Tiergan

Welcome to the community. Hope you enjoy yourself here.

Have you read the RP Handbook? Parts of it are outdated because it was created back in the 1.0 version of the game before the reboot, so things like anima for teleportation no longer exist, but it could be a helpful read. Other than that, there are a few basic RP no-nos that so long as you avoid them, you should generally be on a good path: Don't godmode (RP that you're all powerful and invincible). Don't metagame. (just because you know something OOC doesn't mean your character is capable of knowing it too) Keep IC and OOC separate. (AKA. If your character hates or loves someone else's character with a passion, that doesn't mean YOU as a person also hate/love the other player OOCly.)

Welcome! Always nice to see more male highlander RPers roaming about. Hopefully will get a chance to RP with you on one of my numerous characters. (I have a problem *broken sob*)

That graph is amazing and hilariously accurate.

All done. Thank you folks. o/

Highlander hyur are much more rare than midlanders if you want to go with the less 'popular' variant.

(( Just writing out bits of Tiergan's backstory. Props to Zaius for all the help he gave me in finally getting some of this down.)) “My name's Alan.” “I don't care what your name is.” For what felt like the fourth time, the hyur boy sitting across from him in the musty, dark cell, tried to talk to Tiergan. The miqo'te was having none of it. He scowled into the shadows of their tiny shared prison, ears pinned back against the sides of his skull in anger, hands balled into fists. What was the point of getting to know each other? Sooner or later they'd both be marched back out to the mines. The taskmasters would whip you for so much as uttering a word there. Support systems were what helped spark rebellion - it wouldn't do to have slaves bond and form friendships. "Are sure you don't want to talk?" "I'm sure." The hyur was slim, but not starved, with reddish brown hair and earth-colored eyes. All the same, he didn't have the meat on him to make it as slave labor. He'd probably be dead inside of a few months. Tiergan himself, on the other hand? He just hoped someone was stupid enough to give him a pickaxe. His old master had learned that lesson when he'd nearly killed two of the taskmasters assigned to watch the excavation. That thought brought a grim, dark smile to Tiergan's face. At only thirteen, he'd almost taken two lives, and those actions had brought him some of the greatest satisfaction and release he'd known. "Is something...good?" Alan tried again, hesitantly. Tiergan glared, growling low in his throat. The other shrank back, his face taking on an expression of fear. The hyur couldn't have been much older, or younger, than Tiergan himself. But he didn't look weathered. A fresh catch? "Just remembering something. Before I woke up here," Tiergan allowed, keeping his voice low. It was impossible to tell if there were guards waiting just outside the cell, and the last thing he wanted was to get beaten because the other boy wouldn't shut up. "I was on the streets, looking for my older sister," Alan said, shifting a bit closer despite Tiergan's baleful glare. "Something hit me on the back of the head and then...I woke up here." The youth let out a soft helpless sound, like a muted whimper. "I don't know what to do." “There's nothing you can do. If you're here, then you're a slave. No way out except through Thal's door.” The miqo'te replied, his tone flat and somewhat cold. At the wounded, horrified expression on Alan's face however, Tiergan averted his gaze, his voice softening a fraction. “You can survive though – if you're smart. And if you live long enough, maybe there's a chance your family might find you. Buy you back.” Alan sniffled, lowering his head as he nodded. Tiergan felt a sharp pang in his chest as he thought of elder sister the hyur mentioned having - of family waiting somewhere out there, looking for the boy, worried about him... What would it be like to have that? To have family searching desperately outside this prison for him? Would he have been rescued by now? Would they even know he was here? Tiergan snapped his eyes shut, forcing the feelings of sadness and yearning from his chest. When the miqo'te finally managed to look up again, Alan continued to sit in stunned silence, eyes bright with shock and unshed tears of panic. Tiergan knew that look well. He'd seen it hundreds of times on the faces of countless other children: their expressions a soundless cry to the gods, asking why they'd abandoned here, what they'd done to deserve this... When the tears finally came, streaming down the young hyur's face, Tiergan finally felt the cold, cruelty barricading his heart begin to wither. He started to rise, reaching out a hand, ready to give the other boy some measure of comfort. There were things the hyur needed to know if he wanted to live, things that Alan had to do if he wanted to survive and avoid the lash. Suddenly, the door to the cell swung open, firelight cutting a swath of gold and crimson down the center of the room. A towering highlander male, silhouetted by the light behind him, threw something down into the center of the space. It's razor-sharp edge gleamed like a jewel illuminated by flames. A dagger. “One of you will get to leave here alive and become a gladiator, fighting for glory and fame on the bloodsands.” The highlander's voice was harsh and deep, edged with a gravelly indifference. Tiergan couldn't see the man's expression, but he knew from the way the man spoke and how he carried himself that it would not be kind. “The other will die here, rotting away to nothing. You'll have to decide for yourselves who is who.” The miqo'te froze still, his body locked in place as his eyes fixated on the open doorway and the hulking figure standing within it. The highlander was tall and powerfully built, but he was still just one man. One man who had just tossed two desperate teenage boys a sharp, bladed weapon. If Tiergan grabbed the dagger and moved fast enough, perhaps he could get in a quick strike at the man's legs and then Alan could-- A flash of steel caught Tiergan's eye and he turned his head just in time to see Alan barreling towards him with the knife. Tiergan barely managed to catch the hyur's wrist in time, diverting the blade's course away from his chest before the two boys collided into each other, tumbling to the ground. The dagger slipped from Alan's grasp in the fall and everything that came next was a frenzied blur of violence and adrenaline. Tiergan's blood came rushing loud in his ears, his heart pounding in his chest like a wardrum sounding off his last moments. The children frantically traded blows, cracking knuckles against each other's bodies and faces, kicking, screaming, and clawing at each other in a frantic bid for dominance and survival. Then Tiergan felt something puncture into his side. Pain blossomed there like a poisoned flower and his entire world suddenly felt as though it were made of glass and fractured bone, every nerve aflame with mind-rending agony. Tiergan heard the highlander's voice resounding in his mind. Only one of them would leave the room alive. The other would die here. Alone. Forgotten. A meaningless end to a meaningless life. The miqo'te felt something within him snap. A potent, blinding rage swallowed him up, consuming every thought and feeling in a terrifying blaze of white-hot fury. He tackled Alan down, straddling him, slamming his fist against the side of the other boy's face again, and again, and again. The hyur child let out a hoarse, howling cry of desperation, but Tiergan silenced him, wrapping his hands around the other boy's neck, squeezing, strangling... When the world finally went still and the heat of his rage finally died away, Tiergan pulled his shaking hands away from Alan's throat. The hyur was still and unmoving, his eyes fixed sightlessly to the ceiling, mouth open in a soundless scream of horror. The miqo'te looked downward at himself and saw the dagger plunged deep into his right side, Alan's hand clutching the hilt in a deathgrip. A rich, dark crimson was soaking into his tunic around the wound, life gradually draining away from him with every breath. Tiergan tried to take hold of the knife only to feel an overwhelming burst of pain push the breath from his lungs. He sank to the floor at Alan's side, the edges of his vision going dark, the scent of blood and steel heavy in the air. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear someone speaking. A stranger asking another if the kitten was worth buying, worth saving. As blackness finally shrouded out his vision, Tiergan heard the highlander male who'd presented the dagger chuckling softly, replying in that harsh, gravelly tone. “Did you see his eyes? He's perfect.”

