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Hello, hello! Some admin notes and a few updates, based on recent rolls & developments, to keep everyone nicely busy!

EVENT & TEST DRIVE

Taravast's coup event will kick off on 2 December and will also serve as our test drive. Like last time, test drive participants can app without an invite over the next three weeks ( until 21 December ). As a heads up, applications won't be judged over 24 December - 2 January.

ARC II WRAP & ARC III

A series of votes on the fate of Taravast, the beacon and our ensuing Arc destination will take place over 5-12 December. As with Arc II, we'll have a four-six week 'travel' interlude to reach the setting of Arc III. The events of the journey will feed into the Arc III plotline.

THE BEAR

...will still visit before we leave Taravast.

For now...

Image source.

THE BUBBLING WAIT
■ Commoners repeatedly come to the Palace of the Doxe to beg Doxe Bonaccorso Spina's support to restore their districts from recent undead damage. They are turned away: Bonaccorso has once again taken ill, and the Taravast coffers are tight. Careful in the great outdoors — some furious petitioners throw rocks and minor fire spells at windows and into the gardens.

■ To contain the unrest, don Bonaccorso orders a tight curfew ( 06:00 to 20:00 ), bans the liberal use of sorcery or the display of weapons, and prohibits groups of more than five people.

■ Urged to action by Alina Starkov, Macaluso Spina seeks an audience with Bonaccorso on 27 November. By midday, word spreads that Macaluso has been placed under house arrest in his quarters and awaits trial for allegedly attempting to assassinate his grandfather.

■ Macaluso's household is broken up. Vannozza Spina offers the hospitality of her palace wing to her cousin's supporters for ten days while they make arrangements to depart Taravast.

■ In this period, characters assigned to Macaluso have their stipends reduced and receive unfriendly treatment at court. Guards often shove roughen them up in corridors. It's safest now to seek short-term accommodations in the rooms of Vannozza's supporters.

■ With their champion Macaluso detained, the Bessis sorceresses retreat from the Palace. Alone, the increasingly arrogant witches of Attaryl deliver the lady Vannozza for extended and highly guarded visits to don Bonaccorso's quarters. They also tally characters and question them about their backgrounds and magical abilities.

ADMIN QUESTIONS

PLOT QUESTIONS

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This will be a short-term arrangement, but if your character is seeking or offering room shares during the great displacement of Macaluso Spina's household, drop a line here. Mention in the comment header if your character is aligned with Macaluso or Vannozza, along with anything prospective room sharers should know in advance.

Edited 2021-11-23 20:31 (UTC)

... since his dads will be still rooming together, Sizhui can offer rooming ... so long as you don't mind him early to bed and early to rise.

You can room with them and free up an entire quarter, tiny radish, come be a cot family.

OH! He'd very much like that, yes. SO ONE QUARTARS FREE, he'll take his snails with him. And their lettuce.

when she said do something... she meant ANYTHING BUT THAT

but also she needs a place to stay now please

You could room with Dany, so long as you don't mind the dragon?

she's totally fine with the dragon if he's fine with the fact that she has two irremovable dragon scale bracelets....

I doubt he'll notice. Make yourself at home!

perfect then we're all set!

Wrathion will need a room, but he absolutely won't ask for one because he's too proud. That said he will be very uneasy about this whole situation because it definitely seems inches from exploding, and the uneasiness will make him quieter and a little more hesitant. He'd probably be a roommate who is largely reading and making notes at the moment, so not too in the way.

Eleven will be indisposed for a little while, so his room is free. Even if/when he does come back, he could share with Lily ;o

It's kept pretty neat for the most part, though the desk pushed against the window is a riot of loose papers on healing and a handful of reference books. Might still be a few glass shards around a display case of superfluous rich people things, but it was fixed!

More importantly, there's some potted plants on the balcony. Pls water them.

Shoving Aang and Alayne if she wants in here too to keep them safe. Don't worry, someone's definitely going to remember those plants.

Yes good /popcorns

Have you told Aang about your gf zuko

...

