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When I said "we should get things caught up for clarity" I didn't mean "you all should go hide under a rock in a cave."

Firstly I'll have you know that the cave is quite comfortable. Secondly... Yea you have a point. Are Shorty and 453 still without internet? Is ikaterei still on walkabout? I can't post until things are caught up but those who can may be waiting for these three to return. Not because their absence grinds the story to a halt (453 isn't even posting) but because their not being around really takes something away from the community.

Would it be possible to give a vague (spoiler tag enclosed) hint as to what the demons are intending to do in Cademia? In theory. (something that the "master" would know, so we can anticipate and work out the actions of any associates...assuming there are some)

No problem. There seems to be a small misunderstanding here so I hope I can clarify without giving too much away. There is an unfortunate amount of explanation I have to preface my answer with:

Though I reference the Master and the various Alt characters that I refer to collectively as the Dread most of these characters are not mine, their identities have not been revealed to most writers, and I can only guess as to their immediate intentions and eventual goals. The Master himself is the Alt character with the most influence. Avatara, I believe you know who this is but I'm not sure if I should just name him since he hasn't been properly revealed.

The Demons are a mercenary force, as I have imagined such creatures would be in alternate Cythera, whose main objective was to abduct and kill people in secret so that the Master could have those people replaced. After they were nearly discovered by the heroes in Kosha, and reached the virtual completion of their mission in that city, the Demons made their way to Cademia to continue the same plan.

However, and this is the important point, they were intercepted outside of Cademia by Galahad and Rythan. I have done what I could to imply that the Dread are a loosely bound alliance whose goals do not always run parallel, if this has not been clear then it's a flaw in my writing. I will attempt to improve. Rythan and Galahad are in Cythera without the knowledge of the Master and other Dread. Rythan would immediately be considered an enemy threat if his presence was known (I'll kindly ask that no one dramatically reveals knowledge that he's around). The two are working in secret towards their own goals but Rythan harbors his own agenda that, at its heart, does not require Galahad's success or survival. The Demons are working for them now and no longer take the Master's orders.

Actual Answer - In the most immediate sense what this means for the heroes is that townspeople (and animals) will start disappearing around Cademia in the middle of the night. These people will not be replaced as they were in Kosha (since that operation was the work of the Master and his agents while this one is not). In my last post I mentioned that there was a system of underground caverns deep beneath Cademia. This is a warren of pitch black tunnels with various entrances hidden on the outskirts of the city (beyond its crumbling walls). Any trail that the missing persons leave would lead to these. There will be very bad things in the caves so I think it should take a little while for the heroes to track them down. That's just my opinion though.

That's probably three and a half paragraphs more than you asked for or needed but I want to be sure everyone is on the same page with my end of the story. I'll answer any other questions if more arise.

This post has been edited by Ragnar0k: 19 August 2009 - 03:19 AM

We're here! Nummy's computer broke, but mine recovered from a coma with the help of a new powercord (purchased off ebay just before Miss Shinjy went quadriplegic on us)

I haven't posted because Silverfish is in the wrong group for that :p & I haven't figured out how to introduce Jehezekel into the story. As a person whose core motive is maintaining Balance in the land, Jehezekel couldn't very well sit down with this alien cancer warping the trees, etc.. He's currently working as the overseer on a farm of somewhat dubious location, & with the aide of his weapon has kept back the twisting from the cluster of farms around his. Problem is, I think the farm was supposed to be in the area we've been running around in, & nobody's noticed, maybe it would work to put it north of the Pnyx Road instead of south....

Jehezekel, SKY is about to reach the vineyard south of Cademia so Jehezekel could be there?

R0k, I still don't think that's enough info (though it is useful) to give the enemy a clear direction. Whoever's writing the "Master", or in this case just a power alt with some control, will most likely have to make some statement take some type of action.

If this can't be done at the moment (or is just in bad taste) it might be a good idea to at least start involving some of the other alts. This would most likely lead to a direct confrontation, and I think that's trying to be avoided by some, but unless there's some way around it like a mystery, or murder investigation, or some other non-confrontational way for the characters to keep going that's not the same old rutine, I don't say around it.

