GloryRhodes

Due to the popularity of the storyline I have added to more events to sign up for.

As the Dragonsong War edges towards climax, factions begin to form and lone actors take the stage to turn the play towards their own ends. A rogue Inquisitor has decided to take matters into his own hands using lost, forbidden magics that threaten to bring the very heavens down upon Eorzea. Introducing a new FATE-14 plot by me in the vein of Crimes Against Nature and Scales in the Sand. This will be a long running campaign like Verad's with no prescripted plot. Everyone is welcome to join. The Hooks My Brother's Keeper is an Ishgard central plot, and it's very easy for Ishgardians to come into it, but there's no lack of plot hooks for the other inhabitants of Eorzea. This plot will travel the length and breadth of the land, exploring lost ruins, fighting monsters, and engaging in political intrigue. So if you're a history buff, a blade for hire, or just an adventurer looking to protect the things you care about you'll fit right in. The Themes The central concepts of this plot are history, magic and radicalism. Insular xenophobic inquisitors, ancient sources of forgotten history and pure unstoppable magical might will be commonplace throughout My Brother's Keeper. The Layout Events in this storyline will be given the title and date in bold on the first line, followed by a brief description of the style of event it is likely to be in brackets. These are only suggestions, as it is entirely possible for a player to change a combat scene into a social one, or a tense meeting of political intrigue into a bloodbath. The First Events Seed Upon The Ground (Wednesday 1/6/16 9PM CST) [Political/Social] A cult has been forming deep in the bowels of Ishgard. Forgotten sons and daughters flock to this new light, cast by neither Halone nor Nidhogg. A riot is brewing in the Brume, and must be quelled. 1. Evangeline Primrose 2. Rhea 3. Valeera 4. Casmi Hawke The Plenty Shall Be Forgotten (Friday, 1/8/16 9PM CST) [Exploration/Combat] A group of Ishgardians are looking into ancient magics on the trail of a man with dark purpose. They have been following in his footsteps throughout Thanalan and are now venturing into the Floating City of Nym. Archaeologists, dungeon explorers and adventurers are needed to insure their success. Slots: 1. Martiallias (Reserved) 2. Jana 3. Tyonis 4. Leih'a 5. Adeya Inquisition for Blood (Sunday 1/10/16 8PM CST) [social/Combat] A quiet night in the Drunken Wench is interrupted by the presence of four figures on the hunt asking dangerous questions about dangerous people. 1. Reppu 2. Sarnai Ghal 3. Orrin 4. Alexia

She was a hard hitting reporter who thought she had the whole world figured out. "Two vaginas! Five tits!" Until the day that fate... "What's in these barrels?" Stepped in. "Trust me, it's to help out Verad." Now she's caught up in a world she doesn't understand. A world... Of mystery. "Get up on your toes so I can really get the camera up your skirt." A world... Of adventure. "Okay, now put on the moogle mask and thrust your hips out." A world... Of love. "Wow, I can't believe you actually took your top off." Spahro Llorn is... The Bronco Master "It's literally airship lubricant."

Spahro's is Rebellion. Whatever the system of power is, she's against it. She doesn't know why, or what she can do, but she feels in her gut that whoever is in charge shouldn't be. The world is a messed up, painful place, and it has to be somebody's fault. Who else could be responsible but the people with the responsibility?

If you're gonna be a badass be a pink as hell laser sword wielding death machine badass. Arcee for life.

Did I just see Nashu Mhakaracca jumping up and down next to a mystery man doing a rather gentlemanly pose?

[align=center]LIMSA LOMINSA'S FAVORITE BEVERAGE![/align] [align=center] [/align] [align=center]A Tall Mast Can Take You Far[/align] [align=center]But Bronco Gives You That Something Extra[/align] [align=center]To Keep Your Rudder Straight[/align] [align=center]NOW ON SALE AT THE MISSING MEMBER![/align]

Fixed. Meant Monday.

[align=center]HAPPY STARLIGHT![/align] [align=center] [/align] [align=center]Bronco Reborn and Dubious Distributions[/align] [align=center]Wish all of you a Happy Holidays[/align]

Crab Battle Monday Dec 14, 8pm CST. After the dumping of a shipment of Horse Oil into the river in Gridania, packs of River Yarzon have begun plaguing The Lavender Beds. Soon the oil addicted crabs will be in and among the homes of the residential district causing untold mayhem. Someone needs to send them packing before The Starlight Celebration begins and the holiday festivities are ruined by junkie crustaceans! 1. 2. 3. 4.

