FAQ

[woodswitch]

Frequently Asked Questions

Curious about something? Ideally you'll find an answer here, but if not, ask away!
Table of Contents
Arrival
Item and Power Loss
On Names
On Debts
Life on Koriko
On Jobs
Events
Game Mechanics
Applications
Sample Applications

Arrival
Where is my character?
The thing is this: spirits in general, simply speaking, are on a higher plane of existence than us average joes. Often fickle beings, terrible things can happen if they become bored, but more importantly — their status frequently makes them wealthy, so learning to entertain them can be beneficial. The resort island of Koriko is one of many hidden cities devoted to catering to the world of spirits. Controlled by a powerful witch, it’s become a particularly popular spot within the past few centuries, and even more popular still, thanks to her unique workforce. That is, people just like you.

A more detailed premise may be found here.

Why is my character here?
Your character is here because they have a debt to pay. They agreed to come willingly, though naturally as is the nature of all contracts, just how detailed their explanation was or wasn’t is up to player discretion.

My character wouldn't come easily but I want to app them!
Not a problem! Just get creative. The Witch herself uses the term 'willingly' rather loosely. As long as the character decides to sign the contract, that's willing enough. She might tell lies; "Oh, [Important Person] happens to be here already, so wouldn't it be best to help them work?" only to later admit she got the names confused! It happens, whoops.

If the wish incentive can help, too, then please use it! We're flexible and if you want to play here, then we want you to be able to! You should know your character best and how to cohere them into the contract.

What happens when they arrive?
Upon arrival, the terms of the contract are finalized. The debt is agreed upon, length of stay is always variable depending on the character’s work ethic and the possible wish is also agreed upon. A character will then sign their name away and be given a new work name. They promptly forget their real name and any character who would know it forgets it as well. Their possessions and clothing are also taken and replaced with uniforms and a few sets of casual clothing. They are also told to decide on a work station and shown where their quarters are and given the basic rundown of possible job types, when breakfast is served and so forth.

Of course, they don't get time to relax and take in that information, as they're expected to start work immediately! If they're especially lucky, they'll show up right before a training exercise.

What do you mean by 'training'?
The Witch believes that wherever a character may end up working, whatever their debt may be, it's important to foster a community spirit. What better way than with a group training exercise?

In game terms, it means that the Witch assigns terrible or unfair tasks to be completed by everyone she so chooses to give the work to. She used to bring workers in bunches and just give the work to them, but now that she has a less regimented schedule, even established workers may be given an assignment.

Oh and the Witch makes it clear that characters who don't complete the training will be transformed into a farm animal, to be put to better use. Everyone play nice.

What kind of name can we choose?
Any kind you want, provided it’s, well. Namey. No Edge Maverick or anything along those lines for your work name, but it could be something as simple as just shortening the character’s given name! If you’d like to be creative, sites like Behind the Name are always useful.

A debt? What kind of debt?
It can be any kind of debt! We encourage you to be creative here. The witch isn’t so picky about how she gets her workers, so the debts your character is here to pay are about as flexible as the word itself. It could be something as simple as owing someone money, or as complex as paying off your sins. Really, the sky is the limit here as long as it’s something the character would feel they owe. You could even owe a debt to the witch herself, in exchange for a wish. Because such high flexibility can make things unclear sometimes, please don’t hesitate to check things with us.

You could even have them attempt to work off the perceived debts or payments of their friends or family! If your character chooses to try to work off another character’s debt for them, this results in what's certainly an astonishing lack of actual decrease. Separate people, separate debts. Weirdly, this isn’t mentioned before the contract is signed. Whoops.

Reading on other aspects of the debt system may be done here.

Do they have to work?
Well, they don’t have to but they’ll quickly lose access to shelter and food if they don’t. Getting kicked out isn’t fun. If they continue to loiter around, too, there could be punishments cooked up for them (possibly literally; some spirits love exotic meats). Anyway, why laze around when there are rewards to earn?

What kind of rewards do you mean?
Aside from paying off the debt, the contract deal can be sweetened to include something the character would desire upon paying off their debt, if they prove to be a hard worker.

In addition, patrons may give tips in the form of gold, trinkets, blessings, and any number of interesting and valuable things. So work hard and gain something to make the stay more pleasant!

My debt/wish conflicts with my canonmate's!
To further encourage hard work, the only debt or wish between a conflicting pair (or trio, etc.) that would be granted exactly is the one first paid off. Better start waking up early.

If you're the loser in this race, well. Oops.

But my character can swim/fly/some other method of getting away from the island!
As a result of losing their name, walking or flying within the island limits results in a nagging feeling in the back of one’s mind -- either a reminder of their reasons for coming here, or a compulsion to turn back and, probably, get back to work so you can make your boss more money. Until your debt is cleared, if the witch hasn’t given you the okay? You literally can not leave the island.

