Ambrosia Software Web Board: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil - Ambrosia Software Web Board

The TS is started! It is ready for posts, so feel free to join in!

A couple of notes on my first post:

Yes, I realize that it looks more like a "Rescue another kidnapped person" TS, but it will tie in with the Tree of Life. The reason Wizard was kidnapped is to lead the ruffians to the Tree of Life. This was the best, most action-oriented way of starting this TS that I could think of. It's going to come together more firmly after some more posts.

I apologize if the dialogue seems long and tiresome. It's late, very late. I wanted to get that talk about Wizard's study of it, what it does, and all the other stuff out of the way so that we had a definite link with the Tree of Life for the rest of the TS to build upon. That and Wizard was about to be kidnapped, so I kind of had to do at least that much now. I just wish I had had more time to prepare the post; it might have been more concise if I had longer to think about it.

Anyways, Visitor, I had to use Shanadar as the main party-organizer. Wizard was gone, and I don't know who else is there for sure that would decide immediately to start a quest. But I figured that Shanadar would want to see justice done to the ruffians and would be the first to vote in favor of tracking them down.

(Mostly for the benefit of any new members)
One quick note just occurred to me. From reading the first post, I'm afraid that I left the end too closed for anybody to know what to do or decide on anything to do. I'm sorry about that. It's not a big problem, though. Really all that's happening is Shanadar is going after the ruffians and anyone who is joining the TS will want to go as well, either now or catch up with him. It's not a concern when you join, just try to get in before too much of the story has passed.

The ruffians are riding west. Anyone can do anything they want to with that. It is a Team story, so post freely, add fight scenes, campfire scenes, or whatever you would like. The only thing that I would ask is that Wizard not be set free just yet, and the cloaked man not be caught. I'm trying to develop that character a little at the moment, and it helps to have Wizard there as well. There is a virtually limitless number of ruffians at his command, you could even drag some other minions into it if you wanted.

That's all my thoughts on the subject at the moment. Please join in the TS and/or post whatever you have to say here.

This post has been edited by The Wizard: 15 October 2007 - 12:13 AM

Hmm, I'm in a quandary. I want to use Rapierian but how to get him into the group? He needs some sort of powerful threat to hold over their heads...

I suppose that I'll post with another character and try to come up with something later.


I may or may not end up having Scourge actually do something: it depends on what happens and what I can do with Rapierian.

This post has been edited by Selax: 15 October 2007 - 12:55 AM

New character alert! Bly, as you may have guessed, already completed the single-player campaign of the game Cythera (as the protagonist), and wants to come back. Of course, can he re-adapt in a hurry to the world he 'visited'... then left?

Glad to have you .

By the way, I recommend that you post some info on your character at the Character Info Topic. (If it makes any difference, the world of TSs is set ten or so years after the events of the game, as far as I know anyway.) You might want to have your character have been a companion of Bellerophon (as far as I know, in TSs, this is the game character). I'm not sure if it really matters, although I don't know if people usually play as game characters (i.e. playing as Hector for example) and the Return of Bellerophon might make an interesting TS in itself someday. Of course, what you do with your character is completely up to you .


On an unrelated note: WHERE IS EVERYBODY?!

Selax, on Oct 15 2007, 02:32 PM, said:

No, I intend for him to be Bellerophon. I came up with an explanation for the name difference in the Character Info topic. As for the time, I decided to settle on the fact that time runs about 24 times slower in Cythera than Earth (so 5 Earth months would be equal to about 10 Cythera years).

This post has been edited by SoItBegins: 15 October 2007 - 06:46 PM

Selax, on Oct 15 2007, 09:32 PM, said:

Sorry, I had commitments today that precluded my ability to participate for the duration, but now that such maters are resolved, I shall post shortly.

That's all right: I'm not really mad (although I admit that I was somewhat disturbed). I just wanted to get people's attention .


Hmm, can anyone think of a good way to work Rapierian back in?

Bly could land in a circle set up by Rapierian somewhere (as opposed to the normal Land-King Hall entrance).

Bly could land in a circle set up by Rapierian somewhere (as opposed to the normal Land-King Hall entrance).

(Sorry for the double post, my netconnection has been a bit funny lately.)

This post has been edited by SoItBegins: 15 October 2007 - 08:28 PM

I have a problem. Do I read the TS topic first, or this one first?
Anyway, I should be joining. Cross fingers.

I recommend just reading both...


EDIT: I've come up with a way to work Rapierian in (I think).

He and Bly go to LKH where there is a meeting of the House leaders, all Master mages and Judges, and Alaric himself.

As I recall, there are four main things against Rapierian (I may be wrong, but, in any case, he can get by with this since none of those assembled were present at any of them).
First, he took an artifact that would give him control over an undead army: his defense is that he took it to make sure the army would not be used (and he would point out it hasn't). He will surrender the Amulet to the mages (altered subtly so they can't use it and, unknown to all, damaged before he ever claimed it), believing they will be forced to fix it and return it to him at some point in the future.
Second, Avatara (the TS character that is) heard some treacherous guards mention his name under Pnyx. His defense will be that Avatara is a criminal and can't be trusted( ).
Third, the dying Propontis told Wizard that Rapierian was involved with is death. His defense will be Propontis should have been dead when he hit the floor, unable to speak, Wizard heard him wrong, one witness's claim isn't enough, etc.
Fourth, he had a confrontation with Shanadar at the Tavern. He will state that he came to warn the Cytherans, was attacked, and acted in self-defense.
(His meeting with Anisa was an accident and so will not really be mentioned.)

