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

[larkers]

Hi Jay!

We think hijacking a news feed is his best bet at this stage! We're unlikely to expand on the Maeda plot, though we're happy to create another Maeda-like nemesis in the future if that's something you're interested in. You can assume that he's started to work with the Hi-Jacks if you'd like.

Would you like his hijacking to be featured on a future calendar? If so, let us know the deets so we can include them.

[larkers]

Hi Em!

There are a few clauses in here that we'd like to point out first. Since they don't have a case against Riverstone yet (as Riverstone is neither giving them bad contracts nor have they done anything wrong at the moment), most firms, both large and small, around New Amsterdam won't be willing to represent the Displaced. Given the nature of the contracts themselves, which are completely favorable to the Displaced and meeting all of their demands, they'll just look paranoid to most of the firms around the city. In addition, there's the factor that Riverstone is the kind of corporation that no one would want to trifle with given its huge size and power.

The law firms that will actually take on the Displaced's contract negotiations, as well as offer to be a retainer, will be known as War, Babip, and Eckstein. It's a smaller firm that's been operating out of New Amsterdam for the last 20 years. Most of their work involves contracts for small businesses, as well as helping negotiate any convoluted marriage contracts.

In addition, Ian would have to:

1. State, in detail, to their lawyer as to why Riverstone is interested in them. This would include detailing the identities, powers, and capabilities of all of the Displaced involved, including how they got their identities at all (which would potentially put Morningstar and El at risk). All of this would be under a strict confidentiality agreement, but would be more in-depth than any information that has been shared by the Displaced so far, and goes beyond what some are planning to eventually share with the public. It would be required for the lawyer to protect their interests. This is because if Riverstone discovered anything (during experimentation or interrogation) about the Displaced that would void their contracts, the lawyer would need to know. This includes their identities not being of this world, because they're both fraudulent and because they are quite literally aliens to this society. The confidentiality agreement can only go so far, however, and if the situation does turn into a large legal battle, it's entirely possible that some of that sensitive information could get out to the public.

Before Ian decides on how to handle all of this going forward, we suggest that he contact the Displaced who would be seeking out legal representation. Since (as we'll cover below) they'll need to provide that information on an individual one-on-one basis, he'll want to tell them what the law firm would be requiring up front in order to represent them to remain consistent, as anything that could be found to the contrary could mean that Riverstone could nullify contractual agreements.

Obviously, the law firm wouldn't know why Riverstone wishes to experiment on them, but they would ask for all of this information upon entering a legally binding confidentiality agreement and in order to provide proper representation.

2. Help negotiate arrangements for each of the Displaced's contracts: these contracts would be handled on a client-by-client basis. They wouldn't be represented as a group, because they aren't legally defined as a group (/class, as we'll cover below) at this moment. Each of their contracts would have clauses specific to them as individuals. This would end up costing the Displaced a great deal of credits, as the firm they eventually hired would both be charging a lot more (because it's a contract with Riverstone and they want to cover their behinds) and because the Displaced can't be lawfully represented as a group.

This is the more straightforward way of doing it that would probably offer the Displaced more security and allow them to have lawyers on retainer in the future. But still: these would be separate cases since Riverstone is offering this to them as a whole, but negotiating the contracts and having them signed separately.

Now, the firm will also offer the ability to look over the contracts and ensure that it meets all of Ian's requirements. This will be considerably cheaper, though they'll still be charging for each contract to be reviewed on an individual basis. For what it's worth, the contracts do meet all of Ian's requirements, but as we told Laws and Tifa, that doesn't mean much with a business as big and powerful as Riverstone. This particular action would not promise future legal intervention as it would only be paying them to sign off on what's in the contract, as well as make any additional notes. They would not be negotiating with Riverstone in any way.

The firm will provide additional information: if the Displaced do experience the breach of contract that they appear to expect from Riverstone, they will eventually have a class action suit on their hands. On this occasion, the Displaced would be able to represent themselves as a "class," bringing their case together as a united party whose individual contracts with Riverstone have all been breached. They can feel free to return to War, Babip, and Eckstein for this case as they'd be happy to represent them on that occasion. But they would advise Ian that he'd need to keep in mind that Riverstone is the type of corporation that's likely to settle, especially if the Displaced lack hard evidence that any breach of contract has occurred. (Suspicions won't cut it here.)

