squakhawk

Name of the Artefact: The Cursefury’s Imperfect Oculus Effects of the artefact: Millenia of research, millenia of disappointment. The Oculus was left imperfect in Seraphire’s despair and absence, unable to align the artifact which would save her kind. A design which would cleanse impurity and bless their gifted forms, Seraphire had sought an answer to a question unthinkable. But the device was unreliable. A foolhardy attempt - an occasional alignment with the heavens above, and it granted moments of peace, clarity, rest. But these moments were only so often - and with each did she despair as her calmed mind saw her wretched form and demanded freedom. Even in her absence did the oculus spin and turn, connected to the skies as starlight glimmered and shone upon the heavenly artifact. A vestige of hope that burnt away and disappointed with each passing of the rings within, you still prayed that maybe one day it would find perfect alignment. That Seraphire’s foolhardy endeavour would not be for nothing after all. So well. [Passive] - Rift Stabilization Keep it steady - we may be on the verge of a breakthrough. The Oculus bears two forms after it’s purification - a remnant of it’s original form as a fixed structure, and a more unstable yet portable pendant form which fit easily within the palm of one’s hand. Much more stable, when in [Fixed] form, The Oculus would bear access to new abilities, and improvements to existing ones. When in [Mobile] form, The Oculus would be transportable as a worn or wielded item that was weightless, supporting itself in suspension. To transfer between the forms, one would require [3] emotes of uninterrupted focus of channeling innate mana into the Oculus, in which it would either construct or deconstruct itself. [Passive] - Visions of Despair Those who bear The Oculus see not the world as it is - but as it might fail to be. [Mobile] - While in possession of The Oculus, the viewer would have their imagination vividly detailed with thoughts and feelings most akin to anxiety and hopelessness. Intrusive thoughts would frequently enter the mind of the bearer, often plaguing their mind with the worse-case scenario of their current situation. These thoughts were so intrusive and vivid that often they would provoke a physical response from the wearer. Whilst bearing The Oculus, one would find themselves unable to focus on magical casting of anykind, and mentally exhausted once The Oculus left their form. [Fixed] - While within a [20, #rp] meter range of The Oculus, one would feel a deeply sobering feeling. As if they stood within a graveyard, a somber quiet would overtake them as one who found themself within range of The Imperfect Oculus would be deeply encouraged to reflect on past regrets which they would fail to move on from, or come to terms with. A stagnant mire of the mind. [Passive] [Event Only] - Perfect Synchrony, Array of Hope For just a breath, it works- and in that breath, I remember what salvation was meant to feel like. [Mobile] - Now and again, the rings of the oculus would align, completing it’s perfect and achieving perfection. In this state of perfect alignment, allies within [48, #s] metres of the Oculus would find themselves shrouded in a glimmering white starlight as they would find themselves immune to all damage for [1] emote, beginning immediately upon trigger. All damage and movement impairing abilities would not affect those blessed with the sound of perfect synchrony, and sustained damage would pause during this effect. [Fixed] - When placed, the intermittent moments of Perfect Synchrony would be increased as the stability of The Oculus was increased with placement. Applying the effects of perfect synchrony, the artifact would briefly flash a silvery light as constellations above resounded throughout day and night. When [Array of Hope] was activated, allies within [100, #leb] metres of The Oculus would find themselves restored of stamina, wounds sealed over, and lost courage restored as they would obtain the inspiration to power forward through any trial, no matter how insurmountable. [Passive] [Combative] - The Light That Refused to Die I could not give them immortality. Only a moment stolen from the grave. [Mobile] - Should one die bearing the Oculus in the moments leading up to their death, the Oculus would continue to spin in asymmetry. As the heart slowed to a stop, the Oculus would synchronize - the oculus bearer finding their wounds stabilized and sealed, although not healed. Drained of all energy and with loss of [1] hours memory (Or events leading up to their death) in only the awareness they had died, they would be able to stand again. This ability would only work once, however - afterward, never affecting the same descendant again. [Combative] - Astral Intercession You will not know where your pain ends and theirs begins. That is it’s gift. That is it’s price. [Mobile] - Over [2] charge emotes and [1] cast emote, the bearer of The Oculus would find themselves able to meld with another willing being. Two becoming briefly one, the two descendants would find themselves sharing the same vitality, stamina, thoughts, and sometimes too words. Every swing of a sword, every movement taken, every wound sustained, would feel shared between the two as they would be compelled to act somewhat in unity - their bodies in synchrony as pain, stamina, and exhaustion, were split between them. This would in effect, dampen damage upon either the oculus bearer or the target. This tether would last indefinitely or until either tether is incapacitated, but would require to stay within [48, #shout] range, following line of sight. [Noncombative] - Burdenbearer, Gaze unto Infinity You may give away your wound. But something must wear the scar. [Mobile] - Bearing the oculus, one would find themselves more willing, and offering, to take the emotional and physical burdens and ailments from another onto the oculus bearer. Taking on all attributes of the physical or emotional ailment, the previous-sufferer would find themselves bereft of such issue. Ranging from trauma now unremembered to gone-limbs restored - in exchange for the burdenbearer to take on these ailments themself. Taking place over [5+] ritualistic emotes, one may bear the weight of another’s ailment in their stead permanently. [Fixed] - Though Seraphire was not without her own solutions. A creation, no matter how imperfect, does bear it’s own uses. A double edged sword, the fixed-altar of The Cursefury’s Oculus would be able to be gazed within over [3+] ritualistic emotes. During so, one would find the focused-upon mental ailment or impairment in effect undone, or unremembered. Though this process does wipe the illness or memory from one’s mind, it leaves behind a void - a piece of the stargazer which may never return to them. Although the ability to numb is addictive, one may find themselves more and more over time husks of their prior selves. Characteristic traits sapped, memories difficult to form, their vitality sedated. A cost, to have those weights lifted. Redlines: -When placed using Rift Stabilization, The Oculus would require a build representing it’s placed form at least 3x3x3 in design, with the item in an item frame within it’s centre, and openly visible. This does not require ST signature, the item itself validating as story-signature. -The methodology to use Rift Stabilization is inherently gained upon touching the artifact. -When in [Mobile] form, the oculus would be able to be worn as a trinket and does not require to be held in hand to utilized. -When utilizing spells of the oculus, one would not be able to cast, charge, attack, or sprint. As stated in Visions of Despair, one may not utilize magic of anykind while wearing The Oculus. -The Oculus cannot be destroyed, but may be disabled for a combative encounter if struck with thanhium twice. The Oculus itself counts as a [Tier 5] spell, and thus would force the destruction of the thanhium. -An ET presiding over an event where The Oculus is present must be notified and informed in advance before the event. One may not request or suggest Perfect Synchrony/Array of Hope during an event - an ET will take note and may or may not use it at their discretion. -One would immediately begin the revival process after a killing blow with The Light That Refused to Die. One must emote that immediately upon death, they would regain consciousness almost seamlessly. -When revived with The Light That Refused to Die, one would find themselves suffering total and complete mental and physical exhaustion, unable to defend, attack, or cast in any capacity for [1] OOC day afterward. -The Light That Refused to Die follows standard death rules, and events leading up to the character’s death are forgotten. One may interpret what happened based on their surrounding area upon revival, and may be told what happened and accept it, but may not come to the conclusion of what or who killed them themselves. -Astral Intercession would allow the two characters to act independently, but are encouraged to act in unity in emotes and actions. Damage, exhaustion, stamina, and mana (Where applicable to simultaneously-mana-eligible characters, ex. 2 templars, or 2 naztherak) would be shared in a “pool” from thereon between the two characters until the tether is broken. -Should one of the tethered individuals under Astral Intercession suffer a killing blow or become incapacitated, the other would instantly becoming killed or incapacitated aswell. Though wounds are shared and damage is dampened, mortal strikes remain mortal within reason. -Burdenbearer/Gaze unto Infinity may only purge strictly mental ailments, or physical wounds/issues, mirroring onto the oculus bearer. Should they trade a missing limb from the target to themselves, the oculus bearer would find themselves without said limb. -Burdenbearer may only take on what an individual has the capacity to take on as burden. Should one not have both arms, they are unable to restore the arm of another. The same for mental ailments - if one is unable to suffer mental ailments, one may not be able to take them on. ET Responsible for this Artefact: squak Credit: Squak, Werew0lf

