you're going to be amazing

Three weeks past the celebration of H.R.H. The Queen of Heart's annual celebratory commemortating event of her coronation, the ground begins to violently shake with an unknown pulse. All throughout the kingdom, from the reaches of the Emberwharf to the tiny hamlet of Harrowyn, it's felt. For those of you who've begun to reclaim your memories, you know something just isn't right. The way the world churns, the lack in spots of your own detailed memories, the apprehension and dread that it brings... all of it seems to be one big sign of trouble.

Karsus, now known to all as Merlin, the cryptic and helpful (questionable) wizard, resides in the Enchanted Forest, awaiting the Lady of the Lake to give him some sort of sign that she's still out there. As you may have guessed, she's actually Mystra, in hiding, and her role in this story is more important now than ever. Does she know who she is? Is she hating on Magi*Mari as much as everyone else? It's hard to tell.

But time is starting to become a scarce resource.

You look out to the horizon, and you notice something out of place. The Expanse. It's encroaching at an alarming rate. Around the perimeter of the wall, towns are engulfed into it and lost entirely. This star is dying, becoming consumed. The Evil Queen was right; there's no telling when this would happen, but it was always something that was destined to unfold.

And this time, when you look out into the great abyss, it looks back at you. Eyes watching you- all of you, observing. If you haven't recovered your memories by now, a few of them might come rushing in. You can almost make it out. The thing that you've been told to fight. The thing that's been hunting Lucretia and her crew for 100 years. The Hunger's here, and waiting... just outside the bounds of this illusory world. It's time to put a plan that started a year ago into action. It's time to bring magic back to Faerun and take back your stories.

But where is that relic?

(click to expand)

And just like that, your characters are brought into an illusion, the size of an entire continent. Your memories are replaced with that of another life, one where you've been here since you were born. On your wrist are three "empty" crystals in the shape of hearts, lined up in perfect symmetry to each other. Your recollection of the events within the Bureau of Balance is reduced to nothing, and you've assumed a new identity. For one long year, you've been under the effects of this charm. We return to our heroes, the focus of our story, in media res.

The world in which Fanelia resides in is a beautiful, sprawling landscape with a number of factions, land types, terrains and people all within it. The storybook character you chose should be able to easily fit in any place within the bounds of the continent, but this is by no means a complete and exhaustive guide of what to find and where. Your characters are natives to this world, and as such, you can do worldbuilding as well to help populate the various places in between towns. Is your ice queen in need of an ice castle? Feel free to create one!

Your characters should resemble the fairy tale character that you've built, but how closely it parallels the story and how committed you are to the finer details of it is completely up to you. They should, however, believe in their hearts that they belong in their assumed role, motivations and all. No one will have memory of the Bureau of Balance having ever existed.

For those of you who don't aspire to live your days in the fabled, and slightly terrorizing, court of the Queen of Hearts, the entirety of Fanelia is yours to call home and do with what you please. While we won't go into extreme detail on any specific locale, here are a few places where you might like to start, or maybe provide some flavor to the world that you've been living in.

○ Spine of the World: a frozen, inhospitable stretch of mountains that are nigh impossible to cross during the winter months. The elusive panserbjørn, a loose federation of animals who don armor on their shoulders and speak the common tongue, are defensive and protective of their beloved mountains. Although most prefer to keep to themselves, it's been known that some tribes are quite hospitable to humans and their ilk, often providing aid or assistance for someone who's lost their way in the perilous climb.

○ Divinoa: The Holy Review of Fanelia: This archaic society offers scholarly refuge to those who seek answers to the mysteries of the world. Many have tried to enter the Hermetic Order of the Many-Forked-Path, but few rise among its ranks. The people who live in the town surrounding around the beautiful, Gothic cathedral are extremely devout and typically are employed by the Holy Review in one way or another.

○ The Ruins of Tristair: A citadel once stood here before the appearance of the Expanse. No one knows much about the civilization that once lived here, but it's home to a number of ancient and wise dragons who impart wisdom to brave travelers who are judged to be worthy. A small contingency of people are rumored to live here, nomadic by nature. They're typically skittish, and show distrust to the outside world.

○ The Highlands and Loch Abar: Bountiful hills and beautiful stretches of plains make up the majority of the Highlands. Its capital, Loch Abar, features a garden that outshines that of the Queen's personal rose sanctuary. While Loch Abar is considered the center of the region, many familial clans preside over the Highlands, and leadership is elected through a clan vote every decade to ensure fairness and the interests of its people is kept to heart.

○ Harrowyn: A secluded, quaint town in the middle of an expansive woodland area, Harrowyn aims to keep out of the affairs the rest of the country faces. The biggest racial contingency of people here are elves, humans, and half-elves, most of which who practice the druidic arts. Hard working farmers and artisan tradesmen are easy to come by, and an astounding number of people are raised in, grow old in, and die in Harrowyn without ever leaving the city limits. Simplicity isn't just a way of life, it's their everything.

○ Kingstown: This preamble to Fanelia is the melting pot for the southwestern, eastern, and southern regions. Small castles, filled with noble families who have left Fanelia to set up in Kingstown are not uncommon, and you'll find a little bit of influence from everywhere here. It's protected by the Crown Guard of Fanelia, which is a defensive maneuver as well as political. Being the mouth to the capital city, placing it under marshal law of the Queen extends her line of power and foresight into the realms she rules.

○ The Enchanted Forest: A wilderness that expands for hundreds of miles in every direction. The Enchanted Forest is home to a great number of mystical beasts and old magics. No two people ever seem to have the same experience navigating through its tall trees.

○ Peppelfen and the Isles of Sorrow: The outlying Isles of Sorrow houses just one town. Peppelfen. This scenic island town is often accredited with the creation of magical music. Many a writer, poet, bard, or hopeful laureate has hailed from Peppelfen, which has been said to been blessed by an ancient god who loves the arts. Their magic and inclination towards putting power behind their words, however, comes with a cost. The average life expectancy of anyone born in this town is roughly 30 years.

○ The Expanse: The outer perimeter of the world, it exists as a dark and stormy cloud, impossible to navigate and deadly. It's been there for as long as people can remember, and intrepid explorers who have made attempts to set out upon it never come back or are presumed to be lost forever. The border of the world seems to shrink, little by little, every year, and a common fear among the people is that one day it'll encroach upon their town.

The capital city in which the Queen of Hearts resides seems ripped straight from the pages of a storybook, no pun intended. The city is bustling, the taverns are flowing with good food, good drink and good entertainment. And best of all, everything is pretty affordable!

The residents here seem happy and prosperous. Well — as best they can be under the watchful eyes of the Queen of Hearts, at the head of the Court of Hearts.

She means well, they mutter, drawing the covers down over their shops at the end of the day. She means well, but her ... methods of ruling, and particularly of punishment, trend toward unorthodox or outright cruel, and often don't fit the infraction. The decrees can be absurd and impossible to follow, too.

Indeed, the latest decree is plastered on the walls, down alleyways and around town:

BY ROYAL DECREE, YOU SHALL NOT KEEP SECRETS.

