Yellah! An advanced Renaissance Merchant RP

[Dino]

Yellah!

In arabic, the word yelllah means "let's go." This RP is set in Renaissance Saudi Arabia. You are playing merchants on their journey towards riches. But that's not even the tip of the iceberg. Yellah! Follow me across the dunes as our journey begins...

First and foremost, this is not for the weak-willed. It's an advanced RP. I want to see no fewer than four paragraphs per post. If you're going to join, be committed. Don't just come in, stay for a day, and leave. I require posting at least once a week. I also outright outlaw all god-moding of any kinds. This means that if I think you've got one too many powers, I'm going to ask you to cut back on them. If I think that you're getting too attention whorey, you'll be asked to leave. I have worked very hard on this in terms of research, and story development, but I am not closed off to feedback. If you think that certain aspects would help the story along, I'll gladly consider it, however I do have final say. If you're still with me, you've probably noticed that I'm speaking conversationally, and not listing rules and the like. Why? Because if you're in here, you're going to be treated like an adult. Big kids can write complete sentences.

If the standards of this thread are not up to your abilities, I ask that you try another RP. I'm going to take my time, and be patient about getting this started, because it's got a lot of potential. There are a couple of other things I would like you to know about me. For one, I'm not a fan of otherkin. Vampires, lycanthropes, dragons, and so on really have gotten me irate, because they are so limited in their scope. However, if you really feel the desire to play an Otherkin, you may NOT use European otherkin. You'll have to use one from either Arabic or Indian mythology. For example, if you were a Naga guardian (India) or a Djinn (Arabia), I'd be cool with it if you knew how to play it properly. If you come in here expecting to be the wise vampire who falls in love with humans, then you're in the wrong place.

Since this is set from the perspective of merchants from the Middle East in the mid-Renaissance Era, I want to see ABSOLUTELY NO ROMANCE. There are tonnes of horny little babies out there who are more than happy to get freaky with you. Go there. Also, I'm not your parents. I'm not going to do your research or your reading for you. Know your s**t before you come in. You've probably noticed that I don't care about swearing. But again, bear in mind that we're all adults here, and will be expected to behave like one. Please don't let it get obnoxious.

[Dino]

Settings
(in no particular order)

Delhi, India: Allows the traders to pick up exotic spices, like pepper, and cardamon. In India, there are merchants who carry rich silks with blues the colour of the azure skys of the desert. They find fragrant oils, like sandalwood.

Beijing, China: China, being so closed off from the world also produces very fine silk, but is famous for its brocaded and embroidered silk. The Chinese also produce stunning pieces in jade which are coveted all over, from Madrid to Milan.

Cairo, Egypt: This ancient city, home to the great pyramids, is also one of the foremosst hubs for trade outside of Africa. It is relatively simple to find any number of precious stones, gold, ivory, and furs here.

Medina, Saudi Arabia: This is the home base of the ibn Rahim brothers. They were born in Egypt, but their mother moved the family over to Medina to be closer to her husband's family and to increase her own business contacts. To them, Medina is the epitome of a perfect city (outside of Mecca, of course), and they dream of it all the time.

Madrid, Spain: The Moors had a very close, intertwined history with the Spaniards, and continued to trade with them. The Spanish were very happy to find liasons that would traverse half the planet to bring back their beloved spices and silks that the women used at an alarming rate.

Venice, Florence, and Milan, Italy: These three city-states were powerful sea ports, and any merchant worth his salt kept multiple contacts in all three cities.

Time period: Late 1400s. Around the time when the Renaissance was in full swing, and the major players were Spain and Italy when it came to trading.

Basic story line (Please follow these types of speech patterns, if possible. I'd like you to completely get into the minds of the people you're playing):

Salim and Abdullah ibn Rahim are two brothers who have come into very moderate wealth, and have heard the stories, like the other traders who had returned from the land of the infidels about the massive riches to be milked from the scoundrels. The pale faced devils lusted after the basic necessities of civilisation, like spices, silks, perfumes, oils, and furs. They are too fat, lazy, and ugly to navigate the delicate art of negotiation and trade. They depend on the hard work of others to make their piddling lives liveable. They rely on the cunning Jews to make their sinful usury legitimate, because the cowardly dogs cannot ever do anything for themselves.

Through the grace of God, the two brothers have managed to comission a mid-sized vessel that will take them first to India, then to China, then back around to India to sell Chinese goods. The voyage then leads back to Africa, where they pick up ivory, gold, furs, precious stones, and amber. The brothers then go back to Medina to more investors before heading out to Europe to make a massive profit.

