Dark Embers «DE-RP»

[Fulcrum]

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Over the years since the Calamity, although she didn't initially realise it, Claire has slowly formed a small company from the ashes left in the wake of Bahamut's fury. At first, there were just two people working together - one dealing with the mundane paperwork the one in the field generated; unfortunately, that one man paperwork machine was terrible at housework, so a pair of Lalafell housekeepers moved in to keep the rest of the place in order. Neither of them were good with the grounds, and after an incident with a rampaging plant, a Roegadyn gardener was brought on board. Then a familiar face from the past arrived, and began making connections for the group in other city-states, just as she had for another organisation before the Calamity.

 

 

Not long after Lane Ealdwine's arrival, it became clear that the creatures that Claire was hunting were becoming more than one well-trained woman could handle. For a time, Lane joined the swordmaiden out in the field, but it wasn't long before their targets were becoming almost too much for two well-trained combatants to deal with. Finally, Lane was able to convince her friend that perhaps it was time to admit that they had reached the point where the group needed to officially branch out, and after an unsuccessful attempt to rejoin the organisation the pair had been a part of before the Calamity, Dark Embers rose from the ashes of that disastrous meeting.

 

 

Lane Ealdwine began travelling between the three city-states, not only to keep their connections with the Grand Companies and militias alive and well, but to start scouting for talent. Claire wanted skilled hunters to continue tracking, incapacitating and scanning, then eliminating creatures that were severely twisted by aether along with researches to evaluate the data so it could be sent off to various organisations they had contracts with in a more timely manner.

 

 

It was not long after this that Lane discovered N'aoma Tierell, the defacto leader of a small group of adventurers who had recently broken ties with their former company after finding its leader refused to let go of the past, resulting in his own death and nearly costing a few of them their lives as well. Tierell was a season hunter, having survived the Battle of Carteneau as a member of the Twin Adders, who spoke highly of her when Lane questioned them about the Miqo'te woman.

 

 

At Lane's behest, N'aomai met with Claire, and the two worked out an agreement that brought the remnants of the other adventuring group into Dark Embers; to ensure the merging of the two parties went smoothly, Claire made N'aomai her equal so that both groups would feel that they had equal representation.

 

 

The free company continued to expand, taking on some members who stayed on for longer term contracts, and some who were only temporary workers. Currently, there are around twenty full time company members, and six part time company members aside from the staff who keep the company hall and paperwork in order. While there have been some rough patches, the company has overcome a number of challenges, including facing down four Primals and a number of unexpected enemies, as well as the personal conflicts that have come back to haunt its members.

 

 

Despite their successful growth, the company still seeks to expand, as Lane and others reach out to find new members who might call the company home...

 

 

---

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We currently have two strong plot arcs for the free company in place, so we're also looking for role play allies to do joint free company events with. From small scale, relaxed events to plot-focused, long term role play events, we're interested in spreading our wings and joining the community as a company. Role play allies can join us as individuals, linkshells, or free companies.

 

 

Currently, individual RP allies can just apply through our recruitment application, just like someone applying to join the free company; the application will adjust when the Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Ember Alliance option is selected. Linkshells and Free Companies interested in the Ember Alliance will need to send an Enjin message to Darkfae or Lin Celistine to discuss alliance options.

 

We use an interesting feature for company called the Advanced Character Workshop. While the Workshop itself is available for anyone to view, a key component to the Workshop is exclusively for Dark Embers members - the Advanced Character Worksheet.

 

The Worksheet has a two-fold purpose. The first is to help members bring more depth to their character by asking both common and uncommon questions about the character itself. The second is to give the storytelling staff character information that can be worked into the over-arching Company plot lines, making them more personal for our members. These story hooks can work hand in hand with personal plot progression the player is already advancing, and give other characters more chances to discover things about their fellows they might not otherwise find.

