betweenthekingdoms-archive-blog

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This is now an archive account.

Our new account, which will be up soon, is over at betweenthekingdomsrpg.

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For reasons of being on call at work, it seems as though I'm going to be online for the next two hours, so feel free to send me any questions to break up the monotony of waiting. I can only do so much Serbian homework to pass the time before my brain melts, so distractions are very welcome.

I will answer ALL the questions!

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my curiosity has seriously been bubbling away ever since i found this rp, and i was wondering about pirates? like, would that be a suitable status (is it even a status really?) or would you mods be against that?

Hey! I’m glad we were able to pique your interest!

We definitely have some plans for pirates in the works! However, the main focus of our attention is actually on… anti-pirates, if you will. The King has several ships who spend a good deal of time hunting pirates, mainly by pretending to be pirates themselves. As the majority of the crew is made up of ex-pirates, they can play the part pretty convincingly.

If you were interested in a pirate-hunting-pirate character, I’d recommend it, just because it would allow a bit more interaction with the other navymen in the roleplay, as well as a reason to interact with a lot of the nobility. For example, navymen may be invited to a ball— not so much for pirates. And if you’re looking for a pre-made character, we already have one available (Jonah Hume), and I intend to release two more shortly (fcs Kiera Knightly and Orlando Bloom).

But if it’s the pirates life for you, feel free to send in an app and we’ll definitely try and fit it in!

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot us another message!

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this might seem like an odd question, but are there any sort of oc's you'd like to see? as in, history-wise, personality-wise, maybe even position-in-the-feudal-system-wise?

Not a weird question at all!

Admins R and A may have different opinions (once they're done being Studious Students in class), so please do check back for any edits they may add.

Personally, I'd like to see some more people in Corstorphine. Corstorphine's a great locations for OCs as well, especially POC fcs, because of the country's openness to refugees and shapeshifters. Basically you could have ANYONE move into Corstorphine and they'd probably get along just fine. But it can also allow you to play on other points of tension, such as differing opinions on the Assarian threat, or financial problems , or trying to get into King Xavier's pants, or general churlishness, or something like that.

I also wouldn't mind seeing some more soldiers or ambassadors. Those characters are always good fun.

Hope that helps!

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do you have a claire holt or phoebe tonkin fc? also who are your most wanted?

We don’t have face claims lined up for either, at the moment, but you’re more than welcome to apply as an OC!

In terms of most wanted characters, I’ve narrowed it down to six, to give you some choices and some diversity.

WOMENFOLK:

Anabelle Loreau (Scarlett Johansson) is a noblewoman in Omnium who longs for adventure and writes adventure novels as a favoured pastime. She’s recently convinced a famed bounty hunter to take her with him on outings to the great forest, where she will soon become involved with a plot point involving refugees and hunted foreign royalty.

Iidiya Mehretu (Lupita Nyong’o) is the queen of Ostra, a proud and fertile country in the southeast. Her homeland has been recently invaded, and she was smuggled out by her loyal subjects before the Assarian Emperor could locate her. She’s currently a refugee in Corstorphine, but she works tirelessly to convince King Xavier Rey to pit his strength against the Assarian Empire in an effort to free her home from tyranny.

Samantha Merowe (Angel Coulby) is a baker’s daughter and the handmaiden of Becca Lewellyn, who founded the largest charity in Corstorphine. Despite being born and raised Corstorphinian, her father’s Assarian heritage cost her family its livelihood and often threatens their safety. She’s learning to develop a thick skin against the rumours and comments of the Corstorphinian court— though the ferocious Ostran queen, who considers her an Assarian and therefore an enemy, still unnerves her a great deal.

MENFOLK:

Alec Hartell (Nikolaj Coster-Waldeau) is the commander of the Kingsguard in Corstorphine, and close friend to King Xavier. He’s understandably tense about the situation with Assaria, but strives to do his best despite complications— one of which is his unrequited and distinctly not platonic affections for his liege.

Salzar Mah’liz (Pedro Pascal) has only just arrived in Corstorphine, having escaped with his life and his fortune from the Endigan Confederacy when the Assarians invaded. His family’s close trading alliances with Corstorphine made it a likely safe haven, but he also has strong ties with Omnium. In fact, his niece, Faye, rules there as queen. Friends in high places, indeed.

Zazu Solan (Idris Elba) is the right hand, advisor, mentor and friend to the king of Corstorphine. He’s a voice of reason in the ear of an often unconventional monarch, and he certainly has his hands full navigating the conflict with Assaria, alliances with Omnium, the temperamental Ostran queen, and all the refugees flooding Corstorphine. He worries over a lot of things, but who can blame him, really?

