Floating World: An Overview;


Your Arrival;

Your character arrives through a portal-gate in Atuin, the flying city of magic, and will probably get everything explained:

The portal-gate is a half-broken teleporter that drags in people, objects and even locations from other dimensions! Sometimes it will let you return home immediately, sometimes it'll drag you back, and other times you're trapped forever. It's basically player discretion concerning if their character is permanently stuck in the setting or can come and go.

The government will pay the victims of it an allowance for food and other necessities, provide them with a robot for the internet and assistance, and there’s a couple of apartment blocks where all outsiders may stay. If they don’t get the information and items in their introduction, you can assume they did off-screen.

Whether your character uses the above, stays in the apartments, or whatever is up to you!



What happens in Floating World?

Anything and everything we desire. Beyond day to day slice of life activities, there are meme-style posts driven by the magical atmosphere: Aging up, genderswaps, enforced tea parties, etc.

And plots.

Whether it’s genociding the world with a villain, bringing in Homestuck lands to do some quests, locking seven people in a mansion and having a murder mystery, heart games, declaring an AU plot and dragging everyone into Hogwarts, or apping a God of parties and throwing one every Thursday, the only real rule that matters is having fun.

And fear not, death is impermanent. No matter what happens, characters revive at the portal-gate upon death fully intact.

Floating World: The Setting;

The World;

The world is literally entirely, 100% water.

Throughout the water, and occasionally leaving the water to arc through the air, are streams of raw magic. Where these streams meet, they will occasionally crystallize, into what are effectively magical batteries: Crystals. They range from pebble-sized to person-sized, and of course bigger ones are more powerful.

The ocean will fuck you up. Monsters down there, like any good RPG, are fueled by the magic streams themselves and are not pleasant. And, you know, they're also sort of saturated with magic, and humans jumping in there will lead to side-effects.

This is a world inhabited by four native sentient species and contains city-state locations with an 'in the near future' magictech level of robots and airships.

The Islands;


Atuin, the city you arrive in;
Atuin is the island of humans. It is also the location of the world gate, and thus the starting point of all new arrivals to floating world. Atuin flies above the ocean, and is basically one large modern city with some farmland on the outskirts.

Due to its cosmopolitan outlook it also tends to house a lot of shrines to gods.



Isate's Shrine is a Greco-Roman columned temple situated in a square between the crossings of several major roads making it one of the most active (and chaotic) places to walk through- Think Times Square. It is always colourful, and repainted via splashing random buckets of paint every couple of weeks.

The Palace of the Royal Family is an extremely ornate and flashy castle in the dead centre of the city. Public areas are open to tour groups, but the royal family lives in a private and inaccessible portion.

Kel’s field is a bit farm down south of Atuin containing fields of wheat and barley, as well as trees. All of these work under STRANGE RPG MECHANICS; if you plant something it will grow near instantly, if you cut them down you’ll receive items like Log Of Wood. It contains RPG monsters mentioned in the wildlife section.

Crystal Caves are around the outskirts of the city, and are an underground dungeon filled with monsters and magical crystals. Dangerous, but a good place to fight!

House of the Purple Lilac is a shrine slash brothel for the god Tanit, present in Atuin near the center of the city. It is easily found by its Victorian-styled purple decorations and large lilac garden.



East Blue, the city of Long;
The only city that sits on the surface of the water, it has large walls around it and a glass dome under it. The city has buildings that extend under the water, and it is common to find Long looking outside into the ocean through the glass. The city itself has waterways instead of roads, with gondolas being a common method of transport. (Inside the walls are several filtration systems to keep the horrible ‘YOU WILL DIE’ magic levels out of the water inside the city.)

The natural streams of mana that flow around the ocean can be seen best here, and can often be hijacked. Magic is more potent in this city.



Sakmet, the city of Bast;
The city closest to Atuin in terms of structure and design, but everything is somewhat more sturdily built to deal with the primary race being stronger than humans. Sakmet and Atuin enjoy the closest relations of the four countries, as well. However, unlike Atuin, the aesthetic of Sakmet is somewhat different- Most of the island is in fact intentionally designed to be good for parkour, as it is a very common method of transport for the Bast. Also, there are many laboratories and libraries there.



