Just as the title suggests, this is the board that helps you get started off here on Ethereal Shadow. It should be the very first board you visit, as this is where the rules are located. Announcements can also been found here, as well as helpful information.
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To start roleplaying, you must first have a character, of course. To create that character, please come to this board and get started. Your profile will be accepted by an admin soon after being created and then you will be free to roleplay. ^-^

This is where you come to make your claims. Face claim, AIM name, e-mail, job; all that fun stuff. You absolutely must come here to claim. If you do not claim your character's celebrity, any other user can use it and it will be rightfully theirs. So come and claim here.

Simple; this is where you can record your character's thoughts and daily events. One thread per character only, please. Write about how your charrie has a deep crush on their roommate, or perhaps what happened at Ego last night. There are endless possibilities.

A great way for your character to meet people and/or contact people they already know, instant messaging and e-mail is extremely helpful. Here, your characters can chat with other characters and it will still count as being IC. Make sure your charrie HAS a screen name and e-mail first, however.

Creating a relationship plot is a great way for your character to already have some friends/enemies when you start roleplaying. If you have never made a relationship plot before, just look at the examples and you'll be able to figure it out. This is not required, though it IS fun and suggested.

A single is about the best you can get in this crowded city. They are fairly large, and normally consist of three to five rooms as well as two or three bathrooms. Most of the singles are carpeted, save for tile kitchens and wash rooms, but even a few with polished wood flooring can be found. A small yard exists in the back of each one of these houses, but the sizes vary. The average single consists of two floors, but a select few have more or less. Fancy electric fireplaces can be found in every living room, and the windows are equipped with safety bars in order to keep unwanted visitors out. These buildings are much more pricey than any other housing choice, but they do provide the most comfort and privacy.

A small step up from an apartment, a duplex is basically one house with a wall in the middle of it. Both sides of the building are normally very similar, if not identical, to the other side. There are two entrances, one per side of the duplex, and the back yard is split in half with a fence. These duplex buildings are almost always three floors high, and each half is very thin - meaning there is not much space per floor. The bottom floor hosts a one-car garage and the entrance, the second floor is where the kitchen and living room are found, and the third floor is dedicated to the bathroom and two to three small bedrooms. Carpet covers most of the flooring in these structures, and there is typically a small fireplace in the living room.

The apartments are the most common place to live in Esciton. Each building of apartments hosts a number of different rooms, so there is always the guarantee of neighbors. Good for the social citizens, that's for sure...there's never a quiet moment in the apartments. Each separate dwelling consists of one or two bedrooms, one bathroom, a small livingroom, and a kitchen right off the lounge. Free wireless internet is a plus to living here, but it can be slow at times due to the multiple families accessing it. The floors are carpeted in the living room and bedrooms, and the kitchen and bathroom are host to white tile squares. There is no garden space, but a few of the apartments on the upper floors have balconies and available planting pots.

Ah, the famous studio apartments. These are by far the cheapest housing option available...and also the lowest quality. These rooms are just big concrete squares. A small kitchen dwells in one corner, while the bed goes in the other corner and the living room equipment in the third. As for the fourth corner...it is the only sectioned-off part of each room; the bathroom. A wall guards people from looking into the wash room, and a cheap door allows entrance. The small windows in these studios do very little to keep the cold out, and all renters are required to bring their own electric heater if they wish to stay warm. The studios aren't terrible, and are actually quite pleasant for those who like to paint or have a tendancy for spilling things on carpet.

Spectrum is one of Esciton's best gay bars. It's a nice place, with nightly dancing and drinking. One must be at least 18 to enter, solely for the reason that Spectrum only wants mature people to enter. It is open to both gays and lesbians, and provides a comfortable atmosphere for people to meet and hang out. Beside dancing, the place is also filled with couches, cushions, arm chairs, and a bar.

A simple dance club, Ego is open to all over the age of fourteen. Loud music blasts its way out of the speakers, and the disco balls and stop lights flash a pattern of color into the room. The walls and floors are all lined in black tile, giving Club Ego a much sharper and modern look. Beverages of all sorts can be purchased here, and there are couches and tables in a room off to the side for people to chill out.

The Edge is the most famous and popular strip club in Esciton. The city's finest dancers, which are both male and female, can be found performing here on the stage. As well as a strip club, The Edge also serves food and drink of the highest quality. Only citizens over the age of 18 are allowed entrance here, and fake IDs don't normally work. If you can slip past the gaurds' keen gaze, however, then you are in luck.

This is where you'll find all the city's underage drinkers, as well as a good slice of the city's adult population. This place is owned by an old man named Charlie, and Charlie doesn't give a damn whether one is eligible to drink alchohol or not. He'll serve alchohol to anyone who asks for it, and strangely enough has not been reported yet.

In the middle of the central plaza, Jossui park is an excellent place to escape to. With nearly ten acres of wooded walking paths all twisting around various ponds, this place is gorgeous. Flowers bloom up everywhere during spring and summer, and when autum claims the pigment in the leaves Jossui is a wonderland of golds and reds.

No city in the world would be complete without a Starbucks. With delicious, although expensive, coffees and teas, Starbucks is always full of people. With small tables and chairs crowded around the room for people to sit in, this coffee shop is an excellent place to meet with a friend or access the free wireless internet.

A teenage hotspot, the skate park is where all the action is at. Come watch various skateboarders fall down as they try to take on the bigger ramps, or chat with the friendily drug dealers. The skate park consists of a drained outdoor pool as well as multiple ramps and rails to take on.

If you are looking for the smaller, more relaxed kind of dining, Indigo Diner is definitely the place to come. The food isn't of the best quality, but it's price makes up for that. With some of the cheapest and yet still tasty food in Esciton, Indigo is a popular place to come to eat.

