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[bibliognost]

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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📖 PREMISE

There’s a rush of icy wind, the faintest scent of delicate jasmine perfuming the air. Sand shifts below your feet, and you stumble backwards. The sky above darkens from its cornflower blue, and the first drop of rain hits your cheek. Another step, and suddenly, you’re falling. But it feels like floating. Down, further and further until you land softly and drift to sleep.

When you wake, you’re soaking wet and staring up at swirling, opaque painting. What might have once been a mural is gone now, and when you look away, there are others beside you.

Welcome to Bookends.

Bookends is a panfandom exploration game with horror, humor, and science fiction tones. Characters work together to explore open books and solve the riddle of The Mural.

📖 ARRIVAL

Characters wake up on their backs beneath a giant mural in the foyer of the library. They will have no memory of how they got there or why they’re soaking wet. They will have a library card and backpack with them and can find the librarian at the circulation desk to answer questions. They will be shown how to use their cards and how to access books ( take the sign out card from the book and write your name. after the librarian applies the stamp, your character will feel a rush of wind and open their eyes to find themselves in the book ). They will have full and immediate access to the library and its contents.

📖 CIRCULATION DESK

More information can be found here.

📖 LIBRARY CARDS

Each character wakes up with a backpack and a library card. The library card has their name at the top, in their handwriting, and the date that they arrived. To post to the network, tap an empty line on the card and the post title and date will fill in automatically. Characters use the library card like a smartphone. The front will adjust to fit their needs ( a keyboard at the bottom, etc. ). When not in use it looks like a standard card.

📖 THE MURAL

In the foyer of the library is an empty mural. It appears to be moving as if white paint swirls in slow circles. As per plot, this mural will update over time to reveal a 'phrase'. Each event will hint at a word and if characters unlock it, that part of the mural will fill in. Once filled in completely characters will have the chance to go home.

📖 THE BACKPACK

Each backpack has the following:

- Notebook
- Pencil case
- Gel pens
- Pencils
- Trapper keeper
- Glitter glue
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Box of tissues

📖 HOUSING

Found here. The book is located at the circulation desk and can be accessed at any time. Please check the circulation desk for any additional information.

📖 TRANSPORTATION

There is no transportation in game. Characters don’t need it in the library but may use any forms of transportation that is a part of the open books while inside them.

📖 TECHNOLOGY

Other than the library cards, technology is circa the 90's and what would be in a library. Inside books technology will differ depending on the setting.

📖 LANGUAGE BARRIERS

There are no language barriers. For ease, characters arrive speaking and understanding the same language.

📖 COMMUNITIES / JOURNALS

Mod Journal: bibliognost - All mod posting and responses will come from here.
Network: multimediasection - In-game Communication through devices and computers.
OOC: periodicalsection - For player and mod out of character posts.
Log: acquisitionsection - This is for log-based threading.
Meme: circulationsection - Test drive memes and other memes will be here.

📖 TIME

Bookends has a 1:1 day ratio and follows the schedule of current time, EST.

📖 ACTIVITY RULES

Check the calendar for Activity Check dates. One of the following are needed to pass:

- One thread with ten comments from your character
- One open network or open log post
- Two threads equaling ten comments from your character

📖 REWARDS

Characters can use extra threads to open new books. An exchange of 100 comments from your character must be provided, and books must be discussed and approved with a mod during Activity Check.

📖 POWERS & DEATHS

- Characters powers cannot be game breaking and only work inside open books. They do not work while in the library.

- Each character can die once. They are revived through the mural and wake up the same way they arrived. A second death requires mod discussion and approval.

📖 DROPPED CHARACTERS

Dropped characters are absorbed back through the mural and leave an imprint of themselves behind. Players who post to the drop page can choose what the imprint is and the imprint of swept characters will be decided by the mod. ( An imprint is a small symbolic mark that appears around the outside of the mural; it is something significant to the character. ) When someone reapps a dropped character, whether a new player or the previous one, the imprint will still remain on the Mural. Characters are free to notice it and possibly glean some sort of significance from the imprint.

📖 HIATUSES & CANON UPDATES

Hiatuses and canon updates are handled the same way. When posting to the appropriate pages, you select one of the dead books for your character, and they will be stuck there for the duration. Hiatuses cannot last for more than one month and cannot be one after the other. Canon updates last for one week and start when the player posts to the page.

