Walk With Me Through the Black House (OOC/Sign-Up)

[Fanaglia]

In the early winter of 1868, the weather was quite pleasant, as it often is at this time of year in southern Cynfelyn in the southwest of the Kingdom of Fanaglia. In the sleepy little town of Mezieu, children could be seen flying kites in the park, or floating model sail boats in that park's reflecting pool. The cheery breeze may have brought a friendly relief from the oppressive humidity of the hot Fanaglian summer, but these were not the only blowing winds, for a storm was brewing on the horizon: Libre Fanaglia, the underground movement of rebels against the King, DiMarco, had just hit another railway depot, capturing weapons, munitions, and gold belonging to His Majesty.

The aforementioned scene in the park may have appeared idyllic, but most of those children would return to empty homes, their parents and older siblings working long and dangerous hours in the factories and textile mills. Supper would be a meager meal of bread, or, if they were lucky, some wild-grown oranges they had happened to pick while they were out -- if there was any food at all. Many were not even so lucky -- much of the local population laid their heads to rest in a makeshift tent city at the edge of town, beside the stinking River Roussir. Not every town in Fanaglia was like Mezieu, but it was hardly unique. King DiMarco had united the duchies of Fanaglia in the face of certain destruction by their Mendean neighbors, but it had become apparent that the prosperity he had promised would come from unity and industrial revolution was but a lie -- a lie the people had grown sour on. DiMarco's time would come, but the people had to make the best of what they had until then.

On the edge of town opposite the tent city, situated on the riverbank and tucked into the bend of the River Roussier, was l'Hôpital Mezieu. Often regarded as one of the preferable places of employment in Mezieu (at least compared to the textile mills or the slaughterhouse), it nevertheless cast a shadow over the grounds upon which it stood, for it was no regular hospital. L'Hôpital Mezieu was a lunatic asylum. And not any lunatic asylum, either -- Mezieu was a royal institution, housing the criminally insane from all across Fanaglia. It also happened to be the place where the Secret du Roi, DiMarco's secret police, had a tendency to lock away rebels, dissenters, and other "undesirables" to be forgotten about.

Of course, in a time in which modern psychology was still in its infancy, the life of a patient (whether she be a wife or daughter locked away by a husband or father for being too independently-minded, a rebel or rebel sympathizer, or someone with legitimate, if poorly-understood mental problems) in l'Hôpital Mezieu was, more often than not, a bleak one, even for those patients housed in the first-class wards. Those in the third-class wards shuffled through such a cramped, filthy, and outright dangerous purgatory that the real thing would seem a relief.

There was one thing in l'Hôpital Mezieu that could brighten a select few patients' days, however, and that was psycho-drama therapy. The program was the brainchild of Mezieu's resident alienist¹, Dr. Remy Bouchard. Despite criticisms from other alienists and Sébastien Coulmiers (the warden of l'Hôpital Mezieu) for wasting time and resources on so-called "lost causes," Dr. Bouchard's reasoning behind this sort of therapy (as opposed to the more inhumane treatments employed by his contemporaries) was that alternative forms of expression could help his patients better work through their mental ailments and live something approaching a more normal and productive life, or at least a happier one. Warden Coulmiers, despite his objections, allowed Dr. Bouchard to continue his work, however, on one condition: that the hospital be allowed to sell tickets for the patients' dramas to the general public to make up for all of the time the good doctor "wasted" in his "little experiment." And time was money, after all. In the end, the warden easily made up for any money perceived to be wasted, for no matter the quality of the performance, those among the locals who could afford the modest fee were often eager to "see the crazies" perform for them at the hospital.

Dr. Bouchard's were not the only experiments taking place at l'Hôpital Mezieu, however. There were darker things afoot, just out of sight, spoken of in whispers (or sometimes maddened ravings). But few were keen to heed the words of one saddled with the label of "lunatic."

¹Alienist: an archaic term for a psychologist

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Welcome. Our story opens in the early winter of 1868 in l'Hôpital Mezieu, a lunatic asylum for the criminally insane in southwestern Fanaglia. Dr. Bouchard, the resident alienist (old-timey term for a psychologist) has put out a casting call in one of the ladies' wards for what he calls "psycho-drama therapy" -- basically, a program for patients to cope with their mental illnesses by expressing themselves onstage. This session's chosen play is Shakespeare's Macbeth.

