The Harlequin

[font=gothic][color=indigo]No more random conversation people. Use PMs.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]Trigun11, I stringently advise you to improve your posts, in terms of both length and quality, very quickly.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]I'm afraid people that next time this thread transgresses, it will get closed. No questions asked. Mainly for lack of post length and quality. NashvilleDream, that is a less than subtle hint.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]Orien_Xel and Arika, those last few posts are really pushing the boundries of acceptable length. Can we please not let them become a habit?[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]More effort please NashvilleDream. At least try and separate your sentences properly.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]I personally rather like KoTR's explanation.... My advice though, is to have a preconceived story line, that still allows flexibility. It helps if you continue the story, and give all the characters a purpose. Sitting there talking gets boring after a while. Still, keep it somewhat open, in case someone throws in something a little unexpected. Secondly, keep your PCs (Player characters for any uncultured heathens (yes, that's a joke), who didn't know that) in large groups. It's a lot easier when they can simply post character interaction, and don't have to actually write their own storylines. Which is why most rpgs die in the first few pages, but the ones that get past that point tend to live a lot longer. PMing people can also help, even if only as a guilt trip. Other than that, it all comes down to how interesting your idea is, and how commited the people in the rpg are. If anyone else wants to take pity on Tsukasa_Hack and give him some advice, then PM him please.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]Anymore random conversation and the thread gets closed people.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]Well, I did Zen Do Kai karate for a few years, acheived a brown belt (one below black), and now do Zenith Tae Kwon Do, an ITF organisation. I'm [i]technically[/i] only a green belt, I spend all my time sparring against at least a blue belt, black tip when possible. So hey, experience helps. And DBD, if you think Kung Fu is not a martial art, then I really, really recommend you spar against someone who's done it for a few years. Allow me merely to say, it hurts. A lot. As for weaponry...Well, my Tae Kwon Do doesn't use weapons, but we used bo staves and sais in karate, and I can also use tonfas and kamas. [/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]Yeah Liam, I got that one as well. It's actually the third carbon copy of that thing I've received in the past two weeks. At least these people have the decency to mail them out one by one, rather than to 50 addresses at once...Which is as far as I'll dignify these fools. They could have at least given a convincing line and email address. Yes... [email]jbrwx@hotmail.com[/email] looks very real to me...[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo][B]A quick note before we start...This rpg is based on the life of on Erzsébet (or Elizabeth, in more Western terms) Bathory, the blood countess. A familiarity with at least the basic story of the Countess would be preferred, but is not neccessary. Should you really be interested, information is fairly easy to find.[/B] [center][img]http://bathory.org/elizabeth-shyla.jpg[/img][/center] [I]In 1560, a small baby was born. She was born to an old, rich, and powerful family in Transylvania. Her large family welcomed their new addition, as loving families do. The baby's given name was Erzsébet. Erzsébet was a fairly normal child, though around the age of 4, she suffered intermittent, violent seizures. These faded away over the following year. Erzsébet, unlike most female children, was highly educated by her family, and became fluent in Latin, Hungarian and German. At the age of fifteen, Erzsébet married one Count Ferenc, who at the time was 26. They lived together in Castle Cséjthe (pronounced either CHAY-tuh or SAY-thie, depending on dialect) Erzsébet failed to bear children for the first ten years, and her husband, unhappy at home, was often away at war, by choice. Erzsébet found herself in a comparitively empty castle, kept company by an older maidservant named Illona, and a younger manservent named Thorko. Erzsébet grew increasingly vain, and had less consequential maids spend hours on her appearance. When Erzsébet was 40, a maid brushing her hair made the mistake of pulling the brush too hard. The countess, in a rage, slapped the girl, hard enough to draw blood. A single splash met Erzsébet's pale hand. As the blood wiped away, Erzsébet noted in fascination that her skin assumed the luster and freshness of youth... The blood had almost revitalised it. And so began the misguided, secret reign of The Blood Countess.