School’s Out Soon and Stories Will Be In

So as most of everyone knows, winter break is coming up soon, very soon.  We’ve got a number of story lines that have been on a long-pause due to time restrictions from school and I’ve got a partial list going here of the stories which need completion.  I’m looking for people who want to help run and / or participate in these plots so we can move them forward.  In the near-term I’d like to hear any ideas associated with where to take these plots next and beyond that when we can actually do these plots.

Angelic Sins

Our primary plot line in Angelic Sins is, of course, the Serial Killer / Murder Mystery plot.  I’ve posted several summaries and still, this hasn’t really gotten off the ground.  I am, however, looking to push forward with it.  Anyone wishing ti participate; I’m looking to perhaps have a few investigation events — these will not be combat oriented but instead will be fact-finding.  I’m going to try to have them take place in the near future, probably before Christmas.

Blazing Umbra

Where to start with Blazing Umbra?  There are a lot of plots that have fallen by the wayside during the school year and even before.

  • Akron Mystery
  • Death / Disappearance of Lance Thomas
  • Vex Conflict (@buckethead)
  • The Zone in Blazing Umbra (Chaos)
  • Zone of Corruption (Cyber)
  • Stellar Horizon
  • Foothold Scenario (@ks0908)
  • Political Pressure / Onyx / Imperial Forces
  • Grtul Gate War (@buckethead)

I’m sure that I’m missing some here, and I’d like to push forward with some of these.  It seems that the forum has not done well for such role play, so I’ll be looking to when we can hold events for some of these.  Again, I’d like people to contact me with what plots they might want to play in or help with.

Embers of Soteria

All of our primary plots here have to do with the Thinning of the Viel plot line, except for some of the personal story lines (PSLs) which are more specific.  We’ve had the recent Daemoni Attack which is related to that, the business with magic and evil things coming forth, and a plot with Cyber about his injured dwarf that are all related to this same thing.

New Restricted Area

No personnel is to enter the given region without permission from their immediate superior and due cause.

The area of the most recent splices has been identified as a restricted area until further notice.  The bounds of this restricted area [corrdinates given] lie within the eastern grasslands of the Astarte Continent, where one of the groups of new arrivals initially appeared.  The area is exhibiting curious sensor readings and a recent research team has been evacuating after severe symptoms of nausea and headaches, the cause of which is yet to be determined.

No personnel is to enter the given region without permission from their immediate superior and due cause.  A 2nd research team is being formed, any personnel who would like to participate in the 2nd expedition into the area, which is officially designated zone Alpha-Gamma-5, should contact the office of Vice Admiral T’Breana, who is heading the research project.

Players who wish to participate or help plan this event should reply to this with a comment or contact me on Discord., this notice will be released to all contractors and Solas Tempus personnel, it is not classified

Latest Arrivals

Several injuries were sustained. In order to suppress any further violence, Commander Cross ordered fighters to be deployed from Nimbus and she was forced to fire upon hostile forces who refused to stand down.

Recently, reports came in of several clustered new arrivals having appeared on Soteria at the same time.  The spliced in people seemed to be from different realities.  In the confusion the distinct 3 groups attacked each other.  Solas Tempus dispatched forces immediately to the region, the newly contracted Indra Yamakage was initially dispatched to the scene, shortly after Commander Amber Cross arrived on scene to assist and coordinate.  Initially there was no hostile contact, however, it was soon realized that in the extreme confusion associated with the splice effect for new arrivals, shots were fired.  Several injuries were sustained.  In order to suppress any further violence, Commander Cross ordered fighters to be deployed from Nimbus and she was forced to fire upon hostile forces who refused to stand down.

Commander Cross along with Mr. Yamakage were able to secure the remaining two groups with a reasonable amount of hostility.  Medical evacuation vessels were dispatched to the scene as soon as it was deemed safe, one member of the newly spliced in groups was beamed directly to sickbay, as was Mr. Yamakage himself after sustained gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen.  Both the new arrival, identified as Verniy, as Mr. Yamakage are no long in danger and expected to fully recover.  The other new arrivals are listed as being Zwei, Barfleur, and Teruzuki.  Social services has requested that the group be left alone for the time being, citing that it will make it easier for them to adjust to their new surroundings.