Inside the castle where the Queen resides is, curiously, something of a paradox itself. If you manage to wander past the normal public common areas, you'll find that the restricted sections of the castle have hallways that occasionally lead to no where. Doors open to a stone cold wall, the same as the exterior of the entire structure. Stairs casually ascend straight into the ceiling, with no clear route to the next floor. There's also a great croquet field.

On top of that, there are several enchanted rooms intended to keep you right where you are until the guards can detain you, and punishment can be administered.

That said, gaining an audience with the Queen of Hearts is easy in theory, but difficult in practice. Tread carefully when speaking with her, lest you lose your head.

There will be more in the prompts of things to do around the capital city on the log, but there's one other thing to take note of: From the moment you enter, until the moment you leave, you'll feel a strange sense of familiarity. It's not just the fact that you remember being here before — because, as far as you can remember, of course you have! It's more of a déjà vu that you can't quite explain.

THE QUEEN OF HEARTS. The prodigal queen of Fanelia, who embodies the concept of "the ends justify the means," the Queen of Hearts is a calculated and meticulous woman who rules over Fanelia with an iron fist. Her trust issues seem to stem deeply within her, probably indicative of an unknown past that's forced her to become the way she is today. As Queen Regent, she oversees the administration of Fanelia and the protection of the capital town, ensuring that the neighboring regions of her kingdom are kept on a leash that she can contract at any moment to reign in. Those who disagree with her or openly protest or defy her are taken prisoner and sent to the guillotine, making her both feared and rather detested by much of the population she rules over. While she thinks she knows what's best for the kingdom, many take issue with her manipulative and behind-the-scenes shows of power. Her royal seal is a single rose in the shape of a heart, often portrayed with fire brimming behind it, and she has a keen affinity to apples- often seen tending to either rose bushes or her private orchard when she's not entertaining guests or donning the responsibilities of the crown.

PINOCCHIO. In the small village of Harrowyn, a carpenter once visited The Enchanted Forest to obtain some sturdy lumber to create the Queen's new throne, a present gifted to her upon her coronation ceremony. Him and his wife were incapable of producing children, but the carpenter had a knack for making puppets and selling them in Emberwharf for some extra money on the side. One day, while traveling up through Kingstown and into the forest, he was visited by a fairy of the Enchanted forest, angry with him for having chopped down her favorite tree. He explained the situation to her, and upon discovering their wish to have a child but never having it come to pass, she blessed one of the puppets in his wagon. And thus, Pinocchio had come to life. It's been over a decade since they've passed, and Pinocchio is no longer a young boy. He lives in Harrowyn, taking up the trade his father had taught him. There's one key trait that everyone in Harrowyn knows about Pinocchio: when he lies, his nose grows. It's caused him to lead a life of honesty and quietness in this little town, but he's mostly okay with that.

THE WIZARD OF OZ. Not much is known about the Wizard of Oz's personal life, but he's widely known as a soothsayer and wish granter to those who visit him. He presides as the current governing force over the town of Peppelfen, located in the Isles of Sorrow... but honestly, he's not that great at it. Assumed to be a talking jade crystal robot by all who visit his chambers, a tightly kept circle of people he trusts know the sad truth about the Wiz. It's all smoke and mirrors: he controls the robot from the sidelines, amplifying his voice through it in one of the weirdest shams to have ever graced Fanelia. The truth is, he's a very anxious man who doesn't trust others easily, and would rather quietly work on his own inventions than take a seat in local government. But as they say, some are born great and some have greatness thrust upon them. Not that he ever wanted it.

MERLIN. One of the greatest wizards in history, Merlin wields the power of clairvoyance and is known for downplaying his own massive wealth of magical talent to an almost comically bad lie. Despite the assumption that his place belongs in Divinoa, the seat of powerful clerics and mages who live to teach and instruct young sorcerers and witches, he's known to wander the realm of Fanelia, appearing at oddly specific times and to specific people, with the intent to council them. His ties to the Ruins of Tristair and the Enchanted Forest suggest that he might not be completely human in origin, but it's not something he references often- when asked, he'll shrug it off and come up with some fake tale about his origin story that gets increasingly stupid the more times he has to tell it. He's known as one of the few people who has the Queen of Heart's ear, which is one of the worst-kept secrets in all the realm. When he's not meddling in affairs that he has no business participating in, he explores the realm enjoying the sights, sounds and pleasures that the countryside has to offer. That is, when he's not being hunted down by his own familiar, Cath Palug.

IOREK BYRNISON. Situated on the Spine of the World, a mountainous system of perilous peaks and apertures, a race of animal folk protect the region fiercely and with all their heart. Iorek, the once king of the panserbjørn, appears to be an overgrown cat donning armor made from a magically resilient material. Currently, he resides in the town of Loch Abar, where he serves as a sort of disgraced armorsmith. Attempts to talk to him of his past, or the conflict that led to him coming down from the Spine of the World are usually met with disdain and particularly pointed distaste towards the topic. He wants nothing more than to be left alone for the rest of his days, having given up his claim to regency. The townspeople, however, treat him very well and respect his proud history. They're often seen leaving gifts of bananas and fresh caught fish at his doorstep as thanks for all he does for the city.

THE GRIM REAPER. The Grim Reaper serves one function, one sole purpose in the entirety of Fanelia, and you might guess what that is just by the name alone. If he appears before you, chances are that you're at the end of your story, and he's here to guide you along your journey to the afterlife. Seen primarily in a robe of scarlet that hides a human system of bones underneath, The Grim Reaper was once a regular person like you or me, before he unhinged himself from the confines of the mortal coil. For those of you looking to cheat death itself, you're in for trouble. His other, more grave role is that of a bounty hunter, working for the natural forces of the world that wish to call those who should've died towards their ordained destiny.

This mission will be working a little differently compared to others! See the notes below for an explanation of how.

○ At first, no one will have any recollection of their lives before the moment the illusion sets in. As of the start of the mission, one full year has transpired while under its effects. Your understanding of the Hunger or the threat that faces the world is completely diminished, and instead, you have access to a new identity replete with its own set of memories.

○ The outside boundary of the wall is simply a black cloud, impossible to pass, but known by all as "The Expanse." Anyone who's ever attempted to make it to the edge of the world has never come back alive, and it should be a very superstitious and unsettling place to approach.

○ There are three heart shaped crystals placed in equal spacing upon your wrist. They are dulled, and as far as you can tell, have been so your entire lives. As you make connections in your new world, three significant events from your character's canon and CR that you've established over the course of Balance will return, brightening the crystals up, revealing a beautiful, soft red tint.

○ What are the trinkets for, from your AC homework? You'll find out soon enough!

○ Each crystal that becomes lit will provide one major memory for your character. This might be in the form of something from their canon, or something they've experienced while working for the Bureau of Balance. The edges of the memory, however, may seem fuzzy. Use as little or as much discretion in figuring out how shaped and fully formed those memories should be. One returned memory is not enough to shatter the illusion of your newly assumed life, however, when all three crystals are filled, your entire memories will come flooding back to you.

○ Network communications still work; your thoughts can be transmitted via a mental network that seems to be somehow linked to the three heart shaped crystals embedded into your arm. Simply touch it, think of the person you'd like to telepathically link with, and a connection can be opened. Additionally, you can use the same method to access the latest network posts.

