JANUARY & FEBRUARY RUNDOWN + METAPLOT END

[asgardmods]

Howdy guys! I'm still alive, believe it or not, and I'm here with the events for the rest of January and through February.

As a heads up, the full month of February is going to be a little different than the standard event format: as the world tree grows sicker and the magic in the city begins to unravel, characters in-game are going to be given ample opportunity to explore, discover, and contribute to a solution. There is a "fall-back" ending in place, but I want to emphasize that it is far from set in stone! More IC and OOC details on how to go about this will go up on February 1st accompanying the message that the gods send to the characters' bracelets.

As another heads-up, this month's AC check-in will be the very last.

Because of the nature of the events, I've changed the way the calendar is handled slightly: instead of using the standard HTML calendar, I've transferred it to a Google one, just because events are running throughout the month and this makes it a little easier to parse! As always, they're located here!



PLOT EVENT: E.T. Phone Home Pt. 1 (Jan 27-Feb 2/Days 561-564)

DAYS 561-562 (Jan 27-29)

Travelers looking forward to a peaceful evening on Day 561 will discover a new bout of power malfunctions, although these are a little different from any previous experiences. While nothing too severe happens (unless your timing is just that bad), sometimes powers just "short out" completely. Someone with flight might take a three-second long dip toward the ground; someone with charm may, for a few minutes, have to rely on their natural charm. Other times, powers might manifest as their house's other power (and, unfortunately, always at the other power's lowest level). A character in Odin might try to use their flames to warm up on a cold afternoon, only to stay frosty instead.

Network malfunctions begin at the same time: attempts to use the bracelets may result in texts you just didn't mean to send -- or maybe texts sent to the wrong inbox. Some filters will break, and occasionally "interference" on the network might make audio or video difficult to understand.

Meanwhile, the gods are largely absent (how typical, smh) but they look like overworked bureaucrats when they do appear on the streets. The natives are pretty concerned. :(

DAY 563 (Jan 30-31)

Morning brings with it a small series of tremors. Nothing too extreme—the Richter scale is not impressed—but the animal population in and out of Asgard is Not Happy. Even the most docile of cats, dogs, and longtoothed reinhares are nervous and twitchy, and the horses in the park are huffy and inconsolable. Even creatures from other worlds seem to be affected, if the creative new curses the Swear Toads are spouting is any indication.

If asked, the Natives will indicate that this, as all things are, is linked back to the slow death of the World Tree. Some of the bolder ones will implore the Travelers: please, help us find a way to save it.

Late that evening, the dragons will again land in Gefion Park.

DAY 564 (Feb 1-2)

A message will appear from the gods on the Travelers' bracelets, clear through all of the network noise.

PLOT EVENT: E.T. Phone Home Pt. 2: (Feb 3-10/Days 565-568)

DAYS 565-566 (Feb 3-6)

The hiccups in the magic of Asgard worsen abruptly. While the bracelets' network is still mostly usable, it will sometimes record or display video without warning. Sometimes the SOS alarm will start blaring for a few seconds at a time. Occasionally names of long departed Travelers may appear on the list, though attempts to contact them simply in magical feedback; at the same time, the names of Travelers still in the city may disappear and reappear at random. (Watch out, kids, or Cthulhu might get ideas. Him or that little girl from the Ring.) Messages from years ago may reappear, bumped to the top of the bracelets' IC inboxes, only to disappear again at random.

Computers in the city may connect to the internet—real, actual internet that might actually load a few seconds of a RickRoll—or possibly some weird outer space gobbledygook. Or maybe you pull a real E.T. and accidentally dial home with your swag jewelry, only to discover the person on the other end can't hear a thing from your end. These connections to the outside will always terminate quickly.

At times, the audio will cut away to nothing but the sound of cracking wood and the rustling of wind through dead and dry leaves.

Power fluctuations continue, with the bonus resurgence of home world powers. These lifted caps won't last long, lest a head explode, but for a few minutes at a time, characters may find themselves capable of an energy blast or sprouting appendages they lost through humanization. Anyone who appeared in the city with injuries or after death might feel phantom pains where the healed injuries had previously been. They won't be debilitating, but these old wounds will ache like an arthritic old man before a storm..

