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 Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:12 pm
---------- INTRO ----------
One generation ago, Jabari Malik swept through the Southern Pass and united --through force or alliance-- the Unaligned Emirates. For a time Agaron was uneasy with its new, powerful neighbor, but the country was strong under the old King, and Jabari Malik showed no interest in further expansion. And, for a time, there was peace.
The King of Agaron died, and passed the crown on to his eldest son. However, the new King suffered a severe hunting accident, and his health was never fully recovered. As the years passed, Agaron was weakened by dissent and greed within the nobles, and unrest among the commoners. In an attempt to consolidate his fading power, the King of Agaron ceased to pay his borders the attention they deserved, and banditry --sometimes sanctioned by the very lords who ruled those outer lands-- increased exponentially. Relations between Agaron and its neighbors grew strained.
And three years ago, Azhar Malik, son of Jabari Malik and at the time ruler of the Malik Empire for only two years, sent his soldiers across Agaron's southeastern border.
Three weeks ago, the capital of Agaron surrendered. The Malik armies washed relentlessly over the northern half of the kingdom, accepting surrenders from the more intelligent lords, and forcing them from the more prideful ones. And as Egea warily watched Azhar Malik approach their own lands, they received a surprising message from the southern warlord:
The Malik Emperor has expressed an interest in meeting the Egean King's daughters, and forming an alliance.
---------- RULES ----------
So. Yes. This is an arranged marriage roleplay, of sorts. It is, however, not a romance: I warn you now, Azhar Malik has high expectations, the arrogance due his rank and station, and does not tolerate stupidity. You will probably hate him when you first meet him. This is a political roleplay, not a place for privileged teenagers to whine about the woes of being forced into loveless relationships. These three things will get you kicked out of the roleplay (after being laughed at by Azhar Malik):
-----> Playing immature characters. If your character is not acting sufficiently mature, I will use an NPC advisor from your country to warn you to start acting like the royalty you are. If you disappoint me again, that advisor will 'send you home'. Immaturity includes being all obviously angsty or rebellious --there is no place for whiny teenagers here.
-----> Playing unbelievable characters. If you come from a country emphasizing modesty, I don't want to see you flirting shamelessly. If you come from a warlike, proud country, I don't want to see you all shy and conciliatory. Your cultures will shape you --they must, to some degree, be reflected in you. Even more important, however, is that you must be able to lead a country of people adhering to these ideas and values. Even if you don't agree with your culture, your countrymen expect you to uphold their beliefs; diverting obviously from the mainstream will seriously destabilize your throne and invite rebellion. As an heir to a throne, you have been trained from birth to lead. Don't do anything so obviously stupid.
-----> Be literate, committed, etc. I don't think I need to go into great detail with these : )
HOW TO JOIN:
-----> Read through all the country and character posts. Yes, it's a lot, but (hopefully) the roleplay itself will be much longer. You get out of something what you put in, yes?
-----> Fill out a character form, and PM it to me, along with links to a few roleplays you have participated in (Yes, links to the entire roleplay, not just a post or two. Extra points if you're using the character you want to use here).
-----> If you have any questions, or an idea that seems outside of what I've outlined here, or you want to change one of the existing countries, or even make up one yourself...PM me! Everything I've said here are more or less guidelines; a roleplay is a joint effort, and I'd love to hear your input :3
Currently, I require at least one Egean princess to get things started. After that, I am open to having one or two more Egean princesses, Malik generals, and Agaron nobles floating around; there's a lot that can be going on here. I am going to try to keep things gender-balanced, so you may be wait-listed until someone submits another character of the opposite gender.
All characters must be older than 17; if you're playing a general or someone else who commands a lot of political clout, I may require your character to be older than early twenties.
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:15 pm
---------- WORLD ----------
Name: Malik Empire
Colors: Pale Blue and Black
Geography: Occupies the tropics to the south of Agaron and the arid east foothills of the mountains, and controls the South Pass. As of late, also encompasses Agaron.
