[1] overview
[2] new players and characters
[3] plotline // network // chimera
[4] plotline // network // pandiamonium
[5] plotline // other
[6] summary
[7] background // pandiamonium
[8] background // wildcard
[9] closing words



[1] overview

I've put off this newsletter for a long time because I didn't want to summarise the end of Chimera. Of course, that problem isn't going to go away, and there've been fundamental developments in-character that really need to be newslettered, so I'm going to try and at least haphazardly summarise it in an effort to get to the obnoxiously important stuff.

Also, happy belated Stealth Day (that's the 15th of March for all you heathens <3).



[2] new players and characters

New players that I've not seen in #dataclaw ever/lately:

- Aescapulius
- Dyne
- Nickwright (who created Herald Carpenter a/k/a Wolf)
- Wastecase

New characters!

- BLusk now has Ezra Merkelson a/k/a Ephraim, a rural character with a suitably rural avatar: An anthropomorphic pig in a Victorian outfit. He came into the network during the last legs of Tlaloc in Chimera - and promptly proceeded to freeze his badly insulated ass off in Scheol. Poor guy!

- Pers now has Kamala Tenzin a/k/a Nymphaea, introduced in Scheol in Chimera. She hasn't had much chance to play her yet, but the character is lovely and definitely needs more exercise. :) (As an evil gamemastery heads-up: She's given up Silence in part at my urging, since it's been so long and I quite frankly have plans with that character by now.)



[3] plotline // network // chimera

On Chimera, the Citizens reached Echoh, only to be approached by the Guardian rather than vice versa [#401] and offered help in getting through the island. Concern for Lycia is rampant amongst the NPCs at this point, and the Citizens and their friends, outsiders as they are, are hoped to be able to make a difference. The peacock Guardian appears the gentlest so far and guides them to the final portal in quite a literal fashion [#402], although not before telling them in-depth about the mythology ranking around Lycia.

The next island is Ignia, where the Guardian of the island sends his helpers - a horde of tiny dragonets - to the Citizens to help them with that island's quest [#403].

(Out of sequence note: #404 is backdated session involving the Citizens reaching Angwe's lair on Cerrado, a timeframe covered in the previous newsletter.)

The final island is Scheol, where the Citizens encounter, first and foremost, wintery weather [#405] and a sceptical Rahjin tribe wanting as little as possible to do with them. It is on this island that Nymphaea connects [#406].

Due to its 'final' nature, the Citizens are wary to continue without first freeing Frederick from Tleaz's clutches - or at least a very vocal Elizabeth is, and no one dares to complain. Since they're putting off their more important goal of reaching Lycia, Thylis drafts Dunestrider into his plans to free Frederick on the Citizen's behalf, thinking he might have a bit of a chance of convincing the druid to let him go [#407]. Unfortunately the plan, when actually executed, while resulting in Frederick well and truly managing to flee, results in Thylis' death [#408] - as well as his respawn. A respawn in Chimera apparently is not a 'be in perfectly good health again' respawn, and Dunestrider and Frederick keep him company while he heals [#409].

As they return to Scheol, they appear just in time to see the Citizens getting 'kicked out' of their meagre excuse for shelter by the Rahjin, the Puppets all deeply irked by their perceived unnecessary refusal to complete the quest and gain Lycia's favour [#410].

Some ice-skating tricks later with token video game ice see the Citizens reach Rache's lair [#411]. Rache himself turns out to be a tricky hurdle, refusing to let them speak as a group and instead judging them individually before letting them pass. As one can imagine, this is an arduous process.

Ultimately, though, the Citizens reach Lycia unharmed...

...only to discover that the reason she's not answering summons or speaking of her own accord is that she's frozen in a very basic rendering glitch, her image flat and the same from any direction. A simple touch is enough to force a true recalculation, however, and Lycia morphs from wary to appreciative once Thylis and the Citizens tell her the story of what has transpired [#412]. She promotes Thylis to official Guardian of Sacellum and opens a portal for the Citizens and their friends.



[4] plotline // network // pandiamonium

Pandiamonium welcomed them with The Worst Weather, and with the grass trying (and thankfully hilariously and pathetically failing) to eat their feet. They lanced forward through the rain and mists, following a light, and discovered a shallow but wide cavern giving them shelter from the elements [#412].

