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[1] overview [2] newsletter timespan shenanigans [3] new players and characters [4] plotline // darkscape, azimuth and necropolis [5] plotline // dominion [6] plotline // off-wildcard // aeonis [7] plotline // off-wildcard // demonworks [8] plotline summary // story [9] plotline summary // time table [1] overview Getting back into the habit of writing newsletters after about a year time-out is daunting - all those carefully tailored habits are gone. It's like the first newsletter all over again. As such, beware: Brevity, I do not have it! In the interest of everyone's sanity, there's a time table summary of the summary at the end of this newsletter again, perhaps more crucial than ever before with how generously we've been raping the timeline. P.S. #053, #054 and #055 are retconned logs, so despite this newsletter claiming to cover them, they will not be mentioned anywhere. [2] newsletter timespan shenanigans The last newsletter spanned from 18 MAY to 15 JUN. So what's with this one spanning three newsletters back? Really, most of you that are reading this already know the answer, but as this writ is also going up on the site, it might be worth explaining it to those who don't frequent #dataclaw: After the last Wildcard newsletter, activity in Wildcard dropped to an abrupt, record low, largely because I was focussing on Nightchilder, one of #dataclaw's other RPs. Quite soon into that phase, I decided to ditch Wildcard entirely in favour of having a clear head. Then I played Nightchilder for just under a year, and very good things came of that, but unlike Wildcard, it had a defined end to work towards, and then that was over just as swiftly as it began. And then we were slightly short of a year time-out. As game owner I had three choices for our real-time synchronised game: 1 - 2 - 3 - stolidly declare 2009 to be the exact same year as 2010 (which is to say, 2053), then introduce a parallel plotline until real time caught up with where we last had been. So thar I gunn an' picked #3. Hence the time-overlapping goodness. Now you know. [3] new players and characters A silly amount of people have signed up on the Wildcard site since I last wrote a newsletter, so I'm going to skip welcoming all of them and just point out the active new players (roughly sorted by activity): Morgrim, player of Sara Aru'ak (Sethiss), also dragged in from Nightchilder by her hair. She's Australian and accordingly has wonky timezones, but has been playing a lot. Pers, player of Maveney Escarrà (Silence), dragged in from Nightchilder. Careful, psychologist at work! Kheldar, player of Chi Van Quy (Tui Chi), came into #dataclaw a few weeks into the Nightchilder plotline and patiently waited for its conclusion to join Wildcard. Kaelas, player of Jaesan, a Puppet helper/make-shift-colleague to Jennifer Blades. Nexus, player of Kyle Haledon (Archleone), dragged in by Morgrim and Cerunnos and I, unfortunately thus far only has her introductory session. Imagechaos (in #dataclaw as QS), player of Damien Winters (Lux). Originally joined CF2 in 2008, then vanished without a trace after two sessions, now back to kick some serious RPing ass. And that's it for players! New characters: Melody is one of Kor's, an AI pet project to Jennifer Blades (Demona), attached to an entirely own subplot involving Demona's wishes for Liska (Anna Castillo), one of mine; cousin to Sethiss, was largely created as not to have Sethiss meander through raw loneliness. And of course all of the characters brought in by the new players. [4] plotline // darkscape, azimuth and necropolis [liska, sethiss, silence, archleone, cyrex] (Weird puzzle shit excluded for semblance of brevity.) Trying to find Byelobog, friend to Sethiss as he was prior to getting trapped, Liska and Sethiss were pointed in the right direction a bit too well and ended up ensnared in Wildcard, themselves. Their unexpected arrival provoked the network to worry about intruders and their possible motivation, opting for a network policy of screening any further arrivals - at least for a while. Liska and Sethiss first arrived in Darkscape, but quickly pitched effort into finding a way out of that particular simulation, linking out to Azimuth [#056], a sim they are largely on their own in, having to keep each other company. A week after their initial connection, Sethiss first attracted Dread's attention [#059], though dismissing it as a normal, if unusually vivid nightmare at the time. About another week in, after arduously shifting the world around until their path lead to it, they finally reached the centre, where Sethiss nearly got herself trapped in some form of spherical, liquid webbing containing the simulation's proverbial key. By what they assumed at