beleos: (Default)
beleos ([personal profile] beleos) wrote in [community profile] kenosooc2024-01-30 02:04 pm

THE SOOT OF IGNORANCE | RISING ACTION.


WHEN YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES, WHO ARE YOU?
Greetings, old friends and new, and welcome to — February's Plotting & CR meme! There are some big things going on in Kenos this month, and we wanted to take a moment to welcome everyone. We hope you're enjoying the game! To our older players, we're so proud and honored that you've chosen to spend all this time with little ol' us. May there be more fun in your future!

Before the Oracle event in March, there is something big happening in February. As a celebration of our mid-game, as well as the beginning of Kenos's tonal shift into the latter half of our collective story, the world will undergo some big changes. In the beginning of the month, Meridian's leader: Cyrus, will be assassinated by members of Zenith's faction. In the latter half of February, part of Highstorm (Yima's Manor, specifically) will be hit by a targeted magical weapon's strike by members of Meridian's faction. With both of these events being the culmination of player movements, participation, and dedication, they are acting as the heralds to the second half of the Kenos game.

War has always been waiting in the wings, and now it is officially coming. Enjoy a few days of relaxation, and get your CR engines revving up!
ZENITH | y̷̘͛̚ò̴̮͇̫u̵̖̱͙̎ ̸̲̮̾͝h̷̲̤͆͝a̴̢̰̋̀v̸͍͂͌͋ê̵̢̓͘ ̸̨̄m̸̜̙̟̓̐a̴̠̅̕d̸͈̯̞̄̄e̵̘̺̅̓͛ ̴̟̥̙̀̑m̷̲̩̦̏͂̊a̴̛͜ȓ̶͔͓͙͆t̷̡͓̟̎̈́̑y̵̫͋̌ŗ̵̌s̵̱̮̕ ̵̻̺̀͠
Cyrus — Meridian’s 34th Tribune — is going to die. Down one Oracle to Meridian’s two, Yima has tasked her most faithful followers with his assassination in order to turn the tides back in Zenith’s favour — and so, of course, it will be done.

While matters in Highstorm seem tranquil enough, slowly but surely, activity in Yima’s manor will begin to ramp up, to the point that anyone who resides there or even visits will be able to take note: this is not the norm. Her court is busy with personnel and attendants rushing about, organizing guards— poisons— weapons? Something is afoot, and before long one might be able to piece together whispered conversations of invasion and assault and assassination.

Perhaps you hear about it in time to get your foot in the door, an enterprising Zenite looking to help make your mark and strike a blow for your faction — or, through fortune’s chance, you’re someone looking to warn Cyrus of what’s to come? Or perhaps you pick up on things just a little too late, and suddenly find yourself thrust in the middle of a situation that forces you to either fight or flee. (Freezing and fawning are not recommended; this is about to be an active conflict zone!)

Either way, Cyrus is going to die — but it doesn’t have to go smoothly.

All of this to say: Zenith will be employing a strategy of overwhelming Springstar’s forces and causing mass chaos in the city in order to allow for a couple of Zenites taking a far stealthier approach to get to and ultimately dispatch of Cyrus. Those monster attacks from Ryad in the Below that have been causing trouble in Meridian’s home city? They’re about to come to a massive head, alongside other invading Zenite forces — PC and NPC alike.

As this mission was given to Amos when he hit T4 Harmonization, he will be the one to ultimately carry out the decisive blow against Cyrus.

— FOR ZENITH.

— Are you hearing rumblings that you find concerning? Maybe you want to get in touch with some Meridian friends and warn them that something seems like it’s about to go down.

— Did you want to fight? Now’s your chance! Join the chaos in Springstar and have fun absolutely wrecking the place and/or people. Maybe even do some looting?

— Do you feel bad about innocent civilians getting caught up in this? Maybe you’re more inclined to minimize the damage — try to guide people away from combat zones, or stop a building from blowing up.

— And of course, what of an exit strategy? There are cornerstones throughout Springstar one could use to escape, or you could slip into the Below. Or perhaps something less fortunate befalls you, like being dissipated or captured and jailed by Springstar’s forces...

