APPLICATION ROUND ONE

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

We welcome applications from people with tons of roleplaying experience and people with none. The cardinal virtues of roleplayers are, I think: flexibility, creativity, respect. These count for more than experience. The game is not  quite ready for launch, but I thought I'd get the application post up now, as starting to form concrete ideas for characters actually helps game development.

Please fill in this form and leave it as a comment to this entry. I encourage other potential players to engage with you and ask you about your character ideas and see if they can think of ways to form relationships between your potential characters and theirs. This is conversation, not a test! :) I am very likely to approve applications that show a character with potential and you seem like someone who's enthusiastic about the roleplaying process. Do make sure you've read the background posts on the Kostantiniyye world before writing an application! Our worldbuilding is still in progress, but it should give you a decent idea of what kind of universe your character will be inhabiting. I might also have to ask you to tweak your application a bit to make it a better fit for the game, but I won't be telling you how to play your characters. As anyone who plays on estdeus_innobis (my other game) knows, initial character profiles often don't end up closely resembling the character who inhabits the game. Roleplaying is transformative. That's part of the fun. But a solid application gives us all confidence, right? :) If by the time you get to this post, there are a few character applications, have a read of those first to check your character's bringing something new to the table - there are only so many alchemists/sexy dancing girls/scheming bishops that any one game needs.

With that said, here's the simple form. Feel free to be as detailed as you like, particularly in the "further details" section.

YOUR DETAILS:

Name:
Age: [please just confirm you're over 18; this game will contain adult content]
Email address:
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: [An answer of "no" won't count against you!]

YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name:
Age:
Gender:
Nationality and/or ethnicity:
Religion:
Marital status:
Occupation:
Physical description:
PB: ["Played by" - typically an actor used to represent your character in icons. Optional!]

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story:
Personality:
How do you see this character fitting into the game?:
Anything else:

Comments

(subject to further modification)

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

YOUR DETAILS:

Name: Rachel
Age: only just clinging to my 20s
Email address: rachel2205@livejournal.com
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: Lots, nearly all on lj. Buffy fandom mostly, and then estdeus_innobis.

YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: Ashraf İnan Pasha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasha)
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Nationality and/or ethnicity: Turkish Arab (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabs_in_Turkey), citizen of the Ottoman Empire
Religion: Muslim
Marital status: Married
Occupation: Ambassador of the Sublime Ottoman State to the Free City of Kostantiniyye
Physical description: Medium height, neatly trimmed dark hair and beard peppered with grey; slim build, although with a hint of middle aged spread.
PB: Alexander Siddig (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Siddig)

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story: Born in Ottoman Syria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Syria), to the Turkish Haluk Inan Bey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bey), district administrator of Syria Vilayet, and his first wife Zada, a Syrian. Ashraf grew into a bright and serious adolescent, and his father thought he might find advancement with the governor of Syrian Vilayet, Duman Aykut Pasha Wali (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C4%81li). Aykut was struck by Ashraf's intelligence and became his patron, taking him into his household. Ashraf was at this point 13; after two years in Duman's household, educated alongside his sons, with Haluk Inan's permission, Duman and Ashraf entered into a pederastic relationship that elevated him above the ranks of other boys to whom Duman was also a patron.

Through Duman's patronage and his own thirst for knowledge, Ashraf was sent to university in Kostantiniyye and then spent a year studying in Paris. After this he moved to the Ottoman Empire's capital since they lost Istanbul, Ankara, and rose rapidly through the ranks of the civil service. He became governor of Syria Vilayet on the death of Duman Aykut, but served here for only two years, as both he and his government were in agreement that his skills could be better used in a more politically dynamic region. Ashraf then served three years as Muslim envoy to the Vatican in New York. After this, his skill with languages (Ashraf was brought up speaking Turkish and Arabic; he can now also speak English and French) and experience of the West meant he seemed like a good choice for Ambassador to Kostantiniyye. He has been in his post for one year, with two years left to serve.

Personality: Ashraf is ambitious and serious, determined not to play into Orientalist ideas of how a Turkish diplomat might behave (though this has led some of his own countrymen to be suspicious that he has been westernised). Ashraf has a sharp, restless mind, and whilst very perceptive, he finds it hard to form attachments. He currently has one wife and no children; his second wife died in childbirth, and his first wife has never conceived. He is open to finding a second wife. Ashraf's own sexual preference is for men; as this is not really permitted to him, he patronises young men, preferring slightly older-than-average adolescents to at least provide something of what he wants. Ashraf is fond of his wife and sees marriage as a necessary part of life, particularly for a man in the public eye.

How do you see this character fitting into the game?: Since I'm a mod, I decided it'd be useful to play an ambassador, since that gives me a sort of bird's eye view in game and I can drop in political info and stuff without it being too clunky. In more fun game playing terms, Ashraf is an important man and I imagine many people would want to gain his patronage. Providing him with a wife would also be a good way of getting in there! But Ashraf, with his westernised ways, may not always be in favour with his own countrymen, and of course the British and Byzantines would have reasons to undermine him. His sexual preferences may provide opportunities to do that, and I'm sure many people will be watching his political decision making, looking for weaknesses...

Re: (subject to further modification)

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

AND part 2, since that was too long! Please reply to THIS comment not the one above as I may potentially want to edit that.

Anything else: I'd be interested in talking to people about playing members of Ashraf's household, which is quite substantial, or about thinking about allies and enemies outside that. :)

To be edited/filled out soon

[ohnefuehlen.livejournal.com]

(I'm writing this at 1.30am so it's bound to have some oversights, or at least terrible phrasing)

YOUR DETAILS:

Name: Sean
Age: Old enough to buy alcohol in America
Email address: seanthesean gmail com
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: Lots, mostly tabletop but some forum-based.

YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: Petrus Tertullian Tsolakoglou
Age: 54
Gender: Eunuch
Nationality and/or ethnicity: Greek, subject of Konstantiniyye
Religion: Eastern Christian
Marital status: Unmarried
Occupation: Rassophore (tonsured monk) and Professor of Theology at the University of Constantinople
Physical description: Average height, fat, with tonsured black hair. Half-moon glasses.


FURTHER DETAILS

Back story: Petrus Tertullian was born in Konstantiniyye into a devout Greek family, and was determined to be equal to his family's faith, as well as to access the education that the Church could provide and that a bookish young boy dreamed of. Castration was a small price to pay for the seminary's library and teachers.
As a monk Petrus Tertullian's talents were for scholasticism, apologetics and dialectic. He spent two decades teaching in the seminary that raised him, until his publications earned him sufficient reputation that the Church put his name forward as a candidate for the University's department of theology. Now a professor in that department, he finds the challenges of the job to his liking, in particular the diverse studentship and the platform from which to engage in the life of the city.
Petrus Tertullian has sometimes had to contend with rumours of heresy and atheism; it has been noted that his writings tend more to the negative and aporetic than to the declarative, and it has been insinuated that he spends more time than is seemly attacking the apologetics of others. He has also been called worldly, involving himself in the city to a degree unbecoming of a religious. To date, none of these accusations have caused him any serious trouble.

Personality: Petrus Tertullian tends to be belligerent in argument, sometimes acerbic, but is fair-minded and always willing to accommodate a student who has trouble keeping up. He engages with Christian, Muslim and Jewish students on their own terms. In public he often discusses the duties of Christian to the world, and tries to be a voice for religious tolerance. He is pedantic over points of fine detail, often demanding that people reiterate their point more precisely. He takes a keen interest in local politics.

How do you see this character fitting into the game?: Engaging in spirited debate, public and private, with other players. Working quietly towards favoured political goals.

Anything else: I haven't fully thought out Petrus Tertullian's relationship to the Church and the University - thoughts welcome (especially on the viability of the dual monk-and-professor role). I also may want him to wander around the University a bit more, since exciting things are sure to happen outside the Theology department. Again, not thought that all the way through yet.

Re: To be edited/filled out soon

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Aaah I love this. <3 I think it's feasible for a monk to be teaching at a university, depending on the order - just googling about this got me for instance this random google books page on the Cistercians (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FGJZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP54&lpg=PP54&dq=monk+teacher+of+divinity&source=bl&ots=VejLA7D7F1&sig=WATR2H510sKdK2TpAybuPE7jsh8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=f7yXT4e9NYiH8gOOhqD-BQ&ved=0CG4Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=monk%20teacher%20of%20divinity&f=false). It's more typical for priests to be teachers at universities but I don't think it poses an issue. I would assume he'd still be living with his order?

I'm also wondering at what point people start using Theology rather than Divinity as terms?

But in any case, welcome on board :)

Half an idea!

