faileas: (Default)
aefenglom log posting account ([personal profile] faileas) wrote in [community profile] dagung2020-06-04 01:55 pm
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CR & PLOTTING: JUNE

CR & PLOTTING: JUNE

Last month, Boaltinn ended with a surprise - Mirrorbound veritably pouring out of mundane mirrors and reflective surfaces all around the city in greater numbers than have ever been seen through the Looking-Glass House. The city was set into a flustered sort of chaos, as the City Guard grew busy dealing with 'break-ins' and the Goblin Market vendors resurfaced to sell their somewhat-illicit wares. The moons had a much stronger pull on the Mirrorbound as well, leading to the Coven setting up boundaries out in the Wilde, ensuring a safe place to let off some steam. The barrier around the hunting grounds in the Wilde has been dismantled now, but markers have been left up in case it needs use again.

Miss Nessie and her Witches had suspicions about the longevity of the new arrivals, and a theory was proven true when they all vanished before June 1st - Mirrorbound require a mirror in the Looking-Glass House to truly anchor them to this world. While they do not yet understand what allowed people to be pulled through other surfaces, Nessie feels for all the Mirrorbound who saw old friends and family only to have them ripped away again. There is a renewed interest in the Coven in trying to discover the secrets of the Looking-Glass House and harness its magic in a controlled manner.

As Ieuneril sets in, with the departure of so many temporary Mirrorbound, the city grows quieter and starts to settle back into familiar routines, bustling as they prepare for Litha at the end of the month. Hopefully a less-ominous Litha than last year! Eyes are kept somewhat tersely on the skies searching for any hint of red. So too, there are whispers around Parliament about the sheer number of Mirrorbound that arrived last month, a fact many are uneasy about, but concerns must shift as a new problem arises...

What Lies Beneath

On the morning of the 13th, Sowilo, the Bonded Fae of Miss Nessie's assistant Theodore, will broadcast himself through the Watches, haughty expression uncharacteristically grim, bearing news. A dozen Wilders stationed at the Northern Outpost vanished unexpectedly a handful of days ago while investigating a rockslide in the cliffs, and search parties have turned up very little. Until now. Two of the missing Wilders were successfully recovered, injured but alive, and brought back to the Coven for treatment. Their story is a strange one.

From what they can gather, the group found a tunnel in the stone, leading far, far underground, where they were ambushed in vast caves of illuminated crystals. Overtaken, they were captured and pressed for information. Eventually, two were sent back with a message from a Monster the attackers called their Matriarch: she will release the Wilders unharmed if those who witnessed the stone spires of their city in a dream will come and visit. She has a keen interest, and the Mirrorbound (and only the Mirrorbound) are cordially invited to her realm.

Many may remember the dream from Mareuer - the caverns, the sheets of man-eating moss, and the bustling marketplace: the Underground, with all the strange people who have never heard of the world above them. Before, they were not allowed into the city proper, halted at the marketplace that rings the outskirts, but now there is an opportunity to make a discovery, an entire civilization no one in Aefenglom knew was there. Sowilo will explain that a group will leave in just a handful of days, and he will accompany them as far as the strangers will allow. They will need curious minds and strong bodies both: they know nothing about the people who live there, and weaker Mirrorbound could need fighters for backup. The Wilders may be over-curious meatheads but they cannot merely leave them hostage in a strange land, and with the tunnels lying so close to the Northern Outpost, knowledge of their neighbors will be highly valuable...

Yes, this June, we return to the Underground! All who wish to volunteer are given the mission to visit this new city, on the Matriarch's invitation, and gather valuable intelligence and experience for Aefenglom and the Coven. Ten characters as well will be chosen by the Matriarch's guards to have a conversation with the Matriarch herself - which means a chance to ask questions directly, questions other NPCs may not be able to answer, not to mention potentially affect relations. Representatives will be chosen by RNG and will each get an NPC thread. Please only sign up if your character would ICly volunteer for this duty and if you want to have a small thread with an NPC!

Representatives will be chosen OOCly on the 15th at 3pm EST by RNG. ICly, they will be chosen by guards when they arrive to the city, and will have 4-5 days to discuss with others and prepare their questions and comments. The meetings will ICly take place on the 21st.

They aren't the only ones who can affect relations with the Underground, however. We will be posting a good ol' Action Tracker for you all to let us know what shenanigans you get up to, and how things go will determine future friendliness or enmity, along with whether they accept a teleporter set-up in their city or not. They could be a new ally in the fight against the Cwyld, or a new enemy right at the Northern Outpost's doorstep.

The Underground will be ICly open until mid-July at minimum, possibly permanently.

FORMS

With all that out of the way, here is your CR/Plotting form!
    Player Name: Your name, handle, whatever you'd like!
    Pronouns: Your preferred pronouns.
    Contact: Preferred method of contact - discord, plurk, twitter, PM, ye olde MSN messenger, etc.
    Timezone: Where are you in the world?


