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What would have been an idyllic landscape once is now torn, worn away by war and bloodshed. However, the eye of the storm has long since passed, and now remains a land free to form and grow as it desires.
Though the Takehana 武花 Family has long since passed, their history remains, and there are those who now settle the land to honor both their own sacrifice, and those the Source over.Maybe now, after all this time, you’ve found somewhere you can truly belong…
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─⋆⋅☼⋅⋆─ OVERVIEW ─⋆⋅☼⋅⋆─
Hananokuni is an 18+ SFW group that caters to roleplayers who desire a focused group experience without the restriction of needing to belong to a specific FC or world. Our focus is allowing individual characters to flourish while providing a cohesive, low-power setting for like-minded individuals to create stories together. The setting is a set piece for the world and will change as stories change and evolve. If you’ve struggled to stick with groups because either events are inconsistent or the overall plot feels more outlandish than you’d like, then this may be the group for you.This group was created because we never found a group to truly call home, and we wanted to create an evolving setting for Eastern-focused characters’. We wanted lore-grounded RP with stories that involved deeper, and possibly darker, themes that FFXIV sometimes touches on, with the trust that the individuals in the group would build off of those themes and create something grander than we ever could.Hananokuni will have an overarching storyline that you can participate in, but the primary focus is individual stories flourishing and becoming grander. If this doesn’t appeal to you, you can instead visit during oneshot events and enjoy the setting and lore-grounded characters. Your character doesn’t need to have an Eastern focus; they merely need to pass through the area once in a while. Each person, no matter how brief, contributes to the overall growth.
We are NOT:
☼ a criminal or yakuza community☼ a yokai community☼ a lite RP or pure slice of life community☼ High fantasy/magitek focused
FFXIV is inundated with these sorts of groups, and we want to provide a more lore-compliant and lawful environment for characters who struggle to fit in with other communities.
─⋆⋅☼⋅⋆─ GUIDELINES ─⋆⋅☼⋅⋆─
OOC RULES:No IRL discussion of politics please! FFXIV politics and what a character believes are free to discuss and debate; there are many characters with many more viewpoints. But we will limit political discussion strictly to in-game sentiments.Be respectful of others and their OOC viewpoints. Remember, OOC doesn’t equate to IC. We are not our characters. Communication is of the utmost importance – assume good intentions, and communicate when you aren’t sure.Please remain as lore-abiding as you can, or at least have a lore-plausible explanation for history, actions, and characters, and if need be, discuss what this means with admin for your character.Please be limited with mods; no lore-breaking mod characters will be accepted. Clarifications will follow.
Non-accepted Character Traits and Types:
☼ Heavily modded to the point where the FFXIV aesthetic has been lost (causes issues for our vanilla players)☼ Non-canon races (satyr/fawn, fay, etc)☼ Enemy-type characters (voidsent, yokai, auspices, sin eaters)☼ Ancients or Ascians (too high power)☼ Lore-breaking backgrounds such as shard-hopping or time travel (breaks confines of the lore-heavy group)☼ Tropey or fetishy characters (SFW community, aim is in-depth characters)
Though we appreciate your creativity, this group doesn't cater to such characters, instead creating a lower power, lore-strict environment.
Accepted Traits and Types:☼ Beast races (wolfskin primarily, but others are lore accepted)☼ Paws/peets and other traits added onto existing races within reason (for those who do alter their characters’ appearances)☼ Criminal background (backgrounds are fine! You just won’t find any black markets here)☼ Non-Eastern characters (we’re open to all cultures)
We do not have a synchshell. This is a community for those who do not heavily mod, or don’t mod at all. You will not be policed with who you pair with and share mods, but our group does not have that as a focus.We have a more in-depth overview of what we are and accept on our lore page, but admin are always available to answer questions, and members of the community are also willing and able to answer as well.
The war is over; Garlemald has withdrawn their forces after the Eorzean Alliance and the Warrior of Light have forestalled the Final Days. They have left a battle-scarred and wounded Doma, and you can see it in the land. Gashes left in the earth, broken weaponry, armor. The echoes of battles from years past. You see such scars as you journey through Doma’s western half, crossing the One River. The land is yet healing, though, and villagers and trade occurs, though it is not yet flourishing.You travel further and come upon a strange, small village. There are ruined buildings, houses from an era passed, yet there is life. Movement. People conversing and laughing. Despite the tragedy, the ruined earth, the blood spilled, a field of flower yet blooms in the distance.It is there that you find life again.
