As I believe is the case with a god's emergence, allow me to bump. Please, repeat any questions you would like to hear an answer to, or ask new ones at your leisure!
You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden
you look down, and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You
reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays
on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying
to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re
not helping. Why is that?
You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden
you look down, and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You
reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays
on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying
to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re
not helping. Why is that?
You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden
you look down, and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You
reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays
on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying
to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re
not helping. Why is that?
Because the effort expended to kill the tortoise to consume it would be more effort that could be better spent maintaining my temperature. Allow the sun to cook it and pierce its shell with my hairpin before drinking its innards.
1. What was it about the role that made you decide to pick it?
2. Do you have a favorite easter egg that you can share (could be a description, mob response, etc)?
1. Malmydia is a role that has filled the game with a sense of wonder for a long time, in my personal opinion. She is certainly my favourite Elder, however biased that statement may be. I thought it was high time we got a chance to see her back in the story, and I am sure that it will be a wonderful one that we tell.
2. Magnagorans may have noticed a new city member during the previous event's weeks, and an Ilithyia at that! The easter egg here is that her hair style is styled very closely after my mother's, as I based a lot of the NPC's design on an older picture of her.
You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden
you look down, and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You
reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays
on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying
to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re
not helping. Why is that?
1. What was it about the role that made you decide to pick it?
2. Do you have a favorite easter egg that you can share (could be a description, mob response, etc)?
1. A major love for commune lore combined with a major love for the mystical and spiritual, with a dash of loving just how many faces (besides the obvious three) Lisaera is capable of.
2. I have so many favorite easter eggs, but unfortunately, none that I can share. There's so much excellent writing and so many fun little secrets everywhere in the game though. Some NPCs will have reactions built in for surprising questions or phrases!
You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden
you look down, and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You
reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays
on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying
to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re
not helping. Why is that?
1. Why did you choose the release event that you did? Did you have any other ideas that you decided against for your release?
2. What is your favorite way to describe a voice?
3. Is there something you regret not doing as a mortal before you became an admin?
4. What is something that surprised you when you first moved over to the admin side (that you can share)? What is something that still surprises you about being an admin (that you can share)?
1. Why did you choose the release event that you did? Did you have any other ideas that you decided against for your release?
2. What is your favorite way to describe a voice?
3. Is there something you regret not doing as a mortal before you became an admin?
4. What is something that surprised you when you first moved over to the admin side (that you can share)? What is something that still surprises you about being an admin (that you can share)?
1. Funny story, I had the start of a whole big story planned for my release. I REALLY wanted to release Lisaera in November 2021 before FFXIV Endwalker released (and then they went and delayed the expansion's release anyway ) I initially planned to have my release event(s) happen mid-late month. And then Serenwilde announced a several-week festival for exactly the time frame I was hoping for. I'm very happy with the event - it was a really fun way to interact with current Seren characters and get a feel for how I wanted to write Lisaera without the stress of being in God-form (or officially confirmed to be Lisaera, even, with a conveniently unnamed NPC interacting during a year when we had lots of unnamed NPCs attending various player events).
2. When she isn't fully manifested somewhere, Lisaera's voice is gossamer - light, insubstantial, soft, ethereal, etc. Easy to mistake for the wind, or for a spirit.
3. Nothing comes to mind! I would have liked my particular ephemeral call to have happened a month or two later than it did maybe, but I can't say I have any regrets at all. Maybe not winning Beauty?
4. Goodness, there is a lot I absolutely cannot share that surprised and still surprises me. I'm going to pass on this one, sorry!
1. Why did you choose the release event that you did? Did you have any other ideas that you decided against for your release?
2. What is your favorite way to describe a voice?
3. Is there something you regret not doing as a mortal before you became an admin?
4. What is something that surprised you when you first moved over to the admin side (that you can share)? What is something that still surprises you about being an admin (that you can share)?
1. Death and undeath mean a lot to Magnagora, especially. With the release of a healer goddess who would be aligned with the city, I thought it would be much more fun to have them examine it from a more scientific and medical perspective (in-universe) and get to experience a little bit of a murder mystery. What other ideas I may have had are documented for potential future use, so I'm afraid mum's the word on that.
2. Voices are a little difficult for my role, as Malmydia is historically described as a plain, unassuming Goddess. I use the measure of her voice, how fast/slow she speaks and reacts to things to indicate what her soft, measured voice may otherwise hide.