You may choose to RP as either a female patient or an orderly of either gender. This RP takes place during the buildup towards the First Fanaglian Civil War in which the corrupt King, DiMarco, is deposed. This means that not all patients are mentally ill -- many are political dissidents or women who simply crossed husbands or fathers with the means to lock them away. Even legitimate mental illnesses of patients could vary wildly, given how poorly mental health was understood and how inconsistently it could be treated in this time period. Further, each pentagon of the hospital is divided into first-, second-, and third-class wards; third-class wards are cramped, crowded (four to a cell), and generally reserved for wards of the state, while first-class wards feature private cells with larger windows and more creature comforts (reserved for the insane members of the wealthiest families) and second-class wards fall somewhere in between, with two patients per cell.

If you are interested in participating, please copy the appropriate form from below and update it with your character's information. Also, there are a lot of misconceptions and stereotypes about mental health and it can be a delicate and often really triggering subject -- please do your best to be respectful of others and what they may gone through, which of course also means listening to someone if they raise issue with something you're trying to say or do instead of trying to argue with them about it. If you can't do that, this is not the RP for you. While we're at it, let's consider this a blanket TW/CW for all sorts of traumatic things right now. Also, I acknowledge that I'm not perfect -- if I overstep or mis-characterize something or if you have an issue with another player and do not wish to confront them directly, please let me know and I'll do my best to rectify it ASAP. Let's have fun!

Code: Select all

[b][u]PATIENT CHARACTER APPLICATION[/U][/B]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Nationality:[/b]
[b]Physical Description (photos encouraged but not required):[/b]
[b]Years Spent in Mental Institutions:[/b]
[b]Reason for Institutionalization (Official or Otherwise):[/b]
[b]Actual Mental Health:[/b]
[b]Former Occupation (if any):[/b]
[b]Ward Class (First, Second, or Third):[/b]
[b]Responsible Party (Family, close friends, or the State):[/b]
[b]Brief Biography:[/b]
[b]RP Sample (Past a Link): [/b]

Code: Select all

[b][u]ORDERLY CHARACTER APPLICATION[/u][/b]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Nationality:[/b] 
[b]Physical Description (photos encouraged but not required):[/b]
[b]Years of Related Experience (please briefly summarize):[/b]
[b]Years Working at Mezieu:[/b]
[b]Relationship/Rapport With Patients:[/b]
[b]Brief Biography:[/b]
[b]RP Sample (Past a Link): [/b]

Below is a character application for one of my NPC's, which I've posted to serve as an example, along with introductions to two other key NPC's you'll grow quite familiar with.

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PATIENT CHARACTER EXAMPLE

Name: Giulia Bianchi-Ricci
Age: 22
Nationality: Fanaglian (Ticcianese)
Physical Description: (See attached photo)
Years Spent in Mental Institutions: 2
Reason for Institutionalization (Official or Otherwise): Hysteria, sexual deviance, murder
Actual Mental Health: Suffers from what we would today call moderate-to-severe, undiagnosed and untreated PTSD. Emotionally detached, anxious, and paranoid, she suffers from regular insomnia and nightmares
Former Occupation (if any): Housewife
Ward Class (First, Second, or Third): Second
Responsible Party (Family, close friends, or the State): Her family in Ticciano
Brief Biography: Giulia Bianchi was married to Giacomo Ricci, a wealthy railroad tycoon fifteen years her senior, shortly after her seventeenth birthday. It was a loveless marriage in which Giulia struggled to deal with the unwanted advances of her husband, who had her diagnosed with "hysteria." After her husband discovered the affair she was having with his maid, he pinned her to the bed, demanding that she "forget about other women." While he was sleeping later that night, she entered the bedroom with a kitchen knife and stabbed him repeatedly in the groin until he bled out and died. She would have been sentenced to hang for the crime of murder had her family and her physician not argued that she was afflicted with ills of the mind and was not a murderer, and that she be should sent to a lunatic asylum instead.