One more to go! o/

Hey folks of the Laughing Lady! Aeon's house is in your neck of the woods and we were wondering what times your crew is usually staffing the Laughing Lady. We're pretty eager to go RP there.

Just pointing out that I can write emotion without needing to feel it at the time of the writing. Case in point: your character breaks a bone. You are able to write the pain without experiencing it firsthand as it's happening. It's the same with any emotion -- you know what it's like, you've observed how other people deal with the same emotion, you alter it to fit the character. I can get that not everyone wants to rp that way (to each their own) but why are so many people insisting that without actively experiencing the emotions as they're happening for the character the rp becomes bad? I admit to a sense of puzzlement. I can understand what the character feels and desires without needing to feel it at that moment myself, without losing out on my sense of enjoyment and immersion. (sometimes I even have a sense of unholy glee when putting my characters through awkward/embarrassing situations. heh heh heh) I'm in the same boat as you Zhavi. I love RP where my characters go through a serious sense of conflict because the story, the dynamic between my character and other people's characters, is what gets me really excited. The added punch of being in my character's head to a certain extent, just makes it all the better for me - but I didn't need to feel exactly what Tiergan was feeling for it to be an intense, awesome, emotional moment for me. For example, recently Tiergan's little cousin vanished in a way that seemed like he was accidentally killed by a friend. Tiergan was completely distraught, furious, and out of his mind with grief, even going as far as trying to attack the innocent man he thought might've taken his cousin's life. Then Tiergan's cousin was found to be alive, and the flood of relief was so much for him that he pulled his cousin into a hug and wept. All of that was really moving, fun, and intense for me - but I didn't need to *completely* feel Tiergan's feelings of despair, depression, fury and grief over the whole thing. That would have actually ruined the RP for me. I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. It's the intensity of the moment I love. You don't have to be a method actor to be a great actor.

I just want to point out that I never said that people who feel exactly what their characters do are crazy or an emotional wreck. It's completely normal and VERY easy to do when you're literally crawling into the mind of the character you're creating. I did it when I first started. A lot of my friends did it when they first started. Almost everyone does it when they first start RPing. It's a common enough thing that (at least when I first started RPing ages ago) separating IC and OOC was one of the big RP rules all RPers back then got taught along with not godmoding or metagaming. What I WAS saying in my previous posts however, is that IC/OOC separation is insanely important because there are a lot of inherent problems if there is not some degree of separation. Finding yourself hating/loving players OOC is one potential problem that may or may not happen. Discovering that your character's emotions are strong enough that it's actually making a negative impact on your real life is another. Being disciplined and having self-control means that yes, even though you empathise with your character, you do have that degree of separation. You don't let it reach a point where it can negatively affect your life.

