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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
thus far, this is where we're at:
— caroline and marcos were both kidnapped and taken in. the gang members managed to catch her while she was distracted, and so she did not fight back immediately. they did choose to knock both out during transportation, so neither caroline nor marcos know where they're being held.
— they've been asked repeatedly about morningstar, their ties to morningstar, and why they were sent by morningstar, and both have denied involvement/claimed not to know anything. we are absolutely playing that the gangs do not believe them, and are vicious in attempting to get the truth out.
— neither caroline nor marcos really know how to "prove" they're not affiliated to morningstar other than repeatedly claim their innocence.
— since a specific location wasn't given for the facility, we've played with nondescript locations for now! i've described it as a concrete room, akin to an underground basement (though, full disclosure, we don't have basements in florida and i'm literally winging this).
update/question: we'd like to have caroline message jason with a (probably unfocused) picture of her surroundings and/or one of her interrogators. is it possible for him to recognize this location (though not necessarily recognize it correctly) OR for it to be recognizable to a contact of his? though my intention is to have caroline rescue herself, jason may send someone who's still in the new amsterdam area her way for help.
i will keep y'all up to date on any further developments for plot purposes! THANKS AGAIN i love this plot
no subject
It's definitely fine for Jason to recognize the area or for it to be recognizable to a contact of his!
no subject
november 20
— marcos was kidnapped off the street / a local alleyway. he attempted to fight back, and was knocked unconscious for his troubles before being transported. he awoke in a nondescript room, tied to a chair, in the middle of interrogations. over the course of the first day, he was slapped, pistolwhipped, kicked, and punched enough to have significant injury (a broken jaw, a concussion, and various aches and pains) and subsequently passed out for the remainder of the evening. it is unclear where he was held or what position they kept him in, but he does believe he was kicked around or otherwise abused in his sleep.
— caroline was kidnapped off public transit (what little was working post-emp) and knocked out before she could fight back. she was too distracted by marcos' sudden silent treatment during his initial unconsciousness to notice anyone approaching her -- and we are playing off her being knocked out as the gang members wanting to avoid a round 2 of a morningstar agent trying to fight their way out of capture. caroline also woke up in a nondescript concrete room, tied to a chair; in this room, she was subjected to interrogation at similar levels, but she was more likely to cry and beg than to throw up.
— though caroline and marcos do communicate via implant messages, it is sporadic and not always clear. they make the assumption that they must be held in the same place based on nothing but the fact that they're both being subjected to garbage treatment. they are very lucky to make this educated guess.
— marcos is experienced in interrogation on an ic level, and was more conscious in choosing not to respond / not to engage. he did message jyn intentionally to advise of what was going on, though he was not very coherent in his responses.
— caroline, having only been subjected to vampiric torture once icly (so far), was less experienced in more traditional interrogation methods. while she answered, her answers were honest and panicked: she wasn't an agent of morningstar, she didn't know who was in charge, she couldn't make anybody do anything. she did tell them that she worked as a party planner. in her panic and fear, she sent a few unintentional video or audio recordings through her implant (not via the morningstar network) to jyn, klaus, hope, and prompto.
— while marcos passed out after unknown hours of interrogation, caroline did not; she was taken to a small holding room overnight.
november 21
— marcos wakes up in the same room he'd been held in previously (though he's not sure if it's the same room or just another nondescript room for torture), but finds he is now flat on his back, tied to a board, where he is treated to a round or two of waterboarding.
— caroline wakes up in her holding cell to a gang member coming to take her to day two of Fun and Games. after encouragement from jyn and after realizing what kind of treatment marcos has endured, caroline opts to fight back. she snaps the neck of the gang member and leaves his lifeless body in her cell (to be discovered later by someone, probably)
— at caroline's instruction, marcos screams her name (tropey, we know) which allows caro to use her heightened senses to find him in the building. she's confronted by two gang members overseeing marcos' interrogation; the first one shoots her in the stomach, and she retaliates by biting his neck and draining him dry. a boost of energy AND some fun murder terrifies the second thug, who winds up shooting her in the leg before attempting to flee. (he does not flee. caroline digs the bullet out, chases him, and kills him. because he shot her in the leg, okay, and that's cheap.)
