Welcome to Oakleaf! (START HERE!)
Nov 29, 2014 21:41:47 GMT
Post by The High Ones on Nov 29, 2014 21:41:47 GMT
Shade and sweet water, welcome to Oakleaf Holt! Oakleaf Holt is a four-tribe roleplaying game based on Elfquest; any tribe seen in canon, you can see here! Oakleaf operates in the same world as Elfquest, but with player-created characters. If you're here, hopefully that means you're interested in playing with us! Our forum is pretty massive, so this post should serve as a site map of sorts, give basic information about our tribes, and get you basically up to speed on what has happened so far. This is a lot of information, but links are provided within!
Quick Links
-Rules
-Introduce Yourself
-Magic/Tribal Roles Descriptions
-Wolfriders Summary
-Go-Backs Summary
-Wavedancers Summary
-Plainsrunners Summary
-Timeline
-Application Template/Character Information Sheet
Currently Available Spots
Please see our list of Adoptables for characters available for adoption. For original characters, please PM a mod or the High Ones account.
How Oakleaf Works
Oakleaf Holt is a play-by-post game, meaning that players come together to play through an idea through storytelling. When players decide on an idea for a thread, they gather the appropriate characters and start a thread in the appropriate section for those characters. Unless tribes are visiting, players can only play with characters in the same tribe; for example, Wolfriders can only play with Wolfriders.
We have one over-arching plot at a time, and the plot focuses on a single tribe. Our first plot, the Wolfriders were under attacks from a pool of corrupted magic that had taken up residence in a very large tree. Some Go-Backs aided in driving off the pool, and our first Recognition occurred. The second plot, our Go-Backs were poisoned by a group of vengeful mountain trolls. After the situation became truly desperate, they reached out to the Wolfriders for help. We introduced the Wavedancers during this plot, and some Wolfriders got to meet them in person. Our third plot saw the Wavedancers' beach destroyed by a hurricane and invaded by a legendary Maraeva, and they had to rely on the Wolfriders' guidance for living off the land until they could rid their home of the Maraeva's toxic oils. Our fourth plot will center around the Plainsrunners and the rift between the more peaceful Sun Folk members and the more wolf-like Jackwolf Riders. These large-scale plots have been placed on hold as of 02/28/2021.
We do have side plots for the other tribes, and welcome players to play as they please! These are generally smaller in scale, like extended hunting or scouting trips, visiting another tribe, a natural disaster. The characters in those threads/plots connect however they wish, forming friendships, romantic relationships, or making enemies. We do our best to encourage people to play with others; playing characters that are in a romantic relationship, close friends, or related is not disallowed, but we would prefer that instead, you try to connect with another player and see if they can fill your character's needs for romance or family.
We do ask people to take turns in threads. If it's a smaller thread, one would go in order of initial posts. For example, A would start, B decides to follow, C after that, and then D jumps in. For the rest of the thread, people would post in that order, A, B, C, and D. If you have been waiting three days, you may post out of turn. If C has been waiting on B for three days, C may go ahead and post, and B will jump back in when they can. For larger threads, we simply ask that you wait two or three characters between your posts.
You may have two characters per tribe. You may notice that some people play more than two characters per tribe; they were grandfathered in before this guideline was created. We also no longer accept characters with a direct connection to canon Elfquest characters, so no children of Redlance and Nightfall or cousins of Cutter. Check the magic lists and roles for what's available; we are not likely to have repeat magic users or specialized tribe roles, like Tanners (if we already have one character in that magic or role, you'll need to justify why more than one is needed). If you can come up with something we don't have at all, by all means, apply for it!
With all that said, we are a fairly fast-paced game. You can have up to eight characters, but you must keep up with them! You have three days to respond to a thread without being skipped, and you can be inactive for a month (character specific) before you are added to our inactivity list; after four months, your character will be removed from the game, or put up for adoption, whichever you prefer. If you communicate to us, we will suspend that guideline, so please don't be afraid to talk to us; real life happens, and doesn't always resolve nicely. Our game also ebbs and flows...sometimes it's very quick, and sometimes it's a bit slower. We have alternative universe sections and links to other holts so people can get their RP fix in slower times.
