EVENT #12: INVOCATION - COORDINATION POST (PART 2)

[abraxasmods]

Event #12 - COORDINATION ( 2 )

go to the OOC Plotting Post or IC Event Log

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This post is for coordination while the event is ongoing, to prevent the IC Event Log from being overrun by OOC mod and player communications. The comments section will contain applicable comments and forms for you to reply to as needed.

Use this post to:

◎ Coordinate event plots with the mods
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Comments

THE ISLAND

[abraxasmods]

JOSSELYN CREED

[abraxasmods]

[carmesi]

Player Name: kira
Character Name: wanda maximoff
Other characters involved: adjacently, natasha + lucifer, michael

Action: wanda learned through natasha that josselyn has brothers throughout abraxas and that they've been "managing trade negotiations" between factions. natasha will have told wanda that the brothers didn't seem to have known about what she was planning. they shouldn't have to answer for her crimes, but wanda thinks it'd be prudent to have them around, so that should josselyn be cagey during wrap-up/interrogation, perhaps family could bring something out of her or they could get some information from them regarding where she is, her efforts, or state of mind.
Thread: where michael and wanda find out about josselyn through scrying, their informing the council about her, thread discussing with natasha about the creeds, the bros ain't so bad
Notes: not particularly something wanda would actively be looking into, but she'd mention it to the council 👍

[abraxasmods]

The Council would receive her information, informing her that they will indeed be reaching out to the other factions to make contact to the other members of the Creed family. The Council is aware of the brothers in Thorne and the Free Cities, as they left to manage trade negotiations with the Council's blessing.

Faction officials in the Free Cities and Thorne will use this information to speak to the brothers, in an effort to locate Josselyn while the Summoned are focused on rescuing the prisoners.

Though the brothers aren't in trouble yet, their connection to Josselyn might cause them a bit of trouble moving forward. Officials will be watching them closely for now.

[carmesi]

Player Name: kira
Character Name: wanda maximoff
Other characters involved: alucard, michael, claire, eddie, carl

Action: josselyn's warded door is a big pain in the ass, but they have some items/clues and will try to make use of them. these are the items they currently have:

1. enchanted ledger (found by carl and eddie)
2. black substance sample (collected by wanda)
3. jars and books from the house (collected by michael and claire)
4. blackened root and blood in a bottle inside a book (found by alucard)
5. the symbol from the abduction sites/wanda's vision
6. the name of the god nikodaemus (brought forth by kyle)
7. information from the council about what they might need to open the warded door

we're thinking they need to engineer the black substance, but before they start guessing at proportions from each jar, etc, wanda would like to have a look at the enchanted ledger. she'll be able to see that the ink contains an enchantment, hiding some of its contents. in my mind, timeline-wise, this is after her pact with soris...? not sure if relevant.

ANYWAY, for starters, she will be using her magic to try and remove the enchantments to get to the real contents of the ledger.

Thread: enchanted ledger is found, collection of the substance and noticing the strange symbol around, vial of blood being found, nikodaemus name, information about the warded door, jars and books found in the house.
Notes: granted, whether this affects anything in the event or has a bigger significance during the wrap-up (or beyond), it's good. there were probably more people involved in this but i'm not even sure i got all the threads i wanted to get lmao ;-;

[abraxasmods]

Using their combined discoveries, characters can uncover the following:

1. Wanda can invoke either her patron or Nikodaemus to dispel the enchanted illusion on the ledger. If she doesn't want to use her patron, she or someone else could logically surmise that the illusion spell on the ledger might be protected by the same god invoked for the illusion around the Thornean peninsula.

2. Dispelling the illusion reveals several recipes. One of these is for the black substance. They can easily identify the correct recipe since it's the only one involving the black root and blood found. Further, the other listed ingredients match the ones in the bottles recovered by Claire and Michael.

3. They can use the sample they have to compare and ensure they've recreated the substances successfully. If the consistency, smell, and color matches, then they've done it correctly.

