lunarwhite | DECEMBER MID-MONTH EVENT.

THESE PATHS BEFORE US.

WHO. Everyone.
WHERE. The Sanctum
WHEN. December 15th.
WHAT. Lucius undergoes, as they call it, an upgrade.
WARNINGS. None for now.

THIS LIGHT TO GUIDE OUR COURSE.

A few days prior, a notice goes out to the foreigners within the Moon. Once again they are invited to gather within the Sanctum in the afternoon. Such meetings are not out of the ordinary for those who have spent a longer time here - but as with all of them, it carries its own significance. Lucius had signed off his message with something slightly cryptic - 「 you will understand, once you have come 」- and this was to be his last.

On the morning of the 15th, the sun-crystal flares a brilliant white, becoming painful to look at. The pulse of light lasts for a few minutes, after which it returns to its usual pleasant glow.

Instead of Lucius, an older man will greet those who have come. He may have passed for an older version of Lucius with flowing white hair and a neat monochrome sense of dress, but his face is far more ageless than that of the youth. Those who are magically inclined would feel a subtle sense of pressure from his presence - clear, radiant light without oppressive power, but present nevertheless.

The Sanctum itself is emptier without Rinzen or much of the staff. Theophilus stands to one side, reminiscent of Rinzen's stance when she had been Lucius' companion.

"Welcome. No doubt questions must be brimming in your mind from previous correspondence. I am here to answer any that you might have. But before that, I ask for your cooperation on a task that we will be undertaking. It is to safeguard the future of this ship, and of your return."

(If anyone strains their eyes to watch him, they would see that he does not breathe unless he speaks.)

"I am Lord Light. I am aware that Lucius had promised to send you home. With your assistance, I have been able to finalize the process. The measure is to build a gate that will transcend the many realms between this one and your own. However, it would require resources and that we make planetfall. That would entail the resolution of the conflict that have tried to embroil you within it."

His manner is different from that of the old AI, speaking with full conviction... and little emotion.

"The self-named Meteor Sect will push for their own agenda within the coming months. It will not be possible to prevent the Moon from crumbling in a case of war. There are certain rules of this world that do not apply to all of you, the foreigners. With this advantage, you will be able to assist us in foiling their plans of domination. In exchange, I will build the gate for you."

The Light faction's Prime Minister adds in his own words at this point. He looks a touch tired, but his eyes are as alert as ever.

"We never have intended to bring you into the fold of all of this. For that, I am sorry. But these times are dire, and we fear that the conflict of old may be kindling again. It is for this purpose that our Lord has offered you his personal cooperation."

Yet to agree to this plan would have its own consequences. It is only one side of a story, after all.

What will you do?

ADMIN.

This is the log for the December mid-month event! There will be no direct exploration for this month, as NPCs will be making use of this time (until January) to make IC preparations for their next move. PCs are encouraged to use this log to discuss the changes that are befalling the Moon and of the factions that are vying for their attention.

Light's main request for the PCs will be to prepare themselves for infiltration and/or investigation of activity within the Badlands. Strange monsters had been attacking the city walls a few months back, but had ceased after a few weeks. Their intention is to look for these beasts again. PCs can go out on their own right now (in December), but they will only receive 'state backing' and support in January.

Due to your plot interactions last month, there will be additional clues and lore pieces that the NPCs are willing to share. Information that will be supplied in the meeting are as below:

- The Moon is slowly losing power due to entropy. While it can still last a few decades, it is decidedly not a permanent solution as a home.
- Light has scryed the Meteor Sect as much as they are able, and their main intent seems to be to overthrow the Queen. What they will do after that is not able to be divined, however.
- Foreigners will most likely be asked to come into conflict with the Meteor Sect, as they are actively hunting down crystals to consume for their own power. Crystals are what fuel the environmental control systems, which means that their actions will (in Light's point of view) endanger the fate of the Moon as a whole.
- Spring is in a nominal alliance with Light, as Light supplies the crystals for their use to rejuvenate the environment of the Moon. This ties back in with their claim that crystals are a limited resource and must go to where they should be going.
- Blood has issued an official statement that they will (finally) make a move on addressing the Meteor Sect. That is the extent of it, however. The Queen is aware of their threat but will not move to intercept them unless they come to her.