Even if you did resist somehow, the island exists quite a ways away from any land. And on a separate plane from most earths most people know. You know.

My character isn’t human at all or is a spirit/god/something!
As long as they agreed to come here, they are bound by the contract, regardless of if their status means they should be one of the ones being pampered.

Can my character keep their powers? Are they any limitations to it?
Characters are allowed to keep their powers. Some jobs, like ones involving guard duty, would be rather difficult if a character didn’t have some sort of abilities for unruly spirits. We do ask if your character has powers that could step on the toes of other characters that you have some sort of permissions post.

As for limitations, anything that would be too game-breaking is up to player discretion. The contract binds characters magically and cannot be broken without the debt paid, so any power that would disrupt that could be blocked, but otherwise characters' powers are intact.

Can my character get their items back?
Yes! Items and clothing can be earned back through hard work or getting lucky with tips. Of course, characters can’t wear their old clothes during work but on days off they would be allowed to wear them again and play with whatever items they’ve retrieved. This isn’t something immediate but we’ll leave it to player discretion as long as it takes a little time. Remember, it’s something the character is earning back.

If you’d like to request an item be returned to you after a certain amount of work, do so here.

Can my character keep their pets/pokemon/summon spirit/whatever?
All things along these lines are considered the same as items. They’ll be well taken care of until you’ve earned the right to have them back!

What happens if another character knows my character’s real name?
To avoid characters remembering their names too quickly, when your name is taken, everyone who knew it forgets, not just you. All other memories are intact, but there’s a distinct gap where your old name used to be.

What happens if my character has two names? Or more? What about screen names and aliases?
The witch isn't picky. Because you were so willing to work for her, she'll do you the favor of taking any and all aliases from home that you could potentially use in place of your work name. As is the case when there's only one name to remove, all of them are forgotten.

Does that mean this is a memory loss game?
No! All memories are as intact as they were before your arrival -- you just can't recall any of your names.

Life on Koriko
How big is the city? What’s it like?
It is most certainly a true city at this point, though it is mostly filled with restaurants, spas, drinking establishments, theatres, museums, gambling halls, music clubs and more. This is a city that exists for entertainment - consider it a bit of a Las Vegas for the supernatural - but also relaxation. Some areas are rowdier while others are quiet and peaceful. Shrines to all sorts of spirits exist all over the place, mostly to show how welcome they are. The streets are narrow and lined with paper lantern lights and markets take up any leftover space for food, games and goods. The city comes to life the most at night while the daytime is quieter.

Outside the city, though, are sprawling masses of farms for crops and animals that are raised on site for the freshest food and produce. Large gardens and greenhouses also exist for growing the flowers used. And beyond that, the train station and the near-endless ocean.

A more detailed list of locations may be found here.

What is The Witch like, anyway?
Known only as The Witch - a title she is very proud of, thank you - she owns the island and is in charge of all the establishments on it. She is a busy woman and when not in her office, she spends most of her time checking out the workings of her businesses firsthand or having meet-and-greets with important patrons. There are at times conflicting reports on what she looks like, though generally she is middle-aged, beautiful and appears highly intelligent. Occasionally she likes to sport glasses.

The story goes that she once visited a leisure town for the spirits similar to this and thought their set-up, while very efficient, could easily be improved upon. As a little game for herself, she revitalized the city that once stood here to the point where it was unrecognizable. No one remembers anything of what the city was like before The Witch came but no one really cares either. The city belongs to her now, and she runs it as a most profitable business.

What’s the weather like?
Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, the patrons actually like variety in weather. Some are rain and snow spirits, after all, and so weather runs a gamut. While it usually follows the four seasons, if a bunch of snow spirits book for a weekend, characters might be surprised by the sudden winter wonderland greeting them. A wealthy thunder spirit might pay for a location to be suited to their tastes for the day and so on. Players will be given notice of such events to plot accordingly, even if characters themselves aren’t warned.

Is there a language barrier?
There is not in the traditional sense. A spell cast over the island allows them to have everything translated into their own language and, likewise, have their words translated for other characters. Convenient!

Is there anywhere with books?
There is a very nice library. Most of the works are folklore or Eastern classics, in general focusing on the exploits of possible patrons. Most patrons after all are quite proud of their myths. Recently, the witch has been putting in volumes obtained from past workers. This means some new books, comics and so on can be found as well.

What are the employee quarters like?
Employee quarters are divided into large rooms with six futons per room. They are co-ed and co-species. There are cubbies along the wall for storing possessions, clothes, spare blankets and whatever else you want. They aren’t locked, though, so you’ll have to deal with the possibility of theft from your lovely roommates. Each room has two baths and a showering space, as well as some rather old-school toilets in a separate room. Employee quarters all have a generous balcony that overlooks the city and ocean.

