Hope to find people who'd play some of these characters! Any of 'em!

A ** next to the name means that anything about them can be bent and altered from what I've written by whoever wanted to play them. If someone wanted to play one that didn't have a ** next to it, they could still always pick a different name if they wanted, except in the case of Pria and Ticey. I . . . like those names. :P Or if someone just wanted to invent a relative all their own, that'd be swell as hell, too. I realize none of this is likely, but hey!



Coaling Quintard - 27, political activist

Parents - never married to each other

Havien Quintard - father, 58. Somewhat scholarly in his youth, adores books and current events. Calm and rational but somewhat blue-collar; not used to his full potential at any point in life.

Stepmother - Pria Vainey-Quintard. Refined, polite and intelligent, well-dressed, well-spoken, Coaling's mother figure. Married when Havien was 33 and Pria was 29, divorced amicably but sadly when she turned 46 and he turned 50, and she wanted a child when he felt much too old for the task. The two are still quietly and tragically in love with each other, but she has become engaged and actively attempts pregnancy.




Vorley Panareth - Coaling's mother, 53, goes by maiden name. A lazy, bitter woman with no ambitions or purpose. Wasted her beauty in youth when she could use it to her advantage, became a mother several times over before she ever matured out of that mindset. This resulted in a selfish, loveless woman incapable of emotional depth who spent the majority of her twenties working at a general store, her thirties dancing in a gentleman's club, and her latter forties mending clothes in her sister's tailor shop.


Coaling's Siblings/Vorley's Other Children


Leighvy Dowel - older brother, 36. Would be afflicted by his mother's compassionless lifestyle and his father's addictive personality; a gambling addict frequently in trouble with the law, incarcerated at least once, but something of a victim. Does not intend to be this way.

** Mazy Dowel - older sister, 31. Undecided.

** Corl Wickerwell - older brother, 29. Also undecided. May potentially be fiercely intelligent, a "desperate" scholar, driven to seeking out knowledge to prevent becoming what he saw at home. May also have left the situation at his mother's to live with his father somewhere in childhood/adolescence.

** Pritchard Buress - younger brother, 19. Undecided. Would his father have been a classic redneck asshole, treated the women like garbage and praised his son no matter what he did? Or would he have been as much of a monster to anyone when the mood struck him, meaning that Pritchard received no special treatment?

Jovalie Buress - played by Savannah - younger sister, 14. One of the more put-upon of these children, being Hagrey's only biological child and left when he'd gone to the ranting indifference of her irresponsible mother, and the only one still living at home. Coaling's favorite, completely adored sibling, her first real bond toward another family member from the moment Jovalie was born. Is a very smart, quiet, intense girl, poised and polite but unhappy. Coaling visits her often, reciting current events, successes and support, attempting at every turn to convince Vorley that Jovalie should live with her instead.


Vorley's Husbands

Rexin Dowel, 1st husband. Married when she was 17 due to pregnancy, briefly happy marriage. Divorced at 22 after the birth of a second child, Mazy, when his gambling addiction caused him to lose their only horse and flee the city.

Eloughby Wickerwell, 2nd husband, Coaling's first stepfather - Professor at local university, newly assigned to the job. Somewhat naive and idealistic. Met Vorley when her ire seemed like an attractive rebellion. Married when she was 23, had a child, Corl, at 24. Had an affair with Havien Quintard when she turned 26, had his child, Coaling, that same year, and was divorced by Eloughby.

Hagrey Buress, 3rd husband - Married him at 29 when Coaling was 3, Corl was 5, Mazy was 7 and Leighby was 12; needed a second income. Remained with him for years despite his hideous personality and temper. Both were unfaithful. Her first child with him, a son named Pritchard when she was 34, may or may not have been his. Her final child, Jovalie at 39, was his without question, as she'd begun to lose her grip on any sort of ambition, and cared too little for affairs. Divorced him when she turned 49, determined that she'd "rather die single than in slavery."

Now lives with her sister, Ticey, her sister's husband Roklind, their children (twins Abbary and Daya, 7, and son Maron, 9), as well as her youngest daughter Jovalie.


Aunt: Ticey Springley, 37, married to Roklind Springley, 40, for 14 years. He owns an apiary and she runs the store from whence they sell their honey-based products.

Aunt: Pasha Viler, 32, married to Nacey Viler (female), 34, for 7 years, divorced recently, still in process of dividing assets, including their family business, "Viler's Alterations" tailor shop. May potentially have an adopted child.

Aunt: Davely Panareth, 29, twin sister to Greer. Prostitute, thief, or some other kind of criminal.

** Uncle: Tane Panareth, 45, professor of law. Married briefly in his thirties? Potential for a disappointing, poorly behaved and rude son that might live with Tane's ex-wife?


** Uncle: Greer Panareth, 29. Undecided.

INTRODUCTION


The World of Ayenee Reborn


Any roleplayer worth his keyboard knows of a friend who knows of a friend who owns a roleplaying forum or website. Their downfall every time will be that nobody appreciates playing under a power structure, or that rules make the creative afraid. Oftentimes, the stigma of childhood - where many of us learned to roleplay - carries over; everybody wants to be the King and Queen. Obviously this is neither possible nor logical, so the most common outcome of user-operated roleplay systems is either an eventual end, or only those 'friends of a friend' ever joining.


In creating our own, the goal is not to force a power structure - we offer no king or queen of only one specific realm, no singular in-character imposition of control at the head of it all - but instead, to follow a set of guidelines which work toward bringing writers of a similar mind together, to follow a pattern of logic and sense while allowing freedom of imagination in the same - after all, Ayenee is a fantasy world, and should see all sorts of fantastical things.


For everyone willing, www.worldofayenee.com means to attempt a more organized and visually represented Ayenee, not a restrictive one. An Ayenee that can meet standards necessary of a working community for those who take creative writing and character development seriously - street names and businesses, houses and universities, class systems and agriculture -- without restricting anyone's ability to play a sensible character of their own idea. For instance, though no character is required to be played under reign of any royalty, because we offer an entire planet to play on, there are certain continents which exist under the rule of others, while some are vote-controlled, and others still lack any law at all. The lifestyle under which you want your character to be played is entirely up to your ideas about his or her background and personality. Characteristics like these are more commonly seen in table-top roleplay, but rarely in story-form roleplay, which is where we have aimed our website and is the form to which we are loyal.

