Plot post for July 14th!

[theearth]

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 we 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.

The post is also open for players to plot and coordinate between one another.

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Events occurring currently:

• The ghost-like presences can still be encountered over the network. In Locke, they can also be seen through cameras, in mirrors and by characters who can perceive ghosts and ghost-like entities. They manifest first as a levitating "ball" of faint, pale light and shift as if to achieve focus as they're observed. Watch one long enough and you may see a human torso or face taking shape - and find that you'll get a coherent, if fragmented, answer to any speech directed toward it in an also-human voice. If encountered in person by ghost-seers, there are also other sensations attached to them (emotional states, scents, background noises).

Locke City

• Thanks to a series of leaks, the Locke City mafia (headed by Vincent Albero) have attacked several reincarnates and reincarnate-affilated businesses - notably, pro-Numbered coffee shop Espresso Yourself. This has coincided with a sharp rise in anti-Numbered graffiti appearing around the city...

• A slow change can be seen in the attitude of the population towards reincarnates. A growing number of residents, though they are still clearly in the minority, are starting to question the true plans and motifs of the reincarnates. There is talk about them having a startling amount of power that they are hiding and about reincarnate influence behind the scenes. A local newspaper runs a series on the reincarnates that is mostly critical opinion pieces. A local radio station fills its free broadcasting time with more or less fact-based pieces about the reincarnates, laced with gossip and speculations about their mental state and how dangerous they really are to the city. Fox News has run a 3-part reportage about them in much the same spirit. A couple of other media outlets from the area generally cover reincarnates and their actions or powers in a negative, sensationalistic, distrustful light, though they don't go out of their way to talk about them.

Las Vegas

• The presence of cultists as well as Vermini remains mostly unchanged; both are present, but not overly so, and mostly around waterways and larger bodies of water.

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Events occurring in the immediate future:

Locke City

• The mafia will continue to attack reincarnates.

Guidelines to follow if you want to have your character attacked by the mafia:

- They strike in small, well-armed groups. The leaders of the groups are perfectly ordinary humans, but the few underlings they have with them seem to be modified in the same way the police used to be - most of them seem to have gained increased speed, strength, and some oddly feline traits.

- They are prepared for their targets to be using odd powers. If your character has had the nature of their abilities leaked (or if they're public knowledge), expect the mafia to have prepared accordingly! The more they know about your character, the harder they will be to defeat or escape from.

- They have one message: keep out of Albero's way. Strangely, this even seems to apply to reincarnates who haven't interacted with the mafia at all...

- The mafia will generally use non-lethal tactics to get their message across - severely harming the Numbered or attacking their property are both likely. If a reincarnate is deemed to be a significant danger, however, they might resort to (attempted) murder.

If there are any questions, feel free to ask!

• On the 6th of August, Thunder Corp will be moving the machine that was locked in the basement of the compound to a more secure location. It will be loaded into a heavy goods vehicle along with a handful of armed guards with the intention of keeping it safe from the Numbered.
Fortunately, one of the guards happens to be a reincarnate herself and will be able to sound the alarm via the network. If they wish, reincarnates will be able to attempt to chase down the vehicle and recover the machine for themselves. If they manage to do so, they will be well-rewarded by what the machine can give them...


Las Vegas

• On the 16th, another murder victim will be discovered. The body of Laura Graham, a 26-year-old IT consultant, will be found in the touch tank of the Shark Reef Aquarium. She was shot through the heart, and a highly-polished silver shell pendant has been placed inside the wound. As ever, there are no witnesses to the crime - and all the aquarium's security footage for the day of the murder seems to have been erased.

Among the cultists it is being whispered that this is a sign, clearer and more urgent than any that came before, that the time is drawing closer. Not only the number of members present in Las Vegas is increasing further, but also their activity and the number of their meetings. They are becoming more and more of a public presence as well, identifiable by their badges (higher ranking and lower ranking).

• Around the end of July, a fundamentalist group within the cultists, calling themselves "True Followers of the pure Shell", has gotten particularly inspired by the "the end is near" rhetoric. To speed it up further, they will attempt to kidnap and "let vanish" Petunia Bonbright. They consider her to be a corrupting influence on the reincarnates, who, "if true to themselves, would be the dutiful children, guardians and servants of the Shell", blaming her for Angeline Strauss's decline to a "fake bird of prey". Petunia will manage to send off two text messages before she is taken; one to her daughter, and one to a reincarnate who is either currently staying at her apartment or who is living in Vegas and whom she has met before and swapped numbers with (this can either be handwaved or threaded).

