The mystery of the Starstone (Cancelled/Dead)

[Zealot]

Hey Folks.

So after a while of rooting around in old files I found some old roleplay notes for a roleplay I never managed to complete. Suffice to say, I thought it would be a nice idea to see if anyone was interested in participating. I remember it started off well then real life got in the way and, yeah... So it would be nice to finish it this time around, or simply to just see if the style works as intended since we didn't really get far enough in the roleplay to see if it worked. I've taken the characters and the setting and transported it to Equestria essentially. So...

The roleplay will be a 'mystery' as suggested in the thread title, so suffice to say something bad is going to happen. I know, shock and spoilers right?

Themes include crime and politics.

Ok, so the story goes. Duke Enjoue Souriant has recently led an expedition into the Prench wilderness, accompanied by Countess Frostfall, where they have found a large ruin that dates back at least a thousand years. After a few months excavation they uncover a small chamber and inside they find a single glittering jewel, hidden away in a secret compartment. There appeared to be no evidence of where the jewel came from or what it was doing there so the Duke claimed it for himself. After all, he did find it. The Petty King of Prance has supported this decision since it is of no historical value to the people of Prance and the Duke presented it as a gift to his mare, Duchess Soigneux Artistique. The roleplay is set one month after the Starstone's discovery and the Duke and Duchess have called for a feast to celebrate the Duke's return from the expedition. The Prench Duke and Duchess are hosting a small gathering of their acquaintances and friends at their estate, only the problem is that just means everyone in the address book. They don't really know who will turn up and they're expecting more or less anything.

So that's the story. Basically your characters aren't expected to know the Duke and Duchess, though they can if you want to. They are NPCs after all. The only requirement is that they have come into contact and somehow details have been exchanged, which I would imagine would be a bit of a surprise. But hey, that's how hooks go.

The important thing to note about this roleplay is that it relies on a certain roleplay style that is not the norm of Canterlot. I will essentially be acting as a Dungeon Master, controlling all the NPCs (of which there are many...) and describing the world around you. Of course, NPC interaction will likely be one liners from my end more to be used as prompts for the roleplay, though it's encouraged that you do talk to them to have a chance to actually solve the mystery. That will likely be the key methinks. There will naturally be a post order as well and, while I will be in that post order I will not have a character, I will simply have a lot of NPCs to play.

I was thinking that the roleplay could be set in Prance, or it could be on the outskirts of Canterlot. The estate is very much a portable location depending on where the players want to roleplay. I've also set this in CC because the plotline is a little darker than would likely be acceptable in WOE. Though I will point out there will be no combat, just politics and mystery.

 

This is a re-post of the original idea since it did show some interest last time, though I was too busy to actually host it last time. I'm trying again to see if anyone else wants to have a shot before I start this off.

 

So yeah, any questions? Thoughts? Want to register interest? Rage comments? Preferably not the latter... but hey.

 

Character list:

 

Duke Enjoue Souriant (Host)

Duchess Soigneux Artistique (Hostess)

Countess Frostfall (Countess of Whittiny)

Ambassador Radiant (Ambassador of the Griffon Kingdom)

??? (Purple stallion)

??? (Blue mare)

Baroness Fair Belle (Baroness and Seneschal)

Thrifty Flower (Rude, drab mare)

Trooper (Gateguard)

Prince Genant (Third in line. Nervous.)

??? (Grey earth pony)

??? (Mud colored earth pony)

 

Player list:

 

Zeig (Starlit Shimmer)

MoonshineTheleocat (Java)

Elderflower?

AlphaNumeric (AlphaNumeric)

Eris (Amorous Rose)

Dunder (Dunder)

PyroBlaze (Marusha)

[AlphaNumeric]

Alphanumeric would probably want to get in on the details of the expedition, given his profession. If you'll allow him, I think he'll be a good fit for the RP.

Here's his character sheet:

http://www.canterlot.com/topic/20553-alphanumeric-ready/

[Zealot]

Alphanumeric would probably want to get in on the details of the expedition, given his profession. If you'll allow him, I think he'll be a good fit for the RP.

Here's his character sheet:

http://www.canterlot.com/topic/20553-alphanumeric-ready/

 

Seems like he would maybe have been on the expedition even, if you wanted to do that I'd be happy to accomodate. Otherwise I think it would be fine for him to turn up. Like you said, sounds like a good fit.

 

I'll put you down on the list.

[Solaria]

Huh, Prance. Sugarmomma is from Prance. Sugarmomma would likely know these pones. Therefore I should obviously bring along my areion rocker, because music stars attending fancy function for hors d'oeuvres makes the best sense.

Honestly though, I can just fill a needed personality type since I have quite a few characters gathering dust.

Destiny- withdrawn REA mage and scholar

Sundrop- upbeat cloud surfing star

Amorous Rose- Prench noble and dancer turned REA nurse

Haunting Nocturne- lead guitarist of Wing Power and professional loafer

There are plenty more, and I would enjoy playing any of them. So whichever you/the group want

[Zealot]

Yep, Prance. 

 

I dunno, I had a french thing going when I wrote it and I wanted to write some of my own content, for whatever reason. Prance seemed like a pretty neutral place to do that. There probably is some on-site lore for it already, but suffice to say I ignore all on site lore.

