Moonlit Rivals: Mid-Story Round-Up!

[libraryassistants]

We've officially passed the halfway mark of Moonlit Rivals. There are some exciting new plot developments to take us through Logs 3 and 4, and opportunity for those who haven't found their groove yet to get involved in some additional goings-on!

First of all, a few pieces of housekeeping:

• AC for February will go up on the 20th and will stay open until the month ends.
  
• Reminder to please note content warnings in the subject lines of relevant tags. The overall warnings of blood, biting, and minor violence can be assumed; but it's still polite to give the heads up if you're really leaning in to something!
  
• There will be 2 more logs for Moonlit Rivals. Further details on this will be posted below the round-up!

So without further ado, our round-up of Log 2 events so far:

At the masquerade:

Claire is performing at the ball!
Sigwulf (Sanguinis), an undisguised werewolf, attends the party in good faith... with mixed results.
Nero (Nara’a) gets dressed up for a big debut.
Armin (Laina) keeps the party moving and away from hostile turns.
Amalia (Mei) is working double-time, trying to keep the performances moving while also keeping a close eye on a shadow out of place.
John Smith (the Doctor) searches for more information at the masquerade and may or may not be lost wandering the maze.
Loic (Link) finds the buffet and so badly wants something to chase through the maze.
Lord Umbra (Shadow) minds the party with a sharp eye. It's not paranoia if there really are werewolves in your ballroom.
Viktor (Viktor) hates parties, but loves studying plants.
Sigrid (Siobhan) crashes the party but stays lowkey.
Cinthe is a vision of elegance and grace, trying to not get too unnerved by the amount of fangs on display.
Iren dances between cover stories - pun intended - to stay dancing at the party. Good thing this Editor is so quick on her feet, who's for a collab with Montica's newest author; the esteemed 'Lady Nova Aequilix'?
Rakia is practising self-restraint, but one wrong move and those hedge runners might find themselves in for a shock.

Meanwhile the vibe around the rest of Montica is a little... different.

Cassandra (Claire) mans the Laurelthirst and provides reasonable sanctuary.
Sigwulf (still Sanguinis) hovers around before and after the vampire party.
Jadis and Roberte (Hisako and Roboute Guilliman) face down some angry werewolves, with a little help from a Heron (Konrad Curze)
Jun finds out what happens when he's out and about instead of sleeping, and helpfully alerts the other Readers.
Mina is having a bad time being surrounded by monsters she’s too familiar with.
SecUnit would like the ‘fauna humans’ to cut this shit out.
Magnus the Big Red Wolf peddles potions and prowls for troublemakers.
Nyla got turned into a vampire -- give a lady a hand?
Cassandra stays safe at the Laurelthirst, and is ready to hit back if someone brings the fight in there.


And now, plot updates!

We have integrated some player plots into the overarching story of the... well, Story! Thank you to all of those who have shared your plotting with us and who have put suggestions forward. Please use this post to continue to plot further and plan for Logs 3 and 4.

The updates to Story background:

Worldbuilding

On the outskirts of Montica are a couple of relatively young vampire clans. One (Brando) is focused on very bestial approaches to vampirism and want to see the return of hunting. The other (Orlock) is more slippery - they use hypnotism as easily as they lift their arm, and like the Brando, they're resentful of the rules set by Montica's vampires.

These rogue clans have been building for a while, unnoticed by Montica's vampires due to the politicking inside Montica itself. They're located on the outskirts that are nearest the werewolf side of town, so the Wolves are their first pick of meals - even though their blood is disgusting, something is better than nothing. Only recently have they become large enough to become more than just 'annoying'.

Montica's werewolves have suffered many ambushes by these clans, and they've attributed those attacks to Montica's population of vampires. Tensions have risen to boiling point recently, especially as the Brando and Orlock have become so bold as to begin slowly 'disappearing' people - whether to be food or converted to grow their clans. As they are located closest to the werewolves, it has been werewolf loyalists who have suffered the losses. And with all the distractions of Masquerade Night -- it seems a few more people than usual have vanished from Montica's streets.