○ As hinted before in our last OOC touchbase, all path actions, including magical ones are available and in play for this mission. This includes things like Oaths — how your character experiences it, and how they go about figuring out how they are connected to the people on the other side of the line, is up to you. The goal is restore magic to Faerun so that you have a fighting chance to stand up to the Hunger in the finale.

○ Important note about the RNG: Instead of implementing a hard roll limit, we will be setting a cutoff day where no new rolls will be accepted. You are free to thread out how your character's memories are restored however you like, you do not have to roll a success to get there! But the RNG is there if you'd like a more randomized scenario.

○ This mission, largely based on powering the Bond Engine, is designed to be focused around CR. Behind the scenes, the actual plot of Fanelia is light, to give you a chance to focus on your character's stories, both fake and eventually remembered. That doesn't mean there aren't mysteries to unravel! But you do have license to alter anything as you see fit, aside from the capital city itself. And lastly, remember: Lucretia wants to harness the power of your bonds to restore magic back to the world. And there still is the final relic in play.

The following characters have dropped from the game this month.

○ Loki cuttingremark
○ Yugi Mutou gameking

The following characters failed to check in by the conclusion of this month's activity period and have been swept from the game.

○ none!

The following characters have an outstanding strike and will be required to clear it before taking another.

○ Ann Takamaki doberge
○ Chidi Anagonye ikanteven
○ Flayn antiqueclasp
○ Gilgamesh fwahaha
○ Lion Ushiromiya dialetheism
○ Nicholas Wolfwood mycrosstobear
○ Rose Quartz spacerock
○ Zelda royalresearch

Our current character count after sweeps is 55/60. If you have questions about this month's AC results, please contact the mods via PM.

If you submitted for a path update and didn't get a PM from us to the contrary, congratulations! Your path update is approved! Bask in your newfound power.

As a reminder, we ask that you include month and year in the subject line of your AC comment (example: DECEMBER 2019). This is for our ease of tracking and organization in our inbox. An unlabeled AC comment is much more likely to get lost than a labeled one.

Activity Check runs from the 1st of the month to the final day of the month at 11 PM EST. You may submit your activity at any time, as we monitor the activity page continuously throughout the month. If you choose to take a hiatus or strike, you must also comment under your character's header on the activity page so we can keep track.

Most importantly, if you do not submit your activity by the last day of the month at 11 PM EST, you will be swept from the game.

Thank you for all you do!

The following characters have dropped from the game this month.

○ Akira Kurusu scaling

The following characters failed to check in by the conclusion of this month's activity period and have been swept from the game.

○ Alice conceivesfrenzy
○ Maki Harukawa erlebnisse

The following characters have an outstanding strike and will be required to clear it before taking another.

○ Ann Takamaki doberge
○ Chidi Anagonye ikanteven
○ Flayn antiqueclasp
○ Gilgamesh fwahaha
○ Hayner hijumpkick
○ Lion Ushiromiya dialetheism
○ Nana Abe usamin17
○ Nicholas Wolfwood mycrosstobear
○ Rose Quartz spacerock
○ Yugi Mutou gameking
○ Zelda royalresearch

Our current character count after sweeps is 52/60. If you have questions about this month's AC results, please contact the mods via PM.

If you submitted for a path update and didn't get a PM from us to the contrary, congratulations! Your path update is approved! Bask in your newfound power.

As a reminder, we ask that you include month and year in the subject line of your AC comment (example: NOVEMBER 2019). This is for our ease of tracking and organization in our inbox. An unlabeled AC comment is much more likely to get lost than a labeled one.

Activity Check runs from the 1st of the month to the final day of the month at 11 PM EST. You may submit your activity at any time, as we monitor the activity page continuously throughout the month. If you choose to take a hiatus or strike, you must also comment under your character's header on the activity page so we can keep track.

Most importantly, if you do not submit your activity by the last day of the month at 11 PM EST, you will be swept from the game.

Thank you for all you do!

Important note: This month, AC will be check-in only. In lieu of regular AC, you will be allowed to submit three bonus threads.

We hope you have a nice holiday!

WHERE DO WE EVEN BEGIN?

Depending on how you look at it, our story begins in the town of New Aspen- or, for as some of you may know it now, New New Aspen. A long time ago, a mayor had made a deal with the Cult of Shadows in order to stop the pestilences that they brought upon their little town. His sister, Laurel Hollyweather paid the blood price that was required by their organization. A body, willing, so that they may take form in this world and return to walking the land of Toril once again. It never sat well with the mayor, who was lauded as a hero for saving his village. But what became of Laurel after the Cult of Shadows had left New Aspen? Her spirit merged onto the nearest creature, turning it into the Matronly Mother that once waged war against the town for forgetting her noble sacrifice. The Reclaimers put an end to a long and unhappy family feud, also claiming their first Grand Relic in the process: The Space Mittens.

This is the story of what happened to Laurel's body.

After the cult assumed control of an avatar for their will, Laurel headed to Waterdeep. There, she presented herself as one of the Seven Sisters, a group of women who were blessed upon birth by the Goddess Mystra herself; if in the event they were cast from their celestial thrones once again, she'd have one of seven options to choose from. The protection of the Weave, above all else, was paramount to the survival of the world as we know it. The cultist was smart, and cunning, and easily spun a believable story as to the whereabouts of her own tale, and why she had been missing for as long as she did. In the shadows, she assumed control of Blackstaff Tower, the prominent wizarding school upon which Waterdeep had churned out countless defenders of the realm. When you play the long con, it helps to have a goal in sight. And when you wage war against Magic itself, you better have a damn good convincing persona if you're going to infiltrate the town of Thay.

And thus, she became Casariel Silverhand.

DOESN'T IT START EARLIER THAN THAT?

From another angle, you could say that this all began eons ago, a time and place long forgotten by the annals of history, scant with records or accounts of a long-forgotten city. The Netheril, as you would have it, was home to a sprawling empire of city-states, banded together under a council of mages who pushed the boundaries of science and magic all the same. They propelled their capitals into the sky, keeping them afloat and sustained by draining unfettered magic from the land itself. It drained every ounce of energy it could just to keep itself going, and as all great empires go, the Netheril had to fall.

A brilliant wizard by the name of Karsus had been researching magics that were never meant to be toyed with. He summoned a 13th level spell, one whose casting would only ever happen once in the course of all Faerunian history. Named posthumously, or perhaps, by the man himself, as Karsus' Avatar, he enacted a ritual that brought about the winds of change for the world. In attempting to solve the Netheril's thirst for magic to sustain itself, he opened up a link between all planes of existence, and in doing so, saw the horror of what he had actually accomplished. He became a god, which is awful in its own rights, but worse- he invited the very thing that wound up ruining the Netheril and forcing it to come falling down from the skies.

The lone dissenter to this plan was a woman by the name of Mystryl. Rewarded for her stalwart opposition to Karsus' plan, she was gifted with the radiance of the Celestial plane, granting her the power to control the construct and flow of magic itself, and thus, the Weave was born. Through it, she could limit mankind's powers so that no one would ever be able to do what Karsus was capable of achieving.

