Log - April 2025
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Previous event: Test Drive Meme - March 2025. Next event: Test Drive Meme - May 2025.
The Main Event event on 2025 April 4 posted here. This was the event for April 2025.
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FAQ Questions
| Information | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-15 |
re: the defectors, wrio gave malkuth the neat idea to see if there's a relatively up-to-date census log in the libraries across karteria in order to determine if they can put any names to faces and possibly trace where the defectors generally hailed from! sort of on the same line as kal's question but with more of a focus on what group is centrally leaving karteria's safe walls and any hint as to why -- are they being pushed out? do they just see their chances better away from the government and patho-gen? that sort of thing (malkuth assumes it's most likely the dispirited lower class rather than anyone from the cushier upper echelons, but a confirmation in some direction would be better!) |
The assumption that the defectors hail from the most impoverished and lower class groups... that would be accurate. Anyone with means (and just as important: a support network) would not attempt to live outside the city. Almost everyone, even should they become unhoused, would remain in Karteria proper, scraping out a meager life that's still preferable to the quicker death by arcane radiation outside the barrier. So those who do make the choice- or feel like they have to, with no where else to go, alienated from society- don't leave much behind them. It's possible to sift through census data to find names of people who are in Karteria one year, and gone the next time the census takers make their rounds. And the lower down you go in society, the more incomplete the information is, and the more people fall through the cracks. Occasionally, a very dedicated government employee will risk going out to the defectors, feeling a duty that their existence should still be recorded. This helps to fill in some gaps, but the people who live out there... aren't the most forthcoming when it comes to their personal information. The middle (and even, on some exceptionally rare occasion, upper) class have turned up amongst the defectors, but only for very short amounts of time, before someone (usually law enforcement) turns up to collect them. They still have people to look for them, are still under someone's watch, and going out there even in the short term is usually the result of a mental health crisis. For the lower classes/impoverished who live out there permanently, there's no one left to take them in, or no one who wants to. Their reasons are various, but there are common underlying threads, such as a paranoia towards governmental structures/Patho-Gen/everything. Do they feel like they were pushed out? Some of them do, though they'd have a harder time naming a specific culprit. Society itself, maybe. |
| #2
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-12 |
are the hallucinations from "My one true love...?" deceptive in nature? Or is it just like the rest of Kelesis, fake(/a dreamscape) but not deceptive? I imagine if the person appearing as the loved one had the intention of toying with or manipulating them that would ping Xiezhi's Insight as lying/guilty? |
Right, the hallucinations themselves aren't precisely deceptive, being more in line with the rest of Kelesis. The way characters are appearing to others isn't something they have control over, or active choice; there's no intent to deceive anywhere, so it wouldn't register as being lied to. But yes, should a character use that hallucination to manipulate, to actively take advantage of the illusion to pretend to be someone they're not- that would ping as deception, as lying. |
| #3
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-09 |
Slightly less belated than the other question I asked, but still belated: The new encrypted option. "There's no way to prove that they're encrypted", but if Rowan was looking into it with what they've already done with the network, what would they be able to discover? Would they be able to find out if they're encrypted so that the user is anonymous but Patho-Gen can still read the text of the message, or if the message itself is encrypted (with or without the user also being encrypted). |
With their general network prowess, as well as familiarity with the Karterian network from having been looking at it from the start, they probably would be able to determine whether the service is properly encrypted. And in this case: they would be able to find that Patho-Gen wasn't lying about this! There isn't any backdoor, secret access just for them: it really is genuinely encrypted, both in terms of message contents and the senders themselves. |
| #4
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-09 |
Oh boy. This is what he was worried about. Time to draft a copy of the interviews for the government. They need to know and he is keeping that starting relationship open. Will they answer whose department natural souls are? Just the title of the department and if they let more slip…he will be casually listening. Pay no attention to the law officer listening to you. Keep thinking just an Augmented. |
Most will shrug and say they don't know, that there's a lot of departments, and they frequently change names, merge with another, are split apart from another- basically, that it's hard to keep track. This is even true, though many are just as likely to use this as a redirect, or an excuse not to answer. Some will just refuse outright, whether they know or not. But it's possible to find someone who'll also shrug and give an answer: the modest sounding Department of Acquisition and Refinement. It used to just be Natural Resources, and dealt with things more akin to mineral rights. The last restructuring happened not that long ago, but they really don't know much more than that. It's not their business, how Natural Souls got there. |
| #5
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-08 |
1. Are any of the 30 Patho-gen employees actually individuals that conducted the experiments? Someone characters might recognize? Or are they all low rank/did they just throw the custodians and interns under the bus? 2. Does Karteria have any bizarre laws that no one in their right mind knows or actually enforces? Like "illegal to handle salmon suspiciously" or "no upholstered furniture is allowed on a porch" sort of thing. |
1. No, none of the characters would be recognized as somebody who performed an experiment. They were indeed employees who were performing tasks to assist those who were working on Augmented Ones, or even some who were overseeing operations, but none who were ever directly involved with harming their subjects. For a more detailed answer, I will direct you to this reply on the OOC plotting post! 2. What place doesn't?? Here are some random examples: -Showing the bottoms of one's foot, shoed or otherwise, in public establishments while seated is against the law. Exceptions are made to those who are made to do so due to injury or disability. -Flash photography is not permitted while it is raining. -It is illegal to use Calling magic on animals that are the property of another Karterian. -Selling or otherwise monetizing one's medical imaging documents is forbidden. Again, these are just about never enforced, and most people (including law enforcement) don't even know they're technically on the books... |
| #6
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-08 |
Sweet mods, can you possibly give me a ballpark of how many numis would be reasonable to charge an individual on the street for such an item? (because of course Five isn't going to trust Kalim with the money side of this nonsense,) | hahahaha Depends on the size! The current going price of solid gold... It's about 1000 numis per gram. A gram looks like this. (I needed Help understanding Gold Price and Envisioning a Gold Gram...) Sculpted into a beautiful feathers... If the feather weighs about a gram, it would be appraised for about 3000 numis! (in my mind i am getting reference points from, say, this, which is a hollow sculpture weighing about a gram. so.) But the more it's puffed up, the more money one can try to seduce from the coffers of the rich. Call him an ARTISAN and that this is PAINSTAKINGLY HANDCRAFTED from his VERY OWN BLOOD/SWEAT/TEARS and whatnot. Someone had to DIE for this feather. Kalim SLAVED over it. up to 5000nums could be at stake. QUICK EDIT: It's a good thing Five is selling it on Kalim's behalf. If a Golem-type were to sell it themselves, they'd probably be low-balled since this is a crafted work. Karterians do not try to underpay service Servitons when there is a listed price on an item, but they'd try to underpay for their labor if it were being sold and made by them. Edited 2025-12-08 07:57 pm (local)
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| #7
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-08 |
I was not expecting to mark 'Kelesis is Zanarkand' on my Kart conspiracy board So many questions. Very sorry about this interrogator man. 3. Hubert meets blunt with blunt: so long as whatever Kelesis is doing is not harming/impeding him or his, they will have nothing to fear from him. He just wants to learn; the current Augmented have been abducted into this world and held in the dark. He wants to understand what is happening to him [oocly, his gaining of the Peri-soul]; he wants to know if the doe-eyed figure is a former generation Augmented; he wants to understand how Kelesis protects its citizens from radiation in case that might be applied or adapted elsewhere; they once said 'Karteria has helped and hurt', can they confirm how; and it was them, wasn't it, that sheltered the Augmenteds' minds in the October dream carnival? He will guard Kelesis' nature and only speak of it to truly trusted; Hubert acknowledges even outside of Patho-Gen, there are likely some Augmented that could do serious damage with this knowledge. He will also not dispel these dreams (barring anything like the hallucination prompt/sidebar in the event). 4. He will express a marvel for the dream world, but also, if he is becoming like the doe-eyed figure... would the doe-eyed figure tutor him in his Perissodactyla dream abilities? In exchange, so long as it does not harm his own interests, he will offer to protect Kelesis interests outside their borders. Feel free to interpret this as a Pact offer—Hubert is a baby Peri and unaware of the pact magic. (Hubert definitely would utilize that knowledge to haunt the dreams of those who gravely wrong him.) |
3. Hubert's forthright nature goes over well with them. But they are a little surprised at the idea that the doe-eyed figure is a former Augmented. This much they will easily refute; no, they are not and have never been an Augmented. They had never seen one before their arrival on Eparsis. As for whether they aided during the dream carnival: they will suggest yes, but some of that was specifically performed by missing bretheren of theirs. Their greatest sphere of influence is around Kelesis, but dreams know fewer boundaries. And the distress of those 'nearby' resonated fiercely enough for them to take notice of it. There is an unease about this too, a worry that churns wordlessly in the background. As for Karteria's past actions: Karteria withdrew aid. We came to help. We were invited. We were The 'voice' abruptly shifts into a flash of imagery. It's drawn, in a crude storybook-like way, with the ground scratched out and the sky dark and simple figures collapsed in the streets. It's clear that this is a scene of mass death. The text just as suddenly clips back in, as though the prior scene had never been there. We saved what Karteria would not. But our protection... ... No. It wouldn't work for you. You don't need it. If Karteria ever falls come and find us. They don't seem willing or able to help with barrier creation outside of Kelesis- or at least, not until Karteria itself is in dire straits, its dying throes. Perhaps as recompense for its treatment of Kelesis? 4. As for whether Hubert is becoming a doe-eyed figure... they have to mull it over. He is, and isn't like them. He is a human and an arachnid, concepts they view in equal regard. But he is also like them now. But they will light up at the offer; once it's made, the surroundings of their dream bubble fade into haze and stillness. There's no sound left but the speech of the entity before him, the words etched into his soul. Promise to protect Kelesis from afar, and we'll show you how to use the part of us that we gave you. And they will make good on that offer, freely giving Hubert some pro tips on how to navigate dreams, how to create or modify them, how to speak in courier text, the kinds of dreams they think taste best... practical aid, encompassing the kinds of powers a Perissodactyla-type would possess. (What Hubert does with his new abilities does not concern them so long as it doesn't run contrary to Kelesian interests.) |
| #8
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-08 |
And I assume they dismiss any talk of dangers from the space between worlds. What do they know about how natural souls were uh, caught. Do they stick to the Patho-gen stance that they are out to save their world. Or is it all as said above. |
Dangers...?! A provocative line of discussion, and they'll actually be interested to listen, but not really heed anything. Whether this persuades them in any direction is another story, nor is it particularly material, as they're now stuck in jail instead of working with colleagues who wish to explore other worlds. Do they know about how Natural Souls were obtained? No. That is not their department (their department isn't torture, either, but here we are). Natural Souls are natural phenomena... Probably came from wolves and stuff. That this may imply killing other creatures isn't concerning to them. Do they stick to the Patho-Gen stance that they're going to save their world? Their answer is more along the determined line of saving Karteria, wishing to save humanity. Many of these people are deeply concerned with the fate of humanity, but for some reason have it in their minds that Tamariah itself cannot be saved. Why, they're less sure about and have fewer answers. If reminded that conditions are measurably improving from Augmented intervention, well... Some of them may cede and say "I hope that continues to be true. Maybe then we wouldn't need to leave." |
| #9
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-06 |
can augmented use Calling and can Calling be used on karterians or kelesians? | Calling appears to be a power that is innately Karterian, but characters who are versed in magic can likely learn some version of it. Yes! However, Calling magic strictly seems to work on animals of a non-primate persuasion, as well as plants and other natural phenomena. Suggesting that Calling be used on humans would cause Karterians to balk. (Cool double standard there, guys.) |
| #10
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-05 |
Would Karterians seeking feathers be happy to be gifted one instead, or is part of the superstition in the plucking? Asking for an Aves slightly traumatised about feather plucking thanks to Patho-Gen. |
Being gifted a feather is perfectly alright with them, though they may react with some surprise! The superstitions really don't go into plucking vs. gifting, as it's difficult to ask an actual bird for permission. But it has been considered extra good luck to catch a bird flying off, with a pristine feather left behind. They'll probably consider an Augmented gifting a feather as almost an extension of that, and be appropriately appreciative of the volunteer. |
| #11
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-05 |
Would many Karterians be willing to purchase an extremely lifelike solid gold feather as a festive memento, or is getting it directly from the bird integral to the appeal? | Wow........ This is probably over the budget for most. But perhaps..... A very rich Karterian who has had one too many Cabernets for the evening will purchase it! The more realistic it is, the better. Needs to be so brittle that it breaks. |
| #12
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-05 |
re: the Outer Defectors If gently wheedled or pressed, would any of them mention family that they wish they could see/talk to? Someone that should be notified when they die in the following days? Obviously they feel abandoned but, for instance, if they had a young kid once upon a time or someone they cared for that they haven't been able to see... Or are they pretty much all in the mindset that even those people have abandoned them? Edited 2025-12-05 02:26 am (local)
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Most of the defectors are of the conviction that they've been abandoned- or are proud (bitter) about doing the abandoning themselves. No one cares about them, they don't need anyone, they know the truth, etc., it's as exhausting as it is sad. The mental deterioration due to arcane radiation isn't doing them any favors when it comes to a steady lucidity. It's still possible to hit upon a moment of weakness and regret in some of them, and be given a name, some direction. They won't ask for anyone to be located, but if an Augmented were to persevere anyway... Most of the time there's nothing to find- either because no one remembers who they're talking about, or because the information they gave was incorrect, jumbled up with something else. In some cases, it's possible to get an indirect hit, locating an old neighbor, or a friend who recognizes the description. Some will pass along the news that the person has already died. Others will become defensive, upset if it's made clear on whose behalf the Augmented is looking, and refuse to connect them further. 'Good riddance,' is the common sentiment. 'I hope they stay out there. Leaving is the only good thing they've ever done.' But the defectors are not, unfortunately, wrong about being alone out there. Apart from the vague 'community' they keep outside the city, no one else would notice if they were gone. |
| #13
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-05 |
- Is this Karterian aversion to Perissodactyla for this month only or is this ongoing? Either way, does that aversion impact his chances of getting an accounting job for winter now the greater job market opened up? - Hubert knows what emojis sound like, I guess. If does he know what that Kelesisan courier font sounds like, if he gets that speed dating card. - Hubert has been nursing suspicions about Kelesis for a while and the hallucination thing will spur him to try. If he stays the night in Kelesis and looks for a Perissodactyla dreamworld (or... to exit one?) for Kelesis/the doe-eyed figure that has appeared before/the voices that have talked to him, what happens? |
