The roleplay is entirely about original characters in original locations. It is against the rules to play a canon character (that is, a character from the books) or someone closely connected to a canon character, like Alanna's daughter, Daine's long-lost sister, or Stefan Groomsman's wife.
The Inn of the Rogue moved from the Dancing Dove sometime before the roleplay began, and is now at a place a few blocks away called the Divine Realms Inn II. (The first one was burned down in the early years of the game.) Our noble roleplay is set not at the palace, but at the Little Court, the private residence of Dowager Countess Alexia of Staffenbroke. Applications for the Little Court are currently closed. However, the roleplay itself is still open. You just have to wait until after you're accepted to roleplay there.
Roleplaying happens on a member-hosted chatroom, conducted in a set style which you can read about in the tutorials. Members can tell us more about their characters' lives on the Roleplay Message Board, the Steelsings forum, or shown through diaries or letters "written by" the characters on the sschars community on livejournal.com.
To join the roleplay, you will go through an application process which will demonstrate your ability to follow rules, create a character, listen to the mentors, and accept criticism. In this process, mentors will help you make a character and fit him or her into the roleplay.