The Unsettling City (under new management)

[Average Romantic]

((This is not a walk-in!
No advertising without permission!
No playing Gods or their like when we've only just met you!))

Marshall City.
A sprawling metropolis that is home to many people, millions of humans all going about their everyday lives with barely an inkling of what's going on around them. All across the world, human beings have always been fascinated with mystical, the magical, the unknown, but rarely if ever can they stare it in the face and believe that it's really there. This city is only different in that they have to try just a little bit harder to avoid the truth, to keep from seeing what has been right in front of them for centuries. That they are not, never were, and never will be alone on this Earth. Demons, Vampires, Beastfolk, Sorcerers, Ghosts, Elves, and even the occasional super-powered Human all walk this city in throngs, trying for the most part to blend in and pretend that they are no different than you or I.

...But they are.

Some of them cannot simply walk into a coffee shop and say good morning to the barista, with a smile and a wave. There are many whose lives are so much more complex, so much more secret because they don't have the luxury of feigning normality. Some are too shy to stand up and proclaim how wrong this is, and there are those among them who subtly work toward the day when all will be accepted. Still others, though, choose to lash out at humanity for their differences, to rage at the 'ordinary' world for never allowing them to become a part of it.

[Average Romantic]

1.) No Godmodding/Godmoding: Some characters are meant to be boss characters, but even these should take a lucky hit once in a while. This is also a pretty high-powered RP, so we will allow a certain amount of incredible powered. Just be aware of certain things when you are RPing out fights. If you go an entire fight with another persons combat-oriented PC without taking hits and missing them, chances are you are God-moding. If you go an entire fight against a boss or high-powered NPC or PC without taking a hit or missing, you are definitely God-Moding.

2.) Respect the Moderators: If you have an issue with a Moderator or another player, please take it to PMs. If the issue cannot be resolved between the two parties, contact another Moderator or Moderator-approved mediator. We want everyone to get along and we don't want to lose players to drama.

3.) Get Mod Approval for changing the story and Player approval if you wish to insert yourself in someone's back-story: This is important. If you want to make a sub-plot, a mini-arc, or do anything that may affect everyone's characters, talk with a Moderator about it first. We will do our best to accomodate you but it does have to fit into the overall setting and the rules that have already been established. Also respect other player's backstories. If you want to be a part of a character's backstory, try to work it out with the player.

4.) Make the difference between OoC Chatter clear from RP: Use brackets or double parenthesis to denote Out of Character (OoC) talk. Roleplaying (RP) In Character (IC) should be written out in full sentences, use quotations for speech, italic or apostrophes for thought, and use proper punctuation wherever possible.
--OoC Examples: (( OoC Text )) [ OoC Text ] [[ OoC Text ]] { OoC Text }
--Sentence Examples: (3rd Person Writing) Mary lifted her shoulders in a shrug and shook her head tiredly.
(1st Person Writing) Mary lifts her shoulders in a shrug and shakes her head tiredly.
--Speech Example: "This is how you talk In-Character!" Mary shouted.
--Thought Examples: (Apostrophes) 'Wow, I'm really getting ahold of using thought in RP,' May thought to herself.
(Italics) Some people use italics for stressing a word, but I like to use it to denote thought in roleplaying, Mary thinks, scratching her chin.
--Punctuation Examples: (Period) The brunette smiled and said, "Hello, I'm Mary."
(Comma) "Hello, I'm Mary," said the brunette, smiling.
(Exclamation Point) "Hey, I'm Mary!" shouted the brunette with an excited smile.
(Question Mark) The brunette smiled a little and said, "I'm Mary, and you are?"

5.) Follow Gaia's Terms of Service: This is pretty simple. No trolling, no cybering, no phishing, etc.

6.) IC disputes stay IC: If your character is having an argument with another character and it is getting heated, that should not translate to an Out of Character fight. Just because your character is mad that the other one thinks or speaks or acts a certain way doesn't mean you should be mad at the player of that character. And for that matter, being mad at a player for how they think and feel shouldn't translate to your character having a grudge against theirs.

7.) Have Fun!

