synodiporia_ooc | OUROBOROS RETROGRADE

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OUROBOROS RETROGRADE - Jaunt info

Ouroboros Retrograde
A timey-wimey return to Questing Country
January 15-February 24

Questing Country is a dreamspace shared by the young people of many species. In Questing Country, lucid dreamers are empowered by magic and guided by spirit companions to fight their own nightmares, slay the collective nightmares of their people, change the world by learning how to be heroes in waking and dreaming worlds, and literally change the dreams of all people for the better. The landscape of Questing Country changes, but the place is real - anyone who dreams of Questing Country vanishes from their bed, and wakes up with the wounds, marks, or treasures they earned there. Only young and innocent people are hopeful and naive enough to believe one person really can change the world - and so, they’re the only people who ever have the chance to change it.

But there’s more to Questing Country than the Champions it anoints and their dangerous lives and uncertain fates. The nightmares have their own magic. The Fire Mushrooms range out from the place called Nuclear Winter. Hordes of Men in Black come from Conspiracy Country. If they’re not stopped here, they gain power in the dreams of the Known Worlds… and those are only a few of the more obvious ones.

Sometimes, though, the untapped powers of Questing Country find other shapes, as well. The most famous are Valences - collective wishes that can be sought and achieved so that one young dreamer can make their hope into reality - but there are others. A year after the last Valence was achieved, the constant Aspect of Questing Country that allows clear communication between Spirit Companions and Dreamers has passed into retrograde, which happens every so often, rendering messages unclear. More unusually, the constant Aspect of Questing Country that accounts for linear time is also in retrograde, causing those boundaries we take for granted between past and future to grow hazy, bridging times of crisis, and allowing the Powers of the past and the Wisdom of the future to collaborate on their dreams.

-Several centuries in the past, the Champions that fight the nightmares caused by the Diabolin Empire, who are themselves seen as Waking Nightmares more monster than being - these brave, outmatched Champions seeking to free the elves and the Hecatites from slavery - are dealing with something terrifying to them beyond even the Diabolin or the mystery of an Ouroboros Retrograde: the Rise of the Adversaries. These Champions and Oracles know that a Champion who gives in to despair becomes a Pillar, but they have never heard of a Dreamer who fights on their own behalf and defies the wisdom of Spirit Companions, and they may not trust corrupt futures in which these threatening new Adversaries are common. Surely, this is a future to be averted.

-In the first year after an unexpected Double Valence, in addition to both Communication and Time being out of their usual alignments, the Dreamers know to expect the return of the Travelers - a people pulled from their worlds by mysterious dream-beings like and unlike their companions, but infinitely more powerful. The Oracles noticed when so many Champions vanished after the Valence was achieved, discovered why, and predicted the Travelers’ return.

-And a generation later, in the first year of the Starquakes, the Dreaming people have been troubled by the vast and powerful dreams of alien minds. Portions of Questing Country have vanished in dreams of light and fire, or of cold and aurora and static, the march of mountains, storms of dust, seas of lava - and yet none of them harmful, simply overwhelming. But harmful or not, the Quests of Champions are interrupted when whole dream-continents vanish, and their ability to shape the Known Worlds is disrupted. Worse, their faith in that ability may be shaken; if a generation of Champions learns and believes that they are helpless to defy larger forces, it may become the truth - permanently...

As the three timelines temporarily converge, can the generations of the past and future make sense of each other’s dreams, worldviews, and agendas, and rediscover the power, wisdom, agency, and resistance to change the Known Worlds?

We can only hope.

The Known Worlds | Species | Dream Forms | Roles | Changing Roles | Timelines & Summaries | Bonds & Bonded Groups | Casting Call/Plot Role Announcements | Glossary | Skills | Calendar | Who’s the What of Which | Player Resources | Questions/FAQ | Plotting

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Earth - the human homeworld, and the only one they’ve known in the Adversary and Double Valence generations. By the Starquake generation, humans have set up colonies on Mars and a handful of Jupiter’s moons, and occasionally make other forays out into interstellar space.

Faerie - the elves’ homeworld, only ever visited by the Diabolin (the elves rather wish they wouldn’t). In the Adversary generation, abduction and enslavement by the Diabolin is a major threat. Faerie is a wild & beautiful world with abundant multi-hued flora, graceful & bright-colored fauna, and lush temperate & tropical biomes even at the polar regions, with almost no axial tilt to create seasons. The inhabitants are mostly semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers: they have little metalworking, no cities save Diabolin ruins, no agriculture, no writing. What scavenged stellar technology remains is viewed as evil magic.

Khthon - the Gorgon homeworld, on the cold end of what humans would call that solar system’s ‘Goldilocks zone.’ It doesn’t look like much from space, as the surface temperatures combined with Gorgons’ reptilian nature mean their civilization is almost entirely in extensive cave networks below ground, with the exception of spaceports and burial plots. By the Double Valence generation, Gorgons have begun setting up subterranean colonies off-planet, although each world tends to be home to its own religious, cultural, and political movements, completely independent of (and often hostile to) their homeworld. Colonies include Sublune & Hypocaia.

Hecate - the Hecatite homeworld, a peaceful but extremely regimented place. All life on Hecate is silicon-based and crystalline, not carbon-based, and the line between being, creature, plant, and object is fuzzy at best. Highly organized with a central government of their most educated and accomplished elder scientists, Hecatites place great value on intellectual achievement and consider academic prowess a greater indicator of maturity than mere age. The Adversary generation is struggling with Diabolin incursions; the Double Valence and Starquake generations are practiced spacefarers in their own right.

