The Chat Thread

[Ashbringer]

Just now, mathiau said:

I was intending it to be the lobby collapsing, I'm just having him think of alternative because I think they make more sense than the truth. If you have a better idea please go ahead

I like the lobby, unless we end up running into / saving Aln and Folorian. But the lobby's probably on the way anyway.

[mathiau]

1 minute ago, Ashbringer said:

I like the lobby, unless we end up running into / saving Aln and Folorian. But the lobby's probably on the way anyway.

@Rushu42, your opinion?

[Arlin]

I just had a thought that I can't get out of my head. 

If the Worldspike felicitates all magic and allows them to function how they would in their place of origin; while in its boundaries (ie. the Selish magics not needing to worry about location) 

Are people in the Alleyverse born with Breaths? Have we ever thought about that?

Edited March 23, 2022 by Arlin

[mathiau]

5 minutes ago, Arlin said:

I just had a thought that I can't get out of my head. 

If the Worldspike felicitates all magic and allows them to function how they would in their place of origin; while in its boundaries (ie. the Selish magics not needing to worry about location) 

Are people in the Alleyverse born with Breaths? Have we ever thought about that?

Most people aren't but I suppose people of Nathian descent could

[Arlin]

A big part of what the Worldspike does is make magic accessible. So it hit me as a "wait a minute" moment when I realized that we still have to outsource Breaths from the cosmere

and i just felt I needed to bring it up

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

so I keep seeing people talking about the forged world, what does that mean? was the alley verse forged into existence or something?

[Ashbringer]

23 minutes ago, Arlin said:

A big part of what the Worldspike does is make magic accessible. So it hit me as a "wait a minute" moment when I realized that we still have to outsource Breaths from the cosmere

and i just felt I needed to bring it up

Breaths are mostly just useful in large quantities (at least for Characters), so I'd imagine it's still easier to get them from Nalthis than the Alleyverse. But I like the idea of a Nalthian descendent being born with a Breath.

22 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

so I keep seeing people talking about the forged world, what does that mean? was the alley verse forged into existence or something?

... oh dear. Yes and no. I only joined Era 5, so I'm not sure, but here's what I know so far.

The Alleyverse was created by Hemalurgically Spiking a universe with various Investitures, using the Worldspike - I think Voidus (player and character) was responsible for that. The Alleyverse is constantly somewhat unstable, with the Worldspike strongly protected from pretty much everything.

At the end of Era 4, another strong being known as the Stranger created a new Worldspike using the art of Forgery, which rewrote certain aspects of the Alleyverse, notably diminishing the public knowledge of the Dark Alley to mere rumor to take the strain of the Alleyverse off of them. That Forgery is coming undone right now in Era 5, with the shadow creatures doing their best to erase returning memories of the Old Alleyverse. We're trying to figure out how the Forgery will be undone completely and what the consequences will be for Era 6. Right now we have Damaged Worldspike Investiture Limit + DA suddenly returning = DA civil-cold-war. Or something.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

2 minutes ago, Ashbringer said:

... oh dear. Yes and no. I only joined Era 5, so I'm not sure, but here's what I know so far.

The Alleyverse was created by Hemalurgically Spiking a universe with various Investitures, using the Worldspike - I think Voidus (player and character) was responsible for that. The Alleyverse is constantly somewhat unstable, with the Worldspike strongly protected from pretty much everything.

At the end of Era 4, another strong being known as the Stranger created a new Worldspike using the art of Forgery, which rewrote certain aspects of the Alleyverse, notably diminishing the public knowledge of the Dark Alley to mere rumor to take the strain of the Alleyverse off of them. That Forgery is coming undone right now in Era 5, with the shadow creatures doing their best to erase returning memories of the Old Alleyverse. We're trying to figure out how the Forgery will be undone completely and what the consequences will be for Era 6. Right now we have Damaged Worldspike Investiture Limit + DA suddenly returning = DA civil-cold-war. Or something.

OOOOOH. that makes way more sense. thanks for the info.