We could start it as just demons that start attacking and taking over, as a distraction of sorts while more powerful characters put some other plan in motion.

Alot of it depends on what everyone wants to do. Like I've been told before, the alts aren't a unified force. Some are working together or under others (it's your choice really) and some are completely independant and don't even care about taking over Cythera (K for example, at least as far as we can tell).

Perhaps it would be a better idea to stop thinking about the enemy in this TS as a looming shadow over Cythera (aka an evil power coming from one direction) and more as several forces coming from all directions. This might give people the chance to be tactical and backstab other characters for personal gain. This is completely unlike what we've done before, and could be great fun.

A form like this could also make it easier for heroes to progress the story if they don't have to guess at the "big picture" and rather only have worry about interfering with someone's evil arc. If that makes sense...

I don't think the "Master" would make a statement at this time, though that's really up to him. I do think we will have a confrontation soon, but not until everyone hits the same timeline, most likely. In order words, soon, but probably not the immediate "soon". (at least not a confrontation with the alts)

So if the demons are going for subtle kidnapping, that's a bit different than my wild guess they were going to launch an invasion (probably better in fact, giant battles are meh most of the time). I'm trying to picture hulking demons getting around subtly though. I would like to get the demons directly involved in the story somehow (or at least their leaders), but that won't happen until at least day 8. In the meantime, still trying to work up a setup for their presence (and the "master's" plans, which he hasn't told us) for days 6-7.

It would probably be better (and easier) to stop thinking of the enemy as a single looming shadow. That would require a change in tone though.

perhaps the problem is that our characters don't yet realize that it's a group of people like themselves that are instigating this latest dilemma?

here's a thought regarding the daemons: canonically, Cythera demons are aether-golems, capable of causing all the damage of a mage & a fighter combined, (kind of like our TS characters tend to be,) and unharmable by mundane weapons. It wouldn't be a big change at all to start thinking of these demons as being more canonical in nature, even though that's not one of the main focuses of this kind of TS.

Hmmm, non-spoiler filled answers are tough. Let's try anyway.

Avatara - I agree about the Master and about when a real conflict should happen. One problem though is that setup for the Demons presence on days 6-7 will be tough since they don't arrive outside Cademia till day 8. Again, a lack of clarity is my fault as the writer but I did title that section in bold lettering "Day eight Outside Cademia".

The Demons are meant to be silent creatures when stalking their prey. They're also going to stick to areas where they are less likely to be seen and strike during the late hours of the night, disappearing into the caves when they capture someone. Think of them as big cats sneaking up on their food in the dark, large creatures are stealthy in real life all the time. However I never said they would be undetectable by our characters, and that brings me to my next point.

Two Jacks - I wanted to say in general terms what the demons were up to and then leave your characters' reactions firmly in your hands. The characters will know when people start disappearing, people going missing is very suspicious. They can start investigating that mystery, they can patrol the town and run into a Demon in the middle of the act, they can do anything you can think of that doesn't break my plot by immediately exposing or defeating Rythan and Galahad. All I want to do is lay out a situation where conflict could occur. I don't want to decide your character's actions for you, that's not fun for me (or you I imagine).

The Master or other Alt characters can realize something is going on the same way our regular characters can. They can't know Galahad and Rythan are responsible though, since one is believed to be in Alt Cythera and the other has long be presumed dead. That's my only inflexible rule.

Jehezekel - I'm glad you and Num are back. I think I like your idea? I have very little knowledge of the game but I did check out Slayers Guide and know that the demons should also be big on magic. I think that as villainous muscle goes they're a pretty nice prize. I didn't bust the magic out in the earlier post because there's something important I didn't want to reveal until later.

Thankfully I'm not leaving everyone in Cademia high and dry until day eight, there is still plenty to do. There are the pockets of chaos Cindy is instigating (in Wizard's posts), burning buildings and crazy people have to at least be worthy of note to the characters coming in. Then there's Beorn still in smelly peril. Unless Avatara and K never find out what happened and leave him to drown in the sewers or be eaten by ratlizards. I see a lot of potential there especially, because maybe the trouble Beorn ran into was part of a bigger scheme from some bad guys. That's not up to me since my characters aren't around but I think there's enough to give you guys two days of meaningful drama and direct conflict.