[ladybird97.livejournal.com]

YOUR DETAILS:
Name: Becky
Age: 30-something
Email address: I'd prefer not to put my primary address on LJ, but ladybird97@livejournal.com will get to me
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: Lots! Tabletop for many many years in many many systems, LARP for more than 10 years, MUSH/MOO for more than 10 years, and LJ RPG for 4 years. So, yeah, I'm an all-around RPG geek :)


YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS
Name: Ioannis Kostas
Age: 14
Gender: Eunuch
Nationality and/or ethnicity: Byzantine Greek
Religion: Eastern Christian
Marital status: single
Occupation: student/novice
Physical description: Tall, slim, with long limbs. Olive skin, dark eyes and hair, alto voice.
PB: coming soon!

FURTHER DETAILS

Personality:
Innocent, serious, intense; takes himself perhaps a little too seriously. Devout, but doesn't have a real calling to be a priest or monk.

Background
He's one of many children in a poor family. When it became apparent that he was fairly bright, his parents had him castrated and gave him to the church. They hoped that he'd be a good monk, or at least a singer - and even if he wasn't, then he was at least one fewer mouth for them to feed at home.

He's had an excellent education in both religious and secular subjects, although he hasn't specialized in anything yet. He's especially good with languages, and while he hasn't studied alchemy formally, he's fascinated by it. He's not very good at music, but decent enough at mimicry and acting.

How do you see this character fitting into the game?
He's a wild card in the political conflict, ready to be tempted/swayed/persuaded to support one side or another. He can be a messenger, an interpreter, a pawn, a spy or spy-in-training.

Anything else?
As you can see, this is only about half a background! I'd love help figuring out the other half. Where was he raised? Who is he working for/studying with right now, and what (if any) are their hopes for him?

And, more relevantly, what motivates him? I'm trying to figure out what he really cares about, and I haven't gotten there yet. I think this might be one of those times when I have to think as an extrovert and bounce ideas off of others. So if you have any ideas, please bounce them back! I'm open to all kinds of suggestions, especially for ideas about how to tie your character(s) in with mine.

Re: Half an idea!

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Yay, awesome. And hopefully you and Sean can do a bit of work together with some fellow religious/academicness. I will have a think of anything else!

Thinking about it, I wonder if your character could be studying with Sean's character who could also have some sort of official responsibility for him, but I know that Angela was thinking of pitching an alchemist character so maybe Ioannis could be interested in that (and potentially get caught up in controversial stuff, if Angela goes ahead and creates a character who's looking to make golem in a non-traditional manner)...

[nahara.livejournal.com]

YOUR DETAILS:

Name: Juliana
Age: 24
Email address: withthedove@gmail.com
Have you roleplayed before?: Nope. Total n00b.

YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: Kadija Oamra Aladeen (nee Madhavi)
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Nationality and/or ethnicity: Egyptian; Citizen of the Ottoman Empire
Religion: Muslim (Sufi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism))
Marital status: Widowed
Occupation: Judge
Physical description: Wavy brown hair (covered by a hijab in public), thick, heavy brows over grey eyes. She is over 6ft tall with strong arms and hands.

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story: Born in Alexandria to the second wife of Musa Hussein Madhavi, a political scholar and poet; Kadija was the only daughter of eleven children. Her upbringing was a relatively happy one, filled with stories, spiced food and shwam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawm) (or zurna) lessons. Her favourite brother, Imran, died at 19 of septicaemia, which profoundly affected Kadjia and caused her to struggle with her faith for years. Eighteen months after Imran’s death, she was married (at 17) to a prominent local politician, Omar Aladeen, 20 years her senior. She was his first wife. Kadija had no children as Aladeen proved to be impotent. In their fifth year of marriage, around the time Aladeen was in negotiations for a second wife, he was accused of fraud. Though there was not enough evidence to convict him in Low Court, this accusation caused a huge scandal from which Aladeen never recovered. He died of a pulmonary embolism a mere month after his acquittal.

Tainted by her husband’s muddied name, the widowed Kadija left Alexandria and moved to Aqaba, Jordan, where she met and became a disciple of Jibril Rahim, a Sufi master and respected teacher of sharia law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharia). While under Jibril Rahim’s tutelage she wrote a series of poems on faith and the balance of divine and sexual love which were published by a Jordanian newspaper and later collected into a book which was widely circulated across the Ottoman Empire. The collection earned her some considerable fame/notoriety. Completing her studies, she arrived in Kostantiniyee at age 34 where she now presides as one of several judges in the religious courts of a Muslim district.

Personality: Stoic and stubborn at one end of the spectrum, patient and compassionate at the other. Kadija is generally a silent and meditative person – which is occasionally mistaken for aloofness or superiority. She loves children and would have liked to be a mother, but feels that her time has passed. Instead, she teaches occasional shwam classes at a local madrassa. As a Sufi, Kadija finds herself somewhat maligned by more traditional Muslims. She hates travelling by air-ship as she is scared of flying.

How do you see this character fitting into the game?: Perhaps people might seek her advice on religious law and have her lecture at the university on her poems or Sufism… there are many ways for her to rub shoulders with the movers and shakers, I'd imagine.

Anything else: I’m a total n00b at this so I hope my application looks OK? When we know more details about how Kostantiniyee is divided up, it’ll be interesting to see where Kadija might preside as a judge. I still have a lot to learn about Sufism, so bear with me!

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

gfhw29o4r!! I LOVE this. So so awesome. And I can definitely see her having some interactions with my ambassador, as well as potentially Petrus at the uni, and hopefully lots of other people as well! Which is to say: welcome on board :) The next thing to do will be to make a character journal but there's no rush as we're still a little way away from opening the game.

less than half an idea in search of more definition

[oni-neko.livejournal.com]

YOUR DETAILS:

Name: Angela
Age: 30 something
Email address: koaskat888@yahoo.com
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: Yes and lots of different kinds of games. Table top, LARP and a little bit of forum style.



YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name:
Age: late twenties to early 30’s
Gender: Male this may change)
Nationality and/or ethnicity:
Religion: Christian
Marital status:
Occupation: Student at university
Physical description:
PB: ["Played by" - typically an actor used to represent your character in icons. Optional!]

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story: second or third child of very well to do merchants
Personality: Brilliant, sometimes lazy, curious, full of bizarre ideas, not particularly religious.
How do you see this character fitting into the game?: As a source of plot and conflict and possibly a link to or between other characters
Anything else: most of the details can be changed but I like the key personality traits.

Re: less than half an idea in search of more definition

[torrain.livejournal.com]

Hey, hon. :) Good to see you getting interested, will see what I can do in the way of trying to help with definition.

It might at least be worth picking a few things that you left undefined--I always find it's easier to work from a defined base, even if that base is one you end up nearly totally rebuilding.
Even a name can help; maybe just plugging a few of the personality traits into an online name search could get you something to call them for a start.

Other possible things to sketch out:
* whether or not they're married (or engaged); how their family feels about it either way, as negotiated marriages are potentially very useful.
* what country they hail from; is their family in Konstantiniyye? If yes, since when? If no, why are they there?
* what they're studying, and why; ton of possibilities here. Were you thinking they were at university because they actually cared, because their parents insisted and opposing them was too much work, because they were smitten with someone working or studying there, or because the university is the perfect place to survive the upcoming zombie invasion that will happen any eclipse now? (Bizarre ideas, after all. ;) )

Speaking of which, maybe a bit more clarification on "bizarre ideas" would make it easier for people to imagine the personality you want. Is that bizarre ideas like maybe all marriages should be pairings between two opposite-sex individuals, or bizarre ideas like maybe it would be awesome to submit an essay as a recital in iambic pentameter rather than as a written work on paper?

And finally, you mentioned them being a source of plot and conflict: can you elaborate a bit? Do they throw themselves into things on a whim until they're bored (potentially upsetting people's plans), try to preserve the status quo (potentially opposing a whole lot of plans), poke things to see what they can make change? It'd help people figure out how their characters might hook into yours.

[snakey.livejournal.com]

still working some things out here...

YOUR DETAILS:

Name: Jack
Age: 32
Email address: snakey@livejournal.com
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: mostly excolo, but also some LARPing and a bit of tabletop when I was a lot younger.

