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The Gathering Revisited



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Wed Aug 05, 2015 12:39 pm
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cheeb says...



Not related to the Magic: The Gathering card game. It has a similar name, and apparently there are some parallels regarding multiverses, but it's a separate thing.

Once upon a time, there was a storybook called YWS: The Gathering. It was about a group of authors taking characters from their own literary works and throwing them into a multiversal collision with no idea what was going on. Despite being poorly planned and poorly organised by its creator, the storybook lasted a whopping seven pages and garnered critical acclaim from almost 1 people.

Since then, multiversal relations have ranged from peaceful to nonexistent (which may or may not be thanks to many groups of world-jumping agents). However, in an obscure corner of the multiverse, an unknown thief has invaded several worlds and from each one taken an item of power. He plans to use the powers of these Artifacts to conquer the multiverse one world at a time.
What he didn't count on was the multiverse being thrown into instability: removing an item of such power without providing an equivalent power source or an item of equivalent mass made each world unstable. The worlds began to gravitate towards their Artifacts, seeking to reclaim their missing pieces and re-stabilise. Because the Artifacts were all together on the thief's world, however, the other worlds all moved towards the same point on the space-time continuum and collided, forming a "mish-mash" planet comprised of small portions of each individual universe involved. In the chaos, the Artifacts were scattered across this new world.
Realising that the composite world would be populated by citizens of the original universes, many of whom would no doubt come looking for their world's Artifact, the thief sent his minions to spread misinformation, cast suspicion on the heroes themselves and turn them against one another.

tl;dr: worlds got all smashed together and people have to fix it with magic or science things but they might have to fight each other first because they're highly suggestible

Now you have the opportunity to enter the world of Bellona and join the effort to restore balance to these worlds and to the multiverse. Do you have what it takes? Can you handle the truth? Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the President?

Mattster wrote:The only prerequisite to joining this storybook is that you've posted a fictional piece on YWS, and hence have a character to play as.
Never mind that, you can create a character and universe specially for this storybook. Or, if you want, you can still use a character and setting from your previous works. You can treat this storybook as a separate canon if you don’t want your novel contaminated by random crossovers.

Mattster wrote:It doesn't have to be your MC, it can be any character... well, you know. Any character that is featured often or majorly in your story. Not like "Man in Bar #2".
Hey, if Man in Bar #2 is an interesting guy, what the heck. Play as him!

Mattster wrote:nothing about the plot or lack thereof in the old Gathering
WELL DONE, DUMMY
This time, there is some semblance of a plot! Apparently these are quite important when creating stories.

Mattster wrote:No God characters. And no, you can't be God even if he features in your story.
Actually, yeah, this one stays in effect. Otherwise it’s just ridiculous.

This is open to anyone who's interested, although I'm looking at a possible maximum of about 15 people. If there's a significantly higher number of people who want in, I think I'll have a solution.

Cordial Invitations:
Spoiler! :
Participants of the first Gathering:
@Nutty
@Squall
@Dynamo
@Rydia
@Griffinkeeper
@Alteran
not Mattster because he's a loser, @chibibo can take his place

Maybe these guys want to come too, if they promise to bring cake they can:
@Lumi
@Jolt
@Rosendorn
@StellaThomas
@Lauren2010
@Holofernes
Are you interested? Do you have questions I haven't covered here? Want to tag someone you think would want to be in on this? Here's what you should do, in alphabetical order:
  • Reply to this thread

(At this stage I mainly want to gauge interest and get an idea of who wants to be in this. But if you do happen to have a somewhat solid idea of what your world and character would be (and if you're fairly sure you'd want to participate) feel free to throw your ideas at me. Certainly it'd help me sort out some of the interactions that could take place and some directions in which the plot could go. If you have a universe in mind or idea for one, don't hesitate to start developing it although bear in mind there are a few things each universe will need, which I'll go into in the future.)
Last edited by cheeb on Wed Aug 05, 2015 5:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Wed Aug 05, 2015 12:45 pm
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Nutty says...



Save me a spot ;D <3
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Wed Aug 05, 2015 3:08 pm
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Caesar says...



yeah I'll play ^^
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Wed Aug 05, 2015 4:57 pm
ThePatchworkPilgrims says...



Hey! I'm actually planning a MtG SB myself!! If you do create yours, please stay out of the Plane of Ravnica (the encumopolis with the Ten Guilds...) My SB will revolve around the, Guilds and the Maze of Ravnica, so...

But I shall be following this!
Former incarnations have been:
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And, TheMaieuticMesmerist


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Wed Aug 05, 2015 5:00 pm
cheeb says...



