CoAIII OOC; just moving it here

Ahh, I haven't posted in awhile either. Eeeeee, I'm sorry! I actually have one all typed up (and have had it that way for awhile), buuuuuuuut with the lack of GM and all...I was kinda worried about posting it.

I did get a PM, but it didn't seem all that important. :'D It didn't give me any ideas or clues about who should lead or anything like that, either. *Flops in a corner*

I'm not really willing to lead--advanced plotting in, well, advance isn't really my specialty. I mean, I came up with the Golden Sight idea years ago, but I'm still not done plotting. I could be GM if things end up like that...but I'd be a little reluctant, because my plotting skills aren't reliably good. Eh, but I don't really care about knowing in advance, either. The real surprises are made by characters' actions.

I'm on summer break now, so that's good. It should give me some extra time to post/draw/whatever...

I think anyone with really awesome ideas for the direction of the plot should go ahead and be GM--not that there's an easy way to determine that, but it's my best idea right now.

Eeep..I haven't checked the OOC in forever! Forgive me!

Well, if your post doesn't make any big decisions about where we're going or what we'll find, then there shouldn't be any worries at all. And even if it does, I doubt it would be a problem to improvise some of what we run into.

My PM was Eo asking me where I thought the plot was going, rather than him telling me his ideas, and he hasn't replied to my reply, so mine isn't very helpful here either. :'D

Hmmmm, you and Jalines make a fine point. Since I already had a strong guess as to what the plot would be...not that it's necessarily a good plot...and whatever we come up with might be pretty close to that idea anyway...I guess I shouldn't worry too much about "spoiling" it for myself. Like you say, the way our characters handle it is probably going to be the most interesting part anyway.

Well, I might as well share the idea I had. This is what I told Eo, edited slightly because I can't help myself:

Quote :

The thing where they took the magical part of Aurnia's brain made me think there were some evil mages trying to take power again, maybe even following in the footsteps of...Blain, I think his name was (the evil boss in the first Children of Aurnia).

Then, the weird creatures that attacked Kaden seemed like unnatural mixes of human and dragon. I'm pretty sure they're minions of the same evil mages and are the creatures that killed Aurnia. Given how the captured people came back smelling like them, I bet they were eventually going to turn into those things too, and that they were already working for the badguys. Part-dragon minions seem like just the fighting force a big evil group would want - super-soldiers of a sort, and able to be made at will out of those pesky townsfolk. They're probably experiments, being tested so they can make better minions later; releasing them into the forest, where Kaden found them, is one way of testing them out. The piece of Aurnia's brain may or may not have been necessary to create them....I think the disappearances might have started before Aurnia's death, but I can't remember and don't want to bother looking back.

I figured our characters would investigate enough people to start piecing this together and to draw the attention of the enemies in the meantime, maybe messing up and getting captured. The badguys would probably do their best to stir up humans against the dragons again, too, since I'm sure it's annoying to have a bunch of dragons roaming around outside their grasp. They've already started riling everyone up by kidnapping people. They'd probably like to keep a few remaining dragons as more minions, or to just replace them all with their experiments.

It's possibly not that awesome, but I thought it was what made the most sense. Quite frankly, it seemed obvious to me, so I think I'd prefer a twistier plot than just having our characters figure this out and take down the head honcho. Of course, maybe this didn't seem obvious to anyone else and it's complex enough...but in short, it's just that roughly the same villains as in the previous CoAs are making another grab at power. I bet something else would be more interesting, assuming we could think of something that made any sense (who else would have it in for dragons this badly?).

Er, technically Eo also said in his PM not to tell anyone about it, but it's been months since then and it's helpful to discuss it, so there it is.

P.S. I forgive you! No worries.

Yeah, I've been around, but more or less avoiding posting simply because I don't know what to say.

Lately, my interests have just fallen away from RPing, I even quit another site because I just wasn't doing anything there anymore. And looking back at Aelirsa, I can already see the problems and mistakes I've had.

Plots I can develop pretty quickly, and on the fly. I can have a full blown story outline within a few days of first coming up with the idea, and get to work. Characters on the other hand, I take a really really long time to develop fully, weeks at least. And I think that's what has ultimately deterred me from getting involved with the whole GM matter, on top of not being really familiar with the previous RPs.

Who knows, I may be able to salvage Aelirsa and get her back onto a real development line that doesn't cause conflicts with how the story runs. Just letting you all know that I haven't forgotten you altogether.

Miirik: Ah, I can understand your reluctance... I've always been nervous about conflicting with the GM's intent as well. I agree with Michangs, though, and I'd say you can go ahead. Anything new would be welcome at this point.

If you're not inclined to lead, then we won't force you.   I'm surprised you don't think much of your plotting ability, though - your OCT rounds have all been so thoroughly planned out! I guess you can't plan more than one round ahead, but still, you always have your characters' backstories in mind.... I'm just saying it sounds like you're selling yourself short from what I've seen.


