Gateland Guards

The primary purpose of the Guards of the Gatelands is to smile upon roleplayers and frown upon non-roleplayers.

Without the protection of a Guard, the Indigo Shield will prevent you from speaking more than once a minute.

There are almost always several Guards present in the Gatelands. Try to catch their attention if you wish to gain admittance past the shields and to settle in the Gatelands.

Guards should limit themselves to smiling on roleplayers and frowning on those who aren't roleplaying. Please don't tell others to follow rules unless you are yourself in a real roleplay.

Guard Spells

The following spells may be cast by members of the Guard:

☙ Insight ❧

Once you have been smiled upon by a guard, you can cast the insight spell by messaging Alistair "o.o me".*

This spell must be cast on a single line without quotes:

o.o NameOfPerson

If a person is protected from the shields, Insight will say that they are a guard.

☙ Smile ❧

Use Smile to protect a roleplayer from the Indigo Shield:

[Smiles upon NameOfRoleplayer] reason for smile

The smile spell must only be used on those who are currently roleplaying (real RP, not just RP style), without exception, or it will hurt your score.

☙ Frown ❧

Use smile to protect a roleplayer from the Indigo Shield:

[Frowns upon NameOfNonRoleplayer] reason for the frown

You should frown upon a protected person if they:

aren't roleplaying
posts too many short posts that flood others' posts ("vertical spam")

Frowning for any other reason will damage your staff score standing.

☙ Slap ❧

If a Guard is feeling energetic enough, they can also silence somebody who is breaking Gate Law:

[Slaps NameOfNonRoleplayer] reason for the slap

You must only use Slap when it is clearly appropriate:

the person is not roleplaying
or they are criticising roleplay
they are vertically spamming

☙ Grumble ❧

To create a record of somebody's behaviour for the later review of an administrator (such as Alistair), try grumbling:

[Grumbles about TrollName] reason for the grumble

This is the preferred way to file any complaints, especially for people you feel should be banned, or for staff you feel should be demoted.

☙ Extol ❧

Extolling others, and being extolled, is important for raising your status in the Gatelands, especially if you wish to become an esteemed roleplayer, Playwright, or staff.

Extol should only be cast upon Playwrights that are currently leading a successful roleplay, or upon people within a Playwright's roleplay and contributing well to it.

[Extols name] explanation for extolling them

The Playwright and their players must be using symbols in front of their posts so that the administrators can easily distinguish their RP from the rest of the Gatelands Arena.

☙ Count ❧

Say "count" privately to Tea Master to see your current staff action score. This score reflects the number of staff spells that have been judged favourably by administrators, and incorporates the number of valid extols and grumbles about you.

Every use of a guard spell is recorded and reviewed by Frig and Alistair. Misusing these spells will lower your staff action score and can result in a terrible, terrible fate. [So terrible that the editor censored it.]

☙ About Guard Spells ❧

Guard magic is a branch of staff magic.

Smiling and Frowning are cast using gestures, indicated by the square brackets. These spells can also be cast in public.

Smiling and Frowning erode your mote armour. You will need motes before casting them.

Say "help" to Alistair for reminders on how to cast Guard spells.

(Note that Alistair is even more unlikely to respond to your personal messages if you use Guard spells often.)