Landon Town (OCC, Prologue, Rules)

[HoleInMyHead]

PROLOGUE

From The Journal Of Sir Richard of Lent:

Day the Tenth of The Month Of Newmark

It is with some regret that I leave Landon Town, upon the morrow. Five years, ago, when I first received this posting, I cursed being sent to some frontier seaport. I cursed the stupid nepotism that allowed others to steal my position of commander of the royal guards, and then threw me into outer darkness, so that I could not pursue my case before the Emperor.

I have been surprised to learn that I love Landon Town. It is a simple, small city of only a thousand or so souls. After a lifetime living in the Imperial City, it seemed as small as a village to me, when I first arrived. Still, I have grown to realize how much life can thrive in such a small place.

The town is not much to look at. There is a small wooden palisade on a cliff, overlooking the beach. From there, my soldiers would look out over the sea, watching for invasions. We only had eight 20 lbs cannons to defend it with, but that was enough for the few foolish Zarin that would venture to close.

The houses and workshops are all simple wooden affairs, with thatched roofs. I have been surprised by their durability though, in the face of the truly horrible storms that can come in from the Green Sea. There is a small church, which is actually built of stone. It was in disrepair when I arrived, but my men set it to rights. There is a pub, of course, with the usually activities. It has been quite beneath me, though I feel some inclination to get drunk tonight, if only this one time. There is a wind power mill, and a few small farms. The income comes mostly from the wharf and the fishing fleet that Landon Town is know for. It was a simple fishing village at first, but has grown into something of a way-station for merchant ships traveling along the coast.

The people are the real gem of this town. I did not know what decent and hardworking people peasants were, until I was forced to work with them. My life has been a sheltered one, for all the battles I have waged. I have worked to fight off invaders along side weathered fishermen. I have been in bucket brigades for hours on end, trying to save the home of a poor family. I have seen the kindness, and sometimes pettiness, that a tiny city like this can have, between its citizens.

Now, the Empire is in trouble. She finds herself being mauled at her Northern boarder, because the Emperor, gods grant him long life, has listened to the counsel of foolish and malicious advisers and cronies. I, and my men, have been ordered to withdraw. My men have intermarried with local women. Some have children. I, myself, have a pretty girl I have been courting. Her father is the mayor and had intentions to bless our union. Some might have thought it a shame if I married a commoner, but I have seen how uncommon she is.

She will not come with me. My heart breaks, but I must let it, rather than have my vows of loyalty break instead.

There will only been the town militia, of some two hundred fit souls, to defend against invasion. The evil Zarin have been attacking more and more frequently, though we blow their long boats from the water. They have actually managed to land some boats, and assault some of the outlying houses and farms. They are an ugly race of savages, who paint their naked bodies, before going into battle. Their boats are little more than overgrown canoes, and they have no sense of a proper sail, but still they manage to cross from their damned island and assault us! Assault us? No.... assault them, for as of the morrow, I will no longer be one of them.

They will all die now. My troops were all that held back the darkness. Already the priestesses are praying, and talking of offering proper human sacrifices to the gods, but it will not be enough. I have left every pistol and musket I can spare, along with a few casks of gun power. It is a futile measure. My love will die cursing the Empire. I pray that she does not die cursing my name.

http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr326/WholeSoul/LandonTown.png

RULES

Timing: This thread will start after New Years. For now, we are just recruiting characters.

Joining: You must submit a character to this thread with the following: name, age, gender, orientation, profession, appearance, personality, biography (2 paragraphs), and picture (I would really like to see a picture, but if you can not, then tell us what actor would play your character, under appearance)

Posting: You need to use a SpellChecker before posting, or at least read over your post for bad mistakes. You need to be Approved, before you post. Your posts must be in the third person and must be at least six sentences long! Two paragraph posts are preferred. You MUST place the beginning and ending location of your post, in your subject line! For instance: Start- Brock's House/End- The Stables. You also must TAG anyone who is in the scene with you, at the end of your post.

Passion: Yes, you can go for it, but please do not mess with the narrative flow! If you lock yourself in a room for 50 posts, then the story will stop. Write longer posts, and allow for the other to write some for your character, or write a joint pots, but keep things moving.