This is an event for both Vegas-characters and Locke characters that are currently visiting Vegas. We would like the reincarnate who receives the message to be someone who will then request reinforcements through a forward-dated open post on the network. There will be a thread below for sign-ups for this position. If a rescue team forms, a log with additional information will be provided.

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Events potentially occurring in the immediate future:

• The mafia will attempt to blackmail reincarnates into their service. If you are interested and have an idea how your character could be blackmailed into it, please write a PM to the mod account or tell us in the screened mod contact. Alternatively, you can contact Louise (per PM/PP) directly.

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Potential Echo Opportunities

• Encountering a ghost-like presence for the first time grants one plot echo.

Locke City

• Encounters with an altered Mafia subordinate grants one plot echo if the character never received an echo from encountering an altered Blood Key.

Las Vegas

• There are Vermini to be found in the waterways near cultist activities. Seeing them for the first time grants one plot echo.
• A first encounter with this symbol as worn by head waterfront "cultists" will also grant one Echo per character.


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

Comments

General Questions

[theearth]

[espigeonage]

Is it possible to capture one of the mafia people? I know anyone suspected that would be a lot more interesting to the group. How well do they work together? Would they split up to find an elusive target or remain in a group?

What are these feline-like traits? How do they show?

[peacefulwinter]

I'm in the process of trying to bring together a group of reincarnates, possibly with the assistance of some normal people (mostly family of reincarnates; ergo, NPCs), to form a PR group that would help manage the reaction to Numbered crises and individuals acting alone, and possibly to highlight events with a positive spin. Before I get too far into that, I wanted to check and make sure that this whole negative reporting trend is something organically begun - that is, will we be able to have an effect on it, or is there something behind the scenes that's going to block us from trying?

If we can do something, I'll start working out plans with some other folks, but if there's not a lot we can do, Winter will try to organize a group and find that nothing she does works, and just drop the plan.

[purestambition]

All things told, just how bad is it going to look if reincarnates jack an armed car from Thunder Corp?

[scramasax]

Will reincarnates be in any hypothetical danger of being roughed up as an "example" by the mafia (or, heck, any anti-Numbered) on the streets simply by virtue of being obvious targets?

Re: General Questions

[gogoghostpowers]

If this had been asked before then I couldn't find it... How big is the TC machine that is going to be transported?

[seriallylucky]

I'll understand if you'd prefer not to say openly, but what kinds of things would the mafia be likely to have their blackmailees do?

[abhero]

Going on hiatus soon, and not sure I'll go with it, but I figured I'd ask for future reference: can Emil's actions in June (that is, his little monster rampage in Vegas, plus Russel screaming very loudly about how he's going to kill everyone) make him a target for attempted murder by the mafia?

[gogoghostpowers]

Follow-up question now that I'm home:

I'm guessing the mafia would also target very public superheroes. Would they consciously attempt baiting someone, or is it more of a "attack if you see them" deal? Also would they have any effective countermeasures against powers like intangibility or invisibility?

EDIT, SORRY: Also, would the anti-reincarnate media target certain people in particular if they are public enough (read: Cure Phantom) and discuss them separately/in more detail than "the reincarnates in general"?

Also also, I assume that Chuck is safe from the mafia attacks due to being a leak, but I wanted to double check. Is this correct?

[ursoreckless]

So. Shou has been working his way in with the Japanese mob, who are on friendly terms with the other mobs as in 'we don't touch your side of things, you don't touch ours and we'll not fight and trade instead'. I was going to have him have a run-in with the other mob as in them attacking family property or something, but I never really got to put up a thing about it it's not been a good time for shou in general what with his co-dependency gig disappearing, so what I was wondering if it's okay to have the mob being very interested in him and keeping track of him.

I would figure that with his connections to international people (politics and the Asian markets would be able to help with the money front) that they wouldn't be as interested in getting rid of him as much as trying to recruit him further into the dark side of the force. He's definitely not one that won't go for any blackmail, but appealing to his crook side would have a good effect for as long as he can be courted that way.

[sunshinethatwarmsherup]

So... what exactly would we need to do to have our character's encounter one of the head "cultists"? Can we just assume/handwave the experience, and would there need to be a specific area for them to come across them? Or would this be something that needs to be played out with the mod's NPCing?

