Erebor Character Creation
Now that you have become a new member of this dwarven culture, you are ready to begin delving into its vast opportunities and forging your own experiences with its other noble members. Where to start, you say? Here we'll guide you through the process.
The first step in creating your character here in Erebor involves setting the following attributes on yourself. These attributes will serve one basic purpose: to create a concept of the character you wish to play, thus helping you decide how to respond and act during roleplay. For those of you who don't know what an 'attribute' is, or aren't sure how to set it, fear not. Instructions will be given.
Contents
Name
When you first connect to Elendor, you give yourself a name. However, it is important to ensure that you have a name that could belong to one of Tolkien's stout dwarves before you roleplay with this name. Dwarves speak the ancient tongue of Khuzdul, and give themselves secret names in this language, but these names are not even carved upon their tombs. Because they do not wish for their language to be spoken by others, they also name themselves in the language of their closest neighbors, and use this name at all times except on the rarest of occasions. This latter name is the name players MUST use for their name attribute.
All of Tolkien's dwarves possessed names derived from Norse names. Perhaps this is because the language of our closest neighbors, the Bardings, is similar to the old Norse language of Europe. Thus you must either give your character an actual Norse name, or a name derived from Norse. Some helpful tools in aiding with name selection are listed below. Once you have chosen an appropriate name, type
@name me=<new name> <old password>
Our Dwarven name generator can be accessed by typing
+ENAME
Here are some links to other Norse name sites:
General Norse Names: [1]
Male Norse Names: [2]
Female Norse Names: [3]
Description
The description attribute is simply a physical description of your character's looks. How long is his/her beard? What color eyes does he/she have? What type of garb is your character wearing? And other questions, such as size and distinguishing features. If you want an example of what others have written in their own descriptions type '+display <name>/describe'. For example, '+display Dain/describe'. Before you begin writing your own description, here are some guidelines on the appearances of Khazad in general:
Dwarves are generally around four to four and a half feet in height, with five feet being considered extremely tall. Both genders have beards that grow to or below the waist; the ends can be trimmed, but never cut or shaved. There are no bald dwarves. Fat only comes with old age if a life of leisure has been lived. Between ages forty and 240, dwarves cannot be distinguished by age.
As for hair color, we know that blue, yellow, white, red, and brown are mentioned specifically in Tolkien's works. Given this list, other colors such as black or silver are also acceptable.
Ear piercings are the only piercings allowed, and all mention of armor and weapons should be left out until you have purchased equipment ICly. Also, no reference to mithril can be placed in a description without explicit permission.
Once you have an idea of what your character looks like, following the above guidelines, you can begin writing. Doing it is very simple, you simply type
@desc me=<Your description here>
You can then check it by typing
look me
Father
One of the simplest -- though still important -- attributes players are required to set on themselves is the Father attribute, which is simply the name of a character's father. This helps to add more detail to characters, and is especially important since fathers and family are so important to Dwarves. Formal greetings always include the names of fathers, such as "Kloi son of Kloin, at your service!" And as can be seen by this example, the name of your father should always be very similar to your own name. You may also include your grandfather's name in this attribute. Setting the father attribute is easy:
&father me=<name of father> @set me/father=vis
Born
Age is an important factor in a player's character concept, so it is required that all players set a birth date on their characters. See the notes on Dwarves and ageing for the rules of Dwarven age, and refer to +ETIME for the current IC date. This should assist you in choosing the appropriate date of birth for your character.
If you know how old you want to be, and want to calculate your birth-year, use
+EBDAY <age wanted>
Once you have chosen a date of birth, put it in the born attribute in any form, as long as you include the month, day, and year; and as long as the year is the last element of the attribute. For example:
&born me=April 3, 2888 @set me/born=vis
Your age in +EINFO will then be evaluated according to this attribute, and your character will age with the passing of IC years, on his/her IC birthday.
Optional attributes
Surname (Byname)
An attribute some players choose to set on themselves is a surname, which is actually more like a title. Dwarves don't have family surnames (last names) like Men do. They belong to clans. We do use surnames, however, which are descriptive titles. For example, Thorin Oakenshield got his surname at the Battle of Azanulbizar, where he used the branch of an oak as a shield. Other known examples are Dain Ironfoot and Thorin Stonehelm. Inventing surnames for your character can help develop their concept. You may wish to wait until you have roleplayed your character for a while before setting this attribute, in order to achieve a title. Use
&surname me=<name> @set me/surname=vis
Common
To aid players in creating a concept for their characters, the Common attribute is often used. It should contain common knowledge of one's character. In essence, it is a short profile telling others who your character is, what he/she does, their personality quirks, etc, that could be known and perhaps gossiped about by those who know you. This should NOT be used as a condensed version of your history. To set it, use
&common me=<Common knowledge> @set me/common=vis
Schedule
This attribute refers to your RL (real life) online schedule, letting other players know when you think you'll be online the most each day, or whether weekdays or weekends are better for you, etc. Even if your schedule is somewhat random, it helps to include things such as what timezone you are in. Because when it comes to coordinating RP between players, or attempting to schedule events, this helps TREMENDOUSLY. You can format this attribute however you choose, as long as you get the general idea across. To set it, type
&SCHEDULE me=<schedule> @set me/schedule=vis
Once you have set all the required attributes, and perhaps a few of the optional ones if you wish, contact an LA for approval before moving on to the next step. You can see who Erebor's LAs are by typing
+locals
Clan
Each Dwarf begins in the culture as a resident of Erebor; you will meet and know denizens of the Iron Hills as well, but the seat of the Dwarven world has shifted, and is centered Under the Mountain, with the King. As such, you will want to be familiar especially with the clans and information regarding Erebor. You will learn more of the Iron Hills as well, and experienced players who wish to join the Iron Hills should contact a Local Admin for more information.
Your next step is to choose your clan. There are many clans in Dwarven Society, and they are an important element of life Under the Mountain. There are four unique clans in Erebor, you can read about each of them here.
Profession
You will want to decide upon a line of work for your Dwarf. This can be the most defining choice you make! The available professions in Erebor and the sub-culture of Emyn-Engrin are roughly the same except for a few restricted professions.
The primary professions are as follows:
There are also more secondary and 'off-the-beaten-path' professions. These jobs are often chosen by players with a bit of experience under their belt who wish to try out something a bit different from a 'normal' job. These are usually not available to new players, but if you think you have it in you, contact a member of culture staff for approval.
Secondary professions include the following:
- Carpenter
- Engineer
- Brewer
- Cobbler
- Butcher
- Healer
- Lore Scholar
- Cleric
- Architect
- Tailor
- Skald
- Cook
- Barber
- Scribe
- Chartier
- Clan-karl
Once you've decided on your character's job, you should +mail your choice of clan and profession to the Erebor-la board or report your choices directly to one of the Local Admins, who will set your title as an Apprentice Dwarf. For more help with using Elendor's +mail system, you can refer to HELP MAIL in-game.
Roleplay!
The next step is to start playing your character, especially if you are new to mushes, and to roleplay, it is suggested that you begin roleplaying before finishing off the last few steps of your character.
