January's Featured Character!

[Colombina]

Presenting Jaeden Kincade! January's PC of the month A long time favorite in Mizahar and a scourge to farmers with pretty daughters, Jaden Kincade is one of the game's few rakes. Though his conquests aren't always successful they are always entertaining due to Jaeden's wit and tenacity. More than a pretty face, Jaeden has proven a solid adventurer with a knack for getting in trouble. He is marked by gods and loved by Kelvics. In honor of his awesomeness, the Founders have designated him the PC of the month! In addition to this interview he will receive a disco ball piñata to decorate his Party Tent with. 1. So what brought you to the wide world of role-playing? I would have to say family. My older sister Jenny and older brother Carl started me off by inviting me to play a little known(at the time) table top Role-playing game called: Dungeons & Dragons. Of course, since I was 9 years old at the time, there was a tiny bit of a learning curve for me, and a good deal of patience for my older siblings. In some ways, it’s what many come across in Miz today. Let me explain with a bit of role-play: <Nate> “I wanna play a transformer. Can I be optimus prime?” <Jenny> “There are no transformers in this game Nate.” <Nate> “Can I play a Thunder Cat. I wanna be Lionel.” <Carl> “No Thunder Cats either!” <Nate> “Well can I…” <Jenny> “You’re playing a fighter class, and you get to swing a sword. That’s what you are.” Thus, Glorian the Rabbit was born. A male human fighter who was scared to be the tank like all fighter classes should. Mainly because I was to scared as a player to let him die. Oh, he also carried around so many swords that eventually my Sister’s husband said. “No more, 8 swords is enough.” In the end, I was hooked. It drove my imaginations as a young child to no end, sitting around a table, listening to whoever was Gming weave their adventure, imagining it all in my head. My imagination only grew further and sometimes weirder as we got into playing other table top games. Champions. Rifts. Vampire: the Masquerade. Call of Cthulhu(which my Brother-in-Law’s GMing talents actually scared the crap out of me in). All of them, coupled with my reading of comic books as a kid, was the foundation of what my imagination is today. 2. What was your first experience with Online Role-Play, and how did it all lead up to Mizahar? I started my Online Role-Play experience on AOL, back when it was new and considered “cool” and people thought “OMG, dial-up and tying up my home phone line so people can’t call me is AWESOME!” I came across a little section of the AOL community there that offered games, and in that section I found that some people were developing chat based RPG’s. The one I first tried was called Black Bayou ( ::gives a fist bump to DanI:: ), a gothic horror RPG that was still in development. I didn’t last long there, maybe a year, because I found my character not getting a whole lot of interaction, but it’s the place where I first learned to really cut my teeth in the writing aspect of RPG’s, turning my vivid imagination into words along the screen. I soon moved on from there, going to another game with a similar, though slightly more advanced, system to it. It was a Sci-fi based RPG called Space Station Crossroads. And there, with the character Detective David Preacher (a character who‘s personality closely resembles Jaeden‘s in many ways), is really where I learned to have fun with Online RPG’s. Like Dani, I must confess to missing chat based role-playing. The pace is quicker, causes you to think fast and you discover how exciting something that is not so planned out as writing a post can be. Couple that with the fact that we had forums for written RP as well, and my writing ability only grew better as time progressed. As fun as Crossroads was, however, it came to an end eventually as the quick pace of Chat Based RPG’s revealed just how quickly someone can become burned out on them as well. Things still felt a little unfinished with it and I still feel like writing out a story to bring closure to my characters for that game, but that’s something that I can do in my spare time. After Crossroads, I went on to play a plethora of other online, chat based RPG’s. Ranging from Fantasy, to Horror, to Sci-Fi. None of them held my attention for too long. Mainly because they were either without creativity and motivation, or were completely free form and players just always ended up starting a “Nuh-uh, my character doesn’t get hit by that! He‘s a GOD!” argument. Eventually, I gave up on Online Based RPG’s all together for about a year, thinking that it was a hobby no one had both the passion and creativity for anymore, and began just playing online multiplayer games. Eventually, however, I began to miss that creative outlet, and I once again began searching the net for any that caught my attention. Mizahar did it in spades. It was my first forum based RPG, but it had a uniqueness, creativity, motivation and passion that I had been craving for a while. As well, it had a system and character sheets to it as well, so things wouldn’t become completely chaotic. My posse know this about me, but a little secret I have is that developing and progressing a character’s CS is just as much fun for me as developing the character’s story and personality as