Introduction

Unchained is a small team run on. This competition will take place in a thread of the #rp-lobby chat on the Brotherhood’s Discord server. Each team is responsible for the creation and management of their RP thread; the DC and Exarch Staff are available to assist with any issues. Members are encouraged to write multiple posts throughout the event and to engage with the wider story as they see fit. The overarching goal is for the team to attempt to complete the objective given in the prompt below.

Each team will have access to one [IC] and one [OOC] thread for the run on. All run on posts must go in the [IC] thread; coordination and discussion about the run on should take place in the [OOC] thread. Each main or alternative character used by a member of the team should have a snapshot attached to the RP following the instructions in the SA Roleplaying course. Teams are solely responsible for creating and managing their run on thread. Each team should select a single member to create its run on. Note that this event makes use of the club’s RP system and will award Envoy Society progression based on Envoy Marks (but not Golden Envoy Marks).

In order to keep this event fair and fun, we have written a set of rules unique to this event. These rules are specifically designed to allow flexibility. Teams and Clans are expressly forbidden from asking members not to write.

Situation

The chaotic effects of the Ethereal Realm are wreaking havoc on the Brotherhood’s invasion force. Gravity fluctuations make piloting extremely hazardous and communications systems have proven to be unreliable. Most concerningly, it seems as if the Force itself is reacting to the sudden influx of Brotherhood forces: many have encountered Force ghosts and visions; some non-Force users have found themselves suddenly bestowed with access to unimaginable powers; and many Force users have had to deal with wildly fluctuating control over their own abilities.

Confronted with these challenges, your Clan sent a small reconnaissance team ahead across the Shattered Plains to find safe passage through the deadly Corpse Fields to the Children’s Fortress. Hours have passed, but you just received word: the team found a path with minimal enemy resistance and secured a position within striking distance of the Fortress, but something has gone wrong and they are no longer responding to contact attempts.

You will serve as the vanguard of your Clan’s forces and follow after the missing recon team. Find out what happened to them–save them if you can–and then lead the assault on the Fortress.

Points of Interest

Further information on points of interest can be found on the wiki for the Ethereal Realm. These points include:

• The Reflection of Eos City
• The Sky Islands
• The Shattered Plains
• The Corpse Fields
• The Fortress of the Unchained
• The Chain

Rubric and Rules

The run on will be graded following the Voice Fiction Rubric.

• Teams must have 3-5 members, all from the same Clan. Rogue members can form their own teams.
• Each Team’s run on must be named using the following convention: “GJW XVI RO - [Team Name]” where “Team Name” is a unique name for the team. If we can’t find your RO thread, we can’t grade it!
  
• For participation credit, members must post a minimum of at least 500 words in their team [IC] run on thread. Members who post less than 500 words total will be disqualified. Posts may be edited as per the Edit Rules below.
• Teams must have at least three members meet the 500 word requirement to be eligible for placement.
  
• Members may write their alternative characters and NPCs into the run-on in addition to their main characters. Snapshots must be provided, and the use of alts/NPCs must comply with all other rules of this competition but we will not pay any attention to loadouts in grading and realism.
• An author MAY send consecutive messages in order to complete one coherent “post.” Discord messages cannot exceed 2,000 characters, so multiple consecutive messages may be necessary for long posts – plan accordingly, and be sure to write your posts outside of Discord and copy/paste them into the application if you anticipate them being longer than a few hundred words. For reference, this bulleted list of rules is approximately 2,000 characters long.
• Authors anticipating the need for multiple messages can send placeholder messages that they later edit to fill in with sections of their post, to ensure that others do not interrupt a cohesive post.
• Posts may be edited or deleted at any time, but doing so may disrupt the flow of the run on and negatively impact your Team’s score.
  
• Each run on must take place in the Ethereal Realm. At the beginning of the event all members of the team are assumed to be 1) On the ground in the Ethereal Realm, or 2) Preparing to enter the gate on Arx. Do not belabor arriving in the Ethereal Realm: members may address their arrival in their first post but a member’s second (and later) posts must engage with the prompt or they will not count as qualifying posts.
• Teams may freely interact with, and do as they please, to any members of the Children of Mortis. Note that anything done to these characters is not canon for the NPC or Brotherhood.
  
• Teams may also interact with any Brotherhood characters, but please use good judgment when writing other members’ characters. As with CoM characters, nothing done to these characters will be considered canon.