@TheClockworkConjurer Oh, this isn't a Magic: the Gathering storybook. The original storybook was called YWS: the Gathering, and this one's the sequel. It's nothing to do with the card game or any related material.
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Wed Aug 05, 2015 5:04 pm
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ThePatchworkPilgrims says...



Oh, I saw! (I went to check the that link you provided at the top of this page...) Nevermind me! I just thought someone was going to be making a similar SB to the one I'm planning...

*makes note to check up on links before making assumptions*
Former incarnations have been:
TheWanderingWizard
TheClockworkConjurer
TheIllusiveIntellect
TheSunderingSorceror
And, TheMaieuticMesmerist


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Wed Aug 05, 2015 5:16 pm
cheeb says...



It's all good. I'm half tempted to rename this one when the actual storybook starts to be honest. I knew the names were similar but I have learned within about the last ten minutes that MTG also has a plot about multiple universes conflicting. So that's a little embarassing :/
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Wed Aug 05, 2015 6:14 pm
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Lumi says...



An excuse to bring out Felix the druggie? I'm in!
I am a forest fire and an ocean, and I will burn you just as much
as I will drown everything you have inside.
-Shinji Moon


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Thu Aug 06, 2015 5:35 pm
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Rydia says...



I'm in! I'll have to have a think about a character to play but I'm tempted to use someone from my current novel :)
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Fri Aug 07, 2015 4:25 pm
cheeb says...



Okay, I'm super glad people are into this. Here's some more about how the universes will work.

Universe Profile
Code: Select all
[b]Name: [/b]
[b]Genre: [/b
[b]Backstory: [/b]
[b]Locale: [/b]
[b]Artifact: [/b]
[b]NPCs: [/b]
First of all, pretty much anything goes with what your world can be, we'll find a way to fit it in.

Name
What the "name" of the universe is. Doesn't have to be any sort of official name as it likely won't be referred to as such in the storybook itself, but just something we players can use to identify it. (If you're using your own novel or short story's world the universe name can be as simple as the title of that work.)

Genre
What genre does your universe fit into? If you're not sure, have a look at the list of genres here. If you like, you can also give examples of fiction that's similar to your world to help others better understand it.

Backstory
Give a brief description of the recent history of your world, at least in relation to your main character. If your universe is based on an existing work of yours you might want to decide when the storybook takes place in relation to your story - has your character already experienced all that you've written or planned for them, or have they yet to begin? Or is it sometime during their journey that they find themselves on Bellona?

Locale
When the worlds collide, they form the planet Bellona which is composed of several "chunks" of the parent worlds. Here is where you describe the part of your world that has appeared on its surface. It can be as large as a small country or as small as a city. Its geological location may not be the same as on its home world: an arctic island may land in the tropics of Bellona, or an inland city might become coastal, and any people that inhabit that locale will likely be in the process of trying to adapt to the change.

Artifact (you may also call it a MacGuffin)
This is the object stolen from your world by the thief. It can be nearly anything, as long as it's important, powerful or particularly useful; there needs to be a reason the thief went after it in the first place. It should be something that would help him take control or wreak havoc. It could also be something he could sell to a high bidder but let's try not to have too many of these, since it seems a bit extreme to break into a universe just to raise money (he is a thief, after all; he'd just steal the money directly).

NPCs
Here you can list some of the other major characters from your world that might appear on Bellona. They can be allies of your character, villains, random comic relief or whatever. They should be supporting characters but shouldn't share too much screentime with the main cast, otherwise they might as well be player characters too. If your character has some sort of familiar that stays with them (which isn't a problem, by the way) it's probably better to mention them in the character profile rather than here.


Character Profile
Code: Select all
[b]Name: [/b]
[b]Universe: [/b]
[b]Age: [/b]
[b]Appearance: [/b]
[b]Personality: [/b]
[b]Abilities: [/b]
[b]Other: [/b]


Name
You really need me to explain this one? WHAT DO WE CALL YOUR CHARACTER?

Universe
I suppose it goes without saying that your character would be associated with your universe, but just for completion's sake list it here.

Age
This can be anything. Seriously, I would love to see, like, some Master Roshi-like badass grandpa show up and just... be a badass.

Appearance
What do we see when we look at your character? I mean, what we actually see is a bunch of text but what will that text tell us?

Personality
How your character behaves on a normal day, how they act in groups, whether they're aggressive, passive, impressive, expressive, dismissive... or something else that ends in -ssive.

Abilities
What can your character do? This can be anything from "summons fire from her hands to melt her enemies" to "is a police officer who graduated from the academy with flying colours". Or whatever.

Other
Anything else that doesn't fit into any of the previous categories.


  • When creating a universe, you can work with one or two other players and all have characters from that universe if you like. I'd say three to a universe should probably be the maximum, since it sort of defeats the purpose of the storybook if half the main characters already know each other.
  • As mentioned in the previous post, I'm looking at a maximum of 15 players/characters. I'm also considering a maximum of 10 worlds. Each player should only control one character each.
  • If there are profiles already posted when you want to post yours, you may also request of another user if your character can be part of their universe. Bear in mind that the user who submitted that universe will have some control over the creation of your character as it will have to fit in their world, and indeed they will also have the right to refuse your request. Depending on the user, however, they may be willing to help you design your character to fit or even make changes to the universe to accommodate you.
  • The universes, characters and everything else should be your own creations. This isn't an Academy for Heroes-in-Training storybook, people, we don't want fanfiction OCs here.

Finally, as a bit of an example here's the universe and character I'm planning to use.
Spoiler! :
Universe
Name: Renegade Robo
Genre: Post-apocalyptic science-fiction
Backstory: After the nuclear wars ended and the fallout had dissipated, what remained of humanity returned to the surface to discover that the robots on the surface had continued to improve their technology and were now ruled by a super intelligent battle droid called INT-9999. INT-9999 didn't take kindly to the resurgence of humanity and immediately ordered their destruction. A group of former miners from the underground society, who drove old mining mechas, modified their machines into power armour: these machines were nearly a century older than the electronics on the surface which, ironically, made it impossible for INT-9999 to control them.
Locale: Electropolis, the main city of robots. Unlike INT-9999's robot army, the citizens of Electropolis tend to stay in the city and keep to themselves: their battery cells are smaller than those of INT-9999's soldiers and so they must stay close to a power socket at all times (power sockets are plentiful in a city of robots). However, they harbour INT-9999's deep hatred of humanity and will stop at nothing to kill a human that enters their city. They are also not immune to INT-9999's wireless control and can be forced to leave the city and rampage in this way.
Artifact: Project Omni. A prototype power armour developed by INT-9999, designed to turn a human that wears it into a super soldier. The armour would be self-controlled, ignoring the will of the human, but would be powered by the person's life force. Thanks to the efforts of Blake and Francesca it never left the prototype stage, having been stolen by them and hidden underground. It is assumed that the thief took it thinking he would be in control when wearing it.
NPCs:
  • INT-9999: A highly advanced, sentient droid that seeks to eradicate all human and animal life. Is strangely partial to plant life. Can wirelessly exert control over most sufficiently advanced electronics and robotics - if your device or machine is newer than an iPhone then chances are INT-9999 can turn it against you.
  • Francesca Darwin: The leader of the human resistance movement and Blake's love interest. A red-haired, no-nonsense commander who holds a personal grudge against INT-9999. There are hints that she reciprocates Blake's feelings, but refuses to act on them.

Character
Name: Blake Marrick and "Roll"
Universe: Renegade Robo
Age: 23
Appearance: Skinny, with spiky white hair and beady brown eyes. Wears a white shirt, brown cargo pants and black boots. Also wears an earpiece on the right side of his head and a device around his right wrist, and an electronic eyepatch around the top of his head. Wears a satchel on his chest for easy access to his toolbox.
Personality: Blake treats his mecha "Roll" as his "baby", not dissimilar to how a car enthusiast might treat his favourite vehicle. He maintains her himself, performs upgrades and modifications and, unlike his fellow pilots, polishes and paints Roll in his off time. He's very protective of her not only from attackers but from criticism. Blake feels most comfortable in the driver's seat of his mecha, believing that he's invincible with her and useless without her (neither of which is necessarily true). However, he is willing to send her back to the garage while not in combat, if only so he doesn't wear her out or ruin her paint job unnecessarily.
Outside of robotics, Blake is easy enough to get along with, although he's something of a braggart. When in combat he often makes rash decisions, although if he manages to continue fighting long enough to witness what the enemy is capable of he can usually come up with a decent strategy. And despite his overconfidence he works quite well with a team, having done so for a few years now in his world.
Abilities: Uses his wrist device to summon (and unsummon) his mecha via teleport. Is an ace mecha pilot and very good mechanic. Can use his earpiece as a phone and his eyepatch as a magnifying glass, heat sensor or eye shield. His satchel contains your everyday tools including screwdrivers, wrenches and drill bits of all sizes, and even a glue gun and welding torch (that's what the eye shield in his eye patch is for).
His mecha is slow and lumbering, but very physically powerful. Its right arm can shift into a Gatling gun while its left can shift into a drill at will. There are jets on its back that can point backwards (for running) or downward (for jumping).
Other: Um I think pretty much nothing? Oh wait. Roll, the mecha, kinda looks like this but is more brown.
Last edited by cheeb on Tue Aug 11, 2015 6:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mon Aug 10, 2015 11:02 am
cheeb says...



So it's come to my attention that threads no longer auto-subscribe members that post in them, and I shall need to get into the habit of tagging. This is for those who have expressed interest and may not have seen my last post: @Nutty, @Holofernes, @Lumi, @Rydia, @Jolt
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Tue Aug 11, 2015 8:39 pm
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Rydia says...



The extra info's good - do you want us to fill out profiles now so you have an idea of what we're working with? More than happy to! Also *subscribes*
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Thu Aug 13, 2015 12:52 pm
cheeb says...



@Rydia It's up to you if you want to now or whenever this starts (which shouldn't be too far off). Certainly having some info about characters now would give me some ideas of where to go with this - I have a basic, barebones plot in mind (not sure whether to outline it here or keep it quiet, it's probably simple enough at this point that revealing it wouldn't really spoil anything) but it could definitely use some twists and turns and knowing some of the characters might give me (and you guys) some ideas of how characters would relate to one another and how it could affect the adventure.
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Thu Aug 13, 2015 1:27 pm
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Caesar says...



I think that character based plots are really satisfying -- I'll fill mine in before this starts too.
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Thu Aug 13, 2015 8:52 pm
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Rydia says...



Your wish is my command

Name: The War of the Clans
Genre: Alternate History/ Apocalyptic
Backstory: In a land where resources are rare, the clans have built their civilisation around survival but it is a survival of the fittest. A tournament which recollects the Clan War is fought every ten years to decide who will live where and which will be made clanless and banished to the wasteland. But this year the Sun Hawks and their sister clan will use the tournament as a distraction for their rebellion against the clan who have for decades used the Clan Wars to repress their fellow people and to ensure that they remain in charge.
Locale: The Cage - a large structure in the main city of Meadow is built from iron trellis and surrounds an ancient town. The buildings are low stone shelters with patched wooden roofs and the inhabitants are two champions from each clan who must forge and break alliances until their world is built anew. The technology has developed very sparingly - explosive devices but no guns. Poisons which kill, potions which blind and medicines which sometimes do more harm than good. It is a primitive land and the people are battle hardened but not always without honour.
Artifact: The Guiding Sun. It is said that long ago a single clan traveled far across the lands, seeking a home for themselves. They followed the way of The Guiding Sun and it brought them to Meadow. This old artifact is said to be kept in the Tower of the First Clan and is revered as an object with the power to point the way through the dangerous wastelands.
NPCs:
Tide: An assassin from the governing clan who has been tasked with taking out the champions of the other clans as quietly and secretly as he can. Tide will only strike when his actions will be unseen by others of his land but he is determined to kill all of the champions during the confusion caused by the converging worlds. He holds no malice for anyone but he is unrelenting and has a deadly calm. Tide has light brown skin and curly, sandy hair with blue-green eyes. He is an ageing man in his late forties and he hides in plain sight, otherwise appearing to be a gentleman with a hint of mischief.
Jay: A sun-kissed man in his late twenties with shrewd eyes and an aquiline nose. Jay is of the same clan as Falco and they are the chosen champions. Where Falco is passionate and free spirited, Jay is governed by his strong belief in their clan leader's dominance. Jay walks a narrow path and is determined to keep Falco focused on the events of their land.
Kes: Falco's younger sister is head strong and fierce and she will do anything to have her revenge on the clan responsible for her mother's death. With tawny skin, dark brown hair, green eyes and a lithe build, she resembles her brother in all but height. She believes in the spirits as strongle as she believes in herself and seeks power from them to strike down her enemies.


Name: Falco
Universe: The War of the Clans
Age: 23
Appearance: Dark, untidy hair and hazel-green eyes. Falco is a tall man with a sturdy build from many years of hard labour but lean and a little malnourished. His skin is tawny and his movements are quick and powerful and even when he stands still, he has a readiness about him.
Personality: Passionate and free thinking, Falco is a rarity in his land: a creative problem solving genius. While he knows nothing of high tech gadgets or systems like math or science, Falso is a quick thinker and very resourceful. He works well in a team and is used to working closely with others from hunting or foraging food to building and repairing shelters.
Abilities: Surviving in harsh environments, fighting with sling shot spear or pole and thinking on his feet.
Other: As the Clan Leader's son, Falco feels a strong sense of responsibility for his people.
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