Instilling Inspiration

[Ürei]

Hello, this is your friendly, generally all-around hated guy here. Just asking how the community is going, and wondering if anyone else, like me, is having trouble coming up with that smashing quest idea. The kind that people leap into your arms and cry blood to get into. Yes, the same kind that would get the young school teachers to come home with you. Er...anyways...

Yeah, I am having a lack of inspiration as to where to start with my Sorceress -who-doesn't-yet-practice-any-sensible-form-of-sorcery-and-is-all-around-useless. Due to Althanas's Battle-Oriented Thread system, a quest that doesn't include battling yet is still interesting seems to almost be tabboo in certain circles.

I want to invite 2 other people on a quest that will not be a the type of thread where a bunch of people go over some vague mountain and kill some vague monsters then challange some vaguely bad person. This thread will takeplace somewhere vague that isn't decided yet, and there will probably be minimal battle, especially on Cat's part.

However, here is the thing. Due to a weird twist of events, the place we will be entering is completely open to change. Every single person that joins will effectively be the quest master whenever they want. If they want a abominable snowman to be selling wrist watches on the black market street, so be it! There is only one rule, the city is supposed to be a fairy-tale-esque nightmare town. As in, the kind of place where you wonder if you accidentally walked onto the set of Nightmare Before Christmas.

Who's interested? Anyone?

Again, I am looking for a max of two other people. I can work with one. It will be a random mix of first pick and personal choices of who will work best.

[Yamihara]

Hey, I'm game! ^_^ I can help you with story ideas and stuff. I'm pretty sure my sisters (and Master Raven) can help you bounce ideas off of as well.

Pray tell, though, where this city would be located in?

[Ürei]

I am thinking it is a type of otherworldly type thing, like Niflheim. All of the group accidentally stumble upon this nightmarish fairytale realm. It isn't as nightmarish as the Weir, but still has a dedication towards spookiness. Whether it is actually Niflheim or the realm of the dead or something is up to the development of the story.

Glad to have you Yamihara, I have read your stuff before, you are definately on the list!

Edit: Once I have my people, this thread will be a discussion thread. I want to have a general idea of what you people think before I start it. Any notes or ideas you get and want to share with the rest of us can be posted here in the internim between posting, of course, once we get started. I want a pure brainstorm before we get started though, because I want this to be all three of our's quest, not mine that you two are taking place in.

Double-Edit: the thread will be called "Fairy-Tale Ending" simply because it 'fits'.

[Yamihara]

Wow, I'm flattered. *blush*

The more I read, the more I'm interested. I'll have Master Raven keep a list of brainstorms beforehand so we can have as many ideas as we need. ^_^

[Ürei]

Who is this "Master Raven"? If I may ask.

[Chidori Draconid]

Just asking how the community is going, and wondering if anyone else, like me, is having trouble coming up with that smashing quest idea.Type up a scenario that begins with your character doing real life things, like farming, cooking, reading, or something like that. Eventually, and most likely when you give up trying to find an idea, one will hit you like an eighteen wheeler.

a quest that doesn't include battling yet is still interesting seems to almost be tabboo in certain circles. Not as tabboo as you think it is although it's still generally overlooked. El'Inssring(sp) in Alerar, The Silver Pub in Corone, and the Istien University in Raiaera are all very good forums for nonviolent threads. I actually have one of those going on in Istien University right now, and even though there wont be any action I feel like it's the most energetic thread I'm in. That's exciting!

Plus Arsenic Ruin and I have a thread in Alerar where battle is not likely to happen. It's more about social and cultural commentary and change in the Dark Elf nation.
Hello, this is your friendly, generally all-around hated guy here. I love you! Not only that I admire and respect your thinking outside the box with the quest idea you have so far. Although I cannot offer to join I just wanted to give my kudos. I'm in the middle of eight quests, and I'm in that rare happening where they've all gotten to my turn at the very same time.

[Ürei]

Take your time with Desert Rose. ^^

[Yamihara]

Master Raven? Oh, don't mind him. He's just the guy I'm possessing right now. There are a lot of us using him as a vessel, but he's OK. For now. XD

Well, at least he still has his own conscience. That's a good thing, right?

[Ürei]

You remind me of my IRL friends. Yes, you can take that as a compliment.

[Nymph and Dragon]

Oh, oh, pick me, pick me!

My character is VERY non-battle. I noticed the same sort of thing about non-battle quests, and I think it would be awesome to prove that such a thing does exist!

Please can I come?:o

[Ürei]

Nymph? Sure. You will fit in.

I have my two then, toss out any ideas you guys think of! After you guys get going, I will add my ideas to the concoction.

