Ninjay

Somewhere, a mage recalled the time he had met another - another mage, and mother of such children. ”… The demons might make better parents.”

With how many times I've seen you say it I guess I assumed it was still the same hot issue, though now I suppose it's the ST Templar Cabal buffing Templar and nerfing Naz. In all seriousness and non-flame, though, I do actually agree it would be nice to see lore/rp and mechanics actually compliment and play well together instead of just being two mostly separate entities that occasionally butt heads. I'd genuinely kill to have mechanical magic be a thing; we've already seen from the April Fool's magic plugin that it is possible. It has been possible in Minecraft for over a decade now, with plugins like Herocraft (which I will eternally shill for until the day I die). Unfortunately such seems to be a bit divisive, and at the moment I have been told that mechanical systems for lore such as magic are vetoed on an admin level, so if the playerbase really wants things such as that (they should because it is cool and fun), then they will need to make that opinion very well known in hopes of swaying the powers that be. That said, no matter what type of PvP remained, if things like that were to get added I am certain that they would also create a noticeable skill gap between people (those who can figure out the mechanics of such, work out the best ways of doing things, etc., vs those who cannot or do not do so) amongst other issues, and could potentially lead to more instances of some people / groups being always 'stronger' than others - but, even now in 1.8, that is still the case, so maybe it's just destined to be a constant reality. I am just waiting for the day someone uses Aesopian's star potions to great effect.

Going to be evil and say that I think 1.9 would be a better system for the server due to its higher skill ceiling and the resulting potential for differences in skill to be more visible / prevalent in the outcome of fights. Would that open the door for things like wins in heavily outnumbered fights, or other advantages that 1.9 offers to those good at it? Yes. And you know what? That is ok. It is ok to reward players for being good at the mechanics in the game we are using as medium for the server. It is ok for some people to clearly and definitively be better than other players, and have advantages because of it. There is still some skill to 1.8 fighting (though I would say less so in group fights). That said, and maybe I'm mistaken, there is far less skill expression in 1.8 than 1.9, and I personally prefer systems which let skill flourish and be displayed. The more we are willing to move away from such, the more we will instead move towards coinflips where skill is less important and just getting lucky or something is (there is some point I could make here about crp between individuals of irp equal fighting prowess and equipment turning into whoever can win the war of attrition, get away with more in their emotes without it being considered powergaming, and otherwise exhausting their opponent into a win, but I cannot think of a good way to bridge the two). I wish I could provide suggestions or answers to some of the other issues that would come with 1.9, such as making fights take far too long, but I cannot, so I'll leave that to others who can hopefully do a good job of doing so. Wars are rough; I and evidently many people seem to want to have them changed, based on the poll. I don't know what the ideal system would look like, but as others have already said, the current system can be very sloggish, uninteresting / unintuitive. Hell, I know one of the big bits of interest in forming the Empire was that it would enable conflicts which the players policed and ruled on (in most cases), rather than adhering to the often crappy rules for conflict that the server has. For issues with PvP, I don't think I need to speak much on TPS and lag in large fights. It is a pretty obvious one. What I will say, which many above me already have, is that costs are way too high for equipment in general. Getting gear sets demands hours of sitting in a mine clicking some blocks every 15 minutes or running routes across the map. I've honestly been meaning to write some long complaint feedback thread about the costs of things like lockpicks and how much time is required to make them. Again, as others have said, making sets requires hours spent mindlessly grinding instead of doing any actual roleplaying. And while you could in theory bring people with you, I imagine most would prefer to be typing their emotes and actually roleplaying in their cities rather than in some dingy mines. Lowering gear costs is a definite positive for everyone and might help more people be willing to PvP with the knowledge that a loss would not in mean the loss of hours (or at least as many hours as it does currently) of time spent in the creation of their gear. If everyone can already freely CRP as having armor all the time for the cost of pixels on their skin (aka getting a guard uniform provided, for many), then it ought to be easier to have actual, mechanical armor as well. Primnya please stop using the "people call pvp to avoid lore they don't like!" line, it's getting tiresome. Most people might just not really feel like subjecting themselves to a 4 hour CRP session for pointless soul / life force harvesting spook raid #1281329. If they go out to a lair or something and try and pick a fight then complain, that is a different story from being attacked in a normal city, but still. Also your continuous harping on that point falls apart when you realize that people who go to some places as an antagonistic force and ask for PvP (Kardika and other bandits, in recent memory, for example) are turned down and told they'll need to crp if they want a fight. It might not be an issue of them avoiding lore they 'don't like'. It might be an issue of them not liking or not wanting to deal with you. I won't touch on any of the bits about culture (I think that the way you put it was a bit overblown, but I am also probably friends with plenty of the people your complaints are directed towards, so I could be biased), but I will make a point about the mechanical things you mentioned like the windows. As much as I like nice builds, unless staff is willing to completely remove the majority of things that make this a Minecraft server, we really cannot get around the fact that there are mechanics and, unless you purposefully want to open yourself up to getting btfo'd, they should be accounted for. This is not just a 'PvPer culture' thing, either. Even if I was the most pro-CRP, anti-PVP person in existence, I am still capable of and going to break into your Minecraft home if it is easy and doable. I cannot really 'imagine' my way into searching someone's house for evidence of darkspawn activity, or robbing them, etc. If we were going fully 'imagination' then gates would be useless since plenty of magics could just blow straight through them. For better or worse, as long as we are tying ourselves to this as the means by which we're roleplaying, imagination on its own is insufficient. There is nothing wrong with planning around, using, and otherwise interacting with mechanics. Our efforts would be better put towards thinking up ways to have mechanics which enable people to do things and are fun to interact with, rather than many of the unfun ones we have right now. I am unsure if I worded things well, but I am hoping I got my point across.