Name of the Artefact: Gaelstral, The Siren’s Call Effects of the artefact: Once wielded by Faith, a palmreader forsaking his name as the once champion of another deity, this hammer and chisel had long since been abandoned by it’s maker. When Faith had transcended mortality and thrust into belief and devotion itself, Gaelstral fell by the wayside. Long left behind as a relic of Orsathiael to grant unto his next mortal champion to walk Aevos. In this prison, the storms that plague The Bitter Sea to the north batter against the coast as the mountains of the north swell in turbulent storm at it’s call. The Maelstrom that toils within Gaelstral’s heavenly steel calls for thunder - a humming thrum within it as it’s former creator searches for the long-lost artifact. If one listened close enough, they could hear the storm’s fury as if they were dredging through the heart of a hurricane. [Passive] - The Storm of Aevos Gaelstral does not call The Storm - it is it’s voice Followed by energies of Orsathiael, Gaelstral’s user would find themselves with an affinity toward weather systems and storms - often gathering in the user’s radius. When within a storm, Gaelstral would glow with radiant white light, flashing with brightness upon each lightning strike. If one listened close, Gaelstral would always oscillate with a low hum like thunder on the horizon. When the hammer Gael strikes the chisel Stral, the sound of thunder bellows in the distance. [2 Emotes] [Combative] - Strike Once The Calm is a cage… Gaelstral may project a bolt at a distance, an ethereal chain linking from its handle to a target within [48, #s] distance after [1] emote of charge as the hammer is empowered, and [1] emote of cast as the hammer strikes the chisel, connecting the chain. Both targets of the snare may not distance from one another without incurring a penalty. If the caster or tethered target break the snare, the one which broke the snare would suffer a chest-impact as if the wielder of Gaelstral struck the target at full force in the chest, stunning the struck target for [1] emote. [3 Emotes] [Combative] [Event Only] - Strike Twice …and when the sky remembers it’s voice, Gaelstral speaks it in iron, and the world is made open once more. Gaelstral, in the case of creatures larger than [10ft/3metres], could cast an empowered form of Strike Once. With [2] emotes of charge as the hammer and chisel are both empowered, and [1] emote of cast as they strike together, an ethereal chain would form between Gaelstral and the target. Gaelstral’s target would be forced to remain within [100 #leb] metres of Gaelstral until either the weapon was disarmed, unequipped, or the wielder was incapacitated/slain. Additionally, this chain inflicts a constant aurum searing-burn pain to the tethered foe. [2 Emotes] [Combative] - Shipbreaker No shell, fortress, or defiance, endures the truth Gaelstral speaks in breaking. Gaelstral may be utilized in closer fashion, with [1] emote of charge as the chisel is empowered, and [1] emote of casting as the hammer strikes the chisel unto a foe. This blow sunders the armour equivalent to [1] section of body (defined as below). The armour upon this section would be rendered heavily damaged, and all subsequent strikes from Gaelstral would strike as if the armour was not present. Strikes from any weapon but Gaelstral against the sundered section would strike as if the armor was classified as [Light Armour]. This spell may not miss, but inflicts no damage to the wearer. This spell would only be applicable [2] individual sections of each enemy. Sections: Leg (singular) Arm (singular) Torso Head During 9.0 - The Mountain When striking a footsoldier of The Mountain, Shipbreaker would sunder the armour in total of the foe. When striking a Lif, Gaelstral would bear no significant effect. When striking a larger/monstrous foe, Gaelstral would sunder armour in a 3x3x3 area at the affected site. [Passive] [Noncombative] - Maelstrom I am not your creator, but you understand rule is the way of order. And it is order you crave so. Gaelstral itself is a conduit and font of power for Orsathiael - sharing his fate. Come the conclusion of 9.0 - The Mountain, this ability will be changed to reflect the outcome of the eventline. Redlines: - Gaelstral’s abilities may not be used in tandem with any other magic when wielded. -Gaelstral may not attack and charge in tandem. -Gaelstral may be disabled for a combative encounter if struck with Thanhium twice, counting as a Tier 5 ability (And thus melting the Thanhium to unusable slag.). -The hammer and chisel of Gaelstral may not be any more than an arm’s length away from one another. Two people in tandem may not use Gaelstral outside of event creativity. -Should a player be larger than 10ft/3m, one may cast Strike Once on them. Strike Twice is meant strictly for event usage. -Strike Once and Strike Twice require line of sight. -The chain of Strike Once and Strike Twice may be broken if struck with Thanhium once, counting as a Tier 5 ability. -The chain of Strike Once and Strike Twice are ethereal, and may not be physically touched or affected, only seen. This chain is unaffected by anything other than it’s own cancellation or Thanhium, outside of event interference. These chains inflict no damage outside of what is specified in Strike Twice. -If the target of Strike Twice leaves the range of the effect, they may be applicable to (at ET discretion) the stun effect, or a burst of damage of the chain breaks. -Additional appendages in Shipbreaker such as arms, tails, or wings, would count as an additional appendage on subjective basis. -Shipbreaker may only be used [2] times on each enemy. Subsequent/further uses would yield no effect. -Armor broken with Shipbreaker is not required to be /use ‘d, but encouraged. -Strike twice’s range may be subject to change based on ET approval. Though the artifact would tether the target, due to build constrictions and build quality, there may be play in the range for sake of event integrity. -Maelstrom as an ability will be amended with the conclusion of the 9.0 Antag Eventline. -For any purpose necessary, the magic cast, and Gaelstral itself, would be classified as [Deific]. -Gael and Stral separately maintain a durability and weight of Carbarum, but are made of an otherwise indestructible and unworkable material. ET Responsible for this Artefact: squak Credit: Squak, Werew0lf, Schneebo

