tushanshu_ooc | EVENT | ZUGZWANG, PART 1 & 2

Entry tags:

#event,
#metaplot

EVENT | ZUGZWANG, PART 1 & 2 | SEPTEMBER 21-28

/German ˈtsuːktsvaŋ/ "compulsion to move"; noun.
1. a situation that occurs in chess and other games of strategy where a player is forced play instead of pass the turn
2. to make a choice between two moves, both of which which will knowingly damage your position
This is the first part of a two-part event, starting on September 21st and going through until September 27th. The second part of this event will be revealed on September 28th.

As some Foreigners continue to be affected by the cultists' poison, the symptoms of which might even be steadily growing worse, other characters are going to be experiencing something very different, and it has nothing to do with the electrical blackouts which accompanied the heat wave.

Abilities Go Haywire For Everyone - September 21-25: Starting on Sept 21st and continuing through the 25th, the Foreigners' magical abilities will be unstable and unpredictable to the point of being dangerous. Earlier in the week, this instability will be less severe, more of a nuisance than actively detrimental. As the week goes on, however, the instability will grow. Fluctuations in power level might allow some characters to feel normal one minute, overly powerful the next, and barely functioning only a minute later, ultimately leaving them feeling mentally or physically exhausted and weak; other characters might try to use their powers and achieve results very different from what they expect. The fluctuation cycles could repeat themselves anywhere from once to dozens of times during the week, or only cycle once at all, whereas unintended side effects of spells or magic can last the entirety of the five days.

The effects will vary as widely as the characters' abilities do, but one thing is clear – any Foreigner who possesses magical ability will suddenly have a very, very hard time controlling or harnessing that ability. Even those Foreigners without magical ability are getting a taste of this, as minor forms of unpredictable abilities are transferring temporarily over to them. Are they jealous of a friend's magic? Congratulations, they now have a little of it!... with frankly disastrous effects. We want every player to enjoy this event, so be creative with how your character is affected, from fully life ruining to only minorly worrisome!

Please note that Asti's boons, given to the hatchlings' foster parents during the midsummer festival in exchange for looking after the baby turtles, will not be affected during the duration of this event; they will function as normal.
Abilities Are Nullified - September 26-27: Characters may or may not discover ways to live with the fluctuations and may even have grown accustomed to them. However, from September 25-27, all the Foreigners' magical abilities will be completely dead. Characters will be utterly unable to use them; they will feel cut off from their source, not have the energy or mental focus for them, etc. Any Foreigner ability fueled by or involving magic will be affected by this – only powers which characters absolutely need in order to survive will still work. Think of it as being caught in Evandau's nullification field except expanded to include the entire turtle. After the events of the last five days, some characters might even consider this a blessing.

As mentioned above, Asti's Boons will not be affected during the duration of this event.
ZUGZWANG, PART 2 - September 28: Full OOC post located here

Remember that this is the first part of a two-part event, and effects won't begin until September 21st! The second part of the event will be announced on September 28th, so check back to this post for that section to be updated! (A reminder will go up in the OOC comm ad on plurk

tushan once that part of the plot is revealed.)

If you have questions, please post them to the QUESTIONS section of the comments. Otherwise, feel free to use this post to plot what your character(s) may be up to during the event!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Questions relating to the event go here!

Figures someone will try and rules-lawyer the shit out of this, so, why not me!:

Will Foreigner technology be affected at all, esp. if it falls into the Clarke's Law territory ("any sufficiently advanced technology will be indistinguishable from magic", etc.)?

I'm, uh. ASKING FOR A FRIEND.

Foreigner powered technology, so things that run off their own power source, will remain functioning normally. Tech sources that use the bio-energy of the turtle will have the same erratic type effects as powers and will coordinatingly be dead during the null period.

Hmm. Okay.

Gonna have to make some quick headcanony decisions here. /plots

Obviously Raine's artes are right out, and that actually sorta nixes her boon, too, but would the nullification also cut off her ability to sense mana? It's biological, but definitely magical too, so...

That's a little of both, yeah, so it can be at your discretion whether you want the sensing to be out or not. If you wanna play it a little more serious, you could have her dealing with the loss of basically another primary sense or if you want to make it more just frustration, you could have her able to sense it but not access it. Your call!

