PLOT ENGAGEMENT (ARCHIVED)

[larkers]

> PLOT ENGAGEMENT (ARCHIVED)

What is Plot Engagement and how does it work within Meadowlark? This is the page where players can come discuss with us how to facilitate plots within the setting. However, there will be occasions where a plot doesn't work within Meadowlark's world, and we'll suggest alternative routes. For small worldbuilding or gameplay details, please direct your question to the FAQ. If you're ever not sure if you're at the right page, don't worry—we'll help you get it sorted out. We know we have a load of info!

WHEN WILL YOU HEAR BACK?

◉ All Plot Engagement answers go out on Sunday, except during events.
◉ The deadline to submit a question and ensure you'll hear back from us on Sunday is 11:59 PM UTC on Saturday.

PLOT ENGAGEMENT INCLUDES

◉ Player plots! If you'd like your character to become a mafia boss, this is your place to start. Typically, this involves anything that could impact the setting or other player characters.
◉ Character career advancement that gives the character additional power or status within the setting.
◉ Metaplot exploration and information! We plan all events to give characters something to explore after the event ends. This is the place to do it!

SUBMISSION TIPS

◉ Specify what your character is looking for when they're investigating. What questions are they asking and what angle are they trying to explore?
◉ If you have a specific goal in mind but don't know how to reach it, please let us know.
◉ If you link a thread to us, please summarize it! That helps us process the plot in question.
◉ Don't worry about not knowing the setting like the back of your hand before you submit the plot—that's up to us! We're here to help you with any adjustments to get you on the right track.

NOTES & THINGS THAT YOU CAN HANDWAVE

◉ Characters always start out in entry level positions. Characters can update their skill sets to the 2512 standard through paid apprenticeships or internships.

◈ If a character is advancing within a major corporation (as noted on the Setting or Locations page) or one of its subsidiaries, we will need to approve this advancement.
◈ If a character becomes a supervisor at a local bar or other small business, we do not need to approve this advancement.

◉ Joining the police force within a city requires three months of IC training (six months OOC).
◉ We'll approve whether someone has social media fame, but we will not be providing social media follower counts. Once you have a plot for how to use those followers, that's where we step in!
◉ All Morningstar business goes on our Morningstar page. Please feel free to discuss specific plots here (including joining), and go there for signups and anything else.
◉ Characters getting jobs, finding apartments, participating in the fighting rings, getting married, making workplace friends, the creation of minor NPCs, etc. do not need to be run by us. Please let us know if these expand into player plots or other plot bits!

QUICK LINKS

◉ FAQ: For small worldbuilding or gameplay details.
◉ Setting: Our setting page! We'll update as needed.
◉ Jobs: A reference for who's working where!
◉ Locations: Both major and minor locations within New Amsterdam, as well as outlines for other megacities.
◉ Mod Contact: For wider game concerns.
◉ The Story So Far: Gamewide plot events up to current (your CTRL+F best friend!).
◉ NPC page: Includes NPC blurbs and inboxes.
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> NAVIGATION

Comments

[evasives]

hi mods!

i just wanted to check in and see if cassian would have gotten anything notable from gill-jade's home lately!

just... edits this in light of Recent Events 👀

are there any more details he would have gotten about/from jovavich's conversations and interest in the mars colony? like, are there specific areas where she talks to specific people of the four? how does she seem to feel about what's happening and would cassian get a sense of her goals? would he get any sense of the data itself?

[heliophilous]

thank you for the information, mods!

1) i think i'm all good with this. i did remember to sign marcos up for morningstar so he's good there and i'll get my creative brain going with some npcs but if i run into a block, i'll ask y'all. so, if he needs to do anything further to proceed there, let me know.

2) i think i'm gonna go ahead and get marcos involved with the trials! one or two other people have expressed interest but he's definitely going to sign up and let himself get poked and prodded.

is there an official start of these trials or are they just ongoing and about how long would he be looking as checking in and experiencing side effects? what sort of resources would he gain when he does this?

[strove]

Sorry for the delay in this, (other) mods! Is there anything that Clarke would've picked up from her research about travel to New Oslo? What about weather at this time of year? How big is the city, how close to the original Oslo is it, and more!

