meadowlarkooc | EVENT #011 WRAP UP

Entry tags:

*event

EVENT #011 WRAP UP

> EVENT #011 WRAP UP

On August 23, 2512, the people from the Aerie begin to return enmasse. Unlike the people who returned before, none of these people died. Movement around the world begins abruptly as billions of people find themselves returned to their beds in the world they knew before, forced to face the life they once had. The Aerie itself is gone. Anyone who returns at this time will remember it disappearing, as well as the out of body experience that followed. (For more on this, see our Aftermath Log that we've posted at the same time!)

One thing is certain: everyone who's returned, either from death or the disintegration of the Aerie, remembers what came before. Even if the Aerie may be gone, the life and experiences aren't easily forgotten. And with that comes the consequences of a life in another world, especially a life that put many of the Displaced front and center.

(We'll expand more on the effects here in our Aftermath/Arrival Companion Log.)

> REVEALS

First off, this event came with a whole bunch of new information, but we don't want it to be lost on anyone. One of our primary goals of this aftermath post is to spell out these reveals as plainly as possible for our old and new players, as well as be able to reference this for everyone in the future. There are a few remaining and lingering questions, but we've highlighted them below.

Now, onto those reveals:

> GODS
There are seven gods in Meadowlark's universe who were responsible for the universe's creation. We define them in a very nebulous sense: they have personhood and a sense of identity, but it isn't defined by typical human perception. For our lore, we typically refer to them by their colors: Blue, Gold, Red, Indigo, Black, White, and Orange. In terms of our game lore, the gods were always intended to be the backbone of the game, standing in sharp contrast to the high-tech world of the 26th century.

Our game's story really got underway when the Blue was killed by a piece of unusual technology, causing it to splinter into countless pieces that spiraled into the multiverse. These days, Blue is only active among the Displaced, as they act as the medium through which Blue lives on. As a result of Blue's decimation, Gold began to stir in response. Once the people Blue inhabited began to wake from a drugged stupor, Gold sent out monsters in search for answers. This was the background for Meadowlark's first event. Gold is responsible for all of the naturally occurring monster attacks in our game. (That is, ones not inside of laboratories.)

As for the rest of the gods, their locations are currently unknown (though we've thrown in a few hints here and there).

> JOHANN P. GREY
For a lot of characters, Johann has become known as a boogie man. Johann is behind a lot of sketchy activities in game. He forced Cassius to cause the EMP in New Amsterdam. He stole the injured Displaced from our first arrival log, leading them to awaken later on in a laboratory outside of New Amsterdam that was infested with monsters. In addition, he had his hands on Cassius for hundreds of years, and used the Displaced to retrieve Judas for his own purposes. While Johann had a hand in the simulation that dragged in all of New Amsterdam, that was mostly Judas' plan.

In the AU, Johann was two-faced, having helped create the Aerie, yet eventually shifted to wanting to free the gods and undo it later on. The secret? Johann wasn't AUed in mentally, so he had to pick up on what the other Johann was doing to enact the final parts of his plan. In the AU, Johann was responsible for the Kestrels. We intended this as an opportunity to show the duality of his character: Johann is nefarious and could be malevolent at times, but he's more or less interested in seeing what's happening.

In reality, Johann is able to move through society thanks to his connections to the wealthy people in the world. He's a contractor who's essentially allowed to do whatever he wants, which also means that he doesn't necessarily work in the service of those corporations who bankroll his efforts. As a result, it's impossible to determine at this time where Johann's selfish interests begin, and where the corporations' selfish interests begin. To the powerful members of Meadowlark's world, it's an open secret that he's half a century old and participates in a lot of questionable experiments.

Also: yes, Johann wore James/Jimmy Henries' face for a while just to troll him, knowing it would complicate things.

> JIMMY HENRIES
James Henries—who much prefers being called "Jimmy," thank you very much—is responsible for all of the player characters being in Meadowlark's world. In his early 20s, Jimmy was pulled into another world that was ruled over by Lovecraftian gods. Essentially, this was his nightmarish jamjar experience. After spending a few years in that world and falling in love, he tried to go home with the love of his life. Needless to say, it didn't work out.

