FAQ:
How big is Thornmouth?
It is a respectfully sized city of 20,000 and ever growing! It starts at the bottom with the docks and stretches up into tall hills cupping the bay where the rich make their homes, the castle grounds nestled at the base of their eastern side. In between the docks and highest hills are endless stairs and slopes to climb, from the lows of Gryphon’s Grin to the heights of The Crescent District, the deep and sprawling markets and residential buildings separating them by miles. The flatlands behind the hills of the city are where one finds the fields of the agricultural district. If one goes west from the gate in Gryphon’s Grin they will find the forest district, trees and mushrooms cutting off the low hills near the coast. If one goes northeast across the bridge they will find the main stables and merchant camps leading out into the steppes towards the desert. There is no northern gate due to the hills largely making for a natural wall with some infrastructure connected to the aqueducts mixed in, so one must take one of the other two and go around.
The kingdom on whole is about the size of the state of Kentucky or the continent of Iceland, with a rough population of 2.6 million:
There are numerous towns and villages not shown on this map scattered around the region. The western border of the sundering runs roughly 102 miles!
What are the neighboring regions?
This messy map is a placeholder meant to give you a rough idea of neighboring regions and the borders of the kingdom - you can see how relatively small Thornmouth is in comparison to others! It’s not meant to show all proper names, locations, etc.
Can my character be a noble?
In general we ask that nobles be local characters tailored specifically for the setting.
The local nobility gained their titles through the political and financial growth of families over generations. While a great deed to the kingdom could get such a thing bestowed upon an individual separately, such a thing is incredibly rare. A foreign noble from another kingdom would be recognized and welcomed as such, but not one from another realm entirely.
How does a character gain citizenship?
( answer pulled from Law and Order )
- an immigrant is considered a citizen under the law, but not a naturalized one until a year has passed in residency or property is bought (aka becoming a tax payer)
- a full citizenship can be fast-tracked by marriage to an already established resident, serving in the guard for three months, or certain guild memberships
Where can my character exchange their money?
The Trade and Immigration office, who offer this alongside processing, or a bank! While plenty of merchants will accept foreign currency in the form of gold, silver, or even precious gems it’s much easier to get by with shards. You can find more on the economy here.
How does my character buy land, open a business, get a hunting license, or a license to hunt monsters and bounties?
They must go to the appropriate office and apply for such! Those looking to hunt would go to the Hunter’s Guild and possibly in turn the Adventurer’s Guild if they wanted to hunt monsters on top of game animals. A member of the Adventurer’s Guild can hunt both beasts and bounties!
An individual looking to rent a building would talk directly to the owner. An individual looking to buy would do the same, but would make the exchanging of deeds official via a signed contract at the Trader’s Guild (where property for sale is advertised).
A merchant of any kind would seek out the Trader’s Guild to apply for a license to operate.
We generally encourage players to just say these things happened, as they do not need to be formally applied for or played out! This is just to let you know what tedious business your character may have had to go through.
What happens to celestials here? Are they allowed?
Quote:
While deities and other powerful beings have been known to visit Anexus, this plane seems to cut celestials and those who follow them off from their power sources (or at least dampen the connection). It is a good hiding place if one that comes with the cost of less divinity. While some worship the moon Aetheros as an imprisoned being akin to a god and many races have their own deities, none are known to have ever manifested or laid claim to the planet. It seems the magic permeating Anexus is a chaotic force of nature unto itself (and may very well have no custodians).
They are allowed, but with some limitations attached! It seems any deities or beings that draw power from some celestial source will find their powers dampened here - cut off from their realms or what they represent. While unbearable for some, others will simply find themselves ‘nerfed’ to some degree depending on the nature of their powers.
When it comes to angelic characters we ask you to present them as species or beings from another plane with no imposing absolutes or confirmation of real life belief systems attached to them.
What time period is it?
