Post by Lyan on Nov 18, 2006 13:32:18 GMT
I'm still not done, so this will be updated from time to time, but I thought I wouldn't let you guys waiting any longer. 
Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Guide
2.1 Rp Slang
2.2 Getting started
2.3 Rules and Character Creation
2.4 Down to business
2.5 RP Etiquette
Size=8]Introduction[/size]
Hi! Welcome to Lyan’s Rp guide! I’m Lyan -no duh- and I’ll introduce you to the world of text-based RPG! What a text-based RPG is? It’s a game where you write the actions of you character. If you don’t like the idea, then just stop reading it right now. It’s a pretty long guide…The complete name is ‘text-based Role Playing Game’; but from now on, I’ll just call it an RP or RPG, ok? Right, on to the guide
Oh, one more thing! Please don’t copy this without my permission. This isn’t my lifework, but I still put some tome into it, so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t just copy it and say you made it. Thanks. Now, we can really start!
2. The Guide
For starters, a small text from Wikipedia:
An online text-based role playing game (OTBRPG) is a role-playing game played online using a solely text-based interface such as Telnet, an Internet Forum or in a chat. Online text-based role playing games predate graphical online games by several years, and can be attributed to the first attempts to bring multiplayer gaming to the internet, which culminated in the invention of MUDs, the forefather of MMORPGs.
2.1 Rp Slang
Below a list of words I might use. If your new to Rping, I suggest you read this.
- RP: Role-play: In this case, a text based RP, meaning you type what you character does.
- OOC: Out Of Character: Everything that you type out of the Rp world.
- IC: In Character: the opposite of OOC.
- Post: One message on the forum.
- One-liner: A very short post, that consist out of one line or sentence
- Avatar: the picture displayed in your mini-profile
- Mini profile: A small profile that can be viewed to the left of your posts.
- Charrie: Short for Character
- Pic: Short for Picture
Anything else will be explained in the Guide, because It’d be too long
2.2 Getting started
First of all, you have to register, of course. I hope you can do that yourself…
But I will say this: Don’t just join every RPG you find. There are tons of them to choose from, and some may be your type, some may not. Don’t register and never post afterwards…
After registering, I suggest you press the ‘My profile’ button on top of the page.
You’ll get a complete review of your posts and activity. Now, select ‘Modify’.
Good! Scroll down a bit, and you’ll see a bar with ‘Display name’ in front of it. This is the name displayed in the mini-profile to the left of your posts. Pick an original name, preferably the name of your character, so it’s easy for people to recognize who they’re Rping with.
If you think you username suffices, then I still suggest you let it start it with a capital letter.
You don’t have to do that, but it sure bugs me…
Alright, now you’ve done that, scroll down a bit more, until you reach the avatar settings.
If you don’t know what an avatar is, then you should read ‘Rp Slang’.
You can choose an avatar already provided by Proboards, or you can find one on the net and use the link! In that case, put the link in the ‘Avatar URL’ box, and Voilà! You have your own avatar. (You can also modify the height and width, but if you pick a 100x100 picture, there’s no problem) Please set your avatars onto Photobucket or Imageshack, because every time their pics are used costs them some web space…
A signature, or sig for short, is a little space beneath your posts where you can put a text, a pic, or anything else you think is worth showing you fellow rper! Usually, there’s a nice picture of the member’s charrie and it’s name. I suggest you don’t use big or animated picture, because it slows down the load time for a page. Also, If it’s a big picture, everyone -you included- will have to scroll down it completely before being able to read the next post.
You can write something here, but you don’t have too.
I will skip all other things on this page, because I think you can handle that yourself.
Lastly, if there’s a Introducing board or anything, take the effort on posting in it
Ok, this was the first chapter! On to the next one!
2.3 Rules and Character Creation
Rules:
Before posting a character, you should read the rules. This is mostly the same one all RPG’s -no racial slurs, etc - but sometimes there’s a special rule. (For instance: You have to start Rping in a specific board) If you don’t pay attention, you might get in trouble. Best to stay good friends with the admin…
Character Creation:
Characters, or charries, are the people you play with in the RP. It’s important that you put an effort into them, because you’ll have to use them for a while. Also, don’t make them all-powerful, like they can stop time. That wouldn’t be fair for the other members.
