Day 3: Monster Arrival

Morning-Afternoon: 11:00am - Evening

[ IRL Timeframe: May 8th - ~~May 22nd~~ May 29th, 2019 ]

It's monster time.

Wherever your hero is when 11am rolls around, they're in for a change. At 11am on the dot everyone will start growing more and more transparent until, at 11:15am, they pass out momentarily. When they wake, they'll find that they aren't where they were before. More importantly, they'll find that the world is not as they left it. When they look around, or on their phones, they'll see that the date is 01 AW and the specific day is one day after the Wizard was defeated, the first time, by the first set of knights. The newspapers all around the city reflect a dramatic change in the world, though several characters may remember the change if they were alive for it.

While the island is still devoid of its inhabitants, the characters will find that they are now able to locate each other. They can text freely, they can team up, but even if they do they'll feel an inexplicable pull towards those they woke up with. More importantly, they'll each feel a pull towards another presence.

All six teams of heroes will feel a presence following them, an unmistakably menacing feeling that, if they stay still, gets closer and closer with each passing moment.

Third Morning Event: All Cities: The Past.

The Weather
Alive, but with what?
64°F / 18°C
There is only wind, the air crackles with electricity.

Prompts:

11:00am Bamborough: The heroes have been shaken up, at 11am on the dot everyone will start growing more and more transparent until, at 11:15am, they pass out momentarily. When they wake, they'll find that they aren't where they were before. Haizea and Olivia will wake on the edge of the fountain in Bamborough's resort hotel lobby. If they're unlucky, a hand, a foot, or their entire body may end up tumbling into the water of the fountain. Down by the water, Joanna and Web will wake up on their backs in the sand with the ocean water lapping at their feet and legs. If they stay laying there for too long, they'll end up underwater. How did Web make it from Far Haven to Bamborough this quickly?

11:00am Craydon: The heroes have been shaken up, at 11am on the dot everyone will start growing more and more transparent until, at 11:15am, they pass out momentarily. When they wake, they'll find that they aren't where they were before. Gail and Seth wake up in hanging hammocks in one of Craydon's fancier cabins, with a small assortment of fruits, veggies, and little bite-sized sandwiches laid out on a platter in the middle of the cabin. How anyone got Gail into a hammock is anyone's guess, but somehow he's going to have to make it down. Fortunately there's a little ladder on the wall, maybe that will help? Gyre, Rory, and Luka, meanwhile, wake up on the floor of the cog train as it's making the last leg of its trip up into Craydon's central train station. If they stay laying on the floor for too long, the train will take them all the way back to the base of the mountain. How did Luka make it from Far Haven to Craydon this quickly?

11:00am Far Haven: The heroes have been shaken up, at 11am on the dot everyone will start growing more and more transparent until, at 11:15am, they pass out momentarily. When they wake, they'll find that they aren't where they were before. Zafika and Matilda wake up in the elevator of one of the tallest buildings in town. The soft 'ding' of the elevator stopping at every single floor on its way down to the lobby is a gentle wake-up call for them both. The elevator is set to stop at every floor all the way down, and it's at about floor 15 when they start waking up. If they wait too long, it'll go all the way back up to floor 56. Terrence and Garrot, meanwhile, wake up on the roof of the local theatre. The sounds of still-airing movies are audible beneath them and the constant thrum of the air systems around them will bring them back to consciousness pretty quickly. Not to mention the unrelenting wind blowing from the storm. How did Garrot make it from Bamborough to Far Haven this quickly?

12:00noon, The Monster [Phase 1], Bamborough, Craydon, Far Haven: The third monster is here? If your characters stay put, they'll feel a menacing presence getting closer and closer but they won't see anything. If they stay long enough, something invisible will start shoving them. A shove here, a push there, the attacks will come from multiple directions and will persist until your character falls over. Whatever's happening, something's here and it's insistent. How are the heroes supposed to fight something they can't see?

1:00pm, The Monster [Phase 2]: For most of the heroes, the hour between noon and 1pm is spent being filled with more questions and no answers. Why were there invisible monsters shoving them around? Any heroes that tried to attack them just swished through empty air. Why couldn't they be hurt?

There isn't an answer to that question, because the real third monster arrives just in time to distract the heroes. At 1pm on the dot, every hero's monster pull will aggressively alert them to an approaching presence. In the same way that someone hears a plane approaching from the engines, it's a feeling that practically advertises the arrival of something horrible.

All six groups of heroes will be treated to a monster that is easily the stuff of nightmares. Imagine a child with yellow skin, but no face, no hair, no details of any kind. Except for eyes, three eyes (two humanoid, one forehead) this time. Just very clearly the shape of a child. The legs are entirely humanoid, but the arm is a mass of arms, all in varying lengths and with such weight that the body is leaned over and using that arm mass as another leg.

Also every child is split in half from the head down, meaning each half-child has one leg, a half body, half neck, half head, one and a half eyes, and a mass of arms. The teams of Haizea, Olivia, Gail, Seth, Zafika, and Matilda will all be treated to the left-half children. The teams of Joanna, Web, Gyre, Rory, Luka, Terrence, and Garrot will be treated to the right-half children.

