Fantasy Urban Fantasy

[UniLad246]

Well maybe there could be a gang of supernatural beings and only one or two humans. That way they really have to struggle to find out more about this other world and they would be able to get much help discovering the truth about these beings. I also like the idea of setting it in Portland because a city setting gives it more options than farm country in my opinion.

 

[Vinny Havoc]

Less "gang" but I think I grasp your meaning. Don't have enough folks to represent a werewolf pack or vampire family, so it'd just be a friendly group.


I was actually pondering a different ratio, only a couple supernaturals, and the rest humans, but one human secretly either a psychic or magician.


Would just need a catalyst to get either side looking for the other.

 

[Hexagonal]

Maybe an extra nibble here. I'm not so usually sure about about vampire and werewolf role plays, but I definitely love the idea of there being a whole other part of the world that exists between the lines, whatever it's made up of.


Depends what the direction is... humans investigating abnormalities, whether scientifically-minded or journalistic or just hugely curious about the supernatural? A prominent/political figure is revealed as being supernatural, or acts suspiciously, causing specific groups to reach out and try to reveal themselves, or prevent it from happening? Humans dragged through to this whole other "world", of social norms and hangouts and ways of living? Various people realise that they have low-level psychic abilities, or become in some way supernatural (bitten by a werewolf/vampire, realise they're a changeling, etc), and find they're not as alone as they thought? Some kind of inexplicable item ends up in the humans' hands which the paranormal communities want to get back?


...These being just random sentences that might spark something, assuming that's what you're hoping for! I'm also pretty keen on lore- and world-building, but it seems like you've got that covered.

 

[Vinny Havoc]

@Hexagonal that is exactly the kind of thing I'm going for, actually. All of that, though obviously with half a dozen people we'd have to just pick one thing and stick with it, generally. One of the more standard culture shock scenarios is someone mauled by a werewolf, or bitten by a vampire and allowed to remember it, now being suddenly aware that the rabbit hole goes deeper than they thought.


I think some form of investigative approach would be best for the low number though; either the human group being motivate don their own to delve into the supernatural, or some supernatural event or slip up that they witness or otherwise become aware of and wish to follow through on.


And as for lore, I always welcome input; I already have a very clear idea on what I like in werewolves and vampires, but my knowledge of lore on djinn and fae is sorely lacking, and of course I'm not a cultural anthropologist so i know almost nothing about various more localized folktales from which inspiration may be pulled (like Skinwalkers, which I only know about because i stumbled into them in other fiction)


You sound like someone who has experience with World of Darkness; there is some minor inspiration from that universe, but on the whole I find that setting to be too extreme, and too epic and so forth. I'm looking for a much more down-to-earth interpretation, paradoxically. These things are 'normal' even if hidden from the other half of normal, and don't generally engage in world-ending events any more than the normal person does, and while their abilities may be fantastic, even baffling (especially in the case of fae) there aren't people throwing cars or blowing up cities with their mind or anything super crazy like that (except djinn, with conditions).

 

[Joey Winchester]

Here's something an idea I've had locked up in the vault; what if there is an order of humans and knows of the supernatural and acts as the enforcers of balance. After all, not every supernatural being belongs to a group, so they keep those in check. So say this order comes across a rogue wolf and/or vamp, So the order needs to reach out to the leaders of the werewolf/vampire society leaders.

 

[Vinny Havoc]

@Joey Winchester Sounds a bit too... overarching for my tastes. Firstly, I find it unlikely that vampires or werewolves would willingly submit to the authority of humans because they say so. The gestalt of a recognized government is one thing, but an otherwise random order of humans trying to push them around? Vampires and werewolves have their own needs, cultures and societies, and I don't imagine they'd tolerate some self appointed illuminati of humans enforcing their ideas on them.


More likely, werewolves and vampires would form their own self governing groups that exist within but apart from normal society, for the sole purpose of enforcing monster-specific things. A werewolf pack, for instance, would enforce it's territorial boundaries from other werewolves, but those territorial boundaries have no bearing or effect on any other aspect of society.