Michangs: That's a good deduction, and it just helped me piece some things together, but I got some different impressions over the course of what's happened. I really doubt the missing persons were already working for the badguys like you said; my immediate thought with Stackpole (and I think I made Ev say this, too) was that, after the normal people were captured, impostor versions were made and sent back to take their place. I do think those forest creatures were early versions of some kind of minion, but I think that instead of super-soldiers, they're failed attempts to create those same look-alikes. I remember Leaf saying that only a dragon queen could do a "full species shift," so that's most likely what they needed that part of her brain for - and, now that they have it, why the missing people are "reappearing" only now. I can't say exactly why the freaky hybrids were in the forest, but I'm guessing they were being hidden, not tested. And I'm pretty sure Stackpole was the only one to disappear after Aurnia's death, so the others did go missing before then.

Considering that the failures are between human and dragon, I can only guess that they're doing the reverse of what Aurnia did and making the human look-alikes out of dragons. Unfortunately, that introduces some holes, because they would need a lot of captured or traitorous dragons to do so, and even Aurnia couldn't make perfectly replicated adult bodies. Maybe that's the part Eo was worried about...? Or maybe it means I'm totally wrong. :P In that case, I guess it's also possible that there isn't so much transforming and impostoring (what do you mean, that's not a word?) going on; maybe the captured people are being turned to the badguys' side and then sent back as themselves. Still, the timing of Aurnia's death and the reappearances makes me inclined to believe my first idea.

Um, so, sorry to shoot at your idea, but that's what I've concluded.


Jokie: Interestingly, I think I'm exactly the other way around - I can pretty quickly flesh out a character idea enough to be happy with, but I constantly adjust details of plot, setting, etc. over a long period before I finally settle on a story idea.

Like I said some time ago, it's okay that you've made mistakes in Aelirsa's characterization. I did the same thing with Ev, and I just changed how I played him once I realized I didn't like what I was doing. Also, I really doubt her change in character would interfere with the plot, so don't worry about that. I was hoping for an eventual chance IC to have Ev explain the reason for his change in behavior (which, admittedly, I thought of long after the change actually happened), but I'll say now that part of it was the pain and disorientation from Aurnia's sudden death. Maybe you could use something like that as an explanation for Aelirsa's different behavior as well.

Yep yep, Tem is a completely different character from what he started out as (*tugs collar*), but I've worked out that the shock of Aurnia's death, plus the experience of collapsing head over heels in love, is enough to shake a technically already-mature dragon out of his more juvenile tendencies. It's more of an excuse than anything, but it's worth abandoning my earlier ideas so I can have a more enjoyable character.

I don't know about your idea, though, Jalines....I think Tem doubted Ev's idea about impostors, and that's because I myself think it would be easier to mind-control people than make whole new copies - out of dragons that haven't been going missing, no less. The idea of the weird hybrids being failed dragon-to-human attempts is interesting, but it doesn't really work when I don't know of any masses of missing dragons who would fuel the process. It seems much more likely to me that they're failed human-to-dragon attempts. And what's to say the returned people weren't turned over to the side of evil? I doubt a real police chief would be that creepy if he were himself, and the other guy's phone call could easily have been to some badguy he's now working with. I like the concept of the hybrids being hidden instead of tested, though, and I can agree that getting Aurnia's brain was the key to making the missing people returnable, but still...hrmmm.

Well, on the theme of missing people reappearing, I just thought that one thing we could find at Luis' house is that he's already back, much to the delight of his relatives. He would smell like the other two, naturally. Of course, that's just one idea, and not necessarily the most interesting one or the one that would give our characters the most clues.

If you guys don't mind knowing the plot that I had, I can just spill the beans. 

The secret PM was mostly just a ruse to see if you guys had any new theories I could play to to revitalize my notes. I didn't really come up with anything; Michangs gave me the most detailed response, and he was actually pretty darn close to what I had.

I knew it! Okay, I didn't know it, but I thought I'd done pretty well.

At this point, I for one wouldn't mind knowing what you had planned, though I won't speak for everyone else.

Aww, I guess I overthought it. Well, then, kudos to you, Michangs!

I'd also like to hear the original idea, because then we'll have the most solid baseline for deciding on a new plot.
...And because I'm insatiably curious about everything.   Again, though, not speaking for everyone.

Not having heard any negative votes after a couple of days...

(starts writing a post)

Dangit, flash of inspiration I've been waiting on for bloody forever, why must you strike now instead of, like, a couple months ago?
(beats head on desk) 

Okay, let me go back in my notes and figure out which encounter Luis DeLeon was going to be, and I'll get back with you on a plot post when he gets there.

Might drop Leaf as a character. She wasn't really going anywhere as a character besides making a non-functioning love triangle.

