Newcomer's Guide to Lyran Tal
Lyran Tal first began in 1997 on the AOL forums and has since moved out onto its own as an independant and successful free-form roleplaying group. The years have brought much in the way of change, growth and development to our world, thanks to the contributions of our players and writers. Because of those contributions our setting is a truly rich one, full of detail and life, and there is a wealth of information to be found about it both here on the website and on our forums.
However, we know that all of this information can be intimidating and even confusing at first to new players. We understand this and we want to assure you, first and foremost, that it is not necessary for you to be well-versed in every aspect of Lyran Tal before you play. Really! Keep it simple to start, and you will learn as you go. Here is what we suggest to you:
- Visit the links below so that you can begin to become familiar with the basics of the world of Lyran Tal.
- When you are ready to learn more, find something in particular that interests you and learn more about it.
- Visit our Forum, so that you can enjoy the stories our players have written, and check out our current discussions. Feel free to join in and ask questions.
- Come by the Crosswinds Tavern chat room and watch some of the live roleplay. Meet some of our players.
- And lastly, when you find you have questions (and you will!), please feel free to ASK. We will be glad to help! In particular, our Contacts page has a listing of specific people you might want to get in touch with.
Welcome! We look forward to meeting you!
What is "role play"? Roleplaying is creating a character and then -- and here's the fun part! -- pretending that you are that character.
Most "live" roleplay is done in the Crosswinds Tavern, which houses the Nexus (AKA Northern) Portal. The Portal is used primarily to reach other destinations on the world of Lyran Tal.
More info on the CWT -- More info on the Portal
The world of Lyran Tal is high fantasy/low tech. Think medieval; guns, motors, electronics and the like are not native to LT and do not exist there.
Magic, on the other hand, is everywhere, and a small portion of the populace has the innate talent to master one of the magical Gifts. Mages are attuned to one of the six elemental aspects of LT magic, although there is a Seventh Gift that deals with the spirit.
There is no such thing as "Self Service" in the Crosswinds. If no one seems to be actively roleplaying the part of a bartender (host characters designated by the preface "CWT"), there are NPC characters that are assumed to be on duty. These NPC characters may be played by anyone, and are intended to add to the atmosphere, not take major roles in room play.
Current events in Lyran Tal are chronicled for characters in the Dreven Gazette, and for players in the Timeline as well as the Regional Updates.
There are many "setting characters" who are played by veteran LT roleplayers. Some of them have bios on the Who's Who page, and even a whole webpage profile in some instances.
Lastly, we try to encourage cooperative freeform play. Get to know the other players by getting involved in the message boards on this website. Ask questions; most LT players are happy to answer a question or two in IMs or can point you to someone who has answers. We do ask that you don't Blend, that you stay In Character in the chat room, and that you avoid Powergaming.
More info on how Free-Form RolePlaying works
We hope that you not only have fun here, but make "our" world your world, too!
