empatheias_ooc | Mid-Month Announcement: August + Piphron Event Details

— MID-MONTHLY MOD ANNOUNCEMENT: AUGUST —

THIS IS IT! The event you've all been waiting for—! Okay, maybe not, but this mod post is mostly focused on the upcoming Piphron event. Please read for the full details! (And thank Wighty—he wrote most of it!)

» CALENDAR

Here are the dates you should know for the rest of the month. The main calendar spreadsheet can be found here.

8/18: Test Drive.
8/19~8/28: EVENT: Finding Piphron
8/25: Activity Check starts; Reservations open.
8/31: Activity Check ends.
9/01: Applications open.

Looks like there may be some red skies on the horizon.

» EMOTION TRACKER UPDATE

As always, it's kind of early to tell where the Emotion Tracker is going.

As a reminder, this is just a "mid-month" check to give everyone an idea of where the Emotion Tracker stands. If you haven't had a chance to submit your threads, don't worry! You can still submit and have it count for the final tally at the end of the month.

Here is a screenshot of the stats:

All right, actually there is no screenshot! What a first! So far no one has commented to the Tracker, so it can just be assumed the results from last month are still at play—which is everyone pretty much on the positive side. Which is great because they're going to need all the support for dealing with Piphron.

» PIPHRON EVENT DETAILS: BASICS

The time has come to venture into Piphron’s domain and kick his crabby butt! …Or, well, rouse him out of his shell of distrust. Something like that.

This is going to be a very different kind of event in large part because instead of Piphron coming to the island, everyone is going to have to go to him. So because of that, there are a few parts and setting details that we need to clear out of the way.

Timeline: OOCly, the event is going to run from Friday, August 19th through Sunday, August 29th. We're allotting a large time period because there is a bit of "adventure and exploring" with this, as well as confronting Piphron himself. ICly, this probably won't take as long, but definitely not a one day journey. In addition, while we're giving all the way to Sunday, if it seems that things are wrapping up sooner than that, then we can move the event date forward to end things sooner.
Method of Travel: The teleporter between Empatheias and the one found in Piphron's domain will have made connection. Whether it's the most stable one... ...Well, it's good enough for their purposes.
Log Structure: Since there are three distinct settings and effects, we are helping organization by also making separate log posts. There will be additional subthreads within each post that will focus on the main effects.
Designated Emotion Tracker: Like always, we'll have a separate Emotion Tracker for the event. However this time, the points are going to count! The more trust showed for Piphron, the better the odds! But if there's more distrust and people not being cured from the various effects, well... Things will get harder.
General Setting - Piphron's Domain: There will be a report made by the group who went out with Elios, but here are the details for you guys to know ahead of time. Piphron's domain lies within the middle of an enormous black cloud of ash and smoke that obscures the view, making it difficult to see long distances clearly. Additionally, it’s not much fun to breathe, either. Piphron’s land is completely wrecked and looks something like a shattered plate. Individual pieces of rock are separated from one another by gaping, bottomless crevices in the earth. Slipping and falling in is inadvisable. The earth is less earth and more giant slabs of rock, quite probably due to previous volcanic eruptions coating everything in a layer of igneous rock.

However, it is still possible to pick a path through the shattered earth towards the center of the ash: an enormous, volcanic mountain with a peak that resembles a three-pronged claw. After the latest eruption, things have cooled down rapidly, and there won’t be much issues with heat. Anyone who teleports into Piphron’s land will appear outside of what appears to be a ruined shrine and will have to find their way towards the mountain across the enormous slabs of rock.
Arehtei: The other Arehtei aren't sitting out completely. Elios will for certain be in Piphron's domain to help protect everyone, and others may appear to help if needed. They are also chipping in to provide those venturing in there with protective charms of sorts. While they will be made for everyone, everyone will still have a boost from their Arehtei to push back against Piphron's distrust. So for example, those aligned to Elios will have their sense of trust strengthened by love; from Sosyne, calm and understanding of others; Thras courage and belief in each other; Peromei the hope of longlasting bonds and future with each other; Daimonia the joy of friendship; Aiada appreciating the person's existence.

The Arehtei not around Piphron's area will stay back in the city to help as back-up and just in case things go south and the island is attacked. But that won't happen, right? You guys will be able to convince Piphron that things will work out and he won't go crazy instead...right?
Limited telepathy use: Just as a quick heads up, communication between Piphron's domain and Verens is unavailable. Crystal service does not reach that far. Furthermore, the service in Piphron's domain is terrible. While characters will be able to communicate with each other, it will always be covered in static and constantly break up. The stronger the bonds and trust the individuals have with each other the better, but it's going to be rough.

Now with the basics out of the way, let's delve into the actual event!

» PIPHRON EVENT DETAILS: PART 1 - JOURNEY TO THE MOUNTAIN

Piphron is hiding out in some mountains. However, getting there is difficult and almost an event in and of itself.

