abovegrounds | February 2016 Plotting Post

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February 2016 Plotting Post

February 2016
Welcome to your February plotting post! You can make use of the information here to plot what your character will be doing in the next month.

We have some exciting updates this month! There have been a number of changes in the game information, including new ways to gain abilities as activity rewards, shiny new powers and further guidance on territory claims. Please familiarize yourself with the full range of updates here.

Guardian nominations open up again this month – look out for an OOC post very soon about that. We also have our next faction reward coming up mid-month and our next test drive meme towards the end of the month. Check out the calendar for a quick summary of when things are happening.

Factions
The power of the Unseelie Court is waning as spring approaches. After being banished from Croydon, the fae are licking their wounds before considering their next move. The animosity between the fae and Circle Daybreak is at its highest yet, with both sides having sustained a number of casualties during the conflict.

Attempts to convince Circle Midnight witches to give up dark magic have proven unsuccessful, with last month's purge of dark magic only increasing the deep divide in the witch community.

While the struggle to control and define magic in London continues, the Islington Nest and East End Pack have been quietly strengthening their power bases, even coming to an informal agreement to set aside their centuries-old rivalry. Clear lines have now been drawn between vampire and werewolf territory, but how long this peace will last remains to be seen.

Finally, this month sees the beginning of increased activity from the Night Council, as every supernatural community is invited to submit their nominations for potential Guardians. The Council chooses from those offered, and new Guardians are officially inaugurated in the second week of February.

Territories
In an unprecedented move, the Islington Nest agreed to hand over the disputed territory of Greenwich to their old rivals the East End Pack.

Following the stalemate in the previous month, Circle Daybreak mustered their forces and were finally able to drive the Seelie/Unseelie Court out of Croydon.

Circle Daybreak has regained its title as the most powerful faction in the city, with seven territories. See the Territories page for more information.

If your faction would like to claim a new territory, please comment to the appropriate thread. Players will then have three days from the date and time of the initial claim to sign up for the conflict. Anyone can sign up, but please only volunteer your character if they are a member of a faction involved in the conflict or they have IC reasons to actively help out. Please do not volunteer if you won't be able to participate in the plot.

If the outcome of the conflict is not already guaranteed, I will then look at the sign-ups list to calculate which faction will emerge victorious. It is up to players to plan and play out the actual conflict itself. If you comment to claim a territory, then you should also take the lead in planning and organizing it.

Minions
The following lucky minions will be promoted this month:

Christine Sexton | Werewolf, East End Pack | Level 1
‣ Viciously anti-vampire and very protective of the three blocks in her neighbourhood she considers hers.

These minions will decide to leave town this month:

Vernon Hammond | Witch, Circle Midnight | Level 1
‣ Stay at home dad with kids that recently went off to university. He comes from a family of Midnight witches, and wants his children to be proud of their heritage.

Matthew Lloyd | Human, Hillingdon Clan | Level 1
‣ Job-obsessed hunter who recently had a close encounter of the werewolf kind.

Lion Ushiromiya | Meta Human, Redbright Institute | Level 2
‣ Member of the Outreach team, possessing some magical powers including the ability to make people feel hopeful. Mild-mannered and polite. An optimistic soul.

Ariadne Laurent | Meta Human, Redbright Institute | Level 1
‣ An architecture grad student turned instructor, Ariadne's powers are based around manipulating space.

Jubokko | Fae, Seelie Court | Level 1
‣ A tree transformed when its roots drank deep of human blood. If given freely, its branches have healing powers (good luck with that).

And these less fortunate minions will sadly die this month:

Destiny Murphy | Witch, Circle Midnight | Level 2
‣ A 19-year-old girl who rarely speaks. She seems to belong to the coven mostly to read books.

Factions may decide how and when their minions die, leave town or receive a promotion. Feel free to work these developments into any of this month's plots.

