Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gehenna

There are repercussions, as noted in the rp, similar to the wave that hit everyone when Harmodius was first wounded. This wave, however, is stronger. Also, it effects everyone: mortals, immortals, gods, aoide. Everyone feels the comoing of gehenna with either pain, forboding, maddness or some othe rnegative force. For many, the crushing weight of the blow to their Self in the fabric of what is is too much. Those not strong of will may just die as the wave hits. For others, this begins the true 'hell on earth'. Anyone who thought it couldn't get worse has the proof that they were wrong.

There are some exceptions to this that will show in the schedule. The domains of Destruction himself, that he embodied, will have their golden weeks in this brief age, where they are like to the Empress or Consort, and equivalent to being able to ascend the throne of the Crown.

Here starts the beginning of the end. The name of the crown is gone, and the form of the crown is now developing into the creature called Gehenna. This will take some time, and the weeks left to what exists are on a schedule. This can be stopped prior to the opening of the chryssalis, or even after if the players gather and are creative. If nothing is achieved, the Edelsteine game will end.

I will post the exact schedule of once I have access to the wiki on my laptop at home. The schedule begins now, with the first phase starting on friday, and it will end 13 weeks from then (or about 3 months). Each week will have a focus influence/power or event that would indicate to scholars and seers precisely what was going on.

As far as time lines, I have no idea how the rp's line up. I haven't been keeping great track of what days happen where and when. Before the rp with Gaia started Xanil had arranged to rp with me at some point, but unfortunately the rp didn't get started until after the start of the one with gaia.

I leave that to you guys to hammer out though. Let me know what comes of it, I just don't have teh time to try to sort it myself right now

Indeed, I totally haven't been reading your rp, my bad.

I suppose the doors to the throne chamber could be closed, though they rarely ever are. They will have to be for continuity, so that works fine (otherwise they woudl have been witness to it all in the first place)

As far as the doors remaining 'locked' (magically held, more likely), and anyone else wanting to encounter the fray, this is the point where it would happen. Anyone is welcome to enter directly in the timeline once the doors open. Samyaza herself will open them, and any players who have a mind to are welcome to encounter and engage or avoid her, rush to gaia, or any such reactions as they are capable of since the wave will have hit.

I already covered the possibility of opening the rp with Oura, so that is fine. If you want to join now, for immediately when the doors open after the event, please post now in the thread your preparatory introductions (what your characters are doing, why they are there, and their reactions to the going on), and then I will post the opening of the doors.

Here starts the beginning of the end. The name of the crown is gone, and the form of the crown is now developing into the creature called Gehenna. This will take some time, and the weeks left to what exists are on a schedule. This can be stopped prior to the opening of the chrysalis, or even after if the players gather and are creative. If nothing is achieved, the Edelsteine game will end.

The schedule begins now, with the first phase starting on friday, and it will end 13 weeks from then (or about 3 months). Each week will have a focus influence/power or event that would indicate to scholars and seers precisely what was going on. Each Week begins with the breaking of one of the great windows in the Throne hall, and the sounding of a great unseen(currently) trumpet.


1 July 4th – The week of Sloth –
The wave has hit, and all that Is reacts mostly in despair. Mortals are lethargic, listless, certain of the end and only mourning or wailing. The lethargy is a spirit that pervades even the strongest hearts, even the gods. While the gods may be able to get themselves moving, this week the difficulty to muster the energy in the overwhelming face of doom should be evident. How this manifests depends on character, some may be snarky, others just quiet and reserved. Why do anything?

2 July 11th – The week of Envy –
Surrounded by filth, those few shining things left are now something to covet. If the end is coming, everyone wants to spend the last days with the small comforts of the last treasures, whatever they may be. Fights may be brewing.

3 July 18th – The week of Lust –
As oft comes before an end, envy has turned to lust. Covetousness has become free fraternizing and theft in order to do so. Mortals and immortals alike, yearning for some last comfort or endorphins, are indulging in all manner of carnal pursuit.

4 July 25th – The week of Greed –
Whereas before it was to enjoy the last treasures, now the corruption has progressed to just possessing them, whether or not they are being used or enjoyed. Gather all that you can and hoard, for it is yours, in these last days, and that may be all that matters. That something, other then life, was yours.

5 August 1st – The week of War –
From all the brewings of the proceeding weeks, now sparks the battles for the last treasures: land, food, water, resources, people, money, whatever it is. Some have and others have not, and there will be strife to determine who will have in the end.