Right

/over-waters from stress...

oops.

fdkg it's okay maybe the avatar can fix it??

ONE CAN HOPE. now how to inform not!big brother about this.

ALSO SINCE IDK WHERE ELSE TO STAMP IT, she's technically aligned with Macaluso but uh... at this point she'll just go where she's safe, so... Hopefully that doesn't interfere with this?

Edited 2021-11-23 22:46 (UTC)

lmao oh no

look she is not a gardener she was definitely not trained in that!

but yeah thank goodness for the avatar.

Wrench needs a roommate plz. He'll be good! Just don't expect him to take off the mask ever. :P

Any queries on the test drive, deadlines, etc — the floor's yours!

...if you have them, plot-side!

If, hypothetically, someone that some of the population thinks is a beacon and who may or may not have a dragon, tried to calm the people throwing things and casting, would this be possible? If it's also a person that's been volunteering to help rebuild things, would that help matters?

...ohoooooooo.

Yes. Actually, yes. It would. It wouldn't calm all the masses on a permanent basis, but it would certainly make some of them retreat, at least for some time. They'd even be apologetic hitting that someone. Might offer a turnip for her... hurts.

Hmm, this hypothetical gives me something to ponder on. Thanks.

I definitely wouldn't know whom you might be thinking of, but wish her well with the grateful masses.

Saying it officially here: Wrathion might see the tide turn and get a bad case of the fuck-its and bolt out onto the streets instead of risking Vannozza 'hospitality' becoming 'house arrest'.

Problem 1: He'd be smart enough to do an outfit change and lose any public Macaluso regalia, but his... eyes glow red. And he has publicly been supporting Macaluso to lean into his role. I would guess glowing red eyes aren't hugely common, so he might stand out a bit? Are there any Macaluso supporters left, among those outside his household, or is it going to be largely hostile atmosphere? Are we getting consequences this fast?! Problems of his own making usually take a little longer to bite, it might be a record!

Problem 2: Even bolting away from problems he created, Wrathion is equal parts anxious this will explode into violence and eager to be prepared for that, and... nosy as fuck. So he'd be on high alert for good gossip and also, potential stupidity in action. If he wasn't more scared of the Beastmaster he might have fled out the door, but the danger inside at least so far doesn't have risk of mind control! ... Yet. Guess there's still time!

O-hoooo, a scoundrel.

Re: Problem 1: honestly, Wrathion hasn't been here long enough to have gained huge renown at court, and he's got the advantage of an identity that could support him in the revolution. Befriend some commoners: everyone wants an inspiring speech writer. So I'll leave it dealer's choice if people do recognise him or if they give him a hard time for it. I can see it going either way, whatever you want.

Re: Problem 2: this isn't much of a problem, in all honesty. To figure out what kind of gossip he'd get — would he get involved with the revolution, do you reckon, or would he stay closer to the looters, or to some of the "neutral" residents, or the necromancers/healers around...? What's his kind of crowd?

Spinning his identity in a new direction, in case he was recognised, was what I thought he might do. You know, betrayed by the people at court and turned out! A victim, who has never been responsible for his own problems in his life, he's been here 5 minutes it isn't his fault yet! That way if one person did turn up to out him he could own it -- lies with some truth in them get you further!

I suspect he'd want to stay close to the revolution just to... be aware of what's happening. Better to be friends with the person throwing bombs than be the target -- I think, depending on how well organised they were, he'd not necessarily be actively helping at the offset, but he wouldn't hinder. He'd just want to know enough to be sure he wasn't standing in the wrong place at the wrong time -- and that he could alert anyone who was if he needed to.

He'd definitely keep his distance from necromancers because they just give him the creeps, too many people have brought back his dead family members okay it's just tiresome.

All right — let's give this man some just rewards for his spy work.

