Event Plotting Post: The Walls of Jericho

[thelostmods]

Greetings, residents of the Meadous and vistors! Our 4th Wall event is right around the corner. To help facilitate this, we’ve pulled together some world descriptions and FAQs that should help anyone coming to visit the Meadous and surrounding godling lands get situated. For this event, We the Lost will be allowing:

• Straight from Canon Characters
  
• CRAU Characters
  
• CRAU or Straight from Canon Characters that have been AU’d into a Godling Realm

TL;DR - We the Lost is having a 4th Wall Event. It will take place ICly over a two-week period and open up seven additional godling realms to explore. Any and all characters are welcome for this event, be they straight from canon, CRAU, or CRAU’d into a godling realm.

THE WALLS OF JERICHO

The Events Calendar post for the plot is HERE

First and foremost, what is this event? We the Lost is a CRAU Slice of Life game set in the realm of a young godling. Every young godling in the WtL-verse develops a world unique to them and pulls people in to populate it and help them grow. Each godling is influenced by their ‘flock,’ although they all have some basic personality traits that help them make their initial flock selection. The characters in WtL have so far given their godling a name: Zephyr, and a form that changes with the seasons.

Godling worlds are small to start and they expand as the power of the godling expands. There is also a barrier placed around each world, something that separates the godlings’ pocket universes from one another and protects the population from the dangers that run rampant between the worlds. Once a god is mature enough, their barrier will come down. Until that happens, though, the wall is kept in place, holding the inhabitants in and the rest of the world out.

On January 30th, an event on the plane of the gods will shatter the barriers between worlds, breaking down the walls and exposing nearby godling realms to one another as well as the spaces between.

This event will have three effects:

1. There will be an unexpected and unmanageable ‘pull’ out in the multi-verse that will drag in characters straight from canon or from other games and drop them into unsuspecting godling lands.
   
2. Characters already within godling realms will be ‘flung’ across their own plane and may wind up in a different godling world than the one they started in.
   
3. Travel between worlds will be possible.

This effect will last for two weeks (until February 13th) when the god plane will sort itself out, the barriers will be restored, everyone from the godling worlds will be put back in the right place, and anyone brought straight from canon or another game will be returned ‘home.’

The godlings will be frantically trying to sort out the situation on the god plane with the older gods and will be largely unavailable. However, they may check in now and again. More information on each of the gods and their worlds is provided below. the worlds open during this event will include:

• The Meadous - Realm of Zephyr - Flock Qualities: Lost
  
• Ajras - Realm of an Unnamed Godling - Flock Qualities: Musical, Upbeat, Adventurous
  
• Midnight - Realm of an Unnamed Godling - Flock Qualities: Nocturnal, Dual Natures, Hidden Sides
  
• The Sunset Circus - Realm of an Unnamed Godling - Flock Qualities: Fearful, Young, Misfits
  
• Samudra - Realm of an Unnamed Godling - Flock Qualities: Unique, Flashy, Prideful, Confident
  
• The Wild West - Realm of Ara - Flock Qualities: Inventors, Healers, Builders
  
• Aria - Realm of Lalilia - Flock Qualities: Caregivers, Parents, Builders
  
• Willowhispers - Realm of Tyvn - Flock Qualities: Artists, Misanthropes, Tech Savvy

WtL DOES NOT have a network comm. To facilitate communication for this event, a universal ‘Bulletin Board’ will be put up where people in different realms will be able to communicate.

Check the comments below for a brief FAQ!

Comments

Midnight - Unnamed Godling

[thelostmods]

Nicknames: Little Shade, Shadow, Nocturne
Selection Criteria: Nocturnal, Dual Natures, Hidden Sides
World Age: 1.5 Years
World Size: 2 square miles
Level of Technology: High-tech and futuristic - everything is shiny and sleek
Weather: It’s occasionally cloudy or misty, but there isn’t terribly much variation.

Dwellings: Condominiums in adjoining high-rise buildings. All of the appliances are chrome and ‘smart,’ and furniture tends to be slim and sleek. Colors in the homes vary depending on a character’s personal preferences. Food is fully stocked in all dwellings with the selection to the owner’s taste.

Godling Demeanor: Quiet, calm, and manipulative. The godling of Midnight is very much a product of the qualities of her flock. She wants what’s best for her flock and as long as they’re doing as she wants them to in order to achieve what’s best, she is polite and friendly, taking an interest in the various activities her flock gets up to. The moment a character goes off course from her desires, she’ll try to politely steer them back, then not-so-politely do it. She believes she knows what’s best for them, and she has no compunctions about making them see that, as well. Characters who do not follow her plan or act out in a way she doesn’t like are typically given nightmares of increasing severity centered around whatever they did or whatever they’re doing to displease her.
Godling Appearance: More and more, the godling of Midnight has been appearing as a shadowy black griffon. Her general form is some amorphous conglomerate of shadows.

