My fate is in your hands, and yours in mine. We are not slaves and owners, soldiers and generals, peasants and kings. We are siblings. We are friends. We are one.
Before there was peace, civility, and unity, there was fire. Dragons were rampaging beasts, and humans were horrid barbarians. They fought against each other, and amongst each other. It seemed that the end of days had finally arrived, that the world was ready to die. But across the vast fields of battle, a voice of reason called out, and another answered back.
Bahamut, a dragon of near unrivaled power, and Avalon, a plain young lady, approached one another amongst the sea of flames. Both were ashamed of their own races for what they had wrought, and ashamed of themselves for being unable to cease the madness. Being incapable of doing anything else, the two sat amidst the chaos and talked. From sunrise to sunset, they spoke, laughed, and cried for things big and small. The more they shared their lives with one another, the more the differences between them seemed to fade away. They were not dragon and human, they were simply two wayward souls.
When this realization dawned on them, a form of magic the likes of which the world had never known was born. The spirits of Bahamut and Avalon unified, creating a force that was felt amongst the warring races across the world. As living proof that they could coexist, the two set out to spread the message. They would spend the rest of their lives sharing their story, uniting their peoples and ushering in a new age of seemingly infinite possibilities.
(For information about the RP world, check the General Information post further down the page, or jump to it in a new window by clicking here. It's all info that any character can reasonably know, even if they've only just joined, but I don't expect you to know it by heart or anything crazy like that.)
1. Be respectful. Talking about you as a person, not your character(s), I expect people to be able to get along with one another in a civilized manner. I would prefer that you handle any problems with one another over PMs or something, and that I only want to be involved if you and the person/people involved can't resolve things yourselves.
2. Be reasonable. Now we're talking about in-character for the most part. I want to see fantastic and diverse powers for both you and your dragon partner, but in the case of some sort of competition (probably a fight), I want things to be amusing for everyone. That means nothing like godmodding, autohitting, powerplaying, all the usual no-nos. Battles and situations should be challenging, not impossible. Give the opponent a chance to fight back. And for everyone's sake, try to avoid ganging up on someone, the continuity gets messy if a strict posting order isn't maintained.
3. Write as best as you can. By this I mean readability and length. Write what you're comfortable with. Though others would probably gut me for saying it, if you think a situation really only needs a sentence or two, then go with it. So long as it inspires creativity and responses for you and others, that's all that matters.
4. Keep us aware of your activity levels. Inspiration comes and goes. Sometimes you can make several posts a day, sometimes you can't scratch down a letter for days at a time. Whatever the case, keep everyone in the know! Use the OOC to tell us whether you're busy or not. Just posting an emoticon to let us know you're still breathing is preferable to silence. Also, because people have a tendency to ditch RPs entirely without notice, the rule of thumb here is if the person/people you're RPing with don't reply after one day with no notice (OOC post, PM, etc.), you can retcon the situation and move on to something else. This applies to me as well in the event I'm being lazy and I'm holding you up.
Everyone's favorite part! Just fill in the application and send it to me in a PM titled 'Avalon Academy Application' so I don't miss it or something. You can erase the stuff in brackets when you send it in since those are just notes.
Ranks are basically grades at Avalon Academy, and are measured from 1 to 5 stars. You move up in rank by proving yourself before a council from the academy, which I will help orchestrate if you choose to do so. The breakdown for ranks is basically this:
1 Star - You've very recently met your dragon and have a long way to go in understanding and cooperation. You might not even get along very well at all.
2 Stars - You and your dragon have been together for a few months and know enough to at least walk around in public and not make fools of yourselves.
3 Stars - You've been together for about a year, and show promise for it. You know one another's quirks and skills quite well, and work well as a team.
4 Stars - You've been together for a couple of years. Your coordination turns quite a few heads, and you can anticipate one another with ease.
5 Stars - You and your dragon have been together for several years, moving and thinking as a single soul. Your partner knows you even better than you do it seems.
If you choose to be of rank 3 or higher, you will have to provide an RP sample to a situation I provide just so I know I can trust you to play your character well. I know this seems tedious and distrusting, but I haven't done a good job of quality control in the past and I'd like to rectify that. It won't require much beyond a paragraph for a reply, so breathe easy.
[b]Name[/b]:
[b]Age[/b]: (I'd suggest keeping in the range of 13-18 depending on rank and such)
[b]Gender[/b]:
[b]Appearance[/b]: (Picture or written is fine. For pictures, please provide URLs rather than posting the image itself)
[b]Personality[/b]:
[b]Abilities[/b]:
[b]Equipment[/b]:
[b]Rank[/b]:
[b]Biography[/b]: (This is optional. If you do include it, try to keep it short and only highlight important things. It's more interesting when it's revealed over time.)