1. It seems to have suddenly flared up! It's only for this month... And frankly, citizens will apologize for being cagey. They may even source... A strange dream they had that they're only just remembering. No, it wasn't a bad dream, just a strange one. They don't remember the details. They don't even know why Hubert would be the cause for remembering it. He should be capable of getting a job and maintaining it without issue. 2. Kelesian courier font sounds like a collective voice, and it would indeed sound like the voices of the city's guardians! The same voice he even heard when getting his special soul... Whispers of multiple individuals. 3. Oh, Hubert. Good sleuthing! His suspicions will be correct, although he'll find as a fresh Perissodactyla-type that the distinction between dreaming and being awake while in Kelesis is barely there. Technically yes, anyone who enters Kelesis remains awake while they're awake, and asleep while they're asleep... but the city itself is suspended in a myriad of dream-bubbles, the will of many dreamers! That these dreams can be experienced by the waking world is the work of its guardians. Thus, there are plenty of entry/exit points. That doe-eyed figure will appear just as soon as Hubert hopes to find them. To Hubert specifically, as is true for any other Perissodactyla-type who wishes to meet. That individual embodies many people, and while most can't determine that, it'll be clearer to any Perissodactyla who meets them. If he has any questions, they're willing to answer, but they'll tell Hubert outright that Kelesis appears as it does by the will of its people. That they are protecting it. They won't stand to have it ruined. Trying to dispel any of these dreams is in direct defiance of the pact they've made to protect this city, and will be as good as a declaration of animosity... So tread carefully. |
| #14
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-05 |
To those who investigated the East Sophia disappearances a while back, would the way in which the outer city defectors who say too much suddenly vanish appear similar in nature to how those disappearances were happening (and is it possible to pick up any sort of trail at all)? | This is a good question, and definitely a vein of inquiry that should be explored. The answer is not straightforward, meaning that there's something to this theory, characters will find. For anyone reading this who needs a reminder re: the missing people, disappearances from East Sophia came from an earlier Velvet Quest prompt, and can be find under the Concluded tab. Further context can be found in the "preemptive FAQ" dropdown upthread. Much of the original kidnappings that occurred in East Sophia ground to a halt after the Augmented turned their eyes upon it, but many outer city defectors continued to be targeted. Those shady fellows who seemed to be contracted kidnappers lurk in dark, downtrodden places... but they aren't the ones responsible for kidnapping any outer city defectors this time. Interviewing others who make do in the outer city after any disappearance is like pulling teeth. But some may indicate that they heard some kind of major kerfuffle, an argument that turned physical—then, silence. Augmented Ones can find some evidence to prove this: signs of blood splatter, torn clothes, a tooth knocked from a jaw, a clump of hair. They got serious. It seems that it was an outer city defector who fought another outer city defector, and what happened to them from there... it's hard to say. It won't be easy to find these nomadic people, who don't often spend their time in one place... but if a character acts with haste, they may be able to find another beat-up defector who knows something. "Was paid to do it," they say, still nursing wounds. "They're dead now. Yep... They've got ears everywhere. Whaddaya going to do, arrest me? I'll kick your ass." ... So they weren't kidnapped, but someone had them killed. Someone knew they spoke out of turn. This is alarming. (Who "They" are, this person won't even be able to say. They don't know, either. The government?????? The birds????? Someone does!) And waiting one day too long means that characters will learn nothing of the situation, as their attacker won't be found even a day afterwards. That is where someone with greater power stepped in and dealt with them, too. |
| #15
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-04 |
I assume they don’t care to remember Aigmented we’re just human or so themselves before they altered them. But. If questioned about these rifts, what do they say? And if an Augmented clearly has knowledge of beyond their own world…how do the criminals react? |
NAHHHH they do not care. People from other worlds are basically not important. The rifts, they know sorry little about. They just talk about it like weird loons. But people who know about worlds beyond their own... They seem interested, though it's abundantly clear that talking shop about worlds beyond even Tamariah is beyond them, much less talking about the state of the neighboring island Ekklisis. They don't seem particularly worldly, much less other-worldly. But they're receptive to having conversations about other people's worlds, and may take one of two angles: either 1) how weak are the people there? or 2) how... nice is it, there? What troubles do the people face? Which topic they choose depends on how threatened they feel. If they feel threatened, they'll pick the former; if they're being talked to calmly, they may pick the latter, hoping to hear about a nicer world. |
| #16
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-04 |
Popping onto this question for the other way around version - would it be reasonable to assume some of the punished (particularly the ones who were overseeing experiments or transporting supplies) remember Augmented experimentees (particularly ones who got up to notable disruption and chaos...not naming any names...)? Relatedly, as Momo did try to sneakily filter out spores to a significant chunk of the facility as an opportunistic thing as he encountered people, with the mention on the Fungi soul page that it's very difficult to completely get rid of their spores once they've grown onto someone, might he be able to still pick up some bloodstream spores on certain people as a way of recognising if he encountered them directly? | Some of them do! About 1/3~1/2 of them remember some Augmented experimentees. ...And thus, a few of them may be afflicted by the spores. Clever, Momo. Clever. We'll go with about four of them having been exposed, though there is very little these sorry inmates can do, even while being supervised in their community service duties. Still, they will be Spore'd up. |
| #17
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-04 |
Thank you for a chill event this month :> Since Viktor and Jayce have helped with the teleporters in the past, what would Patho-Gen say if they offered to look at them again when the problems start? |
They'd be more than happy to have them take a look! As for what they'll find... Something is interrupting their function, but it's nothing like their internal mechanisms, their maintenance, or their power supply. While Viktor may not be so able to notice anything weird, Jayce, as a Golem-type... if he's harnessed any of his powers over the earth, each hiccup in their functionality aligns with a strange distortion of ambient magnetic fields. Whatever's going on, it's on a much, much bigger scale than will be sorted in a month's time, but some other soul types may be able to pursue more information... |
| #18
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-04 |
For the romantic hallucinations in Kelesis, are these necessarily current loves, or might they take the form of former loves as well? For the drama. | Interesting question! These can absolutely be former loves. Especially if some flame yet flickers in the individual hallucinating. Ultimately, we love drama. Do it. |
| #19
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-04 |
the kelesis hallucination of a loved one: how long does it last? Is it a matter of being simply shaken out of it and told it's not who they think it is, or does the delusion extend past all reason into something more prolonged? | It can last as long as you'd prefer it to, but it will surely end if the character somehow leaves the city of Kelesis. It can end if the character hits their head on something too hard, or if they're slapped; it could end if they trip and fall, or if their senses are engaged with something that pulls them out of the hallucination, like a familiar or provocative smell, touch, sound, or taste. Their sight, however, is utterly useless. Thus, being told that the person they're seeing may not be enough to snap a person out of it. It could work, but it depends on how deeply the individual is lost in the sauce. It can be an intoxicating, dreamlike hallucination; it can be something more shallow too, if the player prefers. Short answer: it can last as long as is preferred within Kelesis (though it probably wouldn't last longer than a day); it can be as easy or as difficult as preferred to shake out of, but the best results will be from engaging any sense other than sight. |
| #20
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-04 |
For the ex-Patho-Gen people, would plant pheromones and giving them an alcoholic hot drink like Irish coffee or spiked hot chocolate (ostensibly to help them warm up while working outside) lower their inhibitions enough to let a few things slip that they might not have intended to? | Ooh, good question! It very well could. Most of them don't have anything to offer beyond the scope of their clerical duties, or the fact that they weren't all that important in the grand scheme of things. Some may even state their regret for their involvement, but not for any, ah... moral reason. It's purely because they feel so small, thrown under the bus like this. So disposable. Most of them are grunt workers. Janitorial. Clerical. They were in charge of guarding a doorway, or making sure paperwork went unseen. They were in charge of cleaning supplies, or replacing scalpel blades. They admit things like their overall hatred of the upper class, or their disgust towards the lower class; they'll talk about how Patho-Gen will find a way to salvation. That's what all of this loyalty is all about. Salvation. ... For this firm belief in salvation, these imprisoned Patho-Gen members sure don't seem to know much about the plan behind attaining salvation, however. Something about unlocking the pathway to worlds beyond this one, this miserable place. Hardly worth saving. To try to fight its destruction is delusion. They fear the encroaching arcane radiation. These staff members spiral at this point, if drunk/drugged enough; they're sad, scared, powerless. Even though they're complicit in horrific crimes, at the end of the day they're rebelling against a world they're certain is going to kill them. They don't believe in the angle of trying to solve or understand Katalyth, and believe they need to give up on the world, and rebuild on another. |
| #21
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-01 |
Asking the obligatory: if any Augmented offered to play some music at the lower-and-middle-class party, would that be accepted? I assume they'd want the same sort of genres as mentioned, but Re:vale do have a couple of jazz/swing vibe songs. | Yes! They will heartily accept, even if it does stray from their usual preference. They're welcoming to anything the Augmented wish to bring to the table, performances definitely included. |
| #22
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-01 |
Also asking, but please disregard if this will be detailed on the post: for the tortured Augmented who have remembered some things, are any of these ex-PG employees recognizable? Or are they just randos (that are likely scapegoats)? | While they're small cogs in a greater machine... some of them may be recognizable. Staff members who ferried vials or syringes to and fro; people complicit in this overall endeavor. A few may even be those tasked with overseeing experiments. Others, however, are completely unrecognizable. Regardless of which staff member is asked, they will be forthright about what part they played, and admit to it. Whether they were present at the Holiday Destination, or acting remotely from Patho-Gen HQ in some capacity, they'll say that much.
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| #23
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-12-01 |
obligatory q.............. for velvet claw quest #1, would they let someone with a criminal record who would definitely do nefarious things with such power (not naming names...) supervise these folk? | Heheh... Elijah... No. They would not. The families of these individuals would protest greatly, claiming that the lives of their imprisoned loved ones are directly threatened by such fiends. However, there is a workaround. Characters like Eli who have a criminal background, or who have a particularly bad reputation with Patho-Gen or the government, will be allowed to supervise with another Augmented One present! This was negotiated heavily, and even then, some members of the govt/Patho-Gen don't care for this outcome. This is to say, Elijah could supervise... or, co-supervise. He is 100% required to have a supervisor to his supervising. How that supervisor supervises Eli is another question entirely. |
| #24
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-14 |
Hi, mods! Can Rinne and friends steal a car? Restoring a car from a junkyard would cause issues with the homeless population, so we plan for them to steal one from the wealthy or the government instead. If this is possible: 1. Since "the younger generation views cars as nothing but a type of parade-float", how fast do these cars typically go? Could they modify the car to go faster? 2. Can they hide the stolen car in the woods, or is the risk of being found too high? 3. For aesthetic purposes, what make of car would be possible for them to steal? (Otherwise, we'll go wild with it!) Thanks! |
It would certainly be a... challenge to steal a car from the upper class. During the parade it would be exceedingly difficult to succeed, given all the attention on them, and the owners are quite protective (and proud) of their cars. If they're planning to liberate one from someone's garage, that's also... hard. If they do have some plan for this: 1. The cars could reach 50-60 mph. If they have the knowledge and parts, they could hypothetically modify them. However, outside Karteria there aren't really roads any longer. There weren't that many leading outside the city to begin with (as the age of the personal vehicle had only just begun, and then abruptly ended), and they haven't been maintained. There is not anywhere to go with a car. 2. If they could make it out there... it's also probable that it would be found. There's not that many functional cars remaining in the city, and those that exist are monitored, tracked. Not because they're afraid of theft of the entire vehicle (as trying to move a car around the city would be very visible and quickly shut down), but instead vandalism, or the stealing of parts. There's some valuable metals in there! 3. The cars themselves would be along the lines of what's mentioned here. Vehicles solidly from the 1920s-40s in style. They're sleek, they're stylin, but they're not really all-terrain vehicles suited for roughing it out in the swamps of Asphodel Fields or the hilly, thicket-covered and tree-riddled Woods. |
| #25
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-11 |
This is completely unrelated to this log but wanted to ask for logistics for...reasons... In the previous TDM, it talked about pair bonds, but it also said this: Should the pair bond feel particularly mischievous, or want to explore the supposed power of their relationship, gestures of affection and care for each other will cause overhead lights to burst, or for the machine to overload and abort the procedure. In this room, like this, it may be possible for these characters to communicate telepathically... as if they needed such connection to know each other's hearts. Does "in this room, like this, it may be possible" refer to the conditions of the experiment and the machines, or is the telepathy something pair bonds can eventually do once they're strong enough? Just wanted to check. Thank you!! |
That's right, that's something that pair bonds can potentially do at any time! It has no connection to Patho-Gen's machines, nor requirements beyond the characters themselves being pair bonded. It's more that the particular consciousness of the situation, being told to focus on their imprint (and that imprint actually having developed into a full pair bond) during that bout of testing might have stirred an ability like that into being. (Of course, how easily achievable this is (and how inadvertently it happens) is up to the players. It could be that it requires deliberate concentration for both parties, or some manner of stress/agitation/strong feeling, or physical contact. It could happen fleetingly, or become a nuisance... whatever is more convenient for the players. There is probably something of a max range... like if one party is in Karteria, and the other Kelesis, it would be easier to just call them on the Syntrofos. A general awareness/feeling for their state would persist at all distance unless explicitly smothered by something, but telepathy should be more of a short-range bonus.) |
| #26
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-11 |
Can characters get any context from AntINKquity of where these books are coming from? Are they being brought or copied from the characters' worlds, or would it be a similar situation to the movies at the Valentia, where staff just view the similarities as a weird coincidence? | It's not quite like the Valentia (though it's likely that the movies that end up there are a part of the same circuitous route), as the staff at AntINKquity know somewhat more about what they're dealing with. Strictly speaking, they still wouldn't be able to confirm where anything came from- but there's a suggestion of 'sources' from within the Government or Patho-Gen, connections that go deep. They might even surmise this openly- that if the Augmented can be brought here from other worlds, maybe they can also pull objects? Or... somehow grab the data from somewhere, if not the material itself? They seem to find the idea a touch fantastical, but they're also enamored of it. While all good Karterians have a literary bent, those employed here are dedicated, and have a great love for research. To live in an age where they might read stories from other worlds... truly amazing, especially with how Karteria's literary scene has stagnated in recent years. What makes it onto AntINKquity's shelves is not going to be an original, but a duplicate, or something piecemeal that's been stitched together with any number of unrelated articles. The general staff don't have access to the originals (if they even exist), but are good about cataloging the things they are sent. |
| #27
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-11 |
Part of Saturn's association-based Golem powers for Being Plastic is that she typically has a sixth sense for what materials an object is made out of, and how it might be destroyed. She also has ANYWAY she's gotten permission from Hubert to poke at his retrieved Augmenter and would like to see if there's anything new (or fucked up) (or new and fucked up) she can deduce about the thing circa her powers~~! |