Cadmus - homeworld of the Spartoi, a rocky world with brown, rust-infused oceans, inhospitable badlands full of harsh weather, an unstable magnetic field, and very little ozone, creating a volatile climate and high mutation rates in all its hardy, volatile species. The Spartoi organize themselves in clans, based on either bloodlines or chosen family. Clans, especially those formed by choice, often use similar names (starting with the same letter, for instance, or ending with similar sounds). Family clans are more likely to be stationary, living on hereditary grounds, while chosen clans are more nomadic - unless, of course, they defeat or absorb a family clan and settle on that clan’s hereditary grounds. This is not a fun place to be a pacifist, as most clans can’t fathom why you’d want to, and those that can are isolated and well-hidden for their own safety.

Povodni - a wet world of low, marshy continents with many active springs and wells, and shallow seas full of migratory flora and fauna. The Vodyanoi live in coastal cave systems, using the air-filled sections of their caverns for the kinds of chemical and technical work that are impossible underwater. Most Vodyanoi technology, however, is the result of breeding plants to serve specific purposes, and their air-cavern handicrafts are pre-Industrial. Most Vodyanoi culture is flexible and adaptable; they are natural mimics, inventive, and do not prize continuity or tradition, so their ‘nations’ are all seen as temporary associations, not permanent or rigid institutions. Vodyanoi are not the top of the local food chain - while they are omnivores, they have the reflexes and instincts of prey, not predators, despite hunting small fish.

Throne Of The Overlords - the massive, dark, volcanic Diabolin homeworld was lost almost two centuries before the Double Valence generation, polluted in some way by Diabolin internecine warfare - the Diabolin have a dozen mutually exclusive stories about what happened and how, and believe all of them. In the Adversary generation, the Throne is home to a terrifying interstellar empire, totalitarian, egomaniacal, & brutally militaristic; heat and pressure and darkness mean a slave’s lifetime is measured in single-digit years even if the mad Diabolin do not kill them. Diabolin names for places tend to be titles, not names, like the English might name a house "the Hollyhocks." The Diabolin white dwarf diamond mine is "The Dead Reach."

Junkworlds - radioactive trash heaps used as prison planets by some spacefaring species, and occasionally picked over for scraps by scavengers and less scrupulous sorts of other spacefarers. Gehenna was evacuated and is presumed wiped out by the tachyon storm in the Starquake generation; other junkworlds include Megiddo and Potmos. The offenses that can see one exiled to a junkworld vary depending on species, ranging from political dissidence or scientific malfeasance for the Hecatites to prisoners of war for the Gorgons. Diabolin tend to put their criminals into cryofreeze and retrieve them later; enslaved members of other species can be subjected to this treatment if their owner was as well. Dreamers can access Questing Country from a junkworld, but may occasionally find themselves up against some real doozies of nightmares.

Humans - What it says on the tin. By the Starquake generation, humans are looked at as overly enthusiastic, reckless, fast-paced bruisers. Some see them as a second coming of the Diabolin, self-centered and expansionist, with their nuclear-powered rockets and unstable warp drives. Still, their ingenuity and quick reaction time make them valued as the new kid in class, the willing lab rat testing the frontier.

Elves - Elves come from a low-tech world of vast, sweeping forests and intense natural beauty and wildness. Given to music, woodcraft, art, & philosophy, elves are nimble and keen-eyed, but fragile & weak-willed, and have none of the benefits of technology, living rustic, simple lives. These are NOT the same elves as those from January/the Federation of Hel.

Gorgons - Gorgons have brightly tinted skin; prehensile tentacles for hair with sensitive eyespots (average 3 cm, anything from 5 mm to 5 cm is possible) that pick up on electromagnetic pulses, fine tactile sensations and air pressure changes; the ability to slowly calcify what they touch or breathe on, based on mineral emissions from glands (females have more of these glands than males, and all Gorgons can take a suppressant to stop the calcification effect). They have chromatophores and structural iridescence in their skin, but only enough to lighten, darken, or shimmer, not enough to entirely change color. An individualistic people who prefer to dwell underground, Gorgons are very practical, often cranky and withdrawn, with poor long-range vision & light sensitivity. Gorgons are accomplished biochemists, architects, and engineers, making organic ceramics and mineral compounds. Gorgons tend to live to about 200 years old.

Hecatites - Humanoids who can grow crystalline structures from within their bodies. Hectatites have a great deal of scientific advancement, but they tend not to use tools except what they grow, instead focusing on the disciplined acquisition of knowledge & yogi-like control of themselves . Hecatites tire easily and are vulnerable to loud noises and bludgeoning, but have much keener intellects than other species. Hecatites typically live two to three centuries, and determine adulthood not by age but by exam results, with most ‘teens’ passing these critical tests somewhere between 20 and 50 years old.

Spartoi - Warlike, with bone spurs, a scattering of scales, and a wide range of mutations (they do not fly or glide, but can be amphibious or arboreal: think half-dragons or new-Trek Klingons more than orcs), Spartoi are an authoritarian, impatient, and militaristic people. Passionate and loyal, they are not intellectual by nature and scavenge most of their tools and technology. Spartoi Champions have a shorter life expectancy and a greater chance of going Adversary or Pillar than they do Oracle, but Spartoi Oracles are remarkable for their psychological knowledge of how to bring peace and calm to any situation.