Instead, Jimmy returned to Meadowlark's world completely traumatized by his experience "abroad" and eager to get back to the person he loved. He began to engage in quantum physics experiments, and found out about the world's gods through the grapevine. It was through this process that he was introduced to Johann Grey. They began working together, with Johann offering Jimmy the knowledge of how to clone himself so they could work side by side to complete their project. Their goal? Find a god, wake it up, and then eventually find the other gods. Jimmy's skillset (and multiversal experience, though he kept that part to himself) perfectly complemented Johann at the time.

In September 2510, their project came into fruition and was executed. The result? Everyone present was completely destroyed, decimated down to a molecular level. (See "Project Spinetail" below.) Jimmy and Johann's cloning experiments meant that they could live on. Jimmy started a new lab near the Mariana Trench when the Displaced began to arrive. He kept them drugged, performed experiments, and even permanently killed them. In the midst of an effort to put them on ice far away from the Trench, the transport of Displaced was attacked and they were released out into the world (the very first log of the game). Realizing that he was no better than the Lovecraftian gods who tortured him, his friends, and the love of his life, he started processing the Displaced differently.

Since then, Jimmy has performed a lot of shadow favors for the Displaced: keeping people out of jail, helping Rey avoid trouble when she changed her name back, and … buying people concert tickets. Oh, also: Jimmy's why there's a lot of things named after birds (including the game itself).

> PROJECT SPINETAIL
Project Spinetail is the name of the project in the Mariana Trench that revolved around trying to wake up the god that had gone there to rest. In September 2510, the Spinetail device was activated to "awaken" the god, AKA Blue. However, Jimmy messed with the calculations to instead kill the god. This led to the complete destruction of the Spinetail facility.

> PROJECT MEADOWLARK
Project Meadowlark was started by Jimmy in order to harness the power of the blue pieces inside of each of the Displaced so that he could attempt travel through the multiverse. These days, it's simply the processing center so that the Displaced can be released back into the world (typically in New Amsterdam).

> LEAKS
During the AU, there were a number of leaks thanks to the efforts of Stephen Strange, Wade Wilson, and Nathan Drake. Their involvement is not known to the public, but these are tiny reveals that will have ripple effects in the world. As a reminder, here are the leaks.

The big ones?

A woman named Nirvana is Legion. With some research, Nirvana is a wealthy woman who grew up as friends with Mattek Kattan (the man known as "Ball" to many of the Displaced). She's the one behind the larger sacred geometry, gods, and Displaced murals around the city. She also did the mural in memory of Ball.

Rose Mancetti is the head of the Riverstone Mob. Very little was known about her before the AU, and she's done well to conceal her involvement with the mob. Now it's openly known to everyone, if they choose to act on it.

These two reveals will likely be explored in further calendars, but they're also open for individual player involvement via our Plot Engagement page.

> STATE OF THE WORLD

Now that the Aerie's existence has come to a close, there are a great deal of world changes for characters to discover. Some of these will be political, some of them will be social, and some will be environmental. In terms of player plots and specific reactions to characters coming out of the AU, we'll be handling these on our Plot Engagement page. We'll provide an overview here to give you a place to start, but we'd like to work with each player individually to set up a unique path for them moving forward.

Under specific headers, we will have additional plot opportunities. If you'd like to chase down these plots, bring them to us on Plot Engagement. Never worry about stepping on someone else's toes—we'll be happy to work out any necessary connections between players as needed!

> UNITED NATIONS
Unsurprisingly, the United Nations will be coming out hard against the Displaced. They already previewed this intention on our November calendar following the announcement made by Clarke Griffin and Stephen Strange. The Aerie just managed to provide them with a great deal of ammunition. After all, the Cardinals in the Aerie were all Displaced (with the sole exception of Johann Grey, but the UN can claim him to be a creation of the Aerie because he's legally deceased).

STATEMENT FROM THE SECRETARY GENERAL
Within hours upon the final returns from the Aerie, the Secretary General will issue a statement via every channel available. The first portion of the statement reflects upon the tragedy that everyone experienced. Instead of trying to act as if the Aerie was a shared delusion, it seems as if they're accepting it as a very, very real thing that everyone experienced. At no point do they try to blame it on technology, if only because technology does not exist that could make that happen. They offer condolences, as well as support for anyone who may need time to recover.

Moving forward, the Secretary General will remind everyone of the tragedies incurred by humanity at the end of the 21st century that brought them together to succeed. This foundation is what has made the United Nations an incredible institution meant to aid all of its citizens. The UN exists to protect all of their citizens, and will do everything in their power to do that.