Unfortunately for Saturn, the Augmenter delivered to her arrives pre-broken. But with her uncanny ability for deducing these sorts of things, she should be able to tell a bit about how and why it was broken: It is only half of a 'complete' Augmenter (even a bit less than that, given that this part of the capsule doesn't have that much in it). The way it was connected to the other half is deliberately frail, built to detach on disturbance (which suggests that attempting to remove an intact Augmenter from a character will be difficult to achieve- not impossible, but difficult). It is also... unpleasant to hold. Mildly so, the sort of feeling that would be easy to brush off (or go unnoticed entirely were the character touching it already feeling stressed, or upset). It doesn't get any worse the longer Saturn (or anyone else) holds it, but it's always there, a background hum of pessimism, of apathy. As a Golem-type in particular, Saturn may be more 'conscious' of this infliction, this small deadening of mood. While there's no visible residue left on the capsule, it has been in close contact with Katalyth. The capsule itself is inert, it won't kill anyone to stay in contact with it (or eat it), but it's absorbed some of those bad vibes, in a way. The material of the capsule itself is otherwise sturdy- very sturdy, plasticy, artificial- made of some unknown composite material. It's only its connection to the other, missing half that's frail, as it's something that's otherwise built to seal off and protect its contents from the outside. |
| #28
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-08 |
Hello mods!! I saw The Valentia's dining hall provides meals for the Augmented. Does this include like...... dirt and non-organic matter for golem soul types... Things that would not be found in a kitchen per se but considered sustenance for them? | While the Valentia has gotten somewhat better about keeping around meals that suit different needs (or different palates), they have balked over keeping blood on hand for the vampire-esques (who may have their meals sponsored for an amount of time by visiting nearby clinics)... and they just haven't thought much about what Golems would need. (Few, unfortunately, think much about Golems in terms of 'needs'.) They would be somewhat confused at the request; why couldn't a Golem just... go outside, eat some dirt there if that's what they want? But they might be convinced towards keeping a box or shelf somewhere with an assortment of rocks (as it's not particularly off-putting, just odd). If other Augmented are willing to donate rocks/other tasty inorganic materials, they will start keeping them on hand to dispense on request (and who knows, they might even add any nice-looking stones they come across to the pile). |
| #29
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-08 |
Ty for this insight!! Would Golem-types be told by the Valentia about their dietary changes? It sounds like they might need to figure it out on their own, if people tend to forget about their needs... | Alas, they would not be told... the Valentia staff know a bit about some of the more mundane appetites, as they've run into a few different needs by now, but requests from Golems aren't something they've run into. (And Patho-Gen's own knowledge of these things is somewhat spotty... though they've attempted to crib somewhat from the information the Augmented themselves have gathered about their own diets.) So were a Golem to ask the staff as to what they should eat, they would be offered 'normal' Karterian food (gelatinous mayo) until knowing better. (If the Golem was Shifted, or otherwise thoroughly corrupted and visibly not-human, they might be told to report back to their manufacturer for refueling or recharging, or whatever it was robots needed. They're there to serve people, not things.) |
| #30
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-07 |
this isn't about the parents we're getting to the source. would the miscreant son be interested in a deal... all malkuth wants is a chance to put 3kon's music on the map of the rich young folk (surely they'll be into the rough crudeness of those carnivora they're all bad kids here) and in exchange for her shapeshifting to look like him and work at one of the jobs that an augmented proposes to get his parents off his back for a little while separately, since augmented have the chance to own businesses now, would it be possible to buy up one of the unfinished buildings in east sophia or would it still be a leasing situation? malkuth's willing to put in the long term work as long as it's "cheaper" upfront |
Miscreant Son: a deal made to spread the good word of 3kon: So. We couldn't figure out just how this lad would handle such a request. We let... a dice handle the fate. The roll was not favorable. Like, a 3 out of 20. While the rich son would take advantage of Malkuth's 'generosity' and let her work a job for him (hell yes, he can work and NOT do shit!), and he'd also humor whatever request she has about listening to 3kon's music and even spreading it around... He is not fond of the Augmented, and isn't able to acknowledge that it's any good past his distaste of them. The rough crudeness of the Carnivora-types is favorable compared to the cutesy Aves-types that so many hoity-toity folk like, sure, but he's not fond of them. The son says he'll listen. He says he'll tell his buddies. Whatever she wants. But he doesn't say he cares for it. In fact, he kind of treats it like a way to be mean when showing his buddies. Look at these things, trying to be normal! Weird, huh? It's really mean-spirited. Sorry, Malkuth... :c But it's not all bad. It's a start. If he exposes it to some of his friends, they don't all necessarily side with his opinion, even if they pretend to jeer and mock what they hear and see. They have to all agree with him on the surface, and make fun of it... but they might actually secretly like it. It's an interesting start amongst the rich, finding something that is catchy, new, unique... but that they're embarrassed to like. Buildings in East Sophia: WHY would you want one of those derelict things, a landowner would ask?! Additionally, the Government has problems letting any Augmented Ones own property in Karteria. Renting only! (Owning things is for rich people to do, and not for people who don't even live here normally?! (They really need to get over this if they wanna welcome in these otherworldly visitors, huh? B... baby steps.)) The answer to owning is: no. Renting, however? Yes. And renting a whole derelict building... It's possible that Malkuth can cut a deal with someone who owns property in East Sophia that they can cut down the cost of even renting a whole building if she promises to polish it up. It's still their property, they're adamant about this, but if she can make it shine... The dangers of this, of course, is that the landlord can revoke the deal after a contracted amount of months and reclaim the property, but we'd rather let this matter be whatever's most fun for you to play out. If you want Malkuth to find a fairly kind landlord who isn't going to steal back the property as soon as she gets it habitable, that can absolutely happen. To rent a whole building won't be cheap, and building/renovation supplies won't be cheap either. But with the help of some other Augmented Ones on her side, it might even be doable. |
| #31
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-07 |
If one kept their traits mostly hidden and went looking around in the crowd. Could they tell who was messing with them? And how wide spread is this rumor? Kaeya has been working on housing repairs all over the city…would he have heard it? |
Characters can locate the individual messing with them via Calling magicks, indeed. They are doing it on a whim, just because they heard about it! They'll be real mum about where the info came from. If pressed and prodded for deets, these magic-practicing Karterians have a he-said-she-said sort of web for where they learned this information from. A brother-in-law, who learned it from a work buddy, who learned it posited by a weirdo online via their various social media apps, who claims they don't know where they heard it from, they just thought about it on their own. ...It's not unreasonable, however, to guess that some part of Patho-Gen has disseminated this 'rumor' as a result of their experiments. What their aim is, however, remains to be seen. Would Kaeya have heard the rumor? Unlikely. Karterians would be sure to be quiet about this kind of talk right in front of an Augmented One. But if you'd like to thread it out, he could have absolutely overheard it if it's of interest! Of course, the rumor's source remains unconfirmed, though it would be very easy to assume where it came from, given the circumstances. All people who talk about this stuff in public spaces (or even in their own homes) would be non-Patho-Gen staff, or if they're Patho-Gen staff members they'd not be very important or integrated ones. |
| #32
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-07 |
would an arthropoda soul be able to detect who specifically was trying to call say, her bond-mate as part of the "detecting intent" part of their skillset? esp if she was perhaps riding on his back | Ooh, indeed. It'll be difficult, however. The interesting thing about the 'intent' of these parade-goers is that the 'intent' is fleeting before they actually try it, implying that it's very whimsy-sourced. They didn't come to the parade with the desire to try out magic tricks on the Augmented. It's more like a domino effect: the rumor's gone around, yes (its source cannot be traced but it's safe to assume it's some part of Patho-Gen responsible), and one person just... gets bored, and tries it out. Another person sees this and wonders if they can do it too. So while possible to find them through these means, it might just be easier to locate a Karterian focusing very hard. By the time they're done with the spell is when characters are sufficiently implanted with the urge, and at that point the 'intent' part is over. They'll probably look obvious by virtue of looking stupidly smug about the whole thing, too. If interrogated, their 'source' is a web of he-said-she-said. Their reason for doing this is because they were bored, and curious. Karterians are a curious-minded bunch, and a hypothesis deserves being tested! They will apologize, and say they won't do it again. They just had to see if it was true. |
| #33
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-07 |
Apologies for the silly question but do the books from AntINKquity come exactly as from their origin world or are they translated to the local language? | While most will arrive in the local Karterian language, if you'd prefer it to arrive in your character's native language, that can happen as well. |
| #34
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-06 |
crying im sorry mods what uh what if someone who is very much disliked by the government puts in a license request for a business he is a very legitimate businessman don't you see he just wants to do legal business and play by the government's rules :) :) :) |
Legitimate businessman Silco turning up to do legitimate business... what's wrong with that? The Government could very well be expected to balk, or laugh at the absurdity, the absolute nerve. Silco, who's been associated with trouble from the start, now wants an official license from them? However- and Silco could well see some evidence of this discussion, a flurry of activity behind doors open and closed- he's not rejected out of hand. There are delays. This is not a normal case, and after what looks to be a lot of deliberation, a lot of back-and-forth... Silco is indeed granted A License. (Do they actually trust him, or believe he's going to start playing within the rules? No, but the influence he's gaining in the underbelly of the city has caused concerns- and they think this may be one way to better keep an eye on him. To hassle, to distract. If Silco goes ahead with his very legit business, he may expect a lot of auditing, a lot of bureaucracy thrown in his way.) |
| #35
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-05 |
Apologies if it's mentioned somewhere, but Flins is a fae, and as such seems to use his lantern to feed. Would he be permitted to keep it despite it being a seemingly magic item? | Patho-Gen has made exceptions in the past for things like weapons or magical items during the TDM specifically. If the character absolutely needs that item to survive and there are no other workarounds... they may grant it. However, any other features the lantern possesses, if used for ill during this first month, will garner harsh penalty and surveillance. If the character can feasibly survive without the lantern, however, they won't be willing to give it over. They want to study it first, and learn its ins and outs! Magical items will usually be returned to characters upon acceptance, unless it's a game-breaking item or one that grants immense power. |
| #36
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-05 |
piggybacking off of this (lol) if someone wanted to sell goods (specifically art) to people or to take on commissions, is that considered a business requiring of a license? bonus if they sort of sell themselves at the job fair as someone who can do paintings, drawings, etc.? |
It's one of those gray areas, but for the most part, no! A Karterian would do the same thing at, say, a craft fair or during Salvation Day. It starts to become a "problem" in the Government's eyes when they start turning significant enough profit that they want to collect taxes on it... But nobody wants to enforce that kind of thing in RP. Generally speaking, if it's a main source of income for a character, they may require a business license but might not require a venue for that business, if that makes sense. You can follow your heart on this one. License or no, let them do art... |
| #37
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-05 |
How would the public feel about rides on a big dog, granted said dog were decorated for the parade with ribbons and curse, and was absolutely not above giving rides to people if it meant a few bucks here and there for the "get out of town" fund? | Whoa... rides on Big Dog... They might take some reassuring at first, but yes. Maybe if that dog weren't snarling and being as nonthreatening as possible, and decked out in those ribbons, they might be down for it. Just be nice, doggie! |
| #38
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-05 |
Hypothetically if an Augmented hung around the schlocky propaganda musical rehearsals offering a lot of unsolicited-but-technically-sound advice on the songs and singing and, to a lesser extent, the acting and dancing -- could that Augmented take over a role if a castmember became indisposed? Are there any cranky reviews, letters to the editor, or Syntrofos flame wars complaining the accuracy (or lack thereof) of any specific parts of the musical? |
If a castmember became indisposed?! Sheryl, what are you planning... If pushy enough, well... In most cases, the Peacock Musical will have understudies. But assuming all of these people are somehow indisposed, they might humor at least a rehearsal with an Augmented One. Do anything too off-the-cuff, and you're out. Amateur reporters would be happy to get the opinion of Augmented Ones about this show that was supposed to portray the magnificent Peacock! If they have complaints, it's a sensational news story! The Sophian Herald is an entertainment news group mentioned in a Concluded quest (under "CAN WE HAVE A WORD?") that might be interested in something divisive and shocking like this. They have a penchant, however, for exaggerating accounts... |
| #39
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-11-05 |
Hello! There is a book I'd like for Aether to pick up, but in the game it comes in a few volumes. Would it be possible to get the entire set or some sort of compilation of all the volumes in one? | A couple volumes is nothing! They may hand him one specific volume, but if he asks after it the staff might go deep diving into their archives to find the rest of it, as you prefer. |
| #40
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-27 |
howdyyy dropping this here so I can link it around when it's through, it's about pal going to meet with "anon"-- basically, was wondering if we could do a little handwave of how that exchange will go! pal of course does not lie, so he will be incredibly up front about what he remembers from being in the horrors; he won't diminish to protect anyone's feelings, but he also won't embellish just for dramatic effect. while he wouldn't share anyone else's presence/experience by name, from his own jaunt in the horrors he will at least tell her: -the conditions and look of the place -the content of the imprinting experiment -the specialized power testing rooms, incl. about the angry augmented bone full of spite he got to touch -the inhumane treatment overall re: food and so on -the katalyth room/he will let her look at his corruption eyes if she keeps a polite distance so re: the handwave, things I would love to know are: -what's her vibe...how's her response -does she have any other illicit information she'd slip him, on purpose or otherwise -if he bothers her about who she's taking this to specifically, like for names, will she cough them up and because he will Insist she Put His Name On It -will there be any other npc response to pal about this, friendly or un. I'm going to slap the network thread on the reputation reporting eventually, so if that would come up then, please feel free to shuffle me off that way I FORGOT ALSO....... would she meet with him like, day of the network post, or Another Date-- Edited 2025-10-24 11:07 am (local)
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A handwave would be fantastic. It would keep things from getting messy..... especially since there will be Others Potentially Present. Celia will be by herself. There's very clearly an unease to her because welp this whole post was a lot, but she is not willing to relent due to discomfort. She's gotta know about Patho-Gen's crimes. That said, she will remain as polite and accommodating as possible. Pal's refusal for of her aid during their conversation has made her very wary of overstepping, so she won't ask to poke around unless sincerely offered. Even then, re: his special eyes, she will only look and jot down notes; she offers that her field of expertise isn't whatever this is, but that it should be accounted for as a side-effect of the way Patho-Gen's treated him. There's no desire on her part to hungrily Learn Science from his condition. ... All to say that she appreciates this digest. (Sorry for the length... Celia wants to be OPEN, as much as possible.) She dutifully takes notes. She needs to know these things, and will be presenting it to a collaborative group of government and Patho-Gen officials; she proposes further that an oversight must be made to see to the ethical concerns not only of Augmented Ones, but of Karterian citizens. If Augmented Ones have suffered so, what of their own citizens? She doesn't think that it's only the Augmented who have suffered, but rather, that they've been the only one who could survive to have a voice about it.