    Character Name: Name & username!
    Canon: Exactly as it says.
    Appearance: Link an image or describe your character; if there's anything notable about them at first meeting, put it here!
    Brief: A few words to sum up your character, a couple of lines to tell what they're about, whatever you'd like. If you have an info post all ready to go, feel free to link it in addition to your summary!
    Choice: Witch or Monster; and for the latter, which one?
    Event Plans: Anything specific to this month's event!
    General Plans: Any other plans you have for the month! Don't forget to check out the Quest Board, too.


moustre: (Default)

QUESTIONS

[personal profile] moustre 2020-06-04 06:56 pm (UTC)(link)
moustre: (Default)

GENERAL

[personal profile] moustre 2020-06-04 06:56 pm (UTC)(link)
moustre: (Default)

EVENT

[personal profile] moustre 2020-06-04 06:56 pm (UTC)(link)
moustre: (Default)

REPRESENTATIVE SIGN-UPS

[personal profile] moustre 2020-06-04 06:56 pm (UTC)(link)
To sign up for a representative spot, fill out the following before June 15th, only one character per player. The ten will be chosen at 3pm EST on the 15th! Those characters will speak with the most powerful NPC in the city directly and get to ask questions and favors of her. She may have her own questions in return. ICly the NPC threads will take place on the 21st, but we will put up the header when the event goes up and you will be able to start it whenever you're ready to do so.

Player:
Character:
Your Availability/Time Zone: This will not disqualify anyone, we just want to have an idea of what times we should arrange for a mod to be around for quicker NPC replies!
Your Character's Approach: We don't need a specific list of questions here, just a vague idea of what kinds of things your character might seek to learn. This can change later if you think of other things as well!

Edited 2020-06-04 18:58 (UTC)
beguiledcard: (ng ♫ smirk)

Alex | Akira Kurusu | P5

[personal profile] beguiledcard 2020-06-04 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Player Name: Alex
Pronouns: They/Them/He/Him
Contact: skiesonfire @ plurk
Timezone: EST
beariot: (Default)

gsai

[personal profile] beariot 2020-06-04 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Player Name: gsai
Pronouns: they/them
Contact: discord = gsai#7107, plurk available on request
Timezone: us central
beariot: (don't get too misty eyed)

ursula callistis | little witch academia

[personal profile] beariot 2020-06-04 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Character Name: Ursula Callistis
Canon: Little Witch Academia
Appearance: https://i.imgur.com/9qlYgFJ.png

Brief: Ursula's been in the game awhile now and is pretty established as a respected astrologer AND educator, running a school for the refugee children. Several other volunteers help with this, though since a permanent injury that was sustained sometime back, she doesn't keep nearly as long hours as she used to. She is bonded to Fang and Kaede, and while the three of them technically share an apartment, Ursula is the only one that lives there on any permanent basis. Her students from home, Atsuko and Diana, are also in the city. She adopted Monika as her daughter, legally, as well.
In summary, she's integrated into Aefenglom thoroughly, and is an excellent help for anyone needing magic advice or education, particularly when it comes to Divination, Abjuration and Evocation.
Choice: Witch

Event Plans: Ursula will 100% join the expedition for diplomatic reasons. Her experience with being imprisoned inspires a lot of distrust in the Undergrounders, though, and this might actually dig out some pretty nasty thoughts in her. Plus with a lack of a connection to the cosmos, her own magic will weaken considerably, including the anti-toxins keeping her healthy at this point. Oops.

General Plans: As far as quests go, Ursula is up for Bond Counselling in Dorch, as well as helping out with the On Fleece quest, particularly with Akko. She's available for others, but keep in mind she's partially disabled now, and might need some help getting around.
scatmaam: (she had seen all to be seen)

scathach | fate/

[personal profile] scatmaam 2020-06-04 07:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Character Name: Scathach
Canon: Fate/Grand Order
Appearance: https://i.imgur.com/G3sLoch.jpg just. a lot furrier, these days. wilder hair.

Brief: Scathach is the Queen of Dun Scaith, Watcher of the Land of Shadows, and trainer of heroes. A legendary, immortal warrior from the Ulster Cycle, who crafted the legendary spear Gae Bolg. In Aefenglom, she's something of a warrior for hire, helping out in the Wildes and any other kind of "warrior's work" she can get herself into. She's bonded to Zelda, and lives with her and Marie, as well as in a romantic relationship with Jill Stingray. Her disciple Cu, in both Caster and Berserker form, are (is? this is confusing, lmao) also around, and she pretty much regards them as her sons. She's a frequenter of Monster-friendly pubs, particularly the one her girlfriend Jill works at.
She's definitely your choice for Action Stuff. She also is a big advocate for bonding.
Choice: Turnskin

Event Plans: She will be coing on the Underground expedition as muscle and perhaps a bit of diplomacy. A lot of people are telling her that, as someone who was a great leader in life, she should be taking a more active role in that aspect. This could be her opportunity to do so.

