Yeah, I was talking things over with Shadow last night. As I said to him I've got things back in order for me. I've managed to clear out some of my projects. So I'm able to re-focus once more on what I need to. Since the RP idea has been sitting pretty dead for a while I picked up the pieces that we had and blended them with some new ideas that I was toying with and I have something a little more solid in form. It still has a ways to go because I'm cleaning everything up with me having created a mess of ideas that I just dropped out on the floor to which ones made interesting shapes. I've been focusing more on the setting right now before I got to heavy into shaping the world.

Also as I said to Shadow I'm going to be playing the majority of my cards out on the table this time around. I think due to be a storyteller I like keep people surprised about the next to come and that has worked against me in the last RP. So I'm just going to play everything so that everyone can see what I'm thinking and we can work together to form something rather than me just trying to guide things in a direction. It also hopes that I have a direction this time around, I hardly at much of an idea of where to go for the last RP and when I did eventually I kept it to myself.

Anyway, here is what I'm playing with right now. We are keeping the civil war idea as that is going to be the catalyst for a lot of interactions we have and conflicts. I looking at placing it during the 12-14th centuries in an alternate universe of Europe during the Crusades era. I liked the idea that Dragonheart had so I kept it around. We are going to be focusing more in one city, but I think we can use the Crusades as more of a set piece to paint things as well as plot element that affects peoples ideas and beliefs.

Like I said it is going to be AU, so that means I'm going to draw heavily on some historical elements, but it is not going to be reality. That way people don't really have to worry about knowing their history. It simplifies things for us. I can just make a setting and history for us applying historical points and then we can go off on our own without worry.

I am currently thinking of placing us in Paris, France since during this time France was very prominent in Europe. On top of that Paris is a very beautiful city filled with tons of history. So it will make for a very nice background.

Now in addition to that I'm weighing the ideas of having a steampunk style of environment. It doesn't have to revolve around steam, but since it is AU we can say that they discovered the steam engine earlier than normal. But steampunk is more of a visual style at times rather than a specific genre or something like that. So I think it would help to paint nice canvas for us that we can incorporate into a lot of the buildings and structures through the city.

And to meet the fantasy elements I will be adding in magic as well. Which I've already figure out most of the mechanics for it already. The way that magic is going to work this time around is unlike the stuff we've done previously. Magic is not in the earth/nature or in the person that uses it. Magic is actually storing in living sources of magic that are like monolithic creatures almost. I don't really think that they are going huge, but its the idea that I'm trying to draw up. They hold vasts amounts of magic that is continually renewing itself. And what someone that uses magic does is channel and summon a bit of that magic from the source. So the person is nothing more than a vessel or conduct for magic rather than a container. So what will be important for someone is how focused and concentrated and how go of a connection that they can create with the source. However, there are draw backs to this sort of magic source. Because they are connecting with another being the stronger the connection they make the more likely they are to become influenced by the being. They could lose control of their body for a moment or even change from being a human. The more that the magic is used even in low amounts for weak spells the more the beings are flowing through a person making them susceptible to influence. The really big spells will make it that much easier to lose control. The smaller stuff makes only a small opening for them, but the big stuff makes huge opennings making it very easy to become possessed. At the worst you could be absorbed by the being or possibly completely transform into them losing all humanity. Sounds like fun, huh? ^^

As for the civil war and the sides. I'm still working out the details on that since it goes into plot and story. Which as I said I had not be focusing too much on until recently. So what I'm working with right now is there is the nobles and royalty against the poor and working class; there is a technology versus natural (the steampunk is something that would be everywhere and people would be opposing the idea of technology over nature and their past); there is also the religious part which would be the catholics against what would be our version of the protestants. The primary forces I think would be either class based or religion based, but there would be layers of idealogy that people are in conflict about. So there would be people with sides within sides that maybe not be agreeing, but working together for the time being.

And then over top of everything I'm planning on bringing back the Royalty this time around. It was absent from the last RP and well it is a hallmark or tradition for us. So this time around the Royalty will not be anyone of us, but a secret ancient society that has been watching and influence the world from the shadows. Yeah, I know cliche, but hey it works. They are going to called the Redevance or La Redevance depending on how I want to word it, but simply put it means Royalty in french and look we're in Paris. ^^; So yeah, the Redevance will in the end probably be our enemy since they would have constructed the civil war for their own purposes. They have a hand in just about everything in Europe and a civil war is simple child's play for them. I'm still working out the details of what their goals are, but it has a purpose as do all of our characters fall in line with their plans.

Oh yeah, as I told Shadow I've been watching My HiME recently. So I've got a streak of that running through me right now as well influencing some of my decisions. I really enjoy some of the elements that they play with. I'm not really talking about any of the physical elements they had, but the story and character pieces.

When I have more I'll get back to you. Let me know what you think of what I've laid out so far. If you have any ideas to add or change post please. Things are still very moldable for you. So you can affect what we end up getting to play with.