Is PlaneShift homophobic?

Since the marriage system was implemented, PlaneShift allowed for the marriage between characters, with only one limitation: it mustn't be between characters of the same gender. Let's look at the reasoning behind this limitation:

• PlaneShift is set in the Middle Age: In real life Middle Age, homosexuality was not only forbidden, but heavily punished. "Sodomites" would be impaled on stakes, or burnt at pyres, or presumed they were possessed by demons, and lesbians would be accused of dealing with the devil.
• The Octarchy doesn't allow for same sex marriage: Lord Iragdun Salikarios, as well as the rest of the Octarchs (presumedly), believe in the sanctity of marriage through the union of man and woman.
• A homosexual couple can't procreate: The incompatibility of same gender relationships won't allow for them to procreate, that is, produce offspring (despite Kran abbility of "gemming").
  

Is this the environment in which we want to play?

The current playerbase is smart enough to know there's something amiss in here. We have been roleplaying this kind of unions for many years. I, myself, have a gay character. His name is Kharrt, he's a Kore Enkidukai, and he was deeply in love with his boyfriend Dhury, even married him in front of Xiosia.

I don't think the gods look down on same gender couples, either. After all, Talad (the god, that is) still loves Laanx dearly. I'm not sure what kind of love is it, or if it was a bromance at first, or they were actual lovers. It's complicated. The point is, there's not a hard-headed faction in game that will discriminate against the lesbian/gay/bisexual collective, at least in the lore.

Now, let's see why the aforementioned reasonings can't work in PlaneShift:

• PlaneShift is set in the Middle Age: RL Middle Ages were controlled heavily by the Catholic Church. We're talking about a time when the rate of illiteracy was about the 90%. The only "smart" ones were the monks, priests, and the like. PlaneShift is not like that. There's not a religion like christianism was a thousand of years ago, and our characters aren't illiterate either. We're living in an illustrated setting, albeit medieval in the looks.
• The Octarchy doesn't allow for same sex marriage: This is a poor, cheap, hurried excuse for not wanting to implement same gender marriages mechanically. I have read the lore, and nowhere have I seen that homosexuals were prosecuted for their preferences.
• A homosexual couple can't procreate: This is convenient. Yliakum is a secluded space. A hollow stalactite, with limited resources and, all around, not big enough town for the two of us, cowboy. Homosexual couple not only are unable to have offspring, thus can't contribute to crowding the stalactite. But if it's about creating a family, they can have a healthy one by adoption, as healthy as a traditional one.

Please, don't turn PlaneShift into a Real Life lookalike. We play this game to have fun and do the things we're not able to do in real life. That's what roleplaying is for, and that's the attractive of this game.

Please, leave your vote.

I was tasked with redecorating a guildhouse and I find it to be very frustrating. Shift+rightclick doesn't really respond very well, and I make the item randomly spin away. Do you think we should be able to use the rotate and slide commands together (instead of only rotate) for more precise positioning of the items? Do you think the current system is fine?

This is not only for guildhouses, but for markets. It's kind of silly to have the swords all standing, balanced on their pommel and the shields all standing on their edges as if they were magically weighted.

I mean, it kinda bugs me.

The Akkaio tiger gave her a bouquet of charmflowers, claiming "When the last flower dies, that will mean my love with you has extinguished." Among them, there was a special flower, the last one after the rest withered and died: one made of the finest glass, unbreakable.



The calm waters of the Irifon rivers reflected the shape of the Great Crystal. The so called Azure Sun was now glowing ever so faintly with a dim white light in the middle of the night, making its rough edges and facets clearly discernible to the intent observer. The patches of rice growing in the shores of the river rustled and waved with both the soft breeze coming through the passage nearby and the tireless search of a stray groffel, gobbling and chirping softly as he looked for a few worms to swallow whole, but most of the time settling down for just some grains of rice.

Down the stream, on the shore across the gobble village, where they slept inside their hide tents, some of them outside -probably due to a dispute with a partner or a friend, or just because there wasn't enough space inside the tents-, a campfire lit a small zone, the orange light reaching far enough to illuminate a sleeping rivnak at the base of a tree, and the factions of an Enkidukai sitting by it, while a pair of fishes were being cooked over the crackling and snapping flames. A fishing rod was stuck into the mud, near the water, with the line reaching up to the very middle of the river, near the tin rock.

