The Next Night OOC

EVENT INFO: WHEN THE NIGHT IS OVER

It's settled: the people of Beacon have decided they will make their stand by converting Weaver's bomb into something that can be fired from the missile silo, and will trust the green-eyed spirit who offered a tentative truce.

Time to see if they can fend off a World Eater and save the world from an endless night.

As announced in the March Gameplan, the World Eater arrives on March 15, and with it, the final endgame log. Without spoiling too much, here's a rough idea of what will happen. Key locations that will have prompts associated with them are in bold.

• Weaver will relocate to the missile silo and take the lead on turning it into something usable, but she will need help. There is a lot to be done in very little time, and she's hoping most of you will offer to help. We're not going to take an official headcount on who is assisting and at the silo on the last date, but feel free to assume (if you like) that your character was in some way involved in reconstructing the silo and its launch system, and that they may have been working on it when the World Eater is first spotted, leaving little time to return to Bonfire Square without taking serious risks.



• The World Eater will make its approach from the lake. It is enormous, so although the darkness makes it hard to see, the skies are clear and the creature can be targeted at a distance by those at the silo thanks to the void in the night sky where the stars ought to have been visible.



• The many-eyed spirit and its small army of followers will take this opportunity to attack in the hopes they can take advantage of the chaos and the potential injured, disoriented, or sanity-affected people thanks to the World Eater's presence. While there are indeed green-eyed spirits who intend to ambush it right back, the people at the missile silo will still need to defend themselves when aggressive, violent spirits slip past their tentative allies. People at the missile silo will have to deal with all the difficulties these spirits pose - so expect ruthless violence, body horror, and hallucinations. Good thing Kuai and Pudding's potions give you some resistance against the mental effects!



• The Helix Station portal has been proposed as an escape route, and may now be the safest place to hide for those who feel they are better off if not on the front lines against a bunch of green-eyed and other aggressive spirits. Weaver has mounted several tablets on buoys above the station to keep eyes on the lake in the lighthouse's absence, and so characters at the station, with Clara's assistance, will be responsible for monitoring the World Eater's approach and reporting the success or failure of the bomb to the crew at the silo. But the station, it turns out, isn't completely safe either - those stationed here will have to deal with being in proximity to a World Eater and the difficulties that entails, from strange physical sensations and abrupt illness to mental horrors of all sorts, though if your character has taken a dose of a resistance potion, these effects will be blunted.

As mentioned before, we will have an injury roll header on the event log to help you find out what your character might suffer if that helps direct threads. If you prefer something more organic, there will also be a mod-controlled spirits header that characters around the missile silo or anywhere else above water can post toplevels under, and spirits (many violent, but some helpful) will tag into those threads. While multiple characters threading is encouraged, it is not required, so if you tag into the mod-controlled spirits header and no other characters join yours, you can still have a go at threading the defense.

The event resolution will be in the body of the log post as the final prompt. All the pieces have been assembled to determine the final outcome, thanks to everyone who has participated in the last several months of the game, and especially these last couple of endgame organization posts. This really has been an amazing collaborative effort!

•••

As always, players are welcome to use this post for OOC event plotting! In fact, please do, as not everyone in the game has access to each other's plurks! If you'd like, you can use the small form below to kickstart your plotting plans:

<b>player:</b> (feel free to put your contact info here if you like!) <b>character(s):</b> <b>plans:</b> (have any plans already? or do you have plans you'd like to make? let the world know!) <b>notes:</b> (anything else worth mentioning, like permissions/opt-outs/hiatuses/etc.?)

• March 15: the World Eater arrives, and with it, the endgame log and resolution is posted


• April 3: ooc epilogue post

GAMEPLAN: MARCH

Town becomes ever quieter as the familiar, friendly spirits continue to slip away. If caught up to and asked, they'll explain - they're doing it because they care. Because you've reminded so many of them of the people they used to be, and they know that when the World Eater arrives, they won't be able to resist its commands. This would be no reset with a few designated survivors, it would be a complete massacre. So they thank you, and leave quickly before they can regret their decisions. They hope to see you on the other side of the conflict.

And the few who are left, creeping in the shadows and hiding in the trees? You're right to be suspicious.