These monsters will arrive slowly lumbering down the street, one and a half eyes scanning around them as they approach. The air around the monsters steams as if the ground were on fire, the monsters' image rippling in the rapidly rising air.

The Princess will discover that he has an advantage in this scenario. He can feel that there's something more to this, that there's something in the ground that he can control. If he tries to focus on it, he'll find that he can set the ground ablaze simply by focusing on it. The range isn't overly far, though, no more than thirty feet. He'll have to plan carefully if he wants to heat things up!

?:00pm, The Monster [Phase 3]: Unknown. Will be revealed if triggered or no later than May 22nd.

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Important: If your character makes an attack against the monster (or stays still for longer than 3 in-game minutes), write [Character does ____] at the end of your tag and send a ping on Discord to get a reply to the action.

Day 3: Morning

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: April 22nd - ~~April 29th~~ May 8th, 2019 ]

It's the third day and, in striking comparison to day two, it is not a bright and sunny morning. The day begins for every hero with an unfamiliar room in an unfamiliar place in an unfamiliar time.

When your characters check their phones, clocks, calendars, or any other timekeeping implement they'll find that the year is 00 AW, forty years before the present day. The year before the Wizard's first game was held, the year before it came down to only two knights and the Princess facing off against the Wizard. It was before all of it.

Everywhere your characters go, there are no people. Their devices will not connect to the internet outside of the island, their companions will not appear, the Protector will not answer, but they can text each other without difficulty. If groups in the same city try to find each other, they will find that some kind of mystical plot barrier is keeping them from finding each other. A wrong turn, a locked door, a lost connection. Somehow, they're kept apart. All the support they have is who they woke up with. Oddly, everyone wakes up in their normal day-to-day clothing rather than pajamas.

There have to be answers somewhere, but where?

Third Morning Event: All Cities: The Past.

The Weather
Eerily still.
64°F / 18°C
The trees are unmoving, there is no wind.

Prompts:

6:30am Spa Hotel, Bamborough: Two sets of heroes wake up in the Spa Hotel in Bamborough. Garrot wakes up in the same room as Olivia. On the far side of the Spa hotel, in one of the waterfront cabins, Haizea and Joanna wake up in the same room. The hotel is empty, but every room is unlocked. Food's still in the dining areas, too. Oddly, things look like they were in use around the Hotel. Carts in the middle of hallways, half-eaten meals on tables, bags halfway up staircases. Odd.

6:30am Lodge Cots, Craydon: The Craydon lodge isn't much, but it's a spanning complex of cabins that maximize occupancy by filling them with cots for that "outdoor camping" experience. Rory and Gail will wake up in one of the cabins near the base of the mountain. On the furthest edge of the lodge, Gyre and Seth will wake up in their top-level cots higher up the mountain. There are a few campfires going with meat roasting over them, piles of raw meat to the side ready to cook, and various festivities left laying around. It's almost like everyone up and left all at once, but where did they go?

6:30am Cozy Inn, Far Haven: Far Haven's 'Cozy Inn' promises the 'small town feeling' in the middle of the big city. The inside is exactly that, a very cozy little hotel with three floors of rooms and a covered walkway with a glass floor over a garden into another section of the hotel. Zafika and Web will wake up in a room on the first floor nearest the train station exit of the cozy inn. No doors are locked here and it looks as if things were left strewn about like the people just teleported out of here. Terrence, Matilda, and Luka wake up in the glass walkway above, in sleeping bags. They'll find that the only way out goes to the cozy inn's far building, they'll have to go through a spanning cafeteria space with tons of empty tables that, strangely, look like they were just in use. Plates with half-full, or even untouched plates sit around on every table and there are even jackets draped over some chairs, purses on the ground. The city outside is much the same, vehicles just stopped in the middle of the street with no drivers, things dropped on the ground. What happened...?

9:30am, Exploration, Bamborough, Craydon, Far Haven: The scene is much the same in all three cities. When the heroes make their way outside, they'll notice that the sky above Harsen Island is a massive vortex centered over the mountain in the middle of the island. Heroes in Craydon will get to see it a little closer, the massive clouds occasionally crackling with blue lightning. All three cities have glowing cracks in the ground in various places, the cracks lead all around, some larger, some smaller, maybe there's something to be found? There are large glowing obelisks that are floating over each city and outside of them, they occasionally float down near the ground enough to touch or look closer at. Once the heroes make their way out into the streets, they might start seeing glimpses of a Wizard hat in the distance but each time it passes behind a wall or into shadow and is gone. Maybe they can catch up? Maybe your hero takes a moment to search through local news, the paper, letters, a television station. What's going on in the city right now?

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Important: 'Exploration' toplevels will unlock additional information as items in their descriptions are explored. If your character explores a feature, write [Character explores ____] at the end of your tag and send a ping on Discord to get a reply with further details regarding that item.