[align=center]BRONCO REBORN[/align] [align=center] [/align] [align=center]A New Formula![/align] [align=center]A New Feeling![/align] [align=center]Don't be fooled by competitors![/align] [align=center]BRONCO REBORN![/align] [align=center]5 gil at the Ruby Road Exchange, Dubious Distributions and The Grindstone![/align] [align=center]Dubious Distributions is not responsible for any adverse physical, mental or aetherial effects caused by consumption of Bronco Reborn Energy Tonic. Questions as to the ingredients of Bronco Reborn will be met with rhetoric and evasiveness. Test groups have suffered minor myocardial infaction in rare cases. Drink at your own risk. [/align]

[align=center][/align] [align=center]My name is Spahro Llorn, creator of Bronco Reborn. Recently, many claims have been made about Bronco Grease Energy Tonic, and I'm here to tell you that we at Dubious Distributions have looked into them. Bronco Reborn is our promise to Eorzea to strive for ever greater heights, and to not rest on our laurels, content in simply being the best. Many competitors and imitators have sprung up in recent moons trying to ride our hard work and dedication to you, the customer, with inferior and dangerous products. We promise that Bronco Reborn will continue to be the leader in Energy Tonics made to precise alchemical specifications by our in house alchemist. Designed with the hard working men and women of Eorzea in mind, there is nothing in the world like Bronco Reborn, and I'll stand by that.[/align] Spahro Llorn Vice President of BG Products Dubious Distributions

1. Spahro is looking for a news story and has either decided you know about something important or, more likely, can be easily scapegoated into being the center of an imaginary scandal. 2. She is scouting for Bronco Models and wants to try to convince you to get your clothes off for little to no compensation in order to earn her money. 3. Somehow, she's decided you're annoying and need to be taken down a peg, so she's made up some ludicrous story about having your baby and wants to try to alienate you from whomever you're talking to. 4. She just wants to rob you. 5. She's having one of her rare moments of actual human empathy and would like to help you with a problem. This is likely due to overhearing you being held down by "The Man" or otherwise oppressed by rich people and/or fascists.

by Spahro Llorn The calm serenity of the forest boughs was broken last night by the shrill cries of addicts clamoring for a drop, just one more drop, of Horse Oil (not to be confused with Bronco Grease, Eorzea's number one energy tonic). The markets of Old Gridania erupted into violence when a delivery of Horse Oil (a cheap knockoff of Bronco Grease), began its transport from the docks to the stall of Helena Haberdasher, the only purveyor of the drink in Eorzea. "It was madness," she said the morning after the riot. "They all went crazy! My stall was robbed and vandalized. There had to have been at least a hundred of them, all fighting each other to get to the shipment." Witness reports put the number of rioters as high as two hundred ravening souls. As soon as the shipment came into view several merchants recall hearing a woman's voice shouting, "Get them!" Within moments the crowd, who had been waiting at Haberdasher's stall charged the shipment. Its meager assortment of guards drew blades in the face of the oncoming horde, and things quickly grew violent. Unable to push past the guards, the crowd turned on itself, and soon the entire market was a warzone. Eventually some of the crowd broke through the guard and a white haired Miqo'te overturned the cart, dumping the Horse Oil (not Bronco Grease) into the river. With the Horse Oil gone, the crowd dispersed across Gridania in a spree of violence and looting that lasted into the next morning before the Wailers could put it down. The catalyst of the riot is unknown, but witnesses recall a masked, pink haired Auri woman in the midst of the crowd. Others claim it was a red headed Miqo'te. Wailers are on the look out for any redhead with with a tail who might be linked to the riot. Horse Oil (The Evil Nemesis of Bronco Grease) is now under investigation by the Fane. "This kind of behavior is not normal," said Fane representative Silent Conjurer. "It is possible that Horse Oil contains elements capable of causing mass hysteria." Rumors that Horse Oil causes impotence are, as yet, unconfirmed.

Woah, now, we're approaching Skull Clamp design here This card was literally banned before it was shipped. It's legal in Commander and Legacy and that's about it I think. Bronco Grease isn't really broken because you need to keep producing new creatures to die to tap their things. Also that X in the mana cost isn't really doing anything... I like the idea though. It has the potential to make silly combos. I haven't designed any new cards in a while but I did recently redo the art for the Leviathan-Egi token. wtb Leviathan-egi square enix, come on, please. at least a minion. It was originally going to be "Where X is the number of creatures in play" but I forgot to add it in.

Spahro for Black Friday please!