— FOR MERIDIAN.

— Because this is a successful Zenite assault, Meris will largely find themselves in a reactionary position — but if you were able to receive some word of warning beforehand, perhaps you were able to at least start making some preparations? Shoring up some Springstar defences, evacuating the more vulnerable, or bringing word to Heliopolis to expect something are all possibilities, even if you aren’t quite sure what you’re really preparing for.

— Springstar, your home city, is under attack — it’s time to defend it! There are monsters and Zenites alike to try to fight off and/or kill. It’s not murder if it’s self-defence.

— Of course, if you don’t particularly care (some of you are definitely the type), then maybe this is a good chance for you to snoop around safer areas of Springstar while everyone’s distracted — or maybe even Kowloon or Highstorm, if you really don’t want to be in a conflict zone for some reason.

— FOR THE UNHARMONIZED.

So you’ve found yourself in the midst of a warzone for a conflict you barely know anything about… Whoops. Sorry about that!

— Perhaps this would be a good time to Harmonize one way or the other? Just keep in mind that Meridian isn’t so squeaky clean either…

— But you can join up with Zenith or Meridian characters regardless! Do you thrive on chaos? Do you have a conscience and want to try to at least protect people? You may not have your (or any) powers, but as long as you’ve got the spirit, you’ll probably end up in someone’s good books.
MERIDIAN | w̶̫̹͊̿͠h̸͉̯̖̔̈̃e̸͙̣̬̋̍r̸̲̜͒ȇ̵͍̰͕̄͠ ̵̣͔̬̈́̕y̵̢̏o̵̺̟̔̒̐ũ̸͇̬ ̴̮̜̻̑̐̚ș̶́́͛h̷̤̬̠͘o̷̗͐͑͒u̵͓͐̆͠l̶͉͕̂̔ͅd̶̻́̕ ̸̗̞̥̒͂̚h̴̻̘̰͒͆a̷̘̥̅̇v̷̬̕͝ë̷̯̼̊ ̶͉͖̓̋͜m̸̟̃͌ả̶͍͔ḋ̵̯̹͆͝e̶̛̬͕̯̅̚ ̵͓̼̈́̾c̶̝͈̓ơ̵͔̺n̸͖̮̘̊v̶̛̩̙̈́͌e̶̞̻̲͌͆̕r̸̲̈t̶̺̫͗̆š̶̤̣
Even with two Oracles in their control under Tribune Cyrus's leadership, Springstar's populace appears to have come to favor another: Agapitos Voreen. The streets teem with conversation about his name, his promises of a hardline stance against Zenith, and his vow to carry on the and his vow to carry on the successes Meridian has been experiencing when he is elected Tribune. ( The successes his soon-to-be pre-deceasesor enjoyed. Oh, sorry. Predecessor. This is an OOC joke, because WE all know Cyrus gon' die. )

Springstar's populace may have turned from their current Tribune, but Meridian's Shard-Bearers still appear to strongly run the show. In the months leading up to the pivotal assassination, the majority of Meri's have been rallied by Set into a joint venture — the development of a grand weapon, with its sights aimed at the core of Highstorm. The effort culminates in a large beam of radiant power being fired upon Yima's Manor a few days after Cyrus's death is announced.

However, leading up to this event there is movement. With several Meridian Shard-Bearers on the move, the efforts of Zenites Link and Drizzt in January result in attention being drawn to the Beyond: the dark, inhospitable landscape of gleaming flora and dangerous fauna that have surrounded the city of Highstorm since its advent. Meridian's Shard-Bearers, a crack team of Legionaries and even retainers have mobilized a supply line that seems to lead to a staging ground near Set and Quetzalcoatl's divine structures.

Something is afoot, and at this stage in the game, one will begin to piece together some pieces of information: mentions of waiting for the right moment and the weapon and letting them dig their own grave.

Either way, Yima’s Manor will be struck — but it doesn’t have to go smoothly.

