Coile

(( Managing zerglings atm. Will probably be with one minute's margin.

For reasons unspecified I'm on Heroic rep atm, tho I usually run on Invincible. What is the intended difficulty for this TF? I started it once and it was on Invincible, with nothing too hard coming our way. I personally prefer to have tough and uncertain fights to those I know I'll win hands down. ))

Long time no recap. This is a longer one to give at least a little perspective on what is going on right now.

Praetorian detours (30.8.2007)

"They both had a hunger
For love and desire
And people around them
Was left broken hearted"
- Intrigue

Things come to those who wait, they say. Then again there's of course the time for waiting and the time when the waiting's done. For some while the Silent Tempest had been waiting for pieces to fall in place and there being a clear clue regarding Michel Sanders's whereabouts.

What was known already was that she had hooked up with two Praetorian villains when the Rikti invasion started and there was a breach in the Zig. The Praetorians Malaise and Bobcat escaped and by yet unknown means Michel contacted them and managed to cut somekind of a deal with them. The contents unknown. What looked solid was that right after Michel was spirited to the Praetorian Earth and was not seen again.

This much had been gleamed from Michel's top servant two weeks before. That fight had been a tough one as she had allied herself with the Carnival of Shadows. Be that as it may the sheer determination had won that battle and important information had been learned. Like, for example, that on Michel's orders several planes would be shot down which the Silent Tempest prevented from happening just in time. While the contracted goons had been Malta operatives the encounter had been a sore reminder what they all were up against - the robots employed by Malta had clearly been given to them by Hand of Andros and the design details revealed them to have been built by Coile's father, Zirgei. Tempest's leader was just as shocked as Love Angel to notice the origin. In short it meant that even if they were hunting for one woman now, it stood to reason that she might employ the vast array of technologies prepared and constructed by several members of Hand of Andros during the past two decades. And even just on her own her murderous insanity had time and again proven to be of lethal kind.

Now all the smaller obstacles had been cleared. Whatever powerbases Michel still had on this Earth had either abandoned her or had been neutralized by Tempest. She only had her Praetorian companions watching after her. The bad side was that she had her Praetorian allies. It would be dangerous and interesting times ahead as Silent Tempest would clash with their most powerful opponents yet.

The situation was deemed so grave that Coile and Love Angel discussed whether or not it was wise for them both to embark on the same mission. The reason was a simple one. In a matter of a week or two Coile's son would be born, or in this particular case taken out of the artificial womb. The brutal death that had claimed the boy's mother Nightsparrow had been cheated of the child's life and very soon Coile would become a father. His living companion, current girlfriend and a future wife-to-be Love Angel was ready to accept her upcoming mother's role with a full heart and dedication, so that little Andreas would have both parents raising him. That is, if they were both alive. Would it be responsible to risk both parents at the same time if it could be avoided? These were no ordinary thugs that they would be facing.

This was discussed but not resolved in the afternoon, on the day of the mission. What was resolved, however, was that heroes do what heroes think is right. Love Angel had never been happy with Coile signing up with Vanguard, or Octavo for that matter. Now that the large scale invasion was over Coile had left the warring but that did not mean that he would abandon the duty if it came calling. Big Lunk had been putting together a team of capable people with the intent of crippling the Rikti war effort and that mission was to be launched soon. Since it was a Vanguard sanctioned operation and more importantly because Coile thought it was the right thing to do Angel's response was to support the endeavour of her man, whether she liked the idea or not.

As the evening came the team gathered. Present were several people, including Coile and Tempest's field commander Sword of Truth. She had treated Angel with coldness and blatantly ignoring her presence ever since Angel and Coile had become an item. She herself offered as a reason the feeling that Angel had lied to her but most others assumed the reason to be jealousy. Sword had been romantically involved with the man last year and presumably did not take kindly losing him permanently to another woman. Or a girl, in this case, as Angel is still half a year shy of full age. Right before the meeting the combination of Nadia's resentment and the need to not risk both parents at the same time made Diana decide to stay behind.

Only other Tempest members present were the newest full members, Dee Dee and Chi. Both had proved to be hard working and reliable and now stood ready to go into the fray once more, no matter the apparent danger. Out of team reinforcements were provided by an old associate of Coile's, Powerstone, and Darksparrow who wanted to avenge the loss of her AI friend NIGHTSPARROW which had been wiped out from the timestream when current time's Nightsparrow had been killed.