HOWEVER if some cabal of humans did try to push around werewolf and vampire communities, they probably would fight back which could cause a good amount of conflict. I just don't like the idea of it being like.. a worldwide organization, or it being assumed that the vampires and werewolves or whatnot already submit to it. What do humans understand of a werewolf pack's need to enforce a territory, or a vampire's need to exercise unusual levels of control on those human servants they require to feed upon and attend their safe houses away from sunlight.


It's a moral grey that I quite enjoy, and if werewolves and vampires were just made to submit to human superiority, then it would just be more efficient to roll it in with existing government and police, which would make werewolves forming a pack territory akin to illegal street gangs, and vampire families into human traffickers. Both technically true, but extant on extenuating circumstances and special needs of their inhuman states of being.

 

[Joey Winchester]

Well first let me say this, basically this "order" wouldn't be authority that wolves and vamps answer too. They're the ones that just keep everything in balance. Being undercover cops, making sure the recent attack goes down as a crazy animal killing. Like I said, they're there for ALL supernatural beings. You're never gonna see a wendigo say "alright that's enough killing for today". Now I understand that we won't have every single being in this rp, but that's what they're established for.


Now if you wanna go all Blade and have the supernatural hunt down their own when things get out of hand. I'm all for that

 

[Hexagonal]

@Vinny Havoc I'll be honest, I had no idea what World of Darkness was until just now when I googled it! I tend to absorb idea and lore from various places, most of which I've probably forgotten. I can't claim to have in-depth knowledge of folktales, either, aside from a few generic ones. What I do like doing is taking elements from different creatures or tales or ideas, along the lines of "this is what the stories were told about, but the stories were exaggerated or the real meaning became lost".


At least partly because the stories and lore of most things are so varied and mixed up, as can be seen in relatively common supernatural creatures like vampire and werewolves. So I suppose it's a good idea to have pages that outline the specifics in this particular universe, depending on what you've decided (e.g. Do vampires need blood or do they just like it? Can they "convert" humans, and if so, how? Do werewolves only change depending on the moon? etc etc etc).


In terms of the djinn there's huge variation into what they do... the base origin is that they are being made of fire, supernatural creatures like angels but able to be good or bad like humans (some being akin to devils, but not all), and who are magic. Some are giants, some can fly, etc etc... so to tone that down to the types of creatures that would live amongst humans. So a djinni might work as a magician doing (apparent) illusions, or who have fire-like characteristics when they're angry. There's also the notion of them being protectors or "the devil on your shoulder" types, so they could be known as manipulative or obsessive.


Fae/fairies have a lot of lore and legend about them, generally mischievous spirits, and again magical (usually illusion-based). They can range from playful (stealing things, glamouring items to trick people) to dangerous (stealing babies, kidnapping, forcing young people to dance to death).


Common themes involve being harmed by iron, sensitive to pollution and unable to enter homes without invitation, that I can think of off the top of my head. And there's the idea of the "Seelie court" and "Unseelie court", being mainly comprised of good-natured and malevolent fairies respectively. With queens and aristocrats and so on.


So that may translate as fae being very community-based, with varying ideas of morality, who love to play pranks on people, typically involving illusions or things not being what they seem. Some claim that knowing their names can give somebody power over them, so they may well be secretive about their real names.


But yes, I'm definitely in favour of people living out normal lives, the only difference being that they have one foot in this other side of the world that not everybody knows about. Rather than being showy or throwing their weight around. And of course having more influence within their particular societies than on those unfamiliar.

 

[Mowgli]

I like where this is going. There definitely needs to be some sort of catalytic event to set things in motion for the eventual conflict. I see a lot of good ideas and I'm all for any one of them. Sign me up.

 

[Vinny Havoc]

@Mowgli welcome! feel free to jump in to the brainstorming!


@Joey Winchester maybe I'm just having a kneejerk reaction to the implication that humans, and only humans are the end all be all of it. I don't want any one life state to be set above another, and if its the human order, and ONLY the human order that polices and covers up the supernaturals, that implies inability of the supernaturals to govern themselves.


One of the motifs I like to go for is a certain acknowledgement that these monsters are still beings. They can still think for themselves, they're still people. Monsters, but also people. Vampires don't go around slaughtering indiscriminately of their own volition for a few reasons. It attracts unwanted negative attention, piles of corpses lower property values and tourism, and there's no need to kill a human for their blood when, if left alive, they'll ever so kindly make more blood!