shouldve just stopped here and you would've gotten it but i watched it slip away into the sunken place right from your fingertips im also beyond shocked youve "never seen this happen" im surprised youve seen anything happen

you bro

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The existence of Vinovia itself wasn't metaplay is the issue - it existed for if i recall right, about two months before the report info was gathered. Though on top of that, in full honesty, if Vinovia hadn't existed to begin with Burgundy could still find another reason for CB or just cite conquest. While voiding hadn't been something we really considered with the vinovia thing (Given we didn't even think it an option), I think in retrospect I still wouldn't have given it was yes bad leadership and bad actors, but half (or less than half) of the actual people within Vinovia. Given again that half of the banned players were unbanned within 4 weeks of the banwave before the war even began, I just don't think a voiding of Vinovia's existence would've been neither crucial nor necessary personally

Fair point

agree with this i feel like sometimes medical rp really negates the opportunity for growth and character development. I remember doing an event where there were a lot of people with different burns and the medics just emoted rubbing a herb on them and explaining in OOC the burns will heal in a day and return to normal. And it's just kinda lame. I get wanting to feel helpful and resourceful in a noncombative role but I feel like there's more options for this that focus more on stabilization rather than full on curing anyone of any ailment at anytime with impeccable knowledge. @Parionplayed like a talk-therapist in haelunor and gave my character a prescription for a herbal remedy and that ended up being a big part of her character, particularly with followup appointments. It was a neat type of medical roleplay I hadn't seen done before and made a really big impact on my character and how she proceeded. I think we got to encourage people to let themselves be wrong or do things incomplete. There's nothing super wrong with the all knowing cure-all medic, I just think people will often find they much more enjoy the latter on both the healing and healed end of things if it allows for characters to develop rather than erase problems. (This is also why there is no *cast heal* magic approved because of this philosophy under the lore criteria for healing) If you want a longer read

