The most important thing: how do you want your character to develop? What sort of crazy powers would be super cool to have? What sort of allies/enemies would be awesome? :3

The plot is secondary to these things!

Well basically I've been trying to set up Emma for some development- right now although outwardly she may seem confident and bubbly she's really dealing with a lot of internal struggle. Over the fact that she killed someone and over the fact that she wasn't able to help Spook. She thinks she's altogether pretty useless- what I wanted was to gear her up slowly into a real Traveler. Maybe she finds someone to teach her how to swing a sword or use magic, basically I'm trying to head in a direction where Emma stops being so useless and becomes a badass. Also, of course, she's out to find some dank plants.

As far as plot direction goes we should build off of our characters and the world. Some of our characters have sordid pasts and that should catch up with them. As for the world so far it is a pretty blank slate but it's wide open for development. We have these walled cities, but that's about it, so we've got to ask- Why do all the cities have massive walls? What's the big threat in the outside world? What's the outside world liked? Who lives there, or what lives there? There's a lot of chance for some very unique settings. I think the big problem with plot direction is while it should be about the characters, who've lived inside walls their whole life, discovering what exactly the outside world is, instead we're caught up inside Cogswall in the middle of a rebellion that they have no stakes in. We don't really know enough about Cogswall for it to be interesting or for our characters to be interested in it in turn. I think at this point it would be best to ditch the city and get outside, the world beyond the walls could be potentially brimming with mystery.

From there we can go lots of different places. Maybe the Travelers as an organization don't really like the fact Spook went and got a bunch of random people from a city and slapped the name 'Traveler' on them. Maybe they want to know what exactly happened to him and why Cogswall has been destroyed. But then again we get trapped inside the same sort of 'tutorial area' at the start of the story and they end up once again in an area that isn't super interesting. So maybe instead they just go out and find something fantastic- like I said the world is an empty slate, there could be anything beyond the walls. The natural place to go would be the compass that Spook gave to Emma, it just screams 'follow this and find something really cool'. What I'm getting at is the outside world could potentially be teeming with mysteries that are as of yet undiscovered and fantastic sights that are as of yet unseen.

Those are my aimless ramblings on the matter.

Those are some damn good ramblings!

I'm onboard with ditching the city in favor of some good ol' exploration and character development. The major reason Cogswall exists was to pick up new characters -- and hey look we got wats-his-face! (no but really, what the hell are we going to do with Ronken once his withdrawal sets in?) ;)

I guess we're ditching the Lily's-sister subplot, too. That's what was on the letter that Ronken is desperately trying to give to Meryn (I'd already PMed c3 about that) -- but it'll have to be something better now.

Emma's past has a lot to do with everything, don't you worry!

Edit: I really have a habit of the annoying-kid-guide NPC. Well shit. xD

Cool mod post! I'm gonna wait a couple days before posting to see if northern returns to us. So did the beam of light kill the people too? Or did it just kill the demons and leave the humans to be infected?

Also I'm out and about in the world with only my phone right now so I can't type up long coherent explanations but as far as what I want for Meryn I think I'm pretty flexible. She's someone who's always had to be more resourceful and clever rather than powerful or influential, so if she does end up with any powers I want them to be more like... passive? So she's still mostly relying on her own resourcefulness and whatever cool objects she finds and knowledge she gains (I'm totally for her learning how to use runes). her arc is shaping up to be about making connections with people and understanding them and being ok with relying on them. So a passive ability for that would be like some sort of ability to understand like nature or creatures or ghosts or something. But I mean the mask is already doing a big part of that with seeing dreams. I just need to be more proactive about using it lol.

And I mean I'm totally open for whatever other ideas you have about what could be cool. This is just me spitballing. Like I said I'm pretty flexible and I'm sure whatever happens will be cool. And of course her abilities don't have to be tied to her arc. Heck she doesn't even need any abilities. Just more knowledge and cool things to collect. I'd also like the Oliver Locke bell to be relevant? Meryn's kinda attached to it lol. It could just be her little companion cube.

For enemies I really want the hooded people to be important since they're tied to both Emma's and Meryn's backstories. Or they don't even have to be enemies. Just shady players.

