Vapor: A Steampunk RP Region (OOC v.4.0 -- INVITE ONLY)

[The knights of kings]

Nice post, Prinnia... now I'm not sure if I ought not wait for Fan, or just post...

I say post!

[Fanaglia]

Shorty post up in Den. I have a correction for Prinnia, though: Alice is the queen of Fanaglia. The woman leading the mission to kidnap the king is Miss Lucy Alans, her top aide.

[Sotubigal]

I'm pretty sure Sotubigal is not going to have lots of neighboring nations to interact with. I'm thinking of doing the first rp, then maybe two more. But unless somebody also makes a Desaltonian nation, I think I'd like to ask if I can make a Zhaoan 'Mongol-based' khaganate, in which the introductory roleplay is all about the heirs fighting each other in a civil war. They could come to relevance by their father having had banded lots of petty Zhaoan tribes together and carving out a chunk of land for themselves.

[The knights of kings]

Shorty post up in Den. I have a correction for Prinnia, though: Alice is the queen of Fanaglia. The woman leading the mission to kidnap the king is Miss Lucy Alans, her top aide.

Ah sorry! So many A's lol I shall fix it!

[Servoth]

I'm pretty sure Sotubigal is not going to have lots of neighboring nations to interact with. I'm thinking of doing the first rp, then maybe two more. But unless somebody also makes a Desaltonian nation, I think I'd like to ask if I can make a Zhaoan 'Mongol-based' khaganate, in which the introductory roleplay is all about the heirs fighting each other in a civil war. They could come to relevance by their father having had banded lots of petty Zhaoan tribes together and carving out a chunk of land for themselves.

I'll have Desaltonian colonies, but they'll be on the far eastern side of the area, located on a few small islands.

[Inoroth]

@Fan -- Alrighty, I should have a post up on there by tomorrow night (Sunday).

@Sotu -- I'm game with that idea, but I think we should still keep your current nation as a puppet, because I'm liking the stoyline so far... also, same Sunday deadline for a post on there as well.

[Cygnar]

I'm pretty sure Sotubigal is not going to have lots of neighboring nations to interact with. I'm thinking of doing the first rp, then maybe two more. But unless somebody also makes a Desaltonian nation, I think I'd like to ask if I can make a Zhaoan 'Mongol-based' khaganate, in which the introductory roleplay is all about the heirs fighting each other in a civil war. They could come to relevance by their father having had banded lots of petty Zhaoan tribes together and carving out a chunk of land for themselves.

I'll have Desaltonian colonies, but they'll be on the far eastern side of the area, located on a few small islands.

And you and I can have our colonies even sooner if you post on Caspia sutum thread

[Fanaglia]

I'm pretty sure Sotubigal is not going to have lots of neighboring nations to interact with. I'm thinking of doing the first rp, then maybe two more. But unless somebody also makes a Desaltonian nation, I think I'd like to ask if I can make a Zhaoan 'Mongol-based' khaganate, in which the introductory roleplay is all about the heirs fighting each other in a civil war. They could come to relevance by their father having had banded lots of petty Zhaoan tribes together and carving out a chunk of land for themselves.

Well, we have Cygnar, who has imperialist aims in Desaltonia, as well as apparently Servoth. There was also the Orange Provinces, but he hasn't seemed to be very active lately (but what do I know, neither have I). Speaking of which, has anyone spoken to Vitz? I've noticed he's gone inactive again while I've been gone.

But I quite like your plan B as well.

Do you have some Vapour-related RP going on, btw? I feel like I'm missing something.

Shorty post up in Den. I have a correction for Prinnia, though: Alice is the queen of Fanaglia. The woman leading the mission to kidnap the king is Miss Lucy Alans, her top aide.

Ah sorry! So many A's lol I shall fix it!

I'll somehow find a way to forgive you. Maybe.

[Inoroth]

@Fan -- Here's the link to A Sudden Wisdom, Sotu's unofficial/official intro thread... it's been pretty fun so far, and I like his RP style.

[Sarmandar]

I'm pretty sure Sotubigal is not going to have lots of neighboring nations to interact with. I'm thinking of doing the first rp, then maybe two more. But unless somebody also makes a Desaltonian nation, I think I'd like to ask if I can make a Zhaoan 'Mongol-based' khaganate, in which the introductory roleplay is all about the heirs fighting each other in a civil war. They could come to relevance by their father having had banded lots of petty Zhaoan tribes together and carving out a chunk of land for themselves.