4. By painting the symbol found at the abduction sites onto the door, they'll successfully open it.

Once inside, they'll find the following:

1. Personal possessions belonging to Josselyn, which may be important for scrying. Items include a silver locket, a bone charm, and another bottle of her blood. The Council would receive this from the group if they hand it over and will use it to aid in their search for Josselyn.

2. Pieces of evidence including a ceremonial dagger, one of the pronged masks, and multiple illusion-type spells recorded in notebook. They can use this evidence to prove Josselyn's involvement to the factions beyond a doubt.

3. An early base of the recipe used to create the gelatin product used in the rituals. The product in this recipe is a thick liquid instead of a jelly. Nonetheless, it may contribute to finding a cure if delivered to Nocwich.

[carmesi]

they'll be using their different skills to get it done. wanda will dispel the enchantment invoking her patron (don't wanna anger her with invoking niko, just in case), alucard and claire will work out the recipe with the measurements and ingredients, and alucard can give them the thumbs up on it smelling the same as the substance. michael will paint the symbol and wanda will point out any details he's missing.

once opened, as far as what they find:

1. they'll bring the personal possessions belonging to josselyn to the council so they can use it to search for josselyn during/after the event. enough scrying for wanda and michael for the time being.

2. the evidence will also be given to the appropriate authorities in order to prove her involvement.

3. claire will be handling the gelatin, and alucard will help get it delivered to nocwich.

additionally, if it's not needed for evidence, would they be able to keep the ledger? or — understandably — if the council/elders would want to keep it, if later on it would be possible for wanda to ask and peruse it. for reasons ? maybe. and in case it might help them with cure stuff down the line if there are lingering effects on those that were taken.

[abraxasmods]

A copy of the jelly recipe in the ledger will be delivered to Nocwich to assist with the cure. They may also receive a copy of that and the black substance if they feel it would help.

The ledger itself will be retained by the Council for now so they can go through it first. However, Wanda may have the opportunity to peruse the ledger in the future by visiting the Council to make a request. This can be for something related to the event or, due to her standing in Solvunn, they may grant her request for personal reasons.

THE ALTAR

[abraxasmods]

[unwings]

Player Name: Jay
Character Name: Castiel
Other characters involved: Norman Jayden

Action: Cas and Jayden are inspecting the altar, Cas is checking out the mouth in particular, shining his light power in there to see how far it goes/what's going on inside. he also tosses a stone in to see what it hits. he's running hands over it, looking for cracks, crevices, indentations, anything that might give under pressure. and of course, giving it a sniff.
Thread: Thread
Notes: this event has been so much fun, thank yall for all your hard work!!

[abraxasmods]

The altar smells like a foul mixture of herbs, rotting flesh, and blood. Inside is more blood and viscera as if the altar has been fed with sacrifices for a long time. The sound the stone makes is fleshy and wet when it makes contact with what is inside.

If the pair peer closer, they might find what looks like a human hand. They can try to pull the body out.

[unwings]

Delightful. Ok, Cas will go ahead and try to give the body a tug, being pretty cautious about it and watching for any movement of those teeth looking things on the altar.

[abraxasmods]

The body that falls out is quite disfigured. If they examine her closely, they will notice that the figure is breathing in a rhythm that pulses with the vines and forms that surround the altar. It is labored and painful.

They may try to keep the form "alive" for a few days to learn more or kill it swiftly. If they choose not to interact with the body further, it will perish after a few hours outside of the altar's mouth and decompose rapidly.

[unwings]

INTERESTING ok so the first thing Cas would try, since it’s looking like she pretty tethered to the altar for living, I’d see if they can kind of halfway put her back in? Enough that they can still see her face and try to talk to her. If that doesn’t change anything, they’ll just start treating her and trying to keep her “alive” right there on the ground next to the altar. So that’ll either look like rescue breathing or calling over someone with a healing ability that isn’t all but depleted like Cas is by this point.

We’ll be moving this thread to the ic exchanges section in a couple tags here, and they’ll be calling over Istredd and Urianger will help her with his healing ability. Cas will first try to talk to her out loud, ask if she can hear him, what her name is, how she got there, what she was doing in there, how can they help her stay alive. If she’s not able to respond, Istredd may try to communicate with her telepathically.