[Average Romantic]

This list will tell you the main account of each moderator, as well as give you a list of their alternate accounts. That way, you can message the appropriate mod whatever account they happen to be on and you know to respect them as more than just some bossy player. Every moderator will be required to give a full list of his or her GaiaOnline accounts, the 'main' of which will be bolded above the list of alternates. The 'main' is chosen by the moderator themselves, and it is your best chance to get in touch with them. The moderators will all have access to this account, so they will be able to make rules edits and (if necessary, and we hope it isn't) smack down the banhammer. Furthermore, whenever you see the symbol below, you must read the post that contains it.



This is our Moderator Insignia, and it means the contained post is extremely important. If you see someone posting this image who is not a moderator of this thread, please contact this account immediately.

--The Mod Squad--

Average Romantic (Moderator account)

AnCatDubh

Ixor-san
Katherina Orion Paendrag

--Emergency Moderational Team--

(None currently)

[Average Romantic]

This section where you can see who has what IM service, or see who is willing to communicate off of Gaia by email. Please note that we will NOT hand out people's emails or IM screennames here, this is just a list of who has what so you can know what to ask for if you decide to communicate offsite.

--Yahoo Instant Messenger (YIM)--


--Windows Live Messenger (MSN)--
AnCatDubh
Ixor-san

--Gmail--
AnCatDubh
Ixor-san

--Skype--
AnCatDubh
Ixor-san
Hat-tori
Rain Down Love

--IRC and OOC--
We have an IRC channel where the regulars hang out. If you wish to join the channel, PM AnCatDubh, Roaven, or Hat-tori to get the channel name and help on how to get onto an IRC client if you need.

For major OOC conversations, pleas use this thread to keep the clutter down a bit so RP posts are easier to find.

[Average Romantic]

Here you will find links to the first and last posts of either large story arc events or smaller, more personal subplots. We recently decided that all larger story arcs will get their own thread in the Barton Town Invite Only RP section. Links will be provided from here on out. You will also find two numbers, which will be the Starting Page and Ending Page number, as well as a brief summary of what happened during the event if you don't have much time to read. Scenes that aren't finished at the end of the day will have their first post linked to and be noted with an "Event in Progress" tag.

--Blood of the World--
(Major Story-Arc Event)
Takes place on Page #8296 through Page #8315 of the previous thread.
If you are new here, DO NOT POST IN THAT THREAD. It is seperate timeline after this event.

In this event, a malignant being called the Blood of the World (composed of all of the Earth's suffering and negativity) broke free from its bonds above Marshall City and fell onto it in the form of hellish orange-red liquid. All of the 'normal' human beings in the city were rendered unconscious by the ennui and the strain of the Blood, but those who were stronger or more aware of what was going on managed to stay awake and fight back. The city was protected by the Sefirotic Shield, combined from ancient technology the Haven Network had discovered and the arcane know-how of the dead magician Merlin. The Shield was powered by three living beings, being called the Angel, Devil, and Magic cores respectively, who risked their lives to give the city every moment they could. The Angel Core, Hanael (an angel of mercy), and the Devil Core, Hattori (an Avalonian turned Golden One), died when the Shield finally broke.

The Magic Core, Blake (an alien Spellblade), was saved from this fate on the insistence of both Hattori and Hanael for unknown reasons. Pulled from the Shield before it broke, Blake then used the Shield's city-encompassing connection to feed all of the fighter's powers he could into the Archmage Isaac and his Legendary wife Elliot, who combined their attack with the Son of War, Aiden, in a full-out strike that completely destroyed the Blood. There were quite a few casualties, but they were minimized thanks to the preparedness of the Supernatural community and an early warning by the Bloody Knight Mordred.



--Solgaea--
(Story-Arc Event)
Ended
Has a separate thread here.

Blake, the erstwhile leader of the Haven Network, has traveled to an ancient space-city known as Solgaea in search of a powerful weapon which he thinks will help the Network stop the Blackguard. His friends, concerned by his sudden swerve into the use of Darkness-based magics and distant actions, found that the weapon he sought was supposed to have killed a god of long ago. Isaac, Elliot, Jazz, Nero, Alisa, Aurelus, Rostislav, the snake-twins and their hellhound Xeras, and the mysterious boy Tobias have all traveled to this hallowed place seeking to stop him from finding the weapon.

