FAQ Part 1: Out of Character:
Out of Character
what sort of game is this?
Demeleier is a text-based livejournal roleplay, where the characters will use their journals to make posts and interact with each other. The particular theme of this game is fantasy/mystery, with a side order of survival. Characters have been spirited away by the fae. However before they are taken to the world of the Fair Folk, another being, known as ‘The Guardian’ intervened and placed them in a little town called ‘Demeleier’. The fae, however, do not give up on their prey, and follow them into Demeleier. Characters are encouraged to live, work and fight there until they can be sent home.
This game will have its moments of lightheartedness, but given the nature of some of the creatures here will also have dark themes. As a result, some of the plots can be quite heavy, so please keep this in mind if this is not your cup of tea.
what is demeleier's pace like? is there an activity check?
Demeleier works on a ratio of 1:1 - that is, one OOC day will equal one IC day. However, backtagging is perfectly acceptable and actively encouraged! Demeleier is a fairly slow game with relaxed tagging.
There is an activity check once a month. The requirement to pass is either one post, or one comment thread with ten or more replies. If you fail to provide this, you'll be contacted by the mods. Failure to respond, or failing the AC twice in a row, will likely result in your character being removed from the game.
where do i apply?
The applications page is where you want to head to. The applications and further instructions on how to apply are listed there. Please give the moderators anywhere from a day to one week to process your applications! We will try to get to them in a timely manner, but we are humans and sometimes things slip our minds. If it has been over a week and you have heard nothing, please give us a nudge!
If you want to apply a character but don’t have the time and are worried that someone else might apply while you can’t, then head over to the reservations page. You’ll find the form you need to fill out over there.
There are currently no app cycles, and the moderators will open and close apps when they feel it is best to do so. It will be clearly posted when applications are closed, and when the next date for opening will be.
what kind of characters are allowed?
Any and all characters are allowed, from books to tv shows, anime to video games and comics to movies. Original characters are also welcomed into the game. Your character can be a good guy, a bad guy, an anti-hero, a regular joe - anything. The fae are a strange people who are attracted by all manner of things. Your character might have amused them, or interested them, become an object of desire for them - anything. Fae are whimsical and tricky creatures who do not stop to think a lot of the time.
Characters with a darker or more violent background are also allowed; if you would like to apply one of them, all we ask is that there are trigger warnings clearly posted in the applications.
In the rare event that the moderators are unsure of a character's ability to fit into the game, we will get in contact with you and discuss it with you.
can i app another version of a character already in game?
AUs, and two of the same character brought from different times/verses, are not permitted at this time. Seperate characters, however, may be apped. For example, one could apply for Link from Wind Waker in the game even with a Link from Ocarina of Time in the game, as they're two different people from two different games. A Link from Majora's Mask could not be apped, as MM is a direct sequel to OoT.
If you're unsure about whether or not your character would count as a seperate entity, feel free to contact a mod!
can i play characters from previous lj/ij games?
You absolutely can! All you have to do is let us know in your application what game they’re coming from, and to write out their history to include what happened to them in their previous game.
my character has a pet/familiar. can i bring it along?
Of course they can! Specific familiars who are linked to their characters - for example, a World of Warcraft Hunter's trained pet - will remain with their master all through Demeleier. Other animals, however, may become spooked by the fae and bolt. They can be found later in the game.
There are only two exceptions to this rule. The first is cats, which are immune to a faery's glamour. They may become unnerved, but will not become spooked and flee.
The second exception are animals that a person has raised from birth. These animals may stay with their master, but are likely to becoming increasingly skittish and prone to exhaustion due to fae harassment.
If you would like to keep an animal with your character but they do not fit the above circumstances, contact the mods and we will discuss it with you.
my character comes from a world where the fair folk exist. how is this handled?
The general rule regarding this is that the fairies in your character's world will not be the same as the Fair Folk here. The moderators are willing to make exceptions to this rule - we previously had an Ellen from Folklore in the game, who was able to treat the fae in Demeleier similarly to how she dealt with Folks in her own canon.
In a similar vein, if you are playing a faery, you can ask the moderators if your character could know the fae in Demeleier. If it is at all possible we will try to work that out with you!
will my character arrive with their weapons/items?
Characters will arrive in Demeleier with exactly what they were carrying on their person at that time. This can include food, tools and weapons. The only thing that will not be carried through to Demeleier will be pure iron.
my character has the ability to change their form. how is that handled?
This ability remains generally unchanged. Characters with the ability to shape shift from human to animal will not be locked into their human forms at all. If they have a human form, ala the humany illusion in Wolf's Rain, then they can shapeshift back and forth. They may find their illusion is now a real form, at most. If your character can shift into an incredibly powerful or game breaking form, they might not be able to use it. Please ask the mods if you are concerned about this.
can my character create food via magic?
Not quite. That would take all the challenge out of the survival aspect of the game!
Characters who can create food or drink magically, such as a World of Warcraft Mage's ability to create food out of thin air, will still be able to do so. However, this food will lack nourishment and will not keep a character sustained. If your character collects the rough ingredients through nonmagical means, they can use magic to speed up the cooking process-- such as if a character is brewing alcohol. Please note that the creation of drugs and alcohol should be discussed with a moderator first.
what is the character limit?
At this current time, there is no limit to how many characters a single player can have. We may change this if too many players are character sitting with three or more characters. However, for the time being, we leave it up to what you believe you can manage. Please use good judgment and don't bite off more than you can chew.
can i play an animal or other non-humanoid?
We will allow animal characters (for example Fiver from Watership Down) and non-humanoids, though we want them to be able to communicate with other characters. That is something we would like a potential applicant should explain and demonstrate in their app. If you can put a good spin on it, it's fine with us! We had a My Little Pony in game previously who did fine for interactions.
what is the "character number" on the application form? who supplies it?
The applicant supplies it, and it's nothing more than the number of characters you play. If you are apping your first character, put 'Character 1' or 'First'. For your second, 'Character 2', or 'Second', etc. We just like to keep track of how many characters each player has.
can reservations be challenged?
Yes. The challenger must wait until the initial reserve has produced an application before posting theirs, and must do so within a period of five days. Both applications will be read and a decision made on which one is accepted.
where do i post?
For regular, day-to-day interaction, have your character make an entry on his or her own journal, and tag other characters on their entries. These entries can be text, voice, video or handwritten. It is entirely up to the player to choose what format the entry will be in.
For special occasions, or perhaps even just because you want to try writing something out in prose, go to demeleier_logs. The log format is as follows:
Characters:
Location:
Time:
Brief Summary:
Rating:
Lj-cut the prose, no matter its length or its rating. Be sure to tag the log with your character’s name too. Tags follow the format of fandom: character name.
Anything out of character, be it questions, plotting ideas, hiatus notes, character introductions, drops etc. are posted to demeleier_ooc.
i want to make an in-person post but don't want to take it to the log comm. what do i do?
In a case like this, we suggest making an [action] post via your character’s journal. These [action] logs can be written shorthand. For example:
Character X: *sits down outside of their croft, looking at the sky*; [Character X sat outside of their hut, looking up at the sky.]
These are both acceptable formats and can be used whenever a player wants to play something out and doesn’t want to take it to the logging community. [Action] posts will not be broadcast to the network, though other character can send an audio, video or text feed to the character who is out and about.
how is the language barrier circumvented here?
All characters will be able to understand each other. The Guardian and the Fae produce glamour to allow this to work. Everyone speaks a common tongue while in Demeleier.
However, if you desperately want your character to communicate in their own language, they must absolutely focus on speaking in it. Doing so will break the glamour around them for a while, and allow them to speak privately to the people who share their language. The glamour will re-assert itself the moment they stop concentrating on the language.
is there character death here?
Yes. Characters are in constant danger from the Fair Folk here. While several of the fae are perfectly happy to pester and harass the residents, others are violent and will actively attempt to hurt or kill a resident.
In-game death will last twenty-four hours. When the time is up, characters will be regenerated and wake up where their remains last were. Players have several options to consider for the twenty-four hours the character was dead:
• Nothing - the character remains dead without incident.
• Slaugh - the character joins the rank of Slaugh and causes the swarm to congregate around their home in the village.
• Possession - a faery possesses the remains of the deceased character, causing destruction at worst and confusion at best.
• Echo - the deceased character wanders as a ghost, barely able to make themselves heard when speaking to other residents.