He can find out:
- most of the discontent is caused by the minimal spending that has gone into reconstructing Taravast's feebler districts since the recent siege by the Beastmaster and the Huntress
- many citizens do not understand why the siege took place: it is renown that don Bonaccorso keeps Taravast spared of the undead scourge that has devastated most neighbouring kingdoms; this has been at the heart of his ongoing popularity; that he has failed them now is both inexplicable and infuriating
- there have been calls for men to take their cause to the Doxe's door: the talk is spirited, but initially reasonable. The people still believe in Bonaccorso, but suspect he has let his attention be diverted by his niece, nephew and their stupid electoral games — along with the legions of witches that haunt the palace
- what were initially four-five dozen men slowly grow to hundreds, under the leadership of the lawyer Giacomo Zanardo and the healer Sebastiano Bianchi
- the people are distraught by Bonaccorso's seeming rejection of their appeals; the curfew makes it difficult to do any repairs of their already damaged homes
- they are stupefied to hear don Macaluso has been imprisoned, Bonaccorso is ill, and Vannozza is faintly: they accuse the witches of Attaryl and Bessis for perhaps casting a spell or befuddling the senses of the good nobility!

...I hope that's enough.

Absolutely! Are Giacomo Zanardo or Sebastiano Bianch known to the group already?

Not exactly — they've recently reached out to Slick to ask his advice on... taking a more hands-on approach to articulating their political concerns, but no one's really spoken about them otherwise.

Aha! I did wonder if this was connected to that. Wrathion might be interested in getting close to them, if nothing else to slow them down with reasonable questions about their long term plans like "what will you do if more undead come" and "who will be in charge" and that sort of thing. Dyou want me to jump threads and talk to Spider?

Sure, why not!

A for answers to your questions — unfortunately, you will find the revolutionaries very enthusiastic but perhaps... less than organised.

What will they do if more undead come?
But why would they come? Taravast has avoided them so far. Once they bring don Bonaccorso back to his senses, he will make sure the undead never return.

Who will be in charge?
A people's conclave will be established, to counter ill and gentry-focused interesting of the existing noble conclave. This congregation will advise and gently steer Bonaccorso towards the righteous path of behaving in the interest of his people, when he forgets to do so.

This is exactly what he expected tbh.

His aim is to sort of keep them busy planning to try and buy time for everyone doing.... whatever schemes they are doing inside and out, to delay the pitchfork mob phase or at least.... gentle it? By impressing on the leaders how wrong it could go, and how it'd be their fault then oh dear me hopefully their plan is solid.

This could temper them! Perhaps fewer fire grenades.

The bar is very low so he'll take that.

IDK if you get alerts if I reply to someone else in the thread so done

Worry not, Big Brother watches.

Another question, which came upon me while I was staring out the windows of the train as things often do.

Does it feel like Giacomo Zanardo or Sebastiano Bianch are the source of the idea to take a more hands approach, or like it came from someone else?

I was thinking if they seem like the source, and the vibe is just 'we need to do SOMETHING', he might try to redirect their energy by talking them toward considering 'what if Bonaccorso's continued neglect means the city is attacked by undead again while you are all fighting in the palace, perhaps we should be building defences just in case'.

But he wouldn't want to cause a.... mass panic, so he'd only approach like that if they seem like they just are... yknow eager for things to be done, and could organise people into that Carefully. If even 25% of the rebels are building defences instead of throwing fire bombs that's a win.

(I'm willing to throw Wrathion into an NPC thread to see if this works, if it all tracks logically).

It feels as if it's an idea that's been stewing and brewing and coagulating among several of the higher 'echelons' of the revolution. The duo are willing to enact it, although they somehow still believe they can do this bloodlessly and without any kind of strain. The Doxe, after all, just needs convincing. He is but a swayed but gentle and fair old man, under whose rule Taravat has thrived.

They might take some light precautions against the undead, but they think the odds of a return are very small. This is only the second time they've had any kind of undead intervention in a decade — they're not 'due' too soon.

Kids these days wont eat a decent diversion when its fed to them. Wrathion tried so Nobody Can Criticise Him.

