September 2012's Featured PC Is...

[Cayenne]

Naeya! Please join us in a round of congratulations for Naeya, the Featured PC for the month of September 2012. The interview is below, and I hope you all enjoy reading it and learning some more about a very interesting character. The Interview: 1. How did you get started in roleplaying? Why do you like it? How did you find Mizahar? I began play-by-post roleplaying about ten years ago, and have been doing it on and off since then.. At that time, I was surrounded by a group of friends who also liked to write. We would roleplay on the same sites, and even created some forums together (though none of them lasted). I started writing on thread by thread RPs, where a new character and a new genre existed in each individual thread, and then soon moved on to forum-based worlds. For me, the appeal of roleplaying is twofold. First, it gives me the chance to practice and improve my writing without the intimidation factor of sitting down to write a Great Novel. It pushes and tests my creativity, and forces me to realize how important understanding your characters really is. Secondly, what's not to like?! I love writing stories and creating characters in awe-inspiring worlds like Mizahar, and I also love being surrounded by amazing writers who enjoy the same thing. It really is a community. It's such a pleasure to start with a single post and, with the help of my roleplaying partners, have it evolve into something far greater than I originally planned. I've been at university for the past four years and haven't done any roleplaying during that time. This summer, I decided to give it another shot (and I'm so happy I did - my desire to write has been completely rekindled!). I found Mizahar through a Google search for "best fantasy forum rpg," and immediately fell in love with the high-quality originality, the amazing lore, and the site's high level of activity. It truly is the best! 2. What drew you to the Kontinese race? Oh man, choosing Naeya's race was such a difficult decision! Originally, I was stuck choosing between three very different races: the Myrian, the Inarta, and the Konti. The more I read about the Konti, however, the more the fit seemed right. I mean, how can you not love playing one of these women? You're not only gifted with a Healing gnosis or a Divination gnosis at birth, but you also get a unique Konti gift, the ability to breathe underwater, wicked cool scales, and a beautiful homeland. Being born of the gods doesn't hurt, either. The Kontinese race allows for a lot of character flexibility. You can come up with all sorts of interesting conflict centered on either your PC's gnosis or Konti gift (or both!), and you're also given a great excuse to travel via The Call. There were so many different directions I could have taken Naeya in, which for me was the biggest draw. (I'm still waiting for a deliciously evil Konti PC to pop up in Miz! There's so much potential there.) 3. Naeya has an interesting Konti gift. How did you come up with that one? Can you walk us through your thought process? Naeya's Konti gift was the result of several failed attempts and Gossamer's endless supply of patience, haha. For those of you who don't know, every Konti is born with a unique gift that is meant to give them extra insight into some aspect of their life. Naeya's gift is the ability to "sense the unsaid," meaning she can feel when an individual is leaving information out of a conversation (though she has no idea what that information is). Her gift wasn't my original plan, but I think the two previous failures were incredibly helpful in sorting out the one I finally landed on. I started out by taking a good, hard look at Naeya's character concept. The Konti are supposedly gifted with abilities that they most need in life, and I wanted something that would be useful and would appeal to one of her strongest traits. In this case, I decided to focus on her nosiness. I always like to have reasons behind why a PC has certain personality traits. While Naeya was born to be nosy and intrusive, her Konti gift amplifies this characteristic to a more intense level. I'm not sure it's something that she necessarily "needs most" in life, but I really like that it brings other PCs into the arena and allows for conflict and interesting discoveries to occur between characters. 4. Sometimes, as our characters progress, we find them getting away from our original dreams and plans for them. Has this happened with Naeya? Oh, has it ever! I've been detailing this a bit in my scrapbook, actually. I find that the more I write as Naeya, the more I discover that she's taken on a life of her own. When I first created her, I think I took a bunch of words and character traits that I thought would work, put 'em down on a piece of paper, and her on her way. As I roleplayed with her, however, she really began to grow and become far more complex than I had originally intended - and thank goodness for that! I like to think she's much more interesting now than when I started, and it's because I've begun to develop her as someone with real reasons and motives behind her actions. Whenever I feel like what I write is inconsistent with her character sheet, I'll go back and take a good hard look to see if I'm being inconsistent in my writing or if her character sheet needs to be revised. I often feel like she knows herself better than I do, and she's just waiting for me to take the time to discover all of the different facets of her personality. I like to think of her as a constant work in progress. 5. Our characters often share hints of our own personalities in them. In what ways is Naeya like you? Not like you? Well, I have this strange ability to see into other people's pasts... This is a really great question. I know I definitely bring pieces of myself into my characters, and it's been interesting to stop and think about what these pieces are. I write Naeya as having certain control issues, and I think that's because I've been having similar issues in my own life. This summer was partially a summer of uncertainty and unwelcome surprises, and working through it in my writing really helped me cope and get past it in my real life. Other similarities show up in our mutual values. I was rereading what I'd written to be her "defining values," and realized that a lot of her values are mine as well. In addition, she shares my playfulness, my big emotions, and my slowness to anger. I also think we both tend to get stuck in our own heads (though we're more contemplative than anti-social). In terms of differences, Naeya's far less confrontational than I can be. I tend to be more argumentative and less afraid of conflict than she is. She's much more religious than I am, and is far closer to her family. She's also likely to hold a grudge longer than I am. As well, we both like to know what makes people tick, but she'll go to great lengths to discover the truth whereas I like to think that I try much harder to respect other people's privacy. 6. Naeya is a jewelcrafter. What influenced you to go in that direction? When thinking about making new pieces with her, what inspires you? I initially started Naeya off as a jewelcrafter because of the lore. Konti are often skilled craftswomen, and Riverfall is known for its exports of precious gems, so the combination of these two points plus some research of jobs on the price list brought me to jewelcrafting. The list of Mizaharian gemstones is also incredibly extensive, and it felt like a shame not to use it in my writing. What I find interesting about my decision to introduce Naeya to jewelcrafting is that I've been discovering that other aspects of her personality support her interest in the craft. She places a high value on beauty, which is an immediate draw. She's also looking for a sense of control, and mastering metals and gemstones so that they bend to her desires is one way of exercising control over nature. Finally, I discovered in one of my threads that Naeya tries to create jewelry as a mirror of the chavi for those who are unable to visit. The lore describes a person's chavi as "a tangle of beautiful geometric shapes and lights," and I thought this was a wonderful connection to make to her craft. I haven't actually made pieces with her in-game yet, though I've described several. I need to do more research on the creation of jewelry before I begin to write about it, as I really want to do it justice. In terms of inspiration, however, I generally feel inspired by looking at photos online of jewelry (as a complete amateur, having a starting point in my head really helps) or browsing the gemstone lore on Miz. 7. What scares Naeya? Is she truly afraid of anything? Naeya has her fears, but most of them manifest themselves as being more logic- or survival-based. These fears include things like being alone in dark forests, scary wizards (possibly all wizards), and horseback riding. They may be annoying, but they don't affect her everyday existence. She's learned to work around these fears and, if she were to feel courageous enough to tackle them head-on, I have no doubt that she could eventually move past them. There are really only two things that Naeya is truly afraid of: being completely out of control mentally and situationally, and the death of her loved ones. These two fears and incredibly difficult for her to deal with, and they affect her decisions on a day-to-day basis. They are also so deeply ingrained that she may not even realize when they are affecting how she acts. I don't see these fears disappearing anytime soon. 8. You describe Naeya as a Universalist. How does she (or how would she) react when she comes across someone or something that blatantly disregards the same ideals? Naeya tends to mutter to herself and have feisty inner dialogues that sometimes pop up when someone else disregards her "universal" ideals. In this situation, she would probably react with shock and disbelief. She might try to understand why that person disregards the same ideals and possibly even sympathize with them, but she's so wound up in her own beliefs that she won't truly be able to accept new ones. She'd never turn to violence, though. She's a firm believer in using words before violence, and would never physically fight someone on their ideals (though she might engage in a verbal spar). 9. Where do you see Naeya in a year from now? Any ideas? It's difficult to know where she'll be in a year, because so much can change between now and then. Right now, she's certain that in a year she'll be back to her safe, quiet Rivarian life. Do I see this happening? Not a chance! She might be back in Riverfall, but it certainly won't be safe or quiet. I really feel that there are so many different directions I can take Naeya in. I'd like to see her in a leadership position in the future, though I haven't thought it out much further than that. She really could do anything from leading a guild to joining the Syliran Knights to becoming a priestess for Avalis or Semele. It's also possible that in a year she'll go on her Konti Call and may have to gallivant off to somewhere as remote as Charbosi or the Spires. It's really up in the air at this point! I've no doubt she'll ignore my suggestions, though, and come up with her own plan. 10. If you could write any thread at all on the board with Naeya, what would your dream thread be? It would definitely have to be a thread that pushes Naeya to her limits and has the possibility of changing or affecting her forever. I'm a really big fan of epic adventures and intense character conflict, so I wouldn't mind seeing a god or goddess pop in and do some ridiculous meddling! I like surprises that don't start with the words "certain death," so a thread riddled with surprise twists and turns would be amazing.