PATIENT CHARACTER EXAMPLE

Name: Lena Nowak
Age: 31
Nationality: Fanaglian (Polydorian)
Physical Description: (See attached photo)
Years Spent in Mental Institutions: 2
Reason for Institutionalization (Official or Otherwise): Officially for homicidal mental instability; unofficially because she was connected with Libre Fanaglia and was detained in the hopes of extracting information from her
Actual Mental Health: No serious mental problems
Former Occupation (if any): Seamstress; underground revolutionary
Ward Class (First, Second, or Third): Third
Responsible Party (Family, close friends, or the State): The State
Brief Biography: Lena Nowak was the second of five sisters who were raised by their single mother, who worked as a seamstress, teaching them all to sew in her shop in the city of Carbur when they were old enough. Her family made a modest living for a time until her mother was taken by tuberculosis when Lena was 19; the financial burden of caring for their ailing mother was enough to put the family into massive debt. Years later, when the Nowak family had nearly repaid all of their debts, Lena's youngest sister, Maja, fell ill to the same illness as their mother, eventually succumbing to the disease. To make matters worse, the shop was then held up at gunpoint by a man made desperate by circumstances uncannily similar to their own; the young women attempted to reason with the robber, but the nervous man was spooked and shot her sister, Amelia, in the abdomen. She soon died from her wounds. The man was caught, found guilty, and executed, but it would never bring back her sister. Lena and her remaining two sisters, Zofia and Hanna, had about had enough, wishing there was some way to force King DiMarco to do more to help his people suffering in poverty as he and his aristocratic friends lived in the lap of frivolous luxuries. This was when they heard about Libre Fanaglia, the underground movement that aimed to even the scales for the proletariat. The three sisters closed up shop and headed to the mountains to become revolutionaries. They saw many skirmishes and participated in many hit-and-run attacks on Royal resources, but one attack on the estate of a particularly harsh Royal magistrate went terribly wrong; Zofia Nowak was able to escape, but Hanna was wounded and both she and Lena were captured by Royal guards. While Hanna Nowak died in prison from her wounds, Lena Nowak was ruthlessly interrogated for information on Libre Fanaglia. When she refused to divulge any information, she was transferred from Kraftenburg Maximum Security Prison to l'Hôpital Mezieu, where Warden Coulmiers was given a blank check to extract information from her "by any means necessary."

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NPC INTRODUCTION

Name: Fr. Sébastien Coulmiers
Age: 59
Nationality: Fanaglian (Cynfel)
Physical Description: (See attached photo)
Years of Related Experience:

• 35 years in the priesthood
• Served as a military chaplain during the Guerre de Transsablonneusie (1842-1844)
• Prison Chaplain at Kraftenburg Maximum-Security Prison 1844-1865

Years Working at Mezieu: 3
Relationship/Rapport With Patients: Fr. Coulmiers keeps his distance from his patients, but those who do interact with him regard him as cold, unfeeling, and even unsettling. Patients generally avoid him whenever possible (although they rarely have much choice in the matter).
Brief Biography: Those who knew Fr. Coulmiers before the Guerre de Transsabloneusie (the war in which the five duchies of Fanaglia were unified into a single kingdom to resist Mendean aggression) remember a soft-spoken, kind-hearted priest to was known to preach often about peace and love through Christ. Those parishoners would hardly recognize the man who came back from the war, where he serves as a military chaplain for the Cynfel (and later Fanaglian) troops. He had become cold, distant, even cruel. Sermons about Paradise and forgiveness were replaced by fiery tirades about the Inferno and the End Times. Attendance in his parish became so poor that he was eventually relocated to Kraftenburg Maximum Security Prison, where he served as the prison chaplain. Fr. Coulmiers quickly gained an infamous reputation for what he called "aggressive penance" for the prisoners. The Secret du Roi (the Fanaglian Secret Police) eventually arranged for him to be transferred to l'Hôpital Mezieu, finding his brutal methods useful for dealing with their "special flock" at the hospital in a manner they deemed appropriate.

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NPC INTRODUCTION

Name: Dr. Remy Bouchard
Age: 33
Nationality: Fanaglian (Cynfel)
Physical Description: (See attached photo)
Years of Related Experience:

• Served as a field medic in the Mendean Revolutionary War (1860-1861)
• Studied mental health at the University of Carbur (1861-1864)
• Began an internship at Mezieu in 1864
• Became an alienist at Mezieu in 1866

Years Working at Mezieu: 4
Relationship/Rapport With Patients: Dr. Bouchard is beloved by most of his patients, for he is one of the few who will actually listen to them and attempt to find proactive solutions to their problems.
Brief Biography: Remy Bouchard began an education in the Church until he dropped out of seminary in 1860 to travel to Menid, where he volunteered as a field medic during the Mendean Revolutionary War. His experience with shell-shocked soldiers in Menid inspired him to study mental health at the University of Carbur and strive to improve the lives of troubled people. His radical ideas about how to diagnose and treat the mentally ill were often at odds with his professors, but he progressed quickly through the coursework thanks to a very full course load, a determined attitude, and a brilliant mind, although many of his colleagues whisper behind his back that the only reason he was able to earn any sort of degree at all was because his professors wanted to be rid of his "irritating" presence. In 1864, Bouchard brought new ideas with him when he applied for an intern position at Mezieu. Even he was surprised when, due to the high turnover of staff at the asylum, he was able to rise astonishingly quickly to become one of the lead alienists there. He began his "psycho-drama therapy" in late 1866, much to the chagrin of other alienists, but was allowed to continue his work because ticket sales to his patients' plays brought a tidy amount of income to the hospital.