3. Much like Malmydia, I, the player behind her, have no regrets on past actions, accomplished or otherwise.
4. How wildly different colour configs are between people! I didn't realise some people changed say and emote colours. More in line with the present, something that surprises me (which I love to include) is what question a player will ask when given an opportunity to ask anything. The panic and freedom combining usually result in some very interesting combinations.
The False Gods are back, but this time they are impersonating rather than replacing Elders.
1. Who do you think would do the best job pretending to be You? 2. What 'tell' gives away the game to Your (dis)Order? 3. What trophy do You take from Your doppelganger?
Unrelated to that scenario, 4. What's your favorite room/mob/item description that you've seen? 5. Was there a quest or area whose documentation you saw after taking on the Godrole that made you go "Oh, that makes more sense now."? (no need to say which if its spoilers, but I'm also asking about quests where the solution makes more sense now, or if there was a connection that we can see that you didn't know about beforehand.) 6. If You were given a monument, idol, or gift by Your Order, what would it be?
1. What is it you enjoy most about being godadmin? Ie, what got you through ephhood/keeps you logging in still?
2. What's something you've found unexpectedly difficult (could be behind the scenes in general, transitioning to ephhood from mortal, or transition from eph to godmin)?
3. Maybe too close to Ayisdra's question but what's something that really caught you off guard but couldn't help but laugh about (that you're allowed to share). I'm thinking along the lines of weird bugs, events going off rails, etc.
"While in town the baker gives you a
sweetroll. Delighted, you take it into an alley to enjoy, only to be
intercepted by a gang of three kids your age. The leader demands the
sweetroll, or else he and his friends will beat you and take it."
Act like you're going to give him the sweetroll, but at the
last minute throw it in the air, hoping that they'll pay attention to it
long enough for you to get a shot in on the leader?
Give him the sweetroll now without argument, knowing that later
this afternoon you will have all your friends with you and can come and
take whatever he owes you?
Drop the sweetroll and step on it, then get ready for the fight?
The False Gods are back, but this time they are impersonating rather than replacing Elders.
1. Who do you think would do the best job pretending to be You? 2. What 'tell' gives away the game to Your (dis)Order? 3. What trophy do You take from Your doppelganger?
Unrelated to that scenario, 4. What's your favorite room/mob/item description that you've seen? 5. Was there a quest or area whose documentation you saw after taking on the Godrole that made you go "Oh, that makes more sense now."? (no need to say which if its spoilers, but I'm also asking about quests where the solution makes more sense now, or if there was a connection that we can see that you didn't know about beforehand.) 6. If You were given a monument, idol, or gift by Your Order, what would it be?
I'm currently unstudied on the False Gods, so I am going to let better informed admin answer those questions!
4. I just love Sparrow Longfellow, the Sowers guild tutor. I also really love the newest rooms recently introduced to Serenwilde. 5. I wasn't huge into questing as a player, so I don't have any quests that made more sense after coming up. There are some really neat tricks to tracking and organizing quests, though, that make the general structure of our quests make a whole lot more sense! 6. The hearts of twelve very particular gods. It wouldn't kill them, I'm pretty sure. Not forever.
1. What is it you enjoy most about being godadmin? Ie, what got you through ephhood/keeps you logging in still?
2. What's something you've found unexpectedly difficult (could be behind the scenes in general, transitioning to ephhood from mortal, or transition from eph to godmin)?
3. Maybe too close to Ayisdra's question but what's something that really caught you off guard but couldn't help but laugh about (that you're allowed to share). I'm thinking along the lines of weird bugs, events going off rails, etc.
1. Seeing player reactions to the things that I've created, both in character and out of character! 2. Related to the above, it's a little hard sometimes to not be able to point at something and say 'I made that!' 3. Besides the surprise you always feel when something that has been perfectly tested, for some reason you cannot fathom, decides to not work when it's live - I'm not sure I can think of anything that's caught me off guard in a negative way. I'm always VERY pleasantly surprised when players opt not to spam the thing I had anticipated them spamming, but roleplay instead. It can sometimes catch me off guard and require some quick thinking and maybe quick building on my feet, but don't be discouraged if you're roleplaying something we'd initially planned to be simpler interactions and are getting a few long pauses - we're probably flying to adjust our plans because we love it!
"While in town the baker gives you a
sweetroll. Delighted, you take it into an alley to enjoy, only to be
intercepted by a gang of three kids your age. The leader demands the
sweetroll, or else he and his friends will beat you and take it."