As our characters age and have children, we want to see those children become characters in their own right. For this reason, our focus is shifting towards adoptables over original characters. If you are new to our game, you must adopt a character before you will be considered for an original character spot. Moderators reserve the right to make exceptions in this case.
History and Canon
Our game is based on Elfquest canon, but deviates at different points in canon. Anything past those points, we may take inspiration from, but isn't necessarily going to line up perfectly with our timeline. For our timeline purposes, the Shards arc represents our Year 0.
For the Wolfriders, everything up to Shards is canon for us (and many characters come from other tribes, so make your own history as you will there, if it does not interfere with canon). From the split of Ember's and Cutter's tribes, we make our own canon. Our Wolfriders joined Ember's tribe, either by coming from Cutter's or from outside tribes. During a war with the Djun (this may or may not be Angrif), Ember and Teir Recognized and ultimately had Wolfdancer. They also adopted many human children in the aftermath of the war, but skirmishes continued for years. Once Wolfdancer was of age, he split from Ember's tribe to found Oakleaf Holt. About four hands (16 years) of turns after the tribe's founding, Wolfdancer Recognized Sonia, the chieftess of a tribe of Go-Backs living on a mountain three days' ride away. Wolfdancer struggles with having a lifemate so far away and having to lead his own tribe; the end of the second plot will be a crucial decision point for our young chief.
For the Go-Backs, everything up to Rayek splitting the Go-Backs from the Palace is canon. Our Go-Backs wandered for 10,000 years, becoming nomadic. After such a long time, the nomadic Go-Backs, led by Kevok, found Venka, traveling with her daughter, Sonia, on her quest to find Kahvi. They were taken in with much celebration, and Venka became a figurehead for the tribe for a time. After a few years, she disappeared, leaving Sonia with the Go-Backs. Sonia didn't stay long either, having come of age and wanting to reunite with her mother, so she left as well. The Go-Backs, now led by Allegro, continued to travel, but after countless lives on the move, the tribe decided to settle. Only a few turns into Allegro's chieftainship did they find Sonia again, and she decided to take the braids. Afterwards, they settled their lodge, but were quickly met by the current inhabitants; vicious mountain trolls. They went to war and drove them off, then had 85 turns of peace...but the surviving trolls, led by Ironskin, returned with recruits to try to take back the mountain!
For the Wavedancers, we rely on nothing from canon. Our Wavedancers were created as a blend of the Original Wavedancers and the New Wavedancers. The detailed history is still in development, but the basic idea is that a group of High Ones tried to live on the seas instead of the land, leaving Timmain's group. They were taught to survive by dolphins, originally known as wavedancers, and then decided to call themselves Wavedancers. For thousands of turns, they were a fairly small bunch, but they did eventually grow so large that they had to form splinter pods. The canon Wavedancers (led by Snakeskin) are one of many splinter pods; our Wavedancers are another. Our pod is on its Fifth set of chiefs (Crowns), led by the twins Rhialee and Ailani. Their mother, Mahina, was the Fourth Crown; she was the head of the pod for hundreds of turns, seeing the landers grow from canoe-riders to sea captains driving vast ships through the waters. The pod went through turns of fighting and fleeing, and it was the last battle that cut their pod's numbers in half, taking Mahina as well. Rhialee and Ailani took the survivors further north than they'd ever been and settled them at a new beach. There seem to be no humans, but the adjustments they're making, to a smaller pod, to the loss of life, to simple climate changes, can be harsh. But the latest Spawning, a celebration of fertility and Recognition, brought hope by joining Spindrift and Brook, and Ailani with Leaena.
Our Plainsrunners also do not rely on canon. They were created using guidelines from the Elfquest RPG rulebooks. Their history is still in development.
Navigation
Sidebar
-The High Ones: These are the moderators, Tam, Shannon, Noël, and Vila (in order of icons). Mod accounts are indicated by the word "staff" next to their tribe name, which you can see by clicking on one of the icons. To contact the mods, you can send a PM to any of the mods individually, send a PM to The High Ones (by clicking on the icon of the author of this post), or by emailing the Oakleaf email account directly (oakleafholt@gmail.com).
