September CR/Plotting/Handwaving Meme

[rubycitymods]

Time for another of these! You all know what to do by now, and we all love some good CR, don't we? You can either ask for/offer CR you'd like to play out... Or you can discuss what may or may not already have happened!

INSTRUCTIONS

♥ Post with your characters, one per comment or a catch-all. If you have any CR in particular you'd like to rally, mention it here!

♣ Go around to other characters and discuss ways your characters may have interacted in handwaved settings. This could be casual meetings at the pub, patrols they may have gone on together, hikes and explorations, or just whatever strikes your fancy!

♦ Come up with some backstory for friendships that might not have gotten played out as fully as you'd have liked. These guys are trapped on a floating island together, 24/7... You know they bump into each other! New CR is highly encouraged - you never know what might happen.

♠ Have fun!

<b>PLAYER:</b> <b>CHARACTER(S):</b> <b>WHO ARE THEY?:</b> (Tell us a little about them! This, like all sections, is completely optional.) <b>CURRENTLY:</b> (What are they up to? It may help others to know where your character usually hangs out or what they're spending their time doing.) <b>CR YOU'D LIKE:</b> <b>CR YOU WOULD <u>NOT</u> LIKE:</b> <b>ANYTHING ELSE?</b>

[September] State of the City

[rubycitymods]

STATE OF THE CITY
September 2016

GENERAL OOC INFO:

Wow, September already! Kind of hard to believe, isn’t it? August’s event saw a lot of change and progress in our dear citizens, but the retreat of the Strangers is hardly the end of the city’s strife: in fact, if anything, things are picking up pace, even if it may not seem that way! We’re always looking for ways to improve and streamline the game and its processes, and we’re hoping that you, the players, see the fruits of that! We’ve gotten a few fantastic event suggestions from some of you that we hope to use soon--see below for details on how to submit a plot, and the current amount of plots in our queue!

Like always, we are open to suggestions on how we can make this game better for you. Comments here are screened, so there need not be any concerns about raising something that another player may not agree with and we will address anything that you feel needs to be brought up. There is also a plot submissions page with a new addition to make it easier for everyone to submit the kinds of events that they would like to see! More on this page below.

Our general CR meme is up again this month. If you didn’t get any responses last time, don’t be disheartened! And if you didn’t post, please do. You never know what great new CR might come out it. Tag around and let people know that you would like to play with them!

Finally, the test drive is up, and is already seeing a fair amount of use! Don’t be shy: check it out, and help this fantastic variety of characters find their sea legs!

GAME INFO:

NPC Profiles

WHAT'S HAPPENING
☆ The game history page is still in progress. We hope to have it fully up to speed by the end of this month.
☆ The metaplot is being streamlined, so hopefully, in the coming months, the events will have a sense of cohesion with each other!
☆ The events page has a counter added so that you will always know how many player events are in our queue.

---

In August’s Activity Check, Kindness won out by a small margin, further securing its place as leading virtue overall with a whopping 17 points! Now running a two-month streak, citizens will notice a wider variety of foodstuffs available in the markets, along with a marked decrease in wildlife aggression...yes, including those pesky water spirits! You can now traverse the bridges of Ruby City without needing a rain poncho! In addition to this, Gene, the NPC representing Kindness, has organized a little...well, let’s call it a thank-you party…? See the second event below for more details!

The youngest overseer, Chassie Barrows, remains missing. Though there has been much speculation as to her whereabouts, she’s made very little contact with the citizens, suggesting she does not want to be found. Whether it’s guilt over her role in May’s event, or something else entirely...she’s using all of her will to stay hidden.

EVENT LIST FOR THE MONTH:
September 05 - September 13 Do You Remember Me?

The noise of a music box playing an unfamiliar tune grows to be omnipresent--those who heard it in late August may recognize it again, but this time it’s impossible to escape, growing to almost deafening volume. In fact, it doesn’t even seem to be connected to the music box anymore: it’s everywhere, heard by everyone, and it doesn’t stop.

Until it does.

After the first day of the returned music, it suddenly halts, unable to be heard again. A blessed release, to be sure, but everything else in the city starts to release, too. Citizens will find that everything seems just a little bit more distant with each passing hour of the day, like they’re walking in a dream, even though nothing is less real than it was before the music. This effect isn’t enough to severely impede anyone’s daily actions, it simply exists like a thin veil of haziness over everything in the city. This is the first and only indication that something is going wrong in the waking hours.

When asleep, citizens will find that their dreams take the form of memories: events that they once witnessed or even took active part in, rendered perfectly as they remember the situation...however, that may not be perfectly true to the events that happened. The situation they dream of will be colored by their own thoughts and opinions, and even if they attempt to change something in their dream, the outcome will always be the same as however it ended up in reality. This would not be entirely strange on its own, but, as most occurrences in the city show, nothing is ever quite as shallow as it seems.

Some nights, people may find that their strangely lucid dreams aren’t familiar to them: while the level of clarity remains the same, it may be an event they simply never experienced. While it may be easy to write these dreams off as simply being that--dreams--they may notice that these scenarios always involve their fellow citizens, as if they were looking on into someone else’s memory. These memories are, again, colored by whoever’s they are: for example, if someone dreamed of their own wedding, they might be inclined to gloss over the less-than-perfect parts of the day, though, ultimately, the outcome is the same.

When experiencing someone else’s memory, the second party may take on the role of someone else in the situation, or even themselves if they were initially present. They will start off as inherently passive, unable to change the situation themselves, but if they perform an action so out of place and untrue to the original memory, the person experiencing the dream may recognize it for what it is: a dream. Upon waking up, both parties will remember it, though it’s possible they may discount it as being a mere figment of their imagination. Dreams can’t be shared with other people...right?