well. It gives me that much more a sense of progression for my character, seeing numbers on a CS rise. I spent the next couple of weeks reading over the site, and then two days before my birthday, I created my account and Jaeden’s CS. 3.Is there any particular meaning or inspiration behind your PC’s name? There’s nothing entirely specific or inspirational, but just a need for change in a way. My original go-to name for my starting character in any RPG was normally David Preacher, a devotion to the first character I played in Crossroads that I loved so much. That name, however, didn’t entirely fit like a fine glove with Mizahar’s theme, and after a year of not using the name and not playing any RPG’s, I figured it was time for a small change of pace. So I began pouring over names that didn’t sound too modern, but at the same time didn’t have a complete fantasy drenched make to them. Since the character was going to be strait human, I wanted a touch of both modern and fantasy to it in a way. The fist time I saw the name “Jaeden” I thought to myself that it wasn’t too common a name, so it had that less sense of modern to it. At the same time, it had sort of a fantasy setting theme to it, like a name out of Camelot or Robin Hood setting in a way. It also had a smooth sound to it as well. To balance it out, I settled on “Kincade” to give it that sharp edge. When I was reading both names together, they seemed to roll off the tongue quite nicely in my opinion, and fit the character personality well. 4. What inspired you to make your character a bit of a flirt? In all honesty, I didn’t. Originally I intended Jaeden to be a reserved character. Someone that people would have to warm up to before he came out of his shell. However, little outgoing aspects of myself took over, and his quirky personality for wise cracking and taking hardly any situation seriously came out. That personality, in turn, turned him into a flirt. He has a zest for life and a fierce devotion to those he cares about, but at the same time because of such, he’s always seen as a horny oddball who tries to get between the legs of every woman he meets. This is true to a certain extent, but such only comes from his zest for life, and part of that zest is enjoying the physical pleasures with the fairer sex. In some ways, however, it’s also become a bit of a drawback. Simply because the flirty aspect is what many players have come to focus on specifically, and consider Jaeden to be all about. Truth is, he’s a Woodsman or Wilderness Survivalist before all of that. He spent a little time working at the Soothing Waters, doing something he enjoyed and making money at it, but he’s more in his element roughing it out in the wilds. Hunting, tracking, trapping. Conflicting with Slavers and Bandits he encounters. He’s the type of guy who would kill and die for someone he’s developed a close, personal friendship or bond with, and not just the guy who’s going to be, “Well, she’s already been to the Party Tent. On to the next.” Fact of the matter is, one doesn’t have to sleep with Jaeden to earn his devotion. And if you’ve earned his devotion and he considers you close, he’d use every skill at his disposal to honor and cherish that, even if it meant he had to die for them. 5. What’s Jaeden’s perfect lady? Technically speaking, Jaeden has no “perfect” lady. There are characters like Aella, who’s personality so closely resemble Jaeden’s own, that Jaeden will often find himself very easily falling into a rhythm with. But in the end, if a woman isn’t trying to kill Jaeden, enslave him or others, or hurt those he cares for in any way, he’ll be at the very least accepting of almost any woman. Some personality traits do tend to clash with Jaeden’s own however, and he’ll generally goad, or poke fun of such people just to try and loosen them up. 6.Why do/don’t you think Red and Jaeden make a good pair? Jaeden and Red most definitely make a good pair, and I throw my shout out and give props to Pao for opening up that avenue for me and Jaeden. Red is Jaeden’s little balance in a lot of ways. While she’s totally devoted to him through their bond, Jaeden at the same time only wishes her to act of her own free will. This allows Red to be a moral compass for Jaeden a lot of the time, giving him that sensitivity swift kick to the back of the head when he’s gawking too much at a woman who doesn’t want to be gawked at. She’s the one who will verbally put him in his place when he thinks his wise cracks or flirting is awesome, when it isn’t always. Essentially, Red is the one who will bring a seriousness to Jaeden in a non-serious way. And it allows for awesome development and mass hilarity, seeing this small, 4 ft nothing, 90 lbs Kelvic put a 6’ 5”, 250 lbs human in his place and keep him in check. Plus, the way they fight together against aggressors is always very fun to write out. Because of their bond, the have a sync together that most others would take months, or even years to develop. They’ll always know what the other is thinking, what their feeling, what their next move is going to be and against who. Red isn’t just going to dive in front of Jaeden and take a hit, and die for , because in the end she knows that would devastate him emotionally. Instead, she’s going to fight along side him, and their bond allows them to fight together in the utmost effective way. It’s just so much fun to write out, and in so many ways, I wish I could develop Red’s stats as a result of that. But alas, if such were allowed, everyone would be grabbing NPC’s and building them up instead of getting out there and writing with other players. 