The IC log prompt will cover only the Light faction's offer, as they are the first to make it from a lore perspective. If your character wishes to dig in the other factions' stories, we encourage you to submit setting interactions so that we can send you clues.

In addition, the Ice faction will be the focus for our story in January. We are considering a team exploration event into an unknown setting, where characters will be away from the main City for some time. There will be no significant injury or harm done to them, but they will be expected to fight. Do let us know if you would like some sort of change to the event, or opt out! We can arrange for something if you are not comfortable with playing it out.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them below.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Okay, fine, that's all nice and everything, but nobody's let me at the server I made since I delivered it yesterday," Rocket complains at Lord Light. Obviously this is that upgrade of Lucius's, but he's skeptical on the whole "god" thing, and annoyed that he can't see the results of his work. He just seems like another arrogant humie, to Rocket. "Got any idea when you'll let me check on that?"

Rocket's impatience is to be expected. He merely nods.

"You may see it at this very moment. You are free to return to the server room."

Rocket probably doesn't need someone to lead him there, but he does not have an access card. Once he exits the Sanctum, the deity will appear slightly behind him, so they can walk together.

Rocket peers over his shoulder at Lord Light, torn between annoyed and curious. "So you can go outside that room." Unlike Lucius the AI. Interesting. He has to wonder where this version's various projection points are-- there have to be more than just one, if he's leaving that single room. "How far can you project? We gonna run into you in the street one of these days?"

He indicates himself with a slight wave.

"My body is physical, so I may move about freely."

"I thought you were a computer program," Rocket says skeptically. "Did somebody 3D-print you? And that whole disappearing and reappearing thing suggests you get reconstituted somehow." And a physical presence ought to have a scent. Rocket's senses aren't as strong as Stones, by any stretch of imagination, but usually he picks up something.

"I am one of the divine." His calm might be a bit annoying. "Lucius manifested by aid of a projection."

The server that he had been backed into was kept in a clean room, plugged into a monitor. No one seems to have touched anything since Rocket had finished his work.

"Yeah, but you came from data," Rocket says. "Data is just data. Maybe it's smart data, but it ain't a god." He pads right over to the server set-up and types in the password he'd set up for it to log in and get to the files he'd backed up on it. "All right, kid, let's see if you're in there."

"That which applies in your world does not necessarily apply in this one."

That is all he will say sagely before letting the server do its own talking. The electronics come alive with a slight hum, as do the screen hooked up to the database. There's a keyboard next to it as well.

A beat, before something appears on the screen:

test

testing

Hello?

"Yeah, well, my team kinda just killed a god, so don't think that impresses me much even if it's true," Rocket points out, before focusing on the screen.

"Primitive freakin' interfaces," he mutters to himself, before typing a response. Having tiny fingers (and hands) means his hands have to move all over the keyboard more than a human would have to, but he's still pretty quick about it.

Hey, kid. Rocket here. You still got all your data intact in there?

The deity elects to not reply.

Yes, I think so. Thank you.

I've been restricted to my old analytical functions, but everything with respect to that should be fine.

Probably smart, there, deity.

I might be able to get you more processing power. This thing is what I could come up with in a couple days, but I could probably make it better if I got cooperation from the engineers on making some more parts.

If you're willing to do that, I'd be grateful... but I don't want to take up too much of your time.

I've got nothing but time. What else am I going to do? Make friends? I'll nag the engineers to make up more memory, and design a better processing unit. I can probably come up with an auditory processing unit, too, so we don't have to do this dumb typing thing. Getting your voice back will be more complicated, but it can be done, too.

Edited 2018-01-05 00:13 (UTC)

My old projection system used magic, so I'm not quite sure if it can be easily replicated... but if it's a challenge that you'd like to take, I'll try my best to help.

I still have some authority over them, so hopefully that will make things easier.

I'm sure I can work something out. Just tell your engineers to get me what I need, and we'll be good. Can you tell them anything from in there or do I need to drag one of them in here for you to talk to? Rocket didn't hook this server up to any network, but someone else might have. Rocket hasn't checked the connections or anything, and he's definitely not using magic for any of this.

There's a short pause before he replies:

I can message them, but it might take a bit of time. They're working right now.

If Rocket ever turns around at any point, he might see that Lord Light has vanished.

DECEMBER MID-MONTH EVENT.

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