For a little while (because the group needs to be idle a while, both to let the Water District stuff blow over, and to let Danae do her crafting), we'll try a method of play in which goals are set weekly and determined by you. The abandoned mining facility will serve as a sort of base for everyone. The 'Floor B25 - District of Earth, The Lost Corridors' thread will be the main thread for this part of the game, and any tasks that I deem require a mini-thread will branch from and rejoin to that one.

Once tasks for the week are decided on, acted upon and resolved, I will post a summary, and the next week will begin similarly.

Tasks that could be done.
- Danae's (and anyone else's) crafting projects
- Search for food/supplies/shelter/workshop
- Search for civilized areas (and interrogate citizens)
- Scout ahead for the way up to next floor/district
- Figure what to do with the refugees.
- Anything else you can think of.

So for each game week (this would be Week 1) you...
1) If necessary, discuss what tasks need doing and how the group will split up for them. (edit - you could arrange this OOC too, I just like seeing IC planning/interaction as well)
2) Post a summary of task(s) your character intends to do that week. Training also counts as a task, since if you use up your whole week just training, you can't do any other activities that week.
3) Do the task(s). This will invariably require interaction from me, since rolls and narrative will be involved. If a task will take more than a couple posts to resolve in the main thread, we'll use a separate thread to complete it (otherwise it'd be too cluttered... 10 people acting separately in the same thread is confusing!)
4) Once everyone's done what needs to be done I'll post a summary for the week. Then increment to the next week and start again.

Also, if there's particular PCs that want a thread just to talk with one another, that can be arranged -- I definitely encourage interaction between characters on a personal level if that appeals to you to play. Social threads like that will largely run independent of main tasks, so they can be written and finished at your leisure.

If this system works out, this is roughly how I will handle long rest periods throughout the rest of the game... so if my insomnic ramblings here need clarification, let me know.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:19, Wed 04 Feb 2009.

BTW this week postings may come less frequently from me.

So I'm not sure I will be posting at all on Monday or Thursday, just to let you know.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:08, Tue 03 Feb 2009.

Now that I've erased my last gloomy announcement, let's go for a not gloomy one.

I probably won't be updating much today (that was supposed to be yesterday, but I posted a few times after all, last night and this morn).

However, should be able to 'officially' call the next game week by this weekend (Sunday, maybe?)

P.S. Give me ideas on how to work in plot points for your character (either related to your previous lives, or other interesting things.) Ideas for future training regimens, or neat artifacts/manses! Or more Five Coils ideas in general! More material for me and more xp for you makes happiness all around. (I try my best to work in what I can. But I am only one poor ST.)

Time skip should come by this Monday afternoon! (the 8th) Try not to do anything 'new' until then, though do think about what goals you'll want to cover.

Also, I am blessed to have this group as players. Thank you.

OK, finally updated everything. I ended up messing around with thread names a lot, too, so sorry if you came in during the confusion :P

There should be 5 game threads open to all players.
"Floor B25 - The Lost Corridors, Mining Settlement" is now the main thread.

The other open game threads are optional ones, your participation in them depends on how you decide to involve yourself, basically.

As for the name changes: thread names including "The Lost Corridors" are those that are within the offline region, meaning there's no chance you'll be found by the Gatekeeper of Earth or any of its sentries or officers. Those including "District of Earth" are not exempt from regular patrolling or sensor sweeps -- though it's not so dangerous as the Gatekeeper of Water's control floor, traveling through them requires more caution.

The "Building a Revolution" thread is also assumed to be within the Lost Corridors region, I just decided I liked the name as is. :P

Here's hoping this all isn't too complex!

Forgot to mention this, since we entered a new week:

Every week, WP is fully refreshed. If you ever need more WP between days though, you can roll Conviction for it as normal.

Virtue channels, however, will only refresh at a story end, so don't overuse them.

As for Essence, you'll regain it all back daily, as long as you get at least 8 hours of sleep.

OK, I don't know if I will be able to update till late tonight or Thurs, mostly because I am dealing with the horrific frustration of having lost 10+ hours of posting work I was doing for my other game. I am now rewriting but it is a pain to do so, and is pissing me off to no end, so I don't know I can concentrate on this game tonight. I also have Dark Heresy on OpenRPG Wednesday nights, so that will also take my time :(

I apologize because this is a completely unplanned delay, I just got screwed over losing my data. Unless you're waiting for me to post Saffron's results, you could probably still continue posting on your own, though.

edit - I'm up to date with my other game but now I need to rest. :( look for updates here this afternoon (gmt -5)
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:47, Thu 12 Feb 2009.