Log 3 direction

The presence of a Nue in Montica is unusual enough to cause both the vampires and werewolves to investigate. Not only that, but there are rumours of something dark lurking in the sewers - and grisly tales of what might be going on down there. The rogue vampire attacks are getting more bold, and Montica's own vampires are now chomping at the bit to seek their own retribution for the damages caused to their homes on the masquerade night.

But hope shines over these concerns. There are now whispers of what people saw at the ball - those in know swear they saw the Umbra and Guildulf heirs sneaking away. Could this herald an alliance, and an end to the fighting?

Opportunities for plotting:

• Those who haven't found a way to get involved yet - consider playing from the part of the Brando or Orlock!
  
• Calling all Adventurers: Given the missing persons, the town will organise a search party that will lead to the discovery of the Brando and Orlock clans. Sign-ups in the plotting comments below.
  
• Plan of Attack: due to the wibbly-wobbly nature of time, the Full Moon has been conveniently postponed to Log 4. This is to allow time in Log 3 for any IC treaties to be made and plans to be coordinated.
  
  The questions to be answered by the Story are:
  Will the Editors and the Heirs be successful in getting Montica to unite for the battle in Log 4?
  Or will the Wolves be battling both the outsiders and Montica's own vampires, an outcome that will surely lead to Montica's downfall?
  
  Please note - Log 3 may be delayed in posting by a day or two. We will put the link up on Discord and Plurk once Log 3 is live!

Comments

Calling all Adventurers: Missing Persons Search

[libraryassistants]

Are you a person who went missing, or are you a brave adventurer joining the search?

A few harried-looking servants of the Umbra Clan can be seen in town over the next few days, posting up flyers seeking information on some missing persons. (A few specific people may recognise some of those descriptions, being that they've had a hand in them. But rest assured, the majority of these disappearances have had nothing to do with any Readers.) Those with information are encouraged to attend an audience with the Umbra to relay it directly and join their city-based investigation. [This will lead to investigation of the sewers and discovery of the Orlock. Sorry for disturbing your privacy, Curze!]

However, being that the city isn't strictly under Umbran control, there are some who balk at the idea of getting them involved. Particularly around the Laurelthirst, some hardy werewolves are rounding up a crew of tough adventurers to strike out in their own search party. None of them will refuse a helping hand. [This will lead to investigation of the outer city and discovery of the Brando.]

Comment here to tell us what your character is doing, how they are doing it, and if there is anything specific they are looking for. In the spirit of the theme of Log 3 being cooperation - we will let you know what your character will discover/encounter. It will then be up to you to come together to thread out ICly just what your characters will be doing with those pieces.

[flantastic]

This is not Rakia's first time working a missing persons case, and so he is going to deploy his Puddinte Gochizo to start searching for clues. It is roughly the size of a pudding cup and has also been through this sort of thing often enough that it knows to do things like eavesdrop on the populace in the hopes of picking up a lead. Rakia will follow up on those leads as best he can, with the hope of finding out where the kidnappings took place so he can go hang around there in the hopes one of the perpetrators is stupid enough to return to the scene of the crime.

Rakia and Puddinte are both wishing for the existence of social media, which made it easier to get a lead on these things.

[goodtobebad]

Tony, being a former servant of the Umbra clan, will be making use of some of his low-level contacts, either former servants like him, or perhaps some who are still employed by the vampires, to try and get some more information about the missing people. He may assume that at least some of the missing are missing by choice, rather than foul play, but he'll be on the lookout, nonetheless.

[keytarheroine]

Magica Riot The Blood Moon Troupe will be putting feelers out for people who have gone missing that might have been at the theatre, and Claire and Sara especially - when not performing on the stage - are furious and oh so willing to sniff out the people who thought they could threaten the neutrality of the Laurelthirst. They will add their werewolfish tracking and hunting skills to the game.

