OPEN MINGLE: Time to Talk, Summoned!

[magicalarchaeologist]

Who: Istredd, Wanda, and all the Summoned
What: Istredd and Wanda called people to the meeting to give an info dump, let people ask questions or share their own information, and then a hang out after with refreshments so people can chat after and make new CR or check in with old CR.
Where: Istredd's Horizon
When: Saturday, September 9th, at midnight so less attention given to them.
Warnings: Discussion of the game plots including all content warnings up to now like psychological thriller, horror, the cult kidnapping, gods being trouble. Abraxas is a wild place, friends.

HORIZON AND SET UP

The Lighthouse was described by Istredd in detail so people would know where to go. During this mingle, it will continue to shine and circle around like a normal lighthouse so people know where to go. His domain is unique for being essentially a tower of books. Shelves upon shelves of books and multiple floors. The only other detail before the talk starts is that there are five ravens who will be curiously watching everyone from a perch nearby. Your character may end up with a lapful of one of the two leosylphs who live here, one baby blue colored and the other one black with red eyes.

The main floor has been turned into a large meeting hall of a sort, although mostly in terms of having a large space full of chairs and a few tables if people wish to sit there. Your character can perch anywhere they want including up a floor. A key note about Istredd's domain is that people can easily morph chairs or create them in whatever form they'd want, so if you want them to have their childhood chair, go ahead. If they want a gaming chair, it'll show up automatically for them. His space is very intuitive. People can choose to speak either from the back of the room, as Istredd will do, or from where they sit/stand.

If your character wants to attend but not be noticed, they can intuitively use his Horizon to mask themselves/go invisible. Istredd will not call you out, Henry Creel.

After the initial formal talk and information gathering, Istredd will ease up the more formal atmosphere of the large hall and create a food and drink section against the walls. Wanda assists him in making this look nicer and homier. There will be extensive offerings but people can add any type of food or drink to this, it's up to them to modify it.

If your character would like to explore the library or get a beat to themselves/talk privately with someone, they can do that by wandering the floors. People will find that if they open a book it will appear to be empty at first, but if they think about their favorite book, the pages will fill in. It is entirely based on their recollection of the book so may not be entirely complete, but if their subconscious mind has memorized much of it, they will see what they need to in there.

They may also find that as they move through the floors, a 'reading nook' may appear in the corner that will instinctively know what they would feel comfortable sitting to read with. They can also 'lock' this room if they want to discuss something with another person and need privacy.

ISTREDD'S SPEECH

[Istredd will wait until it appears everyone has arrived or most people have and he will clear his throat to get their attention if they are already chatting with other people. He appears as he often does in Thorne, with very plain clothes in a dark shade of blue, serious and calm. He stands straight-backed, hands clasped behind his back. Istredd speaks in a very clear and calm way.]

Please sit or stand as you feel comfortable. If you want, you can create any chair you wish to sit in. After the initial conversation, food and drinks will be provided and you are free to add your own favorite dishes. This is intended as an information-gathering conversation. Last year, Sam Wilson hosted something similar to keep the Summoned informed, and a great many things have happened since. Wanda and I thought to do the same this year.

We posted on the network a breakdown of what happened with the kidnapping earlier this year. If you missed it, the general idea was that a cult from Solvunn took half of the Summoned and held us in a pit, where they were experimented on. The cult's intention was to try and take the connection the Summoned have to the Singularity, and what they believed to also be a connection to their gods.

It should be noted that Thorne tried something similar early on in the Summonings. Their experimentation also did not work, as far as we know. We thought it prudent to keep every Summoned informed of what happened in case something like this happens again. We have put forward from the Solvunn and Thorne conclave a request to our factions to allow us to have access to the island. We'll let people know what we hear.

I also put together a history timeline of the Summoned.

[He pulls out a blackboard with this list written down over it in clear readable words. He points to the February 20,078 section where the details about the kidnapping are written out in particular.]

If anyone would like to add notes or months I missed, please either write it yourself or let me know and I will add it. I am hoping to keep this an active timeline for us. This will always be available in my library here to anyone who wants it. We have also been given a pantheon of the gods from our friends in Solvunn that is also available in here.

I have been taking notes since I got here about general information that may be of interest to people when they arrive, including details about magic, the Singularity, and the factions. They're very broad but you can read it on this.

[He creates another blackboard to the side, also able for other people to make notes upon.]

I don't want to be talking this entire time, so instead I would like to invite people to share any findings or information they have that they think the whole group should be aware of, and also ask questions that could be answered or talked about. Please be polite with one another and understand there are some things we simply do not have the answers for as of now.

