Para's Pick-Up RP - maybe 1 of many, who knows?

[Para the Mite]

Okay, so I figured I have "Master of the Pitiless Mists" up for a good in-depth role-play (which usually always take a good while to start and finish, lol), so how about I run a casual, pick-up RP as well so everyone gets a chance if they want one? ^^

Pick-up role-plays are pretty much exactly as they sound, a simple scenario/introduction is provided (usually by the GM/ST/Mod), an introduction RP post is written and, boom, people start jumping in with their characters.

The cool thing about pick-ups is generally anyone or any characters are permitted in (unless some specific parameter is provided by the Storyteller/Mod in the scenario description; for this one all I ask is that everyone play a Redwall species of some sort.). They're meant to be pretty quick and easy to join hence why no strict character approval or screening is required. They're also meant to be fairly short, much like a single scene in a show or movie. This allows the role-play to end in a timely fashion so a new scenario can be provided and a new load of players/characters offered the chance to jump in. As more and more single-scene pick-ups occur, characters will start to encounter each other, possibly, more than once; allowing a sense of time passage, growth and progress.

Well...hopefully. xD lol, Sometimes it takes certain characters a particularly long time to learn their lesson.

I originally had a brief scenario but then I didn't like it and at some point drafted this little introduction for a scene with concepts I've never used. A simple summary of the scenario would be: A lone creature finds and tails a ship-wrecked crew of searats on the northwestern coast one foggy morning, and seeing that the crew are turning on one beast in particular to blame for the wreck, is forced to choose between fleeing or intervening on the rat's behalf when it becomes clear they intend to kill him in cold blood.

And here is the intro post that will start the IC thread:

Morning twilight hung like a smooth, stone-blue blanket over the glassy waters of the northwestern seashore. The ebbing tide lapped at the sandy beach in tranquil harmony, the waters barely seeming to make any noise at all in the calm of the dawn rollers. The wave sets came and went like silent specters, crumbling upon their own peaks in silent splendor as cool fog hugged its surface and dampened the beach sand underpaw. It caused the entire scene to seem quite still, silent and unmoving. The cool, spring miasma even created drifting patterns in the expanse, distorting distances and hiding obstacles and landmarks in its gray-white shroud.

The shore soon became almost an impenetrable wall of brackish fog as all semblance of time was lost in the mist-conquered spring morning. All that could be heard was the faraway lap of the water and the occasional cry of a gull in search of food.

Silent and aware, a long figure picked its way through the quickly thickening fog. It was hard to tell what manner of beast it was in the coastal haze, but it seemed to move with a sure-footedness one would expect from a beast familiar with every rock and shell on the coastline. It continued a slow meandering path north along the coast, combing the tide-line for all manner of things which the creature stuffed into some form of satchel at its side. Suddenly it paused and issued a melodious whistle which sounded for all the world like the call of a blackbird. From somewhere in the fog north of it, an identical whistle responded. With a smile the creature moved to continue on, slipping into the water with nary a ripple, the creature disappeared beneath the dark waters in an instant, disappearing into a pool of coral, rock and lurking sea life.

It reappeared several minutes later, leaping from the water with a feral grace only a born swimmer could manage. It landed back in the shallows, webbed feetpaws digging with tiny claws into barnacle encrusted sea boulders just below the surface. Shaking water from its' fur it then patted its very full satchel fondly and picked a slow path back towards the hazy shore. The fog only seemed to have gotten thicker.

Angry voices in the mist caused the creature to stop rigid as though frozen in place. Straining, it tried to hear what was being said as it slipped back into the water and crept silently towards the sounds.
"It ain't me fault!" Somebeast protested, his voice nearly a shriek.

"Oh it ain't, ain't it? What beast fell asleep an' let the ship run afoul o' rocks, eh, slugbrain!?" Called back a challenging female voice.

A murmur of angry assent filtered through a small crowd of voices that could have been no less than a score strong. Warily, the eavesdropping creature stole further forward as shapes began to outline themselves in the chowder-thick fog. It was a disheveled and very much unhappy crew of searats, some wet and returning to the waterline to salvage supplies from a nearby wreckage.

It was fairly clear what had happened as the vermin continued to argue.

"It's your fault we're stuck 'ere! Gribbij! Rill! 'Elp me string this feckless excuse fer a searat up in yon rocks!"

The unfortunate rat that everybeast seemed eager to blame was a smallish brown creature mottled with gray that everybeast called Patchy. His wide eyes showed his fear as two hefty crewrats seized him by his arms and began carrying him bodily back towards an outcrop of craggy rocks further up the beach.
"Please! It...it t'was a mistake! Ye know I wuddn't 'ave 'armed our 'ol War'awk, I loved that ship as much as the rest o' ye did!" He pleaded.