6 August 8th – The week of Plague –
War is always followed by sickness. It is a dirty business, and carrion and blood breed sickness. So do siege and weapons themselves. Those not killed in the battle often fall to the disease that comes after.

7 August 15th – The week of Famine –
So many are dead, and so much is destroyed. What crops there were have been mostly destroyed, the remaining ones have not enough hands to tend them. Those that still live wane, bones poking at the thin covers of their flesh.

8 August 22nd – The week of Decay –
So many bodys, sickness, and filth everywhere, and yet also the blight extends to those last remaining plants that destroyed and over grew. Everything is falling apart rapidly into dust or rot. Everything is becoming a great wasteland, stinking and foul.

9 August 29th – The week of Hell –The so called dimensions of ‘hell’, where demonic races dwell, are forced open and merged one-on-one with the current planes. They may or may not be happy for this development.

10 September 5th – The week of ‘Paradise’ –
This is the quiet before the storm. The ebbs of chaos seem to have ceased. The tremors in the fabric of what Is have quieted. Perhaps the storm is over and has bee averted? Those who remain are cofused, irresponsibly euphoric. But for all that it is paradise, the stars are swallowed, one by one, and the sky is gone.

11 September 12th – The week of Air –
The storm comes. This is the start of the reversal of the creation of the planes. Raging winds blast the planes, air turns sour and choking, or disappears altogether and suffocates some.

12 September 19th – The week of Water –Again, the second stage of the reverse of the creation of the planes. Water floods or is drunk up by the earth with no trace.

13 September 26th – The week of Fire –
The parched earth is all that is left, and what hasn’t been parched, drowned, suffocated or blown away is now scorched and purified. Everything that Is …..is a plane of blank ash.

Final day October 3, 2008 – The day of Terra – The great plane of Gaia, mother, is raped, devastated and cracked by the Void.
Nothing is left. It is over.

As far as the Gehenna schedule, and how it effects rp, the answer is :

Yes.

You are supposed to take into account the effects of each of the trumpets and wave effects that spread over all that is. That doesn't mean that your character has to be crippled by each weekly effect if they are, as noted, strong of will. Most of those meant to be a host for a god have some strength greater then a normal mortal in some aspect of their being, something that makes them exceptional and that the god can benefit from. I expect all players ( those who own edelsteine jewels and those who don't yet) to take not of the schedule and have the effects follow the timeline of the rps.

Yup.


I cannot stress this enough, if it wasn't apparent in the event and clues dealing with the Grigori.

The Grigori were at war with the gods, and it was the greatest war that was ever encountered. Such was their power, even as ageless immortals, and their dedication that they were even ABLE to war with the True Gods. As people have guessed OOC, though I hope and expect it won't be played IC until someone rp's out the connection realization, the grigori worship and manipulate/wield/summon the Void that is a maw beneath the Ashlands. Void is exactly that. It is nothing. It is inimical to the fabric of what IS....and therefore also the Gods. Eamnonn, Illumin and Kishara have all experienced this first hand. When a grigori's claws, or other attacks, are landed on something that Is, it eats away that thing into the void like acid on film paper. It stops, but there is a bleed effect that the wound is a little larger then the initial cut(or whatever have you).

That explanation aside, pending how things go in the rp, more of an explanation may come. It will be paramount that people observe IC vs. OOC knowledge to fully enjoy the plot. In addition, there won't be full before-hand explanations for everything because the characters [don't know so you will all have to learn answers to some questions by experience/trial and error/ and playing things out.

So the long and short of all this is: The age of Gehenna is more 'dangerous' then any other age. While in previous rps with NPC's I actively tried to avoid devastation to the PC's, that is no longer true. Consequences will be real for your characters in order to fully appreciate the danger of the events. If your character is an a**, by all means, play them accurately. That is the point of good rp, is not everything that happens is good. Just be very, very aware that all things have consequence.

I want to say yes, but that may end up with having lots and lots of people arrive 'after' , which isn't particularly conducive to keeping the plot going. So the answer is no, those who don't post now immediately after the wave event will be assumed incapable of making it in time to participate in dealing/meeting with Samyaza.

Once Samyaza is gone (killed/exited/whatever happens), however, as many people wish to arrive and interact is fine, if you want to keep it all immediate and successive in that thread. Otherwise, it is also feasible at that point to split into individual interactions.

correct, since timeline wise, if you recall, gaia and kishara left directly after the boys got back and split out of kish's arm. that's why it is still bleeding. everyone went downstairs adn ea and illumin took their goodbyes. Samyaza and kish went directly into the throne room. It has only been hours since they returned. I had a feeling everyone had forgotten that since so much time has elapsed real life.

