Roleplay

Never Spit into the Wind

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A Celyddon Navy Ship - The Cuban_001
A Cuban mid-class navy ship on patrol in the Black Powder Sea

Sailing and SPD ships

SPD scripted ships are available both in Second Life and Inworldz, but Inworldz has a much higher proportion of sailable seas. We use sailing ships for combat, exploration and trading. The Celyddon Navy uses Port Celyddon as its base for patroling the seas and hunting pirates and smugglers. A smuggler is of course any ship that refuses to pay excise duties and tax. Pirates are the curse of any honest sailor as they pick on poorly defended trading ships to plunder cargo.

Merchant ships travel from port to port with cargos to sell, when they embark on a voyage they announce their cargo and destination in group chat, this makes them a target for pirates who may chase them or lay in wait. If a pirate sinks a merchant ship before it reaches its destination they get the cargo and make a nice fat profit.

Merchant ships are expected to pay the navy ten percent of the value of their cargo as duty. Any navy ships in the area will try to protect them from pirates because duty is only paid after the merchant reaches its destination safely. On the other had if a merchant wants to take a gamble they announce that they are smugglers, if which case the the navy will either ignore them of sink them as a demonstration to others.

Further information on the Naval Action or Flotsam and Jetsam websites where they seem to have excellent forums. Would be pirates might like to look at The Pirate King for lots of great background info.*

Demonstration SPD ships can be tried out at various shipyards including The Loose Cannon on Inworldz.

*Thank you to Modee Parlez for the links and for other information which I will use in future posts.

Port Celyddon

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Picture of the harbour and citadel at Port Celyddon
The Harbour and Citadel at Port Celyddon

Port Celyddon is a themed land based on the on the 16th and 17th centuries. Role play is encouraged, but not required and while mostly human, fantasy characters are allowed. We are here to support IC and OOC events, combat both using the Unity Meter and SPD is supported.

We have free form role play where you are free to express your own character, just respecting our ‘back’ story. The UES system is employed for trade and to encourage the adoption of roles that integrate with our community.

Our main base is an island right in the centre of the Black Powder Sea which is an association of many lands all different and unique in their own way but sharing an ethos of fun and fairness in the seas that surround us and creating common standards for our interactions.

A naval fleet is based at Port Celyddon which is also a trading centre for merchant ships which come to the island. Near the main citadel of the port with its market, harbour and fortifications is the old fort, a base of the huntresses. Huntresses are the scouts and spies of Celyddon, undertaking dangerous and often secret missions on behalf of the realm.

Possible Roles: Naval Captain (you will need your own ship), Naval Ratings (Help crew the warships as gunners), Shore Gunners and Guards, Marines for raids and boarding parties. Scouts and Huntresses. There is also a need for Merchants, Artisans of all kinds, farm workers and domestics. These are just a few of the many possible roles available.

Mythical Origins

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When humans first came to Celyddon taking refuge from the wars that had driven them away from there homes, they crossed many seas until finally their small boats were wreaked against the rocks that seem to protect the coast of Celyddon. They struggled ashore with only the possessions that they could salvage finding a fertile countryside with lush wetlands melting into grasslands and green ripe forests. Wild beasts roamed the forests and while many of the beasts were very vicious it was possible with some hunting and fishing also picking wild fruits to survive and settle.

They soon realised that they were not alone. High elves lived in the forest and while they did not attack the humans and even occasionally warned of danger in cryptic riddles they seemed to have mysterious powers and loved to play tricks and jokes. It was said that the elves were lead by Yrmell who would occasionally speak to the humans.

Sometimes the elves would reveal a little of what they knew to the newcomers. They had lived in the forests since ancient times and often spoke of ancient wars between the forces of nature and chaos and that Celyddon was the site of the great treaty concluded for peace. Even to this day dragons, one of the forces of Chaos test the magical defense created by the treaty or attack those that wonder beyond the boundary of the treaty lands into the ‘Cradle of War’.

Compared to the high elves who often lived hundreds or even thousands of years and seemed to spend their time performing enchantments or tending to the forests, humans live only a few score years. They worked hard and built a village and a castle and watch towers for defense. Some of them farmed, others hunted and they settled and did a growing  trade with other settlements and started to prosper.

The human warriors called ‘The Guardians’ upheld the human laws or guarded the borders and battled raiders, while a special more secret group often known as the ‘Hunters and Huntresses’ explored the mysteries of the realm undertaking dangerous spying and scouting  missions to discover the many secrets of the enchanted lands. Often their duties meant that they had to wonder into territory where the beasts of chaos and dragons roamed. In lands beyond the protection of the magical enchantments created by the high elves they often have to battle danger and the forces of chaos

Aids to Roleplay

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Just about everything is an aid, being in a virtual 3D world is just about the best role play aid so far invented, but it would still be possible to role play just by voice and imagination.

Think about how much more you would have to do. Reminding everyone who is in the room, what they are wearing and look like and all the rest! Our viewers let us see and make it all more real, but they cant do everything. Some things we have to describe, most role players use only text because they don’t sound like a pirate or a dragon and speaking would ruin the illusion.

Also they will usually have a quick summary of their character in their profile so that they don’t have to explain it over and over. Looking in a characters profile may also give you important ‘Out of Character ‘ information. This can include practical information like what times they are usually on line and very importantly their limits. They might not enjoy violence being described in detail or bad language.

Meters add some fun and take some of the work out of situations. At Celyddon we use the Unity meter and weapons to determine the consequences of melee combat and the SPD meter does the same for ship to ship combat. The UES pouch remembers what we are carrying and sell or barter. These all have to be used with common sense

So Whats Roleplay?

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We create a story world where we are not just the actors but also the script writers. It’s a co-operation between us, and each of us has in our imagination a character that we play, a role. We do our best to behave in the same way that our character would, be they rich or poor, aggressive or meek, honourable or cheating.

Of course even fantasy characters have limits and as we create our stories others create theirs as well, so to be fair we take turns, waiting to see how others react and adapting as the story takes unexpected twists. If I push someone do they fall or push back, are they angry surprised or afraid. That’s their role and decision. If role play works well its a great creative experience and a lot of fun!

Be careful not to ‘meta game’, use knowledge that your character would not have or ‘god mode’, force your decisions on others. Also try to be consistent and think in the way that your character would.

Often we use meters to decide outcomes in combat or keep track of trades for example, but more about that another time.