welcome to the collective.

The year is 1920 and prohibition hangs heavy on the city of New Orleans. Unbeknownst to human citizens, there are other secrets hiding in the shadows of the Big Easy – secrets provided by newfound neighbors who may not be as mortal as they seem. (mn) WELCOME TO ZORA.

[zorarpg]

The Annual Birthday Festival

The first signs of dawn are on the horizon, but those attending the Annual Birthday Festival find themselves undeterred by the sun’s imminent arrival. A lively beat echoes, carried through the air with magic, and the festival is still lively. Many linger, eager to celebrate the last few minutes of being themselves before they must, once more, hide. 

It’s the witches who first notice something is wrong as a sharp pain stabs through their heads. Some describe it as the feeling of a strong spell breaking, and others think of it as the whiplash of too strong spell appearing. A faint whiff of smoke lingers in the air, and if guests look to the estate, they see the glimmer of flames against glass windows and smoke drifting through doors as the spells protecting the Zora Estate collapse. A witch cries out as another spell replaces the fallen one, and those closest the building find themselves forced away as protective spells activate.

Tense and wary, some flee what seems like a nearing battle, but many wait, unwilling to leave the heart of Zora so defenseless. A figure moves in the window and the magic in the air is tangible - but it is only Mayor Julian Flamel, hair singed and suit sleeves burning, chanting the spells that will keep the fire from spreading any further. Others join him, eager to protect this legacy of their town, and its only when the fire is fully doused sometime later that Mayor Flamel speaks: “Zoraida’s grimoire is gone.”

And with those parting words, dawn breaks over the town, and the birthday festival is over. Those who linger are enlisted in cleaning up, or searching the grounds, but there’s no sign of the grimoire anywhere on the property and spells to find it come up empty. 

To the writers

To summarize the ending: a fire breaks out inside the Zora estate proper that’s largely contained by the protective spells over the building. During this time, an unknown person(s) stole Zoraida’s grimoire, one of the oldest grimoires in Zora’s history and a prominent piece of witch and Zora lore.

Here you have the end of the birthday festival! Thank you to everyone who has participated so far - and you are welcome to continue your event threads until they reach their natural conclusions. How your characters react and what your characters do is up to you!

Please let me know if you have any questions.

[zorarpg]

“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls.”

– Anais Nin

NAME: Theodore Machado BIRTHDAY: January 14th 1895 GENDER: Cisgender male SPECIES: Witch OCCUPATION: Caretaker of Montmorency Park YEAR THEY JOINED ZORA: 1916 FACECLAIM: Sebastian de Souza

HISTORY

The grandson of a Portuguese immigrant whaler who relocated to California shortly after the Gold Rush, Theo grew up half on land and half on the sea. His family was far from well-off, but being raised in the heart of San Francisco, soaking up the beautiful California coast, Theodore Machado had no cares in the world for the first eleven years of his life. He’d never gotten along with kids his own age, being a little too dark-skinned with kinky hair and brown eyes, but he played simple games with his parents like marbles, memory, chess or jacks. Despite how close he was to his mother, a witch, she never shared that particular fact with him and it would be years before he learned of his potential. Young Theo always carried a deck of cards on his person, and lost many stray cards to the Pacific Ocean from poor execution of tricks which usually ended in laughs and cheer from family members. His childhood was overall a happy one that left him with many good memories of closeness with his parents and the little extended family he had in America. However due to the 1906 earthquake that devastated San Francisco and the fires that followed, Theo was soon orphaned and left to fend for himself at a young age. Ever since then, he tried to suppress his emotions and hide any negativity behind his big brown eyes that people swore were windows into his kind soul, but he faked his happiness on and off for years because once you lose a part of yourself, it is normal to mourn for a years on end.