THE BASICS

Name: Sir Randolph Arnall Thornber
Age: late 40s? not entirely sure
Gender: male
Nationality and/or ethnicity: white British
Religion: Christian
Marital status: a double widower
Occupation: Ambassador of Her Imperial Majesty the Queen-Empress/His Imperial Majesty the King-Emperor (depending on what's happened in this timeline!) to the Free City of Konstantiyye
Physical description: heavyset, imposing, well-groomed, starting to show his age
PB: ["Played by" - typically an actor used to represent your character in icons. Optional!] currently thinking Ciaran Hinds but subject to change

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story: from a wealthy industrialist family risen to political prominence. A double widower - one wife, who had the highest status in the marriage, was considerably older than him and died a few years after their marriage; the younger wife died of malaria during a previous posting of part of the legation to ~somewhere undecided~. I'm undecided on whether there are any kids from this marriage? Now seeking to form a new marriage.
A large proportion of his family's wealth comes from weapons development and manufacture, which means his personal interests don't always lie with maintaining the peace. Has absolutely no moral qualms when it comes to his own business interests, which on the shadier side are served by industrial espionage, sabotage and potentially an investment in piracy or privateering, depending on whether Paulette decides to go down that route. There's also the question of whether his family's company may be selling weapons to enemies of the state or not - I'm quite sure he has a considerable number of shady secrets.
Vaguely bothered by the prominence of alchemy, including the golems, though he sees it as potentially a source of profit and/or benefit for the British if turned to the right (ie militaristic) ends. Ongoing question of whether he's more loyal to the Empire or to his own interests, and with shifts of power in England the Foreign Office increasingly attempt to rein him in and erode the independence & discretion of his position, which he resents intensely.
Personality: Intelligent, ruthless, generous, subscribes with limited questioning to Orientalist ideas (agh!), strong passions which he keeps under strict control - most of the time. Was deeply attached to his older wife. As well as being sexually attracted to men and women as per social norms, he's also discovered an attraction to eunuchs, though this's probably socially unacceptable.
How do you see this character fitting into the game?: It'd be good to have someone potentially on the corrupt-and-potentially-bad side of things. And I think this is the first character representing the British Empire - so establishing the British Legation in the game and opening up possibilities for characters there. Hopefully getting to do fun stuff with both technology and espionage. I have another character in mind who would relate vaguely to this one, if I get round to developing them. And, of course, politicking!
Anything else:

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

CIARAN HINDS

part 1

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

And character #2, since my habit of playing 185756 people isn't likely to stop any time soon (if you're new to roleplaying in this format, please speak to me or Frances, our other lovely mod, before apping a second character).

THE BASICS

Name: Alicia Ward
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Nationality and/or ethnicity: British heritage, but her parents were born in Kostantiniyye, as she was. Citizen of the city.
Religion: Western Christian
Marital status: Betrothed - partial (see below)
Occupation: Goldsmith, member of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, a high status crafts guild.
Physical description: Pale skinned (which she protects as proof of her British ancestry), blonde hair, taller than average (5'8"), which is seen as slightly marring her looks. She's viewed as quite pretty, though as at 30 she is a bit past her best in social terms, given that she has never been married before.
PB: Rosamund Pike

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story: Alicia was born to two goldsmiths and a draper, though her mother gave up her goldsmith apprenticeship when she married(this is typical; despite more gender equality, working mothers often receive a lot of social disapproval). Alice is one of four children; she and one of her brothers became apprentices to their first-father in the goldsmith trade; her sister followed their second-father into the drapers; and her youngest brother is a priest. Alicia began her apprenticeship at 14 and was received into the Company as a goldsmith at 21, and at this point she intended to marry two of her fellow goldsmiths. Unfortunately, one of her two fiances was killed in an accident; she and her remaining fiance, who had been trained and grown up alongside their dead fiance, were unable to countenance the idea of finding a third to replace him, and so the engagement broke up. This guiltily suited Alicia, as she secretly has an affinity for dyadic relationships and struggles with jealousy. This is obviously a major social taboo for people from her religious background!

In the years since then, Alicia has risen quite high in the Goldsmiths, which over the past 30 years has become one of the most prestigious and influential of the guilds of the city, even from its initial fairly elite starting point. She is ambitious in a broader sense too, and has a sense of civic responsibility, so plans to stand for membership of the Council at the elections later in the year. It would be helpful for her to be married by then. She is engaged to Sir Randolph Thornber, who may outrank her, but her family's wealth and respectable (and politically influential) occupation makes her a good choice, while for Alicia, Randolph could be a key to her own advancement, and appeals to her Anglophile tendencies. Alicia actually has quite a deep attachment to Randolph, despite their difference in age, and is finding their inability thus far to find a third partner who suits them both in personal and political terms to be frustrating, especially since her nature tends her toward finding the demands of a triad difficult. Jack and I will no doubt need to discuss all this a bit further. But we will be looking into potential marital prospects!

Part 2

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Personality: Alicia is a lively and sociable person, quick to laugh - but also to shout; she has a fierce temper and a sharp tongue that most people close to her will have been a victim of. They normally forgive her because she's a generous and engaging person. Alicia is proud of her skills as a goldsmith; she enjoys the trappings of a wealthy life and loves the idea of the prestige that would come with being married to an ambassador. She also has ambitions in her own right and wants political influence. But this isn't all selfish - she is strongly involved in community affairs, including lots of charity work, and wants to do good for the city. Alicia is a devout Christian, which is also causing some frustrations in her marriage negotiations as she's not willing to consummate her relationship before marriage. (She's had some previous sexual experience, but in the technical terms of her time and society would consider herself to be a virgin.) She is a devoted friend, but is prone to jealousy, which is both a sin and socially unacceptable, so she does her best to repress these feelings - not always successfully.

How do you see this character fitting into the game?: Alicia knows a lot of people, of both high and low status, and is fully immersed in the life of the city. So there's plenty of reason she'd know your characters, and her potential marriage could draw her into factional disputes. I imagine that the Goldsmiths have rivalries and alliances with various guilds and organisations.

Anything else: EXCITED FACE. Also Jack should discuss with me if any of this seems to not-mesh with what he wants to do with Randolph.

[ashrafinan.livejournal.com]

Man, I love finding icons for new accounts.

[aersi.livejournal.com]

Yaaay Siddig!
*Wanders off to poke character-making brainbits*

[ravelled-ribbon.livejournal.com]

Name: Bhan
Age: 24
Email address: glitter.physics@gmail.com
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: Table top and text based.

YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: Elishabet (the Grecofied version of Elisheva - God is my oath)
Age: 28
Gender: Female
Nationality and/or ethnicity: Jewish
Religion: Jewish
Marital status: Married
Occupation: Alchemist/university lecturer.
Physical description: Olive skinned with large brown eyes and slightly unmanageable dark brown waves. Of medium height, a little plump and with a pleasant rounded face.
PB: ["Played by" - typically an actor used to represent your character in icons. Optional!]

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story: Born to devout reform parents in a family that had lived in Konstantiyee for generations she is culturally a Konstantiyan. Her parents are merchants, and are kind and even tempered people who firmly believe in living your life as an act of worship and performing mitzvah's whenever possible. Growing up her parents saw her sharp intellect and encouraged her to develop it as much as possible. She always felt secure in and supported by her family, and when she informed them of her desire to marry a woman her expectations of tolerance and acceptance were proven right. They supported all three of their children through university, her brother is now a rabbi and her sister and her husband are working for with a design to taking over from their parents business. The family remains close to this day.

She married a woman she met at the university, a doctor, and they are firmly, happily and evenly working together as two parts of a whole. (If anyone wanted to play her wife that would be awesome). More recently they have been talking about acquiring a husband (or two) in order to have children. While they could adopt both feel a desire to produce children of their own flesh. Their current preference is to find a gay male couple (I'm assuming the allowance of same sex marriage allows for there to be two or more men in a marriage as well as women) or a single gay man who wishes to either find a husband for himself or remain celibate but for procreation as neither of them has any sexual interest in men.

Personality: Cheerful, enthusiastic and playful. Desperately curious about everything to do with the natural world and how things work. A little naive politically because she just isn't interested enough in politics to be anything else. While not as devout as her parents she has internalised their morality and ethics.

How do you see this character fitting into the game?: I think she could be relevant for the Golem plot and also for interacting with the other university characters.

Anything else:

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

This sounds like an awesome chracter. Something that's worth bearing in mind, for background & for eventual interactions, is that the reform movement is very new, and small, and so Elishabet and her wife are likely to find that members of the established Orthodox Jewish community are disapproving of their marriage, and also that people outside their community may be slightly confused by it, since dyadic marriage is relatively uncommon, and when it is seen in Orthodox Jewish and Muslim couples it's pretty much always male-female. Which isn't to say you can't do it! Just be prepared for characters making assumptions (like "so where's your husband?").

[eveglass.livejournal.com]

Hi all! I discovered this community through snakey, who's an IRL friend of mine. I thought I might try my hand at making a character, if that's all right.