Setting:
Midnight is a world of perpetual night. There are two moons and a wealth of stars. The stars change color with the season, turning in a four-month cycle from red to blue to green to white. There’s very little vegetation except at a large park in the center of the city where trees with bioluminescent fruit grow. There’s a channelized river running around the perimeter of the city filled with sightless fish. The city itself is very futuristic with tall buildings and raised platform streets. Most of the buildings are close together and have rails and ladders everywhere to encourage roof-top running and acrobatics.

The main locations of note are the Planetarium - features many beautiful displays of space and far-flung planets; the City Hall - an ornate building where people can gather for whatever they need, and which features mail slots and a Bulletin Board in the lobby for discussion and postings; the aforementioned Park - a wilder piece of Midnight with a Wishing Pond at the center; and the Skate Park - a place for those inclined to show off their sick moves… there are always extra bikes, skateboards, hoverboards, and other equipment for those who might want to play.

In spite of being a city, there’s an excellent wildlife population in the form of rodents, owls, bats, and other nocturnal creatures. Most things stay near the park, but there are bats that have taken over whole buildings. Much of the city is empty, waiting to be turned to whatever purpose residents desire.

While the godling has been slow to adopt and adapt holidays that most of their flock would recognize, they have taken a particular like to puzzle-solving and have implemented Murder Mystery Dinner Days with various creatures in Midnight standing in as the unfortunate ‘victims’ and the flock having to figure out who among them is the murderer of the evening.

Questions

[thelostmods]

[alittlemad]

So how does the Little Shade handle death in the flock? And what are their punishments like?

[thelostmods]

She handles such things very poorly. Actual murder is well outside of her Plan and not fun when it's For Real. The murdered person will be brought back the day after their death, and the area where the murder was committed will be cordoned off with CRIME SCENE tape for a time. Anyone who attempts to get past the tape will begin to feel violently ill until they move away.

The murderer will be subjected to hellish nightmares where they are the victim of their own crime. Thinking about the act itself while they're awake will bring on a sense of nausea and extreme physical discomfort (whatever that might mean for the character). All of this will persist until the person has confessed to their crime and apologized to their victim. If the murderer holds out for more than a week and the victim doesn't finger them, said murderer will find that the amenities in their home like food and basic supplies are not being replenished.

As for the victim, they will be lavished with additional nice things (whatever that might mean to them) and be sent a personal letter of apology from their godling.

[purotekuta]

I forgot to ask this earlier, but would it be safe to assume the Little Shade also lets their flock keep their powers (with the standard "nerfed to reasonable levels" clause)?

[thelostmods]

That is a safe assumption, yes! Everyone will get to keep their powers unless they are game-breaking. Then it's as noted in the FAQ that powers should be nerfed.

Plotting

[thelostmods]

Neophyte Redglare | JarJammed CRAU

[justitia]

Neophyte Redglare will be one of the inhabitants of Midnight!

For those of you who don't know Homestuck, Redglare is another of those grey-skinned troll aliens, and she happens to also be blind. She is the ancestor of Terezi Pyrope, and is employed as the terrifying cross between a lawyer and a bounty hunter with free rein to kill her targets--if that's what is necessary to bring them to justice. Though the court usually prefers them alive for the trials.

Outwardly, she is stern and a bit cold, keeping her emotions to herself. Her job requires her to be cut-throat, cunning, and a bit malicious at times. Inwardly, she has a soft spot for the innocent and a passion for equality. She tends to view herself very critically for past mistakes she's made.

In Jarjammed, Redglare learned to open up a little, rather then be the lone wolf that she normally is. Her loyalties were tested, and she was forced to change sides from Imperialist to Rebel, based not on the facade that she puts forth to the world but the sympathies that she harbors inside. She still tends to be on the quiet and distant side, but there are more occasions where her compassion and her humor shine through.

While Redglare doesn't participate in parkour, she does have her own brand of thrill-seeking, given to her by a friend from her previous game to replace the dragon she typically rides around on. She won't admit it, but she enjoys it a lot.

She can be a little intimidating during the Murder Mystery Dinner Days.