[Dino]

Backstory for Salim

Salim and Abdullah had started off on the wrong foot. Salim was born first, to two overjoyed parents, as a beautiful baby boy, of 8 lbs, 4 oz. He was a fairly quiet baby, but did let his displeasures be known when they occured. Both father and mother were ecstatic at his presence. He grew older, and flourished under the doting tutelage of his mother, his grandfather, and father, all three of whom were successful merchants. His mother dealt in spices, his father in ivory and (occasionally) gold, and his grandfather in furs. Since most of their customers overlapped, the three formed a powerful, but friendly business alliance. After all three died, Salim was to inherit the entire amount, amalgamate it, and make it bigger and stronger. On the day that Salim hit puberty, his mother announced that she was pregnant, and that he would have a younger brother.

Instantly, Salim's mind darkened, but he showed a happy face to his mother, for whom he would walk to the ends of the earth. That night, he silently brooded in his bed about what to do about the freshly created usurper to his fortune. He thought of any number of ways, all of which left him nauseous in the end, because it would harm his mother and destroy his father's happiness. None of them would work, so he would, insha'allah (God willing), learn to cope with this catastrophe. Maybe his brother would be an utter fool, and this wouldn't be an issue. He could always ship the brat off to some insane asylum. The insane couldn't inherit -- the Holy Book said so!

Time went on, seemingly carried on the wings of the desert winds as they whipped up the sands to sting everything in their path, and his brother, Abdullah was born. His mother's labour wasn't complicated, but it was disastrous, inasmuch as she could never again have children. Her heart mourned over this devastating piece of news, but it was in God's hands to decide her fate. She loved her little baby. He was as perfect as his brother was when he was born. She cooed and doted over her new son, as the prescribed week of rest went by. She emerged from the doctor's home looking refreshed, if a little heart-wearied.

Rahim, her husband, came and picked her up, and took his new son home for the second time in his much blessed life. When they entered their home, they saw that Salim had worked for the three hours that it took his father to go to the doctor's home and return home in preparing a receiving table for the infant, and a comfortable sofa for both his parents to lounge on together. They both looked surprised, but were pleased that they'd had such a thoughtful son. Salim told his father, "Father, with you and mother's blessings, I would like to hold my brother in my arms and acquaint him with the house."

His heart swelling with pride, Rahim responded, "Of course you may, son. Here. Meet your brother."

Up until that moment, Salim had been planning this scene to the exact sentence his father uttered. He was going to take little Abdullah, and drown him in the well. Then, he would come running into the house, and blame it on one of the local street beggars. The beggar would be removed from comission, and he would once more be sole inheritor of his parents' and grandparents' wealth and power. Unfortunately, his mother piped up underneath her veil and said, "My dear husband, I beg you not to take my little baby from me. I am still too scared to let him out of my sight. Please, I implore you, let me hold him."

Rahim's heart softened, and he responded, "I would never deny you anything, insha'allah, my dear. You may continue to hold our son."

Salim smiled at his mother, and cursed vehemently enough to melt the marble that lined the floors. He gave a little bow, and returned to his room, to continue to plot and to plan. This continued for a year until his parents had to run off on a business excursion to Sub Saharan Africa on the rumours of a diamond mine. They left Abdullah (who was a year old) in the charge of Salim (who, at that time, was 14 years of age, and capable of caring for himself). Rahim passed Salim the baby, and ran out the door in a rush.

This would be Salim's opportunity. He silently smiled to himself until he saw the baby looking back at him. Abdullah smiled, grabbed a lock of Salim's hair, and said in a strong, clear voice, "Abbbbbbbah!" (Abba = father in Arabic) Salim's heart stopped cold in his chest. He didn't know what to do. He still wanted this little creature who clung to him with the stregth of his whole being pushed into those tiny little hands, but his conscience could not abide by destroying something he'd promised to care for. So instead of giving in to his desires, he took care of little Abdullah until their parents returned, six months later. By then, Addi (Salim wanted a shortened nickname for his brother) was walking, and saying a few words every now and then.

Both Rahim and his wife were so proud of Salim when they saw how Abdullah had flourished under his tutelage. In gratitude, they gave Salim enough to begin his own business under his mother's in spices. His main job was to bargain down the incoming shipments, and bargain up the outgoing shipments. He became better and better at it, acting as the business owner, as his mother stood respectfully behind him with her two sisters, to give the illusion that Salim was there with his three wives! The illusion of such wealth and power in one so young was a heady brew for anyone he dealt with, and he was able to get better deals than some of the people who'd been working there before!

