arc iv: serthica

[groundrules]

Hello, hello! Get your goggles on and take a gaze upon Arc IV: Serthica, which kicks off ICly through our 13 August arrival event.

■ The LOCATIONS page now includes the Arc setup and site descriptions for Serthica citadel halves Eidris and Minaras, along with Neutral Zones and the Mouse House underworld.

! Necromancers and the spiritually sensitive cannot sense any spirits or dead things in Serthica, even from fresh corpses.

■ Check out TEAM & LOCATION ASSIGNMENTS. To confirm: characters can still cross over into the ‘opposing’ citadel half or meet on neutral ground — just be discreet.

■ You’ll spot characters have also been assigned false identities and roles in Serthica. They inherit them alongside forged identification papers and are publicly expected to uphold them. No worry: they can be very terrible at their jobs. The roles give characters a personalised local advantage and easier access to certain locations or citizens for information gathering. If there is anything about your character's role you are OOCly uncomfortable playing out, get in touch and we can chat about re-assignment.

■ The Arc IV NPC inbox is now live. You can hit up an available NPC at any point over the Arc’s duration. A grateful Quicksilver Sam has been accepted into the fold, courtesy of our latest vote and/or bleeding hearts.

You’ll get full details of the upcoming three-week event in the 13 August log write-up, but a loose sketch of what to expect:

■ Joyful arrival in Serthica, just in time for yet another Eidris-Minaras commemorative peace summit in the Neutral Zone. The Mouse House team will meet their colleagues there.

Note: no weapons or magical artefacts are allowed in the Neutral Zone. Those who don’t surrender their weapons cannot attend the summit — this is sadly non-negotiable with the locals. If your character can't compromise, they can head to their citadel half.

■ An inevitable assassination attempt against the Minaras officials assembled at the summit. That includes any Minaras PC character representatives.

■ Characters settling into their assigned roles and citadel halves — some barracks and minimal accommodations will be available, but best if they group up fir their own living arrangements ( 2-4 characters per unit).

■ Eidris: a dragon clutch is born, to simultaneous local horror and celebration. No animal or dragon death!

■ Minaras: civic indoctrination sessions, droid acquaintances and close surveillance.

■ ...probably tech errors and/or typos, the log does goes up on the 13th.

If you want to plot & plan, fill out...

<b><small>PLAYER</small>:</b> <b><small>PREFERRED CONTACT</small>:</b> <b><small>CHARACTER & CANON</small>:</b> <b><small>THEIR SERTHICA LOCATION ASSIGNMENT</small>:</b> <b><small>THEIR ROLE IN SERTHICA</small>:</b> <b><small>LIVING/PAIRING ARRANGEMENTS</small>?</b> <b><small>WILL THEY HAVE A DRAGON/DROID? DESCRIBE THEM</small>:</b> <b><small>ANY LOOSE PLANS</small>:</b>


QUESTIONS

Comments

QUESTIONS

[groundrules]

...like clockwork!

You're going to get much more information on the event in the write-up, so probably best to focus on any setup or premise questions, for now.

[intermingled]

Since both sides believe the other is non-human, does that mean that visibly non-human characters would be advised to hide those traits? (IE would Spock be advised to continue hiding his ears?) Thanks!

[groundrules]

Nope, the ears are fine!

[enucleation]

Unrelated to the event kinda! Kaneki's doll: can he find someone who'd make the doll itself less broken/shabby (paint it, give it new clothes, etc) and if so, would those changes stick or she'd just go back to looking creepy?

kaneki may be a bit attached

[groundrules]

.......oh, this is so sweet, yes, you can patch her up. Steampunk is at its heart built on the Victorian aesthetic, so all the dolls, all the time.

Up to you if you want it to be some kind of porcelain patches, or maybe cogs/metal, and if you want it to... work... or worsen her looks, or peel off. Hey, you can even have them put a little outfit on her!








Won't make her less cursed, though.

[matermali]

Since she's rich, can Vanessa land a sweet pad, like a penthouse or big house or whatever fits the setting? She was definitely used to mansion living back home, so it will feel natural to her. She will slowly try to fill it with people if so. Sharing the wealth!

[groundrules]

Yes, but to keep things fair — no more than two PC guests and the droid!

If you take this option, however, Vanessa and her sharers must put up with a daily three hours of morning calls from prospective suitors who know where she lives.

Her droid will also be constantly on the lookout to ensure none of her guests are doing anything untoward to ruin her virtue. Earnestly suggest hiring Jiang Cheng.

[valeas]

Do I have permission to (eventually) rent out a space for an apothecary? It can be the 'front' that 'funds' her nonexistent empire lmao, to hopefully get her some coin and get her chatting some people up. There would be vitamins, yes.

Maybe some named Sugar Bear Hair.