the time to be luck of timing, a stranger introducing himself as Cyrex appeared and freed her from it [#061], and helped them complete the sim, which woke a dragon, who's eyes turned out to be the links out, causing a scuffle in which, fortunately, no one was seriously hurt before linking out [#062]. While Sethiss, Liska and their acquaintance 'Michael' (Cyrex) got used to Necropolis, Silence, trying to escape her real life in the truest sense of the word, fled into the Wildcard network. Rather than immediately being permitted to connect, she was asked to explain why she'd consciously choosen to enter the network, giving Cyrex, the interrogating party, her honest explanation, which was a new concept to him but endeared her to him [#063]. He let her in, though initially placing her elsewhere in Necropolis, not near where the others are, leaving her in a blissful solitude - what she sought. It didn't last long. Instead, three days later, outside of Cyrex's control, their paths crossed - something that should have been unlikely an event enough to require no precautions. However, as Cyrex's true nature at that point in time was not yet clear to Sethiss and Liska, it was hard to reverse the merge into the group without revealing himself. [#064] The group became acquainted, trekking about the simulation together from that point on. While off exploring on her own, Sethiss was made abruptly and painfully aware that the dream she had in Azimuth was not a one-off - and perhaps not as much a dream as she assumed. Meeting Dread again at the foot of Necropolis' obelisk tower [#065], she developed the theory that he may be a sadistically inclined admin, which in one fell swoop would explain their entrapment, too. She promptly returned to the group, though on nearing found herself increasingly torn between keeping the events to herself and warning the others, finally opting for latter [#066]. While she had another dream of him the night following [#067], it fortunately proved not to be an increase in frequency. Another week into their entrapment, with Silence proving not to be much of a companion to them for obvious reasons, but effectively only serving to vex them (though they care about her), Cyrex pulled in another person to keep them company, Kyle/Archleone, who proved to be far less insane. [#068] With Archleone helping them solve Necropolis and adding fresh drive to their endeavour, they headed east for what is at that time their third crest, Cyrex holding onto the two they'd found in the west and north. While here, Sethiss' personal problems worsened as Liska revealed that she, too, had dreamt of Dread - though she seemed far less convinced that it was something to worry about, taking a psychological approach to explain the similarly themed dreams and phenomena [#069]. On their way back to Necropolis proper from the east, Cyrex ended up discussing robotics and artificial intelligence with Sethiss, then told for the first time that Liska and Sethiss have connected in search of Byelobog. It was at that point that he chose to reveal himself, feeling unable to continue his 'deception' on moral grounds - as he knew that Byelobog died, he felt it would be wrong to withhold the information from his 'guests' and feed them a false hope in that regard. [#070] The group, inevitably, split after the revelation. Cyrex and Silence went their way, while Archleone, Sethiss and Liska, fortunately having been given the crests that Cyrex was carrying for them, continued their quest to solve and leave Necropolis. Unbothered by the changes on the network, Dread finds Silence, introducing himself to her [#074]; and not many days later knit the dreams of Liska and Sethiss together, revealing a like of social-psychology games in himself that was certainly not appreciated by his victims. ...as the log warning puts, 'WARNING: You cannot unread what you are about to read. Have fun.' [#071] The cruelty was enough to make Sethiss think twice about her opinion of Cyrex, who (ignoring the part that he's responsible for their being stuck on the network) had been entirely supportive and nice to them. She apologised indirectly in voiced monologue, which made Cyrex appear and converse with her. An off-hand comment from Cyrex's made the subject swerve to Dread, and Cyrex made connections to others trapped on the network and errant behaviour, which prompted him to offer a means to escape the demon: Complete encapsulation in the binary realm, murder of the physical body. [#072] Needless to say, Sethiss declined. They linked out soon after, finding themselves in Dominion's Eden, where the language barrier was source of much irritation. As it was, they needed a while to get there, but ultimately, they found their way to the Golokan Sapphire and entered