The next day revealed some of the moons in the sky to them, and the shape of the landscape, though the fog was still widespread, and rain is still plentiful. The grass was no longer trying to eat them, though - a definite bonus! A nearby hanging crystal suspended between two phenomenally huge claws from ropes ended up investigated by Hakumele and Israel [#413], even as the other Citizens travelled along a discovered river hoping to stumble across a hint of civilisation. The hint of a creature in the suspended crystal was freed by shattering it - revealing Yyasprakis, a spider-like golem that seems quite protective over the Citizens and their friends [#415], and bonds to Joukahainen as the first person who speaks its name (engraved on its carapace), something that is later revealed.

Attached to Yyasprakis are a series of necklaces and bracelets with pendants that turn out to be quite useful: They allow the wearer to shift from one avatar mode to the other [#416]. Liska, of course, is delighted [#417].

The progression of the Citizens first downstream, then along the edge of a lake, then upstream along a different river yields no civilisations, though it does reveal a rather moist-by-default landscape, to the point where they come across a swamp they chose to avoid [#418]. A misunderstanding between Joukahainen and Hakumele escalates, and Hakumele flies away in a huff, staying away from the group for several days. The group nonetheless continues as by agreed on plan, further upriver, until they reach a series of waterfalls, where a character development interlude reveals Gunther's alter ego Alex to Paul, Joukahainen, Jess, Patches and Yyasprakis, prompting Jouka to consider Gunther CR-3X for a moment of confusion [#419].

After the Citizens ascend the precipices with Yyasprakis' help, Liska's euphoria about being human again is considerably dampened, as Dread gets wind of the toy and threatens her through Frederick with it. The aftermath is predictable - Frederick absconds. While trying to find him, Liz and Lucy make the discovery that Yyasprakis has a flawless people radar [#420]. Frederick also discovers that Liz can be a mean bitch if she really wants to be, but at least it gets through to him. Back with the main group, Liska of course also has a few things to say about the matter, confusing Israel with her Dread-is-good and Frederick-is-good outlook... and simultaneously uncovering some dark flecks in Israel's past on accident [#421].

Initially after the incident, Frederick decides to stay in human form, insisting that someone else keep his pendant so he can't be in the considerably more formidable raptorian body for Dread to use as a tool of terror, but that resolve only lasts a few days, his desire to be The Tough Guy outwinning his desire not to be dangerous.

It's during his first raptorian excursion after the Liska incident that he discovers Kerras, introducing him into the network quite grouchily, but mellowing after a while and making a new friend [#422] near Kananmuna's lair, the first landmark that looks important and quest-like.

Not wanting to explore the landscape any further without Hakumele first returning (and, more importantly, not wanting to trigger any irreversible events in her absence), Israel and Jess are sent out in separate directions to see if they can find her. It's Israel that does, settling down with the dolphin and having a chat [#423]. The reach-out is enough to make Hakumele return to the group.

They explore the landmark by travelling there, discovering an island looking like a huge stone bowl, as well as a short menhir with an inscription that looks like a riddle with several allusions to giving up one's sense of hearing to free whatever is contained in the centre of the island [#424]. Frederick and Joukahainen, both in desire to be useful, ease down into its interior and discover a short stone with handmarks, ultimately suggesting to them that the 'riddle' is literal and that touching the stone would make the person touching it deaf [#425]. With that concern, they return to the others - which prompts Lucy to offer herself for the task, having two heads at her disposal and hoping to outwit the mechanism. Unfortunately, it does exactly as feared - though it also drains the fog out of their bowl-like island and proves to be a solid first step toward getting something done [#426]. The 'something' turns out not much later to be the release of Kananmuna, the Clear Moon Guardian, who's the first to explain the mechanism of Pandiamonium to the Citizens, and offers her guidance [#427]. She claims to have no quest for them, but suggests speaking to any of 'her brothers and sister' if they might have any, ultimately suggesting Carapax (whom she feels neutrally towards and who does not need to be woken with a sacrifice), whom she proceeds to lead them toward.

The whole spiel is interrupted as Dread finds himself trapped on the network. Initially discovered by Joukahainen, he's emotionally raw, torn from his psychic ability and with a harrowing theory as to what the network does to the trapped people. He reveals to the Oracle that his motivation has always been one of love, which certainly does nothing to soothe Jouka's mind, but does answer his questions. Reminded in the presence of a sociopath of his own genocidal past - the death of Shahrivar and of the whole world of Eden in Dominion - Jouka's attitude turns hard and hateful toward Dread (of course, not that he wouldn't have plenty other reasons to be that way toward the ex-psychic). He binds Dread's wrists at the ex-psychic's request [#428], and leads him back to the group.

