RAPID PLOT ENGAGEMENT

[larkers]

> RAPID PLOT ENGAGEMENT

Welcome to our first official rapid plot engagement post, Larkers! Depending on the success of this, we may do this every few months to assist with integration and make sure people know where plots are! As always, any plots will need to be followed up on on our plot engagement post!

That said, we do want to run down a few things that our players may not know:

◉ First: we want to encourage players to ask more questions on our FAQ about the world itself! We prioritize these questions since we assume our players often need them for a thread that's in motion. If you're curious about a function of the world, this is the place to go. And never worry about repeating a previous question—we just relink our answers so that we're internally consistent!

◉ While we're thinking of phasing out the Plot Engagement Companion since it didn't get a lot of use, we've updated our mod post compilation. If we do phase this post out, we'll make sure this list of links is available somewhere!

◉ We want to remind everyone that you can easily add locations to our locations page! If there's anything that seems to be missing that you'd like to have in game, go on ahead. We'll contact you ASAP if something doesn't work.

◉ Our jobs page is a great resource for you to know where other players have their characters, and see where you can fit in yourself! As mods, we see jobs as a means for facilitating CR as well as interacting with the setting.

◉ Finally, Morningstar is always happy to welcome new Displaced. Your character can touch base with Gaby here about this, or El in zeir inbox.

There are some plots that are in motion that have been left hanging in the absence of previous players, or because we'd like someone to pick up the ball. We're happy to help you get on these tracks. If we ask a question below, there is a means to answer that question that can be uncovered.

That said: if there is an area of the world that isn't mentioned or doesn't seem to be explored, let us know! We're always happy and eager to build a plot for a part of the world that's been left untouched. For example, due to a great degree of player interest, we created a plot for the underground that's yet to be uncovered. Once more characters are established there, they'll be able to begin to see where those characters are involved.

> MONSTERS AND RELATED CREATURES

◉ In our very first event, a monster attacked New Amsterdam, and many smaller monsters peeled off of it, ravaging the city. Afterward, there were a lot of monster carcasses around the city. Some were being collected by corporations, while others were being sold on the Black Market. In March, two monster attacks occurred simultaneously before being mysteriously erased following the Dreamscape event. Were these attacks part of what caused the Displaced to enter the Dreamscape enmasse?
◉ Evolutionary-wise, these creatures seem to be inconsistently designed. They're made up of a lot of DNA.
◉ Otherwise, it's hard to know where they come from.
◉ As far as we know, Jyn Erso and Daenerys Targaryen are on this track, but there's a lot out there to find out. In addition, anyone with a scientifically knowledgeable character can dig into this! Daenerys is specifically working with a monster tracker, while Jyn has been in touch with some Pulsar employees about the creatures who have entered the city. However, there is still a great deal to learn here!
◉ Clarke, Prompto, and Jyn found a bunch of similar monsters outside of the city during the EMP.
◉ The facility in the July arrival log also had golden-eyed monsters.

> ANGER INFECTION, MONSTER PARTS, AND DRUGS

◉ In our October 2018 event, characters were infected after they entered a burning building with an anger disease. It was later recognized that the people who were infected all hailed from the same location. The cause of this was likely a set of burning monsters inside of a couple's apartment. Markus investigated and found out that this couple had been vying for some extra money so they could be approved for a child.
◉ This infection could be cured by touching the infected person.
◉ Monster parts sell on the Black Market—even now. Thus, the cause for this disease is still out there.
◉ Some gangs have taken to selling drugs that cause someone to temporarily experience the effects of that event. Markus and Daisy saw that they could cure these effects.
◉ Who is producing these drugs?

> CRIMINAL UNDERGROUND

◉ While not necessarily influential in the overall metaplot, many of these organizations have survived despite their lack of ties to major corporations. How is that? What can someone do to become that powerful?
◉ Do they have their fingers in other pies?
◉ How are they trying to become a major player in a world that is ruled by corporations working alongside the government?
◉ The fighting rings, gambling dens, and casinos are all a part of the city's criminal underground. These are a constant, and we're always happy to welcome characters who make a living in these arenas!
◉ There are multiple PC plots in the works that involve the criminal underground (Kovacs, Laura Moon, Jason Todd, Caroline Forbes, and Octavia Blake all come to mind immediately!), with some developing gangs and others pursuing connections and clout.

> CORPORATIONS AND GOVERNMENT

◉ In Meadowlark's world, corporations are horribly oligarchical in nature. There are names that are associated with various corporations for decades or centuries, making it so that it seems as if the wealth is being kept to a very specific group of people—rather than spread out among everyone. Even though corporations may be opposed to one another, they're still working together to support their collective ambitions to keep the world how it is. That means that many of them have government contracts.
◉ The corporations and the government: how much are they in bed with one another? How complex are these dealings?
◉ What does this mean for the upcoming elections in New Amsterdam?
◉ Can anyone uncover more information about why the corporations benefit from the world being this way, even if it's dying?
◉ In addition, the people in these corporations are ripe for plotting opportunities that don't overlap with the metaplot. Both Jason and Damian developed a rivalry with one of Giles Bell's top executives, and we're happy to craft plots involving corporate employees (whether they are in the upper echelons or a petty person looking to advance themselves in the lower rungs).

> THE UNA

◉ The UNA is a group of highly trained soldiers that seem to think and act in unison. TThey're still highly trained, but dependent on the technology that helps them move in unison. These orders seem to come from outside of New Amsterdam, and being cut off from that connection limits them a great deal..
◉ There was some technology that malfunctioned about a hundred years ago that might be a clue.
◉ Why does the United Nations have an army of this size and force anyway?
- What happens to someone if they join the UNA? (There is a potential of a PC taking this route, but it may be difficult to form CR.)