Goloka, finding Shahrivar's lair (see last third of 'dominion' section for happenings since). [5] plotline // dominion Still on the way to Shahrivar, the main group, lead through the world by Joukahainen, rested near griffin territory as Jouka attempted to find one of the slightly xenophobic creatures for a favour - which is to say, a ride to Shahrivar, to shorten the time it would otherwise take to get to her. While the Puppet was off doing that and most of the group took the opportunity of night to slumber, a Dread-controlled Frederick woke and lured Willoughby away from the group, only to murder him. [#058] Regaining control of himself, Frederick thawed out of the paralysis of shock and fled, terrified of hurting anyone else. Concerned for him, Cyrex asked Verdana for permission to sport an avatar within her territory, and, setting out to convince Frederick to return to the main group, ended up introducing his perpetual companion, Silence, to Frederick and vice versa. Ironically, Frederick initially mistook Cyrex for Dread, if only because of the supernatural ability to find him in the middle of nowhere, but apologised as he realised he had erred. [#075] After further discussion, he finally agrees to return to the main group, making his way back with Cyrex's guidance and aid, Silence and him in tow until just shortly before Shahrivar's lair, where Frederick is left to himself again. Many conversations were had on the way - amongst others, Cyrex suggested to Frederick the 'way out' of the demon's grasp as he had to Sethiss. While Frederick was far more tempted by the offer, he declined, shuddering to think what might happen to his friends if he were no longer Dread's primary chewtoy... Additionally, to his dismay it turned out that Silence seemed to be quite enamoured with his tormentor, going as far as doing his bidding entirely without being threatened [#076], much to the incredulousness of Frederick. Far off from the main group, TuiChi had meanwhile connected to Wildcard. In the middle of griffin territory, she was intercepted by a group of them and caught - fortunately not rended limb from limb, but just held captive. Perplexed by her entirely unrecognisable tongue, the griffins brought Cassian, an ex-Oracle living with them, who apologised for their lack of hospitality and organised TuiChi a ride to Shahrivar - who, after TuiChi arrived, healed a nasty, infected wound she'd been given by the griffins. TuiChi was offered quarters to rest in and accepted. [#073] It is this state of guests that Frederick reached Shahrivar's lair at. Since TuiChi was new, Frederick introduced himself fleetingly, but went out of her way, disliking the idea of being alone with any one other 'netizen'. A day passed, before the main group reached Shahrivar's lair. At first they didn't run into Frederick or TuiChi - in fact, the first people they came across only arrived then, themselves, namely Sethiss, Liska and Archleone. While discussing various topics with them, Frederick showed up, prompting an emotionally confusing conversation. [#077] The revelation of a common nemesis in that conversation in turn prompted Liska to attempt to explore the details of it in private conversation between the involvees, but it quickly went awry and nowhere in particular, leaving Liska/Sethiss and Frederick/Elizabeth somewhat estranged. [#081] With everyone in one spot, that which was offered to TuiChi - opening a portal to another world of their choosing - was offered to the netizens as a whole. Joukahainen spent time explaining the downsides of that particular deal with them, imploring them to reconsider what would amount to indirect murder. Nonetheless, the overwhelming opinion of the Citizens was to support Shahrivar, most vehemently voiced by Frederick, who had no desire to be responsible for the destruction of another world. The decision to feed Shahrivar until she has the strength to let them leave brought the travellers to Eden, where they were cast into their human avatars, and began trekking from village to village, netting themselves different reactions to their request for sacrifice each time, none of which were positive so far - though surprisingly, venom was the rarest of reactions. Still, things were arduous and people unsympathetic at best. While feeding Shahrivar is considered a necessity, and the concept of 'another universe' comes naturally to Edenites, a return to said 'other universe' does not weigh well against the lives of fellow Edenites. As such, what seemed like a good idea at the time became increasingly hard to actually uphold. It didn't help that the population of the towns they'd come through was sparse at best, sometimes shockingly so - there seemed to be many ghost towns in vicinity of the 'Golokan Sapphire'. Currently, the