The Featured Character of the Month: Malia

[Gillar]

Greetings to all. We're pleased to announce the fifth winner of our featured character award: Malia! Enjoy the interview, ask questions, and please offer your congratulations! Gillar: 1. Of all of the races on Mizahar to play, what brought you to your choice of playing a Nuit? Are there specific challenges to playing the undead? MaliaI: think I was so eager to get started that I didn’t even read all the races thoroughly as requested … I immediately chose the Nuit, because they resembled something I understood. I’ve written several vampire characters, both in RPGs and in my own stories, so I felt that the Nuit were something I knew, but with the unique Mizahar touch. A good mixture between old and new is often the best choice. The most challenging trait of the Nuit, in my opinion, is the frailty of their bodies. They treat corpses like an expensive household good that must be acquired and properly cared for so it works for the longest possible time. The core, the true self or soul of a Nuit, is the ichor – they don’t want to spill a single drop of it, and that fact combined with the frailty of their bodies is a big weakness. Of course there are different ways of coping with it, but Nuit have to be very careful with choosing their professions and goals. There are a lot of things they better avoid: water, salt, hard physical work, dirt, pointy objects (i.e. weapons) … I guess I felt intrigued by the variety of things one has to be careful about when playing a Nuit so their character doesn’t get killed or bleeds to death somewhere on the first day after their changing ritual. Gillar: 2. How did you come up with the concept for Malia? Is she the type of character you usually play? Does she in any way share some of your own real-life personality traits? Malia: Indeed, she is like most characters I come up with for RPGs. When I think about the characters that have lasted the longest time, they have several personality traits in common: They are melancholic to a certain degree or in certain situations, like philosophic discussions, have mostly nothing they can believe in (anymore) … and, as a curious detail, all of them have had black hair. Anyway, I think we all know that a character that doesn’t contain a part of the player’s personality is extremely difficult to play. So yes, there are certain traits I share with Malia. The most important one, however, is most likely her realistic outlook. In a fantasy world, that can be an obstacle, but I don’t see it as one, more the other way round. It might even be a prerequisite, something that is necessary to enjoy a character. For Malia, her attitude can even be explained in a logical way. After all, she has already experienced and survived two centuries of traveling and studying mortal culture which wouldn’t have been possible if she had been carefree, trusting and outgoing. So I think that her realism is a very interesting trait to play around with. If it boils down to her almost non-existent humor, for example. And while I personally don’t belong to any of the official churches, I’ve been searching for something I can sincerely believe in my whole life long. Malia has Tanroa and worships time above anything else. I think I have found my own “religion” now, and it’s even kind of related to what Malia worships. Gillar: 3. Without giving away any "trade secrets", do you have any far-reaching goals for Malia? Are there specific things you hope to accomplish with the character that may have profound impacts on Locations, NPCs or even other PCs? Malia: There is definitely one goal that is very important for Malia: revenge. Jen (Gossamer) has given her a thrilling storyline and a dream she can go chase. As a consequence she is currently wandering and looking for allies and powerful abilities all over Sylira and hopefully soon Taldera. It seems like such a superficial goal of an “evil” character, but that’s another reason why I love it. She wants to do all those things because she knows that the one who has betrayed and ruined her family 200 years ago is still out there and probably continues to spread chaos and destruction. She doesn’t really care if others have to suffer so that she can be closer to her goal, but she wants to get her revenge as quickly and effectively as possible. Who knows, she might even come up with something else than killing him … would be too boring, wouldn’ it …? Something else I can see her doing is immersing herself in the Ukalas and the divine drama the deities have going on. She is faithful to Tanroa, but the Time Goddess is impartial, as far as I know. The idea of trying to cheat Sagallius and getting his powers for her ultimate goal has been rolling around in my mind for quite a while now. Can PCs even ascend to divinity? Regardless, we’ll see how her relationship and interest with the Mizahar pantheon develops. Gillar: 4. People may or may not know that you also story-tell as Alice. Do you find it difficult balancing your time between your player character and storyteller? If so, how do you combat those difficulties? Any tips for players who may already have difficulty or who may want to try their hand at storytelling but are unsure? Malia: Well, Avalis knows (yay for ic expressions) that sometimes I epically fail at storytelling. I’m still nowhere done with learning and improving, but I try to be as active as possible. I feel that I post and plot more for my PCs than for my city, but that’s okay since the work hasn’t overwhelmed me yet and it’s still fairly quiet in Mura. Of course I hope that we’ll get more players soon, but I also like the laid-back, calm atmosphere in my city forum. It fits the ic atmosphere nicely. Anyway, I tend to