Their first step will be to create a Special Investigation Task Force into how the Aerie came to be, as well as its connections to the numerous other unusual circumstances around the world in the last year. They'll be calling upon the best scientific minds of the world, as well as leading a criminal investigation into the people whose actions may have led to such widespread tragedy.

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION
The United Nations will be investigating the following events, trying to find the cause and connections between all of them:

◉ The various monster assaults, beginning with the one in June 2511, as well as the one that took place in May 2512.

◉ The EMP that hit New Amsterdam.

◉ The release of Judas, as well as the eventual simulation in New Amsterdam.

◉ Every UN citizen being swept up into the Aerie.

◉ A vague sequence of unusual events, typically occurring in or around New Amsterdam and connected to a specific group of suspects. They won't outright name the people associated with Red Wings, but various news networks will begin to draw attention to Stephen and Clarke's announcement and what it means for the world as a whole. They have been at the heart of nearly every world-changing event, after all.

For whatever it's worth, an investigation doesn't mean that the UN is clueless about the truth of everything, as well as the alternate parties involved. If anything, it's evidence that they're trying to scapegoat the Displaced. Given their roles in the AU, it's difficult to overlook their role in everything else.

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION TASK FORCE
The UN Task Force will be made up of two branches:

RESEARCH: The first will be looking into the scientific aspects of what happened, as well as trying to determine exactly what went on. The UN will be recruiting from corporations around the world in order to develop their task force to look into these events.
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION: The UN will be recruiting former Shrikes from within the Aerie in order to lead the criminal investigation. Since they're still without a trained military outfit, these shrikes will come with the training necessary to lead the investigation.

Two notable things:

1. They will not recruit Shrikes that ended up in the Quarry.

2. Any Shrikes will need to have no affiliation with the Displaced/Red Wings. Even if they follow someone on CoolTalk, that could rule them out. Keep in mind that Displaced characters can still qualify for this! They just can't be openly affiliated with the Displaced in any way.

In developing this outfit, the UN will likely continue to use this force beyond this investigation, granting them special permissions and powers to move through the world. Yes, this should be alarming. After all, unlike the UNA that heavily conditioned their soldiers, this secret force seems as if it will be more autonomous, staffed with loyalists who will have incredible power.

> LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Despite coming down hard on the Displaced—even if they may not be named directly by the Secretary General—various local governments will come out in support of their assistance in the early days following their return from the Aerie.

NEW AMSTERDAM
In line with his statements following Clarke and Stephen's announcement, Governor Joseph Lynch comes out in support of the Red Wings group, as well as their affiliated friends. Lynch points out that even after the horror of the Aerie, they returned to help New Amsterdam's people in a time of strife. These people not only helped New Amsterdam begin to heal without any pause, they also went to other cities (namely New Tokyo and New Beijing) to assist where they could. They've been doing this for months and months. All that the Secretary General's Special Investigation will find is that these people have been doing everything they can to help make the world better. As such, New Amsterdam will stand by and provide sanctuary to their Red Wings. And yes, this does include the Cardinals.

That said, the NAPD Police Chief, Shanna Mikhailov, does put out a request for any information regarding the bombing at Pulsar HQ. While the suspects were wearing Morningstar technology, Mikhailov informs the public that they don't believe this to be in line with Morningstar's tendencies.

In a follow up statement, Mikhailov reminds New Amsterdam citizens that while retrieving food following their return from the Aerie was fine, the expectation is that life in New Amsterdam will return to normal. What does that mean? No more looting (or whatever terminology the Displaced are using to justify their actions).

NEW TOKYO
While never truly contradicting the Secretary General, the governor of New Tokyo, Kimberly Williams-Da Silva, comes out in support of the people who helped her city's recovery process. Though there was some mild vandalism and breaking and entering, it was all in the name of trying to provide goods and services to the people of New Tokyo when they sorely needed it. PRESERVE is named as the foremost leader in these efforts, but so are the men and women who traveled all the way from New Amsterdam to assist New Tokyo in this time of trouble. Many of these people had done this before, as they had also assisted New Tokyo during its bizarre blizzard in early October 2511.

NEW BEIJING
Rather than fully providing commendation for an entire group, Governor Naomi Song makes a statement in support of Rey Solo and Kylo Ren because of the good work they did to get New Beijing up and running. While Rey and Kylo worked in tandem with Morningstar and Riverstone, neither of these groups will be mentioned.