We're happy to add a blurb about War, Babip, and Eckstein's representation on the mini-event so players can choose if their characters are going in with a retainer, or if they're simply having their contract looked over.

Please feel free to ask any other questions!

[larkers]

Hey there again Jay,

4. Let us know what your plan would be moving forward, but handwaving the map of the tunnels sounds fine! There should be a few apps for their neural implant that would help them with that!

Welcome to the bird nest, Cas!

[larkers]

Hey Emma,

1. It's not possible at this time! Knowing someone's network ID (assuming that this even is JPG's network ID) doesn't necessarily open them up to being messaged. There are a few privacy measures that can be implemented (and are in place) for those who want to avoid messages from everyone and anyone that knows their name. It would potentially open up public figures to be messaged by anyone! Not fun for them.

For what it's worth, IDs aren't just a name, but a name + a number. It's like your Discord username. There might be 25 John Smiths in the world, so they differentiate between the 25 John Smiths by having a series of numbers identifying them as different.

2. It's not possible to make a fake ID to message him on, either. The ID that was produced could be identified by Johann's resources (specifically Judas at this time), and it wouldn't work in Jyn and Tony's favor. As far as Gaby's Morningstar ID goes, that's used for the Morningstar network specifically, rather than working as a separate ID. It's her login for the network. She doesn't have a separate fake ID in the real world as "Gaby."

[larkers]

Hey Tomato!

1. After this long and twisty road, we will say that it will undoubtedly come down to Giles Bell having the capabilities to scrub this technology without it ever being entered into a system. Is it someone who currently works at Giles Bell, or simply has access to their supply line? Cassian has done most of the work here, so now he might want to focus in on Giles Bell to see who might have this ability.

2. 👍

3. Cassian can reach out to Cassius here. He should be able to ask some questions about Johann Grey to get some answers. Cassius also knows about the facilities around Antarctica, and Cassian can direct his questions about those there.

We also suggest reviewing the plot tidbits post gathering everything. There are some things on there that we think will interest Cassian at this stage of his investigation, especially now that the full picture is coming together.

4. Safia is a go! She doesn't know anything, including that New Omsk would be used for that report. She would add that it shouldn't be possible since everyone she knew had been relocated from that location prior to September 2510. Fishy, huh?

[larkers]

Hi Laws!

Riverstone won't be available for being hacked, if only because they have super duper good firewalls. In fact, even if he used his special extremis stuff, Riverstone's firewalls would just assume one of the Displaced were hacking in to see what they're doing. Both Rey and Tony would get a message informing them that their attempts at compromising Riverstone's data security are not welcome, though they understand their paranoia at this time.

[wittingly]

Howdy fellas, couple of questions,

First off, the type of legal representation Ian's looking for isn't the legal battle kind. He's not looking for a lawyer to argue a case like a defense attorney or prosecutor, but rather standard legal representation for things like drafting contracts and legal consulting re: rights, laws, etc. No right/wrong will be brought up in conversation nor will litigation, but rather a 'hey, can you create us a legal document with these stipulations for us to present to Riverstone, then represent us through the negotiation and signing'. Hopefully that makes it less like a demonstration of paranoia and more like a standard business transaction inquiry. If a contract already exists that Riverstone made, he'd bring it with him instead of asking for them to draft up an entirely new one & have them review it & make any amendments required so that it fit his proposed stipulations.

I'm curious about the conversation about their identities & the inquiry about how they got them. If it isn't public knowledge that the displaced aren't from this time period/this world and Ian doesn't mention it, how would the conversation come up that their identities are false? For instance, I've never had to discuss how I got my identity, I just give businesses my drivers' license. Is there something about the displaced that makes them visibly fake? If not, it isn't something Ian would bring up at all. He would speak & behave as if the displaced are normal citizens that just happen to have weird powers.

[larkers]

Hi Em!

Sorry, we were working under the assumption that you were aware of the contract/NDA stipulations as outlined here for Tifa and Laws. In that case, refer to the section about reviewing the contracts. If the Displaced wish to have them on retainer, this would be maintained on an individual level since they can't possibly be represented as a group. That said, they are happy to review everyone's individual contracts without being on retainer.