Worldofayenee.com was created by three frustrated Yahoo veterans and natives, who were attached to the wide variety of writing styles and roleplayers as well as the excessive word limit once offered, but outgrew the program as every new installment limited interactions between writers more and more. One of these creators was opposed to private message roleplay, the other to forum roleplay, the other to the idea of -not- using private messages or forums. Therefore, all tastes have been combined, and herein you may choose either to visit our forums, where large groups of people might be gathered at any given time and demonstrate your abilities before an audience, you may conduct your business in private between only yourself and another party, or you may try your hand in our private chat room, which is also located in the forum section.

After visiting our rules and guidelines, if you should decide this is the place for you, please have a look around at our participants list. There, you will find all out-of-character personas who've chose to make World of Ayenee their home, as well as a brief collection of their playable characters. Under "World" you'll find an interactive map of the planet we've constructed. Selecting any continent will redirect you to detailed information about that continent and its cities. Still interested? Sign up with the forums and come play!


Welcome to Ayenee,

World of Ayenee Staff.




The Rules

Every interactive website's got them, and so do we! We expect that each of these rules be read and followed, though due to the length of the page, it isn't necessary to read them all at once. It is, however, necessary to have read them in their entirety before you post a scene on our forums.

The rules are many, and some may seem unfounded, but our sincerest hope is that we don't scare away any potentially great writer because of our restrictions.

These were put into place based on what we have all seen in Yahoo! Chat rooms and, in most cases, complained about. We are trying to make a home for you, not a prison. Therefore, we ask that you give our rules a chance, but come to us with any questions or suggestions of any kind. If you've got a decent character with a good storyline and background and you believe that one of our rules would needlessly limit that character, let us hear your case. In some situations, we may agree with you, in others we may not, but we will always be as polite, responsive, and helpful as possible.

To view a specific section of rules, please refer to the links.


The Forum.

This is a brief set of reminders before heading into the forum.

1. We have an off-topic section for a pretty self-explanatory reason: to go off-topic. Talk about anything you want in here, and stay on topic everywhere else. Nobody wants to hear your opinions on global warming or the presidential election in one of the roleplay forums.

1b. Most of us have been victim to message boards where disputes are settled by an unpopular moderator coming in, getting the last word, then locking the thread. This will not be an occurrence in our Off-Topic forum, as that would go directly against the point of the place. Therefore, if you're having an issue with somebody in a particular off-topic forum thread, we'll have to ask that you simply stop reading it. It's a very effective solution.

That having been said, harassment will not be tolerated. If we see a user following another user around from thread to thread slinging insults, we'll handle it, but not before contacting that user with the issue first.

2. Your threads and posts will NEVER be deleted without a moderator sending you proper notice. If you've broken a rule during roleplay, your thread will be temporarily locked to prevent another player from responding, and you will receive a private message about it. If the problem is not resolved in two days, -then- we will take whatever action we deem appropriate, but rest assured that you will always have received notice first.

3. A good argument is one of the most entertaining things you can do online, but for all our sakes, try and remain on point. If you're arguing with another patron about why orange is the worst color on the planet or why Green Day is still miraculously allowed to produce records, talk about the color orange and talk about Green Day. Don't talk about the person you're arguing with's dead mother or big forehead or learning deficiency. If you can't have an argument without resulting to personal insult, you aren't good at it, and should pursue another hobby.




Qualifications and Standards

Writing Style and Grammatical Errors

Every website intended to unite roleplayers must eventually come to this section, because there are so many varied styles of roleplay. Some write only a line or two, some write several hundred. Some disregard grammar at every turn, some are militant about its importance.

The intent in this section is neither to insult nor criticize those who don't comply specifically to our way. These are only factual guidelines. However, all goes more smoothly if everybody within a community operates on a similar level.

Should your style or preferences vary significantly from what we've laid out below, we're certain many other communities would be happy to have your patronage.

Our standard suggestion for post length is typically at or above one complete private message word limit paragraph (though we firmly believe in typing what is necessary for the scene, be it more or less), and we require a working knowledge of spelling and grammar. There are several often overlooked discrepancies in grammar usage that we've seen in Yahoo! chat rooms, and resistance meets us at every turn in trying to correct these mistakes. Therefore, we offer a short set of examples.

These are mostly literary errors and have nothing to do with your particular -style- of roleplay or writing, so please, don't assume we mean to restrict you into playing or creating exactly the way that we do simply because we point out the difference between "your" and "you're."

Would = This word has been abused in Ayenee for some time. In certain styles of fighting, it's considered necessary, so that nobody thinks an automatic hit is being made. However, out of that specific situation, (where a physical action is being taken against another to harm them) it is either past tense - "I would have," for example - or suggestive of an action that might be defended against or argued. Therefore, a post that reads: "The door would swing open and he would step inside, and would then approach the bar," is very incorrect, as nobody can rightfully dispute that your character did these things.

There, Their, and They're = Specific examples work best for this.

There: Go over there. This word suggests a place.
Their: Eating their food. This word suggests ownership.
They're: They're coming. This word is a combination of "they" and "are."

Your and You're = “You’re” is a contraction of “you are.” If you’ve written “you’re,” try substituting “you are.” If it doesn’t work, the word you want is “your.” Your is a possessive word, as works in the sentence, "Is this your house?" -- Paul Brians

Ellipses = A proper sentence should end in a single period. If confusion, a pause, or uncertainty about what to say next demands, three periods are used in place. The proper form is ". . ." and no more. Sentences which end in several ellipses don't add mystery to a post, and they aren't of proper structure. This is a rule we're fairly lenient about providing the writer is otherwise talented, but is still a decent guideline, especially when introducing our style.

Capitalization = A capital letter belongs at the beginning of a sentence, at the first letter of a proper name or in abbreviations. Nowhere else.

Apostrophes = The most commonly confused words which involve apostrophes are "its" and "it's."
"Its" is a possessive pronoun, which means it describes what belongs to "it," as in, "This is my car, this is its wheel." In this case, "it" is the car, and the car possesses a wheel.

"It's" is the combination of it and is. "It's cold in here."

In the case of formal names, apostrophes can be tricky. For instance, if James has a dog, the correct usage would be, "This is James's dog." But if we're talking about many men named James, the correct pluralization is "James'." Apostrophes are used for plural things in the event of lowercase letters (as in the saying "minding your p's and q's"). They aren't used for acronyms (TVs, CDs, RPs) or numerals (1s, 2s, 100s).


The Roleplay

Here's where rules and guidelines become tricky, because we're desperately trying to avoid the stereotypical 'Play This Way or Die' frame of mind - it tends to frighten off decent players who believe they've entered into a group that writes under a dictatorship.

