Cursed Kingdom notes
May. 2nd, 2014 01:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wholeheadedThe Violet Illuminant - master of illusions and patron of royalty, there is nothing you want more than to fill the throne. Find the Queen, elevate a Baron, support a rebellion and sponsor its leader to the Throne - under a number of different disguises, you do your best to support any effort to claim kingship or queenship and reunify the land.
re: anything else I should know
Not at this point! You will pretty definitely be getting privileged information as the plot goes on. Flesh him out as you like, but his specific origins and even what type of being he is must remain shrouded in mystery.
It's going to take a while for people to find out, but this Investigation is much more about the illuminated than about the queen or the throne.
First information update: each Illuminant has a place of power in one of the forests, some item that symbolizes their power. This is unlikely to be specifically relevant at this point, save for the fact that the Yellow Illuminant's power source is probably at or near his cottage, although likely concealed or hidden from visitors.
Ambrose's, specifically, is the missing Throne - while Ambrose was in no way directly responsible for the disappearance of the Queen, in the wake of her vanishing, fearing the diminishing of his own power, he found ti necessary ro seize on the most powerful available symbol.
plot update #1: Over this week, you'll have felt a slow swelling of parts of your own power - somewhere in the kingdom, a great illusion is being worked.
BIG OL' INFODUMP:
Everything You Needed To Know About Being An Illuminated, But Didn't:
First- there is little doubt in your minds that the Curses & Blessings in this kingdom are the result of multiple Illuminated occupying the same place. All of you are here because Dolorosa was the richest unguarded reservoir of magical power you could find, like an invisible untapped oil well - but your methods of drawing on this energy cause interference patterns with one another. The more of you are in the kingdom, the more pronounced those patterns. The Queen's disappearance was probably Curse-related, but you don't control the curses, and there's no way to know for sure unless she's found.
Incidentally, another side-effect of drawing that magic into circulation is an increased birth-rate among dragons, whose eggs require a certain amount of ambient magical energy to gestate fully.
Understandably, you keep these things secret as a general rule.
Second - while all of you were once in some way human, the studies which refined you to become Illuminated added something - more an essence than a consciousness, but nonetheless, something Not Of This World. You are all very clear on the fact that this joined existence is superior to both parts of you, now integrated, and that leaving your domain (or your energy source) is strongly undesirable. You're also likely to be... cautious... to any other sources of power Not Of This World, especially if they appear more advanced than you are. Learning that these foreigners were literally otherworldly wouldn't necessarily turn you against them (that is a character call and completely up to you), but it would be a source of concern. So would learning of portals into the kingdom from elsewhere.
And despite your powers, you might not notice if, say, your body and consciousness were subtly altered by sharing all that with an infiltrator, too - it's too similar to how your own power and identity function.
Thirdly - sadly, none of those shared interests actually makes it easier to combine your disparate interests into teamwork. You are what you are.
Fourth - because someone asked - that quick travel of yours is the result of being able to travel nigh-instantaneously between wooded areas. While there are only the four major forests, even a copse of trees is sufficient as a transit hub.
The final update
SO here's what is probably the final update for the Illuminated:
-The dragons on the tournament ground are growing because of proximity to a large amount of magic - probably, the source of those portals you've heard mentioned. Since the rush of foreigners happened during the tournament, it's not too hard to figure out that the Investigators are all otherworlders, sent by some kind of otherworldly Illuminated-like beings... and probably threatening to your powerbase.
-Speaking of powerbases, it's impossible for you to tap into that source of otherworldly energy on your own... but if the focus point of your power is mobile, and you bring it on-site, you might be able to use your focus as a siphon.
-At the end of this week, we'll be moving into Final Showdown stage... the reveal of the Queen, the news of the Illuminated as source of the curses & blessings coming out, and whatever reckoning the Queen will have with the mages. It is absolutely up to you if they'll respond as a team or as individuals, if they'll fight or disperse for the good of the kingdom's stability or something else entirely; if they'll turn on the Investigators or try to turn them to fighting FOR the Illuminated against the Trumps... if such a thing is even possible.