post as the mood strikes me, although I favor my mod account when there are any threads that have been lying for longer than a week. When I feel that I need some serious development or an event to get activity in my city going, I try to get to that too – but threads always come first, I’ve been told, and it’s been a good advice. If I have difficulties I treat them like writer’s block: I struggle and am desperate until something inspires me or I find something I want to or have to write about. When I write again, and it doesn’t matter about what, I usually get back into the flow fairly quickly. And to those who might have thought about applying for AS or DS: Give it a try! I hope nobody hates me for that statement, but you can still decide that it’s not what you want and retire later! Seriously, there’s no way of knowing how it’s like except trying it out. Someone has told me that decisions should only be made if one is completely and entirely sure that he or she wants to do it, but I think that’s impossible. One can never be sure about what one hasn’t experienced yet. I might sound a bit like Hex here, but it’s true that positive thoughts are the key to success. Everyone has to find out for oneself what they like or don’t like. The most important thing is having fun – and that’s what I’ve learned from experience. Gillar: 5. What is your favorite part about being a part of Mizahar? Any specific moments that you can recall that you find particularly exciting or enjoyable? Malia: Every time a thread ends and I know how it will affect my character, I feel glad that I’ve joined and can interact with so many talented writers. We’re a community of artists who have individual talents and unique writing styles and I love reading threads and immersing myself in the stories we tell together. In particular moments I’ve even thought that communities consisting of artists are closer to the “ideal society” than all those democracies and republics can get. There’s a limit. But artists are beings who can express themselves in the right way and don’t spend so much time arguing over insignificancies (my opinion, of course). Something else I enjoy tremendously is the rl friends you make. Although internet relationships can never replace face-to-face relationships, the friends I’ve made and frequently meet in chat can cheer me up or help me with decisions or give advice. Sometimes it’s even easier to people without seeing their faces … Seriously, I enjoy the relationships with so many different people. They keep surprising me which is a good thing too. Oh, and I do recall some specific moments. In fact there is a document on my PC with quotes from chat discussions I’ve particularly enjoyed. The Founders talking about how they came up with Mizahar, Kamalia and I tossing about ideas for Mura etc. Come to think of it, I need to get one of Alistair curling around me too. Gillar: 6. Are there things you prefer to roleplay about? Areas where you feel you do particular well? For example, some people prefer magical roleplay, others combat with still others going for a more personal, character self-development? Malia: I think the genres I enjoy the most can be summarized in two categories: things I am not able to experience in rl, for example magic, riding an eagle or being undead. After all, I want roleplaying to be an escape from the pressure and stress my daily life can be. I want to create epic stories and great goals and immense determination and see it come to life in my mind. That’s everything I love when writing or reading fantasy. To continue with the concept of mixing old and new, I enjoy playing out things I enjoy in rl too, for example philosophic discussions, watching people and trying to find out who they really are and what they need, music or art. These are things I know about and I feel confident when playing about. I even have a couple ideas for wiki articles that I might develop when I have more time, just because I know how that skill works and would like to transform that knowledge into something that is unique in Mizahar. Additionally, I very much like to explore other people’s personalities and getting to know them, so Malia has become a patient and curious listener so I can play that interest out as well. Gillar: 7. Are there things you prefer to storytell about? Areas where you feel you do particular well? Are there things you would one day like to try your hand at as far as storytelling goes? Malia: I don’t think that I have much experience yet, but I like playing interactions and developing a cast of unique resident NPCs I can write and develop ic. Having well-developed NPCs makes storytelling so much easier, because at some point you can skip development before jumping into threads because you have established NPCs and factions you can use. I’m still nowhere near that point, though. What I’d like to try very badly are epic adventures, those who slowly stretch out in multiple threads and with several PCs all over the world playing important roles. Perhaps the storytellers can have some over-regional coordination and develop such adventures in the future. I can see that playing out a battle between two deities – I also enjoy playing gods and goddesses and helping PCs with the religious aspect of their personal development – can be a challenge as well as a great pleasure. Gillar: 8. People have different reasons for naming their characters what they do. Why and/or how did you come up with the name, Malia? Alice? Malia: Honestly, those two names aren’t very original. Perhaps it’s the old mixture of new and old again. When I hear a name I immediately associate it with a particular feeling, an atmosphere that’s unique to the name and the person wearing it. So, when