FAQ, About Sundaril and Anything Else

So, this is where you post your questions and I do my best to answer them. Feel free to post whatever question you wish. I will try to make sense on a 24/7 schedule. If I don't, just...tell me and I'll try to clarify.

(Note: if you ask me a question and I say, "That's a great question." It means: "That's a good question because I don't know the answer but I'm going to figure out the answer right now!" or it just means: "Uh....schucks...the one question I don't know the answer to...and they found it." You can then laugh at me because chances are...I'm laughing too.)

Already Asked Questions:

1) Can I have more than one character?

Yes, you may have as many as you like. However, please make a separate account for each one and be sure that any character you've had before have twenty five in character posts.

2) Can my character be in two threads at once as long as it's clear that they aren't in a different place at the same time?

Yes! CG basically runs by seasons (3 months per season) and so your character is allowed and encouraged to be in multiple threads as long as they are not in different places at the same time. This is impossible and unrealistic and so be sure that you have made it clear that they are in different places at different times.

3) Once I've finished registering and been accepted, what should I do first?

We suggest that you first post in the Whispers and Schemes thread. In there, you can ask other people to plot with you (we're normally jumping at the chance as well!). Or, if you're feeling brave, start an open thread in your character's country. Someone is bound to join and start up a conversation with your character. If it doesn't happen automatically, don't worry! It might take a day or two. Sometimes, we're just trying to figure out where to take the thread you've put up.

4) How far apart are Sundaril and Liston?

Sundaril and Liston are a ship's journey away from each other and separated by a sea. In the summer months, it takes a month to reach the other country. However, in the fall, it takes three months and during winter, it is nearly impossible to take a safe journey back to your country. For this reason, captains will refuse to take on passengers during the winter no matter how desperate you plead. For more information on travel times and an idea of what the countries look like, click here.

5) What is the primary religion of Liston and Sundaril?

The primary religion, at this time, is Catholicism. It is devoutly practiced by both monarchs publically (though in private, it is unknown what their true feelings are) and various cathedrals, chapels, and churchs are dotted across the land promoting Catholicism.

For more information on Catholicism, click here.

6) What is considered the Scholar's Language? In our actual, real world, it's considered Latin but what is it in C&G world?

The Scholarly language at this time is also known as Latin. It keeps things simple and clean, in my opinion, so it is known as Latin and is, in actuality, Latin.

7) Will NPCs ever become playable? I was interested in playing a child and wondered when I could.

As a general rule, children on C&G are not playable until they are ten years old. This is because we have a 400 word minimum for posts and I know that I, personally, would find 400 words hard to do with a 3 year old child. For your sake, and the sake of the character, we thus don't allow them to be played until they are ten unless it is an extremely special case.

NPCs above the age of ten can be played and so all you have to do is make an application for them and point out that they are an NPC.

8) What do the various countries represent at least culturally if not exactly historically?

In general, the countries are like this:

Sundaril is very much like Ireland.
Liston is very much like England.
Farangalia is France.
Espania is Spain.
Kosakova is, for any intents and purposes, Russia,
Italia is Italy
Romani Empire is Byzantine Empire (for all intents and purposes, they are considered still around despite the fact that, historically, they were wiped out.)

9) Is there going to be religious reform any time soon?

Yes, there will but details on this will remain secret until decided otherwise.

10) What languages would my noble character commonly speak?

Depending on the ties your nation has with others, your character might find it more advantageous to speak Sundrili or Listonese. Most noblewomen, as a sign of education and good breeding, speak Farangalian. They might not speak it fluently, but usually one or two phrases of the language suffices for education. For a priest or scholar, Latin is a must have as many books at this time are written completely in Latin.

11) Can I get the play by on my character changed?

While we, the admins, do suggest certain play bys, we do so because we think that play by fits that character that we have already sort of constructed in our heads. As a result, the play by might look the way we imagined the character or look particularly sneaky when s/he is supposed to be quite clever and secretive. If you find that you have found a better play by, we simply ask that you PM us to show us the pictures that have convinced you that your play by is a better choice and give us the reasons. The reasons CANNOT include, "I don't like _________ (actor/actress/singer/model)" We also DO NOT like ridiculously skinny models or people that we find fit nothing on the site (Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, etc). We do favor people that have played in historical/period films such as Elizabeth I (or The Golden Age), Tristan and Isolde, etc. This is simply because this is a medieval roleplaying site and we prefer to see your character in costume or at least in clothing that can cross the time gap.

