ZindelloTarantella

Dear Small Sunflower, Barring your suggestion of setting your hair (or theirs) on fire, your problem is not terribly difficult to remedy. There is the simple option of ignoring them, but this is neither a permanent fix nor particularly satisfying. You could, of course, try the alternative route of showing yourself to be vastly incompetent in the field of courting--pick several suitors that are absolutely detestable to your family (or at least find a handful of friends to masquerade as such). This will give you the delightful chance to watch your family scramble to find you a suitable suitor--to which, you can, after turning down a few options they chose, remind them if they try again that 'Mother/Father/Guardian--need I remind you that you've enlisted several suitors for me over the past few months and they've all been unqualified disasters.' Within a few months time, you get to have some fun and turn the entire burden of inadequacy back on them rather than yourself. If all else fails, I know of an alchemist that will happily sell you a flammable tonic. Signed, The Phoenix

Dear Little Black Bird, I'm going to answer this despite my editor's pleading and better judgment. I would recommend that the best way to apologize, since I am sure this was an accident, is the same as it would be in any situation like this; flowers, letters of condolences and promises you don't intend to keep. If this woman is skilled in combat, I would also recommend visiting a Aesthetician for a good change to your appearance and then hopping to the first ferry to one of the other major cities. I hear Coerthas is lovely at no time of the year but most folks won't follow you there. Signed, The Phoenix

A certain scavenger would like to know if a certain mercenary is available for a clandestine discussion this evening. ...on-topic, said scavenger detests Eorzeans as spoiled and weak-willed children in need of guidance. Who better to teach them discipline than he? A certain mercenary would invite him over for tea and cake, but I imagine that would be in poor taste. That is, if a certain scavenger /can/ taste. Where might they come across each other in an applicable setting? The night is dangerous, and there are many alleyways and tunnels in the Goblet.... What a terrible night to have a curse!

Dear Bald Adventurer, I suppose it's a good thing you didn't go with my alternative option and set your hair ablaze. Signed, The Phoenix

Tarot's brand of villainy is largely selfish--'victimless crimes' as he likes to put it. Although he's been either acquitted or never connected to said crimes he does have a long list of suspected activities including, but not limited to: - Blackmail (How else can one get what one is owed?) - Grave Robbing (They're not using it anyway. Waste not and all that) - Extortion (Nice thread you have here. Be a shame if something happened to it...) - Theft (DUH) - Smuggling (Have to keep things in stock) - Vandalism (Suddenly that protection doesn't seem to expensive, now does it?) - Stalking/Voyeurism (Though this has less to do with eroticism and more to do with blackmail and information brokerage) - Unwarranted snark - Trespassing - Eavesdropping/Entering Conversations without Invitation - Impersonation (Wood Wailer, Viper, Brass Blade, Flame Lieutenant) Tarot is, and he will tell you this to your face, always right. If you think he's wrong, you're wrong and he will draw up a list of all the reasons why.

Dear Frustrated Cook, Since you are, I'm hoping, a cook worth his salt so to speak, you should have everything you need to drive the little bastards from your kitchen. An old Gridanian recipe is to take a clean cheesecloth (something any cook should have access to), and then bundle it up with the following things in any given larder: Bay leaves, cedar shavings, cinnamon sticks, cloves, eucalyptus leaves, lavender, peppercorns, rosemary, wormwood. I also recommend making sure all of your various clothing pieces you wear or keep in the kitchen area are fully cleaned and kept in a dry place. Of course, you could always do nothing about it and hope for the best; as I understand it, some Wood Wailers subsist entirely on grubs and maggots for protein if they become lost in the Twelveswood. And if it's good enough for a desperate, starving man or woman, it's good enough for any moth-infested cook's kitchen. Signed, The Phoenix

Most things are!

It's okay if they're Manly Tears though, Berrod!

Crooked Tarot own a shop of goods that are acquired through all kinds of means--and cover a wide range of areas. He makes no distinctions regarding who buys from him, though he is just as likely to steal (that is, 'acquire') things from someone if they are markedly dangerous or are more criminal than himself.