group is near Colmar, somewhat nervously but generously hosted by a family and their farm. At least that town can be called one - though infrastructure from here would allow travel to better areas. [6] plotline // off-wildcard // aeonis Offline, after Lysette's meeting with Aeonis, Stacksmack, who had asked her to speak to Aeonis in Wildcard's name (though without being that specific) and considered himself her friend rang to ask how she was doing, finding her full of concern for his very existence and asking him to rethink whatever it was he may have be doing. [#060] It's also needless to say that Teo did not approve of the entrapment of his daughter. After having a minor belated meltdown (no one had had the respect or courage to tell him about it until he next enquired as to her well-being), Charles Markovik attempted to calm Teo down, which, while it largely worked, did not work enough to prevent what had Teo worried in the first place: That he'd get pulled from the project. Motivated by friendship, Charles Markovik, current lead of the Aeonis team researching the entrapment, continued to inform Teo. This - after Teo ended up speaking to another individual doing his own research on a similar subject [#080] - has spawned Cyrex going as far as speak to Charles and ask him to cease informing Teo for the health of everyone. According to Cyrex, tampering with Wildcard's code or shutting it down abruptly is bound to result in the deaths of all trapped netizens. [#083] Charles initially denied promising Cyrex to do anything to rein in Teo if one point of Cyrex's claim - that Maveney Escarrà, Silence, is trapped on the network by choice - was not proven. This has since been proven, with Silence communicating her desire to stay in the network to Charles following Cyrex's request to do so. Since then, Charles has kept quiet to Teo, though less out of conviction, and more out of a desire to have some time to think about his options. [7] plotline // off-wildcard // demonworks It turns out that Marcus' interactions with DemonWorks, Demona's AI-crafting company, were not as short-lived as he'd hoped. Rather than work precisely as intended, it turns out that his helper Puppet, Sofia, a program he's been upgrading since he first had it as a child, is a bit too human for his liking, in that it exhibits urges and mannerisms he's not comfortable with. He returns to DemonWorks hoping for a refund but is told to simply wait it out, that it was prone to balancing out to something less awkward soon, and he'd appreciate the added realism once it did. [#057] Even that turns out not to be his last hike to DemonWorks to complain, though. While, as predicted, Sofia's behaviour normalises after a while, his next attempt to upgrade her has him discover that her code is all but mangled, obfuscated beyond any legibility, effectively preventing him from making any adjustments without DemonWorks help. Again he goes to DemonWorks, where Jaesan organises a meeting for him somewhat begrudgingly given his attitude over it. [#078] Demona meanwhile decides to promote Jaesan to 'apprentice', beginning to take him into the back rooms of her virtual hang-out where she tinkers on Puppets, most notably her most recent project, Melody, a potential singer. After window of opportunity arises, Jaesan informs Demona about her schedule in the coming days, including Marcus'. [#079] Nonetheless, no luck. It takes Marcus turning up another time and Jaesan kindly causing the exactly right equipment to malfunction and the right things to wander around without supervision for Demona to get 'cornered' and forced to explain herself. Rather than properly doing so, she makes a deal with Marcus, drafting him as a helper as payment for her future code-untangling, postponing said untangling until then. [#082] I probably botched this up. My overview in this plotline is non-existent. *hangs head* [8] plotline summary // story Sethiss and Liska entered the network looking for Byelobog, spending the majority of Azimuth, their first real sim (a short while in Darkscape notwithstanding), by themselves. Toward the end of it, they were saved from a puzzle screwed up by a conveniently appearing Cyrex. They entered Necropolis. There, they came across Silence, who had entered the Wildcard network willingly, and Archleone, who was pulled in mid-sim. At some point down the road, Cyrex revealed his true nature, and that Byelobog had died, which caused the group to split - Silence stayed with Cyrex, while the others continued trying to escape the sim. They managed to break free a while later, dumped into Dominion's Eden universe. In Dominion, Frederick found himself indirectly responsible for the death of Willoughby, one of his closer friends, and fled the group. Cyrex, distrought