empatheias_ooc | Mid-Month Announcement: March

— MID-MONTHLY MOD ANNOUNCEMENT: MARCH —

Whoo boy. Well this is unexpected. This was supposed to be a low-key month from the mod side, but judging that emotional tracker—yikes! Things are really going to get, uh, dangerous, so prepare yourself! We're also getting some sub-plot movement going on as well, and many thanks to those who have volunteered so far!

Calendar.
The calendar hasn't changed much since the last post, but here is the link as reference: Game Calendar. These are the dates you should know for the rest of the month.

3/18: Test Drive.
3/19: Not Feathered Friends.
3/25: Activity Check starts; Reservations open.
3/26: Scaly Mementos.
3/31: Activity Check ends.

This is what we have so far, but anything could pop up, either from us or from players.

We also neglected to mention that this is the final month of the year for the local calendar, meaning next month will be the "New Year" for Empatheias. The locals are gearing up for the upcoming celebrations (April 17) and there are a lot of end of the year sales. But will this year end in a celebratory bang, or a destructive one?

Verens Crystal Status + Emotion Tracker.
Guys...what happened!? February was super positive, but now look at the Emotion Tracker. It's like someone dumped blood all over it, and not in a good way.

The large crystal itself is dimming a bit, but it's not hitting the grays quite yet. Although the locals are a bit more excited and agitated due to end of the year and new year preparations, they're helping keeping the negativity from the characters balanced. But that's not doing much for the Arehtei.

Sosyne is already pissed and Elios was already on the brink. The new data does not bode well for him or Peromei at this rate. Her appearance or something of an appearance may be sooner than expected if this continues.

The following is a tally of the numbers for the month so far. The formula is TOTAL = RAW + (ALI-I * ALI-C). Many have given late input for February, and while the numbers aren't counted in exactly, they are still affecting certain Arehtei (basically Sosyne is even more pissed with 6 more pretend points).

AREHTEI	RAW	ALI-I	ALI-C	TOTAL	+/-
Aiada	1	0	0	1	+
Daimonia	5	2	1	7	-
Elios	9	5	4	29	-
Peromei	6	3	1	9	-
Piphron	2	0	0	2	+/-
Sosyne	4	2	1	6	+/-
Thras	2	0	0	2	+

All Elios wanted was love and what does he get? Hate. How did this even happen??

Special Defense.

Quick plug for the Special Defense interest post! If you think your character would join, take a look!

Unhappy Arehtei.
After seeing the numbers from the last month, we knew that "things" were going to happen. There was even a little bit of foreshadow at the beginning of the month. Originally this was going to be more low-keyed, but due to recent events and the tracker, it's turned into a full blown event. In addition, what was going to involve only one Arehtei, it's now going to be three, with the third only coming in toward the end.

ICly, the events happen quickly and shouldn't last more than a couple of days. But there's a a lot happening as well.

Elios's Hatred.
If you expected Sosyne, surprise! It's Elios instead. He had a subtle appearance and only those aligned to him heard his voice, but now he's acting out. Given that he's quite unstable...well.

He's flying in and he's on the "attack." Well, he's actually just lashing out. Starting Thursday, March 19, the following will happen:

Corrupted feathers. Large, bright, blood red, twisted feathers will be hurtling down like missiles. They will land in the following areas: Merchant Square, Residential Quarter, Administrative Quarter, the slums, and one will hover out on the lake, the tip just breaking the surface. There will be multiple, likely around ten and tall. Details will be given out in the signal post/log itself. These feathers will also be surrounded by powerful wind and will shoot out strong gusts.
Feathered demons. In addition, avian creatures will appear and take form, as if spawning straight from the feather. Their forms are all bird-like, but they're no pigeon. Some are like large vultures, some have two heads, three wings. Imagination knows no bounds so feel free to make up the creature. All of them will have blood black feathers and will spread the hatred. They are aggressive, hostile, and dangerous, but they are not necessarily going out and damaging buildings or trying to kill people. They are actually looking for certain types of people.
On the hunt for love. The feathered demons will hone in on people who have an affinity toward love. That's right. Rather than be "love birds" these demons want to dive in and seem to want to capture rather than attack, although it might seem like the latter at first.
Counterattack. These demons can be taken down and are similar to a medium-level monster. A few strong stabs/shots/spells/punches and kicks, and they'll disintegrate into black feathers. Unfortunately, love will only bring them closer, but oddly enough anyone who focuses hate on the creature will actually drive them crazy and redirect to try and attack them instead.
Evacuation. Unsurprisingly, the city will be evacuated and locals will need help. Only the Enforcers and those willing to help defend will be around.
Intense hatred. The feathers are also radiating intense feelings of hatred. Everyone and everything will piss your character off, and they may even hallucinate and think someone is their most hated enemy or related to whatever they hate most. This won't happen to everybody, so it's basically an opt-in. It can also happen to anyone, so alignment does not matter. These feelings will last several minutes or until the character can snap out of it.
Aligned. Those who are aligned with Elios will have it even worse. If they are hit with any of the emotions in the spectrum, they'll even hear Elios's manic cries about hatred and love, making no sense whatsoever. Nothing he says is coherent, but they can get the gist of it.
A loving heart. Those who are more inclined to love will feel less of that need to hate and may even be immune to it. Although they're a target, these people will also be vital to helping fix this mess, and it doesn't matter if they are aligned with Elios or not. Those who are will have more effect, but everyone counts.
Other "positive" emotions. Although they won't be as super effective, other positive emotions will help. Even if it's a "twisted" kind of positive emotion, such as happiness over killing something, it'll count. Those who are aligned with Thras may also be key in pushing through this.
Destroy the feathers. It'll probably be obvious, but one way to stop this madness is to destroy those feathers. But it won't be easy. They are tough and will require more than just a few high leveled attacks or punches to break them. In fact, there's something like a "barrier" of hatred coating them. A lot of love and caring emotions will be required to weaken them before they can be destroyed physically.
Convert the feathers. OR another possibility is to actually "cleanse" the feathers by pouring all that love into it. By doing so, the feather will change color, and rather than spew out hatred, it will radiate loving waves to counteract it. It will also create more "friendly," feathered creatures to fight against the original demonic ones. The more feathers converted, the faster things will right itself.
Where is Elios? Good question. Maybe those demons know. Too bad they can't talk but maybe following where they take those people would be a good guess...
Can we communicate with Elios? Sort of. If anyone who is aligned to Elios actually tries to telepathically reach out to him, they will be overwhelmed by his hatred—dangerously so. However, if someone has a really strong and loving heart, they might get something. If you'd like to part of this, comment in the provided thread.
Tracking emotions. To get a gauge as to whether things are going horribly wrong or slightly better, there will be a separate post to track who all is hating on everyone and who will be the main loving body. This will be important, and threading won't be required to prove (although it is encouraged).
Pre-planning. To help with plotting, comment to the appropriate threads in this entry as to which side you think your character will be in. Some will flip flop and that's fine. Just put them down in each and indicate if it's a brief stint or long term.