Don’t go creating characters like crazy. The usual amount allowed on sites is two, because otherwise, it can get too confusing. Think before you make one. Would it be easy to Rp with that kind of character? Isn’t it too powerful? Does it actually make sense? Please don’t create five or six characters, and then throw the first two away…
Below some info on the general character format:
Name: Self-explanatory
Age: Self-explanatory
Gender: Self-explanatory
Race: The race of your character. This is commonly used in fantasy RPG’s.
Appearance: What your character looks like. Type either a paragraph, or use a picture. I suggest a picture, so it’s easier for other’s to picture your character.
Personality: Is he/she nice, or mean? How does he/she act, etc.
History: What’s you character’s story?
Always stick to what you fill in here. If I say for instance: ‘Lyan is very shy’, he can’t just walk up to someone and say: ‘Hey baby, how you doing?’ Capice?
On most sites, you’ll need to wait for an admin to approve it, then, you can finally get to Rping!
2.4 Down to business
Godmodding or powerplaying
Right. I’m not going to explain you how to post, because that would be plain pathetic.
I will however, tell you something about god-modding.
God-modding or powerplaying is making a god out of your character. No one always hits and dodges.
For instance:
Lyan stroke at his opponent, and separated his head from his body.
*end of fight*
Wrong! This could’ve been possible, if the opponent was an NPC -A person that isn’t played by an other member-, but in case it’s played by someone else, you’re not allowed to just kill him in one post.
Correct way:
Lyan stroke at his opponent’s neck.
Shorter, I know, but It’s much more fair this way. The only exception on this, is if the other one Pm’s you, saying you can do that.
The same goes for dodging. If you enemy is polite enough not to god-mod, let your character get hit every now and then. One of the most fun things of Rping, I think, is showing each other some respect. Always be nice to one another, even if they’re breaking the rules, just PM them or post OOC, telling them politely that they are breaking them. If they get rude, then contact an admin. If you act like a jerk, you’ll get yourself a bad reputation.
Post Count
One of the most irritating things in the world are one-liners. Try to avoid this as much as possible. Always make sure your post counts more then one sentence, and that you character is always doing something. Instead of :
“Hello! Who are you?”
Say:
“Hello, who are you?” Lyan said, while shuffling his feet a bit nervous. He wasn’t very good at socialising.
I think that should be a minimum. Try to be as detailed as possible. If your character tripped over a vase, then describe how it looks! I know, who cares, but just adding some more adjectives make your posts more fun to read! Really, try it!
Here’s a kick-ass post by Gryphon Shadowbringer on Oscail Anam. It counts over 1.800 words:
As soon as she stepped into the market square, Gryphon was bombarded by sights, sounds and smells, many of which she had never experienced before. She had turned the corner from a slim alleyway made of uneven cobblestones and leaning old buildings. The buildings looked shabby, and almost abandoned. The mid-morning sun had not yet slid over their roofs and Gryphon had walked in shadow. It was calm and dark, but had a steady undercurrent of poverty, danger, and sorrow. This was where the street children lived.
But then, she stepped out of the shadow and into the glorious sunlight of a perfectly clear day. At once, the marketplace exploded into her senses. The quiet, serene feeling was shoved away by the loud and gaudy bazaar. The harsh sunlight only accented the various bright colors, and the worn cobbled ground only caused the sharp yells, bells, and whistles to echo.
Gryphon was in such awe of the splendor that she could do little more than gape at the scene. The square literally was a square. Around all the edges were buildings, many of them two stories high. These held many of the upper class shops and boutiques. Established carpenters, smiths, and dressmakers were among these. Their shops had thick wooden doors, occasional windows, and intricate hanging signs with gold and silver filigree stating their name and purpose. These shops had fine items of good quality, but the prices were generally matched to that degree, so few other than merchants and nobles bought from them.