Races: You are human. Deal with it. Yes, there is magic. Yes there are beasties and magical creatures, but I am sick of Tolkien style elves and dwarfs. I will kill them with extreme prejudice and with NO warning

Moderation: This is a free form thread, but please respect the rights of others. Please communicate in OCC if you are about to burn down the village, or kill half the population with a meteor.

Click Here for the IC Thread.

http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr326/WholeSoul/MedievalTown2.jpg

 

[prissy_kytten]

possible character.

Name: Seraphim Rayne
Age:24
Gender:female
Orientation: Bi
Profession: seamstress/sorceress
Appearance: http://www.quizilla.com/user_images/H/HY/HYP/hyperaktive/1136172349_ktopMorgan.jpg

Personality: Mostly quiet, and polite, with a darker more mysterious side that ever looms at the surface yet is unreachable to all but a few. Independent, faithful and loyal to a fault.

Biography: Seraphim was born on a cold dark night during a rather brutal winter storm that has swept the coast of Landon Town for 2 days and 2 nights prior to her arrival in this world. Her father the then minister of the Empires local church saw this as a sign of what type of person she would become. When her mother had come to him and told him that she had become pregnant in his one and only moment of weakness he had almost strangled her for what it would mean for his position and title within the church. So instead of raising Seraphim as his own he had put out the story that her mother Scarlett had been grabbed by a Zarin and therefore he and the church would take her and her unborn child into its bosom.

When as just a child Seraphim showed signs of being different then the other children, she had a free spirit and an unruly nature that often got her in trouble with her very strict always watchful "father". On her twelfth birthday her mother told her of the inate gift that flowed through her blood and that if Seraphim did not learn to control by sixteen she would be forever lost to the lust of power. Practicing every spare moment of time she could find she tamed and manipulated her powers learning to control them more quickly then her mother could have imagined. It was a good thing to because the day of her fifteenth birthday her mother passed away suddenly in her sleep.

Seraphim had been distraught and confused by the loss of her mother. Even more was the shock that she would now be at the mercy of her "father" mercy she had learned years before that did not exist. Not willing to risk doing something foolish with her powers she took off one night to the hills surrounding Landon Town. She lived off the land for years until one day she stopped a passer-by to inquire about her "father" only to find that he has passed away the previous winter from a sever fever. Free to go back to the town she quickly gathered all that she had and made her way back "home".

That was just over five years ago, she had been almost nineteen then, her mind had been carefree with the vision of coming home, but since then the soldiers had come, the Zarin had taken up raiding smelling the Towns weakness at the soon to be departing protectors.

Seraphim had in the last five years managed to build herself a reputation as a fine seamstress and to those that she trusted a dealer of cures and herbs.

 

[Valina]

Name: Anabeth ‘Beth’ Sawyer
Age: 24
Appearance: Her light brown hair is cut just above her shoulders to keep it out of the way while she works, though still long enough so she doesn’t look like a boy. She stands at 5’7” and weighs around 125 pounds, she isn’t afraid to fill her plate though she is still shapely and when done up in a dress has fine curves, not that you would catch her in a dress. Her clothes mostly consist of hand-me-downs from her older brother and father. It suits her fine since she is always filthy from looking after the stables. She has hazel eyes and a rounded face. Her only blemish is a small hardly noticeable scar just under her chin.
Personality: Friendly and for the most part outgoing, though only to those she knows well. To strangers she can seem cold and off-putting, which comes both from her constant stresses of doing work almost too much for her to handle alone and her general distrust for people she doesn’t know. She can have a fiery temper but juxtaposed she can be as sweet as a plum. She hates being told she can’t do something and resents the notion that women can’t do what men do.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m182/getwreckedrp/kc.jpg

Orientation: Straight so far as she knows

Profession: Farrier, Caretaker, Cook

Biography: Born to Anthony and Anette Sawyer and raised her entire life in Landon she found out early on that life was hard, especially in a frontier town far from the ‘civilized’ world and taking the brunt of renegade attacks. From the age of four she could ride a horse alone and became proficient to a point where she surpassed nearly everyone in town at the skill, helping her to win the annual Landon games almost perennially. She has always had a way with horses and other animals in general.