Day 2: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: April 14th - April 22nd, 2019 ]

Unfortunately for everyone, the second day's events are far less rewarding than the first day's. Now that things are starting to get real, there are consequences for what's taken place. Both monsters caused a bit of damage and a mess with their departure, but the locals on the island are trying to stay positive. Sometimes things just get messy, they've dealt with this for forty years it's fine.

But the heroes are sure to have a lot on their mind. Injuries mean it's less of a game and more likely to sink in as real. How will your hero cope tonight? The Princess and her two knights are due for a rendezvous with the Protector and, on the other hand, there are some evil-allured knights due for some private time with the Wizard. What will come of that?

The Weather
Still.
61°F / 16°C
An eerie calm has fallen over the island.

Prompts:

05:00pm Clean-up Crews: Both Bamborough and Craydon were left with big neon-green splashes of blood that aren't going to just wash off. Numerous locals in both areas are hard at work cleaning up after the second monsters, scrubbing at buildings and assessing the damage to the island. In Bamborough, the locals are hard at work trying to salvage the damage to the boardwalk or put up caution tape around the destroyed areas. Is your hero lending a hand in all this? Is someone else helping? Bond over picking up the pieces, but hey... it could be worse, right?

5:30pm, Craydon: Despite being largely untouched by the monster's arrival, the citizens of Craydon have dropped by the train station to check in on the heroes. Anyone in the area will be given a small care package of items and offered a free coupon for any restaurant in the area. Will your hero go alone and run into someone who was craving the same food they were, or will they team up with their fellow heroes to drop by a restaurant together? Everyone needs to unwind, after all!

5:30pm, Bamborough: Despite the boardwalk damage, the Bamborough oceanfront diner is offering 'monster margaritas' tonight. They're set up as an open-air bar tonight, doors and windows open to let in the cool sea air. Every hero gets their first monster margarita free if they can stomach the bright green color, and they've got deep fried bar foods for half off. Come in, indulge, have a drink to get your mind off of the events of the day, heroes!

5:30pm, Far Haven: The Far Haven clinic has advertised that its doors are open to any hero injured, or just in need of a check-up, for the rest of the evening. They want to check in on all the heroes and make sure they're okay. Did your hero come alone and run into someone here? Or did they come together to get stitched up? Or maybe they just need to be reassured that everything will be okay.

8:30pm, 9:05pm, 9:40pm, Train station(s): As always, Social media is incredibly quick to report Wizard appearances. At 8:00pm they report that the Wizard is waiting for the train in Bamborough station. She does, in fact, board the train at 8:30pm and they start theorizing where her destination is. Social media points out that her train will be arriving in Craydon at 9:05pm, then it will get to Far Haven by 9:40pm. If a hero tries to find her when the train arrives back in the Bamborough station at 10:15pm, though, the train will be empty. Where will your hero find her? Bamborough between 8 and 8:30pm? On the train in Craydon at 9:05pm? Or when she disembarks in Far Haven at 9:40pm?

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Day 2: Monster Arrival

Afternoon: 12:00noon - Evening

[ IRL Timeframe: April 1st - April 14th, 2019 ]

Unfortunately for the heroes, only one of them has an easy time when the monsters arrive. In the history of the wizard fights, it was rare but not unheard of for multiple monsters to arrive. Years 12, 22, and 30 had featured three of a monster but only one was real. Year 9 had featured the tenth monster as ten individuals that all came together into one. And, most strangely, years 4, 13, 26, and 37 had featured a monster that had an active and an inactive body.

This year, the second monster appears in two places.

The first arrives in Craydon, its massive body just a ball of metallic spikes with two bright orange eyes in the middle. It looks like a massive urchin, its body easily close to ten feet across where it's sitting on the train tracks ahead of the train arriving. Its spikes stick out easily another ten feet in every direction, making it a gigantic terrifying ball. The party train's arrival to its 12:25pm destination ends with the conductor locking up the brakes to bring the train to a stop. This sucks!

The second arrives in Bamborough, its massive body easily sixty feet up in the air suspended atop dozens of small, thin metallic spikes for legs. Its two orange eyes scan down at the world below, its spherical body covered in smaller spike nubs on all other sides. The eyes aren't fixed in place, either, and they're scanning the oceanfront as it moves around. It's definitely looking for something and it's visible for miles. Good luck, everyone!

Monster Fight Opportunity: Craydon: Luka, Gyre, Web, Olivia, Joanna.
Monster Fight Opportunity: Bamborough: Haizea, Seth, Garrot, Gail, Zafika, Terrence, Matilda.

The Weather
Windy.
61°F / 16°C
The trees are rustling, leaves flowing through the air.

Prompts:

12:25pm Train Arrival: The party train comes to its final destination in Craydon at 12:25pm. The reason that it's a final destination is due to the monster on the tracks. Oh god, it's right there? Oh god, oh GOD??? When the train comes to a screeching halt, all the non-heroes quickly scamper out of the train to flee for safety. Good luck, heroes!

12:30pm, Ramen, Far Haven: Social Media is abuzz that the Wizard has left the power plant and has gone to one of the chain ramen restaurants in Far Haven. The restaurant is known for its decent ramen, but everyone knows it can't compare to the local shops around the island. This is the "I just want to eat" ramen restaurant. But more importantly, this one has some sports bar qualities and has TVs up on the walls to watch. The Wizard is here, seated close to one of the TVs, and she's watching the events unfolding in Craydon and Bamborough. How is she doing that? Who's recording?

