undergroundmods: (Default)
The Underground Mods ([personal profile] undergroundmods) wrote in [community profile] abovegrounds2016-06-28 07:38 pm

July 2016 Plotting Post

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

This month will see a slightly extended Activity Check, as your mod will be on holiday from 3rd-6th July. Activity check will therefore close on 6th July and comments will be processed on 7th July when I return. Please do make sure to double check that you have filled in AC correctly, since you will not be notified of any mistakes until the 7th and correcting these will delay the results.

Check out the calendar for a quick summary of when things are happening. You can also check the game timeline to see what has happened in the game so far. It's been an eventful month!

Factions
Following the assassination of Millicent, ex-leader of the Islington Nest, the city's vampire problem continues to intensify. The new leader Raymond Harris has openly encouraged his vampires to attack both werewolves and shapeshifters, causing widespread fear and panic. The attacks included the murder of a Night Council Guardian, Simon O'Neill, prompting outrage from other members of the Night Council who have demanded that the Islington Nest stop this madness immediately.

The East End Pack is in disarray after losing its alpha James Memon, who left the city shortly after the emergence of Islington's new leader, causing great fear and resentment among the wolves. Meanwhile Circle Daybreak has lost one of its High Priests, Gilbert Norrell, who disappeared under suspicious circumstances. The official word is that he was attacked by dark magic in his own home, but there are rumours that Norrell himself caused his own undoing, proving him in the end a hypocrite.

In better shape is the Hillingdon Clan, which has rallied its forces and is looking to make a strong stand against the vampires. Always a loosely affiliated group of individuals more than a united force, there is now the opportunity for the shapeshifters and the hunters to work together to protect both each other and the rest of London.

Finally, having been preoccupied with in-fighting and election results for the past few months, the witch community are also responding to this new threat. Circle Daybreak held the territory of Southwark in defiance of the vampires who wanted to claim it back, and Sylvia Redbright will advocate for a hardline stance against the vampires. It seems Raymond has made himself a lot of enemies in a very short space of time.

Territories
Circle Daybreak held Southwark after the Islington Nest tried to take it back, proving unwilling to allow Islington to claim any further territory in the current circumstances.

Circle Daybreak is the most powerful faction in the city, with eight 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:
Jennifer Dunning | Human, Circle Midnight | Level 1
‣ The girlfriend of Peyton Haines, she has ambitions to be a 'Night Council liaison' for mortals.

Adriana Miller | Werewolf, East End Pack | Level 1
‣ Turned as the result of an accidental attack. Bitter and angry, she is always looking for a fight.

Lydia Samuels | Vampire, Islington Nest | Level 1
‣ A thoroughly modern flapper girl who likes to party all night and occasionally drain her boyfriends of more than just their cash. In the peak of her youth, she sought out a vampire to turn her so that she could keep her physique for her dancing for the rest of time.

Gener Valenzuela | Fae, Seelie Court | Level 1
‣ A very conventional fae who doesn't like change. Very dependable.

These minions will decide to leave town this month:
Estella Bradford | Witch, Circle Daybreak | Level 2
‣ A subdued young witch with an art for prophetic magic and communing with ghosts. Has a habit of talking strangely in the third person due to a childhood trauma involving the onset of her powers.

Sarah Roberts | Witch, Circle Daybreak | Level 2
‣ A skittish younger witch who can communicate with animals. Has a large number of cats.

Sigga | Fae, Unseelie Court | Level 2
‣ Sigvaldi is another version of a Banshee called a Bean Sidhe (Woman of the hills): she is drawn to death, and can sometimes predict it. She could be mistaken for a ghost with her long ragged pale hair and torn skirts. She uses wind and her own screams (which can cause a heart to temporarily stop and muscles to freeze for an instant) as her weapons.
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:
Abigail Widdowson | Circle Midnight | [personal profile] acrookedchild | Stays in town
Colin Coward | Islington Nest | [personal profile] occultdisciple | Left town 08/06/16
Their faction may decide the exact details of how characters leave and incorporate their exit into their plots if they wish.