 

Only the storytelling staff has access to the completed Worksheets. The Worksheet itself is a form page on our site that members fill out and submit, in a similar fashion to the application to join the guild. Once submitted, members can make updates to their Worksheet in the Player Comments section, while the storytelling staff can discuss each Worksheet in the ST Comments section. Should a member feel there have been too many significant changes to their Worksheet, we can discuss archiving their original Worksheet so that they may fill out a fresh one.

 

Even if one doesn't decide to join the Dark Embers Free Company, we welcome everyone to take a look at the Workshop, as it has a lot of links to helpful articles and sites that even the veteran role player may find useful.

 

 

Dark Embers was established during the beginning of winter of 2013. Many of the members had been gaming online via MMOs and platforms like Steam for several months to several years prior to the group's formation, while some had even been gaming offline via table top RPGs and LARPs for several months to several years. Everyone in Dark Embers loves games in all their different forms, in all different kinds of mediums, so expect to hear us geeking out about that variety.

 

While we do have an interest in a number of different games, we have chosen to have a single primary game as our focus. Currently, our primary game is Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, where we have a role playing progression PvE free company. We are keeping an eye on EverQuest Next, and some of us have been tooling around in Landmark off and on as a side game to get a better idea of what EQN might be like, though there's a question of how many systems are going to be shared by the two; eventually, we may transition from FFXIV to EQN if that's what the majority of the group wants to do. We're also planning on playing Star Citizen as a side game whenever it releases - Chris Roberts is taking his time to do it right, so we're okay with waiting for it.

 

In the meantime, whenever the FFXIV servers are down, some of us tend to play Steam-based games like Path of Exile, Borderlands 2, and Civ5 together. There are a lot of games available on Steam, so we sort of just play whatever the people online at the time have; we just want to have fun while they work on the servers. A few of us also play Flight Rising, a browser based game by Stormlight Workshop.

 

 

[align=center]Edur Attwater[/align]

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Edur is Claire's brother-in-law, and he manages some of the more menial, non-research related paperwork for the free company. This includes any permits the company needs from the three city-states, the various bills the company needs to pay concerning the estate in the Mist, and whatever project is being worked on in the closed wing of the free company house.

 

While he's usually an easy going, Edur will get a bit hot tempered if anyone tries to head into the upstairs area that has been closed off to the majority of the free company and public. He'll sternly remind people that Claire's ordered the whole upstairs to be off-limits with very few exceptions, and become a bit more forceful with each subsequent pressing - especially in the same altercation; if someone really won't take his warnings seriously, he will use physical force to ensure they don't go down the hallway, and report the incident to Claire or whichever company officer returns to the building first.

 

 

[align=center]Lane Ealdwine[/align]

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Lane is an associate of Claire's from the Path of the Twelve. Lane was essentially Claire's contact within the Path, and would often travel Eorzea with her prior to the Calamity. While many of the Path remained with the organisation, some left Ul'dah to check on their friends and contacts; that's when Lane and Claire were reunited.

 

Lane's current job is to handle contact/paperwork between Dark Embers and the three Grand Companies, and to recruit new talent for the company, which causes her to travel between the three city-states and is why no one really sees her all that often at the company house.

 

She's a generally energetic, outgoing individual who tends to be more optimistic than not, which makes most people wonder how she and Claire get along at all; a few people believe that Lane's public personality differs from that she uses behind closed doors, but if asked about it, she just rolls her eyes.

 

 

[align=center]Damimi Dami[/align]

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Damimi is a Plainsfolk Lalafell that basically keeps the interior of the house clean and in order. While Edur can manage paperwork, cook decently, and take care of certain projects, he's not exactly good with housework. So Damimi does all of that sort of work with another Plainsfolk woman, Selala Sela. Damimi always helps Edur cooks, or handles the cooking when Edur is busy.

 

She is an incredibly bubbly, cheerful Lalafell who speaks with a very happy, prim and high pitched voice that's a bit more rapid fire than most people can handle ((think a higher toned, faster speaking Mrs. Doubtfire)). Once she gets talking, it can be a bit difficult to get Damimi to shut up, and often times Selala must intercede on behalf of whatever poor soul has been waylaid by the excitable housekeeper.