In this manner, as baby Abdullah grew taller and stronger, the family's business grew and grew

...

[Dino]

Backstory for Abdullah

Abdullah had been born into a seemingly charmed life. He had two parents who doted on him, a grandfather who endlessly sang his praises, and Salim. What about Salim? It was odd. Although Abdullah knew that his brother took care of him constantly, he didn't feel that same wash of constant love that he got from his parents. But Salim didn't hate Abdullah -- the two would sit and talk about business for hours on end, and Salim never seemed to tire of Abdullah's endless questions.

Every time Abdullah tried to bring up the subject of making friends, or meeting other people in the neighbourhood (Abdullah wasn't allowed outside the house alone for a long while), or even just playing for a while, Salim's face would grow cold, and his eyes vacant as a monotone voice invented some excuse or another about the business. Salim would then rush off somewhere else, and leave Abdullah wondering.

So Abdullah would wander off on his own, and play with the servants' children. It was more fun that way, because he was in charge. If any of them didn't let him play with them, he would threaten to call Salim or Rahim on them. They'd instantly cower in fear, and let him join in. If Abdullah felt that the other children were winning too much, he would accuse them of cheating. When the child would protest, Abdullah would, bit by bit (as he'd watched Father do to people who owed him money) rip the other child into shreds verbally, until the child admitted to the crime. Whether or not the cheating actually happened was immaterial. The other child was on Abdullah's area of expertise now, and was getting his just deserts for winning.

After a session of winning, Abdullah would leave the servant children, and triumphantly return to his room, where he'd often find himself shamefully aroused. He would hide the offending member under his long overshirt and rush into his room. He was alway embarassed whenever this happened, but it would only seem to happen when he'd do something so invigorating, like making someone else wrong.

As Abdullah grew, he noticed himself adopting Salim's mannerisms and passions. He no longer associated with the rifraff of the world, and was more concerned about the storms in India than making some idiot street trash cry. He inadvertently began to imitate his brother's speech patterns and methods of interacting with others. He voraciously read the ledgers, and could soon do all the math in his head more quickly and accurately than Salim could on paper. In terms of bargaining, he never even tried to come close to Salim's ability. It was far more interesting to watch the numbers dance to his command, than brave the filthy outside world with its unwashed masses, reeking of things better left unmentioned.

He kept friends, but they were mostly entertainments to him; reflections of his childhood playmates. They were usually fourth or fifth sons of second wives. They bore no significance at home, so the group of four or give toadies flocked to him. They thought that they could boss him around, since he was younger, but soon learned that the petulant child could also be a nasty little scrapper in both physical and mental fights. He never softened the blow, even for friends, and they grew to fear him. They feared leaving him even more, because they would then have noone to turn to. So they returned, and allowed the abuse to continue.

By the time he was seventeen years of age, Abdullah was able to mentally keep track of all the ledgers and accounts for both Salim and his mother. His father and Grandfather, because of the sporadic nature of their respective jobs, were tougher to do, but he could rebuild them from memory after some thought by recalling what numbers he'd shuffled around for them before. By then, he was drawing a tidy salary from both his mother and brother, and comissions from his father and grandfather.

He would gleefully take the money, and add it to the ever-growing stack he kept in his secret hiding place. What if Salim got it into his head to run away? What if his father was being held ransom? What if his mother had something happen to her? He would have nothing. And, whoever took charge of his family, should anything happen, would want that money for himself. His family would want him to spend it on asinine things like investing in ventures and the like. Abdullah silently laughed at all of this, because while their stacks grew and shrunk sporadically, his own stack only grew.

[Dino]

The Present

Abdullah is now 30, has a wife, three healthy children (2 girls, one boy), and Salim, at 45, is happy with his two wives, and seven children. Their parents have retired, and have gone off to live in Bombay, India, so that they can take it easy without the desert heat. They will soon be moving to Delhi, to be near the palace, and join society in the heart of the city.

Their wives were mostly content in their comfortable surroundings. Fortunately for the wives and children, Salim and Abdullah lived in the same house they grew up in, and simply expanded it as needed. This way, when the two of them would get consumed by the mechanics of running the business (the only difference is now instead of his mother, Salim would just go with his two wive's and Salim's), the women and children weren't bored.

