activity check + spookytober

[groundrules]

Hi folks! You can find the October activity check (AC) and admin below:

OCTOBER ACTIVITY CHECK

AC is done in-house, and you do not need to do anything unless your character is listed below. Please try to use character tags for posts and logs you tag into — it helps track your activity.

Regular activity requirements are one of the following during the AC month:

■ a network post
■ OR 10 text/network-style comments across at most two threads
■ OR five log comments across at most two threads

Activity can be carried out on either the game communities or character inboxes.

In September, I couldn’t find sufficient activity for...

Shen Qingqiu ( softheartedshizun ) — RECLAIMED FOR REGULAR OCTOBER AC
Vanya Hargreeves ( remugient ) — SECOND STRIKE | RECLAIMED FOR 1.5 x AC IN OCTOBER
Wen Kexing ( wenderer ) — RECLAIMED

Comment here or PM @ groundrules until 5 October if you want to reclaim your character, or if they have September activity that was missed! In an effort to tighten up on AC requirements a bit, this is the last month when characters with two consecutive strikes can be reclaimed.

OTHER ADMIN

■ Our resident Eleven player has put up a COMMUNAL DRAGON RESCUE LOG, if you want to party and play out the beast smuggling until 8-9 October. Thank you!

■ A CR meme will go up tomorrow. Also, if you folks ever want to post OOC memes, floor’s all yours too.

■ The October calendar has been updated — it’s leaner until October to give everyone a chance to unwind from the bustle and pursue their own plots for a change.

■ Do you guys want a scary/horror event to mark the end of October, or are we good with the current creepy levels? DROP YOUR VOTE HERE over the next week.

■ The Story So Far page has been updated with a summary of September plot events.

■ For a refresher on who's on #TeamVannozza or #TeamMacaluso, the list lives here.


PLOT ROLLS & QUESTS

Some pre-discussed quests or custom plot opportunities resulting from recent involvement below. Comment here if you’d like to request a plot roll (or quest) — but you must commit to playing it out, without handwaving. Please mention if you want a funny/wtf?, political or exploration plot roll.Those who received unrequested plot rolls can choose to neglect them!

■ Chu Wanning
■ Hermione Granger & Anakin Skywalker
■ Beitang Moran
■ Wrath

Comments

AC RECLAIMS

[groundrules]

Re: AC RECLAIMS

[remugient]

Reclaims……

[groundrules]

So! Since second strike and old system, let's go with 1.5 x AC proofs for October, please, so, either: 2 network posts OR 15 texting/network style comments OR 8 log comments. I'll mark that for you - thanks!

Re: AC RECLAIMS

[softheartedshizun]

Strike please.

[groundrules]

Marking that reclaimed for you! Just regular AC for Oct, as we're still using the old system. Thanks!

Re: AC RECLAIMS

[wenderer]

i’d like to reclaim, please!

[groundrules]

Sure, jotting that down for you - regular AC for October, please!

REQUEST A PLOT ROLL

[groundrules]

To make sure everyone gets their turn, please give it a few days before requesting one, if you did so last month as well. Thank you!

Re: REQUEST A PLOT ROLL

[softheartedshizun]

I'm not really sure if this is worth an entire plot or quest, but I would like Shen Qingqiu to get hold of a suitable sword. (Or his own sword somehow, not sure how or if that would work though.)

[groundrules]

So, if all you want for him is any old sword, he can get one from the palace, or he can reach out to Eleven for one, perhaps —

But if you guys want, we could definitely make something extravagant happen with sourcing either really rare materials for the sword, or getting a cursed sword, or inheriting someone's weapon shipment...

How much drama are you feeling?

PLOT & INFO ROLLS

[groundrules]

Some consequences and fresh rolls resulting from recent involvement...

CHU WANNING

[groundrules]

Following his time in don Bonaccorso’s wing, Chu Wanning is kept apprised of local gossip by the servants attending the premise. Some of the talk is innocent: don Bonaccorso has received an outlandish new gift from abroad, the old man is wearing the strangest mask fashions, the latest petitioners begging farm subventions are now making their plea in song!

Around 11-14 October, a servant can approach Chu Wanning requesting help and urgent shelter. She is heavily distressed and largely incoherent, her hands bloodied. She approaches Chu Wanning publicly, opening him to court scrutiny.

Does Chu Wanning agree to shelter her? As ever, careful with consequences.

[wooden_one]

Because he's soft-hearted...yes, he will agree to shelter her. But when they're somewhere a little less public he'll probably also ask her from what she needs to be sheltered from.

HERMIONE GRANGER & ANAKIN SKYWALKER

[groundrules]

In the first half of October — please agree the date between yourselves, if you decide to take the plot roll, but ideally set it before 15 October — Hermione and Anakin will inadvertently find themselves embroiled in a bigger-picture ploy. They will each receive notice that they have ‘deliveries’ — cloth and modiste accessories for Hermione, and fresh sand for Anakin. They are welcomed together in the courier halls of don Bonaccorso’s wing and allowed to recover their merchandise.

Imagine the courier halls like a semi-supervised postal warehouse, guarded more on the outside. Slipped in with the merchandise that’s arrived for Hermione and Anakin — actual seamstress supplies and... sand — are two identical copies of a note:

Donna Rigarda takes today’s tea at four — the Merchant

If you get some of the palace servants to snoop with the attendants of donna Rigarda's private home, they will be able to convey that she has today made special, discreet tea arrangements with foreign dignitaries.

