Hic Sunt Dracones

[Random_White_Guy]

Here there be Dragons

On the edge of any map sits four words. Beyond the currents and tradeways and past the foreign shores and isolated atolls reading thusly - "Here there be Dragons". Where beasts beyond imagination and man intermingle resulting in chaos and calamity. Where danger lurks around every corner and where godfearing men clutch close their idols and the righteous scribe letters to loved ones. Where the Explorer makes his name, where the outcast finds a semblance of peace, where complanions bonds are forged in adversity against Man, Nature and Beast alike.

For beyond the map's edge lay boundless opportunity, for those daring or foolish enough to leap

Having previously done two trips into the Rings, one crew I was heavy in organizing and one I only participated in as an auxiliary mage member, I wanted to do something special for my third trip.

EFU is full of twists and turns but in my character's instance a large portion of the concept has changed purely from IC events which has lead to a really fun an unexpected angle against the typical trends of my PCs - A redemption arc for a bastard of a PC seeking a new lease on life, new purpose, and some really close friends and allies.

[hide=Character background, non-vital]Where most of my PCs start out dark grey and drift off the deep end this PC started as one of the most foulest characters I've had in recent play.

A faceless killer who unrecognizable without his mask would hunt anyone if proper criteria met. However through IC events he found himself driven away from old habits and developing an unexpected philosophical side. An assassin who, by virtue of both his professional pride and arguments with his would employers, destroyed his rapport with clientele.

After getting the PRC close to approval I decided to walk it back and puttered around the server for a bit before my break. Coming back I think there's some real interesting opportunities both from a story telling perspective and exploring the server's politics.

As a criminal business brought the intensity of high stakes first meetings, negotiating the contracts, planning the jobs, finding all the angles, wholly engrossing and a sense of purpose for a soldier without a commander. Doing big things for PCs in various factions and etc. When that petered out though and without business he was basically a loudmouth harassing people in the Open Door or Spinning Groat.

Meeting a Rumor Mill employee named Crowley steered him into an interesting arc of "Rebellion" for a time, but as that sours on the tongue he finds himself listless without purpose not enjoying anymore the idea of chaos for the sake of a good paycheck.

So how to find new purpose? Cast off the old life.

Embracing that he's not a merchant of Ticker Square but a professional who had a large winfall of wealth, use that wealth to form a crew, and strike out into the unknown with a band of men and women in hopes of finding purpose and place beyond "Civilized" society. [/hide]

In short - The golden age of Piracy but in EFU, as one bastard of a fallen soldier replaces a compulsive desire for bloodshed and the thrill of hunting prey as a bounty hunting assassin walks away from the life.

Replacing it with a life of Neutral-Ish selfish freedom in pursuit of finding true companions for exploring the unknown and tackling the wildest of challenges.

With newfound purpose and new allies go from being an NE Assassin to become a CN/CG corsair traveling high and low for fun and excitement? Will he fail miserably and return to his old ways as a new terror to Ring Ninety Nine losing those he began to care for?

Leaving Ring 99 to the Kingsmen and Merchants to squabble over the lines of civilization and the colors their flags wave, returning only to share tales of their exploits and plunder.

For beyond the Ringwalls here there be Dragons. And in the darkness beyond world's end a man's true mettle brought to light.

Alignment: Non-Lawful suggested but by no means a hard rule.
Race: Any. Non-standard races may be welcome in both the ponds and ticker so it's certainly a possibility but could be short lived.
Class: Non-Paladin. Less tribal Changelings could potentially find a place in the Crew if subtle.

[Random_White_Guy]

Just a heads up it's looking more and more like this will be a US evening primary crew from where interest has come from PCs in game.

As things grow it may be possible to expand the crew and try and get a few people across timezones but we're primarily grouped therein.

[Blue41]

Feels like a good time to give this a nudge following such a large event.  We've lost a couple of members--if you're interested in something long-term, if you're interested in seeing the Rings, and if you match the timezone/activity level ( a few of us keep odder hours than others but it's generally easy to find one of us on), this may interest you. Feel free to fire off a PM if you have questions.

[SunrypeSlim]

Truth is, we drink a lot of tea and hardly ever practice.

[Random_White_Guy]

Sadly already had to turn away a few Euro/Aussie folks with interest today in the wake of the big event but wanted to remind everyone that our focus is, for the sake of sanity and continuity, in the Evening US Timezone for the most part.

I've had past ring running troupes get caught up in people in multiple timezones leading to a lot of Ring Rushing or "We're around now let's tackle this thing go go go" and that's something we're wholly looking to avoid.

Slower RP experience, heavy inter-characterization focus, and there's times where we just take entire evenings of EFU time and make our own little adventures independent of the ring challenges or scripted quests or etc thrown at us.

It's by no means an effort to be exclusionary or drive anyone away, but since we're playing like an expeditionary crew living off the land and deep in the rings for extended periods of time if you joined and were in a timezone opposite of us you'd either be wholly isolated or just grow bored.

It's been a crazy experiment and I'm thrilled to see how many PCs have been interested.

If anyone from the Euro/Aussie timezone does want to try something similar with their own crew, feel free to PM me and I'd be glad to share any pointers and tips or how you can help keep your crew from getting bored.

[SunrypeSlim]

I Was Transported To This Magical World And Continued My Deliquency