[18th Shard]

Yeah, @Ashbringer did a great job explaining. The first Worldspike still exists but is affected by the Stranger's Forgery. In large part, he did this to create peace in the Alleyverse by diminishing the DA and therefore the other guilds in the city who were formed in response. Essentially, the Forgery is large enough you could consider it nearly an alternate timeline. 

As for era 6, I thought up the following idea which could combine some of the thoughts we've been throwing around:

My idea was that the Alleys were a creation or extension of Voidus (and perhaps other early DA members), and with the Forgery's creation and then undoing, the Connections of many Alleys - to Voidus, the Dark Alley, and, for some, the Alleyverse itself - were disconnected. The inhabitants and stores of many Alleys were completely lost, and the Alleys became rudimentarily alive as never before.

Many alleys become parasitic, feeding on souls, blood, or Investiture. Many of the eldritch alleys are of this kind, and the creatures which inhabit them have a connection to the Alleyway. Bonding or making a pact with these beings allows you to access the alleyway, with the alley and the host creature feeding off the bondee to maintain the connection. The Chapel of Rain inhabits another one of these Alleys, feeding off of the will of those who enter its waters. All of the parasitic Alleys have very negative effects if large amounts of Investiture or people are within them.

Some Alleys reacted against the Forgery. These Alleys often attached to places or items in the Alleycity. Some of these places became stedding-like, cutting off particular kinds of Investiture. Others amplified them or altered their functions. Nearly all have significantly different physics and rules as the normal Realms, often resulting in meta-Investiture effects occurring within them. These Alleys are often the closest to the Physical Realm, and walking into any old alley may lead into an Alley.

A very few Alleys became far more fully alive. These Living Alleys alone were fully functional as before, able to contain large amounts of Investiture. These Alleys bonded to individuals symbiotically, often without the people being aware of it. These Alleys were extremely hard to find from the Alleyways, and even when found, very few allowed access within them. However, if the individual bonded to it (termed a Key or Gate, maybe?) was made aware of their connection to the Alley, they could access it and make it accessible to others. However, the well-being of this person was directly connected to the well-being of the Alley – and if they died, the Alley would collapse. However, if the individual had children, their children would inherit this bond, and the Alley would grow.

With limited safe Alleys and Investiture caps within the Alleys, the DA desperately needs to find Living Alleys. Cuts in work staff, experimentation, and Investiture access are made in every department to fit within the stable Alleyways still under DA control, and newly found stable Alleys are a hot commodity between departments who are often paying enormous costs to eldritch beings for access to Alleys. Explorers are sent out into the Alleys to find them, and political deals, blackmail, and corporate espionage are not uncommon. The unspoken rule is first into the Alley keeps it. Guilds are recruited to search for Alley Gates amongst the population of the Alleycity, with massive rewards.

Meanwhile, another related crisis becomes apparent to a few in the know. The First Alley, the Platonic ideal of an Alley from which all alleys emanate, is nowhere to be found. This Alley has apparently become Living, and if it dies, the other Alleys will begin to fade into the Void.

[+ZincAboutIt]

3 minutes ago, 18th Shard said:

Meanwhile, another related crisis becomes apparent to a few in the know. The First Alley, the Platonic ideal of an Alley from which all alleys emanate, is nowhere to be found. This Alley has apparently become Living, and if it dies, the other Alleys will begin to fade into the Void.

This would be Alley 0, yes? 

[18th Shard]

Yep. For those unaware, here's the original thread referencing it: 

Edit for bad pun: You could say in this proposal, Alley Nought is not. 

Edited March 24, 2022 by 18th Shard

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

5 minutes ago, 18th Shard said:

Yeah, @Ashbringer did a great job explaining. The first Worldspike still exists but is affected by the Stranger's Forgery. In large part, he did this to create peace in the Alleyverse by diminishing the DA and therefore the other guilds in the city who were formed in response. Essentially, the Forgery is large enough you could consider it nearly an alternate timeline. 

As for era 6, I thought up the following idea which could combine some of the thoughts we've been throwing around:

My idea was that the Alleys were a creation or extension of Voidus (and perhaps other early DA members), and with the Forgery's creation and then undoing, the Connections of many Alleys - to Voidus, the Dark Alley, and, for some, the Alleyverse itself - were disconnected. The inhabitants and stores of many Alleys were completely lost, and the Alleys became rudimentarily alive as never before.