Also, Everyone should keep in mind, the doors were closed, no sound escaped, and only one person -saw- samyaza herself directly effect Destruction....and gaia is passed out currently until Oura decides she comes to. So there isn't any proof or reason for most to think INITIALLY that she directly did anything (Other then shes a creepy ********).

Eamnonn has done the research with Illumin to know of the war with the Grigori to possibly suspect something may have been connected. Make sure you provide in rp thoughts as to why he woudl attack if he does. Gianfar also has a chance to figure it out. To everyone else, mostly, she's just all wrongness and haet. This is the kind of rp where having thoughts and feelings in your posts is critical, as is keeping OOC/IC information separate.

I've gotten a lot of questions regarding this line.
It means that during their golden weeks, such a god is within rights to ascend the throne dais and sit upon the throne as though they were of power and status equal to the consort or empress.
As for the Dragon Kings, they are not bound to the service of such a god, and are free to react as they like, however, the golden week of that god infuses that god with the full influence power of destruction in addition to their own. So if creative, they could put down or trick a dragon king who resisted them.

/cross post from PM
Just to keep everyone abreast

Questions others may want to know the answers to that were just answered:

Arctang is thankfully a morph stage, so he's half god/half mortal in body essentially. A mortal would not heal, and would probably need immediate medical attention. Since he's not necessarily of a combatant influence, he normally should heal a little over the rate a human would if you flayed them. As a god, at least, it isn't necessarily life-threatening, and the skin would regenerate as the 'wound' heals....BUT it is a void wound.

This goes for the majority of cases dealing with void wounds: They heal on gods, it just takes much, much longer then it would otherwise (5x as long or more) and they may have permanent scars if it is just left to their own power. If they get the aid of a god who has healing magic/abilities, obviously this can be circumvented.

An evolution of stages from say, morph to youth, would advance the healing along in a small burst.

My personal estimate of damage is the the skin where her claws touched and a halo of the immediate contact is eaten away. The muscles, ligaments, arteries and veins beneath would remain intact. Essentially, like having finger width strips of skin peeled off.


That being just an estimation if you want something official since you're having some trouble visualizing it. Feel free to tweak it as you desire.

And yes, its very much like table-top gaming. I've been table top gaming as a DM and player for yeeeeaaars. It just makes combat easier and impartial ( so that you don't get the yes-it-did/no-it-didn't arguements ). Plot and character development can do without rolls, but combat often runs smoother with them.

I've noticed more then one person having trouble conceptualizingthe effects of time, the schedule and how it all relates to IC roleplay.

Let me attempt to clear this up in the general forum:

When the event 'started' as in, when the Grigori rp started, doesn't matter. The schedule is as the schedule is.
As of 12AM EST, in game time a trumpet blew, broke, and the Week of Envy began. The week of Sloth began at 12am of July 4th, as stated on the schedule and – The week of Lust – will start at 12 am EST on July 18th.

We are (OOC), per force, on earth time. I will call it RL time (Real Life Time). RL time, each week has certain effects
and if you start an rp, you must theme it to that week. This is to say, I prefer no backdating for the event. You can back date and back date and back date to try to put in unfair advantages as a DM or as a PC because as time moves, you will learn pieces to a puzzle that woudl have been advantageous if your character already knew in the current rp. EDIT: Not to say it is forbidden, its just disruptive to time-lining, and there's already been trouble with having to ret-con. Just try to keep it to a minimum.

Now, unfortunately timezones make it difficult to move rps very quickly, and they may carry over into successive weeks.
That doesn't have to affect the rp timeline. If you choose for it to, the explanation is very simple. The location is NOT earth
so time may run faster or slower on whatever plane they *are* on. Maybe days aren't 24 hours there. Maybe one hour here is like 4 hours there. or whatever.

Either way, the purpose of this is to keep people moving and to emphasize the need to post quickly, concisely, and write well.

Any questions?

On the Doors:

The doors of the pantheon, specifically any door that doesn't go to personal apartments, aren't doors. They are Doors. There is not special hall of magic doors, just any of the non-apartment doors is actually a door in the old sense fo the word:


That is to say, they are Gateways, and anyone who has the knowledge and some strong ammount of divine mana running in them (ageless immortals and up) make them work. The Pantheon is connected to all planes/planets (with exceptions like the Ashlands) in a very similar way as the door in Howl's Moving Castle, if you need a comparison.