Vodyanoi - Aquatic, with finned ears, shining, smooth scales, & mild hydrokinetic abilities, the Vodyanoi are a naturally timid race of observers, slight in stature, with quick maturation and shorter lifespans. As such, Vodyanoi advance from Champion to Oracle very quickly, so Vodyanoi Champions tend to be overworked, yet inexperienced, burdened with far too much advice and inclined to indecision & paralysis.

Diabolin - A horned, grey and black-skinned psionic species who do not sleep or dream, but process their mental energies in an unstable mood and perception cycle while awake. Considered volatile, untrustworthy, and dangerous. The oldest and most scattered civilization, the Diabolin ruled an interstellar empire with many colonies during the Adversary generation, and were the first species to visit Earth, Faerie, & Hecate in their respective dark ages, starting legends of demons and goblins. By the Starquake generation, a few Diabolin still keep genetically altered Elven slaves - but their golden age is passed, and they now suffer from many congenital psychic diseases and instabilities. With their homeworld lost and forgotten between the Adversary and Double Valence generations, Diabolin live on many colony worlds or on massive ships, and have little organized central authority. Much of their ancient technology is now beyond their power to use. Since they do not sleep, Diabolin are not directly present in Questing Country the same way members of other species are, but their imperialistic, volatile nature can make them a common feature in many species’ nightmares.

Synthetics - Artificial intelligences taking on humanoid form to experience the world, most synthetics achieve consciousness by the melding of two or more intelligent programs uploaded onto a utilitarian platform that bears at least a passing resemblance to a sentient species. Common among humans (Starquake generation only) and Hecatites, less respected and with shorter lifespans among the latter-day Diabolin, and entirely illegal (but not unheard of) among the Gorgons, synthetics are universally second-class citizens, as they can download their consciousness into other bodies and are often considered a disposable labor caste. Only among humans is there a recognized, organized robotic rights movement. Some synthetics have platforms which are indistinguishable on initial examination from their species of choice, except by the psionic senses of the Diabolin. In the Adversary generation, Synthetics had yet to be invented. They are very new to Questing Country as of the Starquake generation, and still extremely rare - generally, it takes the power of a Valence to open the pathway into Questing Country for one.

Other - Players may feel free to devise other species that play with fantasy and magical tropes and have about this mixture of strengths and weaknesses. Non-human Investigators are welcome to use their base form, so long as that form is capable of dreaming.

Cyborgs - Many people who interface with high technology have cybernetic implants in their bodies or brains, giving them additional knowledge or abilities. Cybernetics are not merely prosthetics, but built-in tools adding new hardware to the human condition. Cybernetics are common in all spacefaring species, but there is still some stigma to becoming implanted with machines that change what you're capable of or how you think. In Questing Country, your body is dependent solely upon your self-image, so some people with cybernetics will see themselves with functional cybernetics, and some people will see themselves with only their original body parts; that’s entirely a player decision.

The Conditioned - The Conditioned are people who have embraced a discipline of hypnosis, meditation, and heightened physical sensitivity to unlock the true potential of their bodies and minds. While some Conditioned are Dreamers, the ‘physics’ of Questing Country are too subjective to group consensus to allow their Conditioning to function, with one exception: Oracles and Adversaries who know how to use Conditioned Hypnosis may still do so. Oracles should be cautious about this; it is not their role to exert coercive power over others, and they risk a Fall.

Edited 2018-01-07 22:37 (UTC)

In Questing Country, hope and perception are powerful tools. If you, or people where you’re from, believe that only the young have this kind of hope and power, or only girls do… well, you might end up a thirteen-year-old girl if you’re hopeful enough to be a Champion. If you only ever read adventure stories about boys in fantasy kingdoms, you might become a boy. If you don’t see how gender should matter at all, you might have a genderless Dream Body. If you think the ideal form for this kind of adventure is short and round, tall and skinny, or anything in between, your Dream Body will adapt to suit. If you have the potential for one of these roles, but for any reason your body doesn’t suit the kind of person you think plays that role… then as long as you’re in Questing Country, you’ll have the body you need to be what you need to be. Investigators in Questing Country may find their form naturally taking on another species’ shape, at player option.

All types of Questing Country magic are open to Investigators and Infiltrators alike. QC magic functions based on an Archetype, the grand symbolic idea which lends its power to a Dreamer. Roses, Romance, Lions, Apples, Swords, Fire, Ice, Darkness, Light, Lightning - a theme or leitmotif to their magical powers (creativity is both welcome and encouraged in choosing Archetypes). Not ALL of a Dreamer’s powers will rely directly on their Archetype, but it forms the core of their identity & speciality, & probably has something to do with the cause they serve.

It is noteworthy for this jaunt that Investigators will not be able to go stealth, but that’s a feature this time, not a bug - the locals knew the Travelers would be back, and want to help! Since the Travelers are arriving to Questing Country after Ouroboros retrograde begins, they are not considered to be ‘native’ to any one generation.

Champion - “Magical girls,” anointed by Spirit Animals, come from any world on which sentient beings dream. Because they have great hope and great selflessness, they are empowered to defend their worlds from the powers of negative thought and nightmare, healing the psyches of their species by literally combating metaphorical threats. Young enough to not know what is impossible, Champions’ fearlessness and innocence is the root of their power. Champion Magic tends to be showy, grandiose, and direct, unless their Archetype is not. Their keyword is HOPE.