Events
2nd-23rd July – HUNTING SEASON. Of course there's never a bad time for a hunt in the Other Realm, but in July they really make a festival of it. This year the Seelie king and queen have set their subjects a new challenge. Apparently inspired by a certain cult film reboot in the cinemas, they have decided to pursue ghosts in an effort to make London a more cheerful place. In the last week of the hunt they turn their attention to more usual game in the Other Realm, and finally to the legendary White Hart whose capture signals the start of a great feast. (Should a hunting party pass through into the mortal realm during this hunt, they will appear as drunken louts searching for a pub.) As the hunting season reaches its peak, the influence of the fae will be felt across supernatural communities in London. Hunting instincts will be heightened in all predatory types.

19th July – 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.

22nd July – SCHOOL YEAR ENDS. School's out for the summer! Hope you did well in your exams. Teachers, this is your chance to sit back, relax, and... wait, what do you mean summer camp? Enjoy the break while you can, summer camp starts in August.

24th July – GRADUATION. It's graduation time for the latest batch of Redbright students. There will be a short ceremony for the graduates, taking place at the Institute, and then tea and cakes on the lawn. Family and friends are of course invited to attend.

Plots
The following prompts are up for grabs this month:
1) There is a bounty on a rogue human who has made a deal with a fae in return for mind control powers. Reward: £500
2) Young werewolves and shapeshifters are being captured and forced to fight each other in sadistic cage matches. – Claimed by Shea
3) A group of fae are having a hunting party in the Other Realm – and you're the prey.
4) An irate witch casts a truth spell that covers an entire borough for three days. During that time, no supernatural creature may tell a lie in that area.

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.
anniesgonemad: (tight lipped)

[personal profile] anniesgonemad 2016-07-10 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
Annie could maybe help.

No one else is touching this, other than to fight against the fae (Evie).
falsify: (I was with your girlfriend last night)

[personal profile] falsify 2016-07-10 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
Evie come on, help the vampire hating bigot overthrow your leader

he just wants a little less murder in London is that so much to hypocritically ask for
stauncherhearted: (calming)

[personal profile] stauncherhearted 2016-07-10 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
Approach her and make a good argument.

Right now she wants to set someone who has DECENT (friendly) VALUES to take the position first. She's gotta fix this shit.
falsify: (Default)

[personal profile] falsify 2016-07-10 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
Me personally? I'm totally for it! Eames has mixed feelings but mostly they err on the side of "keep yourselves under control jfc"

Hey Faolan you wanna help with a territory claim or two
reticence: (Default)

[personal profile] reticence 2016-07-10 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
if you just kill the guy on top you might have to repeat the whole process again you know eames. at least assuring that someone less crazy is in the seat should settle the deal??? >> AND WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT JC

AND faolan can help, especially in rounding up the troops from hillingdon? THOUGH HE WANTS TO MAKE IT CLEAR this is because he is disapproving of what's going on with the vampires and not because he's made friends with the fae FOR THE RECORD OF ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE CONCERNED ABOUT WHERE HE'S TAKING HILLINGDON LIKE THIS
falsify: (Default)

[personal profile] falsify 2016-07-10 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
Would taking his shirt off help y/n?

MORE SERIOUSLY THOUGH he probably will approach some of the more... Reasonable vampires in the nest like "this situation is insane and unsustainable and your leader is going to get you all killed." Obviously he wants them gone, but he's not so unreasonable as to think he can actually kick them out of London. So he's approaching the subject from an "I need to fix this one way or another" POV. Either they get their shit in order, or they get destroyed, you know?
falsify: (Default)

[personal profile] falsify 2016-07-10 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
Well ofc he thinks killing Millicent without a suitable replacement ready to take her place was a monumentally stupid idea. Honestly he's straight up willing to help JC take the seat if it means Islington will chill the fuck out.

OF COURSE NOT who would ever think Faolan was some sort of fae sympathiser? ha ha ha...
stauncherhearted: (Default)

[personal profile] stauncherhearted 2016-07-10 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
M A Y B E.

