Best Of
Re: Portrait Gallery: show off character or lusternia related fanart you've commissioned or created!
A character sketch of my Shadowcaster Faeling, Xytia!
shot of some of the design process as well as bonus content...
Xytia
5
Re: Portrait Gallery: show off character or lusternia related fanart you've commissioned or created!
A lot has changed!
Re: Lusternian Divine AMA
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.Ayisdra said: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)?
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.Luce said:
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?
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.Uzriel said:Another couple of questions here!
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.
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.Kalliope said:"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?
1. The moment when a player figured out the secret.Esei said: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?
2. Probably water.
1. <redacted>Kalliope said:1. What's your damage?2. What's in the box?3. Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?4. Kill anyone today?5. What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss?
2. Hope.
3. No. Two left feet.
4. Who's asking?
5. Nothing. I don't lose.
Ein
7
Re: Lore Friendly Beasts and Dwellers
In the past, when customisations were the sole behest of one person rather than a dedicated group of administrators, things could easily slip through the cracks after a long day of work - especially when that person was unfamiliar with more recent pop culture material. The benefit of multiple people on a team means that multiple people have a chance to spot these things with each having widely varying levels and niches of pop culture knowledge, so that way we can keep the level that we'd like to!
Mysrai
5
Re: Lusternian Divine AMA
Ayisdra said: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.
malmydia
6
Story Arc Scroll Index 2021: Lady Li-Varili and the Awakening of Sea Spirit
Hi! As this is just an index, kudos should go to folks who wrote these posts and provided the individual logs. Appreciate them on their threads. Thanks for stopping by!
Official Events Posts
- #458: Lurking Beauty and Danger in the Rhizoda Mangrove
Who will you aid in this new area, and what might you learn of the first Awakening of Sister Sea? OOC: Highly recommended by Uzriel - Sub-Plot: The Heists of High-Flying Contelli's Crew
In their efforts to assemble the Compass of Vernal God Ilaedron the Fair - #463: Releasing the Prisoner of Namiraa Trench
See logs 1 and 2. - Side-Plot: The Eye of Dynara and a Dance Wild and Dark
- #464: Portents and Homelands Sought
- #465: Whispers, Worms, and the Wyrd
- #466: Promises Made, Broken, and Discovered
Preceded by log 4. Lady Li-Varili's hand is revealed as She steals what She desires. See log 5.
- #468: After Me, the Flood
Logs 6 and 7 are preceding events, while Gurashi took the tremendous effort of logging and cleaning number 8. - #470: Of Magnolias and Fireweed
Below, Lady Li-Varili's Dreams while Cocooned - #471: In the Eye of the Storm
- #472: The Pursuit of Your Heart's Desire: The Search for Sister Sea
- #473: And So the Heavens Sang the Sea to Sleep
- #475: The Curse of the Sunken Heart
- #476: Before the Mirror of Distorted Visions
- #477: The Binding of the Lady of the Lagoons
Logs
- Li-Varili's Release (Truncated) by Avaris
- Drocilla Meets Li-Varili by Sulwh
- Judgement - Audience with Li-Varili by Avaris
A tête-à-tête. - Captain Contelli Parleys with Elder Li-Varili by Xiran
The Compass of Ilaedron the Fair changes hands in a deal. - Kaelye Blues Under the Dark Moon by Esei and Xiran
Lady Maylea fights Lord Nocht as the Communes unleash their ritual strength. Enter Lady Li-Varili. - Mapee Studies the Sea by Xiran and Tyrus
Serenwilde follows up concerns of the circles of seaweed. - Lanikai's Perspective of Awakening Sea Spirit by Xiran
Sea Hag Lanikai grants a brief audience. - The Awakening of the Great Spirit of the Sea by Gurashi
- The Wilde's Ritual to Calm Sea's Storm by Saran
- The Wyrd and the Storms by Esei
- Lady Li-Varili's Dreams While Cocooned
- Globe of Mortal Memories
- Divine Flower Visions
- Beyond the Mirror
- Dreams of Ruination
NOTE: Information known only from reading shared logs is out-of-character knowledge and not meant to replace roleplaying with people. News posts are available in-game and considered in-character knowledge.
Xiran
5
Library Rework Brainstorming
So on discord the topic of how currently subjects and assigning subjects to books is not incredibly helpful - in part due to how arbitrary they are, and how they can potentially create a backlog and as a result, many libraries simply ignore assigning subjects altogether. I'm putting this thread to brainstorm some for potential coding changes.
The goal of any changes in my mind would be: Making subjects a meaningful way to help people browsing for books on a particular subject, but without making it overly difficult to manage.