In the center of the square was a large, circular, marble fountain. It had been built in a time of prosperity in the kingdom. Water spurted from the great white statue at the fountain’s center. The statue was that of a dragon, rearing on its back legs, wings apart. It’s head was thrown back and pointed straight up to the sky, as if howling; a symbol of power. Clinging onto the dragon’s back with his legs was a marble rider. In one hand, he held a great sword that, like the maw of the dragon, pointed at the sky. His other arm was thrown upward, portraying either struggle or triumph. His mouth was open in a great yell. Where fire would have been erupting from the dragon’s mouth was a great spray of water that shot up into the sky, small glistening droplets raining back down against the blue. Lesser spurts of water arose from other points on the statue, including the riders’ sword and the horns of the great dragon
Gryphon had heard that the young man riding the dragon was a king, one who had died long ago. A great Rí, one of courage and peace, of valor and dignity, of equality and honor. Legend had it that the great Rís of long ago had the power to change into dragons, but that this ability had been lost over time through greed and brutality. Gryphon didn’t know what to believe. Along the edge of the great fountain may people stooped with buckets and flasks, getting their drinking water. Most of these were women in long, homemade skirts, their hair braided or hanging loose. They were getting water for their family, their children with them. Many children splashed around in the fountain, grinning, yelling, and shrieking with glee. They tried to catch the falling drops or toss water at their mothers (earning disapproving looks) or at their peers. The young girls hiked up their skirts to run through the clear water, but this could not prevent a thorough drenching. Likewise, the young boys tied up their leggings, only to have the same result. It was a wonderful scene, and Gryphon felt a smile come over her face. There was so much joy and spirit.
Small corridors of cobbled ground separated the permanent shops from the first row of market stalls. Some of these stalls were still in shadow, as the sun had not yet reached its zenith, and wouldn’t for a few hours more. After these even rows of stalls, the order disintegrated, leaving everything else haphazard and in chaos. Most of the square was filled with stalls and people. The sheer quantity of each was overwhelming. The stalls were wooden. Most of them were not permanent constructions, and a few even had wheels, and were carts of one sort or another. Many of the stalls had canvas covers to block out rain or sun, or hide shady business deals. Many of the shops sold food, but almost everything was sold in this marketplace of Oscail Anam. The food smelled excellent; a million different scents all mixing together and spilling out into the city. Gryphon smelled freshly baked bread, fish, and even such exotic scents as a hint of curry.
Quite a few of the stalls hung brightly colored cloths and clothes out to catch the eye of any who passed by. Others had bells or charms that hung from their “roofs” and swayed and jangled in the breeze. Shopkeepers yelled out, calling for people to buy their wares, and children screamed with excitement as they chased each other through the throng of people. The noise itself was overwhelming, but Gryphon finally steeled herself, and began to walk into the crowd.
The closer Gryphon got to the center of the square, the more people she had to push through. Many of these people were buying, some were selling, and some did both at once. It was this third group that sold the shady items; street gang members, Revolutionists, and opium dealers. A man leading a donkey walked quickly in front of Gryphon, barking at her to watch her step. This lifted her briefly from her awe-induced stupor, and she began looking in earnest for what she came for.
Gryphon came to the market in Seold de na Tonn to find two things: a weapon, and a cloak. She only had a small amount of gold, and did not feel that her needs were quite so necessary to justify stealing, so she was looking for high quality but cheap. Unsurprisingly, these were hard to find. Gryphon walked along, passively eyeing shops without engaging their owners in conversation.
Finally, she spotted what she was looking for. A rather small stall tended by a rather gruff looking, middle aged man. This seemed to be selling acceptable weapons for an affordable price. He probably got these off the black-market. Gryphon approached the stall slowly, as a customer shuffled off and disappeared into the crowd. She met eyes, and nodded at the stalls’ owner, and began to look over his merchandise. She was looking for a set of knives, and a dagger; speed weapons.
The dagger was not hard to find. There was, in fact, quite a selection at this particular stand. Some had intricate carvings; others had curved blades, or gems. Gryphon picked up one with a phoenix on the handle. She tested it on her tunic, sharp. She tossed it up in the air and caught it, good balance. She pushed her finger against the flat of the blade, strong. Finally, she inspected closely the handle. It was there that she found a fault. The original owner’s name was inscribed on it. Gryphon didn’t want to be traced. She wordlessly handed it to the merchant, and pointed to the tiny words, doing him a favor. He inspected it, grunted, and slid it under the stand’s display, and out of visibility. Gryphon picked up a plain steel dagger, and tested it like she had done with the previous one. Finding no faults, she laid it on the edge of the stand.