Adversary - Some Champions lose their selfless heroism before they lose their naivete. They become Adversaries - free agents, independent powers seeking their own good. Adversary may only be a phase a Champion goes through on their way to being an Oracle, a Pillar, or even a Champion again. As such, while an Adversary may be hostile to Champions, Champions are rarely hostile towards them. Adversaries are not evil, or even misguided exactly - they simply prioritize their own freedom and survival above greater causes, and walk their own paths. An Adversary’s Spirit Animal sometimes temporarily becomes a Doppelganger, an insubstantial image of the Adversary that tries to make trouble for them, as they reject its guidance. An Adversary’s magic is usually more subtle, indirect and manipulative than a Champion’s, sacrificing a little punch for more deliberate effect. An Adversary’s keyword is AGENCY.

NOTE: In the Rise of the Adversaries generation, the role and purpose of Adversaries is not yet understood, and while some dreamers of any generation may be suspicious and mistrustful of Adversaries, Champions & Oracles of the Rise generation are downright hostile, considering them “Fallen Champions.”

Oracle - As Champions age, they learn what is possible and what is not, gain experience, and lose some degree of hope, and so their power fades. As it fades, however, it transmutes into wisdom, vision, and knowledge in their chosen Archetype. Oracles’ Spirit Animals become Familiars, perfectly comprehensible to them at last, but unable to communicate with anyone else. Adversaries who become Dark Oracles devoted to themselves lose their Spirit Animals entirely; they become full-time Doppelgangers. Most Oracles are mentors and resources for Champions, still devoted to their cause but less able to take action on their own. Their keyword is KNOWLEDGE.

Pillar - A Pillar is a very different way a Champion can change. A Pillar has Power, Knowledge, and Agency - but a Pillar has lost Hope. Pillars are burned out, jaded by their experiences, and while they still find themselves drawn into supernatural crises and situations, they wish merely to be left alone and rest, not to fight. A Pillar cannot use their magic, doesn’t care about their knowledge, has no use for their agency. But all these qualities symbolically and supernaturally give them a great reservoir that they can, on the rare occasion they begin to care, lend to others, or which they can use to endure or avoid the supernatural. Nonsentient monsters do not attack Pillars. Spells wash off them without effect. Strange phenomena are repelled by them, if only for a few feet. A pillar no longer has a Spirit Animal of any kind. A Pillar’s keyword is RESISTANCE.

Harbinger (NEW) - A Harbinger is a Champion, Oracle, or Adversary (never a Pillar) of the Starquake generation, or moving through Starquake-era Questing Country, who used a Dreamcatcher on Transformed Lands for too long and became changed themselves. Most of the time, a Harbinger remains a Champion, Oracle, or Adversary. Periodically, especially when surprised or disoriented, the dreamer will transform into a glowing winged figure and be able to work vast changes on the landscape, but will possess an alien outlook and priorities and be unable to distinguish friend from foe. Harbingers think in such big-picture, long-term ways that individual people and their needs, desires, or agendas become almost literally invisible. Harbinger transformations last for irregular periods of time - sometimes seconds, and sometimes days. A Harbinger’s Spirit Companion fuses with a dreamcatcher and becomes a small, speechless star that illuminates patterns. A Harbinger’s keyword is SCOPE.

Characters who took one form of Questing Country magic, in the previous jaunt or the time since, may now be finding their original magic doesn’t fit quite the same as it used to. There are two ways this can be handled, skill-wise: Either you may take the new magic as an additional skill, or you may report your character’s shift in status here, and lose the old QC magic in place of the new one. The latter option does not take up a skill AC slot.

Characters shifting to or from Pillar status may only use the second option, as Pillar Resistance is fundamentally incompatible with the other types, and not drawing magical attention while also wielding QC-grade magic is ridiculously overpowered.

For folks who have a Spirit Companion and two types of QC magic: A companion who is part familiar and part animal can speak clearly to its owner, and cryptically to others. A companion whose owner has Adversary magic is occasionally oppositional. Basically: whatever limitations exist for any component of the companion still apply, but so do any new abilities they’re granted.

Rise of the Adversaries generation - Five hundred years before the Double Valence generation, the Diabolin Empire is at its height and busily oppressing elves and Hecatites, who are taking advantage of Questing Country to look for ways to fight back against their sleepless nemesis. There are no Synthetics or Conditioned in Questing Country during this time (in fact, there are no Synthetics, full stop). While Diabolin do not sleep, they do feature prominently in the nightmares Dreamers fight at this time. In addition, the first Adversaries are appearing among Dreamers, who do not yet understand that wanting to use your power to fight for yourself does not make you a force for evil. While some dreamers of any generation may be suspicious and mistrustful of Adversaries, Champions & Oracles of this generation are downright hostile, considering them “Fallen Champions.”

Double Valence generation - It has been one year since the Double Valence, when an Adversary succeeded in creating a Valence of her own alongside the naturally occurring one, and the Travelers were first dumped into Questing Country. After the Travelers vanished en masse, the Oracles determined where they had come from and anticipated their eventual return. There are no Synthetics in Questing Country at this time, and Conditioning is limited to the currently spacefaring races of Gorgons and Hecatites. With the Fintan aspect of Questing Country in retrograde, communication between Dreamers and their spirit companions is more difficult than usual.

Starquake generation - It has been a century since the Double Valence generation and 18 months since the tachyon storm that is presumed to have wiped out sentient life on the junkworld Gehenna. Conditioned humans, Gorgons and Hecatites sometimes make their way into Questing Country; dreaming Synthetics are very new and extremely rare. As humans push further into interstellar space, sending generation ships packed with people in cryosleep, Questing Country has achieved a small stable population of Dreamers for the first time - never before have so many Dreamers been constantly asleep at once. Meanwhile, sweeping, landscape-altering dreams are shaping Questing Country in ways that no Dreamer can recall seeing before.

