[1] overview
[2] new players and characters
[3] plotline // network
[4] plotline // other
[5] closing words



[1] overview

I'm beginning to write this about half an hour into Easter Monday, so I'm a little late to say this, but: Happy Dread Is Staying Dead Day!

Which so happens to be the biggest newsletter spoiler ever.



[2] new players and characters

Buncha new people this time.

Chamomile (who's had the nickname Tea forced on her) is new and created Echo Holbrook a/k/a The Sleeper.

Bannhammer (who comes into #dataclaw as Bann and has had the nickname Bacon (derived from Ham) forced on him) is also new and created Jeremy Mathieu a/k/a FlemTamer44.

The-Jaded-Bug is new, but unfortunately hasn't created a character yet, despite accidentally contributing an idea to the RP. :)

Dyne resurfaced promptly after the last newsletter and contributed with Apolline (though the character is still missing an on-site profile).

Beyond that, there are currently Fain and Scian loitering in #dataclaw and flirting with the idea of making characters in Wildcard.



[3] plotline // network

Slightly out of sequence for this newsletter's scope, back in Carapax's lair, Joukahainen talks to Frederick about Dread, trying to dissuade him from his desire for vengeance. Rather than succeed, however, Frederick's outlook rubs off on him, infecting the Oracle with the idea that he should kill Dread himself - humanely rather than whatever it is Frederick would do [#440].

Back in sequence, the Ursae, Lyra and Bob, have joined the group [#439]. Together with them, the group's reached Dageraadar's lair, the entrance of which proved a bit of an obstacle to the cliffracer-avatared dolphin, Hakumele. Not wanting to wait outside the tunnel by herself, she instead used to the pendant to shift herself to human form, proving that she, too, has a human avatar [#443].

Once descended, they're confronted with the Torch Moon 'riddle', a short little set of instructions asking for someone to sacrifice their eyesight. Joukahainen, secretly concerned the Guardian of the Torch Moon might become attached to Dread in a similar way that the Guardian of the Clear Moon, Kananmuna, became attached to Lucy, refuses to let anyone 'volunteer' Dread and instead takes the burden upon himself [#444]. Dread thanks him for it [#445].

The freed Guardian, Dageraadar, initially leaves for a short while to get himself cleaned up, having been enveloped in a honey-like substance before the Citizens rescued him out of it. When he returns, he thanks Joukahainen and speaks to him about that the Moons can be phaselocked by the Guardians, though he also adds that the process - involving passing through the respective Gate to the Moon to find its 'Heart', something that then responds to the Guardian's instruction - probably spells death for the associated Guardian. He's remarkable unfazed by this, though, and calms a distressed Joukahainen down by trying to put Guardian immortality into perspective for him [#447].

He also advises the Citizens stay put in his lair for a while until the next Blood Moon passes. They agree.

Meanwhile Dread, intrigued by Hakumele's appearance as a human, approaches her on friendly terms, which prompts her to ask precisely what's been cause for his treatment as a prisoner. Applying her own culture to the situation, Hakumele assumes him an old alpha and expresses her friendly respect - he is, after all, one of the few people who've gone out of their way to speak to her [#446].

While the Citizens are still staying put in Dageraadar's lair, Sethiss queries Joukahainen on who she might best give the altered featherblades to - and turns existential, frightened by the idea that someone might eventually try to shut down the network whether there are people still ensnared in its grasp or not, and take them all down with it [#450].

Eventually, the group leaves the Torch Moon lair and is lead by Dageraadar downhill and toward an entrance of one of the tunnels. On the way, it becomes clear that it'd be safer to head to a river due to an impending Cinder Moon, though, and the course is correctly slightly.

Still a ways removed from the river, three new Citizens end up with the group, two of which, Echo and Jeremy, are discovered by the Ursae while on prowl for... anything, really. Lyra and Bob aren't entirely convinced this isn't just an MMORPG with crazy objectives and some kind of hard mode keeping them connected until they're through with them, though, and thus make for a somewhat confusing introduction to the network [#449]. The third newcomer, Apolline, secretly a Puppet rather than a Citizen (although not doing all too good a job at looking like latter and chiefly classed as such out of her discoverer's 'benefit of doubt' mode), is stumbled upon by Liska during one of her scouts [#451].

