parz | PLOTTING POST: EVENT 003

EVENT 003: INAUSPICIOUS TIDES

I. Swap til you drop

With the abundance brought forth by the influx of Eros energy in the world, the Augur has blessed the world's new organic inhabitants - past and recent arrivals both - with personalized welcome packages. Overnight, these goody bags have been quietly delivered to the doorsteps (or dirty hovel floors, Gundams, tree branches, etc.) of each Island resident. Open them up to find a supply of basic hygiene necessities perfectly suited to your tastes, as well as a small selection of fun extras: good quality clothing, beachwear, fancy soaps, "necessities" to complete an Auspicious Act, and maybe even a surprise from home.

Unfortunately, not every item is yours. In their haste to please their guests, the robots might have mixed a few items up, switching up favorite colors, smells, lingerie sizes, and preferred condom flavors - among other things - for someone else's. What’s more, a tiny glitch in the Augur has also beamed some inventory items directly from their owners' homes and placed them right in a stranger's welcome bag!

The robots catch on quickly to the problem. By afternoon, they have hastily set up a swap meet on the beach for residents to trade, sell, or barter their unwanted items.

"̷T̶r̷a̷d̴e̵ ̷a̴u̸s̷p̸i̶c̸e̴s̶ ̵a̴n̷d̴ ̶b̵e̶ ̷t̶w̸i̴c̵e̴-̴b̸l̷e̸s̷s̸e̸d̵!̴"̶

As a special event, the robots on site are also facilitating square swaps for consenting parties, and will upload the appropriate app to the devices of interested residents. Use your wrist device to project your A5 card for all to see and get swapping! Simply by tapping each other's card displays, you can easily switch squares between yourselves. The robots have authorized one square swap per person.

II. Treasure Island

i̶n̴o̶r̷g̷a̷n̷i̵c̷ ̸m̷a̶t̵t̴e̶r̴ ̶d̵e̵t̵e̶c̷t̵e̶d̶.̶.̷.̴

All of the activity on the beach has kicked up something beneath the sands, and as you make your wait through the festivities you may notice something glittering and gold on the sands. Mysterious treasure has begun to wash up from the seas - from large chests (ahem) to small statues, from ornate jewelry to faceless coins of indeterminate origin. You may not be the materialistic sort, but the treasure almost compels you to pick it up. Once you find something, you'll be hungry to unearth more.

When questioned about the treasure's source, the robots appear stumped. Jewels and gold have no worth to them, they explain.

h̶o̸l̷d̶ ̴o̵n̵ ̷t̶o̶ ̴w̶h̶a̶t̸'̸s̷ ̵p̸r̶e̶c̸i̶o̶u̴s̶.̴.̶.̴

Time will reveal that this is cursed treasure. The treasures on the beach inspire feelings of not only jealousy, but also the desire to flaunt what you do have. You find yourself craving what belongs to others - be it food, items... or even lovers. Those under the treasure’s spell are attracted to even more treasure; a flash of shiny new gemstones may be all it takes to entice even the most loyal to your side.

Anyone who can sense magic will notice a faint green aura around a cursed item, but little else can be determined. Incorporating an item into your Auspicious Acts - be it coin to trade for the pleasure of their company, or if you'd prefer to be taken wearing nothing but decadent pearls - seems to lift the aura and alleviate those strange feelings of envy and vanity.

Inauspicious Tides

The lucky few who discover how to cleanse the treasure of its aura are not enough to stop the rightful owners from coming to claim what’s theirs. From the deep, they rise. A flash of lightning illuminates the dark sea. A horde of bodies begin to walk out from beneath the waves. They range from monstrous to humanoid, but a commonality they all have is decay.

"Our treasure..."

Some are completely inhuman, covered in bone and debris, flailing slimy limbs or tentacles at anything that moves. Others seem half-person, half-shipwreck, with bodies mutating around pieces of driftwood. While the largest of them threaten to wreak havoc on the beaches from the shallows, their long tentacles reaching for any buildings within their grasp with destructive intent, the smaller and more human-looking of the invaders march in droves towards land. The robots rally to defend the Island, but it soon becomes apparent that they are no match for this threat.

"Give it back..."

When the horde makes it ashore, they may attempt to fight the residents of the Island - but they seem far more agitated by the appearance of any native 'bots, attacking them maliciously. They are impervious to gunfire, they feel no pain, and their waterlogged bodies make them resistant to flame. They spill over all corners of the city as they make their way to the hospital.

Should any of these creatures make it inside, they will head for the Augur first and foremost.