[/i] The year is now 1602. A trip through the foothills is always perilous, brigands are rife, and the weather is unpredictable. Thankfully, it is the latter rather than the former that besets you now. In an even greater stroke of fortune, a small village lies ahead, overshadowed by a well-fortified castle. Surely it must possess an inn... Okay then people, that's the stage set for our version of the story of the original vampyre, the original pyscho-sexual sadist, the Blood Countess. I will, of course, be screening sign-ups. I will also be accepting applications for Erzsébet Bathory, but they had better be damn good, and demonstrate some knowledge of the Countess's character. Shoud you wish to play the role, PM me. If that fails, I'll play her. Anyway, I'd request the following, mine will appear later depending on the Countess submissions I receive... [B]Name:[/B] [B]Age:[/B] [B]Gender:[/B] [B]A detailed description:[/B] [B]A detailed biography:[/B] [B]Anything else of note about your character:[/B] Well, shall have some nice, less than clean, rather dark fun then? [/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]Double posting, spam, bad post quality and not a lot going on anyway, from what I can tell, including just how often this thread gets posted in. Not happening. If anyone can PM me with a compelling reason to reopen it, along with an assurance such infringements will not take place again, I'll gladly do so.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]Post quality and post length will pick up dramatically I imagine, once people finally realise that this thread's days are numbered.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]I understand the need to inform people that you can't post right now, but other than that, enough random conversation please.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]Post quality will improve dramatically, as will spelling and grammer, or this thread's days are numbered.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]I'm starting to be of the opinion that certain people here [i]want[/i] me to summarily lynch them. Enough random conversation and questions people. We have a PM function, use it.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]Can we please develop the storyline quite a bit more people? This isn't looking like much right now.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]A much more expansive storyline had better develop sometime rather soon, I'm afraid, or else this does not have high hopes.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]I'll allow this thing to be started, but I recommend the post quality, content, storyline etc are made sure to be very, very good.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]Alright, I see no one bothers to read the rule updates I posted...I sincerely hope you people do so [i]before[/i] you try to create threads of your own. Anyway, as for our new ...acquaintance here...I suppose the matter has been quasi-explained by our over-zealous friends here, so I'll leave it alone for now. Anything else can be picked up by an inspection of the Battle Arena. So you can re-create your thread there.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]My advice, for a fantasy section, would be Janny Wurt's "War Of Light And Shadow" series. Ignoring the rather absurd title, it's quite a long series, so will provide quite a bit of entertainment, but it also enjoys the distinction of being the best-written piece of literature I have ever read....And I've read quite a lot. Janny Wurts is extremely talented and descriptive, and has a truly amazing vocabulary. The start of the series, which of course is the least interesting of the books, is called "Curse of the Mistwraith". Other than that, I'd recommend anything else by Janny Wurts, or anything by Anne Rice if you're into that kind of thing. Failing that, something by Melanie Rawn, probably Ruins of Ambrai, or by Sara Douglas, particular her Axis series, starting, eponymously, with Axis. Other than fantasy....I don't know. I only read fantasy.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]I'm afraid people that I have to announce that overall, the quality of this forum is starting to slip. So, I'm going to re-emphasis the areas that need the most work, one last time, and then be a little less lenient. First and foremost, post length and quality. This is an rpg forum. It is, when you get right down to it, a vehicle for collaborative story telling, albeitly placed under certain strictures and expectations. So when you write your three or so lines of text with no attempt at spelling or making it readable, all you are doing, besides contravening the rules, is ruining your own rpg. Without wanting to set an arbitrary length, anything less than a decent paragraph is definately spam. Any English students here (which should be most of us) will be able to tell you just how long that should be. As well, small things, like correctly spelling words, using punctuation (real punctuation, not internet styled half-***ed punctuation), separating different sections of text, the usual conventions of neat writing, they all add to readability, and basically the enjoyment factor of the rpg itself. And it's certainly not hard to do. Secondly, post content. Particularly for the recruitment forum. If you intend to create an rpg, make absolutely