Edit: Is it just me, or is there irony in the fact that a non-battle thread was only joined by females. At least, female characters.

[Vampiric Angel]

Well, I was thinking of joining but Nymph already posted. So, not only female char.'s were interested.

[Yamihara]

Is it just me, or is there irony in the fact that a non-battle thread was only joined by females. At least, female characters.

Really? I thought it was because we were too fast for the boys to jump in. XD

Anyways, here are a few ideas Master was able to come up with. These are pretty much "rough sketches" to him (being a starving artist and all) so feel free to alter them as you guys see fit.

Story Idea No. 1:

Three of us fall into or caught in an otherworldly portal (accidental or otherwise) and thrown into this so-called "Niflheim" like realm. There, we try to find a way to get back and have to run "errands" for a "Sorcerror" who claimed to be able to reproduce the portal to send all of us back.

The errands sends us throughout the realm and run into a lot of strange creatures, people and puzzles to figure out. After some eventful (and uneventful) twists and turns in the missions, we are able to finally fulfill the requests of all prominent figures that will help "free" us from this realm. Then, as we return to the "sorcerror"... Dun da Dun dun! The "sorcerror was a fake and attempted to use the "ingredients" to resurrect its sealed Master.

Of course, we couldn't fight the Puppet so we had to some up with something else. In one of our "errands" we will come across an old script talking about a "Sealed Ancient" and the battle it had against the "Sealed Harbinger" (The Ancient = good guy, The Harbinger = bad guy and the so-called "Master" of that sorcerror puppet). So, after we unsealed the Ancient just in time to halt the Harbinger from emergin completely, the Ancient sends all of us back to Althanas before going into a deep sleep for another Awakening.

... Too complex? Like I said, open for alteration.

Story Idea No. 2:

After getting sucked into the portal, we are given a strange object by one of the realm local (later to find out the identity) for safe-keeping. Naturally, we have no idea what it is supposed to do.

Then, as we wander the realm looking for a way out, we try to decipher the words written on the sides and inadvertantly unlocked a massive energy burst that ripped through the realm.

We later find out a way to use that energy outburst to send us back to Althanas, even with the swarms of strange-looking creatures local to the realm chasing after us to get that "object" we were given.

In the end, the person who gave us the object come back to reclaim it but agrees to help man the "machine" that can send us back. End of story.

So, two stories roughly outlined so far. These are the ones Master Raven and my sisters could come up with. How about you guys?

[Ürei]

I love the first one.

Also, Vamp, you can join if you REALLY want to. However, if you do join, PLEASE post often. I made it restricted to 2 because I don't want this thing to just die down.

Yamihara, I am voting for your first idea, with some ideas adding in/edited from us. I want to hear the ideas of our dear Nymph before giving my input though.

[Ürei]

Okay, I was talking with Vampiric Angel and he had a great idea that was worthy of a double-post. He is considering taking my offer and joining us, and we were discussing the thread over IM.

He said that a good reason why we wouldn't be able to attack the denizens of this place is because that we are outsiders, observers, and attacking them out be like attacking ghosts. We can't physically effect the denizens therein, basically.

Chew on that. ^^

[Nymph and Dragon]

I like the first idea, too. Puzzles and logic and stuff like that. Yay!



My question is, would the denizens in the other world be alternate versions of the people in Althanas? Like elves and humans and stuff, or would they be demons and monsters? And would they actually want us to fail? Maybe they're oppressed by the sorceress too and don't actually harbor any hard feelings towards fellow servants.

[Ürei]

Since this is nightmare-fairytale-land I am thinking that humans [real humans, since some monsters resemble humans. Ex: Dopplegangers] are unheard of in this place. Everyone is fairytale monsters and such. Just a thought.

Anyways, so far it seems like we are going with Yamihara's first idea. I want to still leave a bit of this open for ingenuity during writing though, so we can stop with that rough outline for now if you guys wish.

One question I have though before I start it, how do you guys want to meet? All 3 of us meet before entering, and then fall in together, or find eachother in the town because we are the only three humans there?

[Nymph and Dragon]

I would rather if we "met," or at least saw each other, before we went to the other world. That way we could find some sort of common ground that would explain why were the only three people from our world who ended up in the other one.

[Ürei]

I'd go for that. Yami?

[Yamihara]

Nymph's intro idea sounds good. So we can also have a certain "hole" swallow us up and maybe drop each of us in a different location near each other. Maybe?

Input, guys. I'm all ears.

[Nymph and Dragon]

I prefer a same-time-same-place kind of transport. That way there isn't some sort of cheesy "destiny" aspect. That can be good sometimes, but for this storyline I think it would be best if we all were kinda randomly thrown together.

