Across Our Stars is a Harvest Moon / Stardew Valley-inspired village role play with a side of mystery. Duped into relocating to a tiny village by the allure of free real estate, you're offered a chance to start your life over in a town where no one knows your name... or much of anything, really, considering the previous residents of Barlow's Point seem to have vanished.
Will you be the one to seek them out, or perhaps the one to replace them? Or maybe fate will demand you join them? Time will tell.
If you're reading this, then it probably means I got impatient and decided to test how effective the ad was before I actually finished setting things up. If so - looks like it's working! Yay!
... but it also means there's much left unfinished. Quite a lot, actually, though most of the REALLY important bits are fleshed out enough to get a good overview of what's up. It might be a little while before things are fully shipshape, but I welcome the company in the meantime if you'd like to stop and chat!
For now, please, let me know if you have any questions and I hope you have a lovely visit.
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In order to keep AOS intact and respect the rules of our host, we will not affiliate with overtly graphic or NSFW forums. Sorry!
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Sister site positions are limited to active members on the site only. These will be offered rather than something to request - please do not ask for them.
(A brief description of the rooms below can be found [here])
Room 101 OPEN
Room 102 OPEN
Room 103 OPEN
Room 104 OPEN
Room 105 OPEN
Room 106 OPEN
Room 201 OPEN
Room 202 OPEN
Room 203 OPEN
Room 204 OPEN
Room 205 OPEN
Room 206 OPEN
Abandoned Florist - Open!
What appears to be the remains of a florist's shop sits caked in dried leaves and the heady scent of stale water. While it doesn't look like any of the plants here will live again any time soon, there's still seeds and bulbs to be found on the shelves and concealed within drawers. A small apartment for one at the back can be found a bit drafty, but usable.
Townhouse - Open!
A tidy little one storey home that looks like it belonged to the most stereotypical cat lady imaginable, everything in here is either lacy, cat themed, or both. Much of the furniture has been covered to shield it against cat hair and has held up well against its abandonment, but oddly, there are no cats to be found. Or old ladies. Or.. well. You get the idea.
Empty Bakery - Open!
The scent of fresh baked goods no longer lingers in the air here, but the food in the display cases seems to be doing well enough for itself... which is a bit disturbing, actually. Or, it would be, if a second assessment didn't prove the contents to be plastic molds made to resemble food. Yeesh. There's also room for someone to live in the back - or maybe two, if you cleared out the old bags of flour and sugar from the pantry, but the tile might not be the homiest new place.
Forgotten Restaurant - Open!
Slightly less dilapidated than some of the other buildings, the restaurant has seen better days, but could certainly be worse off for the circumstances. Sure, it might need a little cleaning up, but the fridge is still well-stocked with frozen goods and the pantry has plenty of nonperishable food items to go around. The front has enough seats for about 15, while the back has a door leading out into a house large enough for three.
Abandoned Shop - Open!
A store for knick-knacks... or maybe furniture? It's seen better days, to be certain, but beneath that fine layer of dust is a good number of perfectly usable woodworking tools. Or, if that isn't quite your thing, the cozy two-bedroom home upstairs might be serviceable enough for someone seeking a place to stay.
Solaris Square
[Empty...]
Barlow Beach
Beach House - Open!
Once belonging to a miner, this little house is built of white stone and is absolutely filled with all the manner of shovels and pickaxes. There's only really room for one in here, but anyone with an interest in ore or gems would likely find their stay here quite fruitful... if a bit strenuous without the benefits of modern technology.
Old Fishery - Open!
You smell this place before you see it. The fishery itself is huge - big enough for five, their catches, and then some - but even if you're just passing by towards the docks, the heady smell of fish slaps you across the face if you come within 20 feet of this building... and it seems to linger in your nostrils long after you've left the beach. Shame too - compared to some of the other spots around here, it's pretty solidly built.
Worn Hut - Open!
There's holes in the roof, and it feels like the place is going to fall down around you if the wind blows a little too hard... but hey, nothing like beachfront property, right? It's pretty empty in here, though. Not much furniture beyond a futon, a dining table and chair, and the four walls around you. Who on earth was living like this?
The Lighthouse - Open!