That quote, from The Fellowship of The Ring is very similar to what you're talking about, and it's been discussed by scholars of his work for a long while. We doubt that hobbits, despite having access to both gunpowder and clockworks, obviously the most technologically advanced of the peoples of middle earth, knew what express trains were, but there it is in the text. There are two methods of handling this kind of anachronism. You can either go with it, as Tolkien did in this passage (but no others), risking jarring the reader out of their immersion, or you can "localize" it. Either Orrin swung his spear like a baseball bat, or he did a heavy, full bodied horizontal swing. The question here is the audience to whom you are writing. If you feel that you are writing to an audience that desires immersion, then you should localize. What bursts through a wall like an unstoppable tank might instead crash through the masonry like a raging behemoth. If your audience desires clarity over artifice, then more modern terminology might be more appropriate. If, for example, someone new to the lore heard the line about a behemoth, it would do them no good if they were unaware of what, exactly, one was.

[align=center][/align] [align=center]DUBIOUS DISTRIBUTIONS[/align] [align=center]Is proud to present[/align] [align=center]The First Ever[/align] [align=center]BE THE BRONCO![/align] [align=center]Modeling Contest[/align] [align=center]Have you ever wanted to be in one of the legendary Bronco advertisements seen all throughout Eorzea? Well here's your chance! We're picking one lucky model to be the face of our BRONCO: A RESTORATIVE REBORN campaign, and it could be you![/align] [align=center]The rules are simple. Send us a completed Bronco advertisement, which means text, slogan, and a picture of yourself as the model all in one, along with an entry fee of 25,000 gil per submission. In a few weeks we'll pick our top three favorite entries and award the following prizes![/align] [align=center]1st Prize[/align] [align=center] 30% of Entry Fees and an exclusive contract for the entirety of the BRONCO: A RESTORATIVE REBORN campaign.[/align] [align=center]2nd Prize[/align] [align=center]15% of Entry Fees and a dinner with one of our former models.[/align] [align=center]3rd Prize[/align] [align=center]5% of Entry Fees and a year's supply of BRONCO REBORN[/align] [align=center]SUBMISSIONS START NOW![/align] [align=center](OOC Info: All entries to the BE THE BRONCO contest must be submitted to this thread. Bare screenshots will not be accepted. Examples of what we're looking for can be found in the previous Bronco Grease threads here and here. GAUDINESS IS ENCOURAGED. All entries must include the screen name of the applicant. Multiple entries from the same party will be accepted, but each entry will require a separate 25k gil entry fee which must be sent in game to Spahro Llorn or Verad Bellveil. The contest will close at Midnight CST, Nov 25. Drawn entries are welcome. Judging will be done by Dubious Distributions FC members, and prizes will be awarded at an IC ceremony on Monday, Nov. 30th.)[/align]

[align=center]LIMSA LOMINSA'S FAVORITE BEVERAGE! A Tall Mast Can Take You Far But Bronco Gives You That Something Extra To Keep Your Rudder Straight NOW ON SALE AT THE MISSING MEMBER![/align] [align=center]HAPPY STARLIGHT! Bronco Reborn and Dubious Distributions Wish all of you a Happy Holidays[/align] [align=center]BRONCO REBORN A New Formula! A New Feeling! Don't be fooled by competitors! BRONCO REBORN! 5 gil at the Ruby Road Exchange, Dubious Distributions and The Grindstone! Dubious Distributions is not responsible for any adverse physical, mental or aetherial effects caused by consumption of Bronco Reborn Energy Tonic. Questions as to the ingredients of Bronco Reborn will be met with rhetoric and evasiveness. Test groups have suffered minor myocardial infaction in rare cases. Drink at your own risk.[/align] [align=center] My name is Spahro Llorn, creator of Bronco Reborn. Recently, many claims have been made about Bronco Grease Energy Tonic, and I'm here to tell you that we at Dubious Distributions have looked into them. Bronco Reborn is our promise to Eorzea to strive for ever greater heights, and to not rest on our laurels, content in simply being the best. Many competitors and imitators have sprung up in recent moons trying to ride our hard work and dedication to you, the customer, with inferior and dangerous products. We promise that Bronco Reborn will continue to be the leader in Energy Tonics made to precise alchemical specifications by our in house alchemist. Designed with the hard working men and women of Eorzea in mind, there is nothing in the world like Bronco Reborn, and I'll stand by that. Spahro Llorn Vice President of BG Products Dubious Distributions [/align] [align=center]LIKE A PHOENIX FROM THE ASHES[/align] [align=center]IT LIVES. IT DIES. IT LIVES AGAIN![/align] [align=center] [/align] [align=center]BRONCO REBORN![/align] [align=center]OUR FORMULA WAS WEAK.[/align] [align=center]WE CHANGED IT.[/align] [align=center]OUR POWER WASN'T POWERFUL ENOUGH.[/align] [align=center]WE ADDED MORE.[/align] [align=center]OUR POSTERS DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH HALF NAKED MODELS![/align] [align=center]SO HERE'S SIX OF THEM![/align] [align=center]SIX TIMES THE POWER![/align] [align=center]SIX TIMES THE FLAVOR![/align] [align=center]SIX TIMES THE BRONCO![/align] [align=center]Dubious Distributions is not responsible for any adverse physical, mental or aetherial effects caused by consumption of Bronco Reborn Energy Tonic. Questions as to the ingredients of Bronco Reborn will be met with rhetoric and evasiveness. Test groups have suffered minor pneumothorax in rare cases. Drink at your own risk.[/align]

