HEI MAO
The Most Active FFXIV RP on Elemental since 2022.
Weekly openings.
Daily RPs.
Long-running story arcs in-game and thriving Discord RP.
Certified most autistic on EleDC.
WEEKLY OPENINGS
Opens every Monday 10PM (GMT+8)
Since 2023, we’ve been opening Hei Mao every Monday at 10PM (GMT+8) on a weekly basis. IC, it’s a Yanxian teahouse tucked away in Gridania. OOC, it’s simply where everyone knows they can show up at the start of the week to RP together.Some people come by to continue ongoing stories. Some drop in just to see who’s around. Others show up with no plans at all and end up walking away with new connections, new scenes, or sometimes entire story arcs they never expected to start.Over time, these Mondays have become less about running a venue and more about gathering our community in one place, week after week, to write stories together and discuss our on-going arcs.
THRIVING DISCORD COMMUNITY
Daily RP. Ongoing Storylines. Shenanigans.
I’ve always wanted to see long running story arcs in FFXIV RP, so in 2023, I decided to just start one myself. That became what we now call the Maja Arc, our first proper long term storyline. At the time, everything happened in-game. People gathered at Hei Mao every Monday, scenes picked up where they left off the week before, and the story slowly grew through regulars who kept coming back.As more characters joined and new arcs began forming, it became harder to contain everything within a single weekly opening. Stories didn’t really stop when the venue closed, and people naturally wanted to continue scenes between Mondays. Little by little, discussions, side scenes, and character moments started moving onto Discord instead.These days, a lot of our RP happens there through ongoing threads and daily interactions. It means stories can continue whenever people are free, instead of waiting a whole week to resume. The weekly opening is still where everyone gathers in-game, but the Discord Server is where the world keeps moving in between.
THE RP WE DO
Casual & Epics. The Source & Beyond. AUs & More.
Hei Mao covers a wide range of RP styles, and much of it now happens directly on Discord. You’ll find everything from casual character interactions and slice of life scenes to larger, ongoing epics that develop over time. Some threads exist purely for day to day character moments, while others slowly build into major storylines involving entire groups of characters.While our RP generally stays grounded in FFXIV canon and its worldbuilding, our stories are not limited to the present day Source. We regularly explore other reflections, alternate eras, and historical settings, whether that means the glory days of Nabaath, ancient Allag, or stories set far beyond the current timeline.We also have many alternate universes (AUs) based off canon possibilities. These include hypothetical futures of the First, modern or far future interpretations of the Source, or imagined pasts of shards and reflections that were never fully explored in game. The idea is simple - stay rooted in the world of FFXIV, while giving players room to explore stories that canon only hints at.Yoshi-P won't give us Miqo'te Keeper lore so we're cooking our own food, damnit.
IF YOU'RE...
New to RP and looking for a place that’s beginner friendly and easy to step into
Wanting to roleplay in FFXIV beyond just the present day Source or current timeline
Interested in stories that explore other shards, reflections, past eras, or possible futures
Looking for consistent, active RP instead of waiting weeks between interactions
Hoping to find a group where characters and stories actually continue over time
You can either drop by during our weekly opening, or join us where the stories continue daily.
WHAT IS HEI MAO?
History
I started Hei Mao in 2022 as Kadako Nekoyama. Just a small, RP-only teahouse venue. A quiet corner I intended simply as a place for RPers on Elemental to gather, interact and tell stories together. I closed its doors for a while then, but in 2023, I decided to start afresh. What started as a single S house with open RP soon grew beyond the L plot I eventually got, and it stopped being constrained by its design, too. Little by little, it was the people who stepped through the doors of the Hei Mao who shaped it.Over time, recurring visitors became familiar faces, and those familiar faces became characters who played major roles in stories we wrote together. Casual encounters turned into long-running storylines, rivalries, friendships, performances, investigations, and adventures that extended far beyond the venue itself. The Hei Mao became a living setting. Our cast kept expanding, and the interconnected story arcs we shared followed suit.I think that I can call the Hei Mao of today a thriving RP community and storytelling hub. Our Discord server sees all sorts of interactions every day - characters meeting, stories developing and even collaborative worldbuilding based on the canon of FFXIV. And of course, OOC friendships, too. It's not something I could ever have imagined being a part of in 2022, and I'm glad for it.