7. How has Jaeden changed from your original conception of him, if at all? I think Jaeden’s in a constant flux of development, and I prefer it that way. When I first created him, I intended for him to be this reserved hermit in the woods. He went from that to being a quirky, wise cracking flirt who spent a season pleasuring Syliras’ widows at the Soothing Waters bathhouse. He went from being a character who wanted to be self reliant on skills alone with a, “I don’t need the God’s” mentality, to being marked by Nikali during a pleasurable splish-splash in the large bath with Summer. As well, he’s been given a divine bow, named Woodland Wrath, gifted to him by Caiyha and secretly wishes to obtain her marks and become her champion (not to mention make many demi-gods and goddess’ with her, if yahknowwhatImean). And most recently, story development with both Jilitse and Stitch will likely have him interested in helping out Priskil. Though, depending on whether or not Satu is capable in seducing Jaeden to the dark side of the force remains a wild card possibility. He also used to be emphatically against bonding with Kelvics. He felt the bond, in many ways, was a mystic form of slavery (and still does to an extent). However, he now has two Kelvic bondmates in Red and Tasha, and has learned that the slavery aspect of the bond for Kelvics comes only at the hands of who their bound to. Right now, Jaeden’s running pretty steady in the way he is, personality wise. But part of character development means not cementing the way your character is. There could always be a event out there that can change how they develop, and I like to leave Jaeden open to that. 8. Name an IC instance where unflappable Jaeden was truly and fully surprised. Self-modded: There’s a little tale floating out there on the forum, of Jaeden’s 16th birthday (this first line is likely where most people have begun snickering or rolling their eyes). His mentor, Olevar, took him to a Traveling Brothel to mark the occasion. Now, this is before Jaeden even remotely developed any sense of a flirtatious personality. Until then, the only people Jaeden had encountered were Slavers and Bandits. So, needless to say, he was feeling a little anxious and hesitant about his “first time.” Eventually, one of the women there, chose him. The next morning, Jaeden had come to realize that the woman was a Kelvic when he found a horse laying in bed beside him. With another Character: There are a lot of possibilities, but the one that would have to come at the forefront would be Jaeden’s encounter alone with Kamalia. Technically through, Ranuri, he knew it was coming, but nothing can quite prepare anyone for a swinging Konti leg strait to the family jewels. Much less two. Jaeden was left cross eyed, dazed, and drooling along the ground for stealing a kiss from Kontie Sorceress( she totally wanted it though. *covers up* ). She also ate the fish Jaeden had caught and cooked for himself. That’s coming between a man and his meal, which is borderline blasphemy for men. Fortunately for Jaeden, Ranuri turned what would have been a death desiring pain into pleasure, though I can’t say it’s something Jaeden would want to experience again anyhow. Modded: I would have to give this one, hands down, to GP. When I asked him to Mod a thread for me, saying that it was time for Jaeden’s mentor, Olevar, to die as part of Jaeden’s development as a character, I told him he could come up with whatever “how” and “why” he wanted to. He didn’t disappoint. I, nor Jaeden for that matter, were truly expecting to find Olevar cut into one inch slices, each slice spread one inch apart and laid out perfectly along the ground. He took the most important figure in Jaeden’s life, and killed him in a much more horrifically gruesome and mentally twisted way than I ever could have anticipated. 9. What has been the toughest scene you’ve written for Jaeden to date? Why was it tough? I can’t say there’s been one particular scene that’s been toughest to write out for Jaeden, rather there’s an aspect that’s always difficult, and that’s playing out the Ranuri mark accurately. A lot of people, when they read over the mark, see that it allows the mark to sense the desires of those they touch, and drive them to fulfill those desires. Associate it with Jaeden, and then most people think it’s a Sex Gnosis Mark, or what most people would refer to lovingly as a Tramp Stamp. The fine line of it though, is that Ranuri essentially turns the marked into a slave, pure and simple. Anyone they come into physical contact with, they are driven to serve, to fulfill those desires, and they in turn feel pleasure when those desires are fulfilled. Whether those desires are simple like helping to reach something on the top shelf, to the types that would totally go against your entire character concept. Ranuri forces you to follow them. It’s also next to impossible to resist. That kind of freedom of your character is very difficult to give up and write out, especially in a character who’s as free spirited as Jaeden. It worked