One proposal that I have is to create what I'm calling "Universal Subjects" - these are a list of subjects that are standardized in every library. Much like the design system where there are set categories or commodities, there are set subjects that are designated in this rework (not going to lie, this would be a MASSIVE undertaking just from just a sorting and consolidating perspective, ignoring any code involved.) When new books are added to the library for submission, the librarian (or aide) would set what Universal Subjects they are assigning to the book, and once published they would automatically be put into that universal subject across all libraries. Once published, a book cannot have its universal subject changed except by republishing it as a second edition, similar to how books cannot be edited without republishing.
For organizations that want to further fine-tune subjects with additional niches, I would suggest annex/library-wide subjects which would work as the current subject system works. Librarians may arbitrary create new subjects and assign books to them for their own library/annex. They may be freely changed but only exist in their own library (similar to how subjects currently are). Personally, I would not utilize this feature, but it allows those that want it additional fine-tuning.
An unrelated addition that somebody else suggested on discord, I'm going to include here: letting us add blurbs to books. This would be a field that a librarian can optionally set before publishing (possibly limited to 255 characters to keep it from getting out of hand), which would then show in the book when somebody checks LIBRARY INFO. You could think of it as being like the back or inside flap of a book that gives a high-level summary of what it is about. If possible, letting us search for books by text in the blurb would be especially amazing.
In summary, there are so many books in the library that finding things on a given topic can be quite difficult. The arbitrary nature of subjects at current makes it difficult to manage, and with no standardization across libraries, it creates a large amount of work on a single librarian to even attempt to manage, leaving most of us to just not bother. Some code changes could really help with that burden, and while I acknowledge the difficulty of dealing with the existing backlog of books to be brought into any sort of system - can at least start brainstorming ideas here.
The goal of any changes in my mind would be: Making subjects a meaningful way to help people browsing for books on a particular subject, but without making it overly difficult to manage.
One proposal that I have is to create what I'm calling "Universal Subjects" - these are a list of subjects that are standardized in every library. Much like the design system where there are set categories or commodities, there are set subjects that are designated in this rework (not going to lie, this would be a MASSIVE undertaking just from just a sorting and consolidating perspective, ignoring any code involved.) When new books are added to the library for submission, the librarian (or aide) would set what Universal Subjects they are assigning to the book, and once published they would automatically be put into that universal subject across all libraries. Once published, a book cannot have its universal subject changed except by republishing it as a second edition, similar to how books cannot be edited without republishing.
For organizations that want to further fine-tune subjects with additional niches, I would suggest annex/library-wide subjects which would work as the current subject system works. Librarians may arbitrary create new subjects and assign books to them for their own library/annex. They may be freely changed but only exist in their own library (similar to how subjects currently are). Personally, I would not utilize this feature, but it allows those that want it additional fine-tuning.
An unrelated addition that somebody else suggested on discord, I'm going to include here: letting us add blurbs to books. This would be a field that a librarian can optionally set before publishing (possibly limited to 255 characters to keep it from getting out of hand), which would then show in the book when somebody checks LIBRARY INFO. You could think of it as being like the back or inside flap of a book that gives a high-level summary of what it is about. If possible, letting us search for books by text in the blurb would be especially amazing.
In summary, there are so many books in the library that finding things on a given topic can be quite difficult. The arbitrary nature of subjects at current makes it difficult to manage, and with no standardization across libraries, it creates a large amount of work on a single librarian to even attempt to manage, leaving most of us to just not bother. Some code changes could really help with that burden, and while I acknowledge the difficulty of dealing with the existing backlog of books to be brought into any sort of system - can at least start brainstorming ideas here.
Uzriel
6
Re: Lusternian Divine AMA
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.Uzriel said:For all the newer Godmin.
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)?
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.Kalliope said:Lemme ask you Guys an easy one..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?
Lisaera
6
Re: Lusternian Divine AMA
Most obvious choice: Illuminati.Esei said:If your godrole had to pick any mortal class to play as, which would it be? Would it be the most obvious choice, or something else?
1. It was 100% <spoiler redacted> that made me pick up the role. It's such a cool idea.Uzriel said:For all the newer Godmin.
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)?
2. Not that I can share yet.
Curiosity.Kalliope said:Lemme ask you Guys an easy one..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?
Ein
5
Re: Lusternian Divine AMA
Esei said:If your godrole had to pick any mortal class to play as, which would it be? Would it be the most obvious choice, or something else?
Oh, Malmydia must have Healing, so I suppose she would be a researcger with a scalpel, as it is the most thematically appropriate
Kalliope said:Lemme ask you Guys an easy one..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.
Uzriel said:For all the newer Godmin.
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.
malmydia
8
(c) Iron Realms Entertainment 2012.