Bonded are a supernaturally connected group of Champions & Oracles, which may rarely include an Adversary or a Pillar. Bonded fight and work together and are stronger for it, but any gain they make is also divided between them, and a Bond that is large or unwieldy is unlikely to get much of anywhere in Questing Country. A small Bond can face down bigger challenges, but the power of a Valence can only go to ONE of them, possibly at random, so a Bond is commonly only made of people who love and trust one another with near-absolute devotion. Bonded can share physical health, mental resilience, magical power, & supernatural insight. Their familiars & spirit animals may combine into a larger creature called a volksgeist, often used as a mount or battle companion. (After the jaunt, players who kept both their spirit companions and True Bond with each other can still have their companions form volksgeists.)

For purposes of game balance and CR generation, Bonds will usually be from 4 to 6 people in size, although you may ask to form a larger or smaller Bond. Single-canon Bonds are permissible but discouraged. A Bond may be a long-standing team, or it may be a group of people who are thrown together during the events of the plot forming new connections.

If you want to be a part of a Bond, but do not have a group in mind, comment here and we will randomize Bonded companions for you. If you have a small Bond and would be open to random individuals joining it, let us know, and we’ll set that up for you as well.

Dreamers of the Adversary generation sometimes use Sanctions, magically binding oaths whose consequences are enforced automatically. A Sanction must be either entered into voluntarily by any two or more individuals, who afterwards share a weaker version of a True Bond; be unanimously agreed to by all but one member of a bond group; or be ritually imposed upon an Adversary without a bond group by a bond group of four or more individuals. An individual with a True Bond cannot have a Sanction forced on them from outside their bond group.

If you’re interested in one of these plot roles, pop over here to let us know which one. Casting will be done during the day on the 10th.

The Adversary/Oracle of Resonance - an Adversary in the Double Valence generation, but an Oracle in the Starquake generation, this Gorgon or Hecatite feels betrayed by their past & future self’s different priorities. This role may be played by one or two Travelers - if one, they’ll have to thread actively as both ‘selves’; if two, they’ll have to coordinate closely with their opposite number.

The Misplaced Champion - this Champion of the Double Valence generation either feels that, in Questing Country and their Waking World alike, the values of the ‘good old days’ were superior, OR that their current generation is too slow to embrace change (player’s option); either way, they desperately want to belong in another timeline than the one they were born to.

The Freedom Fighter - this elf from the Adversary generation is desperate to save their people from the Diabolin, and will make any deal, take any chance for an advantage that might help the elves.

The Eidolon of Shadows - this amnesiac, mysterious being from the Adversary generation does not understand Questing Country or their role, and has powers of illusion alone that do not seem to match any known archetype.

The Council of Senpai - these three Oracles, one from each generation, are considered the most knowledgeable and informed about their own times, and have been selected as guides & dispensers of exposition to help keep everyone oriented. If you apply for this role, please be ready to talk to many confused folks & explain large blocks of infodump the mods give you. The burden of the Senpai is not to be taken up lightly.
One veteran Traveler may be invited to join the Council & explain what they can about the Traveler ‘generation’, but this fourth Senpai will be democratically appointed during the Jaunt, not in advance of it.

The Arch-Adversary - this Adversary, among the first to ‘Fall’ in the Adversary generation, is an outspoken rebel against the agendas and rules imposed by Spirit Companions. While Adversaries are not Evil, this one embraces their dark and uncertain reputation and pushes it as far as they can. The edgiest of teenagers.

The Harbinger of Storms - this Champion was the first of the Starquake generation to Merge too long with the Transformed Land, and as they spend more and more time looking at the world from an alien perspective, they’re beginning to lose hope in their ability to control themselves and change the world.

Once casting is complete, we'll ask plot role players to come over here and announce their roles!

Archetype - The grand symbolic idea which lends its power to a Dreamer. Roses, Romance, Lions, Apples, Swords, Fire, Ice, Darkness, Light, Lightning - a theme or leitmotif to their magical powers. Not ALL of a Dreamer’s powers will rely directly on their Archetype, but it forms the core of their identity & speciality, & probably has something to do with the cause they serve.

Aspect - Any constant trait of Questing Country. The Aspect of Communication between species is called Fintan, and the Aspect of Time is called Ouroboros, due to its infinite and recursive nature.

Backstage - a slang term used by Spirit Companions to refer to the interior workings of Questing Country itself - the cavern beneath the Dream.

Cabochon - the hemispherical gem island beneath the Dream which contains 14 different perspectives, likely placed there by the Arcana of the Travelers.

Collective Unconscious - Not of one species, but of at least six. Most Champions & Oracles come from the listed species, but other thinking races do exist, and can be devised by players. The Collective Unconscious is at the root of Questing Country, and of the power & knowledge of Champions and their ilk.

Dreamcatchers - Devices made to siphon energy from Questing Country. Champions & Adversaries use them to replenish spent power, Oracles for knowledge. Pillars neither have nor need them, as their own abilities are built up but inaccessible. Note: Dreamcatchers can be used by Travelers outside of Questing Country to remove bad dreams from one individual and to siphon the material of liminal space itself.