Basically: What would the handy dandy internet handbook in 2512 tell someone giving New Oslo a cursory overview?

[larkers]

Hi Jenna!

1. Instead of White Day or Arbor Day, would you be interested in having this function as being in support of the people who have given their lives to help advance humanity's progress in the colonies? It would be a subtle nod to the Mars colony uprisings, especially given Jovavich's recent failings in the debates. Lynch has spoken out in favor of how the people out there need support, but he would be cautious not to single out Mars itself. This has been alluded to on the most recent calendar, as well as the one from last month.

This ties into the idea of environmental conservation. Expansion to the colonies began because they needed more ground for people to eventually live on, making it so that the Earth could continue to improve. However, most people would understand that this was Lynch's way of supporting the people used and lied to when sent out to the colonies.

As a note, we came up with this idea in the interim week, so let us know if this works for you!

2. We're working on getting Lynch set up as an NPC, so this should be good to go after the fact! He'd be happy to meet with Caroline then.

3. We'll revise the bullet points after some of these other things are worked out! But there's one more note: Caroline's mob family would absolutely know her job already, especially since she was captured when she just started working there. They would be very supportive of the colonies angle, for what it's worth. That's part of why/how we came up with the idea!

4. Splitting it is fine, but we think that, for the most part, the public one would be the playable aspect! Does that sound good?

[larkers]

Hi Raina!

Not preempting, but we do want to apologize in advance as much of this information won't net Jason many leads due to established aspects of our world build already. A lot of work has been done on this angle, and the UNA itself is more of an established and weaponized arm for the government.

1. Jason cannot actively tail soldiers. They are rarely deployed throughout New Amsterdam except for high stress situations where SWAT forces might be needed. He would likely be able to notice them being shipped out in batches as we described here, but that wouldn't help him gather information.

Thanks to Jason's training, if happens to spot SWAT situation, they'll look like highly trained soldiers. It's unlikely that anyone will engage with them in a way that would show off precisely how trained they are. But the Displaced have a lot of experience engaging with the UNA, so if Jason decides to ask around, he'll get more information from them (as well as any information about how "brainwashed" they are).

2. A lot of the publicly available information on the UNA is covered on our Setting page - this is limited for a reason! There's a bit more information that Clarke and Kate looked up here and here.

Otherwise, this is all classified information, and the world is fine with it! The UN restructuring following the end of World War III created a system of confidentiality. That doesn't mean that there's no information available. The weapons cache taken during our third event has links to some corporations. Loki also works for a subsidiary now that develops weapons on a contract with the UNA (Loki, big Jason, and Akechi are all aware of this).

3. All UNA bases are public knowledge, and the police forces are a separate entity altogether. There are known precincts throughout the city, though any police hangouts or preferred bars would be something that Jason would need to dig up in time. The UNA soldiers do not have private lives!

[larkers]

Hey Trace!

1. That sounds great. Let us know if there are any other questions in this arena.

2. Anyone who's interested (if you're good with it, too) are free to sign-up, just let us know on the Plot Engagement page. The trial would already be ongoing, so as soon as he signed up and consented they would get him started on taking the medication. He'd be expected to report any side effects to the study coordinator if he experienced them, and would also need to go in every month for a general check-up. He would also be asked to keep a patient diary basically keeping track of when he took the meds, if he missed a day accidentally, etc.

This would allow him contact with Giles Bell doctors, nurses, and research staff, so he could try and form some connections there. Usually drug trials like this will run for up to a year, though part of the consenting process is that he can withdraw as a participant at any time. Feel free to reach out to us if you need to follow up on anything with it, though!

[larkers]

Howdy Alison!

The entire island of Norway (yes, it's an island now!) is what makes up New Oslo in 2512. Large parts of the city are actually submerged underwater, though it's entirely safe and pressurized, which allows for some breathtaking views of ocean life. These areas are popular tourist destinations for that reason.

The portion of the city that's above the water is very green, though naturally so rather than what's happened in New Amsterdam. No one lives up here for the sake of preserving the natural plant life, and so it's instead like one giant, beautiful interconnected park. Several hundred years ago, the governor of New Oslo at that time committed to this infrastructure.

The population is 1.5 million people, so quite a bit less than a good number of the other megacities.