In an equal status world a lot of the monsters' natures would be self policed just by necessity, because if they didn't they'd end up dead.


The closest thing I would equate with what you're describing would be the subculture of monster hunters. People who, more than likely, cew up in a family who's trade is hunting supernatural creatures. Most of these will be long standing families that have done it for generations, passing on knowledge and skills to children and so on, and there'd be a very loose community of such hunters, but it wouldn't be like any sort of government or police force. Basically hitmen for hire that put down supernaturals causing problems. Because it's the ones causing problems that get hits put out on them, generally.


Rogue werewolves killing livestock or people, a vagrant vampire who does kill his prey, a Djinn of fire burning down houses for kicks (because Djinn have lunatics just as humans do)... Which, again, is why werewolf packs would tightly control their territory, keep rogues out, keep tabs on it's members and keep them away from livestock and people on the full moon, and why vampire families would cultivate niche markets like style and fashion, prey upon the trendy crowds and nightlife, only take a little from each human, and make the experience as pleasant as possible, and keep vagrant vampires away. To keep any of their respective groups from attracting the attention of a hunter.


As for monsters of True Evil, they tend to be extremely rare due to their very natures and the difficulties in achieving power as such. Skinwalkers are among those things that may kill for fun, but the ritual to become a skinwalker is so horrific few would undergo it, and similarly with windigoes. And those that don't learn subtlety, don't learn to hide, or keep their messes ow key, those who don't know how to say 'that's enough killing for one day' in effect would end up on hunters' hit lists very quickly.


@Hexagonal You do seem to be on the same page as me, as for what i like about lore and how to play with it. Again, nail on the head as that's kind of what I'm going for, taking pieces of lore, and excluding others under the assumption that 'the fairy tales got it wrong. I'm actually impressed that you know that much about both the fair folk and the djinn, that's mostly what my knowledge covers, but to my standard's it's still 'sorely lacking' since I don't know the details. But in effect, you're about right.


Just out of interest, while we're on the subject, here's some of my interpretations.


Vampires do need blood, but not much; a single medical vial's worth can sustain them, but more is needed if they expect to use advanced abilities or regenerate extreme damage quickly. They can be killed by being staked (destroying the heart by impalement with an implement of life; wood is popular) or by exposure to sunlight, and have a plethora of other minor weaknesses relating to aversions and magical or spiritual aspects (crosses, holy water, garlic, whatever; assumptions that judeo-christian faiths adopted many of these things due to their effectiveness against the undead, not that they work because of the religious God.) .. They're para naturally strong and fast, have a hypnotic gaze requiring direct eye contact, and can distort how reflected light behaves if they wish (failing to reflect in mirrors, appearing distorted on camera, seeming to vanish in shadows or move instantaneously when no one's looking) .. probably a whole bunch of other stuff, but I don't want to give away too much, and also haven't written a detailed synopsis. Besides Vampires intentionally tend to keep their abilities secret, even from each other, because knowledge is power and vampires have a tendency to revere power. If they cant have more power of their won, they'll deprive you of yours, or misdirect you into thinking they have more than they do. They turn other humans through their bite, through some additional process I've yet to dope out. Probably to do with sharing of blood.


Werewolves are forced to turn at the full moon, but can turn any time they want at will. Changing is like an addiction, the more you do it the more you want to do it and the harder it becomes to resist the urge to do it, and the more you change, the less your body remembers how to be human. Likely linked with the more simplistic values and pleasures of the beast, it's easier to be happy as the animal than it is as a human, and it simply feels good. Werewolves no longer have human instincts at all, they have animal instincts in their place, though human level intellect and human memories allows them to continue to behave human to a casual observer with relative ease. The subconscious animal instincts do alter behavior and impulses, and thusly can be used by someone who is knowledgeable in the animal's behavior and body language. The condition is transferred by bite, but as werewolves consider humans as prey, survival is extremely unlikely; a new form of darwinian natural selection occurs wherein survival of a werewolf mauling slates one as strong enough to be a werewolf. Werewolves have phenomenal natural healing abilities, able to recover from nearly any wound if they survive the initial injury; surefire ways to kill are beheading, destruction of the heart, exsanguination, catastrophic total body damage (blown up with high explosives, for instance), and silver poisoning. Strength, speed reflexes, endurance, all physical attributes are increased from human normals, and senses augmented appropriately. Still on the fence on two-form or three-form werewolf transformation; I prefer two-form, but three-form is a hallmark of the myth.