The situation in itself was a simple one. Portal Corp had sent out scanners around Praetorian Earth in an attempt to locate Michel and at least her companions Malaise and Bobcat. Now one of the scanners had gone quiet and Tempest was asked to check in on it. Even without a confirmed presence of any of the big names the mission was classed as very dangerous and thus the reinforcements had been acquired. After the briefing the heroic sextet made their way to Portal Court where they were alerted to an emergency. One of the scanners had detected disturbing amount of activity in Infernal's domain and the Tempest was rerouted to investigate.

On the location a score of demons were waiting ready to defend their deranged master but group by group they fell before the relentless onslaught. Finally the demonic hordes lay vanquished and the heroes, now strengthened by Mesoc's presence, took the fight to Infernal himself. After he had fallen all that remained was to dismantle the portal that stood ready to spew even more demons from whatever nether realms the portal connected to. Too bad that during the hassle Infernal himself managed to slip away.

When the heroes returned from their unplanned detour they were again robbed of their chance to go out and find possible clues about Michel's location. Yet another Praetorian, Mother Mayhem, had taken over several city blocks and there was a definite threat of tens, perhaps hundreds of casualties if she was allowed a free reign. Barely out of their last battle the steadfast septet dashed to the rescue and in a cataclysmic confrontation subdued the evildoer. Several pictures were taken by press representatives and the major villain was carted away by Freedom Corps specialists. Perhaps this detour could in fact prove to be a shortcut as Mother Mayhem was Malaise's mentor and could perhaps point the Silent Tempest directly to him. Time will tell.

Weary but victorious the heroes departed whomever whichway only to rise to new challenges with the new day.

Coile headed home and found a bed already warmed up for him. Despite the dire challenges ahead for once life was good.

(( Coile is cleared for the mission IC, any sudden surprises before that pending of course. 8 PM English time should be ok for me. A later one is as well, if needed. ))

(( Coile's participation depends on a lot of IC details. Would be good if Lunk and Coile could discuss those either IG or over MSN. OOC I'd very much want to do this TF but IC reasons might stand in the way.

As for times, I'm a bit swamped with some plans for the week. Without a hassle the earliest time I could do is this Saturday evening. If this is slated on some earlier timeslot I'll see if I can fiddle with other plans to accommodate the chosen time. That is, if Coile can attend anyway.

I won't think badly if I'm replaced with someone who is easier to fit into the overall plans. ))

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That'd work. Perhaps replace all the individual description categories with just Description, for people to enter their own information into. So instead of Height: Weight: Et cetra, you have Description:?

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This is my personal take on the matter. This would work for me. I do not claim this would be universally the best solution.

These are good. Basic info about the character in question.

| image =
| caption =
| name =
| player =


These are useless to me since NPCs to me are just people and in-game mechanics information adds nothing that I find useful.

| origin =
| archetype =
| primary =
| secondary =
| epic =
| level =


These two make sense, especially if the NPC is entangled with the hero business.

| realname =
| identity =
| aliases =
| species =


These I would group together into one single "Physical description" field.

| dob =
| age =
| height =
| weight =
| build =
| eyes =
| hair =
| skin =
| features =


These I would group into a single "Background information" field.

| medical =
| finance =
| religion =
| sexuality =
| marital =
| relatives =
| nationality =
| ethnicity =
| legalstatus =
| birthplace =
| education =


And these I again find useful. Maybe not for every single NPC in my stall but useful often enough to warrant the fields existing.

| occupation =
| affiliation =
| base =
| residency =
| powers =
| abilities =
| equipment =
| awards =
| license =
| icaccess =

Would such a template be useful to others, enough that it'd pay to make it available in Wiki?

No hurry at all with the papers, Z. Take your time. I have a gazillion things to fiddle with anyway, like the next bit in Coile's entry - Reputation.

About NPC templates: I would have a use for a sidebar which lacks such game mechanics as levels. In fact most of the information that is either necessary or just nifty for a player character are not relevant to be listed for most of my NPCs. Like eye color. Would it be helpful if I listed down what I see most relevant for NPCs from my point of view and offer such a list for one possible template to be used?

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Announcements (1812)

<ul type="square">[*]All stories have now been moved to one section as requested and discussed; Category:Fiction[*]Three plot sections and category now open, with cheat sheet, a guide and templatebox. Use accordingly.[/list]
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Excellent!

Two questions, probably of newbish quality.

1) If I have a group and a plot of the same name, how do I distinguish between them? Example: Hand of Andros

2) How to create a disambiguation page? Example: Nadia, which would include at least Sword of Truth (Nadia Troy), Light of Truth (Nadia Forester) and ND (Nadia).

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Do tell, what exactly is the right reference for this char?

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Who knows?

What wonders has the fabled Nightsparrow's Scrapbook come to contain since the last plug in this thread. A lot! Prepare to be shocked and awed, a lot has been happening and the Paragon Inquirer has been about!

We have Diana's parents visiting Pocket D, Countess Crey being busted by Silent Tempest, Inquirer revealing shocking photos of Coile and Aria (presumably, the photos are not entirely accurate) practicing indecent things in public, a report about Coile fathering a whole ninja clan and the real Nadia's letter from her captivity from the time when the clone Nadia was living more or less happily with Coile. (entry 52)

Coile's granddaughter Darksparrow and her allies are on the rampage throughout Faultline. It's a bad day to be in Arachnos! Read also about Sable Lynx's fables escapades when he and Tempest members assist Freedom Phalanx. And what's with the increased Rikti activity? Are they up to something? (entry 53)

Coile investigates the past of his dead wife when he again goes after Clamor from Freakshow. Keening Banshee returns to front covers and Paragon Metro begins publication! (entry 54)

Love Angel writes her feelings about Militia on paper. It's not pretty. Unity Vigil is featured and there's the Angel Foundation charity ball that Silent Tempest organized. Inquirer picks on Coile's new hairdo and Mr. Marocco of Hand of Andros is arrested. (entry 55)

Love Angel in France! Hope your French is in a better shape than mine - I know two words in that language, both beginning with "mer" and the other being "merci". It looks like the Rikti really were up to something, like an invasion. That came as a total surprise! Diana's secret identity as **** Angel is revealed to all the world by Inquirer. We all knew it, so nothing new there. Inago is wanted for murder and that was a concert against the Rikti. The ivaders wisely withdrew a day before - such is the power of rock music! We got the "last word", so to say! (entry 56)

Oh, there's a lot more in those entries than that, but you havce to read them yourself. Now also indexed in Handbook of Union Universe.

I had that exact idea, but then had a second thought... and now I can't figure out what it was. Probably nothing major. I'd be cool with that system.

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Coile, we did initially consider having plot profiles separate to story profiles, but if you think about it, plots are just developing stories.

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Would it be worth / needed at all to distinguish between ready fiction pieces and plot summaries? They are, after all, different kind of written pieces.

The story summary box could just be fleshed out to produce a plot summary box, assuming all the infos that I proposed are implemented.

Could be that it's mostly me, but I understand stories to refer to fiction. Now, if it said that in this case it also refers to plots there's my misconception fixed and not an issue any more. If it is a wider problem, then others need to learn the info at some point as well.

I personally would like to see separate entries for fiction and plots. With all the stories grouped into one category without a distinction between character/supergroup/community. For plots such division would make sense still.

My reasoning is that a plot you can get entangled with, and even a plot that has run its course can have visible effects still, and both are something that can shape our characters and their perceptions. Stories, at least for me, tend to tell just about one or two characters and offer scarce little for others to use.

In short, their function and usefulness are different. Thus imho warranting different categories.

I would also like to see a separate cheat sheet and category for IC newspapers. It would make archiving produced material that much easier.

Again, shaken from my sleeve what infos would be good to list.

- Name of the paper.
- If there is a general busybody behind the paper, who? A GM, if you will.
- When / how often does the paper come out?
- How big the circulation is and where it's likely to encounter it? For most cases it's relevant to list only if the paper is available in Paragon City / Rogue Isles.
- Who's the IC editor-in-chief and what notable staff members there are (and what are their fields)?
- The reputation: is the paper leaning to any side politically? Is it a respected morning paper, of the worst of the pond scum that the yellow press pushes out? This would heavily affect the credibility of the stories in each paper.
- Physical description. High quality glossy paper or your standard pulp paper? Black &amp; white or plenty of color spreads? How many pages approximately, and what categories are there in the paper?