[purotekuta]

Ssso Augustine is also an enforcer of laws and pseudo-bounty hunter who secretly harbors views that are traitorous to the government she serves. Of course, she takes a very different approach to this than Redglare does, and they're both pretty forceful personalities, so I can either see them getting along pretty well or absolutely terribly with very little inbetween.

Re: Neophyte Redglare | JarJammed CRAU

[silberfuchs]

/grabby hands.

Albert's gonna be godling realm hopping throughout the event so I'd love for these two to run into each other and have Albert be hella confused about ancestors.

John Watson (Sherlock) | The Station CRAU

[jumpthegun]

John will be one of the inhabitants of Midnight!

For those unfamiliar, he is a modern variant of the classic John Watson seen in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Still an Army Doctor, still invalided thanks to a war in Afghanistan, still writing about his best friend's adventures. In this case, though, John's a blogger, and the limp he acquired after being injured was psychosomatic and has been dealt with. John's a little more guarded and sharper-tongued than his Victorian counterpart, but he's still very much all about pathos and wanting to understand and help people. This exchange in canon about sums up his dual nature...

John: You ought to remember, Sherlock, I was a soldier. I killed people.
Sherlock: You were a doctor!
John: I had bad days!

Where John was pulled in his canon, Sherlock had been dead for several months. After that, he was flung into The Station, a sci-fi mystery game centered around what happened to an alien race of beings and their planet after some attackers turned up and wiped them out. He and others on the Station have been working together to piece this together and go back in time to save that race of beings and restore the timeline to what it should have rightfully been according to an omniscient Being they've encountered.

John was sort of in the middle of that last bit when he was pulled to Midnight six months ago, so he's none-too-happy to be there and has been looking for ways to get back. He's rather keen on the Murder Mystery Dinner Days, though. He can't help enjoying a good puzzle and running down a 'murderer.'

[restorationist]

So I'm not sure how quickly this Holmes would recognize this Watson as a counterpart to his Watson, but he'll definitely be curious if he hears either name pop up in full, since where he comes from they're both wanted for high treason. He's not exactly about to reveal himself to a near stranger just because of a familiar name, but hearing that John Watson is around would be enough to get him to start snooping around.

[soulofblue]

FRIENDSHIP \o/

John and Pollo would probably get along pretty well. He can help make John some technology stuff! (I imagine he stayed a unicorn for like the first six months of their acquaintance and then one day just showed up as this thing in a fluffy sweater.)

[unwillingdoll]

Hey John Hey. We already talked a little bit on plurk about these two but I thought I'd throw in a proper plotting comment in case we wanted to mention anything else. She can relate, if nothing else, to his unhappiness at being there and not somewhere else. Especially after Norman murders her, that's definitely an important development to just put out there since she will Not be a very happy about it.

Clayton Epps (Snowblind CRAU) | OC

[dr_unconscious]

HERE'S ANOTHER ONE. This is Clayton, one of several characters I'm going to be dragging here from Elementverse; the simple world description is a modern semi-utopia and also there are superpowers, naturally there's more comprehensive worldbuilding info on Clayton's journal is anyone's curious. Clayton was dragged to Norfinbury early in his canon, where he was dropped into the snowy wasteland of a town alone with only a backpack full of rations and a tablet to communicate with the other abductees. As one of the few doctors available and willing to help people, Clayton spent most of his two months there frantically attempting to reach the sick and injured and watching helplessly as people died around him in various horrifying and boggling ways before he was stolen away to Midnight.

Needless to say, Clayton has not been in good shape since then. I'll say he's been in this world for at least a year so he's had some time to recover. He intentionally carries the scars of his time in Norfinbury with him; the injuries he sustained remind him of the help he received from the friends he made there, so even though all of them are either disfiguring or permanently crippling, he hasn't wished them away. The sadder parts of Clayton's sentimental nature are repressed, much like his naturally manipulative brand of problem-solving, so he would have spent most of his time getting to know everyone here and being as saccharine as possible. Clayton is a natural people-pleaser and generally very level-headed, once he's learned to stop being such a worrywart. He's also a huge goddamn flirt, so. Ladies of Midnight, feel free to assume that he's tried that at least once. Or that he's gone a bit further. Or that he's gone a bit further and is actively cheating on someone else. Clayton's relationship management skills are not the best.

Clayton's impact on Midnight has likely been a primarily social one--he likes getting involved in discussions and checking in on people, gravitates towards solving interpersonal disputes (usually behind people's backs, which ought to make Murder Mystery nights particularly interesting), usually makes himself as supportive a shoulder to cry on as possible--but he does a lot of wandering around the place as a form of meditation and casual physical therapy. Despite having his powers taken from him on arrival to Norfinbury (astral projection), he has not wished for them back, has no desire to wish them back, and probably has not told anyone he has them unless they're openly telepathic or something. His apartment is kept very warm.