Well, we have Cygnar, who has imperialist aims in Desaltonia, as well as apparently Servoth. There was also the Orange Provinces, but he hasn't seemed to be very active lately (but what do I know, neither have I). Speaking of which, has anyone spoken to Vitz? I've noticed he's gone inactive again while I've been gone.

But I quite like your plan B as well.

Do you have some Vapour-related RP going on, btw? I feel like I'm missing something.

Ah sorry! So many A's lol I shall fix it!

I'll somehow find a way to forgive you. Maybe.

The Sarmandars are particularly interested in Desaltonia and I'm starved for an RP so perhaps we could have some sort of an intrigue-based RP where the Sarmands are trying to carve a sphere of influence in Sotubigal?

[Inoroth]

Ooh, Sarmandars, you changed your flag! I like it, it has a sort of Spanish feel to it now (that's the flag of Catalan in Spain, right?).

EDIT* Post up in Sudden Wisdom... the Barone essentially rage quit the battle

EDIT2*Not gonna have my post up on Den tonight... tomorrow! Post up in Den!

[Sarmandar]

Ooh, Sarmandars, you changed your flag! I like it, it has a sort of Spanish feel to it now (that's the flag of Catalan in Spain, right?).

EDIT* Post up in Sudden Wisdom... the Barone essentially rage quit the battle

EDIT2*Not gonna have my post up on Den tonight... tomorrow! Post up in Den!

The lion is actually from Finland I got the spanish vibe from it too, though, and was just as surprised. Also thank you for reminding me I need to catch up in Den.

[Inoroth]

@Sarmandars -- Yeah, and I just found out why. The flag of one of Spain's regions, Catalonia, has the same red and yellow stripes, as does their soccer team's uniform. ... so, if Finland ever conquered Spain, they might put their lion in the canton:

[Fanaglia]

What's up with the "that his" at the bottom of your Den post, Ino?

[Inoroth]

Oops... I wrote that post on text edit, and copy/pasted to nationstates... guess I missed deleting those words by mistake.m Am on mobile now, will edit when near a computer proper.

Okay, Edited.

[Fanaglia]

I want to start a character RP. Possibly but not necessarily set in the Vapour universe. Everyone in Vapour will automatically be invited, but I'm thinking of probably making it open to other character apps -- you know, meet some fresh faces, maybe even future Vapour members. We've just had such a heavy emphasis on nation RPing and so little character RP (my favorite style of RP), plus interest seems to have been waning lately -- I want something to fill this hole in my creativity. I have several ideas; many are reboots of old RPs that met untimely ends, but some are new. Here are some of them. Tell me what you think.

Idea 1: Reboot of my old RP, What Lies Beneath Mont Rouge. This RP was the original inspiration for the novel I was writing a while back (which has been on hold for several months now due to a combination of writer's block and lack of computer). Set in 1880s Fanaglia, some hikers on Mont Rouge, an extinct volcano in the Cynfel Duchy, fall through the ceiling of an ancient lava tube, previously undiscovered by modern civilization. The geological makeup of the tube is peculiar and appears to descent very deep into the mountain, but what is even more striking is the strange, ancient, human artifacts discovered within. The mysterious and reclusive tribe of hostile natives called the Pannas Tritios who inhabit the surrounding swamps and appear to worship the mountain add another, more dangerous element to the story. You will play a member of the expedition sent to discover the secrets of the mountain. Because of certain aspects of the loose plot I have in mind but do not wish to disclose at this time, this RP would have to be non-canon.

Idea 2: Reboot of my old RP, The Grey Badges. The Grey Badges are a secret branch of the Fanaglian BNI, comprising agents possessing "special talents." I did not originally mean for these talents to be "super powers," per se, but something more mild. If you have ever seen The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, that is more or less what I mean (well, more like Tom Sawyer, Allain Quatermain, and Captain Nemo, and less like Mina Harker, Dorian Grey, and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde) as well as from where I drew my inspiration. You could also look to characters from the TV series Penny Dreadful to see what I mean. In other words, "low fantasy" in keeping with the Vapour mantra. The general feel I was going for was something like a combination of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Men in Black, The X-Files, X-Men, and Hellboy. My character was a former police inspector whose "special talent" was an uncanny ability to develop criminal profiles based off of clues found at crime scenes -- so uncanny that it caught the Grey Badges' attention. You would play a character with a similar "special talent" and we would solve mysteries and fight crimes together.

