Zas678

Hey, Sharders! I’m Wilson, and I’ve been involved with the Sanderson Elimination games since practically its inception in December 2013/January 2014. This section of Around the Cosmere focuses on not only SE, but also Mistborn: The Inquisition and strategy RPs. For this first month, we’ll start with introductions to all of those, and then keep you updated in future months. Sanderson Elimination What’s Sanderson Elimination? Sanderson Elimination is the Sanderson-based, forum version of Mafia/Werewolves, an elimination game that’s often played at parties or get-togethers. It’s a fun group game that divides people into two different factions: the village and the eliminators/mafia/werewolves (there are many names). The eliminators are mixed into the villagers and their goal is to kill all of the villagers. The villagers are trying to weed out and kill the eliminators. The game is played by turns: days and nights. Day turns are when everyone votes on a player to lynch, and the player who accrues the most votes dies. Night turns are when the eliminators choose a player to kill. Often times, there are other roles mixed in the game as well: a detective that can scan someone and discover their alignment/faction, a doctor who can protect someone from attack, and many more. So what’s the Sanderson-based version of this? Well, we take Sanderson settings and build elimination games around those. For example, the first game was based on Scadrial, in a little village, Tyrian Falls, after the Lord Ruler died. Koloss were marching toward the village and we only had so many days to find the Spiked (who were sabotaging the village by doing things like weakening the walls and blowing up the blacksmith) before the koloss got there and killed everyone. Yeah, the villagers lost that game (and both Anniversary Games based on it as well. Tyrian Falls is now cursed). Since then, we’ve had numerous games on Scadrial and Roshar and a few games each on Sel and Nalthis, as well as in a general Cosmere setting (space, worldhopping around, etc) and in the Reckoner’s world. We’ve even hit on Threnody, First of the Sun, Legion, Rithmatist, and Randland. And, occasionally, we branch out past Sanderson worlds: Hunger Games, A Song of Ice and Fire, the Kingkiller Chronicles, and more. All of these games are built and run by fellow members, usually with some pretty awesome writeups, and they all try to incorporate the setting as much as possible. The better that’s done, the more opportunity the players have of roleplaying in the setting. Everyone signs up with a character, and you can choose how much you want to roleplay with that character. You can go anywhere between roleplaying everything, including your accusations on other players, to not roleplaying at all. That said, it’s always a delight to have players who do like to roleplay. The Different Formats We have three different game formats available for people to play, depending on how invested you want to be in the game and how much time you have to play. The Long Game lasts three weeks or more, though they usually are around a month or a month in a half in length. So a lot of time investment. They also vary vastly in complexity. Some LG’s are really basic, but others are incredibly complex. There’s a lot of variance to this format and it’s really just dependent on the game and the GM. However, if you have an hour of free time every day, you could easily keep up with a Long Game, assuming you want to focus on it for the next month or two. The Quick Fix is the shortest format we have. These last anywhere from about 4 days to 10 days. They’re usually very basic, and they move quick. If you only have a week of free time, a QF is perfect to test the waters of the games. The Mid-Range is exactly what it seems. It’s a middle-ground game between the other two formats. These usually last between two to three weeks, though occasionally they can last a month. There’s a little more variance to the game complexity than there is in the Quick Fix, though not to the same degree as there is in the Long Games. While there are sometimes complex games, they’re never to the degree of the most complex LG’s. If you want to delve into the games a little deeper but aren’t sure if you want a month or two time commitment, the Mid-Ranges may be right up your alley. What’s Going On Right Now? Right now, we only have one game running: a Long Game based at the University from the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. A Mid-Range based in the Reckoner’s ‘Verse, in Portland finished not even a week ago. We have two games in signups as well: a Quick Fix and a Long Game. The current Long Game, LG18, has been running for about a month now, and it’s likely to end soon. It’s a massive game where all players start with no powers, but they have the chance to impress Masters of their choice and be elevated into the Arcanum, gaining abilities that they kind of get to choose. There’s currency, lodgings, the Crockery and insanity, the Eolian, a Black Market, and all sorts of other things. Mixed into all this are the Skindancers (the eliminators), who’ve infiltrated the University and are trying to destroy it by removing fields of study and/or sabotaging the