EVENT PLOTTING: THE EMPTY THRONE PT 2

[aionmods]

The Empty Throne Pt 2

By the end of the seventh day, more and more of those that have resisted the Kenoma's pull will be awakening to the power of the Pleroma, expelling what remains of the ritual's poison. Though they are still being held within the cavern, any lost powers will begin to return... which means that conflict against the ones imprisoning them is inevitable. Xishen, the orchestrator of the ritual, has not made any orders and the Hylician soldiers are increasingly agitated and unsure of what to expect. Are those that remain free of the Kenoma's influence meant to be executed? Imprisoned more securely? Freed?

Unknown to the rest of the Regent's assembly, a short while before this impasse, Xishen bestowed the secret of teleportation to Father Abel Nightroad, suggesting to him that he could use it to escape and bring the other survivors with him. Though her motives for doing so are yet unknown, Abel and any other Pleroma attuned he explains this process to will be able to use the teleportation spell as explained on the powers page to escape the cavern. Two to three casters will be enough to plausibly bring all of the newly christened Pleroma with them; the trouble is that the ritual takes up to a half hour to cast, and once they begin, it will become apparent to their captors what's happening.

Once the teleportation ritual is discovered, Xishen will order the Kenoma inductees to put a stop to it, though she does not step up to fight herself. From there, the Pleroma will have to hold off the Kenoma for 20-30 minutes while the ritual completes, the exact speed depending on how many people are dedicated to casting. Player versus player conflict can occur during this time, and mod-rolled RNG outcomes to individual match ups will be available if they are desired.

Of course, the Kenoma have had time to recover and the Pleroma have not. As if to compensate for this disadvantage, the hope granted by this change of escape will awaken a surge of power in the Pleroma. Similar to how the Kenoma felt upon accepting it, Pleroma will receive a boost in endurance, strength, and magical capabilities during this time, though the effect will gradually fade afterwards.

When the ritual ends it is expected that the Pleroma will be able to escape, whether it's on their feet or by having their battered body hauled into the ritual area by a comrade. All characters who participated in The Empty Throne will be awarded 1 Reward Token which can be used to purchase new abilities and regains.

❖ INCLUDED EVENT PROMPTS

◆ PVP COMBAT: Those Kenoma that are willing to listen to Xishen's orders will have the opportunity to clash against the Pleroma as they try to escape. Fights and mod-rolled RNG results can be requested here. Kenoma are not required to fight but those that do will receive a boosted positive reputation among the Regent's forces.

◆ REGAINED POWERS: All characters who have attuned will have their canon powers returned with the nerfs indicated on their applications. This include all Kenoma and all Pleroma. Pleroma characters will be receiving a hope-based power boost during the escape. For those with the Normie Discount, your Reward Token can be spent immediately and any new powers can manifest during the fight if that's something you'd like to play out.

◆ TELEPORTATION RITUAL: At least 2-3 Pleroma characters will be needed to cast the ritual, but the more there are the faster it will go. Past magical experience is not required for this plot role, though it may help make it more intuitive ICly.

◆ AFTERMATH LOCATIONS: Both sects will have a unique 'aftermath' location to thread in taking place after the escape has happened. This will cover the immediate aftermath of the event. Further locations and travel opportunities will be posted on April 2nd.

◆ ATTUNEMENT TRACKER: As of this event post, most sect attunements should be locked in! Please go update your Attunement Tracker with your character's current sect status.

Comments

[galdorleod]

Hello mods... question for you following some extensive discussion in the Discord. Let's say that one of the Kenoma who's trying to discreetly help the Pleroma escape gets caught red-handed by another Kenoma, and a fight between them ensues. OOCly, is that allowed, and ICly, would Xishen intervene to break up the fight? Would there be any consequences for Kenomas who attack other Kenomas? What if one of them ends up seriously injured or even dying?

[aionmods]

It would be allowable for two Kenoma to fight, though the resulting consequences will depend on which is the one getting serious hurt or dissipated. If the one one trying to help the Pleroma was destroyed, the person who destroyed them would be commended and the destroyed one would have their Shard hauled back to Achamoth. If the one trying to punish the 'betrayer' was destroyed, Xishen will either end up destroying or binding the person that did it.

Essentially, Kenoma won't be punished for loyalty, even if that loyalty comes in the form of attacking another Kenoma. They will get punished for directly obeying orders. In the context where this rebellion is severe enough to get someone destroyed, the punishment would be a path straight to the Regent's prison with a follow up of brainwashing. In practice, this would result in them being mostly out of normal play until the next event, and missing some aspects of the Kenoma's introduction to Achamoth. They would generally have what they need to move on as part of that log, though.

[galdorleod]

Thank you!! In that case, what if the rebellion isn't so severe as to get someone destroyed or seriously injured, but the Kenoma helping the Pleromas still got caught doing it somehow (example off the top of my head: like if they were spotted doing it and someone tattled on them after the fact). I know it'd give them a bad reputation to start as mentioned above, but would they still be subject to any consequences/brainwashing? (you know... as a treat)

[aionmods]

The brainwashing treatment would only be applied in the case of a relatively severe infraction, or in the case of a repeating pattern of disobedience. The infraction itself, in this context, would have to be pretty overt and seen by Xishen herself; otherwise it would just default to the standard reputation loss. Sneakily doing something to help the Pleromas and being tattled on wouldn't have the same effect since it makes it more of a hearsay situation, and for Xishen's own reasons she wouldn't be inclined to push someone along the track that would result in brainwashing unless what they were doing was pretty unmistakable/damaging to their cause (such as hurting another Kenoma or otherwise causing set backs.)

Brainwashing is absolutely something that can happen but it's not something that is dispensed every time a Kenoma steps out of line, especially when they are so new. A lot of it also depends on motive.

[galdorleod]

Thank you so much mods, those extra details are super helpful and wonderful!!

[semicharmed]

One more question:

I'm sure it's dependent on exactly how it goes down, but if I wanted an IC consequence for (unsubtle) disobedience in the form of something like brainwashing/reeducation, is that consistent with how you see Kenoma working, or is there some other outcome that would be more likely?

Basically: Here for consequences, just want to know how you envision them playing out.

[aionmods]

As mentioned in our response to Howl up above, brainwashing and reeducation are options, but in this context would only happen if a character were pretty boldly taking a stand against the Kenoma's goals. It isn't something done for minor infractions that could be handled by a reprimand, especially when characters haven't had a chance to settle in yet. Motive does matter a lot as well, and would have an effect on whether reeducation was considered necessary.

So, essentially, yes it can happen, but the disobedience would have to be done with gusto. M

[semicharmed]

Thanks! Okay, this is helping me triangulate. I know the event will have more details, but in the leadup I wanna be brainstorming in a direction that's in the spirit of things. :3