No posts from me on Saturday, it's Valentine's Day and that means time with hubby. :3

Also, today is FRIDAY THE 13TH!!! Woooohh spooky. Here's a fun prompt for player contributions: Five Coils Superstitions. If you've got any ideas, post for some extra xp.

I'll see about speeding things up more in the future so poor Danae can be free to post again. I just tend to think the PCs would at least try to explore their immediate surroundings while she is toiling. I do really like the character interactions going on in the meantime though, I'd love to see more of that. (And again you may always prod me to make threads for chatting in small groups as Xurizu and Dashu recently did.)

Reminder (moved from General OOC): If you're going to do something specifically with the refugees as a whole, post it in the Revolution thread. I had wanted the exalts' business to take up the main thread, and refugee training, counseling etc. happens in another thread... if that makes any sense :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:04, Fri 13 Feb 2009.

I'll probably not post again till Weds. afternoon. :( Sorry about that. If we can I'd like to try to speed up again starting next week. But I expect this week to be a little slow. (Partly due to some RL obligations of some players)

Please let me know any suggestions to give those of you with little to post something to do while the hive/conclave people do things. I have my own ideas but more are always good!

Hope you're not all too idle, I've just not had much to reply to lately. :( Just hope things aren't so slow it's killing interest. I did get Danae involved in something so that's nice. :)

Hive thread is just waiting for Third.

Revolution needs more from Tycho, though I believe he may be away for the weekend. Turtle posted something more long-term than the current conversation in that thread, so I'll have to wait a bit before posting his results (which should work out, since Turtle's player is RL busy. Just wanted to mention that so he wouldn't think I missed his post.)

Conclave is ready to go, though since Dashu player is also busy, Nanaret/Xurizu may have to carry out most of the work for the next RL week.

My next posts will be, at the earliest, late Sunday night. I'm going to be out most of Sunday is why.

I'd like to make a special request of those of you in the Conclave (Xurizu, Dashu, Nanaret) and Hive (Dena, Third) threads. I really need these threads to move faster. I know Dashu is busy until Friday-ish, so I've mostly been abstracting him for the time being. But I really need Conclave/Hive to finish, preferably by next week. I want to move the entire game ahead in time, and I really can't until those threads reach a conclusion.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:58, Fri 06 Mar 2009.

Our new Zenith is Dreams-of-Light, a healer and preacher who has been pressed into service of the Immaculate Monks, but harbors a strong belief in the Unconquered Sun. Her purpose, she believes, is to bring the light of the Sun to the Five Coils. In the meantime she endures great amounts of pain in servitude, believing that one day she will be free.

Obviously... she'll need some help to get free. I hope to introduce her soon, probably in the coming week. :)

Also, if you saw some threads disappear, they didn't, I just decided to put some of the threads in different groups. Conclave is now Group 2 and Hive is Group 3 (though Hive is all but done for now, it makes more sense to make it group-private since Dena and Third will be reporting on things there anyways!)

Monday may be lacking in posts from me. I'm hoping to at least get Loremaster to post more Conclave though.

Mining Settlment: you can fast forward a bit once you think you've talked things out enough. If you want to train among the refugees, or involve them somehow, do it in the Revolution thread, otherwise you can spar in the main thread... whatever works for you. Though it's a little time-convoluted, I'll allow you 2-3 days training (except for Danae, she can't train any more this game week, she's technically supposed to have been crafting the entire first 2 weeks. ^^)

The way things may end up working, Dashu/Nanaret/Xurizu may be left in Conclave for a while. In any case, I'm still hoping to fast forward by the end of this week.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:04, Tue 03 Mar 2009.

Absences (some of these I've already mentioned before)

Saffron has left us for RL reasons, though she might be back in May.
Tycho has told me he's busy again for at least part of the week.
Turtle is still busy with RL, as far as I know this is not permanent.

Another new character?

We may be getting a second Twilight. One that covers a more broad range of abilities than Third. This one may serve well as an assistant crafter and healer, but I've only been given a basic concept thus far.

Idle idle idle...

The rest of you not in Conclave or preluding, let me know if you need some sort of prompt from me to work with. I'll also take requests for new threads. I thank you for your patience during this relatively idle time; I am doing all I can to keep the game going until the opportunity for more action comes.

Coming up!

