Chapter 5 OOC Plotting!

[thenine]

Chapter 5 Launch

Chapter 5 Event Log is up for your review. Please feel free to post there or your own logs for the event - whichever works best for you.

Chapter 5 Calendar / Timeline is available here for the timeline of the month.

To help you get started, here are some potential quick notes for things you could do with these prompts--but feel free to expand or come up with something entirely on your own!

Prompt Notes

The Nine

While publicly unified in their approach to quell unrest in the best interest of all inhabiting the Quad, the Nine families remain in quiet discord. Land Hyponia still seeks to help the common man, but their every move is watched by the other houses.

What they're able to do is little, but House Hyponia does not pass over its opportunities. Putting out warrants for recon missions on Westerley, reaching out to possible sympathizers in other houses, and making an anonymous network post asking for the 'state of the Quad', Hyponian leaders are attempting to lay the groundwork to offer much needed aid to the citizens of Westerley.

The Company

Using the food shortages on Leith as justification, the Company has begun to reallocate its forces from Westerley to the agricultural moon. Those born on Westerley have likely been left behind to maintain what shreds of order remain, while all others will be shipped to Leith to carry out the Company's new twofold directive.

One: Solicit compulsory donations from well-to-do Leithan families. Funds, food, wine, any commodity held in what the Company has deemed 'excess' is required, though with a strict non-violence stipulation, some enforcers may find themselves out of their depth in verbal diplomacy. Once acquired, the resources will need distributed to places in need, though Company officers have been warned to be on the look out for both Resistance and Leithan raids.

Two: Total shut down of Resistance activity on Leith. Lethal force has been authorized across the board, though suspicion is not grounds for action. Enforcers are required to keep any displays of violence out of the public eye, and any mistakes will be punished swiftly and severely.

What seems like a mere change in backdrop to busy work to some will ring far more ominous to others. Such a mass exodus from Westerley means only one thing: an escalation of Company recourse. Those high ranking enough in the Company will see the writing on the walls, the exit strategy currently being undergone only the beginning of a far more explosive solution to the disarray of Westerlyn society. No official notice of such a course of action has been given as of yet, but any seeking to dissuade the plan will need to act swiftly.

**EDIT:** We just wanted to provide a quick bit of clarification for the Ch. 5 game plot so that we can, hopefully, outline a bit better what the Company actions actually are this month and clear up a bit of confusion we're seeing... just in case anyone is feeling pigeon holed or limited in their possibilities because of the Ch. information. Namely, that while those 'in the know' at the Company will know that they are slowly pulling out of Westerley and leaving behind a skeleton crew of local-born officials, there is no actual or definitive proof as of yet that there's going to be massive bombing. Suspected, yes. But there's nothing in the data steams that indicate actual proof that it's going to happen for this chapter.

Westies

Things are quieting on the surface on Westerley, but there's a deep undercurrent of something not being right. The common person isn't going to be aware of the Company's plans, but the decreased presence of Company forces is hard to miss. It presents opportunity for those who have the means to take it, at least so long as Westerley is where you want to stay.

A decreased Company presence means more opportunity for less than legitimate businesses to gain strength. If you own one, it's a good time to try and make some smart business moves, or if you're looking to get involved, business is booming for odd jobs and recruits. There's ground work to be laid for these kinds of endeavors while the Company is busy on Leith.

However, if this makes you never, it might be time to get your house in order. It's far from easy for a Westie to leave, but there are still opportunities. From signing up for next years hokk harvest to working on passing ships that might be cargo ships or slave ships (it can be hard to tell), securing something else isn't a bad idea. Just watch out for opportunists that might take advantage of that desperation.

Leithians

Leith is falling into chaos that's always characterized its neighbor Westerley more than Leith, and it makes the effects almost worse. Leith isn't used to strife like this, and at all levels, the effects are not only felt, but responded to.