> DISPLACED
Responses toward the Displaced will be rather mixed coming back. In addition, many of the Displaced themselves will have changed as a result of being in the Aerie. We'll cover most of those changes here, but the rest (namely: any new powers) will be down below in its own section.

APPEARANCES
Any of the Displaced can maintain any appearance shifts that they incurred as a result of being in the Aerie. That means that they can keep their tattoos, they can keep their hair, and anything else. As a rule, we'd prefer for people to do whatever's more fun with them, so we won't be handling approvals of these new changes on an individual level. However, we're happy to answer any questions as needed.

CARDINALS
Anyone who was a Cardinal within the Aerie will be looked at with disdain following the leak of information right before the world started to crumble. The Cardinals were the ones who created and turned the Aerie into the nightmare that it was for most of the citizens of the world, and even if they didn't personally ask for it, their connection to a number of unusual worldwide events will be looked at with suspicion. Many Cardinals will find themselves out of jobs, as the corporations won't want to be affiliated with them. After all, the Cardinals were dangerous entities who held power for so long. Keep in mind that this perception of the Cardinals will largely exist outside of New Amsterdam, as New Amsterdam's citizens know the Cardinals to be like onions (think: layers). Big corporations in New Amsterdam tend not to align themselves with the Governor and its people, but the rest of the city will be a little softer in their handling of the Cardinals.

ROOKS / MAGPIES
To a lesser degree, any Rooks and Magpies will be viewed with suspicion. Although Rooks and Magpies were not only populated by Displaced, they were by and large dominated by this tiny group. They will have a harder time moving up in their companies and getting new jobs, but they won't be completely left high and dry. After all, they weren't completely aware of what was going on.

COMPANY EMPLOYEES
Outside of grunts who did menial jobs within The Company, these employees will have a hard time in the real world. Did your Displaced have a major social media following? Well, now they're going to find themselves ostracized by the world they have returned to. While some major corporations may want to see if they can contract with them due to their skill set, they won't offer them permanent positions or any of the benefits typically enjoyed by a salaried employee. Upside, downside. You know how it goes. In fact, some of these Company employees may find that they're having a harder time of it than Cardinals because at least the Cardinals saved humanity.

QUARRY PARTICIPANTS
There are two tiers of responses to Quarry participants.

First: anyone who was a career Quarry (or "Snipe") will be met with suspicion by the world at large, including people in New Amsterdam. Many people will be very afraid of them. That said, mercenary groups and criminal enterprises would probably love to get their hands on these clever killers. Their identities will be known by police forces around the world, so they will need to be cautious, but they will have a very lucrative job market available to them if they decide to go into shady practices.

Second: anyone who was a dead participant from the most recent Quarry or a Quarry winner but not career (or "Snipe") will find that life is a little easier for them. Sometimes, their meals are comped. Sometimes, they'll find an offer to have their lease payment lowered. Sometimes, they'll get great seats at a sporting match just because they're outside of the stadium. Sometimes, they get free haircuts when they show up to a salon.

WORLDWIDE OPINION
Outside of New Amsterdam, the newly-named Red Wings group will be viewed with suspicion and uncertainty. Even if a handful of them helped during the monster attack, as well as following the release from the Aerie, most people will still view them with uncertainty and suspicion. A big role in this will be the UN. The UN's message of wanting to protect them and uphold their community as a whole will really offer some comfort to the UN's citizens following such a harrowing experience. Obviously, this might differ on an individual level.

SPIRITUAL
In addition to the worshipers in New Amsterdam, there will now be a spiritual turn in the world with regards to the Displaced. Though viewed with wariness, some of the Displaced, especially the Cardinals, will be viewed as if they're deities of a sort. We'll go into this further below.

LEADERSHIP
We're creating a large number of plot opportunities throughout this aftermath. Even if you're new to the game, please feel free to grab anything and run with it. The Displaced, by now, will be viewed as movers and shakers in the world—for better or worse. That means their tendency to take charge will be welcomed, if only because they seem to always be at the heart of things.

KESTRELS
We will be handling the Kestrels below, as they have their own unique thing going on.

PLAYER PLOTS
Overall, our goal in this outline was to provide a loose background of how things will be, while completely altering the status quo. Though the Displaced will be viewed by many with suspicion, some will revere them, while others will despise them. In terms of player plots, we're going to be working with players on an individual level over on Plot Engagement to dig into these opportunities. Don't worry about stepping on someone's toes—we'll put people in contact as needed, or develop separate and unique plotting avenues, as well.