General Plans: Quest wise, she's definitely down for Sew N Sews and Kraken Good Time, and general wilde stuff, given she spends a lot of time out there killing Shades.
crowsfeat: unmasked (riddler riddler ask me why)

eileen the crow | bloodborne

[personal profile] crowsfeat 2020-06-04 07:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Character Name: Eileen the Crow
Canon: Bloodborne
Appearance: https://i.imgur.com/KV1Mq3j.jpg. she will rarely take the mask off. most of her harpy transformation is hidden as a result.

Brief: Eileen is a Hunter of Hunters, aka someone whose task it was in the land of Yharnam to track down and kill Hunters who had become "blood drunk" and dangerous to civillians. Because madness is the almost inevitable end of the Hunt, she's had to kill a lot of people, many of whom were former allies and friends. So she's a bit. Not okay about it. Aefenglom hasn't exactly been a kinder place for her.
She has no bond at this time, and very deliberately lives outside the wall, only wandering into town to patrol for trouble. She's basically Batman, but not rich.
Choice: Harpy

Event Plans: Eileen will gladly go to the Underground, because Hunters seek Insight no matter the folly involved. She'll mostly be there as a bodyguard, and will probably need a temp bond to keep herself from dripping into beasthood while down there.

General Plans: EILEEN NEEDS A BOND, BADLY. She's definitely starting to lose herself. For quests, to this end, I really want her in Berry Picking, just so she can loosen up some and warm up to the idea and or make some more friends. She's so bad at this.
evanescent: (85.)

robyn | characters below!

[personal profile] evanescent 2020-06-04 07:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Player Name: Robyn
Pronouns: she/her
Contact: PM/[plurk.com profile] godsibb, discord available upon request.
Timezone: PST (GMT-7)
faithlikeaseed: cw for graphic eye injury further down the page (blind - chipmunk grin)

[personal profile] faithlikeaseed 2020-06-04 07:13 pm (UTC)(link)
whispers, Can we adopt the giant velvet worms we met in the dream now?
scatmaam: (the Holy Ghost through his tounges in bl)

Re: REPRESENTATIVE SIGN-UPS

[personal profile] scatmaam 2020-06-04 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Player: gsai
Character: scathach
Your Availability/Time Zone: us central, currently unemployed for the forseeable future oop
Your Character's Approach: Scathach may have been a warrior queen but she was still a queen, and the Isle of Skye was a similarly closed off community to the Underground, guarded. She has a perspective that likely aligns with the Matriarch, and a willingness to not only listen, but also not judge her for basically kidnapping wilders.

she will mostly be interested in a meeting of minds on the topics of culture and societal goals. what do the Undergrounds want or need from others, basically. what valuable things they might be able to share with or teach Aefenglom.
Edited 2020-06-04 19:15 (UTC)
moustre: (Default)

[personal profile] moustre 2020-06-04 07:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, yes you may!
lostinshadows: (Default)

Re: REPRESENTATIVE SIGN-UPS

[personal profile] lostinshadows 2020-06-04 07:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Player: Lin
Character: Lavi
Your Availability/Time Zone: CST
Your Character's Approach: Lavi will be interested in the society in general. Anything that the Underground will be willing to provide though he might...snoop for secrets. Being a Bookman in nature, his first desire is knowledge. Why the Underground seems to appear again is of interest, including what separates them from others.
cryptsleeper: (Default)

Dia | Alucard | Castlevania

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2020-06-04 07:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Player Name: Dia
Pronouns: She/hers
Contact: PM me please
Timezone: EST

Character Name: Alucard
Canon: Castlevastle, but make it Netflix
Appearance: Tall, pale, blonde, less sad than he used to be
Brief: Sad local dhampir does a patricide to save Wallachia and ends up in Aef. He's got a good six months and change with grief, dating Treovr and Sypha properly, and generally becoming less of a shithead unless you're Hector.
Choice: Witch
Event Plans: Alucard will be down for exploring the Undeground, and will be making an effort to make documentary sketches etc. He's been to the Northern Outpost enough for this to cross over with a lot of us current interests.

I'm generally open to having him assist with a scuffle if needed, but mostly he's going to be a quiet nerd.
General Plans: Not sure beyond the above yet. I'm trying to readjust a few things in my personal life right now, so I may be slower than I'd like.
foundfamilies: (hello)

[personal profile] foundfamilies 2020-06-04 07:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Player Name: Yosie
Pronouns: she/her
Contact: PM here! I also sometimes make plurks about Aefenglom at [plurk.com profile] yobousiesho, but I haven’t been keeping up with it very well lately.
Timezone: North America’s Eastern Time (currently UTC-04:00)

Character Name: Leslie
Canon: The Monster Duchess and Contract Princess (I only have translations of the comic)
Appearance: Cute. She’s had about 4-5 months of real food and physical training for a little over 2 months, so these days she looks much healthier than she did when she arrived. Her arms are no longer thin enough to expect them to snap in a stiff breeze. You’d have to be marking her height on a doorframe to really see any difference there, so she’s still the height of the average ten year old. (She is maybe a centimetre or so taller than when she arrived. She hasn’t noticed and is still grumpy about her growth spurt not starting yet.)
Brief: Former abused child who seems to be making up for a lifetime of not being allowed to express emotion by having every feeling immediately broadcast on her face. Sincere to the nth degree. Still learning about the world.
Choice: Silver medalist of the littlest Witch contest.

