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Welcome Visitors

SOF Designs is in the process of creating a new Second Life role-play sim for release in Spring of 2021. This website and the sim build are all still in process. You are welcome to join our Disord Group or our Second Life Group to stay apprised of the development process and get sneak previews of the cultures, build, and upgrades to RPCSS. Most community polls and group discussions will be held in Discord as it is an easier platform for discussion.

The Arcovian Citadel is a natural successor to our Comraich project and is in fact set in the same universe.

It is our intention is to create a low fantasy backdrop to dark political role-play. The world is a human-only fantasy world that is by design intended to be unique enough to encourage creative expression yet familiar enough to reduce the initial learning curve.

Sim Premise

There are thirteen city-states on the Continent of Essealas which are in a constant state of shifting wars and alliances. Approximately 300 years ago, a guild out of Arcovia gained control of the most advanced form of communication the land had ever seen -- messenger birds that would unerringly and intelligently deliver messages over long distances. How they do this so quickly and how they are bred and trained is a mystery known only to the guild masters of the Arcovian Citadel.

The Citadel holds a monopoly on the birds and all messages. Communication can only be sent to and from a Citadel guildmember. Consequently, the small councils of each city-state keep a team of agents in Arcovia itself, hoping that messages are not unscrupulously interfered with.

The Guild

A blend of the Maesters of Game of Thrones, the Spacing Guild of Dune and the Inquisition.

{Insert RP Description: Information brokers as well as the world’s scholars, scientists, and physicians. Birds only travel from a city-state to the guild city and back, never between city-states. The city is a multicultural city set on a mountain. The guild is highly conservative and enforces laws against “human corruption”. The Guild is not played by players, instead will be part of the admin’s ability to insert interesting quirks into the main plotline.}

The guild is a strictly conservative guild that enforces its laws against information theft, intimidation, promiscuity, graft, and drugs. For the most part, these laws are only enforceable within the city limits. However, as they are the information traders of the entire world, they have a broad reach and the ability to bring pressure to bear when they choose to act.

Of course, the entire premise of the sim sets the player in this city where the only way to survive and gain the information their home cities need is to bribe, manipulate, seduce, steal and intimidate.

Agents

Players play as agents to the small council of their city-state. Players will choose from one of 12 city-states. The agents will use RPCSS and the information gleaned from players to wage political, martial, and financial war on their neighbors. The small council itself and the rulers are NPCs that live in their native city-state.

Character Backstory

The ideal character is a lesser member of a noble house, wealthy merchant house, politically savvy guild, clan or military structure from one of the twelve city-states.

• However, you can not play any leader of said structure, as those leaders would not, themselves, be in The Citadel. Obviously, no royalty or equivalent is acceptable.
• While not all of the city-states have nobility, those that do have at least 200-300 different noble houses and it is perfectly acceptable for someone to play a number of a noble house. But be careful about high title in public for, “It's never a good idea to reveal one's rank and title in Arcovia, as it simply attracts derision, disbelief, kidnappers, hangers-on, and those with a hand forever stuck out.”

Options for those who prefer background characters are available.

Applications

Applications are optional. The Comraich application process was far too complicated and time-consuming for both players and staff. We hope that the new fiction which is inherently more adaptable to cultural shifts will eliminate the need for race/kingdom/city-state/culture gatekeeping.

We have created a #character-bio-feedback channel in discord for those who would like to receive feedback on their character backstory. Simply join discord, and find the right channel, where you can link a comments only google document for others to give feedback on.

How To

Prepare your document in Google Docs. When you are done and ready to share:

• Click on the blue share button in the upper right corner.
• Then click on the "Change to anyone link".
• Set the lower right corner option to "Commenter", then click "Copy Link" and finally "Done". Image Link
• Paste the link in the #character-bio-feedback with an introduction.

This is community feed back, not STAFF feed back. Please be patient with all levels of bios and bio commentary.

What do you need to answer

In creating your backstory, the main goal is to answer why is your character in Arcovia and why are they working as a spy or member of the diplomatic core. Keep your eye on this goal and you will likely craft a viable character for the sim plot lines.

We reserve the right

We strongly encourage everyone to share a bio and get some feed back. This is not an anything goes fiction. We simple feel that an experienced role-player can read the lore and craft a suitable character. If at any point staff feel that you are off page they have the right to request that you write a backstory for review and discussion.

Stay away from my canon

You are welcome to write yourself as a distant relative of one of the NPCs, or create names for obscure towns on the map. But you can not write a back story that impacts canon, or requires someone else to know your backstory when writing their own. I am not going to keep track of hundreds of backstories, nor am I going to ask future players to navigate other players' backstories. Stay in your own lane.

See Also

• Character Backstory

Recently Added

• Jarnfell, History, Slaves, Human, Foundlings, Rusavik

Under Development

City-state, a political system consisting of an independent city having sovereignty over contiguous territory and serving as a center and leader of political, economic, and cultural life. In a group of city-states, each city-state is independent and rules by its own king (or culturally appropriate equivalent). The city-states of Essealas functions like any small kingdom of Europes twelfth century, or Westeros before the Targaryen unification.

We have six factions actively competing in the current storyline and six factions who have withdrawn from the political arena. Players are welcome to have a character from any of the 12 factions, but only the first six listed here have RPCSS teams.

Primary City-States

This six factions have active embassies and are part of the current storyline.

Jarnfell Bretons Saxons of North Umbria, Iron Islands, Winterfell, Normans, Beowulf	Valgard Alfarians Medieval Scandinavian Myth and History, Rohan, Vanyar Elves	Rusavik Rus Bear Island of Game of Thrones, The Rus People of Western Russia.
Tiberia Euresu Greco-Roman, Euresu, central Gor.	Arjat Zuberi Zephrin, Arabian Nights, Dorne, Tahari.	Bheka Bantu Fantasy pan-African from Conan, Medieval Africa and Marvel.

Secondary City-States

These six city-states do not have either active embassies in Arcovia nor do they have teams in RPCSS.

Khonzhou Jurchen Monglia, Northern China, Last Airbender, Daughter of the Empire.	Albion Fremfolk Gaelic Wales, Ireland and Scotland.	Telrae’dor Dyrlings Medieval France, English, Sidhe, The Gentry of Comraich.
Halberg Halsteins Medieval German, Baratheon, Templar.	Fendahl Fenrii Medieval Adams Family, Gothic-Asian fusion, Hecate.	Tenysia Sythian Nyssans, Egyptian, Islander, and the Ji'Ken of Comraich.