Staff/Player Meeting (09/25/99)
Topics:   1.  Announcement about Susanoo and Atargatis quitting
          2.  Announcement about revised news files and magic-changes
              (specifically clairvoyance)
          3.  Map of the known world unveiled.
          4.  General discussion.
Present:  Alexia, Altair, Argus, Astraea, Atalanta, Dremmond, Eranthe,
Faisal, Feather, Giles, Ianthe, Julius, Karrie, Khidmah, Kita, Laena,
Lailah, Many Shadows, Nephy, Niamh, Nox, Pheme, Pompeii, Pu-abi,
QuickSilver, Richard, Selene, ShadowWatcher, Starfang, StormBearer

Astraea says "Okay, *now* I'm ready. If you haven't yet, take a moment
to read the 'Meeting Rules.' The basic rules are these: please keep
extraneous chatter to a minimum. There are places, and you can pose or
chat with your friends as much as you like, but don't do public ones
to the room unless you've been called upon or you're posing that you
have something to say. Either myself or another staffer will be
keeping track of the queue, and we'll call upon you when it's your
turn to speak. I don't mean to sound all dictatorial in this, but if
we don't do it this way, things get *real* messy *real* fast. ;)"

Astraea says "I'm hoping that this meeting won't run on too long. It's
main purpose is to make a few announcements, though I'd like to have
room for discussion at the end. Ahh, and Pheme has just graciously
volunteered to run the Queue, so she'll let you know when it's your
turn to say something."

Pheme waggles her eyebrows. If it looks like I forgot you, please page
me.

Astraea notes, finally, that she *is* logging this, and I think Pheme
is too. I'll have a version of the meeting posted on the web within
the next few days, for those who missed the meeting and are just dying
to hear what was said. If anyone else wants to log, in case the
lag-beasties drag me or Pheme away, feel free. :)

Argus is logging.

Astraea says "And so now, I s'pose I'll start with the announcements.
The first has to do with the Staff. Due to RL getting too hectic for
both Susanoo and Atargatis, I'm afraid we're losing them both. Gati
had wanted to post about it, but I think she's lost access already.
Susanoo's got RL breathing down his neck, and so I'm not sure when his
'official' retirement will be taking place, but I figured I'd make it
known now. So, in the meantime, Luna will be helping out with the
fishies. Please address any Atlantean-related concerns to her."

Astraea says "Myself and the other staff will be doing our best to
fill in and help Luna out until we appoint a new Atlantean admin.
Please be patient with us in the meantime."

Alexia is logging.

Astraea says "The next announcement includes several things, and it's
the main reason I wanted to hold this meeting. If y'all have browsers
open, go ahead and go to Aether's News page
(http://mux.net/~aether/news.html). As of about 20 minutes ago, I just
finished uploading the New and Improved version of the news files.
They've all been revised -- including the ones here online and the 'no
frills' downloadable ascii version. Some of the revisions are more
obvious than others."

Julius sneaks in...

Astraea says "And one of the biggest changes has to do with magic.
Specifically, clairvoyance. There are a few minor changes to the other
disciplines, but clairvoyants are the main ones to be affected. I'll
explain how and why we did this both here at the meeting, as well as
in a post so those who missed it will be informed."

Astraea says "The magic rules have always been somewhat vague, but
since the game's opening, Clairvoyance has been one of the least
'structured' of magics. It became sort of a hodge-podge; the
'miscellaneous' magic. But this can be confusing for players -- and
for staff. So after quite a bit of consideration, we finally decided
to split clairvoyance into 2 separate magics: the clairvoyance of
dreams, prohetic visions, astral travel and so on... and the
'aether-manipulation' ability of blocking magic, shielding it,
augmenting it, etc. The latter is now found under the news files for
'elemental' magic, as 'aether-elemental.'"

