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apocalypsehowooc2023-05-14 09:14 am
apocalypsehowmods) wrote in apocalypsehowooc2023-05-14 09:14 am
Event OOC - Dogged
Dogged - OOC
This is the start of our Arc 2 finale, and it's going to take a little bit of a different format. Characters will be learning some damning information about ADI and deciding the fate of the organization and its main NPCs. Whether that means completely destroying the organization, keeping it as it is in some capacity, or starting their own organization. The mods are prepared for most potential outcomes at a very broad scale, so players should feel free to press NPCs for information and discuss amongst themselves what they think the best options are. Players are highly encouraged to engage other PCs as this will ultimately go to an OOC vote and options will be based on the broad strokes the mods have foreseen as well as any specific suggestions made by PCs.
The event will have heavy mod interaction for those characters wishing to engage with and influence the course of the plot. The second half of this event (in June) will deal with an(other) apocalypse ritual taking place in Wolf Trap, Virginia, so please be aware that is coming, but will not be addressed immediately. There will be opportunities to contribute regardless of any skills, powers, or resources your character may possess. If they can walk around and/or talk to someone, they can play an important role in engaging NPCs. For folks who want to take it a little easier and/or just interact with each other, there will be more general setting prompts. Summaries and content warnings for those general setting prompts are provided below. The timeline for this event will be a bit looser than previous events to allow for players to drive how quickly things are addressed. Prompts related to mod interaction will be available at the time the IC event post goes up.
➥ tl;dr: Characters will be learning important details about ADI that will cause an upset to the status quo. They will be deciding who lives, who dies, and what the fate of the organization is. In the second part of the event, slated to start in June, they will travel to Wolf Trap, Virginia, to thwart another apocalypse ritual.
➥ Who Let the Artifacts Out: 16 May-1 June
➥ You Ain't Nothing But a Groundskeep: 16 May-Ongoing
➥ Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Tech: 25 May-Ongoing
People of Note
Zyrian Steel (he/him) - Zyrian Steel was first mentioned in November 2021 as an awkward and somewhat eccentric tech giant in the world of Apocalypse How who is working on a revolutionary technology called New Horizons. He is also a known client to ADI and has provided them with a good number of high tech machines and software, maybe even things that have directly benefited individual PCs. He and his company, Copernicus, have assisted with job retraining in Wolf Pen, West Virginia, following characters' thwarting of an apocalypse ritual at the expense of the town's major industry: mining. This is not the first time that ADI has requested assistance from Steel to aid those they've helped with his financial and business prowess. Characters have also tied Steel to another avatar, Ava the Lullaby Girl who has attacked ADI headquarters the last two Octobers; although, she was killed in 2022.
Nia Lehrer (she/her) - Nia is the Warden of ADI and has spent her time largely away from the office on other missions around the country or conducting the political maneuvering necessary to keep ADI's operations going and funded. She has a direct, firm, and stoic demeanor. She does not approve of the use of magic, and while she recognizes there are gray areas, she considers herself to be morally corrupt for using some magic-users. She plans to step down as Warden once the current situation with people coming from other worlds is resolved, and surrender herself for judgment to the next leader of ADI. Since offworlders first met her in Quarter, information has come out that Nia bent the rules of ADI by allowing the Visionary to live, rather than killing them when they became an avatar, and has most recently advocated for using fear powers to restore a teen's dismembered arm.
Neil Grace (he/him) - Head of security for ADI, he’s managed patrol assignments and teams for going out to deal with threats. Neil knows the names of everyone under him and approaches most people with a smile and fatherly patience. He’s known for largely being by the book with very few exceptions and a vocal proponent for keeping the ‘civilians’ from mixing too much with the people of ADI. Although a select few know there’s some hypocrisy to be found there.
Rae Hargrave (she/her) - A former field agent, Rae facilitated characters' investigations in Wolf Pen by providing orientation and assignments, and setting up a discussion of discoveries following initial investigations. Following the Wolf Pen incident, Rae was reassigned to replace Reyes Amador as Nia Lehrer's assistant for reasons not widely disclosed. For the most part Rae has kept her head down in her work, though it's been no secret that she was the opposite of thrilled about the change. Most recently, she briefly snuck away from Gloucester to do some recon on the Cult of the Leviathan ahead of ADI's assassination of the lobster-Avatar at its heart.