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ACCEPTED CHARACTERS

• Evelyn "Eve" Dina Madison (Junkyland)
• Hannah Margaret Kelly (Sammuramat)
• Estelle Fléchier (Liecthenbourg)
• Nathalie Travers (The Biosyn)
• Jacqueline Bisset (Yasuragi)

[Junkyland]

PATIENT CHARACTER APPLICATION
Name: Evelyn “Eve” Dina Madison
Age: 26
Nationality: Fanaglian (Arviragan)/Unknown
Physical Description: (See attached photo; last known photo taken before her admittance in 1855)
Years Spent in Mental Institutions: 13
Reason for Institutionalization (Official or Otherwise): Frequent and persistent psychological hallucinations; inability to distinguish dreams from reality; self-reports of constant and prevalent interactions with an imaginary individual (given the name “Virgil”); delusions of experiencing fictional events.
Actual Mental Health: Currently undiagnosed; data points to schizophrenia similarities; further research required.
Former Occupation (if any): N/A
Ward Class (First, Second, or Third): First
Responsible Party (Family, close friends, or the State): Her family in Arvirar City.
Brief Biography: Eve is the daughter of a wealthy immigrant family that moved to Fanaglia in 1841 to pursue a growing shipping industry, one year before her birth. Due to xenophobic fears interfering with their business prospects, Eve’s parents assumed the public identity of Arviragan and disavowed any ties to their home country, leaving her ancestry a mystery. Eve experienced a typical upper class childhood until the age of eleven. During this time, she reported frequent interactions with a grown man she called Virgil, which were quickly proven to be hallucinations. Eve believed she was in a perpetual dream and that none of which she was experiencing was a reality. Also, Eve believed her new friend Virgil was meant to accompany her on a self-appointed quest to wake up from her “dream” and come back to her real life. Eve’s parents attempted to conceal her psychological episodes from the public, but were unsuccessful. Around Eve’s thirteenth birthday, her father decided to send her to l’Hȏpital Mezieu in southwestern Fangalia in fear that Eve’s condition would interfere with business. Over a decade has passed since Eve was admitted and now she is viewed more as a curious case study as opposed to actual research being conducted into her baffling condition. She lives in the first-class ward, but believes she shares a room with her best friend, Virgil.
RP Sample (Paste a Link): So I have been out of the role-playing game for some time. I’ve been writing quite a bit within the last few years, just not on NationStates. Plus, most of my role-plays were in Forum 7 and have long since been deleted. I did find this one role-play that survived the purge. It died out fast, but my posts are still there.
Star Wars: The Holo-Quest
Picture:

[Sammuramat]

This is a fascinating concept. Reminds me a bit of Our Country's Good.

PATIENT CHARACTER APPLICATION
Name: Hannah Margaret Kelly
Age: 24
Nationality: Fanaglian (sorry, I couldn't really find enough to figure out where she should be from more specifically!)
Physical Description (photos encouraged but not required):

Years Spent in Mental Institutions: 0.5
Reason for Institutionalization (Official or Otherwise): Hysteria, and the possibility she has information about Libre Fanaglia that her mental state has stopped her from yet giving.
Actual Mental Health: Hannah has OCD, obsessing over the idea she may accidentally hurt others, and compulsively acting to protect others from herself - this manifests in actions like locking herself into rooms alone, hiding knives so she won't be able to use them on others, and several incidents in which she attempted to paralyse her hands.
Former Occupation (if any): Housewife
Ward Class (First, Second, or Third): Third
Responsible Party (Family, close friends, or the State): State
Brief Biography: Hannah was raised in a middle class family. She had older sisters who were ready to be married off to rich men, and older brothers poised to become rich men; her little quirks, as Mother called them, were accepted with a laugh, and not expected to come to anything. She never hurt so much as a fly, always asked for her food to be cut up for her, cried whenever a needle pricked anyone, and scurried away when the men of the family came back from a fox hunt with their guns. It was rather endearing, really. She grew more, and was expected to help in the kitchen, and properly learn needlework, and go out to the markets without cringing. She was told she did not need to marry or do work - it would be better for everyone if she was not exposed to the world too much; it made her even more nervous.