Astraea says "Now, naturally, all those of you who *have* clairvoyance
now are probably concerned. We don't want to retcon everything that's
gone before by saying it's 'always been this way.' So we've concocted
a plot to explain this change, and it's one that will take place in
the last few months of '99. Our next big one now that hte Plague TP is
ending. Until it is complete, clairvoyance is still the same, though
it is going to be blocked in chargen to prevent new players from
choosing it until after the split. We posted the news files *now* so
y'all know what's coming, and clairvoyants can consider which strain
of magic they want to have -- whether to stay with the prophecy/dreams
or go with aether-elemental."

Astraea says "I'm afraid you *will* have to choose one or the other.
Once the plot is finished, the magics will be separate, and you'd have
to apply for dual magics in order to get both -- just as you would for
any other 2 magics. We're hoping that the revised version will make
more sense to new players, as well as to veterans who may have been
confused by clairvoyance's inconsistencies. In the end, it just made
more sense, and we felt it was best to do this through IC means (a
major plot) rather than spring it on y'all and demand major retcons.
So... that's our reasoning. I wish I could have done this some easier
way, but I don't know of any. I'd be happy to answer questions about
the split, why we did it, what to expect, etc. Mind you, I don't want
to go giving too much of the plot away, though. It should be fun and
all-inclusive -- for non-mages as well as mages. Anyone want to start
off with questions or comments?"

Karrie waves a hand. Short comment, here. :>

Astraea says "Go ahead, Karrie."

Nox has a small, nitpicky question.

Pheme puts Nox on the queue. Page me if you want to be added.

Karrie grins. "Comment is that it rocks. :) I haven't been around for
the plague plot, but that y'all decided to use that as a means to
change the magic around is just really cool. 's my two cents."

Astraea chuckles. Thank you. I'm hoping others will feel the same.
Nox?

Nox says "The term 'esper' was originally in the news as 'a
clairvoyant novice', but everybody used is as the lowest rank of a
Hound -- with or without magic. Now the use in news says it's
'e-aether novice'. So which one would be used?"

Astraea notes, as an aside, that if what you want to say will take
more than one pose, just stick a 'more' at the end.

Astraea says "The esper ability -- to sense latent magic in others --
is going to be part of an aether-elemental's abilities. True
clairvoyants will only be able to sense dreams/surreal images, and not
the 'web of aether' that infuses the realm and its inhabitants."

Altair pokes Nox. "Luna and I are working on that problem."

Astraea says "I dunno if that answered your question or not?"

Altair gives Nox a snug, because he shouldn't have poked. :)

Nox grins at the ex-esper without magic, "Ok, I trust the two of you
will work it out." To Star: "No, but I trust Luna&Altair on that one."

Astraea knows that there's a bit of confusion about Hounds with no
magic, so we may just come up with some other term for that rank, to
make it less confusing. I'll bug Luna about it. ;)

Pheme grins. StormBearer, go for it.

StormBearer says "What's going to happen with this and Delphi? As in
they've now got another magic with no teachers?"

Pheme thinks that'll all be dealt with as the IC plot unfolds.

Astraea says "The teachers will have their magic split, too. And when
your magic splits, you'll keep your same level. That is, if you have
an Adept level in clairvoyance, and you opt for Aether-elemental, then
you're still an Adept. You won't lose any of your skill -- you'll just
be unable to do things you were able to do before. It's like a switch
will be turned off. It shouldn't affect teaching, though. We're
*hoping* to get a fairly equal distribution of each."

Astraea says "I believe QuickSilver wanted to comment on that
question? Or did you have more to add first, StormBearer?"

StormBearer is done. =)

Astraea says "Shoot, QuickSilver."

QuickSilver thanks you. "First, you are right that there are a few
magic affinities with no PC teacher atm, namely Healing and
Elemental-Earth. That doesn't mean that these magics aren't taught in
Delphi. Okalani and Jana have NPC alts available which teach both
these magics until a PC student decides to remain in Delphi and become
a teacher."

QuickSilver adds, "All Delphic students have to do is contact Jana or
Okalani and ask for a lesson."

