Post by Twi on May 6, 2010 21:03:22 GMT -5
Well as the site progressed more and more questions have been asked of me and I answered them, usually with the media that was asked like PMs or the C-Box (because no one likes my questions and suggestions board, *sniff*) which means not everyone hears the information in the answer. So it was suggested I make a topic for all this info for everyone to read and this is it, all the odds and ends of Avalon. I will probably add more to this as time progresses since I keep getting questions asked of me.
The Seekers
Thought I might as well start with them being the most structured thing on the island. At the age of 16 you can choose to apply for Seeker training. Of course you can choose to join at a later age, people join in their thirties, but that is the earliest. You go through two years of training in fighting in hand to hand combat, sword fighting, and using a gun. You also learn the rule and procedures for mission and policing of the island. Lessons also include how to be inconspicuous in the outside world. After the two years are up if your Seeker instructors feel you have done well you pass. Then you will get sent off with a team on a retrieval mission. This is another test as well as a lesson, explaining how things work and giving you real hands on experience and seeing if you can handle the work. If not you might be kicked off the Seekers or at least not given any more off island missions. Also minor missions, like finding missing items, are sometimes given to trainees rather than the busy full Seekers.
The different types of missions for the Seekers are separated first into two rather self explanatory categories, off island and on island. Yeah I think you can figure out how they sort the missions. Off island missions can only be carried out by full Seekers and are high secrecy. There are retrieval missions which is to make an invitation to a spotted gifted and bring them to the island if they accept. Sometimes they aren't 100% positive the child is gifted so the retrieval mission includes a first step of confirmation. The reason the squad of Seekers, usually a handful of Seekers, has to do this is because the information gathering Seekers have a strict no contact policy while the retrieval Seekers don't have such restrictions. They can use scare tactics, question the child directly, and so on. Retrievals are short term missions usually lasting a week at most. The other off island missions is information gathering. These can last for months for the Seekers. They become part of a network of informants, Seekers and those who know of an support the island but do not live there. Such as family members of gifted who left and want to support the Seekers. When working this kind of mission you cannot make contact with those you are investigating. It is to preserve the secrecy of the island since it isn't confirmed if the target is gifted or not. If it is impossible to determine the retrieval Seekers take over gathering information.
On island missions are much more straight forward. You have missions to recover missing persons, taking down dangerous beasts in the vicinity, listening to the complaints and requests of the people and doing your best to help them, guard duty to keep an eye out for Forsaken attack, of course there is also call to arms when the Forsaken do attack. Basically they keep the castle full of super powered people safe whether from things outside it or inside. Since the castle is a school for controlling powers more than once the Seekers have had to step in and stop an out of control gifted from further hurting anyone.
Ranks in the Seekers are determined by years of experience, so the one with the most experience is the party/squad leader and while the others are encouraged to offer advice and options for their squad leader decisions made by him or her are to be followed. Whether one is male or female, gifted or non-gifted, islander or newcomer, makes no difference to the Seekers and anyone seen pulling an attitude gets punished by being stripped of their duties and confined to quarters for an amount of time to be determined by the General, Hilram. I could go more into Hilram's duties but since I'm playing him I don't think I need to. If you want to know please ask.
Headmaster & Teachers
Seeing all the Seekers do you must be imagining what does the Headmaster do? Well for one he is in charge of Hilram who is in charge of the Seekers so basically he's in charge of the Seekers and is the commander-in-chief. This means if the Seekers wish to commence on missions which would seriously affect the castle. Also they would need his approval first and when deciding what to do with those whose powers are out of control and nothing seems to be able to be done about. Also he, or she since it can be a woman, uses the Seekers often to take a census of the population especially in the recording of the gifts. These reports are handy to the Seekers too since they often turn to information on the Forsaken forces if the person deserts. The Seekers keep their own records of the Forsaken, powers, crimes, so on, which the Headmaster has access to and looks over. He does this to get an idea of where the Forsaken stand in numbers and power. He and Hilram often have meetings to discuss the security of the island and any suggestions from either party, or orders in the Headmaster's case, on what they could do better.
Apart for working with the Seekers the Headmaster also must gather reports about the crops and goods the non-gifted produce, any repair work the castle needs, reports on how the lessons of the new students go. Arranging the space in the castle to its best use. He has to make all major decisions on renovations of land of the island and basically all major decisions for the castle dwellers period. His work force is the Seekers, but also the teachers.