Tam plays: Allegro, Leaena, Mistblossom, Nivali, Rhialee, Serj, and plot antagonists.
Shannon plays: Alder, Danik, Firebird, Nyrah, Tusk, and Zeel.
Tzezuko plays: Dawnbringer, Iraelia, Lotan, Kellera, Saleen, Sonia, Tulen, and Vixen.
-Current Weather: This box will tell you what the season is in the game, and what the weather is like for each tribe.
-Current News: This box will give you a very small summary of the main plot at the moment, and the level of danger at the home of whichever tribe the plot is focused on.
-Characters: This box lists all characters in the game, separated by tribe. The numbers next to each tribal name are how many characters we have, versus how many spaces we have in each tribe. Each tribe has twenty (20) spaces, and we try to keep the sexes even. All characters in the tribal sections are ALIVE, but may not be active. Below those sections are the NPC list, the Inactive list, and the list of elves who have departed, by death or personal quests.
The names of all characters, and the tribal names themselves, link to CISs or tribal overviews.
-Links: This box gives links to the main Elfquest page, the Scroll of Colors (the official Elfquest forum), and any other holts we have traded links with.
-Disclaimer: This box lists copyright information.
Boards
The first things you'll see on ANY board are our Announcement threads. These threads are tagged as Announcements for easy access, because an announcement needs to be made, or because the threads are often used. Scroll below those to find the content specific to each board.
General
This is the most important section for a new player. The General section contains three boards: Plot, Character Applications, and Personals.
-Plot: This is where you'll find our Rules, our Timeline, roleplaying tips, and discussions on development of the plots and tribes.
-Character Applications: All character applications are posted here. You will also find detailed information about each of our tribes, the list of NPCs, and the Master List for tribal roles and magics, both available and taken. These should all be browsed when you are considering applying for a character. The Application Template/Character Information Sheet (CIS) is also posted here; to apply, you simply copy and paste the CIS into a new thread and post it directly in the Character Applications board. This board has three sub-boards: Adoptable Characters, Approved Characters, and Test Threads.
-Personals: This is where people make connections with other players. Here, you'll find threads on whether or not you want your character to Recognize, how they feel about sharing mates, lists of taken names and mounts, a master list for which players play which characters, and various threads posted by players themselves that contain thread ideas, or desires for family or romantic connections, or simple player introductions.
The Forest/The Cliffs/The Cove/The Plains
These sections are where the game takes place, and are specific to each tribe. The Wolfriders are played in The Forest boards, the Go-Backs are played in The Cliffs boards, the Wavedancers are played in The Cove boards, and the Plainsrunners are played in The Plains boards.
Worldpool
These sections contain boards for our Alternate Universes. These boards are player-run and self-moderated; board rules still apply, but the moderators do not generally watch over these boards. They are also lower-priority, so please take care of any main game posting before you play in the Worldpool games.
-Elves of Fortune: Run primarily by Shannon (player of Alder, Danik, Firebird, Night Arrow, Spraysong, and Zeel), this AU game contains alternate versions of our characters as pirates.
-Poison Blues: Run primarily by Mia, this AU game contains alternate versions of our characters in a film noir/mystery environment.
Out of Character
This board is a combination art board, and social board.
Forum Information & Statistics
This section gives you information on how many posts we've had, how many threads we've had, member statistics, a list of who's online, and a list of who's been on in the last 24 hours.
Shoutbox
This section is for announcements. The announcements are either small enough to stay in the box, or are an alert, directing people to longer announcements.
Chatango
The box at the bottom is our chatroom, hosted by Chatango. It is not connected to the forum, so if you would like to use it, you will need to sign up for a Chatango account, or you can use an anonymous handle.
And that should be it! If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask anyone; we're all super friendly and helpful, for the most part.
We look forward to seeing you in the game!
Quick Links
-Rules
-Introduce Yourself
-Magic/Tribal Roles Descriptions
-Wolfriders Summary
-Go-Backs Summary
-Wavedancers Summary
-Plainsrunners Summary
-Timeline
-Application Template/Character Information Sheet
Currently Available Spots
Please see our list of Adoptables for characters available for adoption. For original characters, please PM a mod or the High Ones account.