But what truly became of the Netheril? Many cities fell and became occluded with the sands of time. The desert, having received such an imbalance of magic, experienced such ravaging torment that entire stretches of land became looming crystals, nullifying any magic that dared be cast in its range. But one city had fallen into a plane of existence, brought down into it by the rift Karsus had made. The Shadowfell welcomed this lost city with open arms, immediately claiming the bodies of every living citizen left. They wandered, as ghosts, in their destroyed home. They plotted for centuries to return to the home they had once loved, and watched from the outside as their greatness had faded to nothing.

Their dissatisfaction only grew as time went on. They saw beyond the universe and knew what was on the horizon, clutching the space between spaces in its unceasing appetite to consume all. The Hunger. The remaining Netherese banded together and sacrificed 90% of their population to bring their city back to Faerun, but without bodies to return to, they could only manipulate in the shadows. Their city began to fall, without the energy to sustain its levitation- until it was piloted into the World Tree. All to get one soul back into the land of the living.

And thus, the Cult of Shadows was born.

WHOA, TOO FAR BACK

And depending on where you look at it, our story really just begins with Karsus. Once the owner of the Grand Relic of Divination, Karsus had seen the expanse of time in both directions. He saw a future of this world that he couldn't bear to live with, and decided to enter the game and play with a timeline even longer than Casariel Silverhand's. You see, Karsus wasn't born in the time of the Netheril, no. His era is our own, and by merit of having the Lamp of Unwinding, he knew things that he would inevitably have to do--- because he was the one who would do it. Or had done it.

Karsus knew of the story of Karsus' Avatar, his own fabled myth, and struck with his own unfortunate time loop, knew he'd have to go back in time to begin the chain of events that had led him to where our story takes place today. He needed to give rise to the Goddess of Magic to ensure that the Weave would exist, so that one day... one day, the Bureau of Balance would come to fruition from Lucretia and Maureen's dream. Karsus had become his own boostrap paradox, completing numerous loops of time to ensure his own existence. Trippy, right? You might be wondering how a goddess of time like Istus would feel about all of this- and if you guessed that she was livid, you'd be... sort of right, and sort of wrong at the same time. In her infinite knitting, she only moves forward, determining the future of events, and you can imagine the moment she found Karsus' string in the city of Thay, long, long before the events of the current situation that we're all in. But she, too, had to see to it that fate was obeyed- and this was, for better or worse, Karsus' fate.

Mystra has dominion over the Weave, the force through which all magic is summoned in this world. It's existence isn't one of legend, but actuality. And it's power source is the Wellspring of Magic, a place that holds it together like glue. Remember when it was mentioned up there that Mystra blessed 7 children in case she ever needed to possess one of them from being cast out from the Celestial throne? It had happened once; dubbed "The Time of Troubles," the Celestial plane was locked off for a while and she was sent to roam the earth as a mortal. It left the Weave completely undefended. You can imagine the look on her face when Karsus had appeared to lend her a hand. She thought he was dead and long forgotten, but here he was, the Lamp of Unwinding in his hand, in a land that would one day be known as Thay.

And he agreed to ensure the Wellspring of Magic's safety. He tricked and lured an adult black dragon that was terrorizing the land around its home into visiting it, and put it into a deep, deep slumber around the Wellspring itself. Mystra, once she regained her status as a goddess, saw to it that Karsus would no longer have the ability to move forward and back through time. Karsus, knowing the events of his own story, surrenders willingly. Mystra takes the Lamp of Unwinding and leaves it in the hands of a trusted, far more sane wizard... Khelben Arunsun: Rainer's great grandfather. The city of Thay is then formed as a pact to keep the Wellspring of Magic safe. Karsus himself founds Boarbumps with 4 other great archmages of the time.

Once he's done what he promised to do, to perpetuate safety to the Weave, he agrees to whatever fate Mystra decides for him. But he knows... of course he knows. He's seen what happens.

And thus, Karsus is bound to the Tower of Avalon, deep within the Sea of Fallen Stars.

In lieu of an expanded section here, detailing out the events that you've helped to accomplish, we're going to defer to the timeline document that we've been maintaining! You can read about all the important events that took place during A Day in Thay over there.

Now that you're caught up to speed, a few of you know by now what's been happening down beneath the town level of Thay. Surrounding the Wellspring of Magic is an extremely old black dragon, tricked into a near eternal slumber by Karsus, and protecting the source of all magic in Faerun. Some of you have made it down here just before 7pm to see, or maybe hear, Casariel and Rainer down here, arguing over something that couldn't be audibly heard. You've discovered ways down into the deepest layer of this dungeon: a magic mirror that, once attuned by Ferran, allows safe passage down to the depths. An entryway in a bathroom haunted by a specter of Boarbumps past. A secluded and spider infested climb through the forests surrounding the town. All of it leads here, to this very confrontation.

Rainer, who finally feels that the gravity of the situation has been felt by a group of people she knows as responsible for destroying magical artifacts, sits between Casariel and the dragon, interrupting the well laid out plans of the Cult of Shadows.

This is her rock and her hard place.

On one hand, awakening the dragon destroys the town and unleashes a horror upon the world whose rage has been built up over centuries. Casariel glows a dark purple energy, ready to revive and control it to do her bidding: break through the barriers of reality and welcome The Hunger once and for all.

On the other hand, the thing that Rainer has kept close to her heart, is finally revealed. And no matter how many times this has been scripted, and how many stalemates she's found herself in, she's never been able to break the cycle. In her robes, the Lamp of Unwinding rests, waiting for its next use to turn back time. But this iteration, this cycle? This is it. This has to be it.

It's now or never.

Casariel smiles with vile intent in her every waking feature.

"You know you can't stop me, Rainer. I've drunk from the Wellspring of Magic. We're one now. Killing me will only destroy the Weave."

And now you know exactly why she's perpetuated this exact scene. She's done this over 2,000 times already. And she's never had a third option. From here on out, things are about to get dicey.

What do you do?

We hope you're ready for this mission's conclusion! Here are the rules:

○ Utilize this post as a discussion board if you're interested in teaming up! It might help to hit upon your character's path actions, strengths, magic items and abilities. This way you have an idea of what's available to you as a team when the assignments go live.

○ We will RNG team rosters if there's overflow. Each of the CTA missions below have the required archetype in the header, along with a maximum group size allowed to undertake the mission. Each group needs at least one character with the required archetype, so keep that in mind when signing up. If one group gets more than the maximum allowed signups, we'll RNG a final group roster for you.

○ Sign ups for the threads will close on Tuesday, December 3 at 6PM EST. If you've signed up for a CTA in the last mission, please be considerate and allow others to sign up this go-around! If we receive threads without at least two signups by that time, we will then reopen the thread and allow everyone to throw their name in the hat. If this happens, we will subsequently close CTA signups on Wednesday, December 4 at 6PM EST.

○ CTA plans are due on Friday, December 6 at 6PM EST. Results will be rolled and posted.

○ The CTA log will go live on Monday, December 9 at 8PM EST. Remember, if you signed up and submitted plans for a CTA, you must thread it out or you will be considered ineligible for the following mission's CTA plot.

○ Success or failure in this mission is largely relative to the overall state of Thay, the safety of the Wellspring of Magic, and the Grand Relic's reclamation. Read more below for more information!