Idea 3: My third and final reboot idea. This was actually set in the distant past of my FT puppet, Gaptaz, so it would obviously not be set in Vapour. Basically, it's set in 1200 BC with my own Ancient Aliens version of history (the Gaptazis are actually Atlantians who escaped the earth before their empire was destroyed and have been wandering the galaxy every since). The plot of this RP involves a special team of dissenters from rival kingdoms and empires setting out to destroy the gigantic fusion reactor that provides power to the mighty Atlantian Empire. You will play one of these dissenters. For more info, check out the original OOC thread here.

Idea 4: I'd like to do a western. It would be set in the wild, pre-Unification Polydore in modern-day northwestern Fanaglia. A band of brigands frequently descends from the mountains and preys on the villages below, robbing and killing and raping. Because these villagers are so poor, the corrupt king and his officials care little for their plight. The villagers pool together what little money they have left and send one of their own to Carbur (the capital of Carbur) to recruit some heroes to save their village. You may choose to play as a hero or a bandit.

Idea 5: I've had this idea for a while to do an FT RP that would be a sort of Robin Hood in space kind of deal. I have an idea for my character, but not the plot. We could work on it together, though.

Idea 6: I'd like to do some sort of survival RP. One way I might consider doing it is to RP the survivors of the Gaptazi invasion of earth. Not the actions and movements of our governments, but the struggle to survive by average Joes, sort of like in War of the Worlds. I'd really like to do that eventually, but if no one is feeling that right now, we could reboot Mort Prix, implement a homicidal AI (OWL?), or just go with a good old shipwreck a la Titanic or instead like Robinson Crusoe or Lost but without the polar bears, weird black smoke, and stupid endings that make you feel like you've wasted several years of your life. Also, my Mont Rouge idea does eventually become a survival story if we can keep it going long enough, but I don't want to spoil it.

[The knights of kings]

I love all those ideas and Il have a post on Den in a few days. I hope to finish Den relatively soon then have Prinnia stir up some more chaos in another RP.

[Sarmandar]

@Sarmandars -- Yeah, and I just found out why. The flag of one of Spain's regions, Catalonia, has the same red and yellow stripes, as does their soccer team's uniform. ... so, if Finland ever conquered Spain, they might put their lion in the canton:

(Image)

Ah, I forgot all about Catalonia. Weren't they planning on seceding recently?

[Inoroth]

@Fan -- I like all of those ideas, and I think we could pursue each one eventually, but my preferences are, in order:

- What Lies Beneath Mont Rouge: I think you've put the most time and effort into the plot of this idea, as you're writing it into a book and all. One facet of RPing that we don't really do here have (to give players more control over their nations) is to have the OP create a plot and then lead everyone else along, slowly revealing clues and false leads and events and such that move the story, resulting in an RP where there is depth and intensity. I would also just like to know more about your book, and this would be a reasonable way to do so

- League of Rather Exceptional Individuals: I loved the movie, and think the idea fits very well into the Vapour Low-Steampunk Theme; it's fantasy, yet with scientific explanation. Am I right in assuming that you'd be responsible for the plot on this one as well?

- I'm on a (shipwrecked) boat motherf***er: Gilligan's Island all the way! But seriously, survival RP's where nature is the enemy are fun to write (if not always to re-read).

- You Feelin' Lucky, Punk?: Servoth actually has one already, though only he and I have posted as yet. It's called Destiny Manifested in case you wanna join in that.

- Atlantis is fallen: I don't see as much of a need for it for Vapour Canon, but it could be fun to do.

Another Idea:

Speaking of Atlantis, I also think it would be neat to do an evacuation-type non-canon future Vapor RP, and in fact I had it as a backdrop for an RP I wouldn't mind rebooting (Leap of Faith). Basically like the DW Episode Beast Below (minus the whale, though) mixed with Sid Meier's Beyond Earth, Vapor scientists realize that some solar catastrophe is looming, and the nations of the world are split between building ships and flee or staying behind and weathering the storm with experimental electro-shielding. Might be an interesting idea to RP that flight from Gaia Atlia, but we could also just reboot LoF outright, picking up several centuries after the flight, once our fleets have reached the closest solar systems and are setting down roots, and then they discover stargate-like portals and make alien contact for the first time... allowing non-Vapor members to play as well. Any thoughts?