How Oakleaf Works
Oakleaf Holt is a play-by-post game, meaning that players come together to play through an idea through storytelling. When players decide on an idea for a thread, they gather the appropriate characters and start a thread in the appropriate section for those characters. Unless tribes are visiting, players can only play with characters in the same tribe; for example, Wolfriders can only play with Wolfriders.
We have one over-arching plot at a time, and the plot focuses on a single tribe. Our first plot, the Wolfriders were under attacks from a pool of corrupted magic that had taken up residence in a very large tree. Some Go-Backs aided in driving off the pool, and our first Recognition occurred. The second plot, our Go-Backs were poisoned by a group of vengeful mountain trolls. After the situation became truly desperate, they reached out to the Wolfriders for help. We introduced the Wavedancers during this plot, and some Wolfriders got to meet them in person. Our third plot saw the Wavedancers' beach destroyed by a hurricane and invaded by a legendary Maraeva, and they had to rely on the Wolfriders' guidance for living off the land until they could rid their home of the Maraeva's toxic oils. Our fourth plot will center around the Plainsrunners and the rift between the more peaceful Sun Folk members and the more wolf-like Jackwolf Riders. These large-scale plots have been placed on hold as of 02/28/2021.
We do have side plots for the other tribes, and welcome players to play as they please! These are generally smaller in scale, like extended hunting or scouting trips, visiting another tribe, a natural disaster. The characters in those threads/plots connect however they wish, forming friendships, romantic relationships, or making enemies. We do our best to encourage people to play with others; playing characters that are in a romantic relationship, close friends, or related is not disallowed, but we would prefer that instead, you try to connect with another player and see if they can fill your character's needs for romance or family.
We do ask people to take turns in threads. If it's a smaller thread, one would go in order of initial posts. For example, A would start, B decides to follow, C after that, and then D jumps in. For the rest of the thread, people would post in that order, A, B, C, and D. If you have been waiting three days, you may post out of turn. If C has been waiting on B for three days, C may go ahead and post, and B will jump back in when they can. For larger threads, we simply ask that you wait two or three characters between your posts.
You may have two characters per tribe. You may notice that some people play more than two characters per tribe; they were grandfathered in before this guideline was created. We also no longer accept characters with a direct connection to canon Elfquest characters, so no children of Redlance and Nightfall or cousins of Cutter. Check the magic lists and roles for what's available; we are not likely to have repeat magic users or specialized tribe roles, like Tanners (if we already have one character in that magic or role, you'll need to justify why more than one is needed). If you can come up with something we don't have at all, by all means, apply for it!
With all that said, we are a fairly fast-paced game. You can have up to eight characters, but you must keep up with them! You have three days to respond to a thread without being skipped, and you can be inactive for a month (character specific) before you are added to our inactivity list; after four months, your character will be removed from the game, or put up for adoption, whichever you prefer. If you communicate to us, we will suspend that guideline, so please don't be afraid to talk to us; real life happens, and doesn't always resolve nicely. Our game also ebbs and flows...sometimes it's very quick, and sometimes it's a bit slower. We have alternative universe sections and links to other holts so people can get their RP fix in slower times.
As our characters age and have children, we want to see those children become characters in their own right. For this reason, our focus is shifting towards adoptables over original characters. If you are new to our game, you must adopt a character before you will be considered for an original character spot. Moderators reserve the right to make exceptions in this case.
History and Canon
Our game is based on Elfquest canon, but deviates at different points in canon. Anything past those points, we may take inspiration from, but isn't necessarily going to line up perfectly with our timeline. For our timeline purposes, the Shards arc represents our Year 0.
