GENERAL OVERVIEW
Tell us what your vision of Serendipity is. How do you see it? Do you like it how it is now? What's your favorite part about it? What's your least favorite part about it? What would you like to see added? What would you like to see tweaked? What would you absolutely NOT want changed?
Personally, I like the way Serendipity is now. The main reason that I joined that nation and not Adela is the generic-sense about the whole thing. I could go in and create whatever I wanted. It gives artistic license that I did not quite find for Adela. Also, the non-aggressive nature of the city appealed to me, as I really dislike playing very angsty characters. While I understand the necessity of progress, progress isn't always a good thing when you're just looking for "change" especially in a place that is absolutely BOOMING like Serendipity. That said, I would like to stress that I'm not against evolution, nor adding some fun specifics like general clothing styles, or a set hierarchy of noble titles. Tweaking specifics that don't hinder players creativity is fine in my book.
Of everything, though, I absolutely DO NOT want the magic aspect of Serendipity to change. It's in their blood, they're descended from Feys and it SHOULD be a part of their everyday life. I also really REALLY like the idea that they focus on the mundane rather than the practical. Magic makes their progress frivolous and thus hinders their nation, really.
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
1.) What conflicts do you think would be fun for Serendipity?
Classism? Cults? Racism? Others?
I really like Tal's idea about having an underground cult because, let's face it, there will be those people who aren't ok with the froo froo attitude of the nation and will want to do something else, deeper, darker. I think that could be a lot of fun roleplay for our players. I know, also, that I mentioned the racism as something, but I believe what Rhi said about not finding it appropriate really does make sense, so the more I think about it, the more racism just doesn't work. Yes, Serenian's are fey, but they are accepting of all types of magic. Instead, I can see them being fascinated with different rather than disturbed by it. Leave the racism to Connlaoth, I say.
Classism I can see, however, especially with my vision of Nobles being really out of touch with reality beyond magic. That said, I also do agree with Draco that this is Serendipity....and it really is cliche and, in my opinion just...lame...to change the place so drastically that it's "all bubbly and happy on the surface but underneath....."
The biggest thing that I agree with Draco is that the players make the gray areas. The players make it human. If we, as the admins/mods of the site start to enforce things like, "Nobles are out of touch, middle/low class find them silly" it takes away from the creativity and, I guarentee with too much of this, we will see an even greater populace of wanders/independents and....really if I didn't already have 50 characters I probably wouldn't join another Serenian. I think that it's really important, in a place like this, to not limit people so much by gray that they no longer find they're playing their own characters but cookie cutters of what we want to see.
Ok, that was a digression.
2.) How reliant upon magic is Serendipity?
What should it be capable of doing? What SHOULDN'T it do? What are its limits?
VERY! It really just does. not. make sense to have a race and a city built upon fey magic and NOT use it! If you don't want to be so completely reliant upon it, go to Adela and to Connlaoth. We have an entire nation that doesn't use magic, so Serendipity has every right to use it all the freaking time xD. Rina also said at one point that the fey are stereotypically connected to useless magic and frilly things it can do, so I really think that Serendipity should reflect this. Build ridiculous towers and buildings, magic up elaborate gowns and jewelry just because they can! Come up with new things to magic! Magic IS Serendipity. That should not change.
3. What role does magic play in society?
What role does magic play in the day to day life of a peasant? Of a middle class citizen? Of a wealthy merchant? Of a noble?
I really would like to stick to my initial idea that the biggest price of these hefty/frilly magics is time. Or maybe even a certain type of materials needed. For example: Upper class noble wants a dress. She wants it to look like she's wearing diamonds reflecting the moon. The way it's made? The magic doer would have to start with a base material like a silver silk that has small diamonds sewed along the hem. Then, to reflect the moonlight, he would could only work on it when the moon is highest in the sky and the magic has to feed off of the diamonds already stitched along the hem. The illusion of wearing moonlight comes from the moon's reflection of the actual moon and the magic doer has to feed off of the base materials. Thus, the more rich you are, the better gowns and creations you can have. I also REALLY REALLY like the idea of the frivolous gowns and such only lasting a short while before fading back to the base materials and even the idea that, to make it permanent, it takes MONTHS to magic instead of a few hours.
Thus, the more money you have (aka nobles and the really wealthy merchants) have more materials, money, and ability to get what's needed to do these fun magic bits. This also would leave the peasants at a disadvantage. They would have a much lower supply shelf and, even if they have the most amazing magic user, he/she could still only do so much.
4.) How do you think the classes should be divided?
