[FAQ] GAIA Plot: What's Been Going On

[Calmer]

GAIA Plot

-- many thanks to VO, this has been Stickied, so you don't need to bump it smile --

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If you wonder where the plot for GAIA has come from, you might well find this thread quite helpful. The aim is to document the basics of what has occurred over the last two years in the Gaian world and we hope you will find this thread useful. We also include all the NPC avatars released thus far: should you wish to use these, you are free to, but please host them from your own image hosting account. Please note that this thread is a summary, and will not list exactly what happened in explicit detail: we provide you with the sources, but the pleasure of reading, we feel, should be your own. And that's it for the introduction! wink

[Calmer]

Pre-amble

The First Gaian Annual Ball: This was hosted by Misao, and the thread can be found here. It is well known that the Admins suprised the users here, giving out the Black Bow Tie and Rose Corsage (dependent on whether your avatar was male or female) to those who attended. There was no NPC involvement as far as we know.

The First Easter Egg Hunt: A miscellaneous event by the Administrators, one could find a floating egg which would grant you either Bunny or Chickie slippers. Again, no NPC involvement.

Hallowe'en 2k3: Collecting Candy from the masked Storekeeps was the focus of this event. Jack, pictured right, would give the Users Grab Bags in exchange for Candy. There was also a forum just for the event.

Christmas 2k3: The Barton Charities. All Users were granted Santa's Gifts which contained Jolly Hats, and could donate 500g+ worth items to get Jolly Slippers (in a wrapped box) from the Barton Tree. Rina and Leon were involved in this, but not to the point of NPC interaction with Users.

The charity tree served also as some sort of slot machine, creating a frenzy among users. Most of the time one received Jolly slippers when donating an item worth 500 gold, but sometimes the tree gave out other items as well; some of the more common ones were the red-nosed reindeer masks and the rare ones were the Fairy Wings. This caused a pretty big uproar among users as everyone started to mass-throw away their gold in order to gain a pair of Wings. x3 Complaints were everywhere. x3 There were also a lot of very generous users that would sell their Wings for half the price. smile (credit to SSJ Girl; although not plot related, we think Users should remember this with fondness wink )

Enter 2004.

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2004 - 1

The First Gaian Anniversary Ball: Here, we were first introduced to the Gaian story-telling system, and an actual area designed purely as a forum for the event. Gambino's Mansion, owned by Johnny K. Gambino, the declared 'most powerful man in Gaia', was opened up for the Anniversary Festivities. Upon arrival, he graced Users with Party Favours, a Hat and a Noise Maka. Subsequently, we began to meet some of the Shopkeeps, finally in avatar form, along with another, younger, character: Gino.

Indeed, Ian, Ruby and Sasha were invited to the party to enjoy themselves and hand out Gaia T-Shirts, much to our pleasure. Gino, Gambino's neglected and/or abused son also made a few appearances, much to the hysteria of the Users, who spent a long time crying out for justice against Gambino, for his malignant attitude towards Gino. The Ball ended eventually, and a few days later, Users were gifted with a "Thanks for coming" picture from Gambino, pictured right. This was the first event to feature the speech bubbles from NPC avatars that appears in the Gaia header, and occasionally Gambino would drop by and give gold to users, generally in multiples of 1000 per time.

The Second Gaian Annual Ball: A team of regular Gaians, headed by Setzer, basically did most of the themework for this Ball. The Administrators, gracious as always, provided a forum for the event to occur in. There was one small bit of NPC intervention here: Gino appeared and would give out G-Pins to Users at random, hinting that he wasn't supposed to be doing so, and suggesting they keep quiet about the matter.

The Second Easter Egg Hunt: This was hosted by the Administrators, and can be found here. We had to click 8 little Easter Eggs, shaped like Rabbits, and then the Easter Bunny would appear. The Easter Bunny? He and his Helper are pictured left! And when Users had all 8, they were given an Easter basket, which contained either a Bunny or Chickie Hat. As with all the previous Events, there was very little plot to this.