”It’ll do, it’s good quality, even though plain”, she thought. ”How much?” she asked the shopkeeper. “Well, that would be fifty gold, but ye can have it fer thirty-five”, Gryphon knew that she had possibly saved this man’s career. It was a fair price, and Gryphon took the requested coins out from a worn leather bag at her waist. She handed them to the man, and slid the sheath of the dagger onto her belt before carefully placing the dagger in it. Gryphon quickly scanned the table, no knives. ”You don’t happen to sell knives, by any chance, do you?” Gryphon let her voice trail off.
“I’m fairly sure that I got some last night, give me a moment to look for them”, the shopkeeper said gruffly. He bent down beneath the stall to search for the knives, and continued to speak to Gryphon. “Pretty good quality, too,” he said, “I got ‘em from a chap last night. Big fellow, sold them cheap too. Quite a bargain if ye ask me.” He stopped and grabbed a small wooden box, “Ahh, ‘ere ye are”. The man stood up, set the box on the display, and let out a big breath. He then ran his hand through his thick, graying hair, and lifted the lid off of the box. Inside, were seven knives of varying sizes. All had a plain black handle, and new steel blades. Gryphon drew a sharp breath, these were valuable- plain, but of the finest make, and they wouldn’t come cheap.
The merchant began to tell her where each knife was supposed to be kept, but Gryphon already knew. She cut him off, ”How much are they worth?” “Quite a fortune”, was his reply, “But I’ll sell them for five hundred gold”. The price about fit a black market deal, less than an object’s actual worth, but more than a person could pay for it. Gryphon, not having the amount requested, decided to haggle, and after a few minutes, buyer and seller agreed upon three hundred gold pieces. Reluctantly, Gryphon handed over the coins, her purse drained to a tenth of its original weight.
Carefully, almost daintily, Gryphon slipped the knives into their proper positions. One (midsized) went down each leather boot, and two slightly smaller knives were strapped onto her arms with leather thongs. These were exceptionally flat, with the hilts close to her palms for easy access. The white sleeves of her tunic quickly fell over her wrists, hiding these knives. The largest knife was in plain view, opposite her dagger, and another large one was concealed on her back under her tunic. The last knife, and by far the smallest, folded up, and was hung on a delicate silver chain that Gryphon placed around her neck. She carefully tucked the knife under her tunic, so nobody would think the chain was any more than a piece of jewelry.
Gryphon politely thanked the shopkeeper and turned to face the crowd. She had very little money left, and knew that she would probably be forced to steal if she wanted to complete her shopping. Gryphon disliked this prospect, but not enough to have to work weeks for gold that she could get in a day. Besides, her wings itched under their tight bindings and a cloak was a necessity if she wanted to give herself and freedom. So, she set off in search of a very inexpensive cloak, or a very rich shopper from whom she would appropriate the necessary amount.
She wrote 375 words about a fountain. How detailed can you get? ;D
2.5 Rp Etiquette
Yes, believe it or not, there are certain rules on this. On each forum there is always an OOC part, and it helps to be polite on there. Note: this chapter is based on what I think, you shouldn’t take them too serious, alright?
1. Always respect the staff. They - usually - try to make the forum as nice as possible for you. Although you can of course express your opinion. Just don’t curse at them. They have to follow their own rules of course, they can’t just god-mod because they’re staff members.
2. Always also respect your fellow Rper. No matter how annoying they are, try to stay nice. If they insult you, don’t yell back, but contact a staff member.
3. Don’t just jump into threads, unless it says (open) in the title. Imagine your about to post a new twist in the plot, and some guy suddenly kicks in the door. That is annoying. always before you enter a thread that ‘s already being going.
I’ll add more to this soon
Special thanks[/size]
Some special thanks:
- Taishe and DHF, who introduced me to the world of RPing.