Maybe we all could be in a place where the sorceress laid some sort of trap, and one of us triggered it and the rest just came along because we were in the area. Like, she was waiting for somebody who could accomplish this mission for her (magic, or a special skill or something) and then she sprang the trap when that person stepped in.

That's my two cent idea, anyway.

[Ürei]

It's a good idea, and I think it works pretty perfectly. Now we just need a reason for the other 2 to run in. If you want, since my character, Catherine, already has a close affinity to fairy tales, she can be the one that springs the trap.

[Yamihara]

I'm nosy. =P

OK, something more tangible then. If the supposed trgger area happened to be in a workshop of sort, the strange artifacts inside said shop would be the reason I would be in there in the first place.

Yeah! Why not have the starting point inside an antique shop or something like that? Well, if that's fine with Nymph and VA. ^_^;

Anyways, I'm going off-line for a while. Master Raven has Midterms to deal with so he needs to get back to his book. I will return in about a week.

[Nymph and Dragon]

Maybe we could say that there was an object in the antique shop that attracted strong magic by sending out a kind of beacon-thing that pulled magical beings to it. That way, when Urei got a hold of it, the sorceress knew she had a powerful mage on the other end.

She isn't magical, so the pull wouldn't work on her, but it'd be easy for me to get Twyla into an antique shop, provided most of the artifacts were of human construction.

[Ürei]

That would work perfectly.

A note, since V.A. hasn't responded to my question yet, I am assuming he doesn't want to join. And I've given it some second thought, and I'm not going to let anyone else in if he doesn't come.

[Yamihara]

And~ I'm back again!

Even though Master Raven couldn't pry himself completely away from Althanas all this time, he just got a whole majority of his tests done.

So, any updates on this whimsical tale of adventure and puzzle-breaker? ^_^

[Nymph and Dragon]

Welcome back! I hope your tests went well. I really commend you for having the self-control to stay off Althanas for long enough to study. I wish I could . . .:rolleyes:

Nope. We haven't done a thing. Well, maybe Urei's been thinking . . . I have a little, but not too extraneously. We pick up now pretty much exactly where we left off.

Is there anything that we need to discuss before we actually get this quest underway?

[Ürei]

I'm ready to start if you both agree on what we have planned out so far.

[Yamihara]

Hey, I'm game. Let's get it on! ^_^

[Nymph and Dragon]

Yeah, let's go!

I assume the quest will be going on in the Other Regions board?

[Ürei]

Other regions, and I will post it as soon as I can. I start school tuesday, so, surprisingly, I will actually have more writing time after school starts.

[Devil May Care]

Urei here, sorry, something came up between me and a good friend and I was spending most of my nights talking to her. I will have the thread started this weekend.

[Yamihara]

Oh, hey! That reminds me!

Remember that Avatar for Eldritch? Yeah, Master Raven said there were two versions of it. I haven't received a return PM to the question yet, but do you want to see the second version? It's not reall that different, but has more lighting effect. ^_^

Oh, and we can wait patiently. Don't worry and just focus on doing what you want to do.

[Devil May Care]

I'm sorry, it might be a bit longer. I'm not sure. Something's come up, and I have 2 other active threads and am not sure if I can handle a third if this gets any worse.

[Ürei]

You said the other one would be in the thread, and didn't ask for a return PM. I'd like it if you still have it. I've been using Eldritch on a different medium lately.

[Göth]

Triple post, dif accounts: The 'ordeal' has ended, thank goddess, so I will have the thread up and going very soon.

[Yamihara]

Uru? I did? ^_^;

Ahh, OK, then. I'll have the second version sent to you personally, then. Keep your eyes open in the Eldritch account.

[Nymph and Dragon]

Hey, sorry, I've been really busy lately with moving into my dorm and I haven't been checking the boards as frequently as I used to.

This quest isn't up yet, is it?

[Ürei]

It's okay, it might be delayed again. I've come down dreadly sick. Fate has a grudge on me starting this damn thread.

[Yamihara]

Ack. Hope it's not too bad. I can wait, cuz your health comes first. ^_^

[Nymph and Dragon]

I can wait because I'm busy.

. . . and because I care about your health, of course. But you really should stay off the computer so that you don't leave your germs to reinfect yourself.

[Ürei]

Hey, I'm sorry, I've lost all will to write for Catherine. I am canceling this quest. If you guys really want to quest with me in a quest like this, then PM me and I can start something up just like it [same idea and everything] after I get a new side-character situated.

D.M.C. is currently my main.

[Slayer of the Rot]

Surprise!