Act like you're going to give him the sweetroll, but at the
last minute throw it in the air, hoping that they'll pay attention to it
long enough for you to get a shot in on the leader?
Give him the sweetroll now without argument, knowing that later
this afternoon you will have all your friends with you and can come and
take whatever he owes you?
Drop the sweetroll and step on it, then get ready for the fight?
Maiden answers 1, Mother answers 2, Crone absolutely answers 3.
What's your favorite memory of being a god, so far? Can be crushing a particularly pesky bug, rp with your order (or org, or even a totally random person you didn't expect to show up in your fulcrux, etc), rp you got while possessing a mob, or anything you can think of. Feel free to redact if need be!
Alternatively, what's your godrole's favorite beverage?
1. Why did you choose the release event that you did? Did you have any other ideas that you decided against for your release?
2. What is your favorite way to describe a voice?
3. Is there something you regret not doing as a mortal before you became an admin?
4. What is something that surprised you when you first moved over to the admin side (that you can share)? What is something that still surprises you about being an admin (that you can share)?
1.) Well, Terentia's release was also Lantra's release, so there was some triangulating on our end about how and why they came together. I liked the idea of using some of the old Terentia materials in order to point that this is a new person taking on the role. I don't think I had any other ideas, honestly. I more or less went with the one we originally did.
2.) A voice? Terentia's voice? Terentia's voice is always described as "firm yet feminine," and I think of it almost as if she was very cross.
3.) I think maybe invest more in whatever family my mortal was in? I think I mentioned before my roleplay style as a mortal was always like I was playing a single-player campaign in a multiplayer game, so I would have liked to have actually participated more in the family that I joined.
4) I think for both: the amount of story/lore/plot that is and is not revealed.
The False Gods are back, but this time they are impersonating rather than replacing Elders.
1. Who do you think would do the best job pretending to be You? 2. What 'tell' gives away the game to Your (dis)Order? 3. What trophy do You take from Your doppelganger?
Unrelated to that scenario, 4. What's your favorite room/mob/item description that you've seen? 5. Was there a quest or area whose documentation you saw after taking on the Godrole that made you go "Oh, that makes more sense now."? (no need to say which if its spoilers, but I'm also asking about quests where the solution makes more sense now, or if there was a connection that we can see that you didn't know about beforehand.) 6. If You were given a monument, idol, or gift by Your Order, what would it be?
1.) I think Aelish would likely be the obvious choice, but I am going to go with Frai. If Frai's role is "aloof," that I think plays into the steeliness that Terentia portrays in a clearer way than a sort of parental figure that Aelish has.
2.) I imagine Frai would be a bit too conniving than Terentia; her idea of strategies would be plots rather than tactics.
3.) Terentia's helm, which would be the titular "hood" of the "Hooded One."
4.) Room: "A stone bridge" in Glomdoring. Not because it is the most beautifully written room, but because of the kind of history that it evokes. Mob: "A saltwater weird," which only a slim few got to see. Item: This is hard, because there are just so many item descriptions... and this might be a cop-out since it is a Celest item, but I really do love "a tarnished scabbard of gilded dolphins."
5.) Honestly, I don't think there are many quests or areas that elicit that response for me anymore.
6.) One of those giant topiary statue like things (think the "porcelain vase" from the Met Gala's "China: Through the Looking Glass"), but a sword made out of daffodils.
1. What is it you enjoy most about being godadmin? Ie, what got you through ephhood/keeps you logging in still?
2. What's something you've found unexpectedly difficult (could be behind the scenes in general, transitioning to ephhood from mortal, or transition from eph to godmin)?
3. Maybe too close to Ayisdra's question but what's something that really caught you off guard but couldn't help but laugh about (that you're allowed to share). I'm thinking along the lines of weird bugs, events going off rails, etc.
1.) The ability to collaborate with really excellent people whose writing skills surpass my own. There is something about watching someone in the Havens team just suddenly whip up a description or a line for something that is so beautifully crafted that is truly spectacular.
2.) More "in general" and also less "unexpectedly," but managing the feelings about whether or not you are investing enough or not. Specifically regarding being a "god" or patroning things.
3) I think the only honest answer is some of the conclusions everyone draws related to things--either OOC through Discord or IC through thinking.
"While in town the baker gives you a
sweetroll. Delighted, you take it into an alley to enjoy, only to be
intercepted by a gang of three kids your age. The leader demands the
sweetroll, or else he and his friends will beat you and take it."