It was early enough in the morning that the sun had yet to rise. The sole sources of light in the sky were the stars and the moon - and they were doing a woefully inadequate job. Had the nights always been so dark? Maybe, and he had just never noticed. Or maybe it was just a matter of circumstance - when the world seemed bleak, maybe it influenced his perception. Who could say. Usually, he was good enough at pushing such things from his mind, or at least to the furthest corners of it. And when they did rear their heads, he flat out denied them. Quite simply, they were things he could not bear to believe, nor accept to be true. In the silence of the moment, though, there was a dire lack of distractions or other objects of focus. And thus, the thoughts he usually suppressed threatened to claw their way from hiding. What if he fell? What if others did? What if they all failed? What would come of their souls? What if that one soul really had been- He arrived, managed to silence such thoughts once more, and took a seat. Underneath the lemon tree. “She’s grown up to be a wonderful woman, you know.” He spoke aloud, alone as he was. In that spot, he liked to think he was heard, even if he would never get a response. “Married, heiress, a lovely family for herself. I don’t think I could be any happier for her.” It had been years - decades - since such had become something of an occasional practice of his. He still recalled the funeral, the miserable day which it was. The hollow, empty feeling which then plagued him for some months afterwards. In time, he had eventually found that stopping by the tree and talking helped. It did not make it go away entirely; such was something only time could do, and only partially at that. But, speaking as if she was there, listening, brought him some peace of mind. “Ardghal is alright, too, I think. Though I do not see him often, I am confident he is doing well in whatever he is doing.” In previous times, the view from the tree looking east had been a beautiful thing. Through a short stretch of trees straight to the east, one could see the canyon leading down to the river which divided the midlands and plains, and Petra’s city of Vallagne lay beyond. Ildic sat on the same side as he and the tree, just off to the right, finally enclosed within those walls which he recalled being such a cause of fret all that time ago. Come early enough in the morning, and one would be treated to a grand sunrise over it all. “... Sometimes I’m jealous of you. You didn’t have to see and experience all this. Lucky you, ha!” Jokes were good, sometimes. This time, not so much. It hurt a bit more than it humored. Indeed, it was a dark jest, in which some truth was laden. What had once been a serene view had since been marred some. Vallagne, though reclaimed, still bore scars and signs of ruin from the battles fought to wrest control of it back from the forces which permeated the continent, and were still poised to bring it all to ruin. The same forces which had, inadvertently, caused him grief for the majority of his life now. But it was not just the battles and ruination wrought by some maddened, ambitious deity that evoked such a sentiment. Though pressing and devastating, that was at least unambiguous, easy to wrap one’s head around, and difficult to have any differing opinions on. If anything, such was nearly a uniting force in the current day. Nearly. “... It’s been different, these last couple years. I’ve managed to persevere so far, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been a struggle sometimes.” More than anything, it was the temporal which had come to trouble him. Nothing truly magical, nor of a nature beyond his comprehension. Affairs of the mortal and mostly-mundane, of which he was painfully capable of understanding. He often wondered what their discussions on such things would have been like. Would she have been in favor of and supportive towards the Empire, as he had been for a time, or would she have vehemently opposed such, as he knew many others who had been close to her had? What would she have then said about his own conflicting feelings for it that had arisen recently? How could he have explained to her the disdain he had come to have for her own kingdom? And these were just some of the topics which would have been unavoidable, matters of widespread interest to the public at large. There was still far more. All he had seen. All he knew. All he kept secret. Could he have withheld such? All questions that would forever go unanswered. Perhaps for the better, he knew. Still, often he wondered; had life gone just a bit differently, just a handful of different choices or timings in the actions of himself and others, how different could things have been? Who could say. Perhaps in another life, he would have lived and died as a dedicated bannerman of the Exilic Kingdom, wishing nothing more than to see his house succeed. But that was just a hypothetical. In all likelihood, troubles and trials would have arisen along such a path as well. “... It may be some time before we get to talk again. Don’t hold it against me, alright?” Whatever was to happen, it felt obvious that calamity was to come. How long it would last, where it would leave him, if he would even survive; all questions he did not know the answer to. All he knew was that he felt some obligation, however pointless and idiotic, to apologize for the chance of an extended absence. It went beyond just the time he anticipated being away for. The more he thought about it, the more it occurred to him. It would not feel right to just talk as he did anywhere. This spot was… it was the spot he had settled upon. It was where doing so felt right. How could he do so anywhere else? He rose to his feet, as that sunrise just began to crest over the horizon. “Say a prayer for me, or something. Lord knows we’ll all need it.” Reaching up, he plucked a handful of lemons from some branches. “And, say a prayer that wherever I end up, the climate is right.” With a few cuts from a small knife, he had fetched some seeds from the fruits. Enough to ensure there would be spares in case some failed to grow, and then some. It was time to go. The last fight was coming, after all. “We’ll talk again, once it's all over. Promise.”