Weather-wise, it's quite cold! There is some natural heating underground, but it can only do so much.

Many tourists also visit to see the park, though there's strict rules regarding how many people can be on the surface at once, so there's a long waiting list to visit. There's also very close watch over littering, damaging the foliage, etc. People are allowed to do photography up there, and even films are made there!

Please let us know if you need any more information about the city.

[realists]

since jyn knows that jovavich is seemingly desperate to terraform jupiter, despite her fairly low status and disdain for the idea of terraforming jupiter, jyn would submit a proposal to develop a cloud city above the planet a la actual cloud city above bespin. thanks, space.

despite jupiter being the absolute worst, it is also made of hydrogen, which can be mined and used as a fuel alongside wind to power the city itself which will be necessary to keep the city afloat, keep the gravity habitable to humans, and keep radiation barriers in place as jupiter's magnetosphere produces thousands of tonnes of radiation a day. (this is why terraforming callisto would be better!! because it has less radiation than even earth and already has water.)

will this proposal go anywhere? probs not, but she is submitting it anyway because maybe she'll get a raise lmao. space gives her a hell of a leg up ok.

[larkers]

Hey Tomato! Sorry for the delay in getting back to you - we accidentally skimmed past this when we were drafting our replies.

A lot of Jovavich's sentiments toward Mars are covered here, at least as far as Cassian would know. He wouldn't have any up to date information on her sentiments, especially following the recent debates. If anything, Cassian would be able to confirm that both Durcell and Lynch have up to date information on Jovavich's apathy toward the revolts, especially since she would see it as a natural consequence of the UN's failure to put actual legitimate engineers and scientists in positions of power at the colonies. If anything, her frustration would show, with statements like, "You know why this is happening out there." She doesn't seem to have sympathy for the people out there, instead viewing it as the side effect of incompetence. Which, of course, can be twisted in a debate, especially since Jovavich herself isn't a very ... amiable person (or politician-to-be).

[evasives]

no worries about delays!! this is great, but i think you may have skipped some of my other questions

i would still like to know what's new on gill-jade's end, even if it's idle chatter! and i am still curious as to the patterns of who jovavich consults with on what topic - at least at the time cassian's bugs were in place. for example, what in particular would she speak with each of those four people about? and what would he glean from data she spoke about?

i know the jovavich stuff is not up to date because of when the bugs were swept, this is more me asking in retrospect!

[larkers]

Hi Tomato! Sorry about that! In our haste to get a response back out, we missed some aspects of it! (Most aspects of it ...) Our apologies. The worst part is that we already discussed the four for this, so here we go!

For Gill-Jade, she's diligently working on her charity mentioned here with Rebecca worrying over her a lot and whether she's overextending herself. Her preparations are meant to be lasting, though Rebecca worries it might be futile. Taylor has private lessons every day, with time out in the evenings to visit her friends. She's still excited about New Honolulu, but tensions are high between Gill-Jade and her wife because Rebecca doesn't feel like she owes New Amsterdam anything (and, frankly, it is a bit Weird that things are hard for Gill-Jade, given the unnatural cause behind her changes).

Marianna Webster-Doyle attends her every need, as we said, and bears the brunt of Jovavich's good and bad moods. Jovavich is a brilliant scientist, but isn't as socially charming as her position might require her to be. You know who is in her place? Marianna charms people for her.

Olivia Larkin often discusses day to day workings within Pulsar, as well as recent models and responses about things on the colonies. They're trying to work together to design systems that take much of the work out of workers' hands.

Calls with Johann are suspiciously short - but frequent, especially around when the EMP happened. Jovavich often arranged meetings to meet with him later on. She often sounded impatient with him, possibly because he's annoying.

Soto and Jovavich are trying to come up with a strategy that promotes Jovavich's strategy, but continues in accordance with the UN contracts to send able-bodied but flexible (they mean: expendable) workforces out to the colonies. It's not what Jovavich wants, and she wants to both attract scientists and hope they have prepared hands. Right now, Jovavich and Soto are working on an intensive training program to better prepare workers for life on the colonies, working under the care of scientists to better streamline the process. Workers who would go through this program would be foremen and paid better, but Pulsar and the UN are both reluctant to pay for the training involved with this measure.

