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groundrules) wrote2021-01-08 03:30 pm
groundrules) wrote2021-01-08 03:30 pm
Entry tags:
applications
Eastbound is primarily an invite-only game — each existing player can currently invite up to one person per month, or get in touch about further invites. Existing players can hold two characters in game. A third character can be applied, if players can prove they have met activity requirements for two consecutive months with their existing two characters and have stayed engaged with the game. If you don't have an invite, somehow stumbled upon this neck of the woods, and you’d like to stay, drop the mod journal a line — we'll try to figure it out.
As of Oct. 1, cast/game caps are off. Please note, as of Dec. 1, Eastbound only has 3-4 months of gameplay left.
WHAT CHARACTERS CAN BE APPLIED?
YES: canon and original characters, if they have a solid and consistent personality and background. Characters brought in after they've died are a-okay. For characters taken from a time point just as they're in the process of dying, please read below on meeting medical requirements.
NO (at this time): real people, original characters set in a canon environment, characters from canons or canon instalments that have been released for less than one month, characters with imported development from other games (CRAU), alternate universe, or gender-swapped versions of canon characters.
Children or characters with very specific medical/magical/environment needs: appable, but please make a note of how your character will ICly meet their requirements and stay alive. Likewise, if you are applying for a character taken just as they're dying, provide a suggestion for how they can be kept alive on arrival (this might be easier in some app cycles than others). You can bend the world a little to make miracles happen (ex: a substitute for the medication your character needs to survive can be found for a high price at certain apothecaries, etc.)
Characters that were dropped or swept by activity checks: yes, but they’ll come back without their previous memories, if they are applied in by a different player.
APPLICATIONS CLOSED
→ NAVIGATION MENU
Zhou Zishu | Word of Honor
CONTACT:
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: I'm already in it. /dramatic music
CHARACTER: Zhou Zishu
CANON: Word of Honor
CANON POINT: After he removes the nails and greatly shortens his life.
BACKGROUND: This covers his past, before the events of the series.
After leaving the Window of Heaven, and taking on the punishment of inserting nails into his body (one every three months), Zishu chooses to hide his identity by changing his name and disguising his face. He becomes Zhou Xu, a beggar of a man with a scarred and bearded face. And thus he plans on spending his days, drinking wine and avoiding trouble.
That is until Wen Kexing, Gu Xiang and Zhang Cheng Ling find him. The former rapidly becomes his guiding star in life, bringing back his fire, while the latter two become those he dearly wishes to guide and protect. Chengling even becomes his student after Kexing unmasks him and discovers his true identity as Zhou Zishu - and Xiang becomes his little sister, who is delighted to see married until the you know what hits the fan.
Yet no matter how hard he tries to mold the world into a better place - he even reclaims the Four Seasons Manor (a place he never thought he would see again) - the greed of the various sects (and their leaders) ruins everything. For the sake of the Glazed Armor (one of the keys to opening an ancient and powerful Armory in the mountains), many people die. Kexing even plays a hand in those deaths - something that disturbs and angers Zishu. Only after the other man shows his regret does he begin instructing and guiding him again.
There can be no doubt: Wen Kexing is his soulmate. But their paths in life diverged when they were separated as children. Zishu is delighted to see his friend again, but he understands that for Kexing, the truth is painful. So he treats his soulmate tenderly and with endless patience.
All the while the nails are sapping his life away. When Kexing faces the other sect leaders - for he is the leader of the Ghost sect - and fakes his death (with the help of Chengling), Zishu's heart breaks. No one informed him of the plot and so he takes the death as real. For the sake of his lost love, he expels the nails from his body (going against the sage advice of his dear friend Wu Xi) and sets off to get revenge, knowing he will die soon (and thus join Kexing).
ABILITIES | POWERS: Taken from here.
"Master Disguise - He has an unspecified amount of human masks on himself that he use to disguise himself. He has learned the technique from his former master, Qin Huaizhang. It is said to be impossible to recognize him the moment he joins a crowd. He is able to conceal himself, going from the most frightening individual in the palace to a free-spirited, miserable-looking wanderer riding a thin horse, gnawing a straw in his mouth while humming folk songs takes that place. He becomes the first to actually get away from the Window of Heaven network just like that.
Unique Qinggong (轻功) - He knows the one-and-only “No Boundaries, No Traces” (无际无痕) branch of the Four Seasons Sect. It was taught by Qin Huaizhang as well.
Flute Craftsmanship & Playing - He demonstrated them when fighting back against the musical (zither) skills of “Enchanted Song” Qin Song. He made a flute during the journey out of boredom with very poor craftsmanship. The notes are not right and the tuning is all over the place, thus he never got around to using it. A big crack appeared in it after a single use. His flute playing is described to be "an ear-piercing noise". However, normally flutes would never make sounds that sharp, so sharp to the point it felt like they could tear something apart.
Medicinal Skills - He himself states that he wouldn’t call himself an expert in medicine-related matters. He might not possess an intensive knowledge about the field. However, he had seen enough to know that there had yet to exist a poison that could cause hallucinations for a certain long period of time.
Enhanced Hearing - His hearing is retained due to the secret of the Nails Punishment. He could hear Gu Xiang, and didn’t miss a single word. Even though the former was a noisy road away, and her voice was at a medium volume.
