Sha'ib: City of Mazes (Arabian Nights/Fantasy Sandbox LGBT Accepting Characters)

[MdG]

Character sheet finalised and up...now with plot hooks for both the wrong and the right side of Sha'ib's metaphorical tracks!

[Sain]

Go for a plotter Sabre. We can start the scheming gentlemen's book club at Zidir's slave house.

This ones for anyone really: Zidir could use a bit more negative connection with someone along the lines of having gotten caught red handed while using blackmail or some forceful methods to turn someone else's friend into a slave, or possibly try to make a PC into a slave but got interrupted by other PC.¨

@Amarlo. N’ebthe looks like someone who could be up for sale at Zidir's establishment if you want to start her story from there?

[Paladin101]

On how Rashid and Farrah know each other:
Farrah has probably needed a guide to the desert to find oases, but that's a pretty tenuous connection and I think we can form a stronger one if you're interested.

Throughout her life Farrah has been visited by her uncles, men of the al-Farani Bedu who see her as an asset to the family who might be polished up and married off. In her adult life she's gone to visit the al-Farani to find her roots, and would have needed not only a guide, but someone to introduce her to the intricacies of Bedu culture and stand in her corner. Since Farrah's aunts were all married to nearby tribes, it might even be possible that Farrah and Rashid are cousins (if his mother is an al-Farani warrior maiden) or second cousins once removed (if an al-Farani married one of his aunts or uncles).

I like it! :D I am totally down with the idea of our characters being cousins, would have made for an interesting meeting in town for him to discover a relative, and since he is such a wanderer would make since why he would be eager to make friends with what he kind of sees as a long lost cousin. For why he is so staunch in your corner against the uncles, could say his mother had also disliked her brothers, but had been quite fond of the sister who was sent away to marry the city priest.

[Crash]

I don't know if I missed this, but - Do the Nafasi people practice magic in any form? Maybe similar to voodoo of west african cultures?

A voodoo ish magic would fit.  Nafasi worships their ancestors and Are animistic.  They have a form of necromancy that we could certainly and some aspects of voodoo into.

Sabre - That character type would work out just fine.

MdG - I would love to work out some tie ins.

[Crash]

Would love to see what everyone thought about these pics. Trying to find one for my character since I think I might change my idea. I'm going to pick a real photo and art for my character. I was originally going go with just this, but I use that image a lot. Sooo she's up for grabs if anyone wants her.

Real - 4 is my current fav
Art - 1 is my current fav

X X X X

Art Photos

One Two Three Four Five Six

I am not going to be much help, since I like all of them.  Would you like putting this us in my finders/seekers thread.  The ones you don't use could help others find inspiration. 

[Crash]

Amario - She looks good.

MdG - great also denotes size.  A typical Basuro is smaller than the Great Basuro herds.

[yesiroleplay]

Would love to see what everyone thought about these pics. Trying to find one for my character since I think I might change my idea. I'm going to pick a real photo and art for my character. I was originally going go with just this, but I use that image a lot. Sooo she's up for grabs if anyone wants her.

Real - 4 is my current fav
Art - 1 is my current fav

X X X X

Art Photos

One Two Three Four Five Six

They are all good.  The last artwork one is a rather toonish version of Sahara from the comic ElephantMen.  She's been on the cover a few times, with some really stunning artwork.
I had a better version of your artwork three on my hard drive.  I uploaded it to the wiki.
https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/2/24/Black_amazona_by_Atelier_Sommerland.jpg
As a side note... Atelier Sommerland is is a render-artist extraordinaire!  Googe image search him.

I like all the images you shared.  I think my favorites are the same as yours.

Amarlo:  I thought you asked for pics, but I can't find the post.  Anyway, check out this post...
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=224233.msg11020627#msg11020627

[Crash]

I have an extremely busy weekend this weekend, so I will shoot for having some IC threads up next weekend.  I will continue to keep accepting characters after IC threads are up.