@FlemishSupremacybecause their response was similar I can elaborate some on at least my perspective of that scenario The issue that came of that was that the roleplay had occurred but the report had only come together days after - which left us in a weird position. We could void the roleplay, and return to the NL (this is the act we'd done) - which allows the path to resume from where it was and back onto it's natural course without any further intervention We could just ban the NL/other actor (this was the other we'd considered) - which still involved the metaplay ban(s), but this time it automatically enforces the path to go through as if the roleplay had occurred when the roleplay itself was metaplay to begin with. My concern with the second path in particular was the worry that it would be seen at large that we are banning people and still getting the forced outcomes of actions that shouldn't have come to pass to begin with. This would look poorly on the administration to endorse that they wanted a specific outcome of the conflict rather than one that should've proceeded naturally to begin with. In regards to Vinovia, the issue if we placed a "Wait until all their fleeps are unbanned" (or any cooldown of that kind), it'd artificially stifle roleplay and lead to mass public outcry that admins don't want anything to happen, nothing ever happens, chudjak, etc. If we put any sort of cooldown or arbitrary OOC restriction on this from the outside, it would in my eyes, 1. Place a barrier on roleplay that still can, should, and did happen that exists only for purposes of pvpers getting their shot 2. Encourage that people in the future perform similar scenarios to buy their nation more time 3. Enable hostile banwaves for purposes of thinning a rally rather than for purposes of actual justice 4. Softly state that we want to afford some nations more protections than others rather than enabling equal opportunity While a lot of the people in that banwave did have it coming already, I wanna add that of the 20 bans that went out for the Vinovia banwave, 8 out of those 20 were unbanned by the time the war started, and were involved in the first warclaim. I know some people attribute the victory of burgundy singlehandedly to the fact Vinovia had been banned en masse, but i'm not sure if twelve people defined the difference of these nations existing or not, particularly when the numbers were always thirty-some difference between the two sides with already nearly half the vinovian rally still present. In the future I think there's waters to navigate carefully with roleplay that has already occurred, and making the right decision in that moment that is both impartial and allows for natural roleplay to take course rather than actions that should not have happened to begin with. It'd be shitty to have something happen when it shouldn't have, ban the people involved, and still let that action take course anyways. At least in my opinion

