~*Beginners Guide to the Game*~
This game runs on a fairly unique concept; a world totally of its own, and this page is intended to be a short introduction to things, to help you get a handle on the way the game universe works. It is not intended to be a substitute for the other game information pages, but it's an overview, and is directed towards people who are considering applying for the game, or who have only just joined.
The World of Eidolon City
'Eidolon City' is the term not only used for the city itself, but also for the world in which the city exists. This is because Eidolon City is, in actual fact, the only part of the world that actually gets any game-play.
What the world of Eidolon City is, is made up, fantasy, it doesn't exist anywhere, you won't find it on any map in the world that you and I live in.
It is, however, a world that looks and feels very much like our own - albeit around 70 years ago now. The time frame that Eidolon City exists in is the 1930s-1940s. There's no exact year for the time frame, which gives player flexibility, but that is the approximate era.
Playable Characters
There are only two types of playable character in the game: Aspects and Wakings. Each type has subdivisions, but at its simplest level there are just those two character types. Both character types are human, neither has any supernatural abilities (there are no supernatural abilities in this game).
Aspects are creations of the city and they must have some kind of a link to the storytelling nature of humanity. At a personality level, Aspects are linked to ideas such as fairytales, or old gods. For example, a person in Eidolon City may be an aspect of Cinderella, or Thor. Whilst these characters would not have any 'powers' associated with these ideas (a Thor-character, for example, would not be able to call down thunder, and a Cinderella-character does not actually have a fairy godmother who could turn a pumpkin into a coach), they would have certain traits (referred to in the game as constants) which would go along with them. For example, a Cinderella-type may be repressed by her family, or be attracted to powerful men, or have a strong work ethic. Aspects are broken down into three categories on the character page: Fairytale, Mythology and Others.
Wakings are not creations of the city. They are, in essence, creators of the city (we'll come to that later). Wakings do not have any links to any background ideas the way Aspects are - they are simply characters. Wakings are broken down into three categories on the character page: Commons, Spires and Tides. To understand why, you need to understand more about the background to the game.
Background
Eidolon City, and the world in which it sits, is an illusion. It is an illusion created by a group dream of a few thousand people in the real world (ie, this world). Each of these people is in a coma in the real world and their coma-dreams are linked to create Eidolon City.
Each of the coma-people is a Waking. Their linked dreams them create the world they live within - the city, the news, the other people (including the Aspects). It's all an illusion that would disappear should the coma-people (the Wakings) ever wake up from their comas.
The Wakings do not have any memories of the real world - as far as they are concerned, their lives are, and always have been, the ones they have in Eidolon City. But sometimes, when they sleep in Eidolon City, they 'dream' of the real world - and the types of dreams they have depend on what 'type' of Waking they are.
Spires Wakings dream of world events. Commons Wakings dream of people and families. Tides Wakings dream of a variety of things, as well as the past and the future.
How the Game will be Played
The game will mostly take place in Eidolon City. The focus will be on the interaction between characters in that world.
There will also be an overarching game plot involving the real world and the way that events in the real world will impact on events in the city - players will have a choice whether to actively involve themselves in real world events through writing Wakings dreams. Eventually Wakings will be able to interact with each other in dreams as well. Whether players choose to write dreams or not, real world events will guide the overall game plot, so even those who do not write dreams (whether through choice or through playing Aspects characters) will be able to take part in the larger game plot as well as being able to run smaller, character-specific plots.