(no subject)

[groundrules]

TRAIN-CRASHING NEAR YOU

Heya, bonjour, think of Bastille! This post will serve as the main plotting and Q&A hub for our recent event and test drive meme (TDM).

Feel free to make a plotting comment, if you want — and to flag if you're playing a TDM participant or an existing character in the comment title, to help with precious, beautiful organisation.

For any general questions, you have the following main threads for:

TEST DRIVE QUESTIONS

EXISTING CHARACTERS

THE COMMON TIMELINE

Thanks so much and enjoy!

Comments

EXISTING CHARACTERS

[groundrules]

You guys definitely can't adopt the bear.

[consignation]

I'm not relogging because I'm in the middle of my toplevel but Mingyu is the kind of nerd who'd collect and get parchment pieces translated. Information is sort of his thing. Is there anything particularly useful he can do with this information?

[groundrules]

Of course! How many letter pieces were you thinking he'd get? I can give you some (very brief) summaries for each.

[consignation]

Hmmm what sounds like a reasonable amount for a paranoid better dressed chinese batman to collect... 3-4? If they are adequately of interest he'll crowdsource the remaining letter-gathering.

[groundrules]

Let's go with the following four:

i. Signed by Hatisse (leading Mazyar to recognise, moving forward, what is written in her calligraphy, and what comes from Arha): apologies once more that she presumes to write him, when only accident drove them to cross paths in his native Sukhl, and she is as nothing, where he is a ruling clan leader.


2. From Arha to Hatisse: reassurance that he thinks of no woman more than she, that he will do anything for her, give up his life and his people. He knows she was only assigned to serve a season in the court of Sukhl, but will the school of Attaryl not spare her a few months further? He will pay three times her previous stipend, no, four. And a fee, whatever the Attaryl witches ask.


3. From Arha to Hatisse: is his beloved well? Arha has heard, as has the entire world, that the conflict between the witches of Attaryl and those of Bessis has deepened. Will the conclave of Taravast do nothing to stop the bloodshed? Is Hatisse sheltered, will she not return to him?


4. From Hatisse to Arha: begging forgiveness, she does can write only sparingly. The Bessis have taken over many of their routes, promising fire and burning to all of the Attaryl. Her sisters of Attaryl have gone into hiding. The conclave has forsaken them. She has no where to go, no one to turn to, only Arha, who cares for her. Though, in this dark hour, she wonders if even his words are true? For what are words without deeds.

[groundrules]

Other folks will receive other letter pieces — so might be a good one to summarise/share/collect info for the full picture, o ho ho ho.


Or burn the letters...

[rumorate]

Hi, hello, also. If you are interested, Allison might return with some information from the temple that could apply to the letters, if you want to bring them together for a chat?

[descendency]

Hello absolutely, as Five's bitterly divorced ex-wife Mingyu has heard all about you Allison! And by all I mean your name, and the fact that you're his sister. He is 100% on board for collaborating since he's figured out that you forge a tenuous mutually antagonistic partnership with one Hargreeve and you've forged a tenuous partnership with them all.

[topoiran]

BUt THE BEAR!!!

... also would the temple magic make people see different ghosts, or can illusions be shared?

[groundrules]

Just to make sure I've got you re "shared": do you mean, if Su Xunxian sees Fluffy, can someone else also witness Fluffy without Su Xunxian being present (aka, Fluffy is now an independent ghost)? Or if Su Xunxian can pick the people who see Fluffy with him?

[topoiran]

If Xunxian says Fluffy! can someone standing next to him see Fluffy, mostly, rather than independently of him.

[groundrules]

So, the bottom line is: if Su Xunxian "brings out" Fluffy from his memories, Fluffy can parade independently. Someone Su Xunxian doesn't know personally could see Fluffy, independent of Su Xunxian. Su Xunxian could not actively choose or influence who sees Fluffy (obviously, you can OOCly by liaising with players!). But Fluffy would effectively be on par with Arha's ghosts — active irrespective of a chaperone. Does that make sense? :O

[lancifolium]

She has definitely used magic in front of the ghosts a few times, is it safe to say Obvious Witch obviously is being watched or otherwise impeded? Like, for example, trying to cast a spell to slow down the streetcar-train thing?