Bad Swimmer - He is not good at swimming. The best he can do is hold his breath for a long time underwater."
PERSONALITY: First and foremost, Zhou Zishu is a disciplined man. He requires the best of himself, giving every task he undertakes his all. Those who serve him or learn from him are expected to do the same and if they fall short of that mark, his punishments are to be feared. Yet he isn't cruel; he never pushes those around him harder than himself and if a companion stumbles or falls ill, he is the first to carry them home and to nurse them until they are well again. Thus it is easy to see why his students, past and present, think highly of him and are willing to die for him.
Yet Zishu's life has been plagued with sadness and loss. The reason he drove the nails into his body, a punishment for leaving the sect he created, was twofold. On one hand, he was merely punishing himself in the same way he would punish one of his followers. On the other, the nails ensure that eventually he will be reunited with those he has lost and that his pain will have an end.
Of course when he is ready to bid the world goodbye, his senses fading, he encounters his soulmate again. And then he loses him too - or so he presumes after seeing Wen Kexing fall from a cliff after being stabbed. Zishu stops worrying about the nails shortening his lifespan - he stops worrying about spending less time with his fated mate - and he rips them out, freeing himself to use his full power one more time. He is dying and he knows it, but if he can kill the one responsible for the death of his soulmate, he doesn't mind.
Thus Zhou Zishu can also be called loyal and loving. He is a steady presence for those he cares about, often soft-spoken and willing to speak the truth no matter how uncomfortable the words might be. He is a good man who has undoubtedly committed heinous crimes - all for the sake of a cousin - a prince - he thought he owed his loyalty. Now he knows differently. He will be loyal to his heart until it stops beating. If he can't right the wrongs of the world, he can at least stop one man who has caused agony in every life he has touched. Then he can be reunited with his Lao Wen and all of the followers and students and teachers and family he has ached to see again for years.
SAMPLE: Soulmate Bonding~
INVENTORY: His sword, Baiyi, and the hair stick/ornament Kexing gave him.
NOTES: Because of his canon-point, he will definitely need healing. Or at least some way to stabilize him. I'm fine with his senses remaining dull, but I'd rather he not die so quickly.
IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? Plot-light. He'll need to recuperate for a bit.
no subject
Do you by chance happen to have a few non-shipping-oriented thread samples for him, please? I'd be especially interested in anything that showcases the tougher or more survivalist aspects of his personality, cultivated during the Window of Heaven period. Alternatively, if it's easier, I'd be happy to take a written-out sample in either the canon or game setting. Whatever works better on your side — if you can get back to me within the next three days, that would be wonderful. If you think you might need more time, let me know.
How about one during the Window of Heaven period? I can also do one more current if you like.
Sighing, he rose from his seat and walked to a window, peering out at the mixture of ice and snow that greeted him. How many friends had he lost? Each death was like a blow to his very soul and he carried those restless spirits with him. He didn't believe a single one of them had discovered peace.
"Ready my horse." he knew that there was someone behind him, "I won't be leaving him to see to it alone."
To do so would be too perilous and Zishu never risked the lives of others when he could accomplish a task himself. He nodded at the assent and the quick footsteps to see his orders done. Turning away from the window, he walked down the long hallway to the front door, letting himself out into the cold. Though by the look of him, it was difficult to tell he felt any of the icy chill. In the distance, he saw his disciple mounting another horse and Zishu noticed the disciples swift, nervous glances to either side...and then behind.
Where he would surely see Zishu. Without saying a word, without changing his expression, Zishu mounted his horse too and pulled up his hood. Today was going to be long and he feared it would end with another loss.
no subject
Alternatively, he could work to gain favour (or leverage, or a blackmail instrument) over the healers and necromancers of Taravast to coax them into taking on his case without requiring compensation. You'll have to pitch a relevant mechanism.
Either way, it's something he'd have to work towards and not be handwaved on acceptance. Which method do you think sounds good on your side, for now?
no subject
ACCEPTED
ADMIN
NOTES
To Zhou Zishu’s luck — or is it that of his assailants, really? — he is rescued by a brigade of civilians who have taken it upon themselves to protect Taravast, fearing Doxe Bonaccorso — unseen among the commonfolk since his recent illness — has forgotten them. They spare Zhou Zishu a cheap and flimsy version of a communicator and translator device and share their worries that they have been forgotten by their rulers. They beg for help in pleading their cause at court. Whatever his nature, Zhou Zishu appears decently polished, a handsome man, well-spoken: if anyone can convince Bonaccorso to dedicate more funds and guards to the recovering districts, they believe it is he.
They send Zhou Zishu to attend one of Bonaccorso’s daily audiences at the Palace of the Doxe...
…where he is happily intercepted by the sorceress Karsa, an employee of the party’s Merchant benefactor who is currently journeying with the group. She supplies Zhou Zishu with an upgraded translation and communication device, seeming at first caught aback — then resigned — that the man does not remember his previous stay.
Karsa explains the Merchant’s mission and recounts the story so far. She also introduces him to the piazza — a style of communicating to the city at large, with an eye to influence public opinion.
CANON UPDATE