1. Celia has noticed a pattern amongst some of her colleagues. While most are focused on understanding the nature of Katalyth, or helping to cure arcane radiation poisoning, or doing literally anything of relevance to the city of Karteria's health and technology, she has noticed that about 1 of every 4 individuals has a weird slant towards focusing on other worlds, and sees the Augmented Ones as a mark of success in connecting to these other realms. She has had a colleague ask her once to survey the Augmented for details of their homeworlds, specifically to find out how habitable they might be. This colleague has been missing since the incident this month; probably died, and was probably involved in the Patho-Gen Holiday Hotel (TM). This is what compels Celia to believe there is a division in the intentions of Patho-Gen, wherein their public face is for the well-being of the world, but some of its members have a distorted view of what that might be. The recent events, performed under the nose of so many staff members, continue to justify her suspicions that not all people are of the same mind. She knows little else beyond this, and is incredibly hushed about it. 2. She will also be candid: nobody has seen Georges since before the Augmented showed up. He's been missing. Entirely. There were early transmissions from him, but nothing else. Celia knows that Georges and a small team of his closest cohorts were tasked with interacting directly with a tear in the fabric of reality... It's dangerous work. Somehow, more Augmented Ones keep coming, so this suggests that he's still alive. 3. Celia was put to sleep just like the rest of the Augmented, and experienced a strange version of Kelesis rather than the circus-like horror show the Augmented were subjected to. She's come to learn that this Kelesis she saw is the one the Augmented get to visit in Eparsis... To her, it doesn't seem quite right. Celia doesn't know what it is, but internally, Patho-Gen is very frustrated by the lack of control they have over Kelesis, and they've been struggling to explain why all attempts to take control of its bounty (underground) have been thwarted. She is aware that they currently have a special interest in the powers of Spectral-types... but what's weirder is that some force is influencing the government & Patho-Gen alike to consider forceful and even militaristic action on Kelesis. Someone is trying to sow the seeds of fear and discontent! Perhaps it's crucial that Spectral-types keep their guards up. If she learns anything else, she will try to disseminate it. 4. Lastly, of fun details she will try to divulge: Patho-Gen is a massive company. About a half of all of Karteria's people are somehow involved in it. But what's weird, is that nobody knows who the head of Patho-Gen is. Their name is obscured; attempts to find out more from highers-up are always thwarted. "We are our own guiding hand," highers-up always claim, saying that there's nobody at the tippy-top. As though Patho-Gen is "Employee-Owned And Operated!". Celia thinks that knowing more about who is in control of Patho-Gen may yield more information about it as a whole... These are questions she's only started trying to delve into since the appearance of that plant monster in the city who is, undeniably, augmented. Scary. As for other NPC interaction with Pal's name being slapped on things, throwing that on Reputation is the way to go. We're still assessing the general temperature from the government and Patho-Gen; if there are repercussions or other outcomes, that shall be the place they're mentioned. Re: When Celia would meet Pal: she would either meet with him that day, or later. If she meets with him after the post, she will immediately offer to him a complete copy of the post on a little SD card-like thing; she saw some Augmented were panicked about it being deleted, but it had to be done. She figures giving a copy to the Augmented is fair, if it helps to demonstrate her intentions. |
| #41
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-27 |
So, given that Gale went on the Jet 2 Holiday, and presumably has those "protect Patho-Gen" compulsions, to what degree would he be able to help in this very innocent little caper? If he can't kill any Patho-Gen mooks, would it still be alright for him to participate as passive assistance? Going along with Eli, using his Carnivora powers to help disorient people, carrying bodies? He hates having his mind messed with, so could he have recognized and pushed through the reprogramming to an extent? Don't wanna go against any intended consequences, just curious! | We think that with Eli there to counterbalance the effects, Gale will do just fine! It might be extremely hard for him to aid in killing anybody, and sometimes he may feel a flare-up of defensiveness on Patho-Gen's behalf, if you wish to play with this. The intent behind the force-imprint with Patho-Gen is to turn the Augmented into unwilling little doggy-protectors, having that Carnivora-type Gale come to Patho-Gen's aid should they require it. Of course, none of the Patho-Gen mooks who Gale and Eli encounter will know how to make the greatest use of this force-imprint, given that most of them don't even know it's there... (Beware of the members of Patho-Gen who do know if its existence. They are the ones to be feared most, but they're also the ones least likely to be encountered.) Gale can absolutely be aware of these weird impulses, especially after the fact. 'Hey, why the hell did Eli coming for the throat of a Patho-Gen dummy make me snarl and want to protect them?' These are all feelings of protectiveness that can be resisted, and Gale can still use his powers to menace the staff. He may have a hard time killing or mortally wounding anybody, however... but with enough willpower, these impulses can be resisted if not being actively employed. |
| #42
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-24 |
Hello, thank you for this!! Returning here for a more solid (and slightly different) plan. I'll definitely report it reputation wise too, just wanted to keep y'all in the loop with the way everything is ~developing. This is the relevant thread explaining some of Eli's mindset in the days after the return of the kidnapped Augmented. He gets his bf back, who is starved enough to have eaten away his own arm (carnivorous worm-guy problems) and Eli decides... A great way to feed him and get him strong again would be to feed him some members of Patho-Gen, and enlists the help of Gale. My rough plan is that he'll go in using shadows to obscure the two of them and any cameras in the lobby (yes, I am aware that they will know it's Eli just by the shadows LOL, but it's so they can't immediately see what he's doing), possess the person at the front desk there so they freeze and don't scream/use a clicker, and kill them by slitting their throat. Any others who happen to be in the lobby will also be possessed immediately and killed as well. His goal will be to get at least two bodies, load them up on owlbear-Gale (possibly with the help of Eren as well, TBD) and carry them out without too much ruckus. Any staff member who realized something was up and came rushing in would be possessed as soon as he noticed them, so I guess it would be kind of a wild west style "who shoots first" situation there. Unless they can trigger it without even seeing him and just knowing it's him, in which case he'd fail either way. Definitely open to failure and consequences! There are a lot of ways this could go so I wanted to see what y'all think. I love the house arrest "adrenaline spike -> passing out" idea, it's hilarious for Eli because he gets worked up over stupid shit all the time. Picturing someone calling him short and he gets so pissed off he goes night-night. But definitely open to worser consequences given that this is obviously pre-meditated and planned, trying to kill more than one person, etc. |
Oh that's great, something like that could definitely work! It's up to you if you'd like Eli to run into more trouble, more staff to manage/murder, but it's also entirely possible that he and Gale would get away with the prize. The already-suggested penalties would still apply (house arrest, community service) as a baseline, from his prior actions. While Patho-Gen could believe (accurately) that Eli was the one behind this incursion, with the cameras properly obscured they would have a more difficult time presenting evidence to that effect. Eli's not the only Spectral out there, can they really prove it was specifically him? (Or would they, if proving it entailed revealing more avenues of surveillance than they're supposed to possess?) The official punishment might well remain the same, catching him only for prior offenses, until Patho-Gen can present better evidence. However, Patho-Gen itself has its suspicions... Eli could also abruptly find himself picked up for 'recalibration.' What that entails is a milder (or more focused) version of what the kidnappees went through. No prolonged testing, but he could come out of it with vague recollections of being operated on (though with little physical evidence of this), and with an unnatural attachment to Patho-Gen. For some time after, he will feel more comfortable, even docile in their presence; he would find it repulsive to inflict harm on any member of staff, and would automatically move to their defense if they were threatened. It doesn't necessarily change his thoughts, only those gut feelings and impulses. It's not permanent, but can linger for as long as is inconvenient to him. This is no legal nor illegal act, only Patho-Gen looking after its Augmented... but it's also clearly punishment, or at least an attempt to curb these unfortunate anti-Patho-Gen sentiments and behaviors. |
| #43
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-23 |
hi...I'm back...I'm so sorry When an Aves turns their soul sight onto someone with a Wild Soul (so....Momo or Hubert), is there anything different about a Wild Soul vs the Natural Souls given by Patho-Gen? Or, even, between the Natural Souls that are being taken as 2nds for people? Thanks! |
The Wild Souls aren't inherently different from Natural Souls, no. But it would be very visible to an Aves (or anyone else with soul sight/ability to sense these things) the number of souls a character possessed, and the Natural/Wild soul(s) do look different from whatever soul a character possesses natively. Of course, it's up to the player to decide what their souls 'look' like, whether they can tell what a Carnivora looks like versus an Aves, or only that they are 'different' (or maybe they all look the same, distinct only in not being human(esque)). All Aves can have soul sight, but maybe some are a bit myopic... |
| #44
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-22 |
Sorry if these are repeats, trying to get my ducks in a row for a thread: 1) Do the hell pit Golems (and Terra) all have detectable Augmenters in them? 2) If yes: I don't think Jayce is going to rip an Augmenter out of a still living Golem, but could one be removed from a crazed Terra while fighting it? I totally get that this would unlock 5 million annoying questions of them trying to analyze an Augmenter, so totally fair if no! Thank you! |
1. The Golems and Terras do have detectable Augmenters! It's a small thing, but it's there. 2. Pulling one out of a still-living Terra is going to be difficult. They are certainly not going to cooperate, but assuming that anyone who's trying has the means to restrain/sedate the plant and the ability to do delicate surgery in a hell pit without light, they could remove... something. The Augmenter is a very small thing though, and under these conditions, they would only be able to pull out something that looks like... about half of a capsule, about a centimeter in size. It won't actually have all that much that's useful inside, almost like it's been hollowed out already. It does have a number of indentations, absolutely tiny things, as though some very complicated (and very minuscule) objects or circuitry had once been placed inside it. There could still be some remnants there, hair-thin wires, but the 'bulk' of the capsule is missing. It wouldn't be hard to guess that this isn't the whole of it, but the other half seems to have been detached, broken apart and dissolved entirely. Should the Terra still be alive at the time of removal: they will soon not be. The signs of Katalyth poisoning will be almost immediately in evidence, as boils progress rapidly through their body, spreading from the implantation site to all extremities. As they're already insane, nothing really changes there, but with their poisoning progressing so rapidly, they aren't likely to survive long enough to attack, should whatever is restraining them fail. But it's very clearly a miserable way to go, especially for the Katalyth-sensitive Terras. |
| #45
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-16 |
Bonjour, mods! If someone asked about the location of Ingrid Chevron's office (or whomever is acting in that role, should Ingrid be gone), what info could be gleamed? Is it on a map somewhere of the building, off limits, not there at all, etc? Thank you! |
Asking after Ingrid Chevron will inevitably lead to general confusion, as she's dead. She was old when she was the Director of Experimental Sciences and Augmented Affairs, and her role was to oversee the bridge between the Original Augmented Ones (the Karterian ones!) and their role as, well, experiments towards a better future. This meant that she was often placed in a role of secrecy, keeping her colleagues on both sides of the fence (the side of humanizing them, versus the side of trying to understand them) in the dark. Patho-Gen scientists who are Claude's age and older—so like, 50+—who met Ingrid don't seem to much like her, and describe her as a stony woman of few words. Ingrid herself faded out of her position in a very quiet retirement, especially after the OG Augmented died. No more experimental science, no more Augmented Affairs. It seems by the end of it all, she passed due to arcane radiation poisoning. There is nobody who has occupied her role in this length of time. The Augmented were only recently brought back... Perhaps someone should occupy that role now, huh? |
| #46
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-16 |
This isn't strictly related to this month, so please take your time getting back to me, but I was thinking forward to the end of this month/start of next month and the attempts to rebuild Aparallaxia, and I'm not sure it's a question that belongs on the general FAQ either. What would happen if Rowan used their mimicry to sing Peacock's song to squid-chan in Peacock's voice? Would squid-chan recognise it/react to it? |
Squid will not react to this specific mimicry in any way other than friendly (violent) flails of its tentacles. But get a local Cephalopoda-type or, gasp, an elusive Cnidaria-type into the mix, and they'll be able to tell either by Cephalopoda-sympathy or Cnidaria-interfacing that the squid is... confused. Or excited? Mostly confused. It has a lot to think about after hearing that song, and it may retreat to do so. |
| #47
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-16 |
okay, so. the native powers testing. if northly took her syntrofos out of her inventory during that and hid it in her clothing (probably bra or underwear, are they given bra or underwear under their tracksuits? if not then as hidden as she can make it under the band of her tracksuit bottoms) would she be able to get it back to her cell and try to send a message to anyone? could she keep it secreted long enough to pull it out to record the corrupted aves? and, if that immediately gets it confiscated regardless, what happens if she puts her collar in her inventory? also, on a different note, could cold storage facilities be created to freeze/preserve some of the terra under kelesis's produce for potential later consumption? on a different different note, if a terra type were to send roots down under karteria to the maximum depth it took to reach the deepest concrete in Kelesis, would they find anything under the city? Edited 2025-10-12 11:41 pm (local)
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| #48
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-16 |
Because Northly's inventory is designed for use by human players (and thus beholden to "but that's so annoying I should be able to" rules) she can make items appear from it in contact with any part of her or in contact with her equipped items (eg shoes) she wishes, and similarly put items in in that manner. Would that still decapitate her? And if so.... What happens if she decapitates herself? |
Unfortunately, these collars will still decapitate her with sudden removal; if it doesn't, it'll at the very least cause her to bleed out very rapidly. If she is decapitated or otherwise killed, she will undergo what all other characters who have died go through: inpatient care at Patho-Gen HQ after some surgeries. Her memories of the event will be even hazier than most characters, and staff will be told that she woke during augmenter adjustment and lashed out while surgical instruments were at her neck, thus causing this accident. She will also awaken with the full effects of a force-imprint with Patho-Gen, feeling beholden to protect them above all else. |
| #49
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-16 |
Thank you, mods! Would she still have the items in her inventory upon awakening? Or would the collar be mysteriously absent? (I can imagine patho-gen asking her for it post force-imprint and her just handing it over or similar) Oh and with the force-imprint, will that prevent her from being critical of patho-gen and make her go "brainwashing was done with our best interests at heart" etc? Totally fine if that's the case. She fucked around and is finding out! Will she have enough rationality about it to go "to protect them I should keep this from pom because he will go nuts" and does the fact that she has a pair-bond with pom affect the situation at all? Edited (Sorry for always having so many questions mods) 2025-10-16 03:11 pm (local)
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| #50
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-16 |
1. Would they offer any useful information if Ciel were to ask things like how they got the poisoning? Are there any former Patho-Gen employees he can gently prod (under the guise of being a curious youth/trying to be helpful)? Would the babblers have anything interesting to say amidst their nonsense? 2. Would Riddle be immediately locked down in naptime after this? Or would they let him use his powers if he didn't seem to be aware what he was doing at first (He tends to just throw out his collars when he'd mad and throwing a tantrum, not to intentionally subvert anything- but once he catches on he would do it purposefully). |
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| #51
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-16 |
bruno never having nice visions rip Thank you for this! There's a lot to chew on here. Would his Patho-Gen captors have any reaction when he tries to warn them about what he saw? |
Bruno's Patho-Gen captors will have a very peculiar reaction to this story. Assuming Bruno conveys it relatively accurately, they will be in hushed awe. The part of his vision he may hear one repeat with a sort of reverence: "Is it finally a sign of the end-times? If... If the streets are barren, did we find a habitable destination? Ha! We're right, right?" Their fellows will tell them to hush up. Clearly, they're not supposed to talk like this in front of captives. |
| #52
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-16 |
Will he get anything more if he asks what they mean and refutes the idea that the streets are barren? There are people there still! Just unconscious! | Patho-Gen's staff will ignore him when it's convenient for them, as it seems they're taking this vision the way they want to see it. Which is... pretty telling of some incredibly disturbing thinking! Some may look his way and register Bruno's protests, but chalk it up to the fact that most people were saved, so it's whatever. |
