Declaration of Doria

The Iles of Doria is a newly formed role-playing group, which has been established for the enjoyment of those seeking a unique role-play experience. 

We welcome visitors of all kinds, and are always excited by the prospect of adding new players will respect and enjoy the type of role-play experience that we seek to provide.

All though Doria is new, the players of Markeen "Chance" Jastri and Vanessa Jastri are not.  We have been playing table top, live action and online for years, and those experiences have shaped out ideas and ideals about what we seek in a role-play community.  We feel very strongly about the laws and rules of Doria, and for that reason, we feel it is only fair that we put the cards on the table so to speak, and let you know what is and is not acceptable in Doria.

We play in a fantasy based medieval realm, known as the Iles of Doria.  It is a series of islands and waterways that offers a variety of climates, ranging from tropical to arctic, and a wide range of terrains. 

Our storyline indicates that this chain of islands, a part of the Iles de Brume , was once a place of great beauty, a highly developed government, and a very enlightened, evolved people.  Some thousand years past, something happened, and the society simply vanished.  Only the great cities remain, some perfectly preserved, some are nothing more than ruins, but the splendor of the islands remain. 

There are no native people; all those that currently reside on the islands have come to live here in the last century.  His Grace, Chance Jastri, has resided on Tymora's Kiss for a number of years, and Lady Hope Tamerlane has been Mistress over Dragon's Keep for as long as anyone can recall.  They are as close as it gets to island natives.  In truth, until Chance married Vanessa, and brought his wife and her daughter to live on the islands, it was widely believed that the islands were cursed, and because of the great barrier reef that protects the island, it was with good cause that it was so thought. 

The Iles of Doria lie with in a chain of islands owned by Kyral Laithe VanSandt, Commissioner of the Quest Coin Coalition, known as the Iles de Brume , Islands in the Myst.  The Iles De Brume is a chain of islands that form a large circular barrier around a collection of inner islands.  The barrier islands shift over short periods of time, making it impossible to accurately chart their locations.  There are only three known entrances to the inner islands and those are known only to a handful of very select pilots, with no one pilot knowing more than a single path through the barrier islands.  Only ships smaller than or equal to the size of a schooner can pass through to the inner islands. Larger ships must offload their cargo at the outer port and have it transport to the inner islands via one of the transport vessels of the pilot's guild.  There are no exceptions to this, not even magic. 

Magic users will suffer some ill affects when attempting to use their gifts.  The affects can range from minor to tragic, depending on the spell, the spell-caster, the power of the spell, and the intent of the caster.  The islands, all of them, including the barrier islands, are covered by a natural mythal that "warps" magic for all but a select few.  We suggest you be very careful when using magic within our realm.

Their Graces, Markeen "Chance" Jastri & Vanessa Jastri, Duke & Duchess of Doria, are co-commanders of Doria.  They alone rule Doria, with the aide of three chancellors, to be appointed as promotion and education requirements are met.  As an independent realm, we are not part of any other political entity.  Therefore, we make our own laws to govern this land. 

As a fantasy-medieval role-play group, we recognize only those weapons, clothes and inventions that would have been present in our time line, roughly 1500 - 1600, A.D.  Cars, guns, with the exception of very rare flint lock guns, trench coats and other such items would be very out of place in our realm.   

Though we are a newly established realm, may of us have a great amount of time and creative energy invested in our characters.  For that reason, we are careful about the play in which we engage.  We do not casually enter into a storyline that could potentially destroy all we have worked to create.

 We will not engage in the following types of play:

* Role-play with "God" characters or Power Gamers.  That includes those that ignore the limitations on magic due to the "mythal" that surrounds our islands.

*Death matches, which would require the deletion of characters. **

*Assassination attempts, which require the deletion of characters. **

*Invasions or attacks which ignore the physical impossibilities of such attacks; which ignore the defenses and strength of our realm; which would destroy or damage the realm, including natural disasters or those that we have not approved or initiated in our own storyline.

*Magic that could destroy damage or control a character, any part of the realm or ignores the natural mythal of our islands. 

When in question, always ask first.

**Unless approved by both muns.  In this case, a letter should be sent to the Duke & Duchess, by all involved, stating such agreement.  An impartial third party MUST proctor the match.

Doria is a realm open to all types of people, elves, animals, and even humans.  There are some things we do not accept, were-beasts of any kind, god or demi-gods, vampires other than those of that follow the White Wolf style of play, or slavers.  Those who have abilities such as psionics, spell casting or shape shifting, should be able to give a reasonable explanation for the abilities of their characters.  Shape-shifters will be accepted, if they can reasonably explain their ability. This ability cannot include the ability to impersonate any other living or dead being. They must require at least a 24-hour regeneration period after shifting and they will not shift to anything larger than themselves.  