The teachers main jobs are to teach of course. Whether mundane topics like math and literature, though these are quite different from modern classes considering where Avalon stands in its development, or the more important classes like power control. Of course not every power works the same and what works for one in control might not for another. So these teachers have classes where they teach methods which help a majority of students, things like meditating and practicing with the gifts. Then for the students who still can't get it the teachers become more of personal coaches. They work with the student to try different methods and work with the powers. This is often the most dangerous part of their jobs since some students can be quite a problem when they go out of control. Teachers have been known to die before.
Other than teaching the teachers also work as bureaucrats of sorts. They maintain the things which aren't left to the non-gifted, like the library and the infirmary. (IE: John teaches no classes but because he works at the infirmary he has teacher status.) They serve whenever a combat trained Seeker is not required, like assisting the non-gifted with setting up a new field or going out to tend for their sick and injured.
The Forsaken
This is mostly because people have misconceptions about this group. To put it bluntly they are a terrorist organization dedicated to the total annihilation of the castle dwellers. This includes the non-gifted. The reason? Part is the treatment subjected to them by the islanders when they lived in the castle or when their ancestors did. Another part is envy, they cling to survival out in the wild, no easy task, while the castle dwellers have soft plush lives without fear or worrying where they will get their next meal from. Resentment has built because of this and they want the castle dwellers to suffer like they do. They all have different reasons but those are the general ones that drive the Forsaken hatred. This hate often gets taken out on new members who have just deserted from the castle. Like I said earlier they want them to suffer so when a new deserter joins them they usually get a black and blue welcoming. There is a period of time where they will be despised and no one will care if they are near death. If they survive this though they are a member of the Forsaken and fully welcomed in all past hate just about forgotten. You would think deserters would desert the Forsaken if they are treated like this but they have no where to go. Once they desert they are written as Forsaken by the Seekers even if they have decided it isn't the life for them and will not be allowed back. So the only two options is try to go from your plush life at the castle to surviving completely on your own in Avalon, not an easy task, or to stay with the Forsaken. All choose to stay for some reason.
The period of brutality serves more than to just let the Forsaken blow some steam. It also can judge a person's worth, see what kind of fighter they are, what spirit they have. If they die then they would not have done well with the Forsaken anyway being too weak, they would only have been a weak point, a hindrance. Also it helps to place you once you are a Forsaken since in Forsaken culture strength and cunning is everything, the fights you win determine how far you rise up their ranks. For Riah, the current leader who killed the past one to prove her strength, she also uses the period to see what kind of power they have. If it is one she finds especially power, a potential threat or a potential weapon, she might ease their way a little, make them grateful to her, loyal to her.
Forsaken culture is odd, if you are born a Forsaken with no deformity you can be looked down upon and have to prove yourself to be strong. You also might get killed at birth. All with deformities have gifts, those without deformities you don't know if they have a gift or not and a non-gifted child to Forsaken is a weakness they cannot afford and a mouth they cannot afford to feed. It is more merciful for the child to kill it as an infant. So unless someone in the group can tell if the newborn has a power and people like that are rare the Forsaken will just assume normal looking children are non-gifted and kill them then and there. This is why even though they may not pass down the traits that got them bullied at the castle the majority of Forsaken have strange features. For the children they kill there is a small shrine of sort in the main base which is symbolic of a promise. The promise to take over the island and live elsewhere than the harsh wilderness, to live in the castle where they wouldn't have to kill those who are weak or would be too many mouths to feed. That is the promise they make to the children they kill which just further enforces their determination to kill off the Castlers.
There are very few elderly Forsaken. Just as non-gifted are weaklings the do not tolerate amongst their number the feeble and elderly are also not accepted. Once you reach a certain point in your life where you no longer can serve the group the Forsaken throw a feast in your honor recalling all the things that you have done, the great deeds and feats, and then in the morning afterward you leave the group. That is all. Of course someone on their own out there is a dead duck so it is basically a death sentence. Those who refuse to leave when they are obviously useless are killed by the others, no feast and no glory. It is a manner of honor to leave on your own, second best kind of death to a Forsaken, first being dying in battle.
Social order is loose here, mainly depending on your own strength. Their not utterly barbaric though, children are looked after and kept fed and safe by the whole community for the most part. Groups will go out and hunt for food to bring back for the community, they support each other to a degree. It is also every man for themselves to a degree. If you want something you use force to obtain it. It is more honorable and usual for you to use your own strength but sometimes deals and alliances are made since strategy is also part of your skill in combat and that is what everyone is watching for. Respect is everything to these people who were once spat upon, and they must have strength to garner that respect.
If you have any more questions about them please ask.