> COLONIES
Thanks to the ongoing issues with getting supplies out to the space colonies, they were heavily impacted by the loss of communication and contact from Earth. While the moon managed, the rest of the colonies began to suffer. Orders fell by the wayside, and the people on the colonies truly understood that they were left to fend for themselves. Perhaps most importantly: they were able to do just that, all thanks to intervention from an unknown source. That source? The AIs El and Cassius, though the people on the colonies are unaware that they're getting assistance from artificial intelligence.

With the announcement that the UN is back online, the colonies will begin to unify. Their first step will be to ask for help and resources, as well as scientists to support them to prevent any further catastrophes. They want the means to create oxygen farms, to produce their own water, and eventually become self-sufficient. The people have been left up there to survive on rations, and they purposely recruit people who do not have the knowledge or resources to attempt to make a better life.

What the colonies want now is for that to change. Aside from the Lunar colony, which benefits from its wealthy citizens, the rest of the colonies have begun to shed their identity as merely forgotten branches of the United Nations. Their goal is independence, but they'll need help. They need supplies, assistance, and the means to get there.

Whether the colonies fully declare independence and become autonomous or end up being repressed by the United Nations will be up to our playerbase. This direction will be run as a player plot, but it will involve opportunities to veer into the metaplot.

> ANIMALS
Throughout the world, there will be a lot of animals wandering around. Some of these animals were once extinct, but are no longer. Remember horses? Now they run wildly in herds over the various continents outside of the megacities. And what about mastodons? They've somehow managed to return, too. Upon further observation, these creatures will be evolved in some way, allowing them to survive better in the environment outside of the city walls. Many of these fauna went extinct hundreds of years ago, so this will be hailed as a scientific miracle.

Almost every city will set up "Animal Observation Stations" on their city walls, allowing citizens to look out over the wall to the new variety of animal species outside.

In New Amsterdam, the artificial city river will be filled with fish. Even if it might seem impossible. Will these fish always be there? Yes! A majority of species variety are several types of carp, but there will be other types of freshwater fish such as trout and pike. There will be new regulations where someone needs to acquire a fishing license before they're allowed to fish in the river.

These animals will be treated as more of an ongoing world change, but if players want to pursue plots with the animals, feel free to reach out!

> JUDAS
Thanks to Johann's time in the Aerie, Judas fled from Johann's control at the first opportunity and is now on the loose. What's he going to do next? First, he'll be contacting Carolina (leaderboards) and Maine (bloodbathing) to recruit them for his efforts. If you're curious about getting in on this plot, reach out to either Dk or Kas to see if you can work something out. We're also happy to work with you separately at our Plot Engagement page. At this stage, Judas' goal involves recruiting allies. What he does next depends on who ends up on his side.

> KESTRELS
Coming out of the Aerie, the Kestrels will be a very real rebel organization in the world. Starting as birds spray-painted on walls in all the megacities, the Kestrels will soon begin to be known via dangerous actions done throughout the world. Standing in sharp contrast to Morningstar's otherwise conservative and moderate action in trying to drive change, the Kestrels will be radicalized extremists, as directed by their actions within the Aerie.

Now, given the radical nature of the Kestrels, it will be possible for the UN to put them down. Their survival will depend upon intervention from the Displaced (and these Displaced do not need to have partaken in the AU—consider these rebels who need a more directed cause), as they will depend upon Displaced leadership to keep them going. Many of the initial Kestrels will be motivated by the bombing of the Quarry and the Volary within the AU, and will still have their tattoos.

To add a wrench into the situation, Displaced who still have their Kestrel tattoo will start to get weird dreams. However, we don't want to force these on anyone who's not interested, so head over to Plot Engagement to explore this further.

> RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS
The world of Meadowlark was typically seemingly devoid of religious and spiritual belief following the human/AI war at the turn of the 22nd century. The only exception to this rule was in small pocket communities like the anti-technology worshipers in New Amsterdam, as well as some of the sherpas in the Himalayan mountain range.

Coming out of the Aerie, all of that will abruptly change. Now that gods have entered the equation and have very much made themselves known, people will begin to worship this mish-mash of gods and begin to create their own belief systems and religious communities.

