[Xanth]

Okay, so it's been about a month since the last post in A Nymph Indeed and the secondary A Nymph in Speed seems to have stalled as well. I'm all for trying to continue the plot (I've always hated cancelling events and I'm loathe to do so again) but consider this a general poke.

With the Christmas season already cutting down our activity levels, and a couple of key players out of action due to workload or ill health, I thought I'd open a topic to see what you guys wanted to do.

We can put the plot on hold until after Christmas, when hopefully everyone will be fully available again, if you'd prefer that. I'd also be willing to skip the whole "going shopping for ingredients" step if that's what's putting people off.

Or we can discuss the plot's objectives and figure out what our characters need to do next. ^^

Either way, I'd really like to see this plot up and running again. I promised you guys prizes, but I need some help from you to get this finished.

[Eivyonydd]

Well I don't think it has been a month since I last posted in A Nymph Indeed (Hospital thread) though it does appear to have stalled. I might have asked a difficult question of Isabel and Cal.

I don't mind waiting till people are back - though that will probably mean I go missing again as they are the only threads I am posting in currently and I would rather resolve them before doing other things.

As for the ingredients step, some of those parts could be interesting. I think most of the ingredients we can probably get from the Doctors Aunt so we might as well do that step, and the other interesting one is the midnight flowers which can be done on the way to the grove.

We could start a forest journey thread and finish off the shopping in the current threads as they progress as a possibility. I guess we kind of need to know who is still in as well.

I certainly would like to see it through to the finish.

[Xanth]

Eep, my bad! I got the dates wrong. Always doing that...

I still think we need to discuss our next step with it, though, so I hope to hear from everyone involved.

[Zephyr]

I'm pseudo involved, and I'd like to keep it going as well Even though, ykno, i totally suck at being punctual and all that.

[Xanth]

k guys, nobody else responded but the threads are moving again so we'll see how it goes. (I can't tell you how excited I am to see the recent replies. )

Thank you both for answering me. *feeds you lots and lots of cookies*

[Eivyonydd]

Where is the Doctor's Aunt's Shop? Is it in the marketplace or somewhere else. I don't think I can add much to the thread at the hospital so I figured I would just start a new thread at the shop (though it might be short). Perhaps I should add the shop visit to "An Nymph in Speed" even though it will be different storyline. Suggestions.

Anyway if I start up something new Isabel can respond on the hospital if she wants when she gets back and in the new thread or whatever.

[Xanth]

Ah, dude, I'm sorry. I keep spacing out on things you need and forgot to give Vyon the address. Let's just say Peter wrote it on the back of the list of ingredients, yeah?

Let's say Aunty's store's in Alexshire, maybe on the outer edge of the town but still in the commercial area. *makes stuff up* And, um, it's called... whatever you think is appropriate for herbal healers (the name's probably not important, anyway).

I think a new thread is probably best, just because it is a different 'chapter' and it'd be a bit too coincidental for my tastes if Vyon and Cal found Piper and Kioni in the middle of the street rather than at the rendezvous point. You could even have Vyon and his gang pass the portal so if Kioni & co are done with their end in time, they could join the shopping thread and go to Aunt Jane's together. ^^

(Lesson learned, by the way: Have an OOC thread for plot discussion for future plots/quests! )

The most important ingredients to get from Jane are the two Peter mentioned: the toxic caterpillar and the night-bloom stuff. We can probably get the rest there too, but I think a bit of foraging will be fun.

And consider this the new discussion thread. Gawd, I can be such a forget-me-not sometimes.

[Eivyonydd]

Sorry I have trouble finding stuff on the website sometimes. I have actually looked for this thread on more than one occasion to discuss stuff, failed and given up. Mostly because I think I'm looking in the plotting board.

Nymphs and Ages
Most of this I guess comes from trying to rationalize Nymphs as the creatures we know from mythology as well as the beings in Elysia, which I know is wrong for Elysia but just how I think of things.
Obviously the share some traits (most notably the Allure), and while the are different things it seems to me that the Earth legends are born in some way because of the existence of Elysian Nymphs.
Nymphs are always beautiful and attractive (to the opposite sex) in Earth legend, so it seems odd to me that this doesn't cross over in Elysia.
I have no problem with the length of their lifespan, or the fact that they age. It just seemed more likely to me that a Nymph would age but wouldn't show the outward appearance of age for a very long time. This could either be because Nymph's age slowly, but rapidly degenerate as they come closer to the end of their life, or because the Allure gives them a way to appear beautiful and attractive to others even though they are older (which was what i was meaning).

Oddly I had been thinking that Nymphs pretty much look late teens no matter how old they are, but that Chloris had chosen to forego that and actually looked more her age. This was probably due to the fact that I wanted her to be more of a mentor character anyway.

In reality it doesn't really bother me. I kind of wanted Chloris to be older anyway, and Vyon isn't aging anytime soon. I guess mostly it was about the reasons why Chloris looked older and it seemed more interesting to me that she had hidden herself away and had little desire to appear attractive anymore than the fact that she had just aged naturally.

