Description questions + general rp

Xasha

Hello,

I only created this character about 2 days ago during which I've been trying to figure out where I want to take her in terms of rp. Currently she is a human, and I have rough ideas about her background + personality and potential future directions.
The main question I have is this: Just how far can you venture off the "norms" of a race in the character description?

For example, is she allowed to have one or two particular (but small) features that are rather unlike a typical human's? I don't mean anything drastic (like wings or something) of course, but is having strangely shaped, or even slightly furry/hairy ears as a human pushing it too far? What if there are links to her backstory vaguely explaining these strange appearances?

With the current ideas I have, I'm hoping to have her join Eleusis faaaaar down the track. At the moment though, my character is purposefully rogue, as I'm hoping to get her visiting cities/village and interacting with people there to find out about lore and other funky stuff. I'm not sure if people would be keen to have random roleplays like this though... These things will only work if there are enough people willing to join. As a simple example, I had an idea that she could visit Cyrene and have some music lessons from people in Virtuosi. Who knows, maybe she'll gradually improve and perform elsewhere for an audience...
So, will there be people interested in these kinds of things? I know it's easier to find roleplay opportunities if you're in a house/city, but I really can't imagine this character any other way. I'd just like to know if the general idea is viable/ doable in Achaea.

Thanks!

Comitis

It is your character. In that being so, I'd like to think you could describe it however you want. Personally, I would ask about your furry ears if I did see you were a Human. But, with you saying you'd have a background story ready for those instances. I see it being perfectly OK. 

Also, every city has a few people who would be willing to tend to you as a visitor in their walls, except Mhaldor. Outsiders are not allowed inside their walls without an escort. 

Nicaara

Yeah, there are really no hard restrictions on descriptions, just proper etiquette. Your backstory can definitely serve as justification for any racially uncharacteristic features.. we're all a bunch of crossbreds anyway. Don't go insane with it, and you can do what you want, unless someone tells you otherwise! But if you describe yourself as a "catgirl", I will personally hunt you down and kill you! ;D

Karai

Karai has black sclera, pointed ears (which are not a Tsol'aa racial trait), green veins and blueish lips like if she were extremely cold. You can get away with a lot if it's well thought out and particularly if it's grounded in lore.

I will say that there was a post somewhere @Sarapis or @Tecton said that crossbreeds are generally an impossibility. You're either one race or another. However, that's not how Achaea is and not how it's been since I joined. Some girls aren't even anatomically correct. Cat-girls are kind of overdone, though or appending 'nyah' or 'meow' after every sentence. But, hey, whatever they enjoy.

Xasha

Thanks so much for the answers. I'm really glad to hear people are flexible and accept creativity in this way, and that one wouldn't be battered down because of it. Rest assured, she's not going to be a catgirl hahaha XD But it will be just a slight tinge of another beast in her description... 

Bluef

Just to clarify, some people are...and others aren't. The Keepers of Song generally enemies anyone who disfigures their sireni form. They're considered aberrations without racial pride. There are quite a few racial clans (but none for human that I know of...) who take that RP pretty seriously. By in large people won't be jerks about "just because" but like everything you do in Achaea, there could be consequences!

Shirszae

I'd take an aberration without racial pride over most people in that clan any day. *cough*
I mean...uh, what @Karai said. So long as you have a good explanation (or an interesting one, really. Interesting > good as far as I am concerned) people are willing to look to the other side. Some others might just decline to interact with you at all, however. 

Halos

This is actually a typical newbie move, and experienced players tend to frown or at least keep an eye out for this. Descriptions should always typically try to stick at least reasonably close to racial help files, and, in fact, this is the reason that some of those help files go into detail on what these races actually look like. A somewhat homogenous look is healthy for the image and idea of the race. Still, the game has survived actual years of players making humans with fox ears, atavians with butterfly wings, sirens with tails, xorans with abnormally sized bosoms, tall dwarves, and horkvals with human faces. Some of these characters survive. "Taller than the average dwarf" is so common it has nearly become a trope, derided by the playerbase at large in ooc mediums.

But, with all of that in mind, it's your character so you can do what you like. Have fun with it. Staying proud and true to your roleplay can gain the respect of your peers if done thoughtfully, sensitively, and consistently.

Jacen

Don't be this guy

He is a graceful tsol'aa. It has the body of a dolphin with sky blue coloration on its dorsal half 

and a white underbelly. Two dolphin heads stick out on either side of its body and from them two 

muscular human arms and hands emerge. Two additional hands emerge from the location of where the 

pectoral fins would normally be located. The human arms are light-skinned but not remarkably so. 

From the palm of each hand sprouts a pair of eyes and a long dolphin snout with sharp teeth and a 

pink tongue, completing a dolphin face at the center of each hand palm. The texture and coloration 

of the dolphin faces are the same as the hand from which they occur. Upon its back sprouts a large 

sky blue dorsal fin and a blowhole. It walks upon two of the hands on the ground and utilizes the 

other two as regular upper limbs. It speaks through one of the mouths at a time and each has the 

same voice as the others. It is a bizarre and twisted creature that seems wholly unnatural and the 

glassy look of the eyes alone can be an unsettling sight for those of little mental fortitude.

