I was typing this out before the thread since you asked on Discord, but here are some of my thoughts. I love Elysium and want to see it improve + succeed. These are all my suggestions and opinions after nitpicking through the guides and such.

Territory:

Compared to other groups, such as  The Typhoon, there aren't many notable spots within the territory. When looking at the official map, there's a lot of free room to include new spots. Along with that, describing these places in depth or adding small details would help immensely. I would try to tie these places in with traditions too, allowing them to be used frequently and be a staple of the group. It allows consistency. Side-note: creative names for these areas would be cool too. As of right now, things are named like 'The Greenhouse' or 'The Grotto'. How about adding some backstory as to why these things are here or accentuating their name? Example, change 'The Lake' into  something like... 'Landing Lake' or 'Loose Lake' to add character.

Ranks / Titles:

Since Elysium's system is almost a democratic court system, I would perhaps edit the ranks to be clearer though. For example, the Warden description states that 'they may not declare war' BUT the Legate's states 'they also deal in things such as military trainings, protection, raids, and court proceedings.' Since the Warden is a higher rank, I would probably see them having more power over that aspect and they're the second-in-command. While the Legate's *can* have control over raids, so should the Warden (but on a more signifcant level).

As for Decurions, it's stated that they work under the Legate. Is the Legate more of an advisor or a 'captain' of the team? Alternatively, this could be changed. The Legate and Decurion could be equal also: Legate representing the raid/defense/training aspect and Decurion providing events/keeping the peace/welcoming newcomers. Though, if you did that, I would recommend changing the Decurion rank name as it means 'cavalry officer in command of a squadron.'

When it comes to the magna rank I would remove 'They also grant newcomers permission to stay on Elysium's territory before they officially join.' as a leader can't always be there to approve joinings. Maybe make it Decurion and up if you don't want regular members handling it. As of right now though, Elysium only has one HP besides the leaders (temporary and regular).

This is my own suggestion, but I really think we should have a medic rank. Instead of having the 'Cleric' title, I think we should have a Cleric HP rank. The rest of the groups have one notable character who addresses wounds and I think we'd benefit from that, as Elysium stands out as a pacifist group. Perhaps when adding the Cleric rank, the title could be changed to 'practitioner' or 'physician' to spice it up.

Also side-note, the rank names are really creative. Even so, it's not prominent which rank is which. Magna doesn't SCREAM leader as much as 'Captain' or 'King' would, if that makes sense. I think clarifying which rank is which with simpler terms would help. For example, how about 'Chief' (as in 'Chief Justice' to fit the democratic court theme), 'Admiral' or going back to 'Seraph' from The Ascendant's roots? The same statement goes with 'Legate' and 'Decurion'.

Traditions:

For traditions, I suggest we add some more or accentuate what we have currently.

Spending some more time on the necklace tradition could be cool too. Specifying what beads are what/providing descriptions or images. This but more specific, I suppose.

I do suggest adding a newcomer -> Elysite transition, as those are two separate ranks within the guide. ('Newcomers → These are members that have been accepted past Elysium's border, but have not been sworn in yet as full members.') How are they sworn in? Is it a time limit? Or a ritual that brings them into the group? Maybe this is when they recieve their initial necklace in a monthly meeting, similar to Tanglewood's mask ceremony? (Addition to above as I write, I did not see this part of the guide that states leaders ask at meetings about newcomers, but I haven't been seeing that done. So I will leave this here.)

Here is one tradition I do like from The Ascendants. It includes the necklace tradition too, which is a nice tie-in.

Quote:THE FINAL FAREWELL
When a member passes away or disappears, their meteorite necklace, if salvageable or found, will be taken back to Starpool. Here, the Astral Seraph or the next highest HP will hang the necklace on a branch of the Great Oak that stands near the center of the lake. All attending members will sit at the bank of the lake or at the root of the tree, depending on their relations to the lost character. Memories and stories will often be shared. This ritual will generally take place at night. If it rains during the funeral, it's considered a bad omen, and may cause the ritual to be cut short.

Also, if we do continue with the shop system, I would suggest having a thread hub for it and maybe even a guide. It would be interesting to see who owns what shops, along with how things work. Here is our current tracker. We should push this agenda more often if we want it to become a staple in Elysium's traditions.