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Happy Random-Facts-About-Countries-Thursday!

Given the prevalence of the Endigan Confederacy in our two most recently released bios (Jonah Hume, navy officer/pirate hunter, and Salzar Mah'liz, uncle to the queen of Omnium), I thought it might be helpful to toss around a few facts about the Endigans.

The Endigans are a series of independent city states linked by alliances and treaties.

Most of the city states are controlled by powerful merchant families who have built up wealth and influence over generations. Representatives from the ten most powerful families in each city-state meet together twice yearly in a massive merchant council, to negotiate mutually beneficial tariffs, prices, and shipping agreements.

There are over forty thousand islands (most of them small) under the protection of the Endigan Confederacy. Some are independent, some are claimed by city-states, and some serve as free markets without any particular alliance.

 The Southern Endigans are a favoured location for travellers, due to their abundance of pleasures and relatively few taboos.

The Northern Endigans are known as master craftsmen, especially in the ship building trade. Nearly all of Sparra's small fleet originate from the expansive forests near the border with Ostra.

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Out of curiosity, have you got an Adelaide Kane faceclaim? (Mobile user, apologies!)

We will in a future batch, but not for some time. If you'd like to make an OC, go right ahead! :) 

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Accepting Applications Today!

Hi friends! It's Wednesday, which means we'll be accepting apps by the end of the night! If you're interested in applying but not interested in waiting, today is an excellent day to send in an app.

If you're not quite ready yet, but still interested in joining, we'll also be accepting on Sunday.

And next Wednesday. And next Sunday. And the Wednesday after that. And the Sunday-- Well, you get the idea.

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LORD SALZAR MAH'LIZ · 42 · NOBLEMAN · FIRE SORCERER · OPEN

"A homeland, no matter how beloved, is only dirt and stone; life is all that is worth protecting. I left before they could threaten mine.” Salzar is - CYNICAL, PRACTICAL, PASSIONATE, TEMPERAMENTAL, ALOOF. 

BACKSTORY

Fire burns bright; flames can lick flesh from bone. But no matter the rage of a fire, no matter how high it blazes, no matter how much it consumes, it always, always, always burns out.

The same was true of Salzar's older brother, Azar. Both of the boys were raised in the sunny Endigan Islands, back when times were prosperous and the Assarian Empire was a distant threat on the horizon. Their parents were prominent traders in textiles with a special propensity towards making the finest silk cloths in the Endigans, the Mah'liz name having amassed a large fortune and sprawling property over the course of five generations. There were slaves to harvest the silk and dozens of skilled weavers who would breathe life into their fabrics. Most notably, the Mah'liz family had a special trick of the trade that few others had realized was possible: they used their magic to spin silk and weave lace, developing delicate patterns that would take a skilled craftsman hours in a matter of minutes.

As idyllic as their lives may have seemed, the environment of a family of four fire craft-users can only be described as tumultuous at best; their father's temper and high expectations drove Azar from home before he had even turned twenty, leaving his much younger brother to carry the family name. Years passed, with little to no words sent between the oldest Mah'liz brother and his parents; however, letters were constantly exchanged between the brothers. Azar had gone far northwest, changing his surname to Malaise and trying to find a home for himself in a foreign land while young Salzar was left to deal with his arguing parents and the weight of their expectations. Salzar heard of Azar's travels through Omium and the vivacious pale-skinned wife he found himself; Azar learned that Mother died of a fall down the stairs. Salzar received a letter telling him that Azar's wife had given birth to a beautiful daughter; Azar was told hat Father passed away from problems with his heart.

Finally grown and awfully practical for his years, Salzar overtook the family business and expanded their trades to spices and jewelry. He understood why Azar had left, if he was being honest with himself; life as a merchant lord was hardly everything he wanted to do with himself, but someone needed to uphold the family name. He did not particularly enjoy his work, but he was exceptionally good at it, sharp practicality and careful judgement of human character cutting through his interactions with both those under his employ and those who bought and transported his wares. He had a good eye for beauty and a cutting wit that made him charming to those around him, but the patience his work demanded was not in his nature. He found his anger leaking into his leisure time, a sharp word to cut a blushing girl's heart or a threat of incineration tossed to an inefficient servant. 

That bitterness may have bled into some of their later interactions. The last letter Salzar exchanged with his older brother was nearly twenty years ago, where he accused Azar of having abandoned their family and ushering in the bad fortune that killed both of their parents within a handful of years. Azar responded by telling his younger brother never to seek him out again. Five years later, Salzar received a letter in a clipped Omnian hand-- he recognized Margaux's looping scrawl-- telling him that his brother was dead and his littlest niece was missing.

