Higanbana Apothecary
<<HGBN>>
A small Far Eastern-themed apothecary and tea shop in Eorzea.Mateus, the Mist, 5th Ward, Plot 20
About the FC
Initially, Higanbana Apothecary did not start off as an FC – hence, we have few non-FC members with exceptions holding a rank that requires FC membership. Despite being committed to another FC, these members have greatly contributed and supported the venue. Without their help, Higanbana Apothecary would not have made it this far! Please make sure to treat them with the same respect as those who are official members of <<HGBN>>.If you're interested in joining <<HGBN>> as well as being employed at Higanbana Apothecary, we are currently hiring two people for the apothecary and another two people for the tea shop.Please also note that <<HGBN>> will remain as a rather small FC, meaning there will be most likely up to 10 FC members in total. I personally have been in FCs in many different sizes, but I found myself enjoying smaller ones more as it is not only easier to manage, but easier to make everyone feel welcomed and part of the family! Regardless of what your ideal FC may be, please know that you are still more than welcome to simply lurk and goof around in our Discord server for as long as you want!
Hierarchy
All ranks are granted upon request unless the positions are full. Some ranks may require an OOC/IC interview.店主 Owner
The owner of the shop and the leader/administrator of the FC. The responsibility under this role includes planning and hosting both open, minor/major FC campaigns, membership promotions and demotions, FC and CWLS invites, and OOC/IC interviews.主任 Managers – Membership Required
Assistants and moderators of the FC, reporting directly to the Owner. The responsibility under this role includes delegating tasks and supervising Employees IC, assisting in planning both open, minor/major FC campaigns and weekly venue openings, membership promotions and demotions, FC and CWLS invites, and OOC/IC interviews. Managers are required to wear the Lord’s Suikan/Lady's Suikan in any color as a uniform during their shifts. Managers are also free to host and participate in all campaigns.This rank is assigned after a successful interview with the Owner and only Employees who have been working at Higanbana Apothecary for 6 months will be eligible to apply to be promoted to the Managers rank. If you are interested in the promotion, please either ping or privately message the Owner.職員 Employees – Membership Required
Assistants and standard members of the FC, reporting directly to the Managers. The responsibility under this role includes assisting in planning both open, minor/major FC campaigns and weekly venue openings. Employees are required to wear the Lord’s Suikan in Terebinth/Lady's Suikan in any color as a uniform during their shifts. Employees are permitted to host only open and minor FC campaigns, but they are free to participate in all campaigns.This rank is assigned after a successful interview with the Managers and the Owner. If you are interested in working for Higanbana Apothecary, please either ping or privately message either of the Managers or the Owner.インターン Interns - Optional Membership
Those who are interested in being hired at the venue - they will be given the chance to experience what working at Higanbana Apothecary is like and most importantly to see whether or not the job suits them. Interns are required to wear the Far Eastern Smock in any color as a uniform during their shifts until they are certain in becoming an official employee at the venue and a member of the FC. Interns have the same permissions as Regulars and Guests.ボランティア Volunteers - Optional Membership
Volunteers at the apothecary. Those who are interested in occasionally helping out at the apothecary or at the tea shop, especially without being required to join the FC can be given this role. Although it is labeled as "volunteers," please note that ICly volunteers are still considered paid employees at the venue. Therefore, you will be required to wear either the Far Eastern Smock or the Lord's/Lady's Suikan as part of the uniform or the Far Eastern Smock. Volunteers have the same permissions as Regulars and Guests.加入者 Affiliates – Optional Membership
Business partners of the apothecary. This role is for people who are regulars to the shop, but they also have a business of their own. Perhaps you have taken a great liking of Higanbana Apothecary to have us provide you and your business some of the supplies at a discount in return of some perks, such as advertisements and some trades. Affiliates are permitted to assist in planning only certain events and campaign, but they are free to host minor FC campaigns while participating in them and open campaigns.Affiliates also have access to the VIP room at the teashop! This is a private room where our staffs can serve you food and also perform a quick tea ceremony. If you'd like to use the VIP room, please notify either the Managers or the Owner ahead of time.This rank is assigned after a successful interview with the Managers and the Owner. If you are interested in becoming a business partner of Higanbana Apothecary, please either ping or privately message either of the Managers or the Owner.常連 Regulars – Optional Membership
Frequent customers to the apothecary. Those who are interested in participating in more than just open campaigns are given this role. Regulars are welcome to assist in planning certain events and campaigns as well as to participate in both open and minor campaigns.客 Guests – No Membership
This role is for the people who simply enjoy what Higanbana Apothecary has to offer every week. While Guests are not permitted to assist in any planning or participating in both minor and major FC campaigns, they are still welcome to participate in open campaigns. If you are a Guest and you would like to be able to participate in more activities in the server, simply ping or privately message either the Managers or the Owner to be promoted to a Regular.