Hey! Just to confirm: Looks like Slick is going to organise this revolution but Wrathion is absolutely not going to assist in strategizing this. He'll probably stay undercover long enough to have an idea of what is going to happen and when, exactly, with only the mildest of commentary to make it clear he's still paying attention and involved -- then he'll make sure everyone on their team has clear warning if they aren't already out, though Fox has already sounded the alarm and he's giving away information there.

He's not keen to get deep into the politics of something he's this new too, he's made things worse before and right now he's all about survival. As PART of that survival, however, he will make sure the Merchant & Karsa are aware. He technically owes them, and doesn't like that but it's just the way it is.

Slick did indicate he'd explain to the locals what is going on -- I wasn't sure how much that will change things? Make it more or less violent? Accelerate or decelerate things? Just so I'm having Wrathion leak the right information.

Heya! Yes, not helping the locals strategise is absolutely fine. You can stay undercover and try to influence the mobs if you choose to, Wrathion ( this will all be a significantly clearer advantage when the coup event hits )

You're welcome to handwave telling the Merchant or Karsa or to hit up the npc inbox, up to you! The only difference is sometimes more follow-up can come out of direct threads - genuinely up to you.

Bear with my pre-caffeine brain for one question: what do you guys mean by "explain to the locals what's going on"?

If it's 'we suspect Bonaccorso is trying to take over the body of his niece,' that will sound too outlandish for them to believe without evidence.

If it's 'Bonaccorso has imprisoned his own nephew,' they might actually be even more impassioned in their venture, thinking surely this is the end of a malign influence on poor Bonaccorso, and their gesture will push the Doxe further in the right direction.

A key thing to remember is that, as far as the people are concerned, Bonaccorso has an otherwise good record of rule, and it's only recently — since the start of the electoral games, the involvement of the witches — that they've seen any change. They're more inclined to think poor Bonaccorso has just become the victim of his relatives or his advisors, rather than that he was morally corrupt all along.

You'd perhaps have to ask Spider how much of it they were going for -- since Wrathion was just the sidekick in the talk trying to balance out his intense army vibes. I THINK it's perhaps both? Just generally, that since they don't seem to be across what's going on, I got the impression Slick might try to inform them from that thread : to help them know what they were getting into. To be fair, if Slick didn't directly mention the imprisoning part once they began explaining Wrathion might just to try and hint to them it isn't all as it seems, but he wouldn't push it on his own as this isn't his city and it's really their choice. Black Dragons meddling in politics is historically a bad look.

And yeah, I can vibe they REALLY THINK THEY'RE DOING THE RIGHT THING AND HE'S A GOOD GUY. It's an unfortunate thing but wow, politics are on the whole Full of Unfortunate Events. Who knew.

I'll hit up Karsa, since she was the first one who helped him and she seemed pragmatic so he'd probably vibe that!

So Xie Lian is gonna go bum it out in the Southern District and collect scraps and just generally try to be helpful to the poor people. And he's interested in maybe getting some gossip about if the people know about that whole soul swapping thing they don't seem too fazed about and also just the whole situation of trading with undead lords and such, basically public sentiment on what's going on, if possible?

Hello! Welcome to life on the bum side of life, Xie Lian.

So, as as discussed here: the people at large don't really know or understand the nature of how don Bonaccorso keeps Taravast safe from undead invasion. Mostly, they just want him to go back to doing whatever it was. If Xie Lian gets involved with the revolutionaries, you're welcome to any of that information, but he'd have to be actively engaging with them and participating in their efforts. Feel free to talk to the Wrathion player if you want the two characters to run into each other during their ventures, if you take that route.

Soul swapping is definitely something they don't know about. Perhaps some of the necromancers have heard of the practice and consider it possible in theory, but no one has really endeavoured to practise it, and it seems distasteful even to necromancers. It's one thing to return their own spirit and soul to the dead, and another to manipulate that.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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SEEKING ROOMMATE...

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MACALUSO

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Vannozza- Offering room

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ADMIN QUESTIONS

THE OTHER QUESTIONS

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