[MdG]

Possible connections

Crash - Taytu and Devi might know each other from sight, though Devi may be circumspect about a tribeless outcast who can no longer commune with the Ancestors, though she may at the same time respect Taytu's adaptation to Sha'ib. A starting IC thread possibility is on a rooftop somewhere.

Paladin101 - Taytu and Rashid could have met in one of the many taverns or coffee houses of Sha'ib or in performing guide work for the same employer with interests both in the Dune Sea and in the subterranean caverns beneath the city. I can see a strong mutual professional respect between the two.

Dhi - Taytu would know the cisterns and water management systems beneath the city well, though whether Farrah is keen on having a mercenary of dubious morals haunting the city's crucial water supply is another matter entirely, especially if Taytu's incursions are financed by the wrong people.

Sain Taytu and Zidir may be vaguely aware of each other's Ifrit 'taint', though they may fear each other because of it (that and Taytu cannot quite understand the concept of slavery and cannot understand why anyone would allow herself to be owned like a Basuro). Taytu certainly has an ambivalent relationship with the Ifrit who bound her and may be curious to know if Zidir knows anything that might help her.

[Paladin101]

Possible connections

Paladin101 - Taytu and Rashid could have met in one of the many taverns or coffee houses of Sha'ib or in performing guide work for the same employer with interests both in the Dune Sea and in the subterranean caverns beneath the city. I can see a strong mutual professional respect between the two.

Dhi - Taytu would know the cisterns and water management systems beneath the city well, though whether Farrah is keen on having a mercenary of dubious morals haunting the city's crucial water supply is another matter entirely, especially if Taytu's incursions are financed by the wrong people.

Ya I could definately see that happening! Especially as you have a bit of the same 'live for the moment' outlook that he has. Though yours seems a bit reckless. Also a possibility is if Dhi does want a connection to you we could connect the three of us by me having recommended you to her as a good guide from having worked with you in the past.

Also finding it disconcerting how every strong willed type female so far in this RP that Rashid would go for is batting for the other team! Come on, there can be straight strong willed forceful women! :P lol

[Kuroneko]

Also finding it disconcerting how every strong willed type female so far in this RP that Rashid would go for is batting for the other team! Come on, there can be straight strong willed forceful women! :P lol

Don't worry, I'll have one for you ;)

[Crash]

Possible connections

Crash - Taytu and Devi might know each other from sight, though Devi may be circumspect about a tribeless outcast who can no longer commune with the Ancestors, though she may at the same time respect Taytu's adaptation to Sha'ib. A starting IC thread possibility is on a rooftop somewhere.

Not sure how she will react but I want to find out!  I was thinking rooftop too.

[Dhi]

I was doing a little reading on the earliest cities while working on my character, and it seems like the door was a delayed addition to Tigris-Euphrates civilization. In lieu of roads, homes would be stacked against each other and neighbors would walk across each other's rooves to reach their own, usually trap door, entrances. In biblical times people would also bathe on their rooftops in a ritual rainwater bath called a mikveh (although all the mikveh I was finding are completely impractical for a rooftop).

Fantasy Arabia is still a largely flat-roofed and closely built civilization, and even though it's long removed from the Tigris-Euphrates, I still see the roof in that social light, like conjoined front porches, a social space.

[MdG]

Not sure how she will react but I want to find out!  I was thinking rooftop too.

I suspect Devi may be in for a bit of a shock.

Also, in practice, inhabitants of cities in the premodern Mediterranean would often sleep on the roof (if they had one), especially in the summer.

Another feature to be considered is civic buildings. Public baths, perhaps, of the Ottoman variety? That should offer plenty of scope for intrigue and smut.

Also, in my character sheet I took the liberty of improvising the currency to be 'dirhams', but am happy to modify if you have different views, Crash.