There are so many problems in communication between characters, however, that we have no choice but to point out a few of them, and hope to find the talent that agrees with us. We encourage creativity, we encourage originality, we encourage freedom of storyline, and still we demand logic, as well as fairness and realism even in a world that is fantasy based. If you're able to agree with that way of thinking, you are a cut above the rest, in our humble opinion.

Let's begin with characters. As a player whose characters have been mostly original in one way or another, I can say that you can easily create an entire species and still be logical, and that you may make a character whose origins have been done before and still be original. More often than anything in public chat rooms fashioned for roleplay, you'll see a person who plays a vampire, which is naturally legitimate and a perfect example of the fact that we allow all sorts of creatures, as well as the best opportunity I can think of for applying logic to creativity.

Movie, Television and Book Characters.

Not allowed. There will be no Lestats, Harry Potters, or Tinkerbells in this version of Ayenee. If you'd like to play a character -based- off of one of these characters - for instance, a young boy who studies at a school of magic and has a scar on his forehead, or a sarcastic blond vampire, or a tiny little woman in a green dress with wings - that's perfectly alright, but in any way you can, AVOID stealing another person's idea, and never simply take their character and play it as your own.

This is also an important rule because all of those characters are Earth based, and Ayenee is not Earth. So it isn't possible for a vampire to have grown up in France in another century, because France does not exist. If your character has ANY state, country or period from Earth in his history, he cannot be played here, without our moderators hearing the character's history and agreeing to it.

Additionally, if you happen to see or read something which features an interesting species, such as, for example, the scrunt creatures in the movie Lady in the Water, you could adapt that species in Ayenee. However, if it's a species where the creatures have specific names and personalities, you may not copy them.

Vampirism in The World of Ayenee:

A vampire is a dead human that was once living, and now exists on the blood of other creatures. A vampire cannot become pregnant for that reason. Natural blood flow and body heat as well as food passing down through a woman's body to her uterus are required to sustain a child in the womb. For that same reason (and the fact that vampirism is not something sexually transmitted), there cannot be a born vampire, nor can there be a half-vampire.

If you decide to play a vampire, he or she must either have been human at one time and been turned by the bite and subsequent death/rebirth sequence, or have been one of the ancients, the mythical monsters of religious lore. This does not mean your character is more able to fight, harm or otherwise rule over other vampire characters. For the sake of completion and study, we’ve included a link to an in-depth website, detailing religious and mythological vampirism origins. If you decide to play one of the ancients, these are the boundaries in which you'll be able to play.

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~vampire/vhist.html


Therianthropy:

Therianthropy is a general term, used here to encompass both the transformation of a human into an animal, and a being which combines the characteristics of both human and animal. Therianthrope, therefore, is the correct word for said creatures, rather than the commonly misused ‘lycanthrope,’ which refers specifically to wolves and humans. (Lycan, of course, meaning wolf, and anthropos, generally speaking, referring to man.)

For two reasons, we have to refuse most of the somewhat new and slightly controversial species of ‘cat-people,’ or ‘neko-people,' as well as anything defined as a 'furry.'

On one hand, there’s the cat-person who is played as the offspring of a coupling between human and feline. Logically speaking, this is not only impossible, but a horrible, horrible thought, and is not allowed.

On the other hand, there’s the cat-person or furry played as a genetically engineered cross between two species. As our Ayenee is pre-modern, such an advanced form of science wouldn’t even be -thinkable- yet, let alone applicable to a successful degree.

The biggest problem is that these 'furries' seem to be a concept derived from foreign cartoons for the purpose of sexual roleplay. The only explanations for their existence - stated above - will not work in our Ayenee.

However, we don’t want to exclude a potentially excellent - if incredibly rare - roleplayer based simply on our bias against a type of roleplay usually painful to witness. Therefore, if you’ve got a roleplay character who is part animal and part human which can be explained in a way other than those listed (and has more to the mutation besides cat ears and big tits), then we’d be more than willing to give said character a chance. After all, if we're willing to allow centaurs and the like, then we've got to be willing to allow other half-and-half breeds.

However, and very strictly, our stand is against all half-breeds made exclusively for purposes of sexual perversion. Many roleplay profiles combining two species offer an animal's appendages and face, able to stand as a human and possessing human genitalia. These bastardizations are not welcome here. To mold a character with the spinal abilities of a human and still maintain the characteristics of an animal, however, is very welcome. For example: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/12/Vantage_Point.jpg/354px-Vantage_Point.jpg Copyrighted to Goldenwolf, http://goldenwolfen.com

Centaurs, mermaids, werewolves, satyrs and other mixed-species creatures, documented through the ages in many different myths, are all allowed, somewhat-strictly as depicted in said myths, as one part of a human, and another part of an animal. If you'd like to play one of these, you needn't even sign up.

In short, we support nothing made expressly for fetishes to be fulfilled. You’ll simply have to forgive our thoughts that bestiality is hideous and find some other place to play.

Succubi/Incubi in Roleplay:

We’ve run into many headaches while preaching logic in Ayenee’s roleplay chat rooms when it comes to the frequently abused legend of these particular creatures. So often, a person will create the demon specific to their gender preference under the ignorant assumption that an incubus or succubus simply means, “a good-looking and wicked demon-thing who has a lot of sex.” Absolutely incorrect, though we’ve learned this has more to do with modern fiction farting in the face of history rather than simple human error. In fact, anybody who knew the true origin and characteristics of incubi and succubi would probably agree that there’s no point to making a roleplay character from one, as it gives absolutely no chance for true interaction.

These were demons essentially invented by the devoutly religious to explain things which happened but were not easily or comfortably reasoned. For instance, wet dreams experienced by men were blamed on succubi because of their shameful nature, while women who became pregnant by fooling around outside of their marriages blamed incubi, all because of the severity of sexual sin in the middle ages. It essentially released a person from taking responsibility for things considered taboo in that time.

As quoted from Wikipedia.com - In medieval legend, a succubus (plural succubi; from Latin succubare, "to lie under") is a female demon which seduces men (especially monks) in dreams to have sexual intercourse. They draw energy from the men to sustain themselves, often until the point of exhaustion or death. From mythology and fantasy, Lilith and the Lilin (Jewish), Lilitu (Sumerian) and Rusalka (Slavic) were succubi. According to the Malleus Maleficarum, or "Witches' Hammer", succubi would collect semen from the men they slept with, which incubi would then use to impregnate women. Children so begotten were supposed to be more susceptible to the influence of demons. The incubus is the male form of this demon.


