The Next Night OOC

GAMEPLAN: NOVEMBER

The portal will deliver its usual monthly restock of supplies on November 1. If you have anything your character would like to order, now's the time to get it in! With winter approaching, it might be smart to plan ahead in terms of clothing and supplies - you never know when things could go terribly wrong in Beacon.

For November, we will continue to use the last Test Drive Meme, so feel free to continue or start new threads with those prompts any time this coming month!

The spirits seem a little extra-cautious around the start of the month too, as if feeling generally uneasy. But considering what happened in the mines as well as all over town, who can blame them? Be sure to read up on the summary here! Somewhere out there in the forest, a new threat has begun to lurk, feeding off despair, fear, and misery in Beacon and its surroundings.

So perhaps that's why the spirits decide it's time to help you all ward off the ever-oppressive darkness, especially when they find there's an abundance of winter root vegetables in the monthly restock - which all seem to vanish within a few days of arrival.

On November 5, the turnips, parsnips, potatoes and rutabagas all reappear around the Bonfire, now carved and decorated by the spirits. There is one for every person in Beacon, in fact - and maybe a few more. But how do you find your turnip? It turns out that each one has an attached fond memory or comforting sensation specific to someone else in town. Picking up the vegetable allows the holder to feel or see whatever is attached to it - so maybe you can help reunite someone with their daikon that reminds them of their mother's strength, or a jicama that plays a story from a grandparent.

Beyond just this, the spirits have gotten into Clara's torches, messing up her inventory, and she's quite distraught. But it is soon discovered that the spirits have given a sort of boon to the torches themselves - for if you focus on a torch, you can imbue it with a message. Place them around town, give them to your friends, and help spread the light as autumn darkens the once-starry skies with clouds, and the wind blows with the promise of winter's ice and snow.

Speaking of winter, Beacon will experience a cold snap from November 17-21. The wind will pick up and blow stiffly on the 17th, and then snow will fall for the remaining few days until things become a bit more temperate again on the 21st. Is it an early taste of a brutal winter to come or just a coincidence? Or is something else afoot?

The end of the month is intentionally pretty open here - we know many of you will be busy with holidays and wanted to leave it light, plus this gives plenty of time to enjoy this month's event and wrap up past ones that people may still be catching up on. Stay cozy and stay safe!

Kitty: Hi everyone. It truly pains me to say this, but as October comes to a close, so will my characters arc in the game. Life has been hard for all of us, and I especially feel the adverse effect on my ability to write and even my ability to be a mod for the game. I have a lot on my plate with full time teaching, wrapping a masters degree, and just the stress of a pandemic. The result has just grown to be too much for me. As much as I love this game and it's players, I think the best call for me and Next Night itself is to step down and leave it in more energized hands. Matt will be leaving as October ends and I myself will be around in a limited mod capacity for November, and entirely stepped down by December. Thanks so much for the fun, the love, and the slow dances in the dark. This has been one of the best game experiences of my life, and I am so grateful for the experience. Keep on trucking, my beloved bacon bits!

Carlee: Hello everybody. It breaks my heart to say so, but Elektra and Megara's time with the game is also coming to an end with the end of the month. I will be staying around to help out with modding through November and out of the game entirely by December. This year has been a difficult one for all of us, myself included, and I've decided it's better for the game and for myself if I step down as a mod and as a player. I've loved my journey in this game and the opportunities it's given me to grow as a writer and to mod for the very first time, and I am so grateful to all of you for giving me that chance. Thank you all so much, and best of luck! ♥

Lauren: Hey all, I know that 2020 has been something else, and many of us are struggling to find the creative energy to RP. I totally get it. I intend to stick around and keep this place going for as long as people are interested in playing here, within reason, but I'll need a bit of help. If you are interested in the overall lore of the game and setting, eager to create more of it, and have the time and energy to spare in order to help write and run the events and NPCs, please PM this mod journal with the subject header MOD ASSISTANT. There's no big audition process or questionnaire, we all pretty much know each other by now, I just genuinely don't know who's interested and who has the time. I'll pick someone around the end of November and fill you in. Please note that use of discord is a requirement as it's the easiest way to keep everything organized, currently.

Thanks, everyone. ♥


Now is a good opportunity to revisit the last State of the Game post as well as Cat Herd 2. We've implemented many of the requested changes and suggestions, and although we were unable to get an EMP ad up in time for last month, we can still do so this month. That aside, how are you guys feeling about the current state of things? Any additional suggestions or requests that would make The Next Night more engaging to you as players? As for the Cat Herd, please use that comment space to make OOC plans! Characters in Beacon now have nearly all of the resources they need to make some big decisions. This is intended to be the planning phase of this GPSL's story, with the last phase being the execution of the plan that is ultimately decided on, but as has always been the case, if characters are unable to settle on a preferred plan, a Bad End is still very possible. Because it's much easier to coordinate big town-spanning plans and organizing OOCly, please feel free to take this opportunity to do so in addition to whatever conversations happen between characters in threads!