For the poorer residents of Leith, unrest grows as food storages go down. The very poorest find themselves going truly hungry, and other lower classes may have to struggle to find food to feed themselves and their families. People are being hurt in fights over food and eventually, the violence increases to murder. It's no surprise that the Company comes out to Leith in full force to keep the peace, though as always, this could easily seem to escalate things even more.

For the richer, you'll still find your bellies full, but your political situation is precarious. Some choose to protect their investments, and there are official warrants and simply odd jobs to camp out on remote Leithian farms to protect their land. Sometimes it's nothing more than a boring camping trip born out of a rich person's paranoia, but other times, you might find yourself camped right near a Resistance camp hidden in those woods. On the other hand, the less greedy Leithians give back how they can, as fundraising and other charitable works to help with hunger relief are in vogue. Throwing them or being seen at them is a quick way to increase your social standing, though the people you're helping out may not appreciate their strife being used as leverage.

Resistance

Each of the cells have been given a component of a remote-controlled device that must be completed by the end of the chapter. Unfortunately for them, they may not be trained or otherwise capable of building said component with their current skillsets, therefore, they may need to branch out and… borrow… through force or coercion, the individuals that can help them complete their tasks.

Their only limitation in doing so: bring in any outsiders in such a way that does not compromise their respective safehouses or identities - especially if they happen to know the elected hostage on a personal level.

Once volunteer sign-ups close, the Hyperion Mission page will be updated to include any additional team members Hyperion has recruited to replace lost members as well as hostage volunteers and dossier info.

The RAC

Personal diligence is the watchword this month, as each character undergoes an Internal Affairs assessment to determine if their agents have begun to let their own neutrality become compromised.

Equally important, however, is re-establishing their own perceived neutrality - both within the Quad and within the J-Star Cluster at large, else their credibility becomes lost due to a suspicion that the RAC has become yet another arm controlled by the Nine. The focus will be getting support for Hyperion missions - though they claim not to know the source of these warrants in order to retain plausible deniability - and for missions in opposition of coddling the Nine… even if they still allow for those very same coddling missions to continue.

Theirs is a complicated tight-rope to walk, and the Killjoys must prove to everyone that they can still manage it.

Major Plot Points

Metaplot: Glitching Nanites

All interference between the meshwork and the memory modification implants has been repaired. Characters will resume their normal sleeping habits, though some residual headaches or restlessness may continue.

However, the fix contrived to cut off such an open avenue for memory conflict was a hasty one, and in the coming weeks another difficulty will emerge. Any character using nanotech to support their combat or passive abilities will be subject to wild and unpredictable disruptions in their use of this technology.

Sometimes, this may manifest in the nanotech not responding at all. Other times, the tech will overload going out of control and causing unintended destruction, or causing backlash on the user with varying degrees of severity. Rarely, the nanotech may even respond better than expected, leading to a 'miracle' of sorts.

These incidents are random though they may increase as the month wears on, and cannot be replicated with any form of consistency.

Resistance - Hyperion Missions & Recruitment

Due to some drops, we'll be opening up the Hyperion teams again for recruitment. Depending on the number of characters who sign up, we may create an additional team and safehouse set up. Please sign up using this top-level! Sign ups will remain open until 4/15. We will also have hostage/kidnapping sign ups for other PCs to interact with the Hyperion cells during that same time period. Please sign up using this top-level.

RAC or (in the cases of odd worker PC's) delivery persons are needed to transport cases to and from the Hyperion teams! Please sign up using the Warrant Page!

RAC - Promotions (or Demotions)

We did not have any Level 5 sign-ups, therefore you're free to say your Level 4 tried and failed, or just did not request evaluations.

CR Meme Template

<b>Character</b>: <b>Location</b>: <b>Primary Faction Goals</b>: <b>Secondary Faction Goals</b>: <b>Desired CR</b>: <b>Offered CR</b>: <b>Anything else?</b>

Comments

Questions

[thenine]

(frozen comment) HYPERION - NEW RECRUITS - CLOSED w/ no New Recruits

[thenine]

Sign-ups will be open until 4/15.

