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 Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 9:26 pm
Meta-plot CYOA - Chaos, Theories. Another somewhat short CYOA, though some endings will allow some open RP with NPC's.... There will be EXCITEMENT, MYSTERY, and POTENTIAL TRAGEDY all rolled into one =O! OWNERSYou will receive growth points for participating in this. All participants who make it to an ending (participate through round 3) will have their username entered in a raffle for a growth token. Points you receive for participating: 1 point: making 1 response 2 points: making 2 responses 3 points: reaching (and responding to) a path's end In addition to earning points, ICly your character may also obtain certain items, depending on which end they reach, which may be useful in subsequent meta events. QUESTERSYou cannot collect points but if you make it to an ending, and we cannot promise artwork for this event, unfortunately, but you are encouraged to join us regardless! Also, consider creating a City Person character to join in, and have them stick around and RP after the event! Remember, City Folk only require a stamp to join us in the world of Paper Forest. GENERAL INFOPlease post all responses in this thread. Please keep all responses under 500 words. It's a CYOA, so that probably won't be hard. You can partner up for this and co-write responses to prompts, having your individual characters interact with each other and such. If you do a partner response, you can extend your replies to 1000 words. How many growth points you earn will not be affected. If you start out with a partner who isn't able to finish the event you can have your character continue on without them. Or you can have your characters split up when paths branch off and finish separately. Questers can also partner up if they'd like. After a prompt goes up you have 4 full days to respond. There are no right or wrong paths, all reveal different things, so feel free to take whichever one appeals to you. Some of the paths have promptings for what you can write about if you're not sure how to respond. For instance, your first post can be more introduction than response, about how your character got where they are and their reasoning for doing weird things in the middle of the night... but you're not obligated to listen to me, ha ha. xD When you respond, make sure to include in your post the number tag of which path you're taking, like "RESPONSE: 1A".
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 9:38 pm
Quote: Start The district watch has erected a podium in the square here, which is surrounded by a crowd of about two dozen City Folk. An uncannily tall and slender City Person topped with a round bobby's helmet stands at the podium, though, for the moment, he converses privately in small text with the much heavier-set ox-horned constable beside him. Bills posted on the nearby buildings advise vigilance for signs of cult activity, framing the police's display. The crowd chatters quietly; a few other passers-by join in to see what is about to happen. The subordinate watchman with the horns nods to whatever it is his superior is telling him, and shifts his grip on a wooden crate that appears more awkward than heavy to him. Lifting his chin slightly, he calls out in thick letters for quiet, and within a few moments, the chatter of the crowd fades. The thin policeman then addresses the gathering in an exceedingly bland sans-serif: "Citizens, as you are all aware, there have been reports of cult activity, including murders, in our fair City. Rest assured that law enforcement is looking into the matter, and we of the district watch are here to ensure your safety. As of this moment, we are not enforcing a curfew, however we must stress that citizens who venture out after dark do not do so alone. "We must also now caution citizens to be on the lookout for suspicious clockwork activity." The twig of a district watch deputy nods to his horned partner, who sets the large box down and withdraws three clockworks in turn, holding each aloft for a few moments for the crowd to see before moving on to the next: a bird; a small dog; and some sort of insect or snail. As he shows these off, the deputy continues: "These are clockworks we have confiscated due to suspected cult connections. While many clockworks, as you know, are ornamental or are in the business of delivering mail, we believe that the cult has started to direct their personal clockworks to more sinister activities. All three of these were captured after they displayed unusual aggression. "While we are not encouraging citizens to cease using clockworks, nor are we suggesting that they should attempt to report or disable every one they see, we do hope that all citizens will keep a look out for any machines displaying aggressive tendencies, and report them immediately to their local district watch offices." The spindly man allows a moment for this to sink in, however just as he is about to start thanking the crowd for their attention, the box - with all three clockworks now replaced in it - suddenly tips over and the gathering immediately moves away from the podium and escaped machines, buzzing with fear. The bird flutters madly above the crowd's scribbles of confusion and takes off down an alleyway to the north-east; the dog breaks through the crowd snapping its teeth and bolts to the north; then, a moment later, the insectoid clockwork snakes out due east, keeping to the gutters and attempting to stay out of sight. As politely as one of his size can manage, the ox-horned man elbows his way through the crowd, nursing a brightly-bleeding hand, and takes off after the dog. Seeing that no one has been murdered yet, the crowd settles from panic to disquieted wariness after a few moments, over which the director calls out in his dry typeface, "Everyone please remain calm!" You are calm ... right? Because the police will need those clockworks back. Which one are you going after? 1A > Follow the dog! That thing is apparently dangerous, and the cult has made it clear that it is after blood. The constable may need help. 1B > Follow the bird! It is harder to reach something that can fly, so it might be carrying something more important than the others. 1C > Follow the bug! This one is slower than the other two, but just look at how it is trying to hide. Definitely up to no good.
