#vel:lore

[velgroverp]

event 001 — the vanishing ends.

and on the fourteenth day, the sun rose again. 

the rooster crows, and crows, and crows — here, we see daylight once more. let us not lose it again.

on the morning that the sun returned, velgrove was not quite the same. it was hurriedly reported one by one, as residents stumbled across these sudden anomalies, that eeries had erected themselves throughout the town. six statues stood on marble pedestals shrouded in marble veils, eyes all closed. 

six statues of unnamed maidens were discovered through the different locations of velgrove — 

one in front of town hall in town center. she wears an anguished grimace.

one almost fully submerged in the lake at the lakeside she wears a peaceful smile. 

one directly beneath the waterfall in santhe bay. she wears a heartbroken sob.

one near the lighthouse at the beach shore. she wears a despondent look. (discovery claimed by jane doe)

one hidden near the edge of the thistle forest cliffside. she wears a fearful expression. (discovery claimed by sol graves)

one risen in the expanse of the open unclaimed fields. she wears an expression of anger. (discovery claimed by eudora yang)

hello little grovelings, and welcome to the "last leg" of our first official event!

now that the sun has returned, six unknown statues have appeared throughout velgrove. this is one last chance to cast your muse into another special prompt opportunity. the prompts for these will be accepted for activity and must be posted by the next activity check. as this is now post official event, these prompts will not be reopened if they are not answered in time.

the special prompts will be canon for your muse. the prompt will be centered around your muse discovering the statue and their reaction to it.

there will be two spots available for these prompts. winners will be allowed to choose which statue your muse discovers on a first come first basis once announced.

as these will be acceptable for next week's activity check, the time for submission will only be for the next 48 hours. submissions will close 7/2 @ 7.59pm gmt-6.

an eerie(s): velgrove slang for the inexplainable things that happen within town.

[velgroverp]

(original character. literate. 18+. slice of life. psychological horror. historical. alternate universe.)

mobile navigation. premise / guidelines / masterlist / locations / businesses / residences / navigation / carrd

incoming!

event 003 — our maiden's harvest (now ended, closing post wip!).

new updates — see latest update post.

acceptances on tuesdays and saturdays.

updates! (utilize tags below for past updates/drops)

activity task. — for 1/18. monthly town board. — 124DW73. roleplay skeletons. — available for claim. reservations & applications. — updated daily.

tags directory below

vel:update — roleplay related updates

vel:notice — admin updates

vel:world — world/setting updates

vel:lore — lore updates

vel:mw — most wanted anythings

vel:wc — wanted connections

[velgroverp]

is it fair to assume religion in this universe is also alternate to reality, and that locals have developed worships of their own? and would this worship be more oriented towards harvest and good fortune, like some of your cited inspos for the directory? like stardew valley with its assumed earth/harvest deity (yoba) and kynseed with its fae goddesses. or is religion not a thing in velgrove? thank you so much!

hi little groveling!

religion exists in this world in many different ways as how it does in real life or any other fictional setting. this specific aspect is actually something i haven't fully fleshed out mostly because the southern region isn't very religion oriented. (that's not to say it wouldn't be introduced to velgrove through events since this is not entirely set in stone). of the two major cities, londai definitely has more sectors of religious influence and belief through exposure from other cultures and cities.

velgrove itself isn't very religious though there are many mysteries that would seem religious like you mentioned because of the stardew/kynseed inspired parts. for the southern region, it would be more accurate to say that practiced beliefs from the major cities are based on revering legendary figures, ancestral spirits, and spiritual icons (the likes of saints). this kind of explains why despite everything that happens in velgrove, the people have never really believed or considered it to be specific gods or deities. that's not to say, outsiders couldn't rationalize it that way through their own religion, only that it wouldn't be an easily accepted idea/belief by locals.

with belief in legendary figures, the southern region does hold fables and folklore with high regard. they also believe in ancient stories sprinkled with magic such as tellings of giants or variants of supernatural creatures - inhuman creatures or creatures shapeshifting into humanoid forms. though, you'll never really hear stories of humans turning into said creatures. for example, werewolves are are more animalistic, vampires aren't believed to have ever been human, there's no belief that humans can turn into said creatures after being attacked or maimed by fable/folk creatures. this example is something that applies to the entire world and setting of the roleplay to divulge from the idea of supernatural humans/a supernatural world.

in terms of other countries, muns are free to create religions of their own as they wish if/however applicable to their muse.

