shadowsworn

I suppose you can post straight to here. If someone is blatantly doing something wrong I can just use my mod powers (ie. PM them what they posted with suggestions for fixing and then deleting the problematic post)

If you try to use a gaia avatar for this I will kill you :]

Setting Background

Blackthorpe is a small town in the kingdom of Mark on the edge of the Taran moor. It is used by merchants coming from the heartlands in the northwest, carrying wool to trade in the capital city of Tull on the river Meluin in the southeast, as a resting place before heading into the treacherous moors and the forested lowlands beyond. The next town, apart from villages of woodcutters and isolated guard towers, is called Andal, and is about five days journey.

Many of the people of the town make their living supporting this trade: providing horses, blacksmithing, guides/guards, food and shelter at inns and hostels (although some of the less well-off families also regularly take in travellers for the night) and repairing wheels and carts. A number of the kingdom's gentry also have homes here, although some of them are only used for part of the year. The most prominent of these families are the Crawfords, the Hannovers, the Shaws and the Weathermays. Other important people in the town include the doctor, George Durham, the priest Father Edward, and the lord of the town, James Shaw.

The passage through the moors is marked more or less permanently (for things are always shifting and changing in the moor) by large stones painted with a white phosphorescent paint. Occasionally men are sent into the moor to repaint any faded stones and to replace any that have sunk beneath the mire. Despite this, the passage through the moors is still difficult and treacherous, especially when the mist comes down, and so most travellers and merchants employ one of the town's guides.

Most of Blackthorpe's population is human,although there is a trace here and there of elfin, faery blood among it's people, especially among the lower classes. This mostly comes out in red or white blonde hair (unusual in the mostly brown or black haired population of Mark), pointed ears, and an affinity for nature. Actual elves have not been seen near the town for many years.

Dwarves are known to exist. They occasionally emerge from their lands in the far north, and are sometimes seen in the town, going about some business. They generally keep to themselves, although they will occasionally stay at the inn or buy from the people of the town in exchange for beautiful and strange things of dwarven creation, not to be found elsewhere, and sometimes magical.

Your character

No character sheet required.

You can be an inhabitant of the town or a traveller, likely travelling with a merchant, although this is not necessary.

You are not allowed to begin with any magical/psionic powers or magical weapons or items

The setting is vaguely Victorian. The clothing worn resembles that worn in that period of our history as do the weaponry (ie. firearms).

You can also be a dwarf or an elf, or a human with some elven blood. Elves generally live in seclusion in the hearts of forests, though, and stay there. Usuaully, the only reason elves leave is if they are outcast, although some do travel in secret among humans, disguised, out of curiousity about the outside world, or if some urgent need drives them.

Please try to be reasonable with your backstory, if you suspect it might go against what I have in mind, please ask me first through PM.

I think that's all.

The story

The date is September 23, two days before the Festival of Morningrise, the harvest festival in this part of the world.

For several days a storm has raged, preventing merchants from entering the moors, and as a result the town is full of travellers.

You are all, for one reason or another, at the Eagle's Rest, the main inn in the town, a large building well lit by fireplaces and lamps, and with comfortable well polished oaken chairs and furnishings.

This evening the crowd is far larger than on most nights. All the tables and stools are occupied, and several groups of people are even standing against the stone walls.

The noise is quite loud, but mostly cheerful and convivial. There is a strong smell of ale, and a faint undercurrent of pipe smoke, of which there is a slight mist of in parts of the room.

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