> POSITIONS OF POWER (NAPD/NAFD, CITY HALL, UN EMBASSY)

◉ Given the size and scope of the population in New Amsterdam, these are positions that are harder to achieve but just as rewarding. Displaced can apply for jobs as office workers or as interns, and then work their way up by becoming chummy with various employees who will then give their name for potential promotions.
◉ Characters can also join up with the police force or the fire department. With the former, it does take three IC months to finish police force training, but this does not negate possibilities with the plot. We do have NPCs set up in the police force, and they can begin to work with characters from day one. With the fire department, training is less intensive, but it can grant opportunities in terms of getting into places that are more difficult to reach!
◉ For the City Hall and the UN Embassy, characters won't be starting out as politicians. On the contrary, they'll likely be personal assistants, receptionists, or even janitors hoping to be noticed for their clever ideas. (Unlikely, but not completely improbable.) City Hall positions tend to feed into the Embassy rather than the other way around, with the Embassy being seen as a step to take for eventually moving to New Beijing.

> SHRINES / BALL / GATES / GODS

◉ The first hint that something was going on happened during the Insomniac's Ball (which was the stage for the December 2018 arrival log), where a bunch of strange symbols appeared, and the ball's host handpicked four Displaced as being special.
◉ Starting in our January arrival log, shrines started going up around New Amsterdam depicting the Displaced in various points in history. Thanks to some activities on her part, Daisy Johnson is now the most frequently depicted character on these shrines.
◉ In our June arrival log, some worshippers who were involved with this talked with the Displaced about what the symbolism means. Rey and Loki put up a post about it afterward.
◉ In our June event log, their leader met with the four people he singled out for being special during the Insomniac's Ball and called them to a place to discuss who they were, what they were, and what they might be able to access. There are four gates that they've uncovered that need to be opened: New Oslo, New Rio de Janeiro, New Cairo, and Mt. Everest. This will unlock a fast travel option in game once the characters visit them.
◉ Are the characters touched by gods, or is this simply how it's been understood in game?
◉ Who are these people: friends or foes?
◉ Why did they have a role in Zerzura, albeit also AUed in?

> DREAMSCAPE / ZERZURA

◉ Our most world-changing event yet was the Dreamscape, which went from the middle of March to the middle of April. Afterward, there were a lot of world changes—including places where reality seemed to shift to make it seem as if the Displaced were there all along.
◉ NPCs showed up in the Dreamscape and seemed to have too much knowledge of the Displaced, especially in comparison to reality. Why is that?
◉ There was a creepy underwater facility in the dreamscape, that later seemed to form Project Spinetail in Zerzura. Is there a link between them?
◉ Actions in the Dreamscape directly led to the creation of Zerzura, including what was done with the spear. Is there a risk of this happening again?
◉ Some characters are already exploring more to do with the dreams, but we welcome more people taking this on!
◉ Does Zerzura link to the real world in any way? For now, the biggest link is that the Zerzurans are now a part of New Amsterdam. Only the PCs will be able to notice that their role in the world only dates back to September 2510.

> ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

◉ There are three named AI: El, Cassius, and Judas. Our upcoming event revolves around Cassius' desire to make contact with Judas. El is the creator of Morningstar, which is an act of redemption following zeir involvement in unintentionally sparking the Xelkov War 400 years prior.
◉ Cassius first announced that he was still alive during the June event, where he messaged the entirety of New Amsterdam before he caused a great deal of horrible chaos. He spoke to the Displaced, hinting at his ambitions for our current event.
◉ Why (or how) did these three AI survive?
◉ Why is the history revolving around the Xelkov War so shady?

> DISPLACED

◉ No one is native to this world, but the Displaced seem to be coming in regularly, or they're being held somewhere. But the hair length difference between most Displaced and the ones found in the July arrival log proves otherwise.
◉ Why was the smug nurse from the October 2018 arrival log killed in a fire?
◉ Where do their powers come from? Why did they lose their powers?
◉ Why do they have an empathy bond?
◉ Where do they go when they temporarily disappear?
◉ Gaby received a message from someone who may be responsible for that, and so did the arrivals in June and August. The second of these arrival messages is public knowledge thanks to Silena's post not long after. Who is making sure they get to New Amsterdam in an orderly fashion? Doctor Strange (and soon, Carol Danvers) will be picking up on this thread, but let us know if you want in on that plot!
◉ Will the characters expose themselves to the world as being outsiders brought here against their will? As moderators, we are very open to this as a plot, but we would prefer that the playerbase discuss it together!

> MISCELLANEOUS THREADS

◉ The Mars revolts. This one is also the end result of actions in the Dreamscape, but we want PC involvement to move it forward. Kylo Ren is speaking out in favor of them shortly, but we're open to other PC involvement!
◉ North America. A drone got shot down. What is going on there?
◉ There are a lot of jobs that can get people information that characters can get into from an entry level. For instance, Cassian Andor is getting a lot of contacts in New Amsterdam as your average everyday repair guy, because he can get into a lot of different locations. Jobs where people can move without being paid attention to will help, so if you're not sure where you can dig up some easy information, this is a place to start!
◉ Social media is also an outlet. We did have some players interested in a social media route, and we're still open to helping someone else take that. This could get characters money, power, and influence if they use it correctly. They can also get themselves in trouble (for instance, Rey got captured by the UNA).
◉ The UNA cache. During the January 2019 event the Displaced got a UNA weapons cache of experimental weapons. This is still open for exploration, but we need characters to be willing to dismantle and explore what the weapons will do in a safe environment. Morningstar has these locked down, but will be open to exploration that doesn't involve firing them to see what they do. Loki and Akechi also stole some weapons that may help in identifying some of what is in the cache.
◉ Finally, the rest of what got sent out during the misfire event. There are nuggets in there, as well as names that can be followed up on! We encourage you to do just that.

We've tried to cover everything we can that characters (and players!) can get moving on, but in addition, we're always happy to tailor unique player plots. These are all metaplot nuggets or worldbuilding nuggets. If something seems like it needs more exploration, you can be the one to change that!

Now, for the rapid fire portion of this: a form! Please fill this out with what you're interested in and where you want to go, and we'll help you get started. It can be linked to the upcoming event either directly or tangentially. Conversely, it can be only indirectly related. We will always mention other players who might be able to help you out, though there is no pressure for you to take that lead!