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When I was in City of Heroes I played as an unpowered archer named Sharona. Over the course of our Super Group's story, Sharona was established as the "Batman" of the story. She was severe, tactical, dedicated and never stopped working. She had a plan for everything. In contrast, our leader was a guy named Shadeknight, who, if you couldn't tell from the name, was quite edgelordy. He was all magic, swords, demons and unimaginable power. He ran our major plot, got possessed by a demon, etc. As Shade's plotline progressed, everyone became super aware that he was going to turn evil, the writing was on the wall. It was a plot twist everyone expected, both OOC and IC. OOC everyone knew there was going to be this possessed by a demon evil arc, followed by him being forgiven because nothing was his fault and we continue on. The twist wasn't going to be very good, and everyone knew it was coming, so I twisted the twist. Sharona started undermining his authority in front of everyone, calling him out directly on the way he was acting. Before he could do his arc, she was demanding he take responsibility for being reckless and stupid. She demanded he step down after being possessed even if he "had it in control". This created a story where what happened next had been foreshadowed and established. Sharona begins researching his weaknesses, and those of everyone else in case this demon possessed them too. She starts testing base security. When Shade reprimands her for breaking into the super secret vault of magic items, she turns it around on him. Shade's unreliable, unpredictable, careless. Instead of punished, she's made head of security to keep an eye on him. I start throwing out multipage security plans and reports on the forums. At the big group meetings I submit these IC, and they're voted on and implemented without being read because they're too damn long. Sharona, like Batman, starts developing countermeasures for all the other players. When Shade's twist finally hits, and he does his full evil turn, the council meets up and throws him out of leadership position with Sharona as head of the movement. He's shocked, this was not the way the plot was supposed to go! Twist Twisted. At the same time, I'm running a minor sideplot about Sharona's brother, a psychiatrist and skeevy fellow, who is trying to ingratiate himself in with all the heroes. He makes a few friends, but he's fairly generally unliked. Then, twist, he steals all of Sharona's data on the weakness of the others and runs off with it. The group goes to chase him down, corners him in an office building after fighting through a bunch of hired mercenaries, and they demand their info back. Before he can explain himself, Sharona shoots him through the heart, teleports back to base, and activates all of those security protocols she put in place. The group freaks out, OOC and IC. They demand to know how she has full control of security measures. I link them to the multipage reports they voted on a month prior. Each person gets hit with things that directly target their weaknesses, things willingly shared with Sharona in the past in idle conversation, things she openly built and showed to them. She breaks into the same vault she broke into months before as a "security test" and steals everything. No one can do anything about it. Everyone clicks at the same time. There was a thirty person simultaneous "Oh Shit!" Six months of foreshadowing and planning. Subverting leadership, gaining trust, becoming their most trusted friend, making them betray themselves. All for a single moment where the ball drops to the sound of shocked silence. ***** Verad is right. You have to work with what's already established as plausible, and Faye is right in that you have to foreshadow, but more important than that, work with the player's expectations. Players expect turns, so work with that in the narrative. Give them a twist, but not the twist they expect. Don't just throw it out there like some inevitable moment, work with the players to establish the legitimacy of the twist, even if they have no idea they're helping. Make sure that if you're doing a twist that it doesn't effect the plot, but rather each character in the plot individually. Find out where the most subtle change can have the most narrative impact. Subvert expectation, not established reality. Tomato in The Mirror works not because of the tomato, but because of the mirror.

[align=center][/align] [align=center]Poacher-tan sugooooooi~[/align] [align=center] [/align] [align=center]Admantoise-senpai kawaaaaaaaii~[/align] [align=center] [/align] [align=center]Tiamat-sama chibi desuuuuuu~[/align] [align=center] [/align] [align=center]Mudpuppy-kun no baka![/align] [align=center] [/align] [align=center]Garlean-san no kawaaaaaai! BAKA![/align]