Questions

[Whitlen]

Since I have a lot of questions and haven't been able to yet find the answers, I figured I could get more done by making a thread. So, here we go:

1) Are there any elf characters currently on the boards? If so, can I get a few names so I can look at them?

2) Is there a staff stigma about how elves are played? If so, what is it?

3) What are the steps for an elf to become a bladesinger, or at least learn bladesong?

4) How feasible is a half-demon native character, and how would that side of said character be perceived by other natives should it be discovered?

I'm sure I'll have more, but that's it for now.

[Valanthe]

Answer to one)Hi, I'm an elf. I'm half Raiaeran High elf, Half Alerarian Drow, but 100% elf. I'm also a druidess, born and raised in the wilds, so most other elves simply assume my parents were peasants who couldn't control themselves and abandoned me in the woods. (It's not the truth mind you, but it is what I decided to have others think.)

[Caden Law]

1) Are there any elf characters currently on the boards? If so, can I get a few names so I can look at them? Tons of them. Kinda just have to go looking, unfortunately.


2) Is there a staff stigma about how elves are played? If so, what is it?Not really, no. There are one or two people who insist elves and drow and ??? must be played X Y AND Z OR DOOOOOOM, but we generally ignore them. So much so that I can't even remember anyone's name. :D


3) What are the steps for an elf to become a bladesinger, or at least learn bladesong?A little bit difficult right now. Check the Hierarchy thread in the FQ forums. That's the closest you'll get to an in depth guide since the Bladesingers' traditional recruitment and training centers have been wiped out. It's basically down to Find a Bladesinger, get hm to train you, ????, profit! right now, though the FQ thread details it more.


4) How feasible is a half-demon native character, and how would that side of said character be perceived by other natives should it be discovered?We've got about ten million of 'em and everybody plays it differently.

[Bloodrose]

1) I know there are a few elves kicking around. The most famous elf - especially where Raiaera is concerned - would be Findelfin ap Fingolfin (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=4175).

2) I can't speak for the staff, and it's not necessarily a stigma as much as it is a pet peeve, but it always annoys me to see elves that are supposedly 100+ years old acting like spoiled teenagers. And who's to say elves have to be old? Sure, they live a long time, but can't we have any young elven characters?

3) I think the easiest way to learn bladesong in the past was to attend classes at the old Istien University in Raiaera. Due to the current conflict in that area, what with the undead and all, I believe the University has been destroyed. Caden Law, the Raiaera moderator could confirm that for you, and if you are looking for alternatives to the University, he'd be your go-to-guy for all your bladesinger information (seriously - he knows his stuff - it's like it's his job or something :)).

4) A half-demon character is relatively feasible to pull off, especially if it's not a pronounced heritage (no horns, tails, halos of fire, etc). From an IC standpoint, despite all the half-demon characters that seem to populate this place, I like to play the NPC residents of Althanas as having a certain stigma towards demons. I would think that a half-demon, especially if it was discovered that they were one, would be looked upon skeptically by the general populace. Expect everyone to be wary of you, exclude you, and generally treat you like a leper.

Hope that helps.

EDIT: Totally ninja'd by that pesky Caden Law!

[Whitlen]

Thank you guys, I really appreciate the quick and helpful answers!

Okay, re: bladesingers, would a retired bladesinger give lessons to a non-elf? Feasibly? I have this thing about realism, lol.

And the half-demons - Bloodrose, you have pretty much confirmed my thoughts, so thank you!

[Taskmienster]

If you've got no qualms with being trained by an 'evil' bladesinger, since that's what I'm turning my Ranger character into, I could help you out as soon as I get all the storyline details figured out.

[Whitlen]

My character hasn't been written yet, so I'm not 100% definite on what her story will be, just getting some info together. I might be interested in that arrangement, Task. Could you PM me about some of the details, and I'll work on ironing her out?

[Saerilia]

This will be my new character, once I get her finished.
-Whitlen

[Lord Anglekos]

Sexy.
(And Whitlen, love the song in your signature. Damn you!)

2) Is there a staff stigma about how elves are played? If so, what is it?
They must all carry bows and arrows and be awesome archers.
Just kidding.

