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Welcome to Nasmara!
OOC RULES
1. This is a place to RP, not to idle, use as an OOC chat-pit, or do persona-play in. If you are in the dream, you’re expected to be available for RP to anyone who asks.
2. It’s all right if your character is villainous, but we do not allow our players to harass, curse at, or use racial slurs at other players. You may not discriminate against playing with others due to nationality, religion, race, sexual preference, or age.
3. We define private RP as RP that you intend to bar others from, or RP that is held separate and insular from the continuity of the dream. Private RP is not a concept we support in Nasmara. Expect and allow others to join your RP (with appropriate in-character consequences applied!).
4. Remember that even though your characters may be punished for misbehavior, we still love you. Your characters’ actions here will always have a realistic reaction, or consequences.
5. We require character descriptions to describe what other characters see when they look at your character. Please keep favourite songs, poems, and pictures limited to links at the end of this. You may be asked to leave if they do not comply.
6. Our admins work hard to make sure everyone has a fair experience in Nasmara, and we expect our players to do the same. Your character may not come in specifically to participate in PvP, and they may not be all-powerful. Please respect that the Island, ICly, has ways to stop your character if needed.
7. An admin may have to settle a dispute regarding a scene outcome. An admin's ruling on PvE or PvP outcomes is final.
8. If you feel you must have a complaint against another player, bring it to an admin instead of that player. We’ll try to arbitrate. Our rulings are final.
9. Anyone may remind anyone else of these rules - even admin, if we forget ourselves!
10. No character may arrive with more than 10g to the island. Why they only have 10g with them is up to you! We enforce this because one of the purposes to the dream is to have your character gradually earn wealth. Guns are also not allowed on the island, although some primitive rifles and handguns were known at the time. Why your character does not have a gun is also up to you, but they cannot have one on the island!
11. If you develop a problem with one of our admin, take it up with us. You won’t be punished for a complaint, and we can only fix things we know about. The exception to this is if you have a problem with one admin but not another. If you’re more comfortable voicing your concerns to one, the admin you pick will arbitrate for you with the admin you’re struggling with.
12. Sometimes a player or a character may just not be a comfortable fit in the dream. They might want to play something too sexual, too creepy, or their player may just have too hard of a time complying with our rules. If we feel you’re struggling, we will likely invite you to bring in a different character first to see if that fixes things, but then we may have to ask you to leave.
13. Lastly, we will comply with and enforce both Furcadia and Imaginarium TOS as well as any real-life laws that we’re subject to. This might mean that we’ll have to ask some players to remove certain kinds of content and conduct from our dream.
On Restricted Races
Due to the non-violent focus of the RP in Nasmara, a few races are marked as “restricted”. Currently, these are dragons, vampires, and werewolves of all types.
The nature of these particular species too often leads to a natural conflict with your average villager, which then leads inexorably to violence.
Vampires - By their very nature, they must harm to live. The concept of a ‘blood doll’, or other semi-willing person dedicated to being the feeder to a vampire is too close to slavery in order to be within the laws of the village. Likewise, battery and assault resulting from non-consensual feedings would result in in-character consequences. We also do not allow “blood wine”, due to the island nature of the dream - this would not be imported.
Werewolves (all types) - By ~their very nature, they are unpredictable and ruled by their wild sides. If a person or animal is mauled and no one seems to know why, it’s very natural for a small community to look at the newest people and deduce from there which one is the dangerous one. From there? Cured, killed or exiled.
Dragons - Being of a varying nature and of many genotypes, dragons remain a restricted race solely because there is no single thread of measure to them. Often played as being the Eldest the Biggest, the Smallest, the Youngest or other “ests”, we find that they are hard to fit into people’s personal stories.
While children are not restricted character, so to speak, they are nonetheless subject to agreement between the player of the character and the Administration that the child character will be complying with the rules linked here. Due to a nuance of the Lore, a child character would be extraordinarily overpowered without this agreement in place.
This is not a ban on these types of characters. It is, however, a restriction. People wishing to play this sort of character may still apply. To be considered, a player must:
1) consistently and regularly play one character of a non-restricted type in the dream
2) be involved in the community of the dream consistently for a full month.
3) apply on the forums with the new character, with its powers and flaws listed out for review.
After all, it’s not a very fun or long-lasting plot for a visiting Vampire if they are run out of town due to their feeding habits, and it’s certainly not fun for a big dragon to rarely have any RP because their size keeps them out by the lake the whole time.
We feel that by imposing these restrictions we can keep roleplay in Nasmara fair and fun for everyone.
On Magic
1. Teleportation magic and portal-magic remains fizzled on all properties and do not work properly without Overlord Spellcarver’s direct assistance. For the Village of Nasmara, The Island is in sole control of who leaves or arrives via Enchantment.OOCly, the reason for this is to encourage people to use the given modes of transportation, and thus, interact with other characters to learn about them.
2. Large scale magic that can move big things (larger than 50 pounds of matter) or anything of its ilk will be actively resisted by the island, and halted ICly by guards.OOCly, the reason for this is to preserve the integrity of the dream file - to make sure that what you can see is what everyone can see.