He hadn’t been taught about the witchcraft that ran through his blood, as his mother kept it a secret from his powerless father, so it was a little bit of a coincidence when he hit the road and eventually called a traveling circus his new home. This just fueled his need to please people and ignore any pang the boy felt as he grew, unaware that pain was a normal concept of living for it rarely visited him when his parents were still on Earth. Theo was young and nimble, and others would call him a hard worker even at his young age, but he found all the props fun to play with, and was surprisingly easy to talk to. Regardless of the shtick his coworkers honed, the young and shapeable Theo had never been one to judge others. He was harder on his own misgivings more than anyone else he ever came across, and liked the makeup and uniqueness most of his new friends sported. It didn’t take long for him to practice card tricks and sleight of hand. Before he turned fourteen, Theo became a helper on stage and a few months later he had his own act. And when they started traveling overseas, some folks getting sick from the heavy waves crashing into their ship, Theo knew he had found his new home among the bohemians.

Theo is over the worst of his grief. In fact, he always distracts himself from feeling down. Therefore, when the circus announced they’d be going to Portugal, Theodore Machado dipped out of the tavern one night to avoid any remembrance of his family. However, this made a whole other reason for grief, not cutting as deep as his family dying from traumatic fires and earthquakes, but the loss of a loved one, or multitudes of loved ones, was now an open wound that he tried to drown his sorrows in some alcohol. That was when a samodiva named Anders Reid tracked him down and, in his drunken haze, Theo slightly remembered angelic wings upon the man’s back.

It’s funny, as he learns more about what he is capable of, it brings in long-shrouded memories of his mother in her bedroom before his father came home from work. After school, Theo would sneak into their home and watch his mother bore over, what he would later realize, was a spell book. Over the last few years, he has been trying to make friends to learn more about himself and this other world that was right under his nose. He wishes he could show his circus family that they weren’t the only likely creatures to scare schoolchildren. In fact he thinks of both of his families often when he practices magic, wishing he could share this side of himself with his mother, boast his talents to his father, and maybe make the big bucks underneath the circus tent to bring his friends and family out for a well-earned dinner. Always with a big smile plastered on his face, Theo considers himself good at finding friends or people to talk to on trivial, boring days; he could always find the joy in the monotonous, and that talent has stuck with him for his whole life.

CONNECTIONS

Anders Reid, recruiter

STATUS

Theodore Machado is taken.

[zorarpg]

Theodore Machado

[zorarpg]

Hello, Chloe! Your character Theodore Machado has been happily welcomed into Zora. Please be sure to follow the steps on the new member checklist upon your entry. Welcome to the collective – we can’t wait to write with you!

[zorarpg]

Aside from your present skeletons, what are some character types you’d like to see?

Great question! We could use some more bold characters, honestly — whether that means outgoing or opinionated about the goings-on of the community (or both), it’d work. We would also like characters who might own / work in some of the businesses on our location page — or an invention of your own!

For specific suggestions, here are some fun ideas:

Someone who might be new to the world and therefore enthusiastic about all the things they learn. Possibly questions why the community hides because wow this is incredible?? and also because they possibly haven't experienced the same drawbacks as others yet, or maybe believe educating others is the only way for it to get better. I call this one a bit of the mediator.

Someone who strongly believes in Zora and probably has a hand in their leadership process / wants to have a hand in it because they believe they can do better, or that they have great ideas to offer, or that they are simply just passionate about the community in general. I call this personality a bit of the politician.

Someone who might not have a positive experience about/with all the other species. Perhaps they have a mentality that places their own species above others, or maybe it's not them against everyone so much as them against one particular species for whatever reason. It doesn't have to be antagonistic in nature, there's a lot of possibilities

Admin M

[zorarpg]

Anders Reid 

Zelena Ambrose

[zorarpg]

Through the darkness of future past, the magician longs to see, one chance out between two worlds, fire walk with me!

– David Lynch, Twin Peaks

NAME: Anders Reid BIRTHDAY: October 13th 1859 GENDER: Cisgender male SPECIES: Samodiva OCCUPATION: Zora recruiter; Bouncer at the Royal Flush YEAR THEY JOINED ZORA: 1899 FACECLAIM: Dan Stevens