As of mid-February, the missile silo has been found, but it's in questionably-operational shape. Time for one last big decision - pool the remaining time and effort into hauling supplies up into the mountains so you can launch the bomb from the silo? Or rely on Weaver and the drone you've seen her working on?

• The silo is far from the Helix Station portal, but close to the equipment at Solis' Lab. Firing the bomb from there would mean greater distance between people and the World Eater - but there are green-eyes all around the area which will surely be looking for opportunities to pick people off, so defense will have to focus on holding them off. Thankfully, it sounds like some people have been using the tools at Solis' Lab to try and re-create the potion that shields people from the mental effects of the green-eyes and the World Eater itself - maybe that will help?
  
  
• Letting Weaver pilot her drone means combatants will be more directly involved in fighting and delaying the World Eater itself to try and provide an opening, like in the fight at the Helix Station. People could remain closer to Bonfire Square and the station portal for an easy escape - if they can survive the fight. There will be hostile spirits for sure either way, but at least it's not the core of what seems to have become the Many-Eyed green-eye's territory. At least Weaver's drone is much, much larger this time, as far as anyone can see, but will it work?

Speaking of green-eyed spirits, it sounds like they're now fighting each other, too - but given their deeply violent nature, maybe this is no surprise. The many-eyed spirit, first encountered in the mines, has been working on turning spirits (and dead Wild Hunt members) into green-eyes in a bid for power and control. Not all of the green-eyes like the idea of obeying it (or anything else) and at least one has brought a proposal to the people of Beacon: they want to use the upcoming chaos to turn on the many-eyed spirit, and all they ask is that you let them do that without interfering. Attack one of these temporary allies, and the whole truce is off. But is this a trap? Are they trustworthy?

One final tool at your disposal: Weaver has agreed to allow Kuai Liang and a few others of his choice to have control over one of the submarines. If you need to use it to get closer to the World Eater, or to flee from it down to the Helix Station, that's now a possibility you can discuss and make contingency plans for.

Please feel free to assume that all of the above is now common knowledge ICly if you want your character to know. From March 1-14, it's time to make these last few decisions, move torches, get people prepared to man the portal, and load up on ammo and weapons (which Weaver can gladly supply if you need something special, just ask!). The final fight is just around the corner.

What ultimately happens will depend entirely on these last few decisions. Please indicate your character's preference for silo or drone in the comments below; the majority option will dictate which occurs for the final log. Consider them carefully. Of course, if your character individually refuses to cooperate or wants to go off and do their own thing they're free to but know that being a few people down will impact the outcome for the group. Unless you explicitly state otherwise, it will be assumed that no matter what your individual vote reads, your character will contribute to whatever the majority decision ends up being, so don't worry about that at all. If you need to discuss below before voting, please absolutely feel free to do so.

Voting must be completed by March 7. There will be an OOC post shortly after that will describe the outcome of the vote and allow for people to assign their characters to various duties or locations as desired for the final fight, and will lay out any remaining details (if any come up between now and then).

On March 15, the World Eater arrives, and with it, the endgame log will be posted.

Included as part of the log will be an RNG header for injury rolls similar to that which was used at the conclusion of the Helix Station event. This will hopefully allow you to know in advance what might happen to your character during the fight so you can incorporate it into threads, if you like. This log will include the outcome of all your decisions to date and how the group fares as a whole against the greatest threat they've ever seen - don't miss it!

Finally, on April 2, an epilogue post will go up so that anyone who wishes to remain in Beacon, to depart for elsewhere, to type up what their characters do after, and so on will have a space to do so. The fate of the spirits, occasionally a topic of conversation, will also be made clear here. Know that all of the Next Night comms will remain open so that anyone who wants to continue in the setting together will absolutely be able to do so for however long they like.

I've said it before a few dozen times and I'll say it again: thank you so much to everyone who has stuck around from In The Night, who joined in after when it became The Next Night, and who has supported each and every one of us along the way. We're all here because we love this story and these characters, and I couldn't have done it without all of you.

I hope March and April will bring a satisfying conclusion to this crazy journey started by Mippins and Leucrotta and carried onward by everyone who has moderated and played and helped out. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all turns out!

