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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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no subject
1. Markus would take Gaby and El’s suggestion regarding further investigating the fire. There have already been some great questions asked from other players, but Markus’ contribution would be to focus on asking any neighbors about the nurse next door. His name, a physical description? What his job was, a daily routine, etc? Anything out of the ordinary that they might have noticed? Or any kind of records the front desk might have had on him, if at all applicable.
2. Unrelated to the fire, Markus would like to put a little more effort researching the AI war. What ever became of Xelkov? Are there any last vestiges of the technology they employed in the manufacturing of AI — whether under lock and key somewhere, or otherwise?
3. More specifically, is there more information regarding what caused Elysian to kill 50 families simultaneously? If there are records of that investigation, Markus would be more than eager to unearth them. He’s looking for a reason that would constitute more than just written-off “error”; if Elysian might have felt wronged, for example.
4. I’ve established Markus as a pianist at an exclusive restaurant/bar for the heinously rich, performing mainly in the nighttime hours. Given that this is social class that he wouldn’t have access to normally, I’d like for him to constantly be keeping an ear out in-between play sessions for any rumors that would be of interest to him. Markus would be listening for any of what I had focused on above: talk of the sickness/recent fire, AI murmur (less likely, but given who he is, he’s gonna be pinged by anything regarding this), or anything that might prove as valuable leads to Morningstar or the others. Would anything come up?
5. If Markus does a quick search for Detroit, Michigan on the internet, what would be the results? Is the city still even a thing? Any notable news from that side of the world? (These questions are just a result of Markus’ homesickness manifesting in related ways.)
no subject
1. El would provide a description of the nurse: a tall, dark-skinned man with hazel eyes, short hair, and a tendency toward having a five o'clock shadow. There would be no further description about the man beyond his salute, because everything - including what would have been found at the apartment complex front desk - would have been scrubbed.
Markus would need to find the complex's ownership company to find the additional information about him (this company is called AJJ Holdings, which is a real estate company that specializes in mid-to-high range apartment complexes throughout New Amsterdam). After reaching out, Markus would find that all of the nurse's information is gone. What he will learn is that the nurse must have been up to date on his rent payments, as they have a zero tolerance policy on late or delayed payments.
2. Xelkov went under following the rise of the AI War. In a panic - and guided by United Nations efforts - they dissolved all of their holdings. Their ownership was thoroughly investigated, and some of the board were charged with criminally negligent manslaughter. No one maintains AI these days for any reason, too afraid of what a program like that could do to modern-day society.
3. While a cause may have been determined at the time, it was lost to history and the AI uprising that occurred during the course of the investigation. If Markus pursues this, he won't be able to find any answers. All records unequivocally state that Elysian did this because it wanted to cause mass panic and incite an uprising. Markus can feel free to draw his own conclusions from this, as it's a tidy link to what's previously present.
4. Right now, there would be little information regarding this, though he would notice that a number of corporate CEOs do frequent this bar in the evening, and go off into rooms alone that they've rented for themselves. He may be asked to play for them in there, but right now, none of these topics would differ too much from the general public response.
5. Detroit - along with the rest of North America - is an inhospitable desert wasteland, considered toxic and uninhabitable. In 2511, Detroit is still remembered as the birthplace of the automobile industry, but it otherwise struggled as climate change began to radically impact and change America.
no subject
Markus is making certain to not leave any potential leads uncovered, so he’d show an interest in looking into the apartment that had the carcasses of dead creatures stashed. Would questioning the neighbors, landlord, proprietor of the building, etc. lead to identifying who the individual who lived there was? And as a result, would this open up any avenue of contacts (or places of interest to explore) that Markus could follow up on?
He’s not quite sure if the connection between the nurse and the monster carcasses are coincidental or otherwise, so this would just be an attempt to see if either is the case.
no subject
Firstly Markus would need to find out which apartment the remains of the carcasses were found in. The easiest way to do this would be for him to liaise with Bobbi Morse to see if she can find this information out from her contact at the NAFD. Once he knows which apartment, he'll be able to question others - AJJ Holdings will be tight-lipped, but if he tracks down any neighbors they'll be able to give him some building gossip. Most will consider them a perfectly normal young couple, with no outward signs of any unpleasant behavior, though one neighbor will recall passing them on the way out a few months back, excited and very smartly dressed, on their way to a reproduction application hearing. Another will remark that they'd been very quiet neighbors until recently, when they'd been having an increasing amount of arguments.
Unfortunately neither of the couple survived the fire, so there would be no direct contacts or avenues to follow up on, unless Markus wanted to dig deeper into their backgrounds.
no subject
Markus did indeed get in touch with Bobbi, and she had also agreed to accompany him during this little stints of questioning the neighbors, utilizing her power where necessary to encourage loose-lipped individuals to talk. (If necessary.)
My follow up questions are pretty straightforward as a result!
1. Would visiting AJJ Holdings (with Bobbi now at his side) and questioning about this couple yield new information?
2. Following the trail of the reproduction application hearing, where would that lead them to specifically, and what information could be obtained asking around there? Markus is indeed interested in digging a little deeper into their backgrounds for now to see where it’ll lead.
no subject
1. Most of the information will relate to the couple having some difficulty in making their rent payments. They would have struggled to be on time, or would have had to pay overdue rent fees several months in a row. This would be a distinct deviation from their previous rental history. Up until a couple months ago, they were always on time.
2. Assuming Markus has Bobbi on board, they would be able to find out that the couple was extremely disappointed to learn that they didn't qualify income-wise for bringing a new life into their lives! They had enough money for themselves, but not enough to support this child - at least according to the government's rather strict income regulations!