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abraxasooc2021-12-11 04:13 pm
Event #5 - The Dimming - OOC Info
Welcome to our OOC information post for December's event! We hope you'll find there's plenty to do, whether your character is inclined to stay home and enjoy the season's festivities in their home faction or head out to take part in a dangerous mission to the Singularity itself in our first inter-faction PvP event!
We've decided to use a little wibbly-wobbly holiday season flexibility to give our players more time to enjoy this event. While for the inhabitants of Abraxas the various festivals kick off precisely seven days before the solstice and conclude seven days following it, the festival logs for Thorne, the Free Cities and Solvunn are live and ready for you to tag into now, with the events described covering the in-game period of December 14th to the 20th. Once we have the results from the mission to the Singularity, new information will be added to cover the period of the 21st to the 28th. Please refer to the schedule below!
| Date (RL) | When (IC) | Where | What |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, Dec 11 | abraxasooc |
This information post for the event goes live, with sign-ups for the PvP mission to the Singularity. Please sign up to be given your outcomes before the 18th, so we have time to write the consequences into the second half of the event! | |
| Saturday, Dec 11 | Dec 14th-20th | abraxaslogs |
IC event logs for characters in Thorne, the Free Cities and Solvunn go live. In game, Abraxan magic wanes as the Singularity begins to dim on the 14th, reaching its lowest point on the 21st. |
| Saturday, Dec 18 | Dec 21st | abraxaslogs |
IC event log for the mission itself goes live. In game, characters will all arrive at the Singularity and face off against each other on day of the solstice, when the power emanating from the Singularity is at its dimmest. |
| TBD | Dec 21st-28th | abraxasooc |
While we had originally planned to update the IC event logs to include new prompts describing how character actions at the Singularity affected the conclusion of festivities in each faction, we have decided to adapt to a slower pace at this time and offer an OOC wrap up post instead. In game, Abraxan magic is expected to return to full potency on the 28th... |
Every year the days grower shorter, the nights stretch longer and the light of the sun feels weaker as we approach the winter solstice. On Abraxas, in apparent harmony with the cycle of the seasons, the Singularity also undergoes a brief period of lessened observable activity every year. Beginning on the 14th, the background level of magic across Abraxas dips significantly as the Singularity begins to dim, reaching its nadir on the 21st before stirring back to full strength by the dawn of the 28th.
This event has inspired annual festivals in Thorne, the Free Cities and Solvunn, and while the festivities have changed and developed over the centuries, all share a common root in the distant past. The level of detail, accuracy (and interest!) retained in the telling may differ from faction to faction, but everyone on Abraxas is at least distantly aware of the Thornean tradition and echoes of its origin.
Legend says that the High Mage of Thorne is entrusted with the stewardship of a stockpile of energy that was siphoned off from the Singularity eons ago— some say, by the Gods themselves. This energy is not inherently magical, nor are mages able to use it in its raw and untethered state. Details vary, but each piece of this secret hoard is commonly described as resembling a small, fist-sized ball of liquid light, contained in a spherical leaden casket.
Every year when the Singularity dims, so the story goes, the High Mage is charged with returning one of these little pieces of the Singularity's essence by physically delivering it to the statue at the center of the Singularity’s crater... though he cannot perform this task himself. A mage in his service, trained specifically the entire year for this one, singular duty, approaches the crater's edge at midnight on the Dimmest Day, and carries the casket to the statue at its center in an act of perfect sacrifice. Thus, the legends say, is the Singularity replenished and magic restored to the world.
Thorne traditionally marks the Dimming with a week-long festival of personal sacrifice and reliance on one’s neighbours, with a riotous celebration of magic taking place on New Dawn's Day as the Singularity returns to full strength. In Solvunn, villagers give sacrifice not to each other or the Singularity but to the Gods, thanking them for their continued favor. The Free Cities, rejecting the very notion of sacrifice, celebrate the temporary diminishing of the Singularity’s magic with an exuberant Festival of Enlightenment.
But this year is different. With the arrival of the Summoned, everything could be changed.