The library, once a center of information throughout Esciton, has been 'cleansed' since the discovery of the portals. Access is filtered and edited to prevent any external contact. Despite this, the library is still seen by mortals to be a normal, boring place to get some studying done.

Need a day to relax and just have a good time? Head down to Crescent, where all your cravings for fun will be cures. Grab a seat on a roller coaster or change into your bathing suit and jump on into the wave pool. From land rides to water slides, Crescent Amusement and Water Park has it all.

This movie theater is always teeming with people, so it is suggested that one reserves tickets in advance. It shows all the new releases in fancy theaters with soft, cushiony chairs. After every movie the janitors come in to sweep up the remains of popcorn and spilled drinks, to the place is always very clean. Other than movies, Arcia Cinema is also host to a small arcade, complete with the all-famous Dance Dance Revolution.

Come and flock to Esciton's largest mall - the Silvertree Mall - for all your shopping needs. The mall's entrance is glorified by a half dozen of silver-leaved trees, of which no one knows the origin of. These trees are what gave the Mall it's name, and they lure people to the shopping center from all corners or the city.

The Esciton Fitness Center is where all those wanting to loose a few pounds or simply build up some muscle come to do so. With weight and cardio machines, as well as a small indoor ice-skating rink and rock climbing wall, this fitness center will definitely help one get into shape.

A haven for people old and young during the hot days of summer, the pool is one of the many social centers that are spread throughout the city. It is the largest swimming center in Esciton, with three indoor pools and one outdoor pool. One of the indoors pools is dedicated to lap swimming, while one is for recrational swimming and the other is a heated pool.

Grapevine takes pride in serving only the best cuisine in Esciton. The cooks working here are all trained professionals, and the waiters and waitresses always seem to be there precisely when you need them. The portions may be small and the prices high, but Grapevine's dishes are all of excellent quality. The atmosphere is quite pleasant too...very fancy.

Into art? Like looking at paintings, statues, photographs, plants, and a bunch of other pieces of art? Well, then this is definitely the place to come. Bring a friend or come alone, the museum is guaranteed to either hold your interest for hours or bore you to death. Why don't you find out which one it is and head on over? It even has a gorgeous botanical garden for the plant-lover's viewing pleasure.

The Concert Hall is actually a fairly large place; unlike many of its kind, this concert hall hosts room enough for at least a thousand guests. There is a nice lobby out front where snacks and beverages can be purchased, and on the inside several hundred rows of chairs are layed out. In front of all of these seats is a stage, a stage where the majority of the city's music artists and actors come to perform their work. From concerts to plays, this building is a favorite place to find entertainment for many.

The Alleyways are home to numerous activities that are looked down upon by society. Most people simply ignore the presence of the creatures of the darkness; others, however, find it to be the perfect place to sell certain substances that would be otherwise illegal. Still, people avoid the labyrinth of alleys and go on with their lives. Because of this, it is the perfect place to do anything you wouldn’t do in public.

A used-to-be storehouse for goods and merchandise, this old building is now often used as a gang hideout. When there are no groups occupying it, however, homeless people will at times will find a shelter under the roof. Beware, however, as vampires have been rumored to be seen around here quite frequently.

Those apartment rooms can get really lonely when you've got no roommate, so come here to solve that problem! Adopt your very own companion and brighten two lives. With a wide variety of cats and dogs, the animal shelter is sure to have just who you're looking for.

Teaching grades 7-12, Chime Academy is the finest in Esciton's pre-college education system. Classes run from 8 am to 3:15 pm, with only a single break for lunch. Most of the students here simply don't care about their grades and so settle for failing, but for those who actually wish to do good, the oppurtunity is given.

Fish have always captivated people in that they are so entertaining to watch. Due to that fact, Esciton needed it's own aquarium just like every other city in the world. Here one can find a large assortment of jellyfish, sharks, sting rays, and other varieties of sea animals. Truly, this place isn't one to miss if the underwater world is of any interest.

Itica Cove is the home of multiple parties during the summer and home to myriad secrets. What most think to be a beach is actually a man-made lake, made by the infamous government. Nonetheless, you can still find couples enjoying an evening in the sand and children frolicking in the tide. Also located there are a small number of caves, some of which are marked with ‘DO NOT ENTER’ signs.

The cemetery has become another place to avoid at night, not due to the corpses that lay surrounded by dirt but because of the dark shapes that roam the grounds. Still, teenagers have been known to try and spend a night, hoping for some supernatural encounter. In the end, these young adults end up running from the graveyard, hoping what they saw was only a trick of the night. During the day, it is an ordinary place to visit loved ones who have passed on.

Janlyn Forest is home to many things, some of which is supernatural. Ageless trees loom high over the cool dirt that covers the ground. Many people use these woods to relax with a view of nature. Others, however has made their way through the woods in hopes of finding a way out of Esciton. Unfortunately for them, they are simply met with tall electrified fences that keep them in.

Nobody knows a whole lot about this place...other than the fact that it's completely surrounded by high walls with security wires on the top and that few people are ever seen entering or exiting. Rumors have been floating around that this is where the government does all it's dirty work on researching the city's new arrivals. What could they be trying to find out..?

This is a collection of awesome boards that you absolutely must check out. It's worth it - really! This is where all the fun is at!

- Random Chat
- Fanfiction and Art
- Contests
- Affiliate
- Announcements / Polls

This is where you can spend all that hard-earned cash. Need a place to live? Or perhaps you have been bitten by a werewolf and need some antivenom. Then again, it could even be as simple as your aching desire for an invisibility cloak. Whatever it is, come here to find it!

Only staff members are allowed to come here! This is where us staff come to gossip about members and all that fun stuff. Wh00t! ;] Well, maybe we'll chat about improving the forum and such, too.