📖 APPABLE CHARACTERS

Canon, original, canon AU, CRAU, and player-created protagonists. If don't know if a character is acceptable, please ask.

📖 BOOK CHARACTERS

Characters from any form of literature are allowed. Please remember that if you bring in a character from a book, it is possible that at some point an event may focus on that book. When characters visit open books, they are allowed to explore aspects of that world and may learn about that version of your character. It is also important to remember that characters can stay inside a book but when it closes, they’re stuck there forever. Please only app a book character if you are okay with any of this happening and/or know what you will do in the instance this happens. The mods will discuss it with characters prior to events and it may never occur, but it’s best to prepare just in case.

📖 AGE LIMITS / NUMBER OF CHARACTERS

- There are no age restrictions on characters but all players must be over 18.
- Two characters unless the player meets twice the AC with both for two months in a row.

📖 GRAPHIC CONTENT

This game may focus on material with unsettling or triggering content. Logs will be marked accordingly and we expect our players to do the same with their own.

📖 INSPIRATION

This game is loosely based on The Pagemaster. There will be ties to classic and current literature.

code bases by tricklet

Comments

[thoughtlock]

Hey, mods! Just a few questions/clarifications.

1) Dropped characters are absorbed back through the mural and leave an imprint behind. What happens if they are re-apped, either by the same person or someone new? Does their imprint remain?

2) Do non-human characters need to be humanized?

3) You mention that "CRAI" characters are appable... I think this might be a typo. :)

Excited about the game! Thank you for your time.

[bibliognost]

When someone reapps a dropped character, whether a new player or the previous one, the imprint will still remain on the Mural. Characters are free to notice it and possibly glean some sort of significance from the imprint. Non-human characters do not need to be humanized. Since the game will touch on elements with unique non-human characters in literature we wouldn't exclude that character type from the game. Non-human characters would only add to the game setting. That is is a typo, oops, and we'll fix it when we update the information you've asked for clarification on.

[idealprincess]

On the application, do you just choose whatever genre you want as the player, or does it have to correspond to your character's canon?

[bibliognost]

The player gets to decide which genre and it doesn't have to correspond with the character's canon. It can be the player's favorite or least favorite genre. Or one that they know most about. The reason for it will be revealed when the game opens!

[friendlyhermitvampire]

Question here. Would certain conditions some characters might have (like a contract they are bound to) be nullified within the game so that none of the negative stuff happens? I was going to ask about immortality but I figured that's just something that will be easily waved away.

Sorry if my question is a little strange. I can go into more detail about the specifics if needed but I felt like it was best to ask.

[bibliognost]

That depends on what the contract is. If it's something that is a key part of who they are then we'd like them to keep it or the minimum necessary so that it wouldn't change who they are as a person. Otherwise, the contract can be nullified. If it's something that would make them unplayable then it can be nullified too. We'd want them to fit in the setting the best that they could.

[friendlyhermitvampire]

Thanks for answering. Yeah, the contract is a bit of a key part to who I'm thinking of apping because it basically is what gives him a name and what kickstarts the story he is from.

I'm only a little apprehensive because the little niggle is that if he's too far away from the person he's contracted to for 24 hours his contractor dies and he will no longer recognize that name as being his.

[bibliognost]

Is it possible for him to take a contract with someone in game? A pc or npc. Or do some jam jar game magic where the contract still stands even if he’s far away from the person he’s contracted to? It’s something we feel could be played around with so that you find a way you’d enjoy.

[friendlyhermitvampire]

I feel jam jar magic would be better in all honesty. That way he can keep his name and reason and, once it settles in, there's no immediate threat via the 24 hour time limit.

[pidgeypidge]

Just to clarify, characters have no memory of how they arrived here or why they're soaking wet. Will they also have no memory of anything before they got here, or do they just have a block of "missing" time between the last thing they remember and waking up?

[bibliognost]

That's just for the block of missing time from the last thing they remember and waking up. They won't know how they got to the library. Our apologies for the confusion!

[pidgeypidge]

No worries! <3 I just wanted to be sure.

[bibliognost]

Thanks for asking!