It takes place in real time, present day New York City. We don't use messageboards- we use a chat room which once you join you will be given the link to. If you are unfamiliar with how to rp in a chatroom someone from the rp can teach you, just contact me letting me know that you are interested.
There are a number of species that your character could be, and a list of them including information is provided.
As for physical strength, well, muses have none at all. If a muse was physically attacked, the viewer would fight what it saw, but would eventually begin to think the muse weakand therefore the muse would be weak. However, mentally, muses are incredibly strong - they can break almost all mental blocks and read others minds.