All of this to say: Meridian has, ironically, taken the Zenite route, and is employing a strategy of defensive subterfuge, clandestine supply runs and the secret assembly of a weapon in the depths of the Beyond. Protected by militant Shard-Bearers, anti-Zenite spellwork and the sheer hostility of the Beyond itself, the weapon is very difficult to get to. But before it is fired, the information is there for your preparations. Will your character attempt to move innocents out of the way? Warn Zenith's leader of what is to come? Will they attempt to ambush or cripple the last of the supply chains or assault Meri participants in an effort to stall the last legs of the construction process?

Pertinent historical information about the development of the weapon can be found here, for the curious looking to see how this came about.

— FOR MERIDIAN.

— Are you hearing rumblings you find concerning? Maybe you want to get in touch with some Zenith friends and warn them that something seems like it’s about to go down. It's too late to stop "the weapon", but at least you can brace them for what's coming.

— Did you want to fight? Now’s your chance! Join the chaos in the wake of the attack on Springstar by focusing on undefended? Highstorm and have fun absolutely wrecking the place and/or people. Maybe even do some looting? Snooping?

— Do you feel bad about innocent civilians getting caught up in this? Maybe you’re more inclined to minimize the damage — and to try to save people who might have gotten caught in the crossfire, even?

— And of course, what of the fallout? Are you going to stand proudly by your participation in this? Are you going to slip back into the shadows and use the chaos to your advantage to (re)forge relations? Will you decry those who participated to Highstorm, to salvage anything you can?

— FOR ZENITH.

— Because Meridian's efforts are in retaliation to Zenith's assassination, their forces will largely find themselves in a reactionary position — if you were able to receive some word of warning beforehand, perhaps you were able to at least start making some preparations? Shoring up some Highstorm defenses, evacuating the more vulnerable, or bringing word to the Manor to expect something are all possibilities, even if you aren’t quite sure what you're preparing for.

— Highstorm, your home city, has been eviscerated— the Manor, specifically. In the wake of the attack, Yima has disappeared and rumblings of the agonized citizenry betray their fears: they do not know what to do. Time to step up, step in and lead your people! They need you more than ever.

— Of course, if you don’t particularly care (some of you are definitely the type), then maybe this is a good chance for you to snoop around safer areas of Highstorm while everyone’s distracted — or maybe even Kowloon or Springstar, if you really don’t want to be around a damaged zone for some reason.

— FOR THE UNHARMONIZED.

So you’ve found yourself in the midst of a warzone for a conflict you barely know anything about… Whoops. Sorry about that!

— Perhaps this would be a good time to Harmonize one way or the other? Just keep in mind that Zenith aren't the victims you might be lead to believe they are.

— But you can join up with Zenith or Meridian characters regardless! Do you thrive on chaos? Do you have a conscience and want to try to at least protect people? You may not have your (or any) powers, but as long as you’ve got the spirit, you’ll probably end up in someone’s good books.
OOC NOTES & MINI FAQ
This event will take place throughout February. Like the Oracle events, we are frontloading all the information you might desire for your plotting and threading purposes, because this is a doozy of a moment for everyone — no matter your characters investment in their Faction, or the battle for the Oracles, things are changing in Kenos. The rough IC timeline is Friday, February 2nd to Thursday, February 15th for the "first half" of the event, with the "second half" occurring from Friday, February 16th to Thursday, February 29th. Again, this is not a strict timeline, but just an idea of how long both aspects of the event are going on for in-universe.

HERE'S A LITTLE FAQ

My character intends to warn the other faction. What does this look like?

Setting-wise, with both plots preordained to be successful, warnings will at best have a small effect on the environment — e.g. parts of Springstar and Yima’s Manor could be spared, or maybe you manage to get Cyrus an extra half hour of life or so. Keep in mind that both factions are taking this seriously, so they won’t be inclined to let anything big slip in the presence of anyone whose loyalty they are not assured of. Think of it as your character overhearing something sus rather than having any hard evidence.