As for the rest, Riverstone knows that Rey has a fake ID, as that's what started this entire thing. How she acquired that fake ID is unknown, and could potentially compromise the Displaced in a very big way. In addition, the Displaced are not of this world and there are people out there who know it (not just Morningstar, but PM and other parties like JPG who may be lurking in the shadows). While they wouldn't need to reveal this information to their lawyer, it's the kind of nasty surprise that could come up for them down the line and end up voiding any contractual agreements. It's the type of thing they'd need to reveal to their lawyer to ensure that Riverstone can't already prepare for this possibility. We wanted to be upfront about the potential consequences of seeking legal protection in advance so that it didn't come as a surprise down the line.

[wittingly]

I was not! Thank you, that's wicked helpful.

Alright, in that case if it's alright with ya'll I'm gonna say he reached out to them for an initial first conversation about what he'd want and get their expectations back, and when it became apparent to him through conversation that he'd probably need to disclose the fake-ass nature of their IDs he'd put a hold on the convo to instead check in with the displaced. It's definitely not something he's going to make an executive decision about on his own, he wouldn't feel like he had the right. He'll revisit once he's got a consensus from the gen pop.

[malta]

hello chums i am back! a few questions, mostly job related

1. i would like to get joe set up with a job as a docent at an art museum! i know he is lacking in art history from the last 500 years which he will endeavor to learn, but perhaps he can give tours in galleries dedicated to reproductions (or vr duplications) of medieval to early modern art as he is very knowledgeable in that niche 800 years.

2. on that note, are there still art publications where joe could submit essays about like how art was created in lean times when supplies were scarce or how revolutionary art is a tool for liberation and get published and thus boost his standing in the field?

3. i know physical art supplies are expensive and hard to come by so i assume physical graffiti is less common than like the ar/vr nature of the shrines (i am Unsure, if you can't tell), my question is whether it is illegal/policed or not.

4. i know baseball is a thing but has european football survived into 2512? would decent footballs be available for sale? can one immortal family pls catch a break and play football in the street.

[realists]

make sense! thank you for the answer!

[larkers]

Hi Emma!

1. Work in museums is hard to come by because a lot of art that would typically be in museums is (perhaps rather frustratingly) in private collections. One of our former players created a museum here that should serve your purposes, but Joe will probably find that a lot of art that appeals to his knowledge has been squirreled away.

2. Without any credentials, Joe would probably want to start a blog and send his blog links to people on social media. He could also see if he could write anything for the museum he joins, as they undoubtedly have a blog and social media presence of their own. He'll need to submit writing samples after he's hired on.

3. The shrines only have a little AR/VR in them, actually! Most of the shrines are low maintenance in their creation, being little physical structures. Some of them are made with graffiti with a few candles. Others are the snazzy AR/VR ones, but those are created by people with the money and means to do so. It is illegal, but right now, in New Amsterdam, police priorities have been elsewhere, but that doesn't mean that they won't be keeping an eye out. If Joe partakes in this, he'll probably run into some problems if caught on surveillance, but that's only really if someone happens to catch him, go after him, arrest him, etc. They're short staffed, so art on walls is a low priority compared to the criminal underground using this power vacuum to surge up.

4. We actually have a full write up of sports/esports on our Setting page because one of your mods cares a lot about this, apparently. Simply put: yes, soccer/football is still a thing, so they can buy a ball of their own! They can also use VR to play if they want to feel like they're on a giant field. Whatever floats your boat, basically.

[malta]

wow fuck private collectors

1+2. i will set joe up there, he will be excited about new eras and styles of art anyway so that's fine! and i will also get him doing a blog for art maybe i will do it icly and everyone will have to read my mona lisa diatribes. thank you for the info!

3. good to know about the shrines, thank you. joe will not touch the shrines, obv, but if portraits of a certain beautiful genovese man being kind to smol children appear in the early mornings splashed on some abandoned building, well. joe was wearing a hoodie and a forward facing baseball cap so clearly it was not him. STEALTH. spends his entire stipend on paint sticks bc he has correct priorities.