Drops
The following characters will be leaving this month:

Njoki Agbede | Circle Midnight | aldabeyoun | Left town 25/01/16

Their faction may decide the exact details of how characters leave and incorporate their exit into their plots if they wish.

Events

2nd February – IMBOLC. The festival of Imbolc marks the coming of spring. Traditionally, young witches are initiated to become full-fledged members of their covens, wearing garlands of the earliest spring flowers e.g. daffodils or snowdrops. New beginnings mean new relationships: many covens also take the opportunity to meet up and mingle.

5th February – GUARDIAN NOMINATIONS. Every six months the supernatural communities of London are invited to nominate potential Guardian candidates to join the Night Council. The Council members decide which Guardians to accept. Look out for an upcoming mod post where you will be able to submit your character to join!

8th February – CHINESE NEW YEAR. It's the Year of the Monkey! Wear something red and get yourself over to Chinatown, where they'll be celebrating the new year in style.

12th February – GUARDIAN INITIATION.* The chosen Guardians will attend an initiation ceremony at Westminster, where they will be officially brought into the fold.

13th-21st February – SCHOOL HOLIDAY. It's half-term, just in time for Valentine's Day. Lucky you.

14th February – VALENTINE'S DAY. Love, romance, a chance to tell that special someone how you feel... Or a cynical marketing ploy to sell cards and chocolate. You decide. Of course, if the fae get involved and decide to play Cupid, you may not have a choice.

15th February – LUPERCALIA. An ancient Roman ritual, the Wolf Festival is observed by many werewolf packs and some shapeshifters too. It is still tradition in the older shapeshifter families to kill an animal of their own form and wear its skin during the celebrations. Meanwhile, werewolves mark the occasion by honouring those in their pack who have recently activated their curse. Some packs take this a step further and carry out ritual killings, activating the curses of young members of the pack to prepare them for their first transformation.

22nd February – FULL MOON. Werewolves, it's that time of the month! Will you chain yourself up or spend the night in a cage? Roam wild in the London parks? Or perhaps find a witch to make you a wolfsbane potion. Whatever you choose, better be prepared.

*There will be a mod-posted log for this event.

Plots
The following prompts are up for grabs this month:

1) There is a bounty on a werewolf who slaughtered a family of witches. However, further investigation will reveal that the slaughter was carried out by a vampire, and made to look like a werewolf kill. Reward: £500
2) An elderly werewolf comes to you looking for help. When the young members of his pack come of age, they activate their curse by killing the old and infirm. The elderly werewolf was next on the list, but is now being hunted by his own pack after running away. – Claimed by Kim
3) There's a rave happening at an abandoned Tube station. A nest of vampires have invited humans to the party, without telling them that they're the food. – Claimed by Shea
4) The black market for love potions has suddenly increased. There's been an unfortunate mix-up with the love potions and a brand of tea. Seems like someone got the packaging wrong. – Claimed by Lynn

About plots and events
• You may claim one plot prompt per month.
• You can also run your own plots based on the events listed above, or create your own.
• If you claim a plot, then you also volunteer to take the lead OOCly i.e. planning and organizing with other players, deciding on the outcome, setting a timeline etc.
• Once you have claimed a plot, you should introduce it ICly within the next month.
• Plots may not be entirely handwaved. You may handwave some of the plot, but you should play out at least part of it.
• Some plots will require NPCs as well as player characters to fill different roles. Please feel free to make up and play the NPCs yourselves.
• Plots are generally open-ended enough that you can make them big or small. It is up to the player who claims the plot to decide how they would like to handle it. You may want to do open sign-ups for your plot and specify whether there is a limit on how many characters can participate.
• Plots can also be self-contained or form part of an ongoing storyline. Again, it is your choice on how you would like to handle it.
• Please feel free to integrate plots and events or join plots up where appropriate. For example, if you claim a plot that involves a murder, why not choose an event during which the murder could happen? As long as the mod and other players are aware of your plans, I'm happy to accommodate.
• Do not ask the mod to explain what the plot is and what your character should do or discover. That is up to you. These plot ideas are just that, ideas, and it is up to you to run with them and decide how and why these events are happening, what your characters are going to do about it, and what the consequences will be.
• You may ask the mod questions pertaining to game mythology, to check that what you are planning to do makes sense within the game world.
• This list is not meant to be limiting in any way! Player plots are also very welcome.
• If you have an idea for a player plot, please feel free to comment here and see if there is any interest. Run it by the mod first if you're unsure of anything.