CGV'd, not metaplay banned

@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Lora&display=swap'); @import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=PT+Serif&display=swap'); #custom h1 { font-family: 'PT Serif', serif; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 32px; } #custom li { font-family: 'PT Serif', serif; line-height: 2; font-size: 16px; } #custom h2 { font-family: 'Lora', serif; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 1em; font-size: 24px; color: #3586b5; } #custom h3 { font-family: 'PT Serif', serif; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0.5em; font-size:18px; color: #448db8; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: dashed; } table.center { margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; } #custom p { font-family: 'Lora', serif; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; font-size:16px; } strong {font-weight:bold;font:inherit;} #custom td { font-family: 'Verdana', serif; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 1em; font-size:16px; } hi meows!!! :3c I want to give an update on some rule changes we are making to the Metaplay rules (Roleplay Leadership Guidelines), as well as some thoughts on their implementation thusfar. If you wish to skip the yapping and go directly to the changes, see the text highlighted and underlined in yellow for what is changing precisely. Metaplay: A Retrospective Look Metaplay has been online for roughly eight months now, which nearly thirty bans having occurred in total throughout it's duration. The ruleset has without doubt had some successes and some failures, but I believe this is natural in a process of growth and development - and something that has caused change within both the administration and player culture. An issue with the rules commonly stated is that there is lack of clarity on specific actions that constitute metaplay. With any social situation, there is nuance - and of course, with a rule that is inherently on social situations in particular, it too must be nuanced. With that, strictly put, there cannot nor will there ever be exact actions (beyond what is already exactly defined) defined in metaplay rules. However, what we can clarify, is that metaplay rules are strictly degrading and degenerate to roleplay. Fundamentally, metaplay actions are tools in which to push an OOC or hostile narrative that functions entirely as a marker of fifth-grade interpersonal squabbles rather than to generate a story or narrative. With this, the following changes should hopefully clarify further the nuance that metaplay is strictly a method to abuse roleplay as a vector to settle petty social disputes over a block game rather than to prevent you telling stories and sharing them with your friends. This Post by Toffee is an excellent example that breaks down interactions and metaplay vs normal intent. Our game is one that is one that is social, and shared - and that is the way we intend to keep it. With the bans that have gone out, there's only one player we admittedly made a mistake in banning- and though he was unbanned a couple of days later, it's a reminder that we are not flawless in our investigation, and that player reporting is not something that is entirely foolproof either. On the other hand, the Vinovia report banned twenty people from the server - a number unheard of in a banwave that even I was anxious in executing. But truthfully, if these metaplay rules are to be taken seriously, and we do intend to enact them and cause a shift in player culture, it is something we will always, no matter the cost, uphold. With each and every report we have and will continue to review diligently and punish where necessary when these rules are broken. It's something I uphold with sincerity, and believe that to improve as a server and individual writers and actors, we need to keep these rules in entirety. Something that Toffee's post mentions is Vagueness - and the intention of it to prevent loopholing and rule lawyering. Explicitly, the rules are written to be broad and general for this purpose. However, there is one thing I agree with Toffee on to an extent - that banned players need more clarification on what they are precisely banned for. On one hand, I look to the Vinovia bans and the bans of Tide1 and Mickaelhz. Initially, these players protested their bans - even took to the forums on how there was no reasoning for it. Later in their appeals, each and every one of them were able to list the precise reasoning for their bans. I don't believe these players were just lying and hoping to intimidate the administration with public pressure on their ban, but that they truthfully may not have known what they did wrong. I think that if you are so deep into something, and that others are doing it, it might seem like the right thing - and it takes time and removal of exposure from that thing to get yourself out of that mentality. And truthfully, that occurred, and we haven't had a metaplay banned player be banned twice for it so far. On another hand, there's the pessimistic side of me (and im sure many forum philosophers) that state they will just hide their actions better next time. Maybe, but a hypothetical is a hypothetical - and until I really see it (and I haven't), I'm uncertain it's happened thusfar. We keep pretty close eyes on these players, and I believe they know that, and it risks far more to organize and orchestrate plots OOCly than to simply log on and roleplay them appropriately. With all that said, I'd like to personally make sure we do better on telling people the reasons for their ban (Albeit, during the Vinovia bans, we did - and many simply did not believe them unless they were shown logs, which will never happen). And in the future, I'd like to maybe work more with players on improving their conduct rather than just shutting the door on them. Bans are meant to be both punitive and reformative. I'd like the server to change with more of the latter, than the prior, as punishment is really just a deterrent and stopgap for better change. Ultimately, as with any change, it spawns from each and every player - and we encourage you continue to report any and every instance of metaplay you may see. There is no action without knowing what to act upon. While there has been the thought of proactive action, I don't believe random stop-searches and shakedowns of players discords and logs is going to yield either friendly conduct, or healthy behavior, within the community. It's fishing - not solving the problem. Should of course you have any systematic suggestions on how to prevent metaplay from being an option or shortcut in a ruleset or in roleplay, please as always let us know! Metaplay. The play-beyond-play. Manipulating, coercing, pressuring or ostracizing players to influence in-character outcomes. Out-of-character, backdoor driven narratives, events, or outcomes; fabricated or canned roleplay that serves an OOC motivation. IC activity that opposes the creative and spontaneous spirit of roleplay. Metaplay is the degeneration of roleplay. It may occur with or without metagaming & powergaming—but it does not include the facilitating or gathering of RP. It is an intentional subversion of rules and roleplay to serve an OOC motive through malicious act(s). Some examples and further explanation are available [on this post]. Who is a Roleplay Leader? If your character governs, leads, or mentors others you are a Roleplay Leader! This may be as the head of a nation, a member of it’s council, or the head of a household—a roleplay leader has some level of authority over others. And, to the degree of people influenced by this authority, that much responsibility you must also wield. What rules/behavior are expected of a Roleplay Leader? Here is what is outlined in our new Roleplay Leadership Guidelines - designed to endorse the cooperative narrative we're trying to work towards. Protect the continuity and purity of roleplay; cherish and nurture the whimsical, spontaneous nature of roleplay. Do not conduct, or aid in conducting, metaplay. Discourage and report metaplay to Moderation. Knowing about and waiting for a convenient time—or knowing and choosing not to report, also violates this guideline. https://www.lordofthecraft.net/roleplay-leadership/ I'm looking forward to continuing with these rules and continuing to try and better the community to what we can and should be - to make sure organic roleplay is upheld first and foremost. The enjoyment and fulfillment of our players comes first and foremost. Now, and forever always. See you around, Squak

Original: Metaplay The play-beyond-play. Coercing, pressuring or ostracizing players to influence in-character outcomes. Out-of-character / backdoor driven narratives, events, or outcomes; fabricated or canned roleplay that serves an OOC motivation. IC activity that opposes the creative and spontaneous spirit of roleplay. Metaplay is the degeneration of roleplay. It may occur with or without metagaming & powergaming—but it does not include the facilitating or gathering of RP. Some examples are OOCly organized plots, alliances, wars, or other in-character decisions. Update: Metaplay The play-beyond-play. Manipulating, coercing, pressuring or ostracizing players to influence in-character outcomes. Out-of-character / backdoor driven narratives, events, or outcomes; fabricated or canned roleplay that serves an OOC motivation. IC activity that opposes the creative and spontaneous spirit of roleplay. Metaplay is the degeneration of roleplay. It may occur with or without metagaming & powergaming—but it does not include the facilitating or gathering of RP. It is an intentional subversion of rules and roleplay to serve an OOC motive through malicious act(s). Some examples and further explanation are available [on this post]. Rational: Clarifying a potential issue with vagueness to define that metaplay is strictly a bad-faith act.

Approved.

Lore has been shelved and moved to the appropriate subforum. If you have questions about why this specific lore has been shelved, please contact an ST Manager or the ST Administrator.