YES PLEASE I'm sure they've run into each other before, if that helps. I'm so open to her helping them, if he can come up with a decent plan. Gods, Evie is a shitty vampire.
loveconquersdinosaurs: (Shouting)

[personal profile] loveconquersdinosaurs 2016-07-10 06:14 am (UTC)(link)
Thomas is definitely going to be fighting against this. Because he thinks this plan is a terrible plan.
reticence: (Default)

[personal profile] reticence 2016-07-10 01:06 pm (UTC)(link)
well it would certainly mean that they'd stop killing people for fun... >> WHO ELSE HAVE YOU GOT BESIDES EAMES?

and lmfao yes who would think that oh idk maybe like anyone on hillingdon or the night council maybe

Plot things, let's discuss!

[personal profile] brightwitch 2016-07-10 10:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Mostly Night Council things! I'd like to bring up a couple of different plot threads, see where we are and possibly tie them up.

The Night Council and Raymond Harris
So as you can see by this statement issued on 4th July, the Night Council finally decided to stand up to the vampires and condemn the actions of the Islington Nest. Islington's place on the Night Council is on a knife edge right now and Raymond could quite easily be kicked out of the Council by the end of the month, in which case they would lose their privileges that protect them from vampire hunters. What happens next is up to you.

How do we want to approach this? The only thing I am marking as off-limits right now is assassinating Raymond and replacing him with another NPC, since we just did that with Millicent. My ideal scenario would be replacing him at some point with a player character. (JC is currently the best-placed character to do this.) The way I see it, the options are as follows:

• Raymond continues with his kill werewolves and shapeshifters policy, resulting in the Night Council kicking him out by the end of the month. This will create a power vacuum that Sylvia would dearly like to fill with another Daybreak witch, but if anyone wants to make an alternative argument now would be a good time to start thinking about how to do that.
• The vampires persuade Raymond to abandon the policy in order to retain his seat on the Council. This would be a delaying tactic to allow him to stay as leader a bit longer.
• Raymond refuses to be persuaded to change his ways and causes a split in his own faction, with some vampires supporting him and others opposing. This is also a delaying tactic until he can be removed, but with added drama. In this case he would get kicked off the Night Council.

Obviously these options are not all mutually exclusive! I'm just throwing out some ideas here, happy to discuss alternative options too. Raymond is available as an NPC if you want to play any part of this plot out.

Players from factions other than the Islington Nest are welcome to comment here too, since your factions may well be looking to take advantage of whatever happens. (Eames' plot is a good example.)

Simon's murder
The Night Council statement claims that they have conclusive evidence that Simon was murdered by an Islington vampire as of 4th July. Guys, can I ask where you are with this plot? I can change the date if the investigation should turn up results a bit later. The fact that an Islington vampire murdered a Guardian is Sylvia's main political ammunition against Raymond right now and she will be milking that for all it's worth.

[personal profile] brightwitch 2016-07-10 10:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Sylvia is somewhat aghast that she might end up agreeing with an Unseelie fae. The horror.

This discussion may be of interest to you. It's a smart move for Eames to take advantage of Islington's current bad rep, I can see this working well whatever happens to the Islington leader.
outstandingbalance: (pic#10158390)

[personal profile] outstandingbalance 2016-07-11 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
Simon's Murder

Now that Natasha has the go ahead on this, she'll be using her spyz skills to help her track down the killer! Simon told her that the vampire smelled like campfire smoke, which should be enough to point her and Faolan toward a small enclave of vampire squatting in the area and narrow the field. She'll probably also be getting back to Simon to quiz him a little more about who killed him. Maybe the involvement of a medium or what have you could help clarify a detail or two so they can narrow down the list of candidates, get some spy photos of them and identify the killer from there?


Raymond Harris

So Nat doesn't go here specifically, and I can more than roll with whatever works for Islington players. But personally, selfishly, with Nat being a vampire and her interest in and involvement with the last assassination, I'd love to see things go the direction of a schism in the nest. Especially if JC were in line to step into the power vacuum. In character, that kind of situation would appeal to Natasha as a spy, and if she saw opportunities to support it, she would take them. Natasha doesn't have a lot of clout or resources to pull around, but for real, if she saw any way to make this happen, she would. Long term, she sees replacing Harris as the only real option and she has an interest in avoiding turning vampires at large into targets. The risks would be worth it for a sustainable solution for her.
baisant: (Default)

[personal profile] baisant 2016-07-11 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
RE: simon's murder -- faolan will have been assigned the investigation on this but he can't talk to ghosts so until he meets up with natasha he won't really have the same level of lead that she does. how do we want them to come together on this? maybe faolan might have some sort of inside information about the vampires from being a hunter/a fellow guardian/involved with the night council so that once he gets her side of the information he can help narrow it down further?