students. As I said, it’s a massive game. Mid Range 12 ran for about two weeks. It was a faction game combined with an elimination game. There were 3 different factions--the Blood Tyrants, the Neighborhood Watch, and the Evanescents--who fought against one another, but they’d been infiltrated by Government Agents. Some players started as Epics and other players went through the rending and became Epics. Some players started as drunk and when they sobered up, they joined a faction. There was even a map, with about 6 different locations players can move around to, including a ferry so you can cross the river. Ultimately, the Blood Tyrants won when they killed the Government Agents in their own faction and the Epics in the Evanescents. Congratulations, Blood Tyrants! Quick Fix 14: Corruption in the Senate takes place in Elendel, focusing on the city’s Senate, with the eliminators being Corrupt Senators. This game has a bunch of different items that can be used and passed around in the game. Take a look at the rules here and see if you’d like to join. This game starts on Tuesday, March 29 (so tomorrow), at 9pm PDT. Long Game 19: Twinborn City also takes place on Scadrial, and every player in the game is a Twinborn. Some players could even be Compounders. The game involves a map with 9 locations players can move around to and search for different items. It’s a fascinating game, and it’s also a rerun of a game played almost a year ago: Long Game 11. The rules are here, if you’d like to take a closer look at them. This game also[/background] starts tomorrow, thought the exact time hasn’t been announced Conclusion If you want to learn more about the games, you can always take a look at our General Rules thread and Etiquette Policy. And if you’re interested in giving SE a try, sign up for either the Quick Fix or the Long Game. I promise that despite our bloodthirsty reputation, we’re all very nice to new players and always willing to give advice and help. So take your pick and join in the slaughter! You never would’ve imagined that killing your friends could be so fun and polite. Mistborn: The Inquisition I’m not as familiar with MBI as some members, so I’ll pass the reins over to Comatose for this section since he knows far more about that RPG than I do. Introduction Hello! I’m Comatose, and to some of you, Mistborn: The Inquisition might just be that dark mysterious corner of 17th Shard that requires you to make a separate account in order to participate. To others it might seem like an intimidatingly large and seemingly inactive project with little room for new authors to join. If you are in either of those categories, or just wondering what in the Lord Ruler's name is going on over there, this segment is the place for you! Since' there's not much space or time, I won't be giving a full run down of everything that Mistborn: The Inquisition (MBI) is about, but I will try to give a few snap shots to let everyone know what is happening. If you are interested in participating or learning more, feel free to post a comment in the chat box, or if you are feeling brave, make an account and post an introduction thread. I'd also be willing to answer questions via PM if that's your contact method of choice. Anyways, Mistborn: The Inquisition is a Forum-Style Role Playing Game with a heavy writing and storytelling focus, set on Brandon Sanderson's Scadrial approximately one hundred years before the events of the first Mistborn Novel. The skaa of the Final Empire are rebelling, led by the enigmatic Ignas, a former obligator who has grown disillusioned with his God and Empire. As the skaa rebellion starts to gain momentum, thieving crews continue to struggle to survive while the nobility plot and scheme within their marvelous keeps and during their spectacular balls. For the most part, the nobility have done their best to ignore the signs of rebellion, filling their time with intricate plots, busy social schedules, or budding romances, but a rebel attack during the Casuana Ball has raised tensions in the city to an all time high. Much of the action in this RP, unlike in the books, focuses on the lives of the nobility. There are Terris, skaa, and obligator characters as well, but the nobility take up the majority of the action, and we often encourage new players to start with a noble if they are worried about getting involved at the beginning. You can read the prologue for more information about how MBI's story begins, or start checking out the Universal Continuity Thread to start getting to know the characters. Featured Thread The most active thread at the moment is Stars and High Society, set during the Perrault Ball held in the middle of week 2 of the overall story. The Perraults are a lesser noble house who are holding a mid-week ball, scheduled between the larger weekend balls held by the Great Houses. In the aftermath of the disasterous Casuana Ball, this is the first time the high nobility have been gathered in a large group since that night, and the last major event before next weekend's ball at Keep Elariel. Caden Hasting and Eliza Fathvell have already made a stir, showing up in attire from Eliza's native Southern Islands and bringing their new romance to the attention