The second half of 2004, however, was different. smile

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2004 - 2

The Gaian Olympics:
The first real bit of NPC action we got was soon after the introduction of the then newest town, Durem. Gambino stepped up to the stage, and promised us the Gaian Olympics, with two contestants from each town, a lap race from Isle De Gambino all the way to Durem and back again. Ian and Leon represented Barton Town, Sasha and Gino, Isle De Gambino and Edmund and Moira, Durem. The race was tight, and Gambino gave a rousing commentary (which could once be found here - this seems to have been removed since then) a certain chick interfered, distracting the fastest man of the race, Edmund, from his pole position, leading Moira to a Durem victory nonetheless. There was also a forum established for the race, in which Black and White Olympic shirts were given out.

G-CORP:
After the release of the official Guilds system, Gambino established a Guild named G-CORP. Shortly before Hallowe'en, the storyline began, as we were allowed to read the diaries of the employees of G-CORP in their Secret Underground Test Facility. At that time, they still looked human. Their journals are still available for reading in the Guild. Journal entries were presented in post format, so when you read them, you should start at the bottom, and read upwards, rather than vice versa.

Hallowe'en 2k4:
Just before Hallowe'en, we were suprised to discover that the Marketplace was home to a mysterious LabTechX, selling Vials of Mysterious Liquid for 100g apiece. Nothing more of this was heard for a few days though, leaving Users in suspense and not sure whether this was a limited offer. And so, on the night of Hallowe'en, Gambino invited us to his mansion once again, for the Hallowe'en Do, and Gino's Birthday Bash (strange, since Gino's birthday is apparently nowhere near October sweatdrop ).

We partied there for a while, in the same spirit as Hallowe'ens of before, until suddenly, a crisis occured, during which G-CORP Employees streamed into the Mansion to celebrate the retirement of one of their fellows, and were instead turned into zombies by an infected "deceased" comrade who apparently knew "too much." They broke free of their confines, and began to infect the Gaian populace, whom Gambino issued shotguns to defend themselves from the undead threat. Eventually, however, the thread became uncontainable, and Gambino's head of security, someone named Bucho (read more of Gambino's journal for more Hallowe'en information) set off the "Silent Flash" protocol which involved a missile destroying the Mansion and the threatening Super-Zombies (the ex-members of G-CORP) contained within. At this point, Gino was lost, and we were introduced to Cindy Donovinh, who reports for GAIA 9 Action News - this seems to have been removed since then. Also surviving was LabTech 123, who was seemingly so dullwitted that he stumbled through the chaos without infection (his journal entries in G-CORP were also messy and late).

We were granted the Human and Zombie G-CORP Labcoats and T-Shirts for killing a certain number of either side in a fun mini-game, and at the same time, Jack returned for the second Hallowe'en. Again, the NPCs dressed up in costume, and we received Candy from them. Trick or Treating only occured at night and dusk/dawn hours, so we couldn't find the hidden Jack during the day for the purposes of collecting the entire Hallowe'en 2k4 set. The event ended a day after the destruction of Gambino's Mansion. This was probably the first major storyline event.

Christmas 2k4:
Christmas had a storyline and a game event, much like Hallowe'en, although nowhere as complex - we suspect there would have been much cardiac arrest among the staff had they had to go through the experience of getting Hallowe'en to work again. Instead, they gave us the story of Gambino's search for his lost son Gino, which can be found in his journal (read from the bottom up). During this time, Gambino appeared on the maps, and you could click on him and wish him well on his journey, for which he would thank you. Meanwhile, we sang Carols to the NPCs in their stores, who happily gave us presents in return, which contained the Spirit Set. Ultimately, after the complete inability to find Gino, Gambino resorts to possible suicide at Durem Reclamation Facility. In the nick of time, Gino arrives and the two are reunited, only for us to discover that Gino has gotten amnesia from the destruction of the Mansion. The plot thicker, we were left hanging as we rolled into 2005.