People she hasn’t always been so good with. Though she is a well-meaning and kind person she has kept herself busy with her father’s business from a young age and continued it on into adulthood, paying little mind to most of the boys who came to court her. Giving her a reputation as being a bit of a prude. That reputation was only helped by her further regression away from society once her father was killed when she was nineteen. This combined with her mother’s failing health led to her taking charge of the stables, her younger sister being her only other help. Her brother was too often away from home working in other towns or aboard a ship as a crewman to make money for the family. As strenuous as her job is, she loves waking up everyday and caring after the horses.

Her brother has served in the militia for nearly a decade and when he is home he has taught Beth how to use a sword. Something both found a necessity considering the fate of their father. Luckily she had her own bow as a child and while bulls eyes aren’t guaranteed she can hit the target with little difficulty making her at the very least lethal against human targets. It has never come to that for her and it’s something she feels blessed for, never having to end another’s life.

Skills: Competent with a sword though more-so with a bow, she is more known for her skills with a horse. One of if not the best riders in all of Landon. She prides herself on her cooking and knows how to stitch up torn clothes, but not much more than a stitch job. She has knowledge of caring for wounds and what herbs are best for which situations, all trades acquired from experience of working at the stable. Less valuable skills she has includes her sweet singing voice and her slight skill as an artist.

 

[HermesVoice]

Sweetness!

Good idea. GREAT rules.

I've built all the biographical info into the narrative. Let me know if that's alright.

Geoffrey Tanner


Geoffrey Tanner smiled grimly as the patrol marched by his hovel. (Crouched low, he silently admitted to himself it was, in fact, hardly more than a lean-to.) But even though the structure was well-hidden, tucked as it was among bracken, thistle, and underbrush a good twenty yards from the path, there were signs of his tenancy for the careful eye. “Not wary enough,” he growled under his breath. Had he taught them nothing?

“Pah!” he spat softly when the four soldiers were safely passed. “The smell of me alone should have been enough to bring them.”

In truth, he wasn’t pleased with the odour. It was the product of a week’s hiding without benefit of water for bathing. And worse. No shaving, he thought, scratching at the stubble, grown mostly white now. He had earned many of those hairs in long years of service to the Emperor, and he knew the hardness of that service had weathered his face well beyond his actual 38 years. Still, there had been far fewer of the pale tokens in his beard only a year before, a measure of the troubles since then. “Harbingers of things to come,” he muttered, scratching again while rising to stretch and watch the back of the last of the men disappear around a corner of the trail.

“Easy prey,” he muttered shaking his head. Of late the Zarin had become bold enough to slip men ashore in attempted ambush. One would think these men of his – former men he corrected himself – would at least show common sense. Sadly, it was too much to ask for professional pride these days and under these conditions. “Not the army I joined,” he said, turning to gather his things, preparing to move more deeply into the woods. “But twenty-three years is a long time.”

He jammed the tunic with the insignia of his rank, Serjeant of Infantry, into a bag and picked up his musket and sword. He would miss the men and the work. He was good at it and had the medals to prove it. He had declined four offers of promotion before the army gave up, before they finally acknowledged what he already knew: He was at his best training men to survive and to fight. In the end, all accepted that it was men like Tanner who made armies, and his value was acknowledged when the Emperor’s Vice-Consul had himself pinned the Order of Vespasian on Geoffrey’s chest, promising with a laugh that the army would “leave him alone and make no further offers of promotion.”

Sighing and checking his camp once more, Tanner set off. Should be only a few days now, he thought. Perhaps not even that long.

It was no secret the battalion would be leaving very soon, and there was little chance of being found, but it was better to move again. The price of desertion was also no secret, and while he’d decided when Taryn died that he would be buried beside her here in Landon, he did not want to join her by swinging at the end of a noose. Staying was a death sentence anyway, but he preferred to a pointless execution, the opportunity of killing Zarin until he fell. His wife had loved this town, and he had loved her. For all she had given him, Landon Town’s final defense was the least payment he could make before laying down to join her in death.

