Premise

"Welcome to Iaceo, and congratulations on finding your way here. Welcome back to the real world.

It's true, though. Whatever world you think you're from, that was just a dream world. The land of the Fae, some people call it. They've got a lot of dream worlds, apparently.

This is Iaceo, the Moon of Pleasure and Paradise. We've set up some communities here for the Returned. We get them in all the time. They were having some trouble adjusting to live on the planet, so after consideration this place was set up to receive all of the gentle folk that found their way out of that mess.

What's that? Oh, don't worry. You can go back if you really want to, except in the case where you were dead or dying back there. Afraid we can't help you then, you sort of ceased to exist there. What? I'm not quite sure how it works, but trust me, it's probably better you're here."

That's what the man said, but you're not quite so sure if the world you just came from was a dream. You have to wonder, though.


Per Specularis is an action/adventure based, plot-drive game with some horror and slice of life elements. There is no power nerfing and characters that have no previous powers are allowed to gain either native game powers or, if possible in the original canon, powers from other characters.

The world is on a moon orbiting a large planet, with several cities and beautiful landscapes, as well as dotted with caves and unexplored forests and jungles. The creatures are strange beings that seem to shift and twist when one is not directly looking at them, and can disappear faster than a blink. It is as dangerous as it is beautiful, so should one venture out of the city, it's best to have company.

The main city, Moscato, is where most of the action is. It's overseen by a small government and houses the headquarters of the four main corporations working on Iaceo.

Your character finds their way into Iaceo via the Portal in the Specularis. Their first trip here is free, but should they try to return, they'll find that all subsequent trips require a certain Toll. What that Toll requires is left entirely up to the girl running the Ticket Booth, and she isn't as much of a pushover as she seems. Players expand the world and plot through missions and jobs provided. Characters can live and work, or adventure, open shops, find amazing riches or experience the most unspeakable of horrors.

Setting

The Moon Iaceo

Iaceo is a large moon orbiting a huge planet. It has a breathable atmosphere, with a slightly higher oxygen content than usual. Boasting several large cities, the largest of which is Moscato, it also is home to many diverse animal species and lush forests. In the sky along with other natural satellites, the planet is visible at all times, as is the rings that surround the planet. There are two sets of rings, the inner set and the outer set, determined by the whether they are on the inside of the moon's orbit or the outside.

The moon rotates on an exact 24 hour basis, not like Earth which is actually slightly less than 24 hours, so it does not require a leap year. However, every year on one particular day, the clock faces change and display a thirteenth hour. It is said that whatever one wishes for may just come true on this day.

The Planet

The planet in the sky is large, and to someone who is able to determine may see that it's actually quite a bit larger than Earth. Still, that doesn't stop it from glowing with habitation on its off phases. The moon orbits the planet every 30 days exactly, and this never changes. It takes 15 days for the planet to go from "full" to "new". These phases have different terms.

When the planet is "new" the lights of civilization are visible, slowly changing as the planet rotates on its own axis and passes from night to day.

There is no known way to travel to this location.

The City Moscato

Moscato is a small but bustling city, beautifully landscaped and sporting all of the modern conveniences one could want. Four large skyscrapers dwarf the rest of the city from the four corners of the well laid out grid, housing the major corporations that provide jobs for many of the citizens there. Parks and green areas dot with regular intervals, punched by quaint and cozy shops, adminsterial buildings, and living quarters. There is two districts to the city, the North and South district.

The North District
On the north side of the city is the aptly named North District, containing the headquarters to Silent Arrow Trading, Antler Crown Productions, and City Hall as well as the Citizen Registry office where new characters can apply for free housing or register for the various services the government of Moscato offers. The parks here seem particularly lovely and there is an emphasis on sculpture and landscaping, a unique blend of modern looks and greenery.

The South District
Contained within the South district is the majority of the apartment buildings belonging to the Free Housing Movement and the corporate headquarters of Iron Spear Security and Leaden Mirror Research. The feeling of this district is quite modern and has very unique architecture, ranging from ancient in nature to brilliantly modern, with fewer parks than the North District, seeming to be an accent to the buildings.

The Bar

Per Specularis is a dark, brooding sort of atmosphere tucked away between two larger buildings. The drink is good, and so is the company. Characters will enter here, coming through a door, a passage, or "somewhere", where they find something that vaguely resembles a ticket booth. There, the girl will accept anything, a feather, a locket, money, just about anything. The first time is free, but not so for the others. For new characters, it also offers welcoming packets of information, but invariably the people here will point newcomers to the Citizen Registry office- they will find going there is inevitable.

Locations

The world of Iaceo isn't a large one, by any means, being a moon orbiting a larger planet, but it is still a world. Iaceo has multiple cities, landscapes, lakes, even a small ocean or two. The limit is the imagination. How far are characters willing to travel from Moscato City and the way home?