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2005 - 1

The Second Gaian Anniversary Ball:
With the destruction of Gambino's mansion, Users were wondering where the Ball would be held. Lo and behold, enter the newest NPCs: the Von Helson Twins. They, the "two most powerful women of GAIA" offered up their Mansion in Durem for the event, and, as with the previous Ball, invited several other NPCs in to enjoy the days. Gambino arrived first, in fact before the Sisters, and caused a ruckus doing so. The party really got underway when the Twins finally arrived, and stamped down on the G-revolution. We were graced with the appearence of many NPCs, including Edmund and Liam (apparently Ian's "rival" from AEKEA town), and LabTechX returned, even more mysterious than before.

There was a massive amount of NPC interaction in this event, with hundreds of tidbits going between the NPCs and Users. Cindy Donovinh continued to report, and LabTech123, suitably confused, appeared for the event. The Von Helson sisters began to distribute V-Pins, along with Gaia Anniversary Balloons and Hats, and in reaction, Gambino began to covertly issue G-Pins, forming factions of supporters of the two families among Users. Eventually, the Von Helson sisters called Gambino out, having captured Gino, and forced him to choose between his son and their Mansion: he could have his son back, and leave immediately, or lose Gino. Gambino made the 'right' choice, taking back Gino and leaving (much to our appreciation), and the stage was set for the next event: the Third Annual Gaian Ball!

The Third Gaian Annual Ball:
Held here there was no NPC interaction, storyline or event items at this ball. SykoSilver explained that this is because this ball was a User-run event (this year, a large team headed by Razumi Yazura), and that since there are now many user-run events, focusing exclusively on this Ball would be unfair. So, if you missed the Ball, and think you're behind on the GAIA storyline or event items because of this, don't worry! smile

The Tower of Gambino:
Gambino, in all his poverty, started taking donations to fund what appeared to be the rebuilding of his mansion... and a lot more! Users gladly donated to his "Donation Drive" to bring back the Gambino mansion. However, we were very suprised when a Mansion became a Tower, adding three new maps to Gaia: the Northern Sea: North, Northeast, and the roof of the Tower of Gambino itself, where a Mansion very much like his old Mansion sat on its gargantuan pedestal. Although there was some speculation about whether or not Gambino would pay us back for our help in the gargantuan creation, and whether our donations actually helped or not, the end result was easy for us all to see. Cindy Donovinh, of GAIA 9 Action News, was hovering above the Tower in a helicopter, and clicking on that gave you a quick summary of the situation.

In quick response, the Von Helson Twins launched an anti-Gambino protest at this 'audacity', and were selling Picket Signs for 500g apiece outside their mansion in Durem. If you wanted to join the attack on the apparent abuse of your donations by Gambino, you clicked on the Von Helson Twins sprite, followed through their commentary, and when you had enough gold, clicked Yes when they asked if you wanted to buy a picket sign. You'd be given a picket sign which your avatar could hold to protest with!

Soon after, Gambino reappeared, more manic than ever, with Anti-Von Helson picket signs, at the top of his Tower, crying out to the Gaian masses to join his protest. Those who donated during the Donation Drive were awarded one free Anti-Von Helson Picket Sign, retail value one thousand gold, whereas those who didn't could buy as many as they liked from the returning 'hero'.

Easter 2k5:
This event, as with previous years, didn't include any plot action, but we were introduced to one new NPC, a robotic Easter Bunny, or rather, the "Easter Rab-bot". Those who succeeded in finding and meeting the rabbit were rewarded with either a Bani Mask, or a Chickie Mask. Good fun was had by all. smile

April Fools 2k5:
In an event with the devastation of much of Gaia, an unknown assassin shot Johnny K. Gambino, just seconds after Gino regained his memory as to who his father really was. Users watched as Gambino plummeted from the very top of his tower to the bottom, and when he landed, his Tower felt the fall. It too began to collapse, in doing so, crashing down upon Durem and the Von Helson Twins' Mansion. Cindy Donovinh hovered over Durem with a manga style report of the event, and there was much speculation as to the reason behind this attack, and the shooter's identity.

