lostcompass | Entries tagged with arc iv

Hey everyone! The November activity results and the aftermath summary of Arc IV: Serthica doze merrily below — along with a special visit from a beloved friend. Arc badges to follow in a few days!

To sum up the updated calendar, the year’s last invite-only application cycle ends on 23:59 on 4 December, and you’ll get full details about our five-week ~~eerie?~~ cooldown setup event on 5 December.

As a reminder, there are no activity requirements in December, unless you’re clearing a strike from November.

Folks with insufficient activity last month:

Su Xunxian |

topoiran — RECLAIMED

Please shout by 5 December to reclaim, or to link any November AC threads that may have been missed!

( Arc IV conclusion )

In the meantime:

✘ Drop two-three lines summarising what your character’s Arc IV activity to get a reward — while characters who submitted task threads in the log finale can already find their loot here.

✘ enjoy Santa Claws!

groundrules

Salut, September — it’s only been a thousand years since August began!

To keep things short and brief: characters for whom insufficient activity was found are listed below. Comment if you’d like to reclaim one by 23:59 on 5 September — you’ll have to produce regular activity over September and October, in exchange!

Jens Macher |

arsmechanica — RECLAIMED
Magnus Bane |

incantates — RECLAIMED

Please flag if any activity was missed. Don’t forget to use your character tags when you comment into posts or logs, to help find your activity proofs — thank you!

ADMIN

First off, just wanted to thank everyone for your time, energy and feedback in the last post — it’s so much more helpful than you probably realise, and some great suggestions were put forward!

■ PLAYER CAP: we currently have 42 players in game, and we will cap at 55. This excludes any returning players.

■ With a cap in place, obligatory reminder:

eastbound is a primarily plot-geared game, and it's at its most fun when you can jump right in. If you’ve felt a bit shy about getting involved with the plot — and we’ve all been there! — don’t hesitate to reach out, and we’ll figure something out!

■ ACTIVITY: a suggestion was made to consider log top levels with at least one open prompt as an activity proof. This makes sense. Adding that in, you can now meet monthly activity requirements by producing one of:

a network post OR
a log top level with open prompts OR
10 network/inbox-style comments OR
5 log comments

Standard disclaimer: please don’t repeatedly meet your activity requirements by tagging inboxes/just castmates or the same players. This can require more proofs in future months.

■ UPDATED: the September calendar.

■ ...yes, ‘Dragon Bachelor’ will be a monthly fixture during the Serthica arc, purely for everyone’s entertainment and for character incursions into gambling.

■ We'll hold our next test drive meme (and game-wide log) in late September.

■ As we cozily settle into Arc IV, your character might end up called on by NPCs, or dragged into various plot rolls. Please do not hesitate to opt out if you're not feeling that vibe!

■ THE STORY SO FAR: Arc IV summaries have nowkicked off, and you can catch up on anything you missed in September below:

Newcomers arrived ahead of the remaining, seaborne party, securing passport papers into Clockwork Serthica — a citadel divided in two adversarial halves: dragon and magic-loving Eidris and disciplinarian, tech-geared Minaras. Everything in Serthica feels alive, including the recently dead. Serthica was splintered by a now-gone plague, who killed all those whom it infected, the Doctor learned. Currently, Eidris emerges from the underground depths over 6:00-18:00, while Minaras surfaces nocturnally between 18:00-6:00. The two citadel halves meet overground over 6:00-7:00 and 18:00-19:00, with natives occupying spaces in the Neutral Zone bridges and Sanctuary.

The party joined a trade summit at the Sanctuary, where attendants from which side briefly... glitched for a series of moments of jarring, puppet-like behaviour. The terrorist group Remembrance attempted to kidnap Minaras' high councillor Arabella. Escorting her to safety, Wrathion, Licyn and Beitang Moran found a key pointing towards the inherited factories of Eidris dragon warlord Cain d'Ubiq and to Serthica's impoverished underground world, the Mouse House. Wrath and Emilia read out an anonymous note Arabella received, which triggered her into possessed behaviour.

Party members were assigned a stay in one of the two halves of Serthica: in Eidris, a dragon went berserk and the party helped recover her hatching eggs, following injury to her mate — at the presumed hands of a Minaras scout ship, whose reconnaissance work was decommissioned days before the incident. In Minaras, the local indoctrination centre sought to cure the rot of citizens. Meanwhile, Kaneki Ken discovered some Minaras morgue corpses have a strange, unexpected 'rot'-like sickness inside their bodies...

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...

QUESTIONS

groundrules

All hail, spring is over — happy June! A bit of admin with your day:

ACTIVITY CHECK

To pass activity requirements, you need to have produced one of: 1 network post or 5 log comments or 10 network/text-style comments in the month of check. Activity can be carried out in game communities or in character inboxes.

In May, insufficient activity was found for:

Cato |

unpurposed
Delilah |

alterare — RECLAIMED
Slick |

sergeant_slick — swept as a result of two consecutive strikes.

Drop a line by 23:59 on 5 June to reclaim a character, or if they have activity that wasn't appropriately recorded.

ADMIN & ARC IV

■ By a wide vote margin, the people have spoken, and our Arc IV destination is A Tale of Two Cities — expect steampunk, otherness, very strange architecture, a diplomatic school, and two cities intermittently occupying the same structures, their residents accusing each other of being... inhuman.

■ Ahead of that, the group sets out on a roughly six-week ~~pirate~~ journey at sea, ICly announced by our very own Sumeragi Subaru.

■ Sea sickness brews, feeding for Kaneki Ken and balance for Viktor's limp are already accounted for — but please holler if your character also needs accommodations at sea.

■ To celebrate the very first time the party leaves an Arc location in a better state than they found it, please check out individual character gifts. An attempt was made to make these fun, unique and a memento of some plot involvement, but if you're not having fun with your character's gift, give a shout!

■ Our upcoming event, due live on 3 June, doubles as a test drive meme (TDM). It will be open publicly, and anyone who plays on the TDM will not require an invite during the 10-17 June application session. Apps will once again briefly open in late July, but will be invite-only at the time.

■ UPDATED: the June calendar, alongside the Story So far summary of Arc III and the Undead Lieges write-up with the latest reveals.

ARC III BADGES

They're here, have no fear! If you've never played this: you can grab a wallet and cram it with general mood badges or Arc-specific ones. This is purely for fun, and you can pick whatever badges you think describe the ~~trolling~~ adventures your character got up to in Arc III.

( that arc iii goodie bag )

groundrules

Hey guys! Arc III is set to wrap up with the finale log of 18 May (no time like the present to get your last-minute plotting in), after which the party will scuttle away on a four-six week journey arc themed around... pirates and the haunted seas.

Some accommodations are already in mind (Viktor's balance, Kaneki's... dietary habits), but drop a line if your character also needs special arrangements while at sea.

After that, the group moves into Arc IV, come early/mid-July — choose their destination between the two options below.

This is an out-of-character poll, with one vote per player — be sure to cast yours by 23:59 GMT on 29 May.

( choices, choices )