Welcome to The Vyshe Academia Roleplay, designed specifically for those who are still new to roleplay and would like to play with guidance and tutelage.
IC Thread can be found here.
The goal of this particular roleplay is to allow those of our community who are perhaps new to roleplay, maybe just new to writing, or who want simply to brush up on their skills, to get involved in something active where there is no pressure to get everything perfect. However, the major difference is, and the reason this has been placed in the Role Play Academy forum, is that you will be receiving constant guidance, assistance and pointers.
This will allow you to not only play out a roleplay, but also learn at the same time, which is, of course, a win-win situation. There will be various challenges given along the way, some may be In Character challenges, to push your characters, or maybe more Out Of Character challenges to push you, as a roleplayer and writer. These may or may not be regular, and may even be more longer term challenges.
As for the roleplay itself, I intend it to be an ongoing roleplay, so that people can jump in and take part at any point in the story. Summaries of events will be placed at every third page, to allow easier 'jumping in' for new players - these summaries will be mainly completed by myself.
In terms of feedback to help you improve, I will likely do public 'lectures' so to speak, that will generally link in with the challenge of that particular time, or I will PM you, or speak with you in chat, if you happen to frequent it.
The world of Illiakan is a vast continental civilisation that has, for the past several thousand years, been in a state of complete turmoil. Wars between the four major nations ensue endlessly, raids between the borders mean villages and farms are constantly guarded by soldiers. Larger battles take place on vast plains, resulting in many deaths, hundreds, sometimes thousands at a time perish due to the lusts of those in power. And, in some places, wars even are waged within nations themselves, as various Lords and Barons vie for power and dominion where it is absent.
Yet, the wars of the nations are far from the only evil that wreak havoc, fear and chaos upon the world. Mother Nature herself seems also to find pleasure in punishing the peoples of Illiakan; perhaps it is their actions that dictate her choices, or some force of fate that must come to pass. Shattering earthquakes, destructive floods, erupting volcanoes, landslides, unnatural weather, the whole world, it seems it waging war on its inhabitants.
This is indeed a time where fear lives vibrant and clear in the hearts and souls of the sane. However, hidden somewhere deep in a dark, slightly damp library, a shimmer of hope is soon to be revealed. A Legend long since forgotten, a power lost even in the telling of myths, a cure for the chaos that threatens to completely destroy Illiakan. That Legend is The Vyshe Academia.
Nine books, it was said, indestructible, created before time itself, powerful, hold within them the spirits of Order and Peace. Gathering all nine of these Academia, so says the Legend, will unleash a force potent enough to cure the ills of the world. Their locations are unknown, those pages of the Legend lost to time and decay, but a single paragraph, half lost to translation after translation reads, with a shining and hopeful song:
Legend of The Vyshe Academia wrote:When needed most, when all hope seems lost, all races fearing extinction, The Academia will be brought forth of Their own accord, by the simple necessity of continuation, and so shall these Academia call upon Heroes both Mighty and Weak and those Heroes will bring to the world once more...
Incomplete, yes, but a bringer of hope regardless. The learned, the scholars, those who keep their noses firmly within ancient texts, they smile now, where all others wail and weep. And ever are their scouts travelling, searching for signs of the mentioned Heroes; in what is, perhaps, a vain hope for salvation.
Only time will show the Legend for true or not. Time that, it would seem, is running short.
NATIONS OF ILLIAKAN
Niran: Situated at the far west of the continent, Niran is home to Sea Farers, a Guild of shipmen who are vital to trade thoughout Illiakan, or rather, what little trade that exists. Niran rests against the Jentith Ocean, and, although the smallest nation, also includes the Kimellan Islands, a group of six city sized islands close together that are about a day and a half out to sea from the capital, and port, city of Belian. Ruled by Queen Firgese, Niran is the least war-like of the four nations, it does not actively engage in war, but will vehemently protect its territory and makes aggressive attempts to forge Trade Treaties that hugely favour themselves. Doubtlessly, they are the richest of the four nations.
Jielon: Covering the heavy mountain ranges that span the entire northern borders and a third of the eastern is the nation of Jielon. Living in the mountains, they seem intrinsically skilled in siege warfare, and have slowly been making their presence know, in recent years, along the entire southern border of their lands. Miners by nature, they are the least attacked, mainly due to the fact that trying to attack mountain fortresses is widely acknowledged as folly. Constructed of six tribes, Jielon maintains a strong, yet constantly unsure, internal peace, each tribe trading minerals and jewels one with another.
Kabron: Lying to the south, covering half of the Errian Plains and drifting into the desert to the south and east rests the unsettled Nation of Kabron. For two hundred years, now, since the death of the last King, the various, near innumerable Lord, Barons, Dukes, and occasional ex-Royal Guard Generals, have been battling between themselves for the throne of the childless King. The general populace of Kabron suffers due to this struggle for power, and lives in a state of squalor and deprivation whilst also falling foul of the other nations' attacks. What none of the factions realise is that year by year, the land they want power over is growing smaller as the other nations stake their claims. They also fail to notice, it seems, that Kabron is the poorest of the four nations.
