Moving right along LOL

Okay so it's been over a month (IRL time) since Soti was kidnapped. I don't want to stifle creativity so I'm gonna keep the rp thread open. However, I'd really like to get back to playing in-game with Soti so I'd like to use this thread to discuss what we'd like to happen so we can all be on the same page. That way whatever happens in the story thread can have happened in the past with regards to in-game play.

Make sense? Anyone have any questions? And yes you can pm or message me to discuss things. However you wanna spit the ideas out there. It's all good.

Well! Assuming the Cantos would remain a threat to Soti if we just steal him away, I guess we have to have some kind of conclusion to this. I know Val would like to see Soti in charge so he can unravel the damage done, and that is something he would strongly push for. So somehow we'd have to subdue the leaders, if we can't outright kill them? Do we kidnap them and spin lies to the more vulnerable Canto?

I agree that there has to be some way to keep the Cantos from being a continued threat - otherwise they would just come after Soti again, I would think, as well as anyone who helped him. So do we want a permanent resolution now, or do we want something temporary that will keep them from being a threat until a permanent solution can be found?

Something tells me that Sotiris would never lead the Canto, not at the present time. ^^; And that if we were hellbent on slaughtering them all in a pitched battle instead, we would lose. Badly.

That being said, it only took a few seconds for Nirah wanting to murder them all to wanting very badly to get the hell out of there. Sensing the overwhelming divine power that's "not supposed to be there" tells her there's something significant they don't understand/don't want to confront, and so she really just wants to take Sotiris and run. Very far away.

Which is easier than everyone thinks, when you're a mage that can turn your friends into squirrels.

Which is harder than Nirah thinks, because after all the struggling Zitona went through to get him back there, they're not just going to let everyone walk out again with him. There are always rogues, without fail. It's just a matter of when and where. >_> Also dispelling healers.

Assuming the scene went on, Nirah would freak out and babble something incoherent about the Vigil that no one understands and about how they should leave RIGHT NOW. She'd transmogrify Sotiris, toss him to Mephyst or Asyl (appropriately rogues and a body guard), and then everything goes to hell (moreso). Of course, nobody is just going to let them walk out and it would then fall to Alirra, Senel, and Shyn to cover their escape and keep the transmogrify in place, at least until they were out of the estate. The Ziton would not let that happen so easily.

Even though the objective is to get Sotiris out, I doubt that all of the party would be completely satisfied with that, especially Valdamar and Aldo. They would probably do their best to kill the Canto matriarch given the chance, so this doesn't happen again. Actually, standing not a few feet from her, Nirah would be tempted to fireball her in the face as soon as Sotiris was out of the way. It's very doubtful that they'd manage it, and eventually they're forced into tactical retreat.

Maybe Aysl & Co. manage to get a ways from the Canto estate before they're forced into battle, and they're fast on their way to losing. That's when Aldo's deus ex machina squad catches up and nails the Ziton so they can get away. They haul Sotiris off someplace they think is safe. The last of the party to leave the estate is battered to hell, but Aldo keeps them on their feet long enough to get out.

...Then we're left with Zitona, who is shamed and very, very displeased. Then she'll finally get to RP, and maybe some of us will finally get to RP with her! XD

Afterward, it would be up to Alirra and Nirah to fix up Sotiris' mind while they hope a blade doesn't mysteriously appear in their backs, or the backs of anyone else Zitona noted during the escape. The conflict would continue with her trying to get Sotiris back. Sotiris' brother might come into the picture, too.

Sotiris would enter the scene again maybe after Alirra and Nirah finally manage to repair his mind (which would explain the time difference).




^^;... Or something. Maybe...?

I'm down with that. Let's just say that Asyl and a couple of others (I know Val is with the Hounds causing the Ruckus and Nira is out there too) Sneak in the back way and grab Soti and haul him out of there, wounding the Ziton in the process. (I guess that char will still be played? so we can't kill her)

I like that idea. Though the Canto found Sotiris fairly easily before; I'm not sure how long we'd be able to keep him hidden. But I like the idea of their possible return being, for now, a persistent threat. It makes things just that much more interesting.

So when will we want to be fixing up Soti's mind? I will make time to be online for this

Hummm ... interesting thoughts here! I love you guys. You make a con-trial of creative sparkles wherever you go.

In accordance with what Valdamar said, it was always the plan for this thing to end with an exodus from Kelari Refuge with Sotiris leading those who chose to follow him. What I never told people was why. I didn't want to give spoilers but uhhhh ... it's kind of become unreasonable to proceed the way things are going eh?

So ... SPOILERS MOFOS!

So Soti's mind is currently in a sparking shambles. No shit. His alternate soul is disabled. His fire-spirit Kafisa is currently hiding out in Aldo's body holding onto a blueprint of his mind that she took in order to have something to fix him with. All this, you already know. What you don't know is that his third soul was the reason they wanted to ascend him in the first place.

The nice folks working in the life forges kept targeting Canto souls in particular in an effort to pull the first Canto, founder of the clan out of the river of souls. The first of the clan, and the first to make the generations-long pact with Mariel Taun. Took a few times to be successful and they had to fuck around with the donated Canto body parts they got to get a better lock on the soul in question. Hence why Soti has a nice big weirdly colored set of scars sprawling over his chest. This will be explained later whenever the fuck I feel like it.

With Soti, they finally had success. Why we haven't seen Canto pop up before, once again, will explain later. I'm loosening the strings on the spoiler bag here but not dumping everything out immediately because mysteries are still fun. However, without this knowledge, like Nirah said, Sotiris is really not in any shape to lead the clan and people wouldn't follow him. They would, however, follow Canto. But not all of them. In addition to the shit hitting the fan as it currently has with a fight breaking out (thank you Val for the lovely addition of big scaryass dogs XD ), we have the older, more traditionally minded Canto healers being set in their ways and following the Matriarch. And we have the younger, disillusioned Canto healers, Touranou included who are more predisposed to taking a chance on a better life. Then, there are the Ziton.

