Hello Fellow Mizaharians!
Keeping with our tradition, the Founders Circle is proud to announce that the Featured Character of the Month for the month of May 2011 is Chemar Tisserand! Chemar was chosen because she has a unique style and flair among PCs. Adopted from an NPC her player created while volunteering as an Assistant Storyteller, Chemar is one of Mizahar's unique Dreamwalkers and as such bears closer attention. |
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The Interview
Gossamer: Chemar is a unique character because she was once your created NPC when you were an AS who you received special permission to start playing as a PC. What were some of the challenges in converting this NPC to a PC and making her work as a character when she was originally designed for an NPC? What motivated you to want to play her as a PC to begin with?
Chemar: In my very short time as an AS, Jen really let me go wild with possibilities. My intention was to play both Chemar and her sister, Rae with as many players as wanted to come along. When I put them together as NPCs I had a pretty clear idea of who I wanted them to be, kind of two sides of the same coin. Chemar, I thought, could handle the darker sides of people’s dreams, and Rae would handle the light. So when I was allowed to make Chemar a pc that I could play, I really had to try and make her more complete and separate from Rae. As well, I needed to take away some of the strengths I’d given her, she was kind of a badass. (Darn it. lol) I think my biggest motivation for playing her was that I thought of her as being somewhat limitless in what she can do. The dream walking was so intriguing to me that I just couldn’t resist. Can you imagine, being able to walk right in to people’s nightmares and play, good grief! How could anyone not want to do that?
Gossamer: Chemar is a dreamwalker, which is a rarely found hard-to-acquire gnosis. What do you find fascinating about this gnosis and how have you used it in thread during the course of Chemar’s PC life?
Chemar: I’ve always believed that your subconscious has a way of telling you things about your life, even if you don’t understand them at the time. I really wanted Chemar to be able to illuminate those clues for people, even if (and sometimes especially if) they are their worst fears. I hope that when other players write with me, that they will come away with a new insight on their own pc. That… and I really just like messing with people. (grins)
Gossamer: Well-rounded characters are made up of both strengths and weaknesses. Can you elaborate on Chemar’s strengths? What if anything do you dislike about Chemar? What do you consider her flaws?
Chemar: I like to think Chemar has a really strong sense of right and wrong ingrained in her by her father, he is a constant voice in her head when she makes difficult decisions. She will not lie, even to protect someone she loves. In the face of doing what she thinks is right, compared to what is widely accepted, she will always choose what she thinks is the right thing to do. Because of her ability to insinuate herself into the dreams of others, I see her biggest flaw as being an utter lack of boundaries. She also takes too much enjoyment sometimes, in making people suffer in their nightmares, she is really comfortable with stripping away all defense when someone is under her sway, but I imagine she would say that that is the only way to get to the truth.
Gossamer: Wind Reach is out of the way in a lot of regards in terms of Mizahar’s cities. PC’s there really can’t move around easily like other pcs can other places. What are some of the challenges in role-playing in a semi-closed caste orientated environment?
Chemar: I really love that Wind Reach is so self-contained. For playing Chemar, it really puts everyone under a kind of scrutiny, which is what she thrives on. Because there is really no escape from the other people, you are forced to either offer up what you character is, in full exposure, or close down and protect all your secrets like they are made of gold. Both of which can be so compelling to play and play with. With the limited environment, I think it forces players to really bring their surroundings to life by pulling people into the world they create. Oh! And if they ever leave the boundaries of Wind Reach it’s like exploding out of the box at the races, everything is an opportunity to explore and experience.
Gossamer: A character’s always far more interesting if they have inner doubts and fears. What is Chemar afraid of? What does she love? What is it she longs for and drives her day-to-day motivations?
Chemar: I do my best to make Chemar very confident in her work, she has very little doubt about being able to guide someone through a dream, but because all her experience with that has been on a dark and visceral side of things, her doubts come into play in believing that there is nothing but darkness inside her. Because it is so easy for her to slip into that morose and sometimes terrifying atmosphere, she really believes that anything else she does in her waking like is only an attempt to bring a little balance. She doesn’t believe that she will ever be ahead of the game in the goodness department which I suppose drives her to be as truthful and pragmatic as possible in her waking life. She loves that darkness though, and feels most at home there as anywhere.
There are only a handful of people she has opened up to, and most of those were a process that nearly killed them both. Sairque is her truest friend, strongest support and worst critic. Most of the relationships she really values are of similar complexion, her aversion to untruth makes her leery of people who try to woo her with flowery words and deeds. She loves getting to the heart of people, sometimes painfully, and has great respect for those that learn from their flaws.
I think she is really driven by that search for balance, or at least to find another place that fulfills her as much as that complete release of having no limits. In dreams, she can accomplish anything, on her own terms; she searches for that in life.