[unwillingdoll]

Slides over here with a proper plotting comment! We talked a little bit about their relationship (or "relationship" if you would) on plurk but HEY it never hurts to be thorough. And also now Rella is getting murdered so that's something to talk about probably.

[lacecase]

WHILE I'M THINKING OF IT. If we potentially wanted to do some sort of world-hopping reunion between these two snowbunnies that could also be fun. But if you just want to stick to interacting with new/non-snowblind CR that's fine with me. She could just conveniently not bring up Gary so that doesn't get all weird.

Hondou Eisuke

[unluckilyclumsy]

Perpetually clumsy, incredibly unlucky, terribly nearsighted, always excitable, Eisuke is a mostly normal teenager from Tokyo. He's the sort of guy who has been described by friends-who-are-girls as somebody who "would be a cute manga character if he was a girl".

He's also secretly driven by revenge and possibly the best set of detective skills in his canon (which is about teenage detectives). He's very good at not letting that side of him show, and murder mystery parties probably get only slight input from him (other than tripping over things and maybe more than once "accidentally" destroying evidence after he's seen it)

Voted most likely to get lost. Most likely to break something important.

Rella Triean | OC

[unwillingdoll]

Hello! I’m bringing in an original character of mine named Rella Triean from a trilogy of writing tournaments set in the Underworld. Or, rather, a city within the Underworld called Nothing: a place for souls with no specific set of beliefs to live out their afterlife. One of Satan’s many illegitimate children begot from an affair with one of his human worshipers, Rella was born and raised in a world reminiscent to Earth, but where witchcraft is a common but outdated (and somewhat forgotten) practice. Her mother, wanting her daughter to stay young and doll-like forever, cursed her to immortal childhood when she was six years old. Much, much later, she’s managed to break that curse and become an adult, but realized that--whoops, she actually liked the perks of immortality. Namely, being perfect and beautiful and, well, not dying. She gets taken to Midnight when she visits her father in an attempt to regain her immortal status.

As much of her background may imply, Rella is not a particularly friendly person. Much like the Godling that rules over Midnight, she prefers to act the paragon of demure, ladylike politeness, but will switch to more harsh and forceful tactics as soon as she believes the front to be pointless. She won’t go out of her way to make friends unless she thinks that someone is worth something as a friend, but if someone insists on making her acquaintance she won’t typically refuse (so long as she can find some use for them). A perfectionist to an obsessive level, Rella bottles up her insecurities by trying to be flawless at all times, despite how unreasonable this may be and how much stress it causes her. As a result, any mistake she makes, however small, frustrates her--occasionally to the point of a rage. She’s also a huge tease. She uses her body to her advantage whenever she can, but avoids making actual commitments. Sometimes she’ll string along men for no reason other than to amuse herself.

Rella was snatched from her Universe about two months ago and has been living in Midnight ever since. As such, she’s still getting herself settled in, but likes to act as if she’s completely comfortable and familiar with her surroundings. It’s better than seeming lost or vulnerable. She hates puzzles, finding them tedious, and has never been a social butterfly in her life, but participates in the Murder Mystery Dinner Days as a way break up monotony and boredom. That, and as not to come off as some sort of shrew. Regardless of how antisocial she may be, she abhors the idea of being labeled as such by strangers.

Aside from having-been immortal, Rella has two superhuman abilities: telekinesis and hypnotic charm. She only generally uses her telekinesis when she’s in a troubling situation, but relies on her ability to charm others into agreeability frequently. If she’s unable to win someone over with her normal behavior, she’ll use that gentle persuasion to tip their favor toward her. Both of her powers rely on eye contact.

Norman Bates | Psycho (1960)

[alittlemad]

Norman Bates is a sweet young man who doesn't understand why he and his mother have been put in with all these intimidating detective types. He doesn't much care for the murder mystery parties but he'll show up and hang around putting in the minimum effort until he's allowed to go back to the condominium and dress up in his dead mother's clothing tend to Mother in seclusion. She's very sick, you see.

[alittlemad]

Seriously, though, someone's probably figured out there's something wrong with Norman. It's also possible (likely) that he's tried to murder someone as soon as he felt sexually attracted to them (both opposite-sex and same-sex attraction and murder attempt are on the table, I'm game). I'd just rather not tag around on other people's planning posts offering to attempt to murder their characters; it seems gross. If anyone's interested in that having happened (whether he succeeded or they fought him off and/or killed him), let me know here.

