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mermods ([personal profile] mermods) wrote2019-03-14 04:55 pm
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FAQ
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Welcome to Mare Nostrum, a panfandom, sex-friendly jamjar based in the underwater city of Mercadis. Your character has been brought to this city by choice or by conscription to aid in the reconstruction of a demolished city. Civil war has ravaged the seas and left the once great kingdom of Atlantis shattered and scattered. Now there is a chance to rebuild, but only with your help.



I. SETTING



II. CHARACTERS



III. ACTIVITY



Where is Mercadis?
It's unknown. For all intents and purposes, the ocean appears tropical and warm. All the sea flora and fauna that your character will encounter appears to be from Earth. There might be a magical twist here or there, but for the purposes of playing in the environment, anything from Earth, in any ecological biome, is fair game.


Can my character leave Mercadis?
Not exactly. There is no hard boundary to the city. There is no wall or anything similar to keep them within the grounds. In fact, exploration is encouraged but only in groups and by permission of the city's governor (see below). Should your character try to escape, as they swim farther and farther out from the city limits, they will encounter an increasingly strong current. Eventually, it will overpower them and fling them back to the middle of the city. How do other creatures get through this current? Who knows. They seem to have no trouble traversing the space; meanwhile, your character's tail will not do the trick.


Are there other merpeople around?
Yes, there are several NPC merfolk that have been given the same mission as you. Nearly all hail from Atlantica, the capital of Atlantis. A few were born and raised in Mercadis. On the whole, the other merpeople are helpful, cheerful and optimistic about their ability to make the city whole again. They will answer questions as to what to eat, what to wear, and how to get by. Their knowledge of the world above the sea is severely limited. They know it exists; they know that humans exist. But they avoid humans as much as possible. At best, their understanding of humans is a mishmash of facts; at worst, it's an accumulation of outlandish tales fueled by fear and superstition. The merfolk understand that the PCs in the city were once human, but they have no interest in expanding their knowledge of human doings.


What's contact with the capital like?
Contact with the capital is minimal and controlled by the local governor. Marino is a merman on the older, paunchier side and considers this post to be the highest honor. He guards his contact with the capital because he wants to seem important, not because he wants to keep anyone in the dark necessarily. He will make periodic announcements when news from the capital comes through. He will do anything to make sure that things go swimmingly.


Explain the fish hierarchy.
Mammals are sentient and are seen as equals to the merfolk. Sharks and moray eels are also sentient, but mean. Manta rays and octopus are seen as the old, wise ones of the sea; both are founts of knowledge when it comes to ancient magics, but they have to like you to tell their stories. Seahorses are kept as pets. Jelly fish are just annoying. All other fish fall within the realm of food, not friends.


What are our characters supposed to eat?
For the most part, the merfolk of Atlantis are vegetarian. They farm the bounty of the sea and let kelp forests grow freely. However, they also partake in lesser fish or crustaceans. It's all you can eat sushi buffet. Because they are now half fish, vampires and any other creatures that feed on blood will be able to feed on the blood of other sea creatures to maintain their undeadliness. The same can be said for any characters that consume the life force of other creatures or similar.


Now you said "choice or conscription"...
If your character would willingly volunteer, then they will a missive, stamped with a wax seal of a triton, asking them for aid. Signing their name on the parchment instantly transports them to Mercadis.

If your character would not willingly volunteer, but you still think that they would be a good fit for the game, then they encounter a mysterious stranger. They meet them on the street, in a bar, in some place innocuous. The person floats the idea of mermaids to them. Perhaps your character laughs it off, or perhaps they take interest. But by the end of the night, they go to sleep dreaming of merfolk and wake up as one of them.


Also, you say this is a sex-friendly game...
This is not a smut game and there will be no smut AC. There may be events in the future that encourage characters to have sex with each other, however sex will never be required. This is an adult game with adult characters and adult things can happen. The anatomical details of this are up to you to decide and it is your decision whether you want to engage in that variant of smut if you like. This is a no judgment zone in that respect. (It is worth noting, too, that there might be a work around to the mer-portion of the sex problem in the future.)


So give us details about the fins and our character's new bodies.
Entirely up to you! We would like you to stay with the common motif of fish, as opposed to octopus or shark or whatever other sea creature you can think of. Be inspired by Disney, however, and choose whatever color shade you like. Clothing for the top half of your character's body can be whatever is readily available. Go for that undoubtedly comfortable clam shell bra look or keep whatever shirt they arrived with. The native merfolk can teach them how to weave sea grass shirts, too. Characters will not have gills but will breathe by means of magic; this means they are able to breathe standard air as well as through water.


How do character communicate/is there a network?
At arrival, characters are given a clam shell of a random color. Inside are four pearls. Two pearls control the span of the message: private or public. Two pearls control the type of message: voice or voice/image. When a character receives a message, public or private, their claim shell will shake gently and release bubbles to let them know a message is coming. There is no ability to text with these communication devices.


Do I need to create a background for my character? Is this a jamjar or an AU game?
This is a jamjar game. Your character is ported from their home universe straight into the seas of Atlantis. There is no need to create an underwater backstory for your character.


What kind of characters are allowed in Mare Nostrum?
Characters from any medium are permitted in the game. Original characters are permitted in the game. All characters must be over the age of 18.