Immortals and Aoide need a magic incantation to get the doors to work, the Gods can just will it to work once they learn/remember how it is done (aka how to feel and connect to the mana of what Is).

So here's some background for the whole "who the crap is Samyaza and wtf is going on yo" thing:

Samyaza is one of the Grigori, a group who rejected the rule of the gods before the first Fading, and were granted a place of their own, called the Ashlands. While seeking for clues about the mysterious Aristogeiton, Illumin found a mention of that name connected to the Ashlands and the Grigori. Illumin and Eamnonn traveled to the Ashlands and freed Samyaza in exchange for the piece of Aristogeiton's soul that she held.

Which was, obviously, not a good decision in retrospect, but an interesting one in OOC terms. XD

The relevant solos and RPs on my end are all logged in Illumin's journal, from page 11 onward. (And yes, we were working on that RP for a damn long time. Stupid real life kept interfering.)

And, for your interest, here are all the clues that Illumin and Ea found:


Stone Tablet, written in the Twin Crown's hand:

(I think this piece is pretty much not relevant anymore; its purpose was to inform us of the Ashlands and the Grigori. Also notice NOT TO TRUST SAMYAZA. Good jorb Illumin 8D)



Eamnnon's Scrap from the Library:

(With Ivy lol-ing at me last night, I think we can confirm this is talking about Gehenna in the zero part. Perhaps this bit is of particular use to Cosine and Arctang?

Also note that the primordials are written incorrectly here; he got the influences wrong. Ivy has confirmed that the person who wrote this ICly was mistaken and that's why the primordials are wrong. ICly the error is not known, at least not by Illumin.)




Illumin's Scrap from the Library:

(I have NO IDEA wtf this means yet, except that I'm 99% sure the Barrier in the last bit refers to Tien Lung.)


Second Tablet (scratched into the stone as if by a claw):

(Seems pretty self-explanatory.)

Also things off the top of my head that could be useful (I was thinking about this a lot XD):

- I am 99% sure the barrier/one claw referred to in the 'storm fragment' is Tian Yue, but I have no idea wtf the key is or anything else. There is actually a weird key-thing attached to the relic of Aristogeiton that Illumin got from Samyaza, but I don't know if that's what it refers to or if it is something different altogether.

- Tian Yue's shielding abilities could potentially be very useful - I need to ask Ivy how effective it is against the Gehenna influence. Maybe dropping a full-force shield over the chrysalis would have a beneficial effect?

- Lucius. He was worried about the Twin Crown, but he didn't get there in time. Somebody should go talk to him.

Also perhaps of interesting note, Kaelin is branded by Destruction...? No clue how that would play into this, but... it is interesting.

The pendant is also complicated. XD It was originally an offering to the Twin Crown from Aristogeiton upon their first meeting. Later on, it was enchanted to permit Aristogeiton to reincarnate. But it failed after several cycles of reincarnation and his soul could not be found. Harmodius kept the pendant always.

Now we know that the pendant is also a soul-piece.


Piece One: The bones of an apparently draconic incarnation of Aristogeiton; found by Panacea on the planet Tursath. This piece is currently on the starship Athenia, no longer in Panacea's possession.

Piece Two: The 'living body'. An NPC known as Faran, the chief engineer of the starship Athenia. This mortal has a piece of Aristogeiton's soul within him. He has not been located ICly yet.

Piece Three: The body without a soul. A beautiful human youth's body that was born with no soul, found by Nergal in a distant mausoleum. Currently in Nergal's safekeeping.

Piece Four: The piece Illumin and Eamnnon obtained in the Ashlands. Currently in Illumin's keeping.

Piece Five: A soul fragment; a ghost in the plane of Wellhaven. Not yet discovered ICly, but we do have plans to go fetch it once we figure out what's going on.

Piece Six: A fetish, also in Wellhaven. Also not discovered ICly.

Piece Seven: The Opal Pendant. Originally worn by Harmodius since Aristogeiton's death, but he gave it to Panacea to aid her in her quest to find Aristogeiton. She has it.


Since Pana's player has vanished, we'll need to get those pieces again.