If I have missed anything that your character has been working on that could contribute to the defense of Beacon or the attack on the World Eater, I apologize - please make sure to mention it in the comments below!

•••
As always, players are welcome to use this post for OOC event plotting! In fact, please do, as not everyone in the game has access to each other's plurks! If you'd like, you can use the small form below to kickstart your plotting plans:

<b>player:</b> (feel free to put your contact info here if you like!) <b>character(s):</b> <b>plans:</b> (have any plans already? or do you have plans you'd like to make? let the world know!) <b>notes:</b> (anything else worth mentioning, like permissions/opt-outs/hiatuses/etc.?)

• March 7: Silo/Drone vote ends


• March ~8: Endgame OOC post


• March 15: Endgame log


• April 2: Epilogue

OOC: ITEM DELIVERY

The deliveries arrive scattered throughout town as they sometimes do, but the deep cold blanketing Beacon adds an extra layer of challenge to their retrieval. The falling snow quickly threatens to bury the supplies entirely, and if you don't get out soon, you might find yourself hunting for frozen food under the snow all month long. Some of this stuff may not do well if frozen, either - who really wants to deal with mushy lettuce?

Remember, the more people who help out at Solis' labs with deliveries and other tasks, the better these systems function!

To request special items from home through Weaver, either use the item requests page, and/or chat with her here or at her inbox. These requests can be made at any time and do not have to coincide with a monthly delivery schedule.

The following items can be found:

• The monthly store restock, including the usual amounts of food, tools, and other basic supplies. These arrive on February 1 in the condition described above.


• On February 2, Weaver requests that you all help the spirits help chip the ice off her submarine and get it un-stuck from where it's embedded in the lake at the edge of the pier. She returns the next day with 30 rounds each of candy jackets in varying calibers for Pudding.

GAMEPLAN: FEBRUARY

As February makes its entrance, the temperature continues to plummet. Spending much time outside at all could put you at risk for frostbite. You might want to team up to get the monthly supplies indoors - and even then, the general store, the department stores in the downtown blocks, even the interiors of homes and rooms start to feel awfully frigid as the heating systems battle the deep freeze outside.

And is it your imagination, or are even your movements sluggish? The spirits in town seem alert and able to help you get back indoors if you're having trouble, and have filled any lingering empty spots in the various kitchens of inns, hotels, bars and restaurants, all trying to make sure you have hot food and hot drinks. Thanks, spirits!

Until, midway through the month, some of them begin to disappear. Where are they going, and why? Whether you left a wish on the tree or not, some of them might even leave you a little something before they disappear into the darkness.

Although no log is planned for these events, anyone interested is welcome to create one for braving the cold or trying to find missing spirits. Anything given to your characters by the spirits will come through the post office, so keep an eye on those inboxes!

And now, it's time to get to work. That World Eater is on its way, after all. Weaver, Clara, and the few spirits remaining around town are all available to help out. Clara will help anyone in need of anything at Solis' labs, while Weaver runs people back and forth to the Helix Station for the supplies and workshops there.

And how are the spirits helping? Well - cookies, apparently. Cookies which, upon eating, make you more truthful, more affectionate, more outgoing. They're doing their best to spread goodwill! Take some for yourself, gift some to the people who mean the most to you. In our event A Girl, A Boy, and a Graveyard, which will run from February 14-22, you'll have this chance to make final confessions, cement the bonds you've made, and celebrate the life you've lived together in all this darkness. It might be your last chance.

As a reminder, there will be no activity check for the remainder of the game. Thanks to all those who made it this far, we couldn't have done it without you! Please do, however, remember to check in for January, and please read over and add to the endgame plotting post if you haven't done so yet.

In the comments below, you'll find the LOOKING FOR GROUP header. If you're interested in doing any kind of exploration in the coming month, go ahead and fill out the posted form under that header, and then comment amongst yourselves to make arrangements! Of course, this isn't required—it's just another way to plot stuff with other players. Maybe you've already got a plan and want some brave souls along on the journey with you, or maybe you're just looking to toss your character into an existing group. Whatever you're interested in, feel free to hit up the LFG thread if you'd like to plot exploration stuff for the month!