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.?)

• November 1: OOC item restock


• November 5: Ghost Towns event begins


• November 16: Ghost Towns event ends


• November 17-21: Early cold snap


• November 22-30: Activity Check

ACTIVITY CHECK: OCTOBER

Hello, players, and welcome to our activity check for October! 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. As mentioned in the October Gameplan, this month we begin a limited AC policy: 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 Saturday, October 31 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:

• N/A

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

• N/A

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 October 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. You may have only one of these tokens at a time, they do not stack across multiple months. We realize that currently, exploration has slowed and 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

It seems this month's item delivery has gone slightly awry again. This time, items appear mostly contained within the Downtown area but are partly buried, or found intersecting tree trunks. Maybe the box marked for you is lost inside a shop somewhere. Otherwise, things do look mostly intact, but 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 just sort of average this time. Everything you need can be found, but food might be slightly bland, or maybe a little too salty. Tools might be prone to breaking after moderate use. It's a bit like someone must have targeted a Walmart instead of something upscale - it's all there, it's fine, it will do.


• Speaking of tools, the spirits have caught wind that some expeditions are going forward, and they've seen people poking around the train station and its railway, the old water treatment plant, and there's even some remodeling going on in Bonfire Square and possibly the Village as people continue to improve their own homes, so tools are abundant! Saws, hammers, nails, hinges, even a lathe and a couple soldering irons can be found if you can figure out where they went.


• For Rosinante: Seven pounds of sea-fresh mackerel, still glistening with saltwater; a variety pack of roasted and unroasted single-origin nori (who knew that existed?), a case of bottled pale ale from a microbrewery in another star system which boasts top ratings from critics nobody here has heard of (but they must be trustworthy), and a jar of rainbow sprinkles.


• For Fitz: Four cartons of cigarettes and a box of twenty cigars, and a sleek black leather jacket that's durable, resists scratching, and is remarkably lightweight and comfortable.

Hey all! As we will now be posting the TDM at the beginning of each month in place of the intro log, item deliveries will be posted as a separate OOC post like this one. 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!

CAT HERD #2

Currently, The Next Night remains on the original course described in the last post, and we are in Act 2 of the overall plot structure. Act 2, in summary, looks like this: the world eaters are coming, time is limited, and a plan to deal with them must be formed.

Of course, originally there were factions that would put forward their own plans. The Night Market sought to destroy the remaining world eaters with weaponry based on what their research suggested would be effective, while The Wild Hunt opted to do the opposite - to allow the world to succumb to death, seeing it as inevitable. A third "faction" was you, the players/characters in this world, who are free to come up with their own plan if those options were unsatisfactory.

But of course, in April, In The Night was brought to a close when the former mod team was no longer able to continue, and The Next Night carried on from that point. ICly, this was reflected in the flood, the collapse of the Lighthouse, the mysterious death of Dr. Solis, and the catastrophic final experiment in the Helix Station. But not all was lost in this destruction, for here are the outcomes of these events:

The Lighthouse: The town is now unable to be "reset" should a World Eater arrive. Robin is missing, presumed dead. The current group in Beacon is likely to be the last, and thus the burden of coming up with a solution lies firmly on their shoulders. For those who missed it, a reset used to be the duty of the Lighthouse Keeper. The machinery in the lighthouse allowed the keeper to broadcast a signal in the World Eater language which commanded all spirits to slaughter the inhabitants of the town except for a chosen few who would pass on information to the next group, and then to restore the town to some original state, thus reducing any restored light/life to a minimal level and making World Eaters much less likely to detect the few remaining survivors.

Dr. Solis: With the loss of the Lighthouse, Dr. Solis immediately set to trying to find an escape route to another world should the current group not come up with a plan in time. Unfortunately, this attempt went awry, and she seems to have vanished and her lantern is destroyed. However, the robot Clara sent out an emergency message and helped lead characters to Dr. Solis' lab. They now control for themselves the ability to acquire goods, repair lanterns, and bring in new people. Dr. Solis also left behind extensive notes on her own research into the portal, its abilities, and the worlds beyond.