Then Hannah met Jonathan at the market, a carpenter. He was a kind and simple man, with an open and compassionate heart. A hardworking man, from a lower class, but not too far lower. She knew she couldn't have the life she had had when younger, but she would take that. She would take anything for him. She would handle taking care of the house, even if that meant handling knives and needles and screws. He gave her little boxes to lock them into. They eloped. He was a member of LIbre Fanaglia, she soon found out. She liked the idea of it, but couldn't it be a little less violent? It scared her to see her sweet gentle Jonathan willing to hurt people. One day he came home, a splash of blood on his right sleeve, with a long sleek gun. While it was in the house she couldn't sleep. She kept thinking of that gun and how many people it could hurt if she touched it. When Jonathan was gone one day, she went to find the gun and get rid of it, but it was gone.

When he came back, sweaty and tired and sore, he had even more guns. She begged him to take them away, or she'd end up killing him. He said he couldn't get rid of them, his people needed them - no our people need them, to make us all free, to help all the people who are suffering. He said - if it makes you feel better about the guns, I'll show you how they help people, you can come with us to the next liberation of resources, I'll show you how to use them to help instead of hurt. He said when and where they would be. Hannah understood, she did, but she knew she would kill him if the guns stayed in the house, and she knew she couldn't touch them herself without causing genocide, and she couldn't bear the idea that people would be hurt.

And so she told the police when and where they would be.

They let her go back home, at first, so that Libre Fanaglia would not realise anything was wrong, and they could apprehend everyone involved. The day of the attack came, and he left her with a kiss and a smile. When she realised she had killed Jonathan, and all the nice friends he had introduced her to, she stabbed herself through her right hand, so she could not hurt anyone ever again. Due to nerve damage from this, her right hand is paralysed. Then the police came to question her more thoroughly. Realising that she was not in a mental state able to give information, they sent her to Mezieu, so that any future information would not be at risk because of her self injury.
RP Sample (Past a Link): viewtopic.php?p=35536114#p35536114 (on another nation of mine)

[Fanaglia]

PATIENT CHARACTER APPLICATION
Name: Evelyn “Eve” Dina Madison

Excellent! Glad you could join us
ACCEPTED!

This is a fascinating concept. Reminds me a bit of Our Country's Good.

PATIENT CHARACTER APPLICATION
Name: Hannah Margaret Kelly

That's such an awesome character concept! Things are going to get really interesting with that one, I think.

ACCEPTED!

And to answer any questions about where she's from in a more specific way, there are six duchies in Fanaglia (although Dehui was still just a colony in 1868). The three most-powerful and most-influential of the original five are Arviragus (which is loosely based on Bavaria), Cynfelyn (which is loosely based on France), and Pisiano (where they speak Italian, but the culture is based on sort of a blend of Italy and Spain). Ticciano is the capital of Pisiano and was once a city-state; citizens of Ticciano are technically Pisianese, but many proudly call themselves Ticcianese. Kraftenburg was historically the capitol of Arviragus, but became an independent municipality (sort of like DC) when it became the capitol of a unified Fanaglia; citizens of Kraftenburg are called Kraftenburgers. Polydore is loosely based on a warm Poland and Cadwal is a hodgepodge of Swiss, Austrian, Italian, and Czech. The colony of Dehui borrows a lot of influence from Jamaica and Haiti.

[Sammuramat]

And to answer any questions about where she's from in a more specific way, there are six duchies in Fanaglia (although Dehui was still just a colony in 1868). The three most-powerful and most-influential of the original five are Arviragus (which is loosely based on Bavaria), Cynfelyn (which is loosely based on France), and Pisiano (where they speak Italian, but the culture is based on sort of a blend of Italy and Spain). Ticciano is the capital of Pisiano and was once a city-state; citizens of Ticciano are technically Pisianese, but many proudly call themselves Ticcianese. Kraftenburg was historically the capitol of Arviragus, but became an independent municipality (sort of like DC) when it became the capitol of a unified Fanaglia; citizens of Kraftenburg are called Kraftenburgers. Polydore is loosely based on a warm Poland and Cadwal is a hodgepodge of Swiss, Austrian, Italian, and Czech. The colony of Dehui borrows a lot of influence from Jamaica and Haiti.