<b>Character Name</b>: <b>Character Job</b>: If they don't have one yet, what are you thinking of for them? We can hash this out! <b>Areas of Interest</b>: If none of the above headers fit but there's something within the setting you like, name it here! <b>Player Plots</b>: Whether you have one in motion or have a player plot dream you've always wanted to pull off, this is the place to put it! If you're having a hard time integrating it IC, we're happy to help you—and we're sure your fellow players are, too. <b>Overall Goal</b>: For instance, NPC Gaby's overall goal is to see if she can get her girlfriend to understand why she's with Morningstar. Finding a path toward that would be her player's focus, one that might be rife with lots of drama! We're here for it, even if your overall goal is something as general as "I want a lot of body horror." We can make that happen!

Everyone please feel free to chime in!

You can take any and all plot arrangements here and carry them into our upcoming event! We're happy to provide suggestions here on how to get started with that.

And finally: please feel free to ask any and all questions below! We're aware that there are a lot of plotty things in motion, and if you haven't been here since day one—or even if you have been—it's a lost to digest. We're partly doing this post to help make that a lot easier for you.

> NAVIGATION

Comments

QUESTIONS

[larkers]

Please feel free to ask any questions or point out anything that we may have forgotten. If your character is involved in a plot and you'd like it listed above, let us know!

Please, please feel free to ask any questions revolving around clarifying anything we mentioned above. This is meant to be a moderator-run thing where we get everyone on the same page and revved up for what comes next. We want you walking away In the Know.

note, not question

[watcherless]

the miscellaneous threads got some info absorbed in broken coding around octavia and kylo ren!

[wangxian]

you know i was waiting for this right?

anyway, continuing on the thread of dream exploration, i'd love to expand on the "figuring out how to harness dreams" end of things and make that into a player plot. i think we could really get somewhere interesting with that, especially now that we have a little bit more detail on what is added and some of their overall characteristics. so.

given that, how best can we approach this to open it up?

question about morningstar

[forcevisions]

i notice morningstar doesn't necessarily have its own directional header -- i've been trying to keep rey focused on the shrines/ball/gods/etc. stuff as well as trying to help morningstar achieve its goals to keep from trying to put my fingers in too many pies, but i'm wondering if maybe it's by design that morningstar movement is real slow? are we unlikely to be able to instigate something large scale like the mars riots to push back via firm rebellion against the UN by morningstar means, or is that simply a long-longterm goal?

basically, is it dead end-y to be focus on trying to better world via morningstar instead of trying to prioritize other investigate-y things coordinated to the headers above?

[chocolateries]

silena mentioned the message from the woman that dropped them off so that message should be common knowledge now

[hierophante]

Character Name: The OA

Character Job: I'd really like to get her work as a death doula or in end-of-life care in general! I've been meaning to inquire about the viability of that for a while actually, oops.

Areas of Interest: I also want to get her more involved with Morningstar, ideally making use of the false background she was given upon arrival -- she'll want to investigate her alter ego's ties to the Mars revolts and find out if she can use that to make inroads. All of this is (hopefully) ultimately leading towards the overall goal below.

Player Plots: She's going to be trying to gather together a group of people to teach them the movements with the ultimate goal of using them to travel between dimensions. I obviously don't expect this to work, or even for anything particularly weird to happen, since it sssssort of falls under the heading of canon powers -- but if anyone else wants to get involved in that, hmu? My goal is really to make connections, build a little family, get something interesting going on that front.

Overall Goal: Once she's found more solid footing, I want OA to start looking into the mechanics of the world -- to explore why the Displaced are there, what the empathy bond is for, why the Displaced were brought to Zerzura, what the shared dreaming is about, etc. She firmly believes that it all means something and also that the answer lies in the way they're all connected to one another. She also believes that in finding out why she and the others have been brought into this world, she will be able to further her ultimate goal of reuniting with her friends and family. If she can help other people along the way, so much the better.

[larkers]

Hi V!

To hit the notes you've left:

OA can definitely do hospice care! In Meadowlark's world, this care would vary from being very technical to extremely new age-y/holistic in its approach (which we touched on a bit here). OA would need to go through training and have a certificate to get going, but you can assume that El got her started on that path all the way back in July! That means she can be close to done or nearing completion on it soon.

We encourage having her tag Gaby's post if you're interested in Morningstar. We hope that'll get you on track with that, and if you'd like, you can have her bring up the Mars uprising if that seems like a natural thing to bring up there!

In addition, Cassius was once an AI that focused on space exploration, so she can definitely ask him for more information. Plus, he's the one who set up her backstory, so she can ask him for more information about what his goal was there.

As for the player plot you proposed, we think that's a great idea. We also think it might be a fun thing to intersect with the dreams plots that our lovely MDZS cast is putting together! While it wouldn't be successful yet, things may always change. She wouldn't be able to access the canon ability there, but the theory and logic behind it may go a long way in the dreams.

[watcherless]

Character Name: faith lehane
Character Job: i'd really like to see faith get involved in politics by being the muscle for some politician -- possibly on the up and up, possibly through mob connections -- because that's something she 'knows' through being the heavy for the mayor. i'm not sure how much room there is for this or how she would get into it?
Areas of Interest: faith's primary interest is getting her slayer powers back above all else, but i'd like to get her involved in criminal stuff. she's not very smart, but she wants people who will make her feel like she has purpose, so she's easily taken advantage of.
Player Plots: right now, faith is pushing at underground/criminal element things with jason and laura mostly.
Overall Goal: i want faith to be More Evil before she shapes up.

[larkers]

Hi Tifa!

This is definitely a viable path for her! Off the top of our heads, we believe she can get a job as a bodyguard or bouncer at one of the casinos, though she may need to do some loyalty gigs to get in there and prove herself. If she goes in and picks some fights and holds her own against some people who are bigger than her, that can definitely work in her favor.

Right now, Simone Durcell is pushing their candidacy along with help from many people in the underground, and they'll need people on their side if they want to get somewhere. Durcell is working with Sniper to advance their chances, but Faith would work more as a bodyguard who may have a chance to stand out to Durcell in time and this path would likely be independent and separate.

On the other end of things, word is getting out about Durcell's criminal activities, but it's not proven. Akechi is aware of it due to poking around, and he's announced that he's working for Jovavich in the round up post recently.

We have a couple links for you to look at where Alex and Sniper got in with Durcell: here and here. Again, Faith doesn't need to take that exact path, but we wanted you to have some reference points for this potential direction.

