Aria Academy

Who can play here?
All species accepted, with few exceptions. Humans are the norm. Elves and others are considered much more rare and to some extent suffer from prejudices against them, especially "evil" or "misunderstood" races. Yes, that means that even the half-drow kid that the place is named after probably gets some sneering about her heritage, at least behind her back. Please keep ridiculous hybrids to a minimum. Gods and superbeings are generally not appropriate.

You do not need to be a student or other kind of member to play here. So long as you meet the requirements in the rules, are a competent RPer and are willing to adhere to the semi-open continuity, you are welcome. If you want an excuse to get your character involved in some RP, come to look at the art, shelter from bad weather, visit the library, play games in the garden, try to throw a dorm room party, filtch food from the kitchens, and expand from there. Be creative!

What kind of positions could my character hold?
The Academy is a very large place. It can hold students, painters, sculptors, blacksmiths, metalurgists, figure models, gardeners, guards, librarians, janitors, cooks, and probably many other things you can dream up. However, PLEASE do not just walk in and claim you hold an official position if you haven't been through some RP with a qualified person to be hired! Right now that means come and look for Safiye. Probably it's send me a PM first so we can talk about what role might be best for you.

Players are expected to possess only realistic skills and skill levels. It's tempting when creating a character to give them every skill we wish we possessed, but a 15 year old martial artist who is also a world famous sculptor and TV chef just doesn't make sense. It's fine to say a character has natural talent, but if you make them grandmasters of everything, why be a student? RP is more fun for everyone when characters have flaws and room to grow.

How strict is the time period?
Rule of thumb: It's high fantasy in a mostly european-esque setting. Things are flexible, but try not to go overboard with your modernisms.

Although we operate in a medieval/renaissance time period, we obviously allow a certain amount of flexibility in order to facilitate RP. This DOES NOT MEAN that you may play a time traveler or possess modern items. Rather, it means that certain attitudes or customs which would have been common in these times are minimized or ignored completely because they would significantly decrease RP. For instance:

• Though literacy was confined to the clergy and a select few merchants and nobles during most of the medieval period, you will not be penalized if you want to make your non-monastic character literate.
  
• Women are routinely admitted to the academy and allowed to own property, etc.
  
• Tuition is (partially) waived for those students who cannot afford it but show talent so that a wider range of people can participate.

Other customs, such as a class system of nobility, are still alive and kicking at the Academy. Though they might admit people from lower castes, students of low birth can expect to work twice as hard for a fraction of the respect. Showing disrespect to those of higher rank is grounds for all manner of harsh punishment.

Heck, magic exists.

Though the Academy bills itself as a place of enlightenment- and by the standards of the time it certainly is - it is absolutely not a utopia. And that's a good thing. Perfect worlds, like perfect characters, are no fun to play.


If lower class students are able to get in for free or in exchange for work, why would they be at any disadvantage?
One glaring reason a lower class student would be at a disadvantage compared to their noble classmates, aside from the general prejudice against them, is the cost of materials. The Academy will provide the most basic materials needed to complete in assigned work but will not furnish anything more, except to advanced students at the apprentice level. Materials are expensive. Remember that such a thing as cheap paper does not exist, and you will most likely be working with some kind of cloth canvas, parchment or velum. If a student expects to keep up with their class, they will need to practice outside of class - not to mention access to more interesting pigments and better materials may help a student to catch the eye of a master and being chosen to advance to the apprentice level. They say that necessity is the mother of all invention...

What kinds of art are appropriate?
Some things are allowed but HIGHLY DISCOURAGED, such as abstract or purely conceptual art. While we acknowledge that there was nothing stopping a medieval artisan from going "Jackson Pollock," these are extremely modern forms of art and completely out of place even in a setting somewhat tolerant of anachronisms (such as women and men being allowed to attend the same classes). Such behavior would have been viewed as literally crazy. Not "You so cray-zee!" crazy, but "lock you up permanently" crazy. Moreover, it would be an egregious waste of extremely expensive material. The work itself would be considered meaningless, wasteful trash. Accordingly, these forms of art are mostly unknown, looked down upon and highly discouraged both officially by the Academy and by the community at large.

Attempting to start a revolution in the IC art world is frowned upon and will fail. Gaining any measure of acceptance for these forms of art has taken centuries, generations, countless movements in the art world and two world wars. Try to tone down your modern notions as much as you can. There's still lots to play with and off of without the need to introduce contemporary art.

Similarly, Anime and Manga are RIGHT OUT ICly. Mentioning them ICly in a medieval/renaissance setting is akin to Shakespeare penning, "2b 0r n0t 2b, lolz wtf!"

If you want your character to focus on the abstract use of color and composition rather than rigid allegory or whatever, have them design highly intricate geometrical patterns for architecture, frescoes, pottery, etc.

Remember, most students above the absolute bottom rung are more like employees, learning through working under masters who are producing pieces commissioned by the nobility. They may not be doing a lot of personal projects, unless they come from a very rich background and are able to purchase their own art supplies.

This page is a work in progress, meant to give you a general sense of what play should look like here, and will be updated from time to time.