Upper, middle, lower? No middle class? How wide are the gaps between the classes?
In a wealthy place like Serendipity where, I see, beauty means a whole lot and really...it's a well off place, the low class would not be that large. In fact, I would see the majority of them being traders/merchants and farmers. I also view farmers as middle class, not low class. I mean, obviously it depends on how fruitful your farm is, but food is really important! I also do like the idea that the nobility owns the land and rents it out to the farmers. In a way, each province being like a mini-kingdom with Fenway ruling all of them.
Again, obviously the scholars merchants and traders who fall into the middle class would probably be considered higher middle class than the farmers, but in order to rent out property, the farms will still have to make a good amount!
5.) What technology level should Serendipity be at?
"Low tech" is not an answer! Give specifics! What mundane things would Serenians be good at? What would they be bad at? What would their weapons be like? Their medicine? Their roads? Their sewage system?
With magic at their fingertips, I see Serendipity as "on the surface" appear to be advanced technology-wise. I emphasis APPEAR! They could have some sort of set-up for plumbing and magical waste removal, but the moment that say, a Mordecai appears, everything would stop working and it would all just be really pretty looking metal things. (Yes, I know it would not be iron but think about it...this is SotE...I am SURE that there are metals in this world that don't exist in ours! And hell, with magic Serenians could probably combine metals to making something "prettier" xD)
Weapons, however, are a different story. Firstly, Fenway is NOT Serenian so the whole "It looks impressive but sucks!" would not thrill him and you can BET that he'd make sure that their weapons are at least competent. Of course, this doesn't mean that they have guns, and I would probably venture to say that Adela surpasses them in weapons creation, but Fenway would make sure that come battle if magic doesn't work, the weapons would still be sharp and wouldn't fall apart.
Medicine, I would say that they really don't have a need for it. Again, what happens if all of the healers disappear? Serenians start flopping over dead from disease. I would say that they don't have ANY medicines really...maybe a few herbal concoctions passed along the low class where magic is scarcer, but actual pills and serums? I see them relying solely on their healers.
6. What type of fashion do you see as being the majority?
Magical fashion for the nobles and simple designs for the lower class? Other ideas? Remember: just because something is a fashion trend, it doesn't mean your individual characters have to wear it. This is just what the majority (and NPCs) will most likely be found in.
Here's my vision for fashion in Serendipity: "I will one-up you."
lol, let me explain if that made you go "O_o uh...what?" Basically, with all of the magic, I see nobles (really just the nobles in this sense, maybe a few upper merchants trying to fit in with nobility as well) wanting nothing more than to stand out. Even in the Elizabethan times, you wanted to be the one who one-uped your neighbor at court. You wanted to have the most bling. And I see this as especially true with Serendipity! The nobles can sit around all day and dream up these elaborate designs that take ridiculous magical precision where the most talented and best mages have to be found and brought in....where having that kind of magic is cut-throat and you always have to be on your toes because, god forbid your client shows up to a party and her dress is the same shade of aqua as some other girl!
As the wealth lessens, of course the ridiculous outfits will decrease as well with peasants wearing simple cotton/wool ensembles without much color because dyes are expensive. I still see women traditionally wearing floor-length dresses on a day-to-day basis (with an exception of travelers and such. If you're a woman wearing pants, you are obviously not a settled-down true-blood Serenian traditionalist woman). The lower economic people will focus more on the practical while the better off on frivolity.
7. What kind of food do Serenians eat?
Spicy? Bland? Lots of meat? Heavy on the veggies? Fish-centric? etc. xD
Hahaha, when I saw this question all I could think of was "Fruit." and "Something colorful." I don't see them as a spicy place, but I see them as a flavorful probably with meat as an afterthought rather than the main course. I see "sweets" here too lol.
My Own General Concern
I really would hate to see all of the nations become so bogged down in specifics that we loose sight of the roleplay. I say this mainly because of what happened with me and RotE. RotE had so much detail and so much reading that I really never felt as if I was playing my own character and I absolutely hated it. SotE's appeal to me, and why I decided to drop RotE and stay here was really the freedom offered. The more we sit here and dish out these specifics and argue over changing the nations....the more I see myself disliking SotE like I did RotE. I urge people to remember that this is not a story, and this is not a novel that we're writing where the readers need to put themselves into our vision. I love SotE because the players make the world, not because the admins do. So, add specifics, but I am really uncertain about the number of specifics that go into it. I am concerned that it is going to make SotE less accessible and, ultimately, not as fun.