of the public. Ferrah Brehaut has been charged by Colette Hasting to keep their exclusive clique in line while their leader is absent, and has tried to do so by playing a game which forces each member of the group to dance with a man of another woman's choosing. The romantically-inclined Adala Venture does her best to orient herself at her first ball since arriving in Luthadel, while her brother Aldric focuses on making connections and finding allies. Mistborn Lysette Hasting and Jasun Vallace try their best enjoy their first ball together while keeping their romance a secret. Jasun prepares for a distasteful mission that he must complete before being allowed to marry Lysette. Former friends Daerra Elariel, Aveline Sureau, and Camille Deveaux share a meal together; each one trying to find leverage to use against the others while hiding secrets of their own. These plots and more abound at the Perrault Ball, and there is still time to join in the fun. Featured Noble House: House Hasting You may haven noticed from my description of the ball that a lot seems to be going on with House Hasting, so I thought they would make a good feature for this week's Around the Cosmere. House Hasting specializes in the weapons trade, and is currently ranked fifth among the ten Great Houses. They are allies with the formerly powerful Sureau Coalition, currently consisting of House Sureau, House Hasting, and House Tekiel. As House Sureau's oldest ally, House Hasting remains the most committed to the alliance despite the signs that the ancient House Sureau is no longer as powerful as it once was. House Hasting's greatest rival is House Casuana, another weapons house that is currently ranked eighth and alligned with the powerful House Deveaux. The leader of House Hasting, Lord Sheldon Hasting, is currently experiencing some health issues, and has yet to choose an heir. The two candidates are his legitimate daughter, Colette Hasting, a talented rioter and master manipulator, and his bastard nephew Caden Hasting, a charismatic leader and proficient politician. The life-long conflict between these two rivals has come to a head in recent months as Sheldon's health continues to deteriorate. Intending to make a move against Colette, Caden tried to convert the newest member of her clique, Eliza Fathvell, to his side, not realizing that his relationship with Eliza would become much more than a mere political alliance. Colette is trying her best to keep Eliza and the rest of her clique under her complete control, while developing her own plans to ensure Caden does not threaten her birthright. Lysette Hasting, the house Mistborn, has recently become secretly engaged to the house-less Mistborn, Jasun Vallace. Colette, Lysette's closest friend and confidante within the House, has promised to allow the marriage despite Jasun' low rank in exchange for Jasun's services as Mistborn. Though Jasun has despised house politics since the fall of his own family, he loves Lysette enough to agree to Colette's demands. Featured Character: Marceline Dumont Marceline Dumont, played by the ever-talented MozytheHealer, is a member of Collette Hasting's small but exclusive clique. Marceline grew up in Austrex City, the capital of the Southern Dominance, and was sent to Luthadel by her family recently in order to find a husband. When the Casuana Ball was attacked, Marceline panicked and sided with Caden when he stepped in to lead the group out to safety. Her insubordination has not been forgetten by the ruthless Collette, or her loyal lieutenant, Ferrah Brehaut. Since the Casuana Ball, Ferrah has taken every opportunity to remind Marceline of her place within the group. As Ferrah and the other girls scheme to bring Eliza Fathvell back into the fold and to punish her for having the audacity to socialize with Caden Hasting, Marceline cannot help but to secretly sympathize with Eliza. She privately rebels against Ferrah's rules and insults, all while nursing a small crush on Eliza's attractive cousin, Felix Fathvell. While Dumont is relatively low ranked compared to the Great Houses, her association with Collette and Ferrah gives her considerable social capital in Luthadel, and she struggles between her escape their bullying and her wish to find love in the Final Empire's grandest city. Conclusion Stay tuned next month for Mistborn: The Inquisition's next Around the Cosmere update for more information about the skaa rebellion and thieving crews! Now back to Little Wilson to talk about the strategy RP games. Strategy RP Games Thanks Comatose! There aren’t many strategy RP games going on right now, but the two biggest ones are Heirs to the Final Empire and the Supremacy of Arelon. Heirs to the Final Empire This game is a generational game run by Wyrmhero and taking place on Scadrial. It started directly after the Lord Ruler’s Ascension, and each player controls one Noble House. The game is meant to run until just prior to the start of Mistborn: The Final Empire. There are 11 generations in the game, and each generation lasts about a month in length. It has 4 turns, which are one week long, and each player can take 3 actions in those turns. So you have 12 actions per generation to make trade agreements, try for