by this, sought him out and convinced him to return to them, guiding him to Shahrivar's lair, where TuiChi, a new trapped netizen, rested in wait for Shahrivar to recharge to a point where she might be able to open a portal out of the 'broken server'. Shortly after they were introduced to each other, the main group found Shahrivar's lair, as did Sethiss, Liska and Archleone, collecting everyone in one place. Since then, all of them have been told that Shahrivar could open a portal to another world - in fact, 'any of their choosing' - providing sie had fed enough. They've also been informed about Shahrivar's metabolism and hir dependency on humans for food; but also that hir very existence is keeping Goloka and Eden apart, and that hir destruction would bring with it the destruction of Eden. Given those choices, they have (largely) opted for the less destructive, though it's been a fruitless search for sufficiently self-sacrificial humans in Eden. Those disagreeing with the approach are slowly finding their initial idea confirmed, having tagged along for the sake of the group not splitting anew. (Across the lot of that, we have a lot of Dread activity, however I don't feel like flattering the jerk with yet another summary plastered with his misdeeds. Cough.) Beyond the network, Aeonis has seen considerable activity: Teo has been pulled from the project after emotional involved with Maveney's case have made him a stick of dynamite. Charles has kept him informed, but was then contacted by Cyrex, asking him not to, explaining that he was jeopardising the lives of all those trapped. Following a proof on one of the side-points of the conversation, Charles has remained silent to Teo, thinking his options over. Additionally, Marcus' dealings with DemonWorks went from awkward to more awkward as he first files a complaint about the behaviour of his tweaked Puppet (Sofia), then about obfuscated code preventing him from further expanding her modules any, ending up in an odd contract reminiscent of having to wash the dishes in a restaurant because you couldn't pay money - except Demona style. [9] plotline summary // time table [18 APR] Liska and Sethiss connect to Darkscape, but link out to Azimuth soon after. [#056] Outside the network, Marcus files his first complaint with DemonWorks. [#057] [25 APR] Sethiss first dreams of Dread. [#059] [29 APR] Stacksmash calls Lysette Skeates. [#060] [30 APR] Sethiss and Liska reach the centre of Azimuth, where they meet Cyrex. [#061] [01 MAY] Sethiss, Liska and Cyrex complete Azimuth, which knocks them into Necropolis. [#062] [04 MAY] Silence links into the network, initially screened for entry. [#063] [07 MAY] Sethiss, Liska and Cyrex stumble across Silence. [#064] [08 MAY] Dread appears to Sethiss a second time [#065], prompting her to warn the others. [#066] [14 MAY] Archleone is pulled into Wildcard. [#068] [16 MAY] Cyrex reveals who he is to Sethiss. [#070] [18 MAY] Silence dreams of Dread. [#074] [22 MAY] Liska and Sethiss share a dream. [#071] [23 MAY] Cyrex appears to Sethiss as she quasi-apologises for her behaviour, and reveals that Dread is a bigger problem than even she presumes, then offers a solution that turns out not to be an option. [#072] [25 MAY] Marcus complains to DemonWorks about his Puppet's obfuscated code. [#078] [26 MAY] Demona promotes Jaesan to 'apprentice'. [#079] [30 MAY] Frederick murders Willoughby and runs away. [#058] [31 MAY] Cyrex seeks out Frederick to convince him to return to the main group and introduces him to Silence. [#075] [01 JUN] TuiChi connects, brought to Shahrivar by Cassian. [#073] [02 JUN] Shortly before parting ways, Silence and Frederick share a dream, in which Silence reveals the extent of her loyalty to Dread. [#076] [03 JUN] Frederick arrives at Shahrivar's lair and meets TuiChi. [04 JUN] Everyone else reaches Shahrivar's lair and becomes acquainted. [#077] Also, Marcus enters his somewhat soul-selling deal with Demona. [#082] [05 JUN] The travellers discover what they deem to be the simulation quest: To feed Shahrivar or to kill her/him/it. They opt for former. Also, Teo meets with Damien, seeking an ally in his quest to free the trapped people. [06 JUN] Lead by Joukahainen, the group moves from Goloka to Eden, putting them into their human avatars. [07 JUN] Group is @ Tenigen. [08 JUN] Cyrex meets with Charles Markovik, attempting to deter him from feeding Teo with information. [09 JUN] Group is @ Endingen. Also, Silence confirms her wish to be on the network to Charles Markovik [11 JUN] Group is @ Sasbach. [13 JUN] Group is @ Marckolsheim. [15 JUN] Group is @ Artzelheim. [17 JUN] Group is @ Muntzenheim. [18 JUN] Sethiss has an unusually civil dream of Dread. [#084] [19 JUN] Group is @ Horbourg-Wihr (near Colmar). |