Once there, the welcome is about as warm as one might expect. Sirena physically attacks him until she runs out of breath - despite Elizabeth's attempt at intervention, as she's peeled off of Dread by Frederick and kept from further attempts to shield him. As Sirena runs away in horror at her own violence and in fear of Dread, Frederick turns his attention to Dread, loaning him his own pendant to turn him human, only to assess the minimal difference and punishingly slash across his face - it prompts Liz to once more try to mellow him, a tactic that finally works as Sethiss backs her up [#430]. Dread is tied to a tree instead, since the group at that point in time is advised to stay put (near a river) by Kananmuna anyway, due to impending Cinder Moon.

On the day of the Cinder Moon, Sethiss approaches the bound Dread to pluck his bladed feathers from him, making him considerably less dangerous - something he thanks her for, as it greatly increases his chances of staying alive [#433].

Elsewhere, Liska and Gunther have by now hunted after Sirena - and find her curled up by herself a bit too close to a forest fire for comfort, prying her out of there against all her protests, discovering that she believes Dread's 'I'm powerless now' spiel is all a dangerous, deliberate illusion [#432]. Once out of reach of the forest fire, Gunther gets his Alex on and tries to calm Sirena down, discovering just how deep the trouble with Dread runs [#434] - and wanting to do something about it.

Eventually, the Cinder Moon passes and the group continues on into the direction of Carapax as guided by Kananmuna. Somewhere along the way, Elizabeth, not having slept since Dread linked in, in maximum distress and worried about her own life and her relationship with her friends, speaks to Joukahainen about the Dread issue - and the information he shared with them about that they're all digital shadows of their offline selves. The existential sledgehammer that is becomes abruptly apparent to Joukahainen, sobering him out of his deliberately careless and distant attitude - and hugs are exchanged [#435].

But even stubborn dragonesses must eventually sleep, and it is during her slumber that Frederick approaches Sethiss, Dread's then-guard, trying to persuade her to let him have a piece of the captive. She makes her reservations known, which tips Frederick into complete irrationality - he literally kidnaps Dread, which prompts Yyasprakis to thaw out of passivity and into rescue mode. The golem takes Sethiss along and they intercept Frederick before any harm but a few bruises and scrapes from the hasty kidnap itself can be inflicted [#436].

As irony would have it, the incident results in Frederick being confined to human form, with his hands bound behind his back.

The group reaches Carapax soon after, asked to stay a while in what is to lairs what mansions are to houses. Unlike Kananmuna's purely quest-driven lair, Carapax' is an actual abode, and he seems surprisingly human for an ankylosaurus-monkey hybrid, having clearly spent years making tools and gadgets. It's here that Joukahainen speaks to Adrethyrian about the situation with Dread and how it's bothering him - and Adrethyrian convinces him to try and learn how to forgive... also himself, for Dominion. The Oracle accepts the advice and uses his pendant to shift from the version of him decorated with Shahrivar's never-fading bloodstains to the one without, vowing to look forward instead of back [#437].

Meanwhile, Sethiss, who's kept a hold of the plucked feathers from Dread while concealing them from everyone else, approached Carapax about crafting a hilt for them [#438]. She's considerably better equipped since.

(By the way, even bound and kept separate to most part, Frederick and Dread have absolutely not been getting along [interlude: Grudge]. Who's surprised? I'm certainly not.)

After the full Crust Moon waned and let the Citizens leave Carapax's fortress-lair again, Carapax led them to the mouth of one of the tunnels he mentioned in narrative on the day of their arrival. After some inspection, it turns out to be a subway tunnel in completely dismal shape, full of sand and dust and rust from decades of neglect. Careful exploration reveals the faded remnants of a sign that can just about be deciphered to read 'Tanglesnow', presumed to have been the name of the station. Carapax seems not to know anything about a past civilisation, however - he simply remarks that the tunnel is collapsed further in and thus not the best example.

He leads them to the far end of the tunnel segment, where only a fraction of it is visible in the landscape, impossible to enter through, the rest of it evidently well and truly collapsed, though it's hard to see in the landscape if one doesn't know what one's looking for, subtle furrows like extremely old riverbeds only persistent indicator. He's explained that the tunnels are useful to hide in during Blood Moons, make for good, accessible sources of metal, and that some of them can even reasonably be used for safe travel. 'If they haven't collapsed yet, they probably won't for a long while,' seems to be his firm suggestion.

He recommends getting the aid of the Torch Moon guardian before trying to trek through them, though, pitch black as they tend to be beyond their entry points. He gives the group directions as to where to go, then they part ways.

The group is currently resting near where Carapax showed the collapsed 'end' of the tunnel, still in company of Kananmuna.