[b]Additional Info[/b]: (Optional.)
Our story primarily takes place in the kingdom of Gallanen, a land of medieval fantasy with a slew of advanced technologies made possible with magic, and centers around Avalon Academy, an institute for people who have obtained a spiritual link with a dragon. The academy offers a rounded education in typical subjects, such as mathematics, language, and alchemy, along with the heralded specialty of dragon mastery, meaning things like magic, teamwork, and combat. The academy doubles as a research center for dragon and master capabilities, due to the wide diversity of racial traits, powers, and cooperation. Students are assigned a rank, from one star to five, based on their proven experience with their dragon partners, which act similar to grade levels. While primarily for students, Avalon Academy is also a small town of sorts due to the number of students and the potential for places like pubs, inns, ingredient shops, blacksmiths, and so on.
Also I made a really poor map just to show the layout of the academy. I might make a better one in the future. Take a gander at it.
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Classes
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Here's a schedule that people can use as a guideline of where you can expect characters to be coming from and going to. Every student attends four classes per day, with a break after the first two, and everyone gets to have two days off per week. The available classes are as follows:
Training Grounds
Dragon Coordination
Physical Combat
Magic Combat
The Atheneum
Alchemy
Medicinal Studies
Mathematics
Language Studies
Law
Business Studies
Philosophy
History
Political Studies
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Notable Locations
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Anywhere that acts as a good hub for people to meet will be listed here. If you want to make up a place and have it added to the list, just let me know and I'd be glad to do so.
The Singing Sparrow - One of the most popular inns and pubs at the academy for good drinks, good food, good music, and good company. The prices can be hard on the poor, but that's just how it is. It can get rather crowded at times.
Dovan's Lodge - An inn that's known for its cheap prices, with matching accommodations. Only people that are hard up for money tend to stay here, or those that spend little time in their room to begin with. The building consists only of an office and the individual room units (similar to a motel).
The Atheneum - A large building housing lecture halls, the ceremony hall, and the library, holding massive amounts of information from the far reaches of the globe. If you want to know something, odds are you'll find it here in some manner. There is a section for rarer and more dangerous bits of reading, which require permission from a council member to browse.
The Training Grounds - Be it simple exercise or to lock horns with someone, this is the hub for physical activity. It features things like a large track, an obstacle course, and of course an arena to let spectators watch opponents beat each other senseless. Medical staff are, understandably, often close by.
Aven Woods - A nice, big forest behind the academy, with plenty of clearings for those seeking relaxation and a little more solitude. The forest is connected to Melae Lake, an almost equally large body of water with a few boats sitting around the shore.
Market Square - Near the main entrance to the academy grounds is a spot for vendors to peddle their wares. If it can be bought, it's probably sold here, for better or for worse. Though busy during the day, merchants tend to pack up around sunset.
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Notable People
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Rurian Avon - One of the masters of the academy. He is an accomplished magician with an affinity for wind magic, and the instructor for the Dragon Coordination course. His partner is a green dragon called Curach.
Horace Elm - The headmaster of the academy. Along with managing the academy, he is a key negotiator in the kingdom's relationships with other states. His partner is a black dragon called Garm.
Vella Brandt - One of the academy's masters. She is an expert swordsman and teaches the Physical Combat course. Her partner is a bronze dragon called Brynhild.
Esper Leiva - A master of the academy and the instructor for Medicinal Studies. Her partner is a blue dragon named Cyld.
Isaac Faust - One of the academy's masters and the instructor for Magic Combat. He is a somewhat strange man, yet his mastery of his art cannot be denied. His partner is a gray dragon called Cassiopeia.
Cecilia Xenos - A master that oversees the teaching of Philosophy. She has a day-dreamy, carefree attitude, wandering around with her head almost perpetually in the clouds. Her partner is a white dragon called Cygnus.
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Common Abilities
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I don't intend this to be a large section, but I just needed a place to put it. These are abilities that all characters inherently have. I may add more in the future if they're deemed necessary.
Rapid Regeneration - Any wounds heal remarkably faster than normal. Basic things like cuts are healed within minutes, and severe damage such as broken bones or third degree burns heal within a day or two with proper rest.
Partner Communication - Every person and their dragon have some means of communicating with each other, be it verbally, telepathically, empathetically, or something else entirely.
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Story
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- Arc I: Fire -
During the night of an otherwise ordinary day the academy, the infirmary at the Training Ground was burned down with suspicion of foul play, and with it, a student named Jorin Mosorin and his dragon Garun have vanished. The academy is now on alert, with the public being denied access to the academy and soldiers being stationed around the campus. Who has committed this act, and why? The mystery has only just begun...