A rat with exceptionally dark fur stepped forward with a wicked grin and, brandishing a wickedly curved skinning knife, licked its blade threateningly. It was the same female who spoke earlier. "Ye made yer last mistake, mate. Twice ye nearly got us lost, now all that's left o' War'awk we're pulling from the sea. Ye were a run o' bad luck ever since ye came aboard!"

Several angry shouts of agreement rang out in rapid succession.
"Aye! All 'e was, was trouble! From day one!"
"Biggest excuse fer a searat if ever there was one!"
"A mole could manage water better n' that beast!"
"Aye! And likely eat less, too!"

The tall female, who was called Darkblade, seemed to be the rabble-rouser, and urged her mates on with her wicked laughter. "Noose that ratjack's neck and let's see if'n 'e can fly better n' 'e can sail!"
Whooping, hollering and laughing with cruel amusement, several of the vicious crew scrambled to comply, eager for blood and retribution for their run of foul fortune. The hapless prisoner could only wilt under the stern grips of his former shipmates as they quickly scrabbled up the rocks until they felt they were high enough for the task.

Sadistically, Gribbij, one of the burly gray crewrats, gave Patchy a devilish wink as he fitted the noose round his neck. "Don't be afeared, Scumpatch, t'will all be over soon!"

"Unless'n 'is neck don't break right away!" A voice barked with malicious humor from the gathered crew on the ground.

It immediately earned a wave of raucous laughter from everybeast that heard the comment.

Patchy simply trembled and shut his eyes tight, as though trying to pretend he were somewhere else.

"Well?" Darkblade breached the small crest of the boulder and strode purposely towards the prisoner. Gribbij and the other burly rat Rill held the victim forward so that he could not avoid the female's cold gaze. Patchy wilted as she grinned evilly and asked, "Any last words?"

As the crew had moved further along the beach the shadow tailing them followed several paces behind, staying just out sight in the thick fog. Flanking the excited searats, it cut a long path round and dove to take shelter below the rocks the searats had chosen to climb. All of the voices were clear as day, it was hard to miss anything that was said.

Biting its lip nervously the silent, sneaking creature backed up away from the rats, mentally debating what was to be done. It might not have been fond of vermin or searats...but watching a beast's cold-blooded murder wasn't necessarily something that it set out to do.

But what could be done outnumbered and alone...? And was it truly worth the risk?

Making a swift mental calculation the creature whistled again, only this time gave the brief, twittering, warning cry of a thrush. And there it waited as it sat with its back to the stone and unwound a wide-tongued sling from its wrist.

Hoping for the best of scenarios.

All you need to do is respond here in the OOC thread by posting your character template. It only takes one other person for me to post up the intro in an in-character thread so the role-playing can start. That's the point. It starts quick and people can jump in or out at any time. =)

Character Template/Sheet:
*Pick-up templates can be filled out in a fashion that doesn't truly reveal the honest information. Some creatures may sound like males but are truly females, some may disguise themselves to look like another species or a different age. If your character has such a feature or trait, feel free to put the "misinformed" answer instead of the real one.

Name:
Age:
Sex:
Species:
Physical Appearance:

Okay, well, that's it. x3, Now we just wait for people to join. As soon as the first full template is up I'll make the IC thread and link it here so everyone can find it easily enough.

One other thing I should probably note, in most pick-up RPs, NPC characters (non-player characters) can be controlled by everyone. This allows everyone to sort of "have a hand" in directing the story and the way the NPCs act and react to the players themselves. In an ideal pick-up RP, all players dedicate a portion of their post to NPC-action. Or, in an even MORE ideal scenario, you have other players who opt to jump in to play disposable NPCs. By letting other actual players take on the roll of story NPCs, it sort of allows a bridge to separate one side from the other. Everyone tends to write better and fight harder to try and outdo the other side and win whatever conflict is taking place. lol xD

Healthy competition, no one keeps points, it's just sort of a...duel of style so to speak. lol

Or, just a chance to jump in and have some fun without worrying too much about how long it'll take. x3, Sometimes I prefer NPCs because they're here and gone and then I don't have to worry about it anymore. lol

Anyway, feel free to join away! xD, Your characters don't need my approval, so just stick 'em up and then we can get rolling. x3

[Maudie]

Hmm, a pickup RP? I've never heard of that sort of thing before. I was wondering if you thought that this would be a good starter for a first time RPer, what do you think?