[5] plotline // other

As a heads-up, Dread's Francisco shenanigans (#385 and the Deontology interlude) have been moved ahead by a few weeks, to very near the end of Chimera, though that only makes a difference to me and my playing Dread - and the mood he exhibited when he next spoke to Jerard [#414], the friend of Corinthian's he'd once promised to reveal the dead boy's love to (and did). He answers a few questions about Project Bitscorch, but a good chunk of them are out of his league, too technical for him.

In a severely backdated session, Jam and kae have introduced Lyra and Bob Owens, UrsaMinor and Ursa Major respectively, and their fantastic ability to rely on each other (henceforth referred to as Ursa(e) plotline depending on how many letters you want to type for it). Twins, if you haven't guessed! Twins stubbornly making their own Haunted Mansion adventure without a haunted mansion to explore, but any ol' partly abandoned house will do when you're young and carefree, right [#429]?

That reliance, however, has evidently taken a bit of a wavering hint at a turn in the past years, with a bad car accident leaving Bob dependant on Lyra, something she tries desperately to live with (blaming herself despite not having been the driver), but is (as one might imagine) intensely difficult for both of them, having school to deal with on top of their familial troubles [#431].



[6] summary

A summary of the summary! The most important plot points:

Toward the end of Chimera, the subject of Frederick's entrapment in Tleaz' clutches remained a problem. Thylis eventually offered his direct help, visiting Tleaz with the marks of two other Guardians in an attempt to talk the druid out of his imprisonment of Frederick. Instead, he died, though Frederick managed to escape - and it became evident that Thylis was capable of respawning.

The end of the sim itself revealed a server glitch, reminding everyone that they're stuck in a virtual world. The visual glitch (Lycia's rendering accidentally 2D and identical from all possible directions) was trivially corrected by minimal Citizen intervention. Thylis was promoted to Guardian of Sacellum (the hub island of Chimera) and the party was sent on their way.

In Pandiamonium, the party's found out that the world is governed by the nine moons in the sky, and thus far encountered two Guardians thereof, both of which have been very helpful. They've not uncovered a quest yet, however. (See the Pandiamonium background information section for more details if interested.) They have, however, been in near-constant company of a pet golem-spider that's at their command (albeit Joukahainen's moreso than everyone else's) by the name of Yyasprakis (roughly 'ee-yass-prah-kiss').

The biggest trouble so far has been Dread's entrapment - much to everyone's fright, the psychic is now trapped on the network with them, although he claims to have been stripped of his powers and has generally not been causing trouble. Sirena's physically assaulted him, Frederick's given him three lasting claw-marks on one cheek, and Sethiss was so kind to tear his bladed primaries out of his wings. He's usually found with bound wrists, being obnoxiously zen about the whole thing.

Dread's insisted he knows how the network functions now, a topic when breached almost causes him to become outright desperate, as the method deeply upsets him - not just for his own sake, even if needless to say most people don't assume anything that isn't purely narcissistic or egocentric in him. In a nutshell: Everyone is a Puppet, and there may not be a way to return to 'offline', ever. (For more details, see the Wildcard background information section.)

The latest development in Pandiamonium is the discovery of a partly collapsed subway network clearly abandoned for decades set into the landscape. None of the Guardians that the Citizens have spoken to so far (Kananmuna and Carapax) seem to think anything of it, though, and have no knowledge of a past civilisation.



[7] background // pandiamonium

Pandiamonium's landscape is governed by nine magical moons. Five of them have regular cycles:

- Torch Moon: On a four day cycle, governs bioluminescence (fireflies, fungal bioluminescence and growth, and a species of glowing trees on full Torch Moon).
- Clear Moon: On a six day cycle, 'guarded' by Kananmuna, governs the mists in a way that could be considered a misnomer, since they are most numerous when it is full.
- Grass Moon: On a nine day cycle, governs the amount of plantlife - a full Grass Moon will make it difficult to move through the forest, whereas a new Grass Moon would make that navigation easy.
- Gale Moon: On a ten day cycle, governs storms. The fuller the Gale Moon, the more storms (wind, lightning and thunder) - though the amount of rain tends to vary by... →
- Water Moon: On a fifteen day cycle, governs the strength of rivers, the amount of rain, and general moisture levels.

The other four moons have irregular phases tied to the other five moons and are occasionally referred to as 'catastrophe moons', with two minor catastrophes (that mere awareness tends to already suffice against) and two major ones (that really are incredibly catastrophic).

