James

[indent][b]NAME[/B] Edith Grimoire [b]AGE[/B] Forty-two [b]CONNECTION[/b] Olivier Achard has donated vast sums of money on behalf of Edith's company over the years, through its charity balls and fundraisers. She became a friend and business partner at the peak of her career, but began to lose contact once she withdrew from public life. [b]PORTRAIT[/b] [center][img]http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/6895/edithportraitfy1.jpg[/img] [size=1][i]Edit Grimoire, as pictured on the cover of Anova Times[/i][/size][/center] [b]OCCUPATION & LOCATION[/b] Edith is the Founder and CEO of the House of Grimoire. The brand is synonymous with Anovan style and several members of the Achard and Almagest families own a Grimoire Original. Beatriste Elyse's wedding gown is actually a Grimoire design; it is one of the few one-off pieces from her personal hand in recent years. Edith Grimoire lives in the Bourgade district of Le Monde, alongside several other prominent Anovans. Her home is set far back from the street, with its long driveway shrouded by foliage. [b]STORY[/b] Unlike many wealthy and famous Anovans who were born into privilege, Edith's childhood was anything but aristocratic. She was born on a chimaera farm to the north of Cobalt Bay, in a small coastal region containing several farming and fishing towns. Her father made regular trips into town in order to sell chimaera fur and milk. Edith often accompanied her father and came to know several people within the town - including a slightly older boy called Clavat. Edith's life changed forever when her parents discovered that she was pregnant - Clavat was the father. She was summarily ejected from the farm with few belongings and no money. After briefly visiting Clavat (who lived with his parents and was in no position to help her - aside from offering her a sizeable sum of money), she decided to travel to Le Monde. Edith struggled for several years, working for various tailors and seamstresses across the city until, eventually, she was able to open her own business. The House of Grimoire quickly became a local and then, international, phenomenon. Edith's designs were worn by the who's who of Anovan society, including politicians and celebrities. In recent years, Edith has become something of a recluse. She rarely emerges from her mansion in the Bourgade district and newspaper reports suggest that she suffers from a form of agoraphobia. Anovan tabloids suggest that Edith's current reclusiveness is the result of a breakdown due to the burden of her lost child, whom she gave up for adoption upon moving to the city. [/indent] [font=franklin gothic medium]Phew, it's late here... I am going to post another sign-up for Gustave tomorrow. He'll be a bit different after three years, I think.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]We do already have a name for Olivier's father, although I can't access that just now. Shy may have it in the pm I sent him. There is a bit of info about him, related to Reuben Almagest. Other than that, everything looks great. I really like the way you've tied your character in, Mr. Blonde. Very clever! Also a footnote for anyone interested, citizens of Al-Ahmar are known as "Ahmaris". That was in the original RPG but nobody could have known really. That will probably go in a Chronicle somewhere. I am going to continue my image hunt tonight. Hope I can find the right stuff! Edit: Okay, found it. Laurent Achard is Olivier's father and founder of Achard & Co. He is also a Mine War veteran and is allegedly responsible for killing Reuben Almagest in that war (thus the tension between the families until Olivier and Leonhart became friends). Laurent's wife is Marianne-Odette Achard. That is pretty much it, except for Gustave's mother (Collette). I have even left room for someone to create his father, so most of the family tree has yet to be written. [/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]The thread is already looking great. I am still hunting for some artwork for my characters, but I shall be signing up soon! I'm really happy to see the Achard family already beginning to fill out. It feels nice to give Vincent and Gustave some relatives finally![/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]The whole Inauguration spectacle is somewhat humorous from the outside looking in, but I tend to forgive America for the pageantry - after all, you don't have a Monarch anymore. So your President is the next best thing, right? And however that may read, I don't mean it in a cynical way. In the UK and Australia for instance, our Prime Ministers don't receive such enormous pageantry - that is really reserved for the Queen. I wonder what we might do in the absence of a Queen. Although I suppose Australia would still never afford such a luxury to our PM, given that the office of Prime Minister has a somewhat different tone for us. In any case, while this is an enormous amount of money to spend on what is largely ceremonial, I do see the value in making this moment accessible to as many Americans as possible. That is a reasonable thing to try to do.