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Comment here to claim a territory! Please complete the following:

Plot lead(s): Who is going to run this plot? This should be you, but you can also list any other players who will be co-running the plot with you.
Faction: The faction that is claiming the territory.
Territory claimed: The territory that you are making a move on. It must be adjacent to a territory that your faction already owns.
When this will happen: Give the timeline for your plot. This should be in the next month. If you haven't decided on an exact date yet, a rough approximation is fine.

And here is the same information in a handy form for you to fill out:

Once a claim has been posted, players should then reply to the comment and state the faction they are supporting to sign up. Please only sign up if you intend to participate in the plot.

Do not use this thread to start plotting. This thread is for claims and sign-ups only. Please start a separate thread or post to plot.

Comment here to claim a plot from the prompt list. Please complete the following:

Plot claimed: Which plot are you claiming?
Plot lead(s): Who is going to run this plot? This should be you, but you can also list any other players who will be co-running the plot with you.
When this will happen: Give the timeline for your plot. This should be in the next month. If you haven't decided on an exact date yet, a rough approximation is fine.

And here is the same information in a handy form for you to fill out:

Do not use this thread to start plotting. This thread is for claims only. Please start a separate thread or post to plot.

Comment here if you are running your own player plot or event. This could be one of the events listed in the calendar. Please complete the following:

Plot/Event: What is your plot?
Plot lead(s): Who is going to run this plot? This should be you, but you can also list any other players who will be co-running the plot with you.
When this will happen: Give the timeline for your plot. This should be in the next month. If you haven't decided on an exact date yet, a rough approximation is fine.

And here is the same information in a handy form for you to fill out:

Do not use this thread to start plotting. This thread is for claims only. Please start a separate thread or post to plot.

Comment here to ask for and offer CR!

So, Lagertha is feeling vindictive toward the Night Council after the whole "let's not invite fae to the party" thing. (Seriously, guys. Reread your fairy tales. Such a bad idea.)

Combined with her own love of romance, Valentine's Day is the perfect time for a bit of 'harmless' fun.

After buying some love potions off a witch outside of England (harder to connect it back to her), she will be (in a log I'll provide, but other people are welcome to have it as part of their catch-alls, etc) replacing packs of tea of all qualities with different tea laced with the love potions. This will come in three varieties which will (nominally) be more/less likely to end up in circulation.

Puppy love-- sweet, harmless crushes. Especially meant to make those sorts of feelings worse. Matchmaking, things like that. The most common kind.

True lust-- fleeting passion. One night stands, short hot and heavy "relationships" and that kind of thing. Somewhat common.

Only you-- dark obsession. Full on stalking, possible violent behaviour. A very, very twisted version of love. This one will be very rare, and Lagertha will attempt to aim the tea with that potion in it toward the Night Council and those associated with them.

Obviously, no one has to drink the tea, and please discuss the object of the affection (whatever kind is caused) with the other person first.

Basics There's a rave going on in an abandoned tube station! This thing is gonna be hip and happening, and a great way for some of the younger characters to get out and shake it after the hellacious January and December that the Underground community has dealt with. But uh-oh, this rave is hosted by some hungry vampires. By RSVPing, you're signing your own death certificate. Nancy, personally, will be going.