- Rust Moon: Governs the brittleness of wood and metals. If not careful during a full Rust Moon, whole tree trunks can implode if you try to walk across them, solid seeming ground can give way even if stone, and metals can snap like a wafer. It's not the best time to rely on tools.
- Crust Moon: Governs caverns, fissures and other split or hollowed rock or earth, 'mending' these 'wounds' when full. It is 'guarded' by Carapax. Here awareness is very important - ending up underground during a full Crust Moon can have such nasty side-effects as suffocation, after all, or even outright getting crushed to death.
- Cinder Moon: Governs volcanic activity and the strength of forest fires. A full Cinder Moon will split open the earth and burn large sections of forest. It's a good idea to be near water when it is full, and be ready to spend some time in the cold wet. It beats getting burnt alive.
- Blood Moon: Governs 'the vibrancy of life' (Kananmuna's words). Nutshell? Plants try to eat you. A full Blood Moon definitely makes the forest off-limits.

It's likely all Citizens know and understand this process to the above detailed degree.

Kananmuna is currently travelling with the Citizens, dispelling fog locally so they can better see. She's revealed that the regular moons' Guardians all need a different sacrifice to be woken, but the catastrophe moons' Guardians are always awake.

You can always see the current day's weather on this page. Note that it works with UTC time, just like Wildcard itself - so it will always be accurate, but it's good to keep in mind in case you need to know how much longer the moons will look as they do. (For example, it makes little sense to describe a transition from day 24 to day 25 in a session set very late on day 25, because you mistook it for early that day).



[8] background // wildcard

Dread's been sharing his theory about the Wildcard network based on his knowledge of the network so far, with his own entrapment having triggered the 'epiphany':

#428:

Joukahainen: "Your psychic powers are gone? How?"

Dread: "Because of the way this network traps people. There are no Citizens on this network, Joukahainen. Just shadowed copies of their personalities and memory, fleetingly and remotely connected to their bodies in some way and for some purpose that eludes me... perhaps simply as a desperate guise not to be classed as a death-trap.

That I am more than the sum of those parts... - that I was more than the sum of those parts makes the process painfully obvious. I've been severed from my psychic ability without attempts at surgical precision... whatever and whoever 'I' now am."

#430:

Dread: "Either way. This... really isn't about survival. Because you're all dead.

Literally.

As in, all of you, not just... Patches... and Sirena... and Mandalore and how Byelobog was before Adrethyrian split him into two pieces, but actually well and truly all of you. You... - you just don't know it yet. You're all programs; we're all programs. That's why the commands don't work - that's why Patches and Byelobog never noticed their slow, creeping deaths. That's why it was trivial to resurrect Sirena and why she's only different in her own perception. That's why you won't ever find a way out of here.

Puppets.

We're all Puppets."

The evidence he purports to have is severalfold:

1. The fact no one's ever seemingly noticed the effects of a soft or hard disconnect of theirs, even though these things have been attempted (usually to dangerous or even lethal result, as in the case of Mandalore and Miridia when the Folshams flipped their lid about the Mer death cluster).
2. The fact that no one seems to notice any predictable offline deaths, like dehydration - for example Byelobog and Patches were completely unbothered by the death of their physical bodies from neglect - or disconnection deaths.
3. The fact that he's always noticed a very distinct psychic oddity he couldn't put a finger on when visiting the Citizens that made them 'stick out astrally like a sore thumb'.
4. Sirena's flawless resurrection.
5. And obviously the way he feels he was 'carved' right out of his mind and cut off from his psychic power.

In hindsight, he can't explain precisely how he's managed to interact with the trapped Citizens. His biggest point of confusion is how he's managed to kill any of them in their dreams, not having any technical background knowledge to figure that part out. He's handwaved it away as presumably having something to do with the nature of digital dreams - perhaps sufficiently lucid ones are like a simulation of their own, and it's known that Citizens who die in a simulation are gone forever.

He's completely convinced of his theory, however, and rather upset about it, only moreso due to his dislike of Puppetkin, deeming them inferior as he does. (Now believing himself one, himself, he's trying to be practical and looking for ways to re-assess his position.)

For the curious, by the way, Dread is right - even if I'm sure we all wish he had absolutely no reason to ever be right, ever again. It is, after all, vengeance time. Three years of Dread have come to a close, so the sport of kicking-him-while-he's-down is clearly in-season.



[9] closing words

That wasn't half bad to write. \o/ Which probably means there's some glaring omission or error somewhere along the line.

If anyone has questions in regards to Pandiamonium, Reh is co-gamemaster of the simulation and can probably help you along with most topics in case I'm not around.