Fae, or the fair folk, are mystically inclined beings who, unlike vampires and werewolves, tend to be completely incomprehensible. While vampires and werewolves used to be human, and so are easy for humans to understand and associate with, fair folk were never human, and have entirely different values and standards. Displays or expressions of gratitude are offensive, especially when redeeming an offered favor or gift, salt is a ward or barrier against them which can become a banishment with the right additional knowledge and preparation, and iron is toxic. You're right about the Seelie and Unseelie court, and i interpret it less as true political divisions and more along the lines of moral distinctions. Fae don't have Good and Evil, they have Seelie and Unseelie, and the main distinction is the Seelie court doesn't act without valid reason, but the Unseelie court might. Those valid reasons are, of course, related to Fae values and standards, though, so humans may mistake a Seelie for an Unseelie if they do not understand why the Fae decided their house should be under water. Unfortunately, that's as much as I've figured, must do more research.


Djinn are, as you correctly state, beings of fire, smoke and wind. I can't remember where I first heard this, but as I understand it it's a religious interpretation that comes closest to being both 'original' and 'archetypal.' .. The idea goes that just as humans were made of earth and clay, the djinn were made of other ethereal substances, fire and wind. In that respect, they're simply another form of mortal being with free will. Their natures, though give them incredible lifespans, and seemingly fantastic powers when bound to the physical mortal realm. They have their own cultures, nations, languages, families, jobs, everything humans do in their own realm, and while they can see our realm if they wish, we can't generally see theirs. Djinn bound to material earth are a rare thing, and are usually bound by a purpose, a contract, or a concept that is represented by a physical anchor. Fulfillment of the terms, or destruction of the anchor can return them to their own plane, or use of various magics or rituals can further contain them to a location or vessel (bottle, lamp, whatever).


Psychics are simply humans with an unlocked psionic potential. Seeing as I'm focusing on a subtle and fairly realistic interpretation of the world, you don't see things like spontaneous fires or bending spoons, psychic cover things like channellers, aura readers, mediums, and seers. Channellers an manipulate their spirit and the spirits of others, allowing the non physical to make contact; methods of channelling considered by the modern day as frauds are considered as such because only a real channeler can make use of them. Ouija boards, automatic writing, etcetera; some channelers can contact beings on the other side of various veils, such as the dead, the djinn or the fae. Aura readers are those who receive insight about the world around them through direct or indirect contact. Toughing an item to learn it's history, knowing one's thoughts by being in their presence, or being able to communicate with nonphysical beings locally present in the physical realm, such as a ghost haunting a location or watching over a loved one. Mediums are similar to channellers, but focused specifically on contact with spirits and do not need to use themselves, or a tool, as a focus to channel through. While a channeller might need to use automatic writing or a ouija board to communicate with a haunting spirit, a medium can just do it preternaturally; however unlike channellers they are unable to receive impressions from the physical world to divine inanimate or abstract concepts; a channeler might use dowsing rods to find a lost object, but a medium would just have to use their own eyes like a normal person, unless some ghost knows where it is and tells them. And finally, seers are those who receive flashes of insight concerning the future, and use any methods they can to try and trigger these insights. tarot may or may not work for them, palm reading may or may not work, whatever they can figure out to trigger insights into future events. The common thread of all these psychics are that it's imprecise and relatively understated.


Magicians are anyone that can use magic. Magic is, like any other skill, something that can be learned or practiced with the proper tools and knowledge. Again, the theme is subtlety, so you wont see a magician casting lightning bolts and fireballs from his hands to attack someone, but with the right invocation can coax a lightning bolt to strike from the sky where they want, or encourage a flame to start spontaneously. Lots of use of reagents and foci, mirrors, amulets, charms, some as simple as a hunk of metal knotted into a length of red string. Culturally jealous and prideful, advanced practicing mages would keep a book of shadows, a grimoire of the sum total of their knowledge, but would encrypt it heavily, with ciphers they invented themselves. As apprentices may learn from a master, a master may be able to decrypt an apprentices book of shadows a bit easier, but in general, each mage is an island of knowledge unto themselves. A key commonality to magic is that it's very fluid, and like language, you have to live it to learn it properly. Learning a foreign language out of a book does not make you as functionally fluent as walking down the streets of that country and trying to talk to people in that language. As such, magic tends to run down traditional family lines, and only jumps bloodlines when a master/apprentice relationship is formed.


