The Chat Thread

[Koloss17 She/They]

10 minutes ago, Speeding Steelrunner said:

But I think being a pewter savant would make you rely heavily on pewter. Spook relied on tin for his senses, but it seems like a pewter savant would rely on it for physical operations. That’s just speculation, though.

Yeah idk. Inevitably it’s very small potatoes.

[Speeding Steelrunner Male]

2 minutes ago, Koloss17 said:

Yeah idk. Inevitably it’s very small potatoes.

Yeah. Just so that I’m consistent, I’m going to add details about how pewter savantism works (at least how I’m theorizing it to work for this character) to the character sheet.

[TheFrugalWizard he/him]

Okay everybody, I've been holding off saying it, but it has been coming for a while. I can't continue with the alleyverse. It is too much stress to keep up with everyone's storylines on top of my own. If someone wants to RP Frisian that's fine, but for now he's retreated into the shadows to gather followers and build up a mercenary army. 

I'm so sorry everyone, I have so much real life stuff going on it's impossible to give my time to this as well. Perhaps in a while I can rejoin. Thanks.

@Stormlightsong @Koloss17 @Lunamor @Speeding Steelrunner (sorry I know I missed a bunch of people)

[Koloss17 She/They]

10 hours ago, TheFrugalWizard said:

Okay everybody, I've been holding off saying it, but it has been coming for a while. I can't continue with the alleyverse. It is too much stress to keep up with everyone's storylines on top of my own. If someone wants to RP Frisian that's fine, but for now he's retreated into the shadows to gather followers and build up a mercenary army. 

I'm so sorry everyone, I have so much real life stuff going on it's impossible to give my time to this as well. Perhaps in a while I can rejoin. Thanks.

@Stormlightsong @Koloss17 @Lunamor @Speeding Steelrunner (sorry I know I missed a bunch of people)

Thanks for letting us know! I totally get it. There’s so many other more important things than a silly little roleplaying game with strangers, and it should never feel like a chore. No hard feelings!

I wish you the best, and I hope everything works out with your future endeavors.

[Speeding Steelrunner Male]

@Koloss17 I have a worldbuilding question.

Basically, I was wondering if new districts are ever added to Alleycity. Obviously, there are districts for all of the major Cosmere planets (and even some of those don't seem to be used very often, like Sel and Taldain), but I was wondering if there is or ever would be representation for some of the other planets like Threnody, First of the Sun, Lumar, or Komashi. (Threnody and First of the Sun are kind of uncivilized, but I could see there being places outside the city with features from those.) Is it a case where we would just add them if we needed them?

This isn't relevant to anything that I want to do right now or anything. Mostly I'm wondering for my own curiosity, and in case I ever wanted to make a character from one of those worlds, (which I don't currently have any plans to do--I haven't even read Tress or Yumi, so my knowledge of those planets is incomplete.)

[Koloss17 She/They]

1 hour ago, Speeding Steelrunner said:

@Koloss17 I have a worldbuilding question.

Basically, I was wondering if new districts are ever added to Alleycity. Obviously, there are districts for all of the major Cosmere planets (and even some of those don't seem to be used very often, like Sel and Taldain), but I was wondering if there is or ever would be representation for some of the other planets like Threnody, First of the Sun, Lumar, or Komashi. (Threnody and First of the Sun are kind of uncivilized, but I could see there being places outside the city with features from those.) Is it a case where we would just add them if we needed them?

This isn't relevant to anything that I want to do right now or anything. Mostly I'm wondering for my own curiosity, and in case I ever wanted to make a character from one of those worlds, (which I don't currently have any plans to do--I haven't even read Tress or Yumi, so my knowledge of those planets is incomplete.)

So it would probably require a major story building event. Like-if a large or significant enough population wants to set up at the outskirts of the city, or make a deal with other districts, it could probably happen. There’s also the possibility of violent uprising…

Basically new districts can very much be created, but it would need to be an RPed thing, not something that happens in the background (probably).

[Speeding Steelrunner Male]

11 minutes ago, Koloss17 said:

So it would probably require a major story building event. Like-if a large or significant enough population wants to set up at the outskirts of the city, or make a deal with other districts, it could probably happen. There’s also the possibility of violent uprising…

Basically new districts can very much be created, but it would need to be an RPed thing, not something that happens in the background (probably).