Saena, the city of Angha;
Flies high and in no fixed location, instead merely blowing around wherever the winds in the atmosphere push it. It is built under the assumption that all residents of the city can fly, and so the ability to think if not move in three directions is necessary. The smallest of the main four cities, and most isolated. The people have a very strong pride in their city/country, and while the cities are at peace, they generally hold to a mostly isolationist policy. They allow limited tourism and commerce, grudgingly, but mostly they do not take kindly to outsiders.

The Gods;



The Ocean God. Basically the verse’s equivalent of the devil... Or so the native’s say. As the sea breeze carries all spoken words to him down to the slightest whisper, no one can name him without attracting his attention.

He may in fact have worshippers, and secret cults, but that’s the sort of thing no one should ever admit to. Recently revealed to have been the true creator of the world and its species, and the master of the four patron gods, his revival led only to his own destruction...



Patron god of Humans, god of Magic, Change, Chaos and Development, the island Atuin; Isate.

Chaotic. Enjoys things happening and dislikes things staying the same. The results of actions don’t matter so much as the actions themselves. Gets along well with the Lady as a result.

Enjoys humanity and tends to show up at festivals, and while he often doesn't 'gift' the world with his children, those born from his union are automatically demi-god royalty on Atuin.



Patron goddess of Bast, goddess of Law, Justice, Knowledge, Wisdom and the Mind in general, the island Sakmet; Metoth.

A serious knight type person. Templar god, but not excessively? Hard to get along with, but not a bad person. Does accept real redemption! However, stays out of the law and justice of mortals for the most part, viewing it as more appropriate to let the mortals manage themselves- She gave them justice, therefore they should use it themselves. Generally she is only called upon for blessings in hunting criminals, or to be a judge if someone’s crimes have gone above and beyond the normal mortal realm and ability. Dislikes magic as it is too chaotic, but also blesses scholars as they work to study the ‘laws’ of the world, even the ones who study magic.



Patron god of Long, god of Strategy, War, Health and the body in general, the island East Blue; Canglong.

Cunning, but dislikes it when things don’t go as he plans. Cannot get along with the patron of Saena. There is no better ally in a fight, and his teachings of ideas and proper plans are the reason the city can prosper even on the ocean’s surface. Is considered the most fearsome patron god and the natural enemy of the ocean god.



Patron goddess of Angha, Goddess of Fortune and all it touches, the island Saena; Known only as the Red Lady.

Is lady luck, basically. The general rule is pray to her, but never rely on her. In truth, she likes people who don’t rely on luck at all like the Bast god, or rely entirely on it. She doesn’t like people who half-ass it, and she views relying on her instead of luck as half-assing. She is incomprehensible and it’s never possible to tell whether she influences something or not.



Goddess of Games, Discord, and Hearts; Eris.

Eris always appears to be a young (human) girl that is always smiling. It’s not impossible for her to change her form, but she is happiest when using her human appearance. She is the goddess you go to when you need someone to play a game with because she’s always willing to play a game.

She also doesn’t mind knocking people out and opening their souls for people to wander around in and change things. Eris certainly doesn’t ask if it’s okay before doing it. That’s not fun at all and it makes the game boring!

Eris shrines;

Her shrines are very large and circular treehouses that are filled with all kinds of playground equipment for people to play on as they wish, or various kinds of toys that may be used in games. Everything about it is bright and sunny, and there are always giant windows to allow the view of the outside. There are some odd splatters of a dark pink (that looks somewhat like blood) on the walls, but really, it just adds a little color and totally doesn’t mean anything suspicious! Anyone is allowed to play with the various things that are there.

There is also, oddly, an area with a lot of large beanbag beds and a large door that seems to open into the open air. Watch your step! You wouldn’t want to fall out of the treehouse, would you?

Anyone that wants to be one of her priests pretty much ends up being something of a playground monitor, although they do get free favours from her as long as the request falls into one of her domains.

God of Love, fertility, physical beauty; Tanit.

Genderfluid and fluid in form-- represents all four races equally, and no one person would ever see the same form if sie decided to show. Can result in some awkward shenanigans for artists and whatnot. Serene, loving, merciful: Tanit is the god of love and compassion and mercy (as well as of physical beauty and fertility), and obviously embodies all of these. Sie is flatly incapable of hate- which is not to say that sie is incapable of anger, because sie can and has been angry on very rare, memorable occasions in the past- and loves everyone. Yes. Everyone.

However, while sie will forgive anything in hir boundless compassion, Tanit does not forget anything, either.

