May/June 2015 Plotting Post

[undergroundmods]

May/June 2015
Welcome to the Underground's opening plotting post! These will be posted every month and are intended to give a summary of what's happening in the game and to give you the opportunity to lead or sign up for plots. You can make use of the information here to plot what your character will be doing in the next month. In the future you'll also receive updates on changes in territories, alliances between factions and other major events.

Check out the calendar for a quick summary of when things are happening. You'll also notice that OOC events are listed on the calendar. For example, there will be an activity check at the beginning of every month.

Factions
The witches of Circle Daybreak rule the roost in London. Under the leadership of Sylvia Redbright, the most powerful witch in the country, large parts of the city have become safe zones for all supernatural types to flourish and live in peace.

Thanks to their alliance with the Night Council, the Islington Nest enjoy protection from vampire hunters and have become the most influential group of vampires in the city. Their main rule is that they do not kill the locals. As the days lengthen, many vampires are driven underground (or Underground), with only the elite able to walk in the sun.

In contrast, London's werewolf packs lack influence on the Council, to their great resentment. Strict rules prevent them from turning new wolves without Night Council permission, or from roaming any part of London beyond their territory while in wolf form. Witches will only provide wolfsbane potion to wolves who swear their allegiance to the Night Council and agree to obey its laws.

The border between vampire and werewolf territories is considered particularly dangerous given the hostility between these factions, while the lawless regions of Lambeth and Lewisham are also bad for supernatural attacks. Perhaps unsurprisingly, hunters are most active in these boroughs, attempting to stem the tide of underground activity.

Finally, as midsummer approaches, the Seelie Court will reach the height of its power. Naturally, the fae will celebrate this landmark occasion with a great feast. Fae activity in the mortal realm is less harmful during the summer, as the Seelie are (relatively speaking) kinder to humans.

Territories
Circle Daybreak is the most powerful faction in the city, with six territories. Current disputes include Greenwich and Haringey, which are both claimed by vampires and werewolves. Meanwhile, Lambeth and Lewisham remain lawless territories and are dangerous for anyone to enter. 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.

Events
23rd May – MAY BALL.* The Redbright Institute is hosting its annual spring ball to mark the start of spring break and to encourage harmony between supernatural communities. The event is a celebration of the Institute's achievements over the past year, and meant as a welcome to the newest members of London's supernatural community. This will be the opening log of the game! Everyone is invited.

23rd-31st May – SPRING BREAK. School's out for the spring half-term holidays and that can only mean one thing: staff training at the Redbright Institute. While the students are away, it's the ideal time to focus on the Institute's other work, such as tracking down meta humans across London or training the latest batch of would-be Outreach agents.

2nd June – 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.

13th June – QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY PARADE. In central London they'll be Trooping the Colour in honour of the Queen. Meanwhile the Seelie Court have their own parade as they muster up their troops for a vibrant display of Seelie power. After the parade, the king orders his people to go out to the mortal realm in search of boys and girls to present at the Litha feast. The Unseelie may either help out in deference to the king or attempt to sabotage their efforts.

21st June – LITHA. It's midsummer, the longest day of the year, and a time of celebration for witches, who perform rites and enchantments to draw their power from the sun. On Midsummer's Eve, it is traditional to light a bonfire and stay up until dawn. The rising sun is considered to be a potent source of magic. Midsummer is also a time of feasting for the Seelie Court. Of course, it wouldn't be a party without inviting a pretty human or two to celebrate. During the Litha feast, the Seelie compete to present the most beautiful girl and boy to the Seelie king and queen. The winners are declared the Summer Prince and Princess and crowned with oak.

*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 rogue vampire. The vampire is newborn and cannot go out in daylight. They have killed at least one person. Reward: £200 – Claimed by Meg
2) There are reports of teenagers going missing in the north of London. These disappearances are seemingly unconnected, except for the fact that they all happened within a few days of each other... and that all the missing people are uncommonly pretty. A sure sign that the fae are involved. – Claimed by Tori
3) You are asked to investigate a haunted house, but it turns out that the person who asked you is in fact being possessed by the ghost haunting the house... and they have some not very nice plans for you. – Claimed by Tetra
4) A doctor is using vampire blood to heal patients. However, their methods for obtaining the blood are a little on the violent side. – 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.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[undergroundmods]

I know it's a lot to take in, so please let me know if you have any questions about anything in this post!

Re: QUESTIONS

[detectiveofthewest]

For the humans kidnapped to present to the Seelie court, are they harmed in any way?

[livelongenough]

Re: plots

If we have questions about a detail of a claimed plot, do you want us to fill in the blank, too? Or double check with you to make sure we're not contradicting anything?