Hopefully you aren’t afraid of heights.

Characters are free to switch rooms with other characters or just go share a futon - but why would you they’re small - if they want. If your character chooses a job outside the bathhouse, they are still directed to the employee quarters of the bathhouse. However, they can ask to live at their job if they so desire or are working under an apprenticeship somewhere else.

The housing directory may be found here.

Is there a network?
Yes and no. In the workers’ quarters and various other employee-only areas, there are bulletin boards set up for the sake of public communication. Enchanted by magic, messages posted on one board appear on all of them. A post-it note left in the kitchen will appear shortly after in a shop’s backroom, for instance. Characters can also write letters which speed off to the intended person for a more private touch. All in all, face to face interaction definitely goes quicker.

The network community is deadtrees, while you can find a directory for IC inboxes on the taken list..

Can my character intercept someone’s letter/s?
Sure can, if it’s been okay’d by all parties OOCly! The consequences are dependent on how those characters are feeling if yours gets caught.

What happens to my character if they die?
If your character is killed, don’t worry. The witch will add the revival cost to their debt - it’s quite hefty because it’s annoying to revive people! - and do your character a ‘favour’ as well! In order to make their return to work a smooth one, the character’s emotions and unneeded senses will be eliminated for a short period of time up to player discretion.

All deaths should be reported here.

What happens if my character murders another character?
First and foremost, don’t get caught.

Murder is extremely disruptive to the work process. Characters will be punished by being turned into an animal for a period of time or forced to serve only the most disgusting, dangerous spirits. If a character is turned into an animal, it is also entirely possible that they’ll get lost in the shuffle and cooked up. Don’t worry, the witch will revive them if it happens. It’s a fun story to tell over drinks.

Promise.

Will my electronics work?
Yes and no. The items themselves will work just fine but batteries and power in general are in short supply. Unless you want to sit at the casino charging your things - it isn't recommended since the spirits there are rowdy and might just steal your things all together - it's best to stop by the open market and find a few solar chargers. Of course you'll have to pay for them but it's well worth those hard-earned tips right?

I want my character to explore and interact with everything!
Great! We want that, too! If your character is the type to explore, steal or generally poke around and you want to know how that'd go, then just go drop us a line on the Requests page and we'll see what we can do! We want this game to be interactive, where players can enjoy the environment to its fullest.

What sorts of patrons are we dealing with?
Keeping in the spirit (ha ha) of the source canon, your patrons are primarily Eastern spirits such as youkai and the like. However, in the interest of business expansion, the witch has begun to openly hawk her wares to various supernatural creatures all over the world! Ghosts and demons and witches -- you name it, it’s probably come here to relax.

What kinds of jobs can we choose?
Quite a few! We have a list of examples over here, but you don’t have to choose from it, nor does a character need to stick to a single job. Characters can have multiple jobs, cover for each other’s shifts, or dabble around to see what suits them best. After all, workers should be suited to their jobs and it may take time for them to find the right one.

What about sex? Is it allowed at all? Could it even be a job?
We’re all mature adults here who do not giggle at the word penis. Usually. Naturally sex is allowed, but keep in mind employee quarters are hardly private or romantic.

A worker can decide to offer a service to patrons who might be look for a stranger thrill. This is not a traditional job - sadly you cannot just list prostitute - but spirits always know where to go if that’s their pleasure of the day.

Do we NPC/handwave patrons/work/etc?
You can do whatever you like! If you want to NPC patrons for a thread, feel free. If you want to handwave, too, that’s fine. For major events we’ll give more guidance but for day-to-day you’re free to choose whatever works for you.

Are our characters given days off?
They are! Apparently, working people constantly makes their work less valuable and that costs more money in the long run than letting them rest up. Characters get three days off a week, though they can choose to work those days if they want. The days themselves are set by the characters. Basically cover your shift and it’s a day off, congrats!

Can employees enjoy the city on their days off?
Yes they can. Employees are allowed to enjoy the same sights and experiences as spirits - however, they still have to pay. Sorry, no employee discount. Better stick to cheap fun for a while.

What will plot/events be like in this game?
Because characters are literally only here to serve and entertain spirits - and some spirits are not as friendly as others - plots and events can run from light-hearted to dark and any sort of genre. While most spirits are quite content with a simple night at the spa or dinner and a play, still others might seek some sort of bloodsports, twisting or manipulating workers’ minds and so on. The witch only gives so many damns about how injured/broken workers get after all and patrons know to spend much more money on such things.