There are less than a hundred of us, and I believe it is important that we stay on the same team. Thank you. Feel free to eat and talk, or wander in the library.

OOC NOTES

Hey everyone, it's Dee! I am so sorry for the tl;dr. I have the headers below: Speeches (information sharing/tl;dr like mine), Questions (you can specify what exactly they have questions about), adding to the info dumps I have, and whatever else you think of.

If you want your character to speak/offer information but don't want follow-up questions, you can put 'OTA' or 'no follow-up' to indicate what your preference is here. If you put OTA people can reply with a sort of Q&A option, but the no follow-up idea is so that people can share information but not need to commit to that unless they feel like it.

And from there, mingle to your heart's content! Your characters can talk afterward, before, go explore the library, whatever you want, I support it. You can plan closed or open starters, follow your heart.

If nothing else, I want people to take from this mingle that their character can hear any of this information or see it in the library and have it from now on for your RP purposes, and take this opportunity to maybe make new CR/discuss all of this. Do as much or as little as you want! If you have any comments/concerns, please message me on plurk.

Comments

[sleepfan]

We do not need High Magic specifically - we need magic that will teleport large numbers of people to a specified distance. My understanding of your reason for asking this is to use the teleportation magic for tactical and strategic purposes. Is this correct?

[Linhardt pauses for an answer, then continues.]

If you were more concerned about reverse-engineering the spells used by the cult and therefore acquiring intelligence about potential attacks in the future, then your statement would be correct and the pre-existing abilities of the Summoned would be irrelevant.

[itookashot]

No one's been able to find mass teleportation spells that can go across factions, otherwise they would've already been using them. There are only two times people have shown that kind of power, the two randos who rescued everyone a few years back, and the cult. Since we don't know more about Oliver and Elizabeth, but we know the cult used High Magic, so if we can copy that, great.

My reason is so people can leave factions if they want to and escape to wherever they want to go.

[sleepfan]

Just because nobody has been able to find one does not mean that one is not possible.

[The Summoned had not been there long in terms of magical research. As Jesper notes, the two 'randos' (Linhardt isn't sure that that means) had managed such a thing.]

Knowing that they used High Magic is akin to saying that somebody defeated someone else using a 'piercing weapon'. It's not precisely specific.

I do think that you are correct in that we should investigate how the cult did their magic. I just do not believe we should rely on it - especially as we do not know if the god they are working with will work likewise with us.

[Linhardt isn't against helping people escape their faction, but he isn't sure that doing so with a giant, easily trackable ritual is the best idea.]

Using a ritual for that purpose is likely to draw attention.

[itookashot]

To be clear, the factions can already make group portals and stuff, we do it every month to Nocwich, but it's more that the Summoned aren't in control of their own version. They're not going to teach us how to do one, that's the problem, and if we can get a sneaky option from studying the cult, that would give us the ability to leave our factions in an emergency. We can't rely on those two to show up and save everyone again.

[sleepfan]

The cult aren’t going to teach us either.

[Linhardt doesn’t understand why Jesper is so stuck on only studying High Magic. Why not do both?]

And nobody taught the factions how to create their portals - they learned that themselves. All of our options involve a certain amount of secrecy and potentially information stealing. If you and the rest of the Summoned have no interest in exploring alternative options, that is your decision.

[He’s going to do what he thinks is best, regardless of anyone else’s opinion.]

If we’re discussing emergency options, then we need to consider that Thorne has the ability to turn off power at will - they use it in their dungeons. We might want to look at non-magical options as well.

The more options we have, the better, as the first time we use such a thing, the factions will move to block it from happening again.

[itookashot]

[ Jesper nods. ]

I've asked a few people to look into what maps there are in their factions. And if someone who is good at memorizing pathways would walk the areas themselves. That way we have a physical option to leave if a portal isn't possible. We'd have to move fast, but I'd like us to have the option. I have them already drawn out for the Free Cities, and a path I took to Solvunn from there.

[sleepfan]

I am examining maps in Thorne if nobody else is doing so.

[He had not begun to do so out of any desire to secure escape routes, but Linhardt has been studying a lot of maps out of his desire to understand Abraxan geology.]

There may also be magic or other skills we can use to help us all move more quickly even if we cannot directly teleport people - I could help clear paths or deal with adverse weather, for example.

[Linhardt tilts his head slightly in question.]

You've been to Solvunn even though you reside in the Free Cities?