PLAYER PLOTS | 2h APRIL

[groundrules]

Hello, busy people! Just patching together details of the two upcoming optional player mini-plots you folks have nimbly sewn together!

HEISTING HOMIES

With so much salt in this city, eating the rich was never tastier. IC and OOC momentum has been building, so now's probably a good time to iron out who's doing what.

As per our beautiful calendar, the merchant vessels are discharging in the second half of the month, and the auction houses start earning sweet coin over the 17-24 April period — meaning more eyes will be on them and on guaranteeing safe transfer of the revenues they earn, than on the bank itself.

I hadn't planned on a mod-led log for this, as I was thinking you might want to do your own posts — but let me know if you need me to put up a post on this on 17 April.

Otherwise...

MAKE IT RAIN

• A SCRAWNY BANK MAP APPEARS. Like a manta ray on Sci-Fi steroids. • The bank is publicly open between 6:00 - 18:00 and locked up with magical reinforcements overnight. • GENERAL ACTIVITY the public at large is welcome on the ground floor open area, and in the spots for lenders and currency exchange. The government finance and library keep are open to administrative personnel and rare government officials. High-ranking merchants might be permitted to escort their goods for storage, or to meet on the upper floor. The lower floor is exclusively open to bank personnel. • SECURITY: armed lightly — swords, batons, some rare talisman-crafted binding magic that can temporarily paralyse targets, if they're struck. Day-to-day security forces are neither magic users, nor adept at casting magic. GROUND FLOOR: 25-30 sentries, shift changes midday local time. UPPER FLOOR: 15 men, shift changes 11:00. LOWER FLOOR: 15 men, shift changes 10:00 and 14:00. • Civilian administrative personnel (lenders, cashiers, servants) are unlikely to risk their hides to defend the goods. • SLEEP CURSE: cross into the casting regions (helpfully delineated by purple carpets), fall down dead asleep for four hours. Security sentry badges have been magically enhanced to protect against the curse. The guards have a curse-breaking password that will wake the affected instantly or render speakers immune for eight hours. The password changes daily. • Actual vaults are locked securely and might need a lock-breaker. Unless someone's got some interesting picking skills in their satchel — hire a NPC? • PLANNING THREAD HERE.

ROW THEM BOATS

As merchant ships gather to sell human alongside inanimate wares, Archeval ( darkeststars ) player Loren said our resident Sith Lord would be prime game to raid some boats and release some of the (wo)man-shaped merchandise. He will lead this fine expedition, with some help from NPCs and from any other characters willing to throw their hats in the ring.

This plot allows us a window of opportunity to try our hand at a test drive meme — so let's see how we do, and how we like the idea. Some key points:

JUST ANOTHER SAVIOUR COMPLEX

• Calendar dixit: the weather starts deteriorating again over 26-30 April, to certain supernatural effects. • Ahead of that, a NPC post on 24 or 25 April (TBD!) will alert characters of the arrival of the vessel Imperious (that's right, Archeval), carrying a substantial number of slaves and potentially some otherworldly captives. Characters will be ICly asked to join the rescue, but participation is optional on an OOC level. • Scout information from the so-far absentee Merchant will relay some of the obstacles ahead. • 27 April: we will have a combined log for existing characters playing out the rescue, as well as any new characters interested to test drive. • This event will count as game canon for any characters that participate. • APPLICATIONS OPEN: 3 May. • QUESTIONS/COMMENTS/CHAT THREAD HERE.

Comments

BANK HEIST

[groundrules]

Plot in before you cash out —

CHARACTERS PARTICIPATING

[groundrules]

Respond to this comment with the character name + journal, and I'll compile a list of folks looking to make a dime on the back of the already deteriorating Sa-Hareth economy. Y'all are princes(ses).


Beitang Moran | beitangmoran
Bai Mingyu | descendency
Five | somebadnews
Rachel Silva | thehoneybadger
Wei Wuxian | weifinder
Catra | plentystrong

QUESTIONS...?

[groundrules]

THAT MAP, THOUGH

[groundrules]

If you can pitch me a cute scenario that would entitle your character's grubby hands to that there bank map, I'm here for it.

A (sketched out, rougher) version of the map can also be purchased for 25,000 pieces if you send word out to our boy Haltham in an IC post. (Please link here, if so — and let me know how that's getting funded. Perhaps characters will come together in this time of financial need?)