Thay is a small and quiet town located on one of the hillier areas of Faerun, wracked with the bitter cold of winter, when you arrive. A blizzard whips at you fiercely, making it rather unpleasant to stay outdoors for extended periods of time.

Not that it matters. You've got nothing but time at the moment.

Thay is a little bit stuffy, and a lot magocratic. The majority of its resources and residents are dedicated to serving Boarbumps Academy for the Magically Inclined, which is a small boarding school located on the east side of town.

The hermetic order of wizards that govern this town are known as "The Red Wizards of Thay," and is led by Rainer, a powerful necromancer whose court resides in the Red Keep, a castle and focal point of the town. More on her in the NPC section!

Here are a few points of interest:

○ The Red Keep: A small castle that houses The Red Wizards of Thay, and anything/anyone else needed to assist them in governing the town. The inhabitants of Thay are largely students and scholars who highly value their studies and their particular schools of magic, and the Red Keep most certainly reflects that. Doors open and close themselves for you. If you happen to be invited for a meal, each plate for each course will serve itself to you. If you're feeling particularly lazy or fascinated by the spectacle, you could probably get the utensils to feed you, too.

That's the easy life. What isn't easy is obtaining a council with The Red Wizards of Thay — but with the right plan or persuasion, it is possible.

Please note: Any attempts to swindle enchanted items from The Red Keep, no matter how mundane, will result in swift and immediate execution.

○ Boarbumps Academy for the Magically Inclined: Small on the outside, ornate and still lively on the inside, this boarding school is home to about 30 students, many from families who have attended Boarbumps for generations.

Lucretia wasn't kidding when she said you'll need your school uniforms, by the way. In a small town of highly educated, highly suspicious wizards and warlocks and such, a giant group of people wearing Bracers suddenly arriving might look a little, well. bSuspicious.

Which is why, if someone asks, you will be posing as visiting students from a faraway school. Older Reclaimers? You're student chaperones and/or their teachers. Reclaimers not quite so magically inclined? You're the bodyguards hired to protect the visiting students and faculty.

At 1 p.m., you might hear a lecture on the magical circuits of the common toad. You may be invited to help with the dissection.
At 2 p.m., sit down for a bit of a boring and droning lecture on the history of Boarbumps.
At 3 p.m., grab your shields or what-have-you and stand there as a meat shield for Fighting with Fire: Students will lob the fireballs they've been practicing all semester at you — all you have to do is defend!

There is also a library located on campus. You never know when you might need one of those.

○ The town square: A very small and quaint shopping district in the center of town. You'll find various knick-knacks, supplies for potions and catalysts for spellcasting for sale. You'll also find one inn: The Sleepy Willow. It's 5 gold a night to stay in this hostel-style inn — and let's be real, regardless of what time of the loop it actually is, you're going to have to use some of it to rest at some point. You can't stay awake forever.

Which brings up another point: Spend your money wisely. You'll run out of it sooner than you think, and do you really want to spend a few time loops grinding out more currency? We don't recommend stealing it, unless you want to meet the same fate as a thief of The Red Keep.

○ A small line of shrines on the north side of town: Unkept and unmarked and, surprisingly, nobody in town knows who all they're for — and there are certainly enough people around here with a patron. Perhaps it's meant for everyone?

It is a nice place to sit and meditate, however.

YOUR GUIDE TO BOARBUMPS.

Congratulations, acolyte, on your recent acceptance into the Boarbumps Academy for the Magically Inclined! During your stay here, you'll meet wizards, warlocks, sorcerers and necromancers who will one day grow up to be incredibly powerful, and yes, sometimes highly feared members of Faerunian society. The alumni of Boarbumps span several centuries both backwards and forwards throughout the annals of history and include some of the most impressive and influential names in the world. The school is split into 4 houses, named after generous donors- er, highly accomplished archmages who have in one way or another altered the course of history. In no short time, you'll come to see and understand the highlighted differences between House DeVir, House Arunsun, House Silverhand, and House Wyvernspur. Students who apply and are accepted here are naturally placed into a house for the entirety of their stay at Boarbumps, where they'll forge everlasting bonds of friendship, and deep rivalries.

Wondering what house you belong in? Have no fear! You're a representative of the Bureau Academy, a lesser known university from the Far North. Noted for its exhaustive adherence to red tape, complicated faculty procedures, and a staff of less-than-reputable professors, your time here in Thay will be surely met with the warm welcome of the Council of Red Wizards and general student body.

FIXED NPC'S: THE COUNCIL OF THAY.

RAINER ARUNSUN. The Regent of Thay and Highest of the Hermetic Order of Red Wizards, Rainer is the youngest member of the Council to achieve the status of archmagus in the last 600 years. She's known for her incredible aptitude for the art of necromancy- effortlessly bringing back to life those who were recently or otherwise departed. Aside from the specific moral scruples of performing such magic, she's single-handedly advanced the state of Boarbumps and propelled its culture and society into the 16th century. Notice all the skeletons around town performing valuable tasks such as cleaning, tour services, and general upkeep? That's all thanks to Rainer! A bright and bubbly girl, her sweet malevolence is noticed by all in Thay. Due to a childhood illness, she has lost the use of her legs and can be found on a state of the art Tenser's Floating Chair, a mobility device that is controlled by her own psychic powers. It has a number of compartments for various snack storage and sports sick skull motif rims as well as hover lights.

CASARIEL SILVERHAND. A highly esteemed member of the Council, Casariel has achieved the illustrious title of Mage of the First Order, a rare designation for a magus who has risen to the highest standards of Waterdavian thaumaturgy. She represents the Blackstaff tower, an open order of wizards sworn to protect and serve the city of Waterdeep. After several years at her post, she received a request to join the Council of Thay, at the behest of a dear friend, Rainer Arunsun, to help her as Casariel has helped the Open Lord of Waterdeep, Laerel Silverhand. Since then, she's served as Rainer's right hand in everything regarding matters of the state and academy. As such, she currently presides as the Headmaster of Boarbumps, and her voice is largely influential in the Red Keep. Casariel and Rainer are incredibly tight- as can be seen by their matching friendship bracelets- simply put, two matching red strings tied around their wrists. Some believe that they pledged an oath to each other and, if broken, one or both of them would die.

ONERION WYVERNSPUR. The voice of reason within the High Council, Onerion represents the more... celestial element of the ruling powers of Thay. Noted for his high inclination towards the healing arts, Onerion has served as a member for the last ten years as the only cleric on the council. A high priest of the Silver Dragon Bahamut, the one true god of Dragons, he's devoted his life to understanding the meaning of mercy. It is no secret that he's been blessed by the grace of Bahamut; he brings it up... rather often. His most prominent feature is a spear he carries on his back, with a sharpened edge that resembles a great beast's tooth. No one has ever seen him use it in combat, which gives rise to the butt of many student body jokes that he wouldn't even know how to throw it. A member of the council, his chief role has been to guide the actions of the ruling body of Thay towards a more compassionate stance. Rainer and Onerion have had quite a number of arguments, as one could imagine when a cleric and a necromancer are engaged in discussions of ethics.