 

 

[align=center]Selala Sela[/align]

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Selala is the second Plainsfolk Lalafell that helps keep the interior of the house clean and in order. She's less talkative than Damimi, but works just as hard. She is also more handy than Damimi, and does more in the way of repairs, being particularly skilled in carpentry.

 

She is quiet, speaking in a rather low and somewhat husky voice. She refuses to raise her voice, and will simply glare at anyone who talks over her until they quiet; her stare is quiet intimidating, and most people swiftly get the hint.

 

Unlike Damimi, Selala is apparently part of whatever project is taking place in the closed off level of the free company house, though she claims she only goes upstairs to clean - mostly just dusting and sweeping, changing furniture covers and such things. She also takes food back to Edur whenever he's working to long back there, and whenever the conjurers show up to provide whatever assistance they give, she will lead them back there.

 

 

[align=center]Frydanbluom Bylgfaeldsyn[/align]

[align=center]Peaceful Flower, Son of Fertile Field[/align]

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Frydanbluom is a Roegadyn Sea Wolf gardener who is the grounds keeper for Dark Embers. Frydan is a very calm, almost shy individual who likes spending his time amid the plants more than he does out in the field or on the seas. His father died during the in fighting between pirates when he was very young, and his mother was a gardener for an Elezen household in Gridania; he ended up taking after his mother, clearly.

 

His voice is very soft, with a very heavy Lominsan accent, which is almost contradictory, given his history and his mannerisms. If people are too loud, he will simply clam up, and not speak again until they all calm down; he'll usually encourages them by handing everyone present some sort of pretty flower that has calming aromatherputic qualities.

 

 

[align=center]Mister Attwater[/align]

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As the company expanded, Edur found himself drowning in the ever increasing paperwork that came with a successful free company. His father, once the manager of a successful shipping company, stepped in to help manage the day-to-day aspects of the company, as well as help keep the armour and weapons of its members in repair; although he doesn't really say much, it seems Mister Attwater is a man of many talents.

 

Edur says his father used to be some sort of adventurer, however Mister Attwater just claims he's paid attention to a great many things over his long life - if he'd been an adventurer, he'd more than likely be dead by now than be a dad, he often says.

[Fulcrum]

I have updated this linkshell information page with more current information, which is a reflection of an update done to our website.

 

 

Dark Embers currently has two on-going free company story arcs in place, with a third lined up for activation around mid-August. These arcs have already taken personal elements from members' histories and current stories, allowing their fellow members to find out more about them.

 

 

The first is Probably Primals, which runs as sort of parallel arc to the Main Scenario as it introduces new Primals to the game and lore. It involves learning about the Primals and their followers, and not every event results in combat - sometimes they're more of a puzzle, or a solemn occasion, or a heartbreaking discovery than a hack and slash adventure. And the actual fight against a Primal is no walk in the park - there are casualties amid the members, some of which are dire, while their allies are also injured and people like their Grand Company support die; there are consequences to taking on something akin to a God, and we try to keep that very tangible in our story.

 

 

The second arc that recently started is called Outbreak, wherein a voidsent curse has become more of the start of a void plague. While the Grand Companies disbelieve that such a situation is possible, the Embers are investigating the potential catastrophe, despite the potential danger of being infected by the vicious void energies.

 

 

The upcoming arc is called "Ties That Bind", and will lead the company into the Binding Coil of Bahamut in character, which we've actually been doing as a raid force. This story again runs in parallel to one provided by Square-Enix - the Chronicles of a New Era Bahamut Quest line, with our own unique twists and turns. A great number of personal character ties are involved with this particular plot, as we have Twelveswords and Meteor Survivors in our company, as well as a number of individuals who have interest in Allagan technology.

 

 

Raid wise, we're enjoying all turns of the First Binding Coil of Bahamut, while preparing for the new section of Crystal Tower. We also are working on Titan Extreme, and will be moving on to Ifrit Extreme within the next couple of weeks. We also always go back to prior raids and help our members get their relics, story quest raids, and fun things like Moogle weapons.