The Clamod female wore a set of leather armor, treated a few times until it was supple enough to wrap around her shapes like a thick shirt, studded with chainmail rings that had a dull, milky look to them, rippling and pulsating a little with magical energy: it radiated from a few emeralds on her cleavage, shoulders, gloves, the sides of her knees, and ankles. She was hugging her knees, seated in front of the flames licking between the charred logs that lit her face, making the scar on her left eye even more noticeable.

One of her paws moved to her neck as she tilted her head back. The fingers touched a small golden chain, on which she tugged gently. The chain slid from underneath her chainmail shirt, pulling on a small goldn ring. Taking the chain off, she put the ring on her gloved paw and observed it. The engravings inside the band were clear: Lurr'olo - Sabriel. For the first time in ages, she didn't feel the tears coming to her eyes.

Reaching into the bag nearby, the fenki took a small wooden bowl, which was probably used to hold some mixed nuts, while watching an event from the bleachers in the Arena. Without fear of getting burnt, she placed the bowl amidst the flames, and slowly let the ring and the chain slide into it. Many a time she found herself trying to reach and grab the bowl, gritting her teeth and biting her bottom lip, as the gold melted slowly into the improvised crucible.

With a claw, she carved a small mold in the shape of a (rather crude) Enkidukai head, eyes and muzzle included, into the hard dirt on the ground as the gold became liquid. Taking the wooden bowl, she carefully poured the molten metal into the makeshift bowl, letting it harden before digging it up with the tip of her claw. She stared at the small Enkidukai head on the paw, and the golden amulet seemed to look back. After caressing it with her thumb, she let it slip into her glyph pouch.

The House DeFaye was created three generations ago, when the great grandfather of the current Lord of the House, Thadok Defay (the name wasn't adopted until a bit later in the story), acquired an old manor in the outskirts of the capital of the Far Ground. With hard work and a lot of help from his current family and friends, Thadok managed to repair the building and prepare the land to harvest whatever could grow in the Third Level, especially trees for firewood and construction. With the help of his small fortune, Thadok Defay was soon able to create a small gentry and hire farmers, crafters and lumberjacks, among others. This, added to his talent as a merchant, allowed him to amass a bigger fortune, which he never used for his own profit, as is told later on in this story. Soon, everyone in need of a job would travel high distances across the Far Ground to visit the Defay gentry, and ask its owner about an open position. He would always welcome everyone in need, be they workers, mercenaries, or simple comonners. Everyone would learn a trade, and either stay and live near the farmland surrounding the house, or leave after they got enough money to be on their feet again, freely.

Lord Thadok DeFaye

Not long after Thadok became a very wealthy man, with one of the greatest fortunes of the Far Ground -and not to mention of Yliakum-, the troubles started. Not for Thadok, but for the Octarchy: a shortage of grain and other food, as well as a lack of wood for fireplaces and construction, struck the Third Level. People were unhappy with what they thought was a bad administration. The Octarch in charge at the moment sent couriers to Thadok, and he soon started pumping tria to the workers in the Winch in the Barn, or the Second Level. He put his lumberjacks and farmers to harvest and grow as many trees and plants as they could to provide the needy with them, and sent merchants to the lowest levels to buy seaweed in case the firewood wasn't enough.

And then, thanks to the efforts of Thadok Defay, the situation in the Far Ground returned to its normal state. The Octarch, pleased with Thadok's actions, bestowed upon him the title of Lord of the gentry. The Enkidukai soon changed his second name, becoming Lord Thadok DeFaye. But by the time he took on the lordship, he was too advanced in age to enjoy it, so he retired in favor of his son, Segos DeFaye, and presented him with the sabre he himself comissioned to represent the title of Lord DeFaye.

Segos DeFaye, wielding the ceremonial sabre

Segos DeFaye turned out to be more of a soldier than of a merchant. He relied on other people to carry on with the administration of the gentry, for he was too busy waging war on the enemies of Yliakum: namely, the beasts coming from the Stone Labyrinths. He soon became a captain of the Sunshine Squadron, until the boredom got the worst of him, and made him resign. The new Lord DeFaye went back home, finally, and took the reins of the gentry with the same energy, if not more, that his father had. He married young, and had many sons and daughters, Jocas DeFaye I being the heir to the gentry. Being the soldier he was, Segos DeFaye demanded authorisation for a militia, which he put to serve the Octarchy, and contributed to the security in the capital of the Far Ground. It is said that the control he had over the Winch in the Third Level made it impossible to sneak a single grain of rice through the guards.