Thank you! I think I'll go for Cadwal.

[Fanaglia]

Thank you! I think I'll go for Cadwal.

No problem!

[The Twelve Isles]

Hey, this looks interesting.

I might make an app later tonight.

[Fanaglia]

Hey, this looks interesting.

I might make an app later tonight.

Looking forward to it!

[Liecthenbourg]

ORDERLY CHARACTER APPLICATION
Name: Estelle Fléchier
Age: 40
Nationality: Fanaglian (Cynfel)
Physical Description (photos encouraged but not required):

Years of Related Experience (please briefly summarize):

• Served as a nun/nurse at the numerous churches, cathedrals in Fanaglia.
• Self trained amateur surgeon.
• Studied nursing at a convent.
• Served as a field nurse in the Guerre de Transsablonneusie (1842-1844) (aged 22 - 24)
• Served as a field nurse in the Mendean Revolutionary War (1860-1861) (aged (32-33)

Years Working at Mezieu: 6
Relationship/Rapport With Patients: Fléchier is an authoritarian at heart. She berates her patients if they refuse to cooperate. She runs her nurses like a military unit. Whilst in her mind she is administering medicine and help, aiming to 'fix' their conditions, her stringent belief system and genuine lack of understanding towards mental health render her ineffective, cruel and archaic in some ways. Furthermore, whilst she might have the genuine intention to help people, it rarely comes across as this. Sharp as a whip, witty and malicious leads to hideous bullying. Group therapy sessions become snide games of keeping people in line by pushing their insecurities. Her name has led to the nickname 'Arrow' or 'Bolt' because of her piercing comments, gaze and hurtfulness.
Brief Biography: A gentle soul tarnished by war is often seen as a tragic story, a horrible consequence of war and violence. What they rarely tell you is war's capacity to narrow down, accentuate and amplify existing issues and conditions. Estelle Fléchier, born in Cynfel, was the sixth daughter of a school teacher and seamstress. With little money left from their existing children, Estelle was left abandoned on the doors of a convent.

The Sisters of Holy Penance were a fair lot to grow up with, especially from birth. Food was plentiful and never wanted for, if not the most luxurious cuisine and there was always warmth and happiness in that house of God. Yet Estelle was never content here. As she grew older her resentment towards her established life grew and grew. She lashed out at the sisters and mother superior who trained her, scratching at her school books, refusing to eat, wash and 'behave like a woman.' Beaten with a cane was her reward for her disobedience. Crushed fingers for defaced books. "If you wont eat, you wont need these" was a statement made before she was struck in the mouth. And for a time, she obeyed. Well into her teens did she relinquish herself into a shell. She became studious, if snarky, and enlisted within the nursing programme at the convent. Here she studied the fine art and profession: to care for the sick, the children, women, the elderly - administering food, medicine, water, cleaning the patients. Her tutors noted she was good at it, especially after her practicals at the local church run hospitals.

When Fanaglia was plunged into the dreadful Guerre de Transsablonneusie, Fléchier left her convent to treat the soldiers on the front line. Little is known about her time here. She claims to have 'helped many soldiers in their time of need' and numerous times suggested to individuals in confidence that she 'ended their suffering' through numerous means.

The woman who returned home from the war was a 'reflection of her former self', as the Mother Superior said. Yet this time her defiance, independence and anger had her reject the Convent, the Church and God himself. She left. Wandering. To 'help and heal.' She would set up numerous clinics across Fanaglia and would operate as surgeon in addition to a nurse.

It was when the Mendean Revolutionary War broke out that she abandoned Fanaglia for a time. She, much like during the Fanaglian war of unification, was drawn to the conflict. Again, her details are sketchy -- but some veterans have spoken of a woman named death, who's dastardly lamp would take comrades with even the most minor injuries away into the night with a bitter kiss; "I'm a nurse and I'm here to help."

Her methods are extremely questionable. The path behind her is covered in bandages, blood and bile. Her past is an unspoken rumour. And quite how she ended up in L'Hopital is a mystery to many. Some speculate she was originally an inmate herself, but these stories are unfounded. Some suggest she simply applied, or had connections to individuals she met from either conflict. Regardless of the truth of the matter, she runs a section of the nurses (or all the nurses, or w/e Fan I'm easy.)
RP Sample (Past a Link): Wham. Wham! WHAM!