<b>Character:</b> <b>Do you want them to potentially be a cell leader?</b> <b>Is your character voluntarily working with the resistance, or will they need to be persuaded?</b> <b>What motivates your willing or unwilling character?</b> If they're already part of the cause or will not require coercion, what's their motivation? If they're not willing, what can be used as IC leverage to sway their participation? <b>What special skills does your character bring to the table?</b>: Are they expert assassins, hackers, tech builders, explosives experts, work in a confidential area, etc? <b>Any special requests?</b> Such as other characters you would specifically like to be paired with! For now, cells will have a max of 4 characters, but in future months these may be expanded to accommodate IC plotting. If you have no preference, we will RNG your team.</b>

HYPERION - KIDNAPPING/HOSTAGE HELP

[thenine]

Anyone with tech building or computer science know-how is needed to help the Hyperion cells meet their latest challenges, noted on the Hyperion Cells chapter page.

Sign-ups will be open until 4/15.

<b>Character:</b> <b>What threat level/violence level do you find acceptable in order to get your character to cooperate?</b> <b>Would you prefer brute force or blackmail as a means of motivation?</b> <b>If blackmail, what means would be the most effective? This info will be included on the character's dossier to be delivered to the cell leader the character is assigned to.</b> <b>Have you plotted participation with a specific cell, or can we <s>throw you to the wolves</s> assign your PC where needed?</b>: <b>Any special requests?</b>

HYPERION: MISSION FAILURE?!

[thenine]

In the event that your cell does not complete their task in a timely manner, what means of reprimand would you like to see your character receive?

Reprimands will be included in the following month's chapter release, to give maximum time for completion.

Team: Branch

[thenine]

Team: Root

[thenine]

Team: Blossom

[thenine]

Team: Vine

[thenine]

[kirkwalled]

What if a certain rapscallion of a killjoy wants to try for level five this month? Is that possible?

hawke + will

[sweats]

i'm just gonna two in one this thing

Character: Hawke and Will Graham
Location:

↳ Hawke: Westerley
↳ Will: Leith

Primary Faction Goals:

↳ Hawke: She's torn between climbing higher in the RAC and ditching altogether! Hasn't really come out on either side of it though so mostly she's just seeing what's up. She's also one of the people who think less Company presence is kind of a good thing, until she realizes most of her cr are Company folk. Then she'll be personally annoyed! Hawke really does suck.

↳ Will: Ask Hannibal. Get very drunk. Kill some people. Eat some other people. You can't go hungry if all you eat is other humans, after all!!! Also, Hannibal's throwing a party apparently, so that. Will sucks too.

Secondary Faction Goals:

↳ Hawke: She will get the feeling she should save up on some Joy though so she'll be taking a few more jobs than usual, especially those paying well. If anyone wants to hire her, I'm down!! And she's gotta find her dog.
↳ Will: He'll also probably keep teaching. And he's gotta kidnap some dogs.

Desired CR:

↳ Hawke: Anything?!
↳ Will: Everything?!

Offered CR:

↳ Hawke: Big sister figure who is aggressively chaotic good.
↳ Will: Grumpy father figure who is aggressively true neutral.

Anything else? I got nothing.

fitz

[pesto]

Character: leo fitz
Location: company / westerley / maybe KIDNAPPED??
Primary Faction Goals: fitz is Intensely Frowning at all the things company's doing which means he's finally (!!!) starting to lean away from being so loyal to the company. he'll still be doing his own thing in the R&D labs and being a general Good Worker, but he's definitely going to to be looking at alternate... options... so if anyone wants him to nudge that way?! that'd be cool.
Secondary Faction Goals: more? memory shenanigans?! i honestly don't know it's going to be a wild ride...
Desired CR: I MADE A LOT OF PLANS WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE in the last month before i failed miserably, which means i want to proper pursue said plans!! though regardless of whether or not we've talked, come at me, let's do ridic stuff together 8)
Offered CR: as always!! LET FITZ BE THE TECH NERD IN YOUR LIFE. he's here for any and all technical requests, from communication devices to super rad sci-fi bows. tranquilizer darts?? idk, basically if you want a thing then he'll do it.