The Helix Station: Pluto and her crew had one ultimate goal - destroy the World Eaters no matter the cost. The experiments they conducted on the spirits (especially the green-eyed spirits) and the nuclear bombs they were in the process of developing were discovered by players in the event BEYOND THE SEA. The event also revealed the fate of the crew - they had trapped a small World Eater to verify their drone-bomb-deployment system would work, but they were overcome by the green-eyed spirits contained in their own labs, which had previously been well under their control, and were unable to maintain a fight on two fronts, especially as madness inflicted by the World Eater's presence made even being in the station difficult. The World Eater was trapped and could even have been experimented on directly had they not encountered such difficulty, and Alistair, a Night Market crew member, devised a way to send it back through the portal but was unable to execute his plan. The people of Beacon ultimately used the bomb system to kill the World Eater. Its corpse remains in the station, as does all of the Night Market's research into other possible solutions.

One "faction" remains, and that is the spirits themselves. Over time, the familiar spirits of Beacon have warmed to the people there thanks to persistent and continued good relations. While a few may always individually be hazardous and hostile, those seem to have been pushed farther and farther to the outskirts of town. Word of the people who treat them well and who bring them hope has spread outside Beacon itself, and spirits who have avoided Beacon for decades, spirits who only visit to take part in a reset, and more are now slowly returning to speak with the people and share their experiences in our current event, HUNGER AND THIRST. The event is ongoing, but discoveries so far include that the forest spirits were once people, either from before the first World Eater or any time after; these spirits can become green-eyed spirits in intense, violent circumstances; the spirits have seen several failed attempts by past Beacon townspeople to destroy the World Eaters; and that as they still remember some fragments of their humanity, they wish to help.

At this point, all of the above information can be considered common knowledge. Especially now, when personal affairs can make it difficult to thread out all the things we want to, please feel free to assume that one way or another, in talking to the spirits or to other characters or through investigating the above locations, characters have had the opportunity to learn all of that information, leaving them free to act on it as they please. And they should - because while we continue to not have an extremely firm time limit on when the World Eaters will rediscover Beacon, they will come eventually. So, what do we do about that? Better come up with a plan!

So, what do we do with all of that?

Again, as before, it is absolutely not necessary for every character and every player to be totally plot-driven. While The Next Night absolutely has a strong plot component, you should absolutely feel free to tag what you want to tag and enjoy what you enjoy at your own pace. That's part of what makes Beacon feel like a community after all - live your best un-lives and enjoy this strange, eternally-dark setting however you see fit.

But for those who are interested in the plot, who want to take part in moving the story forward but who are unsure of how to proceed, here are some things that can be done:

• Share information. Make a cool discovery? Befriend a spirit? Forge a new path, build a new structure, or learn something interesting about the town's history? Make sure everyone knows! While the town meetings, often hosted by Cao Pi to date, are an excellent and thorough way for all characters to be brought up to speed on relevant issues, don't feel like you need to have a big group log in order to get your info out there. A network post might be a quick and easy way to do it - or if your character is the old-fashioned sort, drop some informational flyers in everyone's box at the post office! We'll periodically do plot roundups like this one when it appears necessary, but you guys can also take action to keep everyone up to date, and doing so may spur conversations, exploration, and plans for the future.


• Explore. There are still undiscovered areas in town, many of which have been hinted at in one way or another, but you can't find them if you don't go looking! If you've never gone on an explore before and are not sure how, feel free to ask around, or take a look at past explore threads to get a sense of how they go. Or, use this post or the monthly gameplan to set up a group and pursue whatever interests you!
  
  There are also lots of details in existing discovered locations that haven't been dug through yet, many of which are mentioned above in the plot section. Is your character interested in what the Night Market was working on? Interested in the worlds beyond the portal that Dr. Solis created? Simply curious about a specific building's past, or its current forest spirit residents? All of those can become explores and can unlock crucial information if you do a little searching.


• Do some soul-searching. Again, this is Act 2, where the goal is to start to synthesize discoveries into a concrete plan. But what form do you want that plan to take? The Helix Station event offered several concrete options to deal with a similar problem on a smaller scale. Is it best to kill the World Eaters and hope that saves Beacon? Is it a better idea to find a way to send them away unharmed? Maybe you should all just escape, take this second chance at life you've been given and make it a good one if the problem is too big to solve. How do you feel? How do your friends feel? How do the forest spirits feel? Regardless of the details of how any of this could be done, what is your favored outcome if you could make that choice?


• Make a plan. Do you even want to bring life back to this dead world? Is it better to kill the World Eaters or to flee and find the afterlife you always dreamed of? Come together, decide as a group what you'd like to do. Look at all your options, the ideas held by various different people and factions in the past. Ask the NPCs what they suggest, if you need some guidance. Once you know what you want to do, think about what you need to accomplish that goal. What is it? Where can you find it? Information on how to achieve all sorts of results is now seeded throughout Beacon. It's up to you to pursue it.

