Guest Thu Sep 13, 2012 11:04 pmStory.
Once upon a time, humanity... lived on the ground! I know, it sounds incredible, but it's the truth. Back then, it was safer to be on the ground than in the sky-- yes, there were all sorts of wild beasts and disasters, not to mention wars of our own making, but they could be managed.
Something that couldn't be managed was... nature. A natural change in the world, but one ill-suited for humanity. There had long been signs of an approaching ice age, and when the months of ice began, there was mass panic. Billions died, but... others lived. The skycities had existed before the decades of cold and snow, and they became the best place to hide when life on the surface grew worse. They were completely enclosed, climate-controlled and astonishingly durable, able to withstand nearly anything nature threw at them. There were vast greenhouses there, so food was a non-issue... though, admittedly, there was some difficulty raising the likes of cattle, most livestock was reduced to fish, drakes, ducks, chickens, rabbits, and other such small game. The world below perished, while we in the sky survived, even flourished as time went on; creating a grand network of floating cities over what was once the capitol of a prosperous country.
For a time, the greatest trouble we had was travel-- planes and hovercraft were perfectly fine, but there was always demand for something more. Something new and befitting the new aerial world we had. It was no surprise, really, when the Draco project was announced; though there was some laughter. Dragons had been extinct for millions of years, how were they to rise again? The answer lay in, to the shock of many, the common drake. The simple reptiles, good for little more than to be a pet or a meal, were in fact descendants of the great beasts, and combined with the few draconic fossils that had any form of genetic material left, carried the blueprint of their revival.
It took the better part of a century, but it was done. Seventy years, almost to the day of the project's creation and five hundred years after the great migration to skycities, the first true dragon hatched. Since that day, dragons have been an incredibly important part of society-- they provide transportation, companionship, defense against those few monsters that terrorize the skies... is it any wonder, then, why the emblem of the Skylands is a dragon? That being granted the chance to raise one is perhaps the greatest honor a citizen can be given?
Plot.
Like countless other children growing up in the Skylands, you have grown up with dragons as a daily part of life, and you have at least once dreamed of what it would be like to be among their ranks, astride one of the majestic creatures. The Riders' dragons are sleeker than the common draft dragon, built for speed and maneuverability than carting around heavy goods, not to mention absolutely beautiful. Still, unless you come from one of the richest families, you hold little hope of actually making the cut-- there are hundreds of thousands of applicants every year, why would you be selected? You put your name in as little more than a whim, so you can say later on that at least you tried.
But then, it happens. July 20th, 4769, 3:40 PM. This date and time are forever burned into your mind, for it is when you received the message that will forever change your life. Wherever you were, the communication band on your wrist beeps, and you open your messages to find that you were selected to join the Skyland Riding Academy.
This roleplay begins on the first day, when the selected students arrive. Where it goes from there? Well... you see, there are rumors that maybe, just maybe, the icy conditions have lessened enough for re-habitation of the ground to begin. But those shouldn't concern you, should they? You have bigger things to focus on, like choosing your egg...
(Basically, this is a *hopefully!* long-term adventure-style rp. We'll begin with characters being trained, and eventually move on to exploring the ground and finding a starting settlement, which is certainly easier said than done-- 2,000 years without humanity and the pressures of a major glacial period have changed the surface world beyond recognition, and that's to say nothing of the creatures that inhabit it.)
Rules.
Once upon a time, humanity... lived on the ground! I know, it sounds incredible, but it's the truth. Back then, it was safer to be on the ground than in the sky-- yes, there were all sorts of wild beasts and disasters, not to mention wars of our own making, but they could be managed.
Something that couldn't be managed was... nature. A natural change in the world, but one ill-suited for humanity. There had long been signs of an approaching ice age, and when the months of ice began, there was mass panic. Billions died, but... others lived. The skycities had existed before the decades of cold and snow, and they became the best place to hide when life on the surface grew worse. They were completely enclosed, climate-controlled and astonishingly durable, able to withstand nearly anything nature threw at them. There were vast greenhouses there, so food was a non-issue... though, admittedly, there was some difficulty raising the likes of cattle, most livestock was reduced to fish, drakes, ducks, chickens, rabbits, and other such small game. The world below perished, while we in the sky survived, even flourished as time went on; creating a grand network of floating cities over what was once the capitol of a prosperous country.
