GAME ITINERARY | OCTOBER 2017

[ironwood]

Hello chelonauts, here is a fresh new itinerary post! Previous months can be found under this tag.

Please note that there is an important State of the Shell announcement at the bottom of this month's itinerary, thank you!

Here's what we've got lined up for October 2017:

Weather

October sees the weather cooling down a bit. Perhaps there’s even an unnatural sort of chill in the air, particularly in the evenings, although the daylight hours are still temperate.

Later into the month the chill is far more noticeable, and there’s a rash of persistent storms. Even when the thunder, lightning and heavy downpours abate, the sky remains overcast, the days are drizzly, and a constant fog has settled over the damp streets of Keeliai. Because of the long dry period, the first week of stormy weather brings floods and a few landslides outside the city.

On the few nights that the clouds abate, however, those looking to the evening skies will get quite a show. Towards the end of October, there are meteor showers over the course of a three day period, and observers may note that this is no ordinary astronomical event. To the naked eye, it doesn't look like much, but anyone with telescopes or similar technology will be able to see meteors traveling in a path through the upper atmosphere - only to disappear abruptly and continue in their path after several seconds, or turn in the opposite direction. Stranger still, there is one area of the sky where the exact same pattern of meteorites fall every single night of the shower.

Kedan/Foreigner Relations

’Neutral’ would probably be the best way to describe the Kedan’s attitude towards the foreigners right now. Those who never liked them never will, and those who love them will seem hard pressed not to share their works of fiction, but most have simply accepted them as a part of the day-to-day city life of Keeliai.

Local Events

Mid-Autumn Unity Festival! - October 14

During Jackie Ma’s talks with kedan vendors for his proposed kedan appreciation party, some vendors brought up that there’s a lesser cultural festival around the middle of the month that they can tie their party to, in order to make it clear that Foreigner and kedan are mending fences entirely. The large block party will occur in the afternoon of October 14, and will proceed late into the night.

Log Note:The Mid-Autumn Unity Festival will have a mod-posted event log.

High Crimes Take Two: Electric Boogaloo - Late October, date TBA

The follow-up to the prior High Crimes discussion is finally ready. The representatives of each guild have let the Foreigners’ opinions percolate, and are ready to take a second stab at creating a uniform code of justice for the city. The issues addressed of particular note to the Foreigners will include the consequences of murder, establishing the Foreigners Guild as the representative power for their kind, and the punishments decided upon for certain high crimes, among other things.

Log Note: High Crimes 2: Crime Harder will have a mod-posted event log.

Night of the Living Dead: True Crimes Edition - All Month

The border between the merged Life and Dreaming planes, and the Death plane (which has been sealed off and inaccessible for the last three years), grows thin this month much to the growing concern of the College. It becomes a concern for everyone when the spectres of the dead rise from their long slumber and crash the High Crimes meeting - perhaps to impart messages or warnings or perhaps to take much-desired revenge. Although if they're bent on revenge they're particularly impotent, having no physical presence. At least for now.

Just as ominous would be the visions characters have of their own deaths to come....

Log Note: Die Hard: Die Harder: NO WE MEAN IT PLEASE DIE THIS TIME will have a mod-posted event log.

NPCs & Families

BAN OM

With the spectres' appearances, attendance at the Ban Om temple remains high and steady, although some members, particularly those of the older generation and those who are the more superstitious lot, put questions to the twins about why Tu Vishan hadn't given them any sort of notice about the state of the Planes before it got to this point. It's not something that Kuhie and Kiueu can answer, but they pledge to spend more time than ever in trying to glean the Great Turtle's wishes and warnings. Out of the Temple, when they can be glimpsed around the city and without any sort of entourage, both of them are starting to look a little haggard.

BOARD OF SCIENCES

The Board of Sciences is in what can only be described as a chaotic tizzy. The borders between planes breaking down is all kinds of Not Good, and most projects are put on hold to focus on the fact that the very fabric of reality is in danger of unraveling.

MILYN

The Cherrywood Healer hasn't done anything notable of late, whether benevolent or questionable, but her offer to assist at the Healer's Guild if they change their mind about having her remains. Otherwise, she seems to be keeping largely to herself in her Water Sector clinic, although toward the end of the month after the spectres begin appearing, her shop will say 'Closed' most days, even when it would normally be open.

MERCHANTS GUILD

Commerce remains a steady pillar in Keeliai throughout the month, bolstered by the ongoing Night Market and the goods and services revenue tied to the Unity Festival, Business as usual seems to be something of a calming respite to those who don't want to deal with the invading strangeness of the planar flux this month, although there's a spike in the manufacture and purchase of the kedanese spirit houses. The relative stability has Odyni in... as good a mood as she ever gets, at least around the Foreigners-- which promptly get derailed when people report seeing a phantom that looks like Aroyan.