Okay, thanks! Good to know.

[Koloss17 She/They]

1 hour ago, Speeding Steelrunner said:

Okay, thanks! Good to know.

Like as an example, Perses is kinda pushing for a separation of the Mistwarrens from the districts they are technically attached to (for selfish reasons obviously), and if he succeeds in the future, that would lead to a new district forming. Obviously that’s more tame than like a civil war between a district, but with the amount of power struggles in Alleycity and the underpolicing of the districts can lead to any manner of things happening to it.

Heck, Era 6’s main plot point was that the DA (I believe) forged the Wordlspike, rewriting the history of the entirety of Alleycity!

With Era 7 I’m resetting the stakes, but expect things to ramp up in coming eras. And feel free to pitch ideas, as there is no one person guiding an era! I mean, with this one alone Perses was the main protagonist (Using the Sandersonian definition of the one who protags) and it has shifted for this portion of the Episode to Asylum. As the head mod, my job isn’t to set the plot, it’s to help facilitate.

[Speeding Steelrunner Male]

4 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Like as an example, Perses is kinda pushing for a separation of the Mistwarrens from the districts they are technically attached to (for selfish reasons obviously), and if he succeeds in the future, that would lead to a new district forming. Obviously that’s more tame than like a civil war between a district, but with the amount of power struggles in Alleycity and the underpolicing of the districts can lead to any manner of things happening to it.

So, it sounds like there’s a very low chance of ever adding districts for other planets, since getting things like Shades or an aether sea would be a lot more convoluted and bizarre than simply splitting an existing area off! (And honestly, those areas would probably not be used very often anyways, since most people seem to play as Metalborn or Radiants.)

4 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

With Era 7 I’m resetting the stakes, but expect things to ramp up in coming eras. And feel free to pitch ideas, as there is no one person guiding an era!

Cool! I think I’ll definitely have some ideas for the next era. I’m having fun in this era with Fenna, but it is a challenge to fit her into what’s happening since I just hopped in at the end. It’ll be nice to start the next era with characters that (hopefully) fit into the plot better.

(I’ve actually been tinkering with a character that I think would be a pretty cool villain at some point. But maybe more like an era 9 or era 10 villain than an era 8 one.)

[Longshot97 he/him]

On 7/16/2024 at 10:10 AM, Koloss17 said:

Heck, Era 6’s main plot point was that the DA (I believe) forged the Wordlspike, rewriting the history of the entirety of Alleycity!

 

Oh. Oh. That's what the Forgery was. I kept seeing it mentioned, but found no directly descriptive references.

On 6/10/2024 at 6:38 PM, Koloss17 said:

Because of that, I invite everyone to think about where you want to take your character. An arc certainly does not have to end by the end of an era, and can definitely span multiple eras or pick up where it left off on the next era. However, having some idea on where you want your character to be by the end of this era is certainly a good thing to start thinking about and working towards.

So, I have hit a brick wall in terms of this. I am struggling with how to move my character's arc forward. To help stimulate creativity, I am turning to this community. If anyone has anything they'd be willing to offer - any insights, idle thoughts, even questions - about my character, I would love to hear them. Obviously there's no pressure, but if you have some free time, I value any and all responses.

[Speeding Steelrunner Male]

2 hours ago, Longshot97 said:

Oh. Oh. That's what the Forgery was. I kept seeing it mentioned, but found no directly descriptive references.

So, I have hit a brick wall in terms of this. I am struggling with how to move my character's arc forward. To help stimulate creativity, I am turning to this community. If anyone has anything they'd be willing to offer - any insights, idle thoughts, even questions - about my character, I would love to hear them. Obviously there's no pressure, but if you have some free time, I value any and all responses.

I didn’t think about this for too long, but just off the top of my head, what strikes me is that your character’s main motivation (at least, according to my recollection) is to find a way home and back to his wife, which, since it would mean walking out of the story, isn’t something he’s going to be able to do.

Try thinking about what he would want to do if he can’t leave. In fact, resigning himself to the fact that he is stuck there, could be the next stage of character development.

I’m going to take a look back at Eighth’s sheet. I’ll edit this post if I think of anything else.

