saveyourselves | PLOT POST FOR APRIL 5th

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plot post

PLOT POST FOR APRIL 5th

This format of plot post is designed for players to ask questions and find ways to influence the plot. Be bold and ask what you can or can't do; the worst that can happen is that I will say no. As plots in Save the Earth are not self resolving nor on a time limit they can evolve in many ways. Although some potential outcomes are given, they are little more than suggestion and can be changed by character action. What role you take is up to you.

Events occurring currently;

• As detailed here the Vermini continue to roam the city, infesting small animals and have begun to swarm in large enough number to be confident in attacking the player characters.

If anyone would like to have their home investigated by the suspicious humans due to repeat appearances by Vermini infested animals, speak up and we can either play it out or work out the result. Additionally, if anyone wants to bring together the four or more required reincarnated characters to exterminate the Vermini, let me know.

• Paul Ben,

thewalkingdork, has died. And in doing so, he has revealed;

a) The invasion exists.
b) Under the influence of the invaders is the city's Chief of Police, a general of the American Military and the head of the most powerful and insane Mafioso Locke has ever seen. Who knows who else is involved?
c) That knowing too much will get you, and your family, killed.
d) The invaders cannot further their plans without finding a 'snake.'
e) Their base is somewhere outside the city limits, possibly a farm.

Events occurring in the immediate future:

• Now what're you going to do about it?

At this stage, you can start putting forward plans. How proactive the characters are going to be will directly influence what's happening. At present, the invaders do not even know there could be resistance outside of ordinary human society and are not going to be chasing the players yet. Emphasis on yet. Your plans can be subtle or daring, and they might be successful, fail or be completely pointless.

• The Thunder Corporation continues its plans.

Still rather underplayed, the news will contain many references to the currently fruitless campaign by Thunder to renovate the Dead District. Soon, a more otherworldly escalation will make it more apparently sinister.

Events potentially occurring in the immediate future:

• The Vermini?

If the Vermini aren't dealt with, something is going to happen. By April 8th, infested animals will just...disappear. But that ain't the end of it. Details will be given if players want to go this route. If this event is allowed to occur, at least three characters will be investigated due to constant infested animal appearances; either volunteers or chosen at random. If you feel the characters need an IC kick in the pants to tell them they have to deal with this stuff, I suggest letting this run.

Potential Echo Opportunities

Until resolved, characters who have not yet received an Echo from the strange creatures or Vermini will still have the chance to. Just witnessing Paul Ben's death is enough to receive an Echo. If the Vermini are dealt with, the mutated human is worth an Echo for all invovled. If the Vermini are not dealt with, it will kick off a plot that will offer a few. Potential Echoes await in proactive plots too.

Please direct questions regarding these plot points to the thread below and not the post in general.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What time of day does the Paul's post happen?

Also, if Lyall were to get close enough to one of those NPCs to get a good sniff, what will he smell? (Related: is it possible to get close enough to sniff? As long as he's in the equivalent of the same room, that's probably enough.)

Is there a concentration of the infestation/Vermini/etc anywhere near this facility?

I might be interested in getting involved in the four-character pile-up. Lemme think on how to make Lyall manage it. (Besides summoning all his students involved to class for a talk about safety... which actually would be really easy... >.> )

Edited (spelling v.v) 2013-04-05 23:11 (UTC)

About seven o'clock. I'll add that to the post, good catch.

I'm going to answer the related question first-That's up to you. If you can think of a way that Lyall could get close to any of them, suggest it and we'll plot it out. All three of them are quite hard to get close to under normal circumstances, but who knows? If you can think of a way for one or all, I'll answer the smell question.

About the Vermini, they have all gone running into the city. They're more interested in the reincarnated humans than anything around there.

Best option I think would be I think the police chief... playing the concerned teacher, asking after a missing student he was supposed to have a conference with Friday or Monday who didn't show and whose parents don't know where he is? He might not get close to the chief, but sniffing around the office might at least give him an idea whether he should try harder, and it's the first plan that would come to him. I will think further if that doesn't work as a stepping stone at least.