4. GONNA PLAY SOME FOOTIE!!!

[stagethreeclinger]

Hihi!

Oh, no need to make another Maeda-like person, I think Roy and Loki will have their hands full with gangland related baddies as is, but thanks for the offer.

Ooo, it might be cool to make it a future calendar thing, yeah. Let me slap some deets down here for yall.

Around the lunch break hour, one of New Amsterdam's major news networks will be commandeered by Roy Harper. Regularly scheduled programming will be substituted with a shitty, Flash-esque animation of a crazy chicken sprinting through a Super Mario looking side-scrolling platformer stage, bouncing on top of Goombas in UNA helmets, while squawking to the tune of La Cucaracha. This will last about two hours, or until the news network's tech people can override it.

If any of that doesn't work, feel free to change any part of it!

[variate]

Hey other mods!

I wanted to drop this by plot engagement quick because it has to do directly with Jason's disappearance.

Loki and Roy are going to be keeping an eye on the Outlaws. Neither of them really have the same resources that Jason did, but they will be reaching out to some of Jason's right hands that were (at least) familiar with them.

They'll want to keep in touch, if that's possible! There’s only a few things that they might be able to do to help, but they’d want to hear what the right hands had to say. Both Loki and Roy would want to stay connected, if possible. They’d also be able to confirm Jason's disappearance.

On that thread, Loki would want to know what the right hand (or right hands?? Left hands?) think of Durcell.

There's another question that I have about the dreams!

There's been some chatting about training in dreams and I'd like to bring up again, how would the Displaced go about training their dreams to impact the world? What would those steps look like and how would they know?

Thank you!

[impede]

Hi mod friends!

I'm finally following up on Akechi's plot with the political stuff. After getting back from New Beijing, Akechi will be asking for a meeting with Amabel Delafield-Chapin, citing her previous meeting with Cheris (obviously known as Tsera) and Ren. If this doesn't work, he'll submit an application for various positions in her department, showing his interest in working there no matter what.

The point is that he wants a job there, and he's willing to help. He'll mention the Riverstone arrangement with "his group," saying that the UN is expressing interest in trying to control them (by his best estimation) and that it would be good to have one of "his" kind in their offices in NA.

Would he be able to get a job? He's willing to do some menial-seeming work by title as long as he's getting paid more than that given what he can provide for both Delafield-Chapin and Lynch. He would even advise that he's even given a less than satisfactory-seeming position, but I understand if he needs to prove his worth for a while.

Anyway, let me know if you need more information!

[notathreat]

Sliding right in to re-ask this guy heeeeere:

I've scouted around and found paint/ink/canvas are still available but a little costly- Ellie started working as a bouncer in a bar live-music bar, which presumably doesn't pay super well. How out-of-budget would this stuff be for her?

Additionally, she'd ask around about any community groups that might be into this sort of thing, for the purposes of supply-sharing and if she can get in on the local gossip about the creepy murals around town, all the better for... reasons.

As for the questions she'd ask, she'd try to keep it very vague and open ended and frame it as an art-based curiosity/interest in it, since it seems like it's what's "popular" these days and Ellie herself has a genuine interest in painting/art. But she'd try to get these particular pieces of info:

1. She'd first look into online blogs to see if she can find the information, before she asks in person. What's the subject matter? When did they start showing up? Are they increasing in frequency? Have there been any notable fluctuations in frequency? Are there any blogs that have compiled pictures of the murals/noted locations? Are there particular members of the Displaced that show up in the art? Any repeat appearances?
2. In person she'd comment offhand about private collectors taking bits of the shrines/murals for themselves, and have the genuine opinion of that being a shitty thing to do with street art. Any notable people/organizations taking those pieces?
3. She would try not to seem too overly into it/excited about it, just interested in 1. the art itself and the quality of it (how'd they do it? what materials?) and 2. how crazy it is that they did it without getting caught (and if she leans into the teenagery aspect of admiring some light vandalism for the sake of art, that's genuine)
4. She'd be interested in the wild mass guessing and conspiracy theories but mostly not try to stoke that, just listen/lurk online where she could.
5. Has the city tried to remove any of the murals/graffiti? How'd that go?