I think Chloris is probably somewhere between 70 and 80 btw.

[Xanth]

Now you mention it, it should be in Plotting. I just have a habit of putting stuff in Feedback if it's a discussion topic. I'll move it as soon as I've posted.

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Oddly I had been thinking that Nymphs pretty much look late teens no matter how old they are, but that Chloris had chosen to forego that and actually looked more her age.

Well, the only time we've ever been able to choose how a character ages was in the original system for children. Adult characters (level 1 up) have never been able to choose whether or not they age, only when they age under the old system where players could choose to age their character when they levelled up. The only people who've ever been able to choose how old they look have been the gods.

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Nymphs are always beautiful and attractive (to the opposite sex) in Earth legend, so it seems odd to me that this doesn't cross over in Elysia.

It does cross over. I think the misunderstanding comes from the point that while Allure makes them more attractive, it doesn't affect the aging process. Like I said in the other thread, it makes them age well but doesn't stop them from aging.

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It just seemed more likely to me that a Nymph would age but wouldn't show the outward appearance of age for a very long time.

Well, if you look at the age chart, you're not far off the mark. The adult band, in particular, age at just over half the rate of a human (youngsters age faster because I have issues with people who are old enough for serious relationships looking like children, along with the IC reasoning I already posted in the announcement) but then they speed up a little in the elder band. It's a combination of them aging more slowly and aging well because of the Allure that they're still attractive into their old age.

At any rate, 70-80 would make Chloris look 50-55. She can choose not to turn her Allure on so she's less attractive. She'll still only look to be in her 50s, though.

Edited for repetitiveness.

[Xanth]

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OOC: I think Aunt Jane's time of 1 -1.5 days might be too fine. I kind of imagined that Vyon had run from at least a day to get to the portal. It's kind of hard to tell from the map exactly how far it would be from the border of Chandric and the Fae Forest to the portal. It also seems that the closest portal is actually in Sequoia House, but Vyon didn't go that way. On the way back he would consider it but can he actually take non-Nymphs that way?

The Fae portal is about two hundred yards from the Fae Tree, which is more or less equal distance between Sequoia and the Rowan Caverns (I made sure it was outside the sanctuaries because it's shared by two separate societies and for the very reason that non-Nymphs aren't usually allowed to enter the village).

There's more info about the Fae & Chandric forests in the Regions of Elysia thread here.

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For an idea of distances, it would take about a week and a half to reach the Acantha portal from the Fae Tree on foot. To cross the broadest part of the forest on foot would take about three weeks, or two days by air, while travelling the length from south to north would take about four weeks on foot.

I wasn't sure where Chloris' cottage is, but if I read your note right then it's on the Chandric/Fae border, which is maybe two or three days north of Sequoia. Say another couple of days to the portal, so best guess with a half-run-half-walk would be maybe four days. Ack.

You could bring the cottage south a bit, further from the border but still away from the village, maybe halfway between the Fae Tree and the west coast. That would explain why he didn't go to Sequoia (since it would be further than the portal) and why he wouldn't go there on the trek back. It would also cut his journey down by a couple of days to more what you had in mind.

Let me know and I'll edit Jane's estimation.

[Eivyonydd]

Okay confusion stems from the fact that there used to be a portal in the Sequoia village, so it is pretty odd that there now isn't, especially given that it is a populated area. Assuming there is one in the Sequoia village Vyon could try and make up time by going to it, assuming they could get the others through it. Perhaps if he held people as he went through and thought of the destination they would all end up there assuming the others were thinking of nothing. That way between Vyon and Kioni they could probably get everyone there.

If that isn't possible, either because we can't take no-Nymphs there or the portal doesn't exist then that's fine.

As for Chloris' grove, I definitely think it is on the border. That is what we talked about earlier when discussing the plot. I always imagined a 3 day run I guess, so I guess if he half ran, half walked and barely slept then 3 days makes sense. How he did it is possibly a mystery at this point, one that Vyon couldn't answer himself.

Assuming the sickness/poison creates a stone/statue like effect then it possibly starts quickly but slows down. The skin turns stonelike first but it takes a long time for the organs to solidify. The antidote is good as long as it can be administered, so as long as the organs accept it and you can get it in her mouth it would work. The solidification could take anywhere between 6 days and 2 weeks perhaps, depending on the youth and vitality of the victim.

The timeline so far has been 3 days since he found her and got back, half a day in New Alexandra getting stuff, perhaps somewhere between 1 and 2 days since she was poisoned/infected. So at most 5-6 days. That means they have at least 0 days to get back and at most 8. They still have to get an ingredient on the way and assuming the journey takes about 5-6 days they would be cutting it very fine.

How does that sound?

[Xanth]

Well, many of the portals were removed or moved when I posted the Regions in Elysia back in Novemeber; they were out-of-character changes so as far as our characters are aware, things have always been as they are now. I know it's always awkward trying to alter the setting but there were some inconsistencies that needed fixing and updating. As far as Nymphs and Therians are concerned, they are meant to be fairly isolated so having to travel a bit to reach the portal would mean nothing to them as a whole. Actually, I'd say it would be appealing to them, especially the Nymphs.

I do strongly recommend reading that thread, because it does actually answer a lot of your questions. But basically, no, there's no portal in Sequoia Village (although if there was, Vyon couldn't have guided people through into the sanctuary because the sanctuary portals were genetically locked).

I do think Vyon could manage the three day run-jog-hobble, yes, with the adrenaline and maybe subconsciously (or consciously) sucking up energy from the forest.

Your estimation of it being between 5 and 8 days sounds fine; Chloris is elderly even in Nymph terms, so she'd be on the shorter end of that scale. I know we talked about having to forage in the forest for another ingredient, but we could skip that part (Aunt Jane probably has a supply of it somewhere in that shop of hers ) and maybe just have a couple of monster fights en route, or when they get there. I need to know before we leave Jane's, really, although we could just pretend one of the ingredient's they've bought was the caterpillar thing.

It's up to you guys, really.

[Xanth]

So, I was going to post the ONPC for an encounter, but I'm having a few issues with the whys and wherefores. I seem to be suffering a bit of a creative block at the moment, but after some brainstorming with the other members in the cbox, I've got a couple of possibilities (but they pretty much need setting up by the PCs involved).

• Someone trips and falls into a den (spine-tails maybe), eliciting a violent response from the inhabitant(s).
  
• Your guys set up camp for the night after foraging for food. Something (again, I'm thinking spinycat, if only because they haven't been RP'd yet ) snatches said meal.
  
  Both of these may end up distracting from the main plot, though.
  
• Otherwise, while spirit monkies aren't in the bestiary (yet?), I might be able to draw something up with them although, as I said, I am struggling with knowing which way to take this. It's been so long since the plot began that it's hard to remember what's been decided on and where it's going.

All this said, I had been under the impression you'd all decided to skip the foraging aspect and move straight to the saving-Chloris part of the quest (and that as a result you were going to decide between you what had happened in the interim, monster encounters included), since the quest has been in the same stage for over six months? That's why I hadn't posted anything from ONPC before now.

At any rate, I do want to encourage you to use this thread to discuss what's going on. That's what it's here for, after all, and I think the plot would benefit from some OOC planning since it seems to be floundering a bit at the moment.

[Eivyonydd]

Yes we were mostly going to skip the foraging. I was going to move the story on to the Grove but I have been busy/slack/brainless and haven't.

For some reason I didn't see this message (i.e. it didn't pop up in my gmail telling me there had been a post) which is why I haven't replied.

In response to your PM, I would say that the plot seemed to work best when it was all running around town. My idea was that the running around town was a minor part of the plot and the journey/grove was the major part. But it hasn't worked out like that and the energy was lost a long time ago. Anyway in terms of future plots it was fairly easy to see what worked and what didn't.

It doesn't help that we are each taking a week to post here. When you post you have some energy to post again but by the time someone posts a week later the energy and train of thought is gone. Obviously I am as much to blame as anyone in this regard given that it has been more than a week now since Russ posted.

I personally would like to finish it. I think adding in extra complications before we get to the grove is a bad idea though. Some people want to finish it fast, so getting to the grove and epiloguing it or playing it out are the best options.

[Isabel]

Firstly, I apologize for not being as active as I should. I agree with Jarratt. I'd like to finish the plot as well. Maybe fast forward it a bit towards reaching the grove and have the character's mention any encounters they might have had prior to reaching their goal....

[Xanth]

Well, Cal has been retired now, so I don't think trying to continue roleplaying any further will work for any of you. That's why I said to decide, OOC, on the epilogue rather than trying to continue with the thread.

[Isabel]

oh... you've got a point there... hmmm... well, I'm all for the happy endings... We reached the grove in time but then an epic battle ensued with the forest fauna...

[Zephyr]

I think the flower Naava sat on was the flower they were looking for. So once they got to the grove (during the epic battle) there was some fancy tosswork resulting in Chloris being healed or whatevs, which then calmed the grove?

[Eivyonydd]

I imagined the grove as pretty dark, with all the trees twisted around, vines lashing out and the animals quite feral and dangerous. Essentially the place is trying to protect Chloris, but it no longer has her calming influence, more like a desperation to survive, to fight off disease.

Finding the plant should be no problem. Vyon would probably mix the thing that night. He would be keen to rush the next day, whether that means the Anyeli flying from a clearing and Vyon and Isabel running or not I don't know.

Getting into the grove would be the tricky part. We had stuff to cut away the trees and try and net the animals. Vyon wouldn't kill anything but that doesn't mean others won't to save themselves.

I was trying to, or going to get others to discuss ideas for plans to get in. One of Vyon's crazy ideas had Isabel luring the animals away with her Vampire scent while Cal and Naava air dropped Vyon into Cloris. Another could be that we divide the potion among each other and work our way in netting animals and cutting back trees as we go. If anyone has any other ideas...

[Isabel]

how about the rest of us battles the feral beasts and plants giving Vyon time to rush towards Chloris and save her...