A Curious Poster [[Ad for RP fodder]]

[Mae]

Across the realm, a curious little poster has been cropping up at knee-height-to-an-Elezen, behind benches, and above tables...

 

Fine print at the bottom reads: Results of some sort are guaranteed, the exact results you are hoping for are NOT guaranteed.

 

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[[Apologies if this is in the wrong section, move if needed]]

 

How this works:

 

-- For anyone willing and able to track down the Gardener in/around Wineport, can last a conversation with her, and meet her price, she will create/concoct a potion, charm, ward, talisman, remedy, etc., to suit an RP need or desire. 

-- It can be a silly, serious, or just plain weird request, I don't mind. Flea control? Preventing/stopping hair loss? Weight loss? Warding away the Ishgardian Yeti? Dowsing rod to help track down a missing wedding ring? All viable. I'll even go as far as those ads that slip through your email's spam filter every once in a while... if you know what I mean.

-- The Gardener's price varies: sometimes it will be an item for barter, sometimes it will be for a reagent, sometimes it will be gil. While I do expect an exchange/payment to happen ICly, you will not be required to actually hand over a requested item or gil amount. I'm not giving out physical items, I don't expect any in return.

-- The Gardner is not an alchemist. What she is doing is closer to what IRL would be called herbal remedies and herbal witchcraft. Miles may vary based on belief.

-- While the ad says no appointment needed and show up whenever... the Gardener is an alt (actual character name is Malay Nihlo, so search that), so I'm not on her all the time. If you have a request and seem to be missing me in-game, send me a PM here and we'll OOCly set up a meeting.

-- This whole concept is meant to be nothing more than a fun little enhancement to overall RP.

-- There is a 'proprietary ingredient' in all potions/charms/wards/etc, and it is something that only the Gardener and those who work with her have access to. This is more of a fail-safe mechanic, to prevent the 'theft' of some of, say, the love/lust/affection potions -- I want to avoid a backlash from the community if someone decides to break my trust. This is not to say that I want to prevent other people from developing their own potionmongers... I just don't want to be copied exactly or have a backlash of "it's her formula"

 

 

Regarding Love/Lust/Affection potions, and requests along those lines

Love/Lust/Affection potions (and other similarly working requests) can tread too close to the godmoding/metagaming line, or go over it. I am willing to still make these sorts of potions, however I have some rules so that no-one is angered. I have to trust that people will honor my rules/conditions, and people I catch or hear that have broken my trust, I will not RP business with again.

 

To define:

Love potion -- this is actually for a person (or couple) that want to have an actual relationship, but one or both parties are shy. It is actually nothing more than a confidence booster, "to make the first move, to touch or smile or speak instead of sigh longingly and look away".

Lust potion -- an aphrodisiac, nothing more. Lasts for as long as it's in a person's system, effectiveness varies based on person's tolerances, results vary. A person who is affected with this is just as likely to stumble away to the nearest closet for some frantic 'alone time' as they are to run home to spouse/partner as they are to grab nearest willing partner.

Affection potion -- the 'adoring puppy' effect. Think Cupid's arrow, the effects of the Love-in-Idleness in Midsummer Night's Dream, or that guy from The Craft; the target is utterly entranced/bemused. This, however, has the highest chance of blowing up in the requestee's face, as a bit of interference or bad planning could get the target entranced with the wrong person, turn them from loving to obsessive stalker, or make them incapable of doing anything else except thinking/daydreaming of the requestee. It also might just flat-out not work.

Mr. Freeze: Pheromone dust, designed to heat a man's blood... Too bad it doesn't work on the cold-hearted.

 

Rules for requesting/using one of these potions:

-- Unless they are going to be used on/between a character, NPC, or Alt that you own or control (meaning, you are the ONLY one involved in the effects or is a love potion that will be used only on yourself), I will require the name of the target player(s)/character(s) that will/can be affected by the potion so I can contact them. I will not RP handing out a working potion until I have contacted the target or been assured that the potion is for NPC/alt use only.

-- When I contact them, I will tell them that someone (I will leave names out unless otherwise authorized) has requested a potion that would be used on them. I will then explain the type of potion, the possible effects, and then inform them that THEY are the ones that decide if, how, and how long the potion affects them. 

-- A target is fully within their rights to refuse to participate by stating that the potion will not work on them (immune to effects, allergic to ingredients, what-have-you) or by having it not work according to the requestee's plan (immediately stumbles off for alone-time in the nearest broom closet, becomes utterly infatuated with the potted plant that was next to his/her seat, stuff like that).

-- Unless otherwise specified, all potions are single use/dose. Halving or even saving a sip or two 'for later' will result in the potion not being effective.

-- Be responsible about resulting RP. I will be INCREDIBLY upset and angry if I find out that my efforts spawned a rape, non- or dub-con RP, a disgusting PDA, or forced someone to ERP when they didn't want to. "No" means "No" both ICly and OOCly, keep it classy, 'fade to black' looks good in all situations and occasions, and for the love of the gods... if you're like-minded with ERP, take it someplace private.

 

What happens if/when someone breaks my trust:

-- The first and obvious is that I won't RP business with that person again. If I'm angry enough, don't be surprised if I refuse to RP with that person at all, ever again.

-- If I discover there are cases where someone is improperly using my potions (the vial has suddenly been enchanted to be a "Bottle of Endless Lust Potion", using potions on wrong targets, stockpiling, trying to pass off that a single drop is a full dose, etc., claiming that a target HAS to have the effects that they want despite the target not wanting to participate) or decided that they are going to 'figure out the contents' for themselves and produce their own supply despite the 'proprietary ingredient' in all of the potions I may decide to create a Wall of Shame. I know some people might argue this as me airing out dirty laundry, but these potions do creep up to a very sensitive area in RP and I sort of feel that it is my responsibility to the community to warn if someone has blatantly broken or abused the agreement they had with me.

Note: this ONLY applies to improper use of potions that are continued to be RP'd as having originated from me/my character. If there is a sudden uprising of new potionmongers (again, all for competition in this 'market') with their own unique concoctions or it's just a generic potion, there's nothing I can say about it.

 

 

Regarding hexes, curses, bad-luck charms, and poisons:

The Gardener is morally neutral, and would take a request for a bad-luck charm as she would a request for arthritis medicine. They follow a similar rule-set as the love/lust/affection potions. HOWEVER, there are people with a better moral compass around the Gardener, and they may switch out/mess up a hex, curse, bad-luck charm, or poison as they see fit -- you may just as well walk away with a bottle of poison as you would a bottle of spiced vinegar.

[C'kayah Polaali]

This sounds awesome, and I can definitely see all sorts of interesting possibilities!

 

Random anal point: If I search for your character, is "Gardener" the last name and "The" the first name?

[Mae]

You'll want to search "Malay Nihlo", actually.

 

If we get the name change ability (without server-hopping), it's one of the things on my to-do list. I only really started to develop her as a serious character after I'd gotten quite a few levels under her, and I didn't feel like deleting and starting over >_>;

[ArmachiA]

This is a smart idea. A guildmate of mine runs an apothecary ICly in Ul'dah and never thought to advertise to the community.

 

/wanttosteal