12:30pm, The Bamborough Monster: Out on the waterfront boardwalk, the monster is lumbering its way along the wooden walkways seemingly in search of something. The few shops that were open are closing up as quickly as possible, the last thing they need is their already minimal business ruined by a visit from this monster. Please, someone come help.

??:??pm: Unknown What happens next?

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Day 2: Morning

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: March 17th - ~~March 25th~~ March 31st, 2019 (Buffer week added) ]

It's a bright new morning and the first monster has been defeated, the first hurdle has been cleared and everything is going great. The heroes should be feeling good, everything should be going according to plan. Especially because when the heroes wake up this morning, they'll be treated to a set of kigurumi pajamas themed after their animal companion sitting right beside them. Each set has a little note on it that says "From me to you" with a stylized "Wizard" signature beside it.

The morning should prove fairly uneventful. In striking comparison to the first day, the island is much quieter than it was before. Instead, the day's celebration is centralized on the train that circles the island. One eight-car train is circling the entire island, taking a little over an hour and a half to make its circles. It's 30 minutes between each city and the train isn't stopping. Each car on the train is open and any hero can board it free of charge. There are party cars, food cars, and lounge cars to enjoy on the trip around the island. There are also some commemorative prints and products available near the caboose of the train, some sellers having already gotten hard at work to create products to sell. They're seeking to get a seal of approval from the heroes themselves on them!

For the Princess and the Protector as well as the Wizard and her evil-allured knights, their dream threads will go on until the Second Monster arrives.

Most importantly, a certain knight has a message for the rest of his allies at the bright and early hour of 6:30am.

Second Morning Event: All Cities: The Celebration Train.

The Weather
Slightly Windy.
64°F / 18°C
The trees are rustling, flower petals in the air.

Prompts:

6:30am Punch Club, Bamborough: A message reaches the group with... an attached video? Opening the file shows Garrot staring straight at his phone's camera with a big smile. "Rise and shine, team!"

x:xxam Train Ride: The party train is available for any hero who finds it. It'll be rolling through Far Haven at 6am, 7:45am, 9:30am, and 11:15am. It'll be rolling through Bamborough at 6:35am, 8:20am, 10:05am, and 11:50am. It'll be rolling through Craydon at 7:10am, 8:55am, 10:40am, and... well, this post only goes until noon. The next stop in Craydon is out at 12:25pm which is in monster arrival territory. While on the train, your hero can get up to anything. Will they discuss with the others what they think of the first line of hero products? Does this action figure look funny? Do these stickers look okay? Discuss and deal with vendors or just party it up elsewhere on the train!

10:30am, Power Plant, Far Haven: Social Media is abuzz that the Wizard has made an appearance in the power plant in Far Haven. She could wipe power out to the whole island if she wanted to, she could turn the connections to chocolate, or she could just be standing around. She hasn't done anything as far as the cell phone videos show, but is that going to last?

11:30am, Relaxing Time, Craydon: The residents of craydon, with the assistance of some of their kids, sent out invitation videos to ask the Princess and knights if they wanted to drop by Craydon and join in a meditation session. They're going to meditate outside, in the woods, and relax as much as possible before the next monster arrives. The residents of Craydon are emphasizing how important it is to keep mentally healthy above all else. Which of your fellow heroes have joined in on this session?

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Day 1: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: March 11th - March 18th, 2019 ]

The first day has come to a close, the only things left to do are get some food and get some rest. Fortunately the residents of Bamborough are hosting a party to congratulate the heroes on their first victory, unfortunately it's running for several hours this evening. There's only so much time for sleep. What kind of balance will your hero try to strike?

Unfortunately for everyone, the evil-allured knights will be treated to a rude wake-up surprise when they finally go to sleep. No matter when they finally set their head down to rest, they all wake up at the same time, in the same place. Only the evil-allured knights will have access to this post, click to see if you've been chosen.

The good-allured knights, meanwhile, are free of a visit tonight with the Princess and the Protector. The two of them, however, are due to have a chat. Questions have to be answered, after all! He's dressed in his usual attire:

He's the same height as Luka with dark skin and vivid blue eyes that match the color of the sky. He has wicked winged white eyeliner to accent his eyes and curly black hair with white tips piled on top of his head, it's a wonder how it stays up there. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, he's wearing a pajama robe that looks either blue or silver depending how it's touched or how it moves. Most importantly is that he's got brass knuckles on both his hands, like he's ready to fight. But he's not here to fight, he's here to give a whisper about what comes next.

First Night Event: Bamborough: Everyone invited.

The Weather
Starry Night.
64°F / 18°C
Quite breezy, all the trees are rustling.

Prompts:

Bamborough Party: To celebrate the defeat of the first monster, a full banquet is being held near the beach in Bamborough. Unlimited food, unlimited drinks, and most importantly of all was a small stockpile of blankets, sheets, pillows, and toiletries to offer any knight who might've forgotten something on the way out here. Naturally, every item is sponsored.