Character-wise, keep in mind that if anyone finds out you betrayed your faction, there may be consequences. It depends on how sneaky you’re being and if you’re sharing information with the right person! Also keep in mind that betraying your faction will bump your character’s Discord up one tier. The degree of social consequence depends on how sneaky they are, who they tell and, surprisingly, the "type" of person they are*. Essentially if we, as mods, see something about someone's actions in a public arena, that character could be punished (severely!) by their Faction from here on out. Factional trust may become difficult to earn back without concentrated effort, as well.

( *This is an assessment based on your past reported Notable Actions, including where your character has spent time, and what actions they've taken before NPCs! If your character is suspected — or if you WANT them to be, for some reason? — Zenites will be visited by Florence and Kathova, while Meris will be paid a visit General Zaman and Cetina to... have a little chat. )

Please make a note here if your character intends to feed the other faction information, or if your character is Unharmonized and chooses to warn a faction about a plot against them!

My character lives in Yima’s Manor. Do they still have a home?

Yes! Don't worry, we have already considered this when creating the target. The location of Yima's quarters are known, thanks to previous explorations and are far enough away that the damage incurred by the Manor is centralized on that point. She lives far enough from her Shard-Bearers in resident that if you want to opt-in or out of any damage to your room, you can! ( Maybe it's time to get a real place to live! )

My character is going to go searching through the cities. What might they find?

Like in our Iconoclast Oracle event ( link for refresher ), we have a toplevel comment for curious explorers.

What if my character is dissipated during the event?

Dissipations continue to work as normal; they’ll have to be taken to the Tree of Life to revive. Make sure to use the buddy system so someone can take you there!

What if my character is captured during the event?

Individuals who are captured in either city will be immediately imprisoned until the chaos settles. However, before the chaos settles and their fates are decreed by either Faction, the next Oracle will awaken... and call them to it. Thus, they will be ~magically freed~ THIS TIME. The results of their participation/non-participation will be announced following the Oracle, when we deploy our world changes!

What can I expect, going forward?

In the wake of both events, Meridian's leader: Cyrus, will be dead. The fate of Zenith's leader: Yima, will be unknown for some time. Both cities will be damaged. A new Tribune will be selected in due time, and an interim leader will step up to take over Yima's responsibilities. Other world changes will occur, so keep your eyes peeled. For those seeking to Harmonize to either faction, Cetina and Kathova will still be available to assist Zenites. For now.

Lastly, for old players and new, please take a look at The Soot of Ignorance, as a reminder and as an introduction of some of the world-effects still going strong at this time. For no reason. Don't worry about what's coming next.

EDIT: We got so excited about the content, we forgot to include WHEN the post is going up. The event post will be going up Wednesday, February 7th! Please have exploration requests turned in by Thursday, February 15th to receive information on the areas you are exploring.

And, as always! Please fill out the form below to join the joint Plotting/CR meme:

CODING
appeale: (when every "no" turns into "maybe"?)

isa • rudbeckia de borgia

[personal profile] appeale 2024-02-03 11:20 am (UTC)(link)

PLAYER

NAME: isa
CONTACT: [plurk.com profile] phaseblast / discord: phaseblast
ABOUT YOU: australian, optician, mostly into video games! i have a huuuge weakness for otome games and i especially love yandere shit. i'm into a lot of japanese & korean media too! my hobbies are sporadic but i do art and music and all kinds of things. i got knocked the FUCK out by december (optical retail is hell around xmas) + january (got sick and then got covid for the first time! it was bad!) so i'm trying to get back on the wagon now 👍

CHARACTER

NAME: rudbeckia de borgia
CANON: how to win my husband over
FACTION | ASPECT: meridian | stargazer
GIVE US A BLURB ABOUT THEM!: isekai transmigration rofan protagonist whose previous & current lives are a mirror of each other and they are both intense nightmares. she's been violently abused and controlled since childhood, and has developed into someone desperate to please others in order to minimise the harm she receives. hence she is a huge manipulative liar, but rarely for any kind of gain—she just really, truly expects everyone around her to hurt, kill, or abandon her inevitably.