[ugh_emotions]

SecUnit will be asking Curze if he killed all of them using its drones to scan for the missing people, and also to search their last known location. It'll be looking specifically on the lookout for signs of struggle.

It'll also just generally be on the look out for anyone acting suspiciously though it does that all the time anyway

[lightsgift]

Cinthe will be generally hanging out in the neutral zone, offering healing assistance to anyone who might need it while also keeping a very sharp eye out for suspicious figures or stories. Street performers love to chat and listen to gossip, and while she'll be very careful on the street, she's also pretty and charming and easy to talk to. There's some risk there, but she's also aware that she might be a tempting lure for more information, so it's a calculated risk. Hopefully. She thinks.

As the search parties start to form, Cinthe will join up with one, likely the Laurelthirst as that's been her home base for now and she's making friends there. She has no way of tracking, but she has some decent utility magic, and having a medic on hand is never a bad idea. She's working on establishing some bonds in the city and will be having a conversation with Roberte, but also trying to keep flexible as is generally in line with her oaths as a healer so she's willing to work with whoever needed.

fuck, I had to add the Cadmium Colors gag

[ohaiyo_isekai]

So. Hikaru now spends his hours doing alchemy and already knows a number of useful spells and abilities for this - his canonpoint was him acting as detective in what was becoming a murder mystery, with Deedee playing as Watson - most important of which for our purposes are his Spirit Sight, which allows him to see and track otherwise invisible magical influences, and Nullify, or countermagic, which he can use to remove those influences.

Like, say, Orlock hypnosigils.

While he can't teach Spirit Sight exactly, he is learning Alchemy and I've been meaning to give him the stupid Boost Core with Versatile Fighter gag the ability to memorize ritual spells from his grimoire, so he could easily learn to brew potions that grant it, or teach useful tracking and countermagic spells. To Nero and the Umbra, and - granted a by your leave by Lord Umbra - to other nonvampire investigators, as well.

[hellandbackpack]

Charles/Kiran will be tapping his network in the neutral zone and where it can branch past that- people that have helped him before, people that he's helped, basically looking for any signs or evidence of where the missing have gone. He's not going to favor the missing on either side, and will be spreading the descriptions of all of them that he can get his hands on: the more eyes out, the more likely someone sees or hears something about it. Aside from that, he will be out himself, sometimes in wolf shape sometimes not, looking for clues himself. Basically going Detective Mode. And feeling weird about doing it alone!

Demure/Demiel will be keeping an eye out, but knows he's not especially skilled in any way that will help the active investigation. If he knows someone is going out to investigate, he might offer to accompany them: he's not a combatant but he is observant. He will draw cards about it in private, looking for anything that might help, but it'd definitely be up to the mods if he actually gets any useful information out of it. If he does, he'll try and act on it in whatever way he can manage.

[unsheathedfromreality]

Because I am horrible to him, Illarion's actually gonna be one of the people getting kidnapped. Theoretically, he could free himself on his own ... if he assumed his Real Form.

But at the time of his kidnapping he's gonna be in his much squashier and more useless human form, and also depressed enough that. Sure. He's gonna go along with getting stolen. Maybe they'll kill him! Maybe he'll find out something interesting! Maybe he'll get bored/irritated enough with the whole thing he'll figure out Exit Media Res on his own and go back to the Library to sulk in a forest.

It's fun being deadbird.

ETA, because this sounds less enthusiastic about the idea than I actually am LOL -- depending on how his captors would treat him / how interesting they're being / whether he spots an opportunity to start working them for information, he may quickly warm up to his role and start cooperating. (Shhh let's not. Look at how five years of enforced captivity where he had no choice in cooperation with his captors might've affected him.)

His overall priorities are, in rough order: protect any other captives if their captors aren't violent or not looking to immediately turn them into vampires so he can also soak up information on the vampires' goals, organization, and grievances with the city; stage an escape with as many people as are being kept with him if their captors do turn violent or are looking to create new vampires; if he's the only one at threat, just stick tight and pump his captors for information while playing along with their plans with, perhaps, disturbing enthusiasm so he can be nice and cozily positioned to turn on them at a later point. This would go so far as letting himself be fed on or turned or just straight up killed, what's he care, he'll respawn. (Or just resume his undead form and soak the damage, either/or.)