| #53
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-14 |
Is there any specific way the Terra- and Golem-types need to be killed, or does ripping them in half with big teeth or shattering them work? | Ripping them in half with big teeth and/or shattering them is certainly effective. For the Terras, when they're denied access to light/sun, their regenerative prowess is similarly limited, and they can be taken apart by brute force. (Though the same general caution applies in that they are still generally stubborn, and could potentially survive and return, if their root systems aren't properly destroyed. Characters capable of sensing life/souls would be a good thing to bring with (or afterward), to make sure that any root system is fully dead, and not merely hiding/dormant. But they can all be killed with enough biting.) And the same sort of goes for the Golems, as there's little visible difference between their 'alive' and 'dead' states. They can definitely be killed by being broken up enough, but it can be hard to tell what's 'enough' without someone there to see that the soul is indeed gone. |
| #54
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-14 |
By native powers, are they testing powers that people came in with, and/or natural soul-related ones? If yes to the powers people came in with, would they reasonably have a way to force Bruno to have a vision, and if so, what might they want to make him see? He has future sight, so it'd have to be something in the future, if anything. I can also skip having them poke at that power if that might be too spoilery! |
Sorry about the delay, wanted to give Bruno a Proper Vision(tm) to take home with him.... But yes, native powers are the ones characters possess at home, and may also possess to some greater or lesser degree in game. (They are also testing Natural Soul-related powers, but in the native-power room, that interest takes a backseat.) And yes, in the room where native powers are permitted to exist, Bruno could be treated to a taste of the future. And as he might expect, it's not a great one, and certainly nothing Patho-Gen would want to see: Karterian streets, but there's something wrong. The sky above is clear, clear; it lacks the familiar, protective translucence that stagnates the air but blocks the harmfulness of arcane radiation. The barrier has fallen. While the heavens are clear, something like fog sticks close to the buildings, a haze that makes it difficult to see more than a few feet ahead. It's not a true fog, nor mist, but something that distorts the view of everything around. Streets flicker in and out of existence, appearing to be twisted up by flesh and vine, before returning to normal. The streets aren't deserted, but it's quiet. There's bodies- of Augmented and local Karterian- collapsed in alley and thoroughfare, curled up in doorways. As a mercy, they seem to all be largely alive... though with the barrier down, how long that will still be the case is numbered in days, when it comes to the Karterians. While there's movement, almost everyone seems to be unconscious. Some kneel besides the downed, trying to rouse them- only to collapse at their side. In every direction, the same thing plays out. |
| #55
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-14 |
oh yes i meant to ask would pal be able to sleight of hand pocket that horrible spite bone and smuggle it back to karteria, or are the subjects undergoing regular frisking for """Safety Reasons"""? |
Unfortunately, yes, they are very careful to keep characters from smuggling souvenirs out with them. No objects means no proof of what happened, right.... It might not be impossible for Pal to temporarily sneak a bone, but it would be discovered at some other point before he was released from captivity. |
| #56
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-12 |
For mercy killing the Terra or potential Patho-Gen scientist under Kelesis, would it be possible for a spectral type to feed on their life force until they die? Would this take a long time and be not very pragmatic, or would it go quickly (are they willing or wanting to die)? Is it possible to accidentally imprint with them this way before killing them (if so how goodbad feel)? Since light should not be brought own there if mercy killing by fire or light weaponry how much resistance or violence would be faced with that or would there be some other unforeseen consequence for bringing light down there? |
It would be possible to feed on the Terras this way; they're great at providing nutrition to all Augmented! It would be difficult for a singular Spectral to kill one this way, though, unless they had already been weakened by something else. If not precisely 'healthy', they are fonts of energy. The Patho-Gen scientists could be drained of life much more easily; if Brickston (or some other opportunistic Spectral) doesn't get there first, something else is consuming their energy into death. They make good snacks! It wouldn't be possible to imprint on either, fortunately(?). Barring some experimental procedures to inflict a kind of bonding on the Augmented, Patho-Gen (and any other native Karterian) cannot be imprinted with. Whether the Terra could be, as they are also Augmented... is harder to test. It doesn't occur now, in any case; they are too insane, too furious and hateful. They would treat all contact as a threat. (And if they are subdued/shut off by one means or another, they would similarly lack the capacity to form attachments. Or it might not be possible in the first place.) Light/Fire remains a danger down there. With some of the areas more under 'control', it's less of an absolute bad idea, but it would still have to be done very very carefully. The Terra benefit powerfully from light, so any damage done to them would have to outpace their growth. Adding poison to the mix, blocking off parts of the tunnels to carefully clear chunks at a time without activating everything... it's not impossible but it would be an easy thing to go wrong. |
| #57
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-12 |
Having been working with the volunteer militia for some months now, were Set to hypothetically bring them with him to HQ — what kind of pushback/reaction/consequences could be expected? Testing the waters here... His goal would be to expose them to a "realistic combat scenario" to track their progress and maintain dominance of a volatile situation ( e.g. reassuring and controlling the staff & protestors ), as well as being able to reveal elements of Patho-Gen HQ/the files directly to them. Mostly, it's an effort to show off his work! Edited 2025-10-07 01:58 pm (local)
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Depending on how the militia behave, Patho-Gen could either be resentful/alarmed at this incursion on their property... or reluctantly appreciative of the help. Or a bit of both, depending on what part of the company is watching. They would attempt to cooperate rather than refuse them access, at least- as there's already been threats (and more than threats) of violence to their staff, and their own guards are insufficient to handle this level of outcry. (Not everyone has those clickers, and the clickers naturally don't work on Karterians!) The staff themselves would range from relieved to have backup, to getting cocky from having backup (inciting both protesting Karterian and Augmented alike), to being nervous about their presence at all. It makes everything feel very serious, all of a sudden; why is this happening over some crucial Augmenter maintenance...? How things turn out also depends on how the Augmented themselves react to this... of course that's not something that we can control, but it'd certainly be some kind of test of Set's forces! |
| #58
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-11 |
If asked, what does the Government say about the situation? Were they notified about the situation and given exactly what this error is? A time table? Did any one of the regular Katerians see anything when Patho-gen made their collection? Edit: forgot to ask, what can be smelled inside Patho-gen hq? Any scents strong enough to commit to memory? Edited 2025-10-09 03:33 am (local)
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The Government would not comment; officially, this is a Patho-Gen matter, and it's not their place or responsibility to offer speculation. Not their goat, not their parade. That said, while the Government has certain ties to Patho-Gen, they are not the same entity. They have generally had congenial relations with one another, but situations like this continue to strain that good will. There is an amount of alarmed grumbling within the bureaucracy over this supposed 'Augmenter failure'. They were not informed about this in advance, and many are sore about that. Even if opinions are still not great towards the Augmented, they would like to know where they are! There is some scrambling within as they try to find answers themselves, but they're unlikely to come up with anything (that they could share, at least) any faster than the Augmented. But no, they don't like this and are irritated with Patho-Gen for the chaos this is causing- as they are not unaware of the invasions on Patho-Gen HQ, by Karterian and Augmented alike. If the citizens were indifferent to this (or on the side of Patho-Gen), the Government would have been more likely to stay out of this completely (besides using the militia to secure the safety of citizens against 'unruly' Augmented rioters). As it is, they're staying out of it, but they're also a bit annoyed at the disruption.... Unfortunately, none of the regular Karterians noticed anything when it came to the Augmented being collected. At the time, they wouldn't have thought anything to be amiss anyway; it's only in this aftermath (or... ongoingmath) of so many being taken that they're questioning Patho-Gen's treatment of the Augmented. Do they really have their best interests at heart? They deserve better than this! Patho-Gen HQ is lately a mess of scents from all the people coming in and rummaging about. But especially early on, it would be possible to follow the scent of the kidnapped Augmented downstairs. The scent unfortunately terminates somewhere past where the Augmented can get to, but they were taken down. Other than that, it's just the smell of a lot of people, and what they've been up to (also a lot of harsh cleaners). |
| #59
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-10 |
If a Spectral character gives someone in the dreamscape one of their feathers, could they have it on their person upon waking? | While the dreamscape is 'real' in the sense that emotions can be shared through it (to the point where even imprints have the potential to form should the characters connect well enough), it is not a physical space. Material tokens can't be passed between characters; any apparent acquisition exists within the dream alone. While a Spectral character might feel a greater ease in navigating these spaces, and be more at home there, they would still be unable to leave other dreamers with physical goods. (Though a character who attempted to give something they had on them- such as a feather- might find that they had plucked it out during the night. It would still remain with their person, however.) |
| #60
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-10 |
Helloooo! Re: my query in the plotting post I'm going for Option 2, with Aemond switching out Daenaerys after she's experienced a day of The Horrors. For ICness sake I was wondering if we could go with Aemond demanding Silver's release first, being told no, followed by the staff member casually mentioning one of his relatives is being held in there? He'd immediately assume it's Helaena and insist on switching then and there—he can find out later that his princess was in fact in another castle 8) I was also wondering if Aemond's memories of the corrective procedures might remain intact / return more quickly than everyone else's since he's been through some of this experimentation a few times before? Thank you! |
Oh sure, that would be just fine! It's just too bad for Aemond that he didn't think to look for specifics over which relative had been taken.... And that's entirely possible! Maybe his mind is adapting to all this being fucked with, or it's just too familiar enough that it's overriding the work they're putting in to make him forget it. Aemond can recall all the horrors sooner.... |
| #61
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-10 |
Okay so, a couple questions- 1. When investigating Patho-Gen's raditation wards, how willing would the (still mentally together) patients be to talk? This wouldn't be a threatening conversation, just Ciel playing up being a curious youth trying to be be helpful? Alternatively do they have any of their belongings that Ciel could pilfer to venture in further (Or save for later), like key cards, employee numbers, passcodes, a disembodied finger? He's not picky. 2. Riddle's signature spell is kind of a weird cheese in that it can essentially lock down an individuals magic from being used. It's also basically a collar, and he can maintain it for days at a time. Should he use it in one of those rooms that allow native magic back, would it cause any sort of interference with the collars they're given? Or could he potentially cause Patho Gen some annoying inconveniences by locking down their subject's magic? |
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| #62
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-10 |
So, Patho-Gen wants to test native abilities, and they also want to test Katalyth exposure. Would these by chance ever happen in the same location? Would Gale have the chance to pull his absorbing Katalyth to cast a big spell bullshit? If he managed to cause some big damage, what sort of result will that get him? This may be answered somewhere else but I couldn't find it: could the carnivora+imprint healing be able to regrow lost body parts, or just rapidly heal the wounds (e.g. if a finger gets chopped off, is it coming back, or will there just be a healed stump? or is it choose your own adventure horrors?). Edited (bolding is helpful in the main body so I thought I'd use it in asking questions too... but I messed up the code whoops) 2025-10-07 02:30 pm (local)
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While native ability testing would never take place in the Katalyth room itself, it's not impossible that some (smaller) amount of Katalyth might be brought in to the former. It's also possible that they could do this for Gale, out of some awareness of his ability to absorb magic... or just to see how his magic would react to it. So he could probably cause a big explosion this way (before being quickly shut down). That's too much of a demonstration... though they'll be interested in how he corrupts afterward. But it's possible that he could kill someone/damage the room itself, and be treated a lot more brusquely/cautiously afterward. Carnivora (particularly while bolstered with imprints) can regrow some lost parts. It'll take some time (no one's restoring limbs in the heat of battle), and is much slower than healing simple cuts (or even deep ones). It's not perfect though, and the more that's missing, the more likely that it just... stops part way. Closes the wound, calls the construction of half a finger good enough. Or maybe it manages the whole thing! So yes, it's a choose-your-own-stump adventure. |
| #63
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-09 |
I forgot to ask this earlier, but just to clarify how Stuff Works with the fungi infestation mind control shenanigans before it starts actively coming up in threads: -What's the range on it once the fungi is established on the person? Same room, within line of sight, or does it go further? -If the person isn't within eyeshot, is there any impression/ability to pick up on where they are/what they're doing or is it just Flying Blind at that point? For context, Momo will be trying to keep it very downlow and essentally letting people move off from him for a bit before acting up somewhere it doesn't appear to link back to him, if he can do that, since he's going for trying to turn Patho-Gen suspicious of/against their own people here and disrupting operations and trying to keep them from figuring out what's going on for as long as possible -Related to the above, is it possible to gain any information while controlling people? Even if it's tiny tidbits or facility layout hints or such like. |
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| #64
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-08 |
Rubs my hands together! thank you mods. I'm laughing because northly truly is perfectly placed for this as a friendly worker of a local business, and that it's at a sex shop would give her the opportunity to demonstrate her integrity (gently asking if someone actually wants to try something if they seem "I don't want to do this" nervous and not "this is unfamiliar/I don't want to talk about sex" nervous, etc) and being involved with the publishing process. if she staked out one of the places she put up paint/flyers, would she be able to catch people or servitons taking it down? (and take photos) |
The forces behind the takedowns are trying to be surreptitious about it, but it's not impossible to catch her messages being taken down/cleaned off if she's patient about staking out a place. There's no magic/technological force in play here: the 'culprits' are largely ServiTons owned by Patho-Gen, or petty criminals fulfilling their designated community service task. Neither exactly get much of a say when it comes to their assigned jobs, if for different reasons. The ServiTons will flail very cutely if interrupted but will desist (temporarily), and will certainly transmit who's interrupting them (as though Patho-Gen couldn't guess...). The criminals will get frustrated/ask to be left alone; they're the ones who'll get in trouble if they don't finish taking these things down. |
| #65
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-07 |
Would it be possible to find any trace of where dropped characters are held in Patho-Gen? | With all the coming and going, it would be difficult to find a meaningful scent trail- but for the most recent departees, it might be possible to pick up on something: and it would be leading downstairs. The same direction as where the kidnappees were taken, and disappearing in the same impassable spot. If there's no chance of a scent trail being found, it is also possible to press some of the staff at this time, who would admit that those with failed Augmenters are taken below. There's a lot of restricted stuff down there, and none of the people working above know exactly where they end up. But it all points downward. If there are any belongings that have been successfully collected (as Patho-Gen is fairly slow about doing this- and it's less likely to happen to characters living in established households with others), they might be found in multiple storage closets upstairs. There's no trace of the characters themselves up there, it really is just storage. Things like weapons seem to have been wholly confiscated, but miscellaneous personal goods are just laying here on a shelf. |
| #66
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-07 |
Adding to this one! Pom has tracked where they take dropped characters before (or at least as far into the building as they would let him a couple of months ago), and he'd assume this new wave of people were taken to the same place. Could he go to where they took the feral Augmented since he knows approximately where it is/what direction it's in/what wing in the building it's in, etc., or is it guarded/under protection, etc.? | Re: are dropped characters taken to where feral/naughty/time-out Augmented go? No. It is more appropriate to say that dropped Augmented go to a similar destination that all test subject Augmented went to this month. |