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:
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In a "double whammy" suprise a week later, we discovered that not only did Gambino's mansion atop the Tower of Gambino survive the fall, landing squarely down upon the old Von Helson Mansion - we assume crushing it in doing so - but also, a second Gambino mansion, likely contained within the Tower of Gambino, is now standing upright and sturdy back on terra firma: the Isle De Gambino. Once again, Cindy provided a summary from her Helicopter above Durem.

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The Return of Gino Gambino:
This much awaited update saw Gino Gambino - as the name suggests - recovered by Sasha, along with insight into Liam's true nature, and perhaps Ian's as well. As with the Fall of Gambino, we were presented with a manga-style story to the event, after clicking on Ian & Sasha who were at the Isle De Gambino, enjoying a day out together. Another cliffhanger! gonk

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:

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The Return of Gino - part two
In the run up to Hallowe'en, we had a nice new plot update, continuing from where the story left off. Ian's name was cleared of murderous intent for Gino with that knife, and we saw LabTech123 in his first star appearance. We finally met Bucho, Gambino's head of security who was somewhat responsible for the destruction of the Mansion last year. Liam's ladies games continued, of course, and then just when we thought it would all be alright. This was all viewable by clicking on a cute new long-haired Gino sprite on the Isle De Gambino.

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:
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Hallowe'en 2k5

Grunny Invasion
Well, this was by far the most audacious and daring event since last Hallowe'en. Bucho, finally in full avatar glory, informed us that Gino Gambino was inviting us all to make full use of the reconstructed Gambino mansion. However, before we were let in, clicking on the Mansion informed us of the following storyline update, beforehand. First off, Gino had rebuilt the Secret Underground Test Facility, but had made it plain to see: no more secrets. Hoping to bring his father's legacy to bear, he hired LabTech123 once again to head up the project, as he had field experience. That said and done, he invited Sasha around to dinner as a somewhat romantic, "thank you," for saving him. Ian was none too happy about this as the pair departed.
Cut to the UTF: LabTech123 had somehow revivified Grunny (or perhaps the fluffball somehow survived Operation Silent Flash eek ), and brought back the deadly G-VIRUS. With alarming alacrity, LabTechX, towering over him, reappeared on the scene, and set free a horde of Grunnies, which promptly found their way into the mansion. At the same time, we were finally granted entry to the revamped Mansion, only to find the fuzzies rampant. Bucho requested that we capture as many as possible, and the event major began.

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:
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So what went on inside the Mansion? Well, the new mini-game was very simply based. We found ourselves set to a backdrop of a beaker, with a small amount of green fluid and a Grunny inside it. There was a scale of 1 to 5 on the side, which indicated the number of Grunnies you had collected. The different levels can be seen as follows:

Level 0
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5

You gained levels by posting after someone with a higher Grunny count that you, or by posting 5 times. There were five basic rewards for each level; at the first level, which required 15 Grunnies, granted you a Grunny Shirt; the second, at 35, Grunny Slippers. The items stopped here, and the next levels gave you status changes. Level 3 at 175 would give you faded skin and sleepy eyes with red irises, Level 4 at 350 would give you more red eyes, baldness, two little earlike protrusions on the top of your head, and a bulge at the back. The final level, at 500, gave you the glaring red eyes seen last year, and a true Grunny attached to the back of your head. These last three levels were particularly difficult to reach, making it a real challenge to get yourself a Grunny. Still, many persevered and were reward with the little chap. Well played to everyone who did so! 3nodding

Eventually, however, the end came (a little early, to allow Trick or Treating to begin whee ), and we were treated to another dazzling manga endgame. Gino and Sasha, dining together, noticed the smell of burning, and found that not only the newly built Facility, but also the Mansion were ablaze! Gallantly, Gino managed to get Sasha almost out of the building, but at the last minute, the roof collapsed, and Gino found himself trapped (somehow holding a bar up with superhuman strength, it seems eek ). Ian arrived, planning to finally show Sasha Gino's true nature (with the pills he had forgotten earlier), but found them in a deadly situation. Dropping said medication (near Gino... could they save him? We can only hope!), he managed to drag Sasha away from the inferno before the entire structure collapsed, potentially burying Gino. And, when the night was done, and all was quiet again, a mysterious figure, perhaps someone we know, perhaps not, picked up a single vial of the G-VIRUS. Where the Gambino legacy will end, we do not yet know, but for Gino's sake - and our enjoyment - we hope it lasts a little longer.