You're all over Social Media!: Videos were successfully taken of all twelve knights and the princess during the first battle, and now the world is abuzz about what happened! What are they saying about your hero? How did they even get this footage? Or worst of all, how bad are they dissing your camera skills for those that recorded themselves?

A late night walk: The first day is over, the first monster is dead. How's your character holding up? Do they seek out support from a fellow hero? Do they spend it alone? What kind of night are they having now that it's all real?

A late night meal: Anyone leaving the Bamborough party late enough will be able to spot that a local late night ramen shop is open for business. If your hero hasn't quite eaten enough, they can drop by for a bite. But be warned, a certain sleepy villain is getting a bite to eat herself. Care to share a ramen bar meal with the enemy?

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Day 1: Monster Arrival

Afternoon: 12:00pm - Onward

[ IRL Timeframe: February 24th - March 10th, 2019 ]

Everything changes when the Wizard wishes it to. In an instant, every non-knight, non-princess person in attendance at the Craydon welcoming party disappears. She knows where they went, she teleported them, but that doesn't mean she's telling the knights. The only indication she gives that she did anything is that she walks towards the door to leave. If anyone moves to get in her way, she'll just teleport to the other side of them. If anyone tries to attack her, their weapon'll just turn to sparkles.

If this were a video game, the stressful music would be playing now. The Princess, Luka, is treated to something to add to the stress. The protector finally makes his appearance but only to him and only in his head. He's the same height as Luka with dark skin and vivid blue eyes that match the color of the sky. He has wicked winged white eyeliner to accent his eyes and curly black hair with white tips piled on top of his head, it's a wonder how it stays up there. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, he's wearing a pajama robe that looks either blue or silver depending how it's touched or how it moves. Most importantly is that he's got brass knuckles on both his hands, like he's ready to fight. But he's not here to fight, he's here to give a whisper about what comes next.

"The monster is here." Comes his voice, pointing Luka to just outside the Craydon multipurpose center. The pull towards the monster is persistent and it won't let up until it's defeated.

Outside is, to everyone's surprise (except perhaps Luka), the first monster. It looks like a yellow ball with an eye in the middle, standing four feet high and four feet wide with an eye that's almost that big too. It's standing on two feet and appears to have no arms whatsoever. It blinks curiously at the approaching princess-knight team and then blinks up at the Wizard beside it...

The Wizard is standing beside the first monster, holding her hand out as her massive hammer manifests in her hand. The hammer's handle flickers into existence and ends up beind close to seven feet long before the head of the hammer pops into existence. It's a massive beast of a weapon, easily the size of a refrigerator attached to the end of the pole with slightly bigger ends for where she hits things with it. Just below where the handle connects is a pair of flowing wings that seem to be extended out to support the head of the hammer, the end tip has a single metal feather dangling off of it. The head of the hammer curves slightly inward away from the ends but mostly it's just a giant rectangular block of bashing.

"Fore." The Wizard says with this awful amusement before she swings her hammer like a golf club down at the monster, acting like she's going to send it flying into the princess-knight team like a cannonball. When her hammer impacts the monster, it flickers slightly and pops like fireworks. Within sight but still rather far away, the first monster flickers and blips back into existence on the road, blinks, and then runs off into the woods. Catch this little buddy if you can!

Monster Kill Opportunity: Craydon: Everyone.

The Weather
Sunny.
70°F / 21°C
Quite breezy, all the trees are rustling.

Prompts:

The monster!! GET IT: Who needs a plan? You run off immediately, sprinting after the monster as it bounds off into the woods. Characters who choose this option are free to catch the monster numerous times and deal attacks to it. However they will be unable to defeat the monster in any of these prompts. The monster's priority in this is to escape and it will not attack back. But what were those sparkles? What's going on? Feel free to do team-threads together in pursuit of the monster.

The monster!! We need a PLAN!: Since you didn't run off, you and your fellow knights, the princess, and the Wizard are now standing outside of the Craydon multipurpose center. Though the Wizard is just going to go back inside to get crackers with cheese and meat on top. What will you do with your companions? Will you confront the Wizard? What kind of plan will you come up with for what just happened?

The gear train: Wether you saw the locals posting pictures on social media or you worked with Luka's new ability to find the monster, it's taken up sitting on top of the gear train as it makes its way up and down the mountain town of Craydon. It doesn't move very fast but it is a hazard and, perhaps, even more of one because the Monster is involved. The first monster is contentedly sitting on top of the train car, staring up towards the sky. What will you do about that? The monster can be severely injured in this thread but cannot be killed.

The showdown: There are trails of, and pools of, yellow ?blood? trailing throughout Craydon from the injuries that the first monster has sustained. The knights have been relentless in pursuing it through the forest and on the train and now it's come to a stop in the center of the train station at the base of Craydon. This train station is home to the last stop on the gear train upstairs and the transfer point for the Harsen Island train station downstairs. The first monster clearly isn't getting on board to go to Bamborough or Far Haven, but it's absolutely standing on the platform waiting for a fight. It's the final showdown!