Jocas DeFaye the First was, with no doubt, the worst Lord of the House. He had too much of a liking to wine, food, and women who weren't Hannelynn, née Tarin, who was the mother of Jocas DeFaye II, heir to the House. This caused much discomfort within the family, especially between Jarrok, brother to Jocas I, and Hannelynn soon started to resent her husband. But despite him being a careless Enkidukai, Jocas knew best, and realized what his brother was up to.

Jarrok DeFaye was then aprehended, accused of trying to kill his brother and usurp the title of Lord. His days finished with him in a small, cold cell. But the war for the power didn't die with him: Johanna DeFaye, the younger sister of Jocas, took example of her uncle, or of the story she had been told, and soon started plotting a plan to get rid of her brother, and become the first Lady DeFaye. Jocas still has scars to prove her attempts to get rid of him, even though their story seems to be far more private and strange than what's known to the general public...


After their father dilapidated the DeFaye fortune thanks to dishonest consultants and other thieves wearing rich garments, Jocas and Johanna left the gentry, advised by their mother, and moved up to the First Level, the Dome, concretely to the city of Hydlaa, so that they could start anew and the House would continue with its original intent of being a rendezvous point for those in need of help.






What is the House DeFaye?
Following the lead of the great "royal" Houses in PlaneShift, the House DeFaye is yet another wannabe royal house, or some such. It has the structure of a medieval royal house: Lord, council, knights, artisans, and comonners. The lowest of the members can soon rise to the higher positions! The thing is, will the newcomers prove themselves worthy of being appointed knights, or master artisans?

What's the purpose of this guild?
In Character, the House's purpose of existence is to improve the ambience in the First Level, not far from what Thadok's intent was. Also, it intends on providing newcomers with any help they may need, so that they can become valuable citizens of Yliakum's society.

Out Of Character, it's another roleplaying guild! Everyone is welcome in it, even if they like to grind mindlessly while nobody is around, as long as they do roleplay. Also, guilds are a great way of making new friends, and so is roleplay.

But surely there are other guilds out there just like this one, why would I join it?
The House DeFaye is oriented to people looking for a traditional guild. It has many elements taken from the medieval ages, such as the hierarchy. So, if what you're looking for is a place where you can become a knight, or an artisan, and pledge loyalty to your lord, this is the guild you're looking for.

Also, if you happen to be bad, bad, baaaaad, then you can infiltrate it! Get intel, spy around, use the guild as a cover to smuggle stuff! Just don't be surprised if you're caught and sent to jail.

Okay, you convinced me, where do I sign up?
Easy now. As I said, this is a roleplaying guild. So you'll have to work your way in. This doesn't mean it will be hard, not at all: the House needs people to be active, and if your intentions are good you'll be welcome with wide arms. You only need to find the Hydlaa billboard and read the flyer about it, or read up a little: that parchment counts as a recruit flyer you could find around. Jocas will always have his badge on, and you can recognize him by his traits: there's no other menki like him in game! Just read his description if you want, or address him after seeing his badge.

If you'd like to know more OOCly, you can always send me a private message, or try to find me on IRC, freenode network, usually hanging around in the #planeshift channel (I go by the name Mishka). If you happen to be in game, I'm Whisper friendly, as long as you make it clear it's OOC! As a last resort, you can reply to this thread, I'm not a cop!

Hope to see you around soon!

She shivered softly, all curled up. It felt colder than when she went to sleep. Colder, wetter and harder. Definitely not the pillows she fell asleep on. What was that thing? It felt like a parchment, but harder and slightly rougher, and it surrounded her. It looked pretty much like a box, but it wasn't made of the wood she was used to. Besides, it smelt like someone had relieved themself over it. That, and it was raining. Way to ruin a morning.

With a sigh, she slowly crawled out of the box. It felt funny, used as she was to the smooth chiseled stones of Hydlaa's pavement. It felt colder, rougher, and it was of a dark grey, almost black color. Slowly, she stood up, curiously padding over it. Her bare pawpads explored the new, unknown texture before finding a nigh to invisibly shard of glass, cutting herself with it. Letting out a loud yelp, she quickly hopped on one paw towards the end of the cul-de-sac she woke up in. Used to worst injuries, she was soon able to step on both paws again, even if she'd limp just a little every now and then. After making sure her foot didn't hurt as much as it did at first, she took a glance at her surroundings.

The red-colored buildings stood tall in front of her. "This doesn't look like Hydlaa," she thought. Nude trees let their branches sway around slowly with the cold breeze, which made her hug herself to try and get warmer, looking around for someplace warmer and definitely not as hostile as the small alley she had just left. Slowly, she walked along the seemingly deserted street. The ground felt smoother, with some cracks every now and then. Her small vest and thin white blouse, tailored in the traditional Ojavedan fashion, weren't enough for what seemed a weather typical of autumn. It looked like it was about to rain, even.