Perhaps in part motivated by the light chaos caused the newcomers, Gunther seeks out Frederick, bound and half-guarded, half-kept-company by Adrethyrian, hoping to have Sirena's stance of Dread confirmed or denied, to decide on a course of action. He asks Adrethyrian to leave for a moment before asking; the 'Demon God' agrees to, not suspecting anything but private conversation to come from it. Once the two are alone, Frederick, of course, confirms Sirena's opinion - and asks to be untied to take care of the trouble himself [#448]. What follows is them looking for Dread while trying not to attract Yyasprakis' attention. They find him eventually (quite easily, really), being guarded by Israel, who promptly raises the biggest fuss at the idea of him being killed, shifting to human form to cling to him, demanding to be killed first. Her request is stubbornly denied and she's pried off instead, then knocked out after she tries to interfere once more. Without anyone to defend him nearby, eventually (after a slightly arduous process), Dread is a lifeless husk. Sirena and Gunther witness most of it [#452]. It's the aftermath of this, with Frederick exhaustedly draped across the dead body, that Joukahainen and Adrethyrian stumble across in a frantic chase after Yyasprakis, having proverbially told it to go fetch. Joukahainen finds himself in part relieved he's blind and can't see the gorey scene, and begins to chew Frederick out for his actions until the awful emptiness the raptor's now confronted with becomes apparent to him [#453].

The aftermath of the killing is a mess, though.

Of the people to discover the corpse after the fact, Elizabeth and Sethiss have the most visceral reaction to it, former eaten by grief and fear and a maternal anger at her best friend, latter terrified of what Frederick's become and promptly (and literally) hiding up in a tree. Trying to distract herself - and convince herself more than Sethiss - Elizabeth tries to climb it while persuading Sethiss that it's safe to come down. She fails, in large part because Sethiss manages to trigger her violent lack-of-care buttons with a comment of hers [#456]. It's Paul who picks up where she left off, taking her case as a bit of a challenge and being openly manipulative trying to get her down. He very nearly manages, but she opts to stay in the tree a while longer [#457].

Eventually, though, she needs to get down - the Cinder Moon is breathing down their necks and the last thing anyone needs is a roasted monitor lizard. The group moves on, united for the moment by their desire not to be grilled, and eventually reaches a fork of the river, where they stay put waiting for the Cinder Moon to pass. It's here that Paul approaches Echo to explain the sim to her and reveal that he's deeply worried about what's to happen with the group given the events of the day prior [#454].

Frederick, having by now been scolded by Elizabeth and Joukahainen, both in different manners, approaches Sirena with the intent to apologise, though he doesn't quite manage. He does, however, manage to partly patch things up with her despite all odds... and despite all awkwardness [#455].

Since then, the Cinder Moon has passed and the group's followed Dageraadar's guidance to find one tunnel entrance that is neither collapsed nor leads to a broken tunnel, and the light gifted by the Torch Moon Guardian has let them travel through one. The result is fairly uninspiring, though - the new evidence they've found has simply revealed that the tunnels are an old subway network, but there's nothing to be found even after extensive searching that would serve as a hint to some kind of cataclysm. Most of their exploration has centred around the remnants of the 'Dornwald' station, dipping down into the tunnels and walking a while each time exploration seemed like a good idea, then returning - all the while avoiding full Crust Moons, of course.

Dageraadar, having grown impatient at their continual, perceivedly pointless poking at the tunnel topic, has decided to lead them uphill, intending to show them the world from that vantage point to give them an overview. That trek is likely to last them a few days.



[4] plotline // other

Everything in this section is technically out of sequence to this newsletter, though that's a bit accidental.

Two of the things to note are sessions: There's a backdated session between Dread and Lucy set during Chimera [#441]. Technically network-plotline, the session between Rache and Joukahainen back in Scheol has been uploaded, since it won't be finished [#442].

Dread's entrapment has also caused some issues, though. Both Project Bitscorch and The Mictian Project now have a serious problem, former having lost their best communicative tie to the network, latter having lost their best (and by some way of argument, only) asset.

Rebecca's discovery of Dread unable to log off was immediately passed on to Rayen and Justin, latter aware enough of Dread's function for Europe's military to have a complete panic moment. He frantically tries to reach Francisco and manages to get a hold of him, infecting him with similar emotions, though he's considerably more skilled at not letting it show [interlude: Pandemonium]. Francisco contacts Thomas Bennett to let him know and meets up with him via The Conglomerate, where to some relief purely personal words are spoken, and no fingers are pointed at his nation or associates. It is, however, not a constructive meeting, and a furious Bennett disconnects before it has a chance of turning into anything useful [interlude: Restitution]. Arguably, Bennett is more frightened by the circumstances than angry at Francisco - but of course latter is easier to express by a large margin [interlude: Self-preservation].



[5] closing words

The king Dread is dead! Long live the king Dread someone else!