The Society/No One Mourns the Wicked- Freestyle Chat RP

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The Great Nevareh
 

The Society/No One Mourns the Wicked- Freestyle Chat RP

Unread postby The Great Nevareh » Mon Feb 06, 2006 11:19 am

Long ago, in a far-off place, rose the Adversary, shrouded in mystery, and ushering in an ever-elongating tide of darkness, carnage, and despair. No one knows from where the Adversary rose, or how long it has been since the Adversary's forces began to enshroud the known worlds with the bloody imperium of the Adversary's reign. But soon, they shall be at their ultimate goal.

For soon, his forces shall enter the realm of the Emerald City.

The Emerald City, home of the greatest beacon of civilization, ruled by the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and capitol of the same land of Oz. Here, in the lands of the True Freedom, the land of dreams, resides the only true block to the forces of the Adversary- the last and only strength of the light to drive away the darkness. Unfortunately for Oz, there is no one who knows or understands the menace of the Adversary to the degree where military mobilization is understood to be a possibility.

Here is where the Society steps in.

The Society was established by a woman of near-prophetic wisdom who understood that a time of darkness and potentially of fall would happen in Oz. She did not know what that enemy would be or how it would attack, but she did know that there must be always a guard at vigil- and that is precisely what the Society is.

The people of the Society come from all walks of life, trained in all manners, all to best combat whatever the enemy will be when it appears. And now that the enemy has appeared and no one seems to be reacting, it is the Society's job to accomplish its goal- whether to save single-handedly the Emerald City, warn the sage of the true force of the Adversary, or merely to save as much of the wisdom of Oz as possible for when the time of darkness ends.

And here is the problem- You, of the Society, have a choice- What is the right path? Will you give up what you know is right in exchange for what you know you can do? Will you lose your dreams in exchange for doing the right thing, or will you find your dreams but lose your way? If the authority is wrong and victory is possible, will you fight the authority to make it so the Emerald City will never fall? Will you try to do what is best from the inside? Can you compromise in an all-or-nothing gamble? If you become the enemy of the state and yet you are fighting for that state's survival- even if you succeed, will it matter?

Will anyone mourn the wicked... even if the wicked are the heroes?

Make a character- they have a combat orientation- such as a class like Knight or Sniper- and a profession, which is essentially what they do for a living, which will give you your variety of skills that have nothing to do with combat. You can only have one combat orientation- so don't ask for more- but you can have as many as three professions- though there are three levels of expertise in these professions. Feel free to be versatile though your specific skill will suffer- Someone who is only a gunsmith or a hunter will be a much better gunsmith/hunter than someone who is both a gunsmith and a hunter.

They also have a dream- list it. It is VERY important that they have a dream, the bigger the better. Bigger dreams mean bigger plot hooks. You're basically making my job easier, but I'll appreciate it.

Finally, some wierd stats that are really more for record-keeping than anything else- a basic quantifying block. Feel free to use whatever ones you like. I'd like ratings from one to ten, ten being highest, or the following things:

Morals: How strongly they feel about certain things involving right and wrong. High morals mean that a character both has a stronger sense of justice and that they are less likely to compromise said sense of justice. Also note that high Morals doesn't mean a character is nice or good- just that they adhere to their own moral system strictly.

Ambition: How much they want to have their dreams, even at the cost of other things. High Ambition usually means one low other stat since they're willing to compromise it for the greater good or the like- Ambition is not necessarily a bad thing.

Duty: How well they will follow an order even in the face of adversity... or complete stupidity. Low Duty indicates a tendency to improvise and high Dity usually means strong faith in the authorities and their wisdom. Low Duty doesn't mean disloyalty- it means a free-spiritedness that doesn't adhere strictly to orders but however might be just as loyal as someone who follows instructions exactly. Neither is "better."

Will: How a character handles pressure. High will indicates a tendency to fight pressure, and low will a tendency to go with the flow- High will people tend to be better leaders but chafe in severe adversity and find themselves unable to back down. Low will people might have problems standing up for themselves but change their mind more easily, will admit they're wrong, and are better at compromise.

All of your characters are graduating from the university at Shiz- and have also been trained by the Society in combat arts. You're all young- between the ages of 18 and 22- and you're all human. Aside from that, you can come from any social class, done whatever you want before having gone to Shiz (it doesn't really have to make sense), and have graduated anywhere you like in your class at Shiz. Gimme a past, a motivation, and since this RP deals mainly with both growing up, believing in something, doing your duty, and remaining true to yourself, have a big dream.