Only reachable with the little wooden canoe left to be battered by the elements on the beach, the Lighthouse has a haunting quality to it that isn't really remedied by the creaking and groaning on the lower floors when the night is windy. The view from the top floor is terrific, but, well... you'll certainly get your exercise trying to make your home in here.
Far Star Fields
Desolate Farmland - Open!
One of the larger properties Barlow's Point has to offer, even if it's mostly just composed of a little farm house on the edge of a vast, empty field. If you don't mind the bracing breeze from being at the top of the cliffs and the gentle whirring of the power plant's wind turbines bordering the edges of your field, however, there's plenty of room here to grow... any sort of business, really.
Overgrown Ranch - Open!
... Or, you think it's a ranch, judging by the presence of the barn and coop... but where are the animals? They'd be a real help in getting the grasses out in the fields under control.
It might take some time and a few connections, but the right person could probably really make things work here.
Looking to build your own? For the first character, it's free! Format new entries like so and post below;
[i](Location)[/i] [font size="3" face="georgia"]Location Name - Character Name[/font]
[quote]A brief description[/quote]
Looking to get in on the free real estate? Find an open building and post here.;
[font size="3" face="georgia"]Location Name - Character Name[/font]
Barlow's Point's very own town hall and community center, residing presently within the refurbished observatory at the top of the hill. The first floor offers services for citizens, while the second houses a tiny library for the public's use. The only one that seems to work here presently is that bizarre attendant that all have heard, but none have seen.
Even more strangely, flowering vines such as roses or hydrangea will spontaneously begin growing out of the bricks on the inside of the building. Anyone that discovers them in full bloom in the morning is also charged with their removal.
Mayor - Open! Clerks - ??? [Open!] Librarian - Open!
Twilight District
Velorum Inn
A slightly run-down, two-story wooden building on the edges of the Twilight District, about a seven-minute walk from Comet Bridge. There's a bit of a draft on the first floor, there seems to be cobwebs in every other corner and the stairs creak a bit when you walk on them, but the beds are cozy and the food is fairly cheap.
There's a rumor that the place might be haunted, but the owner just says that he made that up to drum up more business. He has a lot of such stories, to the point it's hard to tell which ones are true and which aren't.
Owner - OC here Cook - Open! Housekeeper - Open!
Solaris Square
[Shop Name]
Owner - Open! Employee - Open!
Barlow Beach
[Shop Name]
Owner - Open! Employee - Open!
Far Star Fields
[Shop Name]
Owner - Open! Employee - Open!
Have a new business to add? Format new entries like so and post below;
[div style="width:500px;height:65px;background-color:#202020;border-right:solid #0a0a0a 1px;border-left:solid #0a0a0a 1px;"][div style="width:137px;background-color:#383838;height:10px;line-height:10px;font-family:Krub;font-size:10px;color:#aaa;text-align:center;border:#0a0a0a solid 1px;padding:10px;float:left;margin-left:6px;margin-top:10px;text-transform:uppercase;"]AGE[/div][div style="width:137px;background-color:#383838;height:10px;line-height:10px;font-family:Krub;font-size:10px;color:#aaa;text-align:center;border:#0a0a0a solid 1px;padding:10px;float:left;margin-left:6px;margin-top:10px;text-transform:uppercase;"]GENDER[/div][div style="width:137px;background-color:#383838;height:10px;line-height:10px;font-family:Krub;font-size:10px;color:#aaa;text-align:center;border:#0a0a0a solid 1px;padding:10px;float:left;margin-left:6px;margin-top:10px;text-transform:uppercase;"]OCCUPATION[/div][/div][div style="width:420px;background-color:#383838;padding:40px;font-family:calibri;font-size:12px;text-align:justify;border:solid #0a0a0a 1px;color:#aaa;"]Give us a brief rundown of your character's life before coming to Barlow's Point here! Consider this section to be free-form - write as much or as little, and within any form that you see fit. Have fun![/div][div style="width:500px;height:95px;background-color:#202020;border-right:solid #0a0a0a 1px;border-left:solid #0a0a0a 1px;"][div style="width:137px;background-color:#383838;height:10px;line-height:10px;font-family:Krub;font-size:10px;color:#aaa;text-align:center;border:#0a0a0a solid 1px;padding:10px;float:left;margin-left:6px;margin-top:10px;text-transform:uppercase;"]TRAIT[/div][div style="width:137px;background-color:#383838;height:10px;line-height:10px;font-family:Krub;font-size:10px;color:#aaa;text-align:center;border:#0a0a0a solid 1px;padding:10px;float:left;margin-left:6px;margin-top:10px;text-transform:uppercase;"]TRAIT[/div][div style="width:137px;background-color:#383838;height:10px;line-height:10px;font-family:Krub;font-size:10px;color:#aaa;text-align:center;border:#0a0a0a solid 1px;padding:10px;float:left;margin-left:6px;margin-top:10px;text-transform:uppercase;"]TRAIT[/div][div style="width:137px;background-color:#383838;height:10px;line-height:10px;font-family:Krub;font-size:10px;color:#aaa;text-align:center;border:#0a0a0a solid 1px;padding:10px;float:left;margin-left:6px;margin-top:10px;text-transform:uppercase;"]TRAIT[/div][div style="width:137px;background-color:#383838;height:10px;line-height:10px;font-family:Krub;font-size:10px;color:#aaa;text-align:center;border:#0a0a0a solid 1px;padding:10px;float:left;margin-left:6px;margin-top:10px;text-transform:uppercase;"]TRAIT[/div][div style="width:137px;background-color:#383838;height:10px;line-height:10px;font-family:Krub;font-size:10px;color:#aaa;text-align:center;border:#0a0a0a solid 1px;padding:10px;float:left;margin-left:6px;margin-top:10px;text-transform:uppercase;"]TRAIT[/div][/div][div style="width:420px;background-color:#383838;padding:40px;font-family:calibri;font-size:12px;text-align:justify;border-top:solid #0a0a0a 1px;border-right:solid #0a0a0a 1px;border-left:solid #0a0a0a 1px;color:#aaa;"]Any notable physical differences between your character and their fc? Does your character have a voice claim, a certain way they walk or speak? Add a few random facts - any sort, at least three - about your character to help us get a better feel for them here.
If you need suggestions for what these could be, feel free to ask. [/div][div style="width:500px;height:155px;background-color:#202020;border-top:solid #0a0a0a 1px;border-right:solid #0a0a0a 1px;border-left:solid #0a0a0a 1px;"][div style="height:100px;width:100px;background-image:url(https://imgur.com/V9o4LIb.png);border:5px solid #fff;float:right;margin-right:20px;margin-top:20px;border-radius:100%;"][/div][div style="font-family:Krub;font-size:25px;text-align:right;margin-right:140px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#fff;margin-top:45px;letter-spacing:-1px;"]PLAYED BY [b]ALIAS[/b][/div][div style="font-family:Krub;font-size:25px;text-align:right;margin-right:140px;margin-top:-5px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#73aedb;letter-spacing:-1px;"]DISCORD ID[/div][div style="font-family:Krub;font-size:11px;text-align:right;margin-right:140px;color:#aaa;text-transform:uppercase;"]PRONOUNS » TIMEZONE » AGE[/div][/div][/div][/div][/div][div align="center"][div style="font-family:calibri;text-transform:lowercase;font-size:9px;letter-spacing:2px;text-transform:uppercase;"][a href="http://pixel-perfect.boards.net/user/29"]MELUSINE[/a][/div][/div][/div]
Don't forget to link your FC image sources somewhere in the post if not using official material. As demonstration for how this can be done neatly, you can click the 'Face Claim' to go to the Twitter of the artist who created the images in the example.
Give us a brief rundown of your character's life before coming to Barlow's Point here! Consider this section to be free-form - write as much or as little, and within any form that you see fit. Have fun!
TRAIT
TRAIT
TRAIT
TRAIT
TRAIT
TRAIT
Any notable physical differences between your character and their fc? Does your character have a voice claim, a certain way they walk or speak? Add a few random facts - any sort, at least three - about your character to help us get a better feel for them here.
If you need suggestions for what these could be, feel free to ask.
This will be updated whenever anything of note happens in character! Which, due to the site being brand spankin' new, is nothing. For now, please consider it a placeholder and have a look at the plot page for current developments.