Procedure::

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

IMPORTANT: When making an attack against the Monster, please add a short summary such as the following to the bottom of your comment in brackets. This will help show at-a-glance what's going on and will show me that I need to reply with the Monster:
[Rory stabs the Monster in the leg]
[Seth pours acid on the Monster's face]
[Web throws a big rock at the Monster from behind]

Day 1 - Morning

Morning: 06:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: February 18th - February 25th, 2019 ]

The day begins quietly, with no indications that anything strange could occur today. The Princess and the Knights have all arrived on the island. Maybe you arrived a few days ago or maybe you just got off your red-eye flight before the sun came up. Everyone's on Harsen Island and so is the Wizard.

Things start simpler for Luka Eutychia, Olivia Walkyr, and Rory Honeycomb. The instant they set foot on the island, Olivia and Rory will both get an image of Luka in their heads and realize that they are the good-allured knights and he's the Princess. Luka, meanwhile, will see both Olivia and Rory in his thoughts and realize they're the good allured knights.

The Weather

Sunny.

72°F / 22°C

Slightly breezy, makes the trees wave.

Prompts:

6:00am: It's the early morning celebration van! In all three towns, someone's driving around a vehicle playing blaring music and shouting "Let's go Knights! Let's go Princess! Beat that Wizard!". Seems like someone wants the heroes to succeed, hopefully your characters weren't sleeping. If you confront them, maybe they'll have something to say?

8:00am: Far Haven: All Knights and the Princess are invited to a big breakfast banquet. Come one, come all! Maybe meet some of the locals? Maybe chat with your fellow heroes? All knights are given lanyards, but the princess gets a lanyard and a crown if he's here, and they're all seated at the big hero table.

9:30am: Bamborough: All Knights and the Princess are invited to an oceanside brunch! Wether they live in Bamborough or they live elsewhere and visited here, they're welcome to eat the brunch and participate in waterfront games. Thank the resort owner for this welcome! Or chat it up with your fellow heroes by the water. By now everyone should be full.

11:00am: Craydon: Craydon's welcome is much more modest, the locals have invited the Princess and his knights to the local Multipurpose Center. They've set out a spread of light appetizers, chips and dips, vegetables and spreads, fresh breads and cheeses, modest drinks. It's the least extravagant of the welcomes but the locals are still here to meet and greet everyone. With a smile and a handshake they wish everyone the best of luck. How are you and your fellow heroes holding up with all this attention? Did you skip all these events? Attend all of them?

11:30am: The Wizard (Year 40 She/Her/Hers) strides in to the Craydon Multipurpose Center with her hands in her pockets and casually looks around the room with a gentle smile on her face and huge bags under her eyes. Her eyes are black with cyan sparkles in them, looking very much like outer space itself as she scans the room and everyone in it. Good luck for anyone here, they get first dibs on seeing the Wizard. She'll be shuffling around the multipurpose center in her light blue pajamas and bunny slippers, occasionally adjusting her tiny glasses as she looks around. At least she's got her wizard hat on so no one could miss what she looks like this year. It's a shocking difference from the big muscled dude (Year 39 He/Him/His) she was last year or the slick suit-wearing smooth talker (Year 38 They/Them/Theirs) they were the year before but it's still absolutely the same wizard.

Procedure::

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around. Several simultaneous wizard conversations can exist in the replies, she's going to stick around to talk to everyone. Feel free to OOCly decide what order they spoke in or leave it a mystery.

Navigation

Applications | Test Drive | Game Info | FAQ | Original Pitch

Game Chronology
Day 1 [M,A,E]	Day 2 [M,A,E]	Day 3 [M,A,E]
Day 4 [M,A,E]	Day 5 [M,A,E]	Day 6 [M,A,E]
Day 7 [M,A,E]	Day 8 [M,A,E]	Day 9 [M,T]
Day 10	Day 11	Day 12
- =	The Sidepost	= -

Resources:
■ Living World Document
■ Activity Check.

FAQ

Welcome to the Game

It's been a rough set of days. In under a week, the Princess and every one of the Knights were confronted, in some way, by their animal companion. The Princess had a slightly less restful week as the Protector visited almost every night. Some nights were full of questions, other nights just a strange silence in the dream space.

But they're all unified with a single purpose: Get to Harsen Island and defeat the Wizard before they destroy the world.

It's the 40th year they've shown up and everything seems on track to be an identical year. How many knights will fall? Will the Princess come out unscathed? And, of course, how much money will the Wizard contribute to the Island's economy?

There's only one way to find out.

Game Progression

The game will run on a cycle of roughly "1 day equals 4 IRL weeks", which'll ensure that there's plenty of time to flesh out what needs to happen in a day while we all balance IRL obligations. Each in-game day will span across three posts:

Morning:

Will be posted on "Day 1 of Week 1" IRL
Covers the morning timeframe of each day (in-game timeframe will be included). This post will contain a list of activities occurring on the island. These activities will spread across all three towns on the island and will include opportunities for you to thread with your fellow players.

The goal here is to make sure everyone has a plan for where their character is when the next post goes up.