| #67
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-07 |
just curious... do u think patho-gen would brand their name/logo onto a golem (as they're property and all) or would that be too bad for optics :) | Actually branding Golems (or any other type, really), is a bit too forward, even for the most callous of Patho-Gen. It would be an awful thing for optics, not something they could readily play off- and unnecessary, in their eyes. By virtue of being Augmented, they're company property. Anything growing from them is branding enough! Even if sometimes the Golems/robot-looking entities get treated as belonging to the city, or to individual shops, depending on where they're caught standing by some citizen, that's a tolerable confusion (in their eyes). No one questions that they're owned, it's just a matter of by who. |
| #68
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-07 |
on the off chance (or rather, incredibly likely chance) that Eli snaps during one of his storming-patho-gen threads and injures or kills a staff member, what will... happen? | An excellent and relevant question! Yes, while storming Patho-Gen it is very possible to commit some murders to the staff. Mowing down a crowd would be unlikely to succeed, as someone would be there to knock the offending character unconscious, but characters could absolutely kill or maim individuals. Even multiple individuals, if they caught them by surprise, and just kept exploring. Whether Eli is ever caught at the time, or manages to escape is up to you! As Patho-Gen has their hands full, 'catching' would, for the short term, entail being put to sleep and deposited in jail for holding until they could work out exactly what happened, and decide on a punishment. (If he escapes, it's likely that there is some kind of video footage/other evidence that places him there, and he would be served with any potential punishment later.) Any murders should definitely be reported reputation wise, as Patho-Gen would have to decide case-by-case just how serious this was. It would likely be considered something of a crime of passion (as it's connected to this situation, and assumed to be prompted by it), which would permit some leniency. How lenient would also be determined by the brutality of the murder, the number of them, and so on. Characters would at least face longer bouts of community service. Additionally, they would be made to wear anklet bracelets (or an equivalent over some other part of the body, should a character lack ankles). It would inhibit all native powers, and most Natural Soul abilities as well. Apart from their customer service tasks, they would be given two options: 1. They are otherwise allowed to go where they want, but the anklet will beep any time their adrenaline spikes. If it continues for more than a minute, the character will receive a shock and will fall unconscious. Patho-Gen assumes that heights of adrenaline are linked to some impending murders. 2. The character is held under house arrest. Apart from the times where they are going to and from their community service task, they are required to remain at home. The anklet will also force them unconscious if they leave their residence outside those times. Their adrenaline can go as high as it wants, as long as they're home. |
| #69
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-07 |
semi weird question but i'm curious about something re: natural souls! for context gregor has experience with, essentially, using other entities' power as well as their influence temporarily taking him over sometimes. he's been kind of contextualizing having a natural soul as a more permanent/persistent version of this because that's what he knows, it's just easier on him. SO my question, since he's used to thinking of it that way, is: would it be possible to more or less jesus-take-the-wheel your natural soul without triggering that by dying? if you can, is it any different from what happens when one controls the body after death? sometimes you just are doing badly enough to (consciously or not) want to let something else handle it... |
Interesting... Most characters aren't interested in embracing their poor Natural Souls, which didn't ask to be forced into sharing a body with them either. Our answer: this is possible! For most characters, this would take a lot of practice, and to the detriment of anyone around them. It would likely result in a lot of damage while practicing, since it would be hard to snap out of it once letting that power take control of their bodies. With Gregor's natural inclination, he might be better equipped to handle this secondary soul in his body, but you'd be correct in guessing that it's easier to do in a pinch/when you've just had enough and need to give up your consciousness for a second. |
| #70
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-07 |
I'm going to regret this aren't I but if someone's Katalyth song was hummed back at the peacock in that bleak harmony, as a sort of "I hear you," how does she react? | The peacock will sing more strongly or confidently. Perhaps there's a note of excitement: she might sing a step quicker. She would also harmonize with this, but not to the same emotional wavelength as she does with an Aves-type. |
| #71
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-07 |
Rolling in on this, too. If another Aves sings back at her a song of hope. What is the response? | A song of hope to counter her bleak song... The peacock woman would sing more softly, perhaps, as though to better listen to the Aves-type—and only for a split second before characters pass out, perhaps her own tune would adopt some of those same notes, as though lacing her own song with the power of theirs. |
| #72
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Answer date: 2025-10-07 |
Any different effect for a non-Aves singing at the peacock-figure? I roll to sing a space-bug mating song to big bird. |
The peacock would be curious about this song, and their voice would hush to better hear them. It's like a foreign language, perhaps, but she might adapt to become a harmony. So not too different, but not nearly so ready to attune to the same emotional wavelength! |
| #73
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-07 |
if they can get next to the cage, could they potentially touch one of those tail feathers? (to put it in her inventory... if her inventory is functional. despite her assertion that it's not magic, it absolutely runs on magic, just magic of the type her church didn't want to acknowledge.) and if her inventory is shut down by the "no powers" thing, does that make the items in it pop out? remain stuck in? also, is there any information about what peacock's name was before she was peacock (not her deadname if she has one, just pre-augmented name, unless that's a ""fun"" coincidence) Edited 2025-10-06 11:25 pm (local)
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Unfortunately, should a character draw too close, they will fall asleep. It's not possible to get near enough to reach in and take one of her feathers. Additionally, Northly's inventory wouldn't be available to her outside of the specific rooms where powers are deliberately allowed to be somewhat expressed. Peacock's cage is not one of those areas. While nullified, her inventory would remain 'sealed' rather than spill everywhere, inaccessible to everyone. Patho-Gen wouldn't be able to dig around in it either, unless her powers were returned. The peacock herself will not be able to respond should anyone ask for her name, or any other detail. She only seems capable of singing, and without language. Back in Karteria... historical records of Peacock never supply or suggest that she had any other name. It would be an odd choice (and odder coincidence) for it to be her only name, but nothing else comes up. Of course, references to her in archived papers or magazines don't describe her much as a person at all- only a figurehead, an ideal. Someone tragic and inspirational; everyone loves Peacock. If she had an identity before becoming an Augmented, it's been buried or rewritten. No one alive seems to know her as anything else. |
| #74
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-07 |
Sorry to be asking this every time someone new shows up but... Does she look like "Saran" at all? Would she react to either the name "Peacock" or "Saran"? | She will react to neither name, and does not look like Saran. |
| #75
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-07 |
do the locator earrings (from the treat rewards) give a reading to the other half when separated? | They do give a reading, which means the other earring still exists, at least. But they're at a great enough distance that they wouldn't be able to be tracked down this way. Which seems to indicate that they're not anywhere near Patho-Gen HQ, or even within Karteria. (Even if the paired earring was part of the characters' belongings that were confiscated, the confiscation (and the eventual reuniting) seems to have occurred also at this great distance.) |
| #76
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-06 |
Thank you for this nightmare shit, mods! A little while ago I asked about a Midas touch power for Kalim and I was thinking of having that manifest during this event. So on that note: does that kind of thing work on Katalyth? If he's restrained up near that stuff for long enough, will it be possible to turn an amount of it into gold? |
Katalyth exists in a strange state, as something that can be handled physically (though it's not a great idea to do so, even for a Golem), but is ultimately a form of tightly knitted magic, rather than being an actual mineral. In that sense, it's not physical by some definitions, and fails to obey all the rules when it comes to physical things. Which doesn't mean that it can't react to Kalim's power, or that it won't do anything. He will be able to create some amount of actual gold this way. More than gold, he will also generate other, unintended materials. Different minerals, none of them pure, each full of inclusions of something else. The more he does this, the more organic the mutations will become; his gold-dusted iron growing fur, his copper full of lumps of teeth. It will bleed. The Katalyth itself won't be 'transformed' into these mutations; it will simply power them, and be responsible for this twisting of his magic. |
| #77
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-06 |
Is it cool to say a sympathetic/too busy for this shit Patho-Gen nurse allows an Augmented into the palliative care ward - mostly so they have more than a few minutes to linger there and chat with anyone lucid enough to talk (or if even the medical staff would talk to him)... Jayce would be asking when they patients have last been able to speak to their families, and if he can relay any messages. | Oh yes, it'd definitely be possible for an Augmented to be allowed to linger there if they weren't the troublemaking sort (characters who are more known for being violent would have a harder time getting this far). But someone like Jayce, especially as he's a Golem-type, is practically overlooked. (The staff might casually order him to fetch supplies while he's there... but he'd also be left to himself.) Arcane radiation poisoning isn't catching, so the patients here are occasionally allowed visitors. The restrictions in play are for their benefit, given the frailty of their condition; they are at much greater risk of falling to unrelated infections, as their bodies increasingly lose the means to fight anything off. But many here either don't have family, or haven't seen them in a while- or aren't lucid enough to remember much of anything. At the offer to relay messages to the outside, some of the patients will scoff, and dismiss him. What do they have to update anyone on? That they're still dying? That it can't come soon enough, because the poor wretch next to them keeps them up all night talking to themself, muttering about things that make no sense. Their family is useless, never visits enough anyway, not that they want them to, and so on. (Underneath it all, they're afraid. They still refuse to pass anything on.) Others will accept, leaving Jayce with names and addresses and short messages. It's mostly instructions on how to look after a business, reminders over pets and children, or requests for specific books on a family member's next visit. Boredom is the most common complaint amongst the still lucid. In all cases, they don't seem to view Jayce as a person himself, either using or dismissing him as a machine who'd been told to perform these tasks. The usual treatment. The medical staff are tired. It's just been one thing after another, with arcane radiation taking its gradual toll, plus a good portion of their staff going blind, plus all the injuries from the tree incident.... They doubt they'll be permitted any leave in the foreseeable future, and while they largely don't resent it, seeing firsthand how necessary their presence is, there is a palpable fatigue in the staff. They know less than most when it comes to what Patho-Gen is doing with the reclaimed Augmented; these are primarily doctors and nurses, and only secondarily Patho-Gen employees. But some of their team has been called in to support with whatever's going on with this 'adjustment' business, leaving them additionally short-staffed. They're a bit grumbly at that, but assume there must be good reason for it. |
| #78
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-06 |
Is the dreamscape real enough for Imprints to be formed? | Physical contact isn't required for an imprint to form, though it certainly does facilitate it (and it's far, far easier for one to form accidentally through touch). Significantly more emotional connection is required for an imprint to form without contact, but it is possible. And the dreamscape yet possesses enough reality in its Augmented visitors for any emotional connections found there to be real too. It's a pity Patho-Gen would have a hard time studying this, as it's quite an interesting finding... but imprints can form in dreams too. |
| #79
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-06 |
How strong is the fortified building of Patho-Gen's HQ exactly, from say, fire? Or rather, what sort of resistance would one encounter when trying to set fire to parts of the building? Asking for a friend. | Patho-Gen HQ and this spare... Patho-Gen Holiday Hotel(TM?) (name pending) are both extraordinarily built. The actual structure of the building is designed to be fire resistant and can last even through a raging fire without crumbling apart or burning. Patho-Gen HQ is more likely to have bits and bobs that are flammable within, such as fabrics, papers, potted plants, and other flammable tapestries or materials. A fire could be set, but they do have emergency sprinklers that can go off. Patho-Gen staff at both locations would be swift to try to extinguish any fires, but it can absolutely make its mark. The subfloors in Patho-Gen HQ, however (as seen in the Descend investigation sub-prompt), will be extremely resistant to fire; that place is highly guarded to maintain that nothing flammable is kept nearby, save for some documents or posters. The doors and their doorways are metal. It is of utmost importance that this area not be destroyed or burnt to a crisp, and not only for Patho-Gen's sake... |
| #80
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-06 |
Since the collars are so deeply embedded, will augmented still be collared upon their return? If Patho-gen removes collars once the testing is over, do augmented return with wounds or scars around the neck? | The collars will definitely be removed when the Augmented are released! That's proprietary technology, buried in there. They absolutely don't want characters to have a chance to properly dissect it. It would also be a terrible look, to release their 'patients' with those things still attached. It's still not a great look to have the wounds from them left behind, but they would be bandaged and taken practical care of before the characters were let go. And besides, for most characters the Augmenter is inserted within the neck; of course some neck-related damage will occur in the wake of this 'adjustment.' |
| #81
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-06 |
In the stress imprinting prompt, I saw some references to burning, stitching, electrocuting, etc. Can any of those remain or will Patho-Gen be doing literally everything possible to wipe all evidence of what they've done? | It's up to the player how much remains at the end of the stay, but it's very likely there would be physical evidence of what they'd gone through. While Patho-Gen would avoid releasing anyone who looked like they got completely chewed up, limbs awol, etc., they can't heal everything. Characters would be cleaned off- they wouldn't be sent out covered in blood, or with wounds uncovered- but they could be very much still wounded. Do they have an explanation for why 'Augmenter maintenance' includes this amount of damage...? Not exactly. But it would be brushed aside as a side-effect of the surgery. The process of altering the Augmenter is a very delicate thing, and characters' bodies sometimes responded harshly to the experience. There was a bit of ferality unleashed while they were switching out components- and to keep a character from hurting themselves or others, they had to go to some lengths to restrain them. It was necessary. |
| #82
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-06 |
Mods, this is delightful, truly!! That one Patho-Gen person who decided to say: "If they die, they can just revive them." Mel's going to want to have a "chat" with them. Is there any info they can provide, even as she starts to lose her shit about it? While I doubt they have The Info, would he even be able to say that this is common/it's happened before/what it looks like/etc? |
That Patho-Gen employee is going to regret being overheard by Mel... They would immediately try to clam up about it, to deflect or claim that she'd misheard. He would also claim that it was meant as a reassurance, not as a... well, they have problems completing that thought. There's some bluster, some attempt at acting like an 'authority', but he'll cave readily to threats of violence (or expressions of it), or possibly even a Very Hard Look from an imperious Aves-type like Mel (especially if there's some claws involved... claws are a convincing argument). Unfortunately, he doesn't have that much info. Anyone who knows anything... they're not out here, where they can be accosted. He'll say that he doesn't know of this happening before, but he also hasn't been at the company for that long. But he'll try to assert that this is 'for the greater good', and that whatever's happening is necessary. Necessary to save the Augmented from their Augmenter's failing? That, he'll hesitate over; he knows this isn't what's happening, even though he doesn't know what is. Only that it's important. (An application of Orpheus' Song to encourage compliance (or any other characters with truth-sensing powers) wouldn't be able to get much else. He really is just a minor cog- someone who knows that more is going on, but isn't privy to the details.) |
| #83
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-06 |
hello, love the horrors, 1. when you say the orpheus's song variant will stick in characters' heads, is this similar to the katalyth earworm? how would the two songs interact while both are being "heard," if at all? 2. if someone is an unevenly-corrupted freak of a necromancer and gets put in the special tests room, can he put his hands on anything and get a Necromancer Vision? 2b. also how protected from long-distance powers are patho-gen down there, ie could a guy squeeze someone's heart from inside the room or nah..... 2c. if a guy tries anyway whether or not it works, can i have him native power-nerfed for a few weeks after they're released as a punishment, like would a drug effect conveniently last that long for my dark purposes? |