Many alleys become parasitic, feeding on souls, blood, or Investiture. Many of the eldritch alleys are of this kind, and the creatures which inhabit them have a connection to the Alleyway. Bonding or making a pact with these beings allows you to access the alleyway, with the alley and the host creature feeding off the bondee to maintain the connection. The Chapel of Rain inhabits another one of these Alleys, feeding off of the will of those who enter its waters. All of the parasitic Alleys have very negative effects if large amounts of Investiture or people are within them.

Some Alleys reacted against the Forgery. These Alleys often attached to places or items in the Alleycity. Some of these places became stedding-like, cutting off particular kinds of Investiture. Others amplified them or altered their functions. Nearly all have significantly different physics and rules as the normal Realms, often resulting in meta-Investiture effects occurring within them. These Alleys are often the closest to the Physical Realm, and walking into any old alley may lead into an Alley.

A very few Alleys became far more fully alive. These Living Alleys alone were fully functional as before, able to contain large amounts of Investiture. These Alleys bonded to individuals symbiotically, often without the people being aware of it. These Alleys were extremely hard to find from the Alleyways, and even when found, very few allowed access within them. However, if the individual bonded to it (termed a Key or Gate, maybe?) was made aware of their connection to the Alley, they could access it and make it accessible to others. However, the well-being of this person was directly connected to the well-being of the Alley – and if they died, the Alley would collapse. However, if the individual had children, their children would inherit this bond, and the Alley would grow.

With limited safe Alleys and Investiture caps within the Alleys, the DA desperately needs to find Living Alleys. Cuts in work staff, experimentation, and Investiture access are made in every department to fit within the stable Alleyways still under DA control, and newly found stable Alleys are a hot commodity between departments who are often paying enormous costs to eldritch beings for access to Alleys. Explorers are sent out into the Alleys to find them, and political deals, blackmail, and corporate espionage are not uncommon. The unspoken rule is first into the Alley keeps it. Guilds are recruited to search for Alley Gates amongst the population of the Alleycity, with massive rewards.

Meanwhile, another related crisis becomes apparent to a few in the know. The First Alley, the Platonic ideal of an Alley from which all alleys emanate, is nowhere to be found. This Alley has apparently become Living, and if it dies, the other Alleys will begin to fade into the Void.

would that alley be able to make a bond/contract with someone per se? what if there was a certain character who had a certain new guild. what if that made that guild significantly powerful and be able to get stuff from the DA and stuff.

[18th Shard]

Alley 0? No, in my idea above, Living Alleys wouldn't make contracts. It would be beings in parasitic Alleys who would, and it would certainly almost never be worth the cost. Those deals would be Faustian bargains - and the greater the gift, the much, much more drastic the cost to the person involved. Living Alleys are simply stable, and there is a person who is able to access it. That doesn't give them any innate power, simply bargaining leverage. But plenty of the Dark Alley members aren't above torture or kidnapping if someone isn't being amenable to demands, so I wouldn't say that being a Gate to an Alley would be a particularly safe or powerful position to be in. The idea above isn't to promote powerful characters but to create a plot where deals between people and guilds, espionage, intel gathering, etc. are extremely important. 

Also, I wouldn't plan on RPing a brand new guild and expecting them to rival well-established guilds. Guilds are more like alliances between people, who share resources and information, and who work together for certain goals. The DA are a group of scientists seeking to push the limits of Investiture and in particular, Hemalurgy; TUBA (the Underground Baker's Association) is a guild who had moral objections to the DA; the Ghostbloods are a secret organization seeking to gain power behind the scenes, and who were available to hire; the Scholar's Guild is a gathering of scholars, obviously, who want to gather knowledge and educate others; the Canton of Combat was a group of individuals available to hire for policing or guard jobs. All of these major guilds consisted of a number of different players and characters, who formed the majority of guild members. If you want to try to start a guild, go ahead, but don't expect it to suddenly rival guilds that have existed for many years and included a lot of discussion and people. That kind of influence comes from a lot of people in the RP agreeing and making characters who join the guild.