YOUR DETAILS:

Name: Julie
Age: 29 (Yes, really. For three more weeks!)
Email address: julie.golick@gmail.com
Have you roleplayed before?: Extensive tabletop in just about every genre, some LARPing (mostly White Wolf), a little PBEM (Stargate) and forum-based roleplay (high fantasy)

YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: Yildiz al-Ganim
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Nationality and/or ethnicity: Turkish Arab by heritage, citizen of Kostantiniyye
Religion: Muslim
Marital status: Married (triadic)
Occupation: Master Tailor
Physical description: Tall and slender with striking black eyes and the long, nimble fingers of her trade. Despite her profession, Yildiz often wears understated clothes, but these are always of the highest quality.
PB: Hanan Tork

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story:
If clothes make the man, then master tailors are the kingmakers. Yildiz comes from a long line of tailors, dating back seven generations. Her great-grandfather, however, decided to leave his native lands in Turkey to take up residence in Kostantiniyye, where the trade routes provided access to both exquisite raw materials and clients to buy the garments he made from them. Through careful political maneuvering and advantageous marriage arrangements, the Ganim family worked their way up to the highest levels of the city’s aristocracy.

As a child, Yildiz showed every indication that she would follow in the family’s footsteps and was sent to apprentice under Ali Asker, one of her father’s colleagues in the tailors’ guild. She was quick to learn and quick to help and eventually took on her own clients as a journeyman, where she developed a reputation for discreetness and skill.

By the time she was 19, her father had arranged for a marriage between Yildiz and two other prominent Ottoman families in the city, Harun ibn Ayyub al-Mansour, whose father sat on the Common Council, and Ghayda al-Rahal, the third daughter of a prominent merchant family, who was considered Harun’s first wife. As expected, the marriage proved advantageous for all parties, and the fortunes of the triad rose. Unexpectedly, Yildiz found that she grew fond of her husband, and after a few years, might have even – if pressed – said she loved him.

Yildiz’s skills as a tailor grew until she was accepted as a master in the guild. She made a niche for herself serving the highest aristocrats of the city, her reputation spreading first through friends of Harun’s father and later through word of mouth. Clients said that she had an eye not only for style but also for fitting style to the person who wore it, and many of the Common Council sport clothing she has made or decorated. Any festival or formal occasion inevitably sees Yildiz’s schedule booked for weeks or months.

Over the past fifteen years, Yildiz has borne Harun three children, the eldest of whom is studying at the university. She also maintains five apprentices and three journeymen at her shop, and whom she considers part of her extended household.

Personality:
Quiet and professional, Yildiz listens more than she speaks. And while many men will confess their deepest thoughts to their barbers, Yildiz has heard more than a few secrets from men and women in power as she calmly runs a measuring tape around their bodies. She is known by her clients to be exceedingly discreet.

How do you see this character fitting into the game?:
I see Yildiz as having many connections amongst the city’s aristocracy and also being a sort of non-religious confessor-figure to many of them. Naturally, this might also make her the target of her clients’ political rivals, who want to know what their enemies are up to.

I also see a potential business relationships with Alicia Ward, though I haven’t spoken to Rachel about this yet.

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Ooh I like this a lot! :) And business and family connections could mean Alicia knows Yildiz - her second-father and brother are drapers, so their business in the cloth trade might make them suppliers for the tailors. Am happy to welcome you to the game :)

Ioannis, Take 2

[ladybird97.livejournal.com]

Here's a revised version of my character! Turns out that figuring out what he didn't want was almost as interesting a source of character development and goals as figuring out what he did want :)


YOUR DETAILS:
Name: Becky
Age: 30-something
Email address:ladybird97@livejournal.com will get to me
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games? Lots! Tabletop for many many years in many many systems, LARP for more than 10 years, MUSH/MOO for more than 10 years, and LJ RPG for 4 years. So, yeah, I'm an all-around RPG geek :)


YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS
Name: Ioannis Kostas
Age: 14
Gender: Eunuch
Nationality and/or ethnicity: Byzantine Greek
Religion: Eastern Christian
Marital status: single
Occupation: student/novice
Physical description: Tall, slim, with long limbs. Olive skin, dark eyes and hair, alto voice.
PB: Eric Saade (apparently he is a singer in a Swedish boy band. who knew! I just thought he had the right look when I saw him on Hollow Art.)

FURTHER DETAILS

Personality:
Innocent, serious, intense; takes himself perhaps a little too seriously. Devout, but doesn't have a real calling to be a priest or monk.

Background
He's one of many children in a poor family. When it became apparent that he was fairly bright, his parents had him castrated and gave him to the church. They hoped that he'd be a good monk, or at least a singer - and even if he wasn't, then he was at least one fewer mouth for them to feed at home.

He's had an excellent education in both religious and secular subjects, although he hasn't specialized in anything yet. He's especially good with languages, and while he hasn't studied alchemy formally, he's fascinated by it and would love to learn more. He's not very good at music, but decent enough at mimicry and acting. In short, he's got the beginnings of a career as a dilettante.

All of which leaves him a bit at a loss for his future, because he's approaching the age when he should be making decisions about what to do in his adult life and he isn't really sure where to go. He's sure that he wants to be financially and socially secure, and wants to rise as high as he can in Konstantinyye - while he doesn't remember much about his life before he was given to the church, he knows that he doesn't want to be poor again.

However, he doesn't want to be a priest or a monk. The church is his easiest path towards advancement, but he doesn't feel a sincere calling, and his piety is just serious enough that he wouldn't feel right about taking vows if he isn't sincere. But he can't be a citizen, and he can't marry up (or marry, period) so he doesn't have as many options for social advancement as most people do. His best hope as he sees it is to either get a good university education or get attached to one of the nobles/politicians around Konstantinyye.

He hasn't told any of the other monks or priests about his doubts - he fears that they'd kick him out if he did, and he has nowhere else to turn if that happens.

How do you see this character fitting into the game?
He's a wild card in the political conflict, ready to be tempted/swayed/persuaded to support one side or another. He can be a messenger, an interpreter, a pawn, a spy or spy-in-training. He's eager for advancement, and therefore will be happy to associate with people who can help him in those goals.

Anything else?
Regarding sex and love: Ioannis doesn't have a very large sex drive because he's a eunuch (especially not compared to most 14-year-old boys!) but he may still get crushes and have romantic feelings, and that would cause him some interesting conflicts with his current religious status. (Not sure what his orientation is yet.) Also, even though pederastic relationships are socially acceptable in Konstantinyye, Ioannis is young enough that I'm not comfortable playing a romantic relationship with very large age differences. Teen romance is fine, though, if/when there are other young characters around.

Re: Ioannis, Take 2

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Poor Ioannis! I'm definitely interested to see where he ends up.

Just a rough idea to start with, input welcomed

[aurora-verde.livejournal.com]

Name: Jennifer
Age: [please just confirm you're over 18; this game will contain adult content] I'm older than you, dear. ;^p
Email address: pirettablaze@gmail.com or shadowfaye@hotmail.com
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: LJ, specifically Excolo


YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: Adelia Maria Chamberlayne
Age: 42
Gender: Female
Nationality and/or ethnicity: Half Caucasian, half Castillan
Religion: Western Catholic when pressed for an answer...
Marital status: Widowed twice after a dirigible accident
Occupation: Head of a textile factory (empire?)
Physical description: About 5'7, slender build, warm coloured skin with dark brown hair and brown eyes.
PB: Idina Menzel

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story: Born into a wealthy textile family to a Spanish mother and Brittish father. When wed, she was the best off of the triad, so she kept her family's name. The tertiary of the pairing was a young woman. Her husband and wife(?) were killed in a dirigible accident. There may be a child from the union, but I have not decided if it is her biological child or not. She has lost quite a bit of faith since that incident. still attends Mass, because it is expected, but not because she believes any longer. She has no real interest in marrying again.
Personality: Strong willed, but not overbearing about it. Perhaps a little distant because of being lonely, may come off as aloof. Fair though to those beneath her station.
How do you see this character fitting into the game?: No clue, as of yet...
Anything else: Help?

Re: Just a rough idea to start with, input welcomed

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Yay, it's exciting to see you jumping in! :) I wonder if Adelia would be a competitor to Alicia's brother - he's part of the Guild of Drapers, which deal in cloth. Maybe the guild is snooty about mass produced material (as well as feeling threatened by it), so that could produce some friction? But she's also a wealthy and independent woman so I imagine political types would be interested in making friends with her.

