November Mission Plotting (Mission 012)
Mission Summary
Genre: Fantasy / Adventure
Premise: Characters are sorted into one of four Fae courts and must blend in among them during the annual winter festival for Fae nobility. Includes fancy dress up, party games, and a requirement to learn Fae etiquette. Oh, and there's some lost player characters to find...
Tone: Light and easy, with the option for exploring the world and taking on quests relevant to each court.
Objectives: Locate and rescue the stranded lost Vestiges; demonstrate acceptance of other cultures.
Instead, Auriel has separated itself into five Courts, each with their own specialties, weaknesses, and talents therein. While Fae are not born into these specific courts, they discover their own specialties around their ninth birthday, and are removed from their parents’ care and into the care of their Court instead. Since Fae are long-lived and some even immortal, children are a rare event and the bequeathing of a child to a Court is a significant occasion. When they are sorted, they are moved into one of four main Courts, one for each season and two each for Seelie and Unseelie.
The continent is accordingly also broken up into four areas, one for each main Court. While the Courts do generally keep to themselves, there are quarterly gatherings at the lands where their continents merge in which they share resources, offer their assistance to other Courts, and throw large parties in which they can celebrate one another and what they have accomplished.
The Courts do have monarchs, a King and Queen for each -- but these are long-ago established titles that indicate function rather than marriage. As such, they are not inherently gendered. The King takes care of outward-facing external affairs, including conflicts; and the Queen takes care of domestic affairs, including managing the Court itself. For the most part, these titles shift very rarely, and there is no assumption that the next to take a title will be of the same lineage.
The fifth court, Corvinae, is populated by outcasts who discover later in life that they do not quite fit in with the Court they were destined for. Perhaps their abilities later -- shifted. Perhaps they discovered with age that despite their specialty being flames, they simply did not have the affinity to maintain the fire within them. Regardless of the circumstances, all outcasts are welcome in Corvinae -- but the change is permanent, as they're branded as oathbreakers to the rest of the Fae and widely shunned. Corvinae live in secret.
The mission will run for a total of five weeks through December 19 and incorporate the next test drive meme. From November 14th to November 28th, the annual winter festival is held, hosted by the winter court Umbraean.
Characters will be separated into one of the four courts, and instructed to integrate themselves with the Fae. Their main mission objective is to locate the lost player characters -- residents of other bubble cities trying to save their worlds, now referred to as Vestiges. In order to accomplish this, they must participate seamlessly in the festivities without letting on to any Fae that they are outsiders, and they will accordingly be subject to all Fae laws and customs.
Fae Laws
- A Fae’s true name carries power over them, and those who know it have power over them.
- These names do not have to be their birth names, but can be established as part of joining their Courts.
- Characters will instinctively know their true names.
- Fae cannot cross thresholds without the permission of those residing within them. This translates over to other Fae, too.
- An invitation can be literal or symbolic.
- Once invited, they must abide by the terms of entry. The host must show gracious reception and the guest must not disrespect their home.
- Fae society runs on equivalent exchange. Be careful who you thank.
- To accept a gift without returning it puts the Fae under a binding debt.
- Those who break the law of exchange may be branded dishonorable.
- Promises and oaths are binding.
- Breaking an oath causes physical or spiritual decay, as well as banishment from one’s Court.
- Those clever enough will word their vows carefully, avoiding lies whilst still twisting the truth.
Upon arrival, they will receive a glamour. This can be as extreme or as light as you’d like! Perhaps their appearance changes entirely to help them blend in, or perhaps it just adds a certain... elvish look to them, making them appear closer to a Fae’s idea of “perfect” than they might have usually. Characters will be given abilities (boons) corresponding to their Court -- these abilities will not travel back to Etraya with them, as they are environment-specific. Along with these abilities, they will also have flaws -- inherent negative effects that are part of belonging to their specific Court.