The Island
Where to begin? Avalon is full of mysteries and oddities and I couldn't explain them all if I wanted to, partly because some of the information is top secret and only the one in charge of the plot gets to know. So what shall I explain? Well for starters the ship that leaves Avalon.
This ship has a special navigation system built into it, this is no Tomtom or anything but a large globe and a map of the island. In order to leave the island you must take one of the special pins that go with these two items and place it on the coast you want to arrive at. The ship will go in the basic direct of that coast, but in a straight light. It is up to the crew to get it around the dangers of the sea especially around Avalon. In ten days you will arrive at the specified coast. What just occurred was the ship leaving the influence of Avalon. Avalon is both no where and everywhere so it exists and doesn't. The amount of space around it is all in Avalon's influence and takes ten days to sail through. While in this influence things like satellite phones won't work and you can run across creatures like sea serpents and so on. For the trip back to Avalon you use the map of the island. You set your marker for the Harbor and the ship will set off. Upon loosing sight of land you will have entered Avalon's influence and must watch for the dangers faced when leaving. This takes ten days as well making a twenty day trip if you were to leave right after arriving. Usually the missions take a few days and the ship has to wait for the best opportunity to leave since it wouldn't do much good to have a tanker crash into your invisible wooden ship now wouldn't. (The ship is invisible until you step foot upon it, then you can see it though no one can see you, this isn't like the Invisible Boatmobile or Wonder Woman's invisible jet.)
Now there is another thing I want to note because I fear the language of how I said this before might confuse people. The ruins are not ruined at all. They are merely called that because they were there before any of the gifted so it is assumed they are leftovers of a past civilization on Avalon to which there is no other sign of existence.
The ruins are platforms of stone with the base stone being a foot high and the pillars are on top of this. The bases are perfectly round and have a diameter of around 20 feet across. Around the outer rim are one foot diameter columns which rise about ten feet in the air. Then in the center of the platform is a two feet thick pillar of thick stone which is unlike the rest in being rough and brown stone while the rest was smooth white marble like substance. The center pillar is covered in strange markings unlike anything seen before and even gifted with a gift for languages can't read them.
That is all there is to the ruins, in each region it is exactly the same, the only difference is the surroundings which do not affect or touch the ruins. That's right, artificial stone structures without bird poop on them! Unnatural right?! It is downright scary! ... Joking aside there is something unnatural and wrong about the ruins as anyone can tell just by looking at them, preserved and pristine in the middle of the wilderness.
Any other questions about the island? Please ask. I may not answer them though. (Like don't ask what the meaning behind the Ruins are, I made them mysterious for a reason.)
The Seekers
Thought I might as well start with them being the most structured thing on the island. At the age of 16 you can choose to apply for Seeker training. Of course you can choose to join at a later age, people join in their thirties, but that is the earliest. You go through two years of training in fighting in hand to hand combat, sword fighting, and using a gun. You also learn the rule and procedures for mission and policing of the island. Lessons also include how to be inconspicuous in the outside world. After the two years are up if your Seeker instructors feel you have done well you pass. Then you will get sent off with a team on a retrieval mission. This is another test as well as a lesson, explaining how things work and giving you real hands on experience and seeing if you can handle the work. If not you might be kicked off the Seekers or at least not given any more off island missions. Also minor missions, like finding missing items, are sometimes given to trainees rather than the busy full Seekers.
The different types of missions for the Seekers are separated first into two rather self explanatory categories, off island and on island. Yeah I think you can figure out how they sort the missions. Off island missions can only be carried out by full Seekers and are high secrecy. There are retrieval missions which is to make an invitation to a spotted gifted and bring them to the island if they accept. Sometimes they aren't 100% positive the child is gifted so the retrieval mission includes a first step of confirmation. The reason the squad of Seekers, usually a handful of Seekers, has to do this is because the information gathering Seekers have a strict no contact policy while the retrieval Seekers don't have such restrictions. They can use scare tactics, question the child directly, and so on. Retrievals are short term missions usually lasting a week at most. The other off island missions is information gathering. These can last for months for the Seekers. They become part of a network of informants, Seekers and those who know of an support the island but do not live there. Such as family members of gifted who left and want to support the Seekers. When working this kind of mission you cannot make contact with those you are investigating. It is to preserve the secrecy of the island since it isn't confirmed if the target is gifted or not. If it is impossible to determine the retrieval Seekers take over gathering information.
On island missions are much more straight forward. You have missions to recover missing persons, taking down dangerous beasts in the vicinity, listening to the complaints and requests of the people and doing your best to help them, guard duty to keep an eye out for Forsaken attack, of course there is also call to arms when the Forsaken do attack. Basically they keep the castle full of super powered people safe whether from things outside it or inside. Since the castle is a school for controlling powers more than once the Seekers have had to step in and stop an out of control gifted from further hurting anyone.