[wangxian]

Character Name: Lan Wangji (AKA: Lan Zhan, Hanguang-jun, et cetera).
Character Job: Lan Wangji currently works at a local gallery as a sort of glorified receptionist and teaches art classes online part-time. He specializes in calligraphy.
Areas of Interest: As noted above, he's very much interested in the art world and those who are part of it. He skews more toward the Humanities in general, so he's definitely your go-to for that. I'd love to have him pick up more on the Shrines, though he's also already enmeshed in dream exploration (as linked earlier)! The gates/God chatter, too, are notably also pretty relevant to him.
Player Plots: Well, as also linked above, I'll be posing a few questions relative to dream exploration in just a moment. Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian, and Lan Wangji have been messing about with those actively, so that's their primary area of focus. However, I would like to see Lan Wangji's art ties start to pan out into something! Maybe even something relative to these dreams? I'm just not sure how to get that rolling.
Overall Goal: Generally, his overall goal is to get himself and his countrymen back home, but also enable restoration of the planet and the security of the people who live here. He's a "wherever the chaos is" sort of man, okay. Anyway, outside that, I'd love for him to gradually have to talk about what's gone on with him that he's never told anyone (or what's occurred with him that hasn't been spoken of outside his sect). Dealing with it is part of healing, my guy. He's riddled with scars, so you know. Literally. Also, I'd love for him to finally be able to expand his power set/work more with Bichen and Wangji. I just... Haven't managed it yet, lmfao.

[larkers]

Hi Din!

As a note, we're going to link this reply to Pax, since we believe this plot would likely overlap (and ... well, you know, Chinese guypals).

Do you think that Lan Wangji may be likely to look into the shrines around the city? While some are more simplistic in nature, others are beautifully drawn and designed. Some of these designs may not be readily recognized, but someone with a keen eye—hint hint, we mean LWJ—may be able to recognize some of the tells from the art and be able to find some of the artists. This plot directly links to a lot of our more spiritual sides of things, and may help develop their understanding of the dreams!

Previously on Shrine Artists, we did have Markus reaching out to the shrine artists via his own designs. He got some offerings through this. Loki and Markus did a bit with this in the dreams, as well. It's possible for LWJ to learn about these efforts, as well!

[heliophilous]

Character Name: marcos diaz
Character Job: he's a grunt at pulsar
Areas of Interest: marcos' big interest is helping people/families find refuge or safe places to live/work/etc in a world that's not really all that safe.
Player Plots: right now, marcos is off on a canon update but when he comes back, he's going to want to focus on integrating into morningstar to be able to do what he and gaby have discussed a bit since that's what he's going to be focusing on as his purpose in this place.
Overall Goal: after his own altercation, he's going to be want to figure out ways to protect those that can't protect themselves from people like the gangs and the una, who might come after them because they talk to the wrong person or have the wrong name or support the wrong person. he wants to help move them, find someone that can create fake documents, if need be, start rumors to throw organizations off track, etc. if that put's him in harm's way, so be it but he's hurt his share of people in his life and he thinks he can atone a bit by helping people now.

[larkers]

Hi Trace!

Out of curiosity, would you be interested in taking point on this plot and involving other players? We would love this evolve this into a player plot that involves other characters, especially those interested in Morningstar efforts.

[laozu]

Character Name: Wei Wuxian
Character Job: Former busker and pianist (aw zerzura), currently working as a volunteer e-grief-counselor for PRESERVE!
Areas of Interest: Dreamscales and gates/gods! His skillset and knowledge base mean that he leans heavily towards being most comfortable and most useful in these areas tbh.
Player Plots: I've been working off-screen and ICly with Din/Lan Wangji and Fridge/Jiang Cheng towards a dream-training or dream-related player plots and investigation into whether or not we can engage the dreamscape to affect the world -- as, with a working theory, that this has been done twice now, it's of GREAT interest to me. Echoes of a few convos with now-gone players and their characters (Johnny and Abel) are worked into this. Din wrote up our thoughts succinctly, thank goodness...

Overall Goal: Ensure the safety and security of the world and the people within it before returning to his home with his countrymen/castmates. The restoration or at least the re-balancing of the world and its resources are important to him, as he cannot bear to simply abandon people in need.

[wangxian]

strums guqin to fleetwood mac's "dreams"

[chocolateries]

Character Name: silena beauregard
Character Job: currently jobless, silena has the idea to join the food truck squad with a food truck chocolaterie and supply the city with chocolate flavored everything thanks to her power since the demand is high and the supply is very much not high.
Areas of Interest: despite knowing nothing about ai (her familiarity is more toward automatons), silena is very interested in the ai, specifically because of their famous traitor names because she has experience being the betrayer whoops so she will be looking into brutus during the event! she is also interested in the message she got from the guard during her arrival but she does not know how to follow that up outside of like running really fast when they get the pick up message from el/cassius.
Player Plots: none
Overall Goal: silena really wants to redeem herself in her own eyes and since she is a dumb demigod hero to her that looks like doing A Big Thing to save people

[larkers]

Hi Emma! Part one! We'll get Jyn tomorrow. 😘

For Silena's chocolate endeavors, she can begin to save money by selling her chocolate to different bakeries, food trucks, and other restaurants around the city. She'll likely want to come up with a good story for how she's getting her chocolate (and let us know what that is!). This will help her afford a truck, make it so that she can get loans with down payments, and be able to afford all the other aspects of running a business. She'll also need the proper licensing for selling food and running a business—which is probably the easiest place for her to get started.

As for your other points, we believe it would be a good idea for her to bring her questions to Cassius! We know that information about the drop offs should be released soon, though that will depend on MJ and Gee's decisions and how they handle that!

[realists]

Character Name: jyn erso
Character Job: lab tech @ pulsar
Areas of Interest: i would like to see jyn get involved with inciting some civil unrest amongst the natives, she has a history of inciting anti-establishment riots and obviously knows how to get a crowd going -- gestures at her movie speech -- but she also knows how to keep her head down and stay under the radar -- gestures at her entire life. she is also interested in mars because it sounds a lot like the planets the empire had under control and that ties back into civil unrest. she does flat out refuse to use social media because she is Very Private.
Player Plots: i will... get back to the monster stuff istg
Overall Goal: seize the means of production, overthrow the bourgeoisie, etc etc.

