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powersthatbe( in which the plot positively curdles, and the Harbinger of Storms loses his temper )
Next week: In the wake of the Diabolin slave revolt and the confrontation with the Arcana around the Cabochon, some Dreamers have been brought together by grief and determination, while others have united against a common threat. The Arcana have paused their drilling operation, but the Starquakes, which they claim are unrelated, continue.
Dreamers are invited to quest together through the psychedelic and mind-bending depths of Questing Country in search of that source, with one last chance to reconcile their differences and decide: is there something they can do to help the Travelers before the Arcana sweep them away again?
Next week: In the wake of the Diabolin slave revolt and the confrontation with the Arcana around the Cabochon, some Dreamers have been brought together by grief and determination, while others have united against a common threat. The Arcana have paused their drilling operation, but the Starquakes, which they claim are unrelated, continue.
Dreamers are invited to quest together through the psychedelic and mind-bending depths of Questing Country in search of that source, with one last chance to reconcile their differences and decide: is there something they can do to help the Travelers before the Arcana sweep them away again?
powersthatbe( in which the plot thickens )
Next week: Three major endeavors are underway: the exploration of the cabochon, including those intending to play music in time with it to see if they can amplify the disruption of the lightning coming off the crystal web; the assault on the Diabolin arms factory in the Waking World; and the evacuation of Starquake-afflicted regions of the future.
This new week will include two new complications - first, another Starquake, this one Transforming areas in the other eras and actively reaching out to chase down and Harbingerize nearby Dreamers. Second, the Spirit Companions will recover their ability to communicate, and reveal a dire secret: there was no natural Fintan Retrograde. All the garbled communication was deliberate action on the part of external powers - probably the Arcana - who have invaded Questing Country in the form of the cabochon, and whose presence is causing structural damage to the framework of dreaming itself.
What the Dreamers choose to do about that, and how it may relate to the other ongoing collaborations between Dreamer and Traveler, time will tell. Adversaries, especially Rise-era Adversaries, who already distrust their Spirit Companions, may not be bothered to find Travelers and Spirit Companions at odds. Valence-Era Dreamers may wonder if the Travelers, not the Fintan Retrograde, are the Problem the Ouroboros Retrograde was convened to solve. Investigators may have to deal with their own Companions accusing them of complicity. And those worried and confused Champions from the Starquake Era may wonder if the Travelers are behind their woes as well...
Plotting will be divided into subheaders on this occasion, to make it easier for groups to coordinate.
Next week: Three major endeavors are underway: the exploration of the cabochon, including those intending to play music in time with it to see if they can amplify the disruption of the lightning coming off the crystal web; the assault on the Diabolin arms factory in the Waking World; and the evacuation of Starquake-afflicted regions of the future.
This new week will include two new complications - first, another Starquake, this one Transforming areas in the other eras and actively reaching out to chase down and Harbingerize nearby Dreamers. Second, the Spirit Companions will recover their ability to communicate, and reveal a dire secret: there was no natural Fintan Retrograde. All the garbled communication was deliberate action on the part of external powers - probably the Arcana - who have invaded Questing Country in the form of the cabochon, and whose presence is causing structural damage to the framework of dreaming itself.
What the Dreamers choose to do about that, and how it may relate to the other ongoing collaborations between Dreamer and Traveler, time will tell. Adversaries, especially Rise-era Adversaries, who already distrust their Spirit Companions, may not be bothered to find Travelers and Spirit Companions at odds. Valence-Era Dreamers may wonder if the Travelers, not the Fintan Retrograde, are the Problem the Ouroboros Retrograde was convened to solve. Investigators may have to deal with their own Companions accusing them of complicity. And those worried and confused Champions from the Starquake Era may wonder if the Travelers are behind their woes as well...
Plotting will be divided into subheaders on this occasion, to make it easier for groups to coordinate.
Ouroboros Retrograde week 3 plotting
Jan. 31st, 2018 11:03 pmpowersthatbeSUMMARY:
( Read more... )
PLOTTING:
The Champions & Assorted Travelers have caught up with the Glatisant in both past and future; and are facing it down: it takes the form of an eight-headed snake in the future, and of a many-eyed and many-limbed smooth-skinned angler-scorpion in the past. Its defeat in combat will raise questions about the idea that formed it, and Dreamers will no doubt try to investigate those questions.
In the wake of the combat, several Dreamers and Travelers have expeditions planned to distant dreams, or outside of dream altogether - plot those expeditions in the comments below!
At the same time, Travelers and Dreamers explore the subspace below regular dreaming that the Glatisant originated from - and as they do, Spirit Companions from all eras become panicked, but lose the ability to communicate clearly, only able to deliver garbled, cryptic warnings (Champions & Oracles, request a garbled warning under the toplevel here). The specifics of the warning are difficult to untangle, but may strain trust between unfamiliar times and roles.
By the end of the week, the communications difficulty will be resolved (we think) through player action. Clever plans to restore communication ability can be linked under the toplevel here.
( Read more... )
PLOTTING:
The Champions & Assorted Travelers have caught up with the Glatisant in both past and future; and are facing it down: it takes the form of an eight-headed snake in the future, and of a many-eyed and many-limbed smooth-skinned angler-scorpion in the past. Its defeat in combat will raise questions about the idea that formed it, and Dreamers will no doubt try to investigate those questions.
In the wake of the combat, several Dreamers and Travelers have expeditions planned to distant dreams, or outside of dream altogether - plot those expeditions in the comments below!
At the same time, Travelers and Dreamers explore the subspace below regular dreaming that the Glatisant originated from - and as they do, Spirit Companions from all eras become panicked, but lose the ability to communicate clearly, only able to deliver garbled, cryptic warnings (Champions & Oracles, request a garbled warning under the toplevel here). The specifics of the warning are difficult to untangle, but may strain trust between unfamiliar times and roles.
By the end of the week, the communications difficulty will be resolved (we think) through player action. Clever plans to restore communication ability can be linked under the toplevel here.
powersthatbe( welcome, Travelers )
Next week: An unusual beast tears through Questing Country - or perhaps more than one of them is doing so, as there are tracks into distinctly Rise- and Starquake-era areas. Both the beast(s) and their point of origin will need tracking down; set up your groups here, and let us know if you come up with any Clever Plans over here.
Next week: An unusual beast tears through Questing Country - or perhaps more than one of them is doing so, as there are tracks into distinctly Rise- and Starquake-era areas. Both the beast(s) and their point of origin will need tracking down; set up your groups here, and let us know if you come up with any Clever Plans over here.
OUROBOROS RETROGRADE - Jaunt info
Jan. 7th, 2018 04:33 pmpowersthatbeA 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.