otherwise have a sarcastic, grouchy scot who's not very good at fighting but will Try Very Hard. >:c will also be easily convinced by the more Hyperion types of people in life, which means if your character feels like doing some recruiting, he's here.
Anything else? i want to get him kidnapped, he's gonna get kidnapped. unless someone specifically wants him i'll throw him in a randomizer!!

+) i'm really sorry i've been super slow with tags, but unfortunately april is finals season for me / i'm relocating for an internship ;w; which means i'll probably be slow until the end of the month... but after that i'll be free!!

[rhygret]

What's being done with old Company facilities, bunkers, and store houses in the wake of the exodus from Westerley? And things like Vessel Program safehouses, etc? Would Rhys be able to access information on any of these and re-purpose them for his own use since The Company's just...leaving and all that?

[nekoshunshin]

Just. Saying.

Yoru and Kara need all the help they can get. Feel like being kidnapped by a couple of crazy ladies?

Added bonus because we both dropped that planned CR ball, so we could have them do something either before or after his kidnapping...

[thenine]

Not this month! The RAC admins are looking into their agents this month, so she could assess one of the other killjoys. Once they've determined their weaknesses within, they'll re-open L5 evals (so likely next month).

Giovanni Rammsteiner | Company (Cerberus Unit)

[ofobedience]

Character: Giovanni Rammsteiner
Location: Relocated to Leith, but will move around to wherever the Company needs him
Primary Faction Goals: Relocation to Leith means that he'll be put to the task of eliminating resistance cells cropping up here, and he'll be using lethal force, quite naturally. PLAY TIME! Bring on the carnage.
Secondary Faction Goals: Gio's goals are more or less the Company's goals in as much as he follows orders and does as he's told...but there will be a steady increase in friction here the more he develops individual loyalties and CR with others.
Desired CR:
- Anything that makes him develop stronger individual loyalties/begin to question Company authority
- Company people of all kinds! Those who elicit individual loyalties and the type who'll react to him as though he's just a Company tool (Handlers when he's off killing rebels, or people to fight along side of are also fun!)
- Negative CR is always, always welcome
Offered CR:
- He'll be doing a lot of killing again (though not losing control of himself this time) so if you wanna get involved in that, either joining in or trying to stop him, it's all good.
- His abilities all run off nanotech so shenanigans involving this would be great!
- He's super loyal if you win him over you get a doge friend for life
Anything else?
- I'm interested in playing with assorted, fluctuating effects of the nanotech, so having it stop working sometimes and other times backfire and also times where it increases scarily, if anyone is interested in those kinds of effects! It'll mean that sometimes his injuries will actually stick for once, during low fluctuations, and will make him more formidable other times.

[thenine]

They're still Company owned and secured, for now. At most he might be able to find a storage or outlying warehouse facility to re-appropriate, but that'd be it. The Vessel safehouses are owned by the Sisterhood, so that's not really under Company jurisdiction, strictly speaking...

[shikomizue]

Exposure of Tani Umenosuke as Takasugi Shinsuke would be plenty.

Not that he needs much motivation to build a super weapon :'U

[rhygret]

Oh yeah I meant because Rhys is a Kendry and they pioneered it/are the biggest patrons still, if there's anything he'd know because of that connection!