[abraxasmods]

She will not respond to any verbal communications. When Istredd establishes a telepathic communication with her, the body will "link" with anyone who is currently touching her. Though she is not explicitly capable of communicating, they'll receive a glimpse into her memories. They're not very coherent, but she appears to remember seeing a variety of god-like figures superimposed over the face of another woman who occasionally resembles Josselyn Creed. The emotions attached to it are soothing and awed.

Characters can sense that her vision looks and feels very different than the visions they themselves received of the shadowed figure. Hers is much closer to a typical hallucination mixed with reality, whereas theirs carries a note of something genuinely otherworldly or divine.

A PROMISE / DISSENTING ACOLYTES

[abraxasmods]

a promise;

[stations]

Player Name: Em
Character Name: Jack Townsend
Other characters involved: Inej, Claude, Sylvain, Gideon, Istredd, and Nero.

Action: When the dominoes begin to fall, Jack will jump at the chance to fulfill his promise and insist on helping the brother/sister duo get out. When the acolyte requests someone stay for them, Nero will be the one sacrificing himself for that endeavor while Cas, Istredd, and the other folks who were volunteering to hold the webbing keep the door open for them.
Thread: Thread
Notes: I wasn't sure if you guys wanted one of these for this part, but I figured better safe than sorry!

[abraxasmods]

With Nero's sacrifice, the Mysterious Acolyte and the Unknown Stranger will escape. They will follow the Summoned's lead and escape using the route that the characters helping them choose.

Since there are several characters protecting them, they will not be injured in the escape.

Dissenting Acolytes

[magicalarchaeologist]

Player Name: Dee
Character Name: Istredd
Other characters involved: Steve Rogers, Norman Jayden, Castiel

Action: They are going to take the diplomatic route and decide to trust her for now. They want to get out and they'll take any option, especially with the water rising. Istredd will also add to her that if she and anyone else helps them, they will put in a good word for them with this is all over. They can still make the right choice to save lives.

Thread: Thread in progress and ongoing

Notes: Nope!

[abraxasmods]

The Acolyte explains that in return for immunity from execution and allowing her to leave the island with the Spared coming to rescue them, she will be able to sneak a few of the Lost through a narrow tunnel leading up. She says only one at a time can come, and cautions she can free up to 3 of them at most as she fears more than that will cause the others to realize what's happened.

The Lost may choose who they would like to send with her, if any. Chosen characters will be able to reach the surface as the Spared are arriving to save them, and will also be able to show them this path for one or two Spared who want to sneak in through it. Although characters must take her at her word, she must also take them at theirs.

The Lost will later have two options to betray her and the 3 other Acolytes who are on her side:
1. Upon the turtle, it becomes clear there isn't very much room and that the turtle moves slowly under everyone's weight. Characters can choose to push her and the other Acolytes who helped them off the turtle, allowing them to move faster...especially as the leviathan approaches out of nowhere from under the ocean.

2. They can refuse to vouch for her and the 3 other Acolytes upon arriving at Nocwich, thus allowing her to be sentenced to execution if that is the determined outcome.

The Acolyte herself is telling the truth. She will believe the Summoned and help them to the best of her ability.

[ofthesword]

Butting in as Dee has invited Nero to be one of the 3:

Nero and Steve will go with the Acolyte to the top, bringing one of the wounded native NPCs with them. Steve is going for reconnaissance, and Nero's going to test the idea he might get some power back out of the pit. There they will communicate with the retrieval/spared team where they are and the lay of the land. Nero will attempt to fly up to get a bird's eye view of where they are, as he can manifest working wings. Let me know how far he might manage/what he could see! (If he falls Steve will catch him)

From discussions with participating players, the idea is a chunk of the retrieval team would then like to separate into two groups: 1. a negotiation team who goes up to the top where the tunnel leads out to communicate with the Acolytes/Summoned escaping, and to serve as a distraction while 2. a second group attempts to get into the tunnel towards the others in order to pull out people for escape and healing.

