MISSION [ ghost girl ] + plotting post

[ximilian]

OVERVIEW • OBJECTIVE • LOCATIONS • PERSONS OF INTEREST • OOC NOTES

OVERVIEW

A formerly prosperous city, Gyeongje, has had a rough year: soon after the plague outbreak six months ago, the monsters — all bipedal, but each different, with claws or sharp fangs or deformed limbs — appeared, a whole new form of plague that has not left the city alone ever since. The city guard has been unable to stop the monster attacks, and the rulers of the city are desperate.

The monsters are led by a mysterious girl in white who has been dubbed “the Ghost Girl” — in the land, the rulers have promised a hefty price to anyone who manages to capture the girl who commands the monsters. They have also warned people that she is in possession of an object that allows her to control the monsters and gives her strange powers.

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OBJECTIVE

The team’s objective is to recover the orb that has gone missing in the city of Gyeongje. Viveca has traced the orb’s signal to the capital city, with its signature coming heaviest from the palace, but it is only an echo — it seems the orb itself is no longer in the city proper.

The team will be sent directly to the city, where the rulers have been contacted about their arrival and are prepared to receive them as holy warriors who will save the city from the monsters. They will give the team housing, will arrange a banquet to welcome them warmly, and have agreed to pay whatever price needs to be paid… even the strange object that has granted her powers.

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LOCATIONS

Gyeongje is a city divided into three sections: the inner city is prosperous, as evidenced by its large houses with intricately carved doors, temples that shine in red, and beautifully cultivated gardens. It is home to the aristocrats of the city, and the royal palace rises in its center: its peaked roofs and decorations of pure gold speaking of long-standing wealth, though recently the houses and streets bear signs of battle.

The merchant district is the second district of the city, and while it isn’t quite so opulent as the inner city, it is still clearly well-to-do. In both the inner city and the merchant district, there is a heavy guard presence patrolling the streets. Notable is the fact that there seem to be many homeless people on the streets, sleeping in the temples or wherever they can. Many of these people are given a wide berth by the inhabitants of the merchant district.

Between the merchant district and the third and final, outer district, there is a hastily-built wall with red markings — those of a plague outbreak. The outer district has been closed off since the plague outbreak six months ago, and anyone trying to access it is taken into custody by the city guard.

Outside the city, the landscape turns into forestland — outside of the few maintained and well-traveled roads, the forests grow large and thick, and citizens are encouraged to stay on the roads… especially as the Ghost Girl has been seen in the forest with her monsters. No one has ever seen her headquarters, but those people who have left the city in search of her have not returned.

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PERSONS OF INTEREST

LORD SUK-JU
The Lord of the City and the leader of the aristocrat council, Suk-Ju is pleasant yet efficient. He has come to power by marrying Jeung-Sun, and the citizens praise him for his easy manner and approachability. Still, Suk-Ju is very concerned with appearances, and his main concern with the monster attacks seems to be how much the constant battles and rebuilding efforts are emptying the city’s coffers.

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LADY JEUNG-SUN
Queen in all but name, Jeung-Sun is the last living member of the city’s ruling family. She succeeded her father when she was but a teenager, and has been forced to adopt a strict manner to get people to believe her and do her bidding. She is unyielding, no-nonsense and commands the city guard with absolute authority. Ever since the monster attacks started, she has seemed even more grave in her manner than usual, silent and frowning, retreating to her chambers more and more.

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THE GHOST GIRL
Little is known of the Ghost Girl — her identity, whether she is a human or a true ghost, why she is attacking the city… She is identified by her long black hair and her white clothes. She has breached the city walls several times, earning her the title of a ghost, as she seems to be able to walk even through walls. Notable is that she and her monsters always aim her attacks to the inner city, never attacking the people living in the merchant district.

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OOC NOTES

The mission spans two months: July and August. The characters will return to the station once the mission is complete, around mid-August. There are two planned logs for this mission, one for each month, and both will contain more information and details as the story progresses.