Will Hermione and/or Anakin barge into infiltrate or spy on donna Rigarda’s meeting? What’s their battle plan, if so? And, of course, feel free to drag other characters in.

[reparo]

hermione would accept because she has to play the game to get out of wherever it is she is (at least that's the vibe). and also impress karsa maybe, like even a little, would be neat.

she will likely use a disillusionment spell to make people not notice her while she snoops, but she will also carry with her the fucking corsets, in case someone catches them because. you know. maybe Rigarda would like to not have a rack attack.

BEITANG MORAN

[groundrules]

'lo and behold, it emerges that don Urbano has unfortunately perished during the recent drama at the tower of Bessis. Unexpectedly, he has been fire-charred — raising some brows, given his uniquely sophisticated control of fire and the reduced odds of a fully trained Bessis practitioner succumbing to flames.

The majority of don Urbano’s fortune and estate have already been given away as a donation to the order, but the witches retain enough decency to spare a small gift of money to his lingering family — the lady Wen Qing. As her alleged uncle and the one who facilitated their upcoming nuptials, Beitang Moran is offered 75,000 coins, full access and all the effects in don Urbano’s fleeting quarters. This includes the dreadful freezing owl. All of these possessions are to be stewarded in the name of his niece, Wen Qing.

Does Beitang Moran accept the triumph of the patriarchy and his niece's inheritance?

[beitangmoran]

He absolutely accepts as is his right to compensation for such a disaster. he will most probably give at least half the coins directly to Wen Qing herself, and then the rest of the money and the owl will be punted to Xunxian for safe keeping.

WRATH

[groundrules]

As part of Wrath’s ongoing investigation, he can find out the following, over the course of the month:

■ Macaluso and Vannozza’s parents perished within months of each other — one set of parents to a plague, the other to a fire.

■ Don Bonaccorso has raised his orphaned niece and nephew personally, greatly limiting their exposure to court and the extent to which necromancers, witches or healers could access them. Don Bonaccorso has made no secret that he believes the deaths of their parents was the result of plot or poison, and he has doted on his niece and nephew, sparing no expense to guarantee their safety.

■ There are no medical records available for either Vannozza or Macaluso during their early youth or adolescence, though they were known to have generally been in good health. The only exception is a great fever sickness that Macaluso suffered when he was aged twelve, while Vannozza was fourteen. The illness was an extensive and unclear infection, which healers attended to. It never resurged again. He has been in excellent health since.

■ Macaluso and Vannozza were very close, growing up. Some brows are raised and wriggled when that statement is uttered. They grew apart as Macaluso began exploring his foreign-friendly policies, while Vannozza became increasingly more ruthless and jaded.

[inferus]

Very interesting.

I feel like Wrath would like to ask Vannozza more about this herself like specifically referencing the illness that Macaluso suffered/touching base about what he knows so far. Especially with what he also kind of learned from the tombs just in general with the Doxe living so long. He's also wondering how it is her uncle and his healers have means of even reducing this affliction as that implies they understand it somewhat. I know that Lily was trying to determine what was inside of what they were using. It's all very strange!!

I'll probably have him pop by the NPC inbox again soon.

Lee Chang & Mingyu

[jeoha]

Feeling much better and able to play things out, so requesting an exploration quest for Lee Chang and Mingyu. Thanks!

SPOOKTOBER

[groundrules]

Do we want a horror-themed late October event to honour Halloween, or are we good this round?

Please +1 the option you like, one vote per person.

YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS

[groundrules]

NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

[groundrules]

ASKS QUESTIONS

[weifinder]

This is a general note and such but:

A person dies. What happens to their essence/soul/spirit/energy of some attachment to their consciousness of self? Specifically, what happens without interference?

Vs. are there ways to ensure a soul is either:

a. moved on;
b. eradicated completely;
c. contained in a state of stasis;
or d. are they pulled some direction and/or attracted to certain locations and/or people

Wei Wuxian is looking to understand the mechanics of where people "go" when dead, energy wise, and why and how it is their dying would potentially lead to uh. Spirts getting recaptured and devoured.

He would have started this with academic focus until he had an eye on Jin Guangyao, who so kindly got himself killed and dragged back to Macaluso's Moneybags for resurrecting.

[groundrules]

So, average Joe, a humble fisherman, with no magical powers, arrangements and affiliation croaks in Taravast. He/his family do not plan for a necromancer to intercede in any way. His soul disperses. It is unclear where the soul goes, whether it has been eradicated or simply transformed in another form of energy. Taravast's many academic schools share different points of view. Some entertain the notion of reincarnation, some of heaven, some posit the soul is a finite energy that simply expires, burning and transforming into other types of energy.


Are there ways to ensure a soul is either:

a. moved on — where?

b. eradicated completely — yes, you can consume or transform it into another type of energy

c. contained in a state of stasis — the easiest way to do this would be to force it into a body, which is what souls seem prone to 'want' to inhabit anyway. Necromancers take advantage of that affinity between soul and matter when resurrecting.

d. are they pulled some direction and/or attracted to certain locations and/or people — the soul is the energy, absent any cognition. The spirit is a different conversation. Some spirits that harboured great trauma, emotional feeling (love, resent) or any kind of magical connection might drift back around certain people or locations. Necromancers like to enslave them, when they catch them (see the grumpy ghost house).