Plans will be divided into two comments: Regular Monthly Plans and Leslie’s Background Outer City Plotting, because the latter has gotten some parts sorted out (I’ll be linking the info given by the mods to make sure my summary doesn’t miss anything). Since I am wordy, this will get long, but I’ve bolded key phrases in hopes that it will allow people to skim stuff.
beguiledcard: (ng ♫ soft)

[personal profile] beguiledcard 2020-06-04 07:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Character Name: Akira Kurusu
Canon: Persona 5
Appearance: Like an average 17yo guy, but with red eyes (when feeding) and slightly pale skin now (doot)
Brief: Stubborn, caring, and painfully loyal to those who win his trust! He can sass as easily as he can be serious when needed.
Choice: Vampire!
Event Plans: I have a few closed things planned, but if anyone has something they'd specifically like to do with him, I welcome plotting! I will be shoving at the meeting sign-ups because he can be surprisingly great for stuff like this.
General Plans: Same stuff as above applies! Let me know if you have something you want to do.

His post will have more prompts soon over here.
Edited 2020-06-04 19:39 (UTC)
cryptsleeper: (Doing real research)

[personal profile] cryptsleeper 2020-06-04 07:22 pm (UTC)(link)
--Exploration buddies? It'd be interesting for them to actually trade off the levels of distrust too.
foundfamilies: (would you please let me on my way)

Regular June Plans

[personal profile] foundfamilies 2020-06-04 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Event Plans: Currently, I’m of two minds regarding going to the Underground. It’s something I think Leslie would care about, but also might not want to go back to see the people who do sacrifice things. It might come down to whether I get properly back into the swing of things with my activity (which suffered recently).

For Litha, Leslie will be participating in the flower parts of the festival and will be unaware of the adults around her gently steering her away from the spicier parts of the festival. Unless anyone tells her otherwise, she will think it’s a festival of plants and marriage and nothing else. She will specifically be aiming to gather the seven flowers to put under her pillow. She doesn’t currently have any direct interest in romance, but she was told growing up that getting married is a necessary part of a happy life for a woman, making it more a box to tick currently.

General Plans: I fell absolutely flat on my face when it came to activity last month and I basically missed the fourth wall. My bad. Leslie likely spent much of early Maiuril not going out very much: she believes that only good people come through the mirror, but she’s not so confident about people popping out of midair (especially if she picked up on any of her housemates or friends being rattled by meeting someone unexpectedly) and she has a list of people she never wants to see again, on top of some lingering memories during the memshare dream hitting her self-confidence. Not that she entirely disappeared: Ferdie the beagle still needs walkies and the Coven library is needed to keep up her witch studies. She started coming out more towards the end of the month, especially for her job at the newly opened Purramid Cafe as “Royal Cat Petter.” (No, really.) She’ll be back in regular action by now.

On the Quests side of things, I’m only going to sign up for ones if I end up plotting out a thread with someone(s), as she has an allowance paying job now that means she doesn’t have to take a part-time job to earn her own money. Candlemaking might work well with her current efforts with Uncle Hubert to work on her fear of fire. I can also see her attempting to placate some sheep for shearing, or berry-picking and somehow being more emotional? Hit me up if interested.

On a more personal note, this is now the fifth month of Leslie living in Aefenglom and the fourth month of her having a living shadow familiar, with only a couple of temp bonds of a day or two when she ventured out of the city. If she doesn’t get a more normal bond by then, she will start to feel the effects of not having a bond on the new moon/first day of Litha: nothing bad enough to suggest a risk of explosion, thanks to her familiar, but she promised Hubert to tell him and/or Edelgard if anything changed in her magic, so she’ll be reporting that. In the end, she’s going to have to admit she needs a regular bond.

I mentioned it to someone offhand, so she will have at least one option: Hector (a monster) will offer to provide a bond on an extended temporary basis. He got the mistaken impression that he’s bad at bonding, so it seems he ICly intends to be a stopgap measure. If anyone is interested in a Leslie bond, let’s chat, but also if it’s not the right time, she will be fine thanks to Hector. I like bonds developing naturally and I recognize a Bond, Leslie Bond, Double-O-Cute (someone stop me) comes with some complications from her being A Cute Child Who Must Be Protected in the eyes of the majority of her CR. Did you want to pretend everything was okay in front of the child? Too bad, spill your emotional guts. Did you want to partake in the sex-friendly RP? Better have a grasp on blocking bonds temporarily.