Exoliminality - All of Questing Country is a Liminal Space, and so most Liminal powers work in Questing Country, but with reduced effect. The amount of space or material that can be manipulated is reduced by roughly half, the time it takes to do so multiplied (but not by one specific number), and it takes much more tangible effort. Likewise, because Travelers are attuned to something very like Questing Country, an Investigator can still become a Champion, Oracle, Adversary, or Pillar with the appropriate abilities and Archetypes if it suits their essential character.

Fintan - see Aspects.

Genius Loci - the protective spirit of a place.

Harbinger - A Harbinger is a Champion, Oracle, or Adversary (never a Pillar) who used a Dreamcatcher on Transformed Lands for too long and became changed themselves. Periodically, especially when surprised or disoriented, the dreamer will transform into a glowing winged figure and be able to work vast changes on the landscape, but will possess an alien outlook and priorities and be unable to distinguish friend from foe. Harbingers think in such big-picture, long-term ways that individual people and their needs, desires, or agendas become almost literally invisible.

Ouroboros - see Aspects.

Peacebonds - malleable but unbreakable physical restraints found in Rise-era Dreaming used to hold weapons in sheathes or bind limbs; used on Adversaries or Champions (but mostly Adversaries) who are not trusted to refrain from hostilities towards one another.

Questing Country - The shared dream-space of all thinking species, metaphor made real, the place where the power of Champions comes from, and a physical space which they travel to train, learn, and do battle.

Retrograde - A period in which an Aspect of Questing Country is not functioning as it usually does. Some Aspects pass into retrograde more frequently than others, and what retrograde means depends on which Aspect is in retrograde. Multiple retrogrades can occur at one time. These are understood to be natural effects within Questing Country.

Sanctions - these are weaker bonds imposed upon Adversaries in the Rise of the Adversaries time period (the past). They are magically binding oaths whose consequences are enforced automatically. A Sanction must be either entered into voluntarily by any two or more individuals, who afterwards share a weaker version of a True Bond; be unanimously agreed to by all but one member of a bond group; or be ritually imposed upon an Adversary without a bond group by a bond group of four or more individuals. An individual with a True Bond cannot have a Sanction forced on them from outside their bond group.

Spirit Companions - Guides, embodiments of the collective unconscious, and as such, incredibly cryptic and mysterious, incapable of clear or straightforward communication, are responsible for selecting & anointing Champions. Spirit Companions seek Champions who believe in some great and selfless cause with great hope and idealism, and that cause can often somehow be represented by their Archetype. A Champion’s Spirit Animal can communicate with all others, but their advice is often cryptic. An Adversary’s Spirit Companion sometimes temporarily becomes a Doppelganger, an insubstantial image of the Adversary that tries to make trouble for them, as they reject its guidance. Oracles’ Spirit Companions become Familiars, perfectly comprehensible to them at last, but unable to communicate with anyone else. Adversaries who become Dark Oracles devoted to themselves lose their Spirit Companions entirely; they become full-time Doppelgangers. A Harbinger’s Spirit Companion fuses with a dreamcatcher and becomes a small, speechless star that illuminates patterns. Pillars no longer have a Spirit Companion of any kind.

Starquakes - Vast and powerful dreams of alien minds which have the ability to change entire continents of the Dream at a whim. These have never happened before and are appearing in the "Future" portion of the Dreaming, defining an era one generation after the Double Valence period (the present).

Transformed Lands - Areas of Questing Country changed irrevocably by the Starquakes.

Twilight Time - Like Liminal Space, Questing Country can undergo vast and sweeping changes. These are preceded by Twilight Time, where things go dim and blurry around the edges, signalling a “change in the weather” which will remake the world around them.

Valence - The power of the collective unconscious sometimes forms a node of energy which can grant one wish. When a Valence is hidden somewhere in Questing Country, Oracles (or investigators with Questing Sense) can vaguely feel its presence and direction. A Valence will bestow itself on one worthy being to help them achieve their cause.

Volksgeist - A large creature made from the combined forms of a Bonded group’s Spirit Companions. Volksgeists may enter battle alongside their bonded, the only time Spirit Companions typically enter the fray; if a volksgeist is killed, it separates into its component Spirit Companions. Volksgeists who are completely comprised of familiars may only speak to the Oracles who they belong to, but they are as clear as any familiar speaking. Volksgeists with any portion of spirit animal in them may talk to everyone, but they are as cryptic as a standard spirit animal. If an Adversary places their spirit animal in a volksgeist, the volksgeist will occasionally turn on their masters and act outside of their combined best interests. It is inadvisable for multiple Adversaries to create a volksgeist.

Edited 2018-02-10 23:37 (UTC)

(NEW) Past Dream Skill: Sanction: A magically binding oath whose consequences are enforced automatically. A Sanction must be either entered into voluntarily by any two or more individuals, who afterwards share a weaker version of a True Bond; be unanimously agreed to by all but one member of a bond group; or be ritually imposed upon an Adversary without a bond group by a bond group of four or more individuals. An individual with a True Bond cannot have a Sanction forced on them from outside their bond group. Requires True Bond or Very Serious Pinky Swear. [T]

(NEW) Future Dream Skill: Merge: A dreamer can, in essence, interface with a portion of the landscape, learning the history and magic of an area. When used on Transformed Lands, a merged dreamer takes on wild elemental power to reshape the environment, but also gains a distant and alien mindset and priorities that are unclear. A dreamer whose Merge with Transformed Land is prolonged too long periodically transforms into a new kind of dreamer altogether - a Harbinger, whose Companion fuses with a dreamcatcher and becomes a small, speechless star that illuminates patterns. Requires Dreamcatching. [T]