- Kingdom Hearts 3: The Ring of Keys, who were so bad they motivated me to write this guide. Hehe, no, just kidding guys! ;D
18-11-06 All rights not reserved
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Lyan’s RP Guide
[/u][/center]Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Guide
2.1 Rp Slang
2.2 Getting started
2.3 Rules and Character Creation
2.4 Down to business
2.5 RP Etiquette
Size=8]Introduction[/size]
Hi! Welcome to Lyan’s Rp guide! I’m Lyan -no duh- and I’ll introduce you to the world of text-based RPG! What a text-based RPG is? It’s a game where you write the actions of you character. If you don’t like the idea, then just stop reading it right now. It’s a pretty long guide…The complete name is ‘text-based Role Playing Game’; but from now on, I’ll just call it an RP or RPG, ok? Right, on to the guide
Oh, one more thing! Please don’t copy this without my permission. This isn’t my lifework, but I still put some tome into it, so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t just copy it and say you made it. Thanks. Now, we can really start!
2. The Guide
For starters, a small text from Wikipedia:
An online text-based role playing game (OTBRPG) is a role-playing game played online using a solely text-based interface such as Telnet, an Internet Forum or in a chat. Online text-based role playing games predate graphical online games by several years, and can be attributed to the first attempts to bring multiplayer gaming to the internet, which culminated in the invention of MUDs, the forefather of MMORPGs.
2.1 Rp Slang
Below a list of words I might use. If your new to Rping, I suggest you read this.
- RP: Role-play: In this case, a text based RP, meaning you type what you character does.
- OOC: Out Of Character: Everything that you type out of the Rp world.
- IC: In Character: the opposite of OOC.
- Post: One message on the forum.
- One-liner: A very short post, that consist out of one line or sentence
- Avatar: the picture displayed in your mini-profile
- Mini profile: A small profile that can be viewed to the left of your posts.
- Charrie: Short for Character
- Pic: Short for Picture
Anything else will be explained in the Guide, because It’d be too long
2.2 Getting started
First of all, you have to register, of course. I hope you can do that yourself…
But I will say this: Don’t just join every RPG you find. There are tons of them to choose from, and some may be your type, some may not. Don’t register and never post afterwards…
After registering, I suggest you press the ‘My profile’ button on top of the page.
You’ll get a complete review of your posts and activity. Now, select ‘Modify’.
Good! Scroll down a bit, and you’ll see a bar with ‘Display name’ in front of it. This is the name displayed in the mini-profile to the left of your posts. Pick an original name, preferably the name of your character, so it’s easy for people to recognize who they’re Rping with.
If you think you username suffices, then I still suggest you let it start it with a capital letter.
You don’t have to do that, but it sure bugs me…
Alright, now you’ve done that, scroll down a bit more, until you reach the avatar settings.
If you don’t know what an avatar is, then you should read ‘Rp Slang’.
You can choose an avatar already provided by Proboards, or you can find one on the net and use the link! In that case, put the link in the ‘Avatar URL’ box, and Voilà! You have your own avatar. (You can also modify the height and width, but if you pick a 100x100 picture, there’s no problem) Please set your avatars onto Photobucket or Imageshack, because every time their pics are used costs them some web space…
A signature, or sig for short, is a little space beneath your posts where you can put a text, a pic, or anything else you think is worth showing you fellow rper! Usually, there’s a nice picture of the member’s charrie and it’s name. I suggest you don’t use big or animated picture, because it slows down the load time for a page. Also, If it’s a big picture, everyone -you included- will have to scroll down it completely before being able to read the next post.
You can write something here, but you don’t have too.
I will skip all other things on this page, because I think you can handle that yourself.
Lastly, if there’s a Introducing board or anything, take the effort on posting in it
Ok, this was the first chapter! On to the next one!
2.3 Rules and Character Creation
Rules:
Before posting a character, you should read the rules. This is mostly the same one all RPG’s -no racial slurs, etc - but sometimes there’s a special rule. (For instance: You have to start Rping in a specific board) If you don’t pay attention, you might get in trouble. Best to stay good friends with the admin…
Character Creation:
Characters, or charries, are the people you play with in the RP. It’s important that you put an effort into them, because you’ll have to use them for a while. Also, don’t make them all-powerful, like they can stop time. That wouldn’t be fair for the other members.