heirs, get marriage contracts, and build goods or services to further support your house, and whatever else you want to do. Wyrm’s even mixed in global events to make things more interesting for the players. For example, there was a skaa rebellion that lasted almost a full two generations, where a House’s reputation with the skaa fluctuated, and if the skaa got too displeased with your House, they started revolting and burning properties to the ground. Nasty skaa. The gall of them. Fortunately, the rebels were destroyed with rather extreme prejudice (along with a few Noble Houses that supported the rebels) and now things are progressing much more smoothly. If you’ve ever wanted to try to run a Noble House on Scadrial, new players can join at the start of each generation. Turn 3 of Generation 7 just started, and if you’d like to join for Generation 8, all you have to do is post in this thread or PM Wyrm to say what your House name is. He’ll work out all the details with you. It’s a fun game, and I highly encourage checking it out. The Supremacy of Arelon This game started a little over a week ago, and while they’re not accepting new players beyond the people who initially signed up, you can always follow along with the game in the thread and root for different players. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a similar game started when this one ends, assuming everyone had fun and wanted to try another one. This game is a combination of Risk and Civilization, that takes place centuries before Elantris is built. Each player controls a small kingdom in Arelon, and they can forge a public alliance with one other player in the game, make trade and military access agreements, expand their military and fight other kingdoms, and more. Ultimately, the winner(s) will have control of at least 50% of Arelon. 13 players signed up for this game, but since there are 28 kingdoms, all kingdoms not occupied by a player started as NPC-controlled. The game is currently in Year 3 (which ends this Wednesday night, 8pm MDT), and 7 kingdoms have fallen to players. Six of those were NPC’s, so only one player has actually been removed from the game. All in all, it’s progressing rather well, and I’m curious to see who ultimately wins. And that’s all for this installment of Around the Cosmere! Sorry for the length, but this should only be the case for this first time around, with all the introductions and explanations of the different RPs. Next month’s update will be much simpler. See you then!

Hey all, I'm Windrunner, and welcome to your regular theory update for this month! Once, a long time ago, I had a featured theory column, but I kind of lost steam, and it died a slow death. Now, it’s being revitalized and updated with more info. I have three primary goals with this column. I want to keep you all updated on all the new quotes and info from Brandon we’ve gained, talk about expansions and areas that need work on the Coppermind, and tshine the spotlight on cool, accurate, or interesting new theories. Major Calamity Tour Information: We’ve had a lot of really interesting questions tasked during the Calamity tour that provide all sorts of insight into the cosmere, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to highlight some of the exciting new information. I’ve gotten all of this from one Calamity tour report or another in our Events subforum. In the future, I’d like tp spend more time talking about cool new theories or ideas that have recently cropped up, but there’s a huge amount of stuff from the Calamity tour, so I thought focusing on this would be a simple way tget this column started. If you guys think I’ve made an error or misrepresented a quote, let me know. I want to be clear though, these questions contain some spoilers for Calamity, Secret History, and Bands of Mourning, so if you are worried about that, steer clear for the moment! Forthcoming Book Information Mistborn: Secret History sequels Brandon is toying with a couple different ideas, but is not planning on putting out any of them immediately. Demoux’s story may be a part of one of these. Not all future ones will occur in the Cognitive Realm. Future stories will always focus on behind the scenes things events, filling in the cracks between the books, and on characters that are more cosmere-aware. Legion 3 Brandon has one more Legion novella planned Brandon would be more interested in writing a full-length novel if Legion was actually being turned into a TV series Apocalypse Guard Will dig into the place that Calamity is from. World Information First of the Sun Aviar like Kokerlii that hide minds from predators would also hide someone from an Awakener’s Life-sense. Brandon has notes for other Aviar abilities, one of them is navigation Sel Gretgor, the sword of the first Wyrn is enshrined in Fjordell somewhere, perhaps at the palace. Brandon calls the sword a “he,” but this may be a simple misstatement. If someone were to make an Essence Mark for themselves where the history of their other self “split-off” before they gained a Shardblade, they would not be able to summon their Shardblade while they were using that Essence Mark. It is also possible to create a stamp where a different version of you bonded