like an outCASTE

[noematic]

Thank you, everyone, for your thought-provoking involvement in this chapter!

And with the most recent conversation of Lachesis, the New Vesuvius chapter of the overarching modplot has come to a close. Logs and posts are still ongoing of course, and character direction may still evolve from such.

Now, every chapter has had a purpose, specifically a question, that was answered. And back to the question that themed this chapter: Why? Why is it important to fight? We have seen that Vulcanus is gunning for domination over imPorts, even if it might benefit the rest of humanity. But as some characters inquired: how can any utopia exist at the horrific expense of other citizens? Isn't that unjust? How can this terrible possibility that was New Vesuvius be eliminate?

Let's begin some discussion on what you, the players, might want to do to organize your characters into action! It doesn't have to be literal super-heroism (though those antics are always welcomed!), and you can involve plots or arcs that you've already been working with (for example, many imPorts interact with the Phantasm, and maybe you'd like to run with that vein). This is also a good place to outline how you envision the fallout of recent events, in regards to your characters. We're looking for structural advantages that can found new plot angles that you might want to take. This is an open discussion for brainstorming, talking, or hardcore organizing. It's a stepping stone to set you in a fun direction. There is no wrong way to do this.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them here for me!

Comments

[gevurah]

My brain is melting in this heat so I hope this even makes sense.

(post ) plot wise Gil is going to look into the names they were given about the key holders back in New Vesuvius to see if any of the names will lead him to these people here since the president's name turned out to be a teacher, iirc. Oh, Kytha's comment reminded me Gil will likely take the names to Bobbi and co. and see what they can gather together.

Kate would likely want to look into Vulcanus' activity again but I'm not sure where to start there exactly. Brainstorming is welcome.

[out_of_time]

I think the names are a good idea! If even one of those people has the same allegiance in the Cityverse that they did in New Vesuvius, they could turn into another lead.

[nothulk]

seconding jesse on the names being a good idea to take to the spy/intel characters

[invoking]

i've pmed sara only a few hours ago so we'll see soon. :O

[nothulk]

oh awesome i was just saying it was a good idea and like
thumbing it up

idk it's late and my brain is gone

[invoking]

no, i gotcha there! mostly me expressing my own excitement about the possibilities if there are any there. +_+

[nothulk]

ahhhh excellent me too i super dig overarching plots

[topslug]

This isn't so much a plot as a direction I wanna take her in, but Yako's going to want to continue following up on research on Vulcanus! Nothing too specific in that direction, but she'll want to continue working with Tony Stark, Archer, Hank McCoy etc if they're amenable/have the resources to spare.

Also, she doesn't have much current involvement in the Phantasm/Red Death plot, but exploring the question of how exactly they got their powers and wany possible links to Vulcanus is something I'd be interesting in.

I had a lot of fun with the plot that took Yako out of the City, and I think it would be fun to see more plots that involve locations out of the City in general -- something that's more of a necessity, given the unlikelihood of Vulcanus being located where they would be easily discovered.

[magicalworld]

Some ideas!

-What do we know about the state of New Vesuvius after this plot? Is a re-empowered Clotho wreaking terrible vengeance on her masters, or is the UNV still looming on the multiversal horizon with a Porter under their thumb? If they're still in power, is Clotho going to provide new or resurrected ImPort doppelgangers for the caste system, or is their utopia fresh out of slaves?

-It's been strongly hinted that there's another Porter in the Cityverse, Lachesis' other sister. Mordin and Peter previously developed a sensor technology for recognizing a specific energy Lachesis uses to do Porter-y things. Maybe if a jumbo version of that was mounted on one of Tony's satellites or something, characters could get a bead on its location...

-Nick Fury's team is already investigating the Red Death undercover, and thanks to Sherlock's mishap it's known they have connections to Vulcanus. Maybe someone should pay a visit to Colorado and commit some 'crimes' to provoke a confrontation and get more information on their capabilities.

-There are still Vulcanus Skrulls in high-power positions around the world, more operations aimed at exposing them could be helpful.

