outofsticks

SETTING UPDATES:

For those that missed it or did not participate, the Attack on Suri concluded… with several little updates that will moderately shake the setting up:
- Characters who were alive at the end of the battle know Suri’s name, which despite us using it all the time, was not actually known by anyone barring Tal’s Cookie Duo™. This includes four of the five Guardians as well. Because of this, Suri gets a power jump — but it’s up to the players if they choose to disseminate this information, or figure out a new way to be disrespectful about it.
- The Temple is destroyed and merely a pile of rubble now.
  - Suri’s next probable location is therefore unknown.
- While not otherwise hostile to the players at this time, Zonari will be moving out for now; dad’s calling and she has to get back to their new home. That said, she will still visit the Grove because she’s weirdly fascinated with all of you (and very fond of the Tomas chicks in the barn) under the excuse that she’s “keeping watch”.
- A new NPC, Callisto, will be available to contact on NPC Contact. In short, she’s the merchant who originally opened the Temple doors and caused the apocalypse, and Suri has spent the last thousand years torturing and resurrecting her in an endless cycle. Mizuki rescued her as he escaped, and she currently lives in the inn and frequents Luca’s bar.
- The NPC Elsword has left the Garden and is now Contactable as well. He lives in the therapy building with Mizuki.
Callan, still frustrated with the winter cold, will remain in Siffrin’s fishtank.
Player sacrifices have been acknowledged. Those of you who didn’t bother to make a sacrifice will have some effects to contend with; those of you who did are spared. Regardless, Winter and the wraiths have moved on into the forest, and springtime will be upon you soon.
The snow, while not fully melted off, will start to do so. The ground will remain snowy, but the river will unfreeze, which allows Sinann and the baby Seaborn (who have grown a lot since they were first introduced) to float up to the surface again and say hi. Yet, the Seaborn population in the river is still much thinner than it was before.

PLOT UPDATES:

February’s log is a player plot written entirely by Rubie. Questions about event mechanics therefore should be directed to Rubie through official channels, meaning: Please ask these in a public location such as the Discord Q&A or the FAQ here or on the main post so that they’re available to anyone who needs to see them. The mods would advise sending Rubie a ping if you use Discord.
The rest of the plotting notes in this section are written by Rubie, so without further ado: < rubiezone >
Several months ago, Mizuki introduced some of his God’s flesh to the Grove. It had been under Pure Vanilla’s watch… but due to some of his unforeseen absences, pieces have escaped and grown.
It now occupies a part of the forest most would do well to avoid – the people trees. Characters this month will notice that massive tree that now stands stories tall above everything else in that part of the forest.
The Nethersea brand is back! Now worse than ever! As a refresher (or introduction to our newer folk), the brand is a web-like, blue, almost flesh-like mass that will continuously grow and cover whatever it can. Touching it gives a numbing sensation that will eventually cause your nervous system to shut down. It’s not instantaneous, but you don’t have long! After some time, you’ll regain feeling again, but if you don’t leave the brand in that time, it’ll happen all over again.
What does all this mean for you? Well, for starters, leaving the brand unchecked will cause it to grow over the Grove. In the past, it stayed contained, but considering it’s stemming from this massive tree – the Caerula Arbor – this time, it will become a problem. And secondly… anyone trapped within the brand, or stuck in the “roots” of the Arbor will have a vague “assimilation” with it. You won’t become Seaborn or anything like that, don’t worry.
“What does that mean?!” Glad you asked! It means that Rubie has the opportunity to give you all a memory share event! The Arbor’s whole thing is about grief, so likely memories will align with that, but I’m not about to police what fun you want to have. Go nuts.
Because the Arbor is assimilating with the people trees as well – characters from everyone’s past lives – y’all will be able to explore past life memories, too! Yaaaay!!! ✨ Again, I’m not about to police any of y’all for this. Please have fun, do what you want, plot away, I’m here for it.
On top of this, I will also be hosting a “stop the Arbor from branding the Grove” that doubles as a Mizuki rescue mission! This will have sign-ups for that below, as this is going to be a quick-paced thread that centers on DnD-esque puzzle-solving and… depending on how y’all handle it, a fight scene?! Who knows. I don’t. I’ve got lots of endings planned, though. 🙂
- Sign-ups are limited to 1 character per person.
Please note, for when you sign up, I, Rubie, may end up in your inbox before the event drops to do some pre-event shenanigans. Nothing major, just some fun flavor~
< /rubiezone >

OOC UPDATES:

For those who were wondering about the monster transformation event we promised and didn’t bring up for another few months (sorry) — we now have officially scheduled it for May. We know art/designs/deep thoughts are important to players for such events, so here is a rough outline of the actual mechanics:
- Multiple transformations will be allowed per month (May will be primarily monster focused; June & July will still have characters transformed if they wish to be, but will have other plot focuses). You can also just stick to one if it please ye. At any point, the transformation can be ended early via the same mechanic that transforms players in the first place — or avoided entirely for the uninterested.
- Dragon blessings do not have to show up on your person if you do not want them to (i.e. if it interferes with your idea) — Corruption however will be present. You will not lose the effects from either of these things while Creatured.
- Any monster is viable, and there is no bestiary provided — however, we ask that you keep in mind our existing size constraints, do not break our game, & do not use overly-mechanical designs as it doesn’t fit our setting. No full robots or TV heads. Steampunk & partial robotic designs, as long as they are mostly flesh, are OK.
We love you guys. <3

Please use the following form for plotting:

Character:
Canon:
CR: Who is your character? Any special powers or things they have going on? Any specific CR you want to kickstart?
Plans: What’s on the agenda for this month? Any interactions with the monthly event? Other things you want to do?
Not Seeking: Anything you'd like to avoid.
Anything Else: A permissions post, opt-in for a character-specific power or whatever else.
Recent Posts or Toplevels: For things you posted that you want additional tag-ins on or that might’ve gone missed.
Past Life Plotting Toplevel: From ye olde post.
Meme: Make us laugh.

Jan. 30th, 2025

Jan. 30th, 2025

OOC PLOTTING: RUBIE IS WRITING THIS ONE /SRS

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