awkwardursus
Lord of Altera
About You!
1. What is your Minecraft username?
mariecy (I was previously whitelisted as awkwardursus, however I went inactive for several years and have since changed my username.)
2. How old are you?
19
3. What country are you from?
United States
4. Have you read the King's Law, Tome of Citizenship, Official Lore, and the Survival Guides yet?
Yes.
5. In your own words, how would you define metagaming and powergaming?
Metagaming is using OOC knowledge to guide your character’s actions when the character him/herself wouldn’t know the things that you do OOC.
Powergaming is when during roleplay, you don’t allow other roleplayers to control the outcome of the story – possibly by taking too many actions at a time, or trying to dictate the actions or feelings of another player in your own emotes.
6. Do we allow X-Raying mods or X-Ray texture packs on the server?
No.
7. Tell us about yourself!
My name is Emma, I’m a college student in the Northeast. I used to play on this server a lot during summer/winter break in 2012, and I ran a skin shop, to fund my tree/house in that incarnation of Tauredal. (You can see an example of my skins in my profile pic, and I’ve posted some more examples below.) Besides Minecraft stuff, my hobbies are painting, drawing, and cooking, and I’m studying physics at university. I think about food/cooking much too much, and my favorite foods are dumplings and noodles. I like making food with/for my friends, doing community organizing, and studying (haha I’m a nerd).
8. Do you have any examples of your work?
Yeah! Like I said above, I used to run a skin shop to fund my tree/house. Here are some examples of skins that I made during that time period.
9. Did anyone refer you?
No
About Your Character!
Character Name:
Etna Simsdottir
Character Age:
35
Character Race:
Human
Appearance:
Etna is 35 years old, and her hair is brown and a little bit grey, which some folks mind, but she doesn’t so much. She wears it down or in a long ponytail, and always has a pair of wooden eyeglasses perched on her nose. Short, but not very curvy, she has a toned body and weathered hands from her time spent doing odd jobs for most of her life. Etna wears a light-colored, striped blouse with the sleeves rolled up, suspenders, gray pants and no shoes.
(Are glasses within lore?)
(Optional) Picture of the Skin:
Written Test!
Etna Simsdottir sat down on her baker's stool and let out a great big sigh.
"Whoo," she puffed, thinking, "all done with today's kneading. Gosh, I can't say I've done so much work in a long time--not since I left Ma's shop in the south. It feels good to get back into this." Etna's eyes surveyed over her baker's shop, newly hers but showing its age, and then drifted inside the warm, smoking oven. She remembered how her mom's bakery used to sound on mornings like this one. The room would reverberate with the sounds of dough hitting the table, her mother running spare flour over her hands, and the crackle of logs burning down in the oven, ready for the day's baking. It had been twenty years since then, and feeling these sights and sound return to her was warmly welcome.
A rasp sounded at the door.
“Etna!!” A warm, gravelly voice called through the entryway. “I’ve got something – and someone – for you to see!” Etna stood up from her seat, quickly recognizing the voice of her friend Jinn. She opened the door and grinned toothily, stepping out of her little bakery to greet the tall and somewhat rounded man with a smile. Beside him stood a small child, wrapped in a warm red blanket.
“Jinn! How good to see you – and who is this little one you have? Is she yours? I hadn’t known you’d been up to such things, now. What a surprise – it seems like you’ve been doing well since I saw you a couple of years ago.”
“Yes, Etna – well, yes. Minnie here has been so excited to see your place – I told her that you had quite the big oven, and a nice garden, too and she’s been talking to me all day about how she wants to see.” Minnie grinned from beside her father’s knee, and then made a little sound and hid her face from view. “Why don’t you go look around the garden, dearie? I think there would be some cute little critters out this time of year.” The girl looked up shyly, and then darted in between the plants, entertained for the time being.
Jinn chuckled. “Yes, she’s a sweet one. But Etna, that’s not why I came here. Can we go inside to talk?”
Etna looked at Jinn and pressed her lips together. “Of course, Jinn – anything you need, I have the time, okay?”
Etna opened the door and they both stepped inside. Jinn took off his cloak, draped it over a stool by the window and took a seat.