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Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:01 pm
Path: 1B
The crowd was almost entirely City People. From the outskirts of the crowd, Tiberius watched the commotion. So they'd labeled it a cult activity? His mind flashed back to the fountain, the mansion, the shining medallion, was that what this was about?
A City Person with a rounded bobby hat stood at the podium droning on and on. Tiberius stifled the urge to yawn. "We must also now caution citizens to be on the lookout for suspicious clockwork activity." At that, the Book Child looked up.
Clockworks? The bull-horned city person next to the watchman held up three clockworks in turn before putting them back into a box. He hadn't been aware of clockworks that night. A shriek parted his thoughts. From his vantage point, he saw the group of City People all jump back from the podium. A flash of metal in the sky caught his eye, an overturned box lay on the podium.
He watched as the bird, all copper and gears, fluttered madly for a few moments before it turned and headed down an alley. Tiberius took off after it, feet stamping against the cobblestone. Was this the work of the cult? He'd find out soon enough.
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 6:35 am
Path 1A.
Tempest wasn't one-hundred-percent certain what was going on, but the parts he did understand guaranteed to the boy that this was going to be an adventure! He'd come to the meeting just curious what was going on, but when all hell broke loose... well, Tempest would be lying if he said he wasn't on some level thrilled with this development! He was sure that all the escaped clockworks would soon be returned, but in the meantime, why not have a bit of fun and ruckus?
The sandy-haired boy wheeled around and took off after the ox-haired city person in his pursuit of the dog. Being young and lithe, Tempest was certain he'd stand a better chance of catching up to the creature, even if the ox-man may have been physically stronger!
And danger? Tempest laughed under his breath as he gave chase. Danger was all in a day's work. He wasn't worried. (Okay, he was a little worried, but mostly not.)
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 10:35 am
[Maxx D's Vlad, Jun D's Estra & Ruriska's Talulah]RESPONSE: 1BThere was no doubt he would be there. Once Vlad'd seen the poster in the streets he slotted the time and date neatly into his mind, and the prospects of more information haunted him as he went about his daily duties. When the day came, he fluffed up his collar, slotted the knife into his bag (his checking around had, again, not yielded much information) barked an order, and they were off. Naturally Estra followed. Unfortunately, the goldfish was also in tow. He was certainly annoyed about it but Talulah'd been unshakeable after that night, and since she had relinquished the weapon, Vlad 'kindly' let her insistent presence remain. The trio dived into the cluster and emerged a little closer to the podium as Vlad cut through the crowd with a series of sharp shoving and foot-stomping. Suspicious clockwork activity. The phrase was music to his ears; as much as the whole affair had been a dastardly weight on his thoughts, the involvement of clockwork gave it a much more palatable spin. He squinted at creatures when they came into view, attempting to memorise their visages. And when they took off - well - it was naturally time to follow! His eyes followed the frenzied path of the metal bird (for he too, was a bird, and the memory of the cage was still fresh in his mind); as it soared away, he roughly seized Estra's wrist and pulled as he surged against the crowd. " We're going!" he instructed. Behind him, Estra made a squeaky sound, surprised by the sudden movement, then turned and reached beseechingly for Tali's hand. Tali had hardly been paying attention. She knew what it was the gathering was about of course, but she was really not interested. The goldfish had been working hard to shake her melancholy and she wasn’t going to let it be ruined by talk of cults and murders. Luckily it was easy enough to avoid reading text and all Tali had to do was busy herself with braiding some of Estra’s hair. Her distraction meant it took her a long moment to react when Vlad suddenly pulled them into action, but her hand found Estra’s and she did her best to keep up, all the while confused as to where exactly they were rushing off to.
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Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 4:50 pm
Big surprise, Shelley was late. He'd thought he found it an hour ago and was surprised it had started so early, then he realized it was just a group of friends going shopping.
He was hurrying down the street, assured by some passerby that this was the right way, when he saw the crowd. They seemed upset about something, but he couldn't read their chatter yet.
As he hurried to see what the commotion was about, he noticed a small, snail-looking clockwork...thing slither past him. Something about it caught his eye, but he assumed it was just off to fetch something, or whatever those things did. (Shelley still didn't quite grasp the point of clockwork animals beyond pets.) He walked past it and continued to the upset crowd.