I realize that this is kinda broad in scope, but I'm still kinda catching up setting-wise, so hopefully this isn't retreading too much old ground.

[evasives]

1. excellent he will start turning towards giles bell! he already turned marcos towards the drug testing a while ago, and i talked to trace already about using that connection to start - is there anything worth noting about what the drugs do, or would it be possible for cassian to go in with marcos and start making some connections that way? i know the drugs aren't exactly connected (or are they??) but it seems like a good way to get his foot in the door.

3. done o7 and i'll probably come back to johann here after talking with cassius and reading all the info over again!

4. SUPER FISHY, SAFIA. when exactly were they relocated? like, how many weeks/days/etc prior to september, and was everyone moved at once or more scattered to avoid suspicion? related, if cassian tracked down any other new omsk workers, would they all more or less have the same knowledge as safia? did they have a choice on where they were moved, or was it directed from someone higher up? *oH and what was the primary focus of the facility at new omsk?

[larkers]

Hi Veronica!

Regarding the right hands, they would feel a bit betrayed by Jason's disappearance, especially since he obviously would have not said something before he vanished. Since they don't know this is a common occurrence among the Displaced, and Jason had been around for a while, they'll be agitated by the fact that Jason's gone. He's disappeared for Displaced-related activity before, of course, but not to this scale. The fact that he's not back yet means they'll be frustrated. These right hands come from both gangs, and they were working together because they had a strong leader in Jason/the Red Hood. Now that he's missing, they're aimless, and they're well aware that they were meeting his own ambitions. There will be some internal conflict within the gangs, since they are, in fact, still two groups that were once rivals.

As for Durcell, Durcell won't have gotten word about Jason's disappearance yet. The right hands will know that Jason was stealing some of their underlings and undermining them, so they'll know that Durcell was an enemy to their group. But by bringing them up, Loki and Roy will essentially be arming these gangs with their new patron. Reminded of Durcell's ambitions with the criminal underground, one of these right hands will be reaching out to them shortly, so keep an eye on the calendar for follow up with that.

For the dreams, this is what we've decided for the time being:

• Characters will need to figure out a way to naturally activate the dreams. The best way to do this is via the empathy bond, and perhaps from there then choose to control what someone else sees within the space of their mind. Another way to do this from a distance would be via sharing their chest objects.

• In time, characters will be able to activate the dreams without the empathy bond/chest objects. We think this would be through sustained practice, as well as the characters accepting their connections to the other Displaced. It would be a matter of two characters agreeing to meet in dreams, and doing so later that evening. There would still be a degree of agreement here, and someone could change their mind and not take up the offer and thus not enter the other dream.

• As it comes to world-wide alterations, we've decided that these would always be a mod-run event. However, we very much would like the next one to be the end result of the characters coming together to enter the dreamworld that some of them were in before. This would start as a player plot of training everyone up, getting to step two, and then the majority of the Displaced hitting the point where they would enter this mutual state all at once. From there, it would be another dream event, but with a lot less chaos of emerging in someone's dreamspace unexpectedly (since the characters would have trained past that point). The mods would then provide the dreamside content like before.

What we would recommend is having characters lockdown the first step, share it in the arrival guide, and then we can work toward steps two and three. Again, this would be a player plot that would eventually become a gamewide event.

In terms of quantifying this, it's a bit difficult without guaranteeing a lack of turnover in the character base (which we've since realized since the last time we wrote this up). Our best suggestion would be to establish how to access the dreamspace, spread that information, and then go from there.

[larkers]

Hi Alison!

Delafield-Chapin won't be available for a meeting immediately, and so submitting the application would be Akechi's best bet. Once she receives that and it goes through the grapevine, she'll be willing to talk with him. He will get a job, but it won't be particularly glamorous. Mostly he'll be running errands and setting up meetings before being trusted with something that's more sensitive, politically. He'll have to prove himself—not in skill, but that he can be trusted.

She will be interested in the reasoning behind their change of heart, considering their initial messaging insisted on their lack of desire for any sort of political voice. An in with the Displaced will be advantageous for her too, however, and the position will certainly give him the time with her he's looking for. From there, it depends on how he leverages that new connection.

[larkers]

Hi Charlie!