--Resolution--

After splitting into three groups, those in search of Blake went by seperate paths toward the city center. Along the way, they encountered more enigmatic clues about Solgaea's post, including a couple Lingering Sentiments, chades of those long-dead, that hailed from the distant tragic history of the place. After putting them to rest and avoiding the automated defense systems, everyone reached the throne room that was the center of everything. Blake's closest friends Alisa, Aurelus, and Nero were the first to arrive, finding him standing in front of a grand monolith of blue-and-gold crystal from which the weapon Blake sought, Caliburn, was embedded in. Pulling the blade, which had been used to kill a deaity here long ago, released the lingering spirit of that god, who then took possession of Blake's body. After a tough battle to both free Blake from the deity's posession, a comatose Blake was brought back to Whitehaven, Caliburn still clutched in his hand.

--Kidnapped! In the Underworld
(Mini-arc event)
Ended
Event thread can be found here.

Elliot, Isaac's significant other and one of the heads of the Manor, has been taken to the Underworld after an ambush by the agents of one of the Deathlords that resides there. Unable to arrive in time to prevent it, Isaac has called forth allies to go forth and rescue her and their unborn child. Steel, Sergei, Kat, Sally, Adreanna, Serafina, Alisa, Asila, William, Roavan, and Rostislav have all volunteered to go forth and invade the fortess of an Underworld Lord to bring Elliot back home.

--Resolution--
A not-so-chance encounter with the summoned Angel of Death Salazar, who is contractually bound to Elliot, the group continues on with the extra ally through the memory of Marshall City that exists in the Underworld. After splitting up into two groups, one to try diplomacy to free Elliot, another to await a signal to launch an assualt of diplomacy failed, the assault group took up in a building at the outskirts of the city to wait while the diplomacy group was lead into the Fortess of Crimson Ice, the home of the Deathlord The Lover Clad in Raiment of Tears. A further split occured inside the fortress as Roavan and Adrianna, hidden under a veil of unnoticability courtesy of Sally, began moving about to sabotage key defenses if negotiations whent bad. Hostilities were inevitable though, and a battle on multiple fronts began with the Deathlords's servants and The Lover herself. Ultimately, the rescue operation was a success, though as a result of how Elliot was incarcerated, Elliot went into early labor. After a being rushed to medical attention, their son is born safely, though who knows what effect Elliot's stay in the Underworld has on the child?


--Fall of the Blackguard and its Aftermath--
(Storyline Update)

With the downfall of its leadership after one failed siege of the city's supernaturals and a determined counterattack by Haven and allied forces, the Blackguard organization has fallen apart. The loss of the leadership left scattered cells of soldiers around the globe that quickly turned into crystalline monstrosities, the result of a curse taking place should orders from above fail to be received after a certain time period. With the Haven Network's newfound power and the ties to the Capitol first fostered by the residents of the Manor, the future is looking bright for the hopes of full integration of the supernatural into "normal" human life.

However, this allowed the rise of those less scrupulous of the secret community. Strange crimes are on the rise and gang activity is flourishing, most notably the activities of the Brotherhood and their growing rival, marked by a smokey grey tribal skull with wings, often worn on a field of black. Calling themselves "The Skulls," they hold the same hatred of normal humans as the Brotherhood hold toward the things that go bump in the night, but they are noticeably less selective about who they lash out at or who gets trapped in the middle of their disputes. Other, older criminal organizations have taken advantage of the void to increase their own influence, as well, but the growing gang activity and high-profile crimes are drawing more attention than they would like. It's only a matter of time before tensions break and things really turn ugly.

On the flip side, Lucky Devil studios, the project begun by Lord Sarl O'Harl, has released a couple of it's first movies and the up-and-coming leading men and ladies have been well received and are quickly building their fan-base. Once they gather enough of a following, their true natures will be revealed...

[Average Romantic]

This is not a walk-in, but neither do we require character profiles in the usual sense. We have some guidelines about races, backstories, etc, but for the most part we're pretty lenient. I'll be listing the names of mods you need to talk to about playing specific races or using certain stuff in your background.

This thread contains a list of characters and short backgrounds on them.
Guidelines for submitting a character are found in that thread.
Please and thanks~

This thread has information and tekteks of various races and their incarnations in our thread.
If you have questions about a race that isn't depicted here but is popular/has many different forms, please PM one of the Mods about it.
Example: Vampires, Werewolves, Angels, etc.