Culture: Based loosely off of Arabic culture. Purity and modesty is prized in women, and although under law --and frequently in the nobility-- they have almost equal rights with men, in practice and among the lower classes they have a subservient status. Men are technically allowed to have as many wives as they can reasonably support, and if women are relegated to second class citizens, they are also fiercely protected. Honor, reputation, duty, and loyalty are key values of their culture. Due to their warlike beginnings, the country has some imperialistic tendencies.
Political System: Dictatorship, with the supreme ruler given title of 'Emperor'. The Empire itself is further broken down into Emirates, which are assigned by the Emperor.
Religion: The official religion of the Malik Empire is the worship of a Sun God and Water Goddess duo, although the Emperor honestly doesn't much give a damn who you worship so long as you pay your taxes on time and don't cause trouble.
People: Maliks are dark-skinned with dark, straight hair, typically with prominent noses and deep-set eyes. The women tend to be curvy, and the men stocky --slenderness is not an attractive attribute. The traditional clothing consists of salwar kameez/churidar for both genders, and saris for the women.
Known For: Glass from the west, exotic (but not necessarily plentiful) fruits, foods, and woods from the tropics, and metal and stone from the mountains. Also known for their craftsmenship of said wood and stone.
Ruling Family: Azhar Malik is the only surviving son of Jabari Malik --his three brothers, including one older one, perished from 'accident' or 'illness' during his childhood. He has two half-sisters.
He also has two wives: Damali is the daughter of a powerful Emirate, and mother to his six-year-old son Ismail. Farah is rumored to be a love-match, as she is the fourth daughter of a minor Emirate; she is mother to his four-year-old daughter Nedal.
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Name: Kingdom of Agaron
Colors: Purple and Red
Geography: Occupies the plains surrounding the Arsath river, and some of the foothills to the east. The floodplains are fertile farmland; beyond the reach of the river's annual flooding the plains turn dry and arid, not quite desert-like. The flat land has very few natural defenses.
Culture: Agaron is very well described by the maxim of 'If you've got it, flaunt it'. The people of Agaron tend to be expressive, emotional people with a lot of 'joie de vivre'. They do, however, practice a form of slavery, in which a person may be sold into servitude for a maximum of seven years. Despite this, women in all levels of society enjoy a certain equality with men in property ownership and personal rights, although women are still banned from the military. In terms of inheritance, it is not uncommon for the law to ignore gender entirely.
Political System: Feudal; the Crown of Agaron is passed down to the oldest heir of any gender. There is a complicated hierarchy of nobility.
Religion: The official religion of Agaron worships a pantheon of deities similar to the ancient Greeks or Egyptians.
People: The people of Agaron vary greatly, as there has been much mingling with their two neighbors. However, generally they are pale-skinned, with hair ranging from black to light brown; reddish colors and blonde are highly unusual. The typical clothing is similar to ancient Greek and Egyptian styles.
Known For: Agaron exports a great deal of the staple foods their plains produce. The country is also well known for its fabrics, dyes, and lace. Since wood and stone are scarce, ceramics and brick are common building materials, and cushions are often used in place of chairs, with tables low to the ground, if they are used at all.
Ruling Family: The immediate heirs --both men and women-- were killed in the invasion of Agaron. There are several cousins to the now-deceased royal line, but it is not clear who would be next in line for the throne.
Azhar Malik is currently deliberating on how to best integrate the old nobility into his Empire.
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Name: Kingdom of Egea
Colors: Green and White.
Geography: Egea occupies the hills to the north of the plains. It is a fairly temperate zone, not especially flat but not mountainous either, and mostly forests. In the winter temperatures get cold enough for it to snow, and the summers can be humid.
Culture: Typical medieval European kingdom, although noble women enjoy greater equality than those of the common class. Noble women may inherit and hold a title and lands, and although this raises some eyebrows, they are capable of wielding political power on their own. The Crown, however, passes to the oldest male heir, unless there are none, in which case the new Queen is encouraged to marry ASAP, in order to appease the more backwards folk.
Political System: Fuedalism.
Religion: Egeans worship a single God in a religion similar to Christianity, because dammit, I'm running out of ideas here.