The Princess and the two good allured Knights will be made aware of each other OOCly when this post goes up.

The Monster Arrives:

Will be posted on "Day 1 of Week 2" IRL
Covers the midday timeframe of each day, the in-game timeframe will be left open-ended as this will only end when the monster is defeated.

Prompts will go up specific to this post, these prompts will include the Wizard, the Protector, and most importantly the Monster. Every character will be given a particular scenario that arises in this post but they're free to handle it however they want to. The Wizard likes to shake things up.

This post will contain [Monster Opportunity] notes based on your characters' locations from the morning post. Players given this opportunity will discuss OOCly how they'd like to handle this, they get priority 1 for defeating the monster.

If they decide their characters are going to mess up and fail to defeat the monster? Then everyone gets to decide.

Wind-down:

Will be posted on "Day 1 of Week 4" IRL

This post will be the final wind-down, a review of what happened during the day along with several open prompts and scenarios that can be played out if desired. This is largely optional as some characters might just go to bed early.

The post for the knights who are selected as Good or Evil allured will have their posts opened at this time. For now, the posts remain inaccessible to all:
• Princess' Dream City (For good-allured knights and the Princess)
• Wizard's Sleep House (For evil-allured knights and the Wizard)

In the event that things are looking dire and the monster is still alive and kicking, we might need to post an "Extended" post instead of a Wind-down. This Extended post will provide another 2 IRL weeks to resolve the in-game events taking place. Some days might get chaotic, so we'll adjust as necessary. If an "Extended" post is made, it will be followed by a Wind-down post and we'll resume from there.

So where do we stand?

Every Knight and the Princess made it to the island via a sponsored plane. The sponsoring company is entirely up to you or can be left vague (i.e. "a big candy company"), the important part is that your character was approached by numerous companies and had to choose. Ten years from now, they'll likely be remembered because of their association with that product.

Are you the pizza knight?

Upon arrival on the island, every character was provided housing. Their housing can be in any of the following locations with the limitations below in mind. This can provide an easy kick-off point for your characters early on or a solid idea of where they rest between monsters. How well will they adapt to their newly obtained residence? Will they just choose to go live with someone else? Will they decorate like crazy?

In the below lists, consider what kind of home your character was assigned. No requirements or limitations, just go with whatever you would have the most fun forcing your character to react to. If you have something in mind, add it as a reply to the brand new "Housing" comment in the app post (but not as a reply to your app itself or you won't be allowed to edit that anymore, careful!).

Far Haven

(Government / Industrial)

Houses all have solar panels on their roof and have the look of a "modern house" design. Characters in Far Haven are typically provided an entire home as a lot of the families in this town have fled the Island while the Wizard is here.

Refrigerators here are well-stocked and technology is readily accessible. No shortage of things to do in these houses!

Though your character might get unlucky and end up in a tiny studio apartment near the industrial or train sections of town, but at least the train station's nearby? Even in a small apartment, you've still got everything you could need.

Bamborough

(Tourist / Commerce-centric)

The problem with this area is that almost every place here is just a hotel or rental provided to the characters while they're on the island. Every home has the beach house look going on and they're all quite small, none of the ones on Harsen Island are bigger than 2000 sq ft. Some of them have kitchens, some don't, some have laundry, others you have to go down the street.

If you can find somewhere that's open. The problem with Bamborough is that most of the tourist traps have closed when their owners fled the island. Don't even think about going to the resort, they locked the gates (though the owner is still on the island). There are no tourists during the Wizard's visit, so the only places open are the ones run by the locals.

Which means there's only a small handful of restaurants and maybe only one of each other kind of shop. The locals are going to know your characters if you're here! They'll even sell you a shirt from last year's group for a really good price.

But hey, at least the post office is open and the train runs on schedule?

Craydon

(Locals)

By far, Craydon is the coziest of the towns on the island but it's also the one with the least places to stay. It's because of the yearly Wizard visit that the locals constructed a handful of tiny homes on the edge of Craydon exclusively to give the characters somewhere to stay.

This is the coziest section of the island, with a small gear tram system that runs up the mountainside to connect every part of the town. The train station has a tram transfer to help get people around. Every community is quite cozy with lots of green trees and gardens all around.

Hopefully your character likes fresh vegetables, because all the restaurants in this area use what they grow here to make food. One of the Wizard's favorite restaurants, a mom-and-pop ramen shop, is here in this town. But then again, every shop is a mom-and-pop shop. Say "Hi!" to the lady who runs the convenience store, she's been running it for over 40 years.

Alignment preferences

There will be four Knights chosen for alignment. Two will be allured to the Wizard's power and be subjected to the Wizard entering their thoughts. Two will be allured by the Protector's power and can be invited into the headspace with them and the Princess. This will begin the night of the first day. The following is the basic information about the allures.