wonders and is perfectly suited for Jaeden at the Bathhouse, but when he’s out in the wild, and there are people who wish to kill him, it becomes an Achilles’ Heel, that could mean the end for your character in a heart beat. Such is always difficult to play out. Ranuri does have it's good points. If characters are in desperate situations, finding themselves unable to cope with what another is throwing at them? Ranuri turns that situation into bliss. Someone wants to whip you, each lash becomes a tickle of pleasure. Someone wants company to get high with, you can smoke the drug and you won't feel burdened by what effects it may have. While Ranuri makes you a slave, it frees the character of any moral or psychological anguish the character may have during the act, turning a truly desperate situation, into a tolerable, practically enjoyable one. 10. What are your future plans for Jaeden? I don’t like to make any solid future plans for any of my characters a lot of the time, but rather set loose goals. I never know where the role-play will take me development wise for Jaeden, so I don’t like to set him to some plan that will frustrate me when things don’t work out the way I had planned them. Jaeden’s number one goal, however, is to save up funds and build a keep in the Wild Lands of the Sylira Region. Such would be a resting point for travelers, hunters and a place for Wilderness Survivalists to trade. It will also act as a safe haven for Konti, Kelvic’s without a bondmate and runaway slaves. It’s a costly project, and one not likely to be obtained anytime soon. I also would like to obtain Caiyha’s Gnosis for Jaeden, and begin working my way towards having Jaeden becoming Caiyha’s champion, but becoming her champion is something that will take a long while. Other than that, I like to keep things pretty loose for Jaeden, and go where the role-play takes him. Perhaps a quest or two would be nice to experience. 11. What situation would you love to see Jaeden in? I absolutely -love- misadventure. Any story where things just go comically wrong is always a win in my book. If it’s odd, if it’s funny, and if it’s got action for Jaeden, I’m always game. Whether it be Dira wanting to play a game of Twister for Jaeden’s soul, or Jaeden heading down to Taloba and saying, “Hey Myri, nice rack. Can I touch them?” I can play that out and absolutely love doing so during the process. Even GP’s scenario (mentioned in one of his Scrapbooks) about an Akalak drawn to Jaeden due to his mark I would find just a whole lot of giggles in playing out. I imagine such to be something akin to Pepi LePew trotting after the black cat who accidentally got the white strip painted down her back. <Akalak with French accent> “Oh my little woodsman. Mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah. <3” One thing I actually have fantasized about playing out, is Jaeden actually knocking boots with a goddess, and then that goddess dropping off a Alvina for him to raise a little while later. I mean really, how do you try and discipline a divine being if they’re acting naughty, when they could more or less destroy you with a wave of their hand? 12. What PC would you like for Jaeden to meet and why? Any and all. I’m up for Jaeden encountering anyone that his location and time stamping allows. Jaeden, and myself, is the type of person who wants to experience as much as he can. Because he’s human after all, and humans are short lived. Their life is a couple blinks of an eye comparatively to some races, and cramming as much experiences into those short number of years is how Jaeden feels is a life well spent. 13. What is your favorite Mizahar creation to date? It’s tough to nail down really, but I would have to go with the Akalak race. I originally created my Akalak Character, Hatot, because I noticed Goss mentioning she would like to see more of that race being played. It was going to be a secondary character, one who I originally didn’t have huge aspirations for playing out. However, the more I read up on the Akalak’s and culture, and the more I played out Hatot and his Dark Twin, Radris, the more I fell in love with it. It became even more worth while when Hatot developed a bond with Kavala, and they both began feeding off of each other in many aspects (okay, maybe a little pun intended). There’s a common, jokingly, way to that Akalak’s are described in chat often I see. Most refer to them as the big blue men who force women to have their babies. This, while it does happen, leads to a misconception about the race by large. And, especially as DS of Riverfall, it sort of saddens me that this is the main aspect that people focus on, because they miss to true depth the Akalak race possess. I’ll try to enlighten a little here, starting first with what people tend to focus on the most. Here is a race who’s numbers were cut terribly during the Valterrian, and due to having no females among their rank to repopulate their ranks, face extinction. The hazards of the post apocalyptic lands don’t do anything to help those matters either as Akalak are taken by all manner of things from Glassbeak to violent encounters with Slavers or Raiders. This creates a truly desperate situation for the race, one that could have saw them being far worse than any slavers or raiders, because not only are they bigger, stronger and more