EDIT - Swapped out bio picture, folks. This one seemed more in keeping with Tanner's actual age ... even though Scott Glenn is a total badass at any age. Sorry it's not linked. The only version I could find was big. Obnoxiously big for a thread.

 

[HoleInMyHead]

Lordy! There are three good writers on this site! I have seen the light. Hallelujah!

Thank you all so much. I am going to start the IC thread in the next day or two. Please subscribe to this thread, and when it goes up, I will link to it! Sir Richard may be my character, since he is going to abandon his loyalties to the crown (possibly). I am thinking about it, but I have to figure out why he would do it. Love is powerful, but so is honor.

 

[HoleInMyHead]

Seraphim Rayne

This character is accepted. I like your biography. My only concern is that the prologue talks about priestesses. I envisioned that the religion was controlled by women. Here is the solution. The church is the church of the Empire. It is the "official" church. Your father was a part of that.

The priestesses are nature worshipers. They have a right to their rituals, and the commoners follow them, along with some of the Empire's soldiers. They can perform ritual sacrifices, if they have a willing subject, but she or he must be over the age of consent, and not forced into it. There is a review process for this.

 

[HoleInMyHead]

Anabeth ‘Beth’ Sawyer

This character is written by out co-creator, so it is not for me to say yes or no, but if it were, it would be a big yes. I am sure that she will be entertaining.

 

[HoleInMyHead]

Geoffrey Tanner
You are so very accepted. This is a stunningly good character. I see shades of Bernard Cornwell in him.

 

[HoleInMyHead]

Announcements

It is 3 am on New Years Day, but I really want to get things started.

I have added the following to the rules:

You MUST place the beginning and ending location of your post, in your subject line! For instance: Start- Brock's House/End- The Stables. You also must TAG anyone who is in the scene with you, at the end of your post.

I am going to start the IC thread, right after I write my first post. You may write your first post, when you are ready.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

I would like to keep this game at a moderate pace. It is O.K. to go a day in real life without posting! Take your time. Enjoy yourself! I am on google docs, but I do not know how to invite someone. If someone uses that, I am willing to joint post with them, if they will explain, if there is a passion scene. Otherwise, it is tag posting. I would recommend that we allow some freedom in passion posts to write for each others' characters, at least a bit. It will keep things moving. Still, it would be good to get the agreement of the other party, before doing so.

You should feel free to create and use NPC characters, but they will be free for anyone else to use! Please do so! It is really hard for one person to write ALL the NPC characters. I am really good at churning them out, but it gets tiring. For NPCs, it would be good to submit them to this thread with a name, a picture (if possible) or a description, two or three lines about personality and one line about their goal in life. Give us enough that someone else can write for them, without reading old posts. Here is an example:

NPC: Sophia Of Lordano, widow of the second in command of the forces of the Empire. Sophia is a sad, stately woman. She is cultured and lovely, but the loss of her husband had been crushing to her. She has learned to love the people of Landon, despite their rural nature. She is often seen helping to tend the sick, or feeding orphans and widows. Life Goal: Continue to be useful to others, since everything that she loved has died. http://www.storycrafter.com/cgfx/new/3a244e326e2d0b529044b8b1fc6f41da.jpg

It only took about three minutes to write her up, and find a picture. Now anyone should be able to write for her basic personality. Actually, I rather like her, so I will probably use her a lot. It is funny how a little example actually has inspired me.

 

[HoleInMyHead]

Here is Sir Richard

Here is my picture of Sir Richard: I like the idea of a bio. in narrative, so I am using the prologue for his bio.

http://www.storycrafter.com/cgfx/new/938ee407d50128af00138a515efe236b.jpg

 

[HoleInMyHead]

IC THREAD!!!!

 

[HermesVoice]

Yes! I'm excited for this. Several things:

Question the first - Will the thread remain open to other writers, or is this it? IMO two more writers would fill the team out nicely, but obviously this is not for me to say.

Question the second - In OOC threads I often like personal address. It's friendlier. If all are agreeable, might we submit acceptable names for address? (These could simply be the names of our characters as HoleInMy Head has done. For my part, I don't care what people use: HV, hermes)

Question the third - Is anyone writing posts from the Zarin perspective? I'm thinking mostly of NPCs here.