If you want to play a demon who comes to the sleeping and pleasures them, that's fine, but keep him or her out of taverns, conversations and group roleplays, because . . ., well that's the character you chose to play.


Era Distinction

The most important section thus far! Please pay attention, as rules broken from this section will be tolerated the least kindly.

World of Ayenee's forums, though possessed of a 'modern' section which will be explained in its own thread, is strictly old-era, pre-industrial roleplay.

What this means is an utter and complete lack of electricity, synthetic fabrics, automobiles, locomotives, modern food or drink and anything that required electrically powered machinery to manufacture. The second someone enters a post into our old-era forums mentioning a street lamp illuminated by anything other than a candle or oil, a parking lot or a Coca-cola, they will be messaged once to inform them that their post has been relocated to the modern forum, and if it happens a second time, they've obviously disregarded this rule and will be removed. Additionally, as stated before, we won't allowed travelers from a more modern planet without prior consent.

Because this is a fantasy world, we've made a few convenient alterations to the era from which we modeled our version of Ayenee. For example, although running water was a relatively late invention, we've written that very wealthy characters are capable of affording the invention.

In an earlier time, water tanks were located at the top of a building to create the necessary pressure for a tub to be filled, and could also be heated while in the pipes, but only slightly. Feel free to use this explanation in your own roleplay.

Also, hygiene was not as popular at the time of our world's inspiration, but your character's personal cleaning habits are up to you, so long as they aren't using toothpaste, as it doesn't exist. (Mint leaves were once a remedy for bad breath.) Cosmetics have been around since the days of Cleopatra, so they do indeed exist in our world. However, you won't find any high-gloss lipstick or sparkly eyeshadow. Keep all inclusions of character accessory within the era period.

Depending on the location you've chosen for your character, there may or may not be class distinctions, which means a mental separation between the wealthy and the poor. For instance, on one continent the rich may look down on the poor or the poor may be considered uneducated and made for servitude, on another the poor and wealthy may intermingle freely. Outlines are provided for every continent and city we offer to play on, please choose carefully.

Monetary values are obviously different here than on Earth. We've used coins made of copper, roughly the size of a dime but the thickness of a cracker, and they are each worth the equivalent of five American dollars. Smaller coins of lead are the equivalent of one US dollar, and we've elected upon paper money called leafs, not to be confused with leaf or leaves, which mean the bearing of a tree branch. Leafs are very unrefined pieces of paper because printing presses in this day were weak and hard to control; they lacked sophisticated technology. One leaf would be the equivalent of 4 copper coins.

There are a few common phrases used in modern everyday life that aren't welcome here. Slang terminology would have no place in an old era world, so if you're going to make a character over two hundred years old, try to have him speak as though he is two hundred years old.

Somebody two hundred years of age or more would not end every sentence with "yo," or say something like, "Aw, come on, man." If you're going in character, stay in character. That is how -you- would talk, and your character should probably not be an extension of yourself. Your character doesn't need to speak as though auditioning for a Shakespearian play, but with just the slightest bit of forethought, you can find a middle ground between, "Aw, come on, man," and, "Then must you speak of one that loved not wisely, but too well?"

There are loads of characters of Oriental or Irish background, and if you play one such character, read closely. For example, characters who use katanas or Celtic instruments and have names like "Takichi" or "Seamus."

The names are fine, because any combination of letters can make a name, so long as you don't use a word that means something in Japanese or Gaelic translation. These characters can't have a Japanese background, because Japan does not exist in Ayenee. This is NOT Earth in any way. Japan doesn't exist. England doesn't exist. Ireland doesn't exist. It's a completely alternate world. Please do not use recognizable cultural elements from Earth-based countries.


Scene Types and Scenarios.


Romance:

Ah, love. The goal of most roleplays in the end is to get here, where two make-believe characters argue over who's prettier and neck-suck until they're blue in the face. Not a single person who has laid a hand on this site shies away from romance, but keep these rules of etiquette in mind.

1. We allow sexual scenes to be played on our forum. However, we ask that all scenes of this type be marked "Adult" in the title of the thread, and that, due to their upsetting nature, you must also note if rape or incest will follow. To signal a rape scene, please add "Adult/Violent" to your thread title, for incest, "Adult/I."

2. We're exhausted of seeing the sex in taverns storyline. Two characters meet, they're in love within an hour of play, and suddenly she's riding his lap in a 'dark corner.' Not going to happen. Here, all bars have employees, because that's what makes sense, and there will be no sex played in places of active business. Should your storyline suddenly call for public sex - who knows, maybe your character has a fetish - you'll need to take it out of the tavern and explain at some point in your post why it is that nobody has seen your characters and cared enough to act.


3. We will not tolerate a character made specifically to exorcise a fetish. If you've got a need for furry incest, the Hentai High School, BDSM storylines or any otherwise strictly sex based character play, you'll need to look elsewhere. We'd like not to attract the same horny bastards who made Yahoo so intolerable for us. Nobody here will mind if your character, with his or her own personality, occupation, history and way of thinking has a fetish that you may play when he or she is in a relationship, but if that's all you're after or all you're going to be doing, we certainly don't want your business. Playing an actual whore or courtesan is permitted within reason, as is playing a promiscuous character, but again, any character we see who seems to have been created for the sole purpose of fetish play will very likely be rejected.

4. Don't play another person's character for them. This is also known as an 'auto.' If your character offers another's character a drink, it doesn't matter how harmless it is, don't write in -your- post that they accepted it and started drinking unless they've told you to or you have asked permission. In certain scenes, things move along faster if many mundane actions are summed up by one person. However, it is never alright to do so without your partner knowing and agreeing beforehand.

In-Character Fighting:

Have you created a character expressly for the purpose of sparring with him? Excellent, we're glad to have attracted such a healthy variety of people. However, even if you've fashioned one of those characters whose muscles tear through armor and whose breath could make a dragon weep, you've got some studying to do, as well! Let's begin with the two most commonly ruinous things - strength, and idealism.

1. There is absolutely no character in our world, under any circumstances, who has the ability to crush, explode, erase, or otherwise universally destroy said world. It will not happen. Some people call this God-moding. Some call it fun. We call it breaking a rule, and your post will be deleted without notice. Similarly, we won't allow automatic kills from anybody -on- anybody else, unless both parties have decided that this is how they want their scene to go. For example, you will neither be able to simply walk into a tavern and cut another character's throat resulting in immediate death, nor engage in a fight with said character and eliminate them entirely through your first post. All fights to the death will be played hit-by-hit.