[groundrules]

Yes, but get the funds!

[song_of_fire]

Can Dany just sleep in a hay pile at the dragon pen?

[groundrules]

She could, but I'm sure the dragon nests have slightly better lodgings for physicians who have to stay overnight!

[topoiran]

1. Will Xunxian encounter trouble communicating with the dragons and rats, up to and including npcs being unhappy that he can?

And, less relevant to my characters and more general questions, but:
2. Would necromances be able to raise corpses here?

3. Does the lack of spirits apply to people only, or all creatures supposed to be living?

[groundrules]

1. What did we agree about him on dragon communication previously? I guess let's keep consistent.

He can talk to the rats. I admit I can't see why any NPCs would know he is, unless he tells them so...

2. That's one to be taken up when they try, as it's case-by-case.

3. It applies to everything. Inability to tell dead/living things across the board.

[northerndragon]

So, Jon’s job writeup refers to him owning black clothing… but I’m sorry to say that he hasn’t worn black since like a year before his pull point! His current canon outfit is a brown gambeson, a brigandine which is probably a darker brown leaning towards black, a grey linen shirt and whatever other shirts Sansa made for him in Taravast. He also has a long fur-trimmed cloak that appears to be very dark green. Leather goods are mostly brown but there’s some black.

I know part of that was joking around… but what do? Assume the professional mourner clothes came with the identity papers? Assume they’re an assigned uniform? Scramble around real quick?

[groundrules]

Mostly a joke, yes! And absolutely, he'll get the, er, uniform.

You can play around with what you think is a suitable "mourner" look, steampunk style. Add some belts. Hey, it doesn't even have to be black, as long as it's somehow funerary looking.

[biomed]

Could you tell me more about the types of clubs and entertainment venues that Bones'll be inspecting, or is that "wait and see on the log" territory? 👀

[matermali]

Do droids ever have to be charged or go into 'standby mode', or do they just keep on chugging at all hours like clockwork? Does the 'syncing' with Vassarizhia kind of reset them each time?

[traaaaaash]

so I guess a magic staff probably counts as an artifact

question: can Eda smuggle her staff in in her hair

[wooden_one]

Two questions:

1. Chu Wanning is deathly afraid of flying. If he wants to avoid flying at all whether by dragon or machine or whatever is it possible for him to just...walk everywhere? Or is he just going to have to sit through it with whit knuckled grip while insisting he's fine?

2. For the neutral zone, is he affected by the antiweapon barrier his weapons aren't summoned? Canon never specifically where these weapons go when not summoned but I assume they're in his person....somewhere. Like, does he have to leave them at the door otherwise he can't enter or does he walk through and alarms go off and he's immediately surrounded by magic police? Or does it do nothing unless he summons them?

[blackscales]

How does the average population treat the opposing side if they visit in the one hour windows the barriers are dropped? Is everyone generally hostile, or neutral, or a mix where some are fine but some areas he would be just totally blocked from? Does Wrathion's position as this fancy investor make a difference or do they not even care either way because they generally don't want to serve him?

[weifinder]

Can we make false mustaches a thing for the dragons themselves

Like things they wear attached to................................ some kind of harness, do dragons wear harnesses around their heads w/o a bit so they can look Pretty

because then we can make some epic eastern dragon mustaches for these western dragons

[weifinder]

Related to the fact I had to ask: when he can't tell if any energy/spirits read as... anything, is playing music to call on resentful energies fruitful to any degree within the cities (vs the underground not-part-of-the-cities-mouse-house), or no?

[weifinder]

I'm sorry it's late and I'm thinking of questions only one at a time: are we now able to wake up the great master Sassafrass, by which I mean... Zenobius. Who somehow Wifi has been managing to keep on a drip of the uh, healing dark waters from last arc through the months on ship and only a big ol' hiccup during the KRAKEN FIGHTING DAYS how did we get this guy onto our boat, Wei Wuxian needs to adopt a kid next he's been having this comatose grandfather gig going for too long

[bravelyrunsaway]

1. Can a large wolf wander the streets in either city, the neutral zone, or the extended poor underground?

2. Is it copacetic to say my guy inherited a helper droid bud who is in fact the one good at identifying if a mineral or metal is natural, crafted, or fake? I was figuring yes, just wanted to make sure it wouldn't muck anything up to have such a thing going on.

[bravelyrunsaway]

1. Licyn the living magic detector/magic battery: is there any feedback he'd get for magic being in active use?

2. Passive use only matters on large scale, and would register to him as a constant prickling unease/goosebump thing, would he be reacting like that while in the cities?

3. Would anything be trying to siphon away his inherent magic? He wouldn't so much notice this as be more tired, he's not really aware of his own inherent magic so it's more me going "should I be playing him as being exhausted far before he should be" so that's just player flavourtext.