Sralos.com . . . roleplaying and more

Sralos.com has been around since 1998. It was created as a depository for stories, pictures, reference material, etc., revolving around my online free-form roleplaying. More about that later. As time passed I started putting more and more material on Sralos.com. At the same time, I ventured out into other areas on the web in order to do other things, such as blog, show off my art, etc., but always using the name "Sralos" as my user ID.

After a while Sralos just became another name for me. But Sralos.com was still just about the RP (roleplaying). Even as I increased the site's functionality by adding message/story boards, galleries, and a chat room, I continued to do all of my non-RP related activities elsewhere. Shortly after Katrina, I considered expanding Sralos.com to be about me and all of my interests, not just RP, but the very idea of restructuring the site was extremely daunting. I started looking into CMS (content management systems) and finally found one that works for me.

And that brings us to today and the new Sralos.com.

The new Sralos.com is a place where I can express all of my thoughts, ideas, and creative notions. It's not just about RP anymore. Still, I think I should honor my site's humble beginnings by remembering what Sralos used to be about. It still is about the following, just with a few more things tossed into the mix!

What is Sralos?

Sralos is a world. It is a world with oceans and continents. It is a world with a history and a variety of cultures.

Okay, now really, what is Sralos?

Sralos is the setting for my stories. It is a medieval fantasy setting, which basically means no technology allowed. The fantasy part comes into play because some of the characters and creatures have magical abilities. Others just aren't human.

The story (or book) Sralos will revolve around the life of Beth Codet. At this point I'm not sure how much of Beth's original history will change or if I'll even keep that name. But for now, let's just say that she was found abandoned shortly after her birth and raised in a small, all but isolated mountain community. Her foster parents quickly discovered that there was something strange about Beth. At the age of five her secret was revealed publicly with profound and long lasting results. Eventually she found a respected niche in the village although it kept her forever apart from everyone else. Time passed, people died, new people were born and they too grew old and died, but not Beth. Beth does not get old. Beth does not die. Although the faces and names changed, the village itself always remained pretty much the same. At least until it was set upon and destroyed by invaders. Her special abilities allowed her to escape the slaughter, but what she did not know was that she was the cause of the attack. The invaders came for her.

Where did the idea for Sralos come from?

I was becoming bored with Beth. I only had two regular gaming partners and it was difficult to find new people to play with because going into AOL's public role playing rooms was becoming a real chore. The rooms were filled by pick up artists out for a night of cyber sex, people who could not separate their own lives from their characters', and writing skills that would make a ten year old cringe.

The fantasy world of RhyDin that my character lived in for more than eight years had deteriorated into sheer chaos. There was no law, no government, no uniform standard of money. Spacers fired blasters at sword wielding knights. People were murdered in public inns and the killer stayed for a leisurely drink with the blood still dripping from his hands. No one batted an eye.

To escape this nonsensical chaos, I pulled Beth out of the public eye and retreated to gaming in private rooms. This solved one of my problems, but it gave birth to another . . . stagnation. My gaming partners and I desperately needed new blood and fresh ideas for our stories.

I read about a player who had developed a country setting for herself and her writing partners. Being who I am, I took that further and opted for an entire world, and so Sralos and this website were born.