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The Choices that Made us [w/characterisation workshop]



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Wed Mar 23, 2016 8:07 pm
crossroads says...



Nine years ago, each for their own reasons, they crossed the Wall and wandered into the Beyond. Now, they share a dream both inviting and terrifying, that leaves them breathless and each with a partial map of the Beyond tattooed on their skin. The message is clear; someone or something from the other side of the Wall, there where the forces of nature cease to play by the rules and all kinds of creatures lurk at every corner, is calling them to return.

***



The kingdom of Kraeh, a small but wealthy country on the Daasiar peninsula, thrives under the rule of the King. Be it development of their art, technologicy or society, the consensus stands that these are the land's golden ages. The only person who seems to voice any concerns -- or, for that matter, have any concerns -- is the Princess; the King's only daughter and heir who, despite her desire and efforts to be the sophisticated kind of beautiful woman her mother once was, seems to always end up the direct opposite.

No matter how much she'd prefer to be more like her cousin, an orphaned Lady who has lived most of her life in the castle and equally as much with her nose burried in a book, and whom everyone traditionally considers the most graceful creature to walk the castle's corridors, Princess' efforts are always cut short.
It can hardly be considered her fault, though. After all, what kind of future queen would she be if she wasn't ready to tear her dress on a branch while bringing a baby bird back to its nest, or earning herself a bruise or two while playing with the maid's baby triplets?

What the Princess sees, and what somehow seems to escape the eyes and ears of everyone else, are the quiet conversations and shifty eyes, scared glances and half-formed rumours that all point at the same: the Empire, both from the islands in the east and their lands in the west, is recruiting blacksmiths and readying its army -- and the Princess can hardly think of a target more suitable than Kraeh.

And then, before she manages to think of what to do or how to more or less gently direct her father's attention to the possible threat, a whole new trouble appears: both her cousin and her father scream themselves awake the same night, having dreamt of the place far from home, where Princess remembers them disappearing to almost ten years earlier. They're being called to return, that much quickly becomes obvious to all -- but the king leaving his kingdom would leave his daughter in charge; and worse than that, the king and his niece returning to the Beyond might mean stepping right into the nightmare that just woke them up. And this time, the Princess knows, no one can tell if they would come back alive.


***


How Will This Work


The main characters are already defined, although their writers will have almost everything about them under their control. There are eight main characters, including the ones bolded in the intro:
    The King of Kraeh
    The Princess of Kreah
    The Lady; King's niece and Princess' cousin
    The Dragon Count
    The Empress
    The Pirate
    The Exiled Captain
    and The Djinni

If necessary, additional characters can be added, but not until this list is filled. Some of the characters will be played by more than one person -- read on to find out more about that.


The setting

Here's the map (quickly sketched, excuse the lack of quality; better version coming up shortly): http://i.imgur.com/lQ3pIEb.jpg
The purple is the Empire, the blue is the Kingdom, the yellow Is the desert/neutral lands, the Light green is the free city of Bair and its surroundings. The thick line is the Wall, and the double red lines are the crossings. Everything west from there is the Beyond. The two X-es in purple and blue show the position of the respective countries' royal palaces. The black X-es are the prisons (each within its country's territory), the black circles are some bigger towns, and the black stars are the main lighthouses/watchtowers. The triangles on the desert part are encampments that might not be relevant to the story, but exist there nonetheless. The gray lines are rivers and mountains, the bushy green are the biggest forests.

There are two main settings important for the story
    The Kingdom of Kreah
    and The Beyond
Other places (marked on the map, as well as whatever else you make up as we go) can be mentioned and visited by the characters, but most of the story should be focused on the two main areas metioned.