He had never realized just how lonely he was, but this? This knowledge that almost nothing was left of his family? It made him ache. The older brother he had idolized and hated and envied and loved was gone, and Salzar hadn't even known what he had looked like when he had passed twenty years, or thirty, would never see him hit forty. Both of his parents, for all their flaws, had been the last people he knew who genuinely loved him, always ready with warm hands to pull him in whenever he needed anything. Now all he had left was his brother's bitter widow and a niece he would never know.

Years passed. By the gods, but he was always alone.

And then the Assarians came. The threat had been growing more and more imminent, and he, eager for something to do, had been glad to prepare for it while others carried on as though nothing was amiss. So when the Assarians were burning the Confederacy's greatest trade centers to the ground, Salzar was already halfway to Corstorphine with his entire fortune in gold and a dozen trusted servants at his side. He was not particularly upset to see his homeland burning; dirt was dirt was dirt, and there was plenty more of that to the west. If Azar had left with nothing to his name to find a future, then Salzar could do the same laden with riches.

What he had never expected was to find that his niece was the ruler of Corstorphine's bordering country, Azar's chosen home, the ever-righteous and ever-victorious Omnium. And much less had he expected to learn that her younger sister had been found after more than fifteen years of being lost to the world. He longs desperately to meet the girls, his last living connections to his parents and his brother, but fear (that he will never admit to) holds him back. What has their mother told them of him? What has their father said? What if they would not wish to speak with him, to know him?

As desperate as he is to reclaim the family he lost, he is not sure if he could bear that heartbreak.

SALZAR MAH'LIZ strongly resembles PEDRO PASCAL.

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SIR JONAH HUME · 48 · MEMBER OF THE ROYAL NAVY · HUMAN · OPEN

"Everyone has regrets... but I suppose I'd rather regret something I did than something I never tried." Jonah is: DILIGENT, THOUGHTFUL, ADAPTABLE, LOYAL, ADVENTUROUS.

BACKSTORY

Jonah’s father had been a navy man. That was all he knew and—as far as Jonah’s mother was concerned—all he needed to know. On the rare occasions Jonah managed to wrangle new information from his mother, it was often contradictory. He’d had brown hair, or maybe it was black. He smiled a lot, or maybe he laughed a lot, or maybe he was very serious. He was a charming, sensible, solemn, jovial gentleman of a rogue. He was kind and he was a bastard. He was missing, or he was dead—but either way, it didn’t matter because he wasn’t here, so why was Jonah asking.

But he was always a navy man. And so Jonah was going to be a navy man too.

Jonah spent his childhood on the shore, dreaming of the sea, collecting sand dollars and starfish. After his mother married a fish merchant, he spent his youth with his brothers behind a push-barrow, peddling food other men had caught. He dreamed of adventure and exploration, of having a family of his own and being father the navy man, only not going ‘missing or maybe dead’ like his own father. He left to sign up when he was fourteen, and his brothers were old enough to push the barrow and sell the fish on their own.

By the end of his first year in the King’s Royal Navy, Jonah knew he’d stay. He was a fast learner, and very capable of following orders (since his mother had always been very capable of giving orders), and loved the sea like some sailors loved the drink. His captain was as a man of low birth himself, before rising to his rank, and he had no qualms about recommending Jonah for officer’s training. If a man could sail, he could sail, in the captain’s opinion, and Jonah soon found himself serving as Third Mate on the king’s new warship, The Maelstrom… along with a certain young prince named Balthasar Rey.

The two soon became fast friends. Although Balthasar was Jonah’s superior in rank and status, he was far from what Jonah expected of a noble. Balthasar rambled on in a fancy accent and used large words on occasion (whereas Jonah didn't talk much at all, unless he had something worth saying). He was a prankster (while Jonah minded the rules) and a friendly sort (while Jonah mostly kept to himself), and somehow, even the most outlandish ideas sounded possible when Balthasar spoke of them. But, like Jonah, the prince had his serious moments, and his thoughtful ones, and he taught Jonah a lot about the more technical aspects of tactics and warfare. The two became close friends, and served together for nearly all of Balthasar’s four years in the navy.

Balthasar’s influence lingered long after the man’s return to the palace. The quiet, serious Jonah joined his men on shore leave. He explored exotic cities and bustling ports. He drank and laughed and found solace in the arms of anyone who would take him (or his coin). He earned money, and spent money, and fell in love with the diverse city states of the Endigan Confederacy almost as much as he had loved the sea… and then he fell in love with a woman.