However, both brothers knew that this charade of staying in Medina forever could not continue. They both knew that the lucrative fortunes to be made by dispensing of the good from the East to Medina, storing them there until their return, and their disbursement into Europe was far more alluring than bargaining with drunken, filthy sailors. Far better to sit in finely appointed parlors and sip hot tea while speaking in gentle, soft voices with people in the civilised world, and then sailing back around and only having to put up with the stench of Europe as long as it took them to parcel out the sandalwood oils!

[Dino]

The Situation

Rumour has it that with the advent of the Moguls in India, there is a fortune to be made by trading goods from Europe and Africa to India and China. The Moguls, being better administrators on trade regulations, and centralising the governing bodies, have made it even more lucrative than it already was. Now, all one has to do is set up in Bombay and send agents to China from there.

However, the most lucrative of all is to go into the sweltering heat of South India yourself and retrieve the spices directly from the inscrutable, dark-skinned peoples who harvest the fields and own the farms themselves. Tea, spices, nuts, and those heavenly, heady oils would make any merchant salivate.

Then, on to China to the Northern provinces that bordered Mongolia. The peoples there, who had been ravaged and pillaged all these years would give anything for the European goods like the down pillows, the feather beds, the lace and the equisitely tooled metal weapons.

Unforutnately, Hajj season is approaching quickly, and that would mean a veritable tide of humans going towards, not away from Medina. The Shah would definitely be coming in from India to take his new bride on her Hajj. That would mean that if they didn't leave before the season, everyone would have already bought the necessaries for their trips. If they left too soon, however, there were storms and pirates to worry about.

All the situations were not the most ideal. However, all of them would definitely be adventures.

[Dino]

What I'm looking for

While I'd like you to be creative with your profiles, don't focus on appearance too much. I don't want to see pictures of your character. I do, however, want to know the person's characteristics and personality traits. And by all this is holy, PLEASE make your characters beleivable and human. If I see one more shape-shifting, telepathing, telekinetic, elven vampire pirate ninja nazi prison guard exotic dancer with big boobs and nice a**, I will scream. 99.99% of the population does not look like Angelina Jolie. That's the percentage I want. A real person cannot move things with his mind, but he can give you a hug when you're feeling low. That's what I want. REAL people. There's enough adventure just being alive in this world -- let's leave the improbable or over-powerising out of this.

Skill, however, is a must. You cannot be a clumsy character. You cannot be socially inept. You must be able to speak at least four languages: Arabic, Spanish, Italian, and some Urdu or Chinese (we need members who speak either one, because Urdu gets you by in India, and Chinese is for China XD). You may also want to have picked up (for your own success) French, Hindi, Cantonese, and either Swahili or another African language.

You are an Arabic muslim. This means that women to you are haraam (forbidden). You may not imbibe alcohol, eat pork, or allow insult to your God or your Prophet. You have disdain for the Europeans, but certainly don't mind spending their gold. You must behave with the utmost restraint and class in any country you visit, so as not to give your homeland or your God a shadow to walk in. You've lived in the desert all your life, so you're resourceful.

Other than that, as a merchant, you are to follow the rules that all merchants have agreed to.

Those are the rough guidelines of how the roleplay itself is going to run. The character's personality is totally up to you.

[Dino]

List of Participants

Salim - OPEN
Abdullah - OPEN

Here's how it works. I've left this open ended. This thing can work with just the two people (Salim and Abdullah) and a lot of NPCs, or many many people, and just a few necessary NPCs. I have not made a profile for either Salim or Abdullah, because most of it is covered in the backstory. I'm leaving profile creation to whomsoever wants those characters. If you would like to make a new character that would fit into their story, I'm happy to add it.

To Join

You can either PM me or post the application in here. Both methods work for me. I cannot accept if you're not literate and advanced.

[b]Gaia Username:[/b]
[b]Character Name*:[/b]
[b]How the character fits into the story**:[/b]
[b]Profile***:[/b]

* MUST be different from Gaia name and real name. Please keep it Arabic to the best of your ability. If you'd like suggestions, just ask.

** Maybe a paragraph or two explaining how you think the character fits into the gran scheme of things, even if it is Salim or Abdullah.

*** Must create a profile for all characters mostly concentrating on personality and character traits. I'm not too bothered about looks. Even if you have Salim or Abdullah, you must still create a profile, because I have left a lot of leeway in there.

[Dino]

Open for posting.

[Serael]

This looks very well laid out. *applauds* I hope you get a lot of good people and have this roleplay done right. <3

[Dino]

Thank you, Seishin no Kibou. I appreciate it. I'm still hammering out details on there.

[Dino]

Updated with backstory.

[Dino]

Maybe if I throw in a vampire mansion? Whuf. I phail.