-ImPorts just generally need more allies to offset the fact that Vulcanus has an entire planet to work with. Diplomatic and vigilante characters establishing closer cooperation with the Phantasm could gain ImPorts much-needed cannon fodder support in case of a full conflict.

-Our characters have more evidence against Vulcanus than ever before: a turtle with a penis and the location of the sinister underwater lab that spawned it, the location of a clock tower in Belfast with eldritch technologies, a tome from another world describing a time-travelling apocalypse, an exposed Skrull in an ImBargo-supporting government, and over fifty people who could testify that Vulcanus' New World Order is fucking terrifying.

Maybe it's time some characters with persuasive skills or government ties took all this to the media or global authorities, clued in the NPC population about Vulcanus being a threat to multiple universes. After the hit Vulcanus' reputation took post-Venzuela, governments might be a lot more receptive.

[wild_roar]

I am pretty much down with all these thoughts, especially the last two. ESPECIALLY those last two.

The only thing I'm waiting on personally is the fact that very little is known ICly by characters who weren't in NV. So until people start spilling the beans, the characters who stayed in the City are useless to help in terms of putting together any kind of action. Example, right now Kotetsu (as Wild Tiger) has a few ins with Phantasm, but he doesn't know that he should be going to them to gather information or allies.

[out_of_time]

What kind of information would have to come out ICly for Wild Tiger to initiate things with Phantasm?

[wild_roar]

Well, the idea for an IC info post might be enough. Since, technically, he has already been helping Jack research Vulcanus in general. But the sense of urgency isn't there yet, nor is the realization what Vulcanus wants to do to Imports here.

A little inspiration goes a long way - Kotetsu's not as smart as some of his colleagues, so he may not get the idea until someone else jogs his brain toward it.

[egohalfempty]

I really like the idea of following up on Clotho and Lachesis' other sister in some fashion. Worldbuilding, yay.

[out_of_time]

Unfortunately that option probably has the least chance of success, since I'm assuming the other sister is something extremely important to Vulcanus and therefore well-protected.

[professorlionface]

response is really late but i've liked that last point since the first time i saw it

[out_of_time]

I'm excited about it too. Characters have done goodwill and advertising stuff before, but I'm visualizing something high-level that pushes for concrete action: formal declarations of Vulcanus as a criminal organization, arrest warrants issued for known members, national militaries drawing up scenarios for what to do if a swarm of Metamen or UNV hover-tanks drop out of the sky tomorrow. I think our characters are in a position now where they could make that happen.

[professorlionface]

after the goodwill tour last summer, max and hank were talking about discussing stuff with the un. it ended up falling through, but i wonder if some kind of revisit to the idea wouldn't be possible now.

[heal_or_execute]

I think this could be a really good plot. If the ImPorts gain an audience at the United Nations to make their case, it could involve every character who is willing and able to testify against Vulcanus- not just the political and diplomatic experts. I'm unsure about how to actually play it out beyond a standard Network post and meeting log, since the main action would be making presentations to NPCs, but it could be really exciting if organized in an innovative format.

I'm visualizing something different from the goodwill stuff in the past, something to convince the world not just that ImPorts aren't evil, but that Vulcanus is evil and a threat to all humanity, not just ImPorts. A great effort to go beyond public relations and secure a formal UN resolution decrying Vulcanus as a criminal organization, freezing bank accounts, condemning the ImBargo, really bringing the hammer down.

I'm certain Venezuela would be on their side, given that government's history with Vulcanus and ImPorts. After all this time of Vulcanus having officials and authorities on their side and turning people against ImPorts, being able to turn the tables on them could be very fun.

[professorlionface]

yeah, that's pretty much just how i figured it would be presented, too, especially since they won in new vesuvius by turning the world against imports. now they have plenty of ammunition to push it he opposite direction. i'm not sure how well they could realistically use nv-related testimony given its nature, both as something that only has no little to no corroborative evidence and having occurred in an alternate universe with no proven origin in this one (though trying to find that evidence, if it exists, could be another goal?), but it may still serve as a blueprint within the import community of what they can expect should they lose?

i'm not sure, but this definitely sounds like a good route to take if we can figure out how we wanna approach hit.