•••
As always, players are welcome to use this post for OOC event plotting! In fact, please do, as not everyone in the game has access to each other's plurks! If you'd like, you can use the small form below to kickstart your plotting plans:

<b>player:</b> (feel free to put your contact info here if you like!) <b>character(s):</b> <b>plans:</b> (have any plans already? or do you have plans you'd like to make? let the world know!) <b>notes:</b> (anything else worth mentioning, like permissions/opt-outs/hiatuses/etc.?)

• February 1: Item arrival


• February 12: Spirits begin leaving town, OOC post for the event


• February 14-22: A Girl, A Boy, and a Graveyard event

GAMEPLAN: JANUARY

On January 2, we will have our monthly item restock! (ICly, this will occur on January 1 - but your mod knows she will be busy that day!) Don't forget to make your requests for the requisitioning crew at Solis' lab to handle. Once again, the spirits have decided it's time to ring in the new year for you all with their wild mix of traditions they've been introduced to and just absolutely love, so watch out as they scurry everywhere, smashing plates, providing apple core fortune readings, and dyeing your underwear red.

They also have something they'd like you all to share in, and for that reason, the item restock will include an event log. With the help of the spirit known as Lush Green, the forest spirits have selected a beloved tree and will haul it to Bonfire Square for a week for everyone to decorate. They ask that you all place or tie at least one object with personal meaning on the tree, and/or to make a wish by hanging a note on one of the branches. While that's happening, other spirits will be hard at work breaking through the ice on the lake's surface so that a team of them can plunge into those freezing depths and drag the tree down below. Hopefully that will bring you all lots of good luck for the upcoming months!

Wow, it really took those spirits a lot of work to break through that ice, didn't it. Did the lake freeze that solidly last year? It is really cold. And abnormally dry, too - no new snow falls all month in these bone-chilling temperatures, and the resulting static electricity makes your hair stand on end and your friends get zapped when you try to hug them.

By January 16, the torches start to flicker occasionally and grow noticeably dimmer. Many of the spirits cluster close to town, quiet and nervous, while other familiar masked faces seem impossible to find.

Needles fall from the evergreens, then entire branches, plummeting to the frozen ground and shattering with a sound that echoes through the forest.

Well, it isn't like you weren't warned.

Then, on January 18, Weaver will post to the network to describe some of her latest research and help everyone organize what needs to be done. This will be accompanied by an OOC post for similar planning purposes. Ultimately, the results of both of these posts will direct what happens in February and March with the plot, so don't miss it! We'll be able to help handwave and determine outcomes of explores that need to be done but that people haven't had time for, and as with the cat herd posts, there will be a baton pass if you have ideas that you or your character are not fully able to see through but that someone else might like to follow up on.

This gameplan post is a great place to make suggestions ahead of time if you know your character wants to do something. It's never too early to coordinate! And don't worry - January is the last month that we will have AC, and participating in the upcoming coordination OOC post to help decide the remainder of the game will count toward that AC.

Don't forget: because of the New Year holiday, December check-in closes on January 4 - so you all have a few extra days this time.

In the comments below, you'll find the LOOKING FOR GROUP header. If you're interested in doing any kind of exploration in the coming month, go ahead and fill out the posted form under that header, and then comment amongst yourselves to make arrangements! Of course, this isn't required—it's just another way to plot stuff with other players. Maybe you've already got a plan and want some brave souls along on the journey with you, or maybe you're just looking to toss your character into an existing group. Whatever you're interested in, feel free to hit up the LFG thread if you'd like to plot exploration stuff for the month!

•••
As always, players are welcome to use this post for OOC event plotting! In fact, please do, as not everyone in the game has access to each other's plurks! If you'd like, you can use the small form below to kickstart your plotting plans:

<b>player:</b> (feel free to put your contact info here if you like!) <b>character(s):</b> <b>plans:</b> (have any plans already? or do you have plans you'd like to make? let the world know!) <b>notes:</b> (anything else worth mentioning, like permissions/opt-outs/hiatuses/etc.?)