The Kingdom of Thorne
As Ambrose previously mentioned, the mages of Thorne are concerned that the Singularity appears to be weakening— and what better way to combat this than to make use of the Summoned, who can feed it as much energy as they can carry between them? Ambrose asks for as many volunteers as he can inspire to take caskets to the replenish the Singularity, impressing on them just how vital it is that none of their precious but dangerous cargo falls into enemy hands.
The Free Cities
When popular militaristic Prime Minister Marlo Reiner of the Free Cities learns of Ambrose's plans, she sees a dual opportunity. She can prevent Thorne from pushing the Singularity towards potentially dangerous overload and take some of Ambrose's selfishly hoarded energy stockpile for the betterment of her own people at the same time. The raw form energy contained in Thorne's caskets is reportedly useless for mages anyway. It's time to give science a chance.
The Solvunn Commune
Faced with the twin threat of Ambrose's ill-advised efforts overfeed the Singularity and Marlo's desire to finally get her hands on the kind of energy previously only held by the Singularity itself, Winifred Bordeaux decides to ask the Summoned in Solvunn to frustrate both factions' goals and bring as many caskets as possible back to the commune, where the dangerously chaotic energy inside will be kept out of harm's way. Or fed to the gods. Don't worry about it.
If after reading these you're still unsure about anything, or your question wasn't covered, please feel free to hit up our Questions thread below!
- Does the waning power of the Singularity affect my character?
- While Abraxan mages refer to this season as the Dimming, the power of the Singularity does not in fact diminish in any way— it simply focuses inward. The Summoned, having a direct link to the Singularity, will not find their abilities affected. Handy!
- Can my character still access the Horizon?
- Characters can still access the Horizon throughout this event by meditating on their connection to the Singularity as usual. However, physically crossing the border of the Singularity's crater will not send them to the Horizon automatically! The winter solstice is the one time of the year it is possible to physically approach the statue at the center without triggering the usual effect.
- Can my character go visit the Singularity without joining the official mission?
- No. This is a very sensitive time when none of the factions want unpredictable elements in the mix, and even if they were comfortable allowing free travel to the Singularity it is unusually difficult to create portals for travel during this season.
- Can I use this event to have my character switch factions?
- Yes— your character in the Free Cities could sign up for the mission but decide to go back with the group from Solvunn, for example— but please bear in mind this would be considered an act of betrayal and could damage your character's reputation!
- My character isn’t a fighter. Can I participate?
- Yes! You are welcome to write your character attempting to persuade another to give up their casket instead of fighting them for it, for example. We would encourage you to try matching up with an opponent with similar preferences, however!
- What if my character is a lot stronger than their opponent, but is rolled to fail?
- Please work together with the player of your character's opponent to plan this out! Perhaps their character was wearing magical armor that helped them ward off attack, or they made a strong argument that your character ended up agreeing with. Perhaps another character intervened or distracted yours at a vital moment. There can be any number of reasons a stronger character fails to defeat a weaker one— we encourage you to get creative!
- Can I offer more than one encounter?
- Yes, but please only offer as many encounters as you are willing and able to thread out, for a maximum of 3. (They are heavy!). Likewise, players of intercepting characters may sign up to try retrieving a casket up to 3 times, but please limit yourself to claiming one encounter at a time so that everyone has a chance to play.
- Can my character pick a fight with someone not from Thorne?
- Absolutely! Characters from the Free Cities can face off against characters from Solvunn, either to try and prevent them reaching the Singularity in the first place or to steal caskets won from Thorne before they can get them back to their respective factions. If you'd like to offer an encounter with your non-thornean character (bearing in mind that they may lose control of any caskets they may be holding) please fill out the form and reply to the sign-up toplevel.
- What if my character has a negative standing with their current faction?
- Unfortunately, Ambrose will only be entrusting Thorne’s caskets to characters he deems trustworthy. The Free Cities and Solvunn will also only be sending characters they trust for this mission. If you’d like to work out a way to get your untrustworthy character involved, please contact us and we’ll see what we can do!
- My character would want to take a casket for themselves!
- Naughty. Hiding and keeping a casket for personal use would be extremely difficult and have potentially unpleasant consequences, but it’s not impossible. If this is something you’d like to have your character do, please contact us with your pitch.
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