Character Creation & World Building

Late, but hopefully still helpful...a short story to introduce Sister Rose. I'll share my sheet in the library as well; I'm off to bed but will work on my bonds tomorrow!

The girl looked up at the building with trepidation. Was this the right decision? Was she really ready to give up her life in service to a goddess? The large wooden door creaked open and a simply dressed woman in her middle age smiled down at the girl. "Welcome, Rose." The girl began to protest, "But my name is…" but was interrupted gently by the woman, "Your name is no longer your name. When you walk through these doors, you become Rose…and someday, if you work hard, Sister Rose." The girl squared her shoulders and breathed in deeply, then stepped through the doorway.

Inside, the entryway was lit only by candles, and became quite dark once the front door was closed behind her. She felt a gentle but strong hand gripping her elbow, leading her through the darkness. Suddenly, she was surrounded by bright light as another door opened before her. Sunlight streamed through a courtyard bright with colour…no, not a courtyard. A garden! Every flower she had ever heard of, and many more that she didn’t even recognize, hung from baskets or sprung from pots all around her. The perfume of so many flowers was heady, yet not overwhelming. Rose breathed deeply…

…and looked at herself in the mirror. The same woman stood behind her, holding a set of sheers. Rose looked at her black tresses and nodded firmly, "I am ready." One year since she first saw the garden. One year of tending the ill and reading dusty books. The woman nodded soberly in turn and began cutting her hair. As the curls fell to the floor she said, "With this sacrifice, you dedicate yourself to Our Lady of Flowers. May she accept your offering." Rose smiled…

…and lifted her head to squint at the sun. The day had passed, so quickly! Her hands stained brown and green from work in the garden, she stood and stretched. No longer the quaking girl that had walked through that door five years ago, she stood with confidence and strength. She smiled as she remembered all that she had learned, and her growing dedication to her goddess. The magic she had been gifted was in service of others, and gave her great pride. Soon, she would be initiated into the final mystery, and learn what the Lady had called her to do. She walked through the archway…

…and down a long set of stairs. Her guide, Sister Dahlia, held the only source of light, a small glowing ball, a divine gift. As they descended deeper into the earth, Rose realized that they were now underneath the garden. She was surprised to hear the clanging of metal, which grew louder with each passing breath. The final door opened before her and she saw all of the Sisters she had grown to know and love…but perhaps not known so well after all. For these kind, gentle, peace-loving clerics were wielding weapons of war, and wielding them with great skill and ferocity. Sister Dahlia smiled at Rose’s surprise. "Come now, sister, have we not taught you? There is nothing better for flowers than blood and bone meal." Rose smiled and stepped forward.

OK, thanks for getting the ball rolling on Bonds. Looking good so far, but Moofsalot...could you just change the "I stole something form Marrick" to "I stole something from Arras."? I don't have an issue with your characters having deeper history, you could have stolen from Marrick, then he found you so you started working together, but you should only have one bond between characters since they are meant to gain XP. It would be unfair to give you two avenues of approach when the others only have one.

And to Taej, thanks for summing up the party for me as well and making sure everyone is on the same page.

Please finish filling out Bonds, but I am going to start asking more questions of your characters based on what I've got so far.

We have two characters that jump out at me as influencing our setting. Xiara the city thief and Arras the elf...who has traveled from his homeland. We will be set in a the capitol city of the empire, the seat of power resides here. It also happens to be a port city, surrounded on three sides by ocean.

Kijanbu is a city of many facets. Built on the eastern cost of a large contenant. Perched on the end of a peninsula it is surrounded on three sides by ocean. To the north is an immense mountain range, it's passes are haunted by travelers lost in the labyrinth passes and valleys. To the south, a vast swampy jungle that is known to swallow travelers who enter it unprepared. To the west there lies some gently rolling plains, much of it converted to farmland, but they are constantly at war with the fens that are constantly creeping in trying to overtake them.

The city is divide into three strata. The Low City that touches the ocean is home to the poor and low classes. This ward is hot, it smells of rotten fish and burning tar and the sourness of the slaughter houses. The noise is nearly constant as merchants and foundries work to amass more wealth on the broken backs of this ward.

From Low City, a brutally steep incline leads to Midward. The area of Kijanbu at the top of the hill sprawls outward for many miles. Toward the center is where the few middle class merchants and tradesmen make their home. They fair only a little better than the denizens of Low City because the lords and ladies have to spend their coin somewhere, or it serves no purpose to have it. As the roads advance west the cramped city gives way to walled estates in a multitude of sizes, ranging from ten plus acres down to a mere quarter of an acre. Here the petty lords and ladies jockey for power and influence over one another in a great game. Little do they realize their conflicts are all the machinations of their betters who live higher still, on the Spire.

The Spire turns back toward the sea. It is a gradual slope that extends a mile or two into the air. It cuts the Low City ward nearly in half as it approaches the sea again. It climbs high enough that it can look down on every other part of the city. From there the high lords and ladies treat those beneath them like pawns in some great game. The seat of power rests at the end of The Spire. The palace at Kijanbu is a marvel to behold. The stories claim that no one person has ever set foot in all the rooms of the structure, granting it the title of Infinity Palace.