• January 2: All the Trees of the Field event begins


• January 4: December check-in ends


• January 9: All the Trees of the Field event ends


• January 16: Torches and trees begin to show signs of what's to come


• January 18: Weaver NPC post; OOC coordination post


• January 22: Activity Check begins


• January 31: Activity Check ends

EVENT INFO: SHIVERS (I'VE GOT 'EM)

The weather has been getting steadily colder and snow has begun to fall, but you didn't expect the temperature to drop as suddenly as it just has. Winds and blinding snow whip around you, completely obscuring your vision and leaving you disoriented.

When the blizzard clears, you are no longer where you were a moment ago. There are footprints in the snow a few feet away and they aren't yours. Are you alone? How do you get back home?

From December 12-17, the weather turns strange as it sometimes does in Beacon, and snowy, icy whirlwinds are prone to kidnapping you and depositing you somewhere else. It's possible to end up in a place you recognize, but given the expanse of dark forest within and around Beacon, it's far more likely you'll find yourself in the middle of the woods, or at the edge of the lake with no lights in sight.

If you're an excellent navigator, if you have a compass or at least one familiar landmark, getting back might be simple. But the forest is as full of hazards as it ever has been, for some spirits still remain "wild" and therefore dangerous; the Parade is still, well, parading; and most concerning is that the green-eyed spirits remain a persistent threat, especially with the one large seven-eyed creature lurking and waiting just out of sight. Stuck in an awkward spot, or injured, or just want to make sure everyone knows you're on your own and in need of help? This might be a good time to run that SAFE OR NOT app.

For the most part, this event will be open for you all to use however you like - feel free to drop your characters in whichever horrible spot you want to drop them on the map, and NPC your own threatening spirits and green-eye-induced hallucinations as you wish. Characters may get stranded together in pairs - so if you want to have two people bumble their way back together rather than someone trying to find the other, feel free!

Below in the comments you'll see an RNG OPT-IN header. Drop your character's name under the header, and you will receive a comment that describes something unique about where your character ends up being transported to, or what they find when the snow settles. Only one or two of these will be potentially deadly or near-deadly but if you absolutely do not want to risk death just let us know in your comment!

While ICly this event runs from Dec. 12-17, there is no real deadline on opting in for a mod comment so long as you do so in December. This is intentionally a plot-light event given we know how busy December can be. Questions? Let us know in the comments!

•••
Additionally, players are welcome to use this post for OOC event plotting! In fact, please do, as not everyone in the game has access to each other's plurks! If you'd like, you can use the small form below to kickstart your plotting plans:

<b>player:</b> (feel free to put your contact info here if you like!) <b>character(s):</b> <b>plans:</b> (have any plans already? or do you have plans you'd like to make? let the world know!) <b>notes:</b> (anything else worth mentioning, like permissions/opt-outs/hiatuses/etc.?)

• December 12: The weather mysteriously starts taking people on some unwanted adventures.


• December 18: Snow falls normally again.

ACTIVITY CHECK: NOVEMBER

Hello, players, and welcome to our activity check for November! Our AC is self-reporting, meaning that all players must comment to this post, even if you have a hiatus or need to take a strike. The one exception to this is if you're on a hiatus through the entire duration of the AC period. All players not on hiatus are expected to show proof of activity, even if it is just a single comment. Interactions on the Test Drive Meme and participation in explorations (even if you are not the poster of the explore comments) all count for activity as well.

This activity check will close on Monday, November 30 at 11:59 PM EST. Any characters who fail to respond will be swept from the game. We do not post AC warning lists, so it's up to you to remember to post!

The following players have hiatused during this AC period:

• Psi (Ardyn Izunia, Link)

The following players have taken a strike within the past two months and must make either make full AC in October-November or November-December:

• Ace (Katakuri Charlotte)


• Mawi (Ephrim)


• Pink (Jessica Jones)


• Molly (Hope / 390-H)

If you have extenuating circumstances regarding this AC period, please PM/PP us directly! We'll leave you off of the above public lists if you contact us privately, as well.

AC for The Next Night has three parts.

• COMMENTS: For the November AC period, at minimum we require a single link to a log, network, inbox, or TDM comment, post, or toplevel, or to an explore thread which your character participated in.
  
  If you do not meet AC for a character, you must still check in, and you may take a strike. In order to clear the strike, you must meet AC for the subsequent two months. If you attempt to take a strike while one already exists on your record, you will be swept.