Edit:

Okay, so this is what you have as his short and long term motivations:

Quote

In the short term, he currently seeks to embody the Eelakin ideal.
In the long term, Eighth is trying to find his way back home. On one level, he longs to return to First of the Sun. At the same time, he yearns to reunite with his wife.

So, like I said, his long term motivation isn’t something he can act on—he has no idea how he could accomplish it, so it isn’t going to motivate him to do anything.

The short term motivation is a bit vague, and more of a way to live than a goal to pursue.

So, my suggestion would just be to find a motivation that he can actively pursue, preferably something that is already built into his character. It may not be something you’ve thought about him before, but there’s almost certainly something you can use. 

Your question was about character arc, which I didn’t really talk about, but I think finding a new motivation might fix that problem—a character’s goal is integral to their character development.

Anyways, hopefully what I said makes sense and is helpful!

Edited July 17 by Speeding Steelrunner

[Koloss17 She/They]

4 hours ago, Longshot97 said:

Oh. Oh. That's what the Forgery was. I kept seeing it mentioned, but found no directly descriptive references.

So, I have hit a brick wall in terms of this. I am struggling with how to move my character's arc forward. To help stimulate creativity, I am turning to this community. If anyone has anything they'd be willing to offer - any insights, idle thoughts, even questions - about my character, I would love to hear them. Obviously there's no pressure, but if you have some free time, I value any and all responses.

Well, if you would like, I can have the reason your talent isn’t working be used more. There is an opportunity for me to make Eighth feel a flicker of their talent in the not too distant future, which could inspire some thoughts about what @Speeding Steelrunner said or inspire something else in your character. 
 

Right now I’m taking a bit of a back seat to the current happenings, though Perses will join in sooner or later. But I think it’s best if I let Asylum be a singular problem for a while longer.

[Stormlightsong]

@Speeding Steelrunner I would like to remind you that the specific vampire Fenna dealing with has different orders than the one that attacked Eza and Eighth. This one has very specific orders to capture and bring back Arranis and so would not try to feed on Fenna. (Though technically it was given a little bit of discretion on how to deal with Arranis as long as it keeps him alive.

also @Scars of Hathsin you refer to the vampire in your post with masculine pronouns, but if you look at my original post I actually specified that the body was of a woman. Although it doesn’t matter much, continuity is nice.

[Speeding Steelrunner Male]

1 hour ago, Stormlightsong said:

@Speeding Steelrunner I would like to remind you that the specific vampire Fenna dealing with has different orders than the one that attacked Eza and Eighth. This one has very specific orders to capture and bring back Arranis and so would not try to feed on Fenna. (Though technically it was given a little bit of discretion on how to deal with Arranis as long as it keeps him alive.

also @Scars of Hathsin you refer to the vampire in your post with masculine pronouns, but if you look at my original post I actually specified that the body was of a woman. Although it doesn’t matter much, continuity is nice.

Thanks for the reminder. I was thinking that the vampire was trying a bite as a quick killing option, since it obviously doesn’t have time to feed on anyone at the moment. I’m also assuming that it’s going for Arranis after Fenna knocked herself through the wall.

[Scars of Hathsin he/him]

On 7/20/2024 at 6:03 AM, Stormlightsong said:

@Speeding Steelrunner I would like to remind you that the specific vampire Fenna dealing with has different orders than the one that attacked Eza and Eighth. This one has very specific orders to capture and bring back Arranis and so would not try to feed on Fenna. (Though technically it was given a little bit of discretion on how to deal with Arranis as long as it keeps him alive.

also @Scars of Hathsin you refer to the vampire in your post with masculine pronouns, but if you look at my original post I actually specified that the body was of a woman. Although it doesn’t matter much, continuity is nice.

I wasn't aware I used masculine pronouns, i thought I used gender neutral. Oh well, I will go have a look

[Koloss17 She/They]

Btw @Scars of Hathsin a Crasher is very specifically an A-Steel F-Iron Twinborn. Are you looking for Skimmers?

[Scars of Hathsin he/him]

23 minutes ago, Koloss17 said:

Btw @Scars of Hathsin a Crasher is very specifically an A-Steel F-Iron Twinborn. Are you looking for Skimmers?

No, My character was just talking about people who could store weight. Such as Fenna. He does not know the correct terms.