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I think I remember seeing your old username around - good to see you back. :catgirl:[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Wow, FMA and Death Note are tied now. o_O There are also some great arguments here in favor of both series. You guys are doing a wonderful job! Keep up the voting. :catgirl:[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Well yeah, I mean, we have so much general stuff to cover anyway (like the geography, institutions, etc). :catgirl: Besides, usually what happens is, people interpret things as they like in the RPG and try to keep a general consistency. If something's glaringly wrong or over the top, it usually gets picked up at some stage. Otherwise, it's usually first-in, first-serve with stuff like this. So a lot of stuff gets worked out within the RPG itself.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]At this point I honestly wouldn't worry too much about the precise composition of these ships. I mean, this is a relatively minor point when it comes to the scope of the RPG. My recommendation is to strike the middle ground that we all pretty much agree upon anyway. If you want to get into the specifics of how the ships are held together, it may be better to do that within your actual RP posts. The more critical element right now is thinking about your characters and what their stories will be, I'd say. [/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]As mentioned Magus, these options are based on the featured series over at theOtaku right now. I figure they should be our first port of call before we start going beyond that. Whichever anime receives the most votes here will get its own forum first, but that certainly won't be the last! If we get some good feedback on that first new forum we'll be sure to expand the lineup. Edit: Oh, and yeah, I suspect manga discussions will remain in our existing manga forum. We'll try this on and see how it fits, but there will be plenty of room for change as we go. For instance, it could be that if you had a [b]Bleach[/b] forum, [i]everything[/i] Bleach-related would go there. I'm open to that if we need to do it. :catgirl:[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]As you may know, we are looking at introducing specific forums for certain anime franchises here at OB. We hope that this will better-serve our anime community, so that fans will have dedicated locations for their favorite anime franchises. As you can imagine it's pretty tough to decide which anime goes first! This will be a big test of whether or not we'll continue down this path. So, I'm keeping it simple: I want you guys to vote. The nominees are drawn from theOtaku.com's featured anime - so hopefully there will be a choice here for every fan. Please feel free to vote and discuss your choices in this thread. :catgirl:[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I see no problem using metal here. Earlier it was mentioned that the church had issues with alchemy and magitechnology (particularly the latter). I'd say that the church may decide to use a particular metal material in conjunction with wood, so as to avoid violating their core beliefs. But I doubt they'd use alloys or "magic-infused" technology. Therefore they might be opposed to the use of Anovan silver, different types of which contain various basic magical properties. So I would say that the use of a raw, relatively unrefined metal would be ok. But I can understand the church taking issue with the idea of heavily refining or radically altering - via magical or technological means - the properties of a natural material.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Two munkies?! ~_^ Welcome guys! Good to see you. Love your banner, Just Munky. Hope you will check out the Graphic Worm project - it could be right up your alley (or you could just enter that in the weekly banner contests - I'm sure you'd be a strong new entrant!) And Dirti_Munky, you could be the first new OBer to mention their underwear and its colour in an intro post! Kudos to you. You may yet be on the way to Otakupedia.[/font] :catgirl:

[quote]This is one of the more informed, sensible posts in this thread.[/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]I think you mean, "this was one of the few posts I agreed with in this thread". :catgirl: I mean, there were a couple of worthwhile elements there, but calling rocket attacks "silly"? Seriously, [i]that[/i] is "disproportionate".[/font] [quote]Yes, elections are coming up quite soon and the incumbent party does not want to look soft on Hamas. This is of particular concern because the challenging party is ideologically farther to the right. In order to appear competent and forceful to its citizens (who will be voting soon), the Israeli government has rejected cease-fire agreements.