What is Twin Lotus?
Character
You're a ranger on a well-travelled road. Got to admit, your life is boring. Sure, there's the occasional bandit, maybe some friendly caravans to talk with, but for the most part you are completely bored out of your skull. So...
* Why on earth do you continue to do it? Is it the money you occasionally get from the people you've helped, or is it the thrill of catching bandits, or is it just that good feeling you get, like you've accomplished something? The money's good, yes, and if you pick this option you will start out with plenty of money. The downside is that you will be wily and will have to use guile to deal with it. If you pick the thrill, then you will travel the world and see a hell of a lot more than you thought you ever would, but you would lose out on that vital aspect of having places or people that will always be on your side. And if it's for that good feeling, well, you're practically invulnerable in the world, although that one or two thing that occasionally hits you hurts. A lot.
I go with option B, the thrill.
* You're a man, not a woman, but are you a man or a mouse? If you're a man, then your strength, speed, and luck will be much higher. If you're a mouse, you will be charismatic, manipulative, and overall will be more effective with people, and possibly non-human creatures to some extent. Of course, you can still be a woman if you want, but you'd be trading away all that charisma or strength for the simple ability to get your enemies to fall in love with you at some point, and your friends help you more than they help themselves. Is it worth it? your choice.
the mouse sounds funny as hell.
* And lastly, what is the love of your life? Is it your pet monitor lizard, who is three feet long, has razor sharp claws, fast as hell, hard as a rock, and obeys your every telepathic-issued command? Or is it your Telorb, that wonder of magitechnology that allows you to control other magimachinery provided you can figure out how it works? Or maybe it's just that woman who shows up near your tent from time to time. She gives you what every man wants (and if you chose a woman rather than man or mouse, she shows you things that women didn't know they wanted), but harbors some dreadful little secret that is likely to have explosive conquences, yet she will always be on your side, even if you only do rangerhood for the thrill of it.
tough choice between the "you and what army" lizard and the Deus-ex-otronic. I'll have to pick the lizard.
Session 1
--> Another boring day, at least in the beginning. No one disturbed you during the night, so at least you've had some good uninterrupted sleep behind you. You stretch, make some breakfast (hmm, your stores will run out in a week or so), play with your lizard, Rex, watch the sun come up, you know, all the boring stuff that you do every day, whether you like it or not. The routines are like a religion to you, and since the King banned some more religions a week ago, you hold steadfast to them, in the hopes that you can one day be persecuted.
Well, maybe you don't go that far. Rex laughs at you, as only lizards can laugh. "It's not funny, Rex." Rex grins at you. Maybe it is funny. You go outside, ride your horse around.
A few hours pass, nothing important happens outside. Sure, there's the occasional caravan passing through. Maybe you stop, say hello to the guy driving it, maybe you ignore them, maybe you look menacing while your lizard scowls. It's all the same. But then, a caravan slows down as it approaches you. It's coated in red streamers, its horses perfectly groomed, its people sophisticated. But it's not the decadance of their transportation that catches your eye, but how suddenly they stop. You eye them warily.
Then you see their weapons. Of course, no citizen can be without a weapon, nor should caravan riders even THINK about going somewhere without one, but their weapons seem... different. Bigger, somehow, and unlike the rest of their getup, less flashy. Your lizard, urged by your wariness, hides behind a nearby rock. You draw your own weapon, a small, ceremonial dagger that is nonetheless sharp enough to cut a rock in two. Some of them start slowly getting out of the caravan, still in fancy getup. A tiny prickling on the back of your neck warns you that things don't seem right.. although the last time you felt that, it was just because your eggs were about to burn.
What do you do?
Seeing as how the manner of equipment these fellows carry, as well as how they carry themselves, doesn't match up to their otherwise gaudy appearance, I am wary. however I try to give an air of neutrality as I hail them.
I do hope they don't have crossbows.
Session 2
You approach the caravan riders wearily, dagger in hand. In these parts, it's acceptable and even expected to keep a hand on your weapon, but they seem taken aback by your confidence in the face of their weapons. Some of them whisper to each other.