Eight Knights are always free to choose their allegiance.	Two Knights always feel a call to good and will learn who the Princess is immediately.	Two Knights always feel the allure of the Wizard's power and will be drawn to it.
• These Knights have no pull towards anything. • They can easily default to saving the world but could decide otherwise. • No special Wizard/Princess abilities at the beginning.	• They are not able to harm the Princess. • They are not able to harm other Knights, even the evil-allured ones. Their knight weapons will vaporize when they make contact. Fisticuffs are fair game though. • They will be able to join the Princess in the headspace with the Protector if invited.	• They feel a draw towards the Wizard’s power. It can be resisted. • This does not make them inherently evil, but they could choose to be. • They will be able to join the Wizard in a headspace when they sleep.

Please reply to the "Alignment" comment below with the following information:

Lastly, all comments on this post are screened automatically which means no one will see comments made to this post.

Questions should be asked in Discord or as a reply to the "Questions?" post below and they'll be un-screened when answered.

P.S.
If you have not yet moved your application over to this new post, please take a moment to do so. Thanks!

World Information

Living World Document

The Cast of Characters:

The Princess: Luka

The Knights
Rat Knight:	~~Seth~~	Ox Knight:	Olivia
Tiger Knight:	~~Rory~~	Rabbit Knight:	Terrence
Dragon Knight:	~~Haizea~~	Snake Knight:	~~Zafika~~
Horse Knight:	~~Gail~~	Goat Knight:	~~Joanna~~
Monkey Knight:	~~Garrot~~	Rooster Knight:	~~Web~~
Dog Knight:	~~Matilda~~	Pig Knight:	Gyre

The World:

World Continents
Koskenkorva	Amarosia	Farida
Tellan	???	???

Harsen Isle (Wizard Island):

Towns
Far Haven	Government/Industrial town.
Bamborough	Tourist/Commerce-centric town.
Craydon	Town where the locals live.

Lowestoft (Ghost Mountain Town)

Applications

Apps Get Posted Here
Proper formatting coming soon
For now feel free to reply to your Appropriate header comment below

Original Draft Location

Test Drive Meme

the t e s t d r i v e meme

Welcome to the Test Drive! In this post, you'll be able to interact with others to get a feeling for your character. All threads below will be considered non-canon unless otherwise stated. Multiple different scenarios are available, you are welcome to post multiple comments with different scenarios each or post one single comment containing different scenarios.

i n s t r u c t i o n s

• Post with your character (note character name in the subject).
• Other people reply to you by picking a number from the scenarios in the subject line.
• Have fun!

o p t i o n s

01 • AWAKENING. Your character has just woken up, or turned a corner, or blinked and now their animal companion has joined them. How do they react? What were they doing beforehand? How are they going to handle the news that they're a knight now? For this thread, you'll be threading with your animal companion. (You must provide the thread-start for this option)

02 • ON THE PLANE. You were promised a seat on a plane out to the island but it looks like you and another Knight (or the Princess) were double-booked! Chat it up with your fellow fighter, commentary from your animal companions is optional.

03 • THE ISLAND. You've just landed and you're somewhere on the island. One of your fellow companions is nearby and they sure do look like they've just landed with all their luggage still in tow. Or they're already wearing an Island tourism shirt. Or who even knows, but you're both here!

04 • COFFEE SHOP. All you wanted was a Latte, or a Frappuccino, to consider why you're here on the island and what you were going to do until the first monster showed up... Instead the barista called for "Drink for the Knight" or "Drink for the Princess" oh shit, but this isn't your drink! Or maybe it is your drink but someone else is there! Why would two knights have gone for coffee at the same time? Or did you get confused for or with the Princess? Come on, man, there are only so many unicorn frappes in the world.

05 • DISCOMFORT. Your room is an oven. Either that or a freezer. Or maybe this bed is just really uncomfortable? Who knows why you can't get to sleep, it feels like it could be anything. Why even bother trying? Maybe someone else can preoccupy you until you feel tired enough to ignore your discomfort. Go for a walk, go outside, looks like you're not alone in your discomfort. New island housing is wild!

06 • PENSIVE. Something's on your mind, and no matter how hard you try to focus elsewhere, it's just not going to work. Your body may be tired, but your mind is incredibly busy and it's virtually impossible to get to sleep. First night on the island is rough. Surely, talking it out with someone else will help?

07 • BEACH EPISODE. You're on an island!! There's beaches everywhere, there are pools on every street. Endless water opportunities, chances to fool around and relax before things get serious. You're not the only good guy to have had this thought! What are you both up to?

08 • LOCAL FOOD. You've been dying to eat X, a dish that you've seen numerous other knights eat on TV. Now YOU'RE a knight (or the princess) and you're eating it yourself, there are kids at home that'll be excited to eat this food because they saw you eating it! You might even get a commercial spot to advertise this food when you get home. Awesome! Except someone else is here, what if they get the commercial spot? Huh.

09 • DENNY'S. It's 3am and you've arrived at a Denny's. You're almost certain that there's not a Denny's on the island and you're not even sure you walked in here? But it is what it is and the server is already bringing you a menu and taking your drink order as one of your fellow allies slips into the booth across from you. Have you met them before, or are they new to you? Your animal companion is here, too, and they're ordering something as well.

10 • WILDCARD. Choose one of the options above, or make up your own scenario.