the horrors love you too 1. It's similar, in that there's a sort of underlying mechanism behind them, but not exactly the same. It's sort of an offshoot of the Katalyth-earworm... or a corruption of what had once been a normal expression of Orpheus' Song. A character earwormed by both would not necessarily have them both playing at once (unless you want that mess). It's more likely that they would find some sort of bleak harmonization, or that the familiar earworm would turn up in the peacock's voice, or the peacock's song would take on Pal's personal Katalyth voice. 2. Patho-Gen just loves necromantic visions... to test it, they would present him with a number of bones, and expect him to read them (and to share the results). Most are fragments of animal bones- livestock, who have died at various points in the past decade, having led fairly undramatic lives. Nothing very interesting there. Within the samples is an unassuming chip from something else- still some kind of 'ruminant', but with a very different perspective. Their life is significantly more fraught, and their death is an experience of pain, anger, and frustration. It occurred ~12 years ago. They were worked to death, partially for practical purpose, but mostly to test the limits of their endurance. They had seen others of their 'kind' fall similarly, disappearing one after the other, and knew that their own time was limited. While they intended to go out fighting, they were already too weak to trample even a single person. Spite floods their last moments. 2b. A Pal in Karteria wouldn't be able to reach where the captives are being held, to squeeze any hearts. A Pal in captivity, if within the special tests room, could probably manage to do this to anyone in the facility! They would shut it down pretty quick (and Pal with it, to be scooted back into nullification space), but it's the sort of power that they wouldn't have been prepared to face. 2c. He can absolutely be nerfed as a consequence. That is a horrible ability our Pal has, and Patho-Gen would be negligent to not try to squash it. Pal can remain as suffocated from his native powers for as long as is convenient for you. |
| #84
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-06 |
Can player characters in dreams appear differently from how they usually would in real life? I was thinking about making mine specifically look like he was from a different canon point. On that note, are player characters capable of manipulating anything in the dreamscape? (e.g. conjuring writing materials out of nowhere, defying physics, etc.) If so, by how much? Also I know it's implied, but are the spider lilies from the last log still there in the tunnels? Will anything else have changed about them or anything else in the tunnels since our last visit? |
There is some amount of 'freedom' in regards to personal appearance or powers within the dreamscape. The controlling force behind it is stifling too much disruption- but they're also not in proper command of it either. This is an untested power; the fact that the whole of Karteria fell asleep for days in itself suggests that their command of it isn't perfected. So there is some room for change, and a character could appear different from their state in reality, if players choose. Not to the extent of becoming a different person, and the condition would be poorly controllable- as the character would keep drifting 'back' to some set self. Whether that's their original shape, their corrupted state as an Augmented, or some combination- it's all possible. So someone could appear as they do from a different canon point! Creating objects out of nothing is also possible, but they are very prone to disappearing (or changing into something else) as soon as they're not being paid direct attention to. Physics are also very malleable, especially if the characters don't think about what they're doing too closely. (More rational types might have a harder time here.) Drastically altering the world itself would fail, resisting that level of fundamental tampering. It also wouldn't be possible to free the caged captives- nor to join them. Elements like these are fixed, obeying a logic that can't be overwritten. The spider lilies in the tunnels are still there! It could be that patches of them have been 'muted', along with some of the other plants. It's not enough to make exploring down there safe, but it's a margin easier. Should that muted state ever be removed (a likely thing, if Patho-Gen is pushed out of the underground entirely), the danger will return to its full force, unless the plants are killed. |
| #85
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-06 |
Two questions: If an Aves was to sing back at the peacock figure, would it cause any reaction? Rowan has mimicry as their third power: if they sang the escape song back at her, would they have enough time to cause a reaction before they pass out? And secondly: when the captured Augmented are re-released, what's the state of any shaved fur/plucked feathers etc.? Would they be growing back at a normal speed? |
An Aves singing back to the peacock-figure would elicit a reaction. She would attempt to harmonize with them- picking up on their melody and adding to it, laced with the emotions of before, with the addition of a profound loneliness. To mimic her song precisely would be met with a brief silence- before a return of the same song, that much louder. Not just in volume, but intent. Every emotion there is compounded, given more power. If Rowan was by her cage when it happened, they would see her hold on herself tighten, trembling; all those feather eyes would fix on them. While serious wounds would be patched up/healed prior to release, forcing fur to regrow, or feathers to return would be harder for Patho-Gen to achieve (and they would be unlikely to spend the time trying). Characters are likely to come out of captivity with patches of bare skin. They will regrow lost parts at whatever their normal rate is- unless they've undergone testing that quickens their corruption (or causes it to mutate worse), in which case they might return faster. They might not grow back well, if they experience this- with the first crop of new feathers being deformed, or miscolored in some way. Or fur might grow back brittle, and be prone to tangling. These issues, if experienced, will clear up on their own, as their bodies eventually replace the growths involved. |
| #86
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-06 |
I promise I was considering this even before the event included protests from the lower and middle classes, northly would like to try distributing flyers reading things like "THOUGHTS IN AUGMENTED MINDS NOW, THOUGHTS IN KARTERIAN MINDS TOMORROW", "DO YOU KNOW WHAT PATHO-GEN DOES?" "BLIND LEADING THE BLIND — HOW PATHO-GEN LIKES IT", "INFORMATION IS POWER: WHY KEEP AUGMENTED WEAK?" with a few key points about forcing augmented to participate in something purported to be for "reconciliation," the missing key staff (georges) and that the plant monster was a) augmented, b) what they've been eating 1. would she have been able to get those printed or would she have to do them by hand(/water magic)? 2. would she have been able to get any out prior to the kidnapping? (she's been percolating on how to start outright rebellion against patho-gen since she woke up post imprint experiment at the end of september, but I do totally get if that's not enough time) 3. if she painted these things on footpaths and the walls of abandoned buildings, would they stay up? 4. if she (politely) asked karterians to post photos of the flyers to their social media and share them, would they? (she would not do this while working, but would be willing to do things like pay or trade her feathers to karterians who agreed to in thanks) |
Northly out there spreading the good, if inconvenient, word.... 1. While most printing services would balk at printing such inflammatory materials (even if they sympathized with Northly and the Augmented- as they have been a largely beneficial force in these demographics), it wouldn't be impossible. Rather than printing these things officially themselves, they might look the other way- allow her use of the equipment after hours. Alternatively, she could just find someone who's not even paying attention, is not paid enough to give that many shits, and will print anything without a fuss. Either way, it could be done. 2. It's entirely possible that she could get this underway before the kidnappings, if she's been preparing the materials before then! 3. That said, these messages might have a hard time staying up for very long. Even though in the poorer parts of Karteria, other types of graffiti might be permitted to linger (as cleaning it up is beyond the resources anyone is willing to apply to it), these particularly anti-Patho-Gen messages have curiously short durations. Apparently fostering this kind of sentiment is worth the effort to cover up. 4. Northly might be able to get some of the locals to share her flyers. If there's anyone she's built any kind of rapport with, or is already particularly sympathetic to the Augmented (and there's plenty of those around, people who've been personally helped by them), they would be more likely to agree. And be horrified at what they're hearing, at that- as the average person really wouldn't know all that much about what the Augmented as a whole are going through, beyond the 'turning into animals' and 'being stolen from home' thing. |
| #87
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-06 |
Sorry to immediately break this in, but if someone had their pair-bond buddy taken and tortured, how much of that (physically, emotionally) would they feel if they were on the outside, unkidnapped? Is there a limit or is it dampened by Patho-Gen's HQ's protection somehow? What about if both pair-bond parties are taken? Edited 2025-10-05 10:31 pm (local)
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If half of a pair bond were taken, while the other half was left behind- rather than feel any particular anguish from either's active experience, they would each feel an uncomfortable absence. It would be an unpleasantly empty, stifled sensation. For characters who've experienced the loss of an imprint (or pair bond), it's notably different from that; this is still very much a connection to something. There is someone on each end of it. But the interference is such that it leaves the connection barren. Unsettling... it's a confirmation that the other character is still there, but it would be impossible to tell anything of their current state. If both characters were taken, any emotional resonance would function as it normally does; it seems as though whatever interference that's in play only separates the two locations, rather than smothering it completely. |
| #88
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-06 |
and if the pair-bonded have recently caused havoc, will they be kept separated for the experiments, or is the bond study-worthy enough that they could be put in together. side note, but are any of the unsavoury comments made ("Can you believe we were originally supposed to use positive reinforcement?" etc) said where they can be heard by augmented and pinned down as belonging to one person in particular? (that might be enough to get northly to break her "cause problems but not actively fatal ones" stance.) |
It could go either way, depending on what the players prefer! It could be argued that they're too dangerous (even drugged) to be kept together, where they might try to conspire and incite one another into being even more trouble. It could be argued that they too dangerous to be kept apart, and for convenience's sake they might as well store them together if that'll keep them even remotely calmer. The aspects of their pair bond could be studied either together, or apart (does it influence the various treatments, their current conditions?). So really, it comes down to whatever you would find more interesting! The particularly unsavory comments like that occur exclusively around the kidnappees- and there is no lone individual responsible for them. All of the staff there seems similarly uninterested in the feelings of those they're testing. While some might be particularly callous, or utterly removed from empathy, others are more pragmatically indifferent (and might find it distasteful to be the ones conducting the more torturous tasks, even if they have no particular problem with it happening in the first place). It would be hard to single anyone out in this facility, as they're all culpable in their own way. |
| #89
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-06 |
Even if someone is not pair-bonded, would someone with a particularly strong Imprint with others (people they've gotten EXCEEDINGLY close to or someone they've been imprinted with since almost Day 1), would they be quicker to dread/agony/agitation over the loss? Especially when they are actually aware the loss has occurred? | Particularly strong imprints would feel something akin to what pair bonds do- just at a comparatively lower level. As noted above, they would feel less than normal- an uncomfortable muffling of the connection that should be there. While they're not as sensitive to each other's emotions as pair bonds would be, they would feel this suffocation of their connection. Even average-to-weak imprints could feel something- a pale void where there should have been the simple comfort of the other's existence. It's still attached to someone, but neither is permitted the reassurance of it. |
| #90
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-02 |
Hello modlies! Katalyth studies update: Following up on Bricks & Jayces' Katalyth studies; they figured out how to get Katalyth to reduce in size before Jayce went on Golem hiatus. Brickston continued the work while he hibernated, and figured out the other half of how to make it worsen/grow, especially using music. His goal is definitely not to just make things worse Madness suggestion?: I'd love to have Brickston have an arc of possibly taking inspiration from Georges andor slowly go crazy/self destruct over the next month or two, so I don't know if there's any segues that might come about with some Very Obsessive Katalyth research/communication, or experimenting with augmented as-possible-resources, or if there's another aspect of the setting that might facilitate a character going a little mad and sounds fun, please let me know. I'm very into that. 👀 edit: it will be my turn for a little hiatus next month as I'll be traveling, actually very open to having Patho-Gen call him in for experimentation or find out he's been experimenting on Katalyth or messing with the computer terminal or something of that vein if that might slide in nicely with a hiatus mechanic, too! Kelesian connection error: Feel free to shoot this down (or if risking it for the biscuit is a dice roll option, I'm game) but asking since Bricks saw the corresponding communication computer a while back would want to try something. It seems pretty busted and not much to traditionally tinker with so he'd be willing to try one of three things in increasingly desperate order; How would any of that potentially go? where Gojo gogo: UNRELATED TO THAT at some other point in the month he'll stop by Patho-Gen HQ and ask anyone where Gojo Satoru's body went. He'll phrase it like. What would they say? Edited 2025-09-26 06:56 am (local)
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Sorry about the delay and also sorry for these words: because this ended up long That's some good work Brickston, being a very responsible sort and definitely only working for the greater good/benefit of all. It's not as though Katalyth is exactly 'conscious', or can react as a living (or reasonably sane) person could to this demonstration of empathy towards it. Not... exactly. It's not thinking, at least not at this time. But Brickston is hitting on more 'chords' that it is reactive to, through his persistence (and willingness to suffer for it). The more he communes with this specific piece of Katalyth, the more reactive it specifically becomes to Brickston. When he causes it to grow, it really grows. When he causes it to shrink, it will diminish more than someone else could do. And a greater portion of that diminishing- that energy that's quietly released with it (in itself a spell of emotion)- will be absorbed right into Brickston. It could be worse. As a Spectral-type, he's naturally resistant to arcane radiation (which this emotion-energy is). And aligning himself so deliberately with it, reading this piece and 'talking' back to it in a way that it responds to- will earn him a few bonuses. His magics as a Spectral will be temporarily enhanced after each session with the Katalyth. He's absorbing this energy that would kill a normal human- and be likely to sicken a non-Spectral (or Golem). It would feel both exhilarating, and absolutely dreadful. It's still Katalyth. Of course, if he does this too much (diminishing the Katalyth and feeding off of it), his physical state will corrupt more, developing more (temporary) little features. More winglets, more eyes, teeth in the wrong places, etc., it could be whatever you'd like. But alongside it comes the more ongoing (or permanent, depending on how you'd like to play things) mental effects... so tying into the Madness Request more specifically now. Just as Brickston is tuning into Katalyth as a construction, he is also imprinting something of himself into this particular portion of it. Whether he's causing it to shrink or grow, it's aligning personally to him (Brickston being the only one really concentrating on it for these weeks is what causes this connection to grow by leaps and bounds; no one else's 'signals' were in the way.). He'll start to hear it talking to him more often, through the music it gives off. While it had always done this to some extent (once he and the Science Team were deep enough to start hearing it anyway) it will feel that much... personal. Sometimes it's in language he understands (the language of home); sometimes it's utter gibberish but he will feel the meaning. The only meaning is what Brickston ascribes to it. In truth, there is no mind to his Katalyth companion, no heart- at least not at this precise moment. This is all delusion. But it is a very real delusion, it's reacting to what he wants to hear from it. It 'wants' to talk to him, to learn from him, to share itself with him... Brickston could feel as though he were always at the edge of a breakthrough with it, that if he communed a little harder, fed it and diminished it in some beautiful cycle... that he'd find his answers at the end of all things. But it always, always trails dark. It can't help it; the emotions written into its melody, that are being rewritten to fit Brickston's own fears, judgements, traumas... it can't help but react to his heart and reflect it in itself. It 'sympathizes' with them, expands them; when he causes it to grow, it will be written with him in 'mind'. When he feeds off of it, it will compound everything he's already feeling. At this point it would be very, very easy to spiral into greater madness (as though he weren't already there, having done all this). Kelesian connection error: Brickston continuing his clever ideas in bringing his pet Katalyth shard with him on holiday into the hell pit. 1. ...Luckily for him (rolled an 18 btw) Brickston's first attempt nets him the success he's after, without him having to resort to more desperate means. Maybe all the time spent around his Katalyth has paid off? Because it responds handily to Brickston's intent, his channeling of its energy (at cost to his own health/sanity) forces the computer back into brief operation. It's not operating on its own sanity any more; the machine remains broken in practice, but Katalyth energy transcends sanity. Even so, there's not any sort of keyboard available, or other obvious way of telling it what to do now. Fortunately, this thread of connection has spurred it into doing something on its own. Connection lost. Please wait... ... Logged into: Arboretum Hub Error in sending last report. Abort/retry/fail? There's no way of telling it to do anything. Smacking the monitor (a tried and true method) causes it to flicker and hum, and after a few seconds (whether manhandled or not) lines of text and numbers proceed to fill the screen. It's enough that it's all soon scrolling out of sight. But it looks to be information on various aspects of the area. Soil qualities, air qualities. There's that nitrogen reading again. The radiation quantity in every category is "catastrophic". There's a lot of numerical codes complete with short abbreviations and yet more numbers. Each row ends with either "unknown" or "lost". Still, it's a lot to take in at once and it's all flying by very quickly. But it's at least an impression of a lot of scientific readings, and perhaps some kind of inventory. The screen ends on someone's typed notes- a clear addendum to all this data. The words of the last person to have ever used this machine. It's already too late for us. You knew this would happen. What happens now is blood on your hands. We've disabled the teleporters. Maybe this will strike you as spite, but it's not. Containment has failed. ... Please wait... pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease ...maybe the Katalyth is doing more to this poor machine than powering it. The screen is quickly filled with a repetition of the same word, before shutting off completely. It will not turn on again, no matter what anyone does. It's dead, its final message conveyed. Gojo hunting: Brickston has been on good enough behavior recently, so he's not just shown back out the door when he turns up asking questions. The staff will be surprised at his phrasing, but it won't change their answer: a confirmation that Gojo is being held in Patho-Gen HQ due to an Augmenter malfunction. They would say the same thing even if he asked it in a less weird way. They would be apologetic about the news, and wouldn't hide that this meant that it was exceedingly unlikely that he would be seen again. They've yet to find a cure for this error once it's already happened, but they would assure that their engineers are doing their utmost to get to the root of the underlying cause. Hopefully it can be fixed and prevent losses like these from happening in future. |