Mia Ward | WoD OC

[konomia]

You know who really likes worlds of perpetual night? Vampires. Mia Ward is a Tremere of no mean skill at Thaumaturgy, a poor little rich girl in possession of no morals whatsoever and a fairly innocuous face she presents to the world. She's been in Midnight for about nine months so far.

Mia's a Medieval Scholar by training, a lesbian by inclination, and a complete and utter troll by nature. She got pulled away from her world in the middle of a task she and her coterie were performing for the Prince of New York and her only regret with that is that she never did get another lesson in Koldunic Sorcery from her teacher.

The best way to describe her is the unholy vampire lovechild of Aranea Serket and Dio Brando.

A mystery novel aficionado, she adores the Murder Mystery Dinner Days.

Brooke Augustine | inFAMOUS: Second Son

[purotekuta]

This is going to include some SERIOUS SPOILERS for Second Son, just as a heads up.

Anyway Brooke Augustine is a Conduit; meaning a person with superpowers involving control over a specific form of energy or matter, in her case concrete. This would be fine and dandy, except for the fact that superpowered individuals exploded onto the scene quite literally seven years ago, with the most well-known of them (a man called The Beast) essentially obliterating the entire East Coast of the United States from Not-New York to Not-New Orleans. Augustine was a soldier sent to try to do damage control in the aftermath of that disaster, only to wind up as the sole survivor of her squad and with her powers awakened.

To make a long story short, the public blamed all Conduits equally for the destruction The Beast had wrought, and in the ruined city she'd been sent to protect Augustine saw the worst of it. Lynchings, brutal beatings, all doled out on anyone who happened to display powers in the wake of the destruction. While wandering the ruins and attempting to reestablish contact with her superiors, Augustine encountered a young girl named Celia, also a recently awakened Conduit, and took it upon herself to keep her safe from the raging mobs. However, when the two of them did finally find another squad of soldiers, they found themselves being treated as dangerous enemies. Rather than let the both of them be gunned down on the spot, Augustine made the snap decision to take Celia into custody as a prisoner, establishing herself as an ally and Celia as a non-threat.

Seven years later, Augustine is the head of the Department of Unified Protection, an organization that hunts down Conduits and imprisons them in Curdun Cay station. Publicly, Augustine talks up the "bio-terrorist" threat, espousing how Conduits have to be locked away for humanity to be safe, but in reality her goal is to keep her fellow Conduits safe from humanity. Conditions are brutal in Curdun Cay, to be sure, but isn't it better to kept in a cage than slaughtered in the streets? Under the circumstances it's the best she can do - pushing for greater freedom for her prisoners would have her labelled a sympathizer and replaced with someone even more brutal.

Essentially, Augustine is very pessimistic and pragmatic. She's seen the worst of what people can do and been the subject of much of it, and genuinely believes that conditions will never improve, instead bending the system around herself to try to make allowances while still flying under the radar. Chances are if you're a stock-standard normal human she distrusts you immensely, even if she's polite and professional to your face. Powered individuals don't get a free pass either, though, as she requires rigorous discipline and respect for order from those she trusts. However, people who do win her favor will discover that she's fiercely protective, if maybe a little more willing to resort to underhanded measures to do what she thinks is right than is necessarily safe or appropriate.

Pollo | MLJ CRAU

[soulofblue]

Pollo is a sweet, nerdy little blue unicorn who is honestly slightly bothered by being lumped in with quite this many frightening people. Sometimes when it's useful, he turns into a terrifying Terminator-looking robot, because he's sensible with his wishes. This tends to come out on Murder Mystery Night and whenever infrared vision might be useful.

He's been in Midnight for about a year, having remained in Equestria after the endgame of MLJ for a while before being snatched up. He spends a lot of his time scavenging the futuristic tech around the city and building sentient (though not sapient) robotic animals. There's a good chance some of these are just living free in the city. Pollo's quiet and intelligent, and pretty friendly, though not always likely to initiate social contact. He keeps a very large dog named Burton.

Re: Plotting

[nodermanation]

Sans will be living here, although one wouldn't think he fits in at all thanks to how well he plays up his dual nature.

He has probably gotten in trouble more than once due to how he wants to be able to set things right at home. He is pretty easy going, and so far no one has yet to get him into 'Bad Time' mode. He tries to lighten the mood of the people of Midnight and has a telescope.