Voidus

Okay looks like most people have voted now, I'll leave the poll up for a bit longer in case anyone missed it but will need to put another poll up soon. Question before I do though, who had a plan for the plot for next Era? I know @Fatebreaker has the world respiking as a side plot for this era, and @ZincAboutIt has an idea and @Invocation had some plans as well. Anyone else?

A little. It'll definitely be implemented in some fashion, we're just trying to work out where exactly we draw the line for when a character should be able to advance and by how much.

Very simple reason: No one has asked to. If there was a section of the community that took issue with it then we would, though that's also a little more foundational to the Alleyverse than 40K is, given that it's the source of the RP's name and all, removing it would be somewhat more difficult. But if that's what the community wanted to do then we could have a conversation about it certainly.

Given that they're currently sitting on the lowest amount of votes I'd say that putting them in as an option isn't a trivial thing. Not everyone has been around for every era and had a chance to vote previously, that doesn't mean they shouldn't get a say in what happens in the RP. In addition I'd question whether answering a poll (Which you don't have to answer at all if you don't want to) once every 6 months is really so onerous a task as to warrant complaint. I imagine writing that post took longer than actually selecting an answer would have. Being an established part of lore does not necessarily mean something would have to remain playable and significant for all future eras either, retconning is not necessarily the only way to resolve the issue if we as a community do decide not to continue to include 40K worldbuilding in the future of the RP.

Poll up, we're trying to pin down what character profiles for next era need to look like so people can submit them early and save ourselves a giant backlog. Hopefully options make sense, if not then feel free to ask.

Think most people who would vote have voted by now, so results: 1. Should main plot threads be locked? Yes - 9 No - 9 (Will settle this in mod chat, this is honestly more of a moderation question anyways but thanks for feedback everyone, helps us to know that there isn't an overwhelming desire either way) 2. Should main plot threads be split up or kept to a single thread? Single Thread - 7 Multiple Threads - 11 Multiple thread opinion seems to be the general consensus, but again there is a moderation element to this so we may discuss at a later time to see if running them as single threads would be beneficial. New poll will be up shortly.

Voidus smiled as a large section of earth was erased by an enormous surge of Division. Though he pitied any cartographers in the city, they'd have their work cut out for them redrawing all the maps after the day was done. He began to swivel around as another presence approached them, though he recognized it as an ally quickly enough. Aylitha seemed to be similarly intrigued by the results of the Strangers work as she greeted them both. "Greetings." Voidus echoed back, exhaustion still creeping into his voice. "We were just about to start clearing up." He looked past Aylitha, to the city that lay behind her. The creatures that roamed around there would be more difficult to remove without destroying the city itself, though the larger creatures and flyers were easy enough targets. AonDor or Saidin would likely be easiest, though his drawing enough on either would cause some potential problems elsewhere. "Have you found anything interesting?" He asked somewhat distracted.

Yeah I think I'd say Lopen stuff is at most semicanonical at this point, there was a lot of insanity there that doesn't really fit with the Alleyverse. And there hasn't been anything Discworld related since then. I think 40K is the only significant non-Brandon related stuff that we have. The Church has it's mythology based around RWBY lore, but no actual powers IIRC, just cosmere equivalents that are sort of similar to some powers found in the RWBYverse. But there's no requirement to know much about the RWBY fandom to interact with someone from the church.

Sure, poll is up.

Story purpose doesn't have to mean plots revolving around them, but an OP character should be more than just a regular character for interaction purposes, they should have some reason for existing in the RP so that other players can benefit from them in addition to their creator. If you just want a regular character but for them to be over the point total I'd say that's unlikely to be approved. That being said, OP character approvals are a public affair so submit whatever kind of character bio you think is most likely to convey to people why they should approve the character, the one in the Index is just a guideline for things that would be helpful to include.

Nightwatcher Boon and Bane cancel out nicely I think, possibly a little more towards the negative given that 'right' isn't necessarily a helpful or easy concept. Outside of that I count 165 points: 125 skills, 40 Investiture Weakness would be ~-20 I'd say, having a definitive moral compass that has to be adhered to is a pretty big weakness in a world as morally gray as the Alleyverse tends to be. Total: 145 points. Approved.