Dragons are not only welcome in Doria, but they are among the protected species of the realm.  We understand, or try to understand, that many of them have the ability to change from human form, to dragon form and back again.  This is the only exception to the above shape-shifting rule.

Faefolk, Merfolk, Unicorns, and Dragons are all protected species.  Hunting them, harming them, or killing them is considered treason against the Duchy, and you will be removed from the realm.  Discrimination against these creatures is out of control, and we will not tolerate it with in our lands.  Additionally, harming any animal in the realm, for reasons other than game hunting, to feed your family, will be considered illegal.

The Iles of Doria is an established haven for Knights, both male and female, Ladies, common and of royal birth, heroes, great and small, hard working citizens, villagers and merchants whom are determined to follow their dreams, change their stars, or just make a good home for their families.

Their Graces and the Citizens of Doria are willing to lend a helping hand to any man, woman child or animal that is willing to work hard and pull themselves up; to be something more than they have been lead to believe they can ever be.

What we are not willing to work with are drama/suicide king & queens, crybabies or whiners.  We will ignore power gamers, warmongers, and god players who are hell bent on disrupting our play.  While some of the citizens of our realm are extremely long-lived, no one is impervious to death.  No one in Doria is immortal.

Injured or sick characters that wander in and need help will be seen to.  We will not stop our play to make you the center of our attention.  If you do not accept our offer of help, the guard will escort the injured or sick to the healers compound.  In other words, you will be punted from the room.

Lost or orphaned children tug at our hearts.  They will be treated with great care, but if they disrupt the play, they will be taken to the Dorian Children's Shelter by the guards.  In other words, you will be punted from the room.

Animals who wander in will be treated with kindness, and some times a great deal of surprise.  If they are injured, they will be cared for, but if they become violent, or disruptive, the guards will subdue them, and they will be removed.  In other words, you will be punted from the room.

Slaves seeking asylum will be granted refuge.  They will be clothed, fed and offered shelter, but should they steal, be caught lying or become disruptive, they will be escorted away by the guards.  In other words, you will be punted from the room.

Slavers, slave hunters, slave trackers, and Masters, will be given passage through our lands, but we suggest you keep your business to yourself. Slavers are considered the lowest forms of life, and the moment your business becomes our business, you will be arrested. If you try to take any citizen or guest of Doria by force, you will be arrested.  The guards will take you to the edge of the island and you will be dropped into the ocean. In other words, you will be punted from the room.

We believe that the use of dice can enhance role-play, but keep in mind, it is role-play, not roll play.

Dorian citizens work very hard to earn their dice (see Participation Guidelines), many hours of play, dedication and education are required to move up in rank.  Dorian citizens are allowed to use their dice anywhere they wish, keeping in mind if you are in the Bard & Swan Inn, The Prancing Unicorn House of Games, or the Mermaid's Tale, and you damage anything, you will be required to reimburse the owner for that damage. 

Guests of the realm, that decide to engage in combat, will be granted dice for use during the combat.   

Dice levels will be stated for tournaments, before they begin. 

No other guild, kingdom, or forum dice will be recognized, unless agreed upon before combat begins.

Doria is a dream that Chance & Vanessa's muns have had for a very long time.  It is a place where creativity is encouraged and we hope that we help to foster a place where you feel safe sharing your thoughts and story ideas. 

We will never limit your writing, or storylines, however we would ask that you understand that there are some stories that we would like to be warned about or made aware of before we stumble into them. 

Please be aware of the following guidelines regarding message boards and public room storylines: 

The parties involved must agree upon Storylines involving pregnancy, birth or the death of a child.  That does not mean that a child cannot be born out of wedlock.  It does mean that both parties should be in agreement regarding the storylines.  Too often one party will decide that they want a child to enhance the role play relationship, the other party does not want the child and one of two things will happen, the child will be miscarried or the child will be born and die.  There are those within the realm that do not want to read this kind of SL or be a party to this kind of SL. These storylines should be kept to private rooms, which makes sense for our time period, these kinds of things were not discussed in polite company in our time period.  If you are going to write about these things on the message board, they should carry a warning label "Contains Sensitive Material".

Rape, incest, or sexual abuse of any kind are not the types of SLs we want to see in our public rooms and posts of this nature should carry a warning label "Mature Material". 

We will not say you cannot write or play these kinds of storylines, but be aware that there are those in this realm that see enough of this kind of stuff in our everyday lives where we work, that we prefer not to see it where we come to relax and forget about the insanity of the outside world. 

We encourage the forging of friendships out of character.  We believe it will only make our realm stronger and make for a richer role-playing experience.  However, please keep your OOC comments either to instant message (IM) or private rooms (PR).  There are times when OOC comments are acceptable, such as "brb" "afk" "back" "ty" or "wb".  Please limit your OOC comments as much as possible.  If you are warned regarding OOC in a public room, you will only be warned once, if it continues, you will be ejected from the room.