY POWERS GOING TO BE NERFED?

Craft can't bring people back from the dead. As such, the mod team asks that players nerf abilities that allow for resurrection. Any abilities that recharge a magic pool simply won't work.

Hey, what about that internal balance you mentioned?

Because the Blood continually use Craft and their bodies act as a sieve for power, they need a lot more calories to get them through the day. Using too little power from the Jewels causes that power to build up, but using too much causes the body to consume stored fat and muscle mass in order to help fuel Craft. Completely draining one’s Jewels or needing to pull hard on what power the body contains can have direct and severe consequences on the body, and the same will be true for PCs.


ON TECHNOLOGY

What kind of tech does Draega have?

Technology in Draega is consistent with that of the early 1920s. There are radios and telephones (Far-casters), electricity (elektriline power), and the Guilds are working on cars (autocars). But this is fantasy and sufficiently advanced technology often looks like magic, so don’t be surprised if the landen Guilds trot out some anachronistic tech.

What's a Far-caster?
Far-casters are the landen equivalent of the modern cellphone. Because the Blood can communicate psychically, it became obvious to the Tinker Guild early on that landens needed a way to communicate across vast distances as well. Far-casters can send text messages as well as handle voice-only or full image communication between individuals. Far-casters can be used like radios as well, and even the Blood use Far-casters to listen to news reports as well as daytime programs. Ranging in size from large and bulky to small and hand-held, Far-casters can be found as speakers playing music in restaurants and homes, delivering the news in shops, or used to facilitate private, personal correspondence. The Far-casters are capable of sending messages that anyone can access, or they can be filtered to specific individuals or groups. For example, the Ebon Council maintains its 'group chat' that only they can access.

My character brought tech with them. Will it work?

As long as it doesn't run out of battery, yes. At that point, it's up to your character to figure out where to get that power. If it breaks, they'll need to figure out a way to fix it.

Can my character help the landen Guilds create new technology?

Yes. Feel free to create small items that won't have world-changing repercussions can be created as often as you'd like. For instance, if your character wants to help the Guilds invent a hairdryer, you can do that. Technology that would have massive impact (such as the Transport Guild's autocars) should run through the mod team first.


ON APPLYING

What are the game and cast caps?

AGN has a total character cap of 60 and a cast cap of 5. Canons that have significantly different universes and no crossover with others will be considered standalone. For example, MCU will be considered separate from the comicverse, various Spider-Man properties, and The Gifted but not separate Agents of Shield or Agent Carter.

OCs are currently capped at 10.

What types of characters do you allow?

Canon characters, canon OCs such as Bioware protagonists and MMO OCs, and your own original characters. We ask that you do not app AUs, CRAUs, or canon BJT characters. We may open up the application to OCs created specifically for the world if there is a large interest.

We ask that you only app from canon materials that have been available for at least 30 days.

How do apps work?

The app page and RNG for Jewels will remain available all month. Apps will be processed in order received if there are open slots on the 3rd Thursday of every month until all available slots are filled. Once an app is accepted, we will give 2 days for a response before moving to the next app. Revisions will have 3 days to submit.

If a player finds a character is not working for them in the setting, they may apply for free swap once.

Are duplicate characters allowed?

As long as the characters are from different canon sources, yes. We will accept two Tony Starks, one from the MCU canon and one from comic canon, but not two MCU Tony Starks. The same is true of canon OCs like Bioware protagonists.

How many characters can I play?

Two.

Why do you RNG for Jewels?

For the fun of it, mostly. We have two options: one is RNG, and one is for the gambling-averse.

Try your luck with RNG. The mods will roll 3 random numbers from 1-10, representing the Jewels from White to Red. You may ask the mods to reroll any one of these if you are unsatisfied with your options, but once you've rerolled you must select from the three options provided. This will become your character's Birthright Jewel.
Opt to take any Jewel from White up to Opal as the Birthright without rolling.


A character may later choose to make an Offering to obtain a Jewel of rank up to three levels darker than their Birthright.

Remember: if your character wears the Opal, they’ll be able to use their canon powers with no drawbacks and no enhancements. Any Jewel lighter than Opal, and they’ll have to deal with limitations. Any Jewel darker than Opal, and they’ll suddenly find themselves capable of more.

Why bother with RNG if I can get up to Opal without risk?

The Gray can only be obtained as a Jewel of rank through RNG, and a strong Birthright Jewel is nothing to sneeze at! One of the Blood who wears the Birthright Red and the Gray as a Jewel of rank will have considerably more power at their disposal than someone with the Green for their Birthright and the Gray as their Jewel of rank.