2. Speed-gaming was popular when Yahoo's chat rooms were thickly inhabited, but because of the scroll they cause, many considered them to be a nuisance. Unfortunately, we have no means through which to support this particular art, because we don't have chat rooms. If you practice T2 or T1 and no other form of roleplay, you'll have to find another home.

3. Under absolutely no circumstances will we tolerate in-character arguments going out of character, or vice-versa. The fastest way to derail an fight between two characters to an obnoxious and unproductive end is for the parties involved to leave the scene after every single post trying to convince the other player why their hit was impossible. Here at World of Ayenee, we've solved this problem.
Since we've outlawed automatic kills, there should be no reason that you can't handle your character - who you've put into a battle scenario - getting injured. They won't be able to die from that single hit as outlined in rule one, therefore, the logical and mature thing to do would be to accept the hit, react accordingly, and then respond with your own attack.
If you truly believe that the other player has made a discrepancy in the laws of physics and that their attack was simply not possible, then of course, we can't expect you not to defend that out of character, but the moment it becomes an insult-war, the battle will be considered over and voided. Try and keep it adult, folks.

3b. Additionally, we don't support two players who have a problem with each other taking that problem to an in-character battle, but if you must pursue the fight this way, all other rules still apply. The argument must be handled in an adult manner, and if you're going to take said fight in character, it has to apply to your storyline. This is to avoid people bickering about whose character is stronger and then simply voiding the fight if their character loses. If you're going to take an out of character fight in character, the results of that fight must apply to your character from that moment on.

4. If you battle to the death and your character dies, you may not play that character again unless you have an idea for a storyline involving ghosts. If an established character happens to play a healer or magician capable of resurrection, that's allowed, but there must be a reason that healer or magician knows of your character's whereabouts and have decided to revive them, rather than just a friend of yours or an NPC you created coming in and undoing the consequences of playing a battle character.

5. The use of magic in battles is encouraged here, but again, to the same application of all other rules; common sense and maturity are key. Your character may not engage in magic that significanlty upsets, harms, or damages incredible portions of the world on a whim. Land damage in certain scenarios is permitted, but the automatic deaths of played characters is not. Most roleplayers who choose to do battle pair off with someone of their own type; magic users attack magic users, hand-to-handers go after other hand-to-handers, and this system works because neither party will dispute something being used. To pair off with your own kind is NOT a rule, but you should let a player who plays an obviously different character know what you'll be fighting with before you begin your battle.

6. No characters made exclusively to fight unless your character's occupation is based on it. Just like we don't want characters just for sex, we don't want characters who do nothing but fight.

7. Limit the use of hundreds of unplayed characters to bulk up your character's reputation, save in special cases where a character may be very, very old, or have an occupation that suggests the need for a trail of dead behind him or her. For instance, should you choose to play a vampire that is centuries old or an aged hit-man, no one should dispute your use of NPCs, so long as at some point your character has killed a -real- character.

Magic

Because of the heavy use of various magic properties as an escape tactic, an unnecessary convenience, or a nuisance in so many Yahoo roleplays, we have put a few limitations on the most popular 'spells.' In certain circumstances these rules can be bent, but not often without good reason and better explanation in-post (for example, you could play a character whose basis truly involves a certain magical property listed below, one whose use of it you actually explain with intelligent thought and have obviously worked out for that character. If you are willing to do this, there's a lot we'll allow.) We're going for truly thinking through and being able to explain the wondrous things about your character than for simply restricting what you can do.

Teleportation: The issues with this are as follows - some have used the ability to pop into a place, cause trouble, and pop back out again, some have used it mid-battle to 'flicker' away, then back into being and make a killing blow, some have used it to say they wander between realms and planets, some have used it to write sentences about tearing holes in the fabric of time and altering things irreparably. We've never seen any of these ideas played with any forethought or originality, and although we are open to hear any ideas that you have which might change our minds - say, a character who time travels as a result of years and years of studying scientific processes and magic texts to the end of intelligent exploration - we're limiting teleportation, 'blinking,' or otherwise showing up where one did not used to be to a once-a-day thing, a 'day' meaning a day in your character's life. The reason we've given for this is to say that teleportation is an extremely exhausting thing, that most mortals and few other species can handle in any abundance. Again, if your character uses this technique and you believe no harm is being done, simply submit an email to one of our moderators and say so; we will always hear you out.

Immortality: Why is your character immortal? Vampires, of course, have their reasons, elves are supposed to have lengthy lifespans, certainly an expertly skilled magic user might cast on himself for longevity, but other than that, all immortality requires an explanation.

Shapeshifting: Also allowed in moderation, but the continuing theme is that you give a thoughtful reason for why this is possible. Obviously, fantasy creatures have been mentioned in novels and movies for decades without real reason given for their existence, and we don't expect you to be a scientific master who can tweak the rules of physics to explain your character's being, but each of us who made this site play an unnatural element somewhere, and we've been able to explain it, sometimes in interesting ways, sometimes in ways that might be a little corny. The point is that we pulled it off, and you should try, too! Character depth is always a good thing.

Mind Reading: Although convenient, yet again, if you intend to have your character read minds, there will need to be a reason for it. We've never understood the allure of walking into a room and deciding that your character knows what everybody is thinking. It's like someone telling you what all of your presents are on Christmas Eve, it makes no sense, and it ruins the spontaneity of roleplay. For this reason, we're more likely to accept characters whose minds can't be read than we are characters who automatically know what everyone is thinking. A loophole would be to require that your character must be touching the other in some way to read their mind, as this prevents any one character from doing it to everyone in the room at the same time.

A popular example of allowable and legitimate magic is showcased in the Dragonlance series. Their mages are divided by types of magic - white magic, red magic, and black magic - and they spend years in practice and study, they begin as talentless novices and gradually learn as they advance. Magic rarely just comes to any of them and a good deal of aging is required before they can do truly unbelievable things. Following their guidelines would prevent very young, attractive characters from having powerful magical control over everything they look at, which is not only cheesy, but unfair.


Cliches to Avoid

Nobody here or anywhere else can or should tell you what your characters should be doing in a scene. That is entirely up to you as a writer to decide and we will never mock or criticize you for it. To be clear, nothing in this particular section is a rule or has to be read. It is simply a guideline comprised of the scene types we've seen played in Yahoo! Chat that either made no sense, were embarrassing to witness, or limited any hope of interaction. Additionally, this is all opinion-based, and some may find said opinions offensive, so if you are easily offended, this section is not required reading, and provided you've read the rest of the rules already, you're free to go play!