Question the fourth - What's the name of the pond at the north end of town? I will probably begin in that vicinity.

 

[HoleInMyHead]

Answers, The Many.

Question the first - I think that six is about the limit.

Question the second - Sure. Call me Hedra.... Oh wait, Richard. I do not mind Richard or Hole.

Question the third - It would be fine to write from their perspective. I was assuming that I would probably end up doing that, since in most games I am in, I seem to write for most of the NPCs. That is why I made my "please write for NPCs" appeal. I do not mind if you write for them and we are free form. I certainly plan to do so, at times. They are not one people, but a loose alliance of island tribes, with some infighting. If you write for one tribe, I can always post for another, if I want something else to happen. Even within the same tribe, rivalries can start.

Question the fourth - Uh... You would think that after making that kick-ass little map, using nothing but MS Word, I would have remembered little details like naming the damned ocean... Darkwater? The Green Sea? Lake Superior Maximus? Ms. Anne Blake's Bathtub?

How about this. You name it in your post, and I will modify the map to match. Post the name in the OCC section also.

I appreciate that you are detail oriented. I try to be, but I certainly do not mind working as a group on such questions.
__________________

 

[HoleInMyHead]

http://www.storycrafter.com/cgfx/new/d4379cea0460629909a12bbbfe68a113.jpg

Hedra is the daughter of the mayor.
She is in her mid-twenties, which is older age for women to find a husband. She has had dallied around, and her father is indulgent. Despite this, she is serious about her commitment to her home, and to educating children. She has been leading the educational council for three years, and works as a teacher. This position has made her single status more socially acceptable. She is a cheerful, somewhat naive, beacon of cheerfulness and hope, in a dark world.

http://www.storycrafter.com/cgfx/9388.jpg
Mayor Nickworth Smythe is a handsome older man, with a long, thick beard. He has a dry sense of humor and can seem rather reserved, but he is also a great public speaker. What he wants, more than anything else, is for his town and his daughter to survive. He is willing to do almost anything to achieve that, including letting his daughter marry a man that he doesn't like, if it might keep him and some of his troops around. He goes to the church, but he respect the native traditions, and resents the intrusion of the Empire. It has been five generations since they arrived, but his family has a long memory.

http://www.storycrafter.com/cgfx/5585.jpg

Orland Longwoods is a man of means. He is from the capital, but has moved too the Landon, and has started a small, but profitable shipping interest. He started with almost nothing, besides an education. He was apprenticed to a wealthy shipping magnet, but had to run away, when he was accused of raping the shipping magnet's daughter. It had been a lie. She had wanted him, but he had wanted to remain professional. She lied about him to her father, so Orland had no choice but to flee. His money has been made trading from Landon Town, because it is a waypoint on the way to a rich mining area, which the Empire has opened up for the last few years. He fears for his future, with the Empire leaving. Their navy is also pulling out. His ships can outrun and outfight the longboats, but he can not protect his interests on land as easily. He is a quiet, serious man, with warring senses of responsibility and self preservation.

 

[HoleInMyHead]

That was moving Val. Thank you for sharing that post with us.

 

[Valina]

Thanks, I know it doesn't really tie in with the previous post but it puts her in the playing field, anyone feel free to come upon her if they feel like getting shut down . Also my net is wonky so you won't see me around much in the next day or so.

 

[HoleInMyHead]

No worries. It is not always about tying in with other people's posts. You do not always have to tag. It is about the story of the whole city. Take care.

 

[HermesVoice]

Thanks, I know it doesn't really tie in with the previous post but it puts her in the playing field

Honestly I think that's all a first post SHOULD do. There's plenty of time for interaction; give the reader some time to know the character and the basics of exposition.

My game plan is to run my bio and simply add a bit to it, leaving Tanner drifting in the woods for the moment. Tanner couldn't bear to be shut down anyway. As his picture should show, he's a very sensitive fellow.