This post has been edited by Ragnar0k: 20 August 2009 - 11:10 AM

Their fault if they read it. That's what the BIG BLACK STUFF is for.

It would be nice to not have to spoil anything, but at the moment, we're kinda stuck (in general). I think the back and forth is helping though (and without it we probably would've inadvertently undermined your storyline).



Well, I know the demons show up two days in the future. The thing is the Master showed up on day 6, so it just feels like maybe they were supposed to do something in Cademia and a small group/cult would've shown up a couple days beforehand to make it easier. Like say, target the people most likely to figure out what's going on (if we assume they don't know the "heroes" are there/almost there, that would be - according to Selax - the three NPC mages.

That is, unless the demons weren't supposed to be at Cademia and their presence is unexpected by even the Master. (Galahad is supposed to be in the alt world?)


I just hadn't seen a demon in real life, or a picture of one. I blame Katerei.



The only reservation I have is that any NPCs that get killed here stay dead for the rest of the stories in this timeline. We've already ended up with over half of Kosha MIA and I'm hesitant to exterminate Cademia. Perhaps the kidnapping victims are useful alive? (maybe the missing people in Kosha are also alive?)


Well, it's hard to say when Wizard hasn't posted yet. I'm worried there really isn't enough to do, but maybe I should stop obsessing over setting up the demons. It would be nice if something significant related to everything else happened in Cademia before the other group arrived (since a huge amount of trouble was spent on getting Selax out of the way), more than a simple chase after a pyromancer.

I don't know yet and I haven't seen anyone else offer any ideas.

Passing secret messages back and forth is fun.



I can see your point. Here's what I've got: The Demons were supposed to do something for the Master in Cademia on or soon after day 8. Since they are no longer taking his orders that mission isn't getting done. This should raise suspicions since there's now a group of blood thirsty beasts that's totally MIA as far as the Master and his ilk are concerned.

I agree that there should be a cult/group loyal to the Master that has already infiltrated Cademia. The character Aremis, who was supposed to meet Devlin outside the city a few posts back, was a member of this group. The characters in Kosha are a branch of this group and I imagine there would be a few other agents in all the cities. I hesitate to do anything of importance with these people in Cademia because they are supposed to be working for the Master and he isn't my character, I don't know what his writer has planned so I can't decide what to have them do.

If you or someone else wants to give it a go (especially his writer) then by all means, you can even decide to do something with Aremis (a virtual blank slate of a character) before he disappears courtesy of Rythan/Galahad.

By day 8 there will be a question among the villains of why no word has come from Kosha (Devlin died before he could bring it), what happened to Aremis (who was killed before meeting Devlin), and what happened to the Demons (who changed allegiances before entering the city). Before day 8 everything should be running "smoothly" with villains setting up for their plot, whatever that might be, and trying to dispose of the heroes or at least throw them off the trail.

Galahad is in normal Cythera and has been there in every post with the possible exception of his guest appearance in Seralcard's morbid possible future. There was a flashback in my last post where, while in the Judge's castle in normal Cythera, Galahad recalled getting his sword in Alternate Cythera.



Having everyone live sort of kills off my bone pool theme, no pun intended. And also greatly diminishes suspense I think. I already assumed that canon NPCs from the game just would not be killed period in normal Cythera (one reason Itanos, Kosha's judge, is being held prisoner instead of dead). The island has to have many many nameless residents that just didn't show up in the game, I saw the cast list and it's not large enough to make up any one of the cities. So, how's about it's okay to kill some previously unheard of characters (who will likely be forever nameless) so long as they aren't being slaughtered by the scores?