Iaceo

Moscato City

Britasera Shopping Center
Nothing but the classiest places here. Clothes, food, jewelry, all on Puck Drive in the North District within easy walking distance of each other.

Entertainment
The entertainment choices are varied in even a small city as Moscato. From fine dining to arcade rumbles, you can find pretty much any pastime you could want.

Royal Parks Theatre
Not just any old theater here, but the most lavish theater on the entire moon. Gold and red adorns the ridiculously baroque decor and ushers wear smart uniforms. Only the best plays are performed here, none of your off-off-Broadway here!

Cinematic
A movie theater for those who like the more casual atmosphere and can't afford the likes of Royal Parks. Be wary of spilled popcorn and sticky seats.

The Green
A nightclub in downtown Moscato where the two districts meet. Dance all night until you wear out your dancing shoes. Food and beverages are served here and only the best beats play here. Don't look directly into the disco ball, though, it's said that some people who do disappear and reappear with no memory of where they had been.

The Specularis
THE place to be. See new arrivals first hand, wheel and deal with Mercer, who can get you practically anything within reason, have a drink or just hang out.


Living

Beckons Apartments
The basic style apartment a character will be granted upon registering and applying for free housing. These are clean and functional two bedroom apartments with all the basic household needs- bathroom, kitchen, laundry. Pretty barebones and rather small, but how can one complain? At least the view and the location is good. Located on the North District side of downtown.

Robin's Nest Apartments
Robin's Nest is a more luxurious apartment building located in the South District. Some units can come with three or four bedrooms depending on your budget level and will have more amenities than the Beckons does, like fireplaces and balconies. Even the two bedroom apartments have more room.

Gameplay

Arrival

Upon a character's arrival, they're free to request lodging from the government of Moscato. This is an outreach effort on behalf of Moscato to welcome the newcomers to the moon, however long they wish to stay. Characters will receive an assigned apartment or room, depending on if they requested roommates or not. An added bonus is that characters do not have to worry about paying rent- these dwellings are entirely free. However, if someone wished to move elsewhere, say to another city, it may require an income. Whether or not characters choose to take advantage of this is up to them, but they will be required to at least register at the Citizen Registry office- this is not optional.


The technology of Iaceo resembles very strongly that of 1990 Earth. Telephones are bound to a single location; arcades have a host of interesting games in good old fashioned 8 bit; libraries use the Dewy Decimal system.

Communication

There are many options to communicate on Iaceo. Having a discussion over coffee, for example, but failing that there are always telephones. More high tech models have wireless handsets, but those are few and far between. Computers are ever present, of course, but the most you could do is leave a note for the next person to use it; there is no network or internet.

Telephones:

Your average, every day method of communicating long distances. These typically come with no caller ID, so whoever you are calling won't know it's you until you answer. Interesting, huh? Since they're bound to one location, how do you tell others where you'll be? The answer is simple, either have a answering machine, or a messaging service. With a messaging service, you can give them a phone number to reach you at, for say, if you were going to the bar.

 

The Specularis Bulleintin Board:

Since the Specularis is the place to <em>be</em> in Moscato, it's only natural to have a place where people can post notices, job opportunities or seekers, messages to fellow off-worlders, or other things. Mercer cleans this board off every once in a while, so it's a good idea to check frequently. You never know, you just might be surprised at who leaves a note.

Couriers:
Need something delivered, and need it fast? The only way to do that is to utilize one of the planet's many couriers. There's a lot of them, but it seems like there's never quite enough. In fact, enterprising characters may choose to take a part time job as a courier, and it pays pretty well.

Postal:
This is the cheaper option of delivery, but it's slower (definitely not same day) and it may be... slightly less reliable than courier. Oh well.
 

Computers

Computers, for the most part, run as an 1990 computer does- with one exception. The software is limiting what these babies can do. RAM, processing power, hard drive- they're far larger than what the software needs or uses. In fact, underneath it all, they more resemble a modern computer- something that could play Skyrim full blast without even blinking an eye. But do you have what it takes to unlock the potential? Regardless, these computers don't have the capacity of using a network- they don't even have ports to plug one into a telephone. Just another one of the mysteries of Iaceo.


Activity

Activity is on a per month basis. You must have one post with five comments or participation in a log with 10 comments. The minimum threadlength for a participation log is 5 comments. This is the AC requirement for each character that you play.

So if you're playing Tony Stark, you would need to make a post and reply at least five times, or have Tony participate in Hulk's thread with ten comments, or participate in Hulk's thread AND Jean Grey's with at least five comments in each thread.

The mods do not look kindly on character squatters, and provided with enough evidence, will ask the player who is squatting to either increase activity or drop to allow another person to play.

Powers

The only limit on characters powers are those that would be considered game breaking or otherwise godmoding, ie. Sephiroth cannot call down Meteor even if he has the Black Materia, The Colt or Ruby's Knife from Supernatural would just be spiffy weapons, etc. 

If your character does not have powers canonically you are able to choose a set of three that they're capable of using while in the game.