Oh boy oh boy I think I am probably going to be horrible. Thanks! :)

Sigils are inherently magical but you don't need magic to use them. Would they still work? (Especially relevant for the Hotel because sigils are the only things keeping it intact while in Keeliai.)

We'll say that it falls under the same clause as reducing to baseline, in that there remains enough not to have it disappear but no other effects.

How will the ability to detect the taint be affected? Is that considered magic, or just a learned skill?

Anything that's not one of Asti's boons will be affected.

so let's say someone went to asti's head and tried to contact him to ask him what he would like done his nieces and nephews' bodies

... yeah.

would he have any response to that? /sob

No response, and that'll be detailed a little more in the Library log going up in a few days, so stay tuned!

Okay!!! Akito is going to try and listen for any sound coming from the hatchlings even though they're dead because hope. but would he hear anything weird? I'm thinking not but I figured I would ask anyway!

On that same vein, would there be any strange smells?

No, the hatchlings are dead so they're not going to be making any posts. As for smells, just those that are associated with... dead turtle corpses.

(no subject)

akito - 2014-09-28 03:53 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

ironwood - 2014-09-28 03:58 (UTC) - Expand

Approximately how soon after Malicant's announcement will the Kedan be reacting with rioting/violence/paranoia? Will it be a few hours, half a day, etc., after absorbing what just happened, or immediate?

Within a day, as news of the Emperor's death spreads.

Thank you!

Another few questions: I'm having trouble finding information about the hospital. Is there an information post for it that I've overlooked the link to? Mostly I want to know if it's primarily Kedan-run.

How will the Kedan react to the Hatchlings' presence now? As in, would a hatchling be able to travel from one parents' home to another without worry?

Jobs/work! Will businesses be shut down for the time being and, if not, will Foreigners still find themselves employed?

How commonplace will retaliation against the foreigners be? (physical or non-physical)
How severe, on average, will any retaliation be (physical or non-physical)
What kind of reactions can the foreigners expect from the kedan? Attacks on their homes? Just standard shunning, refusal of services, etc?

Please note that I'm asking these not just for the immediate future, but also for the longer term!

Re: QUESTIONS

ironwood - 2014-09-29 14:26 (UTC) - Expand

Re: QUESTIONS

akito - 2014-09-29 14:27 (UTC) - Expand

Re: QUESTIONS

ironwood - 2014-09-30 21:48 (UTC) - Expand

Re: QUESTIONS

akito - 2014-09-30 21:49 (UTC) - Expand

With all the death and stuff, will lost souls be wandering the halls in general?

They can be sensed, primarily in the locations noted with death references, but they're not complete souls that can be spoken to or interacted with.

But Valis can sense them and see them with her soul sight, correct? (they just might appear blurry, weak and unclear?)

Re: QUESTIONS

ironwood - 2014-09-30 21:49 (UTC) - Expand

Questions re: the portals in the palace! The circles are presented as slightly different but reminiscent of portal-entrances. Do either of them contain white-marble and obsidian? Is the one in the ritual chamber more inclined to planal-related symbols than the one to the turtle's head?

Basically Sol has been researching Dreaming portals and I want to know if it's possible for him to tell where the circle in the ritual-chamber went, if anywhere.

Hey! Thanks for the questions.

Both circles are drawn with blood on their respective "floors". No white marble or obsidian are contained within/without either one, excepting the palace's natural materials in both places (which I believe is white marble for the roof and stone for the Ritual Chamber without looking, but I can look if needed).

Both circles have symbols written around them, also in blood. These symbols are similar to those found on previous archways, but are in no recognizable pattern. They feature symbols from gateways to both Dreaming and Death, as well as new symbols.

The symbols between the two circles possess some overlap in usage (some symbols the same, some different), but the patterning is not identical. Neither one skews as seemingly possessing more of one type of symbol over another (ie each seems roughly split between 1/4 Dreaming, 1/4 Death, and 1/2 new symbols).

Hopefully that answers your questions! Feel free to ask more or to ask me to clarify, haha.

Edited 2014-10-12 07:09 (UTC)

No need, found it, it's obsidian for both! (Really it's the both that's important.)

Otherwise cheers, for now I think that's enough to come to a conclusion. :3