Here you can spend your out of character currency for fun little benefits in character! This page will be updated periodically, so check back now and then for new stuff. For an explanation on reves, check here.
Like its inspirations, Across Our Stars works on a seasonal basis, with each season taking up two months in real world time. This is to keep the pace of the role play fairly relaxed while still leaving room for progression. This section will be added to as we gain citizens, eventually adding festivals as time progresses on the site. Stay tuned!
The town itself may be a bit barren, but the books, notes, and other "evidence" compiled in the library have a few stories to share.
The Goddess
According to a book of legends for children, a woman of ethereal beauty known as The Harvest Goddess - or just The Goddess came to Barrow's Point when it was a barren, empty land. Deciding this would not do, she began to weave - starting with the Celestial River, which stretched across the land and cut through the mountainside, opening it wide and releasing the soil onto the land. Upon the soil, she wove grasses and herbs, enough until she blanketed the whole of the canyon.
One day a man came across her, and was entranced by her beauty. "Why do you weave, for a land as hopeless as this?" He boasted. "There are people who would appreciate your talents much more in the village. I am its chieftain. Come back with me and be my wife."
"I will not," she answered. "For I do not want appreciation for what I do. It is enough to know I am needed here."
"But Goddess," he persisted, "Who is here to need you? The moon? The fish in the sea? It is the people that need you. Come back with me and be my wife."
"I will not," she answered once more, "For the people are clever and crafty. They draw soil from the riverbeds and wheat from the earth. They unite them when I cannot. They do not need me."
"But Goddess," he pleaded, "I need you. Come back with me and be my wife."
"I will not," she answered. "For I have told you three times no, and you continue to ask. It is your ego that needs me. Not your heart."
"Then I will destroy all that you have."
"You may try."
And so the man left, and returned the next day to razed the fields the goddess had woven. But not a season later, the plant life had grown back, healthier and more robust than before.
He had the people dam the river, by by the mountain passage, so that it would run dry. But within another season, the lake had filled and the dam had burst, and the river surged through once more.
At last, he came for the Goddess. But in the time it had taken for his people to harm her other creations, she had plucked the stars themselves from the sky and woven them into a grand staircase. She ascended the stairs to the skies beyond, and when he tried to follow, they shattered underfoot. As the shards of the star-steps filled the ocean shore, glowing in reflection for their siblings above them, the man asked one last time - "Why do you leave, Goddess? I have tried to ruin your fields and dam your river, and yet they have come back. Why would you leave a place so rife with potential?"
To which she turned her head and said, "Because I am no longer needed here."
And across the stars, the Goddess departed, never to be seen again. But if you were to offer Her flowers to Her river, so that they may intermingle and weave their way into the great sea, she may smile upon you for uniting her creation.
"K"
Considering the odd nature of the observatory and... well, just about everything strange that happens around Barlow's Point... the sender of the original message has been proposed to have either been a wizard capable of communing with the dead, or... perhaps just a really strange old astronomer with a thing for idolatry.
Whatever the case might have been, there's some fairly substantial evidence in the town's records that a man by the name of Kincade had lived alone in his observatory by the sea... for several years predating the town... and certainly well beyond when you logically should have received that postcard. Something fishy is definitely going on there.
What happened to the townsfolk?
Hard to say, unfortunately. A number of their personal books and diaries have found their way up into the library without any clear reason, but nothing is mentioned in any of them that offers any clue as to why that many people should have left (or disappeared) on the scale that they did.
Have you ever wondered what sort of yahoos are running this joint? Tired of living with that sort of mystery? Read on.
RHY | site sprite Your obnoxious administrator. I produced Across Our Stars on a whim, because I like world building and farming sims feel like home to me.
HANDLES: - Everything, at the moment. - You need it and it concerns the site, I'll look into it!
DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT: - Nothing. Please talk to me. I'm so alone--
ACROSS OUR STARS was created by rhy and made better by you. Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons as a concept belongs to Marvelous Inc. Stealing or copying any written material from Across Our Stars without permission is prohibited. The original skin was created by Alcove of Wicked Wonderland, with additional frankensteined code provided by pharaoh leap of Pixel Perfect. All image credit goes to the Yasuragi no Ki Moto Playbook.