Jude Amaranth, associate of the towering Vander Monk, grumbled and muttered as he cleaned his weapons and armor. Denied the use of his magic by the damned War Charter, the shadows under his eyes grew longer and longer as his exhaustion increased; not only due to having to don armor and armament, but also having his sleep interrupted by Druscan shenanigans at 1 a.m. Eastern Saint's Time in some attempt at dodging the most experienced of soldiers and fighters on their side - and they still lost. For the first time amidst the entire conflict, he spoke to the Vander (@Coronate) in a bitter tone following the battle. "Can't these losers just surrender already?"

Many other magics and even CAs (See: Druidism, Nephilim, Heraldry, Templarism, Mysticism, and Naztherak) have similar options that result in complete disconnection from a magic, potentially permanently, or even mandated hard-PKs of a character in the case of Nephilim. Some of these do not even have hard requirements as to why someone is being disconnected and thus are plenty open for 'bad faith'. Despite these existing, and having the potential for similar disconnect wars, to the best of my knowledge there have not been many if any issues within these magic groups. Additionally, there is already ample potential for worse forms of conflict between necromancer groups. At odds with another group? Kill them all, Rite of Sealing any Archliches / Darkstalkers they may have, and no one will be left to revive them. There is even less stopping groups from doing this since no one will be left to enact any revenge or consequences. As this is not a hard disconnection, it does not even go as far as the disconnection systems of other magics, nor are far as necromancers could already go when they have conflict between different groups. Given the above, if there is genuine concern about such occurring with this addition, then in my opinion it reflects more on the necromancy playerbase than anything else. And systems are already in place that would allow them to go further than this would enable.