[Narcisseoix]

This looks like a rather interesting concept!

[Fulcrum]

This looks like a rather interesting concept!

Thanks! We put a lot of effort into the free company, story arcs, and site. =)

 

 

Sorry for the delayed reply. I was on vacation, and when I got back, my power supply essploded. Didn't get a replacement and such till recently.

[Fulcrum]

We're a bit behind in updating due to August/September being really horrible out of game for most of our leadership and core members, on top of having the Ember Alliance start to grow. We'll be making an update to the free company IC info to catch everything up to current storyline soon.

[Fulcrum]

Just wanted to post a note - Enjin continues to still have weirdness with their application system; we have no idea why, but sometimes applications come through blank. It does this with FC applications and Alliance applications. It doesn't seem to matter which it is. Please remember to copy all of your answers to a Notepad or Word document, so that if you have to repost your application, you can just copy and paste everything back over - if this happens, we will contact you first via Enjin, then via game if your Enjin profile has your characters listed.

 

 

We've sent in multiple complaints to Enjin, but they haven't really done anything about it. :dazed:

[Fulcrum]

So, in an attempt to get around the aforementioned problem, the Leadership Council has rebuilt the application for Dark Embers from the ground up, in hopes that this will help stop the weird blank application filing that's sporadically been happening.

 

 

The test applications we did went through just fine, with all kinds of crazy browser addons enabled, and the maximum amount of Lorem Ipsum that the fields would allow, so we're really hoping that it's all fixed.

 

 

In other news, our first story arc, "It's Probably Primals" is moving towards dealing with Leviathan, and has reached out to include another free company as the Embers attempt to become seaworthy. Our second story arc, "Outbreak", has followed a strange series of Voidsent activity through La Noscea, and into the Shroud with a very intense role play session that took the company through something akin to Hauke Manour Hard Mode, where they battled Voidsent that seemed to be at war with one another; now they are investigating the devastation and aftermath to determine what exactly happened. A third story arc, "Ties That Bind", has bits and pieces starting to roll out, now that the final Coil has been released, and the storytelling staff has unfortunately had to spoil themselves to finish writing the arc (though the company will not be spoiled on the official storyline until after they've completed the Final Coil raids).

 

 

Our raids oddly line up with our RPs right now. The Vanguard, a static raid group that pushes to get through the content so they can help take the rest of the free company through it once they've figured out the strategies and mastered them, are working on Leviathan Extreme and the first part of Second Coil while helping the rest of the free company with prior raids on the days that the various members are available; unfortunately, not everyone is available on the same night to raid, so we've worked out what we feel is the best solution to help them see all of the content.

 

 

If you have any questions about the free company, feel free to post them here, send a PM to me on this site, or hit up our website and send questions to the leadership there!

[SilentHuntress]

active?

[Fulcrum]

We're very active in game, and on our own site. I haven't been active on here as of late because of how much time it's been taking to manage the free company (I run one company plot, and I am currently writing a plot leading into Heavensward) and my offline stuff. Apologies for the late reply here. :dazed:

[Fulcrum]

Wow, a lot rolled up for the end of the year for Dark Embers. There were some rough times OOC, as there were the holidays and illnesses to contend with, but we pulled together as family and friends to make it through it and have fun.

 

 

We had our fourth major event for our main plot arc, It's Possibly Primals, which brought the fourth chapter to the story to a close, and December also marked our first anniversary. This brought about an IC reflection from Claire on her IC Tumblr, an epic funeral a sea we saved it on Google Drive, and an OOC wrap up on my XIV Tumblr.

 

 

Right now, we're having a nice break from a lot of super high adventure action, with social RP events, and the reinstatement of our Combat Training series, which was designed to get the company to learn to fight as a unit as well as to promote strategic thinking and creative thinking. We've seen a lot of new members to the Company proper and to the Ember Alliance lately, so it's a great way to get people to get to know one another without falling back on just Meet and Greets constantly.