Mireia Bunkara never entirely loved him back, as far as he knew—but she was beautiful, and evidently interested in him, and it was hard to resist such alluring smiles. She took him as her lover, and he stayed at her family palace when in port, reclining on silk and dining in luxury while most of the men slept in their taverns or brothel of choice.  He was handsome, and he’d learned charm as well as tactics from Balthasar, and Mireia didn’t seem to mind that his hands were calloused or his face was sun-dark. She didn’t love him, but he left her with no regrets, either.

He did, however, leave her with a daughter.

As the threat of war with Omnium grew more serious, the royal navy’s presence in the Endigans became less frequent. Monthly, then bi-monthly, then quarterly. He saw his daughter a handful of times—Mireia was never cruel enough to deny him a visit—but he was more a guest than a father to his little girl. (Jonah wondered if maybe his father was a man like him, a sailor who met his mother, but who never bothered to reappear.)

Soon after leaving the Endigans, the war began. Greater Corstorphinian fleet tore through Omnian warships. Though casualties were relatively few, most wounds ran deeper than flesh and bone. Some sailors, like Jonah’s old friend Balthasar, began to crack under the strain. Some grew hard. Some grew quiet. Jonah sailed. The years following the Omnian war kept him largely north of the Endigans. He visited the girl and Mireia fewer than four times in fifteen years—he saw his daughter become a girl, and a girl become a young woman, and saw fond memories dance in Mireia’s eyes where passion used to reign. But his daughter was cared for, better than Jonah could have done himself (Jonah was a navy man, and that was no profession for a father)—and that was what mattered.

Only… the Assarians have now swept have across the Endigans like a wave over the sand, leaving smoke and destruction in their path. And the Bunkaras have been torn away from their beautiful city-state, left with nothing, refugees or prisoners or dead. And his daughter, his beautiful, graceful daughter (with the air of a queen and a smile like her mother’s) has only just arrived alone in Corstorphine on the last merchant ship brave enough to venture into such tumultuous southern waters. And Jonah’s never been a father before. He spends his life sailing under Captain Faulkner, disguising himself as a pirate, and roaming the sea to hunt pirates.

It’s no life for a lady.

JONAH HUME strongly resembles JOHNNY DEPP.

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BETWEEN THE KINGDOMS · ASK · OPEN CHARACTERS · PLOT · APPLICATION

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I should be kicking around for most of the day due to the alignment of the stars with my work schedule (three days off in a row???)- so if anyone has questions or concerns, I'll get back to you as soon as possible!

Feel free to ask about plot, character, worldbuilding, faceclaims... anything! Speak to me, my lovelies.

Our inbox is always open.

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How active its this roleplay? I love everything about it!

Hi, lovely! We've had a small lull in activity recently, most of which I personally take the blame for (you can see my last post, which mostly explains why). However, even during those couple weeks of downtime, our members were posting and being productive, so we're actually fairly active!

And now that all mods are back on full duty-- writing bios, tweaking plot points, posting on the dash-- we're back up to full activity!

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My sweet, sweet darlings! 

I'm so sorry that I've forsaken all of you for the past few weeks. You know how it goes: one mod gets completely busy and wrapped up in their own life, the same happens to another mod, and the single remaining mod struggles under the pressure of running everything mostly on their own. (If you can't tell, I'm the first, A's the second, and C's the third.) 

But no more!

I have returned with a vengeance to work on bios, fix up plots, answer all my replies, do some promoting, and get the ball rolling once more! We had a nice little break for a couple of weeks, but I'm pretty certain that all of our core members-- the lovelies who've stuck with us since the very beginning and somehow, miraculously, have never given up on us-- are still here and waiting. 

Get ready, my loves, the ball will be very soon! 

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Can we request face claims for a specific type of character? IE) A face claim for an upcoming royal?

You can, yes! We can't make any absolute promises, of course, but we'd love to hear requests from everyone! We can also work with you on the type of character you'd like to see, regarding status, position, face claim, and personality.

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WHEN YOU PLAY THE GAME OF THRONES, YOU WIN OR YOU DIE

Bloody acquisition rages in the eastern lands. As fleeing royals and battered refugees escape to the west to seek shelter and assistance, the monarchs they confront find themselves faced with a decision: ignore the carnage, or take a stand against the powerful Assarian Empire.

If only making a decision were so simple.

BETWEEN THE KINGDOMS · ASK · OPEN CHARACTERS · PLOT · APPLICATION

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LORD LEANDRE MONTAVON · 40 · CAVALRY COMMANDER · HUMAN · OPEN

"You can comport yourselves with dignity, or you can crawl home on your bellies like worms. Choose for yourselves. I choose to stand." Leandre is - DEDICATED, PATRIOTIC, SELF-ASSURED, REFINED, OLD-FASHIONED.

