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CONFLUENCE 24
A Confluence, capitalized, is the converging of one or more supernatural forces.
There don't seem to be any people falling from the sky this month. The Seers view it as a sign that the New Year is going to be a peaceful one. So, for the first time in two years, the Guilds can throw a celebration.
In commemoration of the hard work from both sides, they opt to hold a shared celebration on neutral ground. Sunset Falls is, as ever, the perfect place to do so. The Willow Maiden is still dreaming deeply and though most of the town is blanketed in a fine coat of snow, the meadow in her forest is warm and lush. There are wedding tents set up on either side, and the middle of the meadow appears to have been claimed by civilian metas and human allies who aided in the efforts.
The Alliance and The Society have set up both of their usual holiday setups in this space. An anti-gravity dancehall has people dancing in the sky. And as the Starfallen are the only reason anyone is still here right now, those who haven't picked a side are also welcome. Francis Starling has set up a small lounge between the two spaces - something she isn't finding much humor in.
Each side is elaborately decorated. The Alliance has its more humble and relaxed aesthetic, and The Society has its usual ostentatious presentation. Some magicians have conjured an enormous clock, ticking down the moments to the New Year… which is a day later than when the rest of the world celebrates it. Who can say how this tradition started, other than that time travel sucks?
There's alcohol for the adults and juice for the kids. A magically refilling buffet table. Desserts that appear with a thought. It's a miracle that everyone got this through the year, and the Guilds have spared absolutely no expense.
There are party games, some as basic as Pin the Tail on the Donkey. And other far more elaborate - high contact sports where the super strong can go all out. Hide and seek turns into a cerebral game of cat and mouse.
There is a fortune-telling booth set up in the far corner of the meadow, nearer to where the Villains tent is than the heroes. Chaos Gate sits behind it, watching the party unfold with a slightly guilty smile. It is, after all, her fault that things got so wildly out of control... but at the same time, one can't deny that the world is more interesting. Perhaps even better for it. Characters can approach her and for a small fee (mostly a drink ticket, though she'll take whatever you have in your pockets, even if it's lint) they can be assigned a constellation.
This constellation doesn't correlate to any known star you've heard of. When asked, she says it's unique to you. It's not just your star sign, it's the star sign that all the celestial bodies across all worlds created when you were born. Whether she's kidding or not is hard to say, she is collecting drink tickets after all, but she thinks that as the Willow Maiden's head priestess, it's her right to slack off when her boss is sleeping.
You can ask questions about your past, your present, or your future. Each person only gets three, so think carefully about what you want to ask. If you're stuck and in dire need of guidance - she's right here for you. She'll answer with her limited omniscience.
With that said, there is a side-effect of having your fortunes read. As this is chaos magic, being perceived puts everything in a bit of flux - you'll have an unfortunate side-effect for the next week or so. Your horoscope for each day is suddenly far more accurate. These can be quite serious, or quite silly. Such is the danger of asking anything of Katherine West.
STARS FALLINGJust as the exuberant gathering of heroes and villains countdown to 1, and the screams of Happy New Year die down - something begins to streak across the sky. Unlike the distant shooting stars, this is… close. Far more reminiscent of one of the Starfallen abruptly appearing and tumbling toward the Earth.
For a moment, the partygoers can only stare at it. Wondering if perhaps the Seers had missed something. A few flight-capable heroes move to take off to intercept the falling thing, anticipating that this is a Starfallen and that tonight's festivities are about to be disrupted by their disorienting arrival - only for one of the Seers to hold out a hand to stop them.
Unlike the Starfallen, the object is burning up as it falls.
"Well, it's been a while since we've seen that," Mechanima buzzes, mask switching from a giant question mark to a firework. "I suppose we're all a bit paranoid about space debris being people these days. Let's get back to the party, shall we? I don't want to remember this tomorrow."
And though some return to partying, others… don't. Atomight, Mechanima, and Frances all look notably perturbed and when approached with questions, don't have answers. The best they can offer is that wayward spaceships aren't uncommon, but the last time they saw anything like this - the Starfallen were the result.
Chaos Gate herself looks notably… disturbed. If asked, she says this is an all too familiar sight. Two years ago, she was standing on a farm in Little Love feeling the world shift as things that were never meant to be here fell to Earth. And this feeling is the same.
Stars continue to fall through the rest of the night.
Come morning, those within the Guilds will be called to base. The phenomenon happened the world over, and though there's no indication that anything made contact or damaged anything - that's more concerning. While the usual missions are there to request, there are new ones to investigate what happened.
And for once, these are not limited just to the metahuman cities. Whatever happened, happened everywhere.
MISSIONSThe headquarters of the Guardian Alliance are easy to find. It’s located in one of the taller and more ornate skyscrapers of Central City
The first floor is something of a public space. There’s a small museum dedicated to the Alliance’s most famous exploits, standees of famous heroes for tourists to snap selfies with, and even a little gift shop! For metas, though, the real business starts upstairs. You’ll have to check in with a receptionist, who will unlock the elevator to HQ proper. There’s not a lot of visible security beyond that, but you still get the feeling that any kind of trouble here wouldn’t end well for the troublemakers.