3. Limit healing spells to things that ~almost but do not ~fully heal another player’s characters.OOCly, the reason for this is because consequences are good and some people like to play their character as recovering from injuries.
4. Necromancy is ICly taboo and illegal, due to the catastrophic accident that could happen if people misuse it on the island. The island’s defenses themselves will trigger.OOCly it causes a chafe in dream purpose, in that there is almost no non-combat use of such a skill.
5. Use a very light hand with magic that removes another character’s free will. Always ask permission of the other player before using such a spell, and always have an IC excuse ready to explain why the spell might be countered or left unused.OOCly, this is to allow people encountering sirens, puppetmasters or other such characters a way to respect the consent rule.
6. Likewise, use a very light hand with magic that is intended to kill or maim another character easily. Always OOCly ask permission before using such a spell, and always have an IC excuse ready to explain why the spell might be countered or left unused.OOCly, we’re not a combat-focused dream, so you shouldn’t be getting into this situation often.
7. Lastly, if your character has a magic ability, make sure that it has a consequence. If your character uses magic without hesitation, they may be out of balance.OOCly, making sure your character has to buy reagents or receive care afterwards not only levels the field with characters who have no magic ability at all, but also generates RP for yourself and people around you.
On Villans
The Village of Nasmara has two slots for criminal types per season.
Your character must apply as usual, but you can keep the ‘criminal’ status secret from anyone but the admin, if you wish.
Crime may never be fully off-screened. You must do the RP with someone who is not an accomplice.
It’s a small town, and cries for help carry far. We don’t do time-locks here.
People coming to aid either side must spent one post traveling to the location, and one post arriving and figuring out what is happening. No instant-assists, please.
Crime must be oocly consensual.
NPCs do legally count as “people” in the continuity and are protected like anyone else. They are the harder targets as they are always awake and aware.
It’s extremely likely that your character will be quickly caught, jailed, tried, and punished. Depending on the crime, it can be unpleasant and unfun to RP (though we try to make it easy on the player). They might even be exiled, which of course removes that character from the dream.
Do not play a criminal in the Village of Nasmara if you can’t commit to it ALL the way through, including the punishment and stigma. Bail-outs will be assumed dead in the jungle.
Once our slots are used up, they’re used up for the season, as the Village is not intended to be a dream that pits players against players.
Lastly, we have characters who can read your character’s auras, thoughts, and even entire life histories. You must play fair and allow these characters to strut their stuff just as you’re strutting yours. For example, if you had previously been including your character's thoughts or moods and suddenly stop if presented with a telepath or empath, you're cheating that character's player out of a chance to do something cool, too.
IC LAWS
1: There is no authority above the Overlord Darkhands.
1a. Below them, the Lords, and the function of the Triumvirate.
Even as a visiting delegate from another royal house, persons will be expected to obey commands from his Lordship’s House immediately and without complaint. Appointed officials are not immune to the Darkhands’ authority, and serve at their pleasure.
2: Murder is illegal.
2a. Outside of duels and capital punishment
Claims of ‘self defense’ that result in a death will be at least investigated as murder.
Consensual duels with lives on the line must be witnessed by at least one legal authority to validate the participant’s willingness to participate.
3: Rape is illegal.
Any forced or otherwise compelled sexual conduct, upon being discovered and reported by anyone - not only the victim or perpetrator - will be fully and mercilessly investigated, and then punished without exception.
Persons repeatedly subjecting themselves to situations that may invite such an assault may be compelled to take measures for their own safety.
Persons with magical, chemical, physical, or psychological compulsions that put them at risk of breaking this law may be removed from the island before such crime is committed.
4: Theft is illegal.
4a. Outside of temporary legal confiscation given as punishment or public-safety measures by legal officials
Including mugging, breaking and entering, and pickpocketing, it also covers ‘finding’ goods and not handing them over to the guards to find their proper owner.
Goods confiscated by legal officials must be taken with a stated method to earn them back, and must be kept in good condition for safe return upon satisfaction of the condition. If a person does not claim their goods within a month, they become property of the guards.
5: Slavery is illegal.
5a. Outside of the temporary forced labour given out as punishment by legal officials.
Anyone entering Nasmara is automatically considered a free person, despite what their position and status was before arriving.
Anyone attempting to arrange for slaves on the island or otherwise make a similar arrangement under other terms is open to punishment by the law.
6: Child endangerment is illegal.
6a. Unattended children under 14 go into their homes at nightfall.
6b. Unattended children under 18 go into their homes at midnight.
An adult may never allow a child to be in a situation that may result in the child becoming cut, kidnapped, bruised or otherwise harmed in any way.
Every adult is responsible for every child.
If a chaperone must leave a child, they must put the child in the care of another guardian.
Guards are authorized to use reasonable force to return willful children to their homes.
7: Brawling is illegal.
7a. Outside of duels, practice, and arranged entertainment.
This includes behavior likely to incite a brawl, including brandishing weapons, making threats, and excessive physical or magical posturing, though any legal action is reduced to a lesser punishment or a warning if no injury actually takes place.