[Sabre]

So I sat on the idea for a bit, and looking at the setting and a few proposed characters so far, I think I'd like to go for a recent Djaffir merchant who worships Upuaut. Rather than an established merchant he's more like a peddler moving into Sha'ib with liquid assets or bank notes, enough to nail down tent pegs if not roots, and has in mind an expedition (or several) into the old city depths. Whatever deals and profits he'll make before then are to fund the endeavors, and whatever found in these endeavors can repay costs and fund more expeditions.

Well, I'm talking big pictures, and I'm sure my character will do the same. For the beginning of the game he'll be exploring the surface, and making friends and enemies. I wouldn't mind Sain's suggestion of our characters working together, but should I go with an Upuaut follower than his relationship with a slaver would be contentious at best. They might share a negative connection even over the matter of a slave they both knew (who might also be another character).

[Crash]

I figured there would be baths and I am okay with the dirham as the currency.

Dhi - There will be doors.  The average residency will be flat topped, close together and the roof often used in the summer.

[MdG]

I was doing a little reading on the earliest cities while working on my character, and it seems like the door was a delayed addition to Tigris-Euphrates civilization. In lieu of roads, homes would be stacked against each other and neighbors would walk across each other's rooves to reach their own, usually trap door, entrances. In biblical times people would also bathe on their rooftops in a ritual rainwater bath called a mikveh (although all the mikveh I was finding are completely impractical for a rooftop).

Fantasy Arabia is still a largely flat-roofed and closely built civilization, and even though it's long removed from the Tigris-Euphrates, I still see the roof in that social light, like conjoined front porches, a social space.

The classic, Middle Eastern 'souk' apparently emerged in Late Antiquity when public spaces of the late Roman world, like forums etc., were slowly taken over by merchants, who both traded and lived from increasingly cramped and densely inhabited premises. The classic example given, which I can still recall from my University lectures, is of a Roman city in modern Tunisia where an olive press had been installed in the middle of what used to be a public thoroughfare.  So I imagine the commercial centre of Sha'ib to be a dense, crowded, poorly lit, and exotically scented (and not always necessarily in a good way) place.

IRL, cities became less important as independent entities after the decline of the Roman Empire, so civic construction gradually declined and in many cases was abandoned altogether. Notable exceptions would have been mosques, gardens, and baths.

Crash, I thought I should clarify my thoughts on gender and the Nafasi.  My idea was that the terms 'masculine' and 'feminine' mean nothing to them - biological males and females fulfill certain tasks, such as gathering, herding, hunting etc., and it is these social roles that are 'gendered', independently of the biological sex of the individual who occupies them. So Taytu is surprised that her hard drinking and skirt chasing are considered (particularly) objectionable in Sha'ib because she is biologically female. To the Nafasi, that's a what a rough and tumble young huntress would do.  In this sense, I think her to be a sort of a third gender to use the closest human analogy, who has never experienced any of the societal expectations to which women are subjected in a patriarchal human society. 

[Paladin101]

Crash, I thought I should clarify my thoughts on gender and the Nafasi.  My idea was that the terms 'masculine' and 'feminine' mean nothing to them - biological males and females fulfill certain tasks, such as gathering, herding, hunting etc., and it is these social roles that are 'gendered', independently of the biological sex of the individual who occupies them. So Taytu is surprised that her hard drinking and skirt chasing are considered (particularly) objectionable in Sha'ib because she is biologically female. To the Nafasi, that's a what a rough and tumble young huntress would do.  In this sense, I think her to be a sort of a third gender to use the closest human analogy, who has never experienced any of the societal expectations to which women are subjected in a patriarchal human society.

Reading that I just got an image of our two characters sharing a drink in a tavern and acting as wingman/woman for each other as they chase the ladies. lmao

[MdG]

Reading that I just got an image of our two characters sharing a drink in a tavern and acting as wingman/woman for each other as they chase the ladies. lmao

Oh, she'd definitely be keen on that.

[Crash]

Oh, she'd definitely be keen on that.

That is fine by me.  Traditional hunter gatherers are much more egalitarian when it comes to gender roles, though Nafasi are more pastoralists.  I don't mind them being genderless when it comes to roles.