ETA: Whoops look at me not even reading the whole plot post. I try to reply too fast and miss shit XD Nevermind on the missing student deal, given the news. Maybe he could come in instead with a made-up lead about arson at the house?

And if you think the four-character plotline would work using Lyall and his students, let me know and I'll contact said students and see if they're interested ^^

Edited 2013-04-06 01:25 (UTC)

If the answer you receive in the teacher-student conference gone awry is yes, I'd be all for Anthony being there.

Heh-heh, caught it before I woke up at least.

That plan won't get Lyall to the chief unless he pulls some sneaky stunt whilst in the department, but it will get him into a department. Pretty deep, too! He won't be able to sniff the chief, but other clues will pop up just from that. I'm currently on my iPad away from my notes, so please hold on a while for the details on that. ETA:

Right! If you want to play it out or not, Lyall will be able to smell that a lot of the police (but far from all) smell unusually of various animals. Nothing exotic, but it's a scent that clings to them. The policeman that meets with Lyall will go through the motions of taking his statement but tell Lyall it's not considered suspicious and not to expect anything out of it.

And something completely unrelated to smells that is still important will come up.

In the lobby there will be a large stone carving in the style of a totem pole, depicting a snake atop a heart. Being near the statue causes a strange feeling in any reincarnated character, similar to an Echo but diluted. Instead of one powerful heartbeat, the heart rate rises so long as they're in a twenty foot radius and rather than a direct change to the character it will feel like a subtle force trying to persuade the nearby character that Simon Edward's judgement is good and to trust him. Someone who has experienced a genuine Echo will be able to feel it and being aware of the sensation easily resist its persuasion. What it's doing to ordinary humans? Who knows.

Anyway, sure, that could work. Tell me if you get your people together.

Edited 2013-04-06 14:11 (UTC)

All right! Also, The Psionic is apparently doing some hacking to get files on the three people mentioned for Lyall... I'm not sure if his mun has contacted you, but if not, what will that get Lyall?

I don't think it's required to play out, as that looks like all the information he could glean at his current level of understanding/sneakiness is what you gave me there... so I'm good with handwaving and using this info in particular :) So thanks!

I'll put up a network post for Lyall and his students to get this started. Though if the hunting party happens first, does that mean ours is moot, or will we be allowed to mutated humans to play with?

Hmm. I'll have to talk to them about it and see what and where they'll be trying.

Excellent.

Anyway, there are only enough Vermini for one mutated human. It might be an idea to discuss who gets what. As Lyall is already discovering the statue, might be an idea to spread the action out, but it's up to those involved.

Possibly so... I HAVE kind of been throwing Lyall at EVERYTHING OMG. Let's see which group gets the required amount of people first, I suppose?

I can have him talk about the police station trip and statue with people instead, if we don't get a mutant... give the kids something "safe" to do by doing research on those symbols and snakes in mythology and whether anything else like that is cropping up in the city :: chinscratches ::

I'd really like to try and get to fight the mutant if its okay? Since Davin is trying to track the vermini and stop them I think it makes more narrative sense, but we can sort something out if you like?

edit: like maybe lyall can be part of their meetup and be involved that way? anyone else who wants can come too? seems easier to involve everyone who wants to go if we do it that way than thinking of someway for the other chars to go to a student safety meeting, but if you have any other ideas let me know?

Edited 2013-04-07 00:55 (UTC)

Nah, it's cool, you guys can have it. Since I did get the police station thing, and I came up with something else to do with that meeting anyhow.

And Lyall is dead set against the animal hunt, so getting him involved is a no go X3 It's fine. You guys go kill a mutant.

Yeah - I was kind of hoping to get to be a part of the mutant thing? It doesn't even have to be with the hunting party specifically, but I think that making these things into a WHOEVER THROWS UP THE POST FIRST WITHOUT DISCUSSING battle is pretty massively lame. I had been intending on making an OOC post trying to make sure anyone interested could get involved in the event, but then I saw that it was being debated here.