Just to give you an idea of how I plan to do things in the near future (again, I'm probably repeating myself):

1. Conclave will reach a point that someone can return to report, or they will opt to stay for several days.
2. Game Week 3 begins. At this point Conclave PCs should be able to come and go and arrange on their own how they get info.
3. Revolution thread will start the new week with a general refugee meeting.
4. Hive Queen visit will occur towards the middle of the game week.
5. Anything else PCs want to do this week can be covered (further explorations, crafting, training...)
6. By Game Week 4, Dreams-of-Light should hopefully have had some sort of contact with the main group.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:11, Wed 04 Mar 2009.

Finally we have our second new character, Talia Zerith. She's a Twilight Caste, a dilettante that's dabbled in many different fields. Particularly Craft (Fire and Air), a bit of healing ability, some Socialize, Martial Arts... and so on. The player wanted her to be someone who could 'fill in the gaps' of the party.

Unlike Dreams-of-Light, Talia is starting uncollared and should actually encounter everyone pretty soon. It'll be more complicated to nudge people towards saving Dreams, but we're working on it.

I won't be posting any more for today (Friday), but there will be a time skip on Saturday and Talia's entrance.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:45, Sat 07 Mar 2009.

Help!

I would really appreciate if all of you could resend via PM the experience you've spent so far and the bonus charm/combo you got for Christmas (if you were around then). Don't create a new thread if you already sent me an XP expenditure thread before, just bump it.

Thank you so much. I'm just having a hard time wading through the PMs right now, so I really need all of you to do this. Those who do this in a timely manner, I will find a way to give you a small reward.

People who have PMed me (or bumped) their XP expenditure / Christmas bonus:

1. Dashu
2. Dena
3. Nanaret
4. Higura
5. Danae
6. Xurizu

People who haven't yet... please don't be lazy? ;.;
- Tycho
- Third

(note: Dreams-of-Light and Talia are exempt to this, obviously, since they haven't spent any xp yet. And for now Turtle and Saffron are considered on hiatus.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:32, Sun 15 Mar 2009.

I might not be able to post again till Tues. Possibly Weds. Sorry for the inconvenience. :(

New (or old but active) threads for you Mining Settlement people... for now that means anyone who's not Dashu, Xurizu or Dreams. (They are in Conclave and/or the Temple.)

Floor B25 - Building a Revolution (group 1)

I've started the 'after battle meeting' here. It's also for Nanaret to make her Conclave report and Talia to get a proper introduction, or so I hope. Pretty much everyone in Settlement can be involved here.

3 Immaculates - A Chance for Redemption (group A)

This is the thread for those of you who will be dealing with the Immaculate prisoners. I put Third and Higura in that group for now, since they seemed the most interested in their fate. Anyone else who wants to be involved should let me know (PM or OOC thread is fine) so I can add them to the group.

You can be in the above meeting and also be involved with the Immaculates, playing both simultaneously is an option. Or you could start in one and join the other if it is still going on.

Anything else that isn't part of the above scenarios just stays in Mining Settlement thread.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:00, Fri 27 Mar 2009.

Happy weekend all! Postings from me may come slower until Sunday.

Grr, due to various obligations and errands that need doing, slow period may continue through Tuesday. Apologies.

I'll just be replying to what I can when/if I can snag the time to do so.

Wow... April Fools' colors are UGLY! :D

I'm back, but I'm still kind of out of it, this has not been a great week for me :/

I'll try to keep things up at the usual rate, but the last couple posts I did (which had a great deal of PMed info that hurt my brain to come up with, heheh) took me hours to write. ;.; sometimes the mind just gets tired.

Settlement: I would like to move to the Hive queen visit, so we should try concluding Nanaret's meeting in the next couple days. Those of you speaking with the prisoners (Higura, Third), we can finish it concurrently with the beginning of Hive visit, if necessary.

Dreams' thread: I feel this battle's gone long enough and Dreams deserves some freedom! Xurizu's gone for the weekend and I don't really want the NPC to do too much so it's likely there will be a convenient conclusion soon.

However Dashu can still act, but it's kind of an 'obvious kill', it's a weaker acolyte with 1 HL left. Nonetheless, it's something to pose! :)

edit--turns out Xurizu is actually not gone this weekend. o.O I misunderstood the PM! But I'm still gearing toward ending battle soon.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:44, Sat 04 Apr 2009.

Ugh, sorry for the delay with Dreams' thread. I was dealing with some serious writer's block for another game, ack! That's done now so I'll be posting there shortly.

Also, correction, Xurizu is gone from April 6-10. I'll be NPCing him until he is back.

Apologies, I'm not in the mood to post more tonight. Things have happened that have me completely in the wrong mood to even so much as THINK about making a post.

I should be able to do so tomorrow, but if not then probably the weekend.

Sorry about that.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:00, Fri 10 Apr 2009.