[Amarlo]

So I sat on the idea for a bit, and looking at the setting and a few proposed characters so far, I think I'd like to go for a recent Djaffir merchant who worships Upuaut. Rather than an established merchant he's more like a peddler moving into Sha'ib with liquid assets or bank notes, enough to nail down tent pegs if not roots, and has in mind an expedition (or several) into the old city depths. Whatever deals and profits he'll make before then are to fund the endeavors, and whatever found in these endeavors can repay costs and fund more expeditions.

Well, I'm talking big pictures, and I'm sure my character will do the same. For the beginning of the game he'll be exploring the surface, and making friends and enemies. I wouldn't mind Sain's suggestion of our characters working together, but should I go with an Upuaut follower than his relationship with a slaver would be contentious at best. They might share a negative connection even over the matter of a slave they both knew (who might also be another character).

That actually sounds pretty promising if you'd both like to involve my character as said slave connection. I would totally love to volunteer, but if you have something else in mind, don't be afraid to turn me down on my offer xD

[Paladin101]

Oh, she'd definitely be keen on that.

I am now totally requiring a scene like this happen. lol. I am just picturing their conversations in my head

"Stop it, this is the third time you've tried to lure my girl away from me. There is a whole bar of naive girls curious about the half naked Nafassi, go take one of them and leave at least one to enjoy the pleasures of a man!"   lol

[Sabre]

That actually sounds pretty promising if you'd both like to involve my character as said slave connection. I would totally love to volunteer, but if you have something else in mind, don't be afraid to turn me down on my offer xD

A shaman seer would be perfect for an excursion through a Sha'ib maze, and I could see my character wanting to buy and free her for the job, only to get outbid! If Sain is on board, I am, too.

[Crash]

Remember there are caverns deep in the walls that surround the city and are a maze of there own along with the Maze under the city that is used as a sewer system.  The walls are pitted with caves that were apparently the dwellings of the original inhabitants of the area.

[la dame en noir]

WIP

Name: Oshunmare "Oshun" Aminu
Player: la dame en noir
Concept:  <A short description about who you are:  Cunning Wizir, Dashing Rogue, Dervish of the Sakir Clan, Sand Mage of the Wandering Wastes, Marid-Blooded Merchant, Domadh Lionbrother, Nafasi Questing Warrior>
Trouble:  <Everyone has a trouble. It could be addiction, troublesome family, owing money to the wrong people, arranged marriage, whatever>
Sex: Female
Age: Twenty-Five
Orientation: Bi-Sexual
On’s:
Off’s:
Race or People: Nafasi

Appearance:
Hair: Black - Her hair is loosely curled and mid back. She often wears it down, head-wrapped or if she's up to it - in small single braids that seem to take forever to finish.
Eyes: Brown with golden speckles. They're an alluring almond shape, which often gives men and women the wrong impression that she is flirting with them. She has long lashes and neatly shaped brows. In conclusion, Oshun's eyes are her most outstanding physical trait.
Height: She stands at a mere 5'7", though her personality makes her seem a lot taller than that.
Weight: Oshun is rather fit,toned - she's about 140 lbs at best.

Description: Oshun is a beautiful woman, standing at 5'7" and a body that never seems to miss a day working out. Her eyes are catlike, almond shaped and mimic the color of the earth and pure gold. Her skin is a deep brown color, unblemished and soft to the touch. She has long toned legs and slender arms that give her a very graceful and elegant look. Oshun's black hair sometimes looks like a dark brown in the sun, which she takes most of her time to care of on a daily. She is an average woman to some and to others, quite the looker.

One Unique Thing: <Tell me one unique thing about your character.  This shouldn't be anything powerful.  Just something Unique about you>

Personality:

Skills: <Give approximately 5 skills your character is good at>

Residence: <Tent, house in Sha'ib, Shop...etc>

History: <At least 3 paragraphs>

Equipment: