axiology | EVENT WRITE-UP: DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?

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EVENT WRITE-UP: DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?

EVENT POST

SUMMARY
They either heard it in passing or from a public conversation on the network. It's wonderful that the sun of Chantes has risen again, but what's next? Peace between the disgruntled humans and goblins, of course. Dislike peace talks all you want—some attempt has to be made if ALASTAIR is going to pluck you off of this planet.

Five main options in organizing a cease-fire are available to player characters (among your own ideas; if you have thought of something else, please ask about it or suggest it!):

1) Find half-goblin/half-human citizens of Chantes who are not affiliated with the Order of the Chimera. For a quick recap, there are people in Chantes who are neither all goblin or all human, but a mix between both of them. Understandably, they're having a bad time with the tensions between the two races being so high. But there are those who haven't resorted to joining the more aggressive Order that's taken to solving problems by, for example, blocking out the sun.

Rin's Servant Archer (anti_altruisms) has been investigating the city in the background for quite some time, searching for the presence of these individuals. Any characters would be good for this option!

2) Search for humans or goblins who want peace between the two races and seek their help. There have to be people on both sides of the conflict more willing to put the fighting behind them, now. Maybe the sun has lifted their spirits and their hearts a little. It might still be difficult to find these pacifists, but they're probably out there.

Any characters would be good for this option! Non-human characters to speak to the goblins and human characters to speak to other humans may be especially helpful.

3) Send an envoy/a group of ambassadors to meet with the King and attempt to make some headway. There's some shady news concerning the King, to say the least, and ALASTAIR's last major encounter with the face of Chantes' royalty was beating down their guards and breaking recruits out of their jail. But the King is still the King, and so he must be dealt with for any peace efforts to go far. (Don't be surprised if they may not actually get, uh, very far.)

Characters that are good at holding their ground and able to defend themselves in the case of violence are probably best for this option! Rin—as well as other characters—will likely share the sentiment that they have their work cut out for them here, and they won't be in pleasant company. Additionally, any characters who know the King or are familiar with the castle.

4) Same as option 3, just with Graldia. The leader of the goblin army is another figure ALASTAIR might consider reaching out to.

Like with the King, assertive characters and characters who can defend themselves may be best for this option. Additionally, as with any interaction with goblins, non-humans might add some persuasiveness!

5) Attempt to work for peace with members of the Order of the Chimera. Yet another dangerous group. They're the ones whose leader Michel blotted out the sun in the first place. But as other ALASTAIR members have pointed out, the Order can't really be ignored. In the worst case scenario, another "Michel" will pop up... And it would really, really suck to try and get that sun back again, wouldn't it?

Any characters are good for this option, though they should possibly be able to defend themselves. Characters who know information about the Order (their past meeting, Michel) can contribute here.

WHAT DO I DO?
Characters are free to talk to others in groups or individually. If your character would be interested in joining a group, feel free to discuss it in this entry before submitting your questions.

This would be an awful lot of threading, we realize, so we've come up with a solution. You (or your team) will write up a summary of where your character would go and what they would do. An example from a parallel universe:

Alice and Bob decide to go question the werewolves, particularly any werewolves who happen to be out and about in the market place. They don't bother being polite or asking if they have a moment to chat. Instead, they yank one into an alley.

"Why do you hate the vampires so much?" Alice asks, unfriendly towards the werewolf. Bob plays good cop, being a little kinder.

"Would you be willing to work towards peace if someone would mediate?" he asks.

Regardless of what answers they get, they'll pop out of the alley and ask a few of the shopkeepers if they've noticed any werewolves who might be vampire sympathizers. They slide over a few coins to make sure they get an answer, and send letters to anyone who would be named asking for their assistance.

For types that might be more difficult to find - Order members or half-goblins - feel free to handwave that your character did some investigating to find them. After you submit the summary in the appropriate subthread below, you'll get a similar reply explaining the results they'd get.

Stay tuned for a very important follow-up network post coming up on the 30th! Please note submissions should be completed by or on the 30th (GMT) by the latest.