[reneger]

I just realized I forgot to respond do this.

Jason would specifically ask about Maeda, and any dirt El could think of regarding her. Look he's got a grudge he's going to follow up on it because of course he is.

Bbbut he will also go ahead and look into the election! Jason will see if he can dig up any dirt on either of them using his personal connections. Since Durcell is involved in the mob, he'd see if there are any links he can use to that, or if he can gather evidence of that connection.

If he can't find any evidence or rumors, he may not push it. But anything he could find regarding them (weird kinks, terrible habits, shady moves they'd pulled in the past or anything illegal or immoral he can discover) would be publicized via social media through various underground sources and spread through news outlets if it doesn't get shut down first.

[larkers]

Hi Emma!

Plans for Jupiter have been underway long before Jovavich took her position and started with Pulsar, so there would be little reception for this idea! That said, Jyn is welcome to wonder why there is so much effort put into terraforming Jupiter in the first place - especially since it's a less than an ideal location for many, many reasons!

[larkers]

Hi Jessi!

With regards to El, would you be interested in threading out that part of the exchange? El would be reluctant to send Jason on that trail, but ze may be willing to do it in order to get Jason's hands on some more ruthless pro-Morningstar activity.

Jason would definitely be able to dig up some dirt on Durcell, though it would be nothing direct. Durcell believes that the people who tend to keep the wheels turning in the world have a blindspot when it comes to organized crime, and is appealing to that within the mob families in order to get people doing their bidding. The Hi-Jacks in particular are doing what they can to hack and retrieve information on Jovavich and Lynch, though Jason won't yet be able to find out whether they've been successful. He'll have to do more digging!

Otherwise, he can definitely shake down some people working for Durcell. Kids who will follow Jovavich, people who are willing to get into the homes of corporate bigwigs to see what's happening and deliver information back, even if they get arrested in the process. Many of them won't have done this just yet, but they do believe in trying to overturn the regime of this world and putting the money and power back into the underground. Back, as if they've bought into the notion that these groups were once more powerful.

It's an eerily consistent message, all wrapped around the idea of weaponizing Durcell's efforts.

[interminably]

Hello mods!

Post the brain surgery experimentation, Klaus will have quite the one track mind of revenge, especially on Hope's behalf. A couple of questions.

1. If he returns to the scene of the crime after the fact, will Klaus find anything indicating a make shift experimental lab/anything that could stand out as even remotely a clue to who did this.

2. Were he to want to follow up, do more research and try to pinpoint Cassius' motivation-slash-information on the real Johanne. Would he find anything useful or worth it.

3. Is there anybody PC-wise, or even NPC-wise who could really hack it (pun intended) and help him get real answers/make real moves. He's going to want to move, move, move and be active in response. Preferable before Everest, but after as well if he returns and there's still more to learn...

[fledges]

Hey guys!

So Shikki and I are looking for Kate and Damian to get into trouble in New Amsterdam while everyone else is off exploring this month. We were thinking Kate could go investigate that guy who stabbed Damian with a poisoned knife a while back, because they suspect he’s doing something shady in the underground. Then she’d get caught, and knife guy could try to use her as leverage against Damian. I’m fine with Kate getting hurt during the course of this (because Hawkeyes are punching bags lbr), or not, whichever is easier for you guys to integrate!

Shikki would also like Damian to lose an arm during this, because she’s mean. Likely that could happen during the course of the rescue, and could hopefully lead into something later where he tries to track down a prosthetic, possibly through Gaby? I think we’re also both hoping this could turn into an ongoing thing for Damian and Kate. Other than that, we’re open to whatever you guys would like to cook up, but if you want us to come up with more details we’re down for that, too!