Events could also be weather-based or due to unhappy patrons cursing workers or real world issues like declining belief causing spirits to suddenly seek shelter or sick spirits needing attention due to pollution and so forth. In general anything can and will happen but naturally, events and plots are opt-in for players’ fun.

Plots and events are primarily mod-run, and mods will make posts in the OOC community detailing the workings of them when appropriate -- however, player plots/events are more than welcome and in fact encouraged! If you have an idea for either one of those or for a mod plot you think would be cool, drop us a line over here!

Game Mechanics
What is the time ratio?
1:1, though don’t stress over it too much.

What’s the AC?
Activity check will be done monthly! Players will be required to present 20 comments from the month, from at least two threads.

My threads kept getting dropped! I don’t have two ten comment threads!
Fear not! We'll accept more than two threads, but we reserve the right to pull you aside if we get twenty 1-comment threads or anything along those lines.

What happens when I drop or go on hiatus?
A dropped character can be assumed to have paid off their debt - or possibly eaten for some violation, one of those. If reapped they are unlikely to remember their previous time until after the contract is signed again if players choose. While on hiatus, players can put their character on auto-pilot or choose to have them go for some intensive training that isolates them from others.

You can drop here, and hiatus here.

Can I canon update my character?
You can! The premise simply goes like this: the witch gives your character leave in order to allow them to grow as a worker. Of course, they forget everything once they reach their canon but since they are still under contract, the witch simply calls them back once she believes they’ve gained enough experience.

You can request a canon update here.

Is fourth-walling okay?
As some players enjoy it while others hate it, this is going to be left to player discretion. Please please please ask players before fourth-walling them!

Applications
The application may be found here.

What kinds of characters are allowed here?
Any kind! To be more specific, we allow canon characters from all mediums, OCs, and AUs (CRAUs included). There is no limit to species, either. Workers are workers and the spirits enjoy a variety of people to serve them.

Silent protagonists or choice-dependent characters are also allowed so long as there is something to go by. Minor characters with some voice are also just fine.

If AUs are allowed, how many versions of a character are permitted in the game?
Two! We’ll be allowing a slot for the character imported directly from their canon and one from any sort of AU -- CRAUs/previous game AUs, AU where Bruce Wayne’s parents didn’t die, whatever.

Is it okay if I’m unfamiliar with Studio Ghibli Productions?
If you want to app, by all means, please app! While it definitely helps to know at least Spirited Away, we’ll do our absolute best to ensure that canon familiarity isn’t necessary. Even then, don’t be afraid to ask questions!

While the idea is heavily inspired by Spirited Away and Studio Ghibli films, we'll also be drawing mostly from Eastern folklore - or the folklores of other cultures depending on the plot - and so the setting doesn't quite match. It should be a fun experience for those canon familiar and unfamiliar alike!

What is the character limit per player?
You may play up to five characters at once!

My character’s PB is in the game! / My character is being used as a PB in the game!
The resolution of this kind of conflict comes down to you and the other person! You can have sameface hijinks if you want, or you could treat it the way an actor playing multiple roles is treated -- sure, they look similar to us, but it’s not really the same face.

My character is dead/dying/won’t survive or be able to use their magic without Thing X!
No worries! The dead are brought back to life - that could even be their debt, as due to the nature of them dying outside of this realm, the revival process is much more difficult and costly. Those dying of disease will be given a strange herbal medicine to be taken twice daily - again added to their debt (unless that is their debt) - which will suppress the disease, though not cure it. It can be taken in tea or with water. Anything else needed to live like special dietary needs can be taken care of - again, for an additional fee.

Those that need mana, eleth, fonons (Tales of Magical Specialties), or something else for their powers can again have that provided for a fee. Money rules on this island and your debt is ever-increasing anyway!

How much canon is required for a character to be appable?
This is always going to be difficult. Sometimes a character will be perfectly appable after a chapter or two while others need much more. This will be a case-by-case basis. As long as there is enough to write a fleshed out character, we’ll allow it.

Can I app a character if there is no English translation (fan or official) of their source material?
If you are fluent, then we’re going to have to request enough translations from you or someone else who is fluent in the language and willing to translate enough for us to judge voice and characterization. Otherwise we’re going to have to say no, sorry.

But I want to app Tom Nook!
Oh.

That's cool. Go ahead, then.

Sample Applications
Here are some examples of applications that fit our standards and show what we're looking for.
A standard application.
An AU and CRAU application.
An OC application.

Don't see your question listed? Just ask us right here!

Comments

[amourtician]

Yeah, they're just very close monozygotic twins and at that point in their story, they're p. much literally inseperable. I'm sure I could work another reason for the inseparableness into their contract, too? Like I said, I've done it before!

[woodswitch]

A single account would be all right with us, then! If you want to work more reasons into their contract, that's fine too; it's always exciting to see people play with the setting and system!