skilled than most any slaving or raiding party out there, they wouldn’t be looking to kidnap women for profit, they’d be looking to do so out of a desperation to ensure their race wouldn’t die out. And while Cerulean do conduct raids as Slavers would, there would be a much more dangerous aspect if the Akalak decided to do so as a race overall. In many stories, when a race is faced with extinction, people are locked away in breeding pens as a solution. When an Akalak often claims a woman for Nakivak status, it’s because they saved their life, and the woman would otherwise be dead. A life for a life, in many ways, is a pretty fair trade in my opinion, and the Akalak treat their Nakivak well and protect them fiercely. So in a lot of ways, while Nakivak are slaves, they’re treated far better than most slaves would be. The next part is what most people truly miss altogether about the Akalak, and that’s the dual souls that Akalak possess. One light natured soul, the other dark natured. In my opinion, light and dark are in the eye of the beholder, and doesn’t necessarily mean good and evil. But both of them generally and harshly start out at odds with each other, struggling for dominance. This adds more depth to the race. With the external struggle Akalak have for the continuation of their race, they also have an internal struggle, as they try to seek balance between the dual natures. They are, in some ways, an equivalent to zen master characters, constantly trying to balance out the yin and yang of their very souls. From a player aspect, it’s truly appealing as well, because it allows you to almost play two different characters with one, changing from the light natured soul if becomes to stale playing it constantly, to something a little more edgier in the dark natured soul. It gives the player a broader range of personality development for their character, especially if they find it difficult to play the nice or mean character for long periods of time. The Akalak are also very honor bound. Save for Cerulean, any Akalak considers honorable conduct to be a very serious matter. So much so, that any Akalak saved by someone, gives up their lakan, a very personal item to the Akalak, and owes that person a life debt, which can only be repaid when they have saved that person’s life in return. Most other races, you save some one’s life, the best you’ll get in return (depending on the character), is a “thanks” or a “Hah! Sucker.” Couple that with their intense sense of discipline, and Akalak are like the Samurai of Mizahar. I really do find the Akalak to be one of the races holding the most depth to them, both in a psychological and spiritual sense. So in the end, I hope I’ve convinced at least some that the Akalak are not just a bunch of “big blue men who enslave, rape and impregnate women.” Because they are far much more than that. 14. So… rumor has it you love working retail, Y/N? *blinks* Really? I mean, Really? Don’t get me started on that. I’ll just be ranting then, and I don’t like to rant. *grabs Bina by her shoulders and begins shaking her violently* “I DON’T LIKE TO RANT BINA!” Bina has been duly warned. 15. What are your words of wisdom to other PCs seeking awesomeness? Everyone has their own style of play and how they like to develop their character. They have their own goals and want to see them succeed. In the end, to each their own. My only real advice to players is never get obsessively attached to your character. I don’t mean in a “abandon real life for playing your character” way, because that obviously goes without saying. By “don’t get attached” I mean, always be willing to accept that at any given moment, in this game and setting, your character could die. It’s very setting is post apocalyptic. That means, danger is all over the place. It is chaos and lawlessness in every area outside of the protection of a city, and even -in- some cities. That very setting should give you, the player, a sense of excitement in playing, not a sense of fear or dread. You move out of a city area, you should look at the possibility of encountering something bad, and the challenge in it should drive you to bring out every ounce of passion you have for your character in your writing. Because it could very well be the last. Overall, if you shelter your character out of fear of losing them so much that you don’t play them anywhere but safe areas, then you’re cutting yourself off from one of the best aspects of Mizahar itself. And if that’s the case? Well, no offense, but you should go find a Hello Kitty RPG or something.

[Sabazios]

Congrats! You really deserve this

[Mao]

Congrats nate

[Vick]

Good job and congrats

[Cathan]

Congratz

[Gossamer]

Kudos Nate, for bringing so much more color to the game with your presence.
Your interview was a great read. I really enjoyed it.

[Nidassasyae]

Congratz!

[Tarot]

Congrats Nate, and great interview!

[Kamalia Timandre]

Congratulations, Natey! I truly enjoyed our thread together. It's my favorite thread of Kammy's so far since you brought out certain facets of her personality! Haha, and yeah, I found it hilarious that she ate all his food, and reasoned out it had something to do with her spellcasting.

[Satu]

Disco Jae! Yay!

A much deserved award for you! Congats!

Now go back to writing those mega posts, *Craps whip!* we want to read 'em!