People: Egeans look very similar to the people of Agaron, except that they tend to be thinner, and blonde and red hair is more common, and dark browns and blacks are almost unheard of. Style of dress is medieval european; tunics, hose, etc for the men, and dresses with petticoats for the women.
Known For: Livestock, especially horses. The hilly countryside isn't ideal for farming, but cattle and horses have no problem with the terrain whatsoever. Also known for their leatherworking, the quality of their wool, and they export some wood as well. They have their own metal and mineral mines, but they don't have the resources that Malik does.
Ruling Family: The King of Egea died two years ago under suspicious circumstances; even more strange, but his wife the Queen remarried scandalously soon thereafter, to a minor noble. This has caused some tension between the royal family and the aristocracy.
The current heir is Princess Buttercup, twenty-five years old. She has several sisters, but no brothers, and has decidedly avoided any talk of arranging a marriage for her.
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:19 pm
---------- PEOPLE ---------- [b]Name: [/b]...
[b]Position: [/b]This is also where you put their country.
[b]Appearance: [/b]Pictures are welcome, but please put them as links. Even if you have a picture, please give me at least three sentances of textual description. Age goes here as well.
[b]Personality: [/b]Keep it brief, around three to six sentances.
[b]Gossip: [/b]This could perhaps also be titled 'history'; basically, what rumors/basic knowledge circulate your character? Did they have a whirlwind affair? Did their parents die young? Are they an unbeatable archer? What do all the other characters already know about yours?
[b]Other: [/b]...
[b]Creator: [/b]You. Name: Azhar Malik
Position: Emperor of the Malik Empire
Appearance: Standing at an average height, Azhar is built along the stocky, strong lines of his people. His skin is the color of coffee, and his black hair is kept cropped cropped short. He has a short, neatly trimmed beard and mustache. He is twenty-eight.
Roughly based on this picture; has darker skin and eyes.
Personality: Arrogant, demanding, and intelligent, Azhar can be quite frustrating when you first meet him. He is hard to impress and has little patience for people's pettiness or the small concerns of life, so he often comes across as dismissive. He makes a game out of making uncomfortable or teasing remarks to get a reaction from people. Despite this, he takes his guardianship of his empire and its people very seriously, and likes children because of all the people in his life, they generally have very little guile and aren't trying to play mind-games with him.
Gossip: *see Ruling Family section of the Malik Empire, or for your convenience, it's also here*
Azhar Malik is the only surviving son of Jabari Malik --his three brothers, including one older one, perished from 'accident' or 'illness' during his childhood. He has two half-sisters.
He also has two wives: Damali is the daughter of a powerful Emirate, and mother to his six-year-old son Ismail. Farah is rumored to be a love-match, as she is the fourth daughter of a minor Emirate; she is mother to his four-year-old daughter Nedal.
Azhar became Emperor five years ago, and began the invasion of Agaron three years ago.
Creator: Faerystrangeme
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Name: Honeydew Buttercup
Position: Egean princess
Appearance: Honeydew is the oldest Egean princess at the age of twenty-five. She enjoys dressing in plain and yet elegant clothes since she must attend to public affairs. Even though she in slender and skinny in form, she is also the plumpest sister in the entire mix.
Personality: Though kind and polite, she tends to be strong-willed and frank. However, just to treat people equally is the only reason why she is this way. She isn't one of the God-fearing people the townsfolk think she is, but she must be careful about her delegations and her movements since they believe she believes as they do. She is fiercely independent, and has put off all attempts of her advisers and peers to set her up in a marriage.
Gossip: She was born to be a leader, and has the willpower and confidence to be a good one. She enjoys long walks in the forest under the moon light and riding upon the backs of horses, often slipping her guards, much to everyone's dismay. For this she has become a rather skilled rider. She also carries a small knife with her -normally in her bosom to cut apples and ropes.
People have called her by many different names, but the most Popular seems to be Princess Dew.
Creator: Roseshavethorns
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:20 pm
---------- ADMINISTRATIVIA ----------
TBD.
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:21 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:23 pm
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