The medical evacuation vessels returned with several other injured parties, however, their status has yet to be released.  Reports from anonymous sources inside the medical facilities on Nimbus have suggested that some sort of extreme change to the physiology of one group of new arrivals has taken place, though the official stance from medical staff on Nimbus is that medical records are private and they will release no such information until it becomes necessary or appropriate.  It is, however, known that the medical staff has requested assistance from several different facilities, while the content of the requests is unknown, requests have been made to the Daystrom Institute, Vulcan Science Academy, the Starfleet Corp of Engineers, and Starfleet Medical.

Since the Daystrom Institute specializes in computer technology, cybernetics, and a number of other technological research fields it is possible some of the new arrivals have some issue related to some research being done.  This could also coincide with why the Corp of Engineers might have been contacted as well.

This is the 2nd time in recent memory that a cluster of new arrivals has been sighted.  Scientists studying the splice phenomena are concerned that this trend may constitute some kind of changing situation, though it is unclear what that may be.  The Vulcan Science Academy has dispatched researchers to assist in studying the phenomena further, at this time it is unclear as to what, if anything, this escalation in arrivals may mean.

Telegram Notifications

So after some searching I have finally found a completely free option to have forum notifications for users.  Within the next few hours we will be discontinuing support for Pushover in favor of using Telegram for our notifications.  The chat client is free and links to its download for Android and iOS will be at the end of this post.

To configure, get Telegram and open a new message to @MoltenAetherBot, the bot will then give you a chat ID number.  Paste that number into your user settings page under “Profile”.  The text box should be at the end of that page and titled Telegram Notifications.

Download links for most every platform can be found here.  Again, it is entirely free.

Other Side of the Grtul Gate

In the last month, Solas Tempus has stepped up the shipment of supplies across the gate, including a portion of the fleet has been stationed within the star system occupied by the humans native to that reality.  While there has been no official statement on the increase of military activity on the other side of the gate, it is known from several public statements that Solas Tempus and the Serenity Concord have signed a treaty with the Terran Space Alliance on the other side of the gate.

So far Solas Tempus has signed a number of treaties with parties in other realities.  However, the recent activation of the Janus Gate prompted Solas Tempus to send through a good portion of the battle group assigned to this system.  These forces later returned with little damage but rumors began to surface that a large scale engagement had occurred on the other side of the Grtul Gate.

While most everyone has seen the recent influx of tourism to the Schatten Star System and beyond, the gate which has provided that has been largely ignored since it showed up along with the massive space-station-ship called a Fabber, named Vulcan.  The gate itself has faded into the background, simply providing a path for ships to come and go from the other side of the Grtul Gate.

It is important to note that the other side of the gate is an entirely different reality.  A reality with its own political situation, races, and vastly different technology to our own.  While the humans on the other side and similar species that have come to our side of the gate has been largely positive, the recent rumors of a large scale engagement have been troubling to many.  Solas Tempus has released a statement in response to recent inquiries regarding the build up of military forces on the other side of the gate.

As per our recent treaty with the TSA, we have began to deploy military assets to their space in order to help secure our interests.  This is a standard military move, we have military assets stationed at other locations both in conventional space and in other realities for the same purpose.  Due to the high population of friendly and technologically advanced people on other side of the Grtul Gate we are pursuing a stronger agenda with its people, much the same way we signed an expansive trade, peace, and assistance treaty with the Avali.  The treaty with the Avali has been a benefit to everyone on multiple occasions.  This treaty is no different.

While it is true that their political situation is more complicated than many on our side of the Gate, this is not cause for concern.  There is no need to read into the situation more than is actually there.  The people on the other side of the Gate has been friendly and generous and we are endeavoring to respond in kind.

Acting Fleet Admiral Sal D’Amico

Background

Some time back the Pegasus realized that no new communication had occurred from the Gate in some time and left to investigate.  Since then the ship has been stationed on the other side of the Gate.  Previous to that, three Solas Tempus vessels were also stationed there, with the stated purpose of pursuing productive trade and peace agreements as well as exploration.  The three ships the Sparrow, Star Opal, and Gladius have also continued to be stationed on the other side of the gate.

After the activation of the Janus Gate it was not more than a few days before the Zealot Star returned with the bulk of Solas Tempus forces.  Shortly after traffic through the Gate returned to normal.