Also, Leslie will start calling herself thirteen years old this month! I guess pedantically she’ll be a teenager. Wow that’s weird. No one bothered to remember her date she was born, so she just counts based on how many summer solstices have passed since she was told her age. So anyone calling her a child after Iuneril 20th will be getting told, “I’m not a child. I’m thirteen years old.” She’s not going to mention it otherwise, because she’s not used to thinking of her age as something anyone cares about, but that’s a thing.

(This is headcanon, as the information on her birthday is not out in English or on the Korean wiki page I could find. I did find a forum where people were discussing information from the untranslated web novel and I asked if there is any information on this, but unless that gets a response or the information comes out in the next comic chapter, it’s either headcanon or learning to translate Korean.)

Otherwise, it’s a case of trying to get the RP mojo back and poking around at things that look interesting.
lucubrates: (Default)

[personal profile] lucubrates 2020-06-04 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Player: Agatha
Character: Zelda (BOTW)
Your Availability/Time Zone: cst, generally available from noon to midnight
Your Character's Approach: As Princess of Hyrule, Zelda is no stranger to diplomatic meetings between leaders— much of her interest would be in learning what it is that the Matriarch wants and asking about their history and society. Indeed, she would likely be interested in hearing how they could help her, and trying to find a more amicable and pleasant way for communication beyond taking Wilders, and perhaps want to know why it is Mirrorbound only that seem to be of interest to her. Since her own country took a hefty hit during a war, she would be very interested in knowing what caused their current state.
stopfen: (The red and bloody land)

Mikasa Ackerman | Attack on Titan | Fae

[personal profile] stopfen 2020-06-04 07:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Player Name: Kitty
Pronouns: she/her
Contact: PM, [plurk.com profile] kittylyoko or the game discord
Timezone: GMT

Character Name: Mikasa Ackerman
Canon: Attack on Titan
Appearance: Here be the link. This month her chitin is molting for the first time and she's going to be turning a nice pearlescent white with pinkish patches, looking a bit closer in colour to a baby orchid mantis. Her left arm is also going to be fully covered, still no wings tho...
Brief: Was a sweet child, then murder happened, now a sad and tired young adult.
Choice: Fae
Event Plans: Here's my post for plotting on the dragon's tree quest/event. Though Mikasa is bolting the moment she notices Eren has been there. I also have my toplevel

What Lies Beneath
So Mikasa will not be signing up to talk, she'd go and have a look around because her chitin would have hardened by then but she knows she can't people enough to deal with the other stuff. She also has a monster-monster bond so...time for her to get jeered at I guess.
But no big plans yet.

Litha
No real plans but she's going to be drinking and maybe getting cuddley. That's about it. She's not interested in dreams of future partners so won't really be collecting the flowers.
Though she might make a few flower crowns for people.
OOCly I'd like to do a maze cause that sounds like it could be funny.

General Plans: So right at the last month she learnt Eren is in Aef, and she is not happy. She's sangry. Because why did he hide he was there and approach her under a different name??? So she's going to be spending the first chunk of the month overworking herself. Even if she's not going to be feeling right just before and after the full moon because of shedding... Then once she realises that doesn't work, she's taking a leaf out the of the guys' she knows books and just going to booze. When she's a lightweight.

For quests over than dragon's tree she's doing the below. I'm not planning on doing a catch-all this month so if you want anything just poke me and I can tag your inbox(Or you can tag mine, I love surprise inbox things 👀 ) or I can tag your catch-all. Whatever works.
-On Fleece- Gonna piledive a sheep and probably get bitten...
-Berry Picking- Got a few plans here but forced honesty and slight cuddles, while she's grump, is probably going to end up either sad or funny.
-Sew N Sews - Also got a few things planned here. She turns up once(or more if dragged by the CR), was not prepared. What is this? People can wear this, it's a sting?? You want her to try this on??? She's judging all the weird stuff here and going to be sewing really tame by this place's standards.
Edited 2020-06-04 19:32 (UTC)
beguiledcard: (ng ♫ coughcough)

[personal profile] beguiledcard 2020-06-04 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Player: Alex
Character: Akira Kurusu
Your Availability/Time Zone: EST and super open availability! Most easily available in evening.
Your Character's Approach: This is actually difficult to answer with this character type, haha...

Akira's approach would depend primarily on what his closest CR would want said and asked, to be perfectly honest. He would legit go to each person to ask what their biggest concerns are.

As far as himself goes, he wants to learn what he can do to help this world the most... But he would be the type to observe closely and choose how to approach at that time. As the leader of a bunch of thieves, this is the way that became ingrained.