Pam Ruan (she/her) - HR lady extraordinaire and the most unlucky holiday party-planner in existence. Pam is responsible for managing things for new arrivals, getting them fake documentation, housing, and setting them up so that they can generally function in modern society and at ADI. She is the network admin and was targeted by a Corruption avatar to bring the Hermy the Wormy virus onto ADI's network. As a result, she lost her left hand, but was outfitted with a high-tech prosthetic made by Copernicus. Pam has attempted and failed to throw Halloween parties for the last two years running. Missed out on Christmases due to an unexpected amputation recovery and Eye cult intrusions. Her Thanksgiving party was co-opted by horrific things last year, and she accidentally introduced cursed chocolates around Valentine's day. Pam is a very unlucky woman, but those who have met her know that she tries desperately hard to keep an upbeat attitude and has always been an advocate for helping the offworlders who have turned up at ADI.
Benny Holt (he/him) - The ADI housing groundskeeper. Benny has not appeared directly in any events, but he is a perpetual presence around ADI housing, providing handyman services and keeping everything looking nice. He is a grumpy snitch when it comes to things like curfew and power usage (if he can catch you), and clearly has a grudge against non-native members of ADI.
Events/Information of Note
➥ Who Let the Artifacts Out?
(cw: existential despair; memory alteration; blood, violence, supernaturally-induced rage; supernatural compulsion; gaslighting)
Someone has unleashed the contents of ADI's artifact storage on ADI HQ, housing, and even Bonnie's Flophouse. These are the items that ADI is still working to try to destroy, rather than anything they've been keeping for a particular reason, so their effects range from mildly annoying to extremely dangerous. They cannot be destroyed by mundane means, but characters are welcome to get creative in how they deal with them. Three generalized effects characters may be subject to are:
1. Mirrors that play out scenes where something happened that a character regrets (whatever that means for them). These can be accurate memories or they can be twisted versions of events or even just imagined scenarios. Scenes will play out with sound in characters' minds. Others looking at the mirror will be able to see and hear other people's scenes of regret and even interact with them.
2. Blood-stained amulets that cause a sense of outraged betrayal. Characters smelling the blood from the amulets will feel compelled to attack anyone nearby in their quest for vengeance against a wrong they don't really understand.
3. Music boxes that, when playing, whisper seeming truths to characters about the people around them. These are actually lies, but the characters will hear the whispers in a trusted voice and feel compelled to believe them. They will also have a very hard time stopping the music boxes. You want to hear these 'truths.'
To request a personalized Artifact effect, respond BELOW with an object and a preferred Entity association.
➥ You Ain't Nothing But a Groundskeep
(cw: prejudice and discrimination; disruption of home life)
Benny Holt, groundskeeper for the ADI apartments where many characters arrive, abruptly leaves Gloucester, leaving a trail of petty destruction in his wake. On May 16, characters will find they've been locked out of the apartment buildings when they get home from headquarters, that water, power, and internet to the buildings have all been cut, and that there's quite a bit of hateful but not particularly clever graffiti in the buildings' common areas. While turning the water back on will be a simple matter once characters gain access to the locked maintenance areas, Benny's approach to cutting the electricity and internet was quite literal. The needed repairs may be straightforward, but with ADI in chaos, help isn't coming for the foreseeable future.
➥ Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Tech
(cw: blood; potential character or civilian death; metal screech noise in the link)
All technology that could be considered high tech turns off without warning including the network and soon after, the final Signal creature left in town emits a horrible noise that causes physical damage and eventual death with prolonged exposure. Characters must band together without being able to hear each other to stop the transmission and save lives by any means necessary, including fighting the source itself.
A Handy Plotting Form
The event will have heavy mod interaction for those characters wishing to engage with and influence the course of the plot. The second half of this event (in June) will deal with an(other) apocalypse ritual taking place in Wolf Trap, Virginia, so please be aware that is coming, but will not be addressed immediately. There will be opportunities to contribute regardless of any skills, powers, or resources your character may possess. If they can walk around and/or talk to someone, they can play an important role in engaging NPCs. For folks who want to take it a little easier and/or just interact with each other, there will be more general setting prompts. Summaries and content warnings for those general setting prompts are provided below. The timeline for this event will be a bit looser than previous events to allow for players to drive how quickly things are addressed. Prompts related to mod interaction will be available at the time the IC event post goes up.
➥ tl;dr: Characters will be learning important details about ADI that will cause an upset to the status quo. They will be deciding who lives, who dies, and what the fate of the organization is. In the second part of the event, slated to start in June, they will travel to Wolf Trap, Virginia, to thwart another apocalypse ritual.