New WordPress URL

So, since WordPress is so much easier to update than raw HTML code, even with an application as awesome as Adobe Dreamweaver, I have moved all of the information that used to be on out home site (https://home.blazingumbra.com/) here to the WordPress.  This includes our TOS and Privacy Policy (yes, we have those) as well as information about the game, links to the wiki, forum, etc.

The new URL is simply:  https://home.blazingumbra.com

All previous URL’s should redirect back here, that is if I’ve configured Apache correctly.  If anyone has any problems, please let me know.

Scouts Requested

The recent loss of contact on the other side of the Grtul Gate and the recent loss of contact with the Severed Grace into a large anomaly has prompted the need to investigate further.  At this time Vice Admiral Timol of SPECCOM is requested contractors to volunteer to investigate these two occurrences.  Please send a message to the Vice Admiral for deployment information and compensation information.

OOC:  Players interested in this should comment on this post via the forum IC.

Loss Shakes Foundations of Solas Tempus

“Yesterday one of our greatest leaders has been taken from us by the hands of fate. Fleet Admiral Lance Thomas was pronounced dead on arrival after a tragic shuttle crash took his life.” – Prime Minister Ethir Th’chaaveq

The loss of Fleet Admiral Lance Thomas has shaken the organization Solas Tempus to it’s very core foundations.  The original founding member of the group had become something of a living legend throughout known space.  Known for his tenacity and steel backbone as well as his lavishly foul temper he was a force to be reckoned with.  Still, to this day, the true origins of the man remain a mystery.  Questions have often been asked about where the man came from and how he came to power; those questions may now never be answered.

On October 27th Admiral Thomas’s personal ship, the Sleipnir, was forcibly dropped out of warp by the barrier which surrounds the Schatten Star System.  The vessel was still going at nearly light-speed and headed for Soteria when a distress call was received and ships were dispatched.  The Admiral had lost control of the vessel and it entered a flat spin after on of the impulse engines exploded.  A further rescue attempt by the Irvyn failed to bring the ship under control but did divert it away from Soteria and instead toward Schatten II.  The attempt further sent the ship spinning on all axis, further research indicates that by that point in time, the ships inertial dampening field had become inoperative.  The vessel crashed into Schatten II shortly after, though it is likely the extreme G forces acting upon the vessel prior to the crash caused the death of the Admiral before the ship crashed.

The body itself has been transported back to Trocara where an autopsy was performed and burial preparations are being made.  While the body is still secured and not available for viewing, the autopsy report had been released to the public, at least in part, and specifies the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and the manner of death has been ruled accidental.  Investigators are still combing over the evidence to piece together the exact chain of events, however the DPI and Solas Tempus have both remained close lipped about the investigation.  Neither the DPI nor Solas Tempus have responded to requests for comments.

Official Statements

A brief official statement by the Prime Minister of the Serenity Concord was released the following day on the 28th.

Yesterday one of our greatest leaders has been taken from us by the hands of fate.  Fleet Admiral Lance Thomas was pronounced dead on arrival after a tragic shuttle crash took his life.  Efforts are underway to piece together the exact nature and sequence of events that have resulted in his death, everyone deserves answers.  We will work methodically through the evidence at hand to determine exactly what occurred, Admiral Thomas deserves no less of us.  Our hearts go out to his family and those closest to him at their loss and his wife, Drem, should know that the entire Concord mourns with her.  We ask that everyone respect her privacy and the privacy of Admiral Thomas, this will be a difficult time for everyone but we will get through it, together.

Prime Minister Ethir Th’chaaveq

The Prime Minister has been unavailable for direct comment, however, sources close to him have expressed that he is deeply saddened by the loss.

While no official statements have come from Admiral Thomas’s widow, Drem Thomas, multiple sources within the organization have reported that she has left Nimbus Station and that no one has seen her since.  The official word from within Solas Tempus is that she has been placed on administrative leave, details on of Ms. Thomas requested that leave or not are not available.  Her ship, the USS Drakon, was placed on lock-down for a brief period of time and rumors say that the USS Lilith was ordered to pursue the Drakon that same day, though the Executive Officer of the Drakon (Emily Damion) and the Commanding Officer of the Lilith (Neo Akazuli) could not be reached for comment.  The assistant to Captain Akazuli did respond to our requests for information stating that many vessels undergo readiness exercises as part of routine training and that no further information should be read into such events.  However, the assistant was unwilling to confirm or deny that the Lilith and Drakon were involved in any such exercises.