[Imass]

*applause*

Excellent interview !

Naeya is an awesome PC and she is a great writer! She totally deserves this medal. I have had the opportunity to RP with her and I can say every single post is a joy to read and an excitement . I only wish that I could post faster for you "my dear Neaya"!

She really could do anything from leading a guild to joining the Syliran Knights to becoming a priestess for Avalis or Semele.

I better get Imass recruiting you right away I don't want your talents being used by some other organization

Keep up the good work Naeya!!

Sincerely,
IMASS

[Valkyrie]

Congrats Naeya! I really enjoyed your interview, I will have to start keeping a closer eye out for your threads and watch your character progress even more.

[Mirage]

Congrats! Well deserved!

[Paragon]

Great interview - congratulations Naeya!

[Naeya]

Thank you all so much for your kind words! I'll do my best to live up to the honour.

[Accolade]

I think that you already have. Congrads!

[Nira'lia]

Wohooo! Congrats, Naeya!

[Fallacy]

Wow. Very interesting interview. Now, I have not been personally following (stalking) you, nor have I got the pleasure to RP with you (with my PC or otherwise), but Ill really look into you now. Great way to peak interest and show off your PC a little. Congratulations! (haha I have a sick habit of looking through the threads everyone who is named Feature PC )

[Vhast]

Well deserved. I sincerely hope that you and I get the chance to write together some day. Reading your posts puts me in such a nostalgic mood. Great interview.