Laurelai nodded grimly when Lita realized what she'd been implying, but said nothing else. An honest discussion was all well and good, but she'd still rather not revisit that particular memory any more than she needed to. Thankfully Lita seemed to be curious about something else instead, asking why Laurelai had opted to visit the Nightwatcher. "That's the question isn't it?" Laurelai replied. "Why did I do what I did?" Motivations were something that she'd always questioned. Motives could be used to make predictions as well as Forgeries, it was an invaluable skill to develop for someone with her abilities, and Laurelai had certainly not slacked in her efforts to develop that skill. So why then could she still not understand her own motivations? "I don't remember." She replied honestly. "That's one of the reasons I joined, to try to find the answer to that question. I know my Bane already, so why can't I remember?" She tipped her head back, taking another sip before realizing the motion had upset her balance. She quickly corrected, pulling herself back upright in the stool, but she'd definitely been drinking too much. Was her mind as compromised as her balance was? Was she giving away too much information? She brought her gaze back to Lita's, her eyes swimming a little as they struggled to focus properly. "Why do we remember things that we wish we didn't, yet forget the things that we wish to know?"

Laurelai met Lita's gaze, staring back into their green depths silently before giving a soft sigh. She dragged one hand through her hair and pulled it over her shoulder. She had told Lita that she could rephrase the question, and it seemed childish to try to keep it hidden any longer given that Lita had clearly guessed the main points anyway. "Boon is the common phrase used for those gifted by the Nightwatcher." She agreed reluctantly and pulling another of the bottles towards her and working on the cork. How many had it been now? "One Boon and a Bane. Sometimes related, often not. And not always what you ask for." The cork pulled free with another popping sound, though it now seemed somehow ominous rather than cheerful. "I've tried to find a way to quantify it, to measure or predict. But it seems that her Boons are not easily studied, even with the resources available at the DA. When I was younger I found it amusing, it's usually something small, something out of place but not exactly dangerous. Just a sudden rush of Investiture, flowing out in some random way. But sometimes a Forgery needs more Investiture to take, more power modifiers. And then the rush becomes stronger as well, strong enough to do... other things." She refilled her glass, a little higher than before and raised it to her mouth, a slight tremor still noticeable in her hand.

A corner of Laurelai's mouth twitched upwards as she carved. Lita was resolute it seemed, sure of the path she was on, or sure that she should not retrace her steps at the least. Laurelai herself often wavered, but in the end she had to admit that, like Lita, she'd never actually attempted to go back, despite how much easier that was for her than it was for most people. "It's always possible to go back." She said, brushing some excess wax off the base of the candle as she finished carving into it. "Possible to change what's happened." She blew the last of the loose wax off, before pressing the base of the candle against the glass that Lita had broken. She felt the wax sink slightly before it was met with resistance and she turned the seal, completing the Forgery. Within moments the glass was restored to its previous condition, without so much as a crack in it. And then that always familiar sensation of rushing power, a storm that had found a window to rush through as it burst forth from her. The back of her hand began to itch intolerably, and as she raised it before her she saw a green leaf beginning to grow from the skin. It hurt a little as it exited, but the pain dissipated as the leaf left her hand and slowly drifted downwards. "But there's still that pesky price." Laurelai said, a touch of sadness to her smile now. "So do we pay the price for forging ahead? Or the one for trying to retreat?"

The shattering sound of glass finally drew Laurelai's attention as her eyes snapped up to the sound, seeing the broken glass in Lita's hands, the drops of wine that had spilled down and onto the counter top. Lita herself didn't seem overly concerned with the break, moving the broken glass to one side and continuing to speak. Was she covering up something? Or was speaking of her family truly that painful for her? An oddly empty feeling began welling up in Laurelai's chest, one she wasn't quite sure how to place. Should she feel this upset over the loss of her family? Over people she'd barely known? In the stream of refugees and orphans from the last war no one had even been able to identify Laurelai. She'd never discovered who her parents were, where they'd lived. For all she knew they could still be alive, though she doubted it. She'd been old enough to say her name when she'd been rescued, but even that might not have been hers. She could have heard the name from anyone and simply repeated it enough that others thought it was hers. Why should she feel sad for people who she'd never known and who had left her with nothing? But no matter how she tried to reason it away, the empty feeling remained. If Lita was right, if memory was poison, was she better off not remembering? Not remembering her parents, or her trip to Roshar, to the Nightwatcher. Would she be better off now if she didn't remember the smell of singed hair, the sound of sizzling flesh? If someone forgot all of their mistakes would they be the better for it? "I prefer to think of it like medicine." She replied quietly. "A little can help you heal, too much or the wrong and you might make everything worse. But none at all and you'll probably die." Was she being optimistic? It had been a long time since she'd found herself being the optimistic one in a room. She pulled a spike from one sleeve, instinctively placing it into a resting position for Alleycant before she stopped her hands and pulled it into a writing position. Then she pulled a wax candle from further along the bar, one that had miraculously managed to survive, and began slowly carving a circle into its base. "Do you want to go back to him?" She asked as she carved. "Is that why you wanted power?"

