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Is there any way that pieces of crystal from the Negaverse/Rift could be taken and made into jewelry that a civilian could wear?

Iris: The crystals in Negaspace and the Rift serve pretty important purposes in the Negaverse. Some crystals encase imprisoned or deceased soliders, some serve as computers, some are used to create the crystal communicators that officers use, others help illuminate the darkened caverns, and in general the remaining crystals serve to help hold and contain the energy the Negaverse collects.

While someone could probably technically break off a piece of crystal to take with them, they most definitely would get in trouble if they were ever caught for wasting a powerful resource, especially for something like jewelry.

It should also be noted, that crystals from the Rift/Negaspace would likely give off a small chaotic signature, so it's possible that people would be able to track them or trace them, making it really unsafe for a civilian to wear (less so for a powered character).

All of that said, if you have a specific plot in mind, where you are wanting to use the crystal for a purpose that benefits the Negaverse, the mule box is always open. Though this isn't something that should be happening all the time it doesn't mean we won't approve a specific plot involving a similar idea.

I fished this one around for hearsay already, but for the sake of an official clarification useful to everyone, may as well repost it here.

In the old Q&A thread was posted without answer-



As an expansion to the question, if any powered character/NPC disposable dies in an rp, is the body still in funny costume or does it revert to civilian? Is the reversion, if it happens, immediate?

It requires at least some energy, for everyone/every faction, to remain powered up. So therefore anyone killed would eventually become their civilian self after death because they no longer have the energy to hold up the disguise and powered form. Sometimes this has been rp'd as an immediate change after death, but other times it has not.

If people want it, specifically for plot reasons, we're lenient on exactly how long after death that switch occurs. So it can happen immediately, or if you need it to take longer, it can be explained away as something that takes a little while as the residual life force and energy drains out of their body.

I've got an rp going with Kao and Lizzy that is approaching a bunch of questions regarding the science of how starseeds work. While the actual answers can absolutely be guesswork and unknown to the characters IC, I thought getting clarifications OOC might be useful for the shop in general? I know that Thraen, for certain, with his sleep flowers might confiscate more starseeds off of officers in the future.



EDIT:
Clarifying the questions to be more clear!
1) How long does it take a starseed to fade/die? (even if this is variable, it could be useful to have it written somewhere for people to refer to)

The amount of time it takes for a starseed to 'die' is extremely variable. For some civilians it may take mere minutes, but other civilians and powered characters have been known to remain in coma for weeks afterwards before the starseed (and/or their bodies) fade and die. Since one never knows just how long it's going to take it's important to try and get starseeds back to their bodies as quickly as possible, not to mention the fragility of them (the longer they are out the more likely they'll be accidentally or purposely broken!)

The Negaverse DOES however have something in Negaspace that lets them hold starseeds in stasis (for future use). If the starseed is placed there it will hang in limbo indefinitely (though the person connected to it will eventually die). This isn't really something that the normal agent would have anything to do with, but if you really wanted to plot with something around this please send us a pm!

2) When one has faded/died, what happens- does the light in it die and its just a dull polyhedral rock? A dull polyhedral crystal? Or does the whole thing literally fade from existence?

When a starseed 'dies' the light fades from it leaving, for a time, a dull casing. Eventually that casing also fades and disappears, but the length of time it takes for that to happen is up to the player.

3) If we're allowed to know, when a starseed fades/dies outside of a body because it couldn't be returned, does it return to the Cauldron/rebirth cycle? or is the soul destroyed forever ?

Souls are only destroyed and unable to be reborn when the actual starseed is destroyed. So if it is eaten, crushed, dropped, or otherwise destroyed then the soul is gone and will be destroyed. If a starseed simply fades and dies outside the body with no actual damage to it then that soul is free to return to the Cauldron to be reborn.

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EDIT 1/14/2014-

In regards to #3) I found this in the really old Q&A, but as its really old, I'm not sure if it applies at all, or helps inform this slight variant of just a starseed fading out as opposed to being eaten

These have probably been asked before...

- reborn/new guardian cats: are they born to two mauvian parents on earth, or regular cats? If the latter, do they know they are guardians from birth, more or less?

