Haida Stirs: Recruitment Thread

[Taelar]

Hey there, folks! I'm looking for another character or three interested in claiming the Haida Stirs mission from the Ravenheart Academy board. Looks like a lot of fun, a good old fashioned dungeon crawl with the opportunity to nip at the edges of something bigger.

Anyone is welcome, though folks within a couple levels of poor level 0 Taelar would be especially desired, so that there's some tension and threat to all involved. Not going to turn away Beastly McGodson with Adamantine Sword of Annihilation, though -- it'd be just as fun to have a mentor, or see a professional at work!

Link to mission board with information is here: Ravenheart Academy Mission Board. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?22581-Ravenheart-Academy&p=181699&viewfull=1#post181699) As far as I know, it's still unclaimed.

[Jack Frost]

Perhaps I could work with you. Shoot me a pm with any ideas you have.

[Azrael]

If you'd have me as well, then I'm game. :)

[Taelar]

Awesome! There's probably space for just one more, then -- want to have a proper group for something like this, but not too big that it takes forever to have anything happen. ^_^ For purposes of thread conservation, this will probably also serve as our OOC coordination.

But if there's anyone else out there with a hankering for some dusty old mines and rabid werewolves on vampire leashes, go ahead and nose on in!

[Breaker]

Congrats on being the first to claim a mission from Ravenheart Academy. Since you asked, I think the best way for me to help out would be to make occasional IC posts as NPCs or using my other characters. This will allow you to focus on developing your characters and me to keep my eye on the thread without really taking over any of the creative control, and I'm happy to provide OOC commentary here throughout the course of the thread. If there is anything specific any of you would like help with, feel free to let me know. If you were looking for a different kind of moderator assistance, that's fine, but based on the nature of the mission I think this would work well.

Now let's hunt some demonspawn :)

[Taelar]

Sounds good!

Still open to one or so more -- I'll have the intro post up on Thursday, I think, but feel free to join in a bit afterwards if you've got the interest.

[SandStorm]

I've been interested in this since I saw it pop up... If you'll have me, I'd be more than happy to jump in on this...

[Taelar]

Welcome aboard, then! Looks like we're full-up and just about ready to go.

Since everyone's here, any preferences regarding posting order / wait between posts and other similar logistical issues?

[SandStorm]

Well my schedule is pretty full at the moment, so I'll only be able to post (at most) twice a day. In regards to posting order I'll take 2nd or 3rd post.

Have any ideas running through your head for the quest right now?

[Taelar]

Ayup! I'll go ahead and spam you and Azrael with current thoughts so that you can add in your tuppence and see if it looks good. James has already received, I think, as has...

... uhhh...

... You know, I think I'll just go with Numbers.

[Jack Frost]

He goes by Numbers.
You can also call him possibly one of the most active and active of the mods. Lord of Althanas.

[Taelar]

Map is drawn up, and the starting post will be coming today or tomorrow when I can beg, borrow, steal or extort access to a scanner. Current plan -- though speak up if you're inclined otherwise -- is to have posting order loose-ish until our heroes are firmly in the midst of things, at which point we can set an order and see how to best keep things moving.

Also, apologies in advance for inflicting my mediocre artwork and layout skills on you. ^_^ As goes without saying, whatever people would like to change, tweak, fluff, alter or otherwise change is fine.

Here, by the way, is some relevant information from Numbers that has revised the potential plotline a bit:


I would encourage you not to make the mines seem too quiet - the idea of the mission, after all, is that a noteworthy force has assembled and needs to be properly assessed. Assuming this takes place during daylight hours though, the vampires would all be asleep in some of the deeper chambers, and indeed many of the werewolves as well. I agree that this story prompt would make an excellent high-tension thriller, with that tension cut every so often by sudden battles of course

Also, rather than have a portal in the recesses of the mines, why not just encounter a network of tunnels that leads down into haidia? Although I'm not sure if it is common knowledge, the idea of Haidia is that it is an underground network of many levels which spans throughout most of Althanas. This would actually work better with your idea for the endgame than the portal, as finding a way to collapse a tunnel or two would be easier, and the presence of a portal would call into question why they hadn't brought all their armies through already.

So no portal, just some good old fashioned elbow grease or purloined explosives to bring down the tunnels in the right place.

... Ooh, Azrael, I just remembered reading, your character is an alchemist / demolitions / explosives user, yes?

[Azrael]

... Ooh, Azrael, I just remembered reading, your character is an alchemist / demolitions / explosives user, yes?