 

 

We're also working on trying to get two raiding groups settled, instead of having to continue to rely on just the Vanguard Initiative. We're really close, so if you're interested in raiding, consider joining the Ember Alliance or the Company proper. As soon as we have the numbers for two groups, we will set up two statics!

 

 

That's pretty much our end of 2014, beginning of 2015 news. Everyone's sort of taking a break from huge RPs to do smaller, personal RPs while we play with the new 2.5 content, which they're just heaping on us. There's less than a month to Part II! Holy Bowie!

[Fulcrum]

Smallish update. In order to support the number of plots being released, and for the leadership council to focus on keeping role play the top priority of the free company, organised raiding as an activity of the Free Company itself has been removed as a facet of the FC. Members are still welcome to raid and form their own statics, so long as they are not asking folks to raid during our set RP event times on Sunday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

 

 

The decision to make this change was a heavy one, and not made lightly, however role play has always been the first and foremost facet of Dark Embers.

 

 

Our Ember Alliance will continue, so that people can join in our plots without having to leave their Free Companies. Members will still receive an IC and an OOC linkpearl, and have access to the Mumble server to support multiple community venue types.

[Fulcrum]

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Three.

 

There had been three cards, and three stars. I should have known then. Three brilliant lights in the heavens, and three dark cards on my desk, correlating perfectly with one another. The astrolabe never lies, nor does the deck that I had stolen from my mother before leaving for Eorzea.

 

The first, the trouble in the Sylphlands, has already born fruit and revealed the second. While Lin and her team search for the missing naturalists, another team went to investigate the corruptive disease afflicting the trees and the other flora in the nearer Sylphlands, and discovered that the shards that the bitch Lycelle created from the Void can infect not only creatures of flesh and blood, but also Treants, which can then infect plants through their roots.

 

During the battle with the Treant, a large branch broke off, but remained animated. The corruption was that strong. It attacked three of the casters that had been with the group - Lionnellais, the Kid, and Jawantal - with a swing of its branching body, cracking their ribs, triggering the Brooding One’s sensitivity to corruption, and given the Kid’s frail nature, his ribs broke and damaged his lungs.

 

The remaining mage, barely more than a kit himself, Zekaru’li Rakiu, managed to channel the energies of the group and call down the power of the stars, alighting the Treant; fire was the only way to kill the damn thing, and that was the only way they could manage to do it with just summoners, healers, and melee combatants there. Even with Zakrin warming up, and an Ifrit-Egi swiping at it, they needed more fire than that to take it out before it corrupted someone. These Void-plague shards are viscious that way.

 

Oddly, it is the third that troubles me the most.

 

The rumours that come from Coerthas bother me. While most worry over the issues the Scions have uncovered, the issues surrounding the drawn out Dragonsong War, my mind turns towards the fact that the commoners may be caught between a rock and a hard place.

 

Tierell and Di’tirin have heard that the common folk may be turning to the heretics not because they believe in this Saint Shiva’s rhetoric, but because they tire of the Holy See’s corruption of Halone’s teachings, of the Holy See’s treatment of those who are not noble born, they tire of being unable to follow their stars because of the sins the Holy See has committed, because the Holy See continues to go against their destiny and dooms all of Ishgard - they turn to the heretics in desperation, not in belief.

 

And the heretics welcome them with open arms.

 

Of course, the heretics will use the common folk just as the Holy See does, but they coat their abuse with promises of freeing them from the shackles the Holy See places on them, with promises of equality after the Holy See has been destroyed. They paint their supposed Saint Shiva as a deliverer, yet they do nothing more but potentially lead the common folk into the arms of a Primal-like being. And possibly the rule of the Dravanians, who may be cruel in their madness, as they have forgotten their destinies just as the Ishgardians have.