Dream Body: In Questing Country, everyone has the body they feel they need to have for their role. This allows an age, gender, and/or species swap to one idealized form. [T]

Spirit Companion/Familiar: An advice-dispensing animal companion that accompanies champions and oracles. Adversaries who take this skill will still find that their companion occasionally becomes a duplicate of them and stirs up trouble. [U]

(UPDATED) True Bond: Bonded can share physical health (healing one another’s wounds), mental resilience (breaking, resisting, or transferring enchantments and status effects), magical power (mana pool), & supernatural insight (visionary or magical senses of any kind). Their familiars & spirit animals (if they take this skill) may combine into a larger creature called a volksgeist, often used as a mount or battle companion. When you take this skill, you must indicate who you are Bonded with, and they must take this skill as well to have any lasting effect after the jaunt. [In the first jaunt, everyone in a True Bond had to take the skill together. Bonds between infiltrators must still be entirely mutual, but for Investigators actively taking the skill (rather than Infiltrators working with a Bond group), it is not necessary to link to everyone in a Bond group.] [T]

Pillar Resistance: A Pillar is about 95% resistant to all magical effects. Anyone with this skill may not take Archetypal Magic or Spirit Animal. [S]

Archetypal Champion Magic: Champions know roughly half a dozen powerful, flashy, splashy effects that they can use to attack enemies, deflect attacks, or which aid them outside of combat. Champion magic is always accompanied by some visual or audio effect. The majority of these effects must tie into a Champion’s archetype. Champion magic is powerful, but often sloppy and obvious, not likely to allow for gentle or indirect handling of a situation unless very carefully employed. [S]

Archetypal Oracular Knowledge: Supernatural visionary knowledge of an archetype. An Oracle is an expert on all lore connected to their archetype, whether its literal embodiment or its metaphorical resonance. They can sense its presence, absence, power, or direction. If they are shown or come in direct contact with something that matches their archetype, they can rapidly educate themselves on all relevant details about it, even if there is no source for that information. Finally, Oracles have visions about any events which involve their archetype, and may also have dreams or visions (but no other expertise) about any Bonded partners they have. [S]

Archetypal Adversary Magic: Adversary magic is low-key and precise, often unseen. It can never directly counter or overpower Champion magic, but can evade notice, slip through loopholes, and exploit vulnerabilities. Like Champions, Adversaries should select roughly half a dozen such effects, focused on stealth, manipulation, and escape. [S]

(NEW) Archetypal Harbinger Magic: Any other Archetype who has Merged with transformed lands for too long may periodically become a Harbinger - a glowing winged figure similar to their archetypal transformed self - and gain access to Harbinger magic, sweeping and elemental powers that can reshape entire dreamscapes, recognize and duplicate patterns, but cannot target individuals, nor distinguish friend from foe, and the being using it can only create changes which satisfy their own, alien aesthetic needs and desired patterns. Harbinger transformations are most likely when a character is surprised or disoriented, and last for irregular periods of time - sometimes seconds, and sometimes days. [S]

Dreamcatching: Breaking down inert Liminal substance to become usable energy, powering devices or refilling mana. Outside of Liminal Spaces, this may be done to less effect by siphoning the dreams of sleeping individuals. Up to one Room Creation 1's worth of material can be created for one 24-hour period with a "full" dreamcatcher. [T]

Gorgon Racial Traits: prehensile tentacle hair, brightly colored skin, darkvision, vibration and electromagnetic field sensing, calcifying touch/breath; light sensitivity, poor long-range vision, antisocial tendencies. [U]

Elven Racial Traits: keen sight and hearing, agility, lack of stamina, health, and willpower. [U]

Hecatite Racial Traits: mineral composition, easily overwhelmed by sound, metabolic control, crystal growing, bludgeoning vulnerability, high intellect, low stamina. [U]

Vodyanoi Racial Traits: hydrokinesis (up to the amount of water they could reasonably carry), finned ears, shining, smooth scales, amphibious, water-breathing, natural timidity, low physical strength. [U]

Spartoi Racial Traits: quick temper, berserker tendencies, bone spurs and scales, high strength and durability, more militant than intellectual. [U]

Genre Savvy: The knowledge of narrative structure and tendencies needed to predict the typical paths and variations of stories, dreams, plots, and character types. [T]

Stellar Education: Basic generalist knowledge about other planets and their species and politics, or about a specific specialty area, such as cybernetic or alien medicine, the history of other cultures, or any imaginable sort of space-aged collegiate-level education. This skill may be taken multiple times for multiple specialties, or for doctorate-level knowledge in a specialty. [T]

Conditioned Hypnosis: The ability to use eye contact, tone of voice, conscious manipulation of pheromones, and careful word choice to implant simple suggestions in others. Nonsensical or obviously harmful suggestions will not work, and thoroughly changing an opinion is unlikely, but it’s enough to hold or deflect attention, soothe or increase suspicion, startle and intimidate someone for a moment, or convince them to let a secret slip. Because it relies on knowledge of physical and psychological characteristics, it may not work on other species, non-neurotypical individuals, or those in an altered state of consciousness, unless the user has sufficient familiarity with the group or individual to know what cues to use instead. During the jaunt, this may be used by Oracles or Adversaries only. [T]

Synthetic Form: The ability to assume the form of a synthetic being, with the physical and cognitive capacities and vulnerabilities that implies. As a general rule, synthetics possess enhanced strength and durability, rapid thinking, and the ability to physically interface with some computer systems, hardware permitting. However, they also do not heal naturally, may appear or behave obviously artificial, and tend to be deferential towards organic life-forms. Specifics will vary, and that’s fine. [U]

At the end of January, due to long exposure to the energies of Questing Country, all characters will be eligible for one free skill. Jaunt skills taken as the free skill still need a use proof, as usual, but do not need to be taught.