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

I am sorry for not posting anything earlier but due to irl stuff I will be taking a break from this rp. I will be back. I know exactly when that is. The reason for my break is that I’m abroad currently and unable to get much Wi-Fi consistently 

[Koloss17 She/They]

2 hours ago, RoyalBeeMage said:

I am sorry for not posting anything earlier but due to irl stuff I will be taking a break from this rp. I will be back. I know exactly when that is. The reason for my break is that I’m abroad currently and unable to get much Wi-Fi consistently 

Okay! How long do you think you’ll be gone?

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

11 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Okay! How long do you think you’ll be gone?

I should get back from my holiday on the 3rd of august 

[Koloss17 She/They]

Btw folks as a sneak peek: I’m planning on this being the last full episode of the era with this large conflict probably being the end of it. There will be an epilogue chapter where you will be able to conclude and set up storylines for the next era, with as much of a time skip as you want for your individual character. I wouldn’t go more than a month or two, but we don’t really have an idea on how far from Era 7 Era 8 will be.

This will also be where I’ll be unveiling some of what we have planning for the next era. Keep in mind though is that while I’ve been kinda acting as a chauffeur of the plot, I very much don’t want to be the definer of the plot. So feel free to come up with your own stuff. I’d recommend letting me know, as I can help you make that idea a reality, but that’s all I want to do. This is a RPG based around not having a DM, and while I seriously think that having someone take the reigns a bit is needed for the survival of the roleplay (and part of why I suspect the original RP kinda puttered out), I don’t want things to go any further than having a guide to push the plot along.

[Speeding Steelrunner Male]

I've been having some trouble deciding what to do with Fenna at the end of this era. The problem isn't that I don't know where to take her character arc, but rather the logistics of continuing with her versus killing her off for era 8.

The problem is that she has had such a short arc so far, and it would feel like a waste to have her die at this point, but on the other hand, I really want to use the other two characters I posted for era 8, because I feel like they could fit in really well with some of the stuff that's already happening.

I have three ideas of what to do:

#1: Kill Fenna off, like I originally planned. I could do this in a way that would end her arc nicely, but like I said, it would feel like a bit of a waste.

#2: Push her out of the picture for a while. I could do this in a way that would work well for her character arc, but it also feels like an awkward solution to this problem.

#3: Make her a more minor background character for era 8. I have a specific idea for how I could do this, but it would involve things for the next era, so I don't think it's a decision I can make on my own. (@Koloss17, by the way, will the epilogue chapter be before or after we start planning for era 8?) For anyone interested, here is a longer explanation that includes some of the possible ideas I've had for era 8:

Spoiler

Basically, my idea is that we involve a large-ish number of (Pseudo-)Inquisitors in era 8. My original idea for Jerrin and Thav (the characters I posted first and plan to use in the next era) involved Inquisitors, and while I could probably change it so that it doesn't if there was need, I think this could fit well with some of the other things that have been happening. Specifically, I seem to recall that Eza's backstory featured Hemalurgists, and of course, there's already Perses. What if this 'Belias' thing is creating many Hemalurgists, perhaps using some master of Hemalurgy to provide spiking for new minions? If we did something like this, then I could have Fenna get spiked, which would keep her in the picture, but make her a more minor character who appears infrequently, so that I could still focus on my other characters. Once again, I think I could do this well from a character arc perspective. Most likely it would be a similar ending to option #2.

I imagine that this is something that will require some discussion, and I don't want to be thinking too far ahead, but I wanted to put this out there since it has bearing on how this era ends for Fenna.

So, if anyone has ideas of suggestions about this, I would be glad to here it!

[Koloss17 She/They]

1 hour ago, Speeding Steelrunner said:

(@Koloss17, by the way, will the epilogue chapter be before or after we start planning for era 8?)

Honestly I haven’t decided. I’ll probably get into the details before posting the epilogue chapter, but not long before it.

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

im just going to say this now but I think It might be easier for me to reincert myself back into everything during the start of the next era. for now I will be preparing some ideas for how my character can grow and maybe create a new character. we will see. 

[Longshot97 he/him]

Point of clarification: The Connection of the Worldspike allows all residents of the Alleycity to hear their own language spoken when communicating. Does this prevent people from holding discussions in different languages (in the interest of secrecy) or using codes and cyphers? Is Intent a factor here?

Edited August 13 by Longshot97