➥ Who Let the Artifacts Out: 16 May-1 June
➥ You Ain't Nothing But a Groundskeep: 16 May-Ongoing
➥ Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Tech: 25 May-Ongoing
People of Note
Zyrian Steel (he/him) - Zyrian Steel was first mentioned in November 2021 as an awkward and somewhat eccentric tech giant in the world of Apocalypse How who is working on a revolutionary technology called New Horizons. He is also a known client to ADI and has provided them with a good number of high tech machines and software, maybe even things that have directly benefited individual PCs. He and his company, Copernicus, have assisted with job retraining in Wolf Pen, West Virginia, following characters' thwarting of an apocalypse ritual at the expense of the town's major industry: mining. This is not the first time that ADI has requested assistance from Steel to aid those they've helped with his financial and business prowess. Characters have also tied Steel to another avatar, Ava the Lullaby Girl who has attacked ADI headquarters the last two Octobers; although, she was killed in 2022.
Nia Lehrer (she/her) - Nia is the Warden of ADI and has spent her time largely away from the office on other missions around the country or conducting the political maneuvering necessary to keep ADI's operations going and funded. She has a direct, firm, and stoic demeanor. She does not approve of the use of magic, and while she recognizes there are gray areas, she considers herself to be morally corrupt for using some magic-users. She plans to step down as Warden once the current situation with people coming from other worlds is resolved, and surrender herself for judgment to the next leader of ADI. Since offworlders first met her in Quarter, information has come out that Nia bent the rules of ADI by allowing the Visionary to live, rather than killing them when they became an avatar, and has most recently advocated for using fear powers to restore a teen's dismembered arm.
Neil Grace (he/him) - Head of security for ADI, he’s managed patrol assignments and teams for going out to deal with threats. Neil knows the names of everyone under him and approaches most people with a smile and fatherly patience. He’s known for largely being by the book with very few exceptions and a vocal proponent for keeping the ‘civilians’ from mixing too much with the people of ADI. Although a select few know there’s some hypocrisy to be found there.
Rae Hargrave (she/her) - A former field agent, Rae facilitated characters' investigations in Wolf Pen by providing orientation and assignments, and setting up a discussion of discoveries following initial investigations. Following the Wolf Pen incident, Rae was reassigned to replace Reyes Amador as Nia Lehrer's assistant for reasons not widely disclosed. For the most part Rae has kept her head down in her work, though it's been no secret that she was the opposite of thrilled about the change. Most recently, she briefly snuck away from Gloucester to do some recon on the Cult of the Leviathan ahead of ADI's assassination of the lobster-Avatar at its heart.
Pam Ruan (she/her) - HR lady extraordinaire and the most unlucky holiday party-planner in existence. Pam is responsible for managing things for new arrivals, getting them fake documentation, housing, and setting them up so that they can generally function in modern society and at ADI. She is the network admin and was targeted by a Corruption avatar to bring the Hermy the Wormy virus onto ADI's network. As a result, she lost her left hand, but was outfitted with a high-tech prosthetic made by Copernicus. Pam has attempted and failed to throw Halloween parties for the last two years running. Missed out on Christmases due to an unexpected amputation recovery and Eye cult intrusions. Her Thanksgiving party was co-opted by horrific things last year, and she accidentally introduced cursed chocolates around Valentine's day. Pam is a very unlucky woman, but those who have met her know that she tries desperately hard to keep an upbeat attitude and has always been an advocate for helping the offworlders who have turned up at ADI.
Benny Holt (he/him) - The ADI housing groundskeeper. Benny has not appeared directly in any events, but he is a perpetual presence around ADI housing, providing handyman services and keeping everything looking nice. He is a grumpy snitch when it comes to things like curfew and power usage (if he can catch you), and clearly has a grudge against non-native members of ADI.
Events/Information of Note
- October 2021 - Ava, the Lullaby Girl, attacks ADI. In her parting message, she references a 'Mr. S' who said attacking the organization would be fun.
- November 2021 - Zyrian Steel announces the launch of the New Horizons project, a software/hardware package that will revolutionize data storage capacity and transfer. Steel promises instantaneous wireless data transfer regardless of location.
- April 2022 - Zyrian Steel appears on Saturday Night Live and has all the charisma and comedic-timing of a bog leech.