Hananokuni was a once-flourishing village near the western border of Doma, named as such for the fields of wildflowers that would bloom seasonally. It was here that the Takehana family called home, a noble Samurai family who would train soldiers and warriors before sending them away to serve in the Capital to the Rijin family. If all went well, anyhow. The Takehana Dojo churned out respectable and reliable Samurai, and though it didn’t rise to fame as other Dojos did, it kept the village fed, and decades passed without much chaos or strife.After the passing of Takehana Sensei, the Dojo was in a period of limbo, owing both to the desire of the eldest son to travel to the capital for business purposes, and the threat of Garlemald hanging over the doorstep. Unfortunately, being near the western border, Hananokuni was one of the first villages to fall, and the residents either fled or were killed.Years passed before survivors of the war attempted to live there again, and it was there that the last remaining heir to the Takehana family returned to see his home destroyed, forgotten by time.Not wanting it to languish, and desiring to create a home of his own after years of floating between locales, never fitting in or belonging, Marvin of Othard decided to rebuild the manor. Though not to its former glory, and quite small compared to what it once was, it serves as the center of the village: a place to belong for those who wish to rise beyond their pasts. For those who wish to remember the past, but move on and grow.
─⋆⋅☼⋅⋆─ OOC Mechanics ─⋆⋅☼⋅⋆─
Hananokuni aims to foster a growing and developing story both from DMing opportunities and the actions of the members. Though a foundation has been established, the aim is to allow other members to influence how the plot and story develop. Each decision matters, and each member can lay a piece to the puzzle. This will unfold during roleplay sessions and events. Allow your characters to grow, develop, or become more chaotic; every piece builds the puzzle.This is a PG-13 group, which means that some heavier subjects will be discussed and tackled, but things will still stay appropriate. If members wish to explore matters beyond that, they will have to coordinate with each other as consenting parties.Though we won’t force RP styles on each other, the group flourishes with open and honest communication. Be cordial, but don’t be afraid to speak your mind. If you have concerns with a particular member or way of operation, you can either bring it up with the group or contact a mod privately. We’re adults here, so let’s communicate and collaborate – we’re here to help at the end of the day.
Wanderers, Travelers, and Villagers: Villagers are RPers who have applied for IC residency and passed the inquiry process. They can choose to be involved in villager-only events, and they directly influence the growth of the village and the overall story through personalized stories that they are allowed to create and DM. They can also create and host venues or locales for people to visit and partake in, and DM leve events for everyone to participate in.Travelers are passers through who, while not allowed in ALL events, can still influence the village, and have also passed the groups’ OOC application process. They will not be allowed to host a venue, however. Effectively, most people will fit into the traveler role, and can participate in the vast majority of RP and opportunities. They can participate in leves and missions, gatherings and events, and other RP situations. Approved members can also DM missions for others, but missions go through an approval process. They are still allowed to gather people for their personal plots and stories without approval though, so long as it falls under Hananokuni guidelines.Travelers can either remain, passing through as they wish, or they can apply to become villagers after an amount of time. Both villagers and travelers will be treated with respect, and quality of RP will not vary, merely the focus and topic.Wanderers are the temporary role people receive upon joining. They are allowed to check out the channels, chat with members and admin, and brainstorm potential characters to submit for application. They won’t be allowed to participate in RP until after submission, though, to allow the RP we offer to remain lore compliant and lower powered.Village Leaders: Leadership of the village consists of a group of individuals either elected, chosen, or volunteered to fill positions that the village requires to be led. Currently, Marvin of Othard, as the oldest and possibly only living heir to the area, is the defacto leader. All decisions flow through him, though he often delegates tasks to other reliable individuals.OOC, these will be fellow mods and admin of the group.
Events: Events are the primary way RP is enacted in Hananokuni. These range from seasonal celebrations to weekly gatherings. Such events allow more light-hearted conversation and discussions of the world, current character arcs, and other worldbuilding aspects. All types of characters can participate, both personality-wise and ranking. Though seasonal celebrations are organized and planned by admin, people are free to plan weekly gatherings of their own volition, so long as it is lore appropriate.The other significant way RP occurs are missions and assignments (leves and fates). These are smaller, organized groups with a specific goal in mind. Both contribute to the active growth of the village. Points go into overall restoration, and success or failure changes the trajectory of the overall plot. If you want to influence Hananokuni directly, this is your way to go. Just be aware that some darker topics may come up, as is natural with small, group missions taking place in post-war Doma!Though we will have combat, no one is required to partake, and such events will not unfold into war, large-scale conflict, or division of the village. If you’ve a smooth talker, perhaps combat can even be avoided entirely…
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The Hananokuni Bulletin Board is akin to a community notice board; individuals can leave requests ranging from gathering herbs to dealing with interpersonal issues that anyone can accept. This is a more low-stakes, system-separate way to have roleplay events that can help the community grow and provides interesting tidbits of stories that don't have to revolve around the village itself. The bulletin board is also where IC announcements are posted and where mail can be exchanged.Leves, small missions that contribute toward the growth of the village, are also posted here, but can only be ran by approved DMs. Anyone can sign up, but because of the stricter nature, only certain members can run them.Combat Leves are missions that DMs can run involving our combat system, which provides players with small modifiers to their rolls to provide some customization based on abilities. These can range from hunting to defending from bandits.Non-Combat Leves influence Hananokuni’s regrowth directly through gathering, crafting, or other needs around the village. These are less dice heavy, but still have pass/fail conditions, and are a great option for characters who tend away from combat, but still want to meaningfully contribute.