certain it has a back story, a description of what the plot (the inital plot at least) is likely to turn out like, and the expectations of the people who sign up. Even if it's only something as simple as a sign-up form. The usual basically. Leading on with that, I've noticed a trend in rpgs that use precreated characters, often from an anime or whatever else. These rpgs are invariably signed up to with "I'll be {Insert name here and superfluous exclamation marks here}. This, people, will stop. Immediately. If you sign up for an rpg like that, you can still post information about the character, or if you're too damn lazy to write stuff you already know out, then simply PM the creator of the rpg with your one line piece of ....literature, to dignify it. Jumping back to the post content section I mentioned, and again focusing specifically on the Recruitment sub-forum.... Threads in that forum are for, rather obviously, recruiting people for a storyline. They are not for random conversations or questions. That kind of thing should be kept to PM. PMing the creator of the rpg is easier than posting something anyway, all things considered. And for peace's sake, if someone posts a recruitment thread in the Adventure forum because they're new, let a mod handle it, and cut the holier-than-thou style "this doesn't go here" stuff out. Just press the report post button. Okay, that's it for now, though this thread will most likely be edited multiple times, so check in periodically, though the title will probably change to reflect the additions. Thank you for your assured co-operation, and rest assured in the knowledge that the chance of me getting medieval on you is directly proportional to your behaviour. Kind of like the way the stupider your actions are, the more people watch you... And if there's something you'd like to ask or discuss (other than banalities), then feel free to PM me. [B]Edit:[/b]Now I may be getting cynical in my old age, but when I read an rpg where there are five consecutive one paragraph posts, all ending with "Sorry it's short, I have to go", I get a little suspicious. So from now on, that excuse doesn't cut it. The rpg will certainly not miss the post, since four lines of text cannot really contribute anything relevant to either storyline or character development. So if you don't have the extra five minutes needed to get a post up to acceptable length, don't write anything. And if anyone thinks they're going to be a little too impatient to wait for other people to have the time to write something decent, they're more than welcome to take it up with me. -Insanely yours The Harlequin.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]Eh. I'm bored. Name: Kattarin Quisanth Age: 217 Race: Elf Gender: Female Occupation: Apothecary House Type: Wooden House-ish...thing... Looks: Check ye olde attachment. Small Bio: Oh, she'll sell you basically anything, for any purpose, no questions asked of taken. She was already in the area of Black Haven when it was founded. She lives in..well....a tree. It's a very nice tree actually. It grows over a small, water formed cave, the roots cascading over the opening like a biotic water fall. So under a tree really, but it's the same thing. Why she's there is no real mystery...She's there because nobody likes people who gather strange herbs at midnight for bizarre rituals. Mainly distrusted by the townsfolk, but she doesn't care. They still pay her, for all sorts of things.[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]God damn...these threads are really getting annoying. Anyway, for the moment people, can we keep random conversation and questions to PMs? I really need to do something about this kind of rpg...[/font][/color]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]OOC: So you take it out on poor Lifé? How malicious.... IC: [I]Shalistrae followed unhesitatingly, Vichante and Ilmiwyrth were forced to use some less mundane means. Ilmiwyrth focused on one of the circling ravens, the carrion birds that existed more than half in the aethereal realms, but were still tied to the earth by their concern for mortal dead and affairs. Ilmiwyrth slid himself and Vichante into an incorpreal state, and moved into the astral cord that tied ravens to all things, and relocated themself to the nearest spiritless bit of mortal flesh. Unfortunately, it was a dead sentient, in the village. Vichante and Ilmiwyrth gave the area a quick scan, didn't like what they found, and waited for Lifé and Shalistrae.[/font][/color][/i]

[font=gothic][color=indigo][I]She moved forward to hit him again, another snap kick, but Ilmiwyrth merely stepped back, and as she dropped her leg. He was about to move forward, when he was interrupted by Vichante's acid interjection.[/I] Vichante: Tell me, where you intending at any point to actually touch each other, or just dance around? Ilmiwyrth: I should have thought the evidence was abundantly against that....I would have also thought interruption was unneccessary. Shalistrae: I agree, but circumstances are mitigating. Lifé: What this time? Shalistrae: Come and see. OOC: You know when you have absolutely no idea what to say?[/font][/color]