Menagerie.
A single massive landmass, flanked by smaller islands and the sea which even infilitrates the core of the continent, split into many smaller lands by the races native to it, with their alliances and squabble, and the everyday lives of common people. Life flourishes and withers in Menagerie like in any other world. And, as always there's work to be done.
Enter adventurers, the convenient answer to any generally legal task, like deliveries, guiding and escorts, monster slaying, bounty hunting, you name it. It's a catch all profession who hold little standardized skills across the group. They're hired on an individual basis for whatever skills they offer, be it strong arms, light feet, keen eyes or a sharp mind. Adventurers are the common person's solution to uncommon problems, offering convenience over trying to source a specialist service or just if you want to avoid causing a stir with what you need. So long as it's above board, an adventurer will likely take the job.
In the past, adventurers have been mostly self-styled and trained. However, as the years have gone by, these wanderers have been increasingly recognized as a valid profession. Adventuring academies began to be set up across Menagerie, aiming to train a new caliber of adventurers from the countless wannabes who crave the money, glory, self-satisfaction or thrill of the adventuring life. There are many reasons to become an adventurer, but one undeniable truth is that they help the people of Menagerie, either out of selflessness or because the coin is right.
It's nearing the start of the next academic year across Menagerie, and all across the public boards and adventuring guilds of Menagerie, posters and flyers are stuck up, advertising various adventuring academies, offering the chance to pave a road to the "thrilling" and "lucrative" life of an accreddited adventurer, a life of being your own boss taking the jobs you wish and wandering to all a manner of places. Among these flyers sits a new name.
Ainsworth International Adventuring Academy.
It was a rather unassuming flyer, the mark of a fledgling academy with much still to prove ahead of them. There was not much in the way of flowery language. It did, however, offer live training experience in the profession. It was not the first of its kind in this regard, but for a new name it was surprising. It also specified that it was interested mainly in "students with little to no prior experience. Novices welcome!". Situated near the town of Aegeum in Terraforma, near the Vandian border, and tuition at a fairly low fee, it was clearly aiming to attract those uninterested or unable to attend one of the more prestigious names.
And, perhaps, that's what drove people to attend this new name in the field.
"We look forward to seeing you at Ainsworth's. Forging a new generation of adventurers with fire and foundation."''
Menagerie of Adventures is a Play-by-Post fantasy RP with light sandbox and slice-of-life elements, though focused mainly on the player characters accepting missions throughout the land of Menagerie. GM'ed by Undying Phoenix, the player characters start off relatively amateurish and unskilled in terms of magic and combat—with the aim to make them slowly more powerful over the course of the RP's duration.
The RP is currently open to new players, and the links to the sign-up thread and the main roleplaying thread are listed below:
Tropes (Beware: spoilers unmarked)
- Academy of Adventure: A classic example; Ainsworth's International Adventuring Academy is dedicated to the training of adventurers of any and all backgrounds and as such is about as chaotic (and underfunded) as one can expect.
- Badass Teacher: Instructor Maya is a notoriously tough cookie amongst the faculty and kicks the entire class' asses in her very first combat lesson with them—though she was notably later criticized for her needlessly rough handling of the inexperienced students. Even so, she proves remarkably protective of the class when they're caught off-guard by the mysterious mechanical creatures from the Rift—immediately placing herself as a commanding authority figure and quickly evacuating the group as soon as she possibly could.note
- Cast Full of Gay: Out of the broad range of orientations in the class, Zoss is confirmed asexual, Shard is confirmed as gay, Freana is confirmed bisexual and even the so far unconfirmed characters such as Sieglinde and Verona have shown some mutual attraction to each other. In whatever case, it's undeniable that there is a wide variety amidst the current class.
- Crash-Into Hello: Sieglinde and Freana meet in a very... dynamic way, with the former failing to slow down in her enthusiastic entrance through the school gates just as Freana was standing just on the other side of them. Thankfully, the latter has no hard feelings—albeit because of her almost immediate attraction towards Sieglinde afterwards.
- Hate at First Sight: Freana's snappiness and Verona's lack of filter ended up causing a prominent personality clash between the both of them, and their failure to communicate with the other properly has only exemplified this further. Stuck between the pair is Sieglinde, who at one point has to outright tell them off for indirectly (and directly) involving her in their spats.