The following are not permitted in game:
*CRAU
*Fandom OCs
*Malleable Protags


Are there cast caps? Game cap?
At this time, there is a cap of 50 characters in the game. Every player is allowed two characters maximum. You can only apply for one character per application period.

There is a cast cap of 5 characters per canon. Cinematic casts are different from comic casts. Television casts are separate from film casts. I.E., MCU is separate from Marvel Comics and Marvel Netflix is separate from MCU.


My character's canon just came out. How long do I have to wait to apply?
A minimum of a week must have passed between the premiere of a movie, debut of written material, or release of a video game before you may apply with that character. At least one season/series of a television show must be completed before you may apply with one of these characters.

Characters must come from a single canon. Do not mix aspects of a comic book, for example, with those from a movie in your application. If you choose to supplement your characterization later on with minor details, that's acceptable. However, your application will be judged on its accurate depiction of a character from one form of media.


My character is a vampire/robot/otherwise not human.
Alien and other species of merfolk are accepted here. There is no need to make your character human before turning them into a merperson, unless you would like to exercise this option. Robots, however, will need to become organic before they are turned into merfolk. Basically, your character must be made of some kind of flesh to become a merperson.


My character is dead at the time of their arrival.
Your character will find themself alive again through the magic of the sea. They will remember a dream of mermaids, or perhaps it was something that happened before they died. It's up to you. But they will not be entirely surprised to find themselves in the land of merfolk.


Can characters die in the game?
Yes. Death is permanent in the game. There is no chance for resurrection.

If you would like to kill your character, please see the Death page and fill out the appropriate form. Once the mods have given their permission, you may kill your character at any time.

A dead character may be applied for in the future by a different player with no memory of their time in Mercadis.


What about special powers? Magic?
Your character may keep any special abilities, provided they are not game breaking. This means nothing that will allow them to rebuild the entire city in a snap, allow them to escape, or give them the ability to change their form. Nerfing will be done on a case by case basis. You will have to detail your character's abilities in the applications and, if you are accepted, the mods will address any questions you might have in their acceptance response.


My character doesn't speak English.
That's fine. They'll all be speaking Mermish. They won't notice this, of course. It will sound to their ears as though they're speaking in their own language. But, at this time, any attempts to speak in an alternate language will result in the same Mermish understood by all. The only way to write is to inscribe words into rock. This too will come out at the runes of the Mermish language, but be understood.


What can my character bring with them?
Your character's initial inventory is limited to the items that they have directly on their body at the time of departure. This includes clothing, jewelry, glasses or prosthetics. This does not include weapons, backpacks or purses, or anything that they might have in their pockets.


Can my character ever regain an item they lost from home?
Once ever three months, you may apply to the mods to ask for one item of significance to your character from home. This item must be meaningful to the character, not simply something that would make life easier for them in Mercadis. Please see the Item Post to fill out the requisite form. Once you've received approval from the mods, you may have the item appear anywhere within the realm of Mercadis.


How do canon updates work?
Once every three months, you may apply to the mods for permission to update your character's canon memories. Please see the Canon Updates page to fill out the requisite form. Once you have received permission from the mods, you may update your character at any time you like. The character will fall into unconsciousness for approximately 24 hours and awaken with new memories.


How do player plots work?
Player plots should be brought to the mods via PM before they are set into motion. Mods will attempt to review the request as quickly as possible and give feedback. We encourage players to come up with their own ideas about how to play in the game.


AC
AC requires a total of ten comments over a maximum of two threads. Comments may be network or log. Each comment must be substantial. We leave this purposefully vague because we do not want anyone to have to count individual words in a comment. Suffice to say, if your comment is a single word or an icon reaction, it doesn't count towards the AC requirements.

AC works on a self-reporting system. The AC post will be open all month long, and it is your responsibility as a player to comment in a timely manner. There will be reminders, however it is not the mods responsibility to see that your AC is turned in. You have all month until the last day of the month at Midnight EST to report your activity.

Those who do not comment at all to the Activity Check post by this time will be swept from the game.


Strikes
Providing less than ten comments but more than five comments will result in a strike. To wipe the strike from your record, the next month you must produce fifteen comments. If you have three strikes on your record at any given time, you will be swept from the game.


Warnings
Providing less than five comments but still checking in to the AC post will result in a warning. To wipe the warning from your record, the next month you must produce twenty comments. If you have two warnings on your record at any given time, you will be swept from the game.


Hiatus
Please see the Hiatus page to notify the mods of your hiatus.

A full hiatus constitutes a time period of 10 days or more. Hiatuses may be taken once every three months, outside of special circumstances. (Contact the mods privately. You do not need to give personal detail to your situation, but we will need to discuss activity with you.)

Because the AC is so low, if you do need to take a hiatus, there will be no AC requirements for the entire month of the hiatus. You will still need to check in on the AC post. This can be done by you or by a proxy.

During a hiatus, you may handwave your character's activities or allow them to fall into a coma for the length of the hiatus. Nothing special will come from this coma. The character will simply awake a little groggy and without memory of what has passed.


Drops
Drops must be reported to the Drops Page. If you do not utilize the drops page, then your character will be swept from the game.


Sweeps
If you as a player are swept entirely from the game, then you are not allowed to app again until the period after next. (For example, if you are swept at the end of January/beginning of February, you must wait until March to app again.) Two sweeps from the game and you will not be able to apply again.
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