 

Then there are the Dravanians, readying to assault the Ishgardians with the full might of their people for the first time in centuries. The forces are likely more than the forces of the Holy See are capable of handling, and they likely are going to use the common folk as fodder in their campaign, or at the very least, leave them the least guarded.

 

Ishgard is not ready for the attack that is coming.

 

Above all, I worry for the true people of Halone. As the Scions ready to stand with the Holy See, and will draw in those of Eorzea who are willing to help, I personally am preparing those of the Embers who are willing to stand to protect the commoners from their many threats.

 

The Embers are preparing to go to war - against the Dravanians, against the heretics, and against the Holy See. We will fight to the last breath to protect those who are forgotten in the Dragonsong War, to free them from the archaic caste system that leaves them for dead when their betters no longer have use for them, to keep them safe from those who would prey upon them in their most desperate hour, and fight their ancient enemy once their oppressors are struck down.

 

Should these rumours prove correct, we shall fight against even those we know as friends if they cannot see they are allied with the monsters in the snow; we can only hope they can see sense in time.

 

“Lances of light herald the dawn,

Beckoning shadows deeper still.

Splendour dances with shades

Unsheathed, a rime kissed blade

Spills crimson o’er fields of white.”

 

…I believe I know what he meant by it, you stupid bard…

 

And so the Embers shall go into Ishgard…

 

So, this is a journal entry from Claire's journal that makes allusions to the plot we’re running for 3.0’s release. The plot focuses on the sociopolitical situation in Ishgard, allowing members to introduce Au Ra characters (either new characters, or characters who are reforging into Au Ra through the story - did we mention there was a crazy Garlean scientist involved too? >.> ), and getting to know the various areas of the new lands. It should be noted there’s several ways this can go, based on how things go leading up to and into patch 3.0, but there may seriously be a three front battle between the Ember Alliance, the Dravanians, the heretics, and a contingent of the Holy See. It also mentions the continuation of the It's Probably Primals plot with just crossed over our Outbreak plot.

 

 

If you’re interested in getting in on this RP plot - or any RP plot - that we’re doing, join the Ember Alliance by applying on the Dark Embers website. You don’t have to participate in all our plots when you’re an ally member, so if you’re not into the whole Primal thing, you don’t have to do those plots, however the Shiva Ex fight will be included in this plot, since she’s in the heretic story.

 

 

We usually have a brief OOC interview via Mumble, then an IC scene to get a person into the alliance. We have an IC linkpearl and an OOC linkpearl, so you need to LS slots. The website and the mumble are open to all alliance members, and again, you can participate in as little or as many events as you want as an alliance member.

 

 

This was originally posted on Tumblr via Claire's journal, and re-blogged to my XIV blog there. I figured I may as well post it here as our update for the month.

[Fulcrum]

Wow, that 2.55 patch. We'll be having it all come into our RP on May 9th, 2015! We're giving everyone plenty of time to get through the content, and will be posting a Guide to Common Knowledge for the Main Story about two weeks before so people know what all their characters may find out in the aftermath; it's all based on what the NPCs say after everything is said and done, and wow...just wow.

 

 

We've been doing some spring sprucing up around the FC/Alliance site, and have an entire sub-sub-forum dedicated to the It's Probably Primals story arc. All the transcripts from our Primal fights are found here, along with any other large scale out-of-game RPs, as well as forum-based RPs. This forum is visible to the public, so people can read over the transcripts of the fights and see the end results of our Primal fights. Our FC/Alliance growth is also visible by looking at them, as the original three fights were about 20 - 25 pages long, while the Leviathan fight was 45 pages with images; Titan took us two event nights to complete (a bit over 8 hours) while Leviathan took us three (a bit over 12).

 

 

Other storylines will be getting their own forums soon as well! Stay tuned to read events from the darker storyline, Outbreak, and our new storyline, Into Ishgard and Ties That Bind!

[C'lai Nunh]

Hello!

 

I'm posting here because I don't know any of your members around, so I thought I should ask if you're recruiting! 

 

And if you are, where could I make an application hehe!

 

Thank you!