Thanks!
Jenny and Shikki

[bivariant]

hi mods! i'm finally getting myself in her to discuss the matter of "work placement" in the sense that i have some ideas of where i'd like to take cheris and want to know how viable the work would be in the world + my questions revolving around the work :9 i'm ready, hope you're ready. knowing that she'd have to start off at entry-level, i'd like to either set her up as a cryptographer. i do have back up work in mind if this isn't something she can attain immediately and must, essentially, "prove" herself.

i intend for her to sign up with vyonation as a data analyst or some other position, with the intention of working her into a role as a cryptographer. would el or someone be able to falsify college credentials that verify her skill as an aspiring cryptographer, or is this something she'd have to take night classes for just to acquire the legal credentials? honestly, endgame goal with her work is to slot her into shady codebreaking/game-making double-agent business because i live for shady shit. i have some ideas for where to take it, but know it'd be something to work up to.

she has several skills that'd make her good at this type of work, including her math skills and her (formerly you-know-whos) big nasty long-lived espionage background :9

alternatively can she just work for el and hang out with her True Favorites aka the ai JK

[larkers]

Hi there Brandon!

We get you, Klaus. We know how Johann is. Since this is a larger metaplot tidbit, it's definitely going to take some time, effort, and digging on Klaus' part, and partially hinges on how tenacious he wants to be with it.

1. Unfortunately the "scene of the crime" in this case is outside of the wall of New Amsterdam. While Klaus is welcome to put things together to figure that one out, it's quite difficult to find any means of transport outside of the city limits. There are ways, of course, but Klaus will need coordinates to do so! There are a couple of ways that he could go about this. His best lead on this is most likely the limo company that they originally were kidnapped from, but there's a longer trail here that he'll have to investigate (like how any of the Displaced were able to leave the city limits while being drugged, as they would have had to pass through a security checkpoint of some kind). Let us know if there's a certain way you'd like to go about this, or if you'd like to tackle it some other direction if you're interested!

2. See the question above on this! He won't be able to track down the "scene of the crime" right away, but there are a few things that were left post-brain surgery that he'll be able to collect so he can move forward!

3. There's probably no way to follow up with this one fully before the next plot, but there will be tidbits and ways he'll be able to search for certain things during the plot if he pays attention! Post brain surgery-event, it would be best to reach out to Daisy, Jack and Gabriel (and Hope of course) to collaborate on some information that might have come up during all of their conversations with Johann. There are factors that should allow them to find each other, and if they collaborate, they'll come up with a better picture.

This is a doozy, so let us know what comes out of it! We'll work with you as needed to find direction.

[larkers]

Hi Jenny and Shikki! As a note, there is some potential body horror and limb removal mentioned in the paragraphs below. Please take this as a content warning.

So first off, Kate's investigation! She'd have to dig into the guy a bit to find out more about him. While he was once on Maeda's payroll, the arrangement was temporary, and it seems that he was only bought as a hand for Maeda's schemes. Of course, she would get this information through asking about Maeda and asking his associates. You'll have to consider: would Kate (being a punching bag Hawkeye) go right after him, or would she ask his associates? The former would lead him to wanting to retaliate right away, with him trying to attack her on the spot; the latter would lead to her being able to dig up information in time. Either way, he was reassured by Maeda that no one would come after him and cause him problems, so he would be eventually looking into who's coming to get him. Once he captures Kate, he'd let Maeda know that someone was coming for him, someone trying to make a thing out of him—just a hired hand, someone who was supposed to be protected. Maeda wouldn't give a single crap about him, but would be clued in that Kate and Damian were starting up animosities again. (Jason's so far been subtle about what he's been looking into with Maeda.)

This would spin things into motion. Maeda would alert the guy that she's taking over his "operation," and would order him to be killed. One of her paid hands would carry out the assassination. She'd then have those hands take custody of Kate. She'd probably hear the scuffle, the body hitting the floor, and then she'd be hauled off again.

From here, it's going to be a matter of Maeda deliberately laying clues for Damian (and potentially Jason!) to follow to find out where Kate is being kept. Once he (or they, including Jason) gets there, a fight would undoubtedly break out. Maeda's security team has been buffed up in the interim as a result of the fallout and instability around her household because of the dreamscape (even if she obviously doesn't know that this was caused by the Displaced). She would want to make a big statement that Damian was an arrogant fool to kick up dirt again. Kate will be kept at a warehouse in the underground cave system, held by hired armed guards with illegal weapons. They'll be enough to secure both Jason and Damian (depending on who arrives) with tranquilizers (the method of administration is up to you). Maeda won't want to to kill them. They'll still be conscious and able to both see and hear as the next bit goes down.