And character #2

[aurora-verde.livejournal.com]

Name: Jennifer
Age: [please just confirm you're over 18; this game will contain adult content] old enough
Email address: shadowfaye@hotmail.com or pirettablaze@gmail.com
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: Excolo

YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: Viktor Kreig
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Nationality and/or ethnicity: Caucasian of Germanic Descent
Religion: Western Catholic
Marital status: Single
Occupation: I am between a bookish scholar type that tinkers with automation on the side, or a spoiled rich-boy that supplies whatever one may need, quietly, of course.
Physical description: Tall, about 6', thin, almost gangly. Pale with hazel eyes and that lovely orange hair one can never get out of a salon. Dresses WELL.
PB: GD Falksen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._D._Falksen

FURTHER DETAILS

This all depends on which way I go with him, I just wanted to get the name and PB held in place. LOL

Back story:
Personality:
How do you see this character fitting into the game?:
Anything else:

Re: And character #2

[oni-neko.livejournal.com]

my character Stefanos would be quite interested in someone experienced with automatons even if they say they just like to tinker with them.

This is going to be so very very long. I'm sorry! [1/?]

[middlemarching.livejournal.com]

YOUR DETAILS:

Name: Liz
Age: Quarter of a century!
Email address: myopic.hobbit@gmail.com
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: Oh gosh, too many. I’ve been roleplaying on a text-based MMO since I was about 15 years old, and have participated in a few LJ/forum-based RPGs over the years. I still run a medieval fantasy continuity with some other friends, but I’ve been eager to get involved with a post-industrial/steampunk game for a while now.

YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: Diederik van Swinderen
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Nationality and/or ethnicity: On his father’s side, Dutch. His maternal heritage is Choctaw, which he--and nearly everyone else around him--is completely unaware of for reasons that will be explained shortly (and for some reasons that will remain hidden for RP purposes).
Religion: Officially, Western Christian. Unofficially, an uninspired, bored atheist with no bone to pick with the church.
Marital status: Unmarried.
Occupation: Failed university student-turned-dirigible mechanic.
Physical description: Tall and ‘leggy’ by anyone’s standards, with a dusky complexion to match his dark hair and deeply set hazel eyes. Wears clothing that was originally of excellent cut and make that has, over the years, accumulated threadbare ends and patches at the knees and elbows. If he’s not sporting singed eyebrows or smudges of engine oil all over his face, he’s doing something wrong.
PB: Not sure yet! Help me out?

Re: This is going to be so very very long. I'm sorry! [2/?]

[middlemarching.livejournal.com]

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story:
Diederik’s first father, Timothaus van Swinderen, was an earnest investor whose talents were, unfortunately, mediocre at best. He was an uninteresting gentleman born, raised, and educated in Amsterdam like his parents were before him and, he probably assumed, his children would be after him. Approximately thirty years ago, Timothaus entrusted the managing of his affairs in Holland to his spouses (Joost and Claire van Swinderen), took the considerable monetary resources at his disposal and struck out for New England to seek--er, increase, his fortune and make his mark on the Dutch colonies. When he returned home two years later, his spouses discovered that not only had he squandered the money he’d intended to invest, thus miring them in a pit of debt it would take years to crawl out of, he’d also been unfaithful, adding insult to injury. They discovered this last detail because Timothaus brought the evidence of his tryst home with him to Amsterdam. You can probably guess what (or who) the evidence was.

Now at this point the story could have taken a very dark turn for Diederik but, as I can’t bear to dump more angst atop his poor head just yet, we’ll say that it did not. Despite the scandal created by Timothaus’s infidelity and the mountains of debt that were now a constant weight on the family’s backs, Joost and Claire recognized that no part of this god-awful situation was actually little Diederik’s fault. And so while Timothaus elected to discreetly remove himself from the van Swinderen home and take an apartment near the Bejinhof, Diederik stayed put and grew up a relatively happy child cared for by his second mother and father. Joost and Claire had two more children, Arjen and Emma, and Diederik continues to be close to both of them. So there’s his childhood in a cracked nutshell.

To make this very long back story a little less long: despite possessing a naturally inquisitive and sharp mind, Diederik never excelled at school, preferring to spend his time--leisure and otherwise--tinkering with bits of machinery (interspersed with hours smoking, drinking and gambling at cafes along the canal). His parents, exasperated but determined not to stifle their son’s talents, encouraged him to leave university and instead apprentice to a steam engine mechanic, but predictably, as soon as Diederik had stable work in a field related to his interests he set his sights on something much more ambitious: dirigibles. The prospect of working on such fascinating pieces of machinery while also getting to travel the world was irresistible to Diederik and, after hitting up his first father (from whom he was not exactly estranged, but not exactly close to, either) for a loan he could only pray would remain solvent, he signed on with De Adelaar and has been with that ship for about six years now. Trade and the need for dry dock brought De Adelaar to Kostantiniyye, but what this means for Diederik remains to be seen!

[aersi.livejournal.com]

Name: Siobhan
Age: mid-20's
Email address: redguardian @ gmail dot com
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: Oh yes! I've been Excolo since the beginning, and I tabletop at least twice a week! :D


THE BASICS

Name: Deirdre Mollari
Age: Late 20's
Gender: Female
Nationality and/or ethnicity: New Englander
Religion: Christian
Marital status: Double Widow
Occupation: Unintentional World Traveler- artist
Physical description: Blonde, medium height and build. Pretty.
PB: (Possible: Melissa George or Kirsten Dunst. Still deciding)

FURTHER DETAILS
Back story: Product of a good family from a University-driven area, Deirdre was married into her Triad fairly young- her husband (Harrison Mollari) was quite a bit older with her wife (Isra Zahra Sahin) falling into the gap between them, both age and experience-wise. Both of her spouses were scholars and practitioners of Alchemy. Deirdre helped occasionally with research and some lab prep and work. It wasn't her field of interest though, so she only retained enough that she didn't need the basics explained to her each time she entered the work space. Instead she concentrated on her own interests- botany and illustration, and the intersection thereof.

Life was good for a few years. They were happy, and had started the decision of if they wanted children, and who would they prefer to carry any, (though both women were fine with it, practicality meant it would be best for Deidre to carry)
And then one day, she came home to an utterly silent house. It was still tidy, but things weren't in the right place. Deirdre rushed into the study to find her husband dead and her wife not far behind. Isra told her where to find the most recent copies of their notes, and begged her to flee. Flee to Europe to lose any tail, and then to her own homeland of Konstantiniyye. Their work must be brought to the University there- the spouses were on the verge of a great break-through, and to leave it here would mean that their lives were wasted.

Deirdre was across the Atlantic before she really allowed herself to wonder about any of it. Now she finds herself in a new city- even with doubts, she continued on because it was Isra's last wish, with no clue who to go to or trust and no clue what the value or importance of her burden might be.

Personality: Sweet, but used to caring for forgetful scientists and professors. She runs an efficient household, because if she didn't, no one would have eaten. She also grew up in a family that was fairly high up in University Family- she knows how to play the faculty event game, and sharpened her charm at them as a teen and young woman. Kinda going for the charming, sweet widow with a steel backbone, when necessary.

How do you see this character fitting into the game?: She might be interested in continuing her education. She'll defiantly be trying to figure out what she has, which can add to the alchemy plots -golem plot maybe? In addition, she'll be looking to find her wife's family at some point.
Anything else: I'm sure there is- this is just the basics that I wanted to get out of my brianpan and onto the page.

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Wow, mysterious alchemy drama, intriguing! I look forward to seeing her in action.

CHARACTERS THUS FAR

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

A roundup of the characters thus far, & for me to look at character balance...

2 x ambassadors, both male; so my preference for a potential Byzantine ambassador would be female.
2 x university professors - 1 in alchemy, 1 in theology; 1 female, 1 eunuch
1 x university student, male - subject undecided, interested in alchemy
1 x judge, female
2 x craftswomen - goldsmith & tailor
1 x factory owner, female
1 x ?scholarly dilettante? tbc - male
1 x dirigible mechanic, male
1 x botanist/artist, female
1 x monastic novice, eunuch

This is looking like a good spread already. A few more ordinary workers & people working in shadier parts of town might be good... Plus some council members, and people involved in technology industries and potentially espionage for the Powers. Lots to think about!

Re: CHARACTERS THUS FAR

[tezcatl-ipoca.livejournal.com]

I definitely have an idea for an ordinary/shady type of character.... XD

[ladybird97.livejournal.com]

Second character! The background and personality sorta started coming out in her voice - I entertain myself far too much :)

Name: Serena Thornber
Age: 18? Jack, does that sound reasonable, considering Randolph's age and background? And, relatedly, which of Randolph's wives would logically be Serena's biological mother? The younger one would have been the one who felt more like Serena's mother, regardless of biological relationship.
Nationality/ethnicity: White British
Religion: Western Christian, but not very devout
Marital status: Single, but not for long if her father has anything to say about it!
Occupation: Bored socialite ambassador's daughter
Physical description: Tall, slender, dark hair, extremely fashionably dressed

Personality and Background
Serena adores London! It is simply the only place to be if one wants any proper society at all, which is why it is such a dreadful bore that Daddy keeps getting posted to these hot dry colonies! She's spent the last few years at Roedean, which which was close enough to Town to be able to spend some of the season there. (And which meant that she wasn't there when her mother/second mother died of malaria - it was painful to be so far away, and Serena always fears deep down that she'll die of some terrible disease herself now that she's out of England.)