Sign up for receiving Petunia's message

[theearth]

Please use this:
<b>Name:</b> <b>Visitor/Resident:</b> <b>What would they do if they received a message telling them that Petunia got kidnapped and needs help?:</b>

[hotshots]

Name: Neil Dylandy
Visitor/Resident: Visitor - will be visiting around the end of the month.
What would they do if they received a message telling them that Petunia got kidnapped and needs help?: Inform both reincarnates and the FBI, suggesting that - in line with what he's been saying about doing things the Right Way - the reincarnates can definitely help in this matter but they should do it in cooperation with the authorities. Both for the safety of Petunia and for how they look in the public eye. (And after all, in the end its because of their presence that she's in danger.)

Plotting: Steal Thundercorp's machine

[theearth]

[gogoghostpowers]

Danny is powerful enough to turn the machine (and some other people) intangible/invisible to help get it out. He is not, however, strong enough to take something that big himself.

Would anyone be willing to accompany this weenie-armed child in Grand Theft Mystery Machine?

[siesinddasessen]

I'd love to see Floweregg get involved in a fight. Since it is unlikely that the mafia would attack a tiny white puppy... is there anyone who could get attacked and then she'd happen upon that and would try to help (such scary dog, much dangerous)?

Siiri will try to lay low, but if anyone needs a not obviously numbered couch to crash on, she'll offer hers.

There'll probably be graffiti along the lines of "dirty reincarnates get out of our city" at the front of the Thorsson's Hardware (a large store downtown) one of these days. Thorir will try to get rid of it as quickly as possible, but...

Blaine will be travelling forth and back between Vegas and Locke these days; she's filling a temporary vacancy as a bodyguard and her boss travels a lot between the cities (and sometimes elsewhere). So she can be met in both cities :3 And she's still lying low and trying to not be associated with the reincarnated. So if she shows up anywhere she'll do it as a titan does anyone want a titan?

[vaimo]

I'd plurk you about this (we can hash out the details on plurk, but so that other people can see too), but Åsa never had a blood keys echo, so I want her to get one here. We could have her attacked while walking Floweregg and someone else stepping in? Or Floweregg finding someone else in trouble and them both stepping in! Åsa's not a very obvious target aside from her eyes.

[espigeonage]

It's known that Julien can glide/fly off of tall things, but otherwise his flight capacities are not easy to figure out. He could escape Mafia goons by wair-ing up a wall.

Yuuya can use a net gun and is used to being pursued by criminals. Julien isn't against the net gun, and had an echo making him treat threats a little oddly. I don't want him to get beat up or have a purely distressed role.

If he made an inappropriately calm slightly annoyed post would someone come to help? I also might have him find somewhere else to live.

[ruleorserve]

Emil might be curious enough to come see what was up, but I don't know that he'd be much help in actually fighting anyone off, if it came to that. :|a

[scramasax]

Anthony's going to be interested in partaking in any Locke-City-based mission sorts of things if they're discussed with the Network or any CR of his would be involved who'd let him be privy to it. He'd be exceedingly willing to again-show-off the spell he showed via network a little while ago in case it's an asset - it's able to both repair broken items (provided the pieces are in place) and strengthen in-tact ones, with a charge of magic effecting mental energy - if the spell is cast on a weapon for example anyone struck by that weapon will take both a physical and a (temporary) mental hit.

Apart from that, word of anti-Numbered sentiment rising up is also going to push him all the harder to actually get used to appearing out in the open and communicating as a so-to-speak (hopefully positive) representative of his people. He's not going to be exempt from attracting negative attention, obviously, which might end out in actual trouble if anything can be done with it - 'e can take it. On the Network front, he might actually be proceeding toward putting together the oft-bandied-about non-human information database - with hope of making a few things public.

[flamberge]

Karl is still completely under the radar as far as being a Numbered goes so mafia will likely ignore him. THAT SAID if someone wants to drag him along for the ride with a mafia encounter or go to him for help or something, I am game for that! He will also be an officer who openly shoots down any anti-numbered sentiment on the force and notably so. The same goes for anyone fangirling them, though. Officers are here to work, not gossip like high school children dammit. 8|

[radiantchicken]

Torin will be getting attacked by the mafia, for he frequently hangs around Espresso Yourself and is pretty obviously a weird ten-inch-tall parrot with arms and teeth. He will then proceed to give the mafia guys the scare of their life, because one of them will be stupid enough to pull a knife, which the parrot will use as a sword, which will make all hell break loose because the parrot is a very competent swordsman. This encounter could potentially end with him echoing back his humanoid form, which would add another layer of ridiculous chaos onto this.

