This is the official out-of-character chatroom for the Corpse Spring Isle RPG. Please post any character sheets here for approval before your initial posts. This is a fantasy adventure RPG, but this isn't a typical magic user battle fest. This is a human struggle in a more pirate and naval based adventure. There are many fantasy elements, but magic users aren't typical in this environment. Also, the more flawed the personality of the character, the more interest and conflict can generally arise between your fellow writers. I will use this thread primarily for providing more detailed sensory descriptions of the various characters around the islands and sometimes other notes. Any questions should be relayed here or by PM. We can work togehter to fit in whatever background you come up with into the map. Also, feel free to just chat away here as well. Keep the story in the main thread and everything else in here. I look forward to getting started!
Do you have a map in the works? I appreciate a map for almost any roleplay, but I would think one would be especially helpful for a seafaring RP. Not to mention thematic, for what that's worth.
Give me a couple days. I dumped it out quick to see if there was interest. Let me get a map-build out of some various regions by the weekend.
I give you, the basic maps of the regions. A start that will be added to eventually. Basic layout. If anyone wants to add some towns that they hail from or cultures, please feel free and I can add to the map(s).
I'd like to hear your thoughts and/or concerns on the following character concept: A twenty-something physician in training with plague treating experience Has lived and studied in one of the region's larger port cities (fairly cosmopolitan) for the past few years Because of dangerously large gambling debts (and other more personal reasons) is forced to sign an expedition contract for Corpse Spring
That's good. For naming convention's sake, you're welcome to name (and place) the port city my character will come from.
How about for the city of Watchton on the Northern coast of the Comland province? A more deciduous and cliff-walled region of the provincially divided continent. I placed it on the map and snapshotted it in relation to Lysander's Respite. Spoiler: Watchton and the Northern Sea Route
Name: Stork My Sharkless Astrolabe (usually shortened to "Sharkless," though this offends him) Age: 20 Gender: Male Background: Stork My Sharkless Astrolabe is a native, and now exile, of the Siaulim Archipelago of the southeast coast of Hungfong. His people get their names - and seemingly much of their speech - from manuscript fragments mixed together in a coconut shell. They are infamous for their strange customs and their extravagantly incomprehensible speech. They are nonetheless regarded as fine sailors; as navigators they are either prized or despised depending on one's opinion of their eccentric astronomy, which was supposedly revealed to them by starfish spirits and relies on invisible planets and constellations. Anecdotes abound as to their navigators either steering their ships to safety and riches or total disaster. Stork My Sharkless Astrolabe was exiled after he dreamt of a new constellation, the Whispering Centipede, whereon tribal sages ruled that he had been possessed by a mischievous nudibranch god; their oracle determined that he should go to the Corpse Spring Island to be exorcised and only then could he return. Appearance: Short and scrawny as is typical of Siaulim islanders. Black hair bound into a single braid that curves over his head like a scorpion tail. Ritual scars on both cheeks depicting the bat and nautilus constellations that he was born between. A blue-ink tattoo on his chest depicts a cassowary with a crossbow for a head. Often goes about with only a loin cloth and sandals. At all times he wears a band of twine about his waist that secures a crooked driftwood stick that he insists is a sword to anyone who asks. Keeps a small knife in his sandal straps, mostly for whittling. Personality: Stork My Sharkless Astrolabe is merely tolerated due to his sailing skills. His conversations are bewildering and he is easily stirred to mirth or wrath at the most unlikely provocations. His pranks and weird habits are generally harmless but unsettling; his ravings and tall tales, which are especially prolix when he is drunk or sleepy, are largely nonsensical but vaguely ominous enough to disturb hearers and ruin a good convivial evening on deck or ashore at a tavern. Skills: Knot-tying, hull repair, spearfishing, woodcarving, coral taming, jib cutting, crypto-celestial navigation
I also wanted to thank you for naming another sector of land. I presume you're talking of this area depicted in my picture here. I have not added any towns or cities yet to this region, so please feel free to add a few if it would help your character have a stronger backstory during the RPG and more to talk about. Noting with Paint may be best, and writing in the names. I can match fonts and whatnot on the actual map. Note, those brown lines are trade routes and roads. May be best to plant cities or towns near their ends. Spoiler: Siaulim
Yeah, that works. I was thinking of adding some new islands to the southeast but on second thought there is really no need for that.
Let's correct that to "there will be tentacles." Also, you're welcome to post your signing up post to the main thread. Sometimes a little bit of well placed traction can get things going. Lastly, @Bone2pick , you still looking to join? I know you take a while on character creation, but it has been a while.
It has been a while, and I apologize for not touching base with you. My family recently cycled back into playing board games together in our free time, and between those sessions and recreational reading I just can't squeeze in a roleplay. At least not at the snail's pace that I write. It's too bad really, because I dig your RP's premise; it's right up my creative alley. Best of luck with it.
Great for you, shame for us here. You'll be missed. But I'm not liable to disappear from the forum, so this game will be left open for anyone who's like to join. Hey @Le Panda Du Mal , we can do a one on one here, where you develop maybe a couple of characters and I run with an assortment of the rest of the crew. Then if others notice the RPG gaining traction they'll try to join. On a sea-faring adventure, that would probably be quite easy to work in new people as either formerly non-focused on crew or port pick-ups. Maybe even a flotsam save. Regardless, I'll give at least a week for anyone else to appear. I really would like to do this one. I did make a basic map, afterall.