[/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]This is an incredibly cynical way to view such a serious issue, don't you think? An election is looming, but are you aware that there are significant segments of the Israeli community who are opposed to any further confrontations in Gaza? Such groups would be more likely to vote against the ruling party than in support. So far, neither side has been willing to strike an agreement over a cease-fire. I did read about a figure within Hamas (not the senior-most figure, though) who recently said that they want to negotiate the terms of a possible cease-fire, which, if accurate, would be a great step. On the other hand, Hamas is known for not honoring cease-fires. So it's difficult to say the least.[/font] [quote]So what this boils down to is who to believe. Personally I think both sides failed to honestly uphold their respective terms. [/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]I think what it boils down to is being accurate and sober in assessing the situation. As I have said before, it's one thing to say that Israel's reaction is an [i]overreaction[/i]. I wouldn't entirely disagree with that (although I would suggest that Israel is fighting what is now known as an "asymmetrical war", whereby Hamas deliberately hides both fighters and weaponry in civilian buildings, with the knowledge that - at least until now - these resources would remain safe to be used again in future). I personally notice that most of the global sentiment is very much anti-Israel. In some circles, Israel has gone from being known as a refuge for the most-persecuted of the world to becoming a Nazi state itself. This is a distortion, often perpetuated by self-interested intelligencia who want to frame everything in their own politically-correct terms from a great (and comfortable) distance. What bothers me the most about all of this is that Israel is largely held responsible not just for this recent action, but for all Palestinean suffering. They have become a catch-all for the Palestinean plight. And yet, there's very [i]little[/i] outrage from the same circles about Hamas and its criminal negligence, corruption and disregard for its own people. It's similar to the Iraq war, in the sense that the largest protests involved the American presidence in Iraq. And yet there were comparitively [i]no[/i] protests about Saddam Hussein and his very deliberate attempts to eliminate large sections of his own community. It's almost like a weird kind of politically-correct racism. It's one that says "we'll worry about them when a familiar element is involved, but when it comes to their own internal affairs, they're just not worth as much". I don't mean to suggest that your post, Retri, is specifically pushing this - but some elements of what I've read in this thread remind me of this very general attitude in the world at the moment.[/font]

[quote name='Aaryanna_Mom']I have started my post and should get it up tomorrow. I believe Indi has another one after that and Darren has yet to put his in. Unless that last post of his was intended to be his final one? Anyway, I should have mine up tomorrow evening.[/QUOTE] [font=franklin gothic medium]Cool, no worries. I expect to wrap this up within the coming week, in that case. That should dovetail nicely into the sign-ups for The Almagest Expedition.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Thanks for your posts guys, I'm really pleased with them. You've ended your posts perfectly! I [i]think[/i] we're almost there now... once Mom has posted, that'll be it, yeah? I am not sure how much sense my post will make, but it should be interesting nonetheless![/font]

[quote name='Darren']With our characters, being together and all, how do you want me to handle it?[/QUOTE] [font=franklin gothic medium]Hm, well I have been thinking about my final post and I suspect that it might be a little uh... weird. That is to say, it will probably include a few time-jumps and things like that. So if you like, you can just finish off with the pair of characters being abducted. I will write a concluding post that will tie off the entire thing - at least, I hope I can do it. lol [/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Darren, I'm loving the academy you've created - sounds great and fits in perfectly! Good job. Just to keep you up to date, I'm currently working on a world map. It's rather painstaking, but I'm happy with it so far - it should be pretty impressive once it's finally done! Also Shy I'm fiddling around with the logo still. Should have something finalized during the weekend.