Act like you're going to give him the sweetroll, but at the
last minute throw it in the air, hoping that they'll pay attention to it
long enough for you to get a shot in on the leader?
Give him the sweetroll now without argument, knowing that later
this afternoon you will have all your friends with you and can come and
take whatever he owes you?
Drop the sweetroll and step on it, then get ready for the fight?
What's your favorite memory of being a god, so far? Can be crushing a particularly pesky bug, rp with your order (or org, or even a totally random person you didn't expect to show up in your fulcrux, etc), rp you got while possessing a mob, or anything you can think of. Feel free to redact if need be!
Alternatively, what's your godrole's favorite beverage?
1. It's cheating because it's not exactly a singular moment, but I live for one on one roleplay scenes, especially those where something is revealed in the nature of both characters.
2. Anything brewed out of love and worship (of her, to be clear), especially beverages that are infused with various things she herself likes to manipulate or surround herself with. Especially when offered as a libation.
The False Gods are back, but this time they are impersonating rather than replacing Elders.
1. Who do you think would do the best job pretending to be You? 2. What 'tell' gives away the game to Your (dis)Order? 3. What trophy do You take from Your doppelganger?
Unrelated to that scenario, 4. What's your favorite room/mob/item description that you've seen? 5. Was there a quest or area whose documentation you saw after taking on the Godrole that made you go "Oh, that makes more sense now."? (no need to say which if its spoilers, but I'm also asking about quests where the solution makes more sense now, or if there was a connection that we can see that you didn't know about beforehand.) 6. If You were given a monument, idol, or gift by Your Order, what would it be?
1. I am afraid that I'm not the most qualified on the False Gods, so I'll guess Frei because she'd probably be able to be both as heartless and as aloof as Malmydia.
2. The strangeness of Her smell.
3. Why, her blood of course! No one else needs it
4. Because I am overly devoted to my mother, Jacintha is likely my favourite, but I will also give a surprising answer and say that I really enjoy Elytho Serole's design as well. I do love looking at all the gorgeous appearances that exit the Havens these days, but I am a particularly big fan of the designs for items, npcs, clothing, etc. that go out by the Seren team - Lisaera and Maylea have such a gorgeous set to work with and they really make the most of it at all times!
5. Not so much in a way that was confusion, but I particularly enjoyed when I took on my admin position that I got to learn how some of my favourite area/mechanics worked so I could attempt to better recreate them in the future.
6. While I've yet to open my order to the public, I think an assumed portrait of what the Siblings looked like at a younger age (done respectfully, of course) would be the sweetest gift that could be given to Malmydia. Of course, She would never tell you that, and may just kill you over it anyway.
1. What is it you enjoy most about being godadmin? Ie, what got you through ephhood/keeps you logging in still?
2. What's something you've found unexpectedly difficult (could be behind the scenes in general, transitioning to ephhood from mortal, or transition from eph to godmin)?
3. Maybe too close to Ayisdra's question but what's something that really caught you off guard but couldn't help but laugh about (that you're allowed to share). I'm thinking along the lines of weird bugs, events going off rails, etc.
1. This will sound cheesy, perhaps, but I adore seeing logs shared and player reactions. Something about strangers interacting with something you poured effort into and gushing about it really gives your ego a needed boost on the hard days where imposter syndrome runs the worst - even just reactions in discord will stumble me at times, seeing the sheer number of people who saw something and know that they're watching (and hopefully waiting) for what else might come. My work is as much for you all as it is for me, and seeing you enjoy it keeps the fire burning bright.
2. I will answer this slightly differently: while being hidden from mortal perception in the extreme manner Malmydia was (We made sure you couldn't honours her, find her accidentally, etc.) I was unable to hear the city aether at first, and a few of our god backend systems needed tweaking so we weren't hiding me from ourselves.
3. You got on the anchor, looked around. I went into my notepad to pull out the god-mote. I alt+tab back in and hit paste and enter, a second after you boarded the ship again and took off. I was laughing, crying, and "looking" at Drocilla going, 'WAIT WHAT NOW?!'
"While in town the baker gives you a
sweetroll. Delighted, you take it into an alley to enjoy, only to be
intercepted by a gang of three kids your age. The leader demands the
sweetroll, or else he and his friends will beat you and take it."
Act like you're going to give him the sweetroll, but at the
last minute throw it in the air, hoping that they'll pay attention to it
long enough for you to get a shot in on the leader?
Give him the sweetroll now without argument, knowing that later
this afternoon you will have all your friends with you and can come and
take whatever he owes you?