He will offer them information on the alternate-Cythera (for a possible alternate universe TS) in exchange for safety.

Most importantly, Rapierian passes an Ascertainment test given by both the mages and Alaric. (Note: this is with the aid of powers far beyond Rapierian.) Although they believe him guilty, to condemn him would undermine Cytheran law and the justice system. (Although they could believe fooling the mages, fooling Alaric would seem impossible for Rapierian, as indeed it is.)

The House leaders will vote reaching a deadlock. The mages are forced by law to recommend letting him go. Alaric, guessing that some outside power is interfering, releases Rapierian to avoid a collapse of the justice system and a panic at the idea of such a power. Following this, he will speak privately to Bly and explain the situation to him, asking that he aid Cythera once again.

Alaric will then open a portal to Cademia, sending both Bly and Rapierian there.

Does this seem all right to everyone?

This post has been edited by Selax: 16 October 2007 - 01:02 PM

Selax, on Oct 16 2007, 08:51 AM, said:

Wait, how does this tie into the tree of life, or is this just a way to get Rapierian back into play? Sounds good though, the power of an undead army is rather great.

I like how the TS has started out, looks like it's going to be good. Only thing we need now is for everyone to get organized with each other (common goal and all). I guess that problem will be solved once Wizard is rescued though..

Selax, on Oct 16 2007, 08:51 AM, said:

Sounds fine to me!

Hmm, having reread some of my old posts, I find that Rapierian has made some statements that are difficult to deal with...I'll just act under the assumption that he gets away with twisting things a bit, since none of his audience were witnesses to events in question.


Hmm, I guess I should just assume that most people either don't object or are too outraged to voice all of their objections.

(My post will probably be brief, mostly a summary, since an indetail post would take awhile to write. I'll leave it open for you to post something at the end, SoItBegins, if you wish.)


EDIT: Posted. If anyone has any recommendations on how to improve that post, please let me know.

Alaric lets him free because to not do so would undermine Cythera's legal system (and the faith in Alaric that is its basis) and to reveal that something outside is deceiving them all would do the same, as well causing a panic. He feels that either of these alternatives is more dangerous than if Rapierian is allowed free but watched carefully.

This post has been edited by Selax: 17 October 2007 - 07:45 PM

Selax, on Oct 17 2007, 05:13 PM, said:

I like it so far, it sounds like it will work out well in the end. It also sounds like it could be a completely different TS. (That's a compliment.)

Ok, read the most recent post. Looks good. One request: could you change the not-noticing thing from being Alaric screening Bly to being a side effect from Bly's hastily constructed spell?

SoItBegins, on Oct 17 2007, 09:44 PM, said:

I just read Selax's last post again and I think he ment for Bly to go talk to Alaric and ask him about what had happened since you left and that would lead to a conection to the tree of life. I also think Alaric can see though the magic invis side-effect.

Yes. That was what I was thinking of... I just thought that if that improvised teleport spell Bly used had the extra side-effect of invisibility, it might be useful to pull out of the hat later in a crisis.

Hey guys

I read what you've got so far on the TS, and everything on this page

I was thinking of joining now that everything's just started and the story hasn't gotten too far yet

unfortunately it seems SoItBegins and I had the same idea of having our character be an outsider of Cythera who had previously been there then sent back [as in the game itself] and then somehow managed to find their way back to Cythera.

[I was going to have mine simply wish for it...Alaric did sort of hint that he would do [i]anything[/i] for me... ]

But I don't know how you all would feel about having 2 outsider characters, or how SoItBegins would feel about someone else's character having such a similar story

Time constraints prevent me from doing a TS post at the moment, but I can manage a brief post here (I think).


SoItBegins: Sure, I think that I never actually stated in my post (except in the OoC) that it was Alaric screening him, so you can account for that however you wish .


TwoJacks: Actually, I had planned to have Alaric explain why he let Rapierian loose and how Rapierian was able to lie to him, but I think that your idea is a good one and, if you don't mind, I'll see if I can use it.


Muse: I would recommend having your character have been a companion of Bly's. You could even use the time at LKH to introduce your character. (For example, Alaric says something like "I thought you might like to have some help, so I summoned [insert your character's name here].") (Is that all right with you, SoItBegins?)

As for outside characters, quite a few of them are not human or native to Cythera (I think that all but one of mine fall into those categories), so I think that you could get away with it.

Sounds good...

P.S: Is Magpie still around? If so, I called him first.

This post has been edited by SoItBegins: 18 October 2007 - 04:14 PM

Selax, on Oct 18 2007, 01:56 PM, said:

sounds like a great idea to me

I guess I better get to making my profile

This is just an idea but:

How about there's something special about Bly (that he doesn't know, but Rapierian does). Some sort of great power (it could be like a store of magic ((since no ones uses magic on earth)) that built up in Bly), that could be used over time slowly or released in one giant burt (BAM!). Only thing is Rapierian isn't the only one who knows about this, an ememy does as well. Useing a powerful spell the enemy summons another character from earth, one that also has the ability to soak up large amounts of magic. This character could be TheMuseInYourHead's. TMIYH's character would have to be unknowning about Cythera at first but it could work out. Oh yeah, and the enemy would want to use the power that this character possess if you already didn't catch that.

Two Jacks, on Oct 18 2007, 06:09 PM, said:

That sounds neat too

I'll keep my character's bio pending for now until everyone agrees on something I guess
and so you guys don't have to keep typing out my whole name, my character's name is Muse

Sounds GREAT!

Just remember, though-- Bly is an accomplished warrior and spellcaster (who's even invented some spells), which could... mix things up a bit. <evil grin>