The God of love (in all forms), fertility, and physical beauty in the form of body art.

Major commandment is “love as you will/want”. Restrictions mainly follow along lines of physical/emotional violence without consent(or, violence not done in the pursuit of pleasure)

Tanit Shrines;

Temples tend to be brothels! Of sorts. Any race can join in as a sex worker. These brothels are based around temporary contracts, usually for a few years, in which the person admitted is to become a prostitute! More details here.

The Native Races;

Angha
Bird-people. They've got fucking bird wings and can fly. Their city is the only one that moves, moving along a particularly high-flying magic stream. They are pretty solitary, keeping things to themselves, and of the four races, was the last to open up their city to others. They do not like people. Physically, they're rather weak, as muscle mass is heavy and a strong one wouldn't be able to fly. They're also light as hell, and a bit fragile, for the aforementioned reasons. So instead they're the cunning ones. Their capital city is Saena.

Bast
Cat-people. The demihumans most like humans! They have cat ears and tails, claws, and some of them have fur. They're playful and arrogant as a whole, and... pretty cat-like. They are agile, fast as fuck, and in terms of RPG class, tend to be the Rogues. They can't swim at all, though, as they have far too dense muscle mass. They're also nocturnal. Their city is called Sakmet.

Long
Dragon-people. Your typical race of dragoons. Use spears. Their city sits on the water, rather than floating above it. The dragon-people have high tolerance to the magic in the ocean, and swim and hunt in it without fear. They tend to be stricter and more hardasses as a people. (of course there are exceptions, but.) They tend to have horns, and webbed hands/feet, but the exact level of difference from baseline human is, as in all demihumans, variable. Their city is known as East Blue.

The Native and Imported Wildlife;



Sea Monsters
The monsters that live in the magic-infused ocean come in all shapes and sizes. Serpents and hydras are the most common, but fish, sharks, whales, and eldritch horrors are also all there. They are uniformly nasty things. There is no such thing as a tame, or domesticated, or peaceful monster. If it lives in the sea, it wants to kill and eat anything it can get in its belly. Period.

Living in the environment, they have evolved a magic resistance that is basically complete immunity. They are unaffected by any spells or magic. However, as a trade-off, they are also mostly unable to use it themselves past autonomous functions like supporting their body. They eat magic in the ocean, generally, and people have a rather high concentration of magic, and a bunch more tasty nutrients and flesh. Therefore, if they sense magic, it is like a shark smelling blood. They will go for it. The flying cities’ crystals are mostly shielded so they cannot be sensed, but a person using magic that is too powerful will act as a beacon for those monsters.

Each city has methods of dealing with these monsters. East Blue’s magic shields are much heavier, so the monsters cannot sense the magic inside, and the armed forces there are very good at killing whatever comes in anyway. Atuin’s Knights and Magic Knights slay whatever monsters reach them. Sakmet employs similar methods to Atuin. Angha floats above their reach.

Known monsters include:
Leviathan: A gigantic serpent. Generally about ten feet thick and very, very long. Rare, but very quick, so they show up reasonably often. Very, very deadly.
Hydra: Smaller than a leviathan, it makes up for this by having several heads. Unlike its namesake, they do not regenerate (usually), but they don’t have to usually. Also very deadly.
Sharks: Not able to reach the flying cities like the former two. But they’re fucking sharks. Magic sharks. They will fuck you up.


Imported Wildlife;

Pokemon! Wild Pokemon have arrived through the portal and exist in the grass, the trees, etc. Pokeballs are not on sale at any Atuin stores, but can be found on the ground and used to capture Pokemon.
Rules: Legendary pokemon are off limits.

Tofu are located on Kel’s field, a bit of farm land down south of Atuin. You can fight these birds any time, and they're fairly easy! They drop fabulous feathered clothing, and the meat can be used in cooking. You can also use seeds to plant these animals.

Gobballs are located on Kel’s field, a bit of farm land down south of Atuin. You can fight these sheep any time, and they range from a small to difficult challenge! They drop warm, fluffy clothing, and the meat can be used in cooking. You can also use seeds to plant these animals.

Arachnee are located on Kel's field. These are spiders ranging from small to house-sized, and are for experienced combatants!


OOC communication:
Chat: The game's chatroom can be found on IRC. #floatingworld on irc.lunarnet.org
Plurk: The game’s plurk is used to mirror announcements. Plurk!