The time
This is where things, perhaps, get slightly trickier. This Storybook has a story that not only happens in two places, but also unveils through two timelines:
    The Now
    and The Nine Years Ago (The Past)


Nine years previous to the plot mentioned in the intro, five of the mentioned main characters ventured through the passages of the great Wall into what is known only as the illusive Beyond -- the land different from their homes, filled with wonders and dangers, where rarely anything is ever what it seems. Out there, there's wild magic and unimaginable inventions, hybrid species and places as if fallen out of nightmares.
The adventure they had there changed them. The choices they made there, for better or for worse, made them into who they are -- and that is where our main challenge, and the workshop's main point, lays.
Five of the characters -- The Lady, The King, The Empress, The Pirate and The Djinni -- shall be written for by two persons each; one who will control the character in The Now, and one who will simultaneously write about them in The Past. As the story progresses, the writers will need to collaborate in order to synchronise and logically create their characters' timelines.
As a suggestion, but not a rule, this might be an excellent chance for inexperienced Storybookers to pair up with the golden oldies and ease into the world of Storybooking by sharing a character.

Things that are up to you: Your characters' personality and appearance, as well as their names; majority of the plot and the direction it takes; most of the truth of what happened nine years ago; any relationships between the characters, friendly, romantic or otherwise.

Things that are not up to you: The two timelines and two storylines: Things have happened nine years ago, and things are happening now, and at least most of the five shared characters who had the dream and got partial maps have to decide to go to Beyond, be it of their own will or any other reason you think of. If you choose to have your character ignore the calling and stay where they were, there will be consequences (for them, not you, obviously).

Please claim your characters in the DT and I will write your names below
Note Those of you who claim either the present or the past version of the five shared characters should to attend the workshop. Of course, it's not mandatory for anyone and you don't have to drop out of the Storybook if you don't come to the workshop -- it might just make it easier for you to coordinate and come up with character profiles if you do attend. At it, we will work on developing characters and figuring out some of the things that happened nine years ago as well as in-between of the two main timelines.
Everyone else is also welcome to join the workshop and flesh out their characters, as well as discuss the plot, of course!

The workshop is scheduled to (showing in your timezone, wherever you're reading this from). Please let us know in the DT when reserving characters if you'll be able to attend.


[Past- @TheIllusiveIntellect] ~The King~ [Now]
Spoiler! :
Ruler of Kraeh, father of the Princess and Lady's uncle. He's considered a good king and works hard to ensure his kingdom's propsperity and his subjects' happiness. He's also rather pacifistic, although he wears scars that witness some past days of battles fought, and his daughter believes that he's blind to the impending threat of the Empire's war preparations.


[Past - @Steggy] ~The Lady~ [Now - @mcleo1]
Spoiler! :
The King's niece and the Princess' cousin, she was orphaned as a baby -- as far as she knows-- and has now lived in the castle for most of her life. She has all the grace and manners of a high-born lady, and there are some who whisper that she'd make a better heir than her cousin. Her main interest, however, seem to be books rather than ruling.


[Past- @megsug] ~The Pirate~ [Now]
Spoiler! :
Very young, yet very powerful. Nine years ago, having ventured into the Beyond for whatever reason you think of, the Pirate was only a child, who dreamed of roaming the seas. There, in some way, [he/she/they] summoned and bound a creature able to bring [his/her/their] imagination to life -- the Djinni, whom Pirate tends to refer to as a demon instead -- and with its help, became the fear of the seas.


[Past] ~The Empress~ [Now] - @Jhinx (is fine with either - I'll update this more specifically when you partner up)
Spoiler! :
The ruler of the Empire. Currently focuses on the army and preparation, as mentioned in
the intro -- the reasons, however, are up to you. While the Princess believes that the Empire is getting ready to attack Kraeh, the truth can be as close or as far to it as you please. In the absence of the Empress, the ruling power would rest on her high council, which she might or might not have trust in.


[Past - @ChildOfNowhere] ~The Djinni~ [Now - @Auxiira]
Spoiler! :
The Djinni -- whom the Pirate refers to as "the demon" -- was bound to the Pirate's will nine years earlier, back in the Beyond that was his home. So far from there and on the wrong side of the Wall, the Djinni's powers aren't nearly as great as they used to be, and over the years he's come to terms with some aspects of a somewhat human life. His current form is up to you, though humanoid would be preferred.


