Setting: A good place to start would be a quick overview of the wheres and whens. The game takes place in a cursed water eternally blanketed in an impenetrable magic fog, called the Sea of the Mists. Inhabitants of the sea's lone island chain have recently re-established contact with the rest of the world after centuries of isolation. The Sea of the Mists is a perilous realm, fraught with dark magic, ancient monsters, and dangerous foes.

The approximate timeframe and technology level for Sea of the Mists is the late medieval era, an age still ruled by swords, spears, and bows. An industrial boom is just beginning, and some innovations of the modern age, such as cannons, have begun to crop up; but these are rare, expensive, and very experimental. The game begins as the inhabitants of the cursed sea emerge from a long dark age and slowly begin to rediscover the world around them. For this reason the setting is slim, but always growing - most of our kingdoms, peoples, groups and religions are player-created content, and contributing to the gameworld is highly encouraged.

Characters: Before you begin play, you should register your board membership and submit a roleplaying character for approval in Travelers of the Cursed Sea. This thread provides full instructions on writing your character profile.
(It is not required for your board ID/login name to be the same as your character's name. It's up to personal preference.)

Join in! The best way to get into the fun is to join a game already in progress. "Free characters" who do not belong to any group and wander around roleplaying as they wish are certainly allowed, but I find it's much easier and quicker to join a team of players bound on the same adventure. The following areas are currently active and looking for new characters:

The town of Freeport is different things to different people. To people in more "civilized" nations, it is a festering den of brigands and pirates - but to the independent-minded, it is the last bastion of freedom in the Sea of the Mists.

Join the crew of the Saint's Shield, the first operational gunship of the Imperial Navy, as they travel the seas hunting pirates and exploring new lands. (Contact EMTia)

Or if the life of raiding and pillaging is more to your liking, the rising star of the Red Queen's pirate fleet, the Twin Moons is always looking for a few exceptionally bad men and women to add to her ranks. (Contact Striker)