HISTORY

Anders Reid, or Reid as he liked to be called had big dreams that happened to have gone terribly wrong. Born in Kentucky in 1859, Reid didn’t have much in the way of family and what he did have seemed to be the wrong kind of people.As a result he spent most of his childhood traveling to find better opportunities. Picking up skills with the various other people that he crossed paths with and trying to make some sort of sustainable life for himself. In the back of his mind there was always the allure of the American West and Reid knew that at some point he was going to give into temptation. He was always a hard worker and had a tendency to be quite hospitable despite not appearing friendly. There was a stoicism that usually meant he seemed unmoving whenever the tension had been rising around him. While the strong and silent type, Reid had a huge heart and was prone to playing a knight in shining armor if he ever saw anyone do an unkind thing to someone else. The older he got the more he began to discover his own abilities. He could shoot a gun and play a hell of a poker game, but his real skills lied in his powers. Reid was good at being able to persuade others when a situation was going to prove to be disastrous. He never used it for selfish means, instead trying to avoid confrontation with a sense of subtle manipulation. Eventually, he finally gave in to temptation and traveled out west to California to seek more than his previous travels had offered him. He used his skills at cards to finance his trip through each new destination. While he tried not to push anyone’s buttons, a specific win in a Nevada saloon had rattled his rival to the point of wanting payback. A fight broke out and Reid had left the other man broke and embarrassed by the beat down and ready for a rematch.

Once arriving in California thing’s seemed to have turned around for Reid. Everything seemed perfect at the time. He’d managed to make a living helping construct the new town and was offering to utilize whatever skills he could to help the small settlement prosper. He’d also fallen in love with a young woman in the town and eventually got married and had a daughter. Thing’s had seemed too good to be true until one night. Reid didn’t believe he had many demons and thought he was a good person, but his way of living had repercussions and in the middle of the night he came face to face with the barrel of a gun and his wife laying dead on the floor. He had tried to use his powers on the other man who he remembered from a brutal card game but was surprised to discover nothing worked on him. Reid had ripped off the wrong man and him and his gang came to collect. After being injured and left for dead his home was on fire and all that had been left of his old left had turned to ash. The only hope he had was the fact he had managed to get his young daughter out of the house. Reid knew it was enough hope to keep going, but something in the Samodiva had snapped. He didn’t want hope. He wanted revenge. Reid left his daughter with his now deceased wife’s family and vowed to return as he set out to take out the men who ruined his family. The idealistic and helpful young soul had been replaced with someone who wanted to watch the world burn as he had watched his own. A pillar of a small town community had become an outlaw who hunted other outlaws.

Over time a reputation had grown that Reid was not someone to get in the way of. He had become jaded and so much of his optimism was gone. Years later he managed to get most of the gang back that had killed his wife only to realize the main man he was after had been a revenant the whole time, making revenge seem unlikely. Still, Reid wanted some form of payback but needed time to think about what to do next. Unfortunately, so much time had passed by the time he returned home that his daughter had grown up and started her own life away from her home. His search for revenge had cost him a chance to raise his own child and he only had himself to blame. It was hard for Reid to know what to do with his life next and without a way to find where his daughter was, Reid began to travel again. This time across the globe, knowing his travels would either bring him face to face with his family or the one man he has unfinished business with. While in Paris, he had been found by a Zora recruiter and soon he found some purpose in his life again. He began to move with the collective seeing if the new approach would bring him face to face with the past again. Reid has plenty of time, but the longer he becomes a member of Zora the more he realizes he might not get the answers he had wanted for so long.

CONNECTIONS

N/A

STATUS

Anders Reid is taken.

[zorarpg]

Hello, Rachael! Your characters Anders Reid and Zelena Ambrose have been happily welcomed into Zora. Please be sure to follow the steps on the new member checklist upon your entry. Welcome to the collective – we can’t wait to write with you!

[zorarpg]

She was a wild wicked slip of a girl. She burned too bright for this world.

- Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

NAME: Zelena Ambrose BIRTHDAY: August 23rd 1820 GENDER: Cisgender female SPECIES: Banshee OCCUPATION: Burlesque dancer at Club Entre Nous YEAR THEY JOINED ZORA: 1919 FACECLAIM: Anya Taylor-Joy

HISTORY

There are always two sides to every story, but Zelena would rather you forgot about both. Some of her life is shrouded in myth and she is not one to divulge details out of sheer disappointment for her past actions. It has been easier to keep people guessing to avoid the truth. Born to a family of banshees and thieves in New York. who lived by the motto ‘fake it till you make it’. By virtue of that lifestyle it made Zelena adept at being able to tell a hell of a story. With wide expressive eyes and features that belonged to someone who should have been doing more constructive thing’s with her life than stealing from pockets and stealing kisses, she was able to fool others into thinking she was not how she presented herself. As she grew older, Zelena began to cultivate a new identity for herself. Her powers started to develop in a way so that she could manipulate the situation in her favor. She could sense emotions and play up this ability in order to get what she wanted out of people. It made sense why her family had been so good at what they had done, but Zelena wanted more out of life. Why do all this work and still feel like you were part of the starving class?