As the week wears on, people may find it harder and harder to wake up, as if their memories are becoming ever the more real. In addition to this, while they may have started off as pleasant or even fantastically happy, the memories might take a darker turn: perhaps they experienced a betrayal in the past, or maybe even an instance of a sin committed against another person. If they died prior to coming to the city, they may find themselves reliving the experience. And all of this with someone else watching: it’s nightmarish in every sense of the word.

Even worse, perhaps, is the fact that nothing can change about the outcome: no matter the lengths taken to do so, the dream will always return to the memory’s real ending, even if it has to do so by different means. As a single dream wears on, it may even begin to draw memories from the observing party’s psyche, creating a dangerous mixture of thoughts not unlike the mixing of toxic chemicals.

At the event’s close, citizens will discover that they feel exceptionally tired, as if they had the worst night of sleep of their lives. The dreams will remain fresh in their minds, however, perhaps even providing uncomfortable insight into their friends’ lives.

September 20 - September 22 Gene’s Big Autumnal Equinox Harvest Festival Party Bonanza

Guess who’s feeling exceptionally nice? If you guessed Gene, you guessed right!

After all that unpleasantness earlier in the month, coupled with the abundance of kind thoughts taking over the city, Gene has decided to throw a...party? It’s unclear as to exactly what his intentions are, but he’s invited the entire city to partake in the bountiful harvest of obscure canned goods and misshapen fruit. While the party is intended to be on the Fall Equinox, the festivities start the day before and continue well into the day after. Who’s counting, anyways? Day and night may take up the same amount of time, but there’s no limit to the partying, or...something. Does Gene even know what a party is?

Regardless, on September 20th, the area surrounding the obelisk will suddenly appear to be fully decorated with cheerful autumn colors and tables full of fresh vegetables, though there’s nothing stopping anyone from bringing their own food. There’s an especially pleasant mood in the air that almost beckons every resident to attend, regardless of their typical inclinations. This party is for you, Ruby City! Let your hair down and enjoy it!

STATE OF THE CITY:

Weather Report

WEATHER:

The heat of the summer is cooling off fast, bringing in occasional rainstorms, though nothing as violent as August’s affair. There’s a hint of that special Autumn crispness starting to seep in, making the days more pleasant and the nights a bit nippy. In fact, strong winds are steadily picking up, blowing the city clear of the summer humidity and straight into fall.

The mentioned winds seem to follow no pattern, and often have no buildup--perfectly still one moment, and blowing strong enough to knock you down the next. As with most things in the city, there’s always the possibility of supernatural influence, but one can never be sure.

FLORA AND FAUNA:

Thanks to the actions of one particular elf, the warg population has dwindled considerably. Whether it is through their mortality being proven by fire, or simply being driven away, only time will tell. They are certainly not intelligent enough to consider revenge, or to remember just who set the fires and why. The corpses that once littered the fields are now mere skeletons, picked-over by who-knows-what and stripped of any edible meat they might have once had.

Near the edges of the forest, though, people may start to observe some spider activity--not limited to seeing the spiders themselves, but perhaps traces of the victims they leave behind: in fact, a lot of these animal carcasses look awfully similar to what's left of the warg casualties...

The fire lizards have mostly ceased hatching, though there may be a few stragglers left after the major rush of the summer months. If one feels compelled, they might be able to find a few that have been left behind, though there won’t be any more hatching for the remainder of the year.

Those playful water spirits have appeared to have cooled their jets, so to speak, with the influx of kindness washing over the city. As such, they have ceased throwing water at innocent passers-by, but that’s no guarantee that they won’t lash back if provoked. If one makes one of them upset...well. They’re never truly opposed to a good soaking.

STORES AND SUPPLIES:

The quality of the goods available is still steadily increasing, with a wider variety of foods being offered. The strangely-shaped watermelons have mostly been replaced by the regular variety, but if one searches hard enough, they may find some remaining, half-rotten melons in unusual forms. In addition to this, the quantity of spices and herbs available has increased.

Occasionally, a jar or tin might be prised open to find that what is inside is not what was expected. These ‘surprises’ range from the potentially delightful, right down to whatever your terrible dreams desire.

MOD CONTACT:

Fiona hardtostarboard || AIM@LittleBritTeacup
Kitten GrimmKitty || AIM@SilverCrusnik
Ingrid togamint || SKYPE@Taekotogami
Duck rowaduck || AIM@rowaduck

Moderator Plurk: rubycitymods

PLAYER ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Suggestions Post

Permanent Links
Phoenix Wright’s Records
Spiral Training School Information

Anything you want to let everyone know about? Let us know!

CLOSING STATEMENT:

A final note: Mod Fi’s internet has been...well, nonexistent for the past couple of weeks, leaving us a little behind in some aspects of the game. While she should be fully back and running September 6th, we would like to give special thanks to Anne for helping us out with some tasks regarding August’s event. She was a huge help in keeping things running smoothly, and a part of why our main event last month was so fantastic! This month should hopefully not have as many snags, and we over at the mod team hope that y’all will like where our plot is going!

The activity check will go up as usual on the 5th of the month, but do remember that as long as your post or thread was started before the 5th, you can use the activity period to get it up to the length that you need it to be. Please also note that if you are on hiatus, your hiatus period must cover two weeks within the check period (6th - 5th) for you to be considered exempt from the activity check.

Additionally, please bear in mind that you must use only the virtues and vices listed on our NPC page to be counted in our monthly points roundup. While we understand that there are many different accounts of what the vices and virtues are, please note that we only count the ones listed with our NPCs. Thank you!

Thank you for sticking with us, we appreciate each and every one of you. Stay fresh, Ruby City!