So like...if you want Lyall there anyway i'm for it? But I would appreciate if you could share the love in regards to plot stuff especially since it's not as if other people were being secretive about doing the hunting thing.

(Not to mention since this is a collaborative narrative, it really just comes down to a backdating battle in terms of what comes first which is pretty much the opposite of fun.)

Edited 2013-04-07 01:03 (UTC)

I'm ceding it to you guys. Lyall is dead set against going animal hunting (and would be useless anyhow).

But yes, if there are one-group-only set-ups in the future, there needs to be some kind of means of determining who gets it besides "first come first served". Sign-ups and randomization perhaps?

To be honest, I hate artificial feeling "sign up" scenarios and randomization as much as first come first serve stuff. Unless by "sign ups" you just mean like...making a list of who's interested and making it work. Honestly, since the game isn't very large, I don't think it's a lot to ask just to have some amount of OOC discussion about these things. Like, even just making an OOC post that is like "Okay, here's a plot opportunity, who wants in and how can we make it work?" would go a long way.

We don't have nearly a huge enough player base to demand much more than that yet.

I kinda thought that this WAS a post for discussing the plot opportunity, which is why when a second request went up I asked whether we could both try it out. And when I was told no, I came up with another reason for Lyall's meeting. I left it open just in case. I'm sorry if that looked like I was trying to steal the event, I didn't mean to.

However we wanna do it, I'm happy to go with it.

"At present, the invaders do not even know there could be resistance outside of ordinary human society and are not going to be chasing the players yet. Emphasis on yet."

So, being the Bad Decision Dinosaur that he is, how much would it mess that up for everyone if Jack decided to actively pursue and confront the General? ...You don't have to answer that because that's actually what I want to have Jack do. Is it possible to find out where he'll be later that evening, if Jack calls old pals at the base?

And if it is possible, how deadly would a confrontation be on a scale of one to smushed-to-a-fine-paste? Jack might have a bit of a death wish, but I'm kind of attached to him. ;A;

Yup! Jack will find it quite easy to discover the General is on base from 21:00, and depending on the time will either be working in his office (21:00 to 22:30) or at his on base home thereafter.

Jack will at present, basically have no chance. But, you're in luck. The fact that the characters are unknowns will save him if you go this route. The general ain't no fool, and if confronted will want to capture and interrogate Jack to find out what they're up against. There may be mashing the circle button involved. This does not have to end in death by a long shot. A rescue or an escape are possible and how much, if anything, Jack lets slip will be up to you.

But, Jack himself will pretty much be a wanted man from then on. Possibly he will be framed for a crime to justify having police after him. Maybe even Paul's murder, for kicks.

I figure a few things will slip just because of the specific questions Jack has about what the hell is going on (network, invasion, who/whatever "it" is), but otherwise... It's a good thing I can mash like a pro, huh? I was talking with Casval's mun, and having him help is probably a good way to get Jack out once things go bad.

Fun fun! ...also it's too bad he didn't wait for the next day to hear the news about Paul's family, huh? 8| What's going to happen as far as his wife and son, if anything?

And what's the next step as far as doing this thing? Action log time, or just settling the fine details~?

For something this important I'd like to play it out but since that takes a while, think we should hash out some details beforehand. How much exactly Jack will reveal and how long he'll be captured. The most likely course of events from my end will be, after getting the snot kicked out of him Jack will be stuck in a bunker the base maintains and interrogated for a few hours by some soldiers loyal to the general, followed by a more personal face to face with the big bald guy himself, involving a monologue about how this is all for the best & the future of humanity, blah blah I bet if he wasn't reincarnated he'd be tired of that by now.

Then he'd be left to stew for a bit, which would give him time to get on the network.

AND as for Jack's family, nothing yet. Presently he's General Miller's problem and Albero is the guy who fucks with families. But expect it to be used against him in the future nonetheless.