An opportunity presented itself on a dark and disastrous night in 1876. The family had felt it weeks before. The rumbling in their chests and the screams at night, signaling a death was near, but whose? The Brooklyn Theatre Fire killed hundreds of people and the chilling feeling had echoed within the family. It was a disaster. It was also an opportunity that Zelena saw an opening to help herself. Once the dust had settled and the panic had ended, Zelena had a plan. There were so many lives lost and the spirits had started to make their presences known. It was easy to get a picture of the homes left abandoned with no other family members to inherit. Zelena took this as a chance to make a new life for herself in the ashes of someone else home. She took up residence and lived off a woman’s wealth pretending to be the other person and living off their funds. Her actions had caused a rift with some members of her family, but to others, they helped her in her plans of living her life through other people. She had taken the con to a new level and anytime someone poked around and asked questions it was easy to spin a lie and tell a tale when you could sense emotions. She had essentially stolen someone else’s identity while making up a new one to benefit herself. However, that didn’t stop the dead from trying to contact Zelena. Some out of a need for help and some out of anger for what she was doing. After a while the whole thing started to take a toll on Zelena and she started to get messy. It became harder to keep control over the screams and the communication that Zelena was finally starting to see the harm in what she had done. One night someone had caught on to her scheme and started to track her down. She had no idea how she had been found out but they were hot on her trail. Between the spirits, the police and one man who was the fiance of the identity she took, Zelena started to realize where she had gone wrong. She needed to get out and make a new start otherwise she might not be able to charm her way out of this one. She needed a clean break and maybe for once the voices would stop.

After the fiasco of trying to make a better life for herself had failed, she needed to try to be an honest person. She couldn’t risk becoming possessed from her past actions. Despite how good her intentions were though, they had proven to be in vain and the spirit of the woman who she had stolen the identity of had finally caught up to her and possessed Zelena. If she wanted to be her, then she would take her down with her. Luckily aid had come in an unlikely source and she had managed to thwart the spirit; shaking Zelena to her core. It was at that moment she had been given a second chance and she had found her way into Zora and the collective. She was used to all eyes being on her, but this was something else entirely. Zelena had to come clean and admit to her past in order to get a new start. She would be given a second chance and hopefully avoid possession again. She wasn’t sure if her own sanity could survive another attack. Zelena is a new resident and as a result she is still getting used to the town that really has no idea who she is, but also potentially knows everything about her. She doesn’t know who to trust yet and mostly keeps things close in order to avoid drama. However, the pull of her past always seems to make her want to do something that would be frowned upon. You can change your identity and lifestyle as many times as you want, but the past always comes to collect.

CONNECTIONS

N/A

STATUS

Zelena Ambrose is taken.

[zorarpg]

(+2) character awaiting entrance…

[zorarpg]

can i have some female fc suggestions for the steadfast? i'm thinking maybe daniela alonso

Of course! Daniela would be a great choice. Here are just a few other suggestions in case you need them:

Viola Davis

Gemma Chan

Lupita Nyong’o

Julia Jones

Aisha Tyler

Tamara Taylor

Thanks for the question!

- Admins A & M

[zorarpg]

Remmington Castille

[zorarpg]

Hi again, Pam! Your character Remmington Castille has been happily welcomed into Zora. Please be sure to send their blog our way once you’ve made it. Welcome to the collective.

[zorarpg]

“And the most terrifying question of all may be just how much horror the human mind can stand and still maintain a wakeful, staring, unrelenting sanity.”

