Rumors of Purpose

[Rias]

After years of relative quiet in the Corvus Outpost, there's an increasing feeling among the citizenry that something is about to happen. A notable increase of nethrim serving as both security and labor. Greater numbers of canim and lucid infested within the walls. Renewed enforcement of old laws. New arrivals from distant lands, and the presence of some old familiar faces that had become scarce. Rumors of building new alliances. And of course, the lack of public presence of leadership has contributed as well.

All these things have been contributing to a nigh-palpable energy among the citizens, and there are murmurs of hope that the Corvus Outpost will become more than just a safe haven for sorcerers and outcasts and the afflicted to hide away from the rest of the world in.

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For a good while there the Corvus Outpost was more in survival mode than anything, not wanting to risk prodding the other people of the Lost Lands into uniting against them again after getting hit hard in the past. I'd like for Corvus to move past that stage soon, and I'm hoping to give them an increased sense of general identity and purpose as a group beyond just being the spooky outcasts (though that will remain a significant part of it). The intention is for this purpose to be good for Corvites, but not especially palatable to other residents of the Lost Lands, and thus generate some conflict people can get into. This is *not* however meant to be the primary focus of the game, and it's not going to lead to any kind of general game-wide open CvC season. Corvite population will continue to be moderated and controlled, with most of the game's population being residents of Shadgard. They'll have some things they can get up to out in the world that Shadgardians can choose to oppose and act to try and undo (and hopefully many of them do), and the Corvites can be unashamed and open-faced about getting up to their villainous self-serving deeds that will leave the rest of the world in their dust.

To be perfectly clear: Corvus was always meant to be the place for those of a significant villain/antagonist bent, and the hope here is to bring some of that feeling back and give them some more to work with as far as purpose and direction, so Corvites aren't left empty-handed when it comes to inspiration for things they can try to get involved in or work toward as part of their attempt to be a more villainy type of character in the game's setting. Villainy direction is good! We don't want people getting the idea that Corvus is meant as an unconditional support group for characters that are problematic or detrimental to the community and just want to randomly PK or troll or whatever. That's not the kind of evil or villainy we're interested in supporting here.

[Kunren]

This is fantastic to hear. Do you want players to drop in on this post with ideas for where this energy can go? Start trying to put things together IC with other pcs? Email/DM you directly their plots, or just start going with things and get you on the page (if even neccessary) later?

[Ninetales16]

this makes me unusually happy to see. I can not wait to sxee what ideas you have in store, or if we can contribute in some form!

[Vazbol]

I'm excited to see what small hints and changes will be going on whle things reveal themselves to everyone. And right, also excited on how players can contribute for the carpet rollout.

I am curious what's meant by a controlled population ratio wise? I know with part of that post, we want to prevent Corvus from being the spot where everyone wants to make a needlessly destructive throwaway alt. Mor so hoping for a population that has enough people to roleplay with when not out and about doing questionable things for the local outpost

[Dorn]

Is there any advice from those currently playing in regards to settling into the "new" Corvus?

[Ninetales16]

I believe being yourself is the stuff which counts most. take this with a grain of salt from someone who has ecently arrived there as well

[Dorn]

Got it. Set fire to a hamlet, kill a few people.

[Ninetales16]

:D exactly. stuff like that. being more morally gray, if you want. supporting things the usual cityzen would turn up his nose towards, for example. I am certain the corvites would welcome everyone new and old alike among their ranks with, well, open arms. or appendages, or whatever body parts they might still possess :P
hope to see you out there!

[Rias]

Word is spreading within Corvus and even beyond that a figure known as Arch-Lich Mensah has been seen about the Outpost. The Arch-Lich has reportedly been taking stock of the state of things within the walls, and has implied that Corvites may soon(tm) be getting more opportunities to serve the Outpost and prepare for the inevitable changes coming to the Lost Lands that will leave behind all those unwilling to adapt to them.

The people of Shadgard who have picked up on these rumors are understandably on their guard, recalling past invasions of their town by the Outpost and its swarms of nethrim. There is also growing worry over what all this talk of supporting the changes in the lands means, and what those Corvites will be getting up to that could be affecting their Lost Lands neighborhood for the worse.