Why not expand on what you have already and incorporate the action you would like? If I were in your shoes I might have Avatara and K enter Cademia looking for Beorn and then run into the same kind of trouble he did. They fight off their attackers but realize Beorn has been captured by them (he wouldn't really be able to fight them off anymore while floating unconscious in a sewer would he?). Either they work to free him or he frees himself and reunites with them, but in the end they learn they weren't targeted by random acts of violence, the people they fought were low level agents of the Master who thought they might discover his plans and now he knows Avatara, K, and Beorn are in Cythera. That should be two days of action easy. Obviously you'd want to sprinkle in some other plot elements to make the story come together, like some idea of what the Master is actually planning, but you get the general idea here.

Before day 8 the involvement of the Demons and the various villains I have creative control over is nil. Basically I can suggest ideas -I- think are cool but I'm not writing with the characters that would set any of that in motion on days 6-7.

Aw, somebody misses me!



Avatara, on the other hand, waits for the opportunity when I'm not here to defend myself.

Sorry if I've been holding things up. We were down on the Australian coast for a few days with no internet (and no heat, either. ) I wrote a post but it needs a bit more work, and I want to run it by TwoJacks and visitor before posting it.

Anyone: I forgot to mention this before, but are there any significant features to the vineyard that I should incorporate into my description?

visitorJacks: Was there a particular reason for choosing the vineyard, or is it just a nice place to rest? (Also, I'll PM my post to both of you... um, soon?)

The vineyard isn't exactly big, and the only thing that's significant there are the operators. They should be killed off or anything because they're "important" ncps.

We (more like Visitor ) chose the vineyard because it seemed like a logical stop for our characters to make, well unless they like sleeping in the woods.

Well, it looks like SKY caught up, and Wizard claims his post will have no effect on the rest of us (yeah right). I guess we can move into the Cademia events.

I'm working on another SKY post, but my save file is on a laptop for which the charger is... AWOL (it's in Melbourne and I am not.) It has enough battery life that I could get the file, but my fingers are going numb using the keyboard on this computer so I won't be writing much anyway.

I have an idea on how to involve Forlong (I think someone hacked Mack's account ) and to start the plot with the mages being poisoned (I'm not sure if that is a spoiler or not and I'm too lazy to go back and reread all the spoiler tags to check ).

I can't link to Forlong's character info because the character info thread is throwing an IPS driver error - so you'll have to pretend something insightful was written there instead.

Okay, I don't remember if it has been posted yet, but in case it isn't, here's the current idea for Cademia 6/7 and the justification for it. (Idea subject to change if someone writes in a better idea, but there's been no comment about it for three weeks now.

As with Kosha, Mr. Dark Spooky Master has sent in an advance team to Cademia because being the biggest city it is of useful strategic value to him (as an aside, it is unlikely that any advance team has arrived in any of the other cities as of day six due to the sheer distance from the gateway - and it'd be much more difficult to hit the remaining ones for far less reward). The plan: weaken Cademia so that some big bad army will have an easier time with it in the near future (time unknown). Side benefit to this: dunno if I should actually mention this part yet, maybe later.

Now, alt Cythera knows there are "heroes" in Cythera, but they may not know who those heroes are. After all, if you were living in an alternate reality - what kind of life would you be leading - how would you know? Especially if you were a nasty person, would you even picture yourself as being a champion of good? So they don't know who specifically would pose the biggest threat to them (from the player character side), but they probably know who the more powerful people are.

In this case, some of the most powerful people in Cademia happen to be the three mages - the judge and the two others <Selax will fill in their names>. So, they want to try and get these pesky mages out of the way, since they're known to be people who would be most likely to interfere. As they have the element of surprise, but are lacking in numbers, deceit and subtlety are probably the way to go.

In other words, they're going to try and poison the mages.

Now, if we look at the population of the bad guys, they have a finite army size, and it is only possible for so many people to go unnoticed. Thus, let us assume that ...six people plus one captain have entered the city and are busy trying to prepare evil bad deeds. Since they're relying on the element of surprise, they'll break up into groups of 2-2-3 and try to poison each mage pretty much simultaneously (3 going to the judge cause he lives in a castle and is probably harder to reach - captain goes with this group). The time of this attack: nighttime on Day 6.