It is up to players to decide what they want to do during the time a character remains dead. Please remember that having your character die three times is the same as dropping that character! Your character will not be allowed to return to the realm of the living if they die three times in the game. Only kill them a third time if you are absolutely sure you want to drop them!
what sort of events happen here?
Most any event that you or the mods can imagine, really. If you have a specific event that you would like to see transpire, please tell the mods all about it! Below are a few examples of events that may take place in Demeleier:
Constraint Events - If your characters have ever wanted to do something, but were restrained by propriety or common sense, they will find those inhibitions lowered. It will be very hard to restrain urges. Conversely, if there are characters who have no inhibitions, they may for this period of time find themselves in possession of them.
Child Events - Residents are turned into children. Players can decide if they want to play their characters as adults in child's bodies or their characters as they were as children. Dangerous, child-devouring fae may lurk around during these events.
Timeline Events - Very like child events. Characters will be turned into a version of themselves from any point in their timeline. This will last a week.
Location Events - Characters will find themselves warped into a world that some of the Demeleier residents hailed from.
Merchant Events - The Wandering Shop will appear on the north or southwest of town for a little while. The Merchants themselves may set up their own events.
Faery Dances - People will be repeatedly pulled out of bed and forced to dance in great circles with faeries. This leaves them feeling exhausted and drained.
The Night Mare - These events are heralded by the vision of a horse against the sky, with fire for her mane and tail. The Night Mare will gallop across the sky of Demeleier, spreading a miasma of dreams in her wake. When touched by this trail, all characters will fall asleep - even those who do not usually - and may experience vivid dreams.
The manner these dreams will take will either be an interactive log written and posted by the characters themselves, or as one long collective dream put together by the moderators with the players supplying their character's dream. The first will move like a regular log only set within the bounds and parameters of the poster's character's dream. The second will be a dream experienced by all who wish to from which everyone can wake up from. After the initial two, a poll will be put up for players to select which medium for these events they prefer.
Tam Lin Events - A faery contingent will come to town and attempt to spirit away a certain member. When other residents give chase and seize the kidnapped person, they faeries will attempt to turn them into all manner of creatures in an effort to make them drop the person. The last thing they will turn the person into is a burning coal. Throw them in the well, and they'll turn back into their usual selves, naked, and will be out from the thrall of the faeries.
Trickster Events - These events are caused by trickster faeries. That Merry Wanderer of the Night might be seen when these events happen.
Animals - Characters are turned into animal versions of themselves for a while - this can range between becoming animals, or simply sporting attributes.
Body Swap - People wake up in the form of others.
Sex Swap - Women are turned into male versions of themselves, men into female versions.
Powerswitch - Abilities are switched around.
These seem to last for a week, and the faeries will have their fill and turn things back the way they were.
The Wild Hunt - The Wild Hunt is an extravagant ordeal. The Faery Queen and the host will ride just above the ground, thunderclouds gathering overhead, and hunt whatever they decide to. Some residents will be pulled into the hunt and ride with the Queen and her entourage. Particularly savvy hunters, who may have impressed the Hunting Group may be rewarded with a favor, or some special trinket (a gift, but potentially with a cost all the same).
Conversely, others out on the night of the hunt might find themselves the Queen's prey, and those whom he runs with may not see what might be a close friend, but someone caught in a web of illusions to seem a monster. The night's magics won't reveal either until the threads of dawn begin to lighten the sky, removing the wild magic.
The Tithe - The fae must pay a tithe to hell. This involves taking three of their fairest and lovliest people and slaughtering them. As this is something the fae will not happily do, they may try to sacrifice the people they have spirited away - that is to say, your character. Characters will have to fight to keep the fae from killing members of the community.
There may be more events in Demeleier, but these are just a taster! Again, if you have an idea for a good event, feel free to let us know!
how do i get in touch with a mod?
A private message to the dem_mods journal may be used at any time and is a very reliable way to reach the mods.
Rosh's AIM screenname is butterflyedge22 and her email is mydarkrosaline [at] livejournal [dot] com. She can also be reached on plurk as mydarkrosaline.
Jen's AIM screenname is sacred strike and her plurk is knighted.
The mods are quite often in the AIM group chat called demeleier.
Got any other questions? Ask us here!
> FAQ 2: NPCs, Fair Folk, and Protection
> FAQ 3: The Communicators