Ash of Paranoia. Those taking this journey will be exposed to the cloud of ash the entire way, which is made up of equal parts negative emotions and ash. The longer they’re exposed, the more uneasy, distrustful, and paranoid they will feel. They might feel uncertain that this is really the right thing to do – they might feel too paranoid about the conditions to continue - they might decide that the friends they’re traveling with will be too unreliable and they’ll want to strike out on their own.
Gas Pools. Like in many volcanic environments, there are also pockets of natural gas settling in low basins in the rock. Stepping into one of these areas will cause an overwhelming sensation of distrust and paranoia with milder doses of anger, fear, despair, and other complementary emotions.
Turn to Stone. Exposure to this negative emotion while in Piphron’s domain comes at a price! The more distrust they feel, the more they’ll close themselves off to those around them. When they reach a point when they aggressively distrust everyone around them, their hearts will completely harden to others. …Literally. Characters who cannot stave off these emotions will slowly petrify and transform to stone.
Power of Friendship...? Friends and allies will be able to reinforce each other’s faith and trust and reverse the effect. Of course, if there are underlying issues among friends that have never been addressed, it may take a turn for the worse. It is, however, also possible to fail the mission and completely petrify if you wish, at which point your character’s statue will be recovered and brought to Verens to recover.
Believe in me who believes in you! Those who more naturally experience trust or are innocent or naïve will actually find themselves having a much better time here. They will also be vital for helping keep their friends from succumbing to the paranoia and the petrification. Those aligned to Piphron will be more or less susceptible to the effect depending on which side of the spectrum (trust/distrust) they fall on. They will also be more or less effective at helping their friends.
Taken to the city. If it is impossible for the character to be unpetrified, Elios will show up and air lift the victim back to the teleporter to be taken back to Verens. Once there they will already start to be cured as they will no longer be in Piphron's domain, and others waiting will also be able to help.

Turning into stone isn't so bad, right? For those who do plan on this happening, for plotting and organization purposes, we would like for you to comment here!

» PIPHRON EVENT DETAILS: PART 2 - THE MOUNTAIN

For those who manage to get to the mountain, there's still no time to relax. If anything, things may get worse.

Shifting Labyrinth of Tunnels. Due to the strength of Piphron’s distrust, the tunnels within the mountain have transformed into a shifting labyrinth aimed to protect him. Anyone who enters the mountain will become lost within a few steps and will find themselves separated from their companions. In terms of threading, it will be very possible for characters to run into and lose their various "tunnel partner" several times. Along with the effects detailed below, there will also be physical challenges and obstacles that only teamwork will be able to push through. But with so much distrust and uncertainty around, even a simple "I'll climb down and catch you!" trust exercise may be difficult.
Memory Gas. The tunnels themselves also harbor pockets of ‘natural gas’. However, instead of emotions, these pockets will summon up memories specific to the character. They will re-experience their most difficult memories relating to personal interactions: memories focusing on times when others betrayed them or they were let down, memories when they felt rejected, memories when they had cause to be angry at their friends, memories that have anything to do with a strained relationship with another person. Again, if these memories cause them to sink into distrust and despair, they will begin to petrify.
Walking down memory lane. Other characters wandering through the tunnels will find themselves wandering through the memories of others! If they can help the owner of the memories come to terms with what happen and view it as a more positive experience, they will again be able to stave off the effects and continue on. You may experience as many memories as you wish in these tunnels.
Taken to the city. Like the first part, if things become too much for a character, their charm will activate and instantly teleport them back to the main teleporter where a group of NPCs will help escort them back to Verens where they can recover.

Similar to the first part, for plotting purposes comment here if your character will have a memory and any advanced notices or content that you'd like to go ahead and share or toss around.

» PIPHRON EVENT DETAILS: PART 3 - CONFRONTING PIPHRON

Those who make it through the mountain will find themselves in an enormous cavern at the very core, where Piphron awaits his guests.

We have yet to determine if this will be an entirely separate log or a subthread in the Mountain log. This will depend on how many will actually get there. In either case, it won't be posted until later into the event so we'll have time to figure out which it will be.

So on that matter, if you plan on having your character making it through to Piphron and ready to confront him, comment here. This is just so we can go ahead and get a feel of what to expect.

And in case you weren't certain—yes, how this event ends will depend entirely how these threads and the emotion tracker go. So if you want a good ending, work hard! But if you want a bad ending, well. That might not be too difficult. We'll prepare for either outcome!

» PIPHRON EVENT DETAILS: BACK IN THE CITY

Of course, this event is purely optional and very easy for characters to ICly opt out. Because everything is happening away from the island, there won't be any problems occurring.

However, we won't leave them completely hanging. Victims unable to be cured or continue from the mountain path and labyrinth will be taken out of Piphron's domain and sent back to the city to recover. Thus there will be a very loose "Get healing and hear about what's going on" log for those sitting out and helping those who need recovery.

If you plan on having your character hang back, just comment here to help plot things! Those who plan on having their character brought back to the city should also comment here for plotting purposes!

» AFTER PIPHRON...?

Some of you may be wondering where the game will go after Piphron is taken care of. After all, he's our last known living Arehtei to find.

First of all, no matter how Piphron ends we will be gathering the Arehtei and there will be a catch all log for characters to dump their completed crystals onto their aligned Arehtei. It may come either at the end of August or early September, depending on how the event rolls. So if you haven't commented to the Complete Crystals page yet, do so!

In terms of what we have in store, in general the game will continue to shift away from being purely "stuck on an island" to "exploring the rest of the world" and help it. We have a lot of interesting surprises and revelations ready to be unleashed involved in these future excursions. We will of course do our best to ensure there's still a balance between those who want to get out there and be active and engaged in the world, and those who like the setting's ability to allow them to focus on their personal character development without needing to be involved in major events.

But all in all, there will be less stuff done to the city and more things happening outside of it, all of which will be influenced by character actions and, of course, their emotions. So that's our general outlook right now.

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And that's about it. If you have any questions, concerns, or want things clarified, just comment here. Feel free to use this post for plotting!

Mid-Month Announcement: August + Piphron Event Details

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