12) There is a character that isn't reserved or taken but I cannot register as them. Why is that?

More than likely, this character is an adoptable and can be adopted here. If that is not the case, please email Riv or Rose and they will fix the problem immediately.

So, I beg the awesome admins of this site to bear with me whilst I ask a boat-load of questions, because I really want to join this site but I want to be sure that my character(s) fits the parameters here and isn't too far fetched and also that I have a decent understanding of how this site works and... yeah.

1. Would a thief character be allowed/feasible? I'm fairly attached to this idea I have for a female Master Thief of sorts, who masquerades by day as any other commoner, but by night has something of a reputation for her various exploits and heists and the fact that no one has seen her and believes her to be a male... Ahem. Pardon the rambling. But I'm quite certain such people would exist in such a society, because what is a country without it's criminal underworld? But I suppose my main question is, would such a character be able to integrate with the rest of the characters here and the world you have set up? And if so, are there any parameters you would want to place on a cat-burglar/master thief type? And would such a character have a title, or do Commoners just not have titles? (For the purposes of registration, I mean.)

2. Ok, my second question is, are original Nobles allowed? Obviously not terribly high-ranking or royal, since those are canon and have a lot of power and all know each other, so it wouldn't be particularly feasible to insert an original high-ranking Noble family, but I mean minor Nobles that run little fiefdoms in the countryside or something like that, or even ones that are relatively new to court life and thus have little power? And if so, which ranks would they have--like, which would the highest rank (as I have no idea how the scale works between Dukes, Barons, Marguis..es? Though I suppose I could wiki that info) be allowed for an original Noble family, if they're allowed at all?

3. As for naming, would the names of characters sort of parallel their country? For instance, you said Sundaril is basically Ireland in the info section, so would Gaelic names be admissable for citizens of Sundaril, or are their names more English, or does that not matter at all?

4. Is there any specific fighting methods for the various countries? I mean, it's fairly obvious that blades would be the most common weapons (though if I'm wrong about that, please correct me), but what kind of swords/sword-fighting methods would be most common to specific countries? Specifically, I'm looking at making a character (or a couple characters) from either Sundaril or Liston. And which kinds of blades would be common to which countries (as in broadswords or rapiers or two-handed blades, or something completely different)? And how would a woman go about getting herself a knowledge of such fighting skills, since I'm sure that even common women would find it hard to get a man to teach them such skills (though I was thinking that for my 'thief', she always masqueraded as a boy when she was a child).

5. Also, piracy. I'm just curious about how prevalent it is? Is it a problem where sometimes ships will go out and never come back because it was attacked? Also, would they be feasible to be played or would there not be enough of an opportunity for them to thread with other characters? If the latter, would a feasible reason for a girl to become an orphan at an early age be that her father was on one of his merchant ships when attacked and killed by a pirate ship?

6. One last thing, I promise. (And I swear I won't combine all of this into one character, I actually have several character ideas running around in my head who may yet live.) I'm curious about how you'd want a player to handle a Pagan character. I read the little blurb on witchcraft, but I study Paganism extensively myself, and so I'm wondering if you'd accept a pagan as having some actual power--nothing flashy or showy, but spells that actually work, and potions and the like--or are you of the school of thought who believes pagans have no actual power except maybe an intimate knowledge of herbs and how to combine them to cure ills and such? I personally believe true Pagans have some raw power, but if you'd rather actual magic not exist at all, that's totally fine, I'm simply curious about how you'd want a Pagan character to be played.

And yeah... I'm sorry for all the questions, but like I said, I'd really love to join this site and actually know my butt from a hole in the ground when I write my app(s). XD

Thank you very much for your patience!

YAY FOR QUESTIONS! Alright, you've brought up some interesting things that I was thinking about when I created this place as well as some things that bothered me the more it went on (i.e lack of crime, lol, except murder and so on) and that I hoped would be rectified by people interested in more stealing and crime and such! So, I am doubly excited!