Don’t go creating characters like crazy. The usual amount allowed on sites is two, because otherwise, it can get too confusing. Think before you make one. Would it be easy to Rp with that kind of character? Isn’t it too powerful? Does it actually make sense? Please don’t create five or six characters, and then throw the first two away…
Below some info on the general character format:
Name: Self-explanatory
Age: Self-explanatory
Gender: Self-explanatory
Race: The race of your character. This is commonly used in fantasy RPG’s.
Appearance: What your character looks like. Type either a paragraph, or use a picture. I suggest a picture, so it’s easier for other’s to picture your character.
Personality: Is he/she nice, or mean? How does he/she act, etc.
History: What’s you character’s story?
Always stick to what you fill in here. If I say for instance: ‘Lyan is very shy’, he can’t just walk up to someone and say: ‘Hey baby, how you doing?’ Capice?
On most sites, you’ll need to wait for an admin to approve it, then, you can finally get to Rping!
2.4 Down to business
Godmodding or powerplaying
Right. I’m not going to explain you how to post, because that would be plain pathetic.
I will however, tell you something about god-modding.
God-modding or powerplaying is making a god out of your character. No one always hits and dodges.
For instance:
Lyan stroke at his opponent, and separated his head from his body.
*end of fight*
Wrong! This could’ve been possible, if the opponent was an NPC -A person that isn’t played by an other member-, but in case it’s played by someone else, you’re not allowed to just kill him in one post.
Correct way:
Lyan stroke at his opponent’s neck.
Shorter, I know, but It’s much more fair this way. The only exception on this, is if the other one Pm’s you, saying you can do that.
The same goes for dodging. If you enemy is polite enough not to god-mod, let your character get hit every now and then. One of the most fun things of Rping, I think, is showing each other some respect. Always be nice to one another, even if they’re breaking the rules, just PM them or post OOC, telling them politely that they are breaking them. If they get rude, then contact an admin. If you act like a jerk, you’ll get yourself a bad reputation.
Post Count
One of the most irritating things in the world are one-liners. Try to avoid this as much as possible. Always make sure your post counts more then one sentence, and that you character is always doing something. Instead of :
“Hello! Who are you?”
Say:
“Hello, who are you?” Lyan said, while shuffling his feet a bit nervous. He wasn’t very good at socialising.
I think that should be a minimum. Try to be as detailed as possible. If your character tripped over a vase, then describe how it looks! I know, who cares, but just adding some more adjectives make your posts more fun to read! Really, try it!
Here’s a kick-ass post by Gryphon Shadowbringer on Oscail Anam. It counts over 1.800 words:
As soon as she stepped into the market square, Gryphon was bombarded by sights, sounds and smells, many of which she had never experienced before. She had turned the corner from a slim alleyway made of uneven cobblestones and leaning old buildings. The buildings looked shabby, and almost abandoned. The mid-morning sun had not yet slid over their roofs and Gryphon had walked in shadow. It was calm and dark, but had a steady undercurrent of poverty, danger, and sorrow. This was where the street children lived.
But then, she stepped out of the shadow and into the glorious sunlight of a perfectly clear day. At once, the marketplace exploded into her senses. The quiet, serene feeling was shoved away by the loud and gaudy bazaar. The harsh sunlight only accented the various bright colors, and the worn cobbled ground only caused the sharp yells, bells, and whistles to echo.
Gryphon was in such awe of the splendor that she could do little more than gape at the scene. The square literally was a square. Around all the edges were buildings, many of them two stories high. These held many of the upper class shops and boutiques. Established carpenters, smiths, and dressmakers were among these. Their shops had thick wooden doors, occasional windows, and intricate hanging signs with gold and silver filigree stating their name and purpose. These shops had fine items of good quality, but the prices were generally matched to that degree, so few other than merchants and nobles bought from them.