Hirnla: Covering the rest of the continent is the largest nation, Hirnla. Under constant attack from three fronts, they are only too pleased Kabron is in a state of Civil War. Despite having the largest army, Hirnla is too occupied with defending its own territory to make attempts at expansion. Internally, however, they are perhaps the most peaceful, being run by a populace-elected government that treats its people well. Along the borders, farms and villages are protected by entire legions of soldiers, but further into the land of Hirnla, the people are almost entirely ignorant of the war. It is also in the capital of Hirnla, Keraan, that the greatest libraries are located. Most notably, the Dimjent Institute, whose scholars discovered the Legend of The Vyshe Academia.
As an aside, should anyone wish to create a map of Illiakan, please feel free to do so and let me take a look before it is posted. PM me if you need further details.
In terms of characters, I will be rather flexible here. You can play any sort of character you like, in terms of status, except for leaders of factions/clans/nations - you won't be allowed to play those characters, no one will be.
Also, I WILL be placing some limitation on races. As you have probably gathered, this is very much a generic Fantasy style RP, and such, I will be limiting the available races to the 'generic' Fantasy ones:
*Humans
*Elves - I will allow both High and Wood Elves
*Dwarves
*Halflings
*Goblins
*Treemen
All races in Illiakan are pretty evenly spread, the chaos of the past millennia having broken any boundaries developed by race.
Now, also, I think that classes and abilities should be talked about. I don't want this game to turn into a power-crazy festival of "Who has the strongest character?" as this RP is designed to help develop writing and story telling (roleplaying) abilities, not combative superiority. As such, most classes are allowed, save for Paladin and anything High Mage or above, and all equivalents those two entail. Magic, though allowed, will be limited to a low-to-mid-Fantasy level, as will all other abilities. So, basically, no uber powered ultimate warriors and sorcerers.
Character sheets, character sheets, character sheets... I see far too much demand and requirement for character sheets/profiles. Don't fret, none of that is needed here. If you WANT to post a character profile because that is how you make your characters, fine, do so. If you want help in making a character, I will probably get you to write a character sheet, as it is a nice way to logically get everything in mental order for yourself. If you don't fancy making one, don't need to, or simply can't stand making them, no one is going to force you to do so. That decision is entirely your own.
This is perhaps the part where you all groan and moan. However, just consider that this RP isn't designed to restrict you, but make you better. As such, the guidelines will only serve that purpose, and I will attempt to keep any restrictions, if indeed there are, at a bare minimum.
Alright, let's start with posting. And here comes the first lesson, as it were:
A post should do at least one, ideally all, of the following things:
1: Reveal your character.
2: Elaborate on the environment.
3: Move the plot forwards.
They are listed in no particular order, but link into my first regulation for the RP: ALL posts should consist of at least three paragraphs. The above points should be able to help you achieve this. There will be subsequent posts, likely before the RP starts, explaining each one in a little more detail, so you should be entirely capable of achieving this quota.
Also, all posts are to be spell checked before being posted. I would recommend for a multitude of reasons, Mozilla's Firefox Web Brower, but, most pertinently, because it has a built in spell checker, so will check your posts as you type them up on the site. If this, for whatever reason, isn't possible for you, please run your post through Microsoft Word as a spell checking stage.
'Speed posting' is strictly forbidden. I will allow no more than this example:
-=Player A posts=-
-=Player B posts=-
-=Player A posts=-
At that point, a 'Player C' must be allowed to post. However, do not worry... For at Roleplay Gateway we have a solution. More specifically, if you need to engage in more conversational exchanges that would seem to require 'speed posting', we have our own chat right here where you can conduct your conversations. these conversations will need to be converted into a more 'forum-friendly' format. If you need help with that, I will be more than willing to assist you. I am near constantly on the chat, under the name Lord`Saladin. (Occasionally, however, I do sleep, so do be patient and keep logs of your chat RP so we can work on it.)
Please also note that, in the IC thread, no signatures are to be attached. You can prevent your signature being attached by the tick box below the text input section when writing a new reply.
General RP rules apply: No God Modding, no Meta-Gaming, etc etc. I'm pretty sure you all already know this, but, again, subsequent posts will be made to elaborate a little, so as to reduce any possible confusion.
Now, I will be heavily Games Mastering this RP, which will mean I am going to be monitoring it, as well as taking part, of course ^_^, and will ensure that plot-lines, characters, engagements etc etc, keep within reasonable limits and cohesiveness for the game and other players.
And, for now, I think that is all I need to mention. If I find that, in my old age, something HAS been forgotten, I will make amendments clearly visible for those who have already read this post.
Oh! How silly am I?! I forgot the most important thing about this game:
Have fun! Don't be daunted by all the info, seriously, structure will just ensure things go smoothly is all. Seriously, though, jump in and have fun... That is one of the best ways to improve as it is. I look forward to seeing all you budding RPers in Illiakan. ^_^
((The IC thread will be posted once we have two to four players on board, just so you all know. Please post here if you want to join, so we can keep a record of those signed up.))