GROMPH BAENRE. It is no secret that Groph Baenre is an exiled member of high Drow society. Once a faithful servant of Lloth, he had been commanded by her to summon an army of the Demon Lords of the Abyss into the subcontinental terrace world of the Underdark as a means to test (in a highly Darwinian way) the merits of his own people. While he was successful in bringing them into the Prime Material plane, he realized his mistake almost immediately. She had manipulated him into doing something truly horrible. While the maddened high priestesses of Lloth prepared to welcome the Demon Lords to the Underdark, Gromph rebelled. He offered extremely confidential information to a band of adventurers by showing them to the path of the Maze Engine, a mysterious and long-forgotten relic of immense power that wielded chaotic energy beyond the likes of anyone's understanding. It was there that the Demon Lords were banished back to the Abyss, and, disgraced from the Drow capital city of Menzoberranzan, he was offered to come to Thay by ways of one of the adventurers whom he had helped. Upon entrance, he was accepted as the Archmagus of Conjuration, given a chance to redeem himself as a professor of the arcane arts, and now currently resides on the High Council. He is oft seen as aloof and pensive, but it was by his own hand that Boarbumps began accepting magically gifted students who don't come from long lines of powerfully adept mages. He was once close friends and intense rivals with the greatest Drow Archmage of his time, Vizeran DeVir- the same DeVir that lends its names to one of the great houses of Boarbumps.

THE STUDENTS OF BOARBUMPS.

BRIAN DARLING. Let's face it- we would be incredibly remiss not to introduce you to a man whose reputation precedes him. Brian Darling (not his Christian name), is a 3rd year student at Boarbumps, House DeVir, who has gained a bit of a reputation for his natural affinity towards fantastic beasts. Nicknamed "The Black Spider," Brian spends much of his time in the shadows (he is a Drow, after all), talking to and taking care of friendly spiders all throughout the Academy. If you happen to see a web somewhere with a message written in it, there's a very likely chance that Brian has been at work here. Speaking with him is almost always a treat, but he can be difficult to understand sometimes as his accent frequently changes between a flamboyant German and Swedish tone.

ERINNE D'SEINE. A second year student at Boarbumps, house Arunsun. Erin is a quick-witted, sharp tongued half-elf. She hails from the city of Lyrabar, but doesn't offer much about her childhood spent there. Her natural talents lean towards the arts of illusion and has been caught several times dipping out of class, only to leave a near perfect copy of herself still in her seat. Erinne has been known to take charge of situations where an adult should have stepped in to course correct, but didn't. She can't sit still and watch while other students are bullied or put down due to heritage or rank, and is quick to both make friends and lose them at the drop of a hat. Erinne also bears a rare and unique imprint on her shoulders- what scholars have come to call "A Dragonmark." It is highly unlikely that a half-elf would carry such a crest, but any attempts to talk about it are usually evaded and brushed off by Erinne.

ADRIEL FONTANE. Current president of the student body, 4th year Silverhand. Adriel is about as pompous and annoying as they come, but it's only 90% his fault. The son of Laerel Silverhand, the Open Lord of Waterdeep, he's been raised with all the pomp and circumstance of court nobility. Coming to Thay has been the first time he's left the confines of his home city, and since then he's grown quite a lot, but still displays an almost, yet unfortunately, callous misunderstanding of the world around him. Deep down, however, he is kind and compassionate, it just... doesn't always come off that way. Adriel openly refers to Casariel as "Aunt Cas," an affectionate term that he picked up from a very young age.

SZASS ASTROSZ. A 2nd year Wyvernspur dragonborn who hails from the Tymanther region, Szass is an honor-bound and somewhat stubborn copper scaled student. A draconic sorcerer himself, he departs from the formalities that belong to his particular metallic color and what it usually represents. Copper dragons are known for their deviousness and clever nature, often using their intelligence to test and meddle in the affairs of humans. Szass, on the other hand, is extremely tired of that limiting motif, and strives to break free from the mold he's been given in life. Szass is also seen to be highly introverted; he keeps to himself and doesn't interact with the student body and instead spends much of his time in the library or the wilds around Thay.

This mission will be working a little differently compared to the others! See the notes below:

○ Characters will arrive in Thay at 12 p.m. In the first log, the prompts provided will be a quick few sentences of various things that are happening for each hour of the time loop.

○ At 7 p.m., however, the ground rumbles ominously, then cracks, and you hear a roar, as the town begins to crumble. And then, without warning, everything simply ... resets, and you are back where you were at 12 p.m. There is no pain, no evidence of death, but you can't seem to shake the odd feeling that you just might have...

○ On that note, when you're reliving the same seven hours via Grand Relic like a fantasy Groundhog Day, death is pretty much meaningless! If you happen to die at some point before 7 p.m., you will simply reawaken at the start of the next loop, at 12 p.m. It won't feel like any time has passed at all, and you won't incur any death penalties as you would have in any other missions.

○ You will be allowed three investigation rolls for the first leg of this mission. Use them wisely! Your goal here is to stop whoever is rolling back time — or stop whatever it is that's destroying the town at 7 p.m.

○ Until there is a breakthrough in the investigation rolls, it is safe to assume that your characters will reach 7 p.m. and experience the full time loop and events multiple times. Your character will remember this! The residents of Thay, however, will be going through the same motions of the same seven hours, and they will not believe you if you try to tell them they're in a time loop.

○ Finally, your roll results themselves, if it's disastrous enough, may cause whoever has the Relic to reset as well. We'll provide an official tally of exactly how many time loops the Reclaimers go through by the end of the mission.

BIAS.Your backpack can be found within your locker at the hangar and contains the following items:

○ A crowbar
○ A hammer
○ 10 pitons
○ 10 torches
○ a tinderbox
○ 9+1 standard days' worth of freeze dried rations
○ a waterskin
○ 50 feet of hempen rope
○ a compass
○ a bedroll

All complaints as to the durability of these items can be brought up with the Fantasy Costco Customer Service Delivery Hotline. The average wait time is 3 years.

This information introduction will serve as your campaign guide throughout the entire month of November. Please utilize this to ask questions from the mod team for clarification, and feel free to discuss your plans for the mission.

All information in this guide should serve as a creative springboard for your RNG rolls, or allow you the setting in which you can be as creative as you like. We'll post up the IC log with some guided prompts to play out, but by no means is that the be-all, end-all for this mission. We love when you get creative! Have fun and be amazing, Reclaimers.

The following characters have dropped from the game this month.

○ Akira Kurusu jailed
○ Carmen Sandiego rougerebelle
○ Farnese Vandymion vandymion
○ Gundam Tanaka gundamned
○ Leonardo da Vinci aviphile

The following characters failed to check in by the conclusion of this month's activity period and have been swept from the game.

○ None!

The following characters have an outstanding strike and will be required to clear it before taking another.

○ Nicholas D. Wolfwood mycrosstobear

Our current character count after sweeps is 56/60. If you have questions about this month's AC results, please contact the mods via PM.

If you submitted for a path update and didn't get a PM from us to the contrary, congratulations! Your path update is approved! Bask in your newfound power.

As a reminder, we ask that you include month and year in the subject line of your AC comment (example: OCTOBER 2019). This is for our ease of tracking and organization in our inbox. An unlabeled AC comment is much more likely to get lost than a labeled one.