[Fulcrum]

Hallo!

 

 

Sorry for the very delayed reply - I haven't been on the RPC for a while due to working on a lot of updates for the free company and an explosion of offline stuff.

 

 

We are closed for recruiting until after Heavensward launch. We're giving our current members some time to get to know each other and get through the new content before we begin recruiting again, as well as having some time to get used to a lot of changes we're starting to roll out.

 

 

We'll be posting up a notice once recruitment of any sort begins again. We'll be starting with opening the doors for our Ember Alliance shortly after Heavensward launch, and then later we'll open the doors for FC recruitment.

[Fulcrum]

As most of the Heavensward rush subsided, we ran two 2.55 related RP events to begin some transitioning to the 3.0 content as an FC (though some of the Chronicles of a New Era stuff is still behind). We run sidelong or aftermath type storylines to the MSQ and Chronicles of a New Era stories, usually starting about a month and half after a patch, with the conclusion just before a new patch or just after a new patch launches to give everyone time to get through the content and for the Storytellers to disseminate the information into their plotlines and events.

 

 

The first event was done as a sidelong story to the Steps of Faith events, and started in game (which was copied raw at the start of the document), but mostly was done live via a Google Document for a "chatbox" like setting due to how many monster NPCs were being encountered. This is entitled Before the Fall: The Summons (Dark Embers 2.55 RP Event), and is available to read via the original Google Document right now; it will be copied to our forums soon.

 

 

The second event was done as a sidelong story to the celebratory events that took place in Ul'dah after the Steps of Faith, and took place in game. A raw copy of the event has been made in a Google Document, and will be cleaned up over the next few days. This is entitled Before the Fall: The Interruption (Dark Embers 2.55 RP Event), and will be copied over to our forums once it's been cleaned up.

 

 

Our Ember Alliance recruitment will be opening before the end of the month, barring any changes between now and then. We'll post a fresh link to our recruitment information on our website once the site reopens for applications - please look forward to it!

[Melkire]

[Admin Hardhat]

 

Thread resurrected at original poster's request.

 

[/Admin Hardhat]

[Fulcrum]

Thank you. August and September were just hectic as hell. <3

[Fulcrum]

While August and September were hectic for our membership, October unfortunately saw a lot of medical emergencies for us, which really threw a lot of our plans off track; we had to sideline all of our plot RPs for the month, though we did manage to have a few personal plot progression nights via our Open RP Events. Things are starting to get back on course here as November begins, thankfully.

 

 

Something we did start at the end of September that we'd like to highlight, as it is going to continue for the length of our Into Ishgard plot arc, is working with the Heaven's Ward NPC group here on Balmung. During our event on September 26th, the Ember Alliance and Dark Embers FC encountered Haurchefant Fortemps and Emmanellain Fortemps as they were trying to help Ser Liainette de Haillenarte's (who has since been picked up by a player, at the time it was just the static NPC in game) forces at the Rosehouse in the Sea of Clouds breach the Vanu Vanu camp after the young Fortemps' prior folly had put the beastmen on high alert. However, what the found there was far more alarming than just nervous owlbear men...

 

 

Of course, not every story block in the MSQ can be paired with a side-along story, given the nature of the way they're telling the Warrior of Light's story now. Many events in the MSQ will be things that are slipped into other events as news, rumours, or aftermath events. We do look forward to working with the Heaven's Ward when we can, however, as they're a delightful group of people.

 

 

Just because we're in Ishgard doesn't mean we're leaving behind the core storyline of Dark Embers. November is getting started with our Probably Primals story arc taking its curve ball over into Thornmarch as the group finally deals with Moogle Mog; the RL set backs have made it difficult to do this large scale, out-of-game event, but we started it on November 7th, and it's in the midsts of being finished up. A sneak peak via a document of the in-game pre-meeting is already posted, while the event itself is being done via RPnow.net, a departure from using Google Documents and the Enjin Chatbox as we have in the past for out-of-game events.