Iris: Reborn cats are born as regular cats and live that way until eventually one day they awaken to their powers. There has never been any set rule as to how they awaken, so that's kind of up to the player.

Brand new mauvians could be created through two mauvian parents but that hasn't really come up yet in shop canon other than Diana.

- old cats in stasis: what is this stasis like? Is it a big mystery and they just wake up fully grown under a bush in the park? Do they pop out of a sci-fi cryogenic pod in HQ along side other unawakened cats?

This isn't really something that is usually open to player characters and is more for situations like Luna/Astraea as these characters would likely have a lot of information and memories that puts them at an advantage over everyone else.

It is possible this could happen with a proper plot proposal but isn't very likely.

The mechanism of how it works however is a mystery. Most likely something involving Moon or mauvian magic.

- can an old cat potentially remember enough of Mau tech to build something with available supplies? (pending GM approval for the item, of course)

Mauvians are smart cookies, and whether they remember it from the past or just experiment and figure things out in the present they are definitely able to create technology. If you have a cat character and are interested in them creating new items or technology send the mule a pm and we'll try to work with you. As long as it's not something that gives senshi some huge advantage or anything like that we're willing to look at it.

I noticed that several corrupted Senshi (Cyllene, Euclase, Tisiphone, and as I recall, Nickeline) are all holding starseeds. Are those their own, ICly? If so, does that mean that corrupts can stay conscious with their starseeds outside their bodies? (Given how weird Corrupts are...)

Iris: I believe Tisiphone's was supposed to be hers and then other artists followed the example on occassion, but really I guess it's up to the player if they want the pictured starseed to be their own or one they've harvested.

That said, yes, corrupted senshi can remove and handle their own starseed without passing out. As long as they remain touching it they'll continue to draw energy from it. If they are no longer touching it (they give it to someone, someone steals it, etc) then they would be affected by it's loss.

This is something I literally just thought about today and thought it would be kind of cool, but wondered if it would be possible. Could a Nega!Corrupt senshi purify and then be corrupted by the DMC? And if so would this fall under the normal double swap rules and they'd be a forever Super? Or, because of the different mechanics of a DMC corrupt, would they still be able to be/reach Eternal?

Iris: The situation you mentioned, though unlikely, could indeed happen. They would still be stuck at 2nd stage in the final form however.

The reasoning behind not being able to reach 3rd stage (with double side swaps) is because all of the swapping and manipulation of the starseed has damaged and weakened it in such a way that it is no longer capable of reaching it's full potential. So even if a character went through all three (instead of going back to their original) it's still too much stress on the starseed.

Is the cat-senshi bond more of a personal thing, or is it actually a function of being a senshi/cat? Ie: Can cats bond with negaverse officers/knights? Is there some sort of benefit to being bonded?

Iris: A cat's bond to a person is a personal thing (not really a magical soul bond or anything like that). It's basically just the cat choosing that there is one person above all other that they want to take care of/mentor/help grow to be the best senshi they can be/or otherwise just be with. Many people like to make this bond transcend lifetimes, which in a way is kind of special, but that doesn't have to be the case at all. Nor is a necessary for the cat to be bonded to just one person their entire life, they can unbond and rebond with another if they want.

That said, because of their sworn duties to senshi (and the fact that all their magic and skills are connected to helping/assisting senshi) Order cats can only bond with White Moon senshi and Corrupted cats can only bond with Negaverse corrupt senshi. That doesn't mean that they can't be best buddies with Knights, Negaverse agents, or Dark Mirror senshi and assist them or spend tons of time with them (heck, Guardians can live with civilians if they want, they just probably shouldn't be talking if they do). But if a cat chooses to bond (which they don't have to do at all) it has to be with a senshi.

As to special benefits, there isn't really one currently. (Maybe there will be someday in the future when we do a cat update??) If a player decides to make the bond transcend lifetimes then the cat may receive some past life memories if the senshi player sees them in past visions and passes along the information to them. (Whereas right now cats have no real way to get past life memories other then others telling them if they saw them.) When 'team' update occurs, cats bonded to an entire team (as opposed to a single senshi) may also have their forehead star change to reflect the symbol of the team, but that's really an aethstetic and not really a benefit.