Remember if you wouldn't poop in public, you shouldn't poop in /say. YOU! You made my laugh and get weird looks at work! :dazed::lol::lol:

Perfect. The bartering was quaint but Tarot was barely listening to the heartfelt plea of the man that so desperately wanted this coat. It was likely that if it had been anyone else, absolutely anyone else, Tarot would have let it go for what the man had in his pockets with a promise to collect on the interest later. But this was Osric he was talking to, and he knew Osric was good for the money and therefore pinning him with interest was not going to do much to expand Tarot's coffers. But what was why the smile that spread on his face and brought a dangerous shine to Tarot's eyes grew larger by every passing moment. It was a delight to have someone in this state--very nearly titillating to the proprieter of the Crooked Phoenix; the thrill of victory when truly anything was possible. Coming out from behind the counter, he put an arm around Osric's shoulders, clicking his tongue and speaking in one of the more deeply patronizing tones he saved for only those he marked being largely familiar to him. "Osric, Osric, Osric. Now, I know you're good for the money but I have bills to pay and a moon is too long for me to wait on a promise of money." He patted the man fondly on the chest as if speaking to a dear brother or friend, confiding in him some shameful secret. "Rest assured I understand your plight all too fully and that is why I must sadly say I cannot wait for funding for another month to let the articles go today." He paused, then looked him over a moment, putting him at arms length and comparing their height. "However, perhaps you could do me a favor in exchange. I know you're in good with the Flames--" He forced himself to not snicker at the little charade he kept up concerning that and his ignorance about Blades and Flames, "So, why don't we do this. You pay for everything today and I will hold the coat and accoutrements here. You run along home and bring back to me a full Flames uniform to fit my robust self..." He leaned in close, blue-and-gold eyes sparking with a deeper meaning. "I would like something authentic for a costume party, you see, and I really am not in a place to have an armor maker whip me up something convincing. It need not be anything fancy--no officer's gear or anything. Just a basic uniform. Can you do that for poor old Tarot? If you can then I can part with your coat and we can call the rest of the amount paid in full..." It might be difficult to tell which was worse; the meaning behind the words or the fact that his tone was so genuinely, almost sickeningly sincere, you'd have thought it was a child speaking for a moment. "Besides, my Namesday is coming up. And let's not forget what happened last year when you made my Namesday sour with your bout of clumsiness. I know Moggie hasn't forgotten."

To be fair, this is the same man whose written works made incest into something 'sexy' in the mainstream so...grain of salt? Mmmm, it's mostly HBO that made that particular case of incest sexy in the mainstream. In the books? Not so much... Uh, excuse me. I prefer to paint with BROAD strokes, thank you very much! Especially regarding a series of books I've never read and TV show I've never watched! This is the Internet and I am fully entitled to belittle other people morally for things I have no actual experience with!

To be fair, this is the same man whose written works made incest into something 'sexy' in the mainstream so...grain of salt?

Concerning all the ERP stuff, I have to say that there is a time and place for it, like most others have said. I have seen, however, far too much of two people standing silently in the corner of a night club in Champions Online to NOT know what that Miqote and Lalafel are doing sitting silently on that bench behind the Quicksand. As for the guided RP through OOC, yes, I definitely support this too--having a gameplan helps and some of my best RP has come from pre-game brainstorming. However, a downside to this is that sometimes you wind up planning so much that you make plotlines that never come to fruition because you're too busy planning.