This isn't very much, but it should give a general idea on my interpretations, and of course almost all of this is up for debate, suggestion, input and critique, and if/when I start to put down the lore to get this going, there will be more detail and more concrete decisions, and I'll tart it up with BBcode to be easy on the eyes and such.

 

[UniLad246]

All of these ideas are great! I think it would be even better to have less supernaturals I just didn't think you were leaning in that direction. I'm trying to think of some sort of catalytic event but there are some pretty good ones being thrown around right now.

 

[AccountNotActive]

Annnnndddddd... I may have to give up on this idea.

 

[Mowgli]

"Not that much" he said. It looks like y'all got the brainstorming on lock. My talent lies in the character, not in the plot. So I'll let you handle the framework, if I have an epiphany I'll let y'all know, but from what I can see, we've got the makings of a good roleplay already here. Just a little fine tuning and our catalyst and we're set.

 

[Joey Winchester]

@Vinny Havoc Sorry I don't want it to seem like I'm arguing with you, I just wanted to elaborate on what I was saying. I love Supernatural, so I guess I'm biased on the idea of human's being involved with the supernatural. I wasn't saying humans are the absolute authority, just in my eyes I think if that if they are involved, then it would be human nature for us to set up protection of our own, instead of solely relying on the supernatural to keep check on their own. I mean, in reality, we have a hard time stopping crime, so who's to say the supernatural won't need help with it as well? But then again I guess that's where hunters would come in to play, I just wanted to suggest a somewhat of a 'truce' between humans and the supernatural. I do like the sense of realism you want to put into the creatures though.

 

[StrayTheCat]

Since I'm working up to join a Hosted Project RP, and in another fantasy RP, and you guys have got a TON of really awesome ideas....I'll just hang back and let the sparks of genius fly while I work on other stuff OuO''


I can see also what @Joey Winchester is talking about though, I'm a fan of the series to(just either too busy or it isn't on TV QwQ) but I have had to come to terms with the sometimes closed-minded way of how the show portrays the supernatural. Not saying I don't like the show, don't understand why the characters do what they do, or that creatures(what I prefer to call something or someone of the supernatural species instead of monster) are purely innocent. Just that it can make it seem as if humans have to play clean-up for creatures and that are generally just prone to bother humans, when even according to folklore and myths isn't exactly true.


@RedLikeRoses why is that?

 

[AccountNotActive]

@Silvey Because I'm overwhelmed by all of THAT:

@Mowgli[/URL] welcome! feel free to jump in to the brainstorming!
@Joey Winchester maybe I'm just having a kneejerk reaction to the implication that humans, and only humans are the end all be all of it. I don't want any one life state to be set above another, and if its the human order, and ONLY the human order that polices and covers up the supernaturals, that implies inability of the supernaturals to govern themselves.


One of the motifs I like to go for is a certain acknowledgement that these monsters are still beings. They can still think for themselves, they're still people. Monsters, but also people. Vampires don't go around slaughtering indiscriminately of their own volition for a few reasons. It attracts unwanted negative attention, piles of corpses lower property values and tourism, and there's no need to kill a human for their blood when, if left alive, they'll ever so kindly make more blood!


In an equal status world a lot of the monsters' natures would be self policed just by necessity, because if they didn't they'd end up dead.


The closest thing I would equate with what you're describing would be the subculture of monster hunters. People who, more than likely, cew up in a family who's trade is hunting supernatural creatures. Most of these will be long standing families that have done it for generations, passing on knowledge and skills to children and so on, and there'd be a very loose community of such hunters, but it wouldn't be like any sort of government or police force. Basically hitmen for hire that put down supernaturals causing problems. Because it's the ones causing problems that get hits put out on them, generally.