The general is an AI isn't he? ISN'T HE?! ...wait no, that doesn't work at all. I'll file my big pile of Echo requests in the appropriate place. :P

From my end I see it as:
Jack comes up with a pretense to be visiting the base that evening, finds a place to hide out until later that night, and confronts the general in his home (assuming he lives alone. If not, it'll have to be his office I guess) with gun in hand. Main questions, if he even gets that far, not necessarily in these exact words mind you:
* Why are you covering up and what is with the weird animals? Why did you have to kill Paul?
* Who... well, what... is "IT"?
* What conflict? And what was that about humanity going extinct?
* Does this have something to do with the Network?

I assume he'll get a beatdown even if he does shoot at the General - Jack, you've really got to stop fighting people when you're missing one/both arms. He won't spill anything (past the implications of his questions that people saw Paul's death and are communicating on some kind of network) once shit goes down.

Oh yeah, and for the sake of network posting, what exactly will they have done to him? :V

...feel free to use Jack's family against him at any and all times. :>

I decline to answer that question for reasons.

That all sounds perfectly feasible. As I said, the General ain't a dummy so he's likely to try and keep Jack talking for a bit to get those deliciously revealing questions before he opens a can of whup ass. And then if Jack does shoot at him, Miller will catch the bullet like some kind of Superman and smack him around.

As for what they'll do to Jack, nothing pleasant but only just a war crime. Water boarding maybe. Possibly having cigarette put out on him. They're certain to take his arm (the detachable one, thankfully) and probably his clothes. They really plan to keep hold of him for a while so they're just warming up.

Incidentally, the beating from the general will be good for an Echo in addition to any of those canon parallels that are sure to arise.

...! :o

Is Jack going to get anything useful (even a hint) he can share or is the General just gonna string him along? Knowing that he can grab bullets out of the air is definitely one protip, at least.

Ffffffff... nothing quite like naked torture times. It keeps happening! Timeline-wise, I guess this means they'd leave him alone really late at night/early morning-ish?

Edited 2013-04-06 14:23 (UTC)

I'm just playing, he ain't no AI.

Ayup! The stuff to learn will all comes from his little one-on-one monologue post torture, being that the General is convinced that what's coming is 100% certain to conquer humanity and the best options are ones that will just make the process smooth. He'll decline to reveal what 'it' is or the rest of the invasion for that matter, but will be making it clear that it's not something from Earth, but not space aliens either. Oh, and Jack will probably be able to discern that the three guys, Albero, Edward and Miller, don't work well together. In fact, Miller despises Albero.

Since he'll be snagged really late at night, the first he's going to be left alone will probably be six in the morningish. The room he'll be in will be pretty secure from inside, but to avoid suspicion unguarded from the outside so getting in there will be surprisingly easy. Also, since it's a VIP bunker, it actually has lovely plush carpeting and very pleasant wallpaper. Wallpaper I would suggest for scratching his number into.

Okay! That's some good info to spread, and I guess he can pull a Paul Ben. Any other details we should know about the bunker for escape RP purposes? Will Jack have an idea of where he is?

Also, does this mean it's time to start up an action log now? =D

Let me think. The bunker is on base and has quite low security since it's rarely used for anything any more and is almost all personnel on base just forget it's there. Just a chain link fence around the entrance, which is a simple ramp with a blast door leading to the bunker itself. There is one security camera pointed squarely at that one entrance, from a single angle. There will be men stationed inside the bunker following Jack's capture, but they'll be slacking off and playing poker a floor below, because the room he's in only opens from the outside and when you're a freaky modified super human guy, you get over confident sometimes.

And I'll go ahead and say yes, yes it is! Since we know the outcome, you can put up something for a post-torture Jack if you like and leave the log start to me.

Oh yeah, and all his stuff will be in the room next door, as per stupid jailer tradition.

What, you mean he won't have to run around the base stark naked? I'm shocked, shocked, I tell you.

And yay, will do!

In a couple minutes I'm going to be making a post with this char, asking people if they want to meet up to pursue some of the mutated animals. What I'm wondering is how things will be sorted if enough people volunteer. Would it be a log with the mod (you, obviously) playing the mutated human or would we just hash out the result ooc?