The team’s main objective is to retrieve the orb, no matter the cost. The rulers have contracted them to rid the city of the Ghost Girl and her monsters. Whether or not those two goals align will be based on the decisions made by the team. (Don’t forget — each character is also tasked with their own personal goal as well!)

The focus of this mission is investigation and information-sharing; in the first log, characters will have access to all three city districts along with the palace. There will be a chance to OOCly submit questions to the rulers and other local NPCs, as well as to submit questions for what characters would be able to see / overhear / find in different locations. The direction of this mission will be entirely in the hands of the characters, so what they find, who they talk to, where they go and how, etc — all of that will affect the conclusion of the mission.

If you want to sign your character up for a thread with the Ghost Girl, please respond here by July 4, 6PM GMT. There are two slots available. Note that if you get chosen by rng, you will be expected to ICly share what you find out to the rest of the team, so make sure you will be able to tag consistently through early July.

If you would like to sign your character up to be attacked by a monster, please respond here by July 4, 6PM GMT. Note that this option comes with eventual body horror. (Don’t worry if that is not your thing — there will be plenty to do for those who don’t sign up, too.)

The personal goals have been assigned, and can be found here. If you have any questions about your task, please ask us here! In the same comment, there are instructions for what to do if you are unhappy with the task your character has received.

Please use this post to plot for the mission and make your own plotting comments. You can use the form below:

<b>Name:</b> <b>Character:</b> <b>Personal task:</b> what ideas do you have for your personal task? would you be needing any help? <b>Plans for the mission:</b> what it says on the tin <b>ETC:</b> does your character have any powers that could help with the mission? anything else you can think of may go here!

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Comments

PERSONAL GOALS.

[ximilian]

If you absolutely hate the goal you were given and want to change it, there are two choices: you can OOCly find someone to swap goals with you, in which case, please just let the mods know by responding to this comment!

You can also request a new goal by responding to this comment thread, but it should be noted that if you do, you’ll have to stick with the new goal you are given — so choosing to ask for a new one is taking a gamble, in a way. Note that your new goal will not fall under the same umbrella category as your previous goal. (So if you were given a TRUTH goal, you will be given one of the OTHER FOUR instead.)

Please also note that the changing of the goal happens OOCly — ICly, your character receives only one task and cannot change it.

[latentforlife]

If your personal quest directly relates to the rulers, but doesn't necessarily mean you have to talk to them, do we ping an NPC for the scene or can it be hand waived a bit?

Shuusei's is to steal something from them but he doesn't intend to take it off their person. Just from their private spaces (with some help to distract guards or other attendants).

[ximilian]

In this case, Shuusei's goal would be able to be completed without NPC interaction, and you can handwave any NPCs at the scene.

However, to find out what he would find there (as this won't be included in any open prompts), please ask the mods that in the search request thread in the log itself! You can already plot out how he'd try and get in, what help he might get, etc.

[latentforlife]

Perfect! Thanks!

Question

[unclesam]

Not intending to swap, but for the sake of my understanding: Does 'don't offer anyone within the team any help' mean literally offering without being prompted, or is it less literal and also implies helping others without asking/offering, or helping when being directly asked to help?

and quick edit: does help in this case also translate to information sharing?

[ximilian]

"Offer" here essentially means provide. So whether he is prompted or not, whether he says anything or not, if Sam provides any kind of help then he would fail in achieving his goal. "Help" in this case means any sort of aid that may improve someone's situation — so healing, fighting alongside someone, getting them out of harm's way, etc. In terms of information sharing, if the information Sam provides is beneficial, it would count as help. However, if it's bad news, then that wouldn't count.

Hope this helps!

[unclesam]

Thank you so much for the quick response!
Yes, that clears things up beautifully - Sam is gonna fail this spectacularly :D

[petsthedog]

hi! i'm gonna go ahead and request a new goal. his current one would be amazing for a future mission, but i think now isn't quite the right time. thank you!