Yes, but since he's only a level 0, it's pretty weak. The explosives he has can only start small flames, but if there are other combustible materials in the area or if we play it out right, it should work. :)

[SandStorm]

I like all the ideas you've sent to me and I've been plotting some ways to put my character in this thread, I'll have my ideas up shortly. Good stuff though fella's, let me know when your first post is up Taeler.

[Jack Frost]

I'm still in on this, When you put a first post up pm me, and also send me all of the finalized details that I can work with.

[Taelar]

Let's try this again, and hopefully not eat my own reply.

Thread is up, and a mirror of the map link can be found here: Linky! (http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e65/ClawOfRakshasa/erasemap.jpg)

I've deliberately tried to cover a lot of ground in the first post, to try to lay down some foundations for IC knowledge, while leaving the framing of how characters enter, what they're up to, and other parts of the briefing undefined so that people can take their own turns with creativity. Feel free to alter and suggest as you like, with one exception: if you void the map, you're drawing the replacement. :P

If there are any problems, questions or suggestions, just hit me up by PM. Numbers will be posting something for the Ranger commanding officer or some similar character, I think -- otherwise have at it!

[Breaker]

Before I can respond I still need to know what kind of criticism you're looking for... what specific areas of the rubric (or all, if you like), and to what degree. It's easy to just give a couple general suggestions, but equally easy to give you a line by line analysis of your writing style. While some writers thrive on this kind of criticism, others work best without being reminded of every little mistake they make. Give me an idea of what you're hoping for and I will provide a response inside a day.

EDIT: Also, I'm having a little trouble understanding the map... is there any way to make it clearer, or a post I missed that describes it?

[Taelar]

I'm a bit confused, actually? I thought that the evaluation generally came at the end of the thread, once posts have a chance to make sense in context, and so on. If you're planning to do running critique that would be appreciated, but as much as I enjoy criticism it's also nice to be able to continue -- for writers and readers -- without big blocks of OOC commentary in the middle. Therefore, general overviews and suggestions would be appreciated, and as much specific stuff as you'd like to at the end or in ways that don't break the flow of the thread. ^_^ Speaking only for myself, of course.

As for the map, there's an explanation of each part in-character, but unfortunately there's not much I can do with 'the map doesn't make sense.' What parts in particular, after reading the elf's spiel, were confusing to you?

EDIT for explanation: The map as presented is a top-down view of the quarry, the sort that you'd get on a tabletop map or video game minimap. It's not a terribly accurate or scaled depiction of the mines, but doing a scale drawing of an iron mine is beyond my pesky threshold of real-life knowledge. As ever, if anyone feels like doing another map, toss it up and I'll edit our lovely Ranger's commentary accordingly.

[SandStorm]

My only question on the map is what do all the letters mean? Is there something I'm missing that defines them? As for the thread I'll be reading it now and I should have my post up later today, since I only have a small lunch break then I have to go do some crappy cardio and endurance training.

Edit: After reading your post everythings clear now and thanks for all the time you've put into the planning of this quest, it'll help us in the long run for sure.

[Breaker]

Looks pretty good Taelar... I'm going to wait till the others have their intros posted and do a sort of "lesson" here to accompany my post, but there's a couple things I could mention. Firstly, nice job bringing Underwood to life, but you should have Watch Patrols (underwood's guardsmen/militia) patrolling the streets, not Rangers. The premise of this quest is that there aren't enough rangers to go around, and if a bunch were wandering the streets of Underwood, this job probably wouldn't exist. That was the only story based thing that really stood out to me, and I'll touch on everything else a bit later. Keep up the good work! I'm really digging your approach to your character.

[SandStorm]

Posted a pretty random post, but hopefully it'll work as an intro and I can get more into the swing of things as this advances. God knows I have been too busy to write much on here in the last few months.

[Azrael]

Hi, guys. Sorry I haven't posted yet. I'm going to be out of town for a few days, so if you're all waiting for me -- don't. :P I think I read somewhere that posting order will be loose for a while, so someone can step in and take my turn for now if they want. :)

[Breaker]

I can probably jump in with Jake tonight or tomorrow and use his portals to whisk everyone out to the site... sound good?

Have fun out of town Az, we'll find a good spot to bring you in once you're back.

[Breaker]

I guess I should have been clearer with my question... do you guys want me to jump in now, or wait for Az/next round?

[SandStorm]

Ugh, I guess it's a safe bet to assume that everyone has dissapeared from this project and it's become little more than a steamy pile of wasted time.

Sweet...