This is kind of a general pitch for what is happening all at the same time, but will let the other groups know (negotiation and sneaking teams) if they need to poke in for additional information!

[abraxasmods]

Although some powers would return upon exiting the cavern, flight would take longer to come back in full. However, Nero may fly above the island for a few seconds before his wings disappeared. Steve will have to catch him. While up there, he would glimpse a large moving shadow in the distance, possibly the turtle that will come rescue them later. He could also see in the far distance one very long leg belonging to the shrine creature.

The Acolytes bringing the captives up cannot be negotiated with much more as they've already struck a deal and have little sway over the faithful Acolytes keeping the rest of the Lost captive.

The negotiating team will need to attract the attention of the other Acolytes to begin negotiations. Though players are not limited to these options, we have two suggestions:

1. They enter directly through the main warded entrance described in the event log. Characters have Thornean and Solvunn mages, Wanda's patron god, and other resources to accomplish this. Once through, with enough show of force, they can convince the Acolytes to negotiate their surrender.

2. They take the Acolytes helping the 3 captives escape hostage (either as a ploy or without the agreement of said Acolytes) and go through the secret tunnel, using those Acolytes as leverage. Although the faithful Acolytes serve their cause first, they do share bonds with each other and may reconsider their stance when faced with a difficult choice.

The first option prevents any prisoners from being snuck out by the infiltration team while the second option may risk the other Acolytes allowing their comrades held hostage to perish.

Other scenarios are possible. Players are welcome to offer any ideas they'd like to explore.

[hextechhead]

Hello mods, I'm being tagged back in after putting out a thing to the whole group on plurk! 

We are going to pick option #1 you offered. Jayce, Rhy, Lenore, and Wanda (and possibly others) will approach the main warded entrance with the Thornean and Solvunn mages/NPCs. Kira says Wanda will use her patron god connection to help with the wards too if that works. If they can then get the ward down using the mages and Wanda's assistance, they will continue on down to try and get the attention of the acolytes so they will come up. 

Since they know the altar room is actually pretty deep, Wanda will be using her abilities to more or less aggressively and loudly slam at the entrance and the tunnel leading in to get their attention. Lenore has supernatural strength as well. They will be making as much noise as possible so the acolytes cannot ignore them. 

If this succeeds in getting them to investigate, Jayce and Rhy will say they are there to negotiate the surrender of their base and the people in it. They are flanked by some very powerful magic users so. You should listen!

As per our conversation before, the idea is that while they are distracting some of the acolytes, there will be an infiltration group that goes in through the tunnel Steve and Nero got through. They will be attempting to go through the sneaky route to find the captured people and see if there is a way out. 

We assume there will be people and monsters in the way of them doing that, which the infiltration team is interested in engaging with. Please let us know what next steps there will be!

Thank you!

[aquaveiled]

And I am hopping on on behalf of the Infiltration Team!

If the Negotiation Team is successful in getting the attention of a few (?) Acolytes with Option 1, then the Infiltration Team would like to use the same path that Nero and Steve left from. They understand that it's very narrow so they would be going in one by one.

They all will try not to garner attention as they make their way to the Altar Room but they are prepared to deal with any obstacles that come in their way, whether that be monsters or other Acolytes roaming about.
- Notably Alucard is planning on descending in his bat form and using that to slip by unnoticed.
- Himeka will try to cast her "Sleep" spell on a few of the Acolytes if she can. (The spell itself only lasts 30 seconds in game and anyone can be woken up if they're hit.)
- Thancred and Natasha are both skilled in stealth.
- Sam, Jo, and Dean also canonically are used to sneaking around places.

There is some interest (Thancred and Alucard) in fighting the Bone Serpent if he's still around. Some of us were also curious if the ceiling monster is about and available for combat too, or any other beasties roused by the activity.

In total the group is eight people trying to rescue nine (this is excluding Steve and Nero). Do we know how many people they would successfully be able to get out before the flooding starts, if at all? What would the Acolytes try to do if the Team is interrupted in sneaking people out?

DISPELLING PROTECTIONS

[abraxasmods]