And I’m here for ghost goss, is it cool for Lily to grab a couple of pieces of parchment dropped by the harpies?

[groundrules]

Yes, Lily would regrettably be on the receiving end of a lot of sorcery accusations! Though if she is seen handling fire, she will sooner be accused of being a witch of the Bessis.

How many letter pieces is she looking to get? I will give you summaries of their translations.

[lancifolium]

Nope no fire, but probably a few transfigured cups of tea, and the like.

Let's say two!

[groundrules]

Sure. The letters will show excerpts in two different writing. The first will be signed by Hatisse:

The first: Hatisse thanks the gods each and every day for her fortune, to have been assigned her court learnings among the noble Sukhl and learned their ways, and crossed her path with Arha.

The second: a paragraph extolling Hatisse's many virtues of beauty, and calls for her to keep safe, while the Attaryl and Bessis carry out their hostilities. It is known that the Attaryl have had to retreat from their sorcerer rivals and hide like rats in the citadel, will the conclave of Taravast not intercede? If they do not, the Sukhl will to stop this madness.

Mingyu has a few more excerpts, if you guys want to do some IC info sharing (maybe network-wise? helps other folks see them too). Enjoy!

[beitangmoran]

Can I also put in for 3 or 4 letter pieces whenever life lets you exist, don't sweat it.

[groundrules]

Sure, of course — the second excerpt will be signed by Arha, making it easier to identify who is penning what, based on calligraphy:

i. Hatisse to Arha: she is returned to Taravast, where she has found the Attaryl in the chaos and tensions previous reports from her sister sorceresses suggested. As Arha knows, the Attaryl are diplomats, pacifists. Surely they are no match for the aggressions for the Bessis? Surely they cannot be culled like cattle when they lie defenceless? But the conclave of Taravast gives them no help in this.

ii. Arha to Hatisse: a wealth of praise for Hatisse's lips, her eyes, her hair. Beauty beyond compare, kindness without tarnish. He is not a man of poetry, not a scholar, but for her, he yet learns.

iii. Arha to Hatisse: they say tensions have mounted, that the Bessis and the Attaryl have clashed in the streets now, that blood will pour until one destroys the other to become the single faction of sorcery in Taravast. They say the Attaryl led the onslaught first. Were they fools? Do they not know the Bessis bring fire? What will their pretty words do then, their courtly manners?

iv. Hatisse to Arha: she sees now, how their enemies have converted him, how their voices speak through him. It aches her so. Let him keep his distance, then, let him leave her and her sisters as the conclave abandoned them already. He is a man grown, he rules an army. Hatisse joined his court to advise him, but she has failed, that much is plain. She has taught him nothing.

[weifinder]

Okay this is: talking to the soldier ghosts now, looking to see if any of them served as carriers of messages in some capacity in the time prior to the army's march, all that time ago. Wei Wuxian's trying to get a sense for the pacing of missives between the parted lovers. How long did missives take to send, and by what means were they passed?

[groundrules]

Hello! Some of them long preceded the deployment, such as a few of the ones Mingyu got, where the two are effectively courting. A handful were exchanged after the army set out, and some of the soldiers would have served as couriers.

[groundrules]

(As for speed of delivery - this depends on how close the army was to Taravast, a moving objective. Call it a few days. )

[weifinder]

Sounds great on both counts, thank you!

[somebadnews]

So sorry, I'm here with a late question.

"(All) characters can now sometimes briefly see the flickered figures of people they deeply miss around them": Would that happen inside the temple as well, or only outside after the fact? Just trying to see if Five and friends would run into this while they're down there!

[groundrules]

Hey - sure, they can do.

[somebadnews]

Excellent! That's how I read it, but I just wanted to make sure. :>