 

[HermesVoice]

The Croyden homestead is one of the oldest in the Landon area. Clan Croyden can trace seven generations back its lineage in the area, and it is a family with every intention of remaining at least seven generations more. Five sons (ranging 8-21), two daughters (12 & 18), and a wife are headed by Edward Croyden. The head of the clan is gruff and direct. He has no time to waste on foolish words or ideas that will not fit easily into his view of the world. He is also entirely honest, an utterly relaible man, and a ferocious enemy. He has raised all his children - boys and girls alike - in the same tradition.

He was given by his forefathers the keeping of a homestead, and he means to keep it forever. It is a fact the Zarin learned at intial cost, and they have, for the most part, steered well wide of the Croyden farm in their raids.

http://www.moziplussz.hu/kepek/szineszek/b/briancox.jpg

 

[HoleInMyHead]

I liked your first pic of Mr. Tanner. Now he looks a little to close to a certain character in a certain movie, with a certain pink bus, which I should not have found attractive, but did. Damn his hide, but he is a good actor. The grizzle was... comforting, but I will recover.

 

[HoleInMyHead]

Mari Meadows

http://www.storycrafter.com/cgfx/new/953488907ea2dc61e0073d2978483ea6.jpg

Mari Meadows is a pretty, plump daughter of the local midwife. She is a ray of eternal sunshine in a world growing darker by the day. Mari loves children, animals, flowers, people who wear flowers and finding people to lay with her among the flowers. She is a free soul that has give her mother many a worried, sleepless night. Officially, she helps her mother. Unofficially, she is the town pep squad leader.

Lester Fine
http://www.storycrafter.com/cgfx/9111.jpg

Lester is a large, handsome man, who is on the kind side of sixty. Despite his age, he still is a fine figure of a man, and attracts the eye of women half his age. He is the Chief Constable of Landon, and is responsible for all non-military legal affairs, as they relate to enforcement of the law and apprehension of criminals. He carries a massive oak staff of office, which is not purely ceremonial. His desire is simple. He wants a peaceful society where the rules are followed, but will occasional minor crimes, that let him bash someone. A willing wench and a tankard of ale also please him.

Theresa Fine

http://www.storycrafter.com/cgfx/new/0c2cb57f5b74f028f1f626f4270b92b1.jpg

Theresa Fine is Lester's long suffering wife. She has put up with his shit for years. She is still a beautiful woman, despite years of a husband who rarely beds her, properly, and often comes home smelling of other women and whiskey. She runs a hat shop, which has proven popular with some of the more upwardly mobile in society. Her desire is to one day cut off her husband's dick, and to shove it down his damned throat, but her financial holdings are legally in his name, since that is how the law works, and the law definitely works FOR him.

 

[Valina]

Just a question what is our time-line? Are we in the renaissance with rifles or further back?

 

[HoleInMyHead]

The Renaissance is about right, in terms of culture. The technology is about the Napoleonic era. The outlying towns are not as cultural yet, but there will be some richer folk who try to mimic high court society, even though the court would still see them as rural bumpkins. There can still be mermaids, unicorns and other magical things thought, as long as we do not turn into a game populated by fairy princesses. The magical world is just that... magical. When everyone is a fucking fairy, then they are no longer mysterious and wonderful. They are just gaudy and common.

 

[HoleInMyHead]

We need to do SOME tagging though.

Seraphim, I have sent you a little present, looking for some new wrappings. Good luck dealing with her! She is not exactly.... normal.

 

[HermesVoice]

I liked your first pic of Mr. Tanner. Now he looks a little to close to a certain character in a certain movie, with a certain pink bus, which I should not have found attractive, but did. Damn his hide, but he is a good actor. The grizzle was... comforting, but I will recover.

In truth your own pic is part of what brought about the shift. Sir Richard is older than Tanner but looked significantly younger in your pic. I thought it jarring, and as both Stamp and Glenn have the hard, angular faces I was looking for, I thought it an easy switchout.

And what a great movie is "Priscilla." (Might actually make a fun foundation for a thread of some kind.)

But be thankful. Your first thought might have been a certain character dressed in black with a goatee and a rather hefty set of superpowers.

Did you see Stamp in "The Limey"? Good stuff.