When he got there, everyone was chattering so hurriedly and panicked that it took Shelley a minute to figure out what was going on. Something about damn clockwork and better off scrap metal and the poor constable.
Once it finally hit him what was going on, Shelley turned and ran as fast as he could back they way he'd come.
Only I, he thought, would let a perfect heroic opportunity slip right through my fingers. Or rather, slither right by.
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RESPONSE 1C
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Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 8:48 am
Quote: 1A: North Road Little red droplets from the constable's hand on the pavement give you enough of a trail to catch up, though getting too close to the clockwork might not be such a good idea. You can see it up ahead, snarling at every City Person who comes within a few feet of it and occasionally snapping metal teeth. It also apparently has little regard for the inanimate obstacles in its path - a point it makes by upsetting a public rubbish bin as it rounds a corner. The ox-horned man stumbles on a bottle and mistakenly steps into the bin itself. Waving his arms in a valiant effort to keep his balance, he nearly hits you, but manages not only to stay upright, but also to get his foot free a second later. A glance up the street in the opposite direction than the dog has taken shows a bustling street market a block or so down. And in the moment you are looking, the bird clockwork from before wobbles by, wings beating like the thing is trying to escape from hell. Are you just going to get in the constable's way if you keep with him after the dog? Or might he still need help once he catches up to it? 2A > Pursue the dog. If nothing else, you are likely more agile than the ox-horned man. What if the dog clockwork squeezes into a narrow alley or something? 2B > Chase the bird. The constable is trained for dealing with violent things ... that probably should include clockworks, no? Quote: 1B: Vair Market North Bird clockworks deliver mail all the time, but this one seems like it has been well-used or was not terribly high-quality to begin with, the way it wobbles through the air. Either that or it has discovered some new-found speed setting. It is heading for the moment towards a street market ... fortunately with enough altitude that it looks like it will keep over the heads of the shoppers. As you follow it into the plaza, though, there is quite a population here. Stalls ring the area, and most of the citizens are gathered around them, so going around the outside edge is not really an option, but the center of the plaza is not as densely populated. Your turn, it looks like, to learn how to shove politely. Although there is a commotion erupting up ahead, among the shoppers. All the way over there, it cannot be your fault. 2C > Keep after that bird! Before it gets away! 2D > Investigate the disturbance. ... Everything suddenly seems suspicious now, doesn't it? Quote: 1C: Vair Market South The clockwork moves slowly at first, which makes sense, since, as you draw closer, it looks like a snail. ... Or, wait, no, it is longer than a snail should be compared to the shell on its back. It allows you to get close enough to see through the metal shell that there is one large cog inside. Then it demonstrates what that cog is for - powering about two hundred tiny metal legs. As though aware that you are following it, the cog then speeds up, and the centipede rushes off with surprising speed, keeping to the corner beside the curb in the gutter. Although the tiny shimmering strides of the clockwork's legs hardly allow it to get ahead of you very quickly, the centipede is still very agile, and very low to the ground. It is also a little difficult to keep one eye on the thing while working your way through the obstacles, living and otherwise, in the road ahead of you. And, annoyingly, it is heading towards a larger plaza where a street market resides. ... It will not be easy to follow the centipede once it has crates of vegetables, stacks of glass jam jars, and cloth-draped tables to crawl behind. And sure enough, its path along the gutter takes it behind the cloth drape of an apple stand. Moving into the plaza, you look around for the ripples of silver made by the twin rows of so many clockwork-driven legs, or at the very least, signs of anyone else having noticed the centipede with the large cog on its back. Immediately catching neither, the bustle of business in the street market gently nudges you around, until you catch sight of the bird clockwork fluttering across the plaza along the opposite side. Are it and the centipede going to the same place? Do you want to follow that one? Or keep looking for the centipede? As though to give you a hint, regarding its location, surprised chatter starts coming out of the next stand after the one selling apples. 2E > Go after the bird - it will be more difficult to lose, even in the crowd here. 2F > Try harder to find the centipede - there are enough people here that someone will see it sooner or later.
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Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 4:18 pm
Path 2A
The constable had made a foolish error in his pursuit of the canine clockwork, but Tempest considered himself far more agile and clever than that. He still felt eager and up to the challenge posed by the dog, and surely the constable would need help handling it! After all, look at what a bang-up job he'd been doing so far! (Tempest felt immediately bad for having thought this, as it was not very nice to disparage the officer, who was doing his best.)