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:
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Trick or Treating 2k5
With the Grunny infestation removed in possibly the most mammoth case of animal cruelty this year (just kidding wink ), we were left with the usual Hallowe'en Trick or Treating. This had the usual mechanic: get candy from shopkeepers, then find Jack on the map, and click him. He'd give you a Jack bag (this year, rather than being determined by candy co-ordination, it was simply counted by Jack... see later whee ), and the Jack Uniform items were contained within.
However, in a bonus joining up with the release of GAIA Towns, Jack was also located at the Fountain in every neighbourhood. You collected candy from the dispensers outside of everyone's homes (which were decorated for the event surprised ), and when you had 100, a massive Jack would reward you as above.
A slight aside to this event was that during the few days it spanned over, there were a few things odd with Jack. Occasionally, he couldn't count to 9 (the number of different Jacked giftboxes), and he also had a terrible problem with giving users box number 2, containing... pants... rather than other problems. You'll see why this is mentioned very soon. whee

Jack vs. Santa
Well, on the 7th November, soon after the events of Hallowe'en, a massive Santa was found in Barton square. In front of Ian, Sasha, Cindy, and many others, he proclaimed that the problems with Hallowe'en - namely, the fierce competition inside the Mansion leading some users to segregate themselves, and the problems with Jack during Trick or Treating were all Jack's fault. Jack, however, was rather distraught by this accusation, and ended up punching the gargantuan and somewhat metallic Santa into the LinkList in Barton, destroying the building (indeed, we saw this occur in a similar sprite based fashion to Gambino's fall from the Tower). The real Santa, who had been inside a large Santa Mech Suit, crawled out, but was in no fit state. After a brief insight into the Holiday anthromorphic personalities' past, much to the distress of many Gaians, Santa was pronounced dead. A Christmas without Santa? We'll have to wait and see. gonk

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:
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S CORP
Three days later, the S CORP guild was created. Bearing remarkable similarities to the G CORP of last year, we saw a few familiar faces but at different heights: LabTechs were replaced by ElfTechs, who appear to be working hard to create enough toys for Christmas. Behind all the fun and games, a darker plot was beginning to unravel: Mrs Claus was the one behind the guild, and several accounts gave vivid descriptions of whether or not Santa survived. Although there's a mystery as to how he did it, Santa was up and about in time to give a speech to the jubilant elves. There was a massive amount of user interaction with the ElfTechs, with both PMs and Trades flying back and forth between users and the NPCs during this period. Since then, S CORP has been a setting for horrific experiments, and eventually, a cataclysmic end to the facility. All is recorded in the journals for you to see in the link above.

ElfTech247 posted several entries that were hidden behind a code and an encryption, or corrupted. A large number of GCDers partook in the effort to decode and decrypt, and the results are displayed here: great thanks to all those who helped!

ElfTech247

Transmission error. Unable to record. Recovered file follows. (20% loss)


Everthing is going according to plan. The Larry Pottar set provided the equipment for chemical reserves. The moon-shoe provided the repairs to the leg units of the suit as well. We can make do without the utility belts, though I am annoyed they are not done. I am not sure how many appearances the backup suit can make since it was never meant for long periods of use. 137 (I think) has done well with it. Progress and research go well. We have fused the claws and cannon in place, and can now move on to the study of the vial itself. We already know it has strange properties. Hopefully it will be just what we need.

The assignments have gone remarkably well. Everyone assigned on Naughty or Nice research seems to be pulling through, and as far as I'm concerned right now, the less people in the building, the better for the R&D team's experiments and ventures. Besides, Santa has been so busy that there's no way he could get his list checked twice. We're having him take it easy until Christmas. This year is going to be an amazing year for S Corp. I've moved most of my workstation down to the sublevel since I'm down here so much. R&D has basically become my life at this point. I even got a cot for sleeping- sometimes the best ideas come in the middle of the night, and it's great to be able to wake up and then make the idea happen.