@Sotu -- I thought they kinda always wanted independence, and probably will never get it -- like Quebec in Canada.

[Fanaglia]

@Fan -- I like all of those ideas, and I think we could pursue each one eventually, but my preferences are, in order:

- What Lies Beneath Mont Rouge: I think you've put the most time and effort into the plot of this idea, as you're writing it into a book and all. One facet of RPing that we don't really do here have (to give players more control over their nations) is to have the OP create a plot and then lead everyone else along, slowly revealing clues and false leads and events and such that move the story, resulting in an RP where there is depth and intensity. I would also just like to know more about your book, and this would be a reasonable way to do so

I would like to know more about my own book lol. I have a beginning and some of a middle, but no real end. I was hoping that breathing life back into my old RP might give me some ideas.

- League of Rather Exceptional Individuals: I loved the movie, and think the idea fits very well into the Vapour Low-Steampunk Theme; it's fantasy, yet with scientific explanation. Am I right in assuming that you'd be responsible for the plot on this one as well?

Well, my original concept for the Grey Badges was for it to be its own RP group (well before Wirbel ever came along with the idea for Vapor), except obviously with almost an exclusive emphasis on character RP rather than nation RP. I had an idea for one particular case, but there was just not enough interest in the concept at the time; I only had one fellow RPer who suddenly and without warning became an ex-nation, so the whole RP group died before it ever really got started. If it's a greater success this time around, it could possibly become sort of a spinoff RP group of this one -- sharing resources, history, and many of the members, but being altogether separate entities. Sort of like The Lone Gunmen was to The X-Files.

- I'm on a (shipwrecked) boat motherf***er: Gilligan's Island all the way! But seriously, survival RP's where nature is the enemy are fun to write (if not always to re-read).

I've been part of survival RPs in the past -- they're sort of an unappreciated genre around here. Been a while since I've been a part of one and I'd very much like to revisit that. As I said, we could do something fresh, or Mont Rouge will develop a survival aspect once everything goes horribly, horribly wrong.

- You Feelin' Lucky, Punk?: Servoth actually has one already, though only he and I have posted as yet. It's called Destiny Manifested in case you wanna join in that.

Looks like you guys haven't posted since October. Is that something you guys would be willing to reboot? Did you already have some sort of story in mind? The setup so far is nice, but I'm not sure where you mean to go with it.

- Atlantis is fallen: I don't see as much of a need for it for Vapour Canon, but it could be fun to do.

Oh, it couldn't be Vapour canon with everything I've already set up for it. I have maps and everything, which are all based off of RL maps.

Another Idea:

Speaking of Atlantis, I also think it would be neat to do an evacuation-type non-canon future Vapor RP, and in fact I had it as a backdrop for an RP I wouldn't mind rebooting (Leap of Faith). Basically like the DW Episode Beast Below (minus the whale, though) mixed with Sid Meier's Beyond Earth, Vapor scientists realize that some solar catastrophe is looming, and the nations of the world are split between building ships and flee or staying behind and weathering the storm with experimental electro-shielding. Might be an interesting idea to RP that flight from Gaia Atlia, but we could also just reboot LoF outright, picking up several centuries after the flight, once our fleets have reached the closest solar systems and are setting down roots, and then they discover stargate-like portals and make alien contact for the first time... allowing non-Vapor members to play as well. Any thoughts?

Maybe. I hadn't ever given much thought to a more modern earth evacuation; I'm not sure how I'd spin that. See, whenever I think of Fanaglia, I always imagine it in the 1870s-1890s; I never planned to do any MT or FT RPs with it, so even being in the early 20th century is already a bit out of my comfort zone with this culture I've come up with.

[Inoroth]

Right, well it seems we've got no dearth of ideas, but perhaps there might be a lack of players... things have been pretty slow lately, I'm interested to see what everyone else thinks about adding more RPs when we aren't really able to support what's already running... I mean, we still haven't even technically finished V-land, for pity's sake! Several nations haven't been on the forums for a long time , either. I hope that a new RP would spark interest, but we shall see.