Some of these beliefs will involve creating shrines or spiritual centers in abandoned buildings throughout the megacities. Some of these worshipers will simply be devout, while others will be seeking ways to be closer to a specific god, or the gods as a whole. Having determined that the monsters came from the Gold god, they will worship mummified pieces of the monsters as relics. Others will take the vengeance/monster/performance enhancing drug developed for the New Amsterdam fighting rings, even overdosing to try to prolong the effect beyond the initial twelve hours.

And then there will be some that will be creating fan Cooltalk accounts and forums for the Cardinals, Rooks, and known Red Wing employees. These pages will sometimes be stricken from record by both the UN and local police, but they'll always manage to spring up within the next day. Some will have sacred geometry symbols, even if they don't know how they came to be associated with the Displaced.

In addition, the small group of worshipers in New Amsterdam will begin to accumulate a lot of new members. Remember how they had no documentation or written word? Well, now there's pressure to get on that. Any Displaced want to volunteer to help write it?

> POWER CHANGES

After our first AU, Zerzura, we had a number of unlocks for the characters to use to connect to one another, as well as the setting. Coming out of the Aerie with the choice to free the gods, we knew that we'd do something similar, albeit on a smaller scale (in some ways, anyway). These two unlocks are below. When utilized, these abilities will make someone's eyes glow gold, which will obviously be more obvious if it's dark out.

> BATTLE SPIRIT
All of the Displaced will have the ability to unlock a power called "Battle Spirit." Working at two levels, battle spirit will grant characters additional durability, strength, speed, as well as the ability to work in tandem with other Displaced. This power will only activate when someone is in physical conflict with someone else (so, no, battle spirit won't activate when you're arguing on the network, but it may if you're playing soccer).

LEVEL ONE: The first level will allow a Displaced to activate the power on its own. This is a weaker version of the power, granting the Displaced greater durability, strength, and speed. At this level, characters will be 3x their normal level of durable, strength, and speed.

LEVEL TWO: The second level of Battle Spirit will scale according to the number of people in a conflict together. Level Two will grant Displaced a healing factor. If they're with one other person, their strength, speed, and durability will be 4x better, with that number getting higher with each person added. At this level, the Displaced will be able to move in sync with the others around them through intuition. This, too, will get stronger depending on the number of people available.

ACTIVATION: Battle Spirit will be able to activate on accident. At first, it will leave its user tired, but more and more usage will allow them to grow used to it. Two Displaced fighting can also lead to an activation of Level Two, making it so that they can easily read each other's actions. Yes, that can be used in the fighting rings, too!

> OFFENSIVE POWER (GOLD POWER)
The other new power granted to all of the characters in the game will be unique to the characters themselves. All new characters will get a new power. This power will also make their eyes glow when they use it. None of these powers will be passive in nature, and will be linked to conflict in some way.

Unlike the Blue powers, these powers are not able to be shared with others. Power ups are not connected to emotional growth, instead linked to conflict or opposition. Power ups will be more incremental in nature, available to characters once an OOC month. When you go to claim your monthly power up, you'll need to link a thread where your character was in conflict that month in some way. (This is where the network will count!)

To get your Gold Power, please use the form beneath this section and comment to the Gold Power Approvals header below.

New applicants will be able to activate their gold power after being in the game for one OOC month.

> STATE OF THE GAME

With everything now laid out, we'd like to explain why we've taken this direction with the metaplot. Simply put: we had given a lot of evidence over the course of two years with the metaplot, but we ran into a pickle with the AU. Both our previous AU event and most recent AU event had to be caused by divine intervention.

In planning the roles in the AU, we hit a point where significant plot roles hinged upon knowing a version of this knowledge as it applied to the world that everyone was in at the time. Leading up to the event, a great deal of information had been compiled, though there weren't enough definitive answers to allow characters to act on that information. The AU offered us a perfect crossroads, and one that we had always planned to take at some point. Namely: the characters having a fuller idea of what game they're playing in this world, as well as what they can do next.

A number of questions always lingered around the game: why are the Displaced here? If they're connected to gods, what do the gods want? Our hope with these reveals is for it to be clear that what they make of this world is up to them and them alone, and that it always has been. While the Displaced have certainly kicked over hornet nests along the way, we've always tried to include a clause of "well, no one has to do that" in a plot. Obviously, we acknowledge that characters may not accept the freedom in their role, but we wanted that more visibly apparent to our players!

That all said, here's a number of points we want to make clear at this stage:

◉ Meadowlark does not have a planned endgame. We've always had the same lore since day one driving the world movement, but character choices are at the heart of what we do. Sometimes it's player choices (like running another AU), but we try to make sure that IC choices lead to the plot you guys get.