The crane incident will certainly be causing some probems. 101 will be able to easily cover it up though. The next shipment will be here soon and we can move to the second phase.

We're gonna make it, we're actually going to make it. Well, as long as 003 does those CoKi kitties. They should learn from 722- his moonshoe production is amazing!

ElfTech247

The Yeti testing has been going well. They are very responsive to weapon equipping. 137 has attested to their marksmanship. They will most certainly rival Jack's forces should he try and pull anything.

Finally, the G-Virus seems to have taken on some interesting properties. When chilled, as happens to all things in the artic, it seems to form a biomechanical bond. This is an interesting symbiotic relationship- the mechanics are powered by natural cellular energy, while the organic material seems to gain the added function of the mechanics. I am certain furthering this research will prove vital to our success in bringing Santa back to life.

Mrs. Claus has been very anxious as well. She wants this done and Santa alive. I keep telling her these things take time. Usually it results in her screaming at me for various reasons. We're going as fast as we can. Weapons attachment and upgrades have been succeessful, and the biological properties from yeti testing might be the breakthrough we need. I haven't slept much lately, but at least it will all be over soon.

ElfTech247

We didn't expect the Yetis to develop such aggressive tendancies when given a sample of the G-Virus. Two very curious things happened. We saw the symbiotic relationship form between animal and machine, but we also saw the Yeti gain an odd understanding of the weapon they were fused with. They suddenly knew how to use it like an expert. This is indeed very interesting; though it did result in the loss of security at the time.

Upon elimination of the problem Yetis, the mechanical parts fell from the lifeless bodies- perhaps they had nothing left to gain from their partner, or perhaps there was another factor at work. We will be looking into ways to implement this technology into the suit upgrades.

Santa has stabalized as well as someone in death can. His body has been prepared for reanimation. We are reasonably certain that the G-Virus, with the assistance of the mechanical suit, can bring Santa back to a fully functional level. We need about 2-3 more weeks for testing though, since we are not sure if this has any side effects we should be aware of.

ElfTech247

It's happening! He's here! The serum worked but not as we had hoped. The Mindows XD core dumped when it saw jack standing there. He was slow getting into his suit too. Who would have thought- SENSITIVE INFORMATION DETECTED. ATTEMPTING ENCRYPTIONNO! Get out of my system! I can't feel my legs. I hear Mrs. Claus coming. I must go before it is too late. SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN

We regret to inform you that the journal of ElfTech247 has been sealed due to a security compromise. Please do not attempt to contact him through this address any further. Thank you for your cooperation.

-S CORP
"Making Christmas..."

The Showdown
Santa left S CORP in ruins, and quickly made his way to Barton Square, scene of his previous defeat at Jack's claws, with payback in full his only goal. Jack, meanwhile, was announcing his plans for next year's Hallowe'en, and a battle ensued. Amazingly enough, a secret G-TEAM, comprising of Edmund, Logan and Leon was discovered, but they were no match for the power of the enraged Icons, and Sasha was close to being the first innocent casualty beside the ElfTechs when a 'mysterious' ( wink ) figure dropped from the sky, and broke the fight apart. As always, this was presented to us in a series of excellently crafted manga panels, linked below. Which left the question, what lay in store for the coming Christmas?!

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:

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Merry Christmas, Gaia
Christmas 2005 was a great and somewhat nostalgic event, with carolling from Christmas Day through to the New Year, and gave users a variety of adorable new items. As with last year, users went to the various Gaia shops, and carolled the shopkeepers. Rather than getting returns from the shopkeepers in person, however, Santa gave us presents for being nice. And, as with Hallowe'en, it was also possible to earn Christmas cheer for these items in Gaia Towns, by carolling outside other towns, and then finding the humongous Santa at the fountain.

Equally, we were treated to an update presented to us by Cindy at Barton Fountain, revealing the Masque's true intentions... which are, to kiss Sasha on New Year's Eve. Ian was, unsuprisingly, dumbstruck. domokun

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:

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The Masquerade!