Quote:
Thornmouth is a well-maintained city of running water and constant innovation: magic and access to knowledge from many worlds has changed typical conventions of technological progress and little distinction is made between magic and science. While much on the surface appears late medieval when compared to Earth history, some advancements and fields of thought more resemble the 17th century. There is gunpowder and primitive firearms, clockwork engineering, printing presses, cultural immersion in philosophy and the arts, and even surprisingly sophisticated machinery like automatons through the use of magitech. The dwarves are experimenting with the use of geothermal energy and demands for better solutions in resource production, transportation, and long distance communications are ever increasing.
There is no clear cut answer as development here has followed its own unusual path, but some comparisons can be made! In regards to technology, capability in the central region is roughly early Victorian - overall it is more comparable to the 1700s, but certain innovations made (especially by the neighboring dwarves) have begun to accelerate development in some areas. The usage of steam is currently on the rise, as is experimentation with ‘magitech’ combining the best that both the east and western regions have to offer. While the community tinkering is small there is also growing use of complex clockwork engineering. However, all of this is still in its infancy and facing many obstacles both logistical and circumstantial - yet these pursuits also see streaks of luck, as immigrants from other realms often bring with them the knowledge to push progress.
In terms of fashion and artistic style, not only is Thornmouth cosmopolitan but highly experimental. While the majority of fashion leans towards more late medieval Mediterranean to early modern due to the climate, it reaches all the way into more elaborate Victorian styles. There is a deep love of color and dyes both local and imported into the region are numerous and many. A great deal of art and architecture draws strong parallels to the Venetian Renaissance.
A surprising number of norms on the social side have been fast tracked towards what one might call modern sensibilities, informed by the formation of a new nation for peace that soon became deeply diverse. In order to maintain that peace and foster growth between mundane and magical peoples, Thornmouth allows for freedom of religion and endorses none, recognizes marriages regardless of sex or race, and even employees some affirmative action policies.
How do people get around?
In the city there are a great deal of stairs and hills that most climb by foot, but also pathways to travel by mount or vehicle - although a merchant would recommend coming from the docks or eastern gate if possible, as the cobblestones of Gryphon’s Grin are known to be unkind to hooves beasts and carriage wheels alike.
While services are still limited, the city has what could be called ‘sky taxies’ in the form of gryphon riders and many more have their own flying mounts they use to expedite travel in the region. It’s generally considered both the safest and fastest way to travel.
How does bounty hunting work?
A member of the Adventurer’s Guild can pursue bounties approved by the government. These bounties are typically set by officials or high ranking members of the guard, then passed down to the Adventurer’s Guild to be made public. They may include orders for extradition, offering specialized rewards for bringing someone in to be returned to the nation from which they had escaped. These agreements are held between Thornmouth and a handful of nations, including the dwarves, orcs, elves, and seelie. In general a bounty hunter has no jurisdiction outside the kingdom nor would a foreign agent in Thornmouth. A foreign bounty hunter would not be allowed to pursue a target within the borders of Thornmouth, but they could report their target had 'skipped' and is now within the kingdom, passing the baton on to local authorities. In some cases they might decide to set a price on someone hiding in their territory with enough knowledge of past behavior or ill intent. A citizen could also report someone and have the guard open up an investigation, but no private bounties of any kind would be legal or recognized.
What are the rules regarding character nudity? How do we RP at the bathhouse or hot springs?
While cultural standards IC may be diverse and public bathhouses still commonplace, Thornmouth technically runs by an M16+ standard. In this there is an allowance for brief, tasteful nudity - meaning that it's allowed within reason and outside of sexual connotations. It's about alluding to or merely implying the existence of something without showing it, so any kind of detail drawing attention to the fact is to be avoided - in other words let the viewer color in the details without your help. It's not that characters absolutely have to be covered up in some fashion so much as you need to be careful with how you go about describing the scenery - in the same way that shows might move the camera away or be creative in use of leaves, bubbles, or other ways that 'block the shot'.