Astraea nods. Good point. There are other options besides Delphi, and
if you can't find *any* teacher, in *any* faction, then you can still
apply to the staff to get an NPC teacher. We prefer it if you try
other routes first, though.

Astraea says "ShadowWatcher, I believe you're next?"

ShadowWatcher says, "If in a year the distribution between the two is
not what you expected has the TP been left open enough to re-integrate
the two magics again with another TP?" <done>

Astraea says "That's a good question, ShadowWatcher, and if it turns
out that the plot is just an *utter* flop, then I imagine we could
find some way of 'undoing' it. But there are no plans for that right
now. When we started the game, we didn't know how many magics would be
'successful' -- we just opened the doors and let folks run in and
choose what they wanted from the 'buffet.' ;) Now, there's gonna be
one more selection on our menu. I'm hoping that the general response
will be favorable rather than negative."

ShadowWatcher nods.

Astraea says "Seems the queue's empty. Anyone have any other
questions?"

Argus raises a hand.

Argus says "How will other magics be affected by this?"

Astraea says "I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say
that there won't be any lasting effects on other mages. I do want to
point out some of the nifty new options, though. ;) The main one being
for shapeshifting. I've added some new animal-types to the repertoire,
and y'all can take a look at 'em by typing 'news shape4' or visit the
web-page at: http://mux.net/~aether/News/magic.html#shapeshifting"

Astraea says "There are also a few smaller changes among the other
disciplines -- clarifying some skills or adding subtle new ones. Those
of you with magic will want to take a look. Oh! And I should mention,
too, that the *only* news files not currently official as of today are
those dealing with clairvoyance and aether-elemental. Everything else
is current, up-to date, and available."

Astraea says "ShadowWatcher, it seems you want to comment on Argus'
question?"

ShadowWatcher says, "From what I can read into the aether-elemental
abilities (and I'm sure Star will correct if I'm barking up the wrong
tree) but it seems that a teacher might be able to train very very
slowly any other magic up to at least some level because they know
what it is 'supposed to look like' on the aether view of things."

Astraea says "Actually, it's good you brought that up, ShadowWatcher.
A student of *any* discipline can learn from a teacher of any *other*
discipline. But they can only learn so much. In issues of control,
concentration, practice, etc. you can get lessons from anyone, and
that person doesn't have to have the same magic as you. It certainly
helps, though. You won't be able to learn as much, but if you're just
desperate for a teacher, we do allow that."

Astraea says "It's best to let us know first, though."

ShadowWatcher says, "That part I knew, but if given the choice the
aether-elemental teacher should win out over any others. That might
help give it some appeal." <done>

Astraea nods. I suppose we'll find out. ;) I believe Karrie had a
comment?

Karrie stands up on her table. "Three words. GRAISHA SQUIDS, BABY!
Thank you." Sits down again. ;)

Argus blinks at Karrie.

Karrie couldn'thelpitIswear!

Astraea chuckles. Uhhh... okay. Thank you for that endorsement. ;)
Anyone else? I do have other stuff to show y'all, btw. ;)

Nox can only add to that, "Those graisha squids are telepathic, aren't
they? Scary..." :)

Laena says "Are you limited to an animal for your race, or can, say, a
Sylvan be an owl or whatever?"

Nox notes to Laena, "Owls are listed inside the Sylvan table."

Laena picked a bad example. Ohwell.

Astraea nods. Sylvans have the broadest range of forms, as the list
showed ('owl' is listed for Sylvans, btw). And there may be
exceptions, too. If someone comes up with a darn good reason why their
Sylvan should be able to shapeshift into, say, a squid (*glances at
Karrie*), then we might allow it. That sorta thing would have to be
apped for, though.

Nox says "So, to rephrase: Can Sylvans be tiger shifters? (greetings
from pouncy Hobbes)"

Astraea says "See above. ;)"

Karrie beams. Changes her @alias to squid.