Approved.

depends on your measures of success i think a lot of knights in older-era human nations were pretty strictly reserved for top pvpers who wanted rp authority to back it up, and while this practice has stayed, its generally become less favoured. Often times too, players on LOTC are all shared equal spotlight - while some knights more than others share achievements, its scarce great glory comes alone. This would make a great knight, if of course that is your measure, but few opportunities to singlehandedly change the course of events in a scenario arise. You could gauge knights by loyalty, whether to a leader or to "The Right Thing", you could gauge them by the best stories. The answers change a lot. The most notable knights that come to mind in my mind were people that I'd interacted with and were influential in their own ways, or had made accomplishments and strides to their own degree. I think two, maybe three come to mind, given this bias comes from only my era on the server and there were people long before me and there'll be more knights long after me. Seth Renault was a knight who pretty admirably rose from nothing and became very close in court, and despite being kept out of a lot of affairs (for being a lowborn/outsider), he continued to earn his stripes despite this and work in every way he could to bring valor and honor to his family name and his people. He eventually got a matrilineal marriage with a Horen and retired. He had three sons (and a daughter, maybe?) who were to carry on his legacy, but mostly failed in that part because they kept fighting over it. Rozmeo Kastrovat was another knight who was similar to above, albeit he wasn't above dealing with the lowest and most outcast of imperials and dabbled in so himself. Despite that he was grand marshal of the legion and lead it fairly successfully, and recognized talent and merit over names and titles. he still played the court, did his duties, did his job, and passed the torch when his time would come. After he died he was mostly forgotten about, although he did have a hidden burial place near Helena that lasted even to transition. I have too little to reasonably say but (prince) Marius and Walter Weiss I heard a lot of acclaim from and that they did a lot of really cool things and told incredible stories with their lives.

Name of the Artefact: Moon of The Dreamwalker Effects of the artefact: A relic of both dream and nightmare, The Mark of The Dreamwalker is a metallic disc of a halved moon. Both sides oppose one another, one never catching light and remaining dim and shaded, the other glowing with lunar energies when light shone upon it. Split down the middle, the artifact could be combined with it’s opposite half to act as one - coming to true power then. When the deific artifact was alone as a single piece, it seemed mundane - bearing no effect other than an indestructible nature, giving off a very mild deific mana. When placed together, the artifact would be weightless - unlike their lone prior state, the disc would seem a single piece of the solid mysterious metal. Though easily pulled apart even by the force of a child, it’s majestic and beautiful nature seemed almost criminal to destroy when in such a state. When the pieces were combined, a violet coloured symbol of a lamb would etch itself into the middle and give off a neon light. When touched with intention, the violet glow would twist up their appendage until it reached their heart, embedding itself within. With this, the one who touches the lamb would be granted The Mark of The Dreamwalker. One would wonder who, or what, left such a treasure behind - and for what purpose was it meant to explore? [Passive] [Event Only] - Dreamwalking Granted the power of The Dreamer and her benevolent half, when the pieces of the halved moons are connected, one is able to enter Lyes’ domain as a guest. The dark half of the moon enters the dream with the dreamwalker, whilst the light half remains in reality. This travel is however not safe passage - only able to return if once again making contact with the halved side that is taken into Lyes’ domain with it. When such a voyage is made, a character is marked with [Night Terrors] (see below) for [2] OOC weeks, and [Sleepwalking Sickness] until cured. [Passive] [Noncombative] - Night Terrors After venturing into Lyes’ realm, the body is unaccustomed to being within a world it only visits sparingly in the night - leading to discrepancy between the mind and body. This scars the body, leaving upon it a temporary, and self limiting, curse upon it. A deep purple coloured tattoo, perfect in symmetry and colour, would appear upon the user. This tattoo would manifest as either a moon (in any lunar stage), a star, or a lamb. This tattoo would glow when exposed to moonlight, though seeming mundane in all but a mild deific mana it would give off. Unlike the Dreamless Slumber inflicted in [Sleepwalking Sickness] (see below), one would dream frequently and vividly of themselves, though out of body. In a third person, they would see themselves throughout key moments of their life, yet alone. Without others, nor any other sign of life, their prior selves acting precisely how they had in the past without another soul to see it. [Passive] [Noncombative] - Sleepwalking Sickness An unintentional ailment of The Dreamer’s benevolent half, Dreamwalking is more tolling on a mortal body than one might expect. While Sleepwalking Sickness may be cured by ingestion of [Tum Somnum] (Alchemy - Refuge for The Mind), they would be plagued with the following effects. ❉ Insomnia, the inability to get meaningful or restful sleep. This would result in tired eyes. ❉ Dreamless slumber, removing one’s ability to see [Prophecy]. ❉ Nocturnal nature, becoming more avid to being active only in the dark hours of waking. ❉ Disassociation, during episodes of particular quiet or mundane activity having out-of-body experiences and vivid hallucinations ❉ Ticking, hearing sounds of a grandfather clock ticking slowly and constantly, albeit quiet.The tolling would never be consistent or hourly. [Passive] [Noncombative] - Aureus’ Boon A parting gift from The Patron, so long as one is not affected by [Sleepwalking Sickness] or [Night Terrors], one affected by The Mark of The Dreamwalker would be able to lucid dream. On command and with each slumber, one may explore and mold dreams to their desire, though their world is limited to what it’s own mind knows. What they do not know, or what they have never seen or heard, they are unable to construct or experience. [Passive] [Noncombative] - Ectorius’ Bane A parting curse from The Patron, when one bearing The Mark of The Dreamwalker is near death, they enter a full state of disassociation. Seeing only conjurations of pure nightmares, they would hallucinate to find themselves in a completely different reality. Surrounded by only nightmarish creatures conjured of shadow in a land of gray and decay, their vision would be limited to [20] meters with anything beyond an obscuring fog. Voices would trickle through as warped and distorted imitations of their true counterpart, only serving to horrify the user. The user would be in a state of pure panic, only desiring to flee at any cost. Artefact redlines: -Dreamwalking is only activeatable by ET, and may not be event-requested. -Dreamwalking, as per typical planeswalking rules, enters players under a True-PK clause, meaning death in Lyes’ realm would kill the character irrevocably, even through revival methods. An ET must properly inform players of the PK clause before the mark is made. -Dreamwalking may be activated when the two pieces of the disc are placed together, and the lamb symbol within their centre is deliberately touched. To return to the material realm, one must deliberately touch the lamb symbol that remains on the dark moon half of the disc that is taken. If a the disc leaves but a character is trapped, they are surrendered to ET who will discuss what may happen to the character. The character may be retrieved in future events. -One who holds the disc may as well touch it, but is not considered touching the lamb symbol unless done deliberately and intentionally. -Night Terrors may not be cured for its [2] week duration. -Night Terrors’ tattoo may manifest anywhere on the body on contingency it would be organic skin and flesh. Where, and what it is of the options, are up to the player. Entering a Klone body would have the tattoo manifest on that body as well. -Night Terrors’ tattoo may not be removed by any means during its [2] week duration. -Night Terrors’ tattoo glow would appear through clothing. -Night Terrors is self limiting and would resolve itself after the [2] week timer. It may optionally last indefinitely should a player desire. However, if one is cured of Sleepwalking Sickness, they would be cured of Night Terrors as well. -Sleepwalking sickness may be cured through useage of Tum Somnum (Alchemy, Refuge For The Mind). This method is discoverable IRP through experimentation, and is not considered “Rare” knowledge, but should include sufficient leadup roleplay. -Sleepwalking sickness, though coinciding with Night Terrors, may be cured despite the [2] week timer on Night Terrors. -Aureus’ Boon may not be used to metagame as one cannot discern or explore what they do not already know. -Ectorius’ Bane would incur only when a character is considered near-death, which is at discretion of the player. This is encouraged when a character is severely wounded, or is under threat of PK clause. -Ectorius’ Bane may be negated if a character possesses an item, MA, CA, or FA with a Mental Block effect, or if they possess a method of active or passive courage of any means. A character possessing a lore gained revival method (e.g. - not monk revival) may as well negate this effect. -If a character dies while under active effects of Ectorius’ Bane, their soul would be trapped within the nightmare and Lyes’ realm. -At the end of the Dreamless eventline, ingestion of Tum Somnum (Alchemy, Refuge For The Mind) would cure the player of The Mark of The Dreamwalker and all it’s associated effects. ET Responsible for this Artefact: squak