1) A thief character would be allowed and, indeed, welcomed here! It's entirely plausible, what you suggest, and something I would suggest to help along the idea is that, perhaps, she sells things for her "family" (there could be no family or it could just be a mess of other thieves...) during the day and that stuff would be the stolen things at a lower price or she could be commissioned by others to steal things for them (i.e. they think she's the person they can contact to get to the "man" who steal things, not realizing that she is the guy.) I think commoners and nobility (and even royalty) alike would use her skills and not even have to know that she's the actual thief. She could even start a small band of "followers" or workers to lead and run so that she could have a larger stretch over Sundaril or Liston. She would be known as Mistress or Miss depending on her marital status or respectability in the community.

2) Original male nobles are allowed of any rank at this time (just not male royalty because that would mess with the canon list and the political things that will happen later in the plot). There are also knights and their ladies that would be available to make original (they would be known as gentry which is lower than nobility but above commoners and merchants because they gained their status through merit, originally, rather than blood.) The highest rank I would permit, currently, for original nobility (if male) would be Count. If it's a female, the highest rank would be a daughter of the member of the gentry or someone's wife (so she'd just be Lady _____.)

3) Honestly, the names with the Sundrili and the Listonese don't matter too much except that the Listonese have, sort of...more high English (i.e. Richard, Robert, Mary, Katherine), where as Sundaril has more Gaelic names mixed in as well as Old English names mixed in (i.e. Aidan, Aoife, Niamh, Riordan, Rian, etc). Overall, it doesn't matter overly much but one request is to make is at least make the name something that would have been used in the time or in an era close too it (i.e. Japanese names are a no-go because of the possibility of it actually appearing in Sundaril or Liston would be slim to none.)

4) That's a good question (aka: never thought about it that much.) My idea would be that anyone who is a commoner, unless they are a knight or trained in the art of war, would own a dagger primarily. Especially for a thief or a woman because they can be hid very easy and they aren't so big that they're cumbersome or ridiculous and noticeable. There isn't really sword types or fighting styles unique to countries though Farengalia has more flourish (as well as Italia) in the moves than Sundaril and Liston who, primarily, have used swords in solely war for so long that they know flourishes are used for decoration and hardly aid survival. Hence, flourishes in the style don't happen a lot in Liston or Sundaril.

As a woman, it would probably depend on where she was raised or who her parents were. If her father was a thief and they lived in a bad neighborhood, it wouldn't be uncommon for her to be taught how to use daggers (not swords, because, as mentioned, they could be seen easily) quickly and for survival. After that, it would primarily be improvisation on her part to learn to pick a lock with it or use the dagger in any other way.

5) Pirates haven't really been mentioned yet on the board at all, but I imagine that there aren't too many between Liston and Sundaril because the two countries watch that strait religiously to make sure the other isn't trying to attack.

However, there was recently war between Liston and Sundaril (which was ended by the double marriage of the Seraphins and Howards. So it's highly possible that her father could have, depending on where you place her, been killed by the opposing country's ship on the sea.

6) Ooooh magic and Paganism, lol. I take a neutral view on it. Primarily in the way that, I don't want there to be real magic (i.e. fire, ice, storms, etc) because it'll take the board in the wrong direction. However, we do have a person who is a witch on the board (her character, I don't know if she herself is) and the idea we basically played with is that the character truly believes that she's doing magic. However, the characters around her or that it affects determine whether it works (i.e. she can try to kill someone but if the player of said character doesn't like it, then it doesn't work.) I don't know if that makes sense. Basically, the character believes that it works or can think that it does, but if it affects other people's characters, then that's up to the other characters.

Potions are awesome. I mean, as long as they are based on true recipes and such (using pennyroyal or parsley and citrus to invoke a miscarriage or abortive or something, you know). Once more, the character that is taking it will decide whether it works so nothing is ever guaranteed.

So, if her power is based in herbology, no problem because we all know what herbs can and can't do and so on. But spells like conjuring a storm or something would be a bit far fetched. Cursing someone would be okay but the character that is cursed would decide whether or not it actually works. Does that make sense? It makes sense in my head but I don't know if it makes sense on paper. Or internet....or whatever, lol.

Grazi for the questions!

All right, thanks a bazillion! I'll have my thief up in the next few days, and I have a second character in mind too for later. Can't wait to get started here! ^^