Astraea says "Generally, you shapeshift into the animal that is most
prevalent to that environment. But if there were a Sylvan raised off
in some jungle-type Varati lands, who was around tigers all the time,
then he/she might take on that form instead. Again, an app would be in
order. We like to keep track of these 'exceptions.' ;)"

Argus wonders if Karrie's new name will be Ursula.

Karrie squirts ink at Argus.

Astraea says "'Kay folks. *ahem* Children. ;) If there aren't any more
questions about magic, then I have some other stuff to reveal."

Astraea says "This is something you'll need graphical web-browsers to
see, and, mind you, it's not quite complete yet. But we have Luna to
thank for finally making us an
Almost-Complete-but-not-quite-perfect-yet 'Map of the Known World.'
;)"

Pheme grins.

Astraea says "Take a look at: http://mux.net/~aether/News/map.html"

Astraea says "Oh, and I forgot to mention it in the text, but the blue
splotch on the bottom map is where Haven is located. It includes
Haven's farmlands, since the city isn't *quite* that huge. ;)"

Laena says "So...what's in the rest of the world?"

Nox has two comments to make.

Pheme puts you on the Queue, Nox.

Ianthe has an answer for Laena?

Pheme will let Ianthe sneak in after Star's response, then Nox, then
Pompeii.

Astraea will answer Laena's first. Ask the Atlanteans. ;) But
seriously... the area on the bottom map is the one that will most
directly affect the game. There *are* other civilizations out there,
and they may enter into the game at some point. But we don't want to
overwhelm everyone -- including ourselves. So it's assumed that the
Lands Beyond are dark places full of mysterious evil beasties and
savage tribes. The Atlanteans probably know the most about the rest of
the world... get 'em to tell you about it some time. ;)

Astraea says "And if you wanna answer that, too, Ianthe, go ahead.
Then Nox, then Pompeii, as Pheme said."

Pheme says "Then Quicksilver after Pompeii. :)"

Ianthe grins and was going to say the same thing. "I'd imagine that
legends would abound about What's Out There, but the Atlanteans would
be the only ones to know for sure, at least regarding the oceans.
Perhaps an analogy would be to treat it like Europe imagined the rest
of the world -- Prester John's kingdom, dragons in the sea, etc."

Ianthe says "Oh, done. :)"

Pheme grins. Nox.

Astraea nods to Ianthe. Good point. Even with magic, this world is
fairly primitive, and they don't know for sure just what's out there.
Or if they want to find out. ;)

Nox says "Actually, I got three comments/questions. 1) I think it's
terribly cool that we all live at the French Riviera right now. I
always wanted to stay there. :)"

Nox says "2) The races stats (total pop, etc) are only given for the
known area, right?"

Pheme chuckles. :)

Astraea nods to Nox. Right.

Nox says "3) What about the rearrangement of Atlantean decemvirates?
So far, they were oriented around America (Amaris/Southern Atlantic
and Orman/N.Atlantic&Gulf of Mexico close, Triton and Lir way out
there). Now, it'd be all tumbled up and the other way around."

Astraea says "Actually, not really. We just switched Orman and Triton.
The Ormani Decemvirate has always been said to be near Haven, so we
moved it to the Mediterranean area. Triton's out near N. America now."

Astraea says "Hopefully, eventually, we'll have a nice big map that
shows all the territories and Decemvirates and empires and kingdoms
and whatnot. But that map is what we have to go by right now."

Nox notes that getting all those Asian warfleets into the Mediteranian
sea would be quite a different journey. All the other Decemvirates
remain the same?

Pheme imagines the Decemvirates will be fleshed out just as the more
exact borders will over time.

Nox says "Does Amaris location change?"

Astraea nods. Right. Switching Triton and Orman was the simple
solution for now, and we may move the others.

Pheme says "Done, Nox?"

Nox nods, "Done."

Pheme says "Go Pompeii. :)"

Astraea notes that the original locations of the various Decemvirates
were decided before we ever had a map to go by, so now that we have
one, we may find that we'll have to move things. We're going to try to
do that with a minimum of messing up things that have been RPed on the
game already.