The Guardian’s Club is the central hub of the headquarters. It’s an open and sunny lounge area with shining white walls and floors. The furniture is modern, in bright primary colors, and there’s a high ceiling that allows for people of any size, or those who just want to fly around for fun. Off to one side is a large games area - the main attraction is the large pool table, but there’s also some board games, co-op video games, a snack bar, and even a DDR machine. Bonding with your fellow heroes is a great thing!
Outside of this area is where you’ll find the mission board. It’s a modern touchscreen display, on which Alliance members can tap their member ID, input mission preferences, how many they intend to take out with them, and receive a mission.
Where the Guardian Alliance’s headquarters gleams, The Society’s headquarters is much darker. The two buildings are actually quite close to each other. Entering here, you’ll find a similar reception desk where your credentials must be verified before going into the headquarters proper. Security here is far more visible, with clear cameras on the walls and buff guards, often with visible powers such as rocky skin or hands that crackle with lightning, posted nearby. You have to imagine, though, that the real safeguards here are the ones you can’t see.
Inside the Society Lounge, the furnishings are classy in a far more toned-down sense. The furnishings are dark wood, with chairs and long couches upholstered primarily in reds and violets. Here, there’s a full bar! According to the sign posted above it, however, any disorderly conduct within the Lounge will be swiftly dealt with.
The mission board is a sleek electronic display posted on the back wall of the lounge. It’s quite high-tech, updating itself regularly. You can use the touchscreen to request a job. After inputting one's member ID and the amount of people they intend to take along with them, it will assign out tasks based off of what it thinks they will be able to handle. But be careful; who gets assigned what is all public information, and it sure would be a shame to fail.
Please fill out the form and post it below our MISSION REQUESTS header.
CHARACTERS INVOLVED:
GUILD: What guilds are the characters affiliated with?
REQUESTED DIFFICULTY: Easy/Medium/Hard
REWARD REQUEST: Is your character after money, or a specific item?
LIMITATIONS: What do you not want your character to get assigned? Please note we are happy to offer new missions if our initial offer doesn't work!
➢ Welcome to the first Confluence of Arc 3! We've outlined what can be expected throughtout the month STATE OF THE GAME for January.
➢ All Starfallen are invited to a lavish New Years party - taking place on the evening of January 1st, as due to some temporaral shenanigans that is actually the start of the new year.
➢ Players can have their fortunes read by Chaos Gate, who is set up. They get three questions and she will answer with what appears to be some limited omniscience. Doing so may result in your luck and overall reality being a little bit wonky throughout the next week.
➢ As the party goes on, a starshower will begin. Though nothing dramatic appears to be happening just yet, players can be sent out on investigative missions to see just what happened. This is happening the world over. It also is happening in space itself - space exploration is now on the table.
➢ Any missions will feed into the January event, as well as any fortunes or questions asked.
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Parts? She really is serious. "Ohmigosh are you for real? That sounds amazing. And...potentially troublesome. Huh, where would I store something like that..." The sewers would not cut it.
"Waaait wait wait! No, I've got it. There was some guy who had a really sweet spaceship that he said fell through, one Confluence but I have no idea what happened to it. Or him....I digress. But my brothers and I have always wanted to go to space and have space adventures like in our favorite movie franchise, Jupiter Jim!"
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She tap-tap-taps a finger against her lips, considering where one would even store something like that.
"Hmm.... What city do you live in again?"
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He'd be all over a space ship for salvage if it had been a thing back home. No, they get the gross aliens that come through a portal. How boring is that? ...okay not so boring, given what he's heard from Leo. Terrible, actually.
"Huh? Oh, I'm in Central."
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She pauses long enough to pull her phone back up, absently scrolling through her contacts.
"I'll ask Sawyer if he can hook you up with one of the big old warehouses in the less-frequently blown up side of town... though, hm... Are you in company housing or on your own? That might give us some different workshop options if you don't mind a little magic."
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Donnie watches Chaos Gate as what she's saying starts sinking in. Ohhhhmigosh this is happening.
He pauses. "Technically I've been freeloading off my brother and his roommate but I am flexible for options. And I guess I don't really mind magic, it's just the not understanding the mechanics that get to me."
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She clicks her tongue thoughtfully.
"Warehouses are pretty good, but they do run the risk of being invaded and have a trek. Labs built into your living space are great - easy access, easy to defend, easy to cover up if something goes bad. We could get you hooked up with my pocket dimension guy - he might want a favor or two, but you could add a whole new space that isn't on the floorplan to pretty much anywhere and nobody'd know what kind of mad science junk you're up to."
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He's reasoned things out but there's always still been some holes left unfilled. Energy transfer had been the easiest thing to equate things to. he knows he feels a drain if he goes too big and too long with his mystic-tech.
"OHMIGOSH a pocket dimension sounds fabulous." Now that's magic or whatever that he can get behind.
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"Consider it done. Like I said, you might get slapped with an IOU or something but that's nothing compared to the ease of magic."
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"Katherine, you are amazing. I can't wait!!"
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"Sweet, let's do this."
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"It's a deal."
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Already this new year is starting to look exciting!