Amendment: Sacrament of the Vicar Anything new is in bold and underlined Old: New: Sacrament of the Vicar Requires: Black Phylactery Dust OR 2 Necrotic Essence Blood of a Hag Remains of a Dragon Fleshsmithing Tools Redlines: This Sacrament requires six necromancers to conduct: two tier five necromancers, one who will lead the ritual and the other who will become the archlich, and four other necromancers to support them. If the Sacrament is interrupted the would-be archlich must PK. They may be brought back following 3 narrative months if a successful attempt of the ritual is completed at that time. This sacrament can only be done in a place where Heith-Hedran has been established. The Necrotic Essence used in this Sacrament can never be from the same Necromancer to be raised as an Archlich, and must come from two other, distinct necromancers who have been subject to the Rite of Sapping Addition: Rite of Sapping By the time they have reached the pinnacle of their abilities, a master necromancer has inadvertently cultivated a certain essence about them as a result of their experience with and frequent handling of life-force. This is referred to as ‘Necrotic Essence’. In general, this is entirely inconsequential. However, in a rite that comes inherently to all necromancers upon reaching the zenith of their magic, they understand that such can be stripped from both themself and others - and in doing so, reduces the potency of one’s necrotic magic back to its most basic abilities. This essence also serves as a fuel by which one may ascend to Archlichdom. Requirements: Two Tier 5 Necromancers, one of which is to be sapped Redlines: The Rite of Sapping comes as inherent knowledge to all who reach Tier 5 in Necromancy, and can only be performed by a Tier 5 Necromancer on another Tier 5 Necromancer The Rite of Sapping can be performed on ANY character who is Tier 5 in Necromancy, regardless of race, CA, etc. In other words, this Rite can be performed on Archlich CAs - while their CA will remain unchanged, their ability to practice Necromancy will return to the abilities of a Tier 1 Necromancer. A sapped Archlich is still susceptible to the Rite of Sealing, be it immediately following the encounter which led to their sapping, or in future encounters. If an Archlich is Sealed after being sapped, their progress on returning to Tier 5 does not pause while they are sealed. A Necromancer who has been sapped returns to Tier 1 in the magic. This is to be marked on the MA alongside the date it occured. They will progress through the Tiers as one would normally after this, and cannot be sapped again until they have once more reached Tier 5 and a 6 month cooldown has passed. An individual can only be sapped once every 6 IRL Months, the cooldown of which starts on the date of their sapping, which is marked on their MA. Being sapped does not cause any loss of knowledge of Necromancy Spells, Rites, Rituals, abilities, etc. It only removes the finesse with lifeforce and such needed in order to perform them. Necrotic Essence must be represented by a mechanical item of some kind. Its description must state the RP name and IGN of the character it was sapped from. Necrotic Essence must be ST signed. While being subject to this Rite can be voluntary if one would wish to ‘donate’ their essence at the cost of their magical prowess, it does not require IRP or OOC consent. The Essence harvested from someone can never be used in a Sacrament of the Vicar for the person it was harvested from Purpose / Reasoning:

Redline added. You can make druids forget all the trees they've kissed 😳🥵 Anyone can already achieve a means of memory wiping by just killing someone lol. If you're doing this ritual on someone, 99% of the time they're gonna be someone you have defeated and could just kill if you wanted to instead. This provides some nice alternative to killing people, especially when we keep in mind that most people, to my knowledge, do not enjoying getting killed - and also means people who have this available will not absolutely need to kill someone if they want to make sure something is forgotten. Anything beyond the narrative 24 hours is completely optional and cannot be forced on someone.

Did you guys know amendments and additions can get written for non-Necro stuff too? [Ritual] [Noncombat] Consumption The nefarious presence that the most dedicated of Voidstalkers have manifested within themselves does not just constantly berate and belittle, prod and provoke, and otherwise try and bring misery upon its host. It also hungers. It hungers for more of that which brought about its existence in the first place. It hungers for memories, for consciousnesses, and even for the lives of further victims, in much the same way the Voidstalker took from such a victim when they initially brought about their Second Mind. A Voidstalker who has ‘invited’ a greater being of The Void into their consciousness may find that it sometimes - if not frequently - hungers for further memories, consciousnesses, lives, etc. In a ritual very similar to the Ascension of Consciousness, a Voidstalker with a Second Mind would allow it to go and ‘feast’ upon that of some living offering, perhaps temporarily placating its hunger. Redlines: This is a generally free-form ritual, with no combative uses. Performing this ritual should generally take at least 4 emotes, including connection. Performing this ritual may have some effects on the Second Mind of the Voidstalker. Its personality may alter to incorporate some elements of the victim which it consumed from, it may be somewhat satisfied and thus slightly less belligerent to its host for some time, etc. However, any change is purely for flavor, offers no advantages or benefits, and is solely up to the discretion of the Voidstalker player. Under no circumstance can memories and related information consumed from a player ever be 'shared' by the Second Mind with its Voidstalker host. At most, the Second Mind could develop some 'personality quirks' related to the memories which it has consumed. In no case can any meaningful and specific information, knowledge, etc. be gleaned by the Voidstalker based on such things. Just as in the Ascension of Consciousness ritual, a living descendant 'sacrifice' is required to perform Consumption. Once again, they do not need to be killed, or even physically harmed, but they must suffer a memory wipe. By default, this is limited to the memories of whatever led to the encounter that resulted in the ritual being performed. The amount of time wiped from memory can be expanded with OOC consent from the victim. A memory wipe will remove rare knowledge from a character (alchemical recipes, magic lessons, etc.), but ONLY if such was learned in the events directly leading up to the wipe. A memory wipe cannot remove such knowledge from a character that comes from past events, unless OOC consent for such events being wiped is provided. Ritual Emote Example: Purpose: For being a feat that is supposed to have the ability to ‘perform rituals and maintain a deeper connection and knowledge to the void than any other.’, Voidstalkers currently have 2 rituals, 3 if you include the ritual used for becoming one. And one of these rituals is the PK one. I thought it might be nice to provide some neat little flavor ritual for some of them to be able to engage in. I like the idea of being able to eat people’s memories. Alternatively, I could just bend lore and repeat Ascension of Consciousness, but I figured having an official ritual to let our little Voidal Horror buddies do it rather than lore-bending is preferable :3 Tune in next time when I try and pass an amendment that is just a straight up buff. Or do a reformat of the original piece to move around / clarify some of the weird wording and redline placement. Current Voidstalker Lore, for Reference: https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/197734-%E2%9C%93-voidal-feat-voidstalking/

Come on man it's right there

Behind Arthur, some illusory presence manifested. It peered over his shoulder, and spoke to him in an ethereal voice. “You forgot Silasia, Vortice, and the Halflings! Ha!” Its message delivered, it once again faded from existence.

Among all those whom Jay Amaranth had met in his life, Calias was certainly up there as one of those who had had the greatest influence on the man. He'd been among those who had welcomed him, been a good friend, given him some purpose, and taught him much of the ways and histories of the world - some of which many would wish to see buried. For this, and much more, he would be sorely missed. "You made it home, Calias. And you were one of the damned best to ever do it."

Are these 'PVPers' in the room with us right now?

Misspelled the word 'project' in the spoiler, -1

Jay Amaranth smiled towards the sky, while flipping the shiny Ferrycoin he'd been given as a reward for finding the hidden BB00N. "☺"

Uncle Jay Amaranth (no relation), wrote a short letter to the mental institution that was caring for his nephew.