[larkers]

Hi Emma! Just a quick question so we can get the ball rolling on our end, does Jyn have any interest in working with Morningstar or does she want to incite civil unrest independently of their efforts?

[dragonwarder]

Character Name: Daenerys Stormborn etc
Character Job: Currently copywriting for whomever will pay her
Areas of Interest: WE DID THE MONSTER MASH. I've been angling for a way to make the areas of this (particularly, the relationships she is building inside) a little more available to the rest of the game, but haven't been able to come up with an avenue for it that didn't feel like it wouldn't have required a big shift in focus for other people, and that felt a little cumbersome, so I....haven't gone for it.
Player Plots: See above.
Overall Goal: I have a deep desire for Daenerys to be queen of the kaiju an advocate for co-existing with (and possibly eventual domestication* of) the monster population. Mostly, I've been using this interest to pull her out of her renfaire hole and getting her integrated with technology and science on a baby scale, with the intent of advancing her understanding to practical application at minimum.

[*i don't actually expect them to reach pet dog levels of domestication, more in line with the relationship the dragons of the seven kingdoms have with the targaryens]

[larkers]

Hi Kay!

We definitely encourage you to feel free to put this information out there, as well as direct some eyes back to this. Jyn and Clarke both have some information about the creatures outside of the wall, but that hasn't been shared publicly. (For our part, we can say that Clarke isn't doing this because her motivations lie elsewhere, also—you know, mod's character, so we didn't want to take attention from a player's character's direction!) Dany going ahead and bringing people's attention to it is a good start! We're always looking to encourage people to run posts to share information, and we don't want you to feel as if you're bothering anyone by making people look this way! We know that Kylo Ren was following this lead, so maybe you and Mal can work something out so that Dany knows that it was a forgotten focus because Displaced lives are hard!

If you need any help or assistance in getting a network post up for Daenerys, let us know! As for your goal of domestication, that's very interesting to us. We're very curious to see Dany try to take things in that direction, and we're happy to help you get there.

[rehandle]

Character Name: Dr Stephen Strange
Character Job: Technically the proud owner of two businesses (and, I think, the empty hoverbike shop over the safehouse? I need to follow up on this too if so): the Sports Bar with Clarke and his own mentalist magician gig. Stephen and Clarke are going to be on the hunt for staff for said bar soon so as an aside if anyone's looking for work watch this space
Areas of Interest: I've written too much elsewhere to have anything left to say in this section so take this breather while you can.

Player Plots: Text wall on its way but I wanted to give an outline of a couple of things for anyone reading along! That and writing a full essay any time I reply to a mod post with questions or plot engagement is my brand.

Mysterious jailbreakers: Stephen (and soon to be Carol) are on the trail of the people who keep turning up to bust new arrivals out of police custody and, by extension, the organisation who drops them off in the first place. Who are they? How and why are they doing this thing? Gaby and Stephen are in the process of inviting Carol to establish herself as Captain on the Inside to keep in touch with Riko who is aware of the Displaced now thanks to V. Once Carol's in, it's likely (I haven't chatted this through with MJ yet so don't hold me to this but Stephen & Gaby are currently in favour) that they'll finally go public with the message Gaby received (see under displaced header) and what they know so far about the New Beijingers who keep turning up to return arrested Displaced to the fold. At which point, the floor is open for discussion and exploration! This may be a pretty big puzzle piece for some characters so it's my intention not to sit on it for too much longer. If anyone wants to be able to engage with this for the event lmk and I'll try to fast track the IC sharing.

It also means that Stephen will soon be talking to the Displaced about developing a connection and sharing information with with a trustworthy member of the NAPD who shall remain anonymous (Riko, it's Riko) so depending on how that discussion goes that may open up some potential plot avenues later!

Onwards to event tie-in questions:
- Is there any record of the people who came to collect the Displaced from the NAPD on the police system, i.e any notes on what authority they had to do this? If not written on the system, would the police officers on duty that night have any memory as to why they were willing to give them over - was ID shown, were there official documents shared that bestowed them with a certain authority and if so from which organisation? Was a name mentioned? Is it best to wait until Riko is on board to seek this information?

Basically if there are any clues around that it's possible for Stephen to follow up on before the event arrives I'd like to do so to give him a drive to head out to New Beijing.


Magic Man: I dropped the ball on the mind magic stuff but I'd like to start making use of it both as a little revenue stream, an occasional advertising avenue for the bar via social media platforms AND more importantly to make IC connections with people trying to do stuff with corporations/gov/positions of power and build on those. His reasons for continuing to pursue this stupid thing he accidentally created were originally in the hopes that he could use them as a cover to get into the minds of the people in the know, so he's going to need to build up to that and make more of a name for himself first.

Main mini goals for this:
- I'd like Stephen to work on building the reputation of his act and public persona. I'm vaguely interested in pursuing minor celebrity over time if possible— he's got the experience of how to navigate that socially from his time as a big shot rich man neurosurgeon and I'd love to see what avenues and/or pitfalls it could open up in game. ICly he's still very interested in the connection between corporations and the Displaced after the interaction with a certain businessperson in the dreamscape which would be his initial drive to continue, though I don't mind whether or not he actually gets anywhere with that or things take on a life of their own once he's started, OOCly I'd just like to engage with the setting more in a lighter way and see where that takes me. He's had a very narrow and heavy focus up until now and I'd like to switch things up a bit. Plus if this ball got rolling it would be cool to be able to hire a small team of Displaced both to build CR and to give them cover to be in places they otherwise wouldn't have the access to.

- If there are any players whose characters are working in fields that might have some minds worth snooping on and would like to play, I'd like to work on nurturing that CR now so that we can capitalise on it later!

- Less for mod attention and more for player attention but he's going to start actively offering his power as a Displaced-wide resource. At the moment he has telepathy across a decent range and can program individual people into physical action, and these are the kinds of abilities that he's learned are best not left solely in his hands. Turns out he doesn't always make great choices! Who knew! If anyone thinks their character could do with Stephen getting involved in their stuff (whether or not you have any ideas of how to orchestrate it ICly) let me know and we can plot up a storm and make it happen!