This thread has information on various Gods, different dimensions, etc.
Basically, if you have anything in mind aside from a regular old human being raised by other humans you're going to want to visit this thread and read up. Since religion is covered by this collection, you're also gonna want to go here if your character is going to be anything aside from an atheist/agnostic who is completely clueless as to the true natures of religions or the practicer of an IRL version of a religion.

This thread has information on different parts of the city, and other places as well.
Lets you know where specific factions are based and gives you descriptions of buildings and areas within the city. It also contains information for places beyond Marshall City that we have specific rules or special information on. It's a good idea to read this no matter what kind of charrie you're making.

--Racial Restrictions and Guidelines--

There are a few races we have a certain view on here in the Unsettling City. For example,asidde from the usual garden variety, the Fae in our story are essentially personifications of emotions or ideas. The Four Horsemen of the Christian faith are Fae in our setting, living versions of the concepts they embody (War, Pestilence, Death, Conquest) who have great power. As such, you cannot play the Horsemen or any relatives of them without first speaking to AnCatDubh or Ixor-san. Furthermore, if you want to play one of the races depicted in the Races thread that says to contact a certain person, contact Ixor-san or AncatDubh.

Next, there is a distinction between Devils and Demons. Demons are largely descended from feral monster on the Infernal plane, and even if they have grown intelligent now no demon can claim grand ancestry. What this means is that no demon is descended from some great empire of demons or a master race of them. Demons are the descendants of monsters, Devils are the ones who've had powerful nations and great civilizations on the Infernal plane. If you don't want to play either of these, your character would be referred to simply as an Infernal, and only ignorant humans would consider you to be demons.

No Gods, period, unless you are previously approved. We have a very specific hierarchy.

Vampires are a tricky one as well. There are many different kinds of Vampire in the world, so you'll have to be specific for the type you want to play. Some are allergic to garlic, some aren't. Some can turn into animals, some can't. Some drink blood, others drink in psychic life force. Be clear when you tell us what sort you are, so we know. Moderator approval will have to be obtained to play an "original" Vampire of any kind, but keep in mind that no Vampire species has a single common ancestor that all bloodlines have sprung from.

That should be all, but as we get things together this list will almost certainly grow. If you have questions on this stuff or you're not sure a character is appropriate then please send a PM to this account to tell us about them and get our opinions.

[Average Romantic]

This post will allow people to at-a-glance see when their RP partners are usually on, and who is out because of jobs, school, etc. It won't have specifics, just the general gist of things so people can know "X person isn't likely to ever be here at X time".

So no, you don't have to put a schedule up here.
And no, nobody is gonna bite your head off if you're not here when you usually are.
This is just so you can look at the front page and be like "Oh, jazzknh1 is be busy with school stuff so she'll probably only be on for an hour at a day." or "Well, Ixor-san usually works until at least 3 so it's gonna be at least another few hours before we get a chance to continue our scene."

To reiterate, I am not putting this here and asking people to go "I work from 8am to 7pm on these days and these are all my days off and here's my address and here's the knife so a stranger can come by and cut my throat. 8D" Because seriously people, we're not being creepy here. Just information that is helpful for your RPing buddies to know, and you can decline to have anything list here. That's your right, after all.

______________________________________________________________________

AnCatDuib-Varies around errands, chores and occasional recreation. More or less always on otherwise.

Ixor-san-Usually works 7am-330pm or similar hours, Mon-Fri and occasional weekends from 8am-430pm. PST.

Esther54-3pm-bedtime EST and unavailable 6pm-8pm on Thursdays.

Kuro Ryuu Hime (aka:Spam)-After 3pm CST Mon, Wed, Fri
After 5pm CST Tue, Thurs

Roaven- 3pm-11 to 12pm EST.

[Average Romantic]

This is where we list events or changes which may be coming soon to the RP. Sometimes this is the announcing of a new place (Such as Silmeria) or it could be just letting people know that we're about to get started on a major Plot Arc/that we're working on more thread art and such.

[Average Romantic]

Art Shops, other RolePlays, Site Feedback Topics we want pushed through, even OoC hangouts that our friends have made. All the other places on Gaia we support will go here.

[Average Romantic]

"Eat the Fifth Element, b***h!" ~Isaac Connor, on unleashing the combined attack that destroys the Blood of the World.

'MINE IS THE SNAIL THAT WILL BREAK THROUGH FATE!' ~Zetsubo-Chan

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