[magicalworld]

There's going to be an IC Vulcanus discussion post summarizing the conflict thus far, and maybe an OOC one too... maybe after those, someone should make a list of all the crap Vulcanus has done since 2011, and then check off the instances that characters could prove or plausibly insinuate to NPC authorities. And those points are the ones ImPorts lean on at the UN.

[terrot]

yeah, i think it'll be easier to work out once the ic discussion takes place. all the notes compared and cards on the table should give them ample opportunity to get things sorted.

some thoughts

[recurve]

- IIRC, there have been at least two major volcanic eruptions in game since 2010 (actual Vesuvius in 2010 and a second in Wyoming in 2011.) It'd be interesting if someone were to look into any connection between those natural disasters and the rise of Vulcanus.

- Would it be possible to get an OOC post summarizing major reveals from the logs? I feel like there's been a lot of great information to come out in this leg of the plot, but much of it seems difficult to wade through and access, as it's sometimes buried paragraphs into a post.

- It might also be beneficial to provide the players with a summary of the story so far, that way newer players/those who were on hiatus/those who perhaps sat out a leg of the plot can have an idea of the entirety of the saga. If this info is all condensed someplace, then disregard, I may not have seen it. But I think it would be really beneficial to fill in the gaps a little bit, since some of those OOC summary posts are buried back on LJ and are difficult to track down again, especially since the mod plot is now in it's third summer.

[nothulk]

seconding the condensed version! i know there's a timeline but if there could be a vulcanus-specific info post with the new info found in this plot along with old deets it'd be super helpful!

+2

[invoking]

to a summary! i get the feeling one is coming, but it would be great to have it in one spot so we can reference it rather than running around all over the place for it.

[magicalworld]

The point about the volcanoes is an interesting one, since Vulcanus has a well-established volcano fetish in their organizational culture (their name, 'we erupt with glory!', volcanoes as an instrument of the apocalypse in TiraForsae). They were almost certainly responsible for the Yellowstone near-supervolcano in 2011, since that was one of the disasters that made MAJESTY look good.

I vaguely remember the Vesuvius eruption too, and maybe it's not a coincidence that Vulcanus would choose that volcano of all the volcanoes in the world to name their triumphant 'perfect world' after.

(for the record I'm slamming my money right down on 'hollowed-out volcano lair', Dr. Evil-style)

[topslug]

Would Mordin be interested in looking into volcanoes? I think it would be pretty neat if the little research group Archer helped put together continued to trace back Vulcanus activity like that, though I don't know if he'd continue to spearhead those efforts. :|a Either way, I think more directed research funtimes could be exciting.

[heal_or_execute]

He definitely would, and I would also like to keep that unit together and working on things! Someone else would have to take care of organization and approvals though, since I don't think I could right now.

[topslug]

+1 to all of this, especially the story, though I also think it might be interesting if there was an IC version/take of that, like characters specifically discussing what's known/been found so far? I think having a group of characters could get together to compile known information for ready access (maybe something like the DOI pamphlet could come of it, but I'm just tossing ideas out there).

That would mostly be for the benefit of getting characters who may not have been ICly around for the details up to speed without running into the possible problem of infomodding, which is something I'd be worried about doing with my characters. @_@

[heal_or_execute]

I like the idea of an IC discussion and callback post too. Enough new characters have arrived since Vulcanus debuted in 2011 that very few people have the whole story ICly- maybe someone who has been involved since the beginning should post offering to answer any questions people have about what's up, and then other characters would jump in to compare notes and contribute what they've learned.

I would volunteer Jack, but if anyone else wants to have their character do it that's good too!

[amiga]

I love this idea! I would definitely have Matt participate in this conversation, too, since as far as I can recall only he, Nill, and Rapunzel are left from the first group of abductees.

[heal_or_execute]

Good thinking. Whoever does the post should have the character invite new characters to ask questions about what they don't know yet, and old characters to come forward with their own stories and perspectives on things like MAJESTY and the bus incidents.

I think I'll have Jack do a post this weekend if I have time and no one else wants their character to do it.