It would be through this that Damian would lose his arm: and Maeda would know which is his dominant arm and would take it off. She would be the one to do it herself, forcing his potential partners to watch as she weakens him. She'll have a hand saw that resembles a hot plasma saw to remove it. The wound would be cauterized, but not clean. There would probably still be some small amount of blood loss. The tranquilizers would be in place here, so the amount of anaesthetic that he gets from it is really up to Shikki! Of course, she'd have a mask on the entire time, so that surveillance or neural implant footage would be useless. Her dialogue would be very telling, too. Telling as in "careful" to not reveal any information, making it seem like she's the "average" well-connected thug. There would be more, too, like how Damian needs to be better at "keeping his business to himself."

As far as his arm goes, she'll be keeping it. Don't expect to find it anywhere in her house, as that would be quite the shock for poor Hideki. (That's not to say they can't look for it there using the blueprints that Cain and Prompto got months ago, but it won't be there.)

Afterward, Damian would need to go to the doctor to get a new arm as those are covered for free under health care (and Gaby and Morningstar can't get him one off the Black Market since it's actually more secure to get one legally). No one's going to stop him from doing this, but Maeda will be tracking his movements.

They're free to take out some of the hired hands, as long as there's enough to make sure that this goes down and Maeda heads out afterwards. Otherwise, please feel free to play around as you see fit. If you need to change some details, just let us know. Otherwise we'll wait for you all to come to us for the next step!

[larkers]

Hi Pax!

While Cheris would not be able to work as a cryptographer or a data analyst right away as those are not entry-level type positions, we think she could start off as a security technician with Vyonation while she works on her certifications. El would not be able to fake that level of credentials/background for her, unfortunately! But if she gets herself certified, she can start to work on moving her way up to the position you have in mind.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

[interminably]

Hello Mods!

1. He would be dogged, honestly. Pre-Everest anyway. If his first and only lead is the limo company then he'd pay them, or a yard where they keep their limos a visit. He has no problem with a longer trail. Leads are meant to be followed even if they're like breadcrumbs. So, would he find the offices, first, or a limo yard? And if he searched every limousine in their possession?

2. What things would those be, and would they be in the limo/with the company?

3. Daisy, Jack, and Gabriel, copy that.

[reneger]

I'd be happy to thread it out!

Re: Durcell --

Even indirect information is enough to get people's suspicions up, so Jason would try and advertise it regardless. He'd target anyone trying to gather information and either try and rough them up or (if they seem mildly inclined) pull them over to his side. Kids would be offered a way out of the underground, support to get themselves a better life. Otherwise Jason will probably just.. rough them up, a lot.

Jason also may try and get the Hi-Jacks to side with him if it seems possible! He's got some UNA tech and is aware that they're definitely more tech orientated. While he wouldn't be willing to hand over the ID scramblers he and Abel built with El's help, he might try to entice them with promises of blueprints for some of their other toys--courtesy of Loki's stash from his raid (which. he probably won't in the end unless it turns more in his favor because he's an asshole but he has enough proof he has them to be convincing).

With Damian and Kate's recent excursion Jason'd work any dirt he could get on Maeda into finding a good opening to. jump in and straight up murder her SO that's most likely the direction he'll be working towards with that.

[larkers]

Hey Jenna! We're looking at the calendar for next month. Do you want us to pencil in the date auction for March 14th IC or did you have something else in mind? Please let us know!

[gasping]

late february oocly works fine for me. just so i know — should i expect to be writing up a full event log, or will the information we've discussed go into a mod-hosted post? i would prefer the latter if only just so that the event feels open to anyone who wants to participate rather than just existing cr, but i'm happy to work with you guys to make it happen.

i am also considering throwing up a network post asking for help but i don't want to overwhelm myself or anyone else currently doing gates stuff, so your suggestions on that are appreciated.

[larkers]

Hi Jenna,

Toward the end of February sounds good! We can work that into the calendar so that everyone's aware of what's coming up. We do have to ask you to handle writing the log, but please send it to us for review prior to posting. We'll definitely draw attention to it once it's up so the playerbase knows it's for everyone to participate! We're also still planning to do that NPC thread for you, if you're interested.

A network post sounds like a great idea, but it depends on what you're able to take on. Maybe posting it mid-February with late February for the actual log would work best? But that's ultimately up to you.