a Shardblade. According to other previous signings, this would be tricky and probably need an external power source. Threnody: There are shades of animals Cognitive shadows that travel to Threnody do not automatically become shades, but the two are very closely related “breeds”. Threnody was named in memorial of someone or something. Roshar: Roshar’s three major magic systems are Surgebinding, Voidbinding, and fabrials, with the Old Magic being its own weird thing. Roshar is special in some way to Shadesmar. (The audio here is confused) It is theoretically possible for there to be a Nahel bond with a spren that grants two Surges that are not paired together among the Radiants. Brandon would term any heavily Invested weapon a Shardblade, and there are many methods that can be used to create one, with varying effectiveness. The Bands are close, but are not Invested enough to be considered one. Scadrial: More god metal alloys will make appearances There are hard limits to how fast a Steelrunner can move In Brandon’s mind, burning pewter approximately doubles your strength, while flaring triples it. He has not canonized how much either of these things enhances reflexes or healing. Scadrial mostly uses biodiesel for gasoline, but Brandon won’t rule out fossil fuel deposits being placed by Harmony. There was a concept of hell in the theology of the Lord Ruler. It was the punishment for the souls of people that had failed or disobeyed the Lord Ruler. Even the skaa were aware of this aspect of theology. Allomancers can burn metals from places other than Scadrial. Hemalurgic decay in spikes containing Feruchemical attributes leads tless efficiency when they tap metalminds. Kandra can have children with humans if they recreate the appropriate organs, although if the kandra is in a woman’s form, it would have to remain in that shape until the child is born. The Lord Ruler had several children, but they mixed in with the population. Many people are related to them, and some may claim heirship, but in truth they may not be much more closely related thim than anyone else. The fandom is giving this fact undue attention. The Bands of Mourning are not even close tbeing Invested as much as Nightblood. When someone uses aluminum or chromium, the metal in an Allomancers stomach is “transferred” somehow. It has to do with energy, matter, and Investiture all being one, but a person who has had their metals removed by aluminum or chromium would not get metal poisoning. A Connection medallion could be used to translate the Listener’s Rhythms, but it would not be perfect and something would be lost in translation. Nalthis Nightblood is one of the most heavily Invested things in the cosmere that is not a Shard. Yolen It is not unreacheable from Shadesmar due to a total lack of cognitive activity there. Cosmere Information Despite initial reports, Threnody and Sel are NOT in the same planetary system. All cosmere planets are relatively close together in their dwarf galaxy, current estimate is within ~50 light years or so, although that may later change. Seons and spren are more bound to their own worlds, but they can travel elsewhere. Subastral is Hoid’s term for a specific region in the Cognitive Realm The process by which people die, moving from the Physical Realm to the Cognitive and then to the Beyond is the same throughout the cosmere, although people stick around for different lengths of time depending on their Investiture. It is widely assumed that Adonalsium is the creator of the cosmere. When Wax remarks that souls and metal are the same thing, he is seeing that energy, matter, and Investiture are all the same thing. Things that drain Investiture, such as larkins, Nightblood, and Leechers, all have something similar going on among them. Shard Information The Vessels of Shards can have children, although in a way their created humans are already their children. Brandon specifies that we have not “seen” any Shards that have been Splintered reform as of Bands of Mourning. Odium is more aware than Harmony of the various happenings in the cosmere because he is both older and because there are forces purposely attempting to limit Harmony’s knowledge. There is some connection between Odium and Trell. Someone who’s never been to Scadrial could be Connected to Ruin and Preservation because Connection is not binary, it can be stronger or weaker. If Odium were to go to Scadrial, he would have difficulty seeing metal. If Honor and Odium hadn’t been held by different personalities, the two Shards have the potential to be a natural pair and might have attracted one another. Character Information Brandon refuses to explain why ReLuur’s spikes are made of pewter, although he does agree that it doesn’t seem to “make sense”. Ironeyes will probably make an appearance in The Lost Metal, but Brandon is not sure if he’ll be back in time from where is currently. At some point, Wax drew upon the mists. Vasher actually discovered Roshar while attempting to research an easier method to get Investiture than via Breath. Demoux has gotten less idealistic since his initial appearance in Mistborn. Nightblood leaks Investiture, but his sheath helps prevent that. Coppermind I’d also like to use these theory