Ambrose will certainly be able to figure out that the illusion he sensed is what's been keeping the Travelers blending in. And while the temptation of the other Illuminated into feeding off portal energy is much more optional, we would very much appreciate it if the (disguised) throne made its way to the tournament ground. If this is likely to cause a problem, let us know!
re: anything else I should know
Not at this point! You will pretty definitely be getting privileged information as the plot goes on. Flesh him out as you like, but his specific origins and even what type of being he is must remain shrouded in mystery.
It's going to take a while for people to find out, but this Investigation is much more about the illuminated than about the queen or the throne.
First information update: each Illuminant has a place of power in one of the forests, some item that symbolizes their power. This is unlikely to be specifically relevant at this point, save for the fact that the Yellow Illuminant's power source is probably at or near his cottage, although likely concealed or hidden from visitors.
Ambrose's, specifically, is the missing Throne - while Ambrose was in no way directly responsible for the disappearance of the Queen, in the wake of her vanishing, fearing the diminishing of his own power, he found ti necessary ro seize on the most powerful available symbol.
plot update #1: Over this week, you'll have felt a slow swelling of parts of your own power - somewhere in the kingdom, a great illusion is being worked.
BIG OL' INFODUMP:
Everything You Needed To Know About Being An Illuminated, But Didn't:
First- there is little doubt in your minds that the Curses & Blessings in this kingdom are the result of multiple Illuminated occupying the same place. All of you are here because Dolorosa was the richest unguarded reservoir of magical power you could find, like an invisible untapped oil well - but your methods of drawing on this energy cause interference patterns with one another. The more of you are in the kingdom, the more pronounced those patterns. The Queen's disappearance was probably Curse-related, but you don't control the curses, and there's no way to know for sure unless she's found.
Incidentally, another side-effect of drawing that magic into circulation is an increased birth-rate among dragons, whose eggs require a certain amount of ambient magical energy to gestate fully.
Understandably, you keep these things secret as a general rule.
Second - while all of you were once in some way human, the studies which refined you to become Illuminated added something - more an essence than a consciousness, but nonetheless, something Not Of This World. You are all very clear on the fact that this joined existence is superior to both parts of you, now integrated, and that leaving your domain (or your energy source) is strongly undesirable. You're also likely to be... cautious... to any other sources of power Not Of This World, especially if they appear more advanced than you are. Learning that these foreigners were literally otherworldly wouldn't necessarily turn you against them (that is a character call and completely up to you), but it would be a source of concern. So would learning of portals into the kingdom from elsewhere.
And despite your powers, you might not notice if, say, your body and consciousness were subtly altered by sharing all that with an infiltrator, too - it's too similar to how your own power and identity function.
Thirdly - sadly, none of those shared interests actually makes it easier to combine your disparate interests into teamwork. You are what you are.
Fourth - because someone asked - that quick travel of yours is the result of being able to travel nigh-instantaneously between wooded areas. While there are only the four major forests, even a copse of trees is sufficient as a transit hub.
The final update
SO here's what is probably the final update for the Illuminated:
-The dragons on the tournament ground are growing because of proximity to a large amount of magic - probably, the source of those portals you've heard mentioned. Since the rush of foreigners happened during the tournament, it's not too hard to figure out that the Investigators are all otherworlders, sent by some kind of otherworldly Illuminated-like beings... and probably threatening to your powerbase.
-Speaking of powerbases, it's impossible for you to tap into that source of otherworldly energy on your own... but if the focus point of your power is mobile, and you bring it on-site, you might be able to use your focus as a siphon.
-At the end of this week, we'll be moving into Final Showdown stage... the reveal of the Queen, the news of the Illuminated as source of the curses & blessings coming out, and whatever reckoning the Queen will have with the mages. It is absolutely up to you if they'll respond as a team or as individuals, if they'll fight or disperse for the good of the kingdom's stability or something else entirely; if they'll turn on the Investigators or try to turn them to fighting FOR the Illuminated against the Trumps... if such a thing is even possible.
Ambrose will certainly be able to figure out that the illusion he sensed is what's been keeping the Travelers blending in. And while the temptation of the other Illuminated into feeding off portal energy is much more optional, we would very much appreciate it if the (disguised) throne made its way to the tournament ground. If this is likely to cause a problem, let us know!