- Horrible Camping Trip: The class's first exhibition out into the forests near to the school was meant to be a relatively simple and basic survival exercise, but it quickly escalates beyond the scope of even the faculty when strange mechanical creatures break through from the Rift in apparent invasion. By the time the group returns, a majority of them have been at the very least shaken by the events, if not outright traumatized.
- Oh, Crap!: Upon finding out that Elliot is Saorant nobility, Shard immediately attempts to sneak out. Understandable, since he's a fugitive from Saorant nobility. Two more moments happen at the bar—once when the mysterious stranger starts talking about the thin that got Shard imprisoned in the first place, and the second when the same stranger calls him by his real name, Eugene.
- Our Monsters Are Different: All the races in Menagerie are variations of the common fantasy archetype—such as elves and dwarves—however there are some differences that make them distinct. As described by Undying Phoenix in the RP's sign-up thread, the races of Menagerie are as follows:
- Humans: Much like the real world humans. They're predominantly found in Saorant, but live all across Menagerie wherever it's hospitable enough for them. They hold no affinity for any particular magical energy.
- Terrans: Short stout people hailing from Terraforma. They're much like humans, though they're only between 4 to 5 feet tall on average, and their bodies are dotted with rough patches of earthy materials like rock or crystal. They're scholars, traders and craftsmen, well known for their libraries and educated society. They hold an affinity for earth energies.
- Alvar: Tall, slender elf-like humanoids who originally hail from Vandia, they normally stand at around 6 feet on average. Alvar, at least in Vandia, are very militaristic, and their bodies are naturally inclined towards hunting much like their ancestors in the long grasses of Vandia. They hold an affinity for wind energies.
- Pisceans: Hailing originally from the Charybdis Sea and now found anywhere, sea or land. They bear a passing resemblance to humans, save for fish-like traits like tails, scales, fins and gills. They're completely amphibious, able to live their whole lives under or above the water, though they are natural swimmers and can breathe water. They hold an affinity for water energies.
- Fenrir: Lupine bipeds, much like werewolves, who come from the cold lands of Sigmun but can be found anywhere. They have claws and naturally enhanced senses and resistance to cold. Fenrir who are marked by pale coats are known as Arctic Fenrir, and are treated differently in Sigmun depending on region, from outcasts and bad omens to venerated spiritual figures. Fenrir have an affinity for fire energies, and Arctic Fenrir have an affinity for ice energies.
- Dragonfolk: Humanoid dragons who have a culture of wandering once they reach adolescence until they find their path in life. Dragonfolk are a diverse bunch owing to this, and can be found all throughout Menagerie, though their culture is one of fierce individualism and self-discovery. As such, their culture is very lax about standards, encouraging Dragonfolk to embrace who they are to the fullest. They have claws and fangs like Fenrir, a solid heavy tail and scales, and can train breath weapons much like a voice. They hold an affinity for transmutative energies.
- Bogovi: One could easily mistake these giants for a subspecies of human. They stand at 7 to 8 feet tall, calling the rocky lands of Iaia their home. Iaian Bogovi are deeply spiritual, following a pantheon of deities in their theocratic society. Outside of that, Bogovi are incredibly strong and sturdy given their size. They hold an affinity for body energies.
- Mesmer: A strange race found in the Riftlands, formed from both physical and Rift energies, leaving them weak physically in comparison to other races but strong magically, especially in regards to bending Rift energies. They appear angelic and unsettling, with a glow to them and eyes made of light. They're seen as strange and...honestly quite boring. Their lives are mostly uneventful as they tend to the Riftlands like robotic divine workers. On occasion however, there is the rare Mesmer who grows curious about the world beyond the Riftlands, exercising a free will uncommon to the Mesmer and leaving the Riftlands to pursue these flights of curiosity. They hold an affinity for Rift energies.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The current class consists of a magic-intolerant Alvar, a half-Alvar with severe Cloudcuckoolander syndrome, an awkward Dragonkin, a one-eyed fugitive, a beeg Bogovi swordswoman, a Fenrir former street rat with an attitude problem, a slightly insane alchemist ot unknown gender and species, a tiny Mesmer who recently stopped being a robot, and a completely ordinary human beingnote .