 

But anyway, taking another look at my NPC list again there's quite a mix of characters amongst them already. If you had a hankering to play a specific character then I would suggest you play that one. After all, I'd rather you play a character that you want to play. Still, I guess a more outgoing character might be good. They're always quite interesting to see.

 

Still, if anyone else had a preference I guess you could listen to them. I guess what i'm trying to say is I don't want to tell you what character to play, I'd rather you choose so you can have fun with it.

[PyroBlaze]

Sounds interesting. Not sure who I'd use though.

[Solaria]

Aha! I foresaw this very response! I'm cool with playing any of my chars really, I just put up my list in case anyone else saw a character they might have the mos t fun interacting with during the rp.

[Dunder]

Hmmm...interesting. Dunder'd be interested in going. He's a swordspony, can cook, and a very experienced traveler.

[PyroBlaze]

I wouldn't mind having Marusha in this.

[Zealot]

Sure thing, I'll add you guys to the list. Should probably put character names up there as well now I think about it...

[Zealot]

Okie dokie lokie. I'll be putting up a thread for this in a day or two, so if you feel like you need to pick a character, now would probably be a good time. 

[Dunder]

I'll probably take Dunder

[Zeig]

Wonders of wonders…I think I might actually try using Starlit Shimmer for this RP. I think she's the only character of mine that would enjoy a party of high scale nobles and elites (despite the fact that pretty much everyone is invited).

Though if anyone really wants me to bring in a certain character, let me know. Otherwise, I think Starlit Shimmer is going to be it.

[moonshineTheleocat]

I could of sworn I enlisted to this. I guess not.

If you'll still have me, Voronoi "Java" Fractal is up to the task.

[Zealot]

Wonders of wonders…I think I might actually try using Starlit Shimmer for this RP. I think she's the only character of mine that would enjoy a party of high scale nobles and elites (despite the fact that pretty much everyone is invited).

Though if anyone really wants me to bring in a certain character, let me know. Otherwise, I think Starlit Shimmer is going to be it.

 

Hehe, yeah don't worry, there are a couple of dirty peasants around for the party as well.

 

Still, nice to hear from you.

 

 

I could of sworn I enlisted to this. I guess not.

If you'll still have me, Voronoi "Java" Fractal is up to the task.

 

You did, that was in the old OOC thread that I posted months ago. Hehe.

 

Still, thanks for the interest again.

[Solaria]

I'm thinking I'll go with Amorous Rose.

Sorry, my phone won't let me create hyperlink anchors and I can't remember the coding:

http://www.canterlot.com/topic/20507-sugar-momma-ready/

[Zealot]

Sure thing, that's everyone covered. Elderflower hasn't responded to my message so I assume they won't be joining us. Other than that, I'll get this set up soon.

[Zealot]

Thread is up:

 

http://www.canterlot.com/topic/20700-the-mystery-of-the-starstone-openregister-in-ooc-thread-first/

 

Posting order is loose, post once then let everyone else post, then I'll update the NPCs and we'll go around again but it doesn't have to be in the same order.

 

Side note: I have no idea what happened to my lovely formatting. It seems to be fixed...

[Dunder]

Permission to make Dunder one of the ponies that the Duke hired for the expedition.

Could have been a referral since Dunder has worked for princess Cadance before.

[Zealot]

Permission to make Dunder one of the ponies that the Duke hired for the expedition.

Could have been a referral since Dunder has worked for princess Cadance before.

 

Sure thing, knock yourself out.

 

In fact if anyone wants to do something like this feel free, just let me know here and make sure it makes some sort of sense. I think Alphanumeric was also going along this route as well.

[Zeig]

BUP, I misread, thought the gates were actually closed. Would anyone mind if I edited the end of my post? Probably move Shimmer to the gardens to wait for a few extra guests to arrive.

[Zealot]

BUP, I misread, thought the gates were actually closed. Would anyone mind if I edited the end of my post? Probably move Shimmer to the gardens to wait for a few extra guests to arrive.

 

Not a problem, probably my fault. I wasn't quite clear. The gates are open. 

 

You can move her to the rotunda if you like, that's sort of the centre point of the gardens.

[Zeig]

No you were, I just wasn't reading carefully enough. For some reason I mistook the guard to be standing in front of the gate rather than at the gate, and my brain took that to mean that the gate was closed. Silly brain.

I just edited my post, thanks! Placed Shimmer in the rotunda. Which leads me to ask, how long should we wait for GM posts before we have our characters do something else, or move on from the area they're in? Should we always wait for conformation, or are there signs we should take that indicate our characters haven't done anything note-worthy towards the plot and should move on?

(I'm really excited for this if you can't tell, I love adventure-style RPs).

[PyroBlaze]

Huh... Well, you're not the only one to have made that mistake, Zeig. For some reason I assumed the gate was closed too.

[Zealot]

Well, I will wait for everyone to post once then I will post updating everything at once. 

 

If there's nothing about your character then it will be because you haven't interacted by moving into another room or talking to an NPC. Otherwise there should usually be something, even if it's just background stuff going on in the room with your character.

 

So yeah, you can move whenever you want basically as long as it's after I've updated stuff. No posting twice before the GM basically. If that makes sense and clears things up?