I'd like to have a format to publish my Paragon Times and Daily Comet pieces and start seeing how to implement all the Paragon Inquirer trash pieces (aside of Mature Content warnings, that is).

NPC's might deserve their own category, and one for items would not go amiss because I think there'll be lots of them too. It of course makes perfect sense to have those items mentioned in character and/or supergroup profiles but if you're looking info about one particular thing and there's a separate entry about it, all the easier to read about it.

As an example I offer the Blue flower. It is connected to Coile very much, and also to Silent Tempest, but exists in the world as a separate entity and can be encountered quite independent from Coile. Thus I figure it warrants its own entry.

Additional to the plots: it would be helpful if there was a ready format show where a plot originated and where it led to.

An example:

Octavo and Trial of Nightsparrow led to Trapped in robotworld plot which led directly to Tempest Virus scare, which led to Riot in the Row.

It might be fun for people who were entangled with Kings Row riots to see where the assumed virus actually came from, and why.

Of course these fields could be used or discarded at will, but if they're there it'd promote adding that information.

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Announcements:

<ul type="square">[*]Apparently there aren't any community plots or events running at the moment so that window is currently being occupied by Newspapers, on the Main Page.[/list]

[/ QUOTE ]

I see a need, or at least a use, for a plot category and a cheat sheet for plots. Currently there is no ready, nifty place or format to be used.

Right off the cuff I can think of these things that would make plot information useful:

- name of the plot, if there is one good title for it, like Riot in the Row.
- the gamemaster of the plot, ie. whom to contact for more information. A global handle might be most useful way, and/or a character name.
- The timeframe for the plot. When it can have been said to have started, and when it possibly came to an end. With one glance it could be told how long for example Chronodyne plot ran.
- The major events in the plot. What took place and when. This would be a recap of the notable events that shaped the plot. A concise representation what led the where and why.
- Scope of the plot. Is the plot aimed at a small group of people, an SG ir two or is it plain community wide, up for grabs for any who's interested? Even if the plot is for a small band of people it warrants listing for the curious, like, what is the relation between identical looking women Sword of Truth and Light of Truth? Such information might spark ideas for others and they could even join that small band of people to whom the plot was run.
- Visible effects of the plot. A summary of things which can be observed by others. This is a tremendous help when something unseen by game engine is changed in the world while the characters inhabiting it would be aware of it. For example, even if all the reasons and motivations are hidden from the view, there still is one mystical, blue flower growing on a remote Talos Island zone island, and it has an effect to those who visit it. The existence and the effects would be observable.

If there was such a cheat sheet I could begin transporting Tempest's added lore to the Wiki to be enjoyed and used by others. And I do hope that there would be a flood from others as well.

How to organize them? I have no idea. By supergroup? By character? By alphabetical name? Here the "tags" field come very useful.

It was perhaps foolish to do things in this order but it was honest. If there was going to be any co-operation it would have to be on its own merits without any artificial treaties. Coile decided to lay the card on the table.

Although never having worked out the gaming analogy he wondered quietly if anyone might have any neater cards, and what would happen then.

"It's the mothership. One time I was asked to lead a group of metas and scout around the defenses. We managed to knock the shields down and even inflict structural damage with explosives before the Rikti got the shields back up. It seems to me that all the grief is somehow centering around that ship. If we could stage another attack against it, and perhaps do more... Maybe we could have a real effect on what they do."

He glanced around the room hoping that this would yield something concrete. "I'd like to know which fighters from each group are willing to take part in this kind of an assault, and, if their leaders are able to vouch for them. It's going to be a rough ride anyhow. If we get enough names we need to knock together a date and ...well, do it."

Leading his own team was at times hard enough, or with honesty, too hard. Now he was trying to put together a group effort with people who were more or less natural enemies anywhere else than when putting a dent into the Rikti plans. Coile shrugged apologetically. At worst he would have to pull together a team in the warzone.

All too rarely kudos are given when they should.