Possibly the most controversial plot update yet, with a massive division of Gaians either in support of the Masque, or in defence of Ian, or other ways inclined, the New Year's event saw Ian desperately try to catch Sasha at the party in the Gambino Mansion in Durem, in doing so attacking the Doorman, Geebus for refusing him entry with Rufus. The Masque swept down from the sky and fulfilled his stated intention with Sasha, and Ian was arrested for arsony at the old Gambino mansion. Whether or not this is true, we had to wait for another update to find out. In the meantime, Rufus is running things over at the Barton Boutique! xd

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:

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The Trial of Ian

For the first time ever, Gaians were given the chance to decide the fate of an NPC in this basically interactive Event. The Admins opened a forum up for Gaian reading pleasure of the three days of gruelling trial, unveiling three new Bot NPCs, along with giving us some insight into the past of Gaia, and in particular, Ian. The users decided, in the end, by a staggering amount, that Ian was not guilty of burning down the Gambino Mansion, and Ian was set to go free, only to become the target of the deadly sniper.

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:

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Valentine's Day 2k6

Following on from the Trial of Ian, Valentine's Day brought us a spritely Cindy Donovinh outside Agatha's shop. It seems to have been confirmed that Liam and Moira are an item of sorts, and Sasha and Ian's past days were relived as Ian turned out not to be so poor after all, having one of the rarest items on Gaia. The love triangle of Ian, Sasha and Gino was fully fledged, and it seemed that Gino wasn't too happy with the situation. Cindy, in the meantime, was more concerned with the rogue shooter, and what his purpose was.

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:

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Anniversary Ball 2k6

There were no major plot advancements within the Ball itself, beyond Gino trying to find Sasha, and commemorating his father. Four special items were given out both by him, and the G-Team, and a good time was had by all.

April Fools 2k6

On April 1st, 2006, Cindy Donovinh opened a forum specifically for the Gaia Event, here, where two years' worth of story was to climax. Updating her very own thread here. Cindy kept us updated as the rivalry between a weakened Ian and a spurned Gino brought them into a duel for their lives. In a true showstopper, however, the match was interrupted by LabTechX, who injected Gino with something that caused his genetic stability to deteriorate. What happened next can only be described in the images below, but suffice to say, things ended with a 'BOOM' as they always do. And on the next day, the secret history of the plot so far was explained from a perspective no one had known or could possibly have expected, leading to the most shocking update of all: the return of Gambino.

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:
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The Return of Gambino

On the 1st of September, Cindy Donovinh appeared in Barton Town, heralding the latest short development in the storyline after the massive explosion. The madness of Gambino was returned, but not without capturing the notice of passing 'travellers'.

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:

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Hallowe'en 2006

Hallowe'en was possibly the strangest update yet. The first thing to happen was that Gaia Community Discussion received a wacky visitor by the name of Ron Bruise, who seemed particularly full of beans and energetic. Soon after, it was noticed that cows had begun to appear on the world map, apparently let loose by Rancher Bill's son. A large number of theories arose regarding the involvement of the aliens from the previous manga update and these two new updates, a major of which was the 19 theory, which supposed - based on numerical analysis of dates and chairs - that something would happen on the 19th October. Between the creation of the theory and the 19th, several crop circles also appeared around the world map.

Come the 19th, and in Towns, mysterious gibbering flying objects started to buzz Gaians. The 12 alien UFOs generally insulted, made friends with, chatted to and scanned the Gaians. At several points, the alien mothership scanned Gaians, but generally didn't speak with them as much as the smaller UFOs did. Most of the conversations occured in Towns, which unfortunately cannot be stored here as well as posts or guilds. However, most correspondance between Gaian and Zurg, as the aliens identified themselves, can be found in the strange Area 91 forum.