FC Rules
Kindly note that this FC is strictly 21+. That said, we are also expecting you to make mature choices of what contents you share with us and how you interact with other members.While we do not enforce age verification, if we do happen to find that you are under the age of 21, you will be kicked. Therefore, we kindly ask you to join with integrity.Please read the following rules. Any questions/concerns can be directed to the Owner .1. This is a safe place for LGBTQA+ people and characters. Any slurs/slang offensive to the community will not be tolerated.
2. Racism or bigotry of any kind will not be tolerated.
3. Any contents promoting pedophilia, sexual harassment, racism, or bigotry of any kind will not be tolerated.
4. Any death jokes pointed at another person, animal, or other beings will not be tolerated.
5. No real-life political discussions.
6. Keep any drama and vents outside of the FC. You can complain about the bad day you had, but keep it vague - do not drop names or any other personal information.
7. Unless you are of the Manager rank, backseat-moderating is not allowed.
8. Understand IC =/= OOC.
9. Any part of the Far Eastern School Boy/Girl Attire will not be allowed in the FC/venue. We simply ask you to not wear any part of this attire to our venue and events. Yes, including the headgears.
10. Be kind and respectful; treat people the way you wish to be .Please see the following link for explanation on Rule #9. If you fail to understand the controversy behind these attires, you will be manually and permanently banned from the FC.Disciplinary Process:If any of the above rules are broken, you will be given a warning by the Owner. In total, you will be given three warnings until a permanent ban is given with reason. Failure to understand the reasoning of any given warnings will lead to an instant permanent ban.However, if it's a case where you have made anyone in the FC uncomfortable, you will also be permanently banned.Any questions or concerns regarding the server rules and policy can be reported to the Owner.Last but not least...DOMA AND HINGASHI ARE NOT THE SAMEPlease take some time to be cautious and research a bit on the history of Asia as it is very crucial part of the Stormblood MSQ.Please feel free to privately message the Owner regarding this as well.
FC Lore
Eden built Higanbana Apothecary with the help of his husband, Kai Tsurugi and his family. His family represents one of the biggest yakuza clans in Hingashi, but this information is not known nor disclosed to the public majority. To read more about the Tsurugi Clan, please click here.Please kindly note that we would like to keep the clan’s involvement in any campaigns, especially major FC campaigns to minimum. We are wanting to keep our focus solely on the apothecary alone. However, if you have any questions about the clan, please do not hesitate to inquire to the FC administrator.Currently, all supplies are being provided by the Tsurugi Clan and a portion of the business’s profit goes to them as well. About every two weeks, a small group of burly men are known to stop by the apothecary with crates to restock the shop’s inventory. In addition, two people were handpicked by Kai’s father to work at the shop with Eden – Shinji Tanaka and Reina Mihara. To read more about them, please click hereRegardless of the roles and the membership, everyone is encouraged to use and incorporate Shinji and Reina in their roleplays and campaigns, but please make sure to keep their involvement at minimum. If you have played the video game, Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami 1, you will have a better idea of their personality as well!Whenever the apothecary receives a special order from customers, those items are acquired personally by the apothecary staffs, especially those who are skilled in foraging.Any questions or concerns regarding the Higanbana Apothecary lore can be directed to the FC administrator.