— they escape to the streetside space outside of the building without any further casualties, thanks to caroline's enhanced speed, and marcos hotwires a car to get them out of there. unfortunately, they are approached again by gang members attempting to stop them (why can't they take a hint???)
— thug #3 attacks caroline, who promptly kills him via swift neck snapping action. no muss, no fuss, just a dead body on the ground. thug #4 is run over by marcos in his car after it finally comes to life.
— thug #5, however?? decided to use heavy gunfire in a last ditch attempt to stop them, which left caroline riddled with enough bullets that she should very well be dead on the ground. instead, she crawls into the car, and marcos drives away. this leaves one gang member as a direct witness to her own supposedly impossible strength/resistence and possibly more as witnesses to the wreckage and bodies left in their wake.
— as follow up to the harvest festival log where caroline & marcos took advantage of the no-questions-asked nature of the brothels (i'm really not going to link this thread) AND in taking advantage of the room damon arranged with one of the high-end brothels to offer a "vampire experience", they... went to one of the nicer brothels to claim a room. caroline rents the room for two weeks to start, because they are both adamant that they cannot return to the safehouse or they'll risk endangering every other person there.
— marcos is nearly dying so caroline feeds him her blood, which takes what little energy she has out of her. this is mostly to avoid having to go to a public location to use a medi-unit, since the safehouse is out of the question.
— they sleep a lot?? they probably need it tbh
november 22 and onwards
— over the course of 24 hours, the majority of marcos' major injuries are healed thanks to caroline's blood donation. he is still left with a mild concussion and soreness, but he's not dying or suffering from any broken limbs. he will, however, continue to suffer from the mental impact of torture, including water trauma
— caroline herself gets a blood top off from poe, who then takes her to the clinic where el has arranged for her to get regular blood bags. she goes through a week's supply in one day, like an idiot.
— since jyn knew the extent of both persons' injuries and caroline's vampiric status, she offered to contact caroline's boss to report her illness. caroline misses approximately three days of work before heading back in, and though she doesn't look like someone who's been under interrogation, she's definitely a little weaker than usual and a bit less perky as a result.
— marcos definitely loses his job :C but he's working on getting a new one!
short edit: trace wanted me to mention that, while the interrogators had marcos unconscious, they collected some of his Weird Glowing Blood into a vial. what they do with it / why they wanted it is up to y'all!
i think that's everything!! if there are any follow-up questions or clarification needed, we are more than happy to advise!
no subject
Caroline would be seen as a major threat to the underground community. Primarily, Caroline's seen as a bit of a monster for what she accomplished in there and how she managed to get free. Some of the gangs would come to revere her for her prowess (strength earns respect, after all), while others would want her dead. All of this would become immensely complicated thanks to Jason's interference and the success of that interference. What sentiments were in place are now being mired in uncertainty - what focus they had is now put elsewhere. Gangs are trying to recoup and make sure they don't find themselves in an unfortunate predicament.
In time, Caroline may start getting offers at various events. The mafia families would love to employ her services as an enforcer.
Meanwhile, it's safe to say that Jason would end up being able to get his hands on Marcos' blood. It's not as if the gangs know what to do with that. What chemists they have are trying to create drugs from monster parts without lasting (read: permanent) effects. So, it eventually sliding across Jason's desk? Probable.
In the meantime, such a major shakeup in the community will mean that Marcos and Caroline don't need to stay in hiding. They'll find few people on their tails before long. The people of the brothels will probably have some intel to help them know when the coast is clear. (For the most part, the brothels keep out of the crime scene because they don't want to give any lawmakers reason to create legislation against them.)