[Fanaglia]

Right, well it seems we've got no dearth of ideas, but perhaps there might be a lack of players... things have been pretty slow lately, I'm interested to see what everyone else thinks about adding more RPs when we aren't really able to support what's already running... I mean, we still haven't even technically finished V-land, for pity's sake! Several nations haven't been on the forums for a long time , either. I hope that a new RP would spark interest, but we shall see.

Well, to be fair, I'm the one holding up V-Land, at least on the Brandburg front (I just sort of forgot, what with having no computer and all -- is Pav even still around? What about Cyprum?), plus it's sort of unofficially ended, since we know how it ends (mostly) and have long since moved on; right now it's only continuing for the fun of those of us who still care about it.

Who is still around? Things have really slowed down in my absence, but I'm only just now beginning to realize just how much they've slowed.

Also, Orange and Vitz have both been ex-nations for a long time and I doubt either is coming back. Orange is pretty easily retconned, but something will need to be done with Vitz.

[Pavlostani]

Right, well it seems we've got no dearth of ideas, but perhaps there might be a lack of players... things have been pretty slow lately, I'm interested to see what everyone else thinks about adding more RPs when we aren't really able to support what's already running... I mean, we still haven't even technically finished V-land, for pity's sake! Several nations haven't been on the forums for a long time , either. I hope that a new RP would spark interest, but we shall see.

Well, to be fair, I'm the one holding up V-Land, at least on the Brandburg front (I just sort of forgot, what with having no computer and all -- is Pav even still around? What about Cyprum?), plus it's sort of unofficially ended, since we know how it ends (mostly) and have long since moved on; right now it's only continuing for the fun of those of us who still care about it.

Who is still around? Things have really slowed down in my absence, but I'm only just now beginning to realize just how much they've slowed.

Also, Orange and Vitz have both been ex-nations for a long time and I doubt either is coming back. Orange is pretty easily retconned, but something will need to be done with Vitz.

I'm still here! I poke my head in from time to time.

[Inoroth]

Yeah, looking back over the last five or six OOC pages, only the following people have posted (in no particular order):

- Inoroth
- Fan
- Sarmandars
- Sotubigal
- Prinnia
- Servoth
- Pav
- Cygnar
- Mish (Jan 18th)
- Inesea (Jan 11th)
- Maashinia (Dec 14th, and he was complaining about being too busy)
- Cyprum (Dec 3rd)
- Vitz (Now an Ex-Nation)

Vjiay has been known to be less active on the message boards and was last active only a few days ago. IIRC, Cyprum has also been staying off the boards lately, and he's also logged on in the past few days. I agree that Vitz is probably gone, as is Orange, as is Gwentia.

Maybe we need do a less serious, non-canon thread to bring us all back together after this hiatus after all, because I know that there are IC things for almost everyone on this list to do, but we're all just too busy. A lighter, less consequential RP could ease everyone back into the swing of things.

[Servoth]

Also, Orange and Vitz have both been ex-nations for a long time and I doubt either is coming back. Orange is pretty easily retconned, but something will need to be done with Vitz.

Don't know what to do with Vitzenburg. All I know is that former FIN nations (me, Cygnar) will continue to shun and shame Vitzenburg for a very long time, no matter what.

I have one possibility in mind. Maybe a new economic downturn happens in Vitzenburg, one worse than that of the late 1800s/early 1900s; additionally Loyalists (those who supported Kaiserin Morgan during her overthrow) and other factions are unhappy with the new Kaiser and start a revolution; the result being a splintered Vitzenburg, creating a bunch of tiny nations where Vitz used to be.

Or Vitzenburg stays the same, with someone else just taking over. I don't know what you guys want to do.

Maybe we need do a less serious, non-canon thread to bring us all back together after this hiatus after all, because I know that there are IC things for almost everyone on this list to do, but we're all just too busy. A lighter, less consequential RP could ease everyone back into the swing of things.

I'm up for anything. Working in the same universe does get a bit boring after a while. Personally, I want to do a space adventure, but definitely not an all human space adventure. That would be speciesist! Or maybe something involving magic, magic is always funny. But not medieval magic, nor the also very cliche modern-day magic.