^ still asking the above unless the answer is the same there, as well as:

Can Rhys/maybe Angel work some incredible tech/forgery madness to pretty much swindle them out of their money and land and have it signed over to Rhys prematurely?? Like that or he gets himself put on jointly and have full access. IS THAT A THING I CAN DO/NEED PERMISSION FOR?

percy jackson

[hydrokinetics]

Character: Percy Jackson
Location: Westerley primarily, I think!
Primary Faction Goals:
On his giant list of things to do is "not die." For the most part, Percy's going to take notice of the decrease of the Company and while he'll want to learn more about that he's also going to use this time to start nosing around and seeing what would be the best route for him to take whether that's working shady deals with people on Westerley or trying to head out for Leith. The nice thing is he's not worried about losing his home since haha what home. He's keeping his head down but he's also planning on being more bold with his endeavors to gain some leverage until he gets a clear picture of where his loyalties are going to lie.
Secondary Faction Goals:
/waves hands? Mostly he'll just be analyzing ships, fixing ships, figuring out where ships are going and getting a sense of the people on Westerley (who's coming and going) and yeah I'm repeating myself whoops.
Desired CR: Anything! I'm getting my feet wet and I'm itching to dive into stuff. I'd love to get him talking to people in varying factions mostly? But also just surprise me, let's chat and roll with anything.
Offered CR: Percy's your standard sarcastic teenager but at the same time he can lend himself to a few technical aspects of the game. He's primarily a weapons dealer of sorts but he's also a mechanic. Knows how to use weapons. Good for a fight, doesn't go down that easily tbh. Wants to Help, primarily, but doesn't quite know how exactly he wants to do that. Incredibly loyal to whatever friend he makes or cause he claims as "his." Given his circumstances this is also a fairly good time to persuade him to one cause or another since he's searching for a path to follow should one wish to do that. Chaotic good and roaming.
Anything else? Save me from myself as I sort of roll with my standard of "I'm still figuring it out but I'm going to bulldoze in and hope my enthusiasm gets me by."

Takasugi Shinsuke | Resistance

[shikomizue]

Character: Takasugi Shinsuke
Location: Leith + Quad
Primary Faction Goals: Takasugi has been fanning the flames of instability for a long while, and while he isn't privy to the details about what the Company plans on doing with Westerley, he's incited a similar incident in the past (Sugar Point), so he's pleased with how that all is moving along.

Seeing it spread to Leith, he's likely to take any chance he can get to escalate the situation there, as well. Though, at this point, he's equally interested in gathering allies to take advantage of the chaos to strike at the heart of the Company/Nine.

Secondary Faction Goals: Whatever it is Hyperion is wanting Takasugi to build, he doesn't have the knowledge to do it personally. He'll be kidnapping someone to do the job for him, and he's very interested in dissecting (possibly replicating?) the modules being constructed.

He'll also be connecting with Kara's group, and they may work together on their components. If anyone from the other groups would also like to intersect, I'd love to!

Desired CR:
❁ A techie to Kidnap - Takasugi has no idea how to work with circuitry, and while he knows some guys who can, I'd love to have this be a PC interaction
❁ Other Hyperion cells - He'll be touching base with Kara's group, but making contact with the others would be awesome too

Offered CR:
❁ A bad influence - Anyone want their character to make stupid choices or be in the wrong place at the wrong time? He's great at enabling mistakes.
❁ Entertainment - Takasugi's public facade is of Tani Umenosuke, a musician and poet who may be available to play at a benefit dinner or two, should any pretentious Leithans want to give their evening some 'atmosphere'.

Anything else?
He's keeping clear of Company people for now, but he may interrupt if any enforcers are encroaching too much on Resistance territory.

Hijikata Toushirou | Company

[mayora13]

Character: Hijikata Toushirou
Location: Leith
Primary Faction Goals: Having already witnessed an escalation on Leith last month, Hijikata is very dedicated to putting down any further disruptions. He doesn't want to see Leith go the way of Westerley, so his use of lethal force will absolutely increase. I'm thinking of having an OPEN log for this!