Characters will take on all the characteristics of their Court as described below. The specifics of their glamour are left up to you, and we welcome variation and creativity. Fae do have wings, but don't always show them -- they can hide or retract them at will. Typically, they resemble insect wings.
During the festivities, the Fae play games and put on shows, which are described below as side quests. Side quests are open to all characters to participate regardless of their Court.
For this mission, we are encouraging players to give us side quest ideas in the thread below and we will build off of those and what we see from activity in the plotting comments here to finalize our prompts in the mission log. We're looking to get a sense of which aspects you're most interested in playing with. Hopefully, this means the prompts will ultimately be responsive to player interests.
Florere Seelie Court of Summer
Daylight. The natural organic world. Dryads and rangers. Color theme is golds and browns. Prizes athleticism and kindness.
Boon: Shapeshifting or healing. If the former, the character will have a dedicated animal they can shift into at will that reflects their spirit; if the latter, healing includes restoring any organic life, including making plants grow.
Flaw: Florere need regular skin-to-skin contact or verbal affirmations (praise). They're closer to their heritage than the other courts, so they require additional energy contributions in the old way to stay healthy. Without this, they become sluggish and wilted.
Florere Quests
Floreri collect flora and fauna from interesting places to decorate their homes, and use the holidays as opportunities to expand their collections. Sometimes they might request a plant they want to add to their garden, meaning they require a carefully transported cutting; or they might relish in the hunt and put out bounties for Faeland creatures. Anything across the multiverse in mythology is fair game as a resident of the Faelands.
Examples of possible flora & fauna requests: mandrake, gillyweed, aconite, corpse flower, lotus, ghost plant, or obscure citrus varieties; kelpies, redcaps, chupacabra, sasabonsam, kumiho, vodyanoy, or even a request to bottle a will o' the wisp.
According to Fae law, they repay these favors in kind.
UmbraeanUnseelie Court of Winter
Nighttime. The unseen world of dreams. Poets and politicians. Color theme is black and silver or pale grey. Prizes austerity and eloquence.
Boon: Illusion magic or empathy. A facility with illusions makes them especially prone to trickery -- the subtler the better. A truly masterful illusion will be one the victim never realizes was an illusion at all. For empathy, the ability to lightly detect emotions in others or even project and emanate an emotion of their own allows them an equally subtle advantage in manipulation.
Flaw: Those of the winter court are unable to directly lie themselves. This means they're typically masters of oration, weighing each word with precision.
Umbraean Quests
Of course, this is a party, so the Oathbreaker isn't really killing anyone -- they must get someone else alone in an isolated location and then offer them a flourishing red chrysanthemum, which the recipient must pin to their lapel to mark that they've been taken out of the game. Victims marked with flowers cannot share any further information with anyone from that point on.
The goal for the Oathbreakers is to mark more than half of the other player characters with death flowers; the goal for everyone else is to reveal all of the Oathbreakers before that occurs. Once revealed, an Oathbreaker cannot hand out any more death flowers, and will wear a white lily of their own to mark their demise.
Each participant is able to make three Oathbreaker "accusations" for the whole event, so use them wisely!
AestusSeelie Court of Spring
Order and creation. Wild unrestrained growth. Mages and artisans. Color theme is anything bold and gaudy. Prizes skill mastery and courage.
Boon: Elemental magic or crafting specialty. Each Aestus specializes in either a school of elemental magic or a craft such as sewing, cooking, painting, or smithing -- anything that results in a tangible creation or piece of art, including music. Characters in Aestus will find themselves with a sudden strong affinity for their specialization, whatever it is, for the duration of the mission.
Flaw: Tapping into the raw power of creation makes them volatile. Aestus feel emotions particularly strongly, and their pride is immense: they can't back down from any challenge leveled at them.
Aestus Quests
Fae operate based on barter rather than a hard currency, so hopefully your character has something worth trading in return. They can even set up their own vendor stall if they desire. Well-made fresh bread is considered the most valuable barter item of all.