A little bit difficult right now. Check the Hierarchy thread in the FQ forums. That's the closest you'll get to an in depth guide since the Bladesingers' traditional recruitment and training centers have been wiped out. It's basically down to Find a Bladesinger, get hm to train you, ????, profit! right now, though the FQ thread details it more.
This pretty much answers my question about them too. Interesting. Except since my character would be a good Bladesinger, I can't really take Taskmienster's road either, unless he would have no problem in being betrayed by Eric here.
Whitlen, I'm probably going to make a thread in which Eric here becomes one sometime soon. Would you be interested in joining it?

[Taskmienster]

Ranger would have no problem turning on you, hell it'd make an interesting plotline in the future. And I'll type up a rough draft of what's going on with the character and send it to your Witlen account if that's cool.

[Whitlen]

It might be interesting if Task's ranger trained both of us, Anglekos... Yes, please do PM me, Task!

[Caden Law]

Okay, re: bladesingers, would a retired bladesinger give lessons to a non-elf? Feasibly? I have this thing about realism, lol. In answer to both you and Angelkos: That's fine. At least a few of the old school Bladesingers escaped Raiaera or were abroad when the country went down, and there were always a couple rejects who could've said screw you gahs, I'm goin' ????.

EDIT: And also, the remaining official Bladesingers in Raiaera no longer have qualms about bringing in non-elves. There just aren't enough of them left to be picky. They're even close to accepting Drow at this point.

[Lord Anglekos]

In answer to both you and Angelkos: That's fine. At least a few of the old school Bladesingers escaped Raiaera or were abroad when the country went down, and there were always a couple rejects who could've said screw you gahs, I'm goin' ????.

EDIT: And also, the remaining official Bladesingers in Raiaera no longer have qualms about bringing in non-elves. There just aren't enough of them left to be picky. They're even close to accepting Drow at this point.

Thanks.
Damn, if they're accepting Drow, they really must be desperate. Poor slobs.
I also have another question for you, Caden, regarding Bardic Magic, but I can just PM you. This is Whitlen's thread, after all.
Darned be her.

[Whitlen]

I'm not worried about thread hijacking whatsoever. Feel free, if it will help you and the topics are at least similar. :)

Unfortunately, I live in the Northeast, and we got absolutely blasted this weekend with a very nasty snowstorm. Just a couple of towns over there are around 80,000 people without power still, and it's been a few days now. I'm only able to write this because of luck and ingenuity. I'm told we should have full power back tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to at least work on my new character and post in the one thread I am in. Please, Task, feel free to PM me those ideas, like I said. I actually can't finish the new character without them, lol.

[Lord Anglekos]

Well, Whitlen, it seems Task is a little busy these days. I don't think we should pressure him to "train" us at the moment. Do you want to do a quick quest or something? I just finished my solo one and about to finish one of my battles, so I'm pretty much open. Just don't ask me for ideas, I'm pretty much dead at the moment and can't think of anything worth while.

[Whitlen]

Well, Whitlen, it seems Task is a little busy these days. I don't think we should pressure him to "train" us at the moment. Do you want to do a quick quest or something? I just finished my solo one and about to finish one of my battles, so I'm pretty much open. Just don't ask me for ideas, I'm pretty much dead at the moment and can't think of anything worth while.

Sure! One question, though. Were you looking to RP with Whitlen, or my as-of-yet-unposted demon-elf hybrid? HUGE difference, so let me know. As for ideas, I almost never have any, but we could always just do a character interaction thread and see where it goes, if nothing else.

[Saerilia]

More questions: Where in Raiaera would it be feasible for this character to have been conceived? How long had the war been going on (the notes seem to be a little behind on updates, so I felt it wise to check). How long since it ended?

And yes, I know there are a lot of characters that are just whatever the writer wanted, but I have a strong desire to stick to the world storyline, at least with this character.

[Karuka]

Which war are you talking about? The on-going one with Xem'zund, the War of the Tap 10,000 years ago? One of the ones with Alerar?

[Saerilia]

That war is still ongoing? I thought there was a note that it ended with a tourney or something?

[Karuka]

Nope. That war is still on-going. I think it's only been going on either a year or six months, Althanas time. As to where your character could have been conceived...is her demon parent Haidian or generic? If it's generic, I'd say Corone.