Also, a big thanks to defenceless for working with us on this event and their help in writing this up!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Submit interactions with humans or goblins who want peace between the two races here.

at Odette Memorial:

Aqua will be venturing on her own through the city in search of peacable strangers (as vidya protags are apt to do); the park is perhaps an unexpected location to initiate such talks, being dedicated to the poisoned queen and all, but to her it's as good a place as any.

With the sun out, the fields are more populated than usual with children and accompanying guardians. Some of the younger ones attempt to braid pitiful flower crowns with the wilted lilies, while others are content to romp around playing outdoor games and such.

Aqua will be roped into these activities by the bolder children, and will eventually entertain them with a bit of her subtler, benign spells. (Healing a badly-scraped knee, for one.) This will likely draw the attention of the adults, who will approach her with much caution and perhaps even curiosity. Cue a careful discussion over the nature of her magic—she'll do everything to reassure them she means no harm, and hopefully the kids will vouch for her. Eventually she'll try to segue into the return of the sun, the general state of Chantes, and the safety of the children...

...A few green thumbs are out as well, trying to assess the state of the flowers and determine what they can do to regrow/revive what's been lost. Aqua will speak to them while assisting with a few gardening tasks, to ascertain whether their efforts are more for the sake of the actual lilies, or for the lost queen they symbolize. (Either way she'll try to collect their opinion of peace with the goblinfolk.)

The adults Aqua speaks to will express that while they fear the goblins, it's been exacerbated by their sudden militarization of late. Moreso than anything, they simply want the peaceful times under the Queen to return. They'll share a few fond stories of the late Odette, who seems as beloved by the humans as the goblins. Despite her loss, they'll continue to raise flowers in her memory.

None of the parents or gardeners are willing to speak up overtly about peace, looking uncomfortable when she breaches the subject. However, they'll admit that the Order has been the greater threat, and that the goblins have visited Odette's memorial just as frequently as they do.

The children are more receptive, and when it's time for them to scatter back home, they'll tell her how cool her magic was and nag her to teach them how to use it until their parents drag them away. Even the meeker ones seem more comfortable with the idea of spells now.

Rick, drunk somewhere, kind of vaguely yells at some humans that they should stop being so goddamn racist. "You're on the wrong side of history," he says, belching, then probably passes out. He has tried. This is how he tries.

Rick's efforts will not bring about the next great era of peace for Chantes.

However, after his spiel, one young teen sticks his finger in mud and draws a dick on his forehead. His mother pretends not to see.

Edited (you didn't see that) 2016-01-29 22:30 (UTC)

Alice has collected a few night-blooming cereus plants from the cave and will be passing them along to the goblin church as means to show good will on behalf of humans. She's done what she can to make sure that the flowers are in the best of care before she's handed them off, and will apologize profusely and offers up her help with anything else. She'll think that the flowers aren't good enough \O_o/

The goblins at the church are wary of Alice at first, until eventually the church elder, seeming to come to a decision about her after observation from a distance, approaches with a smile to accept a few flowers. He will take her up on that offer to do more, too. He’ll invite her into the church and ask a few menial, light tasks of her, mainly related to the upkeep of the church. He will chat with her while she does them, explain that not everyone wants this conflict, many goblins are tired of the violence and do indeed want peace. He will part with her on good terms, thank her for the flowers, and express the sentiment that if more humans were like her, they would be well on their way to putting this conflict behind them.

Olivia will be attempting to appeal to the goblins who appear unaffiliated. In particular, she will be approaching those who are vendors, as she has done some business with them before for food and the like. Keats, a non-human, will be accompanying her in order to act as protection, though he will not be doing anything but remain a silent presence (for the most part, at least) unless any action needs to be taken. Olivia is human, but she has had some interactions with goblins before; they'd mingled within bars, shared drinks, was part of the goblin holiday tasks, picked some cereus plants for their church, and even danced with/for some during the sunrise celebration. She doesn't outright attempt to suggest any grandstanding peace treaties right away; initially, she'll just try to get a feel for how their temperaments and feelings towards humans and peace in general are, before attempting to broach the topic. In her attempts to gain their favor, she'll probably do nearly anything they ask of her, even if it's embarrassing.