For some reason, the Admins were abducted, but no more was heard about this other than that they were let go supposedly free from the aliens. Cindy Donovinh provided an interview with the aliens and Ron Bruise which implies they were considered 'ambassadors' but it seemed likely to many that an 'abduction' carries a more sinister purposes. Only time will tell. Around this time, a triangle (there was another theory produced by Gaians about triangles being important to the aliens) of 19 cows, appeared on Barton Cliffs, near the crater. What these silly bovines were up to, we may never know.


Soon after, competing Energy Drinks were advertised by Gaia. One was ZURG energy drink, from the new aliens, and the other was Red Bino, Gambino's cash cow to get his mansion rebuilt in time for another Hallowe'en. Indeed, Gambino's mansion was built in record time, and the party began as normal. Some of the usual problems arose with Sasha, Ian, and Gino, which were helpfully compounded by Liam's womanising ways to create a mini-drama for the event. However, before the girls, angered at Liam's deception, could catch him, the mothership decided to blast a hole in the mansion roof (I wouldn't want to see the insurance on that place by now) and attempt to tractor in Gaians, including Liam. The girls demonstrated their own power by pulling the tractor beams, Liam, and the mothership down to earth. Gambino heartily welcomed mother, whose ship had just vandalised his mansion, as a fellow energy drink vendor.

After this, the usual Hallowe'en game got under way: in this case, it involved purchasing a ZURG energy drink to turn yourself into an alien, and then probing cows and Gaians, or remaining in Gaian form and tipping cows and zapping aliens. Ultimately, there were only item rewards for this, as the new skins were freely available for anyone who purchased a can of ZURG. After this, there was no real further plot updates.

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:
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The ZURG 09 and more

We were presented with a puzzle soon after the Hallowe'en event, as the UFOs landed outside the Wall of Gambino, later accompanied by a Resistance hut for those not amicable to their presence.

A love story between a Gaian user and a ZURG that had begun earlier was now to reach a shocking climax, as the ZURG were not pleased that one of their 'brothers' was involved with a Gaian. A firefight ensued, and the 'errant' 09's craft was shot down. With him neutralised, the aliens retreated, but a gigantic shadow soon found the wreckage; no doubt the Mothership was unhappy about this turn of events.

The Manga Style Report links are as follows:
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Christmas 2k6

Gambino delivered Cindy a dire warning about the intentions of the ZURG, as well as an offer of lobster dinner, in this interview, which was soon followed by the ZURG's abortive attempt to kidnap Santa, resulting in a mishap with a cow that left their minds in the others' bodies.

The Manga Style Reports are as follows:

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Soon after, the 2nd ZURG stated that they wanted to openly help make things right between the aliens and the jolly holiday icon, in another interview with Cindy, though Santa was unsuprisingly distrustful.

Soon after, the Christmas event started, with Gaians carolling shopkeepers as normal, whilst within the Event forum, Gaians generously collected gifts from either of the Santas, and handed them out to other Gaians (which the ZURG or Resistance would reward them for, dependent on which Santa they helped).

[Calmer]

Open to the public. smile

[JunHaruEmi]

*claps* That's awesome.

[Deep Vermillion]

Nice! surprised

[DrusillaRaintree]

wow it is really nice informed, this thread. you should be sticked biggrin

[Melian]

Nice thread, brings back some memories about those events. whee

[Mae Noelle]

This is absolutely beautiful.

<3<3<3<3<3

[toboetsukasa]

Thanks that is a lot of really interesting info..

[Calmer]

Thanks everyone. smile
I'm probably going to add a "where to find NPCs" section soon in the appendix.

[idhan]

Very nice summary, Calm. I hope it gets sticked! 3nodding

[Calmer]

Added NPC Locations. smile

[blueoo]

heart heart heart

[Foxy Grampa]

Pretty informative! surprised I didn't know Durem was so recent o.o I joined around June 2004 and I bought by first pair of pants at Moiria's shop confused Hmmm..

[Calmer]

Foxy Grampa

Pretty informative! surprised I didn't know Durem was so recent o.o I joined around June 2004 and I bought by first pair of pants at Moiria's shop confused Hmmm..

Well, it was released on May 15, so it was at that point the newest town. I modified that section to clear up any confusion on that though: thanks. smile