Drop the sweetroll and step on it, then get ready for the fight?
- Violence is always an acceptable option: choice one.
What's your favorite memory of being a god, so far? Can be crushing a particularly pesky bug, rp with your order (or org, or even a totally random person you didn't expect to show up in your fulcrux, etc), rp you got while possessing a mob, or anything you can think of. Feel free to redact if need be!
Alternatively, what's your godrole's favorite beverage?
The sheer drama of the moment when Malmydia's sibling relations were revealed was only met by seeing Drocilla lift away the curtain in-character during my release event and seeing it all come together. The lore nerds in the audience were rapt with attention and reacted exactly as I hoped they would when learning Malmydia/Ein/Mugowumpois were crechmates. *chefskiss*
It's near the end of the movie. Everything seems hopeless, and the bad guys are about to win. All is lost. Suddenly, Your theme music comes up, and the audience knows. It's time for Your Big Damn Hero Moment.
1. What song is playing? 2. How do you show up to resolve the situation? 3. Did you bring allies? 4. What was the situation?
1. Why did you choose the release event that you did? Did you have any other ideas that you decided against for your release?
2. What is your favorite way to describe a voice?
3. Is there something you regret not doing as a mortal before you became an admin?
4. What is something that surprised you when you first moved over to the admin side (that you can share)? What is something that still surprises you about being an admin (that you can share)?
1. I intentionally didn't want a large release event where a huge deal was made of Ein or him being back. There's a lot of behind the scenes reasons for this, but ultimately it comes down to my own vision for Gaudiguch and the Ein role itself, and what is best for both. It did backfire a bit in that a lot of people didn't even realise Ein was released until months afterward, but that's a temporary problem that fixed itself with time. 2. Trembling. Or quivering perhaps. I don't get to use these quite as often as I'd like. 3. Nothing. I did everything I set out as a personal goal. 4. The biggest surprise I had when I first came up is how nice and helpful everybody is in the Havens; I truly expected them all to be the Baba Yaga given textual flesh, and nobody came close. There is plenty that still surprises me, but the one thing I will point to is how much that still exists that I don't know about, or knew about at one point and just forgot - there's been an insane amount of content released for Lusternia, not all of it obvious, and it is very easy to miss a lot of it. An easy example to point to is Grand Junction, a room whose description I only read for the first time last night: the verbose (long) description of the room is quite enlightening as to the original intention for the purpose of the room, and in the almost 18 years Lusternia has existed I cannot recall a time I have ever seen or heard of it being used for this purpose, and please do correct me if I am missing something.
4. What's your favorite room/mob/item description that you've seen? 6. If You were given a monument, idol, or gift by Your Order, what would it be?
4. It's hard to pick one, but if I had to do so, it would probably be Bandrui, Serenwilde's executioner. Mugwumps have long since been my favorite Lusternian race and Bandrui is an exquisite example of one done well and evocatively. 6. Roleplay hooks. Trauma, ideally.
1. What is it you enjoy most about being godadmin? Ie, what got you through ephhood/keeps you logging in still?
2. What's something you've found unexpectedly difficult (could be behind the scenes in general, transitioning to ephhood from mortal, or transition from eph to godmin)?
3. Maybe too close to Ayisdra's question but what's something that really caught you off guard but couldn't help but laugh about (that you're allowed to share). I'm thinking along the lines of weird bugs, events going off rails, etc.
1. There are two answers to this: it's an outlet, and we're fairly close-knit as a group. I work a very stressful and mentally-draining job outside of Lusternia that, these days, requires less creativity and more analysis and management, so being able to write and roleplay here gives me an outlet to create. As well, and I'm sure it's no surprise to hear this, a lot of us in the Havens are friends with each other and do form the friendships in ephhood and beyond, to the point that we even share some non-Lusternia hobbies, and this is a really lovely and valuable connection to have. 2. The paradigm shift from mortal to ephemeral/godhood was the big one for me. As a mortal, my question was always "what sounds cool?" and "what will leave the biggest impression?". This immediately had to shift as an ephemeral to "how does this interact with the story?" and "what place does it have in the world?" Both my writing and acting backgrounds are in improvisation, so this was a difficult shift for me. 3. I will not give specifics here, but nothing ever goes right no matter how much you test it ahead of time. Sometimes this is because we know how it works and can't think to test every option, and others it is purely because you all, as Terentia, Lisaera, and Malmydia have pointed out, talk amongst yourselves and end up drawing conclusions through games of telephone that skip left field and seem to just spawn in from thin air. As frustrating as it can be, it is also very fun to watch and something I enjoy.