After having walked for a few minutes, lost as she was -the surroundings, so different from Hydlaa, were captivating-, a small kid walked up to her, a Clamod, like her. His clothes were strange: they looked like silk, but at the same time she knew it wasn't silk. It was some sort of a jacket with a strip of small teeth in front of it and a small piece of metal, biting each other to close the jacket around the small kid's body. The only thing she recognized were the scarf and the hat, which had two small holes for his black ears, both of them hand-knitted, and the pants, or trousers, even if she couldn't tell what was the fabric used to craft them. The two stared at each other for a good while, one freezing to the bone, and the other warm and cozy, blinking in surprise. Suddenly...

-Matt! Matt, what are you...? Oh, hello miss. I hope he wasn't bothering you.

A rather thin Kore rushed up to them, picking the kid up. His square glasses looked so minimalistic and clean compared to the girl's golden-rimmed glasses, with notches and burn marks. His entire body was covered in a long, black trench coat, buttoned up to his neck, but it's not like she'd know that strange long jacket, which looked like a cape or cloak to her, received that name. He raised an eyebrow at the female's appearance, tilting his head a little.

-Are you from the medieval fair? We were going there. Do you mind if we tag along?
-W-what... -she looked down at her clothes, blushing at how revealing they were in a world where almost everyone was covered to their eyebrows, and almost literally, in clothes- What's 'medieval', if I may?

The man seemed surprised, possibly wondering where did that strange girl come from. Shaking his head a little, he offered the seemingly lost female a charming smile, which made her blush even more (while giving thanks for her fur covering her reactions), reaching out a paw, the paw connected to the arm not holding his kid, who had now lost interest in the female.

-Sorry. My name's Tom, well, Thomas. Everyone calls me Tommy, except... well, nevermind, you can call me Tommy.
-M-Mishka... -her paw took his hesitantly for a pawshake. An Ylian in a suit rushed past, looking at some metallic device tied around his wrist. She couldn't help but stare at him for a long while, before turning back to Tom - Who... where... what's this place?
-This? -He looked at the building on his left- Oh. My home. Pretty, isn't it? But I guess you weren't asking about that... This town is called Hyde-upon-Irifon.
-Hyde? Irifon? -The names sounded similar to her. Irifon was, of course, a river she knew very well. But Hyde... looked like a corruption of some name she used to know- Does this city happen to have any other name?
-Another name? -He closed one eye as the child he was holding, most likely his son, pushed his muzzle away in protest, putting him down on the ground afterwards and keeping an eye on him- I think this town used to be called Hydlaa a thousand of cycles ago.
-Hydlaa! Wait. A thousand of cycles ago!? -Her eyes grew wide in astonishment- What might today's date be, then?
-Ah! It's the 5th of October of 1994! What's the matter with you? -He stepped back at the outburst, pushing his son behind himself gently, ears perked up as he stared intently at the female.
-Oc... tober? 1994? Where on Yliakum am I... -Mishka dropped to her knees, hanging her head and muttering softly- All my friends... dead...

With a careful demeanor, Thomas leaned down, slowly reaching to rest a paw on her shoulder. She simply winced at the touch, slumping onto her rear, and wiped her tears away, still sobbing. He offered her his paw, which she took gingerly, as if unsure, and helped her stand. Taking his trench coat off, he put it over her shoulders. The female simply nodded her thanks as they started walking towards his house. As they entered, she was greeted by a wall of warm air, possibly heated from the chimney across the salon. She couldn't recognize the furniture except for the chairs: other than that, it looked cozy and nice. After having explained how the shower worked, and having provided her of clean underwear and clothes for when she was done -surprisingly enough, they were of her size-, Tom offered her to sit down beside him in front of the couch, while Matt -who turned out to indeed be his son- played with his toy dinosaurs on the carpet. The female Clamod, now wearing a black turtleneck sweater and a pair of jeans, which were comfortable enough not to make her try and rip them off, sat down beside the Kore.

-Tell me who are you, Mishka. You come from far away, it seems.
-Actually... I used to live here. Tsk, you'll think I'm mad. Leave it be, please. -Tom stared intently at her, which made her sigh deeply and curl up on the couch. It was far more comfortable than the pillows she used to have at home- Fine. I used to live here, yes, Hydlaa or however you call it now, in the times of the Octarch Iragdun Salikarios. One day I went to take a nap and... I woke up where you met me. Things have changed a lot... A whole lot. But it's your turn now, Tommy.
-Eh? My turn to what? Oh, right... Well, you see, I live on my own with Matt here -he pointed at his son, who had the same fur as Mishka- since his mother, well... Since she passed away. Her name was Martha, and she looked -he turned to stare at her directly- like you.