SERVICE WORKERS ASSOCIATION

The Association has a hand in a number of the local events this month, providing support for Jackie's Mid-Autumn Festival and of course taking part in the High Crimes meeting. The thinning between the planes is, at first, not commented on, although it's clear that there is confusion and tension as a result of the various appearance. After a few days of tense silence, however, the official stance becomes something along the lines of 'let's keep business going as usual'.

Rosyn is alternatively pensive and absolutely delighted by the appearance of ghosts. She does spend some time allaying concerns about these incidents, referring the especially worried to contacts at the College. On the other hand, Rosyn is quite old, and the spectres are sometimes past friends. It's the most interesting thing that's happened in a long time, and she (mostly) jokingly threatens to start having seances and tea parties for the dead at the Shaded Lantern.

CRAFTS AND TRADES COALITION

The CTC, being a group of eminently practically minded people, take the ghosts as they come, more or less at face value. Business continues as usual, throughout the month; tailors step up their production of jackets and warm weather clothes, anticipating the winter. If anyone has a custom order, this is the time.

After the High Crimes meeting, Usayi will be notably absent from all public proceedings, and impossible to locate. If queried, those who work closely with him will report that he met a ghost who looked, oddly, very like him. There may have been tears.

GUILD OF JUSTICE AND ARBITRATION

Eliyen’s looking tired these days - too many late nights keeping up with the Guild’s backlog of cases. She’s holding classes on occasion at the College on basic kedanese law - join her, won’t you?

Look, it’s either this or freak out because this Death plane stuff can only mean that Malicant is returning, so she’s going to Keep Calm and Carry On her way out of this. If you manage to catch her at a teahouse, though, you might be able to see her hands shaking.

NATURAL RESOURCES GUILD

While the ghosts are interesting, Cheym and the NRG are occupied with the shift in weather. Most of the landslides don't affect the fields outside the city, but one swamps a significant area and a few kedan workers are injured by the sudden shift in soil and rock. Fortunately, the food supply has been improving, and the greenhouses and hydroponics could easily make up any shortfall.

The appearance of ghosts at the High Crimes meeting leaves Cheym looking a bit unsettled, but there's also something oddly resolute about him, like this has a deeper meaning that only he is privy to. If asked about it, he will only say that such events are portentous, and should be learned from.

COLLEGIATE SOCIETY

Working closely with the Board of Sciences to discern as much information about the Planes' dispersion, many of the non-essential classes are quietly put on hold since none of the students are focusing on their lessons anyway. It's done in a way not to seem alarming, but members of the faculty can often be found having quiet discussions amongst themselves without their students around. The College library becomes a beehive of activity, as everyone wants to be the first to discover what could be causing this, and mention of the three Watch Cities comes up more than once.

HEALERS GUILD

The Guild has, mercifully, a relatively low-key month, and the opportunity is taken to lay in supplies for the next catastrophe around the corner. First aid courses are advertised, and there's a general call put out for people who want to learn to heal or to doctor.

Past the High Crimes meeting, there's an uptick in people demanding to know if contact with a ghost is going to have lasting effects. Current studies say: no, they're just a bit chilly. However, if someone has had unpleasant issues dug up by the appearance of the ghosts, there are some healers versed in mental health more than willing to assist.

Suhiet has mostly taken over operations this month, leaving Raine free to study whatever the planes think they're doing now, though she's still on call for whatever emergencies walk through the Guild door.

Economy

The Night Market’s existence over the past few months has given the economy a nice boost, proving that even in the most painfully hot summer days, things can still get done. That’s not going to abate - even though the summer’s over, the economy’s still chugging along with all speed, especially since people now have to invest in heavier clothing for the cooler days ahead.

Crime

Of course, law-abiding citizens aren’t the only ones who are feeling the effects of the more temperate weather. Petty crime is on the rise, and in the wake of the landslides later in the month, some kedan can be caught looting destroyed homes and businesses.

Technology

The tram line out to the turtle's head is almost complete, and engineers anticipate that it will be finished and ready for travel in the first week of November. There's a raffle that's started to pick the first travelers from the city to take the line, with winners to be announced at the end of October.

Elsewhere in the city, the thinning planes are having a notable effect on technology, especially the consoles. Occasionally, old transmissions will play unprompted from many years past, although they're usually poor-quality and incomplete, as though there's some interference. New transmissions this month may also be interrupted or overlaid with voices, some decipherable and some not. Technicians aren't certain how to address the problem, but there is a lot of activity around determining exactly how the consoles are being altered.

OOC Information

STATE OF THE SHELL

First of all, we'd like to thank everyone for their patience, as the last few months have been very busy on the mod back end and we've been a bit slower getting to game related things.

Secondly, as we mentioned briefly on plurk, the mods are working on some large game changes that are going to be factoring in over the next few months, and we'll be putting up a new State of the Shell detailing more about this by the end of the week. So stay tuned!

So that's our outline for the month of October! If you have any questions about these happenings, please use the Questions comment below. Otherwise, this post is free space for monthly OOC plotting.