"While in town the baker gives you a
sweetroll. Delighted, you take it into an alley to enjoy, only to be
intercepted by a gang of three kids your age. The leader demands the
sweetroll, or else he and his friends will beat you and take it."
Act like you're going to give him the sweetroll, but at the
last minute throw it in the air, hoping that they'll pay attention to it
long enough for you to get a shot in on the leader?
Give him the sweetroll now without argument, knowing that later
this afternoon you will have all your friends with you and can come and
take whatever he owes you?
Drop the sweetroll and step on it, then get ready for the fight?
Ask Socucius Ergalla why he is making me fill out a Buzzfeed personality quiz on my census form when I have a dead general to mantle and a god to kill, then go steal the platter on the shelf to my right for spending money.
What's your favorite memory of being a god, so far? Can be crushing a particularly pesky bug, rp with your order (or org, or even a totally random person you didn't expect to show up in your fulcrux, etc), rp you got while possessing a mob, or anything you can think of. Feel free to redact if need be!
Alternatively, what's your godrole's favorite beverage?
1. The moment when a player figured out the secret.
Ask Socucius Ergalla why he is making me fill out a Buzzfeed personality quiz on my census form when I have a dead general to mantle and a god to kill, then go steal the platter on the shelf to my right for spending money.
"AAAAAAAAAAH YES, we've been expecting you."
I. Love. This. Game.
Everiine is a man, and is very manly. This MAN before you is so manly you might as well just gender bend right now, cause he's the manliest man that you ever did see. His manly shape has spurned many women and girlyer men to boughs of fainting. He stands before you in a manly manerific typical man-like outfit which is covered in his manly motto: "I am a man!"
Daraius said: You gotta risk it for the biscuit.
Pony power all the way, yo. The more Brontaurs the better.
1. The moment when a player figured out the secret.
This one has probably been asked before (and likely on like...that last page), but I'm extremely lazy so I'm not going to check. Do any of you have a favorite specific ambient message? Bonus points if no one can guess where/what the heck it's from.
Crumkane, Lord of Epicurean Delights says, "WAS IT INDEED ON FIRE, ERITHEYL."
-
With a deep reverb, Contemptible Sutekh says, "CEASE YOUR INFERNAL ENERGY, ERITHEYL."
Malmydia spoke of a 'containment room of Malmydia'. Does this mean you always login to that room instead of wherever you signed off at? I always assumed godmin always got the password to the god in question, but I suppose malmydia could be signing in as superbob and then putting on the malmydia outfit.
When you get that final approval of getting your godrole, how much do you actually write about them? Do you write thousands of pages that may never see the light of day or do you write things as they come up/players ask?
How much do you and your fellow godmin plan out between your roles? Obliviously you do some history, but do you RP out scenes of your past? The epic fights that happen eons ago?
Are you ever sadden by things you design (descs, npcs, etc) that people may only see once and never again? Or things people might miss completely and once the event is over are gone forever?
The 'containment room' I referenced is not a place where our characters go when we log out, but is instead a room that is used when we use a fancy new punishment known as contain! Not every god has it set up, and it's quite something to earn it, hence my phrasing of you being fortunate if you only ever see it in-game. We do return to the room which we log out in, same as you!
We write so much. However, no amount of preparatory writing will prepare you for every question a player will ask, and as such things are bound to get written as players surprise you - though it often will be done in such a way that you aren't truly sure that we were stumped!
This varies between people and gods, especially depending on the connections. I have plenty of scenes written out with [redacted] and with [redacted] we've established major points and intend to explore them more deeply in the future.
I do have a small amount of bittersweet regret when people are too fast or are able to skip past things that I had intended for them to see. Fortunately, you players tend to have keen eyes to catch the vast majority of things, and miss only a small amount. I know in the past we've been quite happy to share things that were missed if people think to ask for them, and to quote some DMs who I am quite fond of, "I respect the hustle, can't be mad at you for shooting your shot." If you worry you may have missed something that could not be seen again, why not ask in the Descriptions thread?
Amusement tends to be my reaction rather than PANEC, and can lead to fun times! The first example that springs to mind is Merceaux and the beggars, from my release event. The oft-forgotten eye of the numerous downtrodden and hungry in Magnagora was turned to player favour and led to some laughs as we joked about what a beggar would even consider spending the amount of gold they were given on.