Within Infinity Palace rests the Blood Throne. The prophecy claims that the next person to claim the throne will start a dynasty that will last ten thousand years.

Arras only has a couple bonds that i feel fit at this point:

Rose broke up a fight I was involved in. I was probably going to lose, but they don’t need to know that part.(Maybe we met in Kijanbu this way)

Marrick and I are regular training partners. (Maybe Marrick was the one I was fighting)

Some questions: How do I insert the name of my character below my own name? It's getting difficult to pick apart characters and people.
Also, how do we want to handle fiction and triggering of moves once we get to gameplay? I've only done one other pbp and for that one we write our fiction then roll within the same post IF it's an obvious DD or H/S etc. We kind of decided that it would bog down the action if we were waiting for the GM to tell us the obvious, especially if the GM can't respond for a couple days. We've had to retcon a few things but not many. I'm down with whatever, I'm very new to pbp and maybe there's better options I'm not aware of.
How do we handle edits where a roll is part of the post? Sometimes I write my fiction then roll, then forget something I want to put into the fiction, but don't want it to look like I'm cheating the roll. Just roll in a separate post immediately following?

Bonds for Sister Rose

Thomas has insulted my deity. I do not trust him.
Arras is a good and faithful person. I trust him implicitly.
Marrick is in constant danger. I will keep him safe.
I am working on converting Xiara to my faith.

Sister Rose is likely quite a bit older than Marrick, and perhaps has known him for a long time. She sees a lot of her younger self in Xiara. Arras seems like a decent sort, but Thomas is gravely misguided.

Looks good to me. Perhaps Xiara or Thoma seems like they would fold at the first sign of trouble? You don’t trust them? Maybe? It doesn't mean they will, just that you have perceived them as being weak.
The one about having killed a relative seems out of place since you just got to the mainland/city recently. If you want to make one up I'm fine with that.
Left side of the screen, just above the reply box you should see a drop down that says Player or your character's name. Select character name and their portrait and name will appear with your avatar slightly above it.
Dungeon world is a little more straight forward than other PbtA games. I give you the option to roll if you feel a roll is necessary. However, if you choose to roll your character will have to live(or not depending on their HP) with the consequences. I do not demand a roll every time you take an action. As an example, you find a sword in a treasure chest and immediately roll a Spout Lore about it before you ask me to describe it, and get a 6...I'm not going to tell you that it is a +5 Holy Avenger like I might have if you had waited just stated you were going to look it over.

I believe Gamers Plane will not let you edit rolls. If you go back into a post to edit it, your original roll will remain. If you change something in your fiction that negates the roll, just use the OOC tags to make a note about why you are changing it. Or you can post a brand new reply as you describe, it is up to you.

Ok, here are some of those questions I promised your characters. Please answer as your character...I want their response.

@Thomas(Taej) - Your lore claims a cult secret lays buried beneath Infinity Palace. What is that secret? Someone from Marrick's family was a high ranking member of your cult. Who were they and what position did they hold? What happened to them?

@Marrick(Hageru) - Your father died the same day as the former Emperor of Kijanbu. How do you believe your father died? Your brother Deadrick has one treasure that he prizes more than anything else in existence, possibly even more than his pride. What is it?

@Xiara(Moofsalot) - A Kijanbu noble wronged you. Who was it and what did they do? What did you steal from Arras? Does he know you have it?

@Arras(zoomzilla) - The elves of the mainland are descendants of your people. How do you feel about them leaving? How will they feel about you? How do/did you/your people view the old gods? What about the new gods?

@Sister Rose(marithyme) - You kept a trinket from your former life, a violation of your sect's rules. Your godess knows, but has not punished you for keeping it. What is it and why is it significant? What is it that your goddess(and her pantheon) offers that makes it more appealing than the old gods?

You kept a trinket from your former life, a violation of your sect's rules. Your goddess knows, but has not punished you for keeping it. What is it and why is it significant? What is it that your goddess(and her pantheon) offers that makes it more appealing than the old gods?

Ah yes, the stone. It's polished now after all the years I've held it. My sister gave it to me, long ago. She left this world long before I joined the order, so my Lady doesn't see it as attachment to the life I left behind. It's more a reminder of why we must stand together, and why we must fight evil wherever we find it.

That is why I love my Lady. She understands that true power is found in unity and love, in sacrificing for others, not for some dusty old unknowable god. The Five know we are all One, and that is our strength.

I'm cool with this. How do you want to have known each other? I'm thinking perhaps you took a job from unknown employers to smuggle someone into a place to get access to a book or item or perform some ritual. I was the someone. Some of the magic could have spooked you, but I also proved myself good to my word - when the mission went south at some point, I didn't save my hide and leave you to take the fall, but endangered myself so we both pulled through. We've worked together other times as well, and one time when you being hunted, I hid you (maybe under auspice of the cult, or maybe just myself.

Thoughts?

Thomas could take this one. I kind of like the idea, perhaps, that Marrick doesn't know much about Thomas's background, and so just assumes he is an academic magic dabbler, not a full mage. That will probably resolve pretty quickly when he finds what Thomas can do, so it'll be interesting to decide how he takes the revelation of the beings Thomas can summon.