The sandy-haired boy ducked out of the way of the ox-horned city person's fist and kept on after the dog, ignoring the bustling market and the bird. He didn't feel keen on dodging into a busy street where his chances of success were lowered, whereas keeping on after the dog looked like a really good deal! After all, Tempest hadn't tripped over his own feet yet, and he was easily half as large as the constable, and the dog thing could easily escape into a nook or cranny the ox man couldn't fit into.
Tempest kept after the dog, because it seemed like the most straightforward and important thing to do.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 7:33 am
[Maxx D's Vlad]RESPONSE: 2CPeople again. Everywhere. Almost always explicitly popping up in huge, swarming masses when he had an important search going on. " MAKE WAY," he yelled, rather unfairly taking advantage of his voice, waving a menacing arm about to...dismiss anyone in his path. As he stepped on a coattail, he was reminded of the hanger-ons behind him. " KEEP YOUR HAIR UP," he snapped at Estra, getting all too used to turning up the volume. A glimpse of blue, and he added " KEEP HER HAIR UP" since it was partially braided up by the goldfish, anyway. That was the last time he recalled their presence - the pushing grew increasingly violent, and so did Vlad. He adamantly chased the clockwork bird, his head constantly angled up with his eye on the prize.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 1:50 pm
RESPONSE 2F:
Shelley couldn't believe his luck today. First he'd let the Centipede slip right through his fingers, now he was likely to lose it entirely in this stupid crowd. Squeezing through the crowd as politely as possible, Shelley tried his hardest to keep to the edges, where he'd last seen the centipede.
He gave no notice to the bird on the other side of the market, he was so focused on the centipede, and when he heard the chatter from the next stall over, he pushed through the crowd with renewed purpose.
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 3:31 am
[Jun D's Estra & Ruriska's Talulah]RESPONSE: 2DAt first, when she lost her grasp on that familiar glove, she thought he was just ahead, just out of reach, but after a moment's searching, she found that nowhere in the black-and-white crowd could her eyes alight upon that distinctive dark blond mop. "Vlad?" she said, hesitantly. "Vlad?!" she cried, more panicked now. Was he gone? Were they lost? What had they been chasing? She looked around but saw no clue. Confused and frightened, she turned back - at least that warm hand was still safely, comfortingly, within her own. "Oh, Tali, Vlad's gone, what shall we do?!" “Where did he go?” Talulah asked without even a hint of panic. They had come to a stop amongst the press of people and she stood on the tip of her toes, trying to get a better look around. She did not see Vlad, however she did see a lovely little store with colourful pinwheels and… oh, what as going on over there? Tali had spotted a commotion and without hesitation she began moving towards it, tugging Estra along with her. Tali loved crowds. Maybe they’d want her to dance for them.
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 9:16 pm
2C
Tiberius watched as the bird wavered in the air. Perhaps it wasn't well made, but that didn't mean it wasn't suspicious. Now it was flying just above the heads of shoppers and people in the plaza. Tiberius pushed his way through the crowd, eyes never leaving the bird. Shoving a city person to the side, he continued following the bird,
The gathering in the plaza was odd, but the bird was more suspicious. He wouldn't allow himself to be distracted from the task at hand. There was no way he'd let the bird out of his sight.