[Fanaglia]

ORDERLY CHARACTER APPLICATION
Name: Estelle Fléchier

Oooh! I'm intrigued by the mystery!

ACCEPTED, of course!

[The Biosyn]

Name: Nathalie Travers
Age: 29
Nationality: Fanaglian (Cynfel)
Physical Description (photos encouraged but not required): Picture to be found; short; blonde; round, heart-shaped face;
Years of Related Experience (please briefly summarize):
Nurse in the Mendean Revolutionary War (1860-1861)
Apothecary/Nurse in Cynfel City (1861-1863)
Became an orderly at Mezieu in 1863

Years Working at Mezieu: ~4 yrs

Relationship/Rapport With Patients: Hired for her knowledge of herbs and of the remedies derived thereof and for her ability to handle “difficult” people, she’s thrown herself into her work with the patients at Mezieu. Though she finds herself put off by some of the methods of the doctors (i.e. Fr Coulmiers), their word is law in Mezieu. She is well-liked by the patients for her kindnesses.

Brief Biography: Born in Cynfel City, the Guerre de Transsablonneusie tore her family apart with she was barely 4. Her father marched into battle, and never came back. With his name on the list of those considered dead, her mother remarried to a local apothecary, a Varenholt who had converted to Catholicism and then moved to Cynfel City from his home country due to that fact.

She grew up in the apothecary and wanted nothing more than to study to become a doctor. She read all the books she could on the subject within medicine, and helped around the shop every day it was open. However, exceptions wouldn’t be made, and she knew that she’d unlikely ever be allowed into any university. And so, when she was of an age, she officially apprenticed to her step-father to become an apothecary. When the Mendean Revolutionary War broke out, she left her home for the first time, just finished with her apprenticeship, and volunteered as a nurse near the frontlines.

After providing what small ray of light in the darkness of war she could to those injured in the fighting, she returned to her step-father’s apothecary shop, and worked hard for the next couple years, as she knew that, even though her apprenticeship was completed before the war, there was much more to learn. Then one day, a friend of hers suggested applying to work as an orderly at Mezieu. After getting the job, she’s applied herself to help the patients as well as she can.

Anyone asked their opinion on her, orderly or patient, would call her kind, a touch strict, always around ready to help should the situation call for it, and plagued by the occasional clumsiness.

RP Sample: Co-post with the Marvelous Mish

[Fanaglia]

Name: Nathalie Travers

Excellent! ACCEPTED!

[Fanaglia]

Just checking in, folks -- I'm waiting for an app from one more person I've invited, as well as leaving the opportunity open for one or two new faces to apply, then we'll get things moving! I hope you all are looking forward to it as much as I am!

[Ormata]

Can I get some information on the Mendean Republics, Mendean Civil War, and how Fanaglia was involved in such?

[Fanaglia]

Can I get some information on the Mendean Republics, Mendean Civil War, and how Fanaglia was involved in such?

Absolutely! Unfortunately, Inesea (who RP's as Menid/Mendean Republics) seems to have taken down his wiki pages with further details and hasn't been very active lately because of college kicking his ass, but I remember most of what's relevant to Fanaglian history.

Menid is a nation (roughly based on sort of a Persian culture mixed with a few other Middle Eastern flavors and a rather interesting homebrew religion that he described as following "Mongol Jesus") that borders Fanaglia to the southwest. Prior to 1842, the five duchies of mainland Fanaglia were independent kingdoms (Arviragus, Cadwal, Pisiano, Polydore, and Cynfelyn), but Menid was going through a period of expansion and imperialism and was threatening the Fanaglian peninsula in a war called the Guerre de Transsablonneusie. In the face of Mendean aggression over the Cynfel territory of Transsablonneusie, which eventually led to the fall of Cynfelyn, the exile of King Hugh IV of Cynfelyn (who fled to Arviragus), and the siege of Ticciano in Pisiano, the remaining kingdoms saw no other choice but to unite to repel the invaders. King DiMarco of Arviragus had already become the de facto leader of their coalition after offering asylum to Hugh and commanding the largest and most-prepared of the four armies. In the meeting of what would become known as the Fellowship of Five on 24 September, 1842, DiMarco was declared King of the unified Kingdom of Fanaglia, with the other four kings remaining in positions of power as dukes under DiMarco's dominion. DiMarco's brother, Wilhelm took over his position as Duke of Arviragus. The combined forces of the new kingdom and troops from Keluchionga (a recently-liberated Arviragan vassal state who remained friendly towards Arviragus) eventually overpowered and repelled the Mendeans, reclaiming all of Cynfelyn and Transsablonneusie and restoring Hugh as the Duke of Cynfelyn.