Laurelai felt herself twitch as Lita continued her story, but she kept her eyes down, still staring into the bottom of the glass, though not really seeing it. Ordinarily she would have found the recounting incredibly useful, people were rarely so open with their motivations and thought process around something like killing, tales like this were useful for her research. But she couldn't help comparing Lita's experiences to her own. Lita tried to convince herself that she'd done what needed to be done, Laurelai had spent years in self disgust telling herself that it hadn't needed to happen. Lita had tortured herself with a lie, Laurelai had tortured herself with the truth. Was it worse to face reality and confront your own failures? Or to twist your own memory until a falsehood became truth? For two so similar people in such similar circumstances they'd certainly approached it very differently, what had led to that? "So you killed for your father and then lost him anyway?" Laurelai asked. Her own voice sounded distant to her, detached. She was trying to determine motive and reasons, still falling back into her usual patterns. Was that where this evening would end? Would everything simply go back to normal after the world almost ended? The city had bounced back once after the seven days war, would it do so again? Could she? "It... must have been hard." She felt her throat constrict, still trying to hold her own words back. But she couldn't keep everything hidden forever. All Forgeries eventually faded, history would always find a way to make itself known. "I lost my family, during the last war. Although I suppose it's different when you lose someone you can actually remember."

Laurelai felt her own breath catch for a moment, instantly causing herself an internal wincing when she realized that Lita would be sure to notice. She'd need to become much more proficient with hiding her physical tells if she was going to be having these sorts of conversations with a Tineye. She also chided herself, as soon as she'd asked the question she should have expected Lita to turn it back on her, that was usually part of the game after all wasn't it? She took another sip from her glass, covering up now would be pointless and likely insulting to Lita, might as well use the opportunity. "A few people." She hedged, still instinctively evading the question before stopping herself with a small sigh. "Seven. Seven people." The denizens of the DA rarely talked about such matters. Sure, some occasionally tried to brag about numbers, but they were in a vast minority and most other denizens regarded the practice with disapproval. Killing wasn't difficult after all, contributions were the real measure of a denizen. But even fewer denizens discussed any qualms that they had with killing, after all if they'd had moral issues over the sanctity of human life then the DA was unlikely to be a place they settled into. "The first time-" She halted mid sentence, unsure if she should continue, should show weakness like this. But she had promised after all, and so far Lita had upheld her end far more than Laurelai had. "The first time was an accident. I suppose that legally that means it wasn't technically murder, but..." She trailed off, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment to dispel the sudden memory, the sudden rising smell of charcoal and smoke and raw, burning flesh. "Guilt cares little for legality. I've never forgotten his face." She finished, staring once more into the bottom of the glass, seeking answers that liquor alone could not provide. @ZincAboutIt

Laurelai watched silently as Lita finished her story, watching for any signs of deception or obfuscation. It was unlikely she'd be able to catch everything from someone as accomplished as Lita seemed to be, but she reasoned that with such a personal story most people would have some small tell, no matter how small, some incongruity. But Lita seemed sincere throughout her entire retelling, though perhaps a little cold considering the subject they were discussing. Was that the alcohol? Or something else? The silence stretched out for a few more seconds after Lita finished speaking before Laurelai finally broke it. "Intriguing tale certainly." She said, eyes carefully watching Lita's reaction to the words. "You must have cared for your father a great deal to risk something like that. I imagine that regardless of what your Lordling might have done that he still had some friends who might want to track down his assassin." She swirled the wine a little more, watching the sanguine liquid cling to the sides of the glass before slowly slipping back to the bottom. "Was that your first time?" She asked. "Killing." The smoke stained scent of the wood seemed to become suddenly overpowering, and for a second she felt as though there was another scent there, something else burning. She raised the glass to her lips again, draining another large sip from it before setting it back on the table and pulling her eyes back to Lita, waiting for her answer. @ZincAboutIt