I dig what diggerton says about the world being a blank slate. Lots to discover. Over all I have some ideas of maybe what could be cool (mostly what I said above but if I think of anything else I'll add it on) but honestly I'm pretty flexible? I kinda wanna see more stuff about whatever creature you said was causing the crystalline and the girl trapped somewhere using the mechanical bird to talk to people.

So this was long but probs didn't make much sense. I might revisit it when I have a computer. Let me know if anything needs to be better explained or if anyone else has any thoughts.

So did the beam of light kill the people too? Or did it just kill the demons and leave the humans to be infected?

It's the latter! Anyone who isn't showing outward signs of being infected will continue to live. If they've been bitten or if they breathe in the particles, they may go on for quite awhile without signs of anything wrong -- but they're infected.

Knowledge and cool stuff is definitely on its way! And will expand upon previously noted subtle plot points, without making things too convoluted.

You guys are awesome -- I think we might finally get a solid direction out of this plot, hahaha.

Now. Northern? Dude. Buddy. Pal. Where you at, man? ;)

wait so ronken just got chomped on. is he infected?

MAYBE. ;)

SHIT

SHIT

WHAT THEY SAID

Also yes hello good day I am alive. Again. A few more times and I think I'll have my disappearing act perfected. I'll make a killing in Vegas!

(But seriously I'm sorry for being a flakey person.)

(no but really, what the hell are we going to do with Ronken once his withdrawal sets in?) ;)

Yeah, that's a plot point I'm seriously giddy for.

I agree with all of what Diggerton said. You won't get any arguments from Ronken about leaving.

I feel like I don't have much to suggest since I have pretty much the least experience and history in this RP. So I'm not sure what to suggest as far as plot points and stuff. I can say what I've had in mind for Ronken though if you're interested.

Ayyyy welcome back northern. I'm gonna wait for you to post so you can react to everything first.

Also I'm really liking all our different character goals. They're all different but equally... Substantial? Is that the proper way to say it? They're all cool. How's that.

Aiming for today but we know how much my words means. But I'm really gonna be trying to get it out soon.

@Mokley If I don't post soon seriously feel free to give me a kick in the pants over steam. Or if I start lagging behind later, again, feel free to start yelling at me. :P

EDIT: HOLY CRAP I ACTUALLY DID IT!

Post coming tonight or tomorrow!

Hey @NorthernGR do you want a quiet scene or do you wanna get shot at

...could we have both? Is that an option? Cuz I kinda wanna get shot at. But also I doubt either of them can handle much more action right now.

@c3p-0h I'm happy with whatever you want! I can find a way to roll with whatever. Ronken can run for now since he isn't really feeling his injuries yet (it'll do more damage to his ankle, but he doesn't know that haha :P )

Or if we just sit around catching our breathe I can have him looking at his injuries and yelling at you and the fairy.

So yeah. To reiterate, I'm cool with whatever. :)

Ay @Mokley. Question.

I'm assuming that I am of course infected with demon-itus now. So I wanted to ask for my next post if you think there would be any visible indication something was wrong? I dunno if there would be discoloration or little crystal in the wound or idk.

I probably could've made it up myself but I didn't want to step on your toes if it was already established or if you already had an idea.

@NorthernGR I could've sworn I'd answered this. How is this not answered? Oops. I must've read it while at work and couldn't answer.

*cough*

Anyway. No, there are no signs of infection right now. There might not be, for awhile. It's not definite that he's infected at all. Don't you just love the uncertainty? :D

@Mokley All good. I meant to message you over steam to just ask a few days ago but forgot.

Well in that case I'll be sure to get a post out now. Sorry to slow things down.

Sorry that I haven't gotten a post out yet. I'm not disappearing again, I've been trying to find time but I just haven't been feeling well. So I'm trying to just find an hour to sit down and knock it out.

@NorthernGR Feel better soon! ;-;

I've been waiting on northern before I post so they can get a reaction in, but should I just go ahead and let them react after? I was kinda looking forward to ronken yelling lol.

@c3p-0h Haha, yeah me too. xD But I guess it can be glossed over, and he'll come back yelling at another time we can only assume!

But there's also another who has yet to post . . .