i hope this gives a better understanding of how religion is perceived in this setting. for clarity, some of these points may change with the roleplay's continued development. thank you for the question!

admin v —

[velgroverp]

question about the missing people! is that a recent development or has it always been part of the town lore? thanks!

hi little groveling!

this is a great question! the missing people in velgrove has been part of the town's history ever since it's early years of establishment. it wasn't entirely concerning at the beginning as many people believed those who went "missing" had simply decided to leave the town due to the hardships that came with creating a foundation for the town.

once the town had a solid grounding and people continued to vanish, however, is when it began to become a concern to the townsfolk. what really cemented the horrid truth that something was wrong was when children began to go missing without any trace. this triggered the reaction of people looking deeper to identify the signs of when someone left of their own freewill compared to simply disappearing due to the mysterious circumstances surrounding the town.

i hope this clears up any confusion! if you have any other questions, please feel free to send them in!

admin v —

[velgroverp]

would there be a university or higher education institution of some kind in hano-dulum? or would people need to travel even further to find, say, a medical school? thank you!

hi little groveling!

the short answer to your question is yes! higher education very much exists in this world, and muses are able to have attended any of the universities that exist in hano-dulum or londai for various areas of study such as medical school.

for a much more in depth explanation on the schools that exist and how they function, please see below for all the details!

in relation to velgrove, proper education isn't available in the town due to its population and size. however, foundational classes are offered at the lakeside library for children, teenagers, and anyone seeking to learn. it's common for children born in velgrove to move to the cities to pursue higher education. many tend to stay away and start building their lives there once they have a taste of the outside world. this effect is well-known and anticipated by the residents of the town - simply another factor that keeps the population as small as it is.

regarding the bigger cities, hano-dulum has three well known academic institutions. there is the "the dulum institution of women" (commonly referred to as diw /'dew/) opposite the "university for aristocratic men" (commonly referred to as ufa /'yufey/). the men's university was established first with the women's university following suit in just under five years. both universities were established by the aristocrats within hano-dulum for families of higher status. through the years as the universities looked to bolster their reputations, they decided that the quickest way to earn favor with local residents was to broaden those representing the student body. both universities began allowing students of lower class to attend while offering generous financial aid to support those students. this was a successful tactic on their end as since, both universities have maintained exceptional reputations of prestige and acknowledgement within the academic world.

within the recent past two decades, a newer university was established in the part of hano, known as "the institute of hano" (commonly known as the pillar of hano). it was given an ambitious nickname as part of establishing itself as a notable contender against the older universities. however, what truly made the pillar stand out was that the university fell closer in line to being a large trade school. students are able to go into a specific focus and graduate within 2 to 3 years which became largely popularized with the all the economic, social, and cultural developments that took place in hano-dulum during it's peak years of growth.

londai also has a very well-known university - the londai institute of knowledge (londai institute for short). the school is famously known more so for the different and reputable professors teaching there. another defining feature of the school is the curriculum that they offer being much wider than hano-dulum's allowing students to go into nicher areas of study due to their exchange programs and resources as a port city. the institute is known as a top university in the south and is highly competitive to get into. rather than focusing on prestige, their university's focus is on harnessing knowledge to encourage development within the city and around the region.

the londai institute is also known for it's special campus that allows students who didn't get accepted to essentially work on a trimester long project on school grounds. at the end of the trimester they would get evaluated on the final results of the projects to attest their waitlist or rejection from the university. if an applicant scores high enough, the time spent on their project will count for credits and they will be allowed to enroll into the college on a trial basis. they must then maintain two trimesters worth of schooling while meeting the institute's measurements of success to keep their place or else they'll be forced to forfeit their place. it's general knowledge that taking part in the special campus is very stressful as the work that is to presented must be beneficial to the city's development in some way. very few applicants actually pass but the few who do and manage to maintain their places usually become very well-known in the academic sphere.

this was a lot of information on just universities, but i felt it could help in terms of shaping the experience of younger muses who may have just graduated from school or for muses who have attended places of higher education at any point in time.

if you have any other questions, please feel free to send them in. thank you for the wonderful ask!

admin v —

[velgroverp]

given its slightly isolated nature, has velgrove developed its own dialect? or would native velgrovians have a mixture of the londai and hano-dullum dialects?

hi little groveling!

this is great a question and it’s exciting to see how interested you are in the worldbuilding of velgrove! 