In the center of the square was a large, circular, marble fountain. It had been built in a time of prosperity in the kingdom. Water spurted from the great white statue at the fountain’s center. The statue was that of a dragon, rearing on its back legs, wings apart. It’s head was thrown back and pointed straight up to the sky, as if howling; a symbol of power. Clinging onto the dragon’s back with his legs was a marble rider. In one hand, he held a great sword that, like the maw of the dragon, pointed at the sky. His other arm was thrown upward, portraying either struggle or triumph. His mouth was open in a great yell. Where fire would have been erupting from the dragon’s mouth was a great spray of water that shot up into the sky, small glistening droplets raining back down against the blue. Lesser spurts of water arose from other points on the statue, including the riders’ sword and the horns of the great dragon
Gryphon had heard that the young man riding the dragon was a king, one who had died long ago. A great Rí, one of courage and peace, of valor and dignity, of equality and honor. Legend had it that the great Rís of long ago had the power to change into dragons, but that this ability had been lost over time through greed and brutality. Gryphon didn’t know what to believe. Along the edge of the great fountain may people stooped with buckets and flasks, getting their drinking water. Most of these were women in long, homemade skirts, their hair braided or hanging loose. They were getting water for their family, their children with them. Many children splashed around in the fountain, grinning, yelling, and shrieking with glee. They tried to catch the falling drops or toss water at their mothers (earning disapproving looks) or at their peers. The young girls hiked up their skirts to run through the clear water, but this could not prevent a thorough drenching. Likewise, the young boys tied up their leggings, only to have the same result. It was a wonderful scene, and Gryphon felt a smile come over her face. There was so much joy and spirit.
Small corridors of cobbled ground separated the permanent shops from the first row of market stalls. Some of these stalls were still in shadow, as the sun had not yet reached its zenith, and wouldn’t for a few hours more. After these even rows of stalls, the order disintegrated, leaving everything else haphazard and in chaos. Most of the square was filled with stalls and people. The sheer quantity of each was overwhelming. The stalls were wooden. Most of them were not permanent constructions, and a few even had wheels, and were carts of one sort or another. Many of the stalls had canvas covers to block out rain or sun, or hide shady business deals. Many of the shops sold food, but almost everything was sold in this marketplace of Oscail Anam. The food smelled excellent; a million different scents all mixing together and spilling out into the city. Gryphon smelled freshly baked bread, fish, and even such exotic scents as a hint of curry.
Quite a few of the stalls hung brightly colored cloths and clothes out to catch the eye of any who passed by. Others had bells or charms that hung from their “roofs” and swayed and jangled in the breeze. Shopkeepers yelled out, calling for people to buy their wares, and children screamed with excitement as they chased each other through the throng of people. The noise itself was overwhelming, but Gryphon finally steeled herself, and began to walk into the crowd.
The closer Gryphon got to the center of the square, the more people she had to push through. Many of these people were buying, some were selling, and some did both at once. It was this third group that sold the shady items; street gang members, Revolutionists, and opium dealers. A man leading a donkey walked quickly in front of Gryphon, barking at her to watch her step. This lifted her briefly from her awe-induced stupor, and she began looking in earnest for what she came for.
Gryphon came to the market in Seold de na Tonn to find two things: a weapon, and a cloak. She only had a small amount of gold, and did not feel that her needs were quite so necessary to justify stealing, so she was looking for high quality but cheap. Unsurprisingly, these were hard to find. Gryphon walked along, passively eyeing shops without engaging their owners in conversation.
Finally, she spotted what she was looking for. A rather small stall tended by a rather gruff looking, middle aged man. This seemed to be selling acceptable weapons for an affordable price. He probably got these off the black-market. Gryphon approached the stall slowly, as a customer shuffled off and disappeared into the crowd. She met eyes, and nodded at the stalls’ owner, and began to look over his merchandise. She was looking for a set of knives, and a dagger; speed weapons.
The dagger was not hard to find. There was, in fact, quite a selection at this particular stand. Some had intricate carvings; others had curved blades, or gems. Gryphon picked up one with a phoenix on the handle. She tested it on her tunic, sharp. She tossed it up in the air and caught it, good balance. She pushed her finger against the flat of the blade, strong. Finally, she inspected closely the handle. It was there that she found a fault. The original owner’s name was inscribed on it. Gryphon didn’t want to be traced. She wordlessly handed it to the merchant, and pointed to the tiny words, doing him a favor. He inspected it, grunted, and slid it under the stand’s display, and out of visibility. Gryphon picked up a plain steel dagger, and tested it like she had done with the previous one. Finding no faults, she laid it on the edge of the stand.