A word on the Society: It is seen, for the most part, like the CIA is in the United States- people know that it's there and it definitely does things, but no one outside of its chain of command really know what it's in the process of doing- and even many of those IN the Society don't know the overall plan of their actions. The average person knows that it is for the most part on the side of Oz (or at least the Emerald City) but they are leery of the Society's overall plan concerning Oz; just because they aren't necessarily bad doesn't mean the Society ought to be able to do what it wants. And goodness knows no one wants the Society to hold actual political power... even though it does, somewhat. Just not terribly much.

Edit: Changed names back to the original Wicked names- they fit better to me (and probably to people who have read the book) and it should remove any doubts as to the origin of the setting. <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>Edited by: The Great Nevareh at: 2/6/06 23:48

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Kai
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Re: The Society/No One Mourns the Wicked- Freestyle Chat RP

Unread postby Kai » Mon Feb 06, 2006 4:01 pm

So... does this RP take place in Oz, or is there another Shiz that I've missed? <p>-------------------------
"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half-wit and the emperor remains an emperor." -- Sandman "The Kindly Ones" </p>

The Great Nevareh
 

Re: The Society/No One Mourns the Wicked- Freestyle Chat RP

Unread postby The Great Nevareh » Mon Feb 06, 2006 5:15 pm

It's based on Oz in Wicked the book. Imagine Tim Burton's Oz.

Or am I not allowed to have source material? <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>Edited by: The Great Nevareh at: 2/6/06 17:17

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Kai
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Re: The Society/No One Mourns the Wicked- Freestyle Chat RP

Unread postby Kai » Mon Feb 06, 2006 5:35 pm

I read Wicked. I've read it several times. I was just wondering why there was some kind of thin veiling of the setting, like people weren't going to notice. <p>-------------------------
"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half-wit and the emperor remains an emperor." -- Sandman "The Kindly Ones" </p>

The Great Nevareh
 

Re: The Society/No One Mourns the Wicked- Freestyle Chat RP

Unread postby The Great Nevareh » Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:40 pm

Of course they were going to notice. If I didn't want anyone to notice a parallel then I would have switched things around enough so that the source was obfuscated. But I DO want people to notice a parallel- Why name it something like "No One Mourns the Wicked" if I wanted to hide that it's based on Oz? It's based on Oz. I like the name Shiz. The geography is extremely similar though I'll have changed some names. The political climate is very similar. I like the setting. I like it enough to try a short freestyle campaign in an altered version of it. Thinking on it, I might as well change all of the names to their originals to drop any potential pretensions that I came up with this.

For those who have no idea what's going on- There is a book called Wicked, written by Gregory Maguire, which is also the (extremely loose) basis of a Broadway show of the same name- It follows the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West- or at least her movie version. It's a decidedly mature take on Oz- As Kai has already mentioned, it's a great book. I recommend it if you want to read something good yet different- though be warned that it's part of a series that I'm not sure is finished, as the next book in the series, Son of a Witch, has significantly less of an ending than Wicked.

If anyone's wondering, the other bit of source material I'm dragging into this is Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy- that's Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation- which I know at least Spleen has read since he quotes one of the characters in his signature.

The vast majority of this material is horrifically plagiarised- don't grant me any credit for world-setting for geographic locations or political climate. I'm just fusing it together into a different story. <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>Edited by: The Great Nevareh at: 2/6/06 19:44

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Kai
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Re: The Society/No One Mourns the Wicked- Freestyle Chat RP

Unread postby Kai » Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:30 pm

Wicked is pretty damn awesome. I unfortunately can't speak to the sequel, as I thrifted Wicked from a guy who pissed me off and have not had similar opportunity with the second in the series. <p>-------------------------
"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half-wit and the emperor remains an emperor." -- Sandman "The Kindly Ones" </p>

SALSAlys
 

Re: The Society/No One Mourns the Wicked- Freestyle Chat RP

Unread postby SALSAlys » Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:03 am

....ooooh. I like. I like VERY much.

Give me a bit to come up with a concept. Got a couple questions though.