Your dreams stirred, your life and how your mind had made sense of it during your resting hours in its routine. You'd never truly thought much about it - merely a fact of life as much as birth and death, that when you slept you saw dreams. But that seemed different as of late. Your dreams, the fewer and fewer you had, seemed to veer and prey on your anxieties. Your deepest sorrows, memories, concerned - you never felt as rested as you were the prior days. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, you felt only more drained with each passing night as your dreams exhausted you. It was with the lack of rest where the less favoured side of your personality began to stir. A short temper, indecision, woes of the mind, a drought of motivation. It would pass eventually. Right? The following is only available to those able to witness [Prophecy]. A dream came to you one unremarkable night, different from the rest. A spring evening where you loathed your coming rest, yet did you yearn for the same. When your body finally slowed and your furnace warmed, your eyes shut and you drifted into what you hope would just be another dreamless night. The last candlelight faded as moonlight glittered upon your skin. You awoke again, as if you had merely had a blink of sleep. Rising from your resting place, you rubbed your eyes as you looked upward and your blurred vision became clear. You saw a fog - an endless expanse of mist where you could barely make out your arms before you. You heard a sound that was discordant and songlike, as if multiple songs were played over one another at different speeds, pitches, places in record. It was like it was trying to tell you something, but you couldn't begin to make sense of it. But it was speaking to you - even as distant as it was. This you knew. Why were you here? You found yourself looking down again as the fog receded; withering into incense sticks which burnt nightqueen and filled the air with a scent unmistakeable. You were in a court of somekind, dark, broken and run down pews lined what had more resembled a church than a throneroom. Few shuffled in the court quietly, almost as if making sound were sin here - you murmured, your voice muffled as if you were underwater. Your head turned to gather further of your surroundings, feeling as if you were drowsy enough to see only in a blur of movement. Your eyes looked to make sense and description of your surroundings, yet, the more you focused the less sense things seemed to make. As you observed, detailed unraveled and things became less distinct than they had before, blobs of colour that reshaped into only what your mind believed to truly belong in that place. A banner turned to a robe, a robe to a silhouette of a magister, the magister to a red pot of marigolds. Your eyes drew up toward the entrance of the chamber, a figure clad in white who's movements seemed graceful and soft. A gender touch, a moonlight washing over it's figure as if it were heavenly. It spoke to a woman, one you knew, who seemed veiled in blacks of grief. Your eyes cast then to the throne, anticipating a sitting lord where instead you gazed upon a lithe woman clad in violets. Her dark hair covered her face, her skin pale as the waif seemed almost motionless. She looked as if she'd been exsanguinated, and behaved similarly, her sparing movements small and exhaustive. She spoke no word, she made no grand move, as a figure hurried towards her. In the blur of the dimly lit court, you saw a shadowed figure - one seen in your dreams before, a figure that brought you only dread and despair. It paid no mind to you as it skittered across the room and offered a goblet up to the waif, who had barely wrapped bony fingers around the stem before the seeming-medicus raised the cup higher and higher. A streaming liquid of starlight rushed down the sides of her face, before the lady dropped it as the rest of it's celestial contents spilled across the featureless gray floor. The goblet struck the ground, yet there was no chime of metal, no clattering of the brass. It sounded more akin to a question, as if it begged of you an answer of somekind. It rolled down the steps, bouncing as each time it invoked your curiosity, an urge to answer something you had not even been asked. It slowed by your feet, seeming to stun your gaze for minutes. Silence was all you knew of this court, yet it seemed deafening now. You felt as if a crowd of thousands looked upon you, and you foolishly cast your eyes upward. The medicus stood within inches of your face, staring unto you with eyes pale as the moon. It's face was cast of a midnight black, an evershifting smoke that resembled apparition more than it did man. It gripped your arm, an accusation which sent you reeling as you shot up within your bedchamber screaming. Your breaths hurried as your heart shivered and fluttered, a cold washed over your body as if you'd been plunged into the icy waters of The Bitter Sea. Blood pumped in your ears as adrenaline coursed through your body, as you quickly looked to the appendage the medicus had taken. You saw a small burn in the shape of a claw, smoking still with a dusky mist. It began to fade as your skin flushed, your diaphoretic skin smelling of salt as sweat beaded down your body. Your hands covered your face, terrified to close your eyes for even a moment. Black washed over them as you rubbed them, and still you were within your bed. Likely you wouldn't like any more sleep tonight. Time to make some coffee. The following is only available to those with the [Palmreading] MA. Chains rattled and stirred, with vigor as you heard the creaking of iron as metal was pulled taut. The groaning of strain placed upon it, the voice you once knew as withered and broken now with such strength and vitality. It spoke, cohesive, full, uninterrupted. The voice of what was once an older man felt young and invigorated, yet still sickly. It despaired against the sick. "Our time together is nearly spent. Soon will my emissaries come to greet the masses and tell them of your heroism. Soon you will see me as I should be, and not what I am. Soon, I shall see you, not for what you will do, but for what you have done. Your dreams will still - this I know. We will work together one last time to make it so." . . . . . . Where..?