A lot of stuff right? So TL;DR: Elios be hating; there are big bad feathers that spew out demons and hatred; and PROTECT THE LOVING PEOPLE AT ALL COSTS.

This event is going to require everyone to work together, especially when dealing against those who are negatively affected by Elios and those demons. There are also a few directions this event could go, so figuring out a few things beforehand is key. We know most of our players plot on plurk, but please comment to this post with your ideas as well!

How long this lasts also depends on how quickly people can figure out what to do and how fast they either convert or destroy those feathers. ICly everyone will want to get this resolved within a day or so, but OOCly there will be a few designated logs where everyone can thread for as long as necessary. Hope you guys can come up with a plan!

We do have a "back-up default ending" in case things get too chaotic for you guys, but we're ready and open for whatever the characters do.

Marks of Irritation.
Funny story, Sosyne was originally going to be the one wreaking havoc, but her time will come. For now, she's leaving her own mark on the island. However, her part in this "surprise" event is a little simpler and less to deal with. It's also even more of an opt-in than Elios's.

This will occur beginning Thursday, March 26 and will last for the rest of the month.

Drifting scales. To those who choose to, there will be large fish-like scales the size of a small fist that either drift down in front of them or are lying around somewhere. It could be outside on the ground or somewhere in their room. They are a dark, purplish hue, with some that shimmer a lighter color but most are dark with tinge of black and dark red. They are also paper thin and smooth to the touch, but the edges are sharp and jagged.
A spark of memory. Upon touching the scale, a memory will form along with the relevant emotion. There are three possibilities: anger, excitement, and calm. It could be a person, place, thing, or event, and there could be a small mix of the three. But this memory will be a powerful one and invoke strong feelings of those emotions.
Emotional reflection. The emotion invoked will be reflected in their surroundings, and it will also somehow be related to that memory. Perhaps an image of the person is seared onto the wall. A building temporarily changes form. Music or sounds are created. They are subtle reflections, but the possibilities are endless.
Keep, throw, or destroy. Once it all finishes, the scale will completely harden over and become coated with a barnacle-like texture. The weight will also triple and edges sharper. What the character does with this is up to them.
Aligned. Those who are aligned will have stronger emotions and memories. In addition, their scale will give a special message or choice words engraved on it. The message will be unique to the character depending on the emotion and the memory, so contact us to learn the message.

Will the scales be used again? Who knows...

The Third Arehtei.
And last but not least, the potential third Arehtei. Who will it be?

Depends on what happens during the event. Maybe it won't even show up, who knows! But rest assured, if one does appear it will not be directly affecting the characters and it will be more of an appearance.

Player Plots & Events.
We'll close this announcement with a few plots and mingling opportunities created by players.

Whose voice was that? Emizel heard a voice and he wants to know whose it was. They mentioned "despair"...
Like a bolt from the blue. Hak's outside of town training a few, but he's also doing some self-training as well. Warning: stray lightning bolts.
Meeting new faces Mickey assigned Charmcaster some friendship homework, so she's out to meet new people.
New arrival information. Shun has some pamphlets for the newcomers, and he's also wondering if anyone had a reaction to the crystals recently.
Ben's delivery service. Special delivery just for you!
Lend a helping hand? Jane is asking if anyone wants to help the newbies by giving them some handmade goodies.
Despair killed the plants. Junko's been too depressed and Peromei complained. Her reaction is better than weed killer.

We might have missed some and there are quite a few open logs and discussion posts, so be sure to check back yourself! We try to keep up, but if you'd like to be listed let us know. If you'd like to throw your own event or plot, comment here.

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And that's about it. It's a lot of stuff so if you have any questions, concerns, or want things clarified, please comment here.

OTHER THREADS: Team Hate | Team Love | Kidnapped | Event Ideas

Mid-Month Announcement: March

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