rather than any big dialect shifts, you’re right about the town has more of hybrid dialect between hano-dullum and londai. there’s not a concrete way to pinpoint how or which parts of each dialect were adapted into the dialect velgrove has, but it’s very clear with the mixture of vowel usage. 

the dialect does have a heavy lean towards londai‘s accent considering records have tracked most residents  coming from londai when the town was first established. for the records that were preserved from the founder’s personal journal, it’s believed the hano-dullum accent was integrated into velgrove’s hybrid dialect because of the possibility the founder came from hano-dullum. this is based on the earliest entries having been documented in said city, and the spelling habits commonly seen from those residing in hano-dullum. 

similarly, with foreign languages like english and korean, each city’s accents will carry over. as such, velgrove also has mixed accents with english and korean in town. 

i hope this gives a better idea of the languages and dialects in velgrove! thank you for your question! 

admin v —

[velgroverp]

i'm trying to make a muse from a different country. what language is native in velgrove, is it korean adjacent or something else? sorry if this is a hard question, but does it have a name? thank you!

hi little groveling!

hard question indeed, but it offers more insight to the world of velgrove so i’m more than happy to answer with additional worldbuilding if it helps with immersion and creation! 

this is a long-winded answer so please see more below the cut! 

languages in the region that velgrove exists in, alongside hano-dullum and londai are very similar. velgrove - considered as a byproduct of both cities as a majority/origin of its history/residents came from the neighboring cities means velgrove has seen just as much diversity and hybrid culture as the other two cities. 

the setting’s equivalent of “english” /named english would be considered one of the common languages alongside “korean” /named korean. english, similar to how it is in real life, serves as a widely accepted global language to make communication easier. 

native language wise, there are clear dialect differences between hano-dullum and londai (including their governed villages). 

the official language of this region would be known as “u’de onteu” (south people, a quite literal translation of: people of the south). 

hano-dullum’s dialect is sharper and vowels commonly take sound after each other, making the dialect slightly harder for outsiders to learn fluently. for example , u’de onteu would be pronounced “ee-day entew”. whereas, londai would pronounce u’de onteu with softer and more elongated vowels such as “oo-day awn-two”. 

londai’s more direct accent (letter to sound) is a more popularized dialect of u’de onteu considering that as a port city, many people come and go from it. it’s theorized that hano-dullum maintains the more original dialect of the southern language with their heavy focus on preserving history and culture especially amongst the higher classes. on the other hand, londai sees many different cultures coming and going and many parts of the city have adapted through different cultural exposures with time leading to the belief these factors influenced the shift in dialect. 

other pronunciation examples using current city names:

hano-dullum dialect

hano-dullum - ha-nao due-lem

londai - lon-dey

lanami - lay-ney-mi

cou’ve - koo-vee

velgrove - veil-grove

londai dialect

hano-dullum - ha-no-doo-luhm

londai - lon-dai

lanami - lah-nah-mi

cou’ve - koo-vey (with a soft aspirated h at the end of ‘vey’)

velgrove - vel-grove

i’m so excited to hear you’re working on a muse! i hope this offers a better idea on language in velgrove and the region! if you have any other questions, please feel free to send them in and i will answer to the best i can - challenging or not! 

admin v —

[velgroverp]

updates & world/lore drop!

hello little grovelings! this big update comes with the announcement that much more world and lore has been added to our pages (and thus, tossing this in the tags)!

multiple pages have been updated and new pages have also been added to provide supplemental details and enrichment to the current world that velgrove exists in. to our dear current applicants, these updates should not affect your muses and their backgrounds in any significant way. however, if you find that with the new information provided that you would like to adjust your app in any way, please feel free to resubmit your application with an updated one and let main know with a private message!

the biggest updates i would like to highlight are —

though velgrove is not set in a specific time period, a year has been set for ease of time reference when writing ic and for muse interactions. check out the WORLD page for more info!

visual maps have been created to provide some reference of the town's layout and surroundings including two cities for more world/lore — also offered as a point to compare/contrast velgrove's setting to. check out the WORLD page for a world map and the LOCATIONS page for the town map!

a new location has been added alongside the current existing places within velgrove! check out the LOCATIONS page for the new location!

velgrove's mysteries have been added to provide further context for some of the strange things that happen in the grove. check out the MYSTERIES page for more info!

this should be the last biggest update moving forward! if you have any questions about the new information, please feel free to send in an ask!