But Serena is out of school and far too old for a governess, and Daddy needs someone to be a proper hostess for him now that he's an ambassador, so she has to go to Konstantinyye. But how can she possibly meet a suitable pair of matches there? Why can't she have stayed in England where there are proper ladies and gentlemen?

At least the fashions in Konstantinyye are exotic enough to be a little interesting, although some of them are terribly scandalous, and it is so difficult to know which are the best seamstresses, because nothing but the best will do!

And it must be admitted that one does hear all sorts of interesting things whilst pouring tea and playing the spinet in the same room where Daddy's diplomatic associates pay their afternoon calls. But one mustn't appear to be too interested or too intelligent! They wouldn't talk quite so freely if they thought they were being understood. No, it is better to simply laugh and compliment them on how terribly clever they are.

How do you see this character fitting into the game? If there's a party, she's there! Her father is trying to marry her off (as is Alicia, most likely) so she's available for any marital politics that people want to play, although she also wants to have some fun before she settles down, too - she loves playing the social game. She'll have a lot of interactions with the various textile-industry people, because she is extremely interested in wearing the latest fashions. And yes, she's fond of eavesdropping on political conversations, and is far more intelligent than she lets on, so she's likely to overhear interesting things.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Haha, this is amazing XD

Manal al-Atrash, part 1

[torrain.livejournal.com]

YOUR DETAILS:

Name: Frances
Age: ...ohgod. If I weren't over eighteen, I would have to have been thirteen when Excolo started.
--ahem. Right. Yes. Over eighteen. Over thirty, even!
Email address: fmoffatt@gmail.com
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: Yep! Tabletop, LJ, and LARP. For years. And years.

YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: Manal al-Atrash
Age: mid-thirties?
Gender: Female
Nationality and/or ethnicity: Syrian Bedouin, settled in Konstantiniyye for several years now
Religion: Shia Muslim, non-practicing
Marital status: Single, I'm thinking.
Occupation: Smuggler and dealer of al-kemia, automata, and art.
Physical description: Rangy, medium height, unpretty; heavy jaw and sharp teeth. Long black hair that is bound back under a headscarf, ropey muscles, calloused hands, and tattoos on her jaw and arms. An expression that is quick to sour when dealing with idiots or the naive (the two are interchangeable? no? yes). She is unusually strong for her build, and occasionally speaks of her past in a way that suggests she is older than she looks by at least a generation; Occam's Razor would note that she is certainly not inhumanly strong, and that stories of unnatural abilities are very useful when building a reputation in the Konstantiniyye underworld. Manal generally seems pleased to hear gossip that suggests she uses some of the substances she has smuggled to enhance her vitality.
(No, there is no dressing as a bat. Management thanks you for considering the "superstitious and cowardly" reference to have been made. ;) )
Prone to hard-wearing, practical clothing. If she's looking to make an impression, she will toss on a more elaborate layer--ornately brocaded vest over trousers and shirt, gold medallions or jewelry, gilded and pounced belt. She spends much of her time down by the docks; I'm kicking around the idea of her having a tavern. Not owning one on paper, you understand, just claiming it as the heart of her territory.
PB: ["Played by" - typically an actor used to represent your character in icons. Optional!] Would love some help on this! I like
very much, but she is paler than I was thinking, and not quite rangy/leathered enough.

Manal al-Atrash, part 2

[torrain.livejournal.com]

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story: Manal came to Konstantiniyye around a decade ago; from contacts already in the city, she has carved herself out a niche in the black market, and is a fairly powerful figure therein. Although she cannot have been more than a child when her family left Syria (if that!), she is bitterly resentful of its state under the Ottoman Empire. (I'm figuring that on top of many of Syria's villages turning into ghost towns, and the falling population, the Industrial Revolution pretty much passed it by as a backwater.) She occasionally speaks as if she had personally seen many of the villages wither away, presumably to fuel the rumours about her age.
Personality: Manal is cocky (although smart enough to know offending everyone is just a bad idea) and loud; if she gets drunk, the word bombastic probably fits. She doesn't practice her religion, and clearly engages in haraam (unlawful in the eyes of Allah) behaviour; she flaunts the latter among her own social group, and feels guilty about both of them in private. She is self-conscious and rather brittle around those of higher social status, territorial, and can be theatrically cruel to competitors or underlings when she feels she needs to make a point. You know that overloud I-am-new-and-therefore-nervous vibe people will get when being introduced to a new social group? I'm thinking like that, despite the fact that she's been running her business in the city quite successfully for years.
(Oh my god. I just realized I'm thinking of her in terms of the middling chapters of The Screwtape Letters. Moving on.)
How do you see this character fitting into the game?: I hear we are short on people on the lower end of the social scale, and I thought that with the piracy and espionage, there might be room for a smuggler/dealer. Plus the interest in al-kemia and automata can tie her into people who are interested in those things; if she isn't approached, she might gather her nerve up enough to approach them. Finally, her resentment towards the Ottoman Empire might draw her into efforts to shove them out of Konstantiniyye.
Anything else: Comments welcome?

[polocrunch.livejournal.com]

YOUR DETAILS:

Name: Call me Polos!
Age: 20s
Email address: PM me on LJ, if it please you
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: No, I am a complete roleplay virgin.

YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: Lagos
Age: Late twenties, but looks much younger
Gender: Male
Nationality and/or ethnicity: mixed race, born in Lagos (IRL in Nigeria) of a French sailor and a Yoruba maid
Religion: Yoruba, Vodun and Muslim, but the latter only by necessity
Marital status: unmarried
Occupation: Slave
Physical description:
Lagos has a youthful appearance, despite probably being in his late twenties and having lived a tough life so far, with good skin, even features and all his teeth. He is mixed race, of medium build and average height. His characteristic expression is the calm deadpan of the slave, worn to avoid irking his masters; any other facial expression is, in his experience, likely to give them cause to beat him.

PB:
Something like James Howson.

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story:
Lagos is not my character's own name. His own name is for him; it is the only thing truly his any more.
He was born the illegitimate son of a Yoruba housemaid in the abandoned Portuguese colony of Lagos. He has been told his father was a French sailor, but knows little more about him.
He grew up in the household of a local notable, amid the wetlands and partial ruins of the old Portuguese slaving port at Lagos. The port has long been defunct, since the Ottoman invasion of Portugal disrupted its imperial trade.
When he was five, a wandering bokor [voodoo sorcerer] from the neighbouring Fon lands came across him at play by the lagoon. The bokor was shocked by what he found. The boy had woven a crude model of a bird from reeds and feathers. He now made it flap about and peck at the mud. The boy set the bird down and dug both hands into the soil, shaping it into a nest and eggs. The bokor watched, astonished, as the bird first twitched, then stood up of its own volition and waddled to the water's edge. Absorbed in his play, the boy did not notice the bokor as he looked on. As the toy bird reached the water, the bokor stepped forward to see if it would swim. The boy looked up, surprised, and the spell was broken. The bird fell to pieces into the water.
This bokor knew he had come across a child of a potency which he had never encountered before. He walked the boy home, and there proposed to his mother that he be allowed to test the boy for his suitability to become a white sorcerer of Vodun, a bokor like himself. Uncertain, his mother allowed the bokor to stay a while in an abandoned shed behind her master's house, intending to take her measure of him.

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Awesome :) Would you be interested in being a PC's slave? That'd probably give you more interacting possibilities. I'd be happy to have Lagos in Ashraf's household, but you might also want to approach other players too based on what you want to do with him!

Welcome to Kostantiniyye!

[mariamdoukakis.livejournal.com]

This is another app from Rachel! So.Many.Characters, always.

THE BASICS

Name: Mariam Doukakis
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Nationality and/or ethnicity: Greek Byzantine
Religion: Eastern Christian
Marital status: Single
Occupation: Reporter on the Greek language newspaper in Kostantiniyye, Ta Nea (The News)
Physical description: dark haired, wide smile, slightly plump, 5'4". Mariam's castration was of the testicles, although testosterone depletion has resulted in some shrinkage of the penis. Castrated before her voice broke but after she developed pubic hair. She has some facial hair, but no more than many women have, and she epilates this away. The pattern of weight gain associated with castration has given her some additional breast tissue so she's not completely flat chested.