Or, y’know, you might just like to gamble!

What can my character bring with them?

What is physically on them that they can carry at the time Fayura knocks on their skulls. If Tony Stark is in his Iron Man suit, that will come. If he’s in his car, that won’t. Mecha and vehicles won’t be showing up in Draega.

Canon hammerspace abilities, powers, and/or items will also follow this rule. Characters will find, upon waking up in Draega, that they have on them items from hammerspace that they could carry and the hammerspace itself is gone. But! Don't worry. The Blood have their own version of hammerspace that the characters will have access to.

Are canon updates allowed?

Unfortunately, no. Due to how characters are brought to Terreille, they cannot be sent home and then return. The mods understand that canon updates are important to players, however, and depending on the course of the game, events may align such that canon updates will be possible in the future through a universe-appropriate mechanic.

Okay what happens to my character upon arrival?

Characters wake up in the Queen’s Residence and are invited to dinner with her, her Steward, Master of the Guard, and Consort (should all four be available). The residence is large enough to accommodate all the PCs, but they will get the impression that the Queen’s court would very much like for them to get out of the Residence, find a job, figure out how their unique talents can help the city, and maybe take over a building to use as a home.

All characters wake with a basic understanding of Craft, the power levels of the Jewels, and knowledge of the castes so they don’t go out and pick a fight with the wrong person and end up dead, but if they want to learn more, they’ll need to ask around.

IF MY CHARACTER DIES, IS IT PERMANENT?

As far as your character is concerned, yes. Observant players may note that there is an in-universe way to put off the final death. While we don’t want to add too much detail as we hope to introduce this through ingame plot, we will say that death is not a revolving door and after the first chance, there may not be another.


ERRATA

Why is all this jargon capitalized?

Capital Letters are Magic. Presumably also for maximum Edge.



NAVIGATION

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rules

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CONTENT
The Black Jewels Trilogy is often dark. Rape, slavery, and murder are common topics in the books, and will likely be topical in game as well. We are not here to police content and largely will not do so. If you're not comfortable with extremely dark content played around you, you should not be here. That said, the game will not be a perpetual trauma conga. Regardless, we ask that all characters be at least 16 years old or, in the case of inhuman characters, have the maturity of a young adult.

BEHAVIOR
Bullying and harassment of any kind will not be tolerated. Keep in mind the IC/OOC divide and remember to respect it. Because of the sensitive topics that may come up in this game, the mod team expects you to treat each other well.

Do not godmode. Do not infomod. You play your character and only your character. You may find that you as a player know information that your character does not. Do not act on that knowledge, no matter how tempting.

Remember that IC actions have IC consequences, and remember that is especially true when dealing with a race of people like the Blood.

ACTIVITY CHECKS
AC will start on the 1st of every month and run through the 7th. AC results will be posted on the 8th. You must provide any combination of two of the following for each character you play:

A network thread (or threads) consisting of 10+ comments from your character OR
A log of 5+ comments from your character


Players on hiatus are exempt from AC provided they have given the mods prior notice on the hiatus and drops page. Failure to meet AC will result in removal from the game.

The mods will be frank: individuals who regularly exceed AC are more likely to receive plot-critical information.

CHARACTERS
You may play canon characters and regular OCs. We ask that you not app CRAUs, AUs, and characters native to the BJT canon.

When selecting your character's Birthright Jewel, you may do one of two things:

Choose your own Jewel up to Opal for your character's Birthright.
Try your luck. On the reserves page, you can request a Jewel by RNG. The mods will roll 3 random numbers from 1-10, representing the Jewels from White to Red. You may ask the mods to reroll any one of these numbers if you are unsatisfied with your options, but once you've rerolled you must select from the three options provided. This will become your character's Birthright Jewel.


Due to the overwhelming power of the Ebon-gray and Black Jewels, these two ranks will not be allowed in game.

THREE STRIKES
The mod team understands that sometimes mistakes happen. However, should we see a pattern of inappropriate behavior, we will ask you to leave the game. The mod team reserves the right to circumvent this rule at their discretion.

POSTING

[community profile] agentlenet is the game network and should be used for psychic communications between the Blood and any text, video, or image sharing by means of Far-caster.
[community profile] agentlelog is the game log community and should be used for all long-form prose or action spam, open or closed. All logs with sensitive content should be locked and appropriate warnings should be added to the post. Failure to do so will result in a warning from the mod team.
[community profile] agentleooc is for all memes and OOC communications.


TAGGING
Tag all your posts with your character's tag.


NAVIGATION