posts to shine a spotlight on the Coppermind. Every month I’m going to point out a well-done article, and then challenge you guys to work on a specific area of the Coppermind for the next month. If we’ve also put up any really awesome new fan art on the wiki, I might point that out here too in the future. Featured Article: Cosmere Our admin Chaos recently retooled the Cosmere article from scratch, really bringing it up to date with a lot of the cosmere’s foundational happenings. If you have any questions on how the basics of how the cosmere works and the background events, definitely give it a look. It is also incredibly well-cited, so there is plenty of digging you can do into various sources if you want. Featured Fix-Me-Up: This month, I’d like to challenge you all to work on Reckoners articles. With Calamity just out, many articles can now be truly completed, as the main sequence has come to a close. There of course can be additional information from the Apocalypse Guard in a few years, but we have a chance to get the Reckoners stuff all in order before that happens. I’ll be the first to admit that Reckoners isn’t my forte, so I can’t help very much and oftentimes it’s just Weiry working on them by himself. Even if you only have an interesting fact or two, every little bit helps. Any member of the wiki staff (Me, JoeSt, WeiryWriter, Chaos, and KalynaAnne) can answer questions you have about wikicode, and if you have any other questions, there is also a tumblr page you can use to contact us. Random Little Known Fact: I also thought it would be fun to close these theory articles with a little known fact of the month, something interesting that I think a lot of people might not know. Here’s this month’s, from a signed copy of The Way of Kings! This was news to me, and definitely shines a new light on Hoid and Odium’s enmity. Next time, I’m going thave a new Cosmere 101 guide prepared, updated with all the new information we’ve gained in the past couple years. Have a good month, and happy theorizing!

Hello, and welcome to the new edition of Around the Cosmere! This used to be an old newspost that we had weekly, where we would talk about important things that were happening around the site, but do to the changes that have occurred in 17th Shard, we're reformatting it to fit the needs of the site. Over the past few years, 17th Shard has grown increasingly large. We recently passed having our 12,000th member. We have over 330,000 posts, and that means that our site is really big. If each post had about a hundred words (about as many are in these two paragraphs), it would be enough for 100 copies of The Way of Kings. That’s pretty impressive. On the other hand, being so large means that there are nooks and crannies a plenty that there just isn’t time enough to read and explore. So we’ve decided that every week, we’re going to have someone from the site explain what the section of the site they belong to does and is about. They’re going to introduce it to you and probably try and convince you to join them! Then every month or so they’ll come back and tell you what’s been going on the past month. We decided that because of the recent Calamity release, we would start with the Reckoners RP. So, with no further ado, Voidus! Hello everyone! I’m Voidus, and I frequent the social guilds and the Reckoners RP. I’ll go ahead and start with the social guilds. Social Guilds The 17th Shard has a thriving collection of social guilds for those of any and all tastes. Suitable for new and experienced Sharders alike, these guilds can provide fun and interesting discussions, plenty of humor and drama and some exciting opportunities for less formal roleplaying. There’s the Dark Alley, bakers of cookies and spikers of people, there’s the Light who seek to warn others of the dangers of eating unknown cookies. Then there’s the Newcago court, ruled over by Queen Elsa Steelheart and her subjects. Or if you’re feeling a bit too awkward to join a social club you may find yourself right at home with the Knights Awkward, where you can bond an Awkwardspren and speak again the oaths of the Knights Awkward (As long as you’re not overcome with stage fright). The Knightbloods are around if you’d like to slay some evil today or if you’d rather trade evil for its hat you might like to join the Church of Wayne. There are even some rumors that all of the guilds are banding together for some unknown conflict in the kingdom of Guildonia! Many, many more guilds can be found in the social guilds section, and if you can’t find one to suit your taste, why not make your own and send out recruiters to the other guilds? We have inter-guild roleplays and parties, a few rivalries that occasionally spill into other sections of the forums (Sorry Admins!) Lots of inside jokes and narrative going on and if nothing else it can just be a fun place to talk to people who may share similar interests. Reckoners RP The Reckoners RP started in mid 2014 and has since become large enough that it needed its own subforum. It all started with a single Question, whether anyone wanted to do a per-post roleplay set in the world of Steelheart. This question led to the first Roleplay thread titled at the time: “What Happened in