These files will help you develop ideas for a character or flesh out one you may already have. While not everything will be covered below, it is strongly recommended that you speak to the area admins should you have any further questions.

If you wish to create a character that has special stats and or abilities you will need to submit an application to the wizard in charge of the area your character will roleplay in. Please type 'help Special' for a list of character types that need application. Please contact the area wizard before submitting an application to inquire if the position is available.

An application for a special or feature character should include the following information and be submitted to the area wiz through @mail.

Character's detailed background. It should explain how the character obtained the position they hold at the time of application. It should give the characters personal history with any events that helped make the person what they are today. And special skills or abilities should also be explained and how they were learned/discovered. If you are the going to be a member of an existing noble family, make sure you have also contacted the House's High Seat so that your background meshes with what has already been established. Anything that will be RPed about your character should be explained in your background.

Character's description and age. Include the full description of your character that will be used in the IC world, as well as the age you will start out as. If your character's description is different than the norm of the area you're Rping in, (for example, a fair haired noblewoman in a predominately dark featured Ebou Dar) also explain the reason for the difference. Ideas you have for furthering RP within the faction you will be a member of, as well as the area you will be roleplaying in. Include your character's personal goals, what he or she hopes to achieve and how they might attempt to fulfill these goals.

Personal secrets. Has your character been involved in things that might get them in trouble if they were ever learned? A scandalous affair or a murder perhaps? These details will be kept between you and staff, only revealed in IC RP if you choose to reveal it. If your secrets involve PCs currently on the game, include their names and make certain that you've gained their approval.
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Given the theme of Mirrors of the Wheel, commoners on the whole should (and will be kept by the staff) as a relatively minor part of the game. Past observations have led us to realize that with an even mix of nobility and common folk, roleplay within the nobility has become less than believable, as the nobles are forced to interact favorably with those that normally they would at least ignore, and at most actively dislike. So our philosophy is to keep the numbers of common folk to a minimum, with a few exceptions. What are they, you ask?

Commoners with specific jobs within a noble house, such as house staff, guards, servants and so on, are generally all right. If a noble house is in need of such characters, it will be advertised. Keep in mind, however, that such a character, 99 times out of 100, will still be considered a second-class or even worse citizen. This game is about politics and the nobility (and the White Tower) -- commoners can be punished severely for the slightest of infractions. Don't say you weren't warned.

Other characters that may be accepted from time to time include powerful merchants that have a reason to interact with the nobility. Money can equal power, after all. Soldiers of varying sorts will be allowed, but the majority will be officers, often from minor noble houses anyway. Should you be a member of a noble house, you are welcome to recruit any of the above characters personally -- just remember how we're trying to control the IC population, and don't go overboard.

We're not in the market at the moment for the typical peasant characters one would find in a fantasy setting. Blacksmiths, orphans, street thieves and so on will almost certainly not be accepted. In most cases, these characters will be NPCs or puppets run by an IC character or staff. Should you have an idea that you think should be allowed, you are welcome to contact a staff member, but keep in mind that without an amazing background and character concept, you'll most likely be turned down.
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Caemlyn, Cairhien and Ebou Dar all have noble houses currently in existence and open for new players. These houses have set history and family trees, and have been developed both by players and staff to create a rich atmosphere to base your character in. It is important to contact either the Area Admin or the OOC contact person for the House if you wish to create a character in any of the groups. For more information on the houses available and who to contact, visit the Factions page.

Establishing a new Noble House

If you have a concept for a new noble house in one of the three cities, (Tar Valon is not accepting noble houses), you must submit an application to the area wiz you wish to establish the house in with the following information:

House name, sigil, colors and a family tree consisting of at least three generations (see existing family trees for examples.) The family tree must leave space available for other players to join.

To start a new house you must have yourself and two other players lined up to create the house. We want well rounded noble houses, not a bunch of High Seats in each city. We recommend that your first character not be one created with a new house, rather RP with another house for a while to get an idea of the setting and goings-on in the city and the game. With the creation of the house you must be willing to accept new players into your house. Houses will not be closed unless done so by the staff members to even out the numbers in a house. You do have control over what kind of characters can be created for your houses and you can advertise for particular family members.

You must establish a history of your house, the location of estates outside of the IC city, though these estates will not be placed on the IC grid. You must also establish the House's source of income, whether it be through extensive farming, fishing, trade or a hundred other forms of generating revenue. How does your house contribute to the city and nation? Why would others come to you? What do you offer? This does not mean that the nobles themselves are weaving the rugs, tending the vineyards or sailing the ships. Instead, they are the overseers of craftsmen, farmers or sailors who they more or less employ.