Rogue werewolves killing livestock or people, a vagrant vampire who does kill his prey, a Djinn of fire burning down houses for kicks (because Djinn have lunatics just as humans do)... Which, again, is why werewolf packs would tightly control their territory, keep rogues out, keep tabs on it's members and keep them away from livestock and people on the full moon, and why vampire families would cultivate niche markets like style and fashion, prey upon the trendy crowds and nightlife, only take a little from each human, and make the experience as pleasant as possible, and keep vagrant vampires away. To keep any of their respective groups from attracting the attention of a hunter.


As for monsters of True Evil, they tend to be extremely rare due to their very natures and the difficulties in achieving power as such. Skinwalkers are among those things that may kill for fun, but the ritual to become a skinwalker is so horrific few would undergo it, and similarly with windigoes. And those that don't learn subtlety, don't learn to hide, or keep their messes ow key, those who don't know how to say 'that's enough killing for one day' in effect would end up on hunters' hit lists very quickly.


@Hexagonal You do seem to be on the same page as me, as for what i like about lore and how to play with it. Again, nail on the head as that's kind of what I'm going for, taking pieces of lore, and excluding others under the assumption that 'the fairy tales got it wrong. I'm actually impressed that you know that much about both the fair folk and the djinn, that's mostly what my knowledge covers, but to my standard's it's still 'sorely lacking' since I don't know the details. But in effect, you're about right.


Just out of interest, while we're on the subject, here's some of my interpretations.


Vampires do need blood, but not much; a single medical vial's worth can sustain them, but more is needed if they expect to use advanced abilities or regenerate extreme damage quickly. They can be killed by being staked (destroying the heart by impalement with an implement of life; wood is popular) or by exposure to sunlight, and have a plethora of other minor weaknesses relating to aversions and magical or spiritual aspects (crosses, holy water, garlic, whatever; assumptions that judeo-christian faiths adopted many of these things due to their effectiveness against the undead, not that they work because of the religious God.) .. They're para naturally strong and fast, have a hypnotic gaze requiring direct eye contact, and can distort how reflected light behaves if they wish (failing to reflect in mirrors, appearing distorted on camera, seeming to vanish in shadows or move instantaneously when no one's looking) .. probably a whole bunch of other stuff, but I don't want to give away too much, and also haven't written a detailed synopsis. Besides Vampires intentionally tend to keep their abilities secret, even from each other, because knowledge is power and vampires have a tendency to revere power. If they cant have more power of their won, they'll deprive you of yours, or misdirect you into thinking they have more than they do. They turn other humans through their bite, through some additional process I've yet to dope out. Probably to do with sharing of blood.


Werewolves are forced to turn at the full moon, but can turn any time they want at will. Changing is like an addiction, the more you do it the more you want to do it and the harder it becomes to resist the urge to do it, and the more you change, the less your body remembers how to be human. Likely linked with the more simplistic values and pleasures of the beast, it's easier to be happy as the animal than it is as a human, and it simply feels good. Werewolves no longer have human instincts at all, they have animal instincts in their place, though human level intellect and human memories allows them to continue to behave human to a casual observer with relative ease. The subconscious animal instincts do alter behavior and impulses, and thusly can be used by someone who is knowledgeable in the animal's behavior and body language. The condition is transferred by bite, but as werewolves consider humans as prey, survival is extremely unlikely; a new form of darwinian natural selection occurs wherein survival of a werewolf mauling slates one as strong enough to be a werewolf. Werewolves have phenomenal natural healing abilities, able to recover from nearly any wound if they survive the initial injury; surefire ways to kill are beheading, destruction of the heart, exsanguination, catastrophic total body damage (blown up with high explosives, for instance), and silver poisoning. Strength, speed reflexes, endurance, all physical attributes are increased from human normals, and senses augmented appropriately. Still on the fence on two-form or three-form werewolf transformation; I prefer two-form, but three-form is a hallmark of the myth.


Fae, or the fair folk, are mystically inclined beings who, unlike vampires and werewolves, tend to be completely incomprehensible. While vampires and werewolves used to be human, and so are easy for humans to understand and associate with, fair folk were never human, and have entirely different values and standards. Displays or expressions of gratitude are offensive, especially when redeeming an offered favor or gift, salt is a ward or barrier against them which can become a banishment with the right additional knowledge and preparation, and iron is toxic. You're right about the Seelie and Unseelie court, and i interpret it less as true political divisions and more along the lines of moral distinctions. Fae don't have Good and Evil, they have Seelie and Unseelie, and the main distinction is the Seelie court doesn't act without valid reason, but the Unseelie court might. Those valid reasons are, of course, related to Fae values and standards, though, so humans may mistake a Seelie for an Unseelie if they do not understand why the Fae decided their house should be under water. Unfortunately, that's as much as I've figured, must do more research.