However, he is injured, so more likely than not he'll be on food duty and only incidentally interacting with any Resistance sympathizers/members.
Desired CR:
✘ Resistance to fight! I'm not really that good with battle threads so tense situations and quick resolutions would be best, I think!
✘ Onlookers of the civilian variety, if any Leithans would like to be horrified (or happy about?? don't let me tell u how to live) by his brutality
Offered CR:
✘ A grumpy man who should be resting and recovering but can't because he's a workoholic
✘ Anyone in the Company who would like to witness an example of cold violence and think 'ah, that's too much', Hijikata is your man
Anything else?
I made a LOT of plans last month, and haven't completed any of those threads yet, so my main plan for April is to catch up on those things! If anyone would rather handwave and move on, let me know ;u;7

[rhygret]

Character: Rhys
What threat level/violence level do you find acceptable in order to get your character to cooperate? He gets hit all the time in canon DO YOUR WORST except he's a wuss so he'll probably cave pretty...easy...if guns are involved. Or knives. Or anything that would cause him to not live.
Would you prefer brute force or blackmail as a means of motivation? Brute force!! He shrugs that off easier than blackmail LMAO
Have you plotted participation with a specific cell, or can we throw you to the wolves assign your PC where needed?: Takasugi and Auntie Yoru I think might be the plan??
Any special requests? Rhys will probably try to install a tracker/datamining process with Angel's help since she's usually connected to him via earpiece/cybernetics so if that's a thing he can do I WANNA GO FOR IT

Natalie Goodman | Leith

[robitussin]

Character: Natalie Goodman
Location: Leith
Primary Faction Goals: Her family isn't incredibly rich, but well off enough that the lack of food isn't hitting them as hard as some others. So, Natalie is going to try to help out the lower classes on Leith, but not in a way that invites attention. Mostly just donating small amounts of food and attending fundraisers while trying not to be seen by anyone who knows her, as one does. She's also going to be incredibly wary of the increased Company presence, and try to avoid the areas she thinks they're most likely to gather most frequently and in the highest number!
Secondary Faction Goals: She's definitely going to be paying close attention to which individuals and families are planning hunger relief efforts on Leith, and see if she can pick up any ~gossip~ at any that she decides to attend.
Desired CR:
- First and foremost, I'm incredibly down with anything!! I'm new to the game, but excited to dive in and thread with eeeeeveryone.
- I'm a sucker for any dynamic that includes large amounts of banter, though.
- Also, negative CR is always lovely!
Offered CR:
- Do you want an incredibly sarcastic teenage girl who hides her caring behind many layers of sass in your life?? Then I live to serve.
Anything else? Nothing comes to mind!

keith ( killjoy ) ( literally )

[impulsors]

Character: keith
Location: leith for a large part of the chapter, probably! haha, "keith on leith".
Primary Faction Goals: uhhhhm. look up dictionary definition of "neutrality" and reconsider his life choices so far?? the chapter reports are probably going to make him more aware of his ebbing desire to stay neutral, sssso. in general, he'll do his usual ambulance-chasing: if you're lv. 3+, keith's more than game to chase you down to partner with him on a higher-level warrant.
Secondary Faction Goals: i count myself lucky when keith has one goal that isn't about his own interests. the rac experience has super-regressed him.
Desired CR: a bit of a nebulous request, but! people who wanna boomerang something. i'm going to be patchy for large bits of the month, so when i'm here, i'm really going to be here. as long as you're available to fast-tag at some point, i will make any cr work.*
Offered CR: grim-jawed idiot with a terrible haircut who keeps borrowing other people's rides for high-octane chases. and bringing them back! . . . in serviceable condition. . . also, he's probably going to trespass across several estates in leith (see: idiot). so if you're on westerley and you want an excuse to get to leith, or even vice versa! we can make something work. he's just going to take off on his own at some point.

i also kind of want to do something with weapons-smuggling on westerley either fairly early or late in the chapter while the company's still off-moon.

Anything else? i see we all had a magnificent and productive march.

( * offer applies for one thread only. keith has what i would generously describe as the personality of a rock. we don't have to presume ongoing cr until we know if something's clicked. )

justine | kara & steph

[valr]