Hello! I'd love to play with you, but to be honest, I never played an RPG on a forum, so I might ask some dumb questions I don't have a character sheet ready yet, but I'll probably post it later today or tomorrow after I'm done with my job. Also, I'd like to ask if this character concept is okay with you: - A 20-something woman from a poor village - Pathological liar, heartbreaker, and a scam artist - Does not have any actually useful qualities, but gets on the ship heading to the Corpse Spring Isle by lying she's someone else
Name: Ophelia Brisbane (at least, that’s how she introduces herself) Age: 25 Gender: Female Background: Ophelia was born on a small island south of Staple, called Kambag'al. This land was a scene of many conflicts between the natives and more technologically advanced settlers from other lands, which had disastrous consequences for the local economy. Most residents live in poverty, and Ophelia was no exception. On top of that, the native culture of the island relied on gender differences, where women were treated as second-rate citizens and their worth was determined by their fertility. But once the locals got a taste of how similar issues were resolved by other civilizations, the myth of women’s inferiority crumbled, leading to a complex sociopolitical issue complicating family relationships between the islanders. Such was the case with Ophelia’s parents – her father, a mason, was frequently cheating on her wife, not seeing any problem with such behavior, while her mother saw men as nothing more than abusive money providers. Both of her parents lived in a weird web of lies that Ophelia had to understand in order to function in this toxic family. In her upbringing, every role model she had taught her the importance of money and how a great fortune is every woman’s ultimate goal. But, growing up, she realized that there was virtually no way to earn something more than a few pennies on her poverty-struck island. So, using her feminine charm and persuasion, she got a sailor to take her to Staple, where her many adventures in search of a great fortune began. With her golden tongue, she jumped from one man to another, always able to come up with a teary backstory that made even the toughest warriors cry. Chasing the rumors of a great treasure, she decided to join the escapade heading to the corpse spring island, hoping to find a sucker that will do all the work for her while she’d get the gold. Deep down, she has a void in her heart that keeps her from being happy, but she was not taught how to deal with problems other than lack of cash, she doesn’t fully know what she’s actually looking for and why she’s so obsessed with money. Appearance: Ophelia has long, straight, brown hair. She’s about 160cm tall and has a slender silhouette. She often wears fancy dresses with noticeable cleavages. Her wide, brown eyes are constantly moving, scanning the area around her as if she was afraid something would jump from behind the corner. She has a distinct fashion sense and likes to wear outfits with a consistent color palette. Personality: Ophelia is a pathological liar who loves to tease men around her and flirt with anything that has big biceps. She can change her entire personality just to fit her current partner. Though she can barely do anything other than sewing, she learned a whole lot of theory about hundreds of different professions in order to be convincing when she pretends to be someone she isn’t. Her best asset is her “Golden Tongue” which she uses frequently to get what she wants. Though she dislikes having actual sexual interactions with men (her family life has made her a bit sensitive about that) she is flirtatious and wears provoking outfits to get attention. Deep down, however, she’s a very sad and lonely woman who just wants to be appreciated and loved for who she is. Since she has no psychological knowledge, she sometimes gets irrationally angry when somebody is able to get through to her sensitive side, feeling threatened no matter what that person’s intentions were. Skills: persuasion, sewing, telling very convincing lies, derailing conversations, pretending to be someone she’s not, using disguises, sneaking, flirting
This is an excellent character. I'll get to the map additions later. A lot of potential for good tension. You're welcome to post an introductory post in the main story where she signs up. Feel free to spend a little time on it. We'll push on once the two of you have gotten a post or so underway, then I'll respond with a large story post that introduced some of the crew. This will give a little time for any stragglers to come along before setting sail. Glad to have you aboard!
If anyone has any further replies please let me know today, otherwise I can burn through a couple more signers and jump to the next day just before launch. You can post replies if you would like, I'll just incorporate their happenings into my larger post tomorrow morning if necessary. I'll be glad to get this one moving forward. And any other silent observers are welcome to jump in real quick, if any exist. All are welcome.
I wanted to write a quick response but had a busy week. If it's not too late, I'd like to make one more post before moving forward.
Of course, I was hoping you would reply. Go right on ahead, whenever your ready. Not too far out though, I don't want to lose momentum.
Okay, with that out of the way, I'll post my final recruiting post at the pub by tomorrow morning. Then I'll advance the timeline to the ship boarding and movement. It'll be a long post, but lays the ground work for the beginning segments of the trip. If you have additional posts, go ahead. As I said, I'll incorporate them if need be. Otherwise, look forward to tomorrow's big post. Last, I saw a few stragglers looking at this thread. If anybody wants to make a character, feel free. You'll have to pick up a deckhand, guard, or rigger position if the recruitment post have already passed. Possibly an engineer for repairs, or a medical character. Either you'll have to scramble as a late arrival to the ship, or already be aboard as a previously designated position unless you come up with something better. Don't be afraid to PM me about it. Good. Let's get this ship sailing.