GENERAL PLANS:
✦ ruby has officially reached the point where she absolutely despises both sides of the conflict. she's sick of everyone's shit!!! because of this, she's sort of... given up on building connections for herself? she'll still play cute, mostly, but she is no longer seeking useful lifelines.
✦ she will, of course, continue acting as set's high priestess. she bought him wedding rings, that's her husband now. ♥ with the war ramping up, she's not entirely sure what to do with that particular role, and she's not opposed to suggestions. (that don't involve her having to get involved in the actual war.)
✦ other than set, the safety of her monsters is pretty much the only thing she gives a damn about these days. their safety is one of her main priorities, which includes having a place for them to live.
✦ she miiight have a canon update in her future... it's not a pleasant one and she will go a little bit insane, but. i'm holding onto that one until the timing is right!

EVENT SPECIFIC PLANS::
✦ LEAVE HER OUTTA THIS. she will be completely avoiding everything to do with both the assassination and the weapon. none of her business! she doesn't even wanna hear about it!
✦ however, she lives in the beyond with the monsters she's befriended as well as her husband-deity set, which means this is. a little bit of a problem for her. depending on what set tells her to do, she might be moving out of the forest for a little while...
✦ which might mean. evacuating her little guys? help??? they are her little guys and they are also large people-eating creatures and they have to be protected
✦ she also figures she should do some kind of set pr as his priestess, but because of her neutrality clause, that will very much not involve talking about the meridian victory here. she'll focus on people affected in springstar; her "duty" is to assist those affected by conflict, the peace-bearer as balance to set's chaos and war.

CR WISHES:
✦ ruby is a tricky character: 90% of the time, she will not make friends. when she does make friends, it's often a shallow relationship from her side—she's completely incapable of trusting that others will stick their necks out for her when it comes down to it, so she won't allow herself to be put in that situation to begin with.
✦ but she will pretend to feel otherwise. you can totally build positive cr with her! it's just... possibly one-sided. she may, at best, feel vaguely friendly towards someone. (or you might be lucky enough to somehow break through and get genuine feelings?! I'M OPEN TO IT!! IT'S JUST HARD)
✦ in terms of what she offers, ruby is a great representative for neutrality in kenos: a civilian that can't and won't fight, and deeply resents the idea that she should have to do so just because she exists here. she can be a fun moral dilemma for some characters, and challenge the views of even well-meaning ones!
✦ in fact i love that conflict most of all. as a character, ruby shines best when she is put in difficult situations, when she is hated by others, when people try to push her into corners and pick fights. negative cr is great for her with the understanding that she will never, ever fight back, only swallow her seething hatred and resign herself to the worst outcome.
✦ as for what i want... she's pretty well on her way there?! after some fights with other meri, the fallout of the oracle & springstar turning on her, her self-inflicted death - she's reaching a point where the persona she used to uphold is beginning to wear thin, and she has plenty of solid cr that are seeing new sides of her. so i'm totally happy to wing it at the moment! give me new things and old things!


ANYTHING ELSE?: i don't have any new ones but this one is especially relevant right now

semicharmed: (think about that one)

[personal profile] semicharmed 2024-02-03 05:14 pm (UTC)(link)
ok wait i just saw this and

not sure how feasible this is but matt would absolutely help with monster evac. he's not an animal person at all, but he does have various useful skills and a philosophical belief that apex predators serve an evolutionary purpose.
appeale: (how many happy endings do you need)

[personal profile] appeale 2024-02-05 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
OH THAT WOULD BE GREAT she's got quite a collection of friends so she's definitely going to have to move them one at a time, which means there's plenty of opportunity to encounter her trying to... sneak through highstorm and springstar with a giant fucking creature..... we can definitely do that!! she'll tell him about her one (1) ability and he can talk about his magic
furibund: (inkonic aru nebula (1))

[personal profile] furibund 2024-02-03 06:14 pm (UTC)(link)
i would still love to try and throw nebula and ruby together sometime if you're up for it!
appeale: (please tell me someday)