Gossamer: Chemar has a twin who’s an NPC. Family relations can be convoluted in WR. How does she adapt to this? Does it impact her a lot? Do you long for someone to adopt your twin and play them as a PC too? Does she feature in your threads?
Chemar: Someone play Rae!!!! (coughs) The idea of Chemar has been around for a while, the actual Chemar is pretty new, so I have not had as much opportunity to create what kind of relationship she has with her sister, Rae. But as for other members of her family, the most influential person in Chermar’s life is her father. He was atypical in the setting of Wind Reach, because her was grooming his girls to take over his life’s work; he treated them with more respect and deference than most adults. He used support and encouragement rather than fear and intimidation, as was the more accepted practice. His raising of them gave them a strength of self, not necessarily a physical strength, but one that could survive all manner of attack. Because she could read people well, and worm into their subconscious, Chemar had very few friends, so her family made up most of her support growing up. I hope that it comes across in my playing of her.
Gossamer: In all writing style games like Mizahar, there are things you like to write about and dislike to write about. Will you elaborate more on what you consider fascinating in terms of writing about and what you’d rather not ever have to write about again? Can you give some examples and tell us the reasoning behind these likes and dislikes?
Chemar: I really haven’t found much that I don’t like to write about. I think there are things I am not very good at writing, but that doesn’t make then less interesting. Fighting is hard for me, but if I have the time, I really like to dive in and feel every blow. I like to write around intimacy, because I don’t care for so many of the colloquialisms that are used. If I laugh halfway through a romantic scene. I have done something wrong, there should be at least as much tension in a love scene as in the best fight. (grins)
If I had to pick my favorite things to write though, it would be that tense dance of conversation between strangers. Man, I love that. The unpredictability of writing with another person is also something that really inspires me. The more I can write something that gives my co-author goose bumps, the better I think I’ve done, whether it is out of fear, laughter, that stomach tightening awkwardness (you know the kind I mean.) or even sentimentality. For me, it really is all about taking a person out of their world and bringing them into mine. I am a sucker for the details, and in all honesty, I think that if someone is reminded about even the most mundane of actions when they are reading it puts them in a place of familiarity, a place they can see because they’ve experienced what you’ve written. Yeah.. so that.
If I find that thing that I never want to write about again, then I will write about it even more, and bring things to it that I find interesting, until it becomes my favorite. (Stubborn.. to the core)
Gossamer: Religion is a very prominent feature on Mizahar, yet pcs don’t often get to thread with Gods. Chemar obviously has had interaction with Nysel… but in regards to your PC’s in general, which of the pantheon would you absolutely love to have a face-to-face encounter with either in regards to Chemar or just any pc in general. Please tell us specifically why.
Chemar: I actually thought about this when I was making Chemar the NPC. There were things that took me away from it before I could really explore the possibilities, and maybe I shouldn’t give all her secrets.
Initially, I had considered trying to make Chemar mutli-denominational. Not undeclared, mind you, but having a small mixture of devotions that would better meld into the person she is. Nysel, of course, would be first and foremost. I have great hope that she will continue to be marked by Nysel until she but Sagallius was also a consideration given her predilection for control. Avalis was also someone that I thought could come into play, to carry her from dreaming to waking life. I’m not sure if that would help to solidify her, or split her personality entirely, but it would certainly be interesting to find out.
Gossamer: What guided the Chemar and her sister into running the Dreaming Lady? We realize this was ‘preplay past’ but it still influences the future. Is it a more 'taboo' area of WR or is it truly on the up and up? Does she have any scruples with supplying folks dreams and helping them relax or is there more too it?
Chemar: Chemar’s father was the driving force behind them taking over the Dreaming Lady. It was a way for him to keep his girls close and safe, raising them as he saw fit amidst a world that was harsher than he wished it to be. It also insured that he could pass on what he’d worked so hard to build to people that he trusted. I suppose that the Tisserand family is like the hippies of Wind Reach, bucking the system in their own quiet way.
Outwardly, The Dreaming Lady is exactly as it appears to be. A comforting place for the residents of Wind Reach to come for renewal and a bit of hard earned relaxation. The patrons supply the only variables in the services provided. Whatever demons the person brings into the shop will be addressed, no promises are made concerning anything that happens within the dreaming chambers. As far as Chemar goes, she is the picture of professionalism in her waking life, but once you submit to her world, all bets are off.
Gossamer: Is there anything else you’d like to add to this interview? This is the prefect time to talk about something that’s been on your mind about the game or simply state a few things you like/dislike or would like to see expanded.
Chemar: My only thought apart from being amazed at the amount of work, effort and imagination that have gone into creating this place, is that every day I read something new, written by someone that I may have had the pleasure to chat with now and again, and I am continually delighted. This is a rare thing you all have created, and I feel really lucky to be part of a place that nurtures such expression.
I really look forward to what the cooperative effort of this place will come up with next! |
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by Alice on May 1st, 2011, 2:59 pm 