– Stephen King, Pet Sematary

NAME: Remmington “Remmy” Castille BIRTHDAY: August 11th 1894 GENDER: Cisgender male SPECIES: Revenant OCCUPATION: Server at The Royal Flush YEAR THEY JOINED ZORA: 1920 FACECLAIM: Joe Keery

HISTORY

Being born with it all isn’t always the start of a charmed life. Often, it simply leads to one being lonely and unprepared. This was the case with Remington Castille, a baby boy born to wealthy parents in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Despite receiving mostly neglect from his parents, Remy was a happy boy growing up. Largely, this had to do with his governess, who would often show him magic tricks. He loved this and was fascinated by magic in general. She was a witch, she told him one day, but he wasn’t to tell a soul. This was an easy task for Remy, who was a good secret keeper and a good liar as well. As he aged, he grew more and more restless for adventure and to learn. His parents had kept him sheltered and even his loyal governess couldn’t teach him everything of the world, especially because some lessons like love and heartbreak have to be learned by experience. By the time he reached adulthood, he was still incredibly naive to most things and overwhelmingly trusting. His governess tried to warn him of this and where misplaced trust could land him multiple times, but he failed to understand. Remy simply couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of people being inherently bad. His parents, while not great to him specifically, never harmed people or did anything against the law.

He still had not learned his lesson by the time he finally fell in love, at age 25, with a woman named Julia. He was enamored and amazed by her and truly believed her when she said that she was with him as well. They were married by the end of the year, despite his governess’s doubts and concerns- he never paid those much mind, figuring that she was simply a pessimist and distrusting. Later, he would have regrets for not taking her words seriously. On their wedding night, his new wife shot him in the heart. She was a black widow, it became clear through time. She had married him for his family’s money and then killed him for it, and she had had no love in her heart for him at all. Thankfully, his governess had been suspicious and had been staying outside their residence, unable to shake the idea that he might be in trouble. She found his body when his widow went to ‘get help’, and performed the ceremony to create a revenant. When Remington Castille opened his eyes once more, nothing felt the same. His governess explained what had happened to him, though he had needed it to be repeated ten minutes later due to his own shock. She gave him his pendant that tied him to life, an old charm she had given him when he was small, and told him he needed to go to Zora, that he would be safe there and he could find help to learn how to adjust to how life was now.

He’s been in Zora for only three weeks, but he feels even more confused than he did before. He not only lost his way of living, his money, his humanity, but he lost his faith in people. Still naive, Remy is desperately trying to both learn and restore his faith in people. He doesn’t understand much of people or even how life works, his sheltered background not having allowed him to learn by doing before.  He doesn’t know where to start, but is determined to learn all the same. Zora is a new place that feels a little overwhelming, but he finds all of the magic to it to be comforting, given his fond memories of his old governess and her magic.

CONNECTIONS

N/A

STATUS

Remmington Castille is taken. 

[zorarpg]

(+1) character awaiting entrance…

[zorarpg]

The Annual Birthday Festival

Date: July 11th 1920

Time: 9 pm - dawn

Place: The back lawn of the Zora Estate

As the sun sets and a reassuring waning crescent ascends into the sky, the citizens of the Zora collective discover that a celebration is afoot. On the sprawling back lawn of the Zora estate lies a path marked by flickering oil lamps and generously sprinkled with white rose petals. Beyond this slightly somber entrance, however, is quite the fête: there is plenty of food, many drinks, and a band playing music. Behind the dance floor are scattered booths featuring simple games with less than traditional charmed prizes. After all, as much as this is a memorial, it is also a celebration, marking the occasion of what would have been founder Zoraida’s three hundred and thirty-first birthday. 

To the writers

Welcome to the annual birthday festival! This is a dash-only event which begins now with a tentative ending date of July 25th. Non-event replies are still allowed, but in order to differentiate between the two, please tag your event threads with zora: birthday festival. As always, if you post an open starter, you are required to reply to ones already posted, preferably ones for the event to ensure everyone has someone to write with during this time. Reminder: the event takes place in the heart of the Zora collective and it will feature no humans in attendance. Magic (as well as alcohol) can be freely used and wielded. Your character might even spot feats of magic from the band as they play, or from those in attendance who enjoy the time to flash their specific abilities...

[zorarpg]

The time is nearly here – our first event begins tomorrow! The birthday festival’s festivities promise to be joyous and rowdy. It’s a perfect time to join the fray and get this shindig started.

Until then...

Admins A & M