And though the sun's rays will peek through the windows and turn them to ash come daybreak, their damage is done. The Augur will go offline for repairs; the robots will dedicate themselves to tending to it for the next month.

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N A V I G A T I O N

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What's the sunlight situation like for this event? Particularly for treasure hunting and inauspicious tides.

The weather will remain mostly cloudy, with occasional breaks in the cloud cover for sunbeams. The second morning of inauspicious tides will be especially sunny, until about noon.

(no subject)

nuvellity - 2020-08-03 16:22 (UTC) - Expand

are there limits as to what the "surprise from home" in the care package would be? like do they have to be small, would fit inside the goody bag, not have world-shattering powers, etc?

The goodies should follow the rules as outlined on the FAQ - nothing world shattering, no size limit. It's a magic bag, so go nuts!

consecrates - 2020-08-03 16:11 (UTC) - Expand

Is there any chance the Augur messed up and you can trade for a square you already have? If so, would you be able to mark off both instances of it with one thread, or would it just cause you to need to check it twice?

Yes, you can swap for a square you already have. In that case, you would need to check off both squares, in two separate threads.

Re: QUESTIONS

livedtoserve - 2020-08-03 17:14 (UTC) - Expand

Velvet can 'eat' monsters with her crazy daemon hand. What would happen if she tried to eat the zombies? Can she do so?

She's welcome to eat some zombies. Hopefully all that driftwood doesn't make her ill!

Is there anything else Rise can pick up about the monsters through her Analysis ability? Invulnerable to gunfire, resist fire damage, any other resistances or even vulnerabilities?

Whatever would damage wet wood will damage the driftwood monsters. Because they don't feel pain, they must be completely annihilated to be stopped; even detached limbs will continue towards the hospital. However, any kind of cleansing, purifying, or sunlight-based magic will turn them to ash.

As for the tentacle monsters on the beach, they are vulnerable to physical attacks between and beneath their bone plates.

stripsearch - 2020-08-03 19:19 (UTC) - Expand

Sorry, second question: Can you swap a square you've already checked off / redeemed to get a "fresh" one in there?

Yes! The square will not be checked off for the recipient.

Apologies for this being rather canon-specific.

How susceptible are the creatures to demonic cultivation? Demonic cultivation basically manipulates "resentful energy" (feelings of negative emotions) to take control of dead creatures and fuel them with this energy. The creatures themselves don't have to have it (though that helps) if it can be provided from elsewhere.

The driftwood creatures are almost pure resentful energy, but as a result they are mindless and very far removed from the souls they once were. They would probably be very hard to control. Regardless of how successfully cultivation goes, they will all turn to ash by sunrise.

noneforyou - 2020-08-03 22:38 (UTC) - Expand

with the robots repairing the Augur for a month, does that mean they won't be providing supplies? or will it be in a diminished capacity?

The robots will be unable to provide anything but strictly necessary supplies (e.g. hygiene items, meager cafeteria rations) until further notice. Sadly, this also means Comfort Food Thursdays are on hold for now.

wolfwithagoat - 2020-08-04 00:17 (UTC) - Expand

Considering The Augur is offline, will this effect the processing of Augur Rewards ICly/OOCly for August?

The Augur will be unable to grant requests until it is repaired. Rewards can still be submitted when you have them ready, but will not be icly fulfilled right away.

I confused myself! Is this to organize trading off performing squares, or actually giving one's square to put on another's A5 in exchange for one of theirs? (Or is it both and I'm over thinking)

You will be exchanging A5 squares. You can edit your A5 card to reflect to the new kink that you swapped for. ICly, characters will each tap the other's square on the projection of their A5 card (using the app provided by the robots) and they will automatically swap.

mods, another question! are there specific dates for the various events? say, if our characters send a request before the augur goes offline, can it be icly assumed that it will be granted before things go to hell?

Requests submitted by the 8th of August will be fulfilled as normal.

consecrates - 2020-08-03 22:09 (UTC) - Expand

Will there be an IC swap & mingle post set up by mods or should we make our own catch-alls?

erkumods - 2020-08-04 17:42 (UTC) - Expand

vegalthon - 2020-08-04 17:52 (UTC) - Expand

Belated question! Clary is getting a printed picture from home in her goody bag, but can she also get her smart phone + charging cable + earbuds? Obviously if she doesn’t have access to electricity it won’t hold a charge any longer than normal and there won’t be any internet or phone service, but I’d love her to have her pictures and music.

erkumods - 2020-08-07 03:42 (UTC) - Expand

biscuity - 2020-08-07 14:09 (UTC) - Expand