Activity Check runs from the 1st of the month to the final day of the month at 11 PM EST. You may submit your activity at any time, as we monitor the activity page continuously throughout the month. If you choose to take a hiatus or strike, you must also comment under your character's header on the activity page so we can keep track.

Most importantly, if you do not submit your activity by the last day of the month at 11 PM EST, you will be swept from the game.

Thank you for all you do!

The following characters have dropped from the game this month.

○ Maria Campanella rancori
○ Minato Aino relove
○ Natsuhi Ushiromiya refusedtoleave

The following characters failed to check in by the conclusion of this month's activity period and have been swept from the game.

○ None!

The following characters have an outstanding strike and will be required to clear it before taking another.

○ Battler Ushiromiya epistemologies
○ Honoka Kousaka korekara
○ Ryuji Sakamoto ryuji

Our current character count after sweeps is 38/60. If you have questions about this month's AC results, please contact the mods via PM.

If you submitted for a path update and didn't get a PM from us to the contrary, congratulations! Your path update is approved! Bask in your newfound power.

Activity Check runs from the 1st of the month to the final day of the month at 11 PM EST. You may submit your activity at any time, as we monitor the activity page continuously throughout the month. If you choose to take a hiatus or strike, you must also comment under your character's header on the activity page so we can keep track.

Most importantly, if you do not submit your activity by the last day of the month at 11 PM EST, you will be swept from the game.

Thank you for all you do!

THE FATHER

The grim truth is that there is no greater corrupting force in this planar system or any other than the willingness of sentient creatures to hurt those more vulnerable than themselves. There was a time, long ago and almost (but not quite) faded into memory, when Adrian Morgenstern was a good husband and a good father. No one is simply bad or simply good. It would be a lot easier if they were.

The slide into decay was slow, subtle, insidious, and distinctly human. Sharp words turning to sharp hands. Concern turning to fear. The family falls apart, and all the while, this man swallows his guilt and makes excuses.

He hurts his wife. He gets away with it. He kills his wife. He evades consequences. He hurts his son. Before he can kill his son, a beautiful trinket finds his way into Niel's hands. He opens it, and begs for a better world. A father who will be kind and good to him, who will never hurt him, who will do everything he can to make Niel's life a happy and safe one.

The Compact can do a lot, but it can't change the soul. Niel's wish destroys Adrian, and the Compact replaces him instead. Incontrovertibly good, kind, protective — especially of the fantasy that Niel has begun to create — the original Roland, the guardian of Wonderland, is formed from the life-force of Niel's father. A protector, just like Niel has always wanted.

From now on, everything will be just as Niel has always wanted.

THE SON

Time passes. And passes, and passes. Niel, cozy in Wonderland, has no concept of how much time, exactly. Nor does he care. In this place, he is safe; in this place, he is happy. In this place, he will always have people to play with. And in the end, nothing else matters to him.

As the years go by, Niel's understanding of Wonderland's mechanics improve. He comes to understand, first, that he isn't aging. This is fine; it doesn't bother him. This is one of his wishes: to never grow up, to never become his father or die like his mother. It's much longer before he begins to understand the why of his own petrification in time. There is so much power in the Compact, more even than it had originally. As though it's taking energy from something so endlessly powerful in magic that it's beyond mortal comprehension.

Fortunately, Niel isn't mortal anymore. He sees, after a time, that Wonderland's inexhaustible energy is coming from Yggdrasil — under his feet and all around him. He knows that at some point, the Compact will use up all of Yggdrasil's power. That destroying the World Tree in this way will cause unimaginable destruction. He doesn't care about this, either. Not really.

As long as there are people coming to play with him. As long as the pull towards Wonderland continues to increase — and it does. More and more people come, desperate for money or entertainment or simply desperate without knowing why. More and more people attach themselves to Wonderland. Some win, and stay, and keep winning. Some lose, and stay, and pour misery into the Compact to further fuel its horrors. Some lose, and keep losing, and eventually become part of Wonderland itself. Niel's protectors, his bear guards, increase in number the more years go by.

But no matter how much company he keeps, no matter how many games he plays, Niel's grief and trauma never leave him. The spirit of his mother takes sickening form, fueled by his own repressed horror and her restless soul: Remember me. Wonderland begins to play crueler tricks, go to greater lengths to keep its guests, exact harsher penalties. Niel never meant it to go to these lengths, and sometimes he's sorry, but never sorry enough to tear it all down.

The rot goes deep. Down to the roots. It always does.

Back to top

○ It became clear to naturally-minded Reclaimers very quickly that Yggdrasil was sick — perhaps terminally so. Erika discovered that the Compact had hijacked Yggdrasil's magic. Maya's further poking around revealed that the Compact is keeping Yggy on life support in order to farm power from it, but without the Grand Relic, the Tree of Life would have no hope of survival. Shuichi discovered an extremely valuable golden leaf from the Tree.

○ Attempts to investigate Roland and the Rolands went poorly to disastrously. Christine flirted. Sans got a disturbing gift. Ferran got pretty jacked up. Sayori experienced existential uncertainty. Izuku asked to speak to a manager. Da Vinci soulbonded with the mascots, providing chilling insight into what exactly most of the Rolands are powered by. You know. People.

○ It's revealed that some familiar faces have been in the Casino for some time. It's further revealed, thanks to Akira's sticky fingers, that breaking the Casino's rules is a bad idea. Kaede and Minato gained employment as entertainers in the Night Show, run by Maria.

○ Delving into ancient casefiles revealed to the Feys the story of an abusive father who managed to get out of trouble often and for long enough to murder his wife. Roxas and Carmen find an unsettling children's book called A Trip to Wonderland. Coincidence?

○ In an effort to save Stylosa from the Night Show, Da Vinci, Shinjiro, and Mista witnessed the loop of Maria's murder in horrifyingly graphic detail, but didn't quite manage to remember it. Sans recorded it and got the willies, but didn't remember either. His recording jogged Mista's memory. Maria revealed to Jack that she has always been part of the Night Show, since Wonderland began. Lion, Will, and Mia raided the Casino (with Maya and Sans's external support) to let Maria know she is remembered. The attempt almost ends in failure, but Lion's Umbrella saves them just in time, allowing them to free Maria from the casino and dissolve Wonderland's outermost facade. Minato, having investigated the Break Room, became an established Toy in the Night Show. A massive group of determined Reclaimers saved Stylosa, Minato, Henrik's body, and da Vinci's body and destroyed Casino Mark II at the cost of two Reclaimers' lives.

○ Will's encounter with the Mirror Maze left him a glass angel. Izuku freed the trapped in the Labyrinth with a spark of Inspiration. Building rapport with the worker elves, Michael then became the Manager of Ghost Square. Eleanor fomented revolution amongst those same elves and succeeds, at the cost of 10 who disappeared at the hands of Rolands. Her attempt to rescue them led Eleanor and company to revisit an ethical quandary, ultimately saving three elf lives at the cost of Eleanor's own.

○ Several attempts to find Henrik Hollyweather were undertaken. One failed. One succeeded, at least technically, as Maya and co. came upon a pile of ripped-up Rolands and an assortment of displaced souls, including Henrik's own. Mia and co. further discovered that the bodies of elves and Rolandized individuals aren't dead, merely in stasis.

