Year in Review (2016)

All out of character announcements and news about the channel and site.
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Nymphetamine
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Joined: Thu May 10, 2012 1:09 pm
Preferred Title: Marog the Destroyer
Characters: Aezra
Azalia Stygian
Eliya Almakira al-Fasaad
Ianesene
Isabelle Auxerre
Nesira Vertal
Rix
Senkessa Silak-Dekhal
Siraz'jah Av'Zathrak
Location: Seattle, WA

Year in Review (2016)

Post by Nymphetamine »

2016 was a great year for BDI.

We saw an influx of players in mid to late January, which created the self sustaining momentum of RP that has pretty much carried us through the whole year. Which is amazing! The channel had been in a lull the previous two years, seeing a little, sporadic RP, but nothing like what've seen in 2016. It was almost like the hey days of IRC RP with user numbers over 40 regularly.


A few highlights:

Late that winter, Velsarius made his first appearance in Drache in several years, this time taking the role of the derranged one. Plaguging the city with nightmares for weeks, he was finally thwarted by a group of players assisted by his sister.

In either late 2013, or 2014, Rav introduced Drogyoldiiv, the massive magma wyrm that roosted on a created volcano off the coast of Drache. For over two years, partially due to player attrition, and lack of a cohesive plan, Drogyoldiiv ravaged Drache for gold and tribute. Spring 2016 was when Drogyoldiiv finally met his end, thanks to a player run band and two GMs running the encounter.

Also during that spring, the Great Shadow, a massive shadow dragon seized control of the Arangothian province of Ruthmarna and kidnapped the Sithire of Transdariana, Marcion Aldenbar.

These two events set the stage for finally pulling the trigger on Drachean independence over the summer. An Arangothian civil war had been discussed at multiple points, both since I became an op, and apparently by my predecessors. That we were finally given a chance to at least start it is awesome.

RAV RECAP TIME:
During the domination of Drog Yol Diiv, the sithire moved out of drache and toward Ruthmarna to avoid having lava barfed on his head, this left the city with only a tenuous connection to the throne. During the latter part, The Great Shadow, another dragon, invaded Ruthmarna and captured both the protector of ruthmarna and Drache's sithire in one go. After Drogyoldiiv was defeated, the government of Drache found itself cut off functionally from Tagrana.

A Certain Someone then approached the highest ranking government official in Drache (Julius Malbraxa) and suggested they push for independence. Julius suggested he might be inclined to it if a certain series of other guarantees and alliances were made so A Certain Someone came through. Said Someone also secured a nonaggression agreement with The Great Shadow and clearance to move troops through Ruthmarna. Said Someone then hired some mercenaries and formed a small army and parked them in the passes of Ruthmarna to basically help block progress. Drache declared independence, and a few months later the North scraped together an army and sent it south, with the intent of taking Ruthmarna and then Drache in turn.

A combination of underhanded tactics, cruel mercs, and a pretty brutal dug in forces of dwarves on the Ruthmarnan side essentially stopped their progress. And then winter began to set in so rather than fight in the snowbound passes the northern expeditionary force retreated back past the foothills and set up winter's quarters there.

During all of this, the Border Watch, which is loyal to the north, has engaged in a guerilla war against the Drache Militia (A combination of the Bloody Fifth under Asnerith Dreth and the Drache Irregulars under who knows), basically random skirmishes and raids throughout the local farmland.

So as it stands as of this moment, winter has the north facing various skirmishes with Zul Kiras and replacing those troops lost in the initial attacks, while their expeditionary force holds the bases of the passes out of Ruthmarna, facing the occasional raid by some of Ravynetti's agents. Some random priestess in said camp has decided to use rav's tactics against him and send assassins to the south, and Rav's had to settle on alternate methods to deal with her because he thinks she's hot. Meanwhile, about half of the mercenaries have been dismissed in Ruthmarna, leaving one group of orcs, a group of southern Knights, a group of slimes with associated golem, and Ravynetti's personal Order of the Twilight Pact to assist with the defense of Ruthmarna.
BACK TO ME!

The current events for the civil war have both armies snowbound. Due to the extreme reticence on some players' part to actually travel outside of the main city, we're looking for ways to try to bring the war further south. Logistically, this is a lot harder than it sounds.

Sewer vampires, terrorist attacks and murder, the death of Grimblade, Baron Uzzo and his parsnips, and other events dotted the year at random, filling in the spaces between the larger plotlines.


In Memorium

Aneki (A beloved NPC to the Raven Twins)
Mathias (Shayde's first BDI character)
Cyan Highwind
Grimblade
Isla
Lucius von Stahl
So many sewer vamps
An orphanage


Going forward, we look to continue to capitalize on our player momentum. As always, setting additions and player-created plotlines are welcomed at any time. While additions to the setting require a formal submission and approval before being canonized, players are encouraged to run whatever storylines they'd like. No need to run a storyline by an operator if it does not alter or destroy pieces of the setting. Anything that creates an area of effect or something that other players should know about should be run by an op beforehand.

We hope that you've enjoyed your time in BDI over the last year, and that you're looking forward to 2017 as much as we are.

If you're wanting to help out or give back to the BDI experience, please contact Azhure on IRC.
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