I use names I’ve heard before, I usually do it because I like the feeling of that name/person and want my character to be something similar. Fortunately, the character grows into an individual in time and the name gets a different feeling, but it’s a good starting point to know what you want your character to be in terms of personality. The name Alice has a bit of a story attached to it. Everyone knows “Alice in Wonderland” and I think that’s the first time I’ve heard it. I’ve known two other Alices since then, one was a manga artist and dreamed of publishing her own comic one day, the other one a young girl who wrote incredibly intense and emotional stories about love, depression, illusion and happiness. (Her first nickname was “Alice_Nightmare”.) So, the person who is called Alice in my mind is an artist, a very sensitive and thoughtful being who thinks a lot about fate and society and the human mind. She is cold to the touch, has dark hair, doesn’t like the sun, enjoys snow and winter and the dead silence it brings and sounds like the softest piano notes and the hardest heavy metal songs at the same time. So that’s my definition of someone who is “Alice”. And while I certainly don’t live all of its aspects or try to live them ic, I like the name and the feeling that comes with it and that’s because I often choose it as nickname. With Malia, it’s a similar story. Gillar: 9. Our characters all have friends and enemies that they develop over the course of roleplaying. Have you acquired a friend or an enemy during your time as Malia? If so, who and why? Have they done something to make them one or the other? Malia: Do you mean PC or NPC? There’s one big NPC enemy I’ve talked about earlier, the one Malia plans to kill when she’s ready and strong enough. There are few PC friends or enemies since Malia has had some bad luck with the PCs she has met so far. Some of them have disappeared now, so few lasting relationships have been developed so far. Someone Malia rather enjoys interacting with is Jilitse, the Nuit who taught her the basics of Animation during her stay in Sahova. While they don’t really “like” each other, they get along quite well together. I believe they view each other as some kind of companions or allies because they use the same tool to achieve their goals. Although there’s a significant age difference, they have a basic understanding that goes deeper than word, I think. I truly enjoy how that plays out in the careful, somewhat suspicious relationship they have. Basically Malia has made it clear that she isn’t the type of character who’s focused on relationships, although those are a genre I love to play. Another example for character development that goes into the wrong direction, I suppose … but I don’t want to change her. I like her because she is what she’s grown into: the silent, determined, thoughtful person that doesn’t care for others as long as she gets what she wants. If she has some spare time she is curious, but getting emotional for someone else seems to take a very, very long time for her. Gillar: 10. Finally, it is also fun to learn how people found their way to Mizahar. So, how did you find out about Mizahar? Is Fantasy your preferred genre of game? Is roleplaying something you are relatively new to or are you an old hand at it? Malia: I don’t consider myself a veteran yet, but I’m not too new either. My history of roleplaying is very short – if I reduce it to pbp games. Sadly, I’ve never had the chance to experience tabletop RPG, but I’ll leave early experiences like Pokémon and Final Fantasy out, okay? I think the first roleplaying site I’ve found in 2007. It revolved around a fantasy world with a gaming system to play with friends at home, but it also featured a small RPG forum with a friendly community. The fantasy world revolved around an underwater city that had been moved there by an angry god and was populated with humans, elves, dwarves and some unique underwater races. In that environment I learned how to roleplay by writing what my character thought and did. I’ve had a phase of intense fantasy world building that led me to several sites about fantasy worlds created by different people. One of those sites included a link to “that other RPG”, Aelyria, which is where I started doing greater amounts of writing in English and had some first experiences of moderating other players (I joined 2008). After a while, however, someone told me about the creation of Mizahar and since I liked what I heard and didn’t know what kind of PC to play in Aelyria anyway, I came here, created Malia within a few hours and started exploring the world and the boards. As far as I know Mizahar is the RPG I’ve been active for the longest time and Malia the oldest and most active character I’ve ever had, so I believe this does mean something. I hope I will be able to continue writing her story and following the stories of others in this beautiful world. Something else I’d like to say: Thanks for choosing me as featured character of July! I feel honored.

[Siiri]

Gratz on the award Malia! ^-^

[Orion]

i did not know you are Alice as well, anyways, congrats on the award you sure do deserve it

[Eris]

Congrats, Malia! You deserve it .

[Amorette la Rose-Noire]

Congrats Malia, you definitely deserve it

[Kamalia Timandre]

Congratulations, sis! <3 I miss you so much, and I think this is well-deserved!

[Abashai]

Well done Van! You have been a staple in Mizahar for quite a while. I have enjoyed finally getting to know you and hope to get to know you better! Again, congratulations.

Mike

[Mao]

Congratulations Malia! You deserve it!

[Gossamer]

Grats Vanessa! We adore your writing.

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

Congrats.