[MacThorstenson]

13 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

would that alley be able to make a bond/contract with someone per se? what if there was a certain character who had a certain new guild. what if that made that guild significantly powerful and be able to get stuff from the DA and stuff.

The alleys aren't something that you can bond with.

On an out of character note, I would really prefer it if we didn't have yet another plot where challenging the DA is the expected outcome. Last time we did that it was Era 3 and that era nearly drove me insane.

7 minutes ago, 18th Shard said:

That kind of influence comes from a lot of people in the RP agreeing and making characters who join the guild.

This. Guild power doesn't come from simply saying you have it, it comes from being an active member of the community, RPing for a fair bit, building relationships with members, and sticking around for a while.

[+ZincAboutIt]

If anyone wants to consider interacting with the Chapel of Rain Alley, first of all, perhaps reconsider  

But, if you don’t, please PM me because I have it’s mechanics written down somewhere and also it’s an insanely OP location 

Edit: Just had a fun idea! To keep people from effectively breaking the plot by contracting with an OP Alley, perhaps the person on question would have to RP with someone else who is taking the part of the Alley in question. So if Mac for instance wants to play a character who wishes to make a lovely Faustian bargain, I would in turn play the lovely Eldritch nightmare. That way, there’s char dev involved and no one just declares “I’ve bonded Cthulhu so now I can consume the sun!”  

Edited March 24, 2022 by ZincAboutIt

[18th Shard]

11 minutes ago, ZincAboutIt said:

Edit: Just had a fun idea! To keep people from effectively breaking the plot by contracting with an OP Alley, perhaps the person on question would have to RP with someone else who is taking the part of the Alley in question. So if Mac for instance wants to play a character who wishes to make a lovely Faustian bargain, I would in turn play the lovely Eldritch nightmare. That way, there’s char dev involved and no one just declares “I’ve bonded Cthulhu so now I can consume the sun!”  

Love this idea. Although Mac created Cam, so I'm not sure if I'd want him on the other end of a bargain. I might end up as a defendant in a class action lawsuit brought by angry cthuloid entities. 

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

32 minutes ago, 18th Shard said:

Love this idea. Although Mac created Cam, so I'm not sure if I'd want him on the other end of a bargain. I might end up as a defendant in a class action lawsuit brought by angry cthuloid entities. 

lol.

45 minutes ago, ZincAboutIt said:

If anyone wants to consider interacting with the Chapel of Rain Alley, first of all, perhaps reconsider  

But, if you don’t, please PM me because I have it’s mechanics written down somewhere and also it’s an insanely OP location 

Edit: Just had a fun idea! To keep people from effectively breaking the plot by contracting with an OP Alley, perhaps the person on question would have to RP with someone else who is taking the part of the Alley in question. So if Mac for instance wants to play a character who wishes to make a lovely Faustian bargain, I would in turn play the lovely Eldritch nightmare. That way, there’s char dev involved and no one just declares “I’ve bonded Cthulhu so now I can consume the sun!”  

hm. that sounds interesting. I should look into that alley, maybe.

53 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

The alleys aren't something that you can bond with.

On an out of character note, I would really prefer it if we didn't have yet another plot where challenging the DA is the expected outcome. Last time we did that it was Era 3 and that era nearly drove me insane.

This. Guild power doesn't come from simply saying you have it, it comes from being an active member of the community, RPing for a fair bit, building relationships with members, and sticking around for a while.

well to make contracts with I mean.

[18th Shard]

The contracts are with entities in the Alleys. Also, as Zinc mentioned, the Chapel of Rain is her creation and so anything there should get run by her. For approximately 99.99% of characters, interacting with it will result in you never leaving, so I wouldn't recommend it. Even high up DA members would struggle to ever escape.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

well storms, there goes my idea. what if someone somehow managed to have a contract with the entity that runs the chapel of rain. HMMM the chapel would then be a prime location for a base.