[nestinghabits]

Does the vampire with a bounty on his/her head have an identity? Like, do they need to be NPCed or are the details left up to the players involved?

[acrookedchild]

Another question for the Seelie court thing. Just because I'm not sure and others might be wondering it too.

Are witches considered human for the kidnapping or does their magic make them exempt?

[acrookedchild]

I promise I'll stop bugging you soon.

How public would the elimination of dark witches be in Barnet? Is it hush-hush or a fairly open thing? I just want to know so I'm not writing a log for Barnet that goes against what should be happening.

plot idea

[detectiveofthewest]

Hi, so I've been rolling a plot idea around in my head for a bit and I thought I'd ask about how feasible it would be. Basically, I'd like to play out some supernatural jerk showing up who could run around and menace people/do terrible things until defeated by some player characters. I think this would work best if they were dangerous enough to be a credible threat, but not so dangerous that an entire faction would stage a beatdown, thus ending the plot before it started.

I was thinking a decadent, bloodthirsty lady vampire royal who shows up and decides she doesn't much care about feeding quietly and instead starts getting a bit of media attention (dismissed by normal Londoners as the work of a serial killer, maybe?). Maybe she starts threatening player characters/their relatives and might be extra dangerous if allowed to amass a bunch of minions or something like that?

Anyway, ideally I'd like to play a bit of buildup where people are wondering where these new vampires are coming from and so forth. Thoughts?

CLAIM A TERRITORY

[undergroundmods]

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:

<b>Plot lead(s):</b> <b>Faction:</b> <b>Territory claimed:</b> <b>When this will happen:</b>

Once a claim has been posted, players should then reply to the comment to sign up. Please specify which side of the conflict your character will be supporting.

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.

CLAIMING BARNET

[brightwitch]

Plot lead(s): Sky
Faction: Redbright Institute
Territory claimed: Barnet
When this will happen: w/c 23rd May

All right, guys, I'm making this claim to show you an example of how winning territories can work! In this case Barnet is a neutral territory, so victory is guaranteed unless there is serious opposition from other factions trying to stop the claim.

Please reply to this comment by 21st May to sign up, and help the Redbright Institute make yet another London borough a safe space for all supernatural creatures.

CLAIM A PLOT

[undergroundmods]

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:

<b>Plot claimed:</b> <b>Plot lead(s):</b> <b>When this will happen:</b>

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

Re: CLAIM A PLOT

[detectiveofthewest]

Plot claimed: Haunted house yes
Plot lead(s): Tetra
When this will happen: I'm thinking the week of the 27th or 3rd, but I'll move accordingly to accommodate players

[livelongenough]

Plot claimed: Doctor using vampire blood
Plot lead(s): Lynn
When this will happen: Around the 25th of May, so as to coincide with Spring Break, when Henry will have a bit of free time to notice things

Re: CLAIM A PLOT

[nestinghabits]

Plot claimed: Vampire bounty
Plot lead(s): Meg
When this will happen: First or second week of June. If other players want in on this and have a pref, give me a ping!

[hallapologies]

Plot claimed: Vanishing teens
Plot lead(s): Tori (myself)
When this will happen: The week prior to the Seelie feast and during, so probably the 15th through whenever that wraps up.

RUN A PLOT/EVENT

[undergroundmods]

And finally, 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:

<b>Plot/Event:</b> <b>Plot lead(s):</b> <b>When this will happen:</b>

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

[detectiveofthewest]

Plot/Event: Litha Seelie feast (mostly just the contest)
Plot lead(s): Tetra
When this will happen: 21st June

Re: RUN A PLOT/EVENT

[detectiveofthewest]

Plot/Event: The Bloody Countess, aka a vampire countess rolling into town and starting to cause problems/murders. There'll be a bit of investigatory buildup and then a fight.
Plot lead(s): Tetra
When this will happen:I'm thinking the main event will happen June 19, or earlier than next week

[acrookedchild]

Plot/Event: Forming a Circle Midnight coven
Plot lead(s): Lynn
When this will happen: Abby's going to start trying to bring Circle Midnight witches together around June 10th, but it will be an ongoing effort with no definite end date.

PLOT WITH ME: Claiming Barnet!

[brightwitch]

Use this thread to plot the Redbright Institute's territory claim! This is my plan so far:

Timeline
23rd May: Sylvia Redbright announces that Barnet is being added to the Redbright safe zone at the spring ball. Cue applause and celebrations.
24th May-7th June: The Reds do a sweep of the area, searching out any possible threats and identifying young meta humans that they can bring into the fold. It's also their job to bring the locals to heel.