Oregon”. The goal of the RP was to explore the events that led to Oregon’s eventual destruction as described by Megan in Steelheart. The Roleplay is full of in-jokes, horror stories, insanity and a suspiciously large number of ponies. We’re all friendly if a little bit crazy and far too inclined to make references to pugs, ponies or parody songs about Shia Laboeuf being an actual cannibal. So even if you don’t necessarily want to join the roleplay with your own character, pop by and say hi in the latest Questions thread, let us know if you’ve liked any of the roleplay if you’ve read it or just ask us who the heck Nighthound is and why everyone wishes he was dead. And if you do want to join us then it’s as simple as showing up in the latest ‘Questions’ thread, saying hi and introducing everyone to your character so we can fit them into the location that best suits. “What Happened in Portland” explores the largest city of Oregon as it undergoes a large-scale turf war, three rival factions vie for dominance of the city. They include the Dominion, a militaristic faction, the Empire of Light with their army of zombie dinosaurs, and Thoughttown, where the intellectual elite dwell. Portland is currently not accepting new Epic characters but if you have an idea for a regular human character trying to survive in the ensuing turf wars you might find yourself at home here. “What Happened in The Dalles” was the second thread to open up, it started out as a side mission for some Portland characters and since has undergone an invasion by flying pandas, a thrilling aerial battle and most recently a large slew of missiles. The city is ruled by regular humans with some Epics of varying degrees of morality and integrity assisting the city guards in fighting off any Epics who try to invade. Like Portland it is currently closed to new Epics but it would benefit greatly from having more human characters, so if you want to join the city guard, file paperwork while trying to avoid getting blown up or simply explore what life in one of the only cities not ruled by Epics might be like then try out the Dalles! “What Happened in Astoria” is a thread opened to answer the question: what if we threw all pretense of canon to the wind and made a city filled almost exclusively with High Epics with insanely strong powers? The city’s ruler is currently absent and a flux of Epics have arrived, some to join the city, others to overthrow it, and others to join the church of the singularity, which worships the savior zero and despises seven for eating nine. So if you have an idea for an Epic but think they might be a little bit too strong for any more canonical setting then why not bring them here so we can see how long Astoria can stand up against a horde of Epics capable of levelling cities. “What Happened in Corvallis” is a more politically oriented location, in a city ruled by Epic Queens where all material goods can be found growing on plants, a giant force field protects from foreign attack and the weather itself obeys the city’s ruler. Without Euphoria around to keep the civilians in a state of perpetual happiness unrest is growing in the city and a recent series of attacks by monstrous beings gifted by an unknown Epic is only sowing further chaos. So if you like intrigue, politics and mystery then Corvallis might be the thread for you! The final thread “What Happened in Salem” is a thread built around an arena where Epics fight each other in one on one matches held on the Astral plane. The city is ruled over by a bored Astral projector who has little interest in actually running the city, leaving it to his subordinates. That may change, however, as some grow tired of serving someone who doesn’t even want to rule. Would you like to attempt a coup? Or perhaps you’d just like to roleplay some gladiatorial battles set in a variety of interesting locations, either way you should see whether or not your character can fit into Salem! Or perhaps you’d like to make Voidus very happy and help revitalize the Wastelands thread, a parallel RP set in Australia that covers the entire country. It is set slightly before the Oregon RP and is a bit faster paced, but it’s a great thread with lots of worldbuilding and a huge number of opportunities for new characters of all different types. So if you want to explore what might have happened in a land far away from the events of the Reckoners trilogy why not come explore the Wastelands? So in summary, here’s the list for Reckoners: Portland- 3 way faction fight, Closed for new Epics, open for humans The Dalles- Ruled by humans and Epics, Closed for new Epics, open for humans Astoria- Mad fight for power, Open for strong Epics and humans Corvallis- Political Intrigue and power, Open for Epics and humans Salem- Gladiatorial power, Open for gladiatorial Epic Battles Wasteland- Australia worldbuilding, Open for Epics and humans Now I know that that is a lot to take in, but really, if you want to come join us, but you want help making an Epic or a human to join one of our cities, write in one of our Question threads. We’d love to help you make your character and to find the right place for you. Hope to see you all there! See you next week here at Around the Cosmere!