[Discussion] Natura, The Spring, And Other Things!

[Fox]

THE SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!!
previous discussion

Now, up there there was a discussion ongoing regarding the nature of the spring and what it would and would not do.

Let me tell you my thoughts, shall I? I think that the spring is Magical with a capital M. And therefore, there may be times that it surprises you. I am not prepared to give any player a list of hard and fast rules with regards to what they can and can not do so please don't assume one. Because it is a Divine spring, and is in the remit of the Goddess herself.

THE GRASS HAS RIS!!!!
Namely - Natura is here and its being updated and growing and stuff. There's the Druids and the Rangers and the Henges and loads of trade stuff. I don't see the town itself as actually changing that much to be honest - I imagine change to be a slow and rare thing.

I WONDER WHERE THE BIRDIE IS!?!!!!
So what am I asking here? Well - I want your opinions on a few things really.

1) Does what I said above make sense? Both about the spring and about the rate of change?
2) What is it that Natura needs right now from the Moderation Team!! <which is me!>
3) What is it that Natura needs right now from the Players?
4) What is it that Natura's players need me to leave well enough alone?
5) What changes would you like to see in the short + medium term future for Natura?

... and really - I'd like to see this RC become a very active fantastic RC, cos we are chock full of amazing players here in Natura - and lets use that resource guys!!!

[Joyau delaLune]

If you can make do with a little sprite, I would love to come to Natura. I have initiate Thaumaturgy and I'm wondering if I can also take druid arcana. It would probably have to be a hedge mage program. I also am a healer and want to continue my herbalism .... Natura seems a great place for me to stretch my wings, find a permanent home now that your back ... Joyau has a lot of responsibility on her little shoulders and she needs a home where she can relax and decompress from what she perceives her healing mission.

looking forward for spring ...

[Austin Eventide]

First, the rate of change is something I agree with. Although Austin is doing a lot to increase trade in Natura, the type of trade is not exactly enough to cause grand changes overnight. It simply plays off of the vast amount of free time a worry-less society would have and puts it to an economical use benefiting everyone. That said, there are still a few charitable funds that Austin manages that the Craftsman Guild helps keep the coffers filled on. I was hoping to use those for further expansion. There is a Ranger Hall fund, Temple fund, Library Expansion fund and Town maintenance/expansion fund. Currently and by the end of the Winter season there will be several thousand crowns in each fund.

The problem I see however with moderation in general; this goes for anyone who has tried to mod Natura, is that it is essentially a Utopia. There is no conflict; not even a weapon smith in town. Natura has an officially recognized group of Paladins yet there is no threat that they may ever really encounter. Since conflict drives story, this makes life in Natura unfortunately and inevitably, dull. Don't get me wrong, I love Natura; I wouldn't have started a PC there otherwise. I feel though that somehow introducing conflict back into the lives of the PCs there would help grow maybe not the city per say but the PC population as there would be more going on. This ties into the Spring though and I will get to that shortly.

Bringing direct conflict to the citizens of Natura and the city itself may be too much of a shock (I use the term city because a locale of 5000+ people simply is not a village or a small town. A population of 1000 or 1500 may be closer to a town or village). Perhaps focus on conflict and such just outside of Natura and the reach of the effects of the Spring may go much further and serve everyone better.

The Rangers of course could deal with natural dangers in and around Natura as those wouldn't really be affected by the Spring and the Paladins could address unnatural dangers outside of the Spring but I think a more constant threat would be cool. Though Austin is a wannabe Paladin so I may be a little biased.

Now, Trade in Natura is small but steady and constant. Austin as Thane and as the CEO if you will of the Craftsman Guild, is putting a comparatively sizable amount of crowns into the Naturan economy. Bartering of course would still be prevalent however with the increased trade and the expansion of the Guild which will bring more unique goods into Natura from the outside world, crowns will probably stand on increasingly equal footing. Again however, the speed of all this is still slow since even several thousand crowns a month going into the city and a few hundred crowns going to a fraction of the population for their work isn't going to be enough to inspire great change. I still think that, if nothing else, it may attract at least some amount of people traffic into and out of the city which may or may not bring minute amounts of conflict.

I would like to focus more of the overall trade traffic away from Natura and direct it toward the other cities that border the Centripaxian Basin. I would love to be able to start up businesses there and operate them under the fold of the Craftsman Guild as it would help bring more crowns into Natura while keeping the growth and change moderated (Done so through the unique design of the Guild )

Also, we have a Temple with from what I understand to be a level 5 NPC Thaumaturgist and the Henges with at least a level 4 probably 5 Druid. With those types of heavy-hitters in the city, could there not be a greater magical presence in the city? I mean hell, combine the magic of those two groups with the blessings of Carmelya and you have a city that potentially could cease to age, have perfect health and be at one with nature. By saying "one with nature" I mean to the point where some animals of Natura probably have at least childlike sentience and their relationship with citizens would be closer than in the outside world.