PB: Marina Diamandis

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story: Mariam was born in a small Greek village not far from Thessaloniki and baptised Demetrios. One of six children, Demetrios was a playful and expressive child who found the beginning of puberty upsetting and frightening, and began to spend a great deal of time in church, fearing he was being plagued by demons. By the time Demetrios was 14, he had decided to enter a local monastery, which he hoped would soothe his inner turmoil. His parents, struggling farmers who found their son confusing, accepted this idea with relief. Demetrios's castration was one of the happiest days of his life. It soon became clear, though, that this was not the whole solution. Demetrios came to accept that she was, and had always been, a girl, and that the call to monastic life had been a way of seeking castration rather than a genuine call to live a religious life. So Demetrios, aged 18, fled, and as soon as she had grown out her tonsure adopted women's clothes and the name Mariam. Two years of travel and various jobs brought her to Kostantiniyye, where the education she received in the monastery allowed her to get a job at the newspaper. She worked as a gofer, then in copy editing, and has recently taken on her first reporting work as a junior journalist.

Personality: Mariam is bright, inquisitive, easily amused, gossipy and inventive. She's also cocky, defensive and fiercely private about parts of her life. She has occasional moments of debilitating terror that God is angry with her: not because she is a girl, but because she abandoned her monastery.

How do you see this character fitting into the game?: A reporter can go places and meet people. Mariam's still quite poor, so she's likely to hang out in parts of town some other characters might not, but she's working hard to advance in journalism and so may be meeting politicans and so on, looking for a scoop.

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

It's also worth noting that it's illegal for a eunuch to impersonate a man or woman (because of their different legal status), so Mariam has good reason to keep this hidden, beyond social issues. Unfortunately most courts would be unlikely to see her as a genuine woman. Mariam has not as yet had many difficulties passing, though she has mostly avoided romantic entanglements thus far.

Giving it a shot, even if it's late...

[silence-excolo.livejournal.com]

Name: Paulette
Age: Way Over 18
Email address:
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: Yes - Excolo, World of Darkness tabletop & LARP, D&D of all kinds, forum roleplay for things like Torchwood, Harry Potter. So much RP in my life!

YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: ... not completely sure, but I like the name 'Angitia'. Thought maybe she could be known as "The Red" or something XD

Age: early 30's

Gender: Female

Nationality and/or ethnicity: Italian/Greek?? British mutt? I'm undecided, but I see her being a mix

Religion: still deciding, but I'm leaning towards Western Christian

Marital status: Widowed

Occupation: Pirate/Privateer for the **** Navy, possibly British?

Physical description: A tall, strong-framed woman with tanned skin & gold-red hair bleached by the sun. 5'10", wide hips & strong from a lifetime of sailing. Dark eyes, a touch of freckling; attractive enough, but handsome would be a better word for her features. She likes a bit of flair in her clothing, but keeps it practical - can't run a ship very well when wearing flowing skirts. Her style is a blend of the different cultures she's visited &/or pilfered. (I might just draw something up, as I can't quite find images for what I'm seeing in my head)

PB: [still looking, but possibly Joanne Whalley or Kate Mara]

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story: Born into a trading/merchant family, but groomed for marraige, hopefully to someone above her station. Fell in love with a naval soldier who became a captain, which was not quite what her family had hoped for. When her father attempted to engage her to another, she eloped with her captain & they were married at sea. He taught her how to sail & how to fight, & she surprised everyone by excelling at them. Together they had a son, but he died an infant. A few years after, her husband was killed in a skirmish off the coast of ****. When the **** (country) tried to claim her husband's ship, she absconded with it & the crew, who had become fond of & loyal to her.

Personality: Strong-willed, witty, crafty, opinionated & devious. Loyal to those that prove a friend, deadly to those that betray her. Loves the open sea & hates being told what to do... unless it happens to fall in line with her own desires. Flirty & brazen, but secretly heartbroken & has refused to love again.

How do you see this character fitting into the game?: Trade routes are essential to commerce, & there is always tension between factions, even during peace. She can be hired to "reallocate" goods, intimidate or capture ther vessels, & can generally be a wrench thrown into the gears. She has no real alliance, save to her crew & her latest contract.

Anything else: This is still a huge work in progress! Any advice, comments, critique or character ties? Totally welcome ^_^

Re: Giving it a shot, even if it's late...

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Hello my dear, this all sounds great, with the caveat that dyadic marriage (2 person) is pretty unusual in general, and in fact for Christians isn't possible, so - you can either have 2 spouses, or she can have just lived with her captain (which would be a bit scandalous but possibly something you can get away with at sea!). Otherwise, I'm happy to welcome her to the game.

Eamonn Hassan

[launcelot-dulac.livejournal.com]

Name: Dex
Age: I'm legal
Email address: dexter 101 at hotmail dott comm
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: Many years of firsthand experience with Adv. Dungeons & Dragons, had two main characters. I Dungeon Mastered as well. Have never roleplayed on LiveJournal before, but it sounds fascinating.

YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: Eamonn Hassan
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Nationality and/or ethnicity: half Irish/half Egyptian Arab in heritage
Religion: Eastern Orthodox
Marital status: Single
Occupation: Alchemist's apprentice/part-time spy
Physical description: Tall, strongly built (maybe a bit too built for his own good), thick wavy dark hair and bright hazel eyes with a noble nose. Olive-toned skin which tends to look sallow in daylight. A man that attracts all sorts of attention and is usually attired for the particular occasion. Though he identifies with the Eastern Byzantine church, he does like to wear Ottoman fezzes on his head.
PB: Real life person to represent this character or convey an image of this character is the Egyptian model Waleed Sokkar.



FURTHER DETAILS

Back story: Born under the shadow of the Sphinx in Egypt to an Irish woman and an Egyptian Arab, Eamonn Hassan was left at a place for foundlings and sold in his adolescence into forced sexual slavery. Eamonn never wanted to know who his parents were because of his abandonment, but sometimes he craves the knowledge. The only knowledge his parents had left him was a piece of pristine papyrus containing his name along with the poem Cúirt An Mheán Oíche (The Midnight Court) by Brian Merriman written in both Gaelic and Egyptian Arabic. He deduced from the poem and his given name that he is the product of two backgrounds: Ireland and Egypt. Indeed, his given name, Eamonn (an Irish given name) and his last name Hassan (an Arabic, Hebrew, or Irish surname) reflect his nationalities. During his early twenties he had found himself sold off again to a person-of-influence's seraglio in Abydos, Egypt, where he was abused and not treated well by his patron. Eamonn had become so enraged one night that he murdered his patron and fled into the desert. He had wandered around for some months as a mendicant before, nearly starved and finding himself in Memphis, Egypt, he encountered a person who would forever change his life: Imtiyaz, a freelance spy of experience. Imtiyaz took Eamonn under his wing, training him in the subtle arts of espionage and escapology. During the course of his lessons, Imtiyaz and Eamonn had fallen in love, but one day, after Eamonn had mastered all that Imtiyaz could teach him, Eamonn found himself alone again. Imtiyaz's sudden disappearance was terrible for Eamonn, for he considered Imtiyaz to be the only man he had ever arduously loved. Eamonn wandered with a traveling troupe of actors before establishing himself in the great city of Kostantiniyye as one of two apprentices to a very decrepit alchemist in the city.

More Eamonn Hassan

[launcelot-dulac.livejournal.com]

Personality: Though he is a strong and devout (sometimes zealous) believer in the tenets of the Eastern Orthodox faith, if it helps him to get ahead, he will not ally with the Byzantines but with the highest ranking power at the moment if it will help him to get ahead/carry out his agenda. He still will hold faith with the Orthodoxy, though, as this is unshakable for him. His weakness/Achilles' heel is romance, in that he tends to fall for or give his heart to the wrong men. Eamonn is trying very hard to break from the dire situations of his past and is trying to cultivate himself into a respectable gentleman, but he finds that his past has made him what he is today: ambitious, haunted, self-reliant, and that his history is an integral part of him no matter how hard he tries to run from it. He's the type of guy who will work to make himself the best double-agent for a certain cause or empire but will give all the glory up for someone he is in love with. What he really wants, deep down, is to find out what happened to Imtiyaz and to decipher the meaning of the Brian Merriman poem that was the only thing left to him from his biological parents.

