Monthly Rundown: February Edition

[hadrielmods]

Almost all the gods are back now, so the city can get back to normal! But was Hadriel ever normal to begin with? And things are starting to get a little dicey anyway. Maybe normal is just a pipe dream.

As always, if you ever have any suggestions or feedback you'd like to offer us mods, remember you can always drop us a line here! Also, please remember to hit up the Current AC post if you have AC for the month! Characters accepted in January do not require AC proofs, but we do require a check-in on the post!

FEBRUARY PART 1: TAKEN

Most of the gods are back - even Delight got dragged back and thrown in her cage. Hadriel is still missing one, though. Where has Tranquility gone, and why isn't he back yet?

On February 3rd, everyone finds out. The Null will break onto the network again, bringing with them a message: they have Tranquility, and they're not going to just let him go. They are, however, willing to make a deal - Tranquility will be returned, but only in exchange for their ally Delight. Shortly after this announcement, the gods will make a post addressing the possibilities of this deal and asking you for input on what to do.

There will be an opportunity for your character to volunteer to go along on the prisoner exchange (if that's the route that's chosen); there is no OOC signup for this as all choices will be made ICly. That is to say, the way to sign up is to tell the gods that you want to be involved, after which they'll choose a number of the volunteers to go along depending on their skills and the gods' opinions of them. There will be minimal RNG involved in this - basically only if we get too many volunteers that the gods would accept. It's all based on your characters' skills, how well they present themselves, and their previous interactions with the gods!

But while all the drama is happening, the Door continues to do as it pleases. On February 10th, it opens again, bringing along a batch of new faces. In addition to the newbies a number of beautiful trees arrive - except of course they're actually Territorial Oaks from the video game EarthBound.

Territorial Oaks are exactly what they sound like: large trees that do not want you around. They can move pretty quickly and hit pretty hard, and they have psychic attacks that really aren't very pleasant. Best (worst?) of all, when defeated they destroy themselves in a fiery explosion, seriously damaging anyone nearby who can't get out of the way fast enough.

FEBRUARY PART 2: SOULMATES

Love has clearly been busy. They tracked down and recaptured Delight, so crisis or not, captured Tranquility or not, Love needs to recharge. Get ready to find your other half!

On the morning of February 14th (wow, weird coincidence) every character will wake up with the name of another Hadriel resident inscribed on the inside of their wrist. They'll feel a pull to that person, a desire to see and talk to them, and when they find them - wow! It's a connection like nothing else. Your other half will have your name inscribed on their arm, and that's how you'll know you're supposed to be together. Haven't you always secretly wanted a soulmate?

And there you are, together forever... or until a few days later, when each of you wake up with someone else's name on your arm. Or no name at all! Maybe you have a new soulmate, maybe it's skipped you this time, but you don't feel that pull towards your previous soulmate anymore. Huh. Wild!

Your characters can have as many soulmates as there are days in the event (which ends on February 22nd), or they could have only one for the whole time, or none at all. The connections can be platonic or romantic, friendly or familial, but whatever they are, while they're intact they feel deeper and stronger than anything you've felt before. What a way to make new friends.

FEBRUARY PART 3: PRISONER TRADE AND EXPLORATION

After some time for planning and deciding what to do, the date for the prisoner transfer with the Null arrives. On February 24th, whatever happens, happens - and it's all up to you. We will post an OOC plotting post on February 20th 21st, summarizing what happens and what the consequences are.

In addition, during this month we'd like to open up the world to more player exploration. We've already seen IC interest in finding the creatures attacking people, as well as investigating the world a little bit more. We've written up a summary of various ways characters can do that - so please look HERE if you're interested in your character doing some exploring. We've got a thread to organize in as well as a place to sign up, and lots of fun things for people to discover!

TO RECAP...

► February 3rd: NPC Post
► February 10th: Intro log!
► February 14th-22nd: Soulmates Event
► February 24th: Prisoner Exchange
► February 21st-28th: Activity Check
As a final note, our schedule for the month is viewable on the calendar!

Comments

[hadrielmods]

Thank you for your interest!

Hux's group will have a rather difficult journey to the bunker, especially on foot. About halfway there, they will encounter a group of the dangerous indigenous mammoth creatures - this group can be avoided, with some care, but that will require a large detour that will lengthen their trip. Hopefully they brought enough food! They can also be fought, if Rydia and Kylo are feeling brave, but that might end in some injuries or even death.

After about a week and a half of travel, they will find a small structure almost buried in the snow, nestled near one of the mountains, nearly at the foot of a cliff. The most visible part of the structure is a broken satellite dish rising above the structure. It is made of steel, and investigation around the outside of it will find that it is circular and dome-shaped, about seventy feet across.

At some point, the structure was hit from above by a rockfall, though it's impossible to tell whether this was a deliberate attack or simply the natural result of building beneath an unstable cliff face. It destroyed part of the satellite dish and a good portion of the roof of the structure. This provides a way in that doesn't require digging through the snow, however, as Hux and his group can simply climb down through the broken ceiling.

Inside, there are no working lights or power, but with some investigation it's possible to find solar panels on the roof that have been covered by snow. Not all are intact, but with time and effort the remaining panels can be used to restore some power to the building, though it is spotty and unreliable. Hux's knowledge of advanced technology will be enough to make it clear that this was some sort of server storage facility, and placed in orderly rows through the building are unpowered information storage units. Along the walls are a few terminals to access them, however all but one are no longer working.

Many of the storage units have been damaged or completely destroyed. Some were destroyed by the rockfall, while others appear to have been damaged by living creatures - though again it is impossible to tell if this was done deliberately, by the Null or another group, or accidentally by the wild animals of this world. It is possible to scavenge raw materials and wires from these units, but no information can be retrieved.

It is possible to retrieve information from the remaining units, however. While it is impossible to read the Null script or understand what all the information means, it can be downloaded to your devices and given enough time and attention it is possible to glean some understanding of the contents. Mainly, these units seem to contain past records of the Null - there are images of humanoid creatures, both still photographs and artistic representations, in a slow evolution that starts with them completely humanoid and ends with the current Null. This shows the race that became the Null initially experimenting with replacing limbs and organs with mechanical replicas, slowly adding more cybernetic features over time, and finally choosing to upload their consciousnesses and abandon humanoid bodies entirely.

There are images of other worlds and cities in which the humanoid pre-Null race dwelt, as well as different scripts and even some sound files containing speech and music. It seems to be a repository of Null history, or at least that is all that remains on most of the available storage units. There are technical plans for some of their previous cybernetic features, and even some of the earliest fully robotic Null forms, though there are none for the current Null.

In addition, there is what appears to be a small maintenance closet that went untouched by the rockfall. If found, inside there is (among various other pieces of broken technology and spare parts) a disassembled and broken version of the sonic weapon the Null used against the city in their previous attack. It cannot be reassembled with the materials in this facility, but it is also not broken completely beyond any hope of repair in the future.

There is nothing else to find in this building, but if Hux and his group want to load themselves up, they can bring back quite a bit of raw materials for the scientists in the city.

[blessedmaiden]

My apologies for asking only now but since our group is getting ready to open a log about the exploration: Do they have access to the network while traveling or not?

[hadrielmods]

They do, but as they go farther from the city it may become spotty.