Edited 2013-04-06 02:51 (UTC)

SECONDING THIS, Cori is looking into getting people together as well, quite possible in collaboration with Davin depending on how their theirs go, lol.

See above!

I mean, below!

Edited 2013-04-06 07:44 (UTC)

If it's actually being played out, I'd like to play the mutated human. I'd just need to know when the four are together (turns out even with out small game I can't keep an eye everywhere), then I'll pop the scary dude in.

Can we get an Echo from Paul's death even if it's not directly related to our canon? And how much of an encounter with the Vermini / critters do we have to have to get an Echo?

Yeah, just witnessing his death is enough.

To recieve an Echo from the critters, the character must interact with them in some capacity. Anything more than just see one, basically.

okay. obvs i did this in a messed up order. given davin's hacking skills i assumed he could hack the police database, which was not cool. but can he hack them? i'm okay with any kind of repercussions you want to make from this, though obviously if he did it he would try to leave as little tracks behind as poss.

Well, the thing is in his application there was no mention of hacking skill made. Computer tinkering, yeah, but hacking the police database is actually pretty hard.

That said- I'm willing to let him get in there! But it's a matter of how deep he'll be looking. There's nothing overtly sinister around on something used entirely for police work, but hints about certain things could turn up if he thought to look in more obscure places such as the attendance records, but I don't know if he would look there.

Yeah. I realized that a couple of hours ago actually. I don't know why but when I wrote the app it didn't occur too me to specify his hacking skills as part of his computer related abilities. It was a very stupid move on my part, and I am very sorry about it. I can amend my app if you prefer? Either way this won't happen again!

Um as for hacking stuff he won't really poke around much, he's only looking for info on the people in and mentioned in Paul's death video. Unless something suspicious jumps out at him that's all he'll go for.

I'd suggest doing that, it really helps me in plot generation to know what everyone's capable of, if nothing else.

Alrighty! From that, he'll find that General Miller isn't in there (no criminal record) but Vincent Albero is suspected or a person of interest in thousands of cases (including murder, arson, drug trafficking, dog fights, prostitution, theft and many more) but that he's never been so much as arrested. And since he'll be looking for the name Albero and not the name Vincent, he'll find that similar (but much less impressive) rap sheets for a now deceased Uncle and two cousins. He'll be listed as being suspected as the head of the Mafia in Locke City, but it's pretty much a sure thing even just looking.

As for Chief Edward, he has a clean and long service record.

Yes I totally understand. I can't apologize enough.

As for the police chief would there be any personal information in the system, like addresses, or soc security numbers?

Don't worry about it, but if you do it again I'll find you. /breathes

anyway

Yeah; finding his address will be easy enough. He lives in a gated community in the city. Nice place, very big.

Alright. So. Since Jack appears to be in a bit of a pickle right now and Casval's got some influence on base and thus reason to be around.

What are the limitations to a rescue operation? Would he able to get into the bunker peacefully after sniffing around for some information and working the magic of said influence (i.e. lying and saying he totally needs to see Jack, for reals, he's part of the crew guys) or is he gonna have to mow down some dudes to get it done? I'd like to make this happen because to be honest Casval's got both the CR with Jack and may be one of the few people here with the means to do it but I don't want to step on any toes re: godmoding your NPCs so some rules and boundaries as to what I can and can't do in this situation would be appreciated.

As pointed out in the thread up there, if Casval becomes aware of where Jack is (and Jack would be aware)...it'll be pitifully easy to just stroll in and out with him. Miller's choice to remain hidden above beefing security was a good option with what he knows but not the actual facts. At present, there are only four or so guys in the bunker and they're not doing a good job guarding.

That said, is Casval walks up to the entrance without covering his distinguishing features, Miller will be able to guess who it is. But, making a foreign politician disappear is a world different to a random kid or a ex-soldier of questionable mental health, so this could open up a world of possibilities if you want his identity known or not.

A rescue is however, pre-approved either way.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

PLOT POST FOR APRIL 5th

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