BACKSTORY

Leandre grew up in a family of wealthy vineyard owners and cavalry officers whose linage stretched back generations. The Montavons had a proud history of serving the crown honourably on the field of battle, fearlessly and tenaciously, in possession of every virtue and meriting every commendation of valour. Leandre learned to sit a pony almost before he learned to walk, and grew up with the reputation of his family weighing upon his shoulders. He was a Montavon, dark haired and strong jawed, an officer and a gentleman—but he was also a Bonnefay, and cousin to the King. He was a Bonnefay, and had lost the throne over a technicality, and he would never be allowed to forget.

Leandre’s mother Rosamonde spent her life in the shadow of Omnian kings: her father, her brother, her nephew. If Rosamonde had been born a male, she would have inherited the throne. She was twelve hours older than her brother Bernard, and just as smart, tenacious, and driven as any man. But tradition gave her a role, and her role gave her a duty—and Omnian women did not usurp the throne from their brothers. Instead, Rosamonde married Valeray Montavon and raised two sons.

Though Leandre grew up surrounded by these stories, the ‘if only’s and ‘could have been’s, he never felt unwanted. Near-queen of Omnium his mother may have been, but she had long since abandoned bitterness along with any aspirations to the throne. If she occasionally spoke of the castle with regret, the Montavon estates were wide and varied, endless vineyards beneath picturesque mountains that loomed on the horizon, distant and high as the gods. Leandre and his brother Emilien spent their time amongst a mob of Montavon cousins, learning to ride, fight, play, and conduct themselves with all the requisite values of their family.

By the time of the Corstorphinian war, both Leandre and Emilien served in the King’s Cavalry. Like most of the Montavons before them, they intended to serve their time and make a name for themselves. Leandre had always possessed a keen mind for both tactics and diplomacy (the first taught by his father, the second by his mother), and at twenty he held command of fifty riders. Emilien, displaying all the expected charm and gallantry expected of a cavalryman, rode as a lancer in another company with two of his cousins. After the conflict, Leandre was presented with an official letter of commendation and offered a position at court by his cousin, King Henry. Emilien was buried beneath his favourite oak tree.

Home reminded him too much of his brother— too many greying Montavons mourning their own sons in the shadow of godlike mountains— so Leandre spent most of his time away. The war may have been over, but it left wounds. Leandre and his men stitched them up and covered them over. They helped rebuild outlying villages, policed areas plagued by bandits, and once joined with Elzac to put down a small rebellion (apparently over religious differences). He grew to enjoy his double life, led half as a soldier and half as a Lord, half in the wilderness and half in the wild schemes of court. He navigated both with equal skill.

But all things must end, including the reign of Kings.

By the time Henry fell ill, most of the post-war problems in Omnium had been addressed. Most men from the army returned home to farms or joined the Kingsguard, who took to policing the trouble spots of the realm. Leandre and his men were either dismissed or integrated into other bands, and Leandre took up his place at court on a more permanent basis. He’d never been particularly close with his cousin—the Montavon estates were solitary and distant—but they were family. He spent as much time with his ailing cousin as the King’s health and schedule could afford, and spent the rest with Queen Faye and Princess Lillian. He was surprised to note he felt no resentment towards the nearly infamous Peasant Queen. She was intelligent, dignified, and competent. She reminded him of a younger version of his mother. They became… nearly friends.

But things change, as they do. His gentle cousin Princess Lillian was passed over for her step-mother, who was crowned the new reigning monarch of Omnium, and Leandre returned home to find an outraged father and a coolly indifferent mother. Not only did Faye’s ascension open old wounds (the ‘if only’s returned with a vengeance, speaking of reform a single generation too late), but it deprived the throne of any Bonnefay blood whatsoever. Leandre considers Queen Faye a fine ruler, more or less, but not the rightful one. Beneath the sharp temper and painted face, Faye Malaise is just a commoner—and Leandre has a duty to uphold.

As the only descendent of the rightful queen, Rosamonde Bonnefay, Leandre is expected to steer Omnium from its wild unprecedented reforms and back to its foundational traditions. If his father had a say, Leandre would either marry Faye or usurp the crown for himself. Only, Leandre doesn’t want the throne. Perhaps the Bonnefays should rule—but as much as he admires the Princess, is such a gentle girl the leader they need with Assaria on the rise? Could she really lead a country into battle? Queen Faye, commoner or not, possesses something vital for Omnium’s survival. After twenty years, Leandre knows how to recognize a fighting spirit.

LEANDRE MONTAVON strongly resembles IOAN GRUFFUDD.