Comments
1. What was it about the role that made you decide to pick it?
2. Do you have a favorite easter egg that you can share (could be a description, mob response, etc)?
F'ai Glomdoring.
Because the effort expended to kill the tortoise to consume it would be more effort that could be better spent maintaining my temperature. Allow the sun to cook it and pierce its shell with my hairpin before drinking its innards.
1. Malmydia is a role that has filled the game with a sense of wonder for a long time, in my personal opinion. She is certainly my favourite Elder, however biased that statement may be. I thought it was high time we got a chance to see her back in the story, and I am sure that it will be a wonderful one that we tell.
1. It was 100% <spoiler redacted> that made me pick up the role. It's such a cool idea.
2. Not that I can share yet.
Curiosity.
2. I have so many favorite easter eggs, but unfortunately, none that I can share. There's so much excellent writing and so many fun little secrets everywhere in the game though. Some NPCs will have reactions built in for surprising questions or phrases!
Survival of the fittest.
2. When she isn't fully manifested somewhere, Lisaera's voice is gossamer - light, insubstantial, soft, ethereal, etc. Easy to mistake for the wind, or for a spirit.
3. Nothing comes to mind! I would have liked my particular ephemeral call to have happened a month or two later than it did maybe, but I can't say I have any regrets at all. Maybe not winning Beauty?
1. Who do you think would do the best job pretending to be You?
2. What 'tell' gives away the game to Your (dis)Order?
3. What trophy do You take from Your doppelganger?
Unrelated to that scenario,
4. What's your favorite room/mob/item description that you've seen?
5. Was there a quest or area whose documentation you saw after taking on the Godrole that made you go "Oh, that makes more sense now."? (no need to say which if its spoilers, but I'm also asking about quests where the solution makes more sense now, or if there was a connection that we can see that you didn't know about beforehand.)
6. If You were given a monument, idol, or gift by Your Order, what would it be?
1. What is it you enjoy most about being godadmin? Ie, what got you through ephhood/keeps you logging in still?
2. What's something you've found unexpectedly difficult (could be behind the scenes in general, transitioning to ephhood from mortal, or transition from eph to godmin)?
3. Maybe too close to Ayisdra's question but what's something that really caught you off guard but couldn't help but laugh about (that you're allowed to share). I'm thinking along the lines of weird bugs, events going off rails, etc.
4. I just love Sparrow Longfellow, the Sowers guild tutor. I also really love the newest rooms recently introduced to Serenwilde.
5. I wasn't huge into questing as a player, so I don't have any quests that made more sense after coming up. There are some really neat tricks to tracking and organizing quests, though, that make the general structure of our quests make a whole lot more sense!
6. The hearts of twelve very particular gods. It wouldn't kill them, I'm pretty sure. Not forever.
1. Seeing player reactions to the things that I've created, both in character and out of character!
2. Related to the above, it's a little hard sometimes to not be able to point at something and say 'I made that!'
3. Besides the surprise you always feel when something that has been perfectly tested, for some reason you cannot fathom, decides to not work when it's live - I'm not sure I can think of anything that's caught me off guard in a negative way. I'm always VERY pleasantly surprised when players opt not to spam the thing I had anticipated them spamming, but roleplay instead. It can sometimes catch me off guard and require some quick thinking and maybe quick building on my feet, but don't be discouraged if you're roleplaying something we'd initially planned to be simpler interactions and are getting a few long pauses - we're probably flying to adjust our plans because we love it!
Maiden answers 1, Mother answers 2, Crone absolutely answers 3.
2.) A voice? Terentia's voice? Terentia's voice is always described as "firm yet feminine," and I think of it almost as if she was very cross.
3.) I think maybe invest more in whatever family my mortal was in? I think I mentioned before my roleplay style as a mortal was always like I was playing a single-player campaign in a multiplayer game, so I would have liked to have actually participated more in the family that I joined.
4) I think for both: the amount of story/lore/plot that is and is not revealed.
1.) I think Aelish would likely be the obvious choice, but I am going to go with Frai. If Frai's role is "aloof," that I think plays into the steeliness that Terentia portrays in a clearer way than a sort of parental figure that Aelish has.
2.) I imagine Frai would be a bit too conniving than Terentia; her idea of strategies would be plots rather than tactics.
3.) Terentia's helm, which would be the titular "hood" of the "Hooded One."