The Ziton are oathed to Canto, not Mariel Taun. When it becomes apparent who is hanging out in Soti's body, the Matriarch's orders will hold significantly less sway. Now, every single last Ziton is not present in the Estate right now. There will still be unconverted Ziton and Canto loyal to Exchelsi to worry about but at a much more manageable level.

Kill Exchelsi? Kay. You can do that. You realize with that many Canto healing in the same room, nobody is going to stay dead. Ascended or not. So yes, please do have a gloriously bloody fight XD. May your savage hearts be satisfied! In the unlikely event that you actually manage to exhaust the Canto healers such that they cannot ressurect their fallen, there's always the prospect of one of Exchelsi's immediate underlings assuming control of the clan. I like having persistent foes for the purposes of future plots and intrigue. If we kill all our enemies, we either have to keep creating new ones or ... not fight any more. Booooring.

With that said, what say you all?

\O/ Whatever works for me ~

OMG Does this mean Val can have her skull? :O! (kidding...)

I like Nirah's suggestions, I think out of all of them, Aldo and Val would be the most likely to stay behind and keep the Canto/Ziton busy whilst Ni and the others get Soti the hell out of there. Aldo and Val could be like....Team Fortress 2 Heavy and Medic, just unleashing enough destruction to keep the Canto busy (and yeah the hounds :3).

Val has set up his space on shoreward island to be like a prison, so if we don't want/can't kill the Matriarch, we can kidnap her and take her there. She'd be alive, but out of the picture that way.

Whoever steps in after her I imagine wouldn't be as good at her job and might help people like Soti's brother on the mental path towards turning their backs.

Annnnd that's all I got atm!

All of this sounds good to me

I like the idea of kidnapping the Matriarch - though wouldn't the remaining Canto come to rescue her? Of course, I suppose they'd have to find her first.

Alirra would be helping to get Soti out of there, rather than staying to fight; her main concern is with protecting Soti.

You crazy people and your epic plots just popping up everywhere is too much fun for me to read.

That said, at the split in fallback!group and we'reheretoannoyyougrrargh!group, Mephyst would likely have to fallback. He got a sort of reboot with all the spamming heals earlier, but depending on how crazy the break is, and how much plane shifting he has to do to help juggle Soti out, he'd end up being dead weight to Aldo and Val in five seconds flat.

So he would likely keep to sticking near Nirah, making sure she doesn't melt -too- many faces in her excitement. Hahaha

Hadn't planned on Exchelsi getting kidnapped but you know, that would be an excellent use of resources. Make her face up to the centurions and a Defiant inquiry on Canto training methods, etc. Even if she escapes confinement before trial, it will make for awesome story going forward that we can all play with.

I will say yes to this because it looks like fun! Val, you decide what goes on with the Shoreward Island confinement LOL. You will face opposition, of course. People aren't just going to let you kidnap their leader. But I don't see the Canto being in any MORE chaotic state than they are right now so I think this is your only shot.

I'm estimating about 10 regular Canto following Sotiris out, Touranou included. Wherever he goes they're likely to stay nearby. The Ziton currently present will also follow Soti.

We good to go? I'll continue posting the link to this thread in the story thread itself every few posts so those who have been away can go OH ANNOUNCEMENT! and come here to see wtf is going on.

So does that mean Soti is going to be back in the game now, or are we waiting to nail things down more?

I think he can hop back in now. He's probably still pretty fucked up but I believe my mage friends wanted to do repairs in-game which I too think would be more fun. So, cracked but functional.

I think pretty much everybody would be wary of the Ziton and the other Canto who followed Soti out but I expect that people would not FREAK OUT upon seeing Zitona near him in-game as he's aware of her presence and has consented to it. Run on sentance LOL.

One question that remains in my mind is: how long do we want to say he's been out of commission for?

Sotiris wrote:

One question that remains in my mind is: how long do we want to say he's been out of commission for?

Up to you, I think - though I don't think it makes sense for the search to have taken too long.

So when do you want me on to help fix up your mind?

How abouuuut .. a week? Ten days?

Oh you can start work on that anytime. I'm IC in game now.

Sotiiii

I need you to post something so Val has something to respond to! Right now he's just focusing on the healer lady who fixed him up. I need to know if the Canto will react, or if they'll just let Al and Val go on a murderous rampage unhindered D:

Absolutely they will react. Expect tactics to disarm, disable, and restrain rather than killing. Nets, if you're familiar with grappling techniques you might want to write for that, also sleeper darts/needles like the one Zitona used on Soti. Actions taken against Exhcelsi, however, will result in the Ziton becoming a lot nastier. They won't be as particular about the no-killing thing if their Matriarch is threatened.

The Canto healers will be more focused on doing what they do best, healing. Combat-wise, you will be facing rogues who are doing their damndest to not be seen in addition to pwning your ass. Their injuries will not be lasting, but then again, neither will yours. Canto healing is non faction specific (though clearly it can't be so in-game, however you get the idea). The fight will be one of attrition. If you actually want to KILL someone, you'll have to tire out those healers either by simply outlasting them, or dealing too much damage to too many targets at once, thus making them unable to cope.

Resurrecting takes a lot of energy out of a Canto so if you can manage to land killing blows (and I mean instantaneous kills), that will certainly "drain their mana" faster. In addition, Canto cannot do anything else while performing resurrection. It takes a lot to distract one, but even the most battle-hardened healer is not immune to a smack upside the head.

I may post later today. Zitona will probably post this evening. I currently have my head in novel-writing mode so I can't do it right now.