If pictoral stimulation is more your style, these profiles were created by one of the site's staff to showcase things that are done so often they've become intolerable.

http://profiles.yahoo.com/typical_ayenee_profile_exhibit_a
http://profiles.yahoo.com/typical_ayenee_profile_exhibit_b
http://profiles.yahoo.com/typical_ayenee_profile_exhibit_c
http://profiles.yahoo.com/typical_ayenee_profile_exhibit_d

The Cloak and the Dark Corner.

- We've never understood this particular fascination. A character comes in, covered from head to toe in heavy cloth, retreats to a corner where there's no light, and doesn't speak to anybody (which, by the way, makes no sense even in establishments lit only by candles. If you'd like to test my saying so, stand in a dark room and light a single votive, everything is now vaguely lit. You can imagine the effect of several dozen candles hanging from chandeliers, not to mention the obligatory fireplace in almost every tavern. Where are you guys finding all these shadows?).
If this is the scene you honestly feel like playing at the moment, that's fine, but it's always these people who later go out of character and start complaining about how nobody is willing to roleplay anymore. They are, but you're purposefully setting it up so that someone else has to do all the work. You want them to notice your character, shrouded in solid color cloth and lacking all light to define them, and interact with -you.- That's a cheap, lazy way to roleplay. A good rule of thumb in an interactive game is that you get what you give. Give nothing, get nothing. Come out of the dark and give someone something to notice before you complain about no one roleplaying with you. Would YOU roleplay with you, if the situation were turned around?

The Rafter Birds.

Jumping into rafters. Now, there's a silly thing to do. It does come with its own kind of interest, of course, someone's bound to notice that! However, very few establishments, save those done in lodge style, actually -have- exposed rafters, because a rafter is usually covered by a ceiling. If you'd like for your character to inhabit a rafter, please check with the person who created the tavern, and find out if the rafters are even exposed.

The Annihilated Village.

Is anything about your character REALLY reliant upon this storyline? If you play a character of this type of background, it should at least have something to do with who they are as a person now.


The Orphan Who Saw a Murder.

"I watched my parents killed before my very eyes." This is said so often by characters in roleplay it's not even pityable anymore. People practically expect it, so there's not much to play off of. If you want your character's parents to be dead, there are other ideas besides seeing them murdered, even if that is the most tragic and scarring. Additionally, if you're going to play a role like this, one way to make it original is to have the character this happened to become a strong, self-sufficient person, rather than a sad one needing to be sheltered. If it stems from a want to have your character pitied and protected by a significant other, there's nothing we can do, that's the role you want to play. Again, everything here is simple suggestion.

he Rape Victim.

Another INCREDIBLE cliche played by eighty percent of females and even a few males. This one is almost always for pity, or the result of a rape fetish in the player. That's fine, we all have strange things that turn us on. However, the next time you're about to have your character blurt out to another character that they've been raped, ask yourself this: Have you ever, even ONCE, seen a roleplayer say that they ENJOY their character being told about another character's rape? I'll bet the answer is no. Roleplayers of any quality are often -complaining- about this, about how a perfectly fine conversation is suddenly made awkward by some girl in a tavern talking about how she was raped. How would YOU respond to that, if some stranger you barely knew started talking about something that personal?

It's a silly thing to bring up, you're boxing your partner into an uncomfortable corner of having to pity your character or look like an asshole. If you can't get over the want to have had your character violated, at least have some class. Don't have them bring it up to strangers, or even try making a strong-willed woman out of it, someone who learned from the experience and now is too strong to let men walk all over her, SOMETHING to make this painfully tacky storyline less irritating. At the very least, only do it if the rape actually took place in roleplay.

The Amnesiac.

I'm sure there's an allure to playing a character who knows nothing about their past, but it's done often enough to it earns a spot on the cliches list. At least give a logical reason for their sudden lack of memory.

As the afternoon flowered brightly across the shifting shades of sky, a bare-footed boy was circling his firepit where he'd built it in a careless tumble of yellow grass. The wise old mountain hunters with their ashy, nodding heads would have known better than to start such a strong, elevated blaze so early in the day, but he didn't know much about physics, and he really didn't care for wise old mountain hunters. They tended on the simple side, and were characteristically condescending. In fact, when pressed right down to the truth of it, Mraz didn't care for old people in general, for a reason which lingered somewhere between the smell, the sloth and the opinions. He built his fire hot and large because it's what he liked to see, and later when the sun fell down, its fabric dissolving beneath the acid black of night, he would rock forward and back on the swing he'd assembled two years ago, toes in the dirt, and watch the wasted embers singing. With a thousand votives in a thousand lanterns lit around his carriage, a sweeping fire after sunset wouldn't do him any good one way or the other. The generous alcove of land and love from whence he'd carved a home was aptly lain across an acre of reedy river-bank clearing; a bridge-walk and a dirt path from the road which connected it with Circette village. The caravan, purchased when the romance of homelessness wore off, made happy bedfellows with an orchestra of oaks at the timberline of the river's sloping bank. The yards of crunching bramble-grass between that timberline and the soggy, sincere roll of the pale green water were inhabited by many little Mraz-things; the swing, aforementioned, composed of pine and cushioned by a dozen vibrant pillows, a collection of baskets and blankets - purpose unknown - and two upturned barrels playing host to an assortment of laundry meant to bake in the sun. His homestead was certainly self-contained. On the aiding flat of a metal rack (which came attached to the underside of the now stationery carriage for support), he positioned his pot and his skillet, both soon boiling something spiced and aromatic, and slid a willow stick lengthwise through a sausage. Settling into a wicker patio chair, he thrust the sausage fire-ward, and with simultaneous suddenness did the melodic rhustle-shuffle-whine of an unseen dog become the evening's soundtrack. "Not for you," he threatened with an amiable grin, waving the branch above the wild animal's face. But he knew his new companion - a native of the woods - would be a thief if not a dinner guest, and only wished to make him wait a little. No sense letting the prickly pooch -know- he'd earned himself a free ride. Like this, like so many days gone by, Mraz began the day's descent, singing out a loud, aggressive tune without words.