[Whitlen]

Not sure. What if it was Haidian?

[Karuka]

Then I'd be very confused as to how they even met and even more confused as to how the parents began a relationship. Haidians are rare outside of Haidia. WERE are outside of Haidia. Now they've been sealed away and forced underground, and they were pretty much shunned by everyone because of the demonic connotations.

If the kid was a rape child, the question as to how her parents met or came in contact stands.

[Whitlen]

Generic it is, then. So, even then, a Raiaeran meeting would be less than likely? Also, if said meeting occurred on Corone, would she likely be a war baby at her age?

[Karuka]

A Raiaeran meeting would be very unlikely. And at her age, I doubt she'd be a war baby.

[Whitlen]

One more question (for the moment...): Do demons just run around Corone's cities, or should I go the "out of nowhere" route?

[Karuka]

I'd go with "out of nowhere." Likely in the depths of the Concordian forest. Or in the nation on the other side of the Comb Mountains, Akashima. There are a few demons that roam the forests there...but they take after Japanese Oni.

[Whitlen]

Depictions of oni vary widely but usually portray them as hideous, gigantic, creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and two long horns growing from their heads. They are humanoid for the most part, but occasionally, they are shown with unnatural features such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers and toes. Their skin may be any number of colors, but red and blue are particularly common.

They are often depicted wearing tiger-skin loincloths and carrying iron clubs, called kanabō (金棒?). This image leads to the expression "oni with an iron club" (鬼に金棒, oni-ni-kanabō?), that is, to be invincible or undefeatable. It can also be used in the sense of "strong beyond strong", or having one's natural quality enhanced or supplemented by the use of some tool.

Sadly, this was the most useful info at Wiki... I don't suppose there are any threads here I could read about demons?

(Yeah, I know, I lied about no more questions... Darnit...)

edit:
Found This Picture (http://images.elfwood.com/art/n/e/neilbruce/ninja_and_the_mountain_oni.jpg), and This One (http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/7908/oni3hj.jpg). Sheesh... I'm annoying myself, here, but I feel like I need to get this right... Sorry...

[Saerilia]

Meh, ignore my last post (as Whitlen). I think I've got enough to go on. Now I'm just waiting for Task so I can figure out a couple of minor details and get her finished. Off to write! :)

THANK YOU, Karuka, you have been an INVALUABLE help for me! <3

(Anglekos: read back a bit, I did answer your post)

[Yari Rafanas]

You're really trying hard at this. I advise you just wing it. It'll be more fun and stuff tends to fall in place if you just roll with the punches and fill in the gaps as you go.

IMHO.

[Whitlen]

Yeah, I finally realized that. I do like the idea of actually using the information that the writers have given us to use, but not to the extent that my character is lost. No worries, though.

[Yari Rafanas]

It's background information. Play hard, have fun, and make your own history. ;]

[Whitlen]

LOL! Will do, Yari.

[Aiko]

I'm devising a new strain of extra-planar demons. I don't think anyone's used The Abyss much, despite being a canon plane, so I'm playing with it, and creating a breed of demons that dwell there, amidst nameless horrors that in any other plane, would be crimes against nature by their sheer existence.

If you'd like, she could be half-abyssal demon, they arrogantly assume themselves to be superior to every other type of demon out there, including Haidian. Of course, other demons consider themselves superior to Abyssal demons too, so, it's fairly balanced.

Just, throwing it out there as an option.

[Lord Anglekos]

I'm devising a new strain of extra-planar demons. I don't think anyone's used The Abyss much, despite being a canon plane, so I'm playing with it, and creating a breed of demons that dwell there, amidst nameless horrors that in any other plane, would be crimes against nature by their sheer existence.

If you'd like, she could be half-abyssal demon, they arrogantly assume themselves to be superior to every other type of demon out there, including Haidian. Of course, other demons consider themselves superior to Abyssal demons too, so, it's fairly balanced.

Just, throwing it out there as an option.
Funny, I was just working on a race of abyss-based creatures. They weren't demons but...Hmmm....
Anyways, Whitlen, got your post. I'd rather much RP with your human, to be honest. I'd like to stay away, far away, from demons at this point. I'm sure we can just do a character-interaction thread or something...hmm....mebbe...well, where do you want it at?