Ranks in the Seekers are determined by years of experience, so the one with the most experience is the party/squad leader and while the others are encouraged to offer advice and options for their squad leader decisions made by him or her are to be followed. Whether one is male or female, gifted or non-gifted, islander or newcomer, makes no difference to the Seekers and anyone seen pulling an attitude gets punished by being stripped of their duties and confined to quarters for an amount of time to be determined by the General, Hilram. I could go more into Hilram's duties but since I'm playing him I don't think I need to. If you want to know please ask.
Headmaster & Teachers
Seeing all the Seekers do you must be imagining what does the Headmaster do? Well for one he is in charge of Hilram who is in charge of the Seekers so basically he's in charge of the Seekers and is the commander-in-chief. This means if the Seekers wish to commence on missions which would seriously affect the castle. Also they would need his approval first and when deciding what to do with those whose powers are out of control and nothing seems to be able to be done about. Also he, or she since it can be a woman, uses the Seekers often to take a census of the population especially in the recording of the gifts. These reports are handy to the Seekers too since they often turn to information on the Forsaken forces if the person deserts. The Seekers keep their own records of the Forsaken, powers, crimes, so on, which the Headmaster has access to and looks over. He does this to get an idea of where the Forsaken stand in numbers and power. He and Hilram often have meetings to discuss the security of the island and any suggestions from either party, or orders in the Headmaster's case, on what they could do better.
Apart for working with the Seekers the Headmaster also must gather reports about the crops and goods the non-gifted produce, any repair work the castle needs, reports on how the lessons of the new students go. Arranging the space in the castle to its best use. He has to make all major decisions on renovations of land of the island and basically all major decisions for the castle dwellers period. His work force is the Seekers, but also the teachers.
The teachers main jobs are to teach of course. Whether mundane topics like math and literature, though these are quite different from modern classes considering where Avalon stands in its development, or the more important classes like power control. Of course not every power works the same and what works for one in control might not for another. So these teachers have classes where they teach methods which help a majority of students, things like meditating and practicing with the gifts. Then for the students who still can't get it the teachers become more of personal coaches. They work with the student to try different methods and work with the powers. This is often the most dangerous part of their jobs since some students can be quite a problem when they go out of control. Teachers have been known to die before.
Other than teaching the teachers also work as bureaucrats of sorts. They maintain the things which aren't left to the non-gifted, like the library and the infirmary. (IE: John teaches no classes but because he works at the infirmary he has teacher status.) They serve whenever a combat trained Seeker is not required, like assisting the non-gifted with setting up a new field or going out to tend for their sick and injured.
The Forsaken
This is mostly because people have misconceptions about this group. To put it bluntly they are a terrorist organization dedicated to the total annihilation of the castle dwellers. This includes the non-gifted. The reason? Part is the treatment subjected to them by the islanders when they lived in the castle or when their ancestors did. Another part is envy, they cling to survival out in the wild, no easy task, while the castle dwellers have soft plush lives without fear or worrying where they will get their next meal from. Resentment has built because of this and they want the castle dwellers to suffer like they do. They all have different reasons but those are the general ones that drive the Forsaken hatred. This hate often gets taken out on new members who have just deserted from the castle. Like I said earlier they want them to suffer so when a new deserter joins them they usually get a black and blue welcoming. There is a period of time where they will be despised and no one will care if they are near death. If they survive this though they are a member of the Forsaken and fully welcomed in all past hate just about forgotten. You would think deserters would desert the Forsaken if they are treated like this but they have no where to go. Once they desert they are written as Forsaken by the Seekers even if they have decided it isn't the life for them and will not be allowed back. So the only two options is try to go from your plush life at the castle to surviving completely on your own in Avalon, not an easy task, or to stay with the Forsaken. All choose to stay for some reason.
The period of brutality serves more than to just let the Forsaken blow some steam. It also can judge a person's worth, see what kind of fighter they are, what spirit they have. If they die then they would not have done well with the Forsaken anyway being too weak, they would only have been a weak point, a hindrance. Also it helps to place you once you are a Forsaken since in Forsaken culture strength and cunning is everything, the fights you win determine how far you rise up their ranks. For Riah, the current leader who killed the past one to prove her strength, she also uses the period to see what kind of power they have. If it is one she finds especially power, a potential threat or a potential weapon, she might ease their way a little, make them grateful to her, loyal to her.