Djinn are, as you correctly state, beings of fire, smoke and wind. I can't remember where I first heard this, but as I understand it it's a religious interpretation that comes closest to being both 'original' and 'archetypal.' .. The idea goes that just as humans were made of earth and clay, the djinn were made of other ethereal substances, fire and wind. In that respect, they're simply another form of mortal being with free will. Their natures, though give them incredible lifespans, and seemingly fantastic powers when bound to the physical mortal realm. They have their own cultures, nations, languages, families, jobs, everything humans do in their own realm, and while they can see our realm if they wish, we can't generally see theirs. Djinn bound to material earth are a rare thing, and are usually bound by a purpose, a contract, or a concept that is represented by a physical anchor. Fulfillment of the terms, or destruction of the anchor can return them to their own plane, or use of various magics or rituals can further contain them to a location or vessel (bottle, lamp, whatever).


Psychics are simply humans with an unlocked psionic potential. Seeing as I'm focusing on a subtle and fairly realistic interpretation of the world, you don't see things like spontaneous fires or bending spoons, psychic cover things like channellers, aura readers, mediums, and seers. Channellers an manipulate their spirit and the spirits of others, allowing the non physical to make contact; methods of channelling considered by the modern day as frauds are considered as such because only a real channeler can make use of them. Ouija boards, automatic writing, etcetera; some channelers can contact beings on the other side of various veils, such as the dead, the djinn or the fae. Aura readers are those who receive insight about the world around them through direct or indirect contact. Toughing an item to learn it's history, knowing one's thoughts by being in their presence, or being able to communicate with nonphysical beings locally present in the physical realm, such as a ghost haunting a location or watching over a loved one. Mediums are similar to channellers, but focused specifically on contact with spirits and do not need to use themselves, or a tool, as a focus to channel through. While a channeller might need to use automatic writing or a ouija board to communicate with a haunting spirit, a medium can just do it preternaturally; however unlike channellers they are unable to receive impressions from the physical world to divine inanimate or abstract concepts; a channeler might use dowsing rods to find a lost object, but a medium would just have to use their own eyes like a normal person, unless some ghost knows where it is and tells them. And finally, seers are those who receive flashes of insight concerning the future, and use any methods they can to try and trigger these insights. tarot may or may not work for them, palm reading may or may not work, whatever they can figure out to trigger insights into future events. The common thread of all these psychics are that it's imprecise and relatively understated.


Magicians are anyone that can use magic. Magic is, like any other skill, something that can be learned or practiced with the proper tools and knowledge. Again, the theme is subtlety, so you wont see a magician casting lightning bolts and fireballs from his hands to attack someone, but with the right invocation can coax a lightning bolt to strike from the sky where they want, or encourage a flame to start spontaneously. Lots of use of reagents and foci, mirrors, amulets, charms, some as simple as a hunk of metal knotted into a length of red string. Culturally jealous and prideful, advanced practicing mages would keep a book of shadows, a grimoire of the sum total of their knowledge, but would encrypt it heavily, with ciphers they invented themselves. As apprentices may learn from a master, a master may be able to decrypt an apprentices book of shadows a bit easier, but in general, each mage is an island of knowledge unto themselves. A key commonality to magic is that it's very fluid, and like language, you have to live it to learn it properly. Learning a foreign language out of a book does not make you as functionally fluent as walking down the streets of that country and trying to talk to people in that language. As such, magic tends to run down traditional family lines, and only jumps bloodlines when a master/apprentice relationship is formed.


This isn't very much, but it should give a general idea on my interpretations, and of course almost all of this is up for debate, suggestion, input and critique, and if/when I start to put down the lore to get this going, there will be more detail and more concrete decisions, and I'll tart it up with BBcode to be easy on the eyes and such.

Anyhoo, this seems WAY to detailed for my capabilities anyway. I'd also like to note that lots and lots of words and paragraphs + my laziness doesn't quite work out well. Sorry @Vinny Havoc I promise I'll try to join a roleplay of yours one day.