Pompeii first must note with apologizes to the Sylvans that Selene
wants Italy so we will have to invade, nothing personal, just Selene
wants it. Also the Empyre definately needs to foster exploration, we
are coming to see most races as growing more hostile, especially Haven
itself. Those of you who are connected with the Empyre's hirer ups
should know about this. I'll be pushing this more IC whenever it
doesn't make the Admin sad. :)

Pompeii is done.

Selene baps Pompeii hard.

Astraea chuckles. Yeah... give us a little time to figure out what
you'll find. Then y'all can explore to your hearts' content. ;) But be
careful. This is a world that *could* have dragons and serpents and
all manner of other beasties just waiting for the foolhardy to come
along. ;)

Pheme grins. QuickSilver?

QuickSilver likes the fact that you've switched the Mediterranean
around and wanted to say that before her question.:)

QuickSilver says "But I am just wondering about something, "You all
joke about the fact that the Atlanteans know most of the outer world
but eh: we know as much as any player on the game, thus asking us
won't do us any good... though we do have a reputation of secrecy
anyway. :) What about that? Of course, most Atlanteans really don't
want to know about the landdwellers but what about the more
educated/curious/adventurous ones?""

Astraea says "Pheme's offered to field this one... so go for it,
Pheme. :)"

Pheme chuckles. Well, I just wanted to say that the oceans cover more
of the world than the land mass does, just as in our own world. So
adventurous Atlanteans have /PLENTY/ to explore without ever leaving
the water. Beyond that, I would imagine they are familiar with coastal
cultures and have heard rumours of other inland places, but for the
most part, they're going to have more than enough on their plate with
the ocean itself and coastal cultures. :)

QuickSilver grins, "You've got a point there.:) but eh what are the
coastal cultures? simple fishermen hunting their shapeshifters?:)

Astraea says "Also, like I said to Pompeii... give us a little time to
figure out what's out there, then we'll start letting y'all know. And
given the Atlanteans' predilection for travel and exploration, you'll
probably be the first to know. ;) Now, I think Riva had a question?"

Pheme grins. Just like the borders on the map, that's something that's
going to have to be fleshed out over time.

QuickSilver nods, "Ok. I'll be waiting:)

Astraea says "Er... okay, maybe I'm seeing things, since Riva isn't
here. Nox was next?"

Nox says "Two questions: 1) Is there a link somewhere from the Aether
page to the map? (I couldn't find one)"

Astraea says "Not yet. I'm working on that now."

Nox says "2) Any idea where Atlantis would be located on the new map?"

Nox says "Done."

QuickSilver notices Atlanteans are being a nuisance about this:)

Astraea says "Atlantis will probably be out beyond the Spain/Portugal
area. That's where it's said to have been located in legend. Beyond
the 'pillars of Hercules' or whatever they were called. Like Pheme
said, the borders are pretty fuzzy. We'll stick Civitas Dei and
Atlantis and such in when we have a better idea of all the
territories. This is just a rough draft."

Astraea says "ShadowWatcher?"

ShadowWatcher says, "Will this new map have any affect on the
Temperature from the +time. Because the term 'cold' just does not have
the same meaning to me with Haven in the Mediterranean. Even though I
personally prefer the vagueness of cold, warm, hot... to be able to
judge the style of dress of our characters is this the place to
suggest a degree C (or F) to the weather report?" <done>

Nox chuckles, "Interesting point. We just did have sleet in spring...
at the French Riviera." ;)

Pheme thinks we've always said that Haven was in a fairly temperate
zone. The +time rarely says it's snowing when it is cold...

Astraea says "That'll depend on our coder, mainly. I'd have to ask
Puck how complicated it would be. I should also note that some chars
aren't as susceptible to temperature as others. The Atlanteans, for
instance, are accustomed to the depths of the sea, where it's much
colder. So not all chars will be affected the same way."

Astraea nods. Also... this is *not* Earth. We used a reversed map of
Earth because it was handy, and a nice idea to have a 'mirror image.'
But not everything is going to be the same. A little artistic license
to give characters some snow to play around in is within our
prerogative. ;) We'll try to keep it somewhat realistic for the area,
though.