For a time, the greatest trouble we had was travel-- planes and hovercraft were perfectly fine, but there was always demand for something more. Something new and befitting the new aerial world we had. It was no surprise, really, when the Draco project was announced; though there was some laughter. Dragons had been extinct for millions of years, how were they to rise again? The answer lay in, to the shock of many, the common drake. The simple reptiles, good for little more than to be a pet or a meal, were in fact descendants of the great beasts, and combined with the few draconic fossils that had any form of genetic material left, carried the blueprint of their revival.
It took the better part of a century, but it was done. Seventy years, almost to the day of the project's creation and five hundred years after the great migration to skycities, the first true dragon hatched. Since that day, dragons have been an incredibly important part of society-- they provide transportation, companionship, defense against those few monsters that terrorize the skies... is it any wonder, then, why the emblem of the Skylands is a dragon? That being granted the chance to raise one is perhaps the greatest honor a citizen can be given?
Plot.
Like countless other children growing up in the Skylands, you have grown up with dragons as a daily part of life, and you have at least once dreamed of what it would be like to be among their ranks, astride one of the majestic creatures. The Riders' dragons are sleeker than the common draft dragon, built for speed and maneuverability than carting around heavy goods, not to mention absolutely beautiful. Still, unless you come from one of the richest families, you hold little hope of actually making the cut-- there are hundreds of thousands of applicants every year, why would you be selected? You put your name in as little more than a whim, so you can say later on that at least you tried.
But then, it happens. July 20th, 4769, 3:40 PM. This date and time are forever burned into your mind, for it is when you received the message that will forever change your life. Wherever you were, the communication band on your wrist beeps, and you open your messages to find that you were selected to join the Skyland Riding Academy.
This roleplay begins on the first day, when the selected students arrive. Where it goes from there? Well... you see, there are rumors that maybe, just maybe, the icy conditions have lessened enough for re-habitation of the ground to begin. But those shouldn't concern you, should they? You have bigger things to focus on, like choosing your egg...
(Basically, this is a *hopefully!* long-term adventure-style rp. We'll begin with characters being trained, and eventually move on to exploring the ground and finding a starting settlement, which is certainly easier said than done-- 2,000 years without humanity and the pressures of a major glacial period have changed the surface world beyond recognition, and that's to say nothing of the creatures that inhabit it.)
Rules.
- 1. Above all else, I expect effort, both in your characters and your posts. This is a semi-literate roleplay, meaning I expect proper grammar and spelling, as well as decent length posts (4-7 good quality sentences, none of that two or three word per sentence junk). If you have writer's block or can't think of anything, just say so and wait on posting until you have an idea; or if it's a lack of interaction getting to you, feel free to speak up and ask if someone could bring your character back in. Please note, this is a third person POV, past-tense writing style. No first person POV in sheets or in character posts.
- Need some dialogue or grammar pointers? Want to just brush up on your skills? Tend to misspell things? Here are some resources! In order, they are: how to properly write and format dialogue, a spell checker, and a site with a ton of tips for good grammar and punctuation. This isn't meant to intimidate anyone, far from it! These links are here to help ensure everyone produces their very best work, and that everyone who wants to can join in.
- 2. All the basic rules apply: do not make invincible characters, do not play someone else's character without permission, do not create Mary Sues/Gary Stus or that one perfect character who has to be important/skilled in every subject; don't get lazy with personalities ('has two sides', for example, is just lazy- EVERY normal person has 'two or more sides' to them, it's called basic emotional reaction. This is a major problem I see in characters, so I'd like to nip it in the bud), all that sort of thing.
- 3. Avoid excessive or major swearing (made up swears are fine, but for real life ones *save for like... hell and damn, those are minor enough to pass*, just star it out). Don't get overly graphic when it comes to violence. And please, remember that this is NOT a romance rp. While I am not banning romance from developing, it is not the point of the rp, and should be kept to a minimum. And, of course, fade to black if anything major goes on, got it?