Overall Goal: Stephen's overall goal is to find the answers to such questions as "What in the heck is this funky space ?magic? ? Is this all just a shared dream dimension we've been caught up in by some entity we've yet to encounter? And if so, from where or whom did it get the premise for the primary world, because scifi sure isn't my genre?" He wants to understand the hows so that they can a) be controlled, b) be prevented from impacting the multiverse at large in future. There's a lot of mystical stuff going on and yet his specific brand of mystical stuff is out of action so he's been a little thrown for a loop, but now that he's a lot less frantic about the situation at home he wants to dive in and understand the nuances of the blue glow in their chests and how it's linked to their being here, their powers, their connection to one another and the world, the dreams and shifting realities and false worlds, etc. Can it be wielded purposefully, by the design of the Displaced to achieve their own ends rather than by stumbling into things by luck of the draw? How did it reach them all? Is it alien, divine, extradimensional? Is there a door open somewhere that needs to be closed?

Understanding this is the key long term goal. I'm starting in by hunting down the people who transport them in pursuit of answers, however with Stephen being Actual Doctor Strange I probably also need to hook my wagon onto the shrine/ball/gates/gods gang to explore the route that's his jam, but there's a lot and I'm afraid, help

[larkers]

Hi Gee!

We're going to touch on the areas we believe are primarily relevant to us and what you needed a response for, but if we miss anything, please let us know and we'll touch back about it!

With the jailbreaker plot, we're going to leave that up to you and MJ to decide on the information. We do agree that it likely needs to get out, though between the chaos of the EMP, the messiness of the aftermath, and then Zerzura, it's fair that it's sat this long! Worry not—it happens! As for looking into it further, none of the cops will be able to find any record on these New Beijing guys, though they were definitely on the books and verifiable when they first came in. They'll remember it because they would've checked in with New Beijing eventually. Or, at the least, Riko would have, puzzled as to why three of her new informants have disappeared into thin air! That doesn't mean that New Beijing isn't a lead, but it does seem as if someone very powerful can create and delete these credentials as if they're nothing, destroying any hint of a paper trail.

With Mister Doctor Reads Minds Strange, you can definitely have him get back to building up that business. Many politicians in the city do have children. After all, they're affluent and not at risk for not being approved, so he might be able to angle in that direction in time. He'll have to start small, and doing shows at the bar is a fun way to get some traffic. Until then, you can definitely play with the fun part of having to play parties or games. Heck, there's a scene in Friends From College where a mind reader ruins everyone's night because he's made everyone paranoid they're in each other's heads, and chaos ensues. Imagine all the really terrible parties Stephen'll be brought into, and he'll get to grouse about. So many disloyal spouses! It's the worst! You can even come up with fun scenarios where he has "assistants"—AKA other Displaced—come along to these awful parties.

If you need any help getting on board with the shrines business, let us know. We know that close CR of yours is in on a lot of that, so we believe that it's definitely possible! We'll help ease you in no matter where you need help!

[warfares]

Character Name: kylo ren
Character Job: currently officially jobless, but has been developing his platform as an esports player.
Areas of Interest:
- shrines, symbols and the religion of the volunteers.
- politics
- morningstar and the una - they came close to something with fischer, being able to probe deeper at some point would be fantastic

Player Plots: none in mind currently.
Overall Goal: initially, i was looking at ways to position kylo in the political sphere via a security job but tifa mentioned that if kylo were to become popular enough as an esports player he could probably gradually integrate into a lot of those circles anyway.

[larkers]

Hey Mal! Real quick—we're going to cover your outstanding plot engagement question here when we get to this, as it covers what you're mentioning. In addition, can you go here and clarify what the shrine contained as well as when it happened? If you've mentioned this to us before and we lost it, we're very, very sorry!!!

Thanks!

[kgbs]

Character Name: illya kuryakin
Character Job: enforcer at a petrov owned gambling den/fighter in the fighting rings
Areas of Interest: criminal underground and the una
Player Plots: illya's big goal as of late as been ingratiating himself into the petrov family via shows of force and impressing in the fighting rings. that got him noticed and employed and now he just wants to move up that ladder while trying to glean information on how this particular gang works and the weaknesses they have.
Overall Goal: continuing to impress within the ranks of the petrov family to get himself noticed, get more power, and eventually maybe work to bring it down (but that is a ways off). he also hates the una with a passion but i'm not quite sure how to rope that hatred into something that can work against the una since he can't really join them and undermine them from the inside.

[larkers]

Hi Trace!

While the Petrov family is involved in a number of shady arenas, they're typically powerless in this world. That they've survived this long is purely due to their resilience and stubborn mindsets. They have to work five times as hard to hold on to their clout and status, simply because when they do illegal things, it gets them in trouble. If a corporation does? The cops (and when it's a bigger deal, the UNA) look the other way.

Illya will hear that there is some movement to change things. People within the family will be paying a great deal of attention to the Mars uprisings, curious about how they're going to play out. They're not involved directly, but a guy who told a guy who told a guy will say that there's a chance that Mars won't be under UN control for long. Other guys (within the long string of guys) will say this seems unlikely, but the Petrov interest will be there.

Otherwise, Illya will find that the Petrovs aren't big fans of the UN or the UNA because of how they've created a world where the mafia is powerless (in contrast to how it was "in the good old days"). They're anti-establishment in a way where it's to their benefit. If they could get the good treatment corporations do, that would be great. But they don't.

[resleeves]

Character Name: takeshi kovacs
Character Job: fighter in the fighting rings/assisting jason with the gangs
Areas of Interest: criminal underground, obviously, but he's also interested in how the una works because of his background as a super soldier type guy.
Player Plots: well, he's playing right hand man to jason todd irt the gangs but he'd be the one of mine who might actually try and join the una just because it would give him a chance to put his skills to good use and it would involve him a little more in the mythos of the place and maybe give him a very deep in to how they work, where they come from, who controls them. he's been very I DON'T CARE but he does especially since he's been here awhile now. conversely, he's also done consulting with bay city police department in his past to solve unsolvable murders though he wouldn't want to be an actual officer. i don't know if there's an in for a consultant or private security or something like that though.
Overall Goal: basically, he wants to stay alive. he wants to figure out why the heck he's here and maybe he wants to help people out now because he's made some connections.

[larkers]

Hi Trace!