”It’ll do, it’s good quality, even though plain”, she thought. ”How much?” she asked the shopkeeper. “Well, that would be fifty gold, but ye can have it fer thirty-five”, Gryphon knew that she had possibly saved this man’s career. It was a fair price, and Gryphon took the requested coins out from a worn leather bag at her waist. She handed them to the man, and slid the sheath of the dagger onto her belt before carefully placing the dagger in it. Gryphon quickly scanned the table, no knives. ”You don’t happen to sell knives, by any chance, do you?” Gryphon let her voice trail off.
“I’m fairly sure that I got some last night, give me a moment to look for them”, the shopkeeper said gruffly. He bent down beneath the stall to search for the knives, and continued to speak to Gryphon. “Pretty good quality, too,” he said, “I got ‘em from a chap last night. Big fellow, sold them cheap too. Quite a bargain if ye ask me.” He stopped and grabbed a small wooden box, “Ahh, ‘ere ye are”. The man stood up, set the box on the display, and let out a big breath. He then ran his hand through his thick, graying hair, and lifted the lid off of the box. Inside, were seven knives of varying sizes. All had a plain black handle, and new steel blades. Gryphon drew a sharp breath, these were valuable- plain, but of the finest make, and they wouldn’t come cheap.
The merchant began to tell her where each knife was supposed to be kept, but Gryphon already knew. She cut him off, ”How much are they worth?” “Quite a fortune”, was his reply, “But I’ll sell them for five hundred gold”. The price about fit a black market deal, less than an object’s actual worth, but more than a person could pay for it. Gryphon, not having the amount requested, decided to haggle, and after a few minutes, buyer and seller agreed upon three hundred gold pieces. Reluctantly, Gryphon handed over the coins, her purse drained to a tenth of its original weight.
Carefully, almost daintily, Gryphon slipped the knives into their proper positions. One (midsized) went down each leather boot, and two slightly smaller knives were strapped onto her arms with leather thongs. These were exceptionally flat, with the hilts close to her palms for easy access. The white sleeves of her tunic quickly fell over her wrists, hiding these knives. The largest knife was in plain view, opposite her dagger, and another large one was concealed on her back under her tunic. The last knife, and by far the smallest, folded up, and was hung on a delicate silver chain that Gryphon placed around her neck. She carefully tucked the knife under her tunic, so nobody would think the chain was any more than a piece of jewelry.
Gryphon politely thanked the shopkeeper and turned to face the crowd. She had very little money left, and knew that she would probably be forced to steal if she wanted to complete her shopping. Gryphon disliked this prospect, but not enough to have to work weeks for gold that she could get in a day. Besides, her wings itched under their tight bindings and a cloak was a necessity if she wanted to give herself and freedom. So, she set off in search of a very inexpensive cloak, or a very rich shopper from whom she would appropriate the necessary amount.
She wrote 375 words about a fountain. How detailed can you get? ;D
2.5 Rp Etiquette
Yes, believe it or not, there are certain rules on this. On each forum there is always an OOC part, and it helps to be polite on there. Note: this chapter is based on what I think, you shouldn’t take them too serious, alright?
1. Always respect the staff. They - usually - try to make the forum as nice as possible for you. Although you can of course express your opinion. Just don’t curse at them. They have to follow their own rules of course, they can’t just god-mod because they’re staff members.
2. Always also respect your fellow Rper. No matter how annoying they are, try to stay nice. If they insult you, don’t yell back, but contact a staff member.
3. Don’t just jump into threads, unless it says (open) in the title. Imagine your about to post a new twist in the plot, and some guy suddenly kicks in the door. That is annoying. always before you enter a thread that ‘s already being going.
I’ll add more to this soon
Special thanks[/size]
Some special thanks:
- Taishe and DHF, who introduced me to the world of RPing.
- Kingdom Hearts 3: The Ring of Keys, who were so bad they motivated me to write this guide. Hehe, no, just kidding guys! ;D
18-11-06 All rights not reserved
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