[personal profile] appeale 2024-02-05 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
i definitely am!! i'm so sorry i completely dropped off the face of the planet in dec/jan but i absolutely wanna try again with these two....

i imagine nebula is going to be doing a lot of rescuing so it could be interesting to drag her into something a little different??? with ruby's public reputation after she refused to participate in the oracle event, i could picture some of the springstar citizens being angry with her trying to help them after the attack. nebula could have to step in and try to help defuse that situation if that's something you'd be interested in, since it's out of her usual comfort zone!
furibund: (pic#16530232)

[personal profile] furibund 2024-02-06 08:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Please they can have a stargazer/exalt relationship that can be kind of beneficial (maybe) (no) (because neither of these two will fully trust people I imagine)

And you're right! She'll spend the majority of the time in Springstar trying to help civilians unless otherwise asked/directed. Since in her opinion if Cyrus is dead well there's no helping him but they need it...

|b So I think that's certainly an angle! Nebula may not agree with her neutrality, but she's not going to sit back and let the civilians antagonize her for helping esp being on the same side. She might be up front that she thinks trying to be neutral is stupid but that doesn't mean she's worth nothing.

( To Nebula, since she knows what that's like)

We could definitely play into trying to lead people to safety, running into some jeering at Ruby, and snapping at them? 🤔 And it might lead into some kind of conversation [we can also just handwave there was some starvation feelings from the harbinger oracle, too, for some added flavor]
hauntedking: (12)

[personal profile] hauntedking 2024-02-03 10:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Happy to keep Dimitri Doing His Best to be a good person for her, because... well. He sympathizes, genuinely.
appeale: (do you think it takes)

[personal profile] appeale 2024-02-05 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
it's so funny to me that she's accidentally come around on him, she's not even mad about the attempted murder anymore..... he's such a sad guy every time they talk that now she just thinks of him as a big pathetic dog. as long as she keeps her distance during oracles it's fine 👍 SHE REALLY WILL TAKE HIM OUT FOR GELATO once things stop. exploding.
hauntedking: (13)

[personal profile] hauntedking 2024-02-05 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
He really is just sad golden retriever energy....

but yes, gelato, he'll appreciate it lol.
hauntedking: (02)

[personal profile] hauntedking 2024-02-11 05:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Belatedly I was thinking of having Dimi check in on her via communion after everything goes to hell (in the aftermath) if you feel like you've got the bandwidth!
cyfaredd: (Default)

[personal profile] cyfaredd 2024-02-04 08:59 pm (UTC)(link)
if you are interested i'd love to throw her and howl together more in the future! they have some thoughts in common when it comes to bitterness at being forced to participate in everything... but they'd definitely butt heads in almost every other way, i think, which could be fun!!
appeale: (oh‚ my neck is safely off the line)

[personal profile] appeale 2024-02-07 11:01 pm (UTC)(link)
yeah, i'd be happy to!!! ruby is...... ruby, so i'm not sure what she'll think of him, but i'm absolutely down to throw them together as the opportunity arises and see how they go! at the very least she won't have to be afraid of physical harm from him lmao.......
gravings: (149.4a)

[personal profile] gravings 2024-02-07 05:15 am (UTC)(link)
Reading about Ruby always makes me so sad for her man 😭
appeale: (just don't be blameful)

[personal profile] appeale 2024-02-07 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
HER LIFE IS JUST LIKE THIS........

she's definitely gonna apologise to gray for not showing up at the bookstore in a while, between. post-Murdered By Mordred trauma and then springstar hating her guts. sorry she's been a bad coworker.........
gravings: (071)

[personal profile] gravings 2024-02-09 09:47 am (UTC)(link)
SDN:GDG: SORRY COULDN'T MAKE IT TO WORK... GOT MURDERED y'KNOW

Gray would feel so horrified if she knew Ruby got Mordred murdered... Murdred.... so maybe she could have learned about it in the papers. :') She would also be so concerned about Ruby contracting Saberface trauma (a la Waver, or so he claims)... They are very due for a talk