You stop about halfway to them, and raise an eyebrow. One of them walks forward, limping slightly, his sword clutched in one of his hands. He speaks in even tones, carefully, as though he were measuring every word. "Do you have any medicine we could use?" There is an uprising inflection as the end, as if he wanted to make it a question only as an oversight.
You can hear your lizard scowl, but so inaudibly that only those who personally know Rex can hear it. You see some more people get out of the caravan, slowly, some of them limping as well, although there don't appear to be any noticeable cuts or bruises on them. Their clothing is even perfect, without a single wrinkle.
You touch your dagger to his sword, a sign of greeting. He is taken aback again, but calms down when you move your dagger back to your side. Carefully he extends his sword and touches its tip to your dagger, slowly, slowly, slowly, ding.
He says nothing, you say nothing back. Your caravan is behind you, and it does have many medical supplies; the man hasn't made a particularily unusual request. But something just seems off, and you're not sure you want to turn your back to him, or even run an errand for him until you get more information. Still, maybe his companions are genuinely hurt and you should help them as soon as possible.
What do you do?
What do they have, gout?
He'll make a nice hostage if necessary, and possibly a good source of information, I should ask him to accompany me. Hopefully I can glean something from him, like where the hell he's from were people greet others with drawn swords for purposes other than tapping. I can play it off as a discreet way of asking about his company's injuries to better select the proper potions and bindings needed.
I should also ask Rex to keep an eye or two on the rest of that odd bunch.
Session 3
==> "Come with me, I'll see what I can get you," you say, careful not to turn your back to him. You think to Rex, and he slinks around the rock, keeping watch carefully. The people coming out of the caravan rub their hands together, they sit down, but they do every movement very carefully, as if they are unsure how to move.
You lead the man to your caravan. Your horses whimper briefly. The man stops right outside the door. "I... my name is Lionel," he says, speaking slowly and deliberately. "I.. you should know my name, it is important." He nods his head a few times, slowly. You feel Rex roll his eyes, or at least try to.
"What is wrong with you and your company, Lionel? You move so slowly, is that part of it?" Lionel walks into the caravan, you behind him.
"I... we need lotusroot or parallax weed, something to cure linearia." What is this? Some kind of joke? You read a book once about some fake disease that caused its victims to become narrowminded, a lot of anti-attogram propoganda, linearia, the name sounds about right.
"Okay, what's going on here? Are you guys actors, or..." Your words get cut off as he rolls up the sleeve of his tuxedo. In place of an ordinary arm, complete with hair, veins, and whatnot, you instead see a solid slab of gray rock, fading into flesh on either side of it. You see gray freckles on his face as well. Funny how you never noticed them before.
"we.. err... I don't have any lotusroot or parallax weed. Aren't those mythological plants, anyway?"
He frowns and turns away so slowly and grudgingly walks back to his caravan. You think long and hard.. surely there might be a way to help them, maybe with some of the attogram technology you keep in a secret part of the caravan... though you can't think of anything worth using. And their strange linearia-seeming disease aside, there's STILL something strange about them, something you can't quite place.
What do you do?
Twin Lotus is a role playing game played through PM or IM. It is based slightly upon The Labyrinth. There are a few differences between the Labyrinth and Twin Lotus. Twin Lotus is SINGLE PLAYER and not confined to a dungeon like The Labyrinth is. Infact, Twin Lotus takes place on an entire world.Whats the Story?
The grand story is that the world is suffering from the hands of an evil dictator, but, beyond that, the story is entirely your own.What do you mean by that?
The game is free-form, the story isn't set in stone, and I am merely a gateway into this world, and what you want to do is entirely up to you, the only limits of what happens is your, and my imagination. Your course of action, your movement, the world itself, is changed depending on what you make and do. In other words, I don't plan anything ahead. Very little is known, and I make the description up as we go.
Ok, but what do I do?