So enough for brainstorming right now, what do we need in terms of moderation? A bit of adventure in the vast forests and mountains that surround Natura, a constant, encouraging presence as we will never get players if they feel we don't have moderation. Attempts like this thread are a very good start though we need to keep it going. That is something that moderators and players alike can work on.

What do we need from players? More ideas, more player realmcrafted places since Natura is a city of 5000+ people, there is bound to be numerous locations. If need be, I can purchase and build a trading post on the outskirts of the city surrounds that would be just outside of the Spring effects or maybe still inside that would cater to travelers and citizens alike that would include numerous facilities for trade and location opportunities. That is if we as a city would like to avoid too much added growth.

What should we leave alone? Although I love expansion and increased wealth for all citizens, I think growth should not be allowed to get out of control though we need some element of change. I have proposed several ideas for that thus far.

What changes do I want to see? I mentioned some already but I would love to see a greater development of magic in and around the city as we have a VERY mystical and magically based location that the city operates in.

Now as for the Spring, I agree with a lot of what has been said thus far on its unpredictable nature. However, as far as I have always played it and have seen it played by others, there is a constant sense of calm and peace that emanates from the Spring. Violent thoughts and actions are all but eliminated or at least highly discouraged to the point of not existing. I am not sure that it needs to be detailed beyond that to be honest.

[Penda Marley]

I hope that this thread is meant for little people, like Penda to post at.

This in now Penda's home. I've heard great things about it and so that's why I decided to have her here.

I'm prepared to give lots of devotion to Natura using Penda.

She's not a dramatic character, though she will be full of personality for the city. She will be a pillar to the community... of that I am certain.

She's very down to earth.

She's strong, willing, eager and has much loyalty, spirit and pride for the place that she lives, especially so since it's her father's home town.

What are my goals for her?
To be used here.
To learn Arcana.
To learn Equine.
To learn Healing and or Herbalism. (They kind of seem to tie together to me.)
To learn anything that has to do with nature... survival etc.
To learn how to fight, learning about weapons and how to use them.

Penda is a hands on type of gal and though she's on the verge of adulthood she has much to learn but is eager to do so.

Why do I share this with you? Because I see that Natura is already great but has much more potential to be even greater and Penda is willing to help. So... feel free to use her!

She has dreams and aspirations. She could open a stable. She could incorporate anything with that in regards to nature, even horse riding adventures and more. Even outside of her interests she's willing to widen out. Really there's no end to the imagination and possibilities for her.

Oh and she's like a diamond in the rift. She's unaware of how beautiful she is. She dresses like a boy, hardly ever seen in a dress.

She's not asking for any favors either. She's willing to start at the bottom. She'd be an assistant, running errands and such. She'd even scoop horse poop if she had too!

I am already becoming attached to her! Yay!

Thanks for listening.

[Fox]

I'm just really relieved to see some posting in here! I had this fear that the pc's of Natura would ignore it all completely, because it's me asking!! lol - okie - so that particular piece of paranoia over with - I'm having a thought.

I've been away for a few days and I've been thinking about Natura a lot. A big lot (there was no TV in the last place we stayed, and we've done a lot of driving where I am the passenger!) and I think that the problem and the brilliant thing about Natura is the Spring.

Now, I have to agree with Austin - it is due to the complete lack of conflict that Natura can seem ... well, quite frankly, dull... but it's not. And you know, I'm thinking that there have got to be some bad guys who are clever enough to take advantage of the fact that there's no violence in the place.

But I think that the trade is important - and I got to thinking that the strength of the spring might be linked with the focus of the people of Natura. I was standing in Chalice Well in Glastonbury at the time, having read about how the legend of King Arthur was that the wellbeing of the King was linked inexorably with the well being of the land.

So - imagine this - as Natura becomes more and more "available" to the outside world, as the outside discovers it more and more as a paradise, a haven, a place where there is peace, then so too does that contact with the outside leave its mark, it's taint. Whilst Natura is "pure" the Spring is "pure"... as Natura becomes more "diluted"... so too does its Magic. Which might even link with Dhwae.....and other powerful NPCs.

Just random thoughts at the moment - what are your thoughts players of Natura - tell me and I'll listen!

[Penda Marley]

Yes evil lurking in the cracks would be a cool rp in Natura!

Perhaps sickness and death as well?

Penda would be willing to participate.

PM me if you need me!

[Apakai]

hmmm... that's interesting. What about the possibility of new factions coming in? That would definately cause some conflict. The rangers and druids control over the area would certainly decrease if another faction, along with a large bump in population, were to come at Natura. This could definately open up the door to certain conflicts.

Of course, these conflicts could be completely political in nature, or could grow to become more... well... ugly.

This happening probably wouldn't be too far of a stretch either. I'm sure there are plenty of Elvies running around trying to find a place that they can call home because they can't get into Silrosia right now. Where are they going? Why not come to Natura, another elven haven.

And certainly there are branches of factions that have been "disconnected" from Silrosia, also. Would they not be attempting to find a place to plant their feet and re-establish themselves?

[Fox]

You know, Apakai - that's almost exactly along the lines that I've been thinking. There's got to be a lot of Sil elves knocking about at the moment, and Natura is the second place for Elifie types....

... but what do you, the lovely players, think? I'm not wanting to drop meteors on this place, not wanting to have rapid change, but hoping that I can open up some opportunties for folks to expand their pc's more.....

Opinions are more than welcome!

[Reylin Lythalas]

Maybe in order to escalate conflict the spring could stop some how? I just got the idea while reading that something like a "clog" (natural, divine, man made?) blocked it from underground. Maybe it could be cumulative -- the stream getting weaker and weaker until it does stop. Maybe in the woods somewhere there's a cave and the "bad guys" (whoever they are!) are diverting the stream elsewhere.

As the city grows and more trade traffics comes in, maybe there are highwaymen/bandits that start picking off people as they come close. That's kind of generic though. For a druidism or ranger approach, someone or something is destroying a large part of the forest and/or needlessly killing little woodland creatures. Why they ("bad guys") are demolishing stuff could be related to the spring... or not. They could just be dumb.

I like the idea of going from "pure" to "diluted" too, as Natura grows. Through trade, or as Apakai suggested, through another faction. I could see a faction being craftsman or merchant related being believable, as well as all an elven crew. And as the population grows, the risk of sickness and disease spreading goes up.

[Penda Marley]

What about if someone is doing something that angers the gods there? Can they intervene like that?

[Apakai]

Penda,

There seems to be alot of work being done on the area of religion, and the powers that the god's have on the material plane. Might want to wait until a new system is in place, (if it ever does) but that would be Fox's call. I think that would be interesting though....

Meteor???!!! That sounds.... AWESOME! no, just kidding. Apakai just got a job and a place to stay, I'd rather the town didn't get burnt to a crisp.

I do see Natura as having the possibility for strong political conflict, though. I mean, sure, we have a Thane, but how far do his fingers stretch? What about Dwae and Owaten? How much power do they really have? Outsiders coming into a town with the certain seperatist sensibilities that are found in Natura would definately stir up questions like these.

Also, think of this: As most Naturans (NPC ones, anyway) enjoy the fact that Natura has a small town feel, and is in a way exclusive, they would probably at least protest any large influx in population. Naturans wouldn't grap pitchforks or start a war, but it does possible open interesting conflicts between what could be normally like-minded people. Maybe even dividing the town.

And just so's iv'e said it at least once: Apakai still thinks there are orcs out there waiting for him.........

[Joyau delaLune]

I agree with you Apakai, Joyau thinks orcs are out there to get her. They killed her parents. Anywho, tension and conflict in small ways or big ways makes pc's grow in ... nothing like overcoming to give a pc confidence. I'm looking forward to being a little friend and healer in Natura. So a little bit of mystery, suspense and blood will be fun for Joy. Right now she's in Medonia looking for a pondertree, and in Taralon she was instrumental in stopping a plague so bring on the blood and guts ummm I mean little conflicts. She's also learning to use her elvish long-knife made of fae steel to defend herself or maybe poke a bad guy in the hand ....

[Penda Marley]

Political conflicts are kind of boring, especially for the ones that play them all of the time because of their role in Natura.

Meteors would destroy the entire city. So how well would that work?

[Venn Drega]

Thanks for directing our attentions here from the OOC, Fox. I think it's inspiring that you think of the city even on holidays! Now that is dedication (or obsession)!

Short Answers
1) Does what I said above make sense? Both about the spring and about the rate of change?
Yes you make sense. Change shoudl be an ebb and flow between equilibrium and imbalance. The trick is to throw things out of whack and have PCs scramble to return to some form of equilibrium and in so doing develop the location and characters. As for the Spring, see Long Answers below!

2) What is it that Natura needs right now from the Moderation Team!! <which is me!>
My PC doesn’t need much. Just a good rapport.

3) What is it that Natura needs right now from the Players?
Consistency in posting *raises hand as I’m guilty as charged!* & patience & understanding towards mods. We need to work with our mods and help them rather than just launching demands. It think we're doing that here.

4) What is it that Natura's players need me to leave well enough alone?
Not much. I think establishing a good dialogue with PCs like this is great!

5) What changes would you like to see in the short + medium term future for Natura?
An overarching plot design that touches different PCs and yet brings them into a unified struggle against something. Just limit the number of threads related to it for your sanity, Fox!

Long Answers
I believe I have one of the longest running Naturan PCs and am just getting up to posting form after being freed from a massive RL project, so I am hoping you'll see more of me (although you may not share this sentiment!)

I agree wholeheartedly with the issue of conflicts. I've seen a boatload of different ones. You can always check Natura’s history for them. For all the reasons already mentioned by posts above, Natura requires a fairly complex handling. I must take my hat off to all XGMs who have been through because they face the problem of having to get around the strictures of the place and mount unorthodox energy-consuming plots because of that.

I think what would be good here is for us to begin to sketch out possibilities for plot progressions and simply let Fox pick and choose whatever fires her imagination. Surprises are actually what will make this fun. The utopian peace we have does tend to be drab and isn’t too much fun.

I want to also say that I have been impressed by Austin’s enthusiasm and injection of life into the economic sector. For those who mentioned it, I did once think of setting up a weapons forge, but the idea was preempted by the fact that Natura, with the lack of violence didn’t need it.

In addition, I really appreciate the new PCs in town. I do realize “new” is relative – at least new to me due to my absence. Welcome All!

The Spring
I agree with Austin. The spring should remain a mystery. I am not for a codified scientific explanation but certain understanding should exist. One myth I find inane is that the spring makes the citizens calm by nature. This is incongruent with the past and I find this pseudo-pharmacological explanation too oppressive towards good character development. This in itself restricts character and plot growth. A related myth that I really take issue with is that the spring restricts killing and violence. Order, honor and justice demand appropriate responses to evil and some of them require reciprocal violence. The spring does not preclude violence, it weakens and affects malevolent characters negatively ranging from debilitation to death depending on the amount of time spent within the spring's influence. Evil characters can therefore enter into Naturan territory and operate, but cannot subsist long here.

By removing these problematic limitations, plot-lines can be opened up a great deal. Evil characters must deceive locals or mercenaries to enter into Natura and do their bidding. Evil acts must be done by mainly neutral or even good characters (NPC or otherwise) who are manipulated according to their natural personalities. What greater act of evil than to cause a good character to be so misled that they are unwittingly corrupted? Politics therefore can play a great deal in plotlines. Another little discussed point is that there exists in Natura an overlapping dimension of the Woad. Doors from and to the Woad can be accessed and evil can pass in and out of Natura through that dimension if there is a force powerful enough can gain such access. The Margravine and her cohorts succeeded in this once and stopped the spring for a while and wage4d a war in Natura itself.

Plots
So here are some possibilities that can serve plot developments:

Corruption of Naturan or external NPCs/PCs without their knowledge. Finding the source of corruption may be a plotline. Saving characters from such influence can also play a role.

Political conflict between the 5 Elven houses or even the factions. Turning bards, temple, ranger hall and druids against each other would be a nightmare of epic proportions. Alliances, manipulation, cloak and dagger... Not necessarily malevolence but the breeding of misunderstanding and mistrust among the good. This can be fed by an outside source as well.

Use the woad. Terrorize the otherwise peaceful town with abductions, murders, influences from an entity using the woad.

Past characters still have it in for Natura. The Margravine (master druidess, evil sister of Auhren the master bard, Qui’kan (necromancer) and Krella – believe she is a ranger.) They are living in the woad – a barren land of banishment. We can always bring them to the fore.

Acumin is also right down the street, perhaps some kind of cross city adventure would work. The paladins already patrol the road between the cities. The dark elves can always have designs of expansion ove natura's resources or some old claim? Hey, and Avanthar lives nearby too but I'd hate to bog a PC down with having to manage so many threads. Zerdargia was insanely fun but the threads could get pretty chaotic with so many.

I also agree that some outside source infiltrating Natura, influencing it, harming significant PCs and providing possibilities of heroic action from all levels of PCs would be thrilling. some like politics, others a full on fight, sleuthing, rescues. For all this to happen there has to be a bad people somewhere. But as I said, it may be wise to limit number of threads to what can be humanly handled.

Alright – better end the essay. I can see people nodding off... : )

[Joyau delaLune]

All great ideas. Some myterious sickness could be killing the trees and some elves. Then the druids and healers could try to find out what is causing it ... I don't know if we have druids, Joy is a healer. Joyau is actually coming here for a peaceful, friendly, non stress, home ... but as you know things never turn out exactly like you think they would.

Joy also has a budding romance with another sprite and so her plans for spring may lead to budding of romance for her. So anything's up I guess .... still kindof shocked my baby girl is in love. Hit her like a thunderbolt ....wish I had the picture of a thunderbolt ... that's another thing ... maybe the weather goes all crazy and random fire bolts fall from the sky ... scaring us all to life .... only because we want to live during the storm. Druids could try to find out what in the name of Carmelya is happening ... then a bad black mage could appear .... sorry that's my plot in Zer ....

Peace