Possibly relevant Tree infos, taken from the Suggestions/Questions thread in the guild:

In original conception it is of Gaia, and withered as she did. It was the connecting force between all those aspects, and also....through her role as queen, was connected to the greatest blood and mana of the Twin Crown (unmentionable relations and all that). The death of the World Tree accounts for the disruptions and weakening of the magic of the world, as her mana and the Crown's were no longer the veins of all.....the tapestry started to, and has continued to, unweave. The xylem and phloem were dust, so magic has been wild and barely managed by the immortals and mortals alike, who do what they can to try to tame, control, regulate and use it.

As far as the Underworld, the roots of the world tree and paths of its branches and veins were also some of the safest and most sacred routes to the Underworld, used by those close to the workings of all (druids and the like) who were most concerned with cycles, one-ness with the mana of the world and all that. (as creation, destruction, the cycles of woman hood, and the worship and keeping of memorys, ritual and the dead are all heavily in such religions).

So here's a basic round-up of what's been discussed in the thread this morning:



- Aristogeiton: It seems that perhaps his death and splitting was initiated by the Grigori as part of a very, very long-term plot to eventually catalyze Gehenna? We have 3 of 7 pieces in the possession of active characters.
--- 2 pieces are in Wellhaven; the Scepter of Arrostos is required to find these. This plot has been laid out and merely needs to be initiated. (Sosi, Perri & Thabby have the plot.)
--- 3 pieces are in space: Panacea has the opal pendant; the other two pieces are on the pirate starship Athenia. Sosi's NPC Penny knows where Pana last was seen and that important relics are on the Athenia.

It seems critical to reclaim all the pieces and revive Aristogeiton. I actually suspect this time limit is because we've taken ******** forever on the overarching plot. XDD Ivy says HURRY UP YOU GUYS?

I propose that, once we know a bit more about the timeline and schedule, we send two groups out simultaneously in search of the remaining pieces: one to Wellhaven, the other to the skies to find Panacea's pieces.



- The Dragon Kings: Destruction repeatedly asked for the Dragon Kings to be gathered. "A time approaches when as many of you, shored by the ranks of the Pantheon itself, will be needed." Perhaps this is that time?
--- Futs Lung is the keeper of Manacles that can 'bind the End'. Might be useful against Gehenna.
--- Tien Lung has shielding powers that may be vital as well. Plus the whole "when the time comes, the barrier will draw it forth" thing. (Note: I need to know how effective Tian Yue's shield is against Gehenna-taint.)
--- Mang was with Aristogeiton in the Ashlands and - if we can snag Yuru - may have useful information.
--- No doubt Kishara would appreciate her Black Dragon's aid.

It seems equally critical to gather the Dragon Kings for this piece.



- The Grigori:
--- >( GTFO

Uh. XD Need more info here, but obviously we need to CHAAAAAAAARGE and do something about that cursed lot.



- Random Crap:
--- Are Lucius and Khiviance unSinned now?
--- WTF is the key like a lantern, displayed for all? *cries*
--- Whatever else?


Not that I propose we do anything until we have more knowledge from Ivy, but I dunno, it's nice to have things laid out? @3@

Because of the time limit, things like searching for Aristogeiton and so on need to be tightly plotted and done on an active basis. I think everyone on a metaplot mission for this needs to commit firmly to being active and replying promptly to keep things moving so we don't get stuck.

((Thanks for the response Ivy, smile

Cinder has started down the tracking portions...though she originally was just looking for something that would be useful. Now to figure out the rest.

Thanks again.

*skitters off to do plotness*))

And 'cause I realized it's not linked anywhere since Masked didn't log it:

RP in which Penny talked to Panacea
----- Post in which Pana tells Penny that the relics to 'save the world' are on the Athenia
Penny tells Tian Yue about Pana; Tian Yue sends Toki with the message
Toki confirms that he delivered the message to Illumin's Aoidei

Moar reference. 3nodding

(Also, in which Pana takes nothing but clothes from her chamber which is in Illumin's quarters.)

*facepalm* Okay, so Meep and I are incredibly observant. We were reviewing the info for the quest that our Dragons are on, and found this in the description of the old Pantheon that Ivy did up in PM:

"Much of the rest of the city was avenues, temples to many of the gods and temporary apartments that were lush and kept by aoide for when the gods came to the court. There were three gates to the city, guarded by breathtaking caryatid figures made in the likeness of Gehenna and Origin (The old terms for Destruction and Creation, though the forms are not so humanoid as they are now)."

~_~ GRATS 2 US but hay, here's info, please cogitate on it OOCly as you like. biggrin