 

[AccountNotActive]

@Vinny Havoc[/URL] Sorry I don't want it to seem like I'm arguing with you, I just wanted to elaborate on what I was saying. I love Supernatural, so I guess I'm biased on the idea of human's being involved with the supernatural. I wasn't saying humans are the absolute authority, just in my eyes I think if that if they are involved, then it would be human nature for us to set up protection of our own, instead of solely relying on the supernatural to keep check on their own. I mean, in reality, we have a hard time stopping crime, so who's to say the supernatural won't need help with it as well? But then again I guess that's where hunters would come in to play, I just wanted to suggest a somewhat of a 'truce' between humans and the supernatural. I do like the sense of realism you want to put into the creatures though.

I KNEW YOUR PROFILE PICTURE AND LAST NAME WAS FAMILIAR! (I'm not a big fan of supernatural, though.)

 

[Joey Winchester]

@RedLikeRoses Even though it's hard for me to believe, the show isn't for everyone haha I, however, have an unhealthy obsession with Supernatural! But back to the topic at hand! I guess human involvement is unavoidable, so I guess it just comes down that involvement is going to be.

 

[AccountNotActive]

@RedLikeRoses[/URL] Even though it's hard for me to believe, the show isn't for everyone haha I, however, have an unhealthy obsession with Supernatural! But back to the topic at hand! I guess human involvement is unavoidable, so I guess it just comes down that involvement is going to be.

(I stopped watching after the episode with the dolls.. Actually that was the only episode I saw and I was like, "NOPE!")

 

[Joey Winchester]

(I stopped watching after the episode with the dolls.. Actually that was the only episode I saw and I was like, "NOPE!")

That's funny!

 

[Vinny Havoc]

I'm not against human involvement, in fact I encourage it, but just like supernatural involvement with society is very small scale, those humans who are aware and involved with the supernatural would be small scale. There wouldnt be a "paranatural department" in the portland PD for instance, with detectives that investigate werewolf maulings. That's all I was getting at.


As for ratio, with so few people i would be leaning towards LESS supernaturals, but since my original idea involved five main categories (six if you divide the two empowered human types up) I already had ideas rattling around in my head. At this point, its all just extraneous background, and most of it probably wont come into play.


That being said... @RedLikeRoses PLEASE do not be intimidated; I know I'm extremely verbose, but I'm also extremely relaxed and accepting. CHances are, the vast majority of that will never come into play at all, and even less will affect you directly, i've just always found it to be a good policy to put everything down and cover all my bases, JUST IN CASE a situation comes up where it applies. If you pick werewolf, so long as you can act wolfish i'll most likely accept it.


This isn't a huge exam where you must know everything. In fact, while i was out today, i was thinking about writing up multiple synopses intended to be hidden behind accordion buttons or something, so you only read what's relevant to you. If you pick werewolf, as a werewolf, you probably wouldn't know much more about vampires than what you've seen on TV and heard of in folk tales, so you wouldn't even read the detailed vampire information screen, and i would discourage you from doing so because it'll make for a much more genuine surprise when you learn the truth through role play! EXPLORATION! ADVENTURE! EXCELSIOR!

 

[Joey Winchester]

So now do we call dib's on what we want to be?

 

[Shireling]

This is a great idea. I've been looking for something akin to The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Would it be too late for me to be involved with this?

 

[Vinny Havoc]

oh, and @Joey Winchester as for the truce thing, again, it isn't as if they're at war with one another, generally the different factions leave each other be so long as they don't get in one another's way. a hunter can call a werewolf friend, if he knows the wolf to be good and to only hunt deer on the full moon, but it would likely always be punctuated with the standing warning 'don't make me have to come after you' ... truces and tensions would flare up and die out in local scale just as any community tensions might shift.

 

[Vinny Havoc]

@Shireling actually, it's good timing. we haven't gotten started, this is still kicking the idea ball around.


as for what now, now a plot direction and catalyst should be tossed about, and then I can get started writing the background lore! I can bash out lore pretty quickly too, when I wanna, so that won't be much of a worry. My main concern is getting a plot direction, so it doesnt just meander around aimlessly and putter out. At least something to start the ball rolling.