January 15 - The Miracle of Brunch & Gossip: shortly after Ouroboros goes into retrograde and the dreams of each era begin to merge, the Oracles of each era call dreamers together to welcome one another (and the Travelers) and discuss their problems.

January 23 - Hunt for the Glatisant: when a strange dream-creature is spotted - something like a Volksgeist without any Dreamers attached to it - the Dreamers pursue it for answers on a chase that leads through both Transformed Lands and nightmares of the Diabolin.

January 31 - The Precession of Fintan: in the wake of hunting for the Glatisant, the Spirit Companions of the Double Valence generation have an urgent message to convey that may strain the bonds of trust between timelines.

February 8 - The Great Fall: as the Starquakes begin to Transform the dreams of other eras, mistrustful Champions of both Past & Future struggle to hold onto their hope, trust, or innocence, and unexpected new alliances are formed.

February 16 - Epiphany: the forces behind the Starquakes are revealed in full, and Dreamers must decide how to face the truths: together in uncertainty, or each trying to save their own time with this new knowledge?

February 24 - The Parting of the Mists: a Twilight Time warns that the eras are about to part again, and the Travelers about to vanish - but there’s time for goodbyes.

Rather than filling in an Infiltrator Directory, we’ll be putting together a list of what archetypes are spoken for, and what the character putting them to use is in terms of role. Any given archetype can have a Champion, Adversary, Oracle and Pillar; doubling up archetypes and roles may be considerably trickier, unless the Dreamers come from different generations - in which case, go nuts (but consult the player you’d like to double up with first). Two Champions of Fire, for example, may have surprisingly different powersets and outlooks.

When you’ve settled on your character’s role and archetype, please comment here so we can compile a list for folks to reference.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SoYouWantTo/WriteAMagicalGirlSeries
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TrueCompanions
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicalGirl
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuBIBljQOrHbYTujyO9sS42enaJgG7qOH
Tropes:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpaceOpera
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TropesInSpace
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpaceWestern
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WagonTrainToTheStars

Player plotting:
http://www.plurk.com/p/ldwh69 - Hecatite mineral possibilities
Gorgon cultural info
Gorgon anatomy info (includes marked NSFW material)
additional Gorgon anatomy info
Hecatite cultural info
Hecatite minerals and fashion inspiration
Random name generator - has A LOT of things which could be useful!

We’ve assembled an FAQ from the questions that got asked during our previous visits to QC and Junkworld. Those questions can be viewed here. If you have new questions, drop them in the comments and we’ll get back to you ASAP! This setting is Matt’s brainchild; Jill and Bii are also pretty well-versed in the setting.

How does the merged timelines play out in a practical sense? Like, is is basically everyone from all times hanging out in the same space, or is there like an "Adversary" section and a "Double Valence" section and a "Starquake" section?

Also, how do Spirit Animals and Familiars come about their names? Do they come with names already, or do their Champions/Adversaries/Oracles give them names?

So I'm a tiny bit confused about the Harbinger thing and want to make sure I've got it right. People are still Champions/etc. most of the time and they go on a bender, basically? And this can be done to anyone who made the poor decision of dreamcatching in the messed up areas? Are there restrictions on their archetypes (since they have 'elemental' powers)?

At the beginning of the plot, there will be a specific area where all three timelines' dreamspace physically converge, allowing travel between time frames by moving in a particular direction away from the Brunch set up at the meeting spot. As the plot continues, the lands will converge further.

They themselves choose their names - but some may choose to permit themselves to be named.

Yes, yes, and no - their Harbinger powers may or may not directly map onto the archetype powers they display the rest of the time, if there's no easy way to describe their usual powers as environmental change.

Right, so they start off with seperate areas and a converged one? Will all Investigators show up in the converged area, or will they be spread out?

Also, with the Dream Body thing - does that basically mean that everyone appears how they think they should appear? What happens if someone has a somewhat complicated self-image ~~i.e: they see themselves as both a human man and as a blaze of electric blue fire~~

Ok, so hypothetically speaking if I was almost certainly gunning for this with Phillip (this is not even a little bit hypothetical). Could I opt to have him still be Harbinger of Stars where he has the option between influencing the area towards theatrical patterns/aesthetics and starlight ones, or would I have to pick, or does that not quite fit what you're going for?

If a character has True Bond from the last QC Jaunt but hasn't filled all their bond slots yet, would it be necessary to take the skill again to add new people to the Bond?

~~now in the right place~~

That works!

Everyone will start at the converged area!

That is basically what it means, and players are welcome to play with the possibilities however they like!

No!

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OUROBOROS RETROGRADE - Jaunt info

THE KNOWN WORLDS (NEW INFO)

SPECIES (EXPANDED INFO)

DREAM FORMS

ROLES (SOME NEW INFO)

CHANGING ROLES

TIMELINES & SUMMARIES (NEW INFO)

BONDS & BONDED GROUPS

CASTING CALL

PLOT ROLE ANNOUNCEMENTS

GLOSSARY (NEW/EXPANDED INFO)

SKILLS

CALENDAR

WHO'S THE WHAT OF WHICH

PLAYER RESOURCES

QUESTIONS/FAQ

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