“Etna, back in our village, since you left decades ago, the situation has gotten much worse. I understand that you have feelings against going back there, but… I think it would really help if you did.”
Etna breathed in abruptly and looked around her bakery. “I mean, Jinn… you’re right about how I feel. I’m just starting a new life here after all this time, and frankly, I wasn’t treated well back home. What makes you think I should go back so urgently?”
Jinn put his hands on his legs and looked at her. “You know that we were never well off. And down in the village, the weather has changed recently – the Vallen’s big farm has had the soil dry up, the well is on its way to the same fate, and we’re all having quite the hard time providing for each other. It’s not like we could go elsewhere – the village is our home and the elders would never think of leaving. I know it’s important for me and my family to stay with my parents, and all of the neighbors have similar attachments. I was just thinking, we need someone who’s travelled like you have to help us. Surely you know someone who’s skilled in bringing water to the land? Or someone who could establish trade with our village? Etna, we’re really hurting – and your mother hasn’t been looking well lately, either.”
Etna frowned. “Jinn, I think you overestimate me. The years I spent after I left weren’t terribly enlightening. I’m just now starting to get myself together, and frankly, I didn’t stay anywhere for long and anybody who I might ask probably wouldn’t remember me. Given the… strained nature of my relationship with the village elders, I think it’s best if I don’t get involved, anyways.”
“I’m really sorry, Jinn – you did a lot helping me get established those years ago and I certainly owe you and your family a debt, but I just worry that coming back to the village would cause too much trouble in the… village politics.”
“Okay, Etna, I understand that you don’t feel comfortable there anymore, but is there really no way you could help out? There must be something. I know it’s a lot to ask, but if I go looking for new technology to improve our crop situation, would you help finance it?”
“I – okay. I’m not sure it’ll be much, but I’ll help, as a thank you to you.”
---
After Jinn left, Etna thought about her promise. She still wasn't sure that she had it in herself to make it as a baker. As important as her new profession was to her, she simply had never been very good at business. And now that she had agreed to send money away to her hometown, it was going to be even more difficult. And yet, it felt good to have some connection to the town she left behind twenty years ago. She got up from her stool with a newfound resolve and went back to the day's work.
1. What is your Minecraft username?
mariecy (I was previously whitelisted as awkwardursus, however I went inactive for several years and have since changed my username.)
2. How old are you?
19
3. What country are you from?
United States
4. Have you read the King's Law, Tome of Citizenship, Official Lore, and the Survival Guides yet?
Yes.
5. In your own words, how would you define metagaming and powergaming?
Metagaming is using OOC knowledge to guide your character’s actions when the character him/herself wouldn’t know the things that you do OOC.
Powergaming is when during roleplay, you don’t allow other roleplayers to control the outcome of the story – possibly by taking too many actions at a time, or trying to dictate the actions or feelings of another player in your own emotes.
6. Do we allow X-Raying mods or X-Ray texture packs on the server?
No.
7. Tell us about yourself!
My name is Emma, I’m a college student in the Northeast. I used to play on this server a lot during summer/winter break in 2012, and I ran a skin shop, to fund my tree/house in that incarnation of Tauredal. (You can see an example of my skins in my profile pic, and I’ve posted some more examples below.) Besides Minecraft stuff, my hobbies are painting, drawing, and cooking, and I’m studying physics at university. I think about food/cooking much too much, and my favorite foods are dumplings and noodles. I like making food with/for my friends, doing community organizing, and studying (haha I’m a nerd).
8. Do you have any examples of your work?
Yeah! Like I said above, I used to run a skin shop to fund my tree/house. Here are some examples of skins that I made during that time period.
9. Did anyone refer you?
No
About Your Character!
Character Name:
Etna Simsdottir
Character Age:
35
Character Race:
Human
Appearance:
Etna is 35 years old, and her hair is brown and a little bit grey, which some folks mind, but she doesn’t so much. She wears it down or in a long ponytail, and always has a pair of wooden eyeglasses perched on her nose. Short, but not very curvy, she has a toned body and weathered hands from her time spent doing odd jobs for most of her life. Etna wears a light-colored, striped blouse with the sleeves rolled up, suspenders, gray pants and no shoes.
(Are glasses within lore?)
(Optional) Picture of the Skin:
Written Test!
