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3. Edited first reserved post for notices and announcement of changes and updates in thread.
4. Ideas posted in third reserved post.

Concepts:
± Descender & Winter!Kanonno are NPC’s we use for events?
± With the mana being scarce [everyone starts out on “level 1”] there should be events where we unlock a Mana Spring and it gives everyone more power/skills/artes (like they get stronger or something?) -- Future Events
± the kingdom we're starting the group in has outlawed guilds. the king see's them as nothing but rebels and fears that his position may be taken away so ± Ad Libitum exists secrecy and Van Eltia is usually based on sea where they can't reach them because the country's technology and such is not so well developed like other countries (Navy fleets don’t exist).
± The antag (the other descender) would actually be the one pulling the strings behind that king by promising him an infinite source for mana--like the truth behind guilds being outlawed is because of the antag giving him some mana in exchange for that because guilds have repeatedly attempted to rid of their world seed
± guilds are a huge necessity to that kingdom which leaves them to be less advanced because the king disbanded guilds and have outlawed them
± Each Spirit reigns over a continent -- Gnome reigns over the continent where the starter kingdom is on
± Aside from Power, Memory is one of the greatest thing for all kind to hold onto. The RM4 antag has the ability to take away and manipulate memories, so the descender should have the power to reverse those changes or even help someone recover a lost one. Depending on the percentage the antag has altered, it could take little to nearly all of their [the descender's] Mana to restore it to it's rightful form.
± On the outside, it seems like the Antag is manipulating the King by offering him Mana but in truth he is manipulating him by promising him memories of riches buried deep within Niteresia. He's given the King a small peek, however in order to get the entire thing he [the King] needs to fulfill his request.¹
± Kanonno’s photos that she had taken during the time the descender was in the guild serves as the key to prove to everyone of the reason behind their feelings on the antagonist was right.

Mod's Musings:
± Milla is still Maxwell and she joins Ad Libitum but she's back to her nerfed self 'cause for some reason the four great spirits aren't answering her call

± The first to fall victim to his memory manipulation in the guild is Leia seeing as how she headed out to find more truth behind the Mana loss. She came close to it only to be taken advantage of and used against the guild as a spy for him. Through her, he learns of Ad Libitum and their members until the Antagonist orders her to betray the Descender during a quest he had someone who he also manipulated to send in. The key party members would vary but I'd say either Alvin or Jude would take part.
± Leia doesn't safely return to Ad Libitum on her own. But rather she goes missing for x amount of days and it's worrying so they set up a Mission where you go to find the missing Leia.
± When you find her it seems like a small chunk of her memories are missing. Which is just her reason for going to the world tree. What she was doing out in the forest and how she winded up in her current state.
± Her past memories were altered to where she and the antag are accomplices and she worked her way into ad libitum to gain information.
± The party members are defeated but the descender stands strong, clashing their weapon against her staff and their power is suddenly triggered, restoring her memories to their proper form and Leia just has no recollection of what happened. Nor does she remember returning to the Van Eltia or what she did at the World Tree. And like always, the Descender has no clue what happened or what they did.
± Leia's a reporter still in RM4 verse. And she spreads good news about the progress with the world and all the good deeds ad libitum is doing. It gives them publicity and you gain more quests. Since Leia spreads the good news about Ad Libitum and their deeds to the people she probably wouldn’t join til after the first area with the greedy King since they’re trying to keep it a secret, but when they move onto the next area Leia joins Ad Libitum cause she believes the world, knowing the state of the world tree, they need this kind of news to give people hope that everything is going to be okay.
± Jude would already be in Ad Libitum taking up residence in the ships clinic. Taking care of the injured guild members or anyone that needs his help. Leia joins later to promote the guild and she’s so surprised to see Jude there and he says that he joined cause he was concerned about the world tree. Before hand, he tried to do some research but with the king’s law he couldn’t and one thing lead to another he joined the guild. Leia mostly hangs around Jude whenever she’s free.
± Milla joins later with the news that the Four Great spirits have gone missing and Alvin is accompanying her to assist her in reaching Ad Libitum.
± Alvin was already a member but he wouldnt be on the ship until later with Milla cause he was doing some business by giving people supplies and selling things to raise money for the guild.
± Ludger, Elle, and Lulu are already guild members and they have the Lulu search mechanism as well.
± Gaius, Rowen, and Elise join later cause King reasons and concerns about the state of the world tree and he was interested in Ad Libitum from reading Leia’s reports.
± Museè is last to join cause she’s also concerned but she also wants to be near Milla

Notes:
± After Ad Libitum was created; Before the Descender is born¹

Are we actually open for discussion? *small anxious look* Don't want to cause trouble if you're still working.

I read through the premise several times, and I like a lot of it — the idea of a parasite on the World Tree is pretty cool, and being a Xillia addict, you know I'll want to play. I'm looking forward to seeing a new environment, as I know nothing about RM at all.

That said, I'd offer a caution as someone who's done a lot okay okay twenty-plus years of roleplay and GMing. Memory magic is a pain in the butt, especially in a slow form like an online RP. It means that every player has to deal with what they know, what their character knows, and what their character doesn't know and has forgotten / had changed. It's a lot to keep track of and can cause way too many holes in your game, or lots of need for retcon. It can make a lot of hassle for both your players and the GM(s). Especially if people are allowed to play multiple characters.

I know it's a huge part of your game design, so I wanted to mention it now in case you wanted to maybe rethink that part and come up with a different mechanic that will be less of a long-term headache.

*mulls* So memory-altering events would be optional? If so, that might be just the ticket — let people pick and choose what would be edited, or avoid it entirely if they don't feel comfortable trying to handle it.

Alternatively, since it's a very powerful ability, perhaps you might consider limiting it to one "edit" per character during the run of the game. (Editing the whole world to replace the Descender with the Antagonist took way too much energy and partially burnt out the Antagonist's ability.) This would make it more difficult for the Antagonist's player, and you might want to take notes as to who's been edited and who hasn't, but would mean that the players would only have one switch to remember per character. It would also mean that the bad guy has to be smart, and pick exactly the right things to mess with. I don't know about you, but I find smart baddies to be much scarier than ones who've only got one trick.

Another idea — it's possible that the more the Antagonist edits people's memories, the harder it is for him/her/it to maintain the changes. The edits require constant "powering" and with the worldwide overwrite in play, it takes a lot of energy. Too many edits mean that older or underpowered ones collapse and fade, restoring the previous memories (they were merely overwritten, not destroyed).

I think I should also note that it may feel as if the PCs don't have much control over what will happen throughout the game, and it's possible they may not feel like they have a lot of stake in the main plot because of it. They're being manipulated by the Antagonist, have no way of fixing themselves on their own, and because the Descender is trapped and their memories are wiped regarding him/her/it, when the game begins, they have no attachment to the Descender.

The Descender is already really important in that they're the "Chosen One", more or less ("why couldn't I have been chosen to go to the Bahamas?") and is the one who gets the final big showdown and the ability to defeat Big Bad in the end — and that character is off-camera for most of the suggested timeline. Whether it's a PC or an NPC doesn't really matter because they're not on-stage. The PCs as a group should have some way of making breakthroughs on their own, I think — maybe a lot of little breakthroughs rather than one big event as you'd initially suggested. Remember, we all want to be the big heroes, not the supporting cast. mrgreen