Possible wares include weapons, clothing, potions, art pieces, enchanted jewelry, individually printed chapbooks, and more.
Anyone with proper pride is eager to show off, and the talent show is a grand occasion serving as the main entertainment. Characters can sign up like any other Fae and might even win something if they put on an impressive show. Since the judges themselves are Fae, you should try to put on an act that suits their tastes. They prefer elegant displays of battle or dance, or proficiency in art or magic.
SirenaUnseelie Court of Autumn
Decay and entropy. Inevitable decline of life to death. Hedge witches and mystics. Rather than a color, their aesthetic theme is artful transience (wabi-sabi). Prizes patience and insight.
Boon: Potions or divination. Sirena are masters at using the flow of time to their advantage, either by reading it directly via divination (future and past) or by intuiting what components are needed for a potion to create a desired effect. Characters will either gain a divination method they excel in or an innate knowledge of how to create potions, which are the most versatile and lasting form of Fae magic.
Flaw: Being so tuned into how temporary life is, Sirena are extremely curious and drawn to mysteries. They can't resist asking a plethora of questions about the slightest novelty, all too aware it might occur only once and this is their sole chance to learn of it.
Sirena Quests
You better answer the summons lest you offend them, and answer an endless array of questions from the Court until they're satisfied.
Sirena also hosts a more deliberate game: a puzzle-based scavenger hunt. They'll give the first hint to anyone who asks, but from there, it gets extraordinarily challenging. Riddles, logic puzzles, hidden secret passageways, and sometimes even straight out trivia questions. One correct answer leads to a clue pointing toward the next puzzle.
If someone gets a question or puzzle wrong, they might have to pay a silly Fae penalty for an hour: losing their shadow, being cursed to wander aimlessly unless guided, speaking only in Shakespearean quotes, becoming face-blind, repeating the hour until they solve the puzzle, or being followed by a swarm of moths, to name a few.
CorvinaeThe Fifth Court
Those who don't belong. Dark gothic aesthetics. Mischief and loyalty to found family. The only constancy in life is that it's ever-changing, that it cannot be contained or understood.
The outcasts take great pleasure in flaunting their defiance of hierarchy. Every year, the Corvinae cycle through their members to designate a new monarch; thus, every member is both ruler and subject at different points in their life. Their love for one another grants them extraordinary power, enough to defy the standard rules of Fae... and as a result, they encourage expression of love any way that is consensual. Nothing is off limits.
Boon: None of the Fae laws apply to them, and they can leverage their belief in one another to bloom their natural gifts beyond what is possible in the traditional courts.
Flaw: Cannot survive outside of their community, as they depend on their mutual devotion to exist. This creates an insular and secretive subculture, almost cult-like.
Can you find the Fifth Court?
Since children are exceptionally rare for Corvinae -- only a handful exist, born into the existing members of the court -- this is an adults-only illicit event. A magical barrier prohibits any underage character (or NPC) from entering even if they do find the location. For anyone borderline in age (say, mid teens through early 20s) they may instead find themselves in a strangely subversive reading group, with an adult leading them through outlawed texts preaching principles of active consent and free love.
For those that do want to attend, the easiest way is to get an invite: Corvinae use these quarterly gatherings as opportunities to recruit new members. They participate in the above-board activities, pretending to be part of the regular courts and sounding out candidates until they find someone too curious for their own good... and then they seductively invite them elsewhere.
In their secret enclave, all bets are off and all rules are made to be broken. In Corvinae, unlike elsewhere in the Faelands, nothing is holding you to your word; instead devotion is the highest law, and nothing done with a sincere heart could be wrong.
(Please be mindful that although we do not have any content restrictions, appropriate content warnings are required. Otherwise, have fun!)