I'll use a recent little thing that happened since I am a person that will admit I have a hard time separating the two--within a certain reason. Basically, Tarot screwed up royally. He therefore becamme defensive. I therefore became defensive. My personality, whenever things don't go the way I planned or when I look like an ass, leads me to steam over things for a while, essentially thinking of a million different ways I can respond to largely hypothetical scenarios. For instance, I almost found myself dreading the inevitable scolding Tarot would receive. Not because it was the group demoting me or trashing Tarot or anything; it was because Tarot (and thus myself) had guessed wrong about something in an RP related to the group and it, ICly, cost the group in terms of endangering his teammates. What was more is that, since Tarot is very dear to me, is very much a character (as someone said earlier) that I have invested a great deal of time and care into, his emotions become mine. I knew the player was a great person but the character was smug and full of themselves (at least from Tarot's perspective) so he knew that apologizing--at least he guessed apologizing--would be met with a demeaning and dismissive response from the person he screwed up with. This compounded my own emotions since that type of response pissed me off personally--you begin to see where this is headed? I actually had to pull myself away from the computer and take a day to relax and deal with it. Some people, like myself, sadly have that sort of thing. Thankfully, I've learned from previous flare ups to pull out before I have my character say or do something stupid that is largely OUT of character for them simply as a response to the feelings I have. This is still something I am working on and I doubt I'll ever largely be free of. I say all this to just give a reminder that some of us are aware of this problem we have and that, maybe, a 'safe' word (he) could be used to indicate when you are feeling a bit too testy or upset and need a moment. Something to let your fellows players know 'Hey, I'm getting that feeling in my gut, I need to just leave.' Tarot isn't the type to storm off an pout, which means that I need to formulate an escape for him--but if this 'safety' word exists than maybe it will be easier for players to pull out and their fellow RPers can simply gloss over the character's departure. Instead of: "Oh yeah, we tried to talk to him/her but they just left in a huff" It can be that the OOC notification is given and the player just leaves to cool off then later on the characters can say, "Hey, you okay? You kinda got quiet and then X before you left' Something along those lines so that if you need to back out quickly for the blurring of lines, you don't feel like your character will further be stigmatized, y'know? Hope that was clear! :lol:

Tarot has Coblyn's listed as a dislike--he hates their static discharges and what it does to his hair. He also finds their legs and their eyes creepy and unnerving. He also hates Chocobos, but mostly because people think they are 'cute' when really they're big, smelly birds. What's more, he firmly takes the Moogle side in the argument of which is cuter, Moogles or Chocobos and he WILL cut a bitch if you disagree with him too vehemently.

Tarot likely wouldn't exist, since he was born out of an MMO in a super-hero setting which is something I typically would never have indulged in in the first place. And no Tarot would mean my life would be a lot sadder for it. But I'd probably read a lot more. I wouldn't be writing if the Internet had never been invented, I think--I only started writing because of Roleplay.

Thanks for this reminder! I had forgotten about that little mention mostly because it was sort of a one-off line that wasn't brought up again, even in the WHM quest line. I suppose Gridanians would be the last people in Eorzea to admit that the Elementals aren't as powerful as they once were and frankly, I kinda support the idea. The game has enough primal forces to worry about without needing to kiss ass (lore-wise) to yet ANOTHER pack of primal forces that we can't see or that have any major quest-line effect (which I don't think they ever do in the main story of 2.x)

Tarot grinned inwardly when he heard the question. Seemed that Moggie-Moglin's lesson had definitely NOT been lost on Osric after all this time! Turning, he opened the door to the backroom in time to greet the shopper as he looked at the item on display. There was a fun story behind that one involving a botanist, a collection of love letters and a large block of Gridanian Cheese. The coat itself was rather nice, and though Tarot was loathed to part with it since he'd been debating on wearing it himself for a while now, he simply could not pass up the chance to get a bit more gil jingling in his pocket. The rest of Osric's purchases were lined up on the counter by now, already wrapped and ready to go. He knew Osric knew better than to ask for more than he could spend so he didn't dither on whether the man could afford it or not. Besides, most everything in the front of the shop was far easier to haggle over so he wasn't worried about it. "Hmm?" He asked, leaning into the room to get a look, pretending he hadn't the foggiest idea of what Osric was talking about before nodding. "Oh yes! That little set. Well, for you, I could part with the whole thing for 10,000 gil. Of course, I am knocking a bit off for being a frequent customer, and for already filling up your purchase card so quickly." He gave an oily grin as he looked Osric over smugly. "It would look better on me, I think, so my desire to part with it may not last for long..."