For the Wolfriders, everything up to Shards is canon for us (and many characters come from other tribes, so make your own history as you will there, if it does not interfere with canon). From the split of Ember's and Cutter's tribes, we make our own canon. Our Wolfriders joined Ember's tribe, either by coming from Cutter's or from outside tribes. During a war with the Djun (this may or may not be Angrif), Ember and Teir Recognized and ultimately had Wolfdancer. They also adopted many human children in the aftermath of the war, but skirmishes continued for years. Once Wolfdancer was of age, he split from Ember's tribe to found Oakleaf Holt. About four hands (16 years) of turns after the tribe's founding, Wolfdancer Recognized Sonia, the chieftess of a tribe of Go-Backs living on a mountain three days' ride away. Wolfdancer struggles with having a lifemate so far away and having to lead his own tribe; the end of the second plot will be a crucial decision point for our young chief.
For the Go-Backs, everything up to Rayek splitting the Go-Backs from the Palace is canon. Our Go-Backs wandered for 10,000 years, becoming nomadic. After such a long time, the nomadic Go-Backs, led by Kevok, found Venka, traveling with her daughter, Sonia, on her quest to find Kahvi. They were taken in with much celebration, and Venka became a figurehead for the tribe for a time. After a few years, she disappeared, leaving Sonia with the Go-Backs. Sonia didn't stay long either, having come of age and wanting to reunite with her mother, so she left as well. The Go-Backs, now led by Allegro, continued to travel, but after countless lives on the move, the tribe decided to settle. Only a few turns into Allegro's chieftainship did they find Sonia again, and she decided to take the braids. Afterwards, they settled their lodge, but were quickly met by the current inhabitants; vicious mountain trolls. They went to war and drove them off, then had 85 turns of peace...but the surviving trolls, led by Ironskin, returned with recruits to try to take back the mountain!
For the Wavedancers, we rely on nothing from canon. Our Wavedancers were created as a blend of the Original Wavedancers and the New Wavedancers. The detailed history is still in development, but the basic idea is that a group of High Ones tried to live on the seas instead of the land, leaving Timmain's group. They were taught to survive by dolphins, originally known as wavedancers, and then decided to call themselves Wavedancers. For thousands of turns, they were a fairly small bunch, but they did eventually grow so large that they had to form splinter pods. The canon Wavedancers (led by Snakeskin) are one of many splinter pods; our Wavedancers are another. Our pod is on its Fifth set of chiefs (Crowns), led by the twins Rhialee and Ailani. Their mother, Mahina, was the Fourth Crown; she was the head of the pod for hundreds of turns, seeing the landers grow from canoe-riders to sea captains driving vast ships through the waters. The pod went through turns of fighting and fleeing, and it was the last battle that cut their pod's numbers in half, taking Mahina as well. Rhialee and Ailani took the survivors further north than they'd ever been and settled them at a new beach. There seem to be no humans, but the adjustments they're making, to a smaller pod, to the loss of life, to simple climate changes, can be harsh. But the latest Spawning, a celebration of fertility and Recognition, brought hope by joining Spindrift and Brook, and Ailani with Leaena.
Our Plainsrunners also do not rely on canon. They were created using guidelines from the Elfquest RPG rulebooks. Their history is still in development.
Navigation
Sidebar
-The High Ones: These are the moderators, Tam, Shannon, Noël, and Vila (in order of icons). Mod accounts are indicated by the word "staff" next to their tribe name, which you can see by clicking on one of the icons. To contact the mods, you can send a PM to any of the mods individually, send a PM to The High Ones (by clicking on the icon of the author of this post), or by emailing the Oakleaf email account directly (oakleafholt@gmail.com).
Tam plays: Allegro, Leaena, Mistblossom, Nivali, Rhialee, Serj, and plot antagonists.
Shannon plays: Alder, Danik, Firebird, Nyrah, Tusk, and Zeel.
Tzezuko plays: Dawnbringer, Iraelia, Lotan, Kellera, Saleen, Sonia, Tulen, and Vixen.
-Current Weather: This box will tell you what the season is in the game, and what the weather is like for each tribe.
-Current News: This box will give you a very small summary of the main plot at the moment, and the level of danger at the home of whichever tribe the plot is focused on.
-Characters: This box lists all characters in the game, separated by tribe. The numbers next to each tribal name are how many characters we have, versus how many spaces we have in each tribe. Each tribe has twenty (20) spaces, and we try to keep the sexes even. All characters in the tribal sections are ALIVE, but may not be active. Below those sections are the NPC list, the Inactive list, and the list of elves who have departed, by death or personal quests.
