ashdown: an urban fantasy game. happy holidays!

[Ashdown Crier]

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone,
"it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words so many
different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -
that's all."

[guild link] • [mod hiring] • [artist hiring]

To be added to the community blast chat, simply post your AIM screen name in the main thread.
Someone will invite you shortly.

[Ashdown Crier]

19 sept 2016. State of the Shop!! Also happy 400 pages!
19 aug 2016. The Court of the Sorrowful One humbly requests your presence at the Faerie Ball.
7 jun 2016. moonstone dazzle has left shop staff. we are very sorry to see her go and thank her for all her hard work.
28 apr 2016. fashion week contest winners!!
14 apr 2016. fashion week!
10 apr 2016. State of the Shop: Addressing 200 pages, staff changes, meta roles, real-world logic, factions, some new features, minihiatus, shibe's graphic absenteeism, civvie busts, new terminology, and coming attractions!
30 mar 2016. We're having ourselves a mayoral election!
29 mar 2016. official meta wrap-up and State of the Shop address.
28 mar 2016. a transparency document and the end of the meta. congratulations to all who participated!
17 mar 2016. grand opening contest is OVER!! congrats to all our many, many winners.
1 mar 2016. dear diary, today i made a thread.

[Ashdown Crier]

once upon a time,
long before there was you, there was magic. not just a little magic, there was all the magic, and everything was growth and change and creation. but where there is so much, there will be those who want more. who want control. and where there is control there is stagnation, and where there is stagnation there is The Enemy.

The Enemy is not a single thing. there is no one person or cause to point at and say, 'there it is: The Enemy'. it can be described only in technicalities: it is the status quo incarnate. it is reality, codified, and order, personified. it is the denial of dreams, and dreamers, and the potential to rise above what you were made to be. a long long time ago, with every witch in the world to offer their power, it was sealed away. they gave up their magic, all the magic in the world, to serve as its cage. in doing so, those brave witches trapped the world in cycles, in an inescapable, inalterable reality. but they also bought the ability to change, to create. and they stalled The Enemy's victory. they bought us time.

but now the magic is returning, and The Enemy comes with it, part and parcel, like a gift from an estranged great-aunt. the magic bleeds through in a hundred different ways, a hundred little windows into the world that could be. the world that should be. a world where things can be new and beautiful. a world The Enemy wants to destroy.

so now you have a choice: stand and fight? or stand aside?

[Ashdown Crier]

1. Your butt is not fancy headgear, so don't wear it like one. Be nice.
2. Keep it PG-13. Tag for violence or sexual language, but don't lovingly describe somebody's insides (sexually or violently). Don't link your ******** NSFW, I don't care.
3. Host your own images. Certs don't auto-update, so there's no reason to hotlink.
4. Rehoming only happens at player request. You have the right of final veto over who gets your character unless you give it up in writing.
5. I literally don't care if you resell your characters. Trade them for other breedables. Do whatever. But do it on-Gaia, not for IRL cash, because we are doing this for pixel love and that's all you get from it too.
6. If you do resell or trade a character, please let us know. I don't care why you did it or what you got for it, I just want to be sure I'm up to date on who owns what.
7. Staff will not kill a character if we feel the decision has been made impulsively or under duress, even if given permission or requested to. Kill your own darlings.
8. I can change these rules any time.

f. a. q.
Do I need an approved profile to play a civilian?
No. You don't even need a journal.

Do I need an approved profile to play a Dreamer?
Yes. We use those for purposes.

What purposes?
Well that would be telling.

Do I need art to play my won Dreamer?
No. But you do have to win them first.

Do I need to submit my plot to run it?
Mmmmmm no. Unless you need an NPC for a major part of it or intend to majorly change the setting (such as by blowing up town hall or idk, tearing a hole in the sky). We discuss this in more detail here.

Can my character's powers overlap with another character's?
Yes.

But I don't want it to.
Because of the way powers are set up, no one character is going to have the exact same power set or progression. So don't worry about this too much.

Will I ever be able to play an Other Thing or someone on the side of the Enemy?
Nope.

Aww, but--
Nope.

My character's super troubled and has a past with The Law and does crimes--
Because Ashdown is set in the real world, please be aware that we do enforce real-world consequences. Obviously you don't have to get caught for every crime you do, but please don't go overboard with it!

[Ashdown Crier]

ashdown.
a massachusetts college town hosting your mom, and by your mom i mean the otherworld or the gate to it, or... i don't get it any more than you do, ok? it's the ******** hellmouth. if the hellmouth granted magical powers. (did the hellmouth do that? never watched buffy.) if you live here you attend ashdown central high school or the rider-waite college. or like... you work here. magic can come to anyone over 16 i guess. rent is low, the weather is nice, and tourists invade every summer for that 'north shore culture'. boston is 30 minutes south and providence is north and east by 45.

we're right on the bay, and graveyards are everywhere, and they're all antique

point of reference: beverly, massachusetts


other ashdown.
silent hill's evil twin. or i don't know. that place is already pretty evil. not sure.
an unexplored place. once we only dreamed it but then it started to bleed over. flatbears and rain blow in on the northerlies off the bay and so does other ashdown. it's rainy there always, but you can only go there when you've unlocked your real magic. when you've 'woken up' she says. that's what the rumor says.

things live here. and they are so hungry


the absence.
she says her name is sunny. she used to be human but now she says she's reborn. she sees things in grave-dirt incense and lives in the old victorian on the cliffs. i think she knows something real people shouldn't.

for a pack of smokes and a favor she'll tell your future

[Ashdown Crier]

once heard tell of a man who split himself in two. the one part never changed at all, the other grew and grew. the growing part was always new. the steady part was always true

dreamer.
you've started to see it, haven't you? the other place. it used to just be dreams but now you're seeing it on a bright day or in the hall, and things are happening that never used to. you're different now. on rainy days you can step into the other ashdown, but be wary of becoming trapped. the ways out are limited.

to wake up, you'll need to participate in one event and complete ten roleplays.


riser.
you know what you are and where you're going, and you can walk into the other ashdown as you please. your powers are growing, you've got your magic or your weapon or your treaties with the other things, and you're starting to understand just where you fit in this fight.

where you go from here is up to you.

[Ashdown Crier]

dreamers.

risers.

beyond.

others.

[Ashdown Crier]

The Premade Adoption Center

[Ashdown Crier]

staff.
shibrogane.
creator, executive producer, showrunner, artist

silverah.
executive producer, artist, people-wrangler

azuredreams.
director, production assistant

cibarium.
artist, production assistant

endejester.
artist

AMItotic.
artist

[Ashdown Crier]

affiliates maybe i don't know !! !!

[Ashdown Crier]

Banner & image font is OldStyle.
Thread banners/sword sigil is by shibrogane. The crown icon is by Musaplated from the Noun Project, and the
sword icon was by Juan Pablo Bravo from the Noun Project.
Cert and roll call graphics is by Silverah.
Shop concept by shibrogane.
Character art by Silverah & shibrogane.

Donut Steel.

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