DAY 567 (Feb 7-8)

Yggdrasil again reaches out to communicate with characters as they sleep. Sometimes, they might catch visions of a frozen or rotted tree, or flashes of allies in their ongoing struggle to stave off the World Tree's destruction. The dwarves and elves are there; characters may even see the dragons. The pictures aren't clear, suffering from interference, but there's a sense that Yggdrasil is trying to say something important and maybe there's a way to cut the static.

DAY 568 (Feb 9-10)

With Yggdrasil's attempt at communication, powers slowly stabilize. Not completely, but enough that someone won't have to worry about their powers failing without warning (now they'll feel it coming, on the rare occasion it happens!) The network also stabilizes, but it drains Sigyn and Loki with its repair and mostly puts them out of commission. Mimir, taking the visions of Asgard's allies as a sign, returns to make an overture to the Travelers: with Vanaheim's new alliance with Asgard against Ragnarok, libraries that have been long-restricted and heavily guarded have been opened up. He invites those interested to come explore it with him, because - surprise! - Shit Is Getting Real, even more real than before (Asgard is seriously an ever escalating game of realness). There's no plan for what happens if Yggdrasil falls without Thiazi.

Before IC discussion happens with Mimir, an OOC post will go up for players to brainstorm among themselves and toss around ideas as to how to help heal the World Tree -- or at least how to help stave off its death.

EPIC HERO SIDEQUEST: Hot Under the Collar (Jan 28-31/Days 562-563)

DAY 562 (Jan 28-29)

Oh snap, that Surt dude is bad news and he's still hanging out with his posse of Fire Giants. Folks who volunteered in the last event post and are still interested will be PMed with some information tonight that will have come to their characters in dreams with information about Surt and his army's location! An IC poll will go up on the 26th in the OOC comm to determine what to do with that information -- should the army be captured? Killed? Ignored? TPed? The encampment won't be too far from the city, and Thor will be prepared that morning to march (or, you know, take the train and THEN march) out on whatever decision the city makes.

DAY 563 (Jan 30-31)

TDB by the poll!

A VISIT TO THE NEIGHBORS, CAN WE FIX IT: REPRISE, & THE WAY BACK

The specific content of these events will be determined largely by IC action taken earlier in the month. At bare minimum, they will involve sequentially: a trip to Vanaheim to research, an attempt to heal the World Tree, and an opportunity for characters to return to their home worlds.

PLOT FAST FACTS

PLOT EVENT: E.T. Phone Home Pt. 1 & Pt. 2 (Jan 27-Feb 10/Days 561-568)

Day 561-562 (Jan 27-29): The network begins glitching out again, and powers begin arbitrarily "shorting out" for a few seconds at a time. The gods look like they could use a caffeine IV.

Day 563 (Jan 30-31): Small tremors begin again in the city. Starting now, all animals - wild or domesticated - seem perpetually unsettled and nervous. The three dragons land again in the park.

Day 564 (Feb 1-2): The gods will send a message to all Travelers through the bracelets with some instructions.

Day 565-566 (Feb 3-6): The magic malfunctions in the city worsen. The network might display old messages or be unreliable when listing names of Travelers in the city. People may get brief echoes of their old, original powers, or feel pains from injuries from home long since healed.

Day 567 (Feb 7-8): Yggdrasil reaches out again, trying to help the Travelers figure out a way to clear the static and listen to Her clearly.

Day 568 (Feb 9-10): Powers and the network stabilize. Mimir invites some Travelers to Vanaheim to dig through once closed libraries. He will also try to encourage discussion and ideas on how to save the World Tree.

EPIC HERO SIDEQUEST: Hot Under the Collar (Jan 28-31/Days 562-563)

Day 562-563 (Jan 28-31): TBD by the results of the IC poll going up on Jan 26! Characters will be given choices on what to do with the newly discovered location of Surt and his armies.

As a note: February 28th will mark the end of the game's over-arcing metaplot! Smaller and celebratory events (and perhaps mini world quests or curses) will go throughout the months of March and April to allow players to reach a resolution for any storylines or CR that still needs wrapping up. The mechanics of this are tba, but characters themselves will be given an option to leave immediately or to stick around for a while to help facilitate this option.

If there's anything that I can do, please let me know! And as always, thanks for your eternal patience with my tardiness - because I do declare, trying to wrap this game up is going to give me the vapors. You guys kick ass, and I look forward to kicking much of it this last plotty month with you!