Forsaken culture is odd, if you are born a Forsaken with no deformity you can be looked down upon and have to prove yourself to be strong. You also might get killed at birth. All with deformities have gifts, those without deformities you don't know if they have a gift or not and a non-gifted child to Forsaken is a weakness they cannot afford and a mouth they cannot afford to feed. It is more merciful for the child to kill it as an infant. So unless someone in the group can tell if the newborn has a power and people like that are rare the Forsaken will just assume normal looking children are non-gifted and kill them then and there. This is why even though they may not pass down the traits that got them bullied at the castle the majority of Forsaken have strange features. For the children they kill there is a small shrine of sort in the main base which is symbolic of a promise. The promise to take over the island and live elsewhere than the harsh wilderness, to live in the castle where they wouldn't have to kill those who are weak or would be too many mouths to feed. That is the promise they make to the children they kill which just further enforces their determination to kill off the Castlers.
There are very few elderly Forsaken. Just as non-gifted are weaklings the do not tolerate amongst their number the feeble and elderly are also not accepted. Once you reach a certain point in your life where you no longer can serve the group the Forsaken throw a feast in your honor recalling all the things that you have done, the great deeds and feats, and then in the morning afterward you leave the group. That is all. Of course someone on their own out there is a dead duck so it is basically a death sentence. Those who refuse to leave when they are obviously useless are killed by the others, no feast and no glory. It is a manner of honor to leave on your own, second best kind of death to a Forsaken, first being dying in battle.
Social order is loose here, mainly depending on your own strength. Their not utterly barbaric though, children are looked after and kept fed and safe by the whole community for the most part. Groups will go out and hunt for food to bring back for the community, they support each other to a degree. It is also every man for themselves to a degree. If you want something you use force to obtain it. It is more honorable and usual for you to use your own strength but sometimes deals and alliances are made since strategy is also part of your skill in combat and that is what everyone is watching for. Respect is everything to these people who were once spat upon, and they must have strength to garner that respect.
If you have any more questions about them please ask.
The Island
Where to begin? Avalon is full of mysteries and oddities and I couldn't explain them all if I wanted to, partly because some of the information is top secret and only the one in charge of the plot gets to know. So what shall I explain? Well for starters the ship that leaves Avalon.
This ship has a special navigation system built into it, this is no Tomtom or anything but a large globe and a map of the island. In order to leave the island you must take one of the special pins that go with these two items and place it on the coast you want to arrive at. The ship will go in the basic direct of that coast, but in a straight light. It is up to the crew to get it around the dangers of the sea especially around Avalon. In ten days you will arrive at the specified coast. What just occurred was the ship leaving the influence of Avalon. Avalon is both no where and everywhere so it exists and doesn't. The amount of space around it is all in Avalon's influence and takes ten days to sail through. While in this influence things like satellite phones won't work and you can run across creatures like sea serpents and so on. For the trip back to Avalon you use the map of the island. You set your marker for the Harbor and the ship will set off. Upon loosing sight of land you will have entered Avalon's influence and must watch for the dangers faced when leaving. This takes ten days as well making a twenty day trip if you were to leave right after arriving. Usually the missions take a few days and the ship has to wait for the best opportunity to leave since it wouldn't do much good to have a tanker crash into your invisible wooden ship now wouldn't. (The ship is invisible until you step foot upon it, then you can see it though no one can see you, this isn't like the Invisible Boatmobile or Wonder Woman's invisible jet.)
Now there is another thing I want to note because I fear the language of how I said this before might confuse people. The ruins are not ruined at all. They are merely called that because they were there before any of the gifted so it is assumed they are leftovers of a past civilization on Avalon to which there is no other sign of existence.
The ruins are platforms of stone with the base stone being a foot high and the pillars are on top of this. The bases are perfectly round and have a diameter of around 20 feet across. Around the outer rim are one foot diameter columns which rise about ten feet in the air. Then in the center of the platform is a two feet thick pillar of thick stone which is unlike the rest in being rough and brown stone while the rest was smooth white marble like substance. The center pillar is covered in strange markings unlike anything seen before and even gifted with a gift for languages can't read them.
That is all there is to the ruins, in each region it is exactly the same, the only difference is the surroundings which do not affect or touch the ruins. That's right, artificial stone structures without bird poop on them! Unnatural right?! It is downright scary! ... Joking aside there is something unnatural and wrong about the ruins as anyone can tell just by looking at them, preserved and pristine in the middle of the wilderness.
Any other questions about the island? Please ask. I may not answer them though. (Like don't ask what the meaning behind the Ruins are, I made them mysterious for a reason.)