Are you waiting for someone to ICly recruit you or are you just looking for an RP FC that your character would like being a part of? I think you'll admittedly have a really hard time with the former, but the latter is as simple as looking through the FC/LS listing on this website. There are plenty of them and it shouldn't be too difficult to express to the one you end up liking the sound of that you would like to be initiated through RP. Personally - I tried going the OOC FC route and it didn't sit well with me. I wound up almost quitting the game over it.

Exactly this. I feel a lot of strong emotions when RPing - much stronger and intense than the ones I get from reading a good book, watching a movie, or playing a video game because I am directly in control of my character. However - I don't feel the exact same emotions as my character does. Tiergan and I are two different 'people'. When I roleplay with someone else, I want to the comfort of knowing that things Tiergan does or says will remain in the RP only and will not impact you as a real person in a really negative way. If he does/says something to make your character hate him? I want to know that while your character hates mine, you as a person do not actually hate my character or me. If Tiergan does/says something to make your character love him? I want to know that while your character loves him, you're not confusing your emotions and convincing yourself that you are actually also in love with me. This separation is what frees me to be 100% In-Character when I RP. If the separation is not there, I have to constantly pull myself OOC to think about whether something my character does or says to yours will hurt you as a person and that personally ruins the whole point of RP for me. EDIT: Bah, forgot a few words in there that were important. I shouldn't post when hungry.

Aeon is currently seeking one more EU-based RPer to join our ranks before we temporarily halt recruitment in order to ensure that all of our newest members have a chance to properly meld and be a part of the rest of the Free Company. We are also putting the last finishing touches on our new home. o/

^^^ THIS. All of this. I have to be honest in that this thread kind of scares me. While I can understand being deeply moved by RP and empathising with how your character feels in the drama of the moment, it's downright problematic if you are feeling EXACTLY what your character is feeling. Ember is right in that you have to reign in what you feel and have at least some disconnect between you and your character because things I do and say to your character should only truly impact your character and not be something you take to heart as a person. The other reason there 100000% NEEDS to be some kind of IC/OOC separation from what your character is feeling and what you are feeling is because, you run the strong risk of feeling IC feelings towards the OOC players behind the characters you are RPing with. This is especially true with feelings of romance or hate that your character my have to other people's characters. I had once had villainous character try to kill Tiergan. Tiergan hated that person with the passion of a thousand suns and wanted to slit that man's throat. That doesn't mean I as a player hated the villain-character and wanted to slit the his throat. Hell, the villainous player and I became friends. As a player, I was excited to see the dynamic unfold between his and my own. RPing together was essentially like impromptu story-writing with each other. I've also RPed romances in past MMOs. My character may have been in love with another character, but that NEVER meant that I as a person was in love with the other player. I am actually extremely wary of RP romances these days, because it became a problem several times in the past when the other person often tried to live vicariously through their character and decided that because their character loved mine - they were also in love with me as a person in real life. It just gets really messy and awful so quickly.

(( This is some intense stuff. ))

I started to really get into art sometime during high school, so over a decade. I didn't start doing it professionally (in the 'use-this-to-pay-my-bills-and-rent' sense) until roughly two years ago. Still have a lot to work on though.

My power supply (at least I hope it's my power supply) has unfortunately shit the bed tonight. I'll be heading to Best Buy in the morning to buy a new one and hopefully will continue right where I left off. If that doesn't work, I'm going to flip a table, sulk in a corner, and buy a new graphics card because that's really the only other thing it could be based upon the issues it's been having lately.

I'm just going to link the Handbook from the RP Discussion forum. It covers all the basics and you can refer to it whenever you feel confused about something.

If it's not something you're comfortable with, then I don't think you have to worry about it. Sex doesn't really come up too often in RP unless you're actually actively looking for that sort, and even if you are - it is very, very common for folks to just 'Fade to Black' as other folks suggested.

We don't plan to have a block on miqo'te players forever, Aysun. As you said, there are a ton of awesome, high-quality folks we'd be missing out on if we did. It's just a temporary hold until the numbers even out a bit more. I hope this is not seen as a slam on miqo'te RPers in any way. (Otherwise that would be sort of awkward for me. <.<) People can obviously be amazing roleplayers no matter what race they choose for their character. As it stands, however, roughly half the FC is miqo'te. While everyone has wildly different backstories and are each unique characters - we want to foster as much diversity as possible in more than just the history of our characters because it can really fuel great RP in fantastic and unique ways. We will be updating our website and this FC entry in the future when miqo'te recruitment is re-opened.

Hey Red and Vaugh, I need to take a week break to recharge my art batteries and do some personal work (real life is muuurdering me right now) so I don't lose my mind. The Gil Commission Train will resume charging forth next week.

^ What Garryson said. I always saw Warriors as being the class that is using their rage/inner beast to fuel their power, but it was whether or not they had control/mastery over that rage that spelled the difference between a Warrior-in-Training and a Warrior that had mastered himself.

Thank you for the kind comments, folks.

I am just going to say that is way, way better than my first digital drawing ever was. o/