1) I presume this is set after Wicked, with the Witch being dead?
2) Animals are still treated as 'animals'?
3) Are we allowed to tie in things from outside the original books? Other parts of Oz that weren't mentioned in Wicked or the original Wizard of Oz, but were still present?
4) Barring 3, can we randomly make up things if we run them past you first? Oz is a pretty crazy place after all.

Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=salsalys>SALSAlys</A] at: 2/7/06 1:14

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Re: The Society/No One Mourns the Wicked- Freestyle Chat RP

Unread postby NebulaQueen » Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:34 am

Oz and Foundation, eh? Does this mean the Wizard's going to pop out of a vault every few decades? <p>

"My naturally quivering state makes any display of fear deliciously arbitrary" - Manowar Leader, Scary-Go-Round</p>

The Great Nevareh
 

Re: The Society/No One Mourns the Wicked- Freestyle Chat RP

Unread postby The Great Nevareh » Tue Feb 07, 2006 5:02 am

For der Lys: Set so long after Wicked that people likely won't remember the details.

Animals are in hiding- they're still outlaws (and have been so for generations) since the Wizard's decree was never rescinded.

Feel free to mention geography that exists on the map provided in Wicked- since it isn't covered you can make up cultural ideas about it as well.

Make up things all you want. I'd prefer if you didn't make your profession "Super-Master of Everything" and you do everything with extreme superiority- just make it believable, please. <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>

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Zemyla
 
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Re: The Society/No One Mourns the Wicked- Freestyle Chat RP

Unread postby Zemyla » Tue Feb 07, 2006 2:39 pm

Dibs on the psychohistorian! <p>-----
Do not taunt Happy Fun Zemyla.

<span style="font-size:xx-small;">I think boobs are the lesser of two evils. - Inverse (Pervy)
Dammit, Dan, I'm not dating a damn NPC! - OOC Will (Will Baseton)
Of course! Anything worth doing is worth doing completely wrong! - Travis English
Ultimately, wizards and clerics don't say, "Gee, I want to become a lich because weapons hurt less and I don't have to worry about being backstabbed; that whole 'eternal life' thing is just a fringe benefit."-Darklion
But this one time I killed a walrus with my bare hands, and I suddenly understood spherical coordinates. - KnightsofSquare
Also, when you've worked a 36-hour shift as an intern you too just might pour yourself a catful of coffee and sit down to cuddle with your travel mug. -eirehound
</span>

Brotherhood of Elitist Bastards</p>

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Spleen
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Re: The Society/No One Mourns the Wicked- Freestyle Chat RP

Unread postby Spleen » Wed Feb 15, 2006 11:17 pm

If I ever had a Foundation quote in my sig (and I don't remember having had one), it was a long time ago. I know at least one or two other people have or have had Salvor Hardin quotes in their sigs, though. Maybe you were thinking of one of them. Doesn't mean I didn't have one a long time ago and forgot, and of course it also doesn't mean I haven't read the books, because I have.

I don't think I know even an eighth of enough about Oz to be in this RP, plus chat ain't too good for me. Sorry. <p>-_-___-___-___-_-

"The universe is all in the mind that perceives it, and sensation is the first and only reality. If a tree falls in the forest with no creature to hear it, then there is no tree."
-Dungeons and Dragons: Complete Arcane, page 167

Arch mage144: Spleen doesn't bother with penis size contests; instead, he goes straight to penis number.</p>

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Zemyla
 
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Re: The Society/No One Mourns the Wicked- Freestyle Chat RP

Unread postby Zemyla » Thu Feb 16, 2006 12:00 pm

You're thinking of Idran, who had a nifty Salvor Hardin quote in his sig. <p>-----
Do not taunt Happy Fun Zemyla.

<span style="font-size:xx-small;">I think boobs are the lesser of two evils. - Inverse (Pervy)
Dammit, Dan, I'm not dating a damn NPC! - OOC Will (Will Baseton)
Of course! Anything worth doing is worth doing completely wrong! - Travis English
Ultimately, wizards and clerics don't say, "Gee, I want to become a lich because weapons hurt less and I don't have to worry about being backstabbed; that whole 'eternal life' thing is just a fringe benefit."-Darklion
But this one time I killed a walrus with my bare hands, and I suddenly understood spherical coordinates. - KnightsofSquare
Also, when you've worked a 36-hour shift as an intern you too just might pour yourself a catful of coffee and sit down to cuddle with your travel mug. -eirehound
</span>

Brotherhood of Elitist Bastards</p>


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