How do you see this character fitting into the game?: Hopefully Eamonn can sort through the world of Kostantiniyye and form alliances with characters that would be mutually beneficial. He is an information seeker and a potential spy, so knowledge of characters' hidden motivations and the political environment of the world are important to him. Also, bear with me, as it will be my first time LJ roleplaying, but I learn fast and I have many years experience roleplaying fantasy characters before (a paladin knight and a cleric of my creaton for D&D).

Anything else: Feel free to tweak this character to fit into the game! :) Character is in progress.

[plumplant.livejournal.com]

I'm a little late to the party but I would love to be involved (sorry this is very long)

YOUR DETAILS:

Name: Siobhan, although Vonnie is fine.
Age: 24
Email address: I’m happy to hand out my email address in PMs or a locked post, otherwise using the LJ mailing system is fine
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: A long time ago but nothing like this, so count me among the newbies and be gentle with me!


YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: Clementine Ainsworth
Age: 28
Gender: Female
Nationality and/or ethnicity: White British
Religion: Western Christian
Marital status: Married to her work, technically single
Occupation: Researcher/Laboratory Scientist
Physical description: Pale, plump and pretty, with a sort of fresh faced English rose look about her. She is particularly prone to freckling, sunburn and wearing silly hats.
PB: Romola Garai

(http://pics.livejournal.com/plumplant/pic/0004tewr/)

FURTHER DETAILS
Subject to change depending on how mods see the level of medical technology/knowledge as appropriate – I want her to be good at her job but not anything that anyone outside of the medical community would know about

Back story:
Clementine’s father, Joseph, was a botanist that made a fortune exploiting his knowledge of plants to grow exquisite hybrid flowers and make fancy perfume that rich ladies bought from one of his many exclusive florists. He happily married Jane, the daughter of a land-rich-money-poor Lord, and his childhood best friend Marjory who had worked as store-girl in his first shop. The marriage produced three daughters: Beatrice, Clementine and Flora, who where all spoiled and well loved by their parents. Clementine spent her childhood at the family’s south coast country estate that reached right down to a pebble beach that smelt of salt and seaweed. Clementine still gets nostalgic when she smells the ocean, and collects shells so she can pretend to hear the crashing waves when she is away from home.
Clementine is obsessed with blood. Not, of course, in any un-holy way. She is very strictly Western Christian and would never entertain the idea of being anything but dutiful to the lord, but she believes that God gave his creations an agile mind for a reason.

She studied biology and biochemistry, at first on plants but later on animals and willing human participants. She wrote projects on the building blocks of life, blood cell development and growth. Clementine published her first paper when she was just out of university at 22 on the immortal life of cancer cells by growing hairy-cell leukaemia lymphocytes for 6 months in a glass dish with little more than nutrient broth, determination and an idea. After traveling all over the world to study unusual cases of people with blood disorders, she has settled in Kostantiniyye where she hopes the diverse population will reward her with bringing her latest idea to life. The British Empire themselves have provided her with the funding she requires to continue her research and though Clementine has little care for politics, she has suddenly found herself deeply involved with it.

When not working in lab coats, she sticks to a rigid (and some might say old-fashioned) English attire of high collars and long skirts and avoids direct sunlight with the aid of hats and parasols to spare her fair skin from burning, or freckling, which she considers a worse fate.

[plumplant.livejournal.com]

Personality: Determined not to be frivolous, Clementine has dedicated herself to science so stubbornly people think of her as being cold. Unfortunately the truth is worse; she simply has no interest in interacting with anyone that she doesn’t care for and makes no effort to form new attachments. She writes daily to her sisters and her parents, is polite to her maid and her patients, and treats all social engagements as if they were somehow a test from God. While she knows in her heart that she should marry and produce children, she had yet to meet two other people that make her tingle like finding a new case of acute promyelocytic leukaemia.

How do you see this character fitting into the game?: Uhhh she can go either way really, trying to find people who can help her so that will include any scientists or intellectuals, mechanics or people who can actually make her stuff (plus fiddly tiny things that are better made by people like goldsmiths?) and since she is funded by the British its likely she will have to socialise whether she wants to or not, or she could even be being used by the British somehow.

Anything else: Lizzi recommended this! I’ll probably need a lot of help though because a) it’s been a while since I did any RP and never in first person and b) I’m a rubbish historian and will probably need help getting my facts straight.

My first time doing this!

[athenegenia.livejournal.com]

YOUR DETAILS:

Name: Olwen/Wol
Age: 25
Email address: olwenbodica at gmail dot com
Have you roleplayed before? What kinds of games?: Lots & lots of LARP and tabletop roleplay, no LJ RP though

YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: Katherine “Kitty” Aurora Henchingley-Smythe
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Nationality and/or ethnicity: White British
Religion: Raised Western Christian, then atheist, now “Hellenocentric Occultist”
Marital status: Single
Occupation: Student/researcher
Physical description: Dark-haired and blue eyed, wears spectacles when reading, taller than she would like
PB: Emily Blunt in ‘Young Victoria’

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story: (I am very much basing this character on the fascinating Jane Ellen Harrison from history, although she is a bit later than this setting - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Ellen_Harrison) Katherine was lucky enough to be given a good education, and then able attend Girton College Cambridge to read Classics, although her interests took her more and more towards historical theology and studies of religion. Her reading and research led her to abandon the faith she was brought up in and embrace an impartial atheism, although she is increasingly drawn towards the ancient gods she reads about. Her shockingly comparative approach between ancient and modern faiths and increasingly worrying requests for “practicals” caused her university to try and find another establishment (ideally far away) to send her off to. Kostantiniyye was settled on as being far enough away that whatever she did it would not be their problem, and suitably interesting for her theological studies.
Her family, despairing of her unwillingness to think of marriage due to her focus on studies (although this has not stopped her enjoying dalliances with both male and female), are hopeful that she might find someone nice in Kostantiniyye and might even entertain the idea of settling down.
Personality: Academic, forthright and eccentric. Socially uncomfortable and much prefers the company of her books, as she still worries about not being a “proper lady” by traditional British standards, but loves a good scandal.
How do you see this character fitting into the game?: Interacting with other academic characters and the expat/British oversees, possibly causing gossip!
Anything else: I don’t think so, I hope that what I have put so far fits in with the game and setting.

Re: My first time doing this!

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

This sounds good! It's worth noting that anything that diverges from the approved religions of Kostantiniyye is illegal according to the statutes of the city - which isn't to say Kitty can't hold other beliefs, but it's probably a good idea to keep them on the down-low. :)

I think we'd be glad to have you on board, so feel free to create your character journal and join the comm! Welcome aboard! My character Alicia would definitely be interested in meeting Kitty, and I'm sure other characters here would too :)

[torrain.livejournal.com]

YOUR CHARACTER:

THE BASICS

Name: Aron Levine
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Nationality and/or ethnicity: French
Religion: Jewish
Marital status: Single
Occupation: Coffee house owner
Physical description: Stocky and not particularly tall, running slightly to seed. Mild blue eyes, thick glasses.
PB: Still looking... suggestions? (Honestly, I'm happy to rearrange the description if I can find someone who seems to suit...)

FURTHER DETAILS

Back story: Initially a promising student of al-kemia at who came to Kostantiniyye to study at the university, Aron's focus eventually turned to examining traditional remedies and potions, trying to discover if their creation could have been the result of then-poorly-understood alchemical principles. He was disconcerted to find that on certain rare occasions, these traditional concoctions actually worked. Rather than setting aside these troubling discoveries, he tried to discover the underlying principles.
Growing more and more fascinated by these atypical discoveries, Aron discussed the research with one of his professos. The reaction he found was unsympathetic in the extreme; although the details were never made public (and were probably not of huge interest; students are expelled, after all), Aron found himself leaving the university later that year.
Unwilling to completely abandon academia, he currently runs a nearby coffee house that is popular with the student body. Easily seen as something of a has-been, he quietly spends his time in public attending to his clientele, and his time in private attempting to further refine his understanding of the strange phenomenon he's observed.

Personality: Aron is rather anxious--less about being found out, and more about the fact that the world is behaving in what seems to be an irrational manner. He's also patient (a necessity when working blind and having the results of his experiments be erratic at best), and tries to be friendly on at least a superficial level.

How do you see this character fitting into the game?: Tied to the university, interested (naturally) in radical and disreputable theories that might tie into golem research, and due to his education able to at the very least offer alchemical advice to people who would rather not ask for help from an official body. He's rather sympathetic to individuals who are frustrated by the university's strict ways, and requires unusual ingredients and supplies for his research, and over the years he's had to deal with certain less savoury elements, who may occasionally (discreetly! please!) be found or contacted at the coffee house. Plus, hey, there's a coffee house.

Anything else: Open to revision and suggestions...?

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Interesting! Of course I approve it.

For some reason, this visual came to me as soon as I read this: