COTERIE INTERACTIONS (IC) - CHAPTER I

[treasuremap]

COTERIE INTERACTIONS

NAVIGATION

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RULES/FAQ

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COTERIES

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LOCATIONS

The leader of each coterie, all colloquially known by the same name as their group—Jaguar, Eagle, Viper, and Salamander—will play a major role in the story, oftentimes appearing in events and even, during major plots, accompanying the player characters on their quests. While having constant access to them in threads would be difficult to keep track of and may lead to unfair advantages for some characters, and they will never directly comment to any network or log posts made in incensed or incenselogs, we do want to offer the opportunity for characters to interact with them. Therefore, with the exception of the aforementioned event posts where the NPCs might appear, all direct interactions with the coterie leaders can be done here. Simply comment below with the leader you'd like to interact with and whether it is in person or via medallion/journal in the subject line.

Note that it is fine to handwave minor interactions with the NPCs, such as in the case of exposition or receiving their quest orders, and you do not need to thread that out here nor ask permission from the mods. Relationships beyond passing familiarity as leader/subordinate cannot be handwaved however—in general, characters will not "build CR" with their leader to the degree they might with other characters in the game. They will still get to know them well over the course of the story, though.

Please also note that the NPCs are played by the mod team and are subject to the same tagging speed or question-answering expectations. We will respond as soon as we can!

Comments

[treasuremap]

Aye, there's no kickin' back here. But I will say it won't be takin' you anything like a hundred years to get a handle on that curse so long as I've got anything to say about it.

[ Her gaze jumps to Lloyd's hand when they shake, brow furrowing as if confused. Not to Make It Weird, but she doesn't let go right away, her hand lingering in his for a long moment, and she looks up to see if his expression's changed at all. Clearly she expected something to happen, but there's no big magical spark or cataclysmic Event, it's just... a handshake. Now a very long, somewhat awkward handshake. ]

...Huh. Thought I would've felt it. Maybe it's 'cause neither one of us is all that pissed off. How 'bout you? Anything?

[namestrees]

Yeah, I definitely don't have a hundred years to spend on that...

[Or. Wait.] Wait, how are you so old, anyway? Is that a curse thing? [DOES he have a hundred years...???]

[He doesn't mind the awkward hand holding after the end of the handshake, but does follow her gaze down when she seems to be surprised about the lack of anything.]

...No? Should I?

[treasuremap]

[ Taking her hand back, since she supposes it isn't going to do anything special after all, she looks Lloyd flatly in the eye. ]

It's a curse thing. I was aging normally before that. Now I just age on the inside. I gotta be at least a million in "over it" years.

[ Taking a seat back where she was, she picks up the old Jaguar pendant and twirls the little chain around her finger, only to let it fling off into the chaos that is the rest of her messy, hoarded room. She'll get rid of it properly later (if she can find it again). ]

...I was uncontrollable back then. Sure as hell couldn't manage a city... I could barely manage breakfast. But I thought, eh... embracing it was what I was supposed'ta do, and it turned me into a monster. That's what we're tryin' to avoid. Learnin' to take control of it is different than giving in, so that's what I'm angling to teach you. So if you had anger management problems before, well: welcome to therapy, lad. Congrats.

[namestrees]

[...Oh. He frowns.]

....I guess we don't know if I'm gonna be like that too, huh. [He's hoping she knows, but... well. She didn't seem to even be sure about how much of it he had received.]

I never had too much trouble before... Just like the normal amount, I guess? [Hot flare ups, but nothing that really lingered or lasted or caused a problem. Just hot blooded teenager things. Anyway, he tips his head back, trying to think about how he feels now. The hand that had grasped Viper's makes it's way to settle into Noishe's ruff, slowly ruffling it in though.]

But it's like... everything's kinda irritating all the time now. And I can deal with that much-- but even the smallest, stupidest thing and it's like my chest is on fire and I stop thinking right, and I feel like there's way too much energy in me-- [And then he either breaks something or punches a wall or explodes a thing. Whoops.]

I had a friend trying to show me how to like... breathe through it and calm my mind, but that was more annoying than anything.

[treasuremap]

[ Silently, Viper nods while Lloyd talks, acknowledging and also seemingly agreeing with him in a that sounds familiar sort of way. By the end of it, there's a furrow between her eyebrows that tips past the point of concern into something... slightly more emotionally invested. In a frustratedly sympathetic sort of way, maybe. ]

Damn. Yeah. Sounds about right. Hard to say just how bad you got it until I see it in action—an' I will soon enough. But in the meantime, we're gonna operate like you're as much a ticking time bomb as I ever was and act accordingly. Plan for the worst, hope for the best, or... whatever.

[ Something something optimism. ]

I will say, I dunno how much is the curse and how much is the incense. Regular folk turn into monsters, too, yanno. And you were right to be ticked off, the hell you think breathing is gonna do around here? You need to know how to control it. Learn when it's taking hold of you and steer it someplace useful. Weaponize it, I guess is what I'm tryin' to say. Without lettin' it consume you.