Twin Lotus is another Roleplay experiment featuring a DM(Alestance) and players(YOU.) To sign up for a spot in Twin Lotus, just post here. Any questions are appreciated and encouraged.How many people are you taking?
At the moment? Three. Since this is an experiment, I will only be taking a few people at once.How long do I have to wait to start?
I am starting the experiment Thursday, November the 6th at 3PM EST. Basically one week from today. When the game starts. The three players who started will recieve a PM with some information and instructions, along with a post here that says it has begun. Gameplay could be anywhere between one message from you and one message from me a day, to as much as I can keep up with. The only exception MAY be weekends.How about an Example?
Sure Thing! Note: All things in italics would be your input. Be advised your input can be entire paragraphs.Wheelerpm -- Ranger saga
Character
You're a ranger on a well-travelled road. Got to admit, your life is boring. Sure, there's the occasional bandit, maybe some friendly caravans to talk with, but for the most part you are completely bored out of your skull. So...
* Why on earth do you continue to do it? Is it the money you occasionally get from the people you've helped, or is it the thrill of catching bandits, or is it just that good feeling you get, like you've accomplished something? The money's good, yes, and if you pick this option you will start out with plenty of money. The downside is that you will be wily and will have to use guile to deal with it. If you pick the thrill, then you will travel the world and see a hell of a lot more than you thought you ever would, but you would lose out on that vital aspect of having places or people that will always be on your side. And if it's for that good feeling, well, you're practically invulnerable in the world, although that one or two thing that occasionally hits you hurts. A lot.
I go with option B, the thrill.
* You're a man, not a woman, but are you a man or a mouse? If you're a man, then your strength, speed, and luck will be much higher. If you're a mouse, you will be charismatic, manipulative, and overall will be more effective with people, and possibly non-human creatures to some extent. Of course, you can still be a woman if you want, but you'd be trading away all that charisma or strength for the simple ability to get your enemies to fall in love with you at some point, and your friends help you more than they help themselves. Is it worth it? your choice.
the mouse sounds funny as hell.
* And lastly, what is the love of your life? Is it your pet monitor lizard, who is three feet long, has razor sharp claws, fast as hell, hard as a rock, and obeys your every telepathic-issued command? Or is it your Telorb, that wonder of magitechnology that allows you to control other magimachinery provided you can figure out how it works? Or maybe it's just that woman who shows up near your tent from time to time. She gives you what every man wants (and if you chose a woman rather than man or mouse, she shows you things that women didn't know they wanted), but harbors some dreadful little secret that is likely to have explosive conquences, yet she will always be on your side, even if you only do rangerhood for the thrill of it.
tough choice between the "you and what army" lizard and the Deus-ex-otronic. I'll have to pick the lizard.
Session 1
--> Another boring day, at least in the beginning. No one disturbed you during the night, so at least you've had some good uninterrupted sleep behind you. You stretch, make some breakfast (hmm, your stores will run out in a week or so), play with your lizard, Rex, watch the sun come up, you know, all the boring stuff that you do every day, whether you like it or not. The routines are like a religion to you, and since the King banned some more religions a week ago, you hold steadfast to them, in the hopes that you can one day be persecuted.
Well, maybe you don't go that far. Rex laughs at you, as only lizards can laugh. "It's not funny, Rex." Rex grins at you. Maybe it is funny. You go outside, ride your horse around.
A few hours pass, nothing important happens outside. Sure, there's the occasional caravan passing through. Maybe you stop, say hello to the guy driving it, maybe you ignore them, maybe you look menacing while your lizard scowls. It's all the same. But then, a caravan slows down as it approaches you. It's coated in red streamers, its horses perfectly groomed, its people sophisticated. But it's not the decadance of their transportation that catches your eye, but how suddenly they stop. You eye them warily.