You must establish how the house will fit into the current setting of the city you wish to create the house in. How do you see the house participating in the grand scheme of things? Who, if anyone, do they support or work against? The staff, and especially your area leader needs to be kept updated on the goings on in the house and plans for TPs

The player establishing the house should also include the characters he and his other players will be taking on and if the High Seat will be a PC or NPC. The player creating the house should include information on other games/roles they have played, as well as how long they've been involved in online RP.
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NPCs are Non Player Characters, those characters brought into a scene to add further atmosphere to the RP. Examples of this are a barmaid serving drinks in a bar, a merchant calling out to passers-by in the city streets, or palace guards that escort visitors into a house. They can be used to spur a plot, perhaps a farmer's cart overturning in a street, spilling vegetables all over the ground, or perhaps it's a small child lost and looking for its parents. The use of NPCs is encouraged because they can contribute greatly to a scene, but like PC characters permission must be gained from other PCs before the NPC does something like tripping a PC or something else that would require consent. Also like PCs, NPCs cannot have skills or abilities that regular PCs would have to apply for. This means that you cannot NPC a Blademaster or a strong channeler. Instead, seek out other players and involved them in your RP. We also wish to discourage the use of NPC warders and Aes Sedai unless in the most general sense (Such as a pair of sisters quietly crossing through a room while you and another PC converse.) If you are unsure about your NPC, please ask your area wizard.
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Close to the end of the fabled Age of Legends, a number of Aes Sedai unwittingly drilled a hole in the prison which had contained the Dark One, thus allowing His influence to touch the world. What followed was a war of epic proportions which ultimately ended in the Dark One's imprisonment by Lews Therin Telamon, the Dragon, and the backlash which tainted the male half of the True Source and ignited the horrific Breaking which tore the world apart.

The touch of the Shadow did more than change the world, however. It also changed its people. Individuals gave themselves up to the Dark One, becoming His servants in the world and fighting battles in His name. They called themselves "Friends of the Dark", but others knew them as simply Darkfriends. These help files are a description of their secret society, which has existed for three thousand years in every culture and nation which emerged after the Breaking.

If you have any questions about the Shadow, or would like to involve some element of the Dark in your background or a possible TP, please contact Quasar.

For more information on the various groups considered Dark, see our page on the Shadow
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Male channelers are those unfortunate males who find in themselves the ability to touch and control Saidin, the male, tainted, half of the True Source. Before the Breaking men and women worked together in the use of the One Power, the women channeling Saidar and the men Saidin. But when Lews Therin and his Hundred Companions sealed up the Dark One, the Dark One's final counterstrike was to taint Saidin, sending male channelers mad and resulting in the Breaking of the World. The taint still remains to this day and so those men born with this ability will eventually go insane and die horribly, though the risk of them doing severe damage with the One Power is very great, and for this reason the Aes Sedai, especially the Red Ajah, hunt them and bring them to the Tower to gentle them - a means of severing them from the One Power.

Male channelers do exist in our world, though we do have a few guidelines that must be followed for anyone wishing to be a Male Channeler. Male channelers are, by nature, stronger than their female counterparts, but strength alone means little if one is not trained. This is not the books, there are no male Forsaken cut from the Dark One that is available to train MCs. For the most part, being an MC and learning to channel is a long and difficult process. You have to hide your ability from female Aes Sedai, lest one of them has the rare ability to create weaves that sense the presence of Saidin. Its not acceptable to go into a tavern and flaunt your talent by making wine glasses float to your hand or causing a huge fireball to spin through the room, at least not in the early stages. Such things such as an accidental fire or perhaps a strong storm that appears from nowhere are certainly acceptable, as long as any damage to be suffered is approved by the owner of an object and the area wizard. MCs are strong, but they have little or no control over what they do, and most likely cannot repeat something they've done, for it was done without study. There is no one presently that can teach you how to use Saidin successfully and with the small number of MCs allowed in the game, it is rare that two would meet with each other. Not impossible, but rare. Please do not approach staff with an application that your character has been hiding in the woods for the past ten years while another MC taught him how to channel.

Another condition we have is that all MCs at some point must submit to capture and gentling. We are not seeking to replay the Breaking of the World and we certainly do not want to see whole cities destroyed because a player refuses to give up a character. We are not saying that after 3 months you have to be caught, that certainly would not be fair. Whether you wish to die shortly after being gentled or desire to let your character live is completely up to you.

We know that these policies might seem harsh, but MCs can be powerful and quite dangerous and so we must have some safeguards in place before the characters are created. And as these character types are rare, they require a full application to the staff before one can be created. If you do not feel you can live by these guidelines, please consider another type of character to roleplay and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to speak with Libra, our MC wizard.
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Certain characters will always require applications. While there may be specific characters added to the list from time to time, those listed below must always be applied for. Contact an area admin or read 'help applications' for more information on how to go about doing this.

Heads of Houses
Rulers of nations (including the Amyrlin Seat)
Characters with weapons skills above regular soldier level
Male Channelers
Darkfriends
Members of Ebou Dar's Kin
Women with Strong channeling ability
Ajah Heads

These characters are limited in number, and may be limited in other scopes as well. Often, they'll be feature-level characters and thus subject to restrictions on things such as length of life and amount of freedom.
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While almost all characters on Mirrors of the Wheel are members of the nobility or hold other high social positions, some are more highly-placed than others. These characters are called 'features': they carry extra prestige IC and extra responsibility OOC. Features are typically the leaders of IC factions, members of royal families, and other people with similarly prominent positions.

If you are playing a feature character, you are expected to work closely with the leader of your area to coordinate RP. You may also be the OOC contact person for an IC faction - for instance, if you are the High Seat of a noble house, new players will come to you in order to join your family.

Players may only have one feature character at a time. In order to play a feature character, you must submit an application. Note that while all features require applications, not all characters which require applications are features: male channelers, for instance, are not features, but must be applied for.

For more information on which feature characters are still available, see the help files for each area and/or talk to a staff member.
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