Hopefully those bullet points give some concrete ideas for the sort of steps you can take next! If you need some hard specifics, read over the bolded text in the plot section above, and have a look at some of the ideas contained within it.

The Helix Station has a ton of information still and you guys are free to come and go any time you like. What is a World Eater's biology like? Go check out the corpse in the portal room, or the research notes on green-eyed spirits for other leads. Speaking of the portal room, go investigate that technology! They had the ability to pull specific items from specific worlds, remember? They also were working on methods to stun or weaken World Eaters, must have had some tools for creating bombs, and much more.

Where do you get bomb-making chemicals and elements like plutonium? Try the wastewater treatment plant which has all sorts of goodies. Delve into Dr. Solis' specimen storage at the lab - and maybe ask Clara if she knows about its contents. Do some more exploring to seek out the power plant, or one of the newest leads, an abandoned missile silo rumored to have a cache of unused radioactive material.

Want to abandon Beacon instead? Maybe it's not right to kill something that's just looking for a Sunday brunch, or maybe figuring out how is beyond your grasp. Maybe you just need to buy yourselves some time - that's what Dr. Solis was trying to do when she died, and all of her research on leaving through the portal for a different world is still around to be found in her lab. Perhaps compare her work with Alistair's at the Helix Station - both had intriguing ideas, and what if they can be put together?

Keep studying the spirits' language. How does it relate to the speech of the green-eyed spirits? What about the World Eater language - so far indeciperable, and yet the spirits can understand it? Maybe they can teach you something. Maybe it can even be used for something.

Unrelated to big final plots, but a tool that hasn't been looked into yet by characters in game, is the ability to heal long-term lantern damage and death consequences. This is something Pluto was able to attempt (poorly, with limited success) using experimental technology that must still exist at the Helix Station. Better, however, is that this was one of Dr. Solis' big projects before the flood. Experimenting with lanterns might be dangerous, but her lab is the place to get started!

• QUESTIONS. You have them, we're sure of it - so feel free to ask! We can't possibly have covered the entire scope of every detail in the post above, after all.


• GAME HINTS. Under this header, each player may ask 1 ooc question about the game plot, and we will give you a hint on how or where to discover that information ICly. Note that these are only hints, not full answers, and the more specific your question, the more specific our answer can be. We will do our best to be specific, though - this is a genuine resource we want you to be able to use. Think hard before asking, as you only get one question!


• BATON PASS. Have an idea, or a project, or an explore you think would be cool, but your character wouldn't be the one to organize it, or perhaps you're struggling to find the time? Have a fun player-led event or plot idea someone could use, or a plot hint you want to hand off to someone who is looking to get involved but might not know how? This is the place! Write up what you have, and others can take up that baton! Or if you're looking for ideas, check out this thread and see if anything catches your interest.

LOCATION DISCOVERY: WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT

A brave explorer has found his way to the Beacon Wastewater Treatment Plant. The description of this location is detailed below, and has already been added to the map and setting page.

If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments!

Connected to the rest of Beacon via the sewer system, much of this facility has collapsed, leaving a few large covered sedimentation tanks still intact and accessible from the sewers, and an enormous ruined crater at the lake's edge where the bottom looks to have crumbled out from below an exposed tank, and where the water system now finally drains out into Lake Red Jacket. Here, waves from the lake funnel up into what's left of the facility's footprint, dragging up and depositing unusual, useful things from the lake bed, while other items may flow down from years of improper disposal and end up stuck in various filters and tanks.

Be advised that travel in this building is very risky. Weather can make this area treacherous depending on rainfall and flash flooding. An entire ecosystem of local spirits have colonized the ruins, turning it into some strange filter-feeding reef full of hazards. And this far out from town, green-eyed spirits may occasionally be sighted as well - if they choose to be seen at all. But the rewards for those who make the journey in and out are potentially well-worth the trip, as the facility's discoverer has already learned. Powerful chemicals, hazmat gear, even plutonium might be found here if one looks closely, but finding it is half the challenge. Returning to town with the equipment might be just as difficult.

To access these potential rewards, feel free to explore the plant yourself!

CHECK-IN: AUGUST

Hello, players, and welcome to our activity check for August! 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. As a reminder, this month is check-in only!

Submitting an AC proof of 5 log comments/10 network comments or an equivalent combination will give one bonus explore token for use in September. You may have only one of these tokens at a time.

This activity check will close on Monday, August 31 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:

• none!

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 August AC period, we do not require full activity in order to pass. Just a check in is necessary! However, linking an AC proof of 5 log or 10 network/TDM comments or an equivalent combination will earn a bonus explore token for use in September.



• SUMMARY: Let us know what your character has been up to this past month! For the August 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 AC proof if you like.) Again, this last part is optional.

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

• 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. Please note that TDM 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.