Voidus blinked as a sudden rift opened up, a distortion of the Alleys far beyond regular Alleytravel. His lips had already parted, on the verge of asking the Stranger just what exactly he was up to, but then he shut them instead. Better to wait and see, the Stranger's surprises were usually worth waiting for. Other than that one time with the Colossal Mistwraith, but they'd been able to heal most of the lost limbs from that incident. A single immense claw burst forth from the rift first, the shadow it cast taking up a large portion of the crater that Voidus had just created. It was followed by another giant claw, and then legs as a colossal creature heaved itself through the rift, letting out a bellow that shook the ground for miles around. "Lovely craftsmanship." Voidus commented, casting a critical eye over the creature as it waited before them. "Though I must say, do you think a greatshell is suitably dramatic here? Saving it for an appearance from the ocean might have been a little more visually inspiring." He gave the Stranger a grin at the same time. However much the two might trade mild criticisms of each other, they'd always been the largest fans of each others work. It was truly an inspired creation to integrate the Fjordish symbols into the geological landscaping of the greatshell, and the placement of the spikes seemed synergistic, integrating with the Selish Investiture and likely producing some form of Resonance. Once again he was reminded that the Stranger was not the head of the research department for nothing. "This storm seems to be passing." He noted. "Perhaps another one for suitable dramatic background?" @Fatebreaker

https://alleyverse.fandom.com/wiki/Voidus_Prime Phew. Took a bit and some digging but hopefully this helps. I'll do some work on others when I have the time too. Also @ZincAboutIt I hope you don't mind my use of your artwork for the picture, I meant to ask you beforehand but then I guess I forgot during all the typing.

Multiquote should still work in locked threads I believe. I'll wait for other people to comment before I give my opinion on the rest but given that that point has an easy fix and may be causing you some current annoyance, I thought I should mention it.

Laurelai's eyebrow gracefully dropped as Lita asked her second question. This was one that Laurelai had been expecting would likely be on the table at some point, she'd certainly have been curious about it if she'd watched it happen to someone else. But the way Lita had asked didn't draw any obvious links to her unique Forging abilities, did that mean she hadn't made the connection? Or that she simply hadn't been willing to reveal that she'd noticed? Laurelai felt a smile begin to spread across her lips, genuine amusement rather than the more sly and secretive smile she practiced most of the time. She enjoyed this, the subtle dancing about the truth, questions implied but not asked outright, answers that gave just enough to pique interest while trying to keep as much hidden still as possible. In all her years of studying people and their behaviour, this had always been her favourite part. Drawing out what you could while giving as little as possible back. But the question was also dangerously close to one of the subjects that she'd rather not broach, regardless of alcohol. Personal topics, beyond simple history of where she'd been and what she'd done. She felt a momentary wave of tension flood her muscles before she forced them back to a relaxed state, taking another sip of wine to help the process along. "That depends on who one's mother is and what their policy around vulgar language is." Laurelai countered, keeping the smile up. "But before you try to rephrase that one, why don't I take a turn?" She let a little puff of smoke out, curling up to mingle with the last of Lita's, and was looking around for an ashtray of some kind before she remembered the state that the bar was in and simply crushed the head of the cigarette against a section of bar a little distance away. "You said that even spies could be honest, so tell me. That first day we met, when Mac was speaking to you and you told him about your... former employer. Was that the whole story? You heard that he was trying to frame your father so you killed him?" That was one piece of the story of Lita that Laurelai had always been curious about. Not every spy had it in them to be a killer, and while Lita had certainly proven herself pragmatic she also hadn't exactly seemed the type for cold blooded murder. Laurelai had met plenty, and they mostly had a certain air about them. Not exactly dispassionate, but simply alien compared with the way most people carried themselves. Was Lita simply a more accomplished performer than others were? Or had it been an accident? A crime of passion? But more than that, Laurelai was curious as to how far Lita would go for her father. History was what shaped a person into what they were, and the history of most people began with their parents.

The creatures that remained outside the city began dropping into the water one after the other, with barely a moment to react. Some it seemed had flying capabilities that hadn't been utilized yet, but that shouldn't cause too much of an issue. Voidus stood impassively, watching the sudden splashes of mass dropping below the waterline. Of course water in and of itself was unlikely to be effective for long, if they'd had any thought put into their design then they'd have contingencies for simple oxygen deprivation, or they could simply swim to the shoreline and eventually find land again. If they were given the chance to do so. "You remember the days when we still found interest in simple chemistry?" Voidus called over his shoulder towards the Stranger. "I must admit I still have an occasional moment of immaturity where I recreate some simple reactions. Did we ever try rubidium with water?" He lifted his ankle, pulling his foot away from the water and allowing a few droplets to slide from the leather back into the lake that had been created where they sent small ripples throughout the waters surface. "You may want to tap some healing for this." Voidus said as he brought the toe of his shoe back down to the water for a third time. An immense lattice with a silvery sheen suddenly spread across the surface, spider webbing across until it reached the land that formed the boundaries of the sudden water source. The silvery sheen floated silently for a moment, supported by the anchors at the shoreline and briefly reflecting the sunlight that had begun to filter through the final layer of clouds from the storm. And then the surface of the water heaved violently upwards as the rubidium rapidly reacted with the surrounding water and explosively burst into flame.