The tech gang has done some amazing work so this is my official "hat off" to Pious and Zortel for making this reality. I have a very good feeling about this project. A way to share what we each have built into our own worlds and the ability to choose all the neat bits from what others have done.

Also a special thanks to Zortel for speedy replies to any and all of my questions over MSN, and for making me my "storybox".

I love the Wiki. To bits. Only thing I just glanced at and kicked out was the attribute box. No matter the promoting I'll never use one. I don't mind, of course, others having it up, but for me it does not "do the thing".

A grim smirk rose to Coile's face. "Aye, I'm all for making sure they don't get a foothold again, but don't count on Tempest to be in the treaty automatically. It'll be considered again, if similar circumstances take place."

The discussion had begun to revolve around further tactics, next stages of the war, strategy planning and other practicalities. Coile checked the time. He was due out on a HeroCorp assignment rather soon. It was time to deliver his message and take his leave.

He got up. "I see the sense in non-aggressiveness in the actual warzone, but other than that, the treaty is over for us. I didn't like it, I don't like it, and now it's not needed any more. That's the stance of the Silent Tempest. Whatever decisions I make, they're my personal ones."

What caught Coile's attention was the children. They reminded him of the most important reason of all to keep fighting. The existence of his own son was a carefully guarded secret that would remain so at least until it was time to get him out of his tank but nonetheless it had become one of his driving forces.

With the Rikti dealt with there was just the Hand of Andros that remained as a viable threat. For that there was no need for any alliances, and along with the Rikti gone was also the need for treaties.

Silent Tempest would fend for itself once more. All that remained was to say it aloud. Coile looked at Lunk to see when the meeting would be pronounced open.

A message is delivered through Vanguard to every leader or assigned representative of each group in the Council of War as far as it is possible. It is from Coile and reads as thus:

"As agreed with Big Lunk of Immorality League I call together a meeting of the council of war against the Rikti (did we decide on any fancy name yet?). It's this Friday in Pocket D at noon, Paragon City time.

- Coile, leader of the Silent Tempest"

Pelire was playing with a small object which she set on the table accompanied by a deep sigh. The small object was a detailed replica of a Rikti heavy assault suit shrunk to a size fitting into a hand. It was made of ice.

"Much as I would love to hang around and chat I have places to be and Octavo matters to attend to. If you want to make sure that this current incursion comes to an end and never ever again repeats I suggest that you try and find a way to wipe them all out across the multiverse." A smile rose to her face but never reached to her eyes which had turned into frozen pools of blue crystals. "A thorough genocide is the only answer."

As she turned to go she deliberately brushed the neck of the person to her right sending most likely at least shivers, a promise of something more if the situation and location allowed it. "Good day, gentlefolks. Give me a call if something concrete turns up."

It's about Union server RP stuff, and villains included. Something descriptive. It's a plain one, but "Union RP Wiki" tells exactly what it's about.

I didn't mean that moderators would be responsible for updating everything. They would have the authority to remove information regarding for example players who have left the game and are no longer relevant (or rather move that information to a page about players who have left). More to the point: mods are folks who can remove stuff without other people getting annoyed about it. Using common sense, of course, but that goes without saying.

It would also be good if mods had the final call about the structure. In case there are conflicting views on how the information should be divided. Again this would be to prevent possible clashes as it is agreed in advance who has the final voice.

I would not wish to be a moderator myself. I am content to provide information to a common project.

A wiki full of Union RP information would be good. However, and this is my personal view, it needs at least one person who decides to take it upon himself to see the plan realized. It's a lot of solitary, thankless work. It is great if the "whole community", or a large enough part of it makes the effort, but it is not something that should be taken for granted.

Also, the information would be current at the time of adding it. To keep the whole wiki useful there should be either clear rules or one moderator / over-seer who has the authority to edit and remove obsolete information.

As I have said, I am willing to contribute to such a project, but I have no resources to be the headman making it happen.

Pelire sat quietly but smiling smugly. She was apparently in a company where a game of connecting the dots would have been too big a challenge, which in turn suited her just fine.

Speaking of dimwits, Pelire looked about again to be sure, Coile was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he had become a raodkill somewhere. That would have suited pelire equally fine.

She let go of an inner sigh. This ragtag band of heroes and villains would be needed to win this war. So, she had to put up with these meetings. A price to pay, so to say.