• SUMMARY: Let us know what your character has been up to this past month! For the October AC period, we would still like you to fill this section out! This may include character developments, growth in CR, neat plot discoveries, or anything else that struck you as noteworthy for your character this month. These short summaries should be no more than a paragraph, as they're intended to give us just the gist of what everyone's doing in game. The content of this write-up will not be judged, (so feel free to be entirely informal,) we just want to keep track of what's going on with the characters since we can't read every thread.



• THREADS: This last part of AC is entirely optional. If you choose, you may link us to threads that are important for plot (or player plot) reasons or for character development, or that you would like to draw our attention to for whatever other reason. If your character is up to something that you think we should be aware of, link us. (These can be threads you used for the 10 comments requirement.) Again, this last part is optional.

Information gathered from these last two elements may be integrated into events and other plot points.

Submitting 5 log comments/10 network or TDM comments will give one bonus explore token OR an AC pass token. You may have only one of each of these tokens at a time; they do not stack. We are open to considering other types of rewards in the future. If you have ideas, feel free to PM us!

• What threads can I use for AC? Any threads that take place in our logsinthenight or networkinthenight communities may be used for AC, as well as threads that take place in characters' personal inboxes or on the TDM for the month. You may also opt to link an explore thread your character was involved in. Please note that TDM and explore threads will always count as network threads for the purposes of AC, regardless of their content.



• Can I use threads started before this AC period? What about using a thread for more than one activity check? Yes, though only the comments made during this AC period will count toward activity.



• Sooo I can keep using the same TDM thread with a player from outside the game for months and months and still pass AC? Well, hold your horses there, buckaroo. If we notice a player passing AC by way of using the same thread a bunch of times, using a lot of TDM threads, or other "iffy" things like using a lot of threads with the same characters/players or continuously collecting the majority of their AC in the last few days of the month, we may privately reach out to the player to ask for a wider variety of threads in the future. None of these things are explicitly disallowed, but we do want to make sure players are active participants in the game since we have limited slots. All of that stuff will be handled privately on a case-by-case basis.

OOC: ITEM DELIVERY

The loss of a handful more people and the sense that ever more dangerous threats are present all around Beacon may have somewhat shaken the people who try to operate the lab equipment this month, but that never stops them from trying to make sure everyone has what they need. When everything arrives in town on the first of November, it manages to all remain around Bonfire Square, easily retrievable. However, everything is coated with a fine, persistent layer of gray dust and smells of ozone and ash. Did this come from some alien warzone, or ancient buried ruins? Or did something go wrong in transportation? At least the food seems edible, and the clothing only has a small amount of permanent staining.

As always, the more people who help out at Solis' labs with deliveries and other tasks, the better these systems function!

The following items can be found:

• The monthly store restock, which is a little sparser than usual this time. Oh, there will be enough food and drink - and in fact for some strange reason there's an overabundance of root vegetables and winter squash, as well as a lot of candles which will never actually manage to light here - but general supplies and warm winter clothing and fabric are scarcer than perhaps they ought to be. And it is starting to get chilly, especially with no afternoon sun to warm things back up. Time to get creative when it comes to keeping warm, and think ahead before winter really hits hard.


• An unexpected addition to the usual supplies comes in the form of cheap, brightly colored sporting equipment. Ever wanted to teach your friends badminton, or have a water balloon fight? It seems like the discount section of someplace trying to get rid of all its summer toys got drawn in by the portal. Have fun!

As a reminder, we will not have an intro log, but the current TDM can be found here! You are always welcome to make your own logs for item retrieval if you feel inspired to do so, or otherwise thread out these interactions on the TDM if you like!

Additionally the bonus for full AC (5 log comments or 10 network/TDM) is changing for the next few months as we come into a holiday-heavy season. For November, December, and January, if you meet the above full AC, you may choose to either earn an explore token, or to claim a pass token. Pass tokens will allow you to pass AC for one month even if you do not have any comments. Using a pass token also counts toward one of the two months needed to clear a strike. Unlike explore tokens, these do not expire.

Thank you, and we hope this helps in the upcoming holiday season!