- 4. All characters must be approved by me before you can begin. This helps ensure all characters fit into the setting, are not blatant Sues, and that powers aren't too ridiculous.
- 5. Players are more than welcome to come up with side-plot suggestions as we go, since this is fairly open-ended. Just PM me with ideas!
- 6. Rules can be added, removed, or otherwise edited at any time, I often forget some things. I apologize for any inconvenience.
- 7. You may modify the character sheets within reason- stuff like changing the size/color of the text, just keep it readable. Do not add/remove actual sections. I also ask that you avoid using images/gifs/fontmeme/the like in your posts, as this both counts as spam and can severely slow down people's computers.
- 8. Every member may make up to one character (I guess two, if you count the dragons as full characters) to begin with, but this is likely to increase as we go. Also, I do not care about gender ratios in either dragons or humans, just play whatever you're most comfortable with.
- 9. All powers must have SOME logical connection to your character's chosen element. This can be difficult though, so don't be upset if I ask for tweaks. That said, I highly encourage creativity! Don't just make it 'can summon flames/living shadows/etc', do something interesting with it ... within reason, of course. You may have either two attacking abilities, one attacking ability and one passive ability, or just two passive abilities. In every case, make sure there is some kind of drawback, unless your power is extremely minimal.
- 10. Do not ignore others, try to make sure everyone is included. If you feel your character is ignored, speak up and someone should be able to get to you
Do NOT go over a page without my posting. - 11. Please make sure to post at least once every three or four days. I won't kick anyone out unless they go like, two weeks without showing up though; I understand school and other real life obligations often get in the way. If you think you will be gone for an extended period of time, give me a PM or mention it in a post somewhere.
- Want an image to go in your dragon's form? Look here or here! The site also carries a number of free human creators, though there is a major lack of male ones!
- Code:
[center][size=11]
[b]Username:[/b] (Please include any preferred nicknames)
[b]Character name:[/b] (Just make it pronounceable and easy to remember.)
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b] (All characters must be between 17 and 20.)
[b]Personality:[/b] (I'm fine with 'to be rp'd', but try to include the major points)
[b]Appearance:[/b] (No images unless you drew it yourself, have permission to use it, or have made it on a free character generator. Any images must be linked, do NOT post them in your sheet. And remember, while temporary skin and hair dyes exist, genetic engineering only works within natural human confines.)
[b]History:[/b] (Just a warning, I am very unlikely to accept any sort of... 'was abandoned/unloved/hated/orphaned but overcome horrible things all by themselves because they're so special and strong' *a bit exaggerated, but you get the point* stories. Besides, orphans are incredibly rare in the skylands, and social services really have their stuff together now. Please have at least three paragraphs of history, covering early life and how they grew up, and why they might have been chosen for the Riders-- did they more or less buy their way in? Were they a great student or athlete? Top of their class when it comes to magic?)
[b]Elemental affinity:[/b]
[b]Powers:[/b] (As mentioned above, they need to have some logical connection to the element.)
[list]
[*][b]1.[/b]
[*][b]2.[/b][/list]
[b]Other:[/b] (Anything that doesn't fit into the above.)
[b]Theme song?[/b] (Just for fun, you can ignore this one if you want.)
---------------
[b][u]Dragon information:[/u][/b]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b] (Please, no images unless you've drawn it yourself or made it on one of the free doll makers above; and again, links only. Include appearance as an egg and after hatching.)
[b]Elemental affinity and powers:[/b] (Follows the same rules as for humans)
[list]
[*][b]1.[/b]
[*][b]2.[/b][/list]
[b]Other:[/b] (Anything that doesn't fit into the above).
[/size][/center]
Last edited by Commander Shepard on Fri Sep 14, 2012 12:04 pm; edited 3 times in total
)
Tuesday can't come soon enough xD]
Anyway, I also noticed your dragon lacks a name xD Which is fine, honestly, as long as he's named during the training part of the rp, I'll update it then. I've just got him listed as ??? for now.]