- June 2022 - FYRE, a major mining company collapses, after ADI foiled the apocalypse ritual attempt by FYRE's leader. "All across Appalachia, the mines close, people are sent home, and the future is a frightening and uncertain thing, too vast to fully wrap the arms around. [...] There's a tomorrow coming, thanks to ADI's efforts, but whether it's a bright one? Well… the rain comes and it goes. And there's always a storm brewing on the horizon if you look out far enough."
- August 2022 - Tech company Copernicus steps in to help with decommissioning the existing active mine in Wolf Pen and is pouring money into retraining those in the town in a variety of technology and renewable energy sector jobs.
- September 2022 - Zyrian Steel's flagship company, Copernicus, is noted to be assisting in the rebuilding and retraining efforts in Wolf Pen, WV. In addition, ADI sought financial assistance from a benefactor to help with creating a new body for one of the non-native members of ADI to aid in breaking her from her connection to the Eye.
- October 2022 - Copernicus provided ADI with Lucidio Eye Masks and training on how to use them to aid in lucid dreaming and the fight against Ava, the Lullaby Girl. Some PCs began investigating Ava after her death and discovered that her real name is Amber and she is from the Wolf Trap, VA, area (NOTE: Wolf Trap, VA, is NOT Wolf Pen, WV). She disappeared from that area and the foster care system some 10 years ago.
- December 2022 - PCs discovered that Ava/Amber, the Lullaby Girl, had a Quicksilver radio, which was designed to provide therapeutic music while sleeping… lullabies. Zyrian Steel was involved in the development of this technology and Ava/Amber seems to have been extremely interested in technology along the lines that Zyrian Steel created later in his career.
- March 2023 - ADI sent a contingent of agents to Buffalo, NY, to investigate a strange science and art exhibit. The investigation was at the behest of 'a former client.' In her message to all staff, Nia Lehrer referenced the fact that people should travel in groups for safety and that ADI is not a place for lone wolves.
- April 2023 - PCs discovered that very strange occurrences are happening in Wolf Pen, WV, related to the people being retrained by Copernicus and maybe even signalhead creatures turning up in Wolf Pen.
➥ Who Let the Artifacts Out?
(cw: existential despair; memory alteration; blood, violence, supernaturally-induced rage; supernatural compulsion; gaslighting)
Someone has unleashed the contents of ADI's artifact storage on ADI HQ, housing, and even Bonnie's Flophouse. These are the items that ADI is still working to try to destroy, rather than anything they've been keeping for a particular reason, so their effects range from mildly annoying to extremely dangerous. They cannot be destroyed by mundane means, but characters are welcome to get creative in how they deal with them. Three generalized effects characters may be subject to are:
1. Mirrors that play out scenes where something happened that a character regrets (whatever that means for them). These can be accurate memories or they can be twisted versions of events or even just imagined scenarios. Scenes will play out with sound in characters' minds. Others looking at the mirror will be able to see and hear other people's scenes of regret and even interact with them.
2. Blood-stained amulets that cause a sense of outraged betrayal. Characters smelling the blood from the amulets will feel compelled to attack anyone nearby in their quest for vengeance against a wrong they don't really understand.
3. Music boxes that, when playing, whisper seeming truths to characters about the people around them. These are actually lies, but the characters will hear the whispers in a trusted voice and feel compelled to believe them. They will also have a very hard time stopping the music boxes. You want to hear these 'truths.'
To request a personalized Artifact effect, respond BELOW with an object and a preferred Entity association.
➥ You Ain't Nothing But a Groundskeep
(cw: prejudice and discrimination; disruption of home life)
Benny Holt, groundskeeper for the ADI apartments where many characters arrive, abruptly leaves Gloucester, leaving a trail of petty destruction in his wake. On May 16, characters will find they've been locked out of the apartment buildings when they get home from headquarters, that water, power, and internet to the buildings have all been cut, and that there's quite a bit of hateful but not particularly clever graffiti in the buildings' common areas. While turning the water back on will be a simple matter once characters gain access to the locked maintenance areas, Benny's approach to cutting the electricity and internet was quite literal. The needed repairs may be straightforward, but with ADI in chaos, help isn't coming for the foreseeable future.
➥ Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Tech
(cw: blood; potential character or civilian death; metal screech noise in the link)
All technology that could be considered high tech turns off without warning including the network and soon after, the final Signal creature left in town emits a horrible noise that causes physical damage and eventual death with prolonged exposure. Characters must band together without being able to hear each other to stop the transmission and save lives by any means necessary, including fighting the source itself.