◉ With the nature of our events, as well as the State of the World, we're going to move away from a bimonthly event structure. Sometimes having an event every other month can feel a bit breakneck, and there are plenty of player plots that we want to give time to foster. If things get a little slow, we'll cook up an event if one hasn't been activated via character action.

◉ Next month (February!), we want to run a quick and casual AMA about the plot at this stage. This will be designed to clear up any uncertainties, as well as provide any links to where info may be hidden.

◉ Following the event, there are a lot of directions characters can take. We made up a short list:

◈ Seek out the corporations' true motivations (as they are the true big bad in this world).
◈ Find the gods.
◈ Determine what is known about the gods.
◈ Explore their powers, as well as how to expand upon what they can do with them.
◈ Dig into the cults—or start a cult! Or a religion!
◈ Continue moon plotting.
◈ Help the colonies succeed in their independence, or assure their failure.
◈ Help the newly minted rebel organization, the Kestrels, succeed, or fail.
◈ Go to North America.
◈ Find Johann Grey.
◈ Discover new animals! Name these new species.
◈ Manipulate politicians!

Not all of these directions have plot implications, but many do. If you'd like to play with something personal while connecting with these, let us know. We're happy to give you a fragment of a plot to chase for a while.

To get started on any of these, as well as any personal character plots, hit us up at—you guessed it—Plot Engagement.

There are also a couple of other announcements that we'd like to make:

◉ Activity is going to remain at the level it's been. That's 10 comments across 2 threads for older players, 5 comments across 2 threads for newer. The world isn't getting any better. We'll revisit this in June 2021.

◉ For the month of January, we'll be check-in only because of the state of the world and the late nature of this Aftermath. Thanks for understanding why the mods needed extra time, everyone!

◉ Right now, we haven't consistently hit cap. However, if we feel that someone is consistently abusing this system to avoid regularly making AC and the game is at cap, we may reach out to someone to assess their interest. This may never be a concern, but we do keep a record of all AC.

◉ Along those same lines, we're still going to refrain from an HMD. If you have feedback for the mods, reach out to us at our Mod Contact page.

◉ Canon updates will no longer expect someone to stay gone for an IC week. We know how hard it is to make AC if you've just gone on a canon update, and we don't want people to feel as if they need to take a hiatus the same month they've sent their character out. You can keep your character gone for longer as needed, but we won't require the 1 week IC / 2 weeks OOC guideline any longer.

◉ We've also updated a heapful of pages to reflect all of the updates (and reveals) mentioned in this post:

Premise
FAQ
Powers
Setting
(Updated: Creation of the Universe, Timeline, Artificial Intelligence, Animals, Fast Travel)
Plot Engagement
(We made a new Plot Engagement page for this new era of plotting!)
NPCs
Canon Updates + Item Requests

> POWERS

Whether someone has been here from the beginning or just arrived last month, they are eligible for a power level up here. The thread itself must involve the character participating in the event for at least 5 comments, whether inside or outside of the AU. Threads must reach the 5 comments and be submitted here by February 1st, though we may begin to approve power ups long before that date.

To put in for your power level up, please comment with the form below.

After we have approved your level up, you will be able to submit it on the powers page to level up your character's power at any time.

> NOTES / JANUARY CALENDAR

Our final notes section is going to be pretty scarce, since it's mostly going to be our calendar! Please feel free to ask any questions that come to mind, as we're certain that we missed something.

JANUARY 16, 2021 ( AUGUST 23, 2512 )
Aftermath.
Aftermath/arrival log.
CR meme.

JANUARY 23, 2021 ( AUGUST 27, 2512 )
New characters are allowed to roam free.
Reserves open.
Test Drive Meme.

FEBRUARY 1, 2021 ( SEPTEMBER 1, 2512 )
Reserves close.
Apps open.
February calendar.
Activity check (check-in only).

> NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think these are minor clarifications:

- Is Jimmy accessible post-event as an NPC?

- Did this event (or Jimmy, who is, if I'm understanding right, responsible for their place here) clear up why the shards of Blue in the PCs are incompatible with their original, home-universe powers?

QUESTIONS

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Re: QUESTIONS

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Re: QUESTIONS

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POWER UP SUBMISSIONS

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if outside the au is okay!

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GOLD POWER APPROVALS

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