We have a real quick suggestion for you since we know that Dutch and Kovacs are pals. We suggested this plot for Tona last month, and we believe she'll be coming back around to it once her life calms down a bit. This sounds like a great place to slot in Kovacs, as he'll be able to use his skillset (and won't be completely removed from the character base to go full UNA soldier).

Let us know how that sounds!

[recompleted]

Character Name: Roxas
Character Job: Huh I never got around to deciding on this :|a Something "teen with limited work experience/skills" appropriate I suppose
Areas of Interest: Monsters and UNA, probably. Also like...general suspicion of everyone and everything. He doesn't particularly trust Morningstar either.
Player Plots: No specific player plot, but I might as well follow up on this plot engagement query that I didn't get to before due to hiatusing—he'd be most likely to be looking around places like the Sinnan District and industrial areas of the city to start, but in the long run he'd want to do recon everywhere and keep a very sharp eye out for anything weird(...er than usual) or places that could be used to hold/experiment on people. (So like, he doesn't expect to find anything in areas with high-end stores or anything.) This could take quite a while!
Overall Goal: He doesn't know himself yet, but aside from finding a way for people to go home, anything that can make the Displaced less reliant on the goodwill of others would be A+ with him. As a general thing, I'd also like to have him try and use what skills he still has from his Org days to poke into things, whether or not that ends well for him.

[larkers]

Hi Jaina!

First off, we had the funny idea that he could become a VR esports star, but that seems a little mean for Roxas. But hey, we had to offer it up as a potential path for him ... In the meantime, maybe he works at an arcade?

Secondly, he's going to fail to come across anything specific in the city itself. There are a lot of abandoned areas in both the above-ground part of New Amsterdam, as well as the underground. In the past six months, New Amsterdam has been through hell, so he'll end up getting the idea that a lot of people here are living in pretty unfortunate conditions. Many of those buildings only came down in that six month period, putting people out of their homes and jobs. All in all, it'll be very sad—and he won't get any closer to seeing if his friends are in this world!

From here, there are a few natural paths you can take. All of the monsters in the facility had golden eyes, not unlike the ones from our very first event back in the day, or the ones that (temporarily) attacked two cities, or the ones outside of the city recently. Seeing a pattern? But unlike the monsters in the facility, these other creatures seem to have evolved more ... naturally? He can also dig in to the arrival notes from June and August, as well as the nugget of information that Strange has from the person who's leaving these notes. These paths lead to the mystery of "where did the Displaced come from?"

Otherwise, there are also paths for him to push the Displaced to become more independent and less reliant on Morningstar. This will likely involve them coming out about who they are, but as we mentioned, we're open to this plot!

[evasives]

Character Name: cassian andor
Character Job: maintenance work
Areas of Interest: corporations and government, the displaced, the gates, misc

Player Plots: cassian is in the midst of investigating his cyberkinetic spine. thus far it has led him into planting bugs in the big corporations and a few other places, and he is looking into how they all develop the implants and medical connections and how it might be connected to their arrival as displaced. there is a lot of corruption and cassian is not surprised but he's still curious about their overlap and how it runs this world. his tragic backstory is full of espionage, the corporate kind included.

side plot: continuing to develop his ic network and hopefully get some neat or interesting stuff out of an npc or two now and then, whether it's information or a springboard.

Overall Goal: i want him to continue following the spine trail and to ultimately find out for sure why he has this fake spine but also who did it and when it happened! this will probably take a while but he is determined. i really want to do more spy shenanigans along the way.

[larkers]

Hi Tomato!

We want to let you know that you're doing great with this plot, and we're excited to see where you go with it. So far you've done some amazing digging, and we've had a lot of fun writing it up for you. We're excited to see where things go, and we believe there will be a lot of opportunities for spy business, especially once he gets to New Beijing and begins to dig there!

If you need anything else from us, let us know!

[personalwar]

Character Name: Soldier: 76 (Jack Morrison)
Character Job: Jack works security at Vyonation. The thought behind this was that he could get access to noteworthy areas of the physical building or eavesdrop on potentially revealing conversations, though I'll admit I might need some guidance on what kind of path he could take here!
Areas of Interest: The UNA, Gates, the Displaced, implants, the weapons cache.
Player Plots:
- Jack and Gabriel still have the crazy idea of trying to surgically remove the neural implants. Assuming they could get their hands on some necessary tools (a bone saw, for instance) by stealing from a hospital (is this possible?), and then went through with the dirty deed, what would happen? I assume it would mainly just be Bad, but further info would be useful!

- Jack and Gabriel also looked into ALIGN during the EMP event and got some information about the fact that UNA implants are manufactured at special military compounds/locations. What would be the next step in perhaps locating or infiltrating a place like this?

- Jack was made aware of the weapons cache when Fitz posted to the network about it and was very interested in being a part of sorting through the weapons, so if no one else has taken that over, he might try to. He's got a lot of experience with weaponry and could probably dismantle most of what's there, assuming he had the help of an engineering type or someone along those lines to figure out how it all worked. However, he also has no self-preservation so he'd be 100% fine with just finding an abandoned building and performing live tests, lmfao...
Overall Goal: Jack's #1 goal is figuring out the secrets behind why they're all here and a means of getting back home. I think in this case, jumping into other work that people are doing in this arena might be best since I see there's already some progress being made!

[larkers]

Hi Court!

As far as Vyonation goes, please feel free to hit us up if we ever include them in a plot. If you come up with any ideas before then, let us know and we'll see what we can do for you plot wise.

When it comes to removing the neural implants, it's going to be a bad idea, especially since (as far as we know) neither Jack nor Gabe have any surgical skills. Doing this themselves will probably result in brain damage and eventually death. That doesn't mean they shouldn't do it, as there are ways to reverse death in game. But if they do go ahead with this, they'll have two routes: hit a hospital or hit the safehouse (where there's a medi-unit). The former will lead to a lot of questions from authorities about why they're trying to remove their neural implants. The latter will lead to house arrest within the safehouse. Let us know which path they take afterward (or ... if one of them is due for permadeath due to stubbornness, as that is still a potential outcome).

For ALIGN, they might be able to draw the next natural conclusion that such a facility is in New Beijing. They can even use Cassius to get more information on that.