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As we're hoping to ramp up Corvus activity a little soon (step by step, nothing world-shattering (yet)), I thought it would be a good idea to share some points about the intended feel/disposition of Corvus as a faction:

- They've seen that the world is changing, and they aim to take this opportunity to roll with it and come out on top as a result. Anyone who disagrees, Corvus is happy to leave behind. More specifically, they're embracing the nether and the changes it causes, with a big benefit being that it prevents resen-infestation. (This also means they can take in lucid infested as citizens with minimal risk because the majority of their other citizens are 100% immune.)
- They know that the rest of the world tends to view them as evil villains. They don't care. They don't see themselves that way, but they're not interested in earning acceptance from the rest of the Lost Lands. There are more important things to do, and those not with them won't be around in the future anyway.
- If you can't take them as they are at face value, they're happy to disregard you (and dispose of you if you get in their way). They're not wasting time trying to convince anyone that they're misunderstood.
- It's true that much of their population is made up of outcasts and the afflicted who are not welcome elsewhere in "civilized society", but they have their own societal order and laws to keep their little society functional, even if they tend to have different ideas regarding what is ethically or morally acceptable. They are not a chaotic hive of anarchy where anything goes.

A lot of the above is being specified to avoid too much hemming and hawing and beating around bushes over the inevitable conflict that's going to come up. Corvus as a faction is going to be at odds with the rest of the world, often aggressively so, and that's on purpose! Peace talks and diplomacy attempts will not be entertained! If you're uncomfortable being viewed as a "bad guy" in a setting, Corvus is not the faction for you. On a related note, neither faction is going to look kindly on any of their members cozying up with members of the opposite faction, so keep that in mind as you consider your expectations regarding Corvus as a faction.

I'll also state that while conflict in this general scenario and context is intended, it's not meant to be a primary focus of the game. The Lost Lands as a setting will always be a place of danger and conflict, and sometimes Corvus will be a source of that, but they're not meant to be the sole or primary source.

[Adresin]

Two questions.

1. How much of this would our Shadgard based characters know, if any? It makes it sound like it would be reasonable for us to have picked up little hints here and there, but am I right on that?

2. On cogg it used to be that you couldn't have both an active Shadgard and an active Mistral character at the same time. Will there be anything like this for shadgard/corvus?

Ah and a third, will characters without official citizenship just be assumed to be part of the shadgard faction, or how is that going to work? I know legacy characters don't automatically seem to have shadgard citizenship.

[Rias]

How much of this would our Shadgard based characters know, if any?

People can assume at this point that any character has heard rumors with the info in my previous post. I'll toss in some in-game rumors in as well, and maybe a brief news sheet to make it all IC-ly official. If anything, it seems like Corvus is eager to let the Lost Lands know that it's "back on the map."

On cogg it used to be that you couldn't have both an active Shadgard and an active Mistral character at the same time. Will there be anything like this for shadgard/corvus?

Yes, once things get going players will be restricted to only having Corvus or Non-Corvus characters active at the same time (meaning the others must be shelved). We don't want people playing both sides, using alts to spy or sabotage, and other such shenanigans.

will characters without official citizenship just be assumed to be part of the shadgard faction?

Yeah. Even if not officially citizens, it's the only other faction available, and as stated above, we don't want people playing both sides.

I'll also mention that at this time we won't be letting anyone else join Corvus. I want to test the waters first and see how things go before I decide if we want to throw greater support at this whole idea. Corvus has historically been pretty exclusive and lower-population, so this is nothing new, but maybe it'll open up more if this stuff ends up being fun for everyone and there's a lot of demand!

[Zeldryn]

WOOOOOO! EMBRACE GHOSTLY OOZE! DISREGARD SOCIETY!

This is all very exciting stuff. I love the idea of it. I love the idea of Corvus. I love the way the lost lands is really establishing itself again thematically.

I'm always down to clown around in sorcerer town. I'll get there in a while, I'm sure, when it's time for a change of pace. Because that time always comes. But we all know I can't do that just yet. My character's sort of a poster boy.

For now though-- *points down at signature*

[Alexander]

This is thrilling news. I look forward to rivalries both new and old as I hope to take on a supporting role in this new chapter of the Shadgard-Corvus story.

[artus]

Good to see more of clarifications on corvus' philosophy and its current standing within lost lands. I hope it goes up like a blast and everyone has fun. It's good that water testing is done first, because things like this tend to get out of hand fast once it's set in motion. It's all about momentum.

Build the momentum, people. We're blasting through another chapter of lost lands!

[Ninetales16]

as one of the songs I listened a lot recently says, An August summer night, Soldiers passing by, Listening to the wind of change. I did listen, indeed. and I am more than thrilled to see what whispers this wind will make. I can not wait for the future and hope that this will be fun for everyone involved!