This may make him difficult to rescue if he thinks he's gaining better information by being in place. ADDITIONALLY, since he is largely anonymous, it may not be clear he's gone missing in the first place -- though he did contract with the Umbra as a performer at the ball and won't have shown up for any promised payment afterward, and might've made a bit of a scene in the hedge maze, so he may be on their radar.

[telecosmetic]

Eliza is not totally oblivious to the rumors about her Nue form going around, so she plans to mostly stick to wolf or mouse form for this. She's going to use her wolf form's nose to try and track any weird scents she can find, trying especially to track down traces of recent blood. She might also temporarily shift to nue form when people aren't looking to see if her scent tracking is better in that form.

She mainly plans to use mouse form if she encounters any cracks or holes that seem to lead to something relevant, in order to squeeze through and quietly observe. She's most likely not going to try and fight any kidnappers she finds by herself unless there's only a few of them, but she will try to tail them and give info on the network.

Re: Calling all Adventurers: Missing Persons Search

[terraboo]

So a possible question related to Armin specifically: Per previous notes, I had assumed she had, but does not use, a form of vampiric hypnotism.

This would be relevant because it could make her a source of information and reveals about how the power works.

Regardless, she will be doing some asking around and end up working heavily with Hikaru.

Shadow - Actor - Lord Umbra (the senior) (not to be mistaken for the much nicer Lord Umbra, Nero)

[ultimateedgehog]

Shadow (Lord Umbra) will be highly focused on the sewer investigation while Nero is out chasing rumors on the streets.

Anyone who ran a successful hedge maze at the Masequerade will be on his shortlist to call up send a messenger after.

But also like. Feel free to bombard the Umbra audience chamber with Readers just repeatedly suggesting that it'd make a lot of sense for them to work with the werewolves on this one. It's more likely Nero would be the one who agree to it, but I think it's just funny to have 10 people show up and say it.

Re: Shadow - Actor - Lord Umbra (the senior) (not to be mistaken for the much nicer Lord Umbra, Nero

[ohaiyo_isekai]

Just gonna slide “lucas” into this to say “yes I agree with those ten people.”

[not_scrap]

Nyla had a TERRIBLE time at your party, which ended up in her being juiceboxed into a vampire! She wants a refund! Or vampire lessons! Or something!

(I'm playing with the idea an Orlock had snuck into the party and vampirized her using hypnotism so it's not an Umbran who was the baddie, but she doesn't know that there are different types).

Sewer Cryptid

[curzed]

Curze is very aware of the vampires in the sewers and crypts with him, and so far his cheaty mc cheatface aura of terror has kept them from crossing paths too obviously. They haven't forced him to Take Notice Of Them yet so he spends all his time ignoring their existence. They're not his problem.

Anyone venturing around down there will likely run into him too sooner or later, or actively be stalked through the darkness til he gets a better idea of who's doing what and why.

While he did leave a body or two for Illumination, he's been

cw:cannibalism

eating his victims ENTIRELY lately,

so there isn't much to find, but there is definitely a pattern in HIS hunting. Not a single one of the missing persons he's responsible for were law abiding citizens. Sure some of it was incredibly petty crimes, but all of them, crimes.

He does come up to the surface at night, and is keeping very close tabs on the Guildulf household. There are probably sparse, nervous rumors of an extraordinarily enormous vampire lurking. Or an equally unusually enormous bat.

Going forward, he's ... he doesn't care at all that people are going missing. He just doesn't. He DOES care about Our Heros getting together and making peace, so he'll help actively in that venue if he can.

And of course continuing to keep an eye on his brothers the werewolf lord and his scions.