TL;DR he just wants to learn things and help as much as possible.
foundfamilies: (trust me)

The Second Bright Wall Story (spoilers: there will not be a second bright wall)

[personal profile] foundfamilies 2020-06-04 07:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Last Time, On Leslie Attempts A Charity

In mid-March, Leslie began to research the possibility of surrounding the Outer City with a new Bright Wall, which involved working on her understanding of Abjuration. This got derailed in April with the memshare dream, but she started it back up in May again.

On the architectural front, the building of such a wall would be ruinously expensive for a single person and Parliament won't ever support it (proposing it to the Parliament at large would hugely damage the reputation of anyone who tried).

On the magical research front, information on the Bright Wall is restricted-access to a level that any Mirrorbound could at best hope to maybe see a tiny part of it. There will be some success in finding anti-Cwyld protective spells, but these neither are perfect at stopping Shades (a major problem) nor help contain the spread of the Cwyld among residents who are already infected. As well, trying to cover the border of the Outer City would also require many Witches working themselves to exhaustion to have any hope of covering the whole thing.

And Now We Return To The Present

Sometime in the near future (possibly delayed by a lot of people going Underground), Leslie wants to start visiting the Outer City, both to survey the area and to talk to the people who live there. She'll definitely need to be accompanied on this venture, since her self-defence training is still in early days. Since she dresses like someone from the upper class, has no experience with slums, and is a literal child, though, other people might have more success in talking to the residents of the Outer City than she might.

Conversations will reveal an oversight in Leslie's plans: some people in the Outer City don't want a wall. There are those who live in the Outer City because they have nowhere else to go and those who stay to live with their Cwyld-infected family and friends, but there are also those who choose to live there. Some are proud to live free of the city's influence; some Monsters think this is getting back to their roots; some infected people just want to live out the rest of their lives in peace and not have things uprooted by some well-intentioned Mirrorbound; and so on.

There is also a problem with trying to keep the Cwyld out: after some moved to the refugee district during the December snowstorm, the majority of the population remaining in the Outer City are infected or wish to stay with infected loved ones. A barrier against the Cwyld outside won't stop the spread of the infection within the population and the infected in the Outer City are generally unwilling to submit to the Coven's methods of curing the infection.

Conclusions

  • A compromise solution the mods have suggested would work within the bounds of the initial intentions is to claim an abandoned neighbourhood of a few blocks of the Outer City and rebuild it into a place where those who do want these kinds of protections could live. This could conceivably be covered by lesser anti-Cwyld magic without exhausting any Witches involved, which would allow any interested in moving into this neighbourhood some protection. Parliament has no interest in funding such a venture, leaving it to charitable or personal investment of funds and work, but they wouldn't interfere, either.

    A downside to this is that it does not solve the problem of the spread of the Cwyld infection within a population. The Mirrorbound involved in this protection could insist that people wishing to move into the protected neighbourhood must be uninfected (of a population that is majority infected/unwilling to be cured by the Coven) or they could accept that they will not be able to stop the spread of the Cwyld and focus more on providing a space more protected from Shades.


  • There is also the "solution" of abandoning the idea of providing such protections. The Cwyld and Shades are not the only problem facing the Outer City. Efforts of research and fundraising could instead be devoted to improving the life of Outer City residents in general, concluding that the problems brought by the Cwyld are, for now, a fact of life here. A recent proposal to do such things through government initiatives was rejected by Parliament in April in part due to opposition of making it easier for infected to live so close to the main city, so large-scale changes might be tough, but the Quest Board always has some options for helping on a small scale.


  • Due to the interest and help of other people, other solutions might be suggested and some might not come to the same conclusion as Leslie. For example, Guangyao ([personal profile] turmoiling) came up with the same idea independently and will only be working with Leslie by coincidence, really, and when I first sent out feelers, a lot of people of various moral philosophies expressed interest in getting involved.


At this point, I don't know what approach Leslie will choose, as discussions (related or not) with other characters or in-universe events could change her mind, but with the information I have right now, both seem plausible.

Any questions/comments/suggestions/interest in threads related to this/handwaving plotting/etc. are appreciated! Thanks for reading this absurdly long comment. (This is me trying to be succinct.)
foundfamilies: (and though I didn't understand you)

The original proposal and response in case I mischaracterized any of the information

[personal profile] foundfamilies 2020-06-04 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Phase 1: Leslie’s initial goal is to investigate the possibility of building a Bright Wall around the Outer City/farmlands. She will search whatever library or records storage that will allow her entrance to look up information on architecture and protective enchantments, with a particular focus on records directly relating to the Bright Wall. She will also ask around (beginning in the Coven) for either information on the Bright Wall or information on people who are knowledgeable about the things she is looking up (such as people responsible for the maintenance of the wall). She will also be attempting to get what information she can walking the publicly open parts of the wall, both in terms of understanding of the wall itself and in getting an idea of the outside by looking from that vantage point with some form of spyglass. As well, she will be talking to Felix regarding the small wall around the ruins discovered during the outpost expedition to get an idea regarding the possibility of using a shorter wall.