...she'll also probably end up unconsciously sweet-talking some of them.

Some of the vendors frown and wave them off as soon as they see where Olivia is headed with her approach, saying they’ve got too much to do for this kind of talk. Most, though, do seem willing to listen. A few of them even seem a little amused by her approach, and trade glances when it comes up that she’s actively willing to do things for them to make them more receptive to peace.

“Three rabbits should do it,” one of them says. “Catch me three rabbits--none of the white ones about town, I mean the brown ones from the field. I think that could really make me come around.”

“And while you’re at it, eight sparrows,” says another. “My daughter’s bird flew away the other day, I think eight sparrows could about make up for it. It’d really open my eyes.”

They don’t really expect her to go through with it, but if she does, they’ll break out into guffaws of laughter and she’ll have them pretty solidly won over. If one human (and her tall bodyguard) is willing to put up with this for them, maybe there’s some hope after all. They’ll be spreading this story to their friends, and for a while anywhere Olivia and Keats go they will find themselves followed by good-natured grinning and laughter from the vendors.

but will they give her discounts

#priorities

(Apologies for being a little late!)

Nico and, when she's not appealing to the goblins, Olivia will be going around trying to generally spread goodwill. Sometimes, this will be simply approaching people in at least the safer parts of town or chatting with vendors in the trade district as they browse/shop; sometimes, they will actively attempt to gather a crowd through their respective performances on various street corners, Nico announcing them with her megaphone. Olivia's actions are much the same as with the goblins, of trying to figure out their temperaments before broaching the topic and offering to do just about anything (though if it's anything too extreme Nico will intervene and attempt to smooth-talk their way out of it by acting innocent). On Nico's part, she'll mostly be acting as though she's just talking or doing normal fan meet-and-greet stuff like signing autographs/shaking hands/etc., which she's done from time to time as she's built up her idol career here, and she'll be putting double effort into seeming as cute and innocent as possible, but she'll be liberally peppering her conversations with true or made-up rumours about the goblins, more or less boiling down to goblins doing things that are nice and friendly, and being just as happy to have the sun back as any human, and wanting the conflict to end as much as anyone. Because we all just want to conflict to end, right? She won't be talking about the goblins to every person she meets, but one or two of these rumours will come up more often than not.

While some less than savory characters may attempt to take advantage of Olivia’s... generosity, overall their attempts will at least bring about good cheer to the populace. The vendors and commonfolk of Chantes seem tired and ragged, and if asked most of them would rather recover than start new conflict. After how bleak and dire the straits have been lately, their performances will ease spirits enough to at least get people to listen and start taking things to heart.

These rumors will be helped along as Nico’s diehard fans will attest to her purehearted intent and honesty. Whenever they’re not talking about how cute her hair is, that is.

Just wanted to thank you mods for being so awesome. I love this so much. ~~She knew she was right to pick this trademark hairstyle.~~

Gintoki will be on his own, scootering about the outskirts of Chantes to visit the goblins. He's approaching this in a completely professional sort of way like a good, old fashioned door-to-door sales person. He has compiled a few papers and has it written in a language the goblins can understand with some help from a goblin artist who was willing to accept his payment. His main goal is to keep those who want to have peace encouraged and feel confident about talking to others who seem hostile with an icebreaker.

They look like this.
The benefits listed on the other side of it will consist of the following (and more):

— less noise outside from rioting so you can sleep.
— you can borrow sugar from the humans if you're friends with them and you're in the middle of making a dessert and realize you don't have sugar.
— you can borrow comic books from one another too and share meals and shit.
— you get a sun. the sun is nice.

People should protect others and uplift them instead of tearing them apart, no matter their differences.
The darkest light is always before the lightest dawn.
Let's start a beautiful new together.

Pass this along to somebody who needs to hear this.