 

 

The Campaign setting was put on hold and is still on hold due to a medical hiatus, so Outbreak will resume once things are squared away for the architect of the system. While we do enjoy the game, and try to keep plot rolling, real life will always come first for our members.

 

 

We will be having a slow down come the holiday season, as many of our members are in the US, and people do love their tryptophan fix - the weekend of Thanksgiving is an "unscheduled" weekend for the FC/alliance. We also will likely be leaving things a bit fluid right around Christmas and New Years, even though neither holiday falls on our RP event nights.

[AlyF]

I would love to be able to join your free company, but I cant seem to track it down in the free companies search!

[Fulcrum]

I would love to be able to join your free company, but I cant seem to track it down in the free companies search!

Do you mean the in game system? We don't have that activated. We do everything through our website application, and right now we're keeping that on a case by case/invite only system.

 

 

You can take a look at our website and arrange to come to a couple of our social events or Open RP nights (they're typically on the calendar), and once our current list of waiting applicants get a chance to fill out the app, we can see about getting you in.

[Fulcrum]

We're still around!

The holidays were rather quiet, as they usually are. The massive snowstorms were rather quiet too, as one of our members got caught with a ten hour layover in the first one, and the second one caused a couple to have to make alternate arrangements while nature unleashed wintery fury.

 

 

Storyline wise, we had a nice little row with Good King Moogle Mog, which proved to be comedy as the dice were in neither group's favour for a good half of the fight - there was a moment when Whiskerwall got essentially divebombed by Woolywart, and the impact sent Woolywart vibrating away in the other direction. Critical fails happen even to the Mooglest of us...

 

 

Our other outing was against a band of Crystal Braves that thought they had a better plan than their leader, and so there may have been a bit of a rather loud tussle near where the Eastern Desert of Thanalan transitions into the Southern Desert of Thanalan that left a lot of blue coats burning in the night...

 

 

...don't ask. It involved a Lalafell's favourite orb, an accidental rolling of said orb, and an Aldgoat deciding the orb was a snack...

[Fulcrum]

Dark Embers still exists, however due to a lot of non-game related issues, we went into a hiatus state back in the beginning of April; the company itself is still around, though all of the leadership managed storytelling and social events were put on hold. Several of the members remained with the company, while a few moved on to other FCs while remaining in our small Embers Alliance.

 

 

There isn't any sort of ETA on when the company leadership will be running events again, however for the moment, we have elected to move to a "Player Driven Narrative" system; while members have always been allowed to tell their own stories, and have their personal plots whenever they like, much of the time these were brought to the storytelling staff - now each individual member handles their own personal plots and events, and it's up to them to drive their stories forward. Leadership will help keep scheduling from conflicting, and advise on lore, but it's up to each player to drive their personal story forward.

 

 

Rather than having some massive story arcs for the company, all of Dark Ember's role play in XIV be Player Driven Narrative; what this means is that each person contributes to the company's RP by inviting the company to participate in their character's personal plot progression. We have a mixture of Open RP nights, where the group gets together to just RP socially to get to know one another, and player arranged RPs where they run plots that reveal their personal story's progression.

 

Between these two types of RP, we continue to have a vibrant life in XIV, but it will be driven entirely by the people in the company itself, not by the leadership. The RP isn't going to be outright handed to anyone, and we have to be active and motivated to participate. There will be an Open RP night every week, and then people can schedule additional RPs whenever they have personal plot that is larger than the scope of an Open RP night as well.

 

Player Driven Narratives can be some of the best RP for a company, however each player has to stay motivated for it to work out - so long as people keep making the effort to RP with one another during the social nights, and keep making the effort to make events to introduce and expand their personal RP, we should have an awesome time.

 

 

So, that's what's been going on with us. There are some loose ends from the three nights a week RPs that the leadership was running that will be tied up, and there will still be some storyteller surprises via our Advanced Character Worksheet (because some pieces of personal plots do need to surprise the player of the character), but the majority of RP progression will be drive by the entire company.