Arthur has been signed up to receive the distress call in Vegas (because nothing at all would go wrong there, right?), and he'll be poking around the waterways looking for anything interesting and probably attracting the attention of a bunch of cultists. He may fail to realize that the cultists are cultists. (They're just in a weird club, right?)

Hajime will be getting grumpier the more bad press on the Numbered there is. He'd be willing to go Lord of the Bugmen to try to do something for the Numbered press, but there's no way he'd go public with his identity. He also hasn't had much of an encounter with the "ghosts," so I might set something up with that.

[amajin]

Arthur should let Jin know so he can join the call.

[evowhisperer]

Speaking of leaks and blackmail and mafia shennanigans, Don't forget to Opt in/out for Cesar's Numbered-leaks!

Aside from this, there'll be a Cesar open post going up tonight. Watch for it! I'm also open to any and all plotting in general and totally want all your CR. Tag me, or let me know if there's anything I should tag!

[icy_heavens]

Toushirou is only out as a Numbered to the feds, so no mafia targeting for him. That being said, he would help out any Numbered he sees in trouble with the mafia. He's an unknown quantity to them and has a good power set, so he could really help somebody get out of a rough situation.

If there's going to be a plan to intercept that truck, he'll want in on it. Shady dealings by the enemy, man. Gotta stop that, adults be damned. He and the kids have been in that basement anyway.

The whole negative press thing is just gonna tick him off in general. He won't know what to do about it, but he'll gripe.

Keeping an eye on Vegas stuff, of course, but he'll still be around in Locke. You know, because he's twelve.

[gogoghostpowers]

Danny (or at least Cure Phantom) is absolutely going to be a victim of the more and more negative public opinion, as a very public reincarnate figure. He might even be singled out for particularly nasty speculation. He...also might be targeted by the mafia, which will rough him up quite a bit, so. If anyone wants to deal with a kid with a black eye and a mouth full of teeth and green blood, then hell yeah let's do something.

He can also help in springing the Thunder Corp machine, if anyone wants to work with him! Because god knows he can't do it himself.

Jovan is still scamming Vegas casinos and is not likely to investigate a murder scene, but if another network person somehow drags him to it (or Vermini, or anything else suspicious and possibly dangerous), that would be fucking great.

Chuck has not yet leaked anything, but if he catches wind via network of anyone doing anything to the mafia that attacks them (i.e. capturing the mafia folks that attack them and attempting to interrogate them), he would want to. If you're interested in that, please let me know! (Alternatively I may contact you and see if something can be worked out.)

[greenisthenewblack]

Sheila is still trying to be sneaky about being Numbered, so I doubt she'll be targeted directly. But I'm totally down with being dragged into Mafia shenanigans, either way! Also, on a more mundane note, she's offering tutoring to any students that might need it. Doesn't have to have been in her classes; she's been doing this for a couple years at least and they could've heard through word of mouth.

[wirsinddiejager]

A week or so from now Alan is getting a small visit from the mafia! Though the group will initially try simply to give him a bit of a beating and some property damage, he'll fight back hard enough that they'll up their game a bit. This is going to result in his mother getting killed and his house getting burned down. Whoops.

After that Alan will be very invested in taking the mafia down, by himself if necessary. He won't be in the most rational of mindsets.

He'll also need someplace to stay, in case anyone's interested in offering? Normally Octavia's house would be the obvious choice but there are some potential issues with that...

[wonk]

take down the mafia u say.

[wonk]

Mordin is going to come back to Locke at the end of July, even after the murder; there are few to no leads, so his presence isn't really served well there. He'll be back at the clinic, and will be able to run medical checks as necessary.

Roxy has cooled down off the mafia a bit, but is still on the hunt for any opportunities to take them down. She might also help with stealing the machine if asked, but probably isn't going to jump for it.

[kyoumibukai]

LUCAS HAS BEEN SOBER FOR TOO LONG.............

DRINKING PARTY TIME????

[kyoumibukai]

Jin is going to Las Vegas with the fam, and he's probably going to get a lot of bullshit going on with the cultists, and freaking out about murders, and its not gonna be that fun! But hey any Vegas ppl who want to hang should hmu.

J will also be in Vegas, probably calling altogether too much attention to him by wandering around town as... a robot. So maybe the cultists will go after him? That would definitely be a thing.

Lucas is having his most boring summer to date because he's worried if he gets too wasted he'll get lost in the Gaia Library again. So he's SO BORED. Someone hang out with him, please.

[buildyourworld]

Hey man, Eugen is going to be in Vegas from the 22nd onward and his Gundam will fly in a day or two later. Wanna meet up?