The fenki started feeling warm, getting strangely attracted to him, asif what he had just said triggered something inside her mind. When their lips were about to meet...

A thunder boomed outside, and Mishka gasped sharply, waking up. She stared at the pillow underneath her, realizing where she was again. Angrily, she punched the pillow a few times. A nice dream, and it had to end! Looking around, she realized what she thought was a thunder, was actually a bookshelf that fell down, hitting the ground rather hard and scattering its contents all over the floor. With a sig, she tidied up the mess and left, looking back at the pillow treasuring the most beautiful dream she had ever had.

This is just a compact guide containing some basic rules and tips for RP.

DO:

• [Optional]Write a short description in the IC tab, make it simple, short, but explain things as best as you can. Eye color, overage build, voice, most prominent features, and maybe even scent is good. If you're an enki, there's no need to explain how your fur looks like in this tab. This is just to keep in consideration lazy readers.
• [Optional] Write an extensive description, if you want. Go from head to toe! Explain your scars, deformities, tics, quirks, perks, fur color, shaven, unshaven... Clothes too, and equipment. If you want, of course.
• Roleplay your way through the game. Where can I find a golden ring? Roleplay. I want to find the tavern! Roleplay. I can't...! Roleplay. This is a roleplaying server and you'll enjoy it once you learn. Everyone spawns for the first time near Harn's smithy, and there's, for sure, someone hammering a blade. Keep in mind they may be AFK though, or take quite a bit to write a message.
• Try not to make typos and use correct grammar. We can't expect everyone to excel at English, but try it. Also, roleplaying will help you understand and learn the language better. True story.
• Discuss RPs OOCly! Tell other players you're a newbie, or a noob if you will. If they laugh at you, ignore them, but if they help you, you'll be thankful. They'll tell you how you can roleplay, what you can and can't do. Besides, if you want to mug someone, don't force it on them. Always ask first.
• Use /me, /my, and /mypet. An example of this would be "/me grooms his rivnak", "/my rivnak whinnies happily" and "/mypet shakes his head and scratches the ground with its hooves"
• Have fun!

DON'T:

• Use a name just because it sounds funny. It probably is OOC and/or offensive. "Moe Lester" is not a good idea, neither is "Hotti Bunbuns" or something similar. If you don't want to be called a 12 year old noob, don't act like one.
• Disrespect other players, that's a big no-no. If you're bad ICly, that's cool. We need bad guys. But being bad ICly doesn't mean you have to be a jerk OOCly too.
• Use leet speech. lol, pwn3d, hax, etc... is not accepted. If you laugh out loud, use /me (e.g: /me laughs out loud)
• Use smileys [optional]: Some die hard RPers will twitch and squirm if you do. Use /me instead to improve the feeling. For example: "" would become "/me smiles" and "" would become /me smiles happily", and "" would be "/me looks sad"
• Talk OOCly in main chat without brackets, or intentionally. "Have you seen my dragon?" in Main without brackets will get you funny looks and questions from the roleplayers, and even OOC warnings. I once had a character asking for a Martini ICly. Don't let this happen.
• Flood Main with OOC chat, even if it's between brackets.
• Cuss and swear like a sailor. If your character is ill-mannered and a loudmouth, that's cool, but there are unoffensive ways of swearing, all of them ICly.
• Godmod. THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS. Don't. Ever. Godmod. "i keel joo with my swerd" will get you ignored. Why don't you try "/me tries to cut X's neck by swinging his sword" instead?
• Steal the spotlight. If you see two characters, it's ok to slowly make your way into the RP, but directly leaping in between them and most likely bothering them will make them frown and be upset at you. I've had someone cockblocking me before and it's not a pleasant experience. My character ended up snapping at that other character and he's usually a kind, educated guy.
• Get mad and ragequit. There are jerks out there. ICly and OOCly. If it's IC, it's understandable. If it's OOC, ignore them. This game needs good spirited and interested players.

Now go out and roleplay!

PS: Players please offer your 2x

Since guild storage isn't allowed, I was wondering if the use of chars as guild banks (mules) is allowed. Maybe if the GM team knows and keeps a list about those banks, that would be possible? Thanks.