Also waiting for someone's opinion on Leaf.

(Why do I wait so long to reply to things?!?)

Sorry, I think we were confused about what you meant by "when he gets there"... do you mean when one of our characters arrives, or when Luis somehow finds our guys? In other words, do we have to post something before you'll make that plot post?

Hm... I guess you're right about Leaf. Sorry if I, er, killed the triangle part with the way I played Ev... I just thought it fit his characterization to let him be oblivious to a girl's signals. Anyway, it's true that she isn't doing much... even if that's partially because she's a GM character who leaves the important stuff to the others. I'd say you can let her go, since you already seem okay with doing that.

Just so we all know what's happening, does your flash of inspiration mean you'll stay as GM?

Yeah, I'll stick around. I threw away a lot of things, put in some other ones, taped it all back together, and I've got a usable plot again. 

When you get to the area where Luis is, then I'll put in another post. I wouldn't have much to weigh in on the current conversation anyhow.

Oh, okay then - welcome back! That avoids a few tricky questions, like who's supposed to step in as the new GM.

I think it would be okay to let Leaf go if you want to. I haven't felt that anything especially interesting is missing even after a couple pages without her doing anything, so I guess I can agree that she doesn't contribute a whole lot.

To me, at least, the group seems totally ready to go by now, so I think you can just say that we head off (since getting everyone to post one more time has been slow and unnecessary before). If you need to, you can add a quick "they set out" and some such at the start of your post. Or maybe you meant for one of us to say that, but I wouldn't argue if you posted right away. The reason I'd prefer you to do it is that I don't like deciding what everything looks like; you have a better idea of what we should see when we get there.

Okay, that sounds good. I'll try to post tomorrow.

Oh, so, to be clear - did you settle on dropping Leaf? (As in, does the "that" of "that sounds good" include how I said you can drop her?) And if you did/do let her go, were you planning to post how she finds some pressing need to depart, or to just stop talking about her all of a sudden? I mention it because if you haven't decided yet, the former would feel more natural than the latter. Just my recommendation...a last little bit of attention to see her off, you know.

I'll edit my post a little if you decide she shouldn't be talked about anymore.

I was just not going to bring her up and just  have her silently fade into the aether, since I don't think she's been mentioned in the last couple of pages.

Oh, okay. Then edit I shall!

I posted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    Agate is as dramatic as ever X)

Thanks, Lyric, I was getting worried that no one would reply to mine anytime soon! Hehe, yes, I thought the same about Agate, too. :)

Sorry to double post, but...

In case it's not clear, now would be a great time for a post, Eo, since we need NPCs to come to the door and get the conversation going. I'm sure you already know that, but, just in case you were waiting for one of us...well...I think our characters are finished figuring things out for the moment. Thanks! And sorry again. I'm just getting impatient. >.<

Edit: Thank you! Sorry to be the most impatient one here! XD

Look guys, I'm sorry. I thought I could make this work, it's just... I'm done. This has nowhere to go. It's been over a year, mostly consisting of me trying to let this die. Time to bite the bullet and just say, it's over.

If any of you want to join me in a slightly different medium, Ji is trying to start a Pathfinder game over Skype, and we need a fourth player. Patches is also in it. No prior knowledge required; all sourcebooks are free over the internet, and we'll explain everything.

I'm... sorry to hear that, Eo. Do you mean over as in we take control, or... really over?

That's a kind offer - thank you. For my part, I'm afraid a real-time game like that would be too fast for me, but I appreciate that you're asking us.

*sigh*

I guess deep down I knew this would happen. The slowness has been getting steadily worse, so few of us able to post regularly...it softens the blow, I guess. "Trying to let this die"...that explains some things.

Well, if you're out, Eo, then we could keep going on our own. But I fear that, like those three months or so where you were gone before, we won't be able to decide or do anything with all our members too busy to post. The start of school is approaching too, which certainly won't help. If the rest of you guys are willing and able to keep it going, then, sweet! But I'm not asking you to.

Whatever happens, know that this has been a fantastic experience, and the friends and creative inspiration I've gotten out of it are much more valuable than the story itself. Thank you all.

Oh Eo, maybe you could share the plot you had in mind? If we decide to end it here, I guess we can just assume our characters did everything successfully.

Ugh, I'm so sorry that I've been virtually absent lately.

My mood for roleplay just got sucked out of me altogether following an incident on another site. And this slipped through the cracks, along with the other projects I lost as a result of quitting.

I honestly feel like I could've stepped up my game in this regard. Then again, as the relatively newest member of the group, I'm probably overestimating just how much of an impact I have on the RP as a whole.

Well, the plot was...:

If you want to continue by yourselves, I don't mind, but I'm making my backing out official.

Y'all have been great, and it's made me glad to see a dedicated group like this, especially enjoying something I've made. Thank you.