The apothecary will always be operating in the most current timeline of the MSQ. However, we generally try not to heavily involve MSQ events into our events and campaigns. Therefore, spoilers will not be much of a concern. That said, please kindly note once again to not involve the Tsurugi Clan and the NPCs heavily into any of the campaigns.As for our roll system, there will not be a whole lot of combat roleplays, so we will keep things simple by using just D20 for the effect of the action in question and let our creativity flow!
FC Members
*To be updated regularly
Owner - Eden Tsurugi"Nothing brings me greater joy than being able to help those in need."After becoming certified in the medical field, Eden had initially opened a small greenhouse and an infirmary in the Lavender Beds. However, due to personal reasons, he later sold the business and thought about retiring early with his husband, Kai Tsurugi. But with his desire to help others still strong, he decided to open Higanbana Apothecary.
Manager (Pharmacist) - Odgan Tumet"If you need to treat your injuries, I can help! If you need injuries to treat, I can help with that, too!"Despite causing a fight right in front of the shop that left bloodstains in front of the shop's door, Odgan was hired to work at Higanbana Apothecary as a pharmacist due to his extensive knowledge in herbs and alchemy. He also seemed to be very understanding when Eden gave a very lengthy lecture that lasted about... Two minutes about there being absolutely no violence at the shop!Apparently, his partner had been nagging at him to go get a job. So, naturally Eden wanted to help in any way he can!
Employee (Chef/Server) - Xembre Adrias"The takoyaki's to die for."Xembre is yet another close friend of Eden's who used to work at the Bismarck as a cook. However, due to staff shortages, the head chef at the restaurant had reassigned her to work as a server instead. Not being able enjoy her true passion, Xembre became easily stressed with her work and therefore reached out to Eden to be hired to work at the tea shop as a chef instead.While she may be a chef primarily, you may still see her serving tables occasionally on busy days! However, Eden has promised her he will do his best to make sure it does not happen regularly!
Intern (Server) - Fumichiyo Hatsuko"A true taste of the Far East- W-Wait! Guigou, no!"Escaping his dark past in Kugane, Fumichiyo was at a loss in Eorzea. Hopping job to job, he simply couldn't find a place that felt comfortable; he'd been looking for something more familiar, something he had a passion for- and that was tea.Seeing a flyer by chance, he was brought to the Higanbana Apothecary. With a deep love of traditional tea and his passion of helping others, the apothecary seemed to be a perfect fit. Fumichiyo hopes to deepen his love of tea, as well as pursue further knowledge in herbal medicine.
FC Recruitment
We are currently recruiting anyone who is interested in becoming a regular, affiliate, or even a staff member of Higanbana Apothecary! Any players over the age of 18 is more than welcome to join.Please note that we have roles in the FC that require membership and also roles that do not require it.If you are interested in joining, please fill out this application.
Current Job Openings (10/21/2023)
- Pharmacist - in charge of assisting customers at the apothecary of their medical requests and any other supply requests. Must be skilled in medicinary and foraging.- Server - in charge of assisting and serving customers at the tea shop of their orders from the menu. Must be knowledgeable of traditional Far Eastern dishes and teas.For all of these positions, you must have experience in customer service/venue RP - meaning, you must know how to prioritize the business aspect of the RP. A lot of the times when it's busy, you cannot afford to hold even a side conversation with the customer when there are others waiting in line!You must also be knowledgeable in the Far Eastern lore as well as a little bit in Asian history (specifically regarding China, Japan, and Korea).
Contact Us
If you are interested in joining or have any questions about the FC, please do not hesitate to join our Discord server here or send a private message to @1emon via Discord or Eden Tsurugi@Mateus in game!Thank you!