At the end of a previous mission given by their own AI, Castor, they were left behind. Perhaps Castor had miscounted his residents, perhaps he simply forgot these ones specifically. A lapse in judgement, certainly, but Aurora's mission here is simple: gather those who had originated from Pollux, and take them back home along with her own citizens to Etraya. Given Castor had already removed them from his own count, he will not be re-adding them to his own citizenry; rather, Aurora intends to take them for herself.
These individuals have been blending in amongst the Fae for two months, and have integrated themselves in with their courts. Etrayans must find the individuals from Pollux and provide them with one of Aurora's tokens to ensure she will be able to locate them to pull them back to Etraya. The token takes the form of an embroidered handkerchief with Aurora's name in beautiful script lettering.
However, these tokens cannot be given to the Fae. The characters' glamours will work on each other as well as the Fae, meaning it will take some sleuthing to deduce who the lost Vestiges are if they're doing a good job blending in. Anyone who gives a token mistakenly to a Fae will fail the mission. Please let us know in the major events thread below if this occurs.
Florere
Lost Vestiges:
Current Characters:
Adrian Chase (Vigilante)
Barnabas Tharmr
Brandon Carver
Dabi
Damian Wayne
Dante*
Dylan Brock
Felix
Gary Green
Gustave
John Reese
Joshua Rosfield
Kirk Langstrom
Lex Luthor
Maelle
Nero
Nico di Angelo
Noctis Lucis Caelum
Paine
Quentin Quire
Rufus Shinra
Sephiroth
Sciel
Shadowheart
Thor Odinson
Zagreus
Umbraean
Lost Vestiges:
Current Characters:
Ari
Bruce Wayne
Cidolfus Telamon
Emet-Selch
Gaia
Hawks
Hernan Guerra
Illyana Rasputina
Jason Todd
Jayce Talis
Julian Keller
Mel Medarda
Monkey D. Luffy
Nate Grey
Octavia Blake
Portgas D. Ace
Robert "Hob" Gadling
Renoir Dessendre
Sephiroth
Sleeper
Verso*
Vivi Ornitier
Yang Cheng (E-Soul)
Aestus
Lost Vestiges:
Current Characters:
Barbara Gordon
Bossie
Bruce Wayne
Caitlyn Kiramman
Chrissy Cunningham
Clea Dessendre
Cloud Strife
Connor
Dick Grayson
Dion Lesage
Jonathan Crane
Julie Greathouse
Gladiolus Amicitia
Oscar
Percival De Rolo III
Sameen Shaw
Samil
Shiraki Mayuko
Sleipnir Harbard*
Sunday
Toph Beifong
Trafalgar D. Water Law
Vergil
Viktor
Wade Wilson
Sirena
Lost Vestiges:
Current Characters:
Clark Kent
Clive Rosfield
Dib Membrane
Doreen Green
Dwayne ir'Dorn
Fabian Aramais Seacaster
Hank Anderson
Harold Finch
James T. Kirk
Jason Todd
Jean Grey
Jonathan Kent
Loki
Lune
Prompto Argentum
Riz Gukgak
Robert Romano
Roronoa Zoro
Scott Summers
Sophie Cuckoo
Steve Rogers
Vax'ildan Vessar
Vex'ahlia de Rolo
Vincent Valentine
📌 — We are, however, looking for side quest ideas from players. Anything from a vague "yes, give a lot of flea market detail!" for Aestus to specific puzzle concepts for Sirena are welcome. If you'd like to plot out something elaborate for Fae NPCs to be up to, now's your chance! We'll incorporate selected suggestions into the mission log.
📌 — Please make sure to use the major events comment thread specifically to announce character actions that have a significant impact on the mission outcome or other characters. For this mission that should include: anyone "killed" or revealed in Oathbreaker, any time a lost Vestige receives a token, or if an Etrayan hands a token out to a Fae mistakenly.
📌 — For all questions relating to this mission, please refer to the mission queries comment on this post. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ. Please note there is no opt-out for this mission.


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