In cases where either she’s denied entrance or her questions are dismissed as coming from a child, she will ask for Edelgard’s help to see if her authority as a member of the Mirrorbound Council or just her much more impressive aura as an emperor will open doors, literally or figuratively. Leslie, not bothering to be subtle about her investigations, will be attracting the attentions of several members of her CR over the time she is investigating the wall, such as Bishop, Soren, Juza, Hubert, Mikasa, Lorenz, and Arthur, who will want to help with such a goal. In particular, while Hubert is not an expert in Abjuration and Enchantment, he has much more experience than Leslie in both the magic of Talam and experimental methods (her science background is iffy at best), making him someone that she can turn to if she gets stuck in her research. (She’s an academic prodigy, but she’s a prodigy for a twelve year old, which means the academic intelligence of about an average undergrad.)

Phase 2: Based on the response on the FAQ, it is almost certain that the answer is going to be “there’s not enough money in the world.” While Leslie is reluctant to accept this answer, having an idealistic view of helping people and no money sense, there are other people working with her by this point (such as Bishop), who will convince her to seek out more practical solutions. Her first step on this will be to explore the habited zone outside the walls and speak to those who live there to get a better grasp on the situation, under the protection of the others involved in this project. The people helping her also range widely in terms of class and life experience, which may allow them to experience more success when talking to the various people living outside the walls than a child with limited life experience who dresses like a noble would have.

Among the people interviewed will be Elliot, whose work with the infected citizens who refused Coven care gives him insight on the problems with the Outer City and the Cwyld. Investigations of the outskirts will also be aided by Emil, whose experience with clearing infected land that has diseased monsters in his own canon will help with understanding options regarding placing any barriers farther out from the city.

Phase 3: With this information, the group (Leslie and the more research-inclined of the collaborators) will begin looking into alternatives to at least slow the encroaching of the Cwyld, using similar methods to phase 1 of searching records and asking members of the Coven. When the anti-Cwyld enchantments mentioned in the FAQ are found, then upon at least one of them learning how to use such a spell (Leslie at least will be willing to focus her witch education on this direction even if she ends up slowing down learning other spells because of it, but it’s possible by this point they will have attracted the attention of someone who already specializes in the school the magic it falls under), experiments will be run to determine how much area a witch can conceivably cover such that A) they can renew the enchantment before it runs out and B) they retain enough power to not be then completely unable to do anything other than power such spells. This will be compared to the area needing to be covered. (Also determining whether it turns out to need to be done over the whole outer city or if it can be contained to the borders, and whether it can be used on some kind of “Bright Fence,” where some more reasonably costed barrier like a low stone wall or wooden fence can be built and the less intensive anti-Cwyld magic be applied on that and the land around it.)

On the side, they might also see if some kind of Cwyld infection alarm spell might be able to be applied to the places that are covered in the anti-Cwyld enchantments to know when the Cwyld has managed to pass through anyway to allow for Wilder/other volunteer response.

At the end of this phase, the group will likely pass on their findings to the Mirrorbound Council and/or the wider Mirrorbound community.

Phase 4ish: Leslie is probably going to chase the idea of a proper Bright Wall for all the residents of Aefenglom forever after she finishes the more practical investigation, but that’s just something for her to do in her spare time on her own.

Note: I recognize this kind of investigation is going to take a long time, even if Leslie focuses on it as priority one. I am good to either be given a timeline or to propose one myself if you don’t want to have to make that decision. It's also possible that the scope of characters involved could grow, particularly from new arrivals in the next app period.

1: Building a physical wall around the Outer City will just not be possible. It would be far too expensive and Parliament will never approve, regardless of the backing of Council members (in fact, proposing it, as it would be seen as completely ludicrous ICly, could harm their reputation with the rest of Parliament). There are other obstacles to a physical wall as well, namely the people of the Outer City themselves. While some live there because they're too poor to live elsewhere, or are infected by the Cwyld to some degree, others choose to live there because that is what they see as 'freedom' - not being caged in or beholden to anybody, living under their own power and strength. It's a mixed bag out there, which ties into your phase 2.

2: The aforementioned mixed bag is a good combination of people with different viewpoints on the Outer City. Some are infected but afraid of treatment that could let them move into the city proper if they were cured. Some are infected but just want to live out the rest of their lives in peace. Some see living in the Outer City as a point of pride - they're free to live as they please without being beholden to the city. Some are Monsters who think this is how Monsters should live, in touch with their 'roots'. The population of uninfected is very small, as most of them now live in the refugee district as of December's blizzard, but the ones who remain (usually due to friends or family who are infected) are aware of the dangers and still choose to remain in the Outer City.