8: Poaching is illegal.
8a. But hunting and gathering permits can be purchased from the town guards at their discretion.
The whole of the island is private land owned by the Darkhands or their Lords.
Camping is trespass without expressed permission by the Triumvirate.
If a cease-and-desist order is ignored, prosecution will commence.
The civilian guard and game wardens are charged to ensure against over-hunting, over-fishing, and over-gathering and may refuse purchase of permits to this purpose.
9: Sedition is illegal.
No visitor or citizen may speak ill against the Darkhands or of usurping the Lords.
Speech likely to encourage others to break a law is prohibited and harshly punished.
10: General Mayhem is illegal, and is defined by the highest ranking citizen present!
Appointed officials may give orders to visitors or citizens to cease disruptive behavior not otherwise covered by law as they deem fit.
Appointed officials may be expected to defend their decisions before the Overlord.
11: Be productive
While the Island provides, offering free food and shelter to those unexpectedly swept from their former lives and homes, every person remaining on the island is pressured by law to work toward the maintenance and improvement of the Village of Nasmara, and the Overlords’ own coffers.
Failure to do so - or ceasing to do so after such habits have been started - may result in the suspension of charity, licenses, or privileges.
12: Creating portals or otherwise endangering the flow of the island’s magical energies is illegal.
Often due to the catastrophic danger of misfire, all magics that would endanger the Island of Nasmara will be required to be demonstrated in a controlled way and approved before open use on the Island.
Due to the dangers involved, officials enforcing this are advised to used any methods thought appropriate to protect the Island itself.
13: False testimony is illegal.
Those willing to bring the legal might of the Triumvirate down upon another person may be required to submit themselves to intensive inquiry.
Any person found to have given false testimony will be open to punishment by the law.
14: Obey the Darkhands and appointed officials.
The only contradiction allowed may come from the Overlord or the Lady.
If a citizen of good standing feels they have been unlawfully pressed into obedience, and such obedience is in defiance against a prior-stated law or compulsion, they may queue for a hearing with the Justicar and be made to present their case.
Abuse of this appeals privilege will result in its suspension.
Punishment is for any of the above is often detainment in jail pending sentencing from the Justicar for major offenses, and Captain of the Guards for lesser. Community service is often assigned. There is no jury of peers. While death, mutilation and other corporal punishment is possible, it is equally common to sentence a person to work in the northern diamond mines or to simply deport them. Our government likes to keep things simple, and “gone” is often simple, however it is obtained.
Citizenship may be born into or obtained via steady address and an occupation recognized by at least three peers, and lasting more than one full season.
Citizens may appeal rulings through the liaison of the Justicar (while still serving their sentence in the meantime.) They have extra weight was witnesses during investigations. They have preference over non-citizens for any limited supply item or renting. They may own property, but not land. They will be protected from off-island threats. In exchange, they will pay taxes and may be required to aid the Overlord in off-island ventures.
New Citizens will be required to sign under oath a copy of the laws and any amendments thereto. Persons wishing to lease property, buy a business, or work in certain fields may also be required to sign, though that doesn't automatically equate citizenship.
LAW FOR CHILDREN
Characters are children until they are 18. Unattended children live in the Children's Home.
People who have adult bodies but ‘childish’ minds may be classified as children based on their behavior, just as people living with specific mental deficiencies in other places will be placed with a caregiver. This decision will be made by the Triumverate.
People who have child bodies but ‘adult’ minds may be classified as shrimpy adults based on their behavior. This decision will be made by the Triumverate.
ALL CHILDREN
1. Children under 18 without a guardian will live at the Children’s Home.
2. Children of all ages are not allowed in the jungle unescorted for any reason.
3. Children of all ages may make use of the children’s home balcony at any time.
4. Children of opposite gender are roomed separately and not allowed to have explorational sexual conduct with each other. ICly, Loken will interfere with such behavior.
5. Education for the children includes very basic arithmetic, lesser literacy, cooking, fire safety, musical education (atm: lute and drum only, in the town center), sewing, and hands-on caring for animals. Children with magical aptitudes will be taught by qualified citizens when they have time.
CHILDREN 14 -17
1. After dark, unattended teenagers must be in town square or anywhere else there’s pavement.
2. At midnight, they must come inside the children’s home.
3. Children 14 and up may be apprentices or even get jobs to earn money with.
4. Children 14 and up are expected to help educate, care for, and play with, younger children.
5. Children 14 and up may visit the lake’s banks unescorted during the day.
6. Efforts to find the homeland or people of children reared in the home, once they reach 14, may be undertaken.
CHILDREN 1-14
1. Children under 14 are protected by the geas Spellcarver made and will be violently protected against deliberate harm (outside of a fanny spanking for misbehavior)
2. Until nightfall, children under 14 may play in the courtyard or Davian’s cow pen unescorted.
3. At nightfall, young children are called back inside. They may play on the balcony if they wish.
4. Children under 14 may consider anyone who is an adult citizen of Nasmara a chaperone.