The Mendean Revolutionary War broke out in 1860 and ended in 1862; I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, but this was the point at which the sultanate came to an end and a republic took its place. The young nation of Fanaglia was not involved in the revolution in any official capacity (King DiMarco would never, after so recently seizing so much power for himself, have outwardly supported a nation that turned its power over to commoners), but many Fanaglian citizens sympathized with the revolutionaries' cause, whether out of a belief in freedom and democracy or simply because of old grudges still held against the sultanate, and crossed the border to join the fight. After the revolution, DiMarco maintained a frosty but peaceful relationship with the Mendean Republics, although his daughter (who deposed him in a coup in 1872) gradually worked to improve relations between the two nations for a time (at least until they found themselves on opposing sides of the Eastern War, which is sort of our equivalent to WWI and took place in the 1890s)

Here's a map of Fanaglia for some context. It's actually a bit out of date, as the name "West Bank" was just a placeholder name for what's now known as the Transsablonneusie. Also, the area to the north has a typo: it should read "Eiren" instead of "Eilen." Nobody has yet claimed this area on our RP group's map, so that's actually the name of the continent and not another nation.

[Fanaglia]

As the time approaches to drop the IC OP and get things rolling, I'd like to briefly talk about time tables. RPs in the Vapor RP group tend to move slowly enough to be outrun by glaciers; to avoid this, I intend to stick to a fairly regular posting schedule. Of course, I understand that, with finals season approaching, it can be a difficult time for folks to remain involved in an RP, so I think a slower pace (although not Vapor-slow) would be most convenient for everyone involved. I intend to make a post to move things along once every two weeks (unless something necessitates an additional post or posts from me in the mean time). If that's too fast or too slow of a pace for everyone to keep, please comment and we'll have a discussion about it here in the OOC thread.

[Fanaglia]

Just one last bump, just in case anybody has any last-minute character apps.

Also, there are plenty of patients in the asylum; even if you miss the very start of the RP, we can pretty easily write your character in for a while after that!

[Fanaglia]

The OP is up! Eve, Hannah, and Giulia have been brought to the chapel for auditions with Dr. Bouchard. I specifically didn't mention Estelle Fléchier or Nathalie Travers because I figured I'd let you decide whether your respective characters are attending the auditions or are out doing other things (like having words with Lena, who stayed behind in her cell). The Warden has not yet joined the story.

Here's the link!

[The Vekta-Helghast Empire]

This looks like it has a lot of potential, sadly I don't have super-regular use of a PC right now, or I'd totally throw up an application. So consider this a tag for now.

[Fanaglia]

This looks like it has a lot of potential, sadly I don't have super-regular use of a PC right now, or I'd totally throw up an application. So consider this a tag for now.

Awesome! Well, like I said, we're going to be moving at a pretty slow pace to keep things more accessible for busy people (especially with finals season fast approaching) and it'll be pretty easy to write new characters in for at least a while, so no rush

[Junkyland]

I haven't role-played in a while, so I'm trying out the way I used to role-play. It sort of reads like a script, I guess. Let me know if that format annoys anyone and I can change it. Just trying to get back into the grove.

[Fanaglia]

I haven't role-played in a while, so I'm trying out the way I used to role-play. It sort of reads like a script, I guess. Let me know if that format annoys anyone and I can change it. Just trying to get back into the grove.

I like it! Both the first person narration and the script dialogue are unconventional, but she's an unconventional character and the way you've structured it makes it really easy to tell what others can and cannot hear. One minor note, though is that Fanaglia (especially in the southern duchy of Cynfelyn) has a very warm climate so, even in the winter, it's unusual for it to drop very much below freezing and typical low temperatures at this time of year are around a pleasant 50°F (with highs in the sixties or even low seventies). You don't have to re-write anything (the cold was a nice touch in your post, it's a relatively insignificant detail, and she could still be cold if she wasn't dressed warmly enough), but it's just something to note in the future.

[Junkyland]

I'm going to go with her being a freeze baby and leave it at that. I don't see the cold being brought up again to a huge extent anyways. THanks for the note, though!

[Fanaglia]

Quality post, Samm!

[Sammuramat]

Quality post, Samm!

Thank you!

And I'm loving the latest post, too... great characterisations.