4.) Room: "A stone bridge" in Glomdoring. Not because it is the most beautifully written room, but because of the kind of history that it evokes. Mob: "A saltwater weird," which only a slim few got to see. Item: This is hard, because there are just so many item descriptions... and this might be a cop-out since it is a Celest item, but I really do love "a tarnished scabbard of gilded dolphins."
5.) Honestly, I don't think there are many quests or areas that elicit that response for me anymore.
6.) One of those giant topiary statue like things (think the "porcelain vase" from the Met Gala's "China: Through the Looking Glass"), but a sword made out of daffodils.
1.) The ability to collaborate with really excellent people whose writing skills surpass my own. There is something about watching someone in the Havens team just suddenly whip up a description or a line for something that is so beautifully crafted that is truly spectacular.
2.) More "in general" and also less "unexpectedly," but managing the feelings about whether or not you are investing enough or not. Specifically regarding being a "god" or patroning things.
3) I think the only honest answer is some of the conclusions everyone draws related to things--either OOC through Discord or IC through thinking.
Terentia, 3. Me, 1.
2. Anything brewed out of love and worship (of her, to be clear), especially beverages that are infused with various things she herself likes to manipulate or surround herself with. Especially when offered as a libation.
- Violence is always an acceptable option: choice one.
The sheer drama of the moment when Malmydia's sibling relations were revealed was only met by seeing Drocilla lift away the curtain in-character during my release event and seeing it all come together. The lore nerds in the audience were rapt with attention and reacted exactly as I hoped they would when learning Malmydia/Ein/Mugowumpois were crechmates. *chefskiss*
1. What song is playing?
2. How do you show up to resolve the situation?
3. Did you bring allies?
4. What was the situation?
2. Trembling. Or quivering perhaps. I don't get to use these quite as often as I'd like.
3. Nothing. I did everything I set out as a personal goal.
4. The biggest surprise I had when I first came up is how nice and helpful everybody is in the Havens; I truly expected them all to be the Baba Yaga given textual flesh, and nobody came close. There is plenty that still surprises me, but the one thing I will point to is how much that still exists that I don't know about, or knew about at one point and just forgot - there's been an insane amount of content released for Lusternia, not all of it obvious, and it is very easy to miss a lot of it. An easy example to point to is Grand Junction, a room whose description I only read for the first time last night: the verbose (long) description of the room is quite enlightening as to the original intention for the purpose of the room, and in the almost 18 years Lusternia has existed I cannot recall a time I have ever seen or heard of it being used for this purpose, and please do correct me if I am missing something.
4. It's hard to pick one, but if I had to do so, it would probably be Bandrui, Serenwilde's executioner. Mugwumps have long since been my favorite Lusternian race and Bandrui is an exquisite example of one done well and evocatively.
6. Roleplay hooks. Trauma, ideally.
1. There are two answers to this: it's an outlet, and we're fairly close-knit as a group. I work a very stressful and mentally-draining job outside of Lusternia that, these days, requires less creativity and more analysis and management, so being able to write and roleplay here gives me an outlet to create. As well, and I'm sure it's no surprise to hear this, a lot of us in the Havens are friends with each other and do form the friendships in ephhood and beyond, to the point that we even share some non-Lusternia hobbies, and this is a really lovely and valuable connection to have.
2. The paradigm shift from mortal to ephemeral/godhood was the big one for me. As a mortal, my question was always "what sounds cool?" and "what will leave the biggest impression?". This immediately had to shift as an ephemeral to "how does this interact with the story?" and "what place does it have in the world?" Both my writing and acting backgrounds are in improvisation, so this was a difficult shift for me.
3. I will not give specifics here, but nothing ever goes right no matter how much you test it ahead of time. Sometimes this is because we know how it works and can't think to test every option, and others it is purely because you all, as Terentia, Lisaera, and Malmydia have pointed out, talk amongst yourselves and end up drawing conclusions through games of telephone that skip left field and seem to just spawn in from thin air. As frustrating as it can be, it is also very fun to watch and something I enjoy.
Ask Socucius Ergalla why he is making me fill out a Buzzfeed personality quiz on my census form when I have a dead general to mantle and a god to kill, then go steal the platter on the shelf to my right for spending money.
1. The moment when a player figured out the secret.
2. Probably water.
1. <redacted>
2. Hope.
3. No. Two left feet.
4. Who's asking?
5. Nothing. I don't lose.
This one has probably been asked before (and likely on like...that last page), but I'm extremely lazy so I'm not going to check. Do any of you have a favorite specific ambient message? Bonus points if no one can guess where/what the heck it's from.
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