[descendency]

Mingyu is currently sucking some pretty important dick. How much dick would he have to suck to get a bank map?

[weifinder]

Look I've just got a guy who can shove his consciousness into a paper man and defy physics and sensibility by running around a bank and sliding into places or just outright observing. If things are more than paper-thin-slip or "timing lets me get past because for some reason as paper I can arbitrarily FLY" then I offer Wei Wuxian's services as that guy someone's going to need to either carry his paper doll self in (which could be great, to the public level) while anyone else guards his KO'd form that is, thankfully for Lan Wangji, going to continue breathing.

Point is I have one demonic cultivator who has strange skills that can help with surveying an area over one or more days, and can listen in to figure out some of the interior nonsense going down. If. Paper guy running around can be a helpful thing.

TIME TO CRASH THIS PARTY

[plentystrong]

okay I don't have a fully formulated plan or anything, so. things catra's good at:

- strategy!!

- being sneaky

- literally tearing open steel doors with her claws

things she is bad at:

- cooperating and listening to others

- impulse control

Re: THAT MAP, THOUGH

[soulsrob]

raises hand

Winnie's going to be helping mingyu buy the map! she's going to be selling whale bone from her corset which she will promptly be hacking up for this, and lace from her clothes + parasol to get the money for it.

she will probably not be whoring unless by whoring you mean dazzling men (or women, whatever) with the bajillion poetry and stories she's memorized in lieu of sex. so. yeah

PLANS

[groundrules]

Talk among yourselves: when is the operation taking place? Who's handling what part of it? Which of the vault areas are characters going to? How will they handle the vaults? Lug the money out?

NOTE: you do... incidentally happen to have a party member who can teleport. And a party member whose acid can erode all the things.

[somebadnews]

Five is Very Bossy and I apologize for him. He's going to want to know what everyone involved can do, and then dismiss most of their ideas and tell them what they're going to do etc. He's fully planning on teleporting his way to success and needs a hand with the extraction because this stuff is heavy. He can possibly teleport in with one or more people, but they'd have to be useful. (Assuming they want to listen to him! He at least sounds super confident.)

Also I'm fully up for a hit to his ego if anything goes wrong. Because getting hit with a sleeping curse and having to be carried out would be something he did not anticipate...

RECAP

[beitangmoran]

Just to recap so far we have :

- Mingyu on whoring duty to earn half of the money for the map, other funds to be provided.

- Wei Wuxian on reconnaissance as a paperman to verify accuracy of the map

- Five and potentially Mina teleporting in for actual looting.

- Possibly Catra on standby in case muscle is needed for a hasty escape?

LOOT

[somebadnews]

Ahaha so... I'm democratic, even though the very tired manchild here is expecting effusive praise for all his (and only his) hard work. So feel free to weigh in!

From the list here I'd say something like this:
Sell:
- All the obvious gold bars ($$)
- Most of the gems. (Make a case?? for the pale ones, because Five isn't making jewelry over here, argue as you like)
- Ring (just looked like it would be worth something, what)
Keep:
- Sword (he probably used it before the heist was over tbh so... maybe less than pristine ??)
- Mirror (shit from the magic vault was hard to get so figure it out)
- Cloak (might... wear it... at some point?? it's cold out?? what would happen...)
- Keys (assuming they're to something come on, they're gold...)


Just my thoughts, discuss as you like. :>

[thehoneybadger]

LET'S FUCKING

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[pinkxeno]

Just commenting here to make it official Mina will be giving everyone a hand, despite her feeling a bit weird that she is breaking the law and doing something like this. BUT YOU KNOW. Desperate times, etc etc

SOME THOUGHTS

[somebadnews]

I've had enough hours of sleep now to think about some stuff. Since I feel semi-responsible with this bag-of-crazy, I thought it might help to get some ideas out to see where everyone fits in or where handwaving happens. We can thread out or not or whatever, and there's no rush to figure this stuff out, but because heists are fun here are some optional options:

- Looting starts off perfect. Amazing. A+ plan great teamwork with the maps and getting the loot thanks.
- Things that could cause it to go to shit:
A.) The distraction team is actually recognized by the guards and they prove to be a little TOO distracting. Alarm gets raised to highest level and muscle team has to decide if they want to go in for backup or stay with the loot.
B.) The looting team sets off the alarm by doing something silly like MAKING A NOISE and one or more of the guards go into the vault and it gets messy. (ie. Five gets all overzealous and Mina has to stop him from being a big ol' psycho.) Distraction team comes in to pull extra guards away.
C.) The muscle team gets spotted where the drop off location is, resulting in guards coming out to deal with them / checking the vault and yadda yadda escalation happens.
D.) All of the above?? or your much better idea

