<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Vague Description and Premise of the Roleplay</div><div class="spoiler_body">The genre is contemporary fantasy. The setting, and where the story starts off, is a small visual and performing arts university (still unnamed) that is well known for gathering gifted rising stars of those in artistic fields - singers, dancers, artists, filmmakers and actors, musicians. Our main characters will be an assorted collection of students, professors, or other individuals who might plausibly work full-time or frequently at the university. They may know of each other or know each other peripherally, but none of them are especially close to any of the others, though they may have mutual connections, have taken classes together, or simply have seen each other around.<br/><br/>Recently, strange things have happened around our main characters - things disappearing, noises in the night. They get the feeling that they're being stalked or watched, and even though it seems paranoid to think so, they feel like someone is trying to scare them or even hurt them. They've also been experiencing strange moments - when they get angry or emotional, things happen. <br/><br/>All five of them are somewhere as yet undetermined - maybe an elevator, maybe a conference room - when something happens that almost kills them. Fortunately for them, a Mysterious Being who will be introduced during the roleplay saves them, taking them somewhere that's definitely not the real world. It's a very "We're definitely not in Kansas anymore" moment.<br/><br/>The Mysterious Being explains that they are all descendants of powerful deities, with the blood of gods running through their veins. What this means is that in life, they are something special - on stage, they have that extra spark; their work has a special something. It separates them from the crowd, and it's the difference between being merely 'good' and puts them in the category of talented. In magical terms, their magical heritage means that they are all possessors of a Gift - magical or supernatural talents that have, until now, remained dormant.<br/><br/>Their Gifts have become active now because a great Evil (to be determined by further discussion) has, in the past few centuries, slowly become very powerful in an alternate realm that exists parallel to the real world. It is the world As It Was Created - forests, lakes, grottos... and most fascinating of all to our characters, magical creatures such as the fae. Even worse, the Evil has recently undergone a period of quiet activity, which the forces of Good have taken to mean that they are up to something. The recent attacks are the result of a future foreseen by an oracle who prophesies that evil will fall at the hands of five who wield the power of the old gods - their attackers decided to preemptively strike before their problem could become a problem.<br/><br/>Our five characters need to learn how to use their Gifts and then embark on a journey through this parallel realm to save this secret and magical world, for if this realm falls to evil, so too will their own world enter a dark age when all that is good and beautiful will be snuffed out.<br/><br/>Some additional notes: I was throwing around the idea that our characters might be descended from gods of different cultures - for example, Greek gods, Egyptian gods, Indian gods - but that's not an idea or aspect of the roleplay that is set in stone, because I'm worried that having this multi-cultural gods thing might be more chaotic than simply choosing one pantheon and sticking with that. Other things that need to be worked out include what exactly this magical parallel realm really is, some different characteristics of the school and its local community. It is undetermined how travel between the parallel realm and the real world will take place, and I have also not yet decided if there is any kind of time disparity between the two - that is, time in the parallel realm running faster than in the real world.</div></div><br/><hr/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>List Of Questions to Answer</strong></span><br/><br/><strong>♦ What is the name of the college our characters will be attending or working at?</strong><br/>I have chosen to use Bryn Mawr (http://www.brynmawr.edu/campus/) for our campus environment. However, I would like to rename the college for our purposes.<br/>It is not important for us to know the names of any of the buildings at this time, so no need to memorize any campus maps. :)<br/><br/><strong>♦ One pantheon, many pantheons, or none?</strong><br/>I've mentioned to all of you, I think, of the possibility of introducing characters who are descended from deities from different cultures, and then basing their powers/gifts (for the purposes of the roleplay, they will be referred to be NPCs as gifts; obviously, your characters can think of them in whatever terms they prefer) on elements of that particular belief system, religion, culture, and so on. However, I've gotten some feedback (and I came across the same possibility) that this might be more chaotic than it really needs to be.<br/>We can choose to use a single pantheon, of course; that would simplify things immensely. If we choose to do this, we would need to agree on a single one.<br/>Another possibility is that we will throw together a pantheon (example, each person creates 6 gods or goddesses, we throw them together, and then pick a "leader") and our characters' powers will stem from whatever is available; everyone would pretty much be equal unless noted otherwise, none of the gods or goddesses would be "evil" or "good", they simply<em>are</em>- I hope that makes sense. This will more than likely involve the greatest amount of work (though I would absolutely be willing to bear the brunt of it), as the pantheon<em>will</em>play a role if we choose to include one in the roleplay. However, I do feel that this might give us the most freedom in terms of what the world will be.<br/>Lastly, another possibility is no pantheon, and just have random powers (within limits).<br/><br/><strong>♦ Let's give a name to our parallel realm. Mostly because I want to stop calling it "the parallel realm to the real world."</strong><br/><br/><strong>♦ As a general note, your characters can be anybody who attends, works at, or for any other reason might frequently/regularly go to the school.</strong><br/>That means guest lecturers, professors, industry professionals, students, among others. I'm not going to say you can't be this or that, but the college is meant to be a common gathering place for our characters, so it would be important for the campus to be a common destination in your character's weekly and/or daily routine.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>That's it for now, If you have anything you'd like to bring up to be included here, please post and I will modify this post accordingly!