Etna Simsdottir sat down on her baker's stool and let out a great big sigh.
"Whoo," she puffed, thinking, "all done with today's kneading. Gosh, I can't say I've done so much work in a long time--not since I left Ma's shop in the south. It feels good to get back into this." Etna's eyes surveyed over her baker's shop, newly hers but showing its age, and then drifted inside the warm, smoking oven. She remembered how her mom's bakery used to sound on mornings like this one. The room would reverberate with the sounds of dough hitting the table, her mother running spare flour over her hands, and the crackle of logs burning down in the oven, ready for the day's baking. It had been twenty years since then, and feeling these sights and sound return to her was warmly welcome.
A rasp sounded at the door.
“Etna!!” A warm, gravelly voice called through the entryway. “I’ve got something – and someone – for you to see!” Etna stood up from her seat, quickly recognizing the voice of her friend Jinn. She opened the door and grinned toothily, stepping out of her little bakery to greet the tall and somewhat rounded man with a smile. Beside him stood a small child, wrapped in a warm red blanket.
“Jinn! How good to see you – and who is this little one you have? Is she yours? I hadn’t known you’d been up to such things, now. What a surprise – it seems like you’ve been doing well since I saw you a couple of years ago.”
“Yes, Etna – well, yes. Minnie here has been so excited to see your place – I told her that you had quite the big oven, and a nice garden, too and she’s been talking to me all day about how she wants to see.” Minnie grinned from beside her father’s knee, and then made a little sound and hid her face from view. “Why don’t you go look around the garden, dearie? I think there would be some cute little critters out this time of year.” The girl looked up shyly, and then darted in between the plants, entertained for the time being.
Jinn chuckled. “Yes, she’s a sweet one. But Etna, that’s not why I came here. Can we go inside to talk?”
Etna looked at Jinn and pressed her lips together. “Of course, Jinn – anything you need, I have the time, okay?”
Etna opened the door and they both stepped inside. Jinn took off his cloak, draped it over a stool by the window and took a seat.
“Etna, back in our village, since you left decades ago, the situation has gotten much worse. I understand that you have feelings against going back there, but… I think it would really help if you did.”
Etna breathed in abruptly and looked around her bakery. “I mean, Jinn… you’re right about how I feel. I’m just starting a new life here after all this time, and frankly, I wasn’t treated well back home. What makes you think I should go back so urgently?”
Jinn put his hands on his legs and looked at her. “You know that we were never well off. And down in the village, the weather has changed recently – the Vallen’s big farm has had the soil dry up, the well is on its way to the same fate, and we’re all having quite the hard time providing for each other. It’s not like we could go elsewhere – the village is our home and the elders would never think of leaving. I know it’s important for me and my family to stay with my parents, and all of the neighbors have similar attachments. I was just thinking, we need someone who’s travelled like you have to help us. Surely you know someone who’s skilled in bringing water to the land? Or someone who could establish trade with our village? Etna, we’re really hurting – and your mother hasn’t been looking well lately, either.”
Etna frowned. “Jinn, I think you overestimate me. The years I spent after I left weren’t terribly enlightening. I’m just now starting to get myself together, and frankly, I didn’t stay anywhere for long and anybody who I might ask probably wouldn’t remember me. Given the… strained nature of my relationship with the village elders, I think it’s best if I don’t get involved, anyways.”
“I’m really sorry, Jinn – you did a lot helping me get established those years ago and I certainly owe you and your family a debt, but I just worry that coming back to the village would cause too much trouble in the… village politics.”
“Okay, Etna, I understand that you don’t feel comfortable there anymore, but is there really no way you could help out? There must be something. I know it’s a lot to ask, but if I go looking for new technology to improve our crop situation, would you help finance it?”
“I – okay. I’m not sure it’ll be much, but I’ll help, as a thank you to you.”
---
After Jinn left, Etna thought about her promise. She still wasn't sure that she had it in herself to make it as a baker. As important as her new profession was to her, she simply had never been very good at business. And now that she had agreed to send money away to her hometown, it was going to be even more difficult. And yet, it felt good to have some connection to the town she left behind twenty years ago. She got up from her stool with a newfound resolve and went back to the day's work.