Some other things that could happen:
- After too many jumps and/or injury, Five can't teleport back for Mina after the last delivery. Thus the distraction team or the muscle team have to decide if they want to go back after her or split up with the loot.
- Post-Heist: regroup thread where everyone sits back and counts the money
- Profit (???)
- (Calm down and stop trying to make 'fetch' happen, Sheep)

CAPTIVE RESCUE

[groundrules]

Questions/comments go here — though some of them might have to wait until you receive further info in the first NPC post. I'll link back to this OOC thread at the time too.

PARTICIPANT LIST

[groundrules]

Reply here with the character name + journal if you decide you'd like your character in for this, and I'll compile — but you can always choose to just tag in as / if you feel like it.

Lists are mostly for convenience, if you guys need to know whom to contact OOCly.

Lead: Archeval | darkeststars
Mina Ashido | pinkxeno
Eleven | bearshermark
Lan Wangji | downswing
Rachel | thehoneybadger
Wei Wuxian | weifinder
Bai Mingyu | descendency
Lee Chang | jeoha
Xiao Xingchen | binghua

[weifinder]

Just generally noting that Wei Wuxian would also want to be involved! Do they have an actual plan for where these captives are... going. Do they have stockpiled translation crystals and heat crystals and clothing. Do you have an escape point, are you sinking the ship so they think everyone drowned--

[pinkxeno]

QUESTION

Because slavery is bad
can mina sink the boats after the rescue

you know just casually dropping some acid into the hull and everywhere she passes by

[topoiran]

LATE but can Karsa use some help with the diversion because Xunxian can tell the fishes and birds to help...

Also if more info should be shared by the merchant...

[jeoha]

Okay so Lee Chang is going to go interview some of the women that were brought to the city on the Imperious, and learn what he can about the ship. Specifically, he would be looking for things like layout; how the rotations are structured; how many guards/crew on deck and how many sleeping at any given time; how quickly they turn over stock when they reach port; if there are any guards that are particularly susceptible to certain kinds of temptation; what the number of 'skeleton crew' would be left on the ship in case of emergency; what the slave cages are made of and how they are locked; if they were ever taken somewhere else on the ship (like the head); etc.

He won't be asking all these questions of every woman - he is not going to push hard for answers where it looks like he might be upsetting them, but he will pay them for any information gathered, and if they seem like they may want help escaping at a later point, take down their information to talk to the merchant about.

How much coin would he need and how much information would he get?

[somebadnews]

WELP. Here's some super late plans (sorry sorry): Five is going to have to cameo this business. He eavesdrops on everything, and gives zero care to telling anyone what he's doing, so you might have to deal with the thirteen year old appearing in the middle of everything for the sole purpose of finding his family. That's a big teleport jump so he'd be stretching to make it on board from the docks but possible ?? if he hops from other nearby ships ??

He's still probably not at 100% after the super-perfect flawless heist, so they might crap out on him again. And then... it's fine, an exit strategy will come to him.

Yadda yadda. He'd very much like to grab his sister before she destroys the world, and might even recognize the light from her powers from far off, so you know. I'M just getting my ducks in a row before diving in.

[darkeststars]

Imperious

Wow, it's like they want him to carve it full of holes.

[groundrules]

I thought you'd like that.

TDM AND INVITES

[groundrules]

Hi, everyone! Taking a look at our current player/character size and given the game's involvement, I propose the following for the upcoming application round:

— second characters now open to those who want to apply them
— one invite per player this round (a prospective second character does not count as using your invite) — the niche nature of Eastbound makes it unlikely the game will bloat, but I'd like to keep an okay ratio of new additions to older characters
— that said, if you know someone who really wants to be a part of the game, or if anyone stumbles on the game and wants to join, they can PM this account, and we'll figure it out. I don't want to turn anyone away, just to keep numbers manageable for the existing playerbase
— if you plan on inviting anyone, if you can, please ask them to have a complete look through the premise or recent plots and see if they think the game really fits their vibe.

That's it from me — but if you have any strong feelings against the above, let me know, please — here, over PMs or on the mod contact page, whatever you are most comfortable with. Thank you!