3: Frankly the area that would need to be covered, if they chose to cast anti-Cwyld spells around the entire Outer City, would be pretty large and only achievable by a large amount of Witches working in tandem. It would also need to be regularly refreshed, which could lead to magical exhaustion in many of said Witches. It would be a very uphill project, and a bit futile - the Cwyld would remain able to spread inside the barrier from the people who are infected with it, who do not want to be treated. As well, the anti-Cwyld spells will not completely repel Shades. Replicating the enchantments on the Bright Wall 1 to 1 would not be possible as well - it is very old and no doubt contains secrets that even the most astute researchers and magical experts don't know. What information there is tends to be restricted-access, so that ne'er-do-wells don't get it in their heads to try and tamper with the Wall, the city's main line of defense. No Mirrorbound will have the authority to access all of it, no matter their bearing or titles from home. It is probably the most important structure in Aefenglom and crucial to its survival, after all.

What would be more plausible is carving out a portion (a few blocks, perhaps, with potential to expand later) of the Outer City, fixing it up, and casting the more accessible protective spells over it, for those who are uninfected or who desire to live within such protections, since the entire population does not see things the same way. Commandeering sections of the land complete with abandoned shacks on it would be easy enough as there are areas where no one lives currently, and this is not something Parliament would have any issue with. Granted, they also would not provide funding for it, but Mirrorbound would be welcome to make it a group effort, hold charity events, etc.

If you have any further questions about how things might go, just let us know!


Thank you for the very in-depth response! Some of these impossible tasks are probably going to be difficult to convince Leslie of their impossibility (though she’d be willing to treat the actual possible solution as a good first step), but if she isn’t made to recognize the futility of the attempt, it’ll just be a case of further dead ends that won’t need questions to the mods.

Anyway, with this information, I think I’ll be approximating a timeline of her initial attempts to find information spanning from late March to mid-June to let anyone who might want to take part now to get in on the ground floor, and then the rest of the process I’ll get to over the next few months.
abandonware: ([ 58. ])

a2 | nier: automata

[personal profile] abandonware 2020-06-04 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Character Name: YoRHa Unit Type A No. 2 (A2)
Canon: NieR: Automata
Appearance: 1 | 2 | 3. Her info post has more detail about her appearance. As she is post ending E, despite her icons, her hair is very long right now (and unwieldy tbh.)
Brief: A2 is a fugitive android from a wartorn Earth bereft of humans, where a battle between machine lifeforms and androids (like herself) has been raging for centuries. Initially, she is driven almost entirely by a desire for revenge and to destroy herself, but is infused with a sense of purpose when she's given 2B's final request to protect 9S. Because she is from a Yoko Taro game, this goes about as well as one might expect.

A2 is surly, impatient, violent and blunt due to wartime trauma and just her personality, but on the inside she is very sensitive, empathetic and gentle. If you give her a task to do and are nice to her she'll die for you. She has a kneejerk dislike of "machines," or robots who don't appear human in form, and is programmed to love and obey humans, though this coding has never really been put to the test, as she's never met a human. Until now I guess!

Lastly, she is accompanied by her Tactical Support Pod, Pod 042, who will on occasion pop up in her threads to interject. Pod is a little floating rectangular droid who talks (and provides assistance.) If this bothers you, please drop me a note and I will leave Pod out of things.

A2 spends most of her time beyond the wall, as crowds make her uncomfortable (anxious) but when she is not hunting she is relentlessly fetch questing and doing all numbers of odd jobs, even outside of the main quests. She likes to feel useful, so it's not outside of the realm of reason that your character has seen her around if you want to do assumed cr!

Choice: Turnskin (snow leopard.) As of now, most of freaky porcelain-coated metal robot teeth have been replaced by freaky porcelain-coated metal leopard teeth. She has become more nocturnal, and has developed a predator instinct/desire to hunt and eat, which is magnified during the full moon. This month she will be getting some eye changes/increased night vision, and her cute little leopard ears, so lots of itchiness/headaches as that happens.
Event Plans: A2 is familiar with the caves from her romp in them in the TDM! She'll be keen to explore the Underground (aka Pod will be insisting she does this until she caves (badumtish) and helps). She is exceptionally strong and serves well as a bodyguard, if anyone needs someone deceptively beefy to loom behind them during this adventure. She will also be legitimately curious about this whole underground society, and with Pod's help, will be gathering intel.

For Litha I don't have anything concrete for her just yet. She'll take a perfunctory interest in it as she's never experienced a festival of any kind but it doesn't seem like her type of thing. But who knows!
General Plans: Quests she's signed up for this month are Dragon's Tree IV (plotting comment!) & The Silent Forest for sure. For a more lighthearted one, I'm looking at On Fleece for her! She is currently Bondless, and needs a bond as she's p. unstable just canonically, let alone with the monster changes, but is far more inclined to do this with prior cr or other monsters, so I'm looking to facilitate that this month!
Edited 2020-06-04 20:15 (UTC)

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