Also since the Stellar Collision Festival was a bit late this year, maybe we should specify a reason it'll be held in (instead of a specific month)? It'll give more room for flexibility and timing.

Political stance:

This one is a major one for me. As a member of the site, a roleplayer here, and as an administrator. As of right now, Elysium is neutral. To me, Elysium does not seem neutral and seems more pacifist. There has only been one time where they've went to war and that was when Tanglewood/The Typhoon attempted to takeover The Pitt to end Jervis' chaotic reign. Along with this, they only defend themselves. Overall, Elysium's morals also remain positive and lack negative aspects, compared to other neutral groups.

I think we REALLY need to reconsider this. With all groups diverging into a neutral stance, Elysium would really stand out if they declared themselves pacifist and made efforts towards improving the community. Having all groups with similar ideals creates a lack of plotting or interesting events, hence why I push this point greatly.

Overall concept:

One thing to consider is what is Elysium's main focus. Is it the justice system and it's pacifism, stellar/sun aspects from the merged groups, or something else? How about... BALANCE. The balance between day/night, pacifism, and the justice system to keep things fair and guess what... BALANCED!

Personally, I lean more towards the aspects of the merged clans and think we should focus on accelerating those aspects to respect the merged groups. Plus, the balance concept ties in well. It's an overall descriptor for Elysium that fits well. For example, Sunhaven focused on appreciating the day. In the meantime, The Ascendants were nightowls and appreciated the stars. A balance between the two would be A+. With this in mind, we should focus on these aspects when adding/changing things.

For example, adding onto living spaces. For dens, rather than having the seaside town, we should focus on the mountains. The mountain should have a cave system / indents that characters inhabit based on their rank. The closer they are to the sky they admire, the higher rank they are. Leaders will be closer to the peak of the mountain and the sky itself, but prisoners will be near the base. In my head, it should go like this. Magna -> Warden -> Legate and Decurion -> Titled Elysites -> Regular Members -> Clerics/Sickly/Elderly/Children (easier access to the ground and away from the cold top) -> Prisoners (can be in spiked/dangerous portion lol)

Adding onto that, switching between nightlife and daytime. Different aspects for different times of day to accentuate previous merger/concepts. Maybe a bar that opens at night or a luncheon that opens during the day? Something to balance the system. Maybe traditions that only happen during these times?

To add on, how about making a clearer justice system? Specify rules, how court is handled, and what laws could prompt court to occur. Does a leader run court or is it a deputy? Who is the jury? What are the punishments handed out? Anything to prevent cruel and unusual punishment? Could court overthrow a leader? No one should be free from being prosecuted, after all... to keep things... balanced.

That said, the basis of my rambling is: keeping aspects from both Sunhaven/The Ascendants by enforcing the balance between day/night would tie in nicely with Elysium's current balanced court system.

I'll probably add more ideas as we discussed. It's getting kinda long now so I'll shush LMAO

EDIT/// I had this last time we discussed Elysium.

(02-07-2020, 09:48 PM)Alastor link Wrote:

I definitely agree that Elysium does have two coinciding themes that clash. Trading and justice are both great sub -themes/ideas to have in mind, but ultimately we should definitely have the group focused on one thing for certain. For example, The Pitt focuses on their ruthless tendencies or The Typhoon is based on their ocean pride. Even Tanglewood is known for being a true neutral. Elysium, in my mind, is one of the groups that remain to be a pacifist clan (minus the recent The Pitt/Typhoon war).

Trading, in my mind, isn't very popular. For a character to be a merchant, they usually have to be centered around that and I do not see many characters here interested in such a thing (especially as it is apart of the current group's theme). Along with that, currency is not very existent in game. I think we should stray from this topic.

I'm going to ditto Axiom. I really enjoy the original Ascendants star concept, along with Sunhaven's lot for nature. I think instead of focusing directly on astrology, we should focus more on nature in general. For example, worshipping the sun / moon as two different entities. Another thing is that Elysium's night life can differ from the day (and holding events according to each). A lot more plants, animal praise, and generalized wholesomeness. This also enforces the pacifist group narrative.

I would definitely have Alastor get involved.