As far as the art supplies go—they are extremely costly. She'd have to save for several months to afford much of anything. There are a few other options for her, if she's willing to take a few strides and gather art supplies illegally.

There aren't many groups that are sharing physical supplies, as a career as an artist is more of a side hobby if you don't have outright sponsorship or talent/connections enough to work on a very nice commission. Those that take part in the hobby itself that Ellie would be able to find aren't those with enough credits to do anything physical. That's reserved for the upper echelons of society. On that note, it's rare that any art is exclusively physical—most artists tend to experiment with the opportunities provided by the digital and the commonality of the augmented reality interfaces, as well as completely immersive virtual reality simulations. Everyone would be happy for a new face, and willing to teach her the ins-and-outs of the digital art world!

As a note, not all the shrines are murals. Some of the shrines are small and have offerings—others leave offerings at the murals. Many of these shrines are made of metal scraps and largely stand out because of the candles lit by them. We're going to assume when she's looking into these things, that she's looking into the murals and graffiti. If we mention shrines, we'll specify!

1. The first logged record of a shrine showing up is around mid-to-late September of 2511, but if she finds the right Displaced to ask (notably those that have been around longer), she'll find out that they've been around since September 3rd or 4th of 2511. Our first mention of them is in January 2019's Arrival Log.

The subject matter has remained consistent: The Displaced with a blue shape of light (typically a triangle) coming from their chest, along with sacred geometry mixed in. There are Displaced (both around still, and those that have left) that are still depicted in the shrines, especially if they had a hand in saving people during certain large-scale attacks. Two that come to mind outright are Daisy Johnson and Damian Wayne (in full Nightwing costume, no less).

There are a few blogs out there with the sole purpose of following the murals, but they're more art appreciation blogs rather than anything speculative or based on conspiracy theory. Since the murals seem to come and go for a variety of different reasons that can't be pinned, it's hard to keep track due to their sudden appearances and removal, there's nothing definitive that logs anything specific that would amount to a pattern.

There is a note on some sites about a man named Kovacs who was once revealed to be the orchestrator of the shrines, but that has since been debunked. (OOCly, we'll add that Kovacs is a former player character who was given this role as a result of one of our in-game plots, but he was never this figure in truth.) While they have some information about the one making them—an artist calling themselves Legion—they'd have a million opinions about style and use of space, and only some speculation on identity. The theories range from a talented scrub, or one of the upper class with distinct training trying to make a statement, with nothing definitive.

There are also some tidbits on The Story So Far, if you'd like to take a look! We recommend the Harvest Festival, the Insomniac's Ball, and the Lantern Festival as places to start!

2. There's no one specific! They're mostly commandeered by privately owned construction contractors who specialize in not leaving any records, rather than the organizations tying their names to the dirty work. There's a lot of red tape that goes into the removal of the murals, and those involved want to be discreet enough to keep the funds from their excavations flowing. To find the actual buyers she'd need to head down to City Hall to access some tax records—let us know if that's something she'd be interested in, but it might not land her the answers she's looking for. They're mostly taken in for private use as any piece of art ownership is tied to a kind of prestige. As in, it's rich people being rich.

3-1. The murals are decent quality, but they're still very much graffiti, so that doesn't mean that they'll be around forever (and they aren't meant for it, much like most street art). The materials are mostly a brand of outdoor paint that isn't very unique, and is common in most art and craft stores around the city. It's used in everything from street art to decorative flourishes on building exteriors, and will hold up against almost any weather.

3-2. Despite the shrines and other graffiti being in very public places, no one has gotten a glimpse of Legion. It's a matter of avoiding security as well as the overall state of the NAPD. Their focus has been less on public vandalism, and more on other areas. They're very badly understaffed at the moment, and are keeping their eyes in the direction of the more dire problems in New Amsterdam.

4. There's nothing here that's definitive: In fact, it's all over the board. She'll get arguments in the group of who Legion is, and what became of the man named Kovacs, as well as what that may mean. It's like someone in the real world talking about Banksy.

For this bit, we'd also suggest she connect with some of the Displaced that have some of that knowledge! Quentin, Rey, and Clarke are options, just to name a few. She's also free to do some network scouting for information on this to get a clear picture of the worshippers' role in the murals and shrines!