I've got a couple of suggestions for potential encounters:

1) Preliminary investigations reveal a small nest of vampires living in the area. You are instructed to speak to these vampires and persuade them to accept their new overlords. The lead vampire is not happy though. In fact, he tells you to get out of his territory. What will you do?

2) You are tasked with meeting the local supernatural community and talking to them about living in peace and harmony with their fellows. There is some resistance from the local witch coven. You discover that this is because some of the witches are practising dark magic. The Institute's policy on dark magic is clear: it must never be tolerated. You are told that the witches must renounce dark magic or they will be driven out, even eliminated if necessary.

I won't be posting any logs for this, so please volunteer if you'd like to post something for either scenario 1 or 2. It will be up to you guys to play the NPCs and decide how they and you will respond.

Who can join this plot:

• Anyone at the Redbright Institute.
• Friends, allies and dubious acquaintances who might be persuaded to help out.
• Anyone who lives in Barnet. Congratulations, you are now under Redbright jurisdiction.
• Anyone from opposing factions who wants to spy or cause trouble. In this case obviously you can't sign up to help out, but feel free to plot and shake things up a bit!

[acrookedchild]

Definitely going to be looking to have Abby maybe help out some of the resistance of the coven, and/or help the dark practitioners escape. Or watching them be eliminated to drive her political pursuits. Whatever. So anyone who is with Redbright who might want to do something with that? Hit me up.

[detectiveofthewest]

Wasn't really planning anything big with Heiji for this plot, since he's not one of the primary factions involved, but let me know if you'd like to do anything with him or have a fae representative show up or have him spy or bail your character out or idk, maybe you just need a warm body for something.

You humans with your territory disputes...

[biophilia]

(it's the 21st here I FORGOT to check GMT +1)

As the only non-NPC Daybreak-affiliated witch, Ginko will either be talking to witches etc. on both sides and observing-- OR, esp if he is personally approached by a Daybreak/Redbright affiliate, actively working to help a Circle Midnight witch or two. I'm not sure how likely it is that he'd be approached with a task as in scenario 2? -- considering his lack of standing or explicit affiliation with one coven, even if he's probably socialized with a Daybreak coven since arriving in London.

Outright (but secret) resistance would be more likely in the case that he meets someone like Aradia, Kenzi or Abby who isn't straight up Mad with the Power, so his actual decisions/actions will hinge on meeting people who would be impacted by the takeover. He's predisposed to reeeally resent this kind of thing, regardless.

IN SUM: any of you guys want to log any particular part of scenario 2? And if so, what parts do you want to play out? I think this would be a cool way to build cross-faction CR!

I have to think about where he's going to live (at least temporarily, he has to keep moving). Will update when I decide!

[livelongenough]

Basically going to volunteer Henry for seeking out young meta humans and for speaking with the vampire, which I have decided to tie into the doctor plot!

LITHA FEAST (Seelie Fae Edition!)

[detectiveofthewest]

I was thinking it might be cool to have a little log for the seelie fae shindig, which since there... aren't a lot of seelies in the game right now I guess would be mostly for NPCs and gatecrashers who happen to stumble into the festivities. Party.

Aside from getting totally wasted on fae food and drink and maybe listening to some boss music, I thought it'd be cool for people to sign up for their pretty human character to get kidnapped for the contest.

So I'll step up and run this. I'll RNG for the two winners, and for additional bribery incentive: if their players so choose, the winners will also get personally whisked back to boring normal London on foxback, whereupon they will also get a small additional prize. It won't be PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER or anything, but it'll be a nice little present. Unless they OOCly want a comedy prize, in which case hahaha.

The only requirements for being kidnapped I guess is that your character needs to be pretty, young...ish, and human. I'll post later on in June for this also, but please let me know if you'd like your character to be kidnapped!

[acrookedchild]

I'll put Abby up for it. Poor girl deals with everything else, so why not.

MISSING TEENS: plotting

[hallapologies]

Pel is going to start an investigation into the disappearances. She has a mark on her hand that opens and closes Doors, so she has pretty much unlimited access to the Other Realm. The problem is finding out where the captives are being taken. She'll undoubtedly need all sorts of all talents.

And it would be pretty cool if she could interrupt and prevent a kidnapping.

This comment is to gather interested parties and spawn some ideas. Real intense plotting will be done on a gdoc that I will put up in the next couple of days that is riiiight here!

[knightscode]

I was going to sideways involve Lance by having him by aware of it as Met Police, if you'd like to have Pel run into him? Depending on where she's going to be hanging out/looking -- since Lance will be around circle daybreak territory, probably primarily around Richmond/Hounslow since Circle Daybreak territories close the ability to open fae doors or w/e but if they were lead over the border they could be snatched I think?