Re: Sewer Cryptid

[ugh_emotions]

Btw MB is absolutely going to be spamming Curze with every wanted picture and asking if he killed them

Nero (Nara'a) | Actor: Vampire Scion

[aetherweaver]

Nero is going to be hitting the streets, largely in the vampire section of town but somewhat in the neutral zone. He's also going to be trying to quietly meet with Sigrun - they'll likely have to find some other sort of place to meet where no one will recognize them.

He's going to be all over the place, between trying to find information and trying to balance his newfound emotions. He's going to be quite harried, but he'll be at least more accessible for those who are not in the vampire section of town.

But like Shadow, he's going to be managing Umbra business at home too, so if people want to pop in and make complaints he's also in charge of that.

Re: Nero (Nara'a) | Actor: Vampire Scion

[keytarheroine]

Not only will Claire and company be helping with the investigations when not putting on a show, but it is the strict policy of the Laurelthirst that if you saw a vampire and a werewolf cavorting with each other, no you didn't.

Jun Ushiro | Reader (Human... ?)

[icanhearscreams]

Jun is not an adventurer so he's going to contribute to the cause by listening in on gossip. He's also going to be seeking out someone who might be able to help him with this werewolf bite (it won't work but he won't know that for a bit).

Other than that he's pretty open, so if anyone wants to find a young human(?) about he'll be around. ... If you're in wolf form though he's probably going to be hiding. Getting bit hurt, and he's unlikely to want to interact with someone who looks like that, at least for a while.

Re: Jun Ushiro | Reader (Human... ?)

[angel_of_baal]

Wrong account by Nyla is actually a doctor (and now a vampire oh no) so she might be down for unhelpful doctoring?

Cinthe | Reader

[lightsgift]

Cinthe is in fact an experienced adventurer and will be willing to help however she can. While her strongest ability is her healing, she does have some combat and utility magic as well. Having a medic along on an adventure is seldom a bad idea and dungeon crawls are familiar territory for her.

She will also be spending at least some time in the neutral zones and the Laurelthirst helping where she can, and quietly observing what's going on for clues and signs. She's willing to assist anyone working on the situation, werewolf or vampire, though she's still very wary of vampires in general due to them being mostly just horrible in her own world.

Due to her positive experience with Sigwulf at the ball, it's also entirely possible that she'll offer her service to the wolves for the extra protection and anchor. Whether this be in direct offer, or working through the Laurelthirst, I'm still working on, but she's got useful skills and attacks and disappearances are a serious enough matter that she'd give it her full attention.

Re: Cinthe | Reader

[keytarheroine]

The Laurelthirst appreciates it. Cass Taylor will be taken out of the action by a silver-burned leg for the next log/the play Like Thee (which may or may not be the first book of Magica Riot thinly fictionalized and put into Montican context), but would you like Cinthe to be the reason why she's down to clown ready to fight in Log 4?

Jadis (Hisako) | Human Mystic

[steelfeathered]

Jadis only got wind of rival werewolves trying to kill her patron (and her) a few minutes before they barged in. They prevailed with the timely assistance of that giant vampire she'd sought out, but it was rough! Now she's dealing with various degrees of guilt, intrusive thoughts of cannibalizing the dead, and the belief that wearing people skin is not a good statement when you have to try and play nice with others.

Also she may have feelings for Roberte, but they are surely one-sided. On the plus side, she's realized that she is actually quite capable. I have a toplevel up for the morning after the ball. Come by!

It may be that the rivals were nudged and influenced from simply wanting a dramatic confrontation into invading with intent to slaughter by Orlocks. Certainly it's probable that some members of the household who were sent out never returned. This is concerning.

Jadis won't go hunting herself, but I think I want her seeking out more Readers. She wants their help, and to aid them in turn, in Montica having a future. Because she is the Mystic, she struggles with precognition and knows more than she should. She has pieced together that these "Outsiders" are from a place with a library, and that several people she knows have other selves from the same place. Sometimes she gets detailed and specific insights about people which she has no rightful way of knowing - let's coordinate, I love having her pick things up but I don't want to infomod.