[18th Shard]

It's incredibly hard to find at all. I don't think there are any entities there, but a base there is definitely not a great idea. Besides no one in the base ever wanting to leave, there's a high chance of them killing each other to prevent anyone else from having access to the Chapel. It's a very nasty location to be. 0/10 stars, would not recommend.

[+ZincAboutIt]

6 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

well storms, there goes my idea. what if someone somehow managed to have a contract with the entity that runs the chapel of rain. HMMM the chapel would then be a prime location for a base.

So, there isn’t really an entity that controls the Chapel. It’s sort of like a Shard pool, I guess, but without a Shard. It’s the pure manifestation of the boundless greed for knowledge and power that is so prevalent in the AV. The Chapel would exist more as a hazardous location than anything that could really be contracted with. Upon seeing it, a person is filled with the uncontrollable urge to step beneath the silent waterfall that falls from above. Once under the water, the person has near total knowledge and awareness of basically everything. It is incredibly addictive. Most people, if given a chance, would never leave and thus starve to death. If more then one person is there, they would inevitably kill one another to try to get beneath the water. If someone did leave the water, almost all of their knowledge would disappear, and they would be filled with an even greater urge to revisit the Chapel. It is a terrible addictive force. Most likely, if we were to use it in the plot, it would be a place where people go missing repeatedly. It effectively eats your mind and will for dinner.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

1 minute ago, ZincAboutIt said:

So, there isn’t really an entity that controls the Chapel. It’s sort of like a Shard pool, I guess, but without a Shard. It’s the pure manifestation of the boundless greed for knowledge and power that is so prevalent in the AV. The Chapel would exist more as a hazardous location than anything that could really be contracted with. Upon seeing it, a person is filled with the uncontrollable urge to step beneath the silent waterfall that falls from above. Once under the water, the person has near total knowledge and awareness of basically everything. It is incredibly addictive. Most people, if given a chance, would never leave and thus starve to death. If more then one person is there, they would inevitably kill one another to try to get beneath the water. If someone did leave the water, almost all of their knowledge would disappear, and they would be filled with an even greater urge to revisit the Chapel. It is a terrible addictive force. Most likely, if we were to use it in the plot, it would be a place where people go missing repeatedly. It effectively eats your mind and will for dinner.

hmmm. okay then. guess not. hmmm. could anyone per se create an alley location?

[+ZincAboutIt]

1 minute ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

hmmm. okay then. guess not. hmmm. could anyone per se create an alley location?

Theoretically yes. If it were to be a plot point, we would probably want to clear it with the wider community and definitely the DA members first though

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

Just now, ZincAboutIt said:

Theoretically yes. If it were to be a plot point, we would probably want to clear it with the wider community and definitely the DA members first though

mkay. I might want to do that sometime, not now but sometime in the future.

[HippoPhileus]

Hey I'm not a member of the alleyverse, but I know I was annoyed when I was asked about a cookie right after joining and didn't know what it was. Is there any reason I shouldn't post the "pamphlet" below in new introductory threads?

 

COOKIE INFORMATIONAL PAMPHLET:

This is not an endorsement of the Alleyverse. This is just an informational pamphlet for the good of all new and inexperienced participants of the forums.

If you are new to the 17th Shard's forums, you will likely be asked if you would like a "cookie." Since there are underlying intentions to these supposed "cookies," this pamphlet aims to inform the reader of their true meaning. Continuing to read is your own decision.

Spoiler

WARNING: These cookies contain hemalurgical spikes.

If you are offered a cookie and do not turn it down, the conversation will inevitably turn to the offer of a link. This link might lead you to this topic thread: Cookies?!? Not a trap?

Essentially, cookies are an invitation to the Alleyverse. The Alleyverse is an RPG made up of multiple threads and split into multiple guilds. There are different threads including (but not limited to) location threads, plot threads, and threads for talking out of game. Reportedly "a fun rpg" (Thaidakar the Ghostblood), the Alleyverse is a popular choice among the available RPGs on the 17th Shard (but not the only option).

Thank you for reading this Cookie Informational Pamphlet. We at the CIA (Cookie Information Association) work to inform the forums of the meaning behind cookies. We do not aim to discourage anyone from accepting a cookie, simply to help them make an informed decision.