5. The city hasn't needed to—either the murals seem to disappear (due to being removed for private use), or they have crumbled and broken due to environmental factors, like the monster event, for example. The shrines keep popping up and coming down, but the murals themselves seem to be a little more unique. The most perceived value for the art collectors seems to be in those!

Let us know if there's anything that needs to be expanded on!

[larkers]

Hi Tomato!

1. Nothing new to note about the drug trials, but both Marcos and Cassian would be given the opportunity to sign up for new drug trials. While these won't be immediately metaplot important to the overall game, they would give some insight into how corporations are handling the recent run of monsters. Would you (or Trace, if you're in contact with her!) be interested in this?

Otherwise, this is a good way to get a foot in the door! As a reminder, Joseph Lynch was also connected to Giles Bell as the head of PR for Ibis, so that might be a lead for Cassian to chase.

4. It was over the summer leading up to the September event. Safia will say that she'll try to get in touch with her former coworkers, using various job sites and social media, and will come back and say that a few of those coworkers seem to have gone completely off the grid. All their profiles are gone, as well as any tags that pointed to them. The coworkers who went off the grid all left at the same time for a "really good opportunity" for their futures, while the rest had scattered relocations.

For the people who haven't gone off the grid that Safia could find, they would all say the same thing. They assume that the people who went off the grid are fine and working on something top secret in terms of confidentiality, likely in a contract with the UN.

For the "off the grid" folks, they all have a similar profile: unmarried, excellent in their fields, and willing to take a leap because they don't have a lot of ties to their previous life. They would have been offered this chance for relocation versus being relocated against their wills. One or two of the people that Cassian talks to will be jealous that they were given this chance. If further pressed, they'll say that they don't think they could have taken the offer because of their lifestyle (they're all married), but they wish their work was recognized.

To simplify this:

"Off the grid" scientists: Unmarried, very intelligent, likely to leap at a major scientific discovery because it could further their career. Offered a job for relocation, never said where they were relocating to but they all left at the same time. All of them were geophysicists.

"On the grid" scientists: most are married, intelligent but concerned with their partner. Otherwise might be profiled to be unlikely to take an off the grid job. Not offered relocation jobs, and some of them are envious. They were relocated in a scattered way to other locations. Some were geophysicists, some specialized in other fields.

Finally, the New Omsk laboratory specialized in geophysics, with some environmental geology and geoecology. These scientists were working in tandem to study the shifting environment in the region around the laboratory.

[impede]

Hey, thanks!

Akechi would point out that it's less a change of heart and more that he had no way of giving Tsera (Cheris) and Ren a script. Ren is opposed to politics and believes it can only lead to bad things, so his approach was based on that. Akechi, on the other hand, has been interested in politics since long before he "became a part of the group associated with Red Wings"—happily implying that there was a before and after, all to reel her in.

He'll add that part of his personal concern was that if she won, her inexperience would lead to her being preyed upon. The fact that she's getting her political start alongside a respected man such as Lynch alleviates some of those concerns. Basically: he'll be openly politicking at her while distancing himself from his partner's political perspective.

He'd happily provide her with the trustworthy work she's asking for because he did a lot of that on Jovavich's behalf. However, he'd ask that when he's promoted, it's only handled internally. He doesn't want his group to look as if he's influencing her, since that is not what he's doing here. (It is, but it's not like he'd say that outright.) He also doesn't want her office to seem like it's only there to further his group's agenda in any way by giving him a job.

[unwings]

Hihi!!

Okay, we talked to Tomato and they said Cassian would have been working on strengthening and fortifying the tunnels since the monster attack, so he'd be there to help them out with exploring, mapping for the GPS project, and connecting tunnels to the ground level meeting places Lexa and Cas were hoping to set up for evacuating civilians. there were a whole bunch of tunnels, so this is probably an on-going project for the three of them. i think that covers everything they were looking to do?

[larkers]

Hey Alison!

That sounds fine. She'll probably be just a tad prickly at Akechi's insinuations, but she'll find his assistance beneficial. That's to say, she'll be willing to give him a chance in this, and will agree that it's for the best that whatever benefits he receives in the future are handled discreetly and internally.

Let us know if there's anything else!