[icanhearscreams]

Jun is definitely a Reader, and they should meet - though he'll be suspicious of her. Depending on how the conversation goes, he might let her know a few things what does it matter this place is fake or so he thinks so he could be a useful source of information!

Roboute Guilliman | Roberte Guildulf, Werewolf Master

[guilliman]

Lord Guildulf is not happy. There was an assassination attempt, and now he's got all these bodies in his courtyard.

(One of his arms is also a bit messed up from an emergency healing spell, but he's ignoring that.)

Currently, he's working with his staff to identify as many of the assailants as possible. When morning breaks, messengers will be sent to the families of those identified, letting them know the situation, and that they can retrieve the bodies at the Guildulf property. This, of course, means that the families in question will have to admit what their fallen members did, and answer questions on their involvement.

At some point, the rumour starts to spread that

cw immolation, desecration of a corpse

not only was one of the assailants burned to a cinder by the Guildulf witch's magic, but Lord Guildulf has skinned the werewolf who led the attack, the patriarch of the very old and mostly-fallen-from-power Appienne family, and claimed his pelt as a trophy.

Yikes!

Which is to say -- Roberte is making this altercation as public as possible, and making it extremely clear that he does not support these troublemakers. This is not just a show for the clans, but for all the humans and vampires of Montica as well.

Questioning some of those offending families is likely to make him more aware of the Brando + Orlock vampire issue. He would not consider reaching out to the Umbra about it on his own, but if he were encouraged -- say, by certain werewolves who have had recent positive interactions with certain vampires -- he might do so.

• Lord Guildulf is holding court at his estate.
  
• He won't see just anyone who comes to the gates. But if someone is related to one of the troublemaking families, or has info, or just has a good pitch, the servants might bring them in to see him.
  
• This includes vampires.
  
• Don't waste his time.
  
• Seriously, dont.
  
• He is trying to make it exceedingly clear that the troublemaker werewolves weren't working on his orders.
  
• He is not aware of the search parties, but if he is made aware of them, he will commit resources to them.

Would your guy have info he wants? Would they be sent to retrieve one of their deceased family members? Are they just coming by with more medicinal herbs for Mamzel Jadis, and forgot to knock at the back door?

[aetherweaver]

Depending on how threads go, Nero might show up and try to have a conversation with him. (Might be up for Sigrun to suggest it, but it’s possible.)

Honestly at this point he’s going to start pushing for peace behind his sire’s back. He’s so tired.

Sanguinius/Sigwulf and Nyla the new vampire

[angel_of_baal]

Sigwulf
After his father's house has been attacked, but dipshit was in the wrong place at the wrong time and missed the whole thing, he's going to be attempting, somehow to prove himself as...slightly less of a dipshit.

He's also going to be in his observatory a bit more to try to find more signs from the heavens to interpret, which JUST SAYING has a really good vantage point for townly happenings so if anyone wants to use the venue as a vantage point to try to observe comings and goings and such, please feel free to use it in your own plotting (no Sigwulf required).

Nyla was bitten by a mean old Orlock vampire who snuck into the masquerade so congrats on her she's a readerpire now! Anyone want to help a new vampire try to vampire? Hit her up.

Both of them are team 'let's find a Peaceful Resolution' (that's a deep lore Transformers reference) so anyone wanting to work that angle, lmk.

As per usual I suck at le planning so here's a meme instead.

Re: Sanguinius/Sigwulf and Nyla the new vampire

[hellandbackpack]

Demiel can run into Nyla and help her out! He's p. young for a vampire so he still remembers how weird and scary and nuts the whole thing is while getting used to it.

[keytarheroine]

Claire Ryefield and the Blood Moon Troupe, in addition to gossip-gathering and sniffing out missing people, are putting on Claire’s new play, Like Thee, Or, The Comedy of Pandora And The Maiden-Song, which is about…

It’s Magica Riot. It’s the plot of Magica Riot. A Young Lad (played by A Young Lad, possibly Jun,) gets ditched by a babe named Hazel Elanor that he pines for, goes to see a troupe of all female bards - Rose the Sorceress, Marigold the Werewolf, Chloe the Vampire, and Skye the Changeling - gets ganked by one of the “pythos-born shades called Pandora’s Mistakes,” gets rescued by Skye getting in a pinch, hears the Maidensong, Goes Live Upon This Stage Now Enters as the Witch in Amythest named Lucia Barleycorn (and is therefore now played by Claire), kicks ass, and that’s Act 1 of 5.