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS let's come up with some things -- we've got the timeframe roughly narrowed down but i just wanted to work out this much before i threw up a thread anywhere
baisant: (5)

[personal profile] baisant 2016-07-11 02:06 am (UTC)(link)
RE: Raymond - JC has been working his way up the ladder ever since Millicent was overturned and Raymond, an even worse power, came into power. Since everyone else who seems to want the position also wants to set the city on fire, he recognizes that someone has to take the reins before they actually SUCCEED. And he doesn't really mind doing it himself, if that's what it will take...

SO PERSONALLY I don't have a problem with things taking that sort of a turn, but obviously I'd like for other people to be on board with it as well. He'd want the support of at least some of the vampires in the nest, if not some of those on the outside as well for that matter, and I'd like to make sure that OOCly other people would be on board with something like that as well!
outstandingbalance: (parasteatoda tepidariorum)

[personal profile] outstandingbalance 2016-07-11 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
Nat is definitely in the position to take point then it comes to communicating with Simon, so that's easy. Natasha would want to get in contact with him very shortly after Sylvia gives her the okay to join the case.

Maybe the smoke clue would mean something to him as a hunter? Nat's mostly been looking for signs of someone taking credit. Considering it gives vampires more status within the nest, seems like someone would be bragging, but it hasn't happened yet. He might know about the squatters?

Divide work from there?
dredefulchilde: (Default)

[personal profile] dredefulchilde 2016-07-11 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
Raymond

I think the schism option creates the coolest potential for plot stuff, but I play a character who just wants to watch the world burn so that appeals to me in that regard. I'm open to whatever the other Islington players decide, and Joss will be supporting JC regardless, no matter what happens.
loveconquersdinosaurs: (Brotherly Smile)

Raymond

[personal profile] loveconquersdinosaurs 2016-07-11 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
I like the idea of a schism eventually leading to a player character taking control. It'll create a lot of fun drama, and I think it'll be fun dealing with the fallout of this.
Edited 2016-07-11 02:48 (UTC)
loveconquersdinosaurs: (Default)

[personal profile] loveconquersdinosaurs 2016-07-11 03:06 am (UTC)(link)
Thomas definitely supports him (obviously), because sanity is his goal, and JC seem sane.
longterm: (Default)

[personal profile] longterm 2016-07-11 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
To be honest, Cesare is happy to support whatever benefits him the most. He'll happily stab Raymond in the back or stick with him if he needs to.

However Cesare would not be at all on board with another Daybreak witch taking the helm in the Council. Vamps need power representation, ok. He'll do whatever backhand deals and sneakery/murder he needs to make that happen.
falsify: (Default)

[personal profile] falsify 2016-07-11 11:52 am (UTC)(link)
well here's Jeff he likes sunflowers and AB negative blood and... okay point made

EDIT: so if I set up a log later and had prompts for both of your losers, how's that for ya?
Edited 2016-07-11 11:57 (UTC)
falsify: (Default)

[personal profile] falsify 2016-07-11 11:53 am (UTC)(link)
Thomas please

he's helping

you know, not the vampires but he's definitely helping
falsify: (Default)

[personal profile] falsify 2016-07-11 11:56 am (UTC)(link)
Fae seat Fae seat Fae seat /bangs table

Obviously my personal desire is to boot them off the council with JC eventually taking the helm as leader of Islington and Eames would help facilitate that as best he can, but it's not my faction so I can step aside for whatever Islington players wanna do.
falsify: (Default)

[personal profile] falsify 2016-07-11 11:58 am (UTC)(link)
Almost certainly. Eames is all over the place he can meet anyone. If it's enough for him to know her as semi-reasonable I can def wangle a prompt for him to approach her about it if that works for you?
reticence: (Default)

[personal profile] reticence 2016-07-11 11:59 am (UTC)(link)
That would be grand c:

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