Sena

With any kind of animal ears/tails or other parts that your race doesn't normally have, there will be quite a few people who will have trouble taking your character seriously. You'll have to work a lot harder to prove that you're respectable, to those people. It likely won't be much of a problem (unless you're the kind of person that wants to be liked by everyone), but it's something to keep in mind.

Bluef

Shirszae said:

I'd take an aberration without racial pride over most people in that clan any day. *cough*
I mean...uh, what @Karai said. So long as you have a good explanation (or an interesting one, really. Interesting > good as far as I am concerned) people are willing to look to the other side. Some others might just decline to interact with you at all, however. 

Most people in that clan? Almost every notable siren in Achaea is in the KOTS for a reason. We do gud werk. It's their roleplay to hold themselves and their race to a higher standard and it's sort of fun because rather than being just a bunch of prejudice, judgmental old babes, we do a lot of outreach, explaining the history of the race, what sirens have to be proud about, etc. I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I honestly do. Anyway....

I see many people with these kinds of odd back stories that don't relate well to their character in the here and now, so I personally don't favour this kind of thing. If something happens to give you that appearance as your character develops, the same way Bluef has a II scar on her forehead - because she was marked IC a long, long time ago -  then I don't mind it. But when it's supposedly happened prior to the battle against the pygmies, it feels forced and artificial. You're 17-18. What could have possibly happened to you (and so many others) that doesn't signal a real child abuse problem in Achaea. I think the only person I've seen handle this extremely well was @Amarillys, whose backstory was so developed you just believed it 100%. Anyway...

You can do whatever, @Xasha! I didn't mean to rain on your parade. Just pointing out the potential downsides to it.

Trey

Completely non-canonical, but in a universe where broken limbs are healed in the span of a thought, I've always thought of scars on someone stayed manifest due to mental significance, negative or positive. Some Targossians still bear the mark of the twin since it was a mentally traumatic experience once they came to their senses. Trey has burn marks because effete nobility aside, he considers himself (rightly!) one of the greatest blacksmiths who've ever lived.

Halos

Relatedly, Sarapis actually declared (I don't remember the thread) "Tsol'aa don't have pointed ears" a few months ago. I think he is the only person in the history of the game surprised that people think of the race as Achaean elves. So round-eared Tsol'aa are canon, despite players making generations and generations of pointy-eared Tsol'aa characters.

I guarantee you people still wear them in their descriptions and are not widely thought of as strange  (yet).

Shirszae

Halos said:

Relatedly, Sarapis actually declared (I don't remember the thread) "Tsol'aa don't have pointed ears" a few months ago. I think he is the only person in the history of the game surprised that people think of the race as Achaean elves. So round-eared Tsol'aa are canon, despite players making generations and generations of pointy-eared Tsol'aa characters.

I guarantee you people still wear them in their descriptions and are not widely thought of as strange  (yet).

Why would people find it strange? Sarapis' word or not, Tsol'aa with pointy ears have been a common sight for a long time. I'd go as far as to say that they are just as canon, author's intent or not, simply because in the living, breathing game none is considered any stranger than the other.

Halos

Shirszae said:

Halos said:

Relatedly, Sarapis actually declared (I don't remember the thread) "Tsol'aa don't have pointed ears" a few months ago. I think he is the only person in the history of the game surprised that people think of the race as Achaean elves. So round-eared Tsol'aa are canon, despite players making generations and generations of pointy-eared Tsol'aa characters.

I guarantee you people still wear them in their descriptions and are not widely thought of as strange  (yet).

Why would people find it strange? Sarapis' word or not, Tsol'aa with pointy ears have been a common sight for a long time. I'd go as far as to say that they are just as canon, author's intent or not, simply because in the living, breathing game none is considered any stranger than the other.

Yes. My presenting this example was to point out that just because something in a description is non-canonical in Achaea doesn't automatically mean it is thought of as unusual, shameful, or strange (Outside of intentional astronomically-proportioned sexual organs, which will always be weird).

Skye

Generally I deride the idea of cat girls in Achaea because of the overall sexalt connotation that comes with such individuals.  I wouldn't entirely discount it though.  Some time in the middle of my experiences in this game,  I did make a cat girl alt once for LOLS in a city that would never have tolerated such an aberration (Mhaldor). But I thought she was fun for as long as I had her.  I didn't call any attention to her ears or anything in descriptions, but she had them. They only appeared  when she was surprised and her ears stood up.  >>

Xasha

I realise that anything out of the "norm" may lead to dislikes from others, but as long as it's within the roleplaying realm with IC reasons, that's perfectly fine with me. Especially considering my planned character might not be liked by some in the first place anyway, purely because of her personality & beliefs. I realise that this kind of stuff will have IC consequences, but these sorts of challenges are precisely why I enjoy strict- roleplay environments like Achaea!

I can understand much of the concerns raised on this issue above, and I'll take full note of it when I plan my character because I do want to be taken seriously when I rp.  I'm hoping to write out a (hopefully) solid backstory to make this work. Thanks for the input everyone!

P.S. Btw, I rather enjoyed the "graceful" tsol'aa description... XD You've inspired me indeed. Maybe I'll make my human have twin shark fins with quirky dolphin faces on them. 
P.S.S Just in case, I was joking about the above.