This wasn’t gonna be but now is also Conscience Of The King bullshit to draw out Lily and Amalia and stuff them in a Get-Along shirt.

Alas, Cassidy Taylor has a bum leg because some idiot from the Endymion pack stabbed her with silver, so she needs an understudy fast. But whomst can we find with blond hair who’s used to working with werewolves and with the Blood Moon troupe on such short noIt’s Sigrid, of course.



So who wants tickets to this disaster?

[birdchasingecho]

you realize to make this work you're going to have to cast amalia as elanor

like i'm all for this but since luna argent has gone missing--

Cassandra the Dust-Eater and Raidou Kuzunoha, both Readers

[capital_asset]

I don't really have set plans for Raidou or Cassandra, besides vaguely wraithwolfy things for Raidou during the full moon in log 4 (he will probably need someone to watch over his body at that point), though I'm also considering having him running around on four legs next log (where he will not need anyone watching over his body because he will be in it). He was at the masquerade, but I am horribly behind so I'm not quite sure what he's been doing.

Cassandra spent most of log 2 part 2 at the Laurelthirst trying to avoid cuisinarting any werewolves. She probably should not be tangling with any Orlock for IC reasons, but she's good for just about anything else.

Re: Cassandra the Dust-Eater and Raidou Kuzunoha, both Readers

[keytarheroine]

Would you like to have Cassandra take in a play/be security guard detail for when Amalia’s shadow flips out during that play?

Murderbot (Reader) and Link/Loic (Werewolf Actor)

[ugh_emotions]

Murderbot will be investigating the disappearances, possibly as part of a terrible buddy cop plot with Rakia. It'll also continue to keep an eye on Illumination's hideout.

I'm also tossing up whether it'll go to the Blood Moon show. It's been given two tickets, and it does want to see it. But also: people. Possibly it will send a drone, possible it might actually go. Possibly someone else could convince it to give them its tickets instead.

Loic meanwhile, is going to be reporting in to Guidulf and trying very hard to not let anything about what Sigrid was up to slip. He's probably going to be doing a fair bit of guarding the Guidulf place, but also running messages and whatnot.

Magnus the Red (Reader) & Illarion (Reader)

[logosmaxima]

cracks knuckles,

A'IGHT ... so I have not been tremendously active thus far due to (life) and (dissertation) happening aggressively all over me these past couple of weeks, but I would like to continue plot involvement!!

Magnus is generally gonna be around for magical shenanigans and protecting his Actor famalams -- Sigwulf and Roberte -- as his fabulously large self. We're still grinding through a thread but he and Sigwulf did turn up some Inciting Vampires that can be pointed toward the Orlock or Brando with some work, and Mr. The Red is interested in putting them down (and/or -- he is generous -- brokering peace with them) in the name of Settling the City Down. He'd be happy with a minimal bloodshed answer where everyone is happy!

... he's also learned there might be some kind of romance brewing with Roberte and Jadis and. he's. this is so weird for him you guys. this is not what he & his brothers were made for why is the story doing this he is going to brood.

Illarion is going to get kidnapped by the marauding vampires in his human form and petulantly stay in it. Thus far he has not been particularly notable (though ... I am going to backtag & fix that on the ball thread, OR TRY) beyond having shown up a bit at the Umbra Ball, possibly to perform some uncanny songs & also just be a weirdo who won't give people his name.

I'm very flexy with both dudes, and also more than willing to go inveigle them in prior logs for delicious backtag time if there's somewhere people wanted me that I ... fell down on ...

[curzed]

At some point, gonna chase Illarion around.