Hopefully, this'll encourage goblins who want to seek peace to open up discussions with those who are apprehensive about having peace with this icebreaker. If Gintoki comes across goblins who are hesitant about making peace, he will go into more detailed conversation about this and dare not start a fight if they disagree with him, but turn the other cheek.

Like most good, old fashioned door-to-door salesmen, Gintoki will be greeted with many a slammed door. Or a polite lack of interest. The ones that do stop to speak to him seem skeptical and will ask who put him up to this, but they’ll still take his peace brochure. One young mother explains with a sigh that they’ve already tried for diplomacy, while others will get more heated and threaten to throw him off their doorstep, but most will at least indulge in a pamphlet.

Later, he’ll be able to overhear an exchange between two of the goblins, snickering to themselves and passing one of his handouts between each other and a third friend. It seems he’s got the goblin population talking.

"D’you see this drivel already?"

"No, but Taz showed me one earlier. It’s really starting to get around..."

"It’s nonsense. Why’s the sun smiling? What’s a ‘comic’ supposed to be? Off his rocker, this guy."

One of them recites Gintoki’s message in a nasally voice and they all laugh, though the third goblin chimes in afterwards.

"He had some good points, though. It might be stupid, but at least there’s people trying to talk to us instead of picking fights."

"...Yeah, that’s true," the first goblin says while folding the sheet, tucking it into his pocket instead of throwing it to the wind. "I’m starting to wish all the humans were this weird."

As soon as she returns from the woods against the backdrop of the rising sun, Rin is on a mission. She plans to visit the King but doesn't sit tight in the days prior. Far less subtle than Archer and prone to speaking her mind, anyway—especially now—Rin is vocal among the shops and stalls of the human section of the city and equally as well-spoken in the goblin territory of the outskirts. Human citizens are no doubt familiar with her as that fashionable-looking young woman who always buys more from their vendors, or the girl who keeps telling them how to kill the mistletoe—and the spell works! To the goblins, she's a stern young lady nevertheless best known among the children for giving them cookies, or the older goblins for helping them around.

With both groups, Rin is pointed in bringing up the discussion of peace, though she's sure to shy away from causing overt discomfort. While she is direct, she understands she has not lived their lives. She's likely to listen to the history of Chantes, stories and opinions concerning the conflict, what individuals themselves believe can be done to resolve the situation, if they even care to resolve it... anything. Rin's just a little more in people's faces about considering peace than she was before, now that the sun is out.

(She does make it clear she doesn't really care if they're going to call her a traitor, either. Ah.)

In between the more "grown-up" business of peace negotiating, however, Rin finds herself appointed by chance as the temporary caretaker of a group of children. Initially she just screamed at them a lot, finding a mix of goblin and human and goblin-human children playing together in a small clearing located along the edge of the woods. Didn't they know how dangerous it was? Did their parents know they were out here? Somehow it ended up with Rin relegated to supervisory duty, resting on a nearby hill and watching over them—not only because of wild animals, but also because of the social climate. When Steven tags along with her following some of her rounds inside the city or through its outskirts, he's liable to mingle with the children and even suggest some new games they could play.

The children take an interest in the pair's free use of magic around them. Both Rin and Steven can heal small injuries—although Steven's method is, um, a bit creative—and magic makes for fun sparkles in the air that catch the sunlight and glitter, a beautiful crystal ball to kick around, colorful flowers they can loop around their wrists to braid friendship bracelets. Steven leads the children in plenty of catchy songs about peace.

The topic of peace and the state of Chantes do come up from time to time, but from a child's perspective. Rin and Steven are pleasantly supportive of being nice, kind, and friendly to others, no matter who they are or whether they're goblin, human, or a combination. After all, their little playgroup contains goblin kids, human kids, and half-goblin/half-human kids, and they manage to have tons of fun.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

EVENT WRITE-UP: DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?

HUMANS OR GOBLINS WHO SEEK PEACE

(Humans)

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(Humans)

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goblins!

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GOBLINS

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Humans

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goblins... late without starbucks...

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