| #91
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-10-02 |
Thank you, mods! sorry for the nuisance she's about to become. speaking of, if she enquires about "how about you never mess with the minds of augmented ever again, and failing that, never mess with my or pom's or the people I care about's minds <3" what sort of response will she get? and if she doesn't get that promise, and starts doing things like... sealing the entrances of patho-gen HQ with ice and other such total pain in the ass but not dangerous unless there's a fire (or plant monster) inside demonstrations of her displeasure with their decision, what happens? she's also going to refuse any instructions to do community service (and if they mess with her head to try and make her do it, or worse make pom do it.... well. the second that stops she will be flooding every inch of every patho-gen office until she passes out) |
Oh dear. Northly... this is not good behavior and not a good example for your fellow Augmented! Even though some may recognize that she's motivated out of concern for loved ones, that is a lot of trouble she's prepared to cause. Depending on who she talks to, the more sympathetic of Patho-Gen's staff would at least try to mollify her. These are also the ones least familiar (or responsible) for the "behavioral modifications"/mindfuckery that are placed on repeated aggressors like Pom (and soon to be Northly). From their perspective/understanding, the most that's been done is a bit of sedation to help with panic, and they don't really understand why she's this upset about it. They know that sometimes more bestial behaviors get the better of even the most respectable of Augmented, and surely it's better to keep them from hurting themselves or others until they calm down? Of course, even at its most optimistic, none of that is a promise (and it's a bit unintentionally condescending to boot)... and if Northly starts acting up, she would be some combination of spoken to/knocked out/artificially calmed down/put into Augmented jail (time out with Patho-Gen), as they try to figure out what to do with her (bureaucracy is a problem, the complication of different people with different authorities and perspectives trying to come up with an answer here). (For longer consequences/outcomes, it should probably be laid out after October's event (at least the kidnapping part), whether Northly is amongst those taken or not. Since it also has to do with trying to curb/control/rewrite some of these inconvenient Augmented behaviors...) |
| #92
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-09-26 |
I couldn't find if anyone had tried this yet so for Kelesis proper (and not the hell pit): Syrlya would like to spend a bit of time really focusing on the weird instability of the city and its people by specifically looking for any signs of it being a magically-induced illusion of sorts, since he's a spectral type that already specialized in illusions. Aside from the terrible headaches what does a bit of magically and metaphorically poking around at oddities, does he notice anything? | The first thing Syrlya would receive for his trouble is: more headaches. But if he persisted at this, he would begin to attract the attention of local Kelesians. Possibly because they noticed that he was in some sort of pain- but it's also just as likely that they're suddenly eager to talk to him about something. Maybe they're eager for him to visit their shop, or have a sample of what their stall is selling. Maybe they're looking for someone, and ask if he's seen anyone of their description. It's all very distracting. It is unnaturally distracting, at that, as these good-natured encounters encouraging Syrlya to partake in the world around him will make it exceedingly difficult to remember just what he was trying to do before. This in itself is something to notice, the uncanny timing and unlikely distractability, but catching on to it and fighting to view past it will earn him a brief flash of absolute dread and grief- before being forced into unconsciousness. On waking up, he will be outside Kelesian borders, and will not be allowed inside the city for a week. Any attempts after that, will lead to even swifter evictions from the city. |
| #93
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-09-26 |
Thank you! He'll likely do it twice total just to make sure so confirming the second eviction is another week ban or longer? | The second time would also be a week in length! He would be slapped with it more quickly, but the time out period would be the same. (If he persisted after that, it would ramp up in duration...) |
| #94
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-09-26 |
+1 to the "will flip right out if not immediately able to see the one they're bonded to" crowd! sorry x2 |
While Northly doesn't (yet) have the same reputation with Patho-Gen as Pom, she is rapidly ascending the list of troublesome patients. While some staff question the sense of putting two dangerous people together, others point out that they are studying the power of imprints/pair bonding, and this is certainly an example of it. After her initial outburst, Northly would be put to nap, and likely additionally sedated for everyone's safety. But they might give in and put her and Pom together, to see whether some genuine calm manifests underneath the artificially inspired compliance. As noted in the reply to Pom, they would be allowed to leave once things have stabilized somewhat, but before the calming drugs have entirely worn off. |
| #95
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-09-26 |
wake up in a high-security hospital room where Patho-Gen claims they're "monitoring their Augmenter for strange readings that may have caused the outburst" Just piggy-backing off this comment, and I am so sorry about him, but how will it go if one of said Augmented, say, reacts extremely poorly to the idea of being imprisoned in any way, freaks out even more and demands to see his Imprint buddy who was with him, and if she doesn't appear immediately goes right back to Shifting and tearing stuff up? How much knocking out can they do before turning his brain into Swiss cheese? Would they just rush Northly in there to calm him down, or knock him out so thoroughly that they can park him outside somewhere? Will they politely put him in one of those track suits if that happens, or is it another Pom-Stranded-and-Nude-In-Town Adventure? Coming back to mention that I'm cool with any kind of trouble he gets into, because whoops, I forgot to put that in the initial comment! I know he's been a pain in Patho-Gen's backside the past few months in particular. |
Patho-Gen is increasingly concerned over Pom's antics, as all these hospital rooms and equipment are both expensive and difficult to keep replacing. His reputation is also known amongst the staff (with only minor embellishments), and there's many who outright refuse to get near him if he's conscious. At the first sign of renewed violence, he would be put back to sleep, and would be administered medication to ensure that he woke up in an unnaturally compliant (and somewhat woozy) state. This will become a standard practice for future Pom-escapades. In this artificially calm state, they might concede to putting Northly in with him (particularly given her own outbursts), and see whether waking up together will see things continue to stabilize. If there's no more attempted Shifting/mauling even as the drugs begin to wear off, they will be permitted to leave together. (They are also likely to usher them both out the door before things have completely worn off, to increase non-violent compliance...) (If his clothing is destroyed at any point, they would give him yet another tracksuit. They would prefer to reduce the number of nude-Pom sightings in the area.) While there aren't any known consequences for being repeatedly Made To Nap, Pom is really putting that to the test. As of yet, there aren't any specific complications from clicker overuse, at least. |
| #96
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-09-20 |
question about the imprinting experiment! if a (helpful, respectable, scientific) mind wanted to see if they could replicate the experiment, would that be at all possible or does it require patho-gen tech/resources? | The Patho-Gen machines themselves would be a difficult thing to replicate, and they would be rather guarded about their proprietary technology. They'd been working on developing these tests for some time, after having first learned of the existence of these invisible bonds. And to potentially harvest this power... (for the good of the world, of course; understanding how it further bolsters a protection against arcane radiation, and even provides energy would be a boon to everyone!), well, they would rather not it fall into outside hands. Which isn't to say that the process (or at least a process) isn't replicable elsewhere. Even if Patho-Gen wouldn't allow even a very polite and responsible Augmented to use their machines, a capable and determined character could probably develop their own version of it. With all the different magics characters and their Natural Souls possess, it's not at all impossible that they could come up with something if they tried. Harnessing the very scientific power of friendship is a worthy goal for anyone. |
| #97
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-09-20 |
sliding in here with another Fungi Fuckery question because I suspect it's going to end up coming up in a thread - with the plants(? cursed caustic wall tendrils???) that are reacting to light under the middle-of-the-city Kelesis entrance, would it be possible for Momo to grow enough of himself onto parts of the tendrils to take control of them and stop them from attacking someone? even temporarily, to give extra time to drag someone out of there. or does the process take too long for that to be a feasible option? | Growing fungi on them and controlling the plants that way... this could work, at least temporarily, but only while Momo is consciously trying to control his collective spores. It would be a bit like a Terra-type seizing control of the tendrils- it's possible, but they are relentless, and there are a lot of them. As soon as Momo lets up, his mushrooms will be devoured by the plant life. But it would work as a means to temporarily 'leash' them, giving him more time to rescue someone (or allow them to rescue themselves). |
| #98
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-09-20 |
Oh this is all so delicious (no pun intended), thank you sweet mods this is everything I could have hoped for and more <3 (laughing at "they're still... uncomfortable at this explicit demonstration of a predator/prey outcome, when both parties are still sort of human-shaped," like, EXCUSE: just for the record, he was fully shifted at the time? This was way more "Jurassic Park" than "Hannibal", OK.) Sorry, you've already given me so much to work with but I do have just a few quick follow-up questions: 1. Does "(coming) in with a temperament Patho-Gen doesn't like" extend to just... Having a standard bad attitude about needing to do the check-ins, or are they specifically looking for signs of ferality? Or is the criteria for what counts 'player's choice'? 2. Similar Q to the above: the duration of the "exceedingly pliant and tame" effect of the injections: same range as on the TDM, or longer depending on player choice? 3. OK this one isn't really a question but: makes sense Patho-Gen wouldn't actually be that cruel, so we'll just think of some other way to force a confrontation later so as not to give the poor NPCs any more flak than they already get :3b [This is just additional info/context, not a question, feel free to skip: My idea was really just that they could wind up being brought in at about the same time; I'd previously established a backstory for Five's Natural Soul back during the May event that involved it having starved to death, so I was thinking I could extend the hunger/feral effect out beyond the pit by playing things out as if the spider lilies REALLY set his Natural Soul's old trauma off. Like to the point where it goes "mom says it's my turn to use the body now" and stays in an agitated, full shifted and unreasonably feral state that requires intervention to bring him down from. But... I do not think that would make Patho-Gen any more inclined to put him anywhere near Four, if safety/empathy are the concern, LOL.] 4. Is it safe to assume that questions/accusations directed to Patho-Gen employees re: the existence of the spider lilies would net a response similar to what people are getting when trying to ask them about the plant monster from last month? (as mentioned in the "everything else" FAQ for this month) |
Thanks for your patience on these! 1. Mostly signs of ferality, aggressiveness, hostility, disagreeableness... Things that would make it difficult for them to Do Science And Medicine. Ultimately, though, we shall grant the license of player's choice: if you want a Patho-Gen scientist to write him up for having a bad attitude and that's it, that scientist can absolutely be a pill and have a bad day! 2. Good question! We'll let this be player's choice as well. The intent is for it to last about as long as what's on the TDM, but it may spontaneously last for longer... 3. Patho-Gen is about as complex as any major organization, in that Good People Work For Them despite the horrors... In some cases, yes, they'll be humane and try to keep victim away from instigator to avoid any awfulness. Still, they're here to facilitate what's fun for players as well. 4. The spider lilies will garner the same sort of confusion from most of them, and for anyone who might know something more: the shock on even their faces will suggest that this is an unknown to them! No, Patho-Gen has not yet encountered these spider lilies; some might even ask where they were encountered and, if told, they will become quite grim and say the place sounds dangerous, and Augmented Ones should not investigate until Patho-Gen gives them the OK to do so. Which runs contrary to what the Kelesian Representative suggests, of course... Which is the right thing to do? <img src="https://emos.plurk.com/ae614ee6e6d6035afb3ad867b80774e3_w24_h21.png" class="imageshrink-actualsize"> |
| #99
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-09-19 |
2 imprinting questions! 1. Is physical touch absolutely required to imprint? What if two characters develop a deep emotional bond without touching? 2. If two characters have come to the game from the same world, and have a very close bond in that world, are they sort of auto-heavy-imprinted once they make contact with each other in Karteria? Or does it still build up from nothing, gradually over time, the same as if they were strangers? |
1. We're gonna say that physical touch is not necessarily require in the event that characters have developed a deeply emotional bond. Physical touch helps, and some characters (such as characters who don't really like each other but who imprint over a mutual connection/interest/etc) may need the physical contact to help move along the formation of their imprint. Feel free to play with this as is suitable in your character's threads to make it both fulfilling and substantial! 2. Two characters coming from the same canon & having a close bond from that canon... It doesn't automatically start as an imprint. But those two characters will have a chemistry that ignites quite readily, and this chemistry can be seen via Patho-Gen's machinery. Use the machines to force characters to acknowledge feelings they might have for each other, even if not yet imprinted! Characters who have a deep chemistry back home but haven't formally imprinted in Karteria may be faced with the reality that they feel strongly for one another, but that their "readings" aren't synchronized until they imprint. This will be interesting to Patho-Gen; they may attempt to coax the two members to engage in known methods of instigating an imprint, such as sharing like experiences or hand-holding. These characters may find that the imprint comes easily and, as soon as it's established, it's quite strong from the get-go. |
| #100
Topics: Edit question: edit
Answer date: 2025-09-18 |
Break is blind, and uses his cane to help him navigate. The only problem is his cane has a sword in it. So my question is, how easy would it be for him to get access to a normal cane to navigate through the TDM? | Sword cane....... Chances are, as long as it's not a magical cane he'll be able to get it back after being apped. (Even if it's a magical cane, it depends on what sort of magical cane it is! We judge weapons/magical items on a case by case basis.) In the meantime, Patho-Gen can provide inert but functional prosthetics or mobility aides as you please. If you'd prefer for him to be deprived of his cane, they can be experiencing a shortage/the staff members all keep glossing over his needs and accidentally forgetting about his request. Likewise, if you'd prefer for him to have some basic cane, they can have something available for him to use. Choose your adventure as you please! Edited (this was one of those things where i reread "as long as it's not magical" like 5555 times to make sure i wrote "not", then when i posted it, i forgot "not") 2025-09-18 05:44 pm (local)
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