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 12:35 pm
Quote: 2A: The Alleyway Down Below The dog keeps running, following streets that weave slowly downwards. The streets turn to alleyways on the way down, but at least they are less populated, and there are not as many major obstacles. The constable does not seem to be tiring, and is even gaining on the dog now that he does not have to push past other pedestrians. Looking up, you can see you are reaching a dead end now - a good thing or a bad thing? The ox-horned man leans down to try to grab the dog (by the tail, to avoid those metal teeth!) but the tail comes free in his hand. Casting it aside, he continues after the rest of the dog. Something silvery unravels from the inside of the dog's hollow tail as it clatters against the wall. Just a dozen or so yards to the end of the block. 3A > Stop to see what the thing was that was hidden inside the dog's tail. The constable can take care of the clockwork. 3B > Stick with the ox-horned man to the end of the block. The silvery ribbon will not be going anywhere. Quote: 2B, 2C, 2E: Vair and a Side Street However you decide to push your way through the crowd, people do start to notice your hurry and mutter, but generally move aside. The whole market is a little chaotic here, but it looks like the Folk shopping expect it. The letters of their speech crowding upwards makes visibility a bit difficult, but fortunately, the bird clockwork has an odd wobble to its flight; even if you cannot quite see it, the motion contrary to the chatter of City Folk manages to attract your eye each time you think you have lost it. A few of them notice the bird and comment, but no one else seems particularly interested in catching it. Just another toy or mail-carrier, like all the other clockwork birds, right? It wobbles through the air over the whole market, and heads out one of the other side streets. Just as it is about to disappear from view down the next road, it turns abruptly and barrels through an open second-floor window of an abandoned-looking row-house at the edge of the market. 3C > Abanoned houses are a little creepy, but maybe with the crowded market outside, it will be impossible to commit any sort of ritual cultist murders inside. Besides, the bird will likely have trouble finding its way out of there. Go get it! 3D > Stay in the marketplace. Who knows who or what is waiting for the bird's delivery inside there. The constable is on his way in to settle down the rowdy patrons - you can hear his whistle - so you can let him know where that bird went. Quote: 2D: Edge of Vair Market Amidst the commotion ... a flash of a white robe!? Sure enough, lunging past other gasping City Folk struggling to get away, a cultist shoves past you! Short, but in a white robe nonetheless! In hot pursuit is a young City Person wearing a soup pot on his head whistling through his fingers. ... Wait a minute. The "cultist" laughs and pulls his hood down revealing not a matching white mask but the youthful face of a cat. The boy sheds the robe, which his pursuing friend promptly trips over. Neither have any apparent regard for the commotion they're causing in the market square, and continue on their game of Coppers and Cultists. The City Folk around you, angered at the scare, grumble, and attempt to go back to their business, though then the piercing whistle of an actual policeman fills the square. Just as well - the spindly deputy will probably give the two boys causing panic a good stern talking-to. The bustling crowd bustles you towards the edges of the plaza, where, quite unexpectedly, you come to the edge one of the many holes in the City that gives view of (and, to the bold, quick passage to) a lower level. Where you see the ox-horned constable barreling down an alleyway. A moment later, up ahead on this level, something flies into an upper window of one of the less occupied-looking buildings ringing the square. Something clockwork, with a familiar, vaguely disoriented wobble to it. 3E > Jump down and join the constable. There is a roof you can get to safely from here, and it looks like from there, the building even has a narrow ladder to the street. 3F > The bird! You expect to be able to squeeze your way through the crowd sooner than that machine can find its way back out of that building. Go for it! Quote: 2F: The Preserves Booth "Clockwork centipede?" the proprietor of the apple stand and the biscuit booth immediately beside it both exclaim together when you bring it up. The same question appears in several other typefaces as the City Folk nearest you look at each other, then look around at the ground nearby. On the other side of the biscuit booth is a stand where a portly lady with heavy hooves for feet and drooping cow's ears sells jars of preserves. By her reaction when the questioning ripple reaches her, she is phobic of things with that many legs. Or she actually saw it! Shrieking a pile of steepled letters, she moves away from where her jars are stacked at the back of her booth, and collides with her table hard enough to tip it. One little jar and a pile of small carved wooden cups tumble to the street; a few of the nearby City Folk move away to avoid splashes of jam and shards of glass as the container shatters on the cobbles, while two others press inwards to try to help the lady and calm her. Text still wobbling, she points from where she ended up on her bottom on the cobbles: "Leave me alone, you big nasty bug! How can you have found me again!" And sure enough, it runs up the side of a crate, over the top and down the other side. The woman faints, but there is plenty of commotion behind you in the main square now. Your quarry has been spotted one again, though there is an awful lot of interest over here now. Including from the spindly deputy. "Settle down, settle down," he commands, sounding a shrill whistle while waving one white-gloved hand. "Move along, everyone, and remain calm...." 3G > Better listen to him, and move off. Broken glass, citizens wondering if they should panic ... back off for right now, and leave the deputy to his work. ... And did something just fly into that window up ahead? After it! 3H > Stay here - the lady might need your help, and, moreover, she clearly knows something about the centipede.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2011 2:06 pm
[Maxx D's Vlad]RESPONSE: 3CA frustrated growl rose from Vlad's throat as his gaze followed the clockwork's tauntingly clumsy trajectory into the window - ah, if only he were truly a bird, he would've taken off that very instant. The wings at his neck flared, but he had to contend with gravity and his legs, which were well-suited to running by now. He decided grimly, as he broke through the monochrome swath, that if he had to leap out a window to get that creature, he would instantly fling himself out after it. He did, however, think the better of battering down the helpless door of an abandoned house, and rather undramatically turned the knob to enter. (At least he got to slam the door to a side. That gave his motions a little more gravitas.)
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