***

Nothing furtive stole the senses; those things which begged for attention through the macabre art of subtlety, wearing the mask of forlorn and imitative grace, she resisted by very nature, an exceptional snobbery inherent to the boldness of her very person. Rather, the things which demanded she take notice, shouting their presence in prayer to her person like an evangelical hallelujah, were rewarded with the afterglow of gaze that mimicked a summer’s eve setting low on a hazelnut crop. True to this very absence of attention to those things which did not either plague or please her substantially, dove’s wings in nearby trees fluttered in tune to the forgotten sunset-colored ribbon which had escaped a narrow knot around her ribs, jubilantly waving its good-byes to the slavery of prim bow. Only if it would tease the skin of her pleasantly plump legs, which resembled in color and texture the sweet charity of a soft and ripe fruit, would her attention react, pausing deliberately to haphazardly and ineffectively retie the brilliant flash. Competing with such annoyance, the flush of birds upset from the thicket screamed an unpleasant clause to the contract of a mild summer afternoon, obligated to peace inherent, resisting the throaty crackle of a fire, the billowing blanket of violet, violent smoke. Flames did not provoke the flush and course of usual behavior, especially in such a woman of birdlike personality - fickle, flighty, and slave to nothing - but rather, played the opposite hand, filling the bridge of her nose with the bitter aroma as an aphrodesiac. Indeed, the beckon came as a wanton, ochre hand, leading the daffodil slippers from the scarlet, worn path, coupled in tattered abandon with the nameless tune to demand the graceful leap of her steps. A curious step became suddenly pregnant with a spark-filled sprint, the divinity of her being lighting as though the sun-kissed nectarine of her plump limbs were suddenly afire, a glowing glee ignited, and obvious. Stopping short of anything but the source of such pleasantries was unthinkable, and only when the heave of her knapsack flew to willow-like grass beside her slippered feet did she pause, leaning forward as though her dime-stop might collapse her very balance. Shyness crept over her features as startlingly as a wet blanket, and the curve of her palms slipped into the shallow folds of her dress behind narrow waist - bashful. Blurted she, in Christmas-bell voice, “I have bread,” immediately covering the blushing coral of her mouth as though she’d confessed an atrocity.


~~~

Were it not for the vibrant vocals laid by Mraz across the dying day's atmosphere, he would've heard the angel's approach long before he'd heard her holler. As it happened, however, between the desperate hound chuffing needily at his feet and the comfortable roll of an unscripted throat-tune enlivening the process of a rustic-aspired meal, the telltale crunch of dead grass was lost to his ears, that in end of it all he was moved to jolting from his seat and sitting straight back down again; effectively, a yo-yo of action. Swiping the clever cap from his head by way of premature greeting, Mraz tipped up his face to take stock of her own, and found that - for once - a gentleman really could prefer blondes. Rare were the friends or lovers he'd taken not as moody and exotic in color as himself, but she made a pretty peach color in the sigh of late summer, and stood out against the backdrop how only a lovely girl can. Forever opposed to the notion of letting his wit take respite for the day - or simply being outdone by another's quirks - Mraz came straight back at her with a loud, resounding announcement of, "The one thing I forgot! Let's have it!"

***

And in the startling twist of conversational decibels spinning wildly out of necessary range, it was Calliope’s turn to jolt, following the lead of the curly-mopped brunette of her new-found dinner companion. Desiring to begin the process of inspecting all those curious things about another’s face, but lacking time in which to do so without appearing rude - or very stupid - she burst suddenly into a smile that laid the mold for oyster’s pearls, surrounded by the plush pink of the animal that kept them. She’d not think, as girls like Calliope were wont to do, of apologizing for her outburst, for it seemed there was no need when winsome smile and the sweep of a cap seemed to forgive, and return just as quickly. Residual bashfulness lingered just enough to captivate the tongue within her mouth, yet not enough to chastise the gentle hands from sweeping downward to retrieve her knapsack, not enough to prevent her the silk of her dress to settle with a sigh into the grass as she dropped beside him - though into the grass, and not upon his perch. The knapsack suddenly took on the belly of a suitcase, for a pleasant rush of hands never idle emptied its contents, making a pile of curious belongings for the bugs and butterflies to inspect - a jar of assorted buttons, a shiny corkscrew, one broken - and one working - set of pocketwatches, and finally, there emerged a paper-wrapped loaf. Slightly damp from wrapping around a steaming, still-warm loaf, the paper fell away under the pitter-patter of a muse’s hands, now neither desperate nor wild, but contentedly presenting her contribution to dinner in both hands, following a custom she did not know she remembered.

~~~

Finally releasing the clamp of strength around his volume and allowing his voice to leak, octave by octave, into something more suitable for dinner conversation, Mraz tipped his head to one side in a result of hair-obstructed vision to observe her methods of loaf retrieval. "Well, that's one way to do it." He hopped one knobby ankle out of the way of her bag's explosion and accepted the reaching offer, turning the loaf over once in his hands as though it were an artifact he must inspect for inconsistencies. "Yeah, yeah, I bet that's good . . . but you know what's better," stressed the musician, poking with a narrow finger through his small collection of spices (most of which had been heaved in pinch-fuls without regard to any recipe into his boiling soup), "Is bread with. . . with, with, with, hold on, now . . . " and at least he thumbed into the proper jar, clear and lacking a manufacturer's stamp. Inside was a sticky, discolored collection of the things he thought tasted best, including honey, cinnamon and sugar, stirred until every component touched every other component. "Yeah, this stuff. This stuff on bread is something else." Mraz did not have a table outside - and hadn't planned to eat outside anyhow, but company changed the game a bit - so he put the bread on a sawed-off stump and twisted the jar's cap loose, suggesting in her direction a taste of the diabetic sweetness. "I have another chair if you don't wanna sit in the dirt, too. Hound'll lick you half to death."