And finally, Jack can definitely approach Gaby about it! She would want to make sure he's not doing it alone, so she'd ask him to get more people on it. She's happy to have enough self-preservation for him, so no worries there.

We recommend keeping an eye out for the Carol and Strange plot with the notes since that'll tie everything together and begin with helping build leads!

[apathet]

Character Name: Laura Moon
Character Job: She's running safe background work as part of Jason's gang. I like to imagine at this point she's the tiny devil lady in the backroom who nobody dares mess with
Areas of Interest: Crimeland, also gods... because gods... but she's not gone there yet, also because gods

Player Plots: Unsure if this is a plot exactly but Laura's about to get involved with the fighting rings. She's recruiting Kovacs to team up with her - plan is that Laura will fight using her powers to reduce her sense of touch and amp up her opponents' and then when she's done with each fight Kovacs will absorb her wounds and use the extra energy in his fights. Hopefully tiny woman coming out of nowhere and winning fights will build some rep (and some hefty profits), and the extra juice can't hurt Kovacs' win streak.

I never did anything with the leg up she got from the dreamscape in the casinos and that window has likely long passed but is there any way to use this to get the attention of some people and open up something new? Whether positively or negatively?

Overall Goal: Make the most of being alive. Mostly this is about thrill-seeking and avoiding boredom and numbness, but it could also include helping others where she can since she didn't do a whole lot of good with her life last time around. Half of her also wants to get back for Shadow, but that means being dead again, so she may or may not get invested in that as time goes on

[larkers]

Hi Gee!

It's never too late to follow up on a plot, especially with how hectic things have been in character! By joining the fighting rings and getting that ball rolling, she can get back on their radar and they have their "memories" jogged. We don't have a lot of plots leading into the Riverside Mob just yet, so if you'd like to angle into them, that's a direction you can take. You can also have her work with the Kings as a regular seller and distributor of goods, since we know you started on that with her, as well.

Otherwise, the fighting ring dynamic duo plot sounds great!

[lighthearted]

Character Name: Sora
Character Job: He works at a restaurant! I don't have any intentions of making this plotty, don't worry. (Unless...?)
Areas of Interest: Monsters, dreams, the Displaced
Player Plots:
- Sora isn't necessarily the planning type and so his plots are a little less defined, but given what he did before coming to NA, I'd like to get him following the whole monster track. The problem is that he's not scientific at all, so I'm trying to figure out another means for him to investigate. Because fighting monsters of various types was kind of his job before coming here, he'd be curious to get to the bottom of the ones that have been popping up.

- As someone who already had experience with dreams, what they're capable of here is of interest to Sora. I know the MDZS crew is working on that, so I'll make sure to link in with them. But he's also still kind of set on that facility that existed during the Dreamscape event, and again with Spinetail, so he'd continue his search for a similar place within the waking world.

- This is a less formed idea, but given what happened at the end of Zerzura (people "dying") and Sora's own situation from canon, this is something he might start thinking about more. If they could survive the death they suffered from Zerzura, could he survive his own canon-caused death? So digging into what Zerzura actually was and how they all survived it would be another interest of his.

Overall Goal: Figure out what this world needs from the Displaced in order to save it, and make that happen. Then, get everyone home! Including himself... if possible. :\

[larkers]

Hi Court!

Maybe Sora can become a celebrity chef ...

More seriously, we believe that Kay is working on realizing that this was once an area of exploration back in the day. We recommend reaching out to them here (or in private!) to see what comes of that. Roxas is also interested in that path for knowledge, so you may want to touch base with Jaina to see where those things lead, bringing Roxas' worries and their experiences with monsters together into some common ground.

As for the dreams and Zerzura (on both fronts), perhaps you can get Sora started on looking into the "Points for Follow Up" section on the Zerzura aftermath post (here). We (haha) know that Riku already started looking into underwater facilities, so perhaps those things can come together in one big juicy plot pile.

[shield]

Character Name: Steve Rogers
Character Job: He doesn't have one yet. I was considering him joining Carol Danvers on the police force as a means to gain access and investigate things, but fire department could also work and maybe allow them to cover more bases.
Areas of Interest:
- Picking up on investigative threads left behind by Peggy Carter
- Monsters/experimentation and how it might tie back to the nightmare hospital from his arrival log
- General skepticism/mistrust of the United Nations
Player Plots: None yet.
Overall Goal: At this point I really just want him to find a place or role where he feels his help is needed so that he has a more solid personal investment in this world.

[larkers]

Hi Lia!

For Steve's job, we recommend going the route with the police force - mostly for CR opportunities! A couple other characters are angling into that direction, and we think it would be great for building a group and network that's working within the force. Once he's in training, he can angle toward working at City Hall once his training is done, wanting to "protect the leaders of New Amsterdam" or something. The same goes for the NAFD. More than anything, we suggest the direction being one where Steve calls others to arms (so to speak), going in together so their resources aren't overextended. Creating redundancies so they don't have to create a new network once someone disappears.

As for a more general direction, this is one of the big posts that Peggy did in game. You can also have him ask El for help in digging up all of her conversations in game to get a feel for what she was doing, essentially giving him access to her threads in game (minus the private stuff—Gaby and El liked Peggy too much to give anyone access to that).

In general, her focus was split between trying to get Morningstar back on two feet in New Amsterdam, as well as trying to dig deeper into a political position. She was otherwise interested in a lot of arenas: reads on the Displaced in other cities, she pushed back against the UNA during our UNA event, and she arranged charitable actions around the world. Peggy acted as if she wasn't a former agent, but Steve obviously knows all that she was capable of, so he'd see the connective actions!

Peggy wanted to help this world before she went back home. Gaby (our NPC) was aware of this fact and very fond of her, so there is a good chance that Steve could be pointed in her direction for some help. She wanted to promote Morningstar's mission, even if she technically led them through the most tumultuous time.

Morningstar, by its very definition, is anti-UN and the way they run the world. If Steve is skeptical, they'll be happy to confirm that. Hitting Gaby's most recent post will help with this!

Let us know if any of this works for you, or if you have any other questions! Since Steve is a leader and headstrong, we believe there are a lot of directions for him. We're happy to put him in touch with NPCs to help him get the focus he needs.