~The Princess~
Spoiler! :
The King's beloved daughter; always comparing herself with her mother (whose fate is up to you) and cousin, she wishes she could be more princess-y and that the people would look at her the same way they look at the other royals. However, her actions are more good and
noble than she realises, and despite her lacking looks or etiquette those actions have earned her more loyal subjects than she knows.


~The Exiled Captain~ @TheSilverFox
Spoiler! :
Once the captain of the Queen's guard, [he/she/they] was exiled soon after the Princess' birth, for reasons the King shares with no one. Now, [he/she/they] lives in the free city of Bair, close to the Wall. Around the time the five shared characters have their dream, the Captain too receives a message -- delivered by a mute child in unrecognisable handwriting, asking [him/her/them] to return to Kraeh and watch over the Princess, for there are dangerous times ahead.


~The Dragon Count~ @LordZeus
Spoiler! :
Just recently given the title, the Count is close to the Princess' and/or The Lady's age. Just as his ancestors, who are said to have once upon a time migrated from the Beyond, Count is a human-dragon shapeshifter -- or should be, but he doesn't seem to manage to get the transformation quite right and always ends up stuck in the middle of it, much to his parents' disappointment -- and the warden of the country's prison. He was also raised to hate the ruling line (regardless if you choose to have him be from the kingdom or the empire) and is expected to do something about that, especially now that so much is happening and everyone's defences are weakening.



---

Character template
Please remove the things in parentheses before submitting your characters.
Keep in mind that you don't need to have a character ready before the workshop -- that's what the workshop is for. If you wish, you can always get together with your partner (the other half of your character, that is, if you're sharing), to figure out things like age and name (although it's fine if you happen to have your character change name and/or gender, as long as it gets weaved into the story)

Code: Select all
Name and title/role: (Djinni/Pirate/etc. count as roles. Refer to the list of characters above.)
Age: (Keep in mind that some character were doing stuff nine years ago, so try not to make them too young. Also keep in mind that some characters have responsibilities, titles, children and so on, so please make their age appropriate. Also, provide with at least the month of birth -- the plan is for the SB's story to go on for quite a while, so some birthdays are bound to occur.)
Allegiance: (This is kind of optional. It can be the country/city they're from, or a person/family. Some characters might be unsure of their allegiance, and it's fine for it to change throughout the story.)
Appearance: (Description and optionally picture. Things like eye colour and race shouldn't change much between the younger and older versions of the same characters. Also, try to coordinate with others who play your character's family members, though genes are an interesting thing and said family members may have little to nothing in common. Keep out the description of the partial map if you're the Now side of a shared character. I'll tell you about those later on in the DT.)
Personality: (Try to be kind of concise, but not too much so. Include quirks, strengths and weaknesses)
{Story of the nine years in between: (Only for those of you who play the older versions of shared characters. In short, share the important moments between the events of the Past and the Now, which in some ways affected their personality/life. The rest of you, just delete this whole point, please)}
Powers/abilities: (If any. Magic is a thing, but it isn't very strong on this side of the wall. Alchemy, clairvoyance, healing and other such disciplines can be learned, and require runes/potions/objects/rituals/incantations/whatever you think of. "Spell-gone-wrong-and-character-left-with-some-sort-of-permanent-consequence" scenarios are also fine, but you will be asked to change it if you overdo it. The only people who possess some amount of magic themselves are those who either have ancestry from Beyond or who were given said magic by stronger beings. In this section, also include talents of other sorts, from swordsmanship to singing voice to juggling skills.)
Other: (Anything so far unmentioned; sexual orientation, gender identity, pets, favourite objects, character song, whatever)
• previously ChildOfNowhere
- they/them -
literary fantasy with a fairytale flavour








Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.
— Madeleine L'Engle, Author