Ianthe says "And you can always blame Empyrean weather mages, too!"

Astraea grins. Right. :)

Argus chuckles.

Argus pats his daughters head.

Astraea says "Any other questions/comments?"

Laena says "What's the meaning of life?"

Nox says "42."

Starfang says "47."

Laena says "Oh, okay."

Astraea says "Well... if that's about it, then I'm afraid I'm out of
announcements/revelations. If folks want, we can stick around for a
more open discussion about game-stuff in general. Or y'all can adjourn
and go RP. Up to you. :)"

Karrie hands Starfang 47 buckets of fried squid.

Karrie beams.

Pompeii says "Its Varati Fire mages creating La Nina effect that over
mid Europe that leads to prevailing wind shifts."

Atalanta nods sagely at Pompeii.

Nox says "There was one other quesiton I had."

Karrie just digs that the Varati got Denmark, baby.

Laena says "Something's rotten there and whatnot."

Karrie grins. Then shuts up to let Nox ask.

Starfang eats fried squid.

Nox lives on the border between Sylvan and Varati territory. Yikes.

Niamh can't help but laugh at Karrie's observation

Nox says "Anyways, I wondered about the size of the militairy
contingent in Haven."

Astraea says "Go ahead, Nox. Hell... at the risk of major spam, I'll
forget the queue thing. Just try not to spam me too much *meep*."

Nox says "How many Praetorians, A-H and Korri guards are stationed in
Haven?"

Karrie starts up her can opener.

Atalanta says "Two legions of Praetors."

Richard says "A general population count in Haven'd be nice, too."

Nox says "It's there, Rich."

Laena watches all the cats in the vicinity converge on Karrie.

Richard says "Is it? Cool."

Nox says "http://mux.net/~aether/News/local.html"

Astraea says "We haven't worked that out, but I could add a section to
Haven's population listing. I'd have to find out from the various
faction leaders though."

Karrie beams. "I was _wondering_ what happened to all those
graishas.."

Astraea says "Fewer than the Hounds, though, I would imagine."

ShadowWatcher says, "I agree with Star on that last part completely
and would just like to add that a characters perception should also be
a factor. I'm sure Altair can comment on this but I do know two girls
from Calgary, Canada that wore T-shirts and shorts in LA California in
December because they thought it was warm."

Ianthe says "Wow, 5000 halfbreeds? Mostly mongrels? I like this!"

Nox says "100,000 Delphic mages. Big school. I always thought we had
something like a private University... but this is just a super-major
state University."

Karrie waves a hand. I'm swedish, and I abhor cold. Then again, I'm
weird. ;)

Starfang finishes the squids and asks Karrie for more fine Swedish
Fried Squid.

Atalanta peers at Karrie, remarks, "We'd noticed."

Laena says "Woah. That's huge."

Nox baps a big red sign on Karrie's forehead, saying 'I'm weird'.

Astraea says "It's the most famous and best-known 'mage-school' in the
known world. ;) So yeah, it's pretty big. Though I should note (and I
should've made note of this in the files, too) that not *all* are
mages or students. There are all sorts of governmental-type positions,
as well as servants, employed by the school, too."

Richard isn't surprised at the high percentage of people in Delphi --
I mean, heck, Delphi was the reason Haven was founded in the first
place, aye?

Karrie tentacles her way over to give Starfang his order. Neon sign
appears beneath the big red sign; 'And proud, darnit!'.

Nox says "Still...with only half of them being students, it's still
50k...woa, I thought meeting 5 people in the courtyard would make it
crowded. :)"

Starfang checks under her dress. His? His? Ohmygodsnopleaseno.

Karrie _laughs_!

Karrie should've warned you about all those chemicals the Atlanteans
put in their squid these days.

Astraea is going to cut off her log here, but the discussion can
continue. I just don't want to be editing this for an hour when I
finally do. ;)

FIN