[ximilian]

Sure thing! Here is Shinjiro's new goal:

BETRAYAL • Ignore pleas for help throughout the duration of the mission.

[petsthedog]

Quick clarification question: does this only apply to direct cries for help? for example, if someone was fighting a monster and he fought with them without being asked, would he fail? alternatively if someone was about to be attacked and didn't notice the danger?

Question

[bossily]

I'm not interested in changing, but did have a question about Clara's goal. Would her goal still be considered a success if she withheld useful/good information but did reveal something that was either useless or bad?

And is she expected to hold back on all information she uncovers, or would even a single piece of information work to accomplish her goal? I signed her up for the RNG for the ghost girl but then realized if she's expected to withhold all information that she wouldn't be the best candidate for that and wanted to pull her name out of the hat before it's too late.

[ximilian]

In Clara's case, because her particular goal falls under the category of sabotage, it would only count if the information she shares is at all beneficial to the team's success. So, good or bad, if it progresses the mission in any way, she would fail. However, if it's useless and provides nothing to the mission then she would be just fine.

And, yes, this counts for all information she uncovers!

[bossily]

Got it! Thank you for the clarification!

[morethan084]

Not changing but I want to understand better, Daisy's supposed to sabotage by ruining the teams success by any means. Does that mean the whole entire mission or just an aspect of it?

[ximilian]

As ruining the entire mission on her own would be very hard, just an aspect of it will be enough. It's up to you to decide which aspect that will be, and how Daisy goes about it if she chooses to try and complete her goal.

[morethan084]

That’s what I figured, but I just wanted to be sure. Thank you!

[peasant]

hello! just a quick question: alina's personal goal is VIOLENCE • Use your powers against an ally. does intent factor in, or would this rule out sparring matches and using her powers against someone who might volunteer to get scuffed up by them? since it was under the violence category, i figured it might not count unless there's a genuine violent intent behind using her powers but just wanted to check before i decide how horrible it will be 😌

[ximilian]

As her goal does not explicitly state that she can't talk about it to others, it means she is free to pre-plan it, so to speak — if someone volunteers to be hurt, the intent to use her powers against this someone is still there even if it is agreed on. However, the category is violence, so simply making a bright ball of light and waving it at someone will not be enough.

[peasant]

excellent! thank you c:

Re: PERSONAL GOALS.

[longoverdue]

no changing goals here, I'm excited for it, but quick question: by "let someone get hurt", could Richie possibly get away with letting a teammate get a minor injury before he comes in to try and get them out of trouble? or does he need to like, let them get seriously hurt without stepping in?

[ximilian]

As the goal does not specify the level of hurt, even a minor injury would be enough — as long as it happens where Richie would have a chance to prevent it from happening but won't do anything about it.

[cruelyethuman]

TRUTH • Reveal a secret from your past to a teammate.

Not looking to change it, but I have a question. Can it be any secret? Like, I secretly always loved sunshine (but someone like his mother would already know this) or should the secret be something he hasn't told anyone before? Can it be a small secret, or do only big secrets apply? There's a huge difference between admitting to using his powers to watch girls shower when he was young, to admitting that he was young about 500 years ago?

[ximilian]

A secret in this case means something significant enough that he would be reluctant to share it (so even if no one knows that he really loves pirogi, that would not count), and has to be a true secret, meaning that it is either something no one knows about him, or it is something known by only one or two others but who would never let it be known by anyone else.

[romancekiller]

I'm not changing goals but a quick question for clarification! For capturing the monster, is there a duration on that for it to qualify during the mission or is the initial capturing part sufficient for her to then just let it go free or something?

[ximilian]

There is no specified duration for this particular goal, however since it does falls under the "sabotage" category, the capturing must, in some way, be a deterrent to the overall mission. We'll leave that part up to you, but if you'd like for some suggestions we're more than happy to provide some!