Unfortunately for the judge team, something* will prevent them from actually reaching him on day six, so they abort and will try again during day seven. Which leaves the attack on the other two mages.

I don't have any real background info on the captain yet, just a couple of notes that I'll post here since other people are going to post in the story before my turn. He (as of yet unnamed) shouldn't get caught till day seven, both Av and Kat know him, and he's working for (or has worked heavily for) alternate Selax.

* I don't know what that is. Its been hinted that SKY may be visiting the judge soon to reveal suspicions they have almost no proof for, so maybe they hang around for a few hours and since the judge suddenly proves hard to reach with so much company they give up for the night, I don't know.

Well that was a mouthful. As for what's next, I think its currently around 3pm-ish on Day 6 (we're slowly crawling along). And before anyone asks:

I'm personally waiting for evening before I can make my move. I have no idea what SKY or Rapierian are going to do. I think Kat is hoping Forlong sits in the tavern until NSFW Kat shows up (another couple of hours). No idea what's going on with Beorn. No idea where Seralcard is. No idea where Wizard's little conclusion is (all the Kansas people vanished off the face of the planet). Everyone else is stuck waiting on hold until all the above gets resolved and we get rushed into day 8.

I'm trying R0k, maybe in another couple of weeks.

Today's update:

* Selax is going to do something with Beorn - eventually.
* Wizard has abandoned us all in favor of Batman.
* Visitor has a post in mind for SKY but is waiting on Katerei.
* I have a rough idea in mind for a post but am waiting on Katerei.
* Seralcard has gotten discouraged from so much waiting and no longer logs in.
* Mack really is lazy and probably won't post with Forlong much.

* Katerei's excuse is that it's still 9 AM for her and everyone left too soon.

This post has been edited by iKaterei: 07 September 2009 - 06:10 PM

Seralcard makes a point of reading posts even though he doesn't log in anymore. Will probably show up right after the time-lines merge. Enjoys writing in the third person.

The character Aremis, who was killed by Galahad offscreen, should be one of the 6 or 7 people who infiltrated Cademia. His rank and description is up to whoever writes with him first.

* I'm not lazy, I just have no idea what's going on, so if someone wants to fill me in with a condensed version, that'd be great.

http://www.ambrosiasw.com/forums/index.php...t&p=1989492

I've been informed visitor is waiting on me before he posts, except I'm not 100% sure what he wants to hear. I ended my post where I did because I didn't have any plans for what SKY will do next.

That said, I don't think Katerei and Yomu would go to the judge (or anyone else in a position of power) without Shanadar, because they don't have the same judicial power and influence that he does as an Enforcer. Neither of them are very prominent citizens* (Katerei lives in Catamarca), so no one is likely to even recognize them, let alone take them seriously about some half-baked conspiracy with no evidence.

Splitting up also raises problems now that they're not alone, and alternates seem to be lurking about. But even if they stick together, how do they know that a companion isn't getting replaced at night while the others are asleep? Short of handcuffing themselves together or choosing a code word/question, there doesn't seem to be a good way to ensure the others' identities.

I'm also not positive that SKY would be this paranoid yet, but considering the crimes that have been committed by unlikely culprits, they should be well on their way to getting suspicious. Perhaps Katerei is the only one they're worried about as there's been no indication so far that Shanadar or Yomu have alts.

There are quite a few things** that could keep SKY occupied for the next couple days: warning Berossus, looking for the mysterious guy that warned Forlong about the mages, warning the guards about the possibility of alternates, hunting down the murderous guard, talking to Typhos to see if he's innocent, spying on people for more info about any of the above, and searching for signs of their missing companions (Selax and co.) I've also tossed around the idea of SKY hearing Beorn clanking around in the sewer and rescuing him, but Selax hasn't been around for me to run that by.

As Avatara mentioned, I'd also like Forlong to still be in the Tavern when K gets there, but it's not necessary. Maybe he just didn't ask to go with SKY because he was getting negative vibes from them.

*TwoJacks would have to verify this, but that's the impression I got.
**I imagine they're still concerned about Alaric but I'm not sure what they could do about that without leaving Cademia.