Then you see their weapons. Of course, no citizen can be without a weapon, nor should caravan riders even THINK about going somewhere without one, but their weapons seem... different. Bigger, somehow, and unlike the rest of their getup, less flashy. Your lizard, urged by your wariness, hides behind a nearby rock. You draw your own weapon, a small, ceremonial dagger that is nonetheless sharp enough to cut a rock in two. Some of them start slowly getting out of the caravan, still in fancy getup. A tiny prickling on the back of your neck warns you that things don't seem right.. although the last time you felt that, it was just because your eggs were about to burn.
What do you do?
Seeing as how the manner of equipment these fellows carry, as well as how they carry themselves, doesn't match up to their otherwise gaudy appearance, I am wary. however I try to give an air of neutrality as I hail them.
I do hope they don't have crossbows.
Session 2
You approach the caravan riders wearily, dagger in hand. In these parts, it's acceptable and even expected to keep a hand on your weapon, but they seem taken aback by your confidence in the face of their weapons. Some of them whisper to each other.
You stop about halfway to them, and raise an eyebrow. One of them walks forward, limping slightly, his sword clutched in one of his hands. He speaks in even tones, carefully, as though he were measuring every word. "Do you have any medicine we could use?" There is an uprising inflection as the end, as if he wanted to make it a question only as an oversight.
You can hear your lizard scowl, but so inaudibly that only those who personally know Rex can hear it. You see some more people get out of the caravan, slowly, some of them limping as well, although there don't appear to be any noticeable cuts or bruises on them. Their clothing is even perfect, without a single wrinkle.
You touch your dagger to his sword, a sign of greeting. He is taken aback again, but calms down when you move your dagger back to your side. Carefully he extends his sword and touches its tip to your dagger, slowly, slowly, slowly, ding.
He says nothing, you say nothing back. Your caravan is behind you, and it does have many medical supplies; the man hasn't made a particularily unusual request. But something just seems off, and you're not sure you want to turn your back to him, or even run an errand for him until you get more information. Still, maybe his companions are genuinely hurt and you should help them as soon as possible.
What do you do?
What do they have, gout?
He'll make a nice hostage if necessary, and possibly a good source of information, I should ask him to accompany me. Hopefully I can glean something from him, like where the hell he's from were people greet others with drawn swords for purposes other than tapping. I can play it off as a discreet way of asking about his company's injuries to better select the proper potions and bindings needed.
I should also ask Rex to keep an eye or two on the rest of that odd bunch.
Session 3
==> "Come with me, I'll see what I can get you," you say, careful not to turn your back to him. You think to Rex, and he slinks around the rock, keeping watch carefully. The people coming out of the caravan rub their hands together, they sit down, but they do every movement very carefully, as if they are unsure how to move.
You lead the man to your caravan. Your horses whimper briefly. The man stops right outside the door. "I... my name is Lionel," he says, speaking slowly and deliberately. "I.. you should know my name, it is important." He nods his head a few times, slowly. You feel Rex roll his eyes, or at least try to.
"What is wrong with you and your company, Lionel? You move so slowly, is that part of it?" Lionel walks into the caravan, you behind him.
"I... we need lotusroot or parallax weed, something to cure linearia." What is this? Some kind of joke? You read a book once about some fake disease that caused its victims to become narrowminded, a lot of anti-attogram propoganda, linearia, the name sounds about right.
"Okay, what's going on here? Are you guys actors, or..." Your words get cut off as he rolls up the sleeve of his tuxedo. In place of an ordinary arm, complete with hair, veins, and whatnot, you instead see a solid slab of gray rock, fading into flesh on either side of it. You see gray freckles on his face as well. Funny how you never noticed them before.
"we.. err... I don't have any lotusroot or parallax weed. Aren't those mythological plants, anyway?"
He frowns and turns away so slowly and grudgingly walks back to his caravan. You think long and hard.. surely there might be a way to help them, maybe with some of the attogram technology you keep in a secret part of the caravan... though you can't think of anything worth using. And their strange linearia-seeming disease aside, there's STILL something strange about them, something you can't quite place.
What do you do?
Great, what now?
Post away with questions or request to participate!
Edited by Alestance, 30 October 2008 - 12:08 PM.