if people didn’t want pks they wouldn’t be in lore if you don’t want a risk of being pkd don’t play the ca why have pks on the server if people can’t handle them actually being used Siliti explored a soft pk system which effectively sealed players (Lichdom has this, similarly, albeit it’s much more scarce give their rarity) at the total and complete whim of other siliti, and from the moment of its (player requested) inception, despite ST protest that people Are Not Gonna Like This, they got it and immediately began to complain no other character should have total control over another players character and their playability. “Bad” siliti were put in boxes and told “you can have your character in three months, maybe” which was just so scummy and didn’t add to rp. Shockingly the lore didn’t do well after, though it had a lot of struggles to begin with. There before you had shade which had a system that if you tried to paladin dc them they’d get weakened and could only use a lower tier of spells / had less abilities for a day or two. this, given how commonly it happened and all roleplay that ever happens isn’t tracked by st, lead to a lot of people just ignoring it similarly to how easy it is for a coidal mage to just go about their day and cast normally even after doing mana depleting things like enchanting. unless it’s directly caught or suspected we can’t do anything about it. PKS, in the lore they’re in, offer a finality and risk associated that is a goal to a certain MA or CA. there’s tons of ways to get pkd (Running out of Klones, having your Soul Tree/Physical body destroyed, Running out of units as an Azdrazi/Getting DC’d, shunting/travelling to another realm and dying or being slain, etc.). There are other ways too that are more auto initiated such as templar last-stand or voidstalker escape to the infinite, but these serve a different purpose as to end a characters story rather than a purpose for villainy / risk for benefits or life. Ultimately it’s something you sign up for when you make the CA/MA/FA as a possibility, and unless we radically change the lore itself and strip it of risk (and following benefits) in exchange for endless purposeless conflict, it’s something agreed upon by players that the lore is a level playing field as it is and should be entrusted to be followed when it’s actually utilized.

Application denied.

Approved.

would love to see history vids I am still on my infinite hiatus project of loredump videos (though ideally during my event break nextmap ill start on these in full)

lotc woke as fuck preparing for transition