Noooooo, the Elementals are very real and very scary. (Skip to 2:20 if the video doesn't automatically.) "Beckon of the Elementals" and "The Call of Nature" are also terrifying examples of the Elementals in their prime. "Beckon of the Elementals" even has a nice cutscene of O-App-Pesi getting owned by an Elemental. If I don't believe in them then they can't possibly exist or effect me! That's how it works right? RIGHT!? No but seriously, it would almost be a satisfying little twist if it turned out that it wasn't the Elementals but some mad cult with a weather machine. Also since this is from 1.0 I can completely ignore any and all implications and actions since it's from THAT DEAD GAME HUR HUR! /sarcasm

Or perhaps the Elementals aren't as all pervading and powerful as we are led to believe? Or perhaps they are altogether bunk and there is something else at work using 'Elementals' as a cover? :evil:

Tarot actually doesn't use a lance, despite his character build and skills being a Lancer. It's actually a quarterstaff that, sadly, I have to play pretend is a quarterstaff for the sake of RP. I don't think Jobs in the sense that we are thinking should limit but rather OPEN possibilities. My alternate, Ioakim, is not a White Mage in the sense that he is a Padjal's glorious prodigy. He is a White Mage in that he knows powerful healing and conjuring magics that he uses to destroy ancient or cursed artifacts as an Iconoclast. Zindelo is a Monk but only in as much as he is a dancer that uses his dance moves in combat, which in turn he mixes with aether to create the Monk 'forms' and abilities we know and love. I see it as a chance to stretch the old RP muscles to come up with something different than 'the inner beast/dragoon/etc' and give us a chance to personalize the game and lore in a way to our taste.

Excellent information to have on hand! I suppose I wasn't to sure about just how big the Sultansworn were in terms of numbers--I know the secret service is large but I had figured no more than say, 50 or so.

I. Basic Info Characters: Crooked Tarot, Zindelo Tarantella, Ioakim Tarantella Primary character:Crooked Tarot Linkshells:N/A Primary RP linkshell:N/A II. RP Style Amount of RP (light, medium, heavy): I cover all ranges and can adapt and change easily to fit the person/people I am playing alongside. I do prefer to keep my own posts short and don't use much in the way of descriptive prose unless needed, especially when actually RPing in-game. Views on RP combat and injuries: This largely depends on the situation--I won't deny that I thoroughly enjoy terrible things happening to my characters (and let's face it, most everyone gets poked by that little imp of the perverse at some point), I do prefer to keep anything lethal out of it, so far as my characters are concerned unless pre-arranged. Injuries are the same way; I won't jump up and down when a character tries to lop off Tarot's arm, lemme tell you. Views on IC romance: This is tricky. I enjoy playing flirts, or people that flirt without realizing they're doing it. While I don't mind my characters being hit on by anyone, I will say that I have allowed them to grow personal tastes in appearances, gender, race etc. If you get brushed aside, it's nothing personal (though Tarot at least will say outright if your character his type or not most times). Views on non-romantic RP (family ties, etc): I've only had this come up in one RP setting that I played where it was an issue. I am open to the idea but it will require a great deal of work and planning on both sides to make me feel like it won't be a constraint. I typically just make a family member rather than have someone else make them. Views on lore: I am reading it frequently to keep up with everything--there's a lot here and a lot that hasn't been discussed or revealed by the game makers. Lore is important in placing the rules of the world. However I do believe that some freedom is acceptable in the event of something that hasn't been touched on or some small detail. (ex. Kupo nuts, a favorite food of Moogle in other Final Fantasy games, haven't been mentioned so I see no reason why they can't be referenced or used to some small extent). Views on chat functions (/say, /linkshell, etc): I enjoy using all chat functions available when it comes to RP. It adds a nice bit of surprise when someone in my SG is talking to me and then on the Linkshell--I may forget the linkshell is there so my character may tune-in and miss something (which is very realistic I think). Emotes are used as needed when I do use them--if there's an emote to match my action or if I want to convey and emotion I'll use them but...well, Highlander smiles are creepy so I typically avoid the /grin /smile emotes. III. Other Info Country:United States Timezone:Eastern Standard Time (EST) Contact info:PM Me if you want to connect through Skype, GTalk or some other service. [align=center][glow=blue]~Special announcements can be found in the posts below~[/glow][/align]

This is more a question for my own character (and possibly others that may have contemplated the same thing). Are Sultansworn, as a group, so large as to be difficult to keep track of names and faces? Say for instance you have an imposter amongst the Sultansworn--would they be easy to pick even if they had the bearing, mannerism and knowledge of a Sworn? Also, kinda amused that that there is a guide like this for Sultansworn but I see nothing for any of the other elite guards or groups in the other city-states!