The names of all characters, and the tribal names themselves, link to CISs or tribal overviews.
-Links: This box gives links to the main Elfquest page, the Scroll of Colors (the official Elfquest forum), and any other holts we have traded links with.
-Disclaimer: This box lists copyright information.
Boards
The first things you'll see on ANY board are our Announcement threads. These threads are tagged as Announcements for easy access, because an announcement needs to be made, or because the threads are often used. Scroll below those to find the content specific to each board.
General
This is the most important section for a new player. The General section contains three boards: Plot, Character Applications, and Personals.
-Plot: This is where you'll find our Rules, our Timeline, roleplaying tips, and discussions on development of the plots and tribes.
-Character Applications: All character applications are posted here. You will also find detailed information about each of our tribes, the list of NPCs, and the Master List for tribal roles and magics, both available and taken. These should all be browsed when you are considering applying for a character. The Application Template/Character Information Sheet (CIS) is also posted here; to apply, you simply copy and paste the CIS into a new thread and post it directly in the Character Applications board. This board has three sub-boards: Adoptable Characters, Approved Characters, and Test Threads.
- Approved Characters: contains Character Information Sheets (CISs) for all approved characters. (all characters listed in the sidebar are actually links to CISs)
- Adoptable Characters: contains CISs for all adoptable characters.
- Test Threads: a passworded board for players to test out new characters to get a feel for their personality and voice.
-Personals: This is where people make connections with other players. Here, you'll find threads on whether or not you want your character to Recognize, how they feel about sharing mates, lists of taken names and mounts, a master list for which players play which characters, and various threads posted by players themselves that contain thread ideas, or desires for family or romantic connections, or simple player introductions.
The Forest/The Cliffs/The Cove/The Plains
These sections are where the game takes place, and are specific to each tribe. The Wolfriders are played in The Forest boards, the Go-Backs are played in The Cliffs boards, the Wavedancers are played in The Cove boards, and the Plainsrunners are played in The Plains boards.
Worldpool
These sections contain boards for our Alternate Universes. These boards are player-run and self-moderated; board rules still apply, but the moderators do not generally watch over these boards. They are also lower-priority, so please take care of any main game posting before you play in the Worldpool games.
-Elves of Fortune: Run primarily by Shannon (player of Alder, Danik, Firebird, Night Arrow, Spraysong, and Zeel), this AU game contains alternate versions of our characters as pirates.
-Poison Blues: Run primarily by Mia, this AU game contains alternate versions of our characters in a film noir/mystery environment.
Out of Character
This board is a combination art board, and social board.
- Fun and Games contains random threads where members can discuss whatever they like, anything from what music you like, to what DnD alignment your character would fit into, to pictures of cute animals.
- The Way of Life contains threads specific to personal announcements. Mostly, it contains birthday wishes.
- Fan Creations is where people post their art or fiction, in the appropriate sub-board. The main section contains inspiration for tribal locales, requests for pictures or stories, and other artistic things that may not necessarily be visual art or stories. Fanart contains visual art threads for multiple players, and Fanfiction contains longer stories about our characters, written by a single player or by multiple players working together. Sometimes they are historical stories, happening before the game's time, or they happen in the current time, but allow for the writer to go more in depth. These stories are not strictly canon; if you want something canonized, it must be played as a thread in the main game.
Forum Information & Statistics
This section gives you information on how many posts we've had, how many threads we've had, member statistics, a list of who's online, and a list of who's been on in the last 24 hours.
Shoutbox
This section is for announcements. The announcements are either small enough to stay in the box, or are an alert, directing people to longer announcements.
Chatango
The box at the bottom is our chatroom, hosted by Chatango. It is not connected to the forum, so if you would like to use it, you will need to sign up for a Chatango account, or you can use an anonymous handle.
And that should be it! If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask anyone; we're all super friendly and helpful, for the most part.
We look forward to seeing you in the game!
This thread is a good start in welcoming new members to the boards.