***

Calliope, lacking the coquettish slyness of seductive women when not within the confines of fitful, sensual romance, took his offer of honey without the undertones a girl might’ve implied, running a fingertip around the lip of the jar as though coaxing a tune from a water glass, to dip the very same between her lips, pleasantly greeted with the taste that very nearly soothed in its sweetness. “Yes, that,” she decreed, chiming in his democracy of what best to put on the bread, and the vote cast, now turned her attention to peculiar manner of speech. Silently, and while he busied himself with performing the task of putting together their meal, she mouthed the word “hown-dull,” turning it over and over on her tongue silently, finding she liked the way it fit into her girlish mouth. To dirt she was seemingly immune, finding that it failed to muss her vision of herself, so often found with leaves strewn within her careless curls and ribbons unkempt and untied to trail around her shoulders and the round backs of her knees. “Oh, wait!” she exclaimed, even though her voice had taken a tone more suited to conversation, to hum with a sound that nearly sounded surprised. “This too,” she coaxed, “Have you had this?” And she presented another paper-wrapped artifact, peeling it away to produce a block of sticky, pliable substance, which retained shape, yet appeared as though it could easily be molded. The toss of her curls flashed to and fro, looking around this makeshift kitchen for a pot of substance, and triumphantly retrieving it, dropped the square into it, settling it into the outskirts of the fire, safe from sausage drippings. “You let it melt, then dip apples,” she explained, a triumphant and coy gleam coming to her indigo eyes when, disappearing into her rucksack again, she produced two apples. In doing so, she decided, with sudden lack of etiquette made apparent by the rounding of her lovely eyes, that she liked very much the curl and roll of his hair, and wanted, very promptly, to pull one, like a very soft spring, between her fingers.


~~~

He liked to imagine himself - no question, no fuss - to be an inch or two above the common man. He didn't need luxury, he held to neither end of the sexual spectrum for long, and he knew more than the sum of his peers the worth of a good joke and a fast wit. But when it came to attraction, Mraz was almost predictable, and it was only the unabashed crook of a smile creeping up into one side of his face as he watched her finger disappear that separated him from the standard, for rare are those of his gender who would be so fascinated without attempting to mold from their faces a more serious, respectable expression (or simply try to hide it entirely). But her distraction was an apt one, for indeed, he'd never seen a substance of the sort. With a face layered in equal parts interest and amusement, he reached out the tip of one knuckle and nudged the little ooze, then lifted back as though in agreement to let her dump it in a pot. "Well, hell, I'll try anything once." At that, he was aware of her staring, and turned an eyebrow into a question mark to look at her and ask through his unusual smile. "Yes, ma'am?"

***

Often mistaking one expression for another, she’d suffered from the affliction of foot-in-mouth disease on several occasions prior; this was not to say, however, that a simple-seeming beauty who wore naivete like a childish hood ‘round her sloping shoulders was devoid of the device of flirtation. Though striving effortlessly to produce and inspire those things only divine, she existed simultaneously as a woman, whose pitter-patter heart coincided with the sudden beauty of features that transformed from star-struck to precisely, and irrevocably, all-knowing. Gods were indeed wicked in thought when creating the nine crimes called Muses, stirring the heady, congruent ingredients of purity and feminity in a giant pot, and producing a thing both pious and, dangerously, pretty. “I was only just thinking,” said she, a sudden twist to the mouth significantly ambidextrous in what it intended, “That there are some things which need no extra seasoning.” Striking the pause with an exclamation point of a set of girlish fingers, poised to touch but waiting with baited gesture his allowance, “Like kisses, like pleasant features. Like these adorable curls of yours!” and here she laughed, the hand dropping back to her skirts and effectively, as intended, banishing the once-tender moment; as sailors flocked to Sirens, would not poets seek the Muses? Even she, in blissful ignorance of what comprised her sunset features and inviting afterglow, did not recognize the brief correlation of which she thought, just now. Abashed now, in appearance only, the river eyes peered upwards between the shocks and strands of lightning-colored hair, the smile deftly maneuvered countenance from clever to pious. “I’m Calliope.”

I'd decided, at some point, that I must illustrate some early depth to Pastian if I was to truly attach myself to him as a person, rather than just as a character. The initial attempt was to widow him, but he didn't love her, so it didn't work. Then I attempted to play upon his lack of incredible woe, and another failure followed. These trials went on only in my head of course, where all sorts of interesting plotlines reside, and at last I tapped upon one road thus far untravelled, and decided to addict him to an herbal, medicinal substance. None of modern reputation interested me, so I invented one. It's called Alieghe, a hallucinogenic drug designed also to relieve pain through numbing of both the nerves and the mind, so shut up those voices in your head and deaden your responses to trouble, all the while painting glorious imagery over life's landscapes. This served both as a means to transfer Pastian from my mind to roleplay with a friend, and to connect his story with that of Paige's new darling, who he'll be taking as a lover.


Beneath a quiet span of sky, Pastian Atello kicked his feet along, restless and reluctant to direction though they were. Every opportunity to enclose a pleasant night lay along in many-leaved patches nearby, but he'd no use for them, and no interest besides that. What interested him tumbled past simple pleasantry; he'd been addicted to nothing prior and had no frame of reference. In honesty's tradition it must be admitted that he barely knew addiction as a word, much less a state of his own oblivious being. How sweet that we might paint his picture in sentimentality and loss - a lover laid down for eternal rest and now, relief sought strong through substance, through avoidance. However, Pastian tosses his aging head at that notion and any similar. He's not so cold hearted as to suggest a total want for sadness on the part of his taken's passing, yet neither is he so frivolous as to fancy an emotion where one never grew. They'd wed for convenience and although she made great show of loving him, effort to reciprocate fell short, and a bare fondness reigned where adoration should surely have been born. Thus, we'll require deeper insight if we are to analyze what's driven Sir Atello toward dens of disrepute. Perhaps a taste from offered hand sans necessary warning shoulders every blame, perhaps the desire grew on him like moss whilst he suffered o'er poison's pleasures, unbeknownst. The symphony of complaint in his toes halted, at last, when destination shone clear; tonight wouldn't be wasted!In mild term, the dens were not a place for Pastian's kind - the clean-cut, the driven, the ambitious and intellectual. He'd taken his schooling from the shoulders of geniuses, traveled as a lion leading herdmembers struggling with lesser strength, yearned for nothing he could not lay hold of before long had passed to change said yearning, and ever did the blue-eyed Adonis value hard work and determination over ease and luxury (though he'd found himself in decent supply of the latter since business ventures turned their ironic turns.) Therefore, to make a study of those who swam in their degeneration about him was to sadden Pastian, weaken what spirit he'd decided to bring along tonight, and nearly undo the expedition before its climax. Nervousness, of course, never won. Vaguely questionin the location of a man whose name saw fit to be dropped by Mr. Atello's ear and recieveing similarly vague gestures backward, he located and approached the enigma of a man who took bags of indulgence as his company. If prior clients hadn't looked Jeremiah in the eye, Pastian made up for it. "I've a question of merchandise for you, my friend."

Pastian breathed out amid winter's frozen rain, the cloud hanging fog-like for three seconds before it vanished. Brow line rigid and fingers curling, he contemplated Espyn county from atop a cathedral tower, which he'd acended after scaling the ornate city wall.

Homefires still burned despite the late hour in rural developments, and Tavern District Road glittered with all the power of degredation and sin. Women were faceless, justified only by their breasts, men were drunk, pre-occupied, and spellbound, children rarely emerged save when sunshine bore down on bare heads, and everybody seethed in crowd-formation; identifying strangers seemed a task impossible to complete. Anonymity reigned supreme by bliss of ignorance.

"This," rasped Pastian Atello, "will do just fine."