Wanted A date! Girl's Night Out, friendly flirting, whatever, anyone who wants to come, let's dance! We could even make it a big thing! or a little thing, does not bother me! Also, perhaps some vampires, or rescuers!

Other stuff I'm not really good at this sort of thing? So throw me a line at

sheakespeare or comment here and we can sort things out! The log will go up early-mid february.

So I have been very, very absent for a while due to moving to the other end of the planet and just not having any brainpower left for Siobhan while I've been getting settled in New Zealand.

Now I would like to get back in the loop here and try to gently hide all the balls I've dropped and try to catch some new ones.

I am really so super open to suggestions so please come at me with anything you'd like, and I'm sorry that I disappeared so completely.

Nothing fancy or the like, but I've put up a Imbolc header in Abigail's open post, totally available to be used for mingling and celebrating the holiday.

All supernatural factions are welcome to attend.

SO. I figured I would try to take this holiday on since most werewolf packs do it and I don't see East End as being any exception. However I don't see them just pulling rando humans off the street and instead tend to target folks who either A) volunteer for the sacrifice (older unactivated wolves being the main source of that) or B) hunters or allies of vampires that have moved against them.

Now James isn't going to try and stop this tradition - not while Greenwich is so fresh. If anyone is interested in their character having a SERIOUS problem with it, I'd love for them to attend the Festival just to give their two cents.

I'll be posting a festival log for the werewolves and have a wake at the end to celebrate the lives that were volunteered and the enemies that were eliminated.

If anyone has any ideas for this plot please let me know here! I'd love to collaborate if we can!

So! In between other adventures this month (valentines tea spiker hunting) and even probably during, Lance is going to make a concerted effort NOT to avoid things that jog his blocked memories of fae. In fact, he's even going to try TO jog them!

SO c: This could be anything from a tiny jog to a big one, a big flashy magic or a word or a phrase.

DO YOU WANT TO JOG LANCELOT'S MEMORY? Run into him suffering a flashback? Help him invent a way to try and deliberately jog it (with or without success!)

It will be on and off throughout the month, so I'm open to anything!

GUESS WHAT. THERE'S NEW ROYALTY IN TOWN.

Eames and Finnick have both been trying to stay kinda lowkey about their lordships because of Reasons, but you know the thing about Fae is they sure do love a party. It's not really the typical banquet in the Other Realm deal though. Call it court unity, a middle finger to the mortals, or maybe just some drunk fae's idea of a good time, but on the 19th there's gonna be a Glamorous Takeover of Fabric in Smithfield. The club is smack dab on the Islington side of the border between Camden and Islington, but clearly these Fae do not give a fuck.

The three rooms will have different music going on, of course. One of them will be done up like a ballroom for the more traditional fae around, but for the most part it's just a bunch of unrealistically attractive (and glowy, in some cases) people dancing, drinking and probably engaging in some NSFW activities because of course they are. The food and drink at the bars will be safe (as in, not magic,) but it'd probably be sensible to exercise caution anyway.

They'll clear out after a few days. Some probably unfortunately eaten or banished because these things happen, but come the 22nd, the club'll be left as it was, but mysteriously out several thousand pounds worth of booze and patrons with the staff totally unable to remember why.

How bizarre.

So after Lupercalia and the very strong reaction to the ritualistic killing in interest of activating curses, James wants to placate those of his pack and the allies therein with something that'll go against that.

An elderly werewolf will go to him for help from his own pack, and James will be interested in assisting him.

Does this mean assimilating the pack he's running from into the East End? Wiping them out completely? Or simply changing the old man's identity and helping him flee the country?

LETS FIGURE IT OUT.

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QUESTIONS

CLAIM A TERRITORY

CLAIM A PLOT

RUN A PLOT/EVENT

CR PLANNING

Nothing like a cup of tea...

dance in the dark

Returning from hiatus

Imbolc!

Lupercalia Festival

MEMORIES

FAE PARTY FAE PARTY

Out with the Old