[Whitlen]

Aiko - I'd love to know more about the Abyssals you are working on. Are you going to include multiple lores, like succubi/incubi, demons, devils, pit fiends, etc?

Anglekos - works for me! I'm not terribly picky on where we go, since she is basically wandering everywhere she can in her quest for herself. If you are already in a continent with your character, we could stick close to there. Or we could pick a random scene, like country or city,and pick from the availables there. Might be time to take this to PMs, lol.

[Lord Anglekos]

Succubi/incubi pwn. End of story.
I'd prefer Corone as Eric's hanging around there a lot, at least these days, but if you suddenly give birth to a bloody idea (oh that's a delicious mental image. D: ) just let me know. And don't worry, that's what these threads are for.

[Whitlen]

Corone would be fine. Radasanth?

[Lord Anglekos]

Sure. Do you want to start it, or I?

[Whitlen]

I'm still learning the world, so if you could set us up, that would be fabulous!

[Lord Anglekos]

Eeeeeeeeaaaagh---okay. Can do. Don't expect anything awesome at the moment, but I should have it up pretty soon.

[Lord Anglekos]

Posted. Thread is here. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=142891#post142891) Sorry it's crap.

[Whitlen]

Posted. Thread is here. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=142891#post142891) Sorry it's crap.
Actually, it's a good solid opener for any decent adventure, so don't worry at all. I will try to post soon, though probably not tonight. Darn server wouldn't let me on all day when I could have posted, lol.

[Aiko]

The Abyssal Demons are ruled by The Lord of The Abyss, the single strongest creature in the abyss. An Archdemon named Grandfather, and father to The Seven Deadly Sins. The Seven Deadly Sins are also arch demons, and from them come all the other demons, each controlled by a sin. Succubi and the like come from Lust. Lust herself is a Succubus, but far more so than an ordinary succubus.

There will be the classic demon strains, but known by a different name, and bearing a different guise, each ruled by a different sin, or Grandfather directly. For instance, Wrath is locked away ATM, but he rules the powerful pit fiends, known as the Abyssal Terrors. Concoct the most gruesomly terrifying thing you can imagine, multiply it by ten, and that's a close approximation of an Abyssal Terror.

Grandfather's real name is fixin' to come out too.

[Whitlen]

Cool. Is there somewhere you're posting all of this for later use? It definitely fits better with what I have in mind.

[Lord Anglekos]

Actually, it's a good solid opener for any decent adventure, so don't worry at all. I will try to post soon, though probably not tonight. Darn server wouldn't let me on all day when I could have posted, lol.

Don't worry, happens to me too. Take your time, I'm in no rush.

[Aiko]

Cool. Is there somewhere you're posting all of this for later use? It definitely fits better with what I have in mind.

Nope, don't know of where I could.

[Whitlen]

Aiko, I'm sure there's got to be a submission thread of some kind... *looks for mod help*

Anglekos, I'll work on my post tomorrow at work (lunch hours are good!). :)

[Cyrus the virus]

Several people have written about the Great Nether and what it contains/what it's like. I doubt submitting content for it will make the content 'canon', just because we've generally liked to leave areas like that open for individual interpretation. In Izvilvin's story, it's a place of eternal war and suffering, where people don't die but are unable to heal wounds.

[Aiko]

Exactly what Cy said, let's leave it open for individuality, and the Abyss is beneath all the other planes, the very bottom of Althy, a place where complete and utter horror and torment exists in perpetuity. The hell of Althanas if you will.

[Lord Anglekos]

Anglekos, I'll work on my post tomorrow at work (lunch hours are good!). :)
Okay, I'll probably post tomorrow after you then as well. See you then.

[Whitlen]

Fair enough, Aiko & Cyrus. I'll just wing it. :)

Anglekos - posted. :)

[Lord Anglekos]

*grunts, shuffles over and grabs a beer*
...posted...
Be satisfied it's coherent at least.

[Whitlen]

No worries, I'll be posting tonight in both of the threads I'm currently in. :)

[Lord Anglekos]

Kay. I'll probably respond tomorrow then.

[Saerilia]

Approved! Woohoo! Just wanted to say thanks again for all the help I got in this thread. :)