○ Sans and the research squad learned that Wonderland definitively physically does not exist. What an unfortunately convincing illusion.

○ The Raven Queen informed the Reclaimers via Alex that Niel was long past his expiration date. With a little guidance from the world's greatest detective and their very best friend, Roxas and crew discovered Niel's journal and the fact that Niel was in possession of the Compact and the creator of Wonderland.

○ Along the way, Kokichi built a friendship with Niel and learned about his childhood and his abusive father. Honoka genki'd at Niel and discovered that no one and nothing can drag him out of Wonderland. On the unveiling of the true Wonderland in Part II, Honoka buffed Niel in an attempt to stave off his Petrification, thus making him stronger. Kokichi went delicately feral at the illusion of Adrian. Finally, Honoka and Kokichi confronted Niel about the journal, leading to a confession that yes, he created Wonderland. Yes, he is sorry. And ultimately, Niel's disappearance to . . . nobody knows quite where.

○ In an inspired last-minute move, Sayori gathered a number of Reclaimers around Yggdrasil to use their most positive anchoring moments in an effort to weaken Wonderland. It was a shocking success. Positivity alone can't kill this illusion — but it's definitely going to help.

Back to top

MATTHEW

Matthew Hollyweather came here for one reason and one reason alone: to save his father. Faced with the dismal reality that his father has been held prisoner, his misery used to fuel this hellscape, Matthew has two choices: to fall into misery himself, or to focus on the horizon. On the belief that he can, that he will, bring his father back home again.

To Matthew, this is no choice at all. Until the Reclaimers are gathered together enough to divide tasks and conquer, he sits by the pile of Roland pieces that make up the vessels of his father and various other debtees. He talks to his father quietly, about important things and unimportant, too, chuckles at whatever weak jokes Henrik manages and cracks a few of his own. He tells stories, first to Henrik alone and then to the entire crew of lost souls. He asks their names. He learns their stories.

Matthew is a good leader. He wonders, once this is all said and done, if they succeed . . . do the rest of these fragmented people have a home? If nothing else, couldn't he provide that?

ANGUS

Even the world's greatest detective feels out of his depth sometimes. Angus McDonald, who is ten years old, has made a lot of new friends. He has seen a lot of terrible things. And he is afraid — has been afraid. Will be afraid for some time after leaving Wonderland, in all likelihood. After all, he's only ten.

Nonetheless, his mind keeps working. What time he isn't using to assist in investigations, he spends watching Lucretia, the [static noise] of the [static noise], working what even a novice like him knows is insanely advanced magic. He watches her, and thinks about what he's learned from the rest of them, Crowley and Mia and Lion especially, and he thinks . . .

And he thinks.

This is the greatest mystery he's yet encountered. Something so secret that the human mind is not able to comprehend it. Angus McDonald has never failed to solve a mystery yet. So in a way, it's a matter of principle.

In another way, Wonderland simply must go. That's obvious. If Yggdrasil falls, Angus doesn't know what's going to happen. But he does know that if he's along to help, there's a significantly greater chance of the world not ending as a result. That's not bragging. That's just a fact.

He rolls up his sleeves, adjusts his cap, and watches as Lucretia slumps to the floor in an overworked, exhausted faint. All right, then. Time to get to work.

Back to top

The following characters have dropped from the game this month.

○ Katsuki Bakugou bakucchan
○ Chiron horsepowered
○ Gundam Tanaka gundamned
○ Kanata Shinkai footballfish
○ Lila Zacharov gitanes
○ Minako Arisato missleading
○ Sonya witchwiles
○ Sun Wukong bromeo
○ Yang Xiao Long burnsgolden
○ Yuki Sohma favorat

The following characters failed to check in by the conclusion of this month's activity period and have been swept from the game.

○ None!

The following characters have an outstanding strike and will be required to clear it before taking another.

○ Alex Browning rockymountaindie
○ Eleanor Shellstrop coolranchbaby

Our current character count after sweeps is 43/60. If you have questions about this month's AC results, please contact the mods via PM.

If you submitted for a path update and didn't get a PM from us to the contrary, congratulations! Your path update is approved! Bask in your newfound power.

Activity Check runs from the 1st of the month to the final day of the month at 11 PM EST. You may submit your activity at any time, as we monitor the activity page continuously throughout the month. If you choose to take a hiatus or strike, you must also comment under your character's header on the activity page so we can keep track.

Most importantly, if you do not submit your activity by the last day of the month at 11 PM EST, you will be swept from the game.

Finally, a couple of important game updates. The calendar is now up to date through the end of the year. Additionally, our next app round will be our last app round for new characters! The app round after that will be open to reapplications only. If you have friends who are looking to app new characters, make sure to let them know that next round is their last opportunity.

Why the change? Well, the details will become clearer as we get closer, but on an IC level, the Director will after a certain point no longer be able to pull people into this planar system. That's probably not a big deal, though.

Thank you so much, and we look forward to seeing you in Wonderland! 🙃

The following characters have dropped from the game this month.

○ Haru Okumura fleurdelyser

The following characters failed to check in by the conclusion of this month's activity period and have been swept from the game.

○ Nobody!

The following characters have an outstanding strike and will be required to clear it before taking another.

○ Eleanor Shellstrop coolranchbaby
○ Yang Xiao Long burnsgolden

Our current character count after sweeps is 53/60. If you have questions about this month's AC results, please contact the mods via PM.

If you submitted for a path update and didn't get a PM from us to the contrary, congratulations! Your path update is approved! Bask in your newfound power.

Activity Check runs from the 1st of the month to the final day of the month at 11 PM EST. You may submit your activity at any time, as we monitor the activity page continuously throughout the month. If you choose to take a hiatus or strike, you must also comment under your character's header on the activity page so we can keep track.

Most importantly, if you do not submit your activity by the last day of the month at 11 PM EST, you will be swept from the game.

The following characters have dropped from the game this month.

○ Akira Kurusu maskreant
○ Dwyer notthatbutler
○ Eijirou Kirishima kirimson
○ Hibiki Kuze rabbeats
○ Kenpachi Zaraki achillea
○ Natasha Romanoff widows_kiss
○ Son Gohan lamentingly
○ Steve Rogers wontdoanyless
○ Tony Stark alloys
○ Yona burningchains
○ Yuna aeons

The following characters failed to check in by the conclusion of this month's activity period and have been swept from the game.

○ Catra scapecat
○ Dirk Strider splinten
○ Goro Akechi grakraka
○ Lavernius Tucker lovernotafighter
○ Qrow Branwen blodsvorr
○ Zelda forhyrule

The following characters have received a strike and will be required to clear it before taking another.

○ Eleanor Shellstrop coolranchbaby

Our current character count after sweeps is 35/60. If you have questions about this month's AC results, please contact the mods via PM.

If you submitted for a path update and didn't get a PM from us to the contrary, congratulations! Your path update is approved! Bask in your newfound power.

Activity Check runs from the 1st of the month to the final day of the month at 11 PM EST. You may submit your activity at any time, as we monitor the activity page continuously throughout the month. If you choose to take a hiatus or strike, you must also comment under your character's header on the activity page so we can keep track.

Most importantly, if you do not submit your activity by the last day of the month at 11 PM EST, you will be swept from the game.