[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Unfortunately I think this has probably been the most difficult forum to name! Originally the names were based on the OB City idea, but that format doesn't always work well, because names are not always terribly clear. There were quite a few good names we could have used, but the wide scope of that forum makes it difficult. Amphitheater was something that we sort of painfully came across, but I don't think the staff were terribly happy with it the first time. Not only is it a bit of a mouthful (or er... a "handful" if you're typing it), but it's also not really a clear enough name. So I don't favour going back to "Amphitheater". But if anyone can come up with a better name than "Sight & Sound", I would welcome it. [/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Yeah, we might be able to pick this up at a later date with a new RPG. I think I will wait until everyone has done their final posts before I put mine in. That way I can wrap things up in a more concrete way. Once your final posts are in, can you just let me know in this thread? That way I'll know when to post mine. Thanks everyone![/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Okay, here's my entry to kick things off. [center][img]http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/5652/gw01os5.jpg[/img][/center][/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Oh, that sounds good. That's a really great starting point. I imagine them not being happy with Anova's increasing use of magitechnology (and the use of magical silver as part of magitechnology in recent times). That could put the Achard family at odds with the church in some respects, given that the family is largely responsible for the silver trade in Anova. On the other hand, I guess utilising silver in machinery mostly involves melting it down and then reforming it, so I don't know how they'd view that. Interesting, nonetheless. [/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Yeah I'd like to see an academy within Anova. The sign-up is really filling out now. As Shy said, I've kept the Achard NPCs fairly limited in number. So there will be heaps of room for everyone to really create the characters they like. I'm also loving some of the other organizations on there... the Church of the Pheonix sounds somewhat ominous to me (maybe it's the fact that like the Vatican, it's considered almost an independent country). Or maybe it's the fact that the Citadel has its own private security force... I suspect that will be most interesting when the RPG starts. ~_^ I know we don't want to add [i]too[/i] much weight to this, but will there be any basic descriptions of what the Church's beliefs are? That will help me to decide whether or not my characters will be followers of the church (or at least, how orthodox they will be).[/font]

[font=franklin gothic medium]Yeah, I like the idea of basing this on the featured portals Des. I think that makes the most sense. My only concern with changing forums a lot is the question of what you actually do with them. For instance, if a series remains popular for a year and then drops off and we archive the forum... I imagine the dedicated fans who post in that forum will be upset by that. I don't want to mess around with that too much. I mean, I think our old Digimon forums were pretty active even after Digimon was considered a highly popular series. So we want to do what we can to look after those fans. But anyway, these are great suggestions so far! Thanks for all your input, guys. Very appreciated.[/font]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]I'm just amused that this obvious statement of confidence and initiative has our resident atheist members still as bitter about the issue as ever, even though the only responder so far who has had a problem with the slogans is an acknowledged atheist himself. ([COLOR="DarkRed"]Raiha[/COLOR] aside, of course. We all know how happy her posts are. :animesmil)[/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]Maybe I'm just not noticing it, but I haven't seen much bitterness here. I mean, there's been a sense of "if they can do it, so can we" but that's not really being bitter. I can't say I've noticed it as a general trend among atheists on OB or anything. :catgirl:[/font] [quote] What I wonder is how many people the news reporter had to interview to find someone who was that deeply offended by the slogans. If you let your dander get riled by someone telling you to doubt your own convictions 1) what the devil is wrong with you, and 2) are your convictions really that strong to begin with?[/quote] [font=franklin gothic medium]Absolutely. I agree 100%. I've never understood the deep outrage on some issues, especially when many of them do come down to personal conviction anyway.[/font] [quote] Actually, I found the slogans to be rather clever. My favorite was this one: [INDENT][I]?Atheism: Sleep in on Sunday mornings,?[/I][/INDENT] I admit it. I snerked. :animesmil[/FONT][/QUOTE] :smirk:

[quote name='chibi-master']So I'm NOT the only one who thinks that!:o I'm actually starting to cut down on soda...maybe it's because of my new paranoia of cavaties...:animedepr[/QUOTE] [font=franklin gothic medium]Wow, really? Hm... My brother thinks I'm nuts. He says it's the same. But the rest of my family, including my two sisters, agree with me. Now I rarely find Coke that tastes like it used to. I wouldn't worry too much about cavities, as long as you look after your teeth well. Just make sure to floss and clean them twice a day at least (especially before bed!) If you don't allow sugar to sit on them, you should be ok. :bdance:[/font]