Memorial Services

Memorial services for Admiral Thomas have been scheduled for late in November on Trocara, the Prime Minister and his cabinet have confirmed they will be in attendance and several prominent members of other governments and agencies throughout known space have also communicated they will be in attendance as well.  Sources within the United Federation of Planets have reported that there is some discussion over presenting the Ms. Thomas with a posthumously awarded Medal of Valor for her late-husband, commemorating his achievements.  The Chancellor of the High Council of the Klingon Empire as well as the Praetor of the Romulan Star Empire as well as several members of the Romulan Senate have also confirmed they will both be in attendance; if that is the case it will be the first time the leaders of both worlds have been at such a ceremony together in decades and could be an historic meeting should the two choose to speak to each other.  The Federation President is confirmed to be in attendance and rumors have surfaced that even Admiral Jean Luc Picard will be attending as well as Admiral Katherine Janeway though aids for both officers have said that such decisions have yet to be made and that both have many duties to attend to which could prevent them from attending.  The aid to Admiral Picard did add that “Admiral Picard sends his most sincerest condolences to Ms. Thomas for her loss and that he hopes she knows how many in the universe respected and honored her husband.”

NaNoWriMo 2018

I know that a lot of the players here have made some real efforts that have paid off and the quality of the writing on the server has greatly increased over time and I am honestly proud of how far everyone has come in the quality and caliber of not only their writing but the quality of thought that goes into their ideas. So, lets write a novel together.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I have really wanted to expand on our collective efforts of creative writing.  One of the most key parts of any role playing server is doing just that!  I know that a lot of the players here have made some real efforts that have paid off and the quality of the writing on the server has greatly increased over time and I am honestly proud of how far everyone has come in the quality and caliber of not only their writing but the quality of thought that goes into their ideas.  So, lets write a novel together.

The Plan

So, this year I’m going to put into motion something I really thought about doing before and we’re going to hand out prizes for contributions to this project over the next month.  The time frame goes from today, November 4th, until the end of the  month (November 30th).  First place will get $25 in the form of an Amazon Gift Card (since it does not need to be mailed) and 2nd place will get a $10 Amazon Gift Card.  Equivalent monetary value can be put on alternatives for those who cannot access Amazon or are unable to claim said prizes (for our International players).

The money will come out of the server’s Patreon fund, which I encourage people to donate to so that we can make a contest like this a more regular occurrence!

The Rules

So any contest must have rules, posts which do not add value to the story (such as posts made up of the same word repeated over and over again or some such) will be removed.  Predatory or malicious posts will also be removed — these are defined as posts which discourage others from posting or posts that are designed to upset or otherwise maliciously poke and prod another author.  Also, do not edit another users posts and while one may edit their own posts, pleas refrain from making edits to your own posts after they have been the basis for someone else’s posts.

The contest will be judged on the # of words contributed to the story which have a letter length of greater than 3 characters.  This is to avoid words like a, an, the, I, if…  We are going for actual content here and need a way to measure that.  Word length (beyond being at last 4 characters long) does not matter, so there is no need to use the longest words possible.

All server members are eligible to participate and win (other than myself, I will be participating but I am not eligible to win).  Characters and ideas need not be approved before posting them, this is not role play and doesn’t even necessarily take place in one of our settings (though it might).

Where?

The actual writing will be taking place on the forum on this thread.  Discord simply isn’t suited to this kind of writing, I would prefer to use Microsoft Word but since it is very expensive one cannot promise that people have access to it, that is out and Google Docs does not have sufficient tracking to keep track of everyone’s contributions.

Each post will be an addition to the story as if it is one long document.

What about after?

After the story is complete, we will be judging whether or not it should be further put into a document and edited / polished into a final draft.  I would personally like this and then for it to go onto here or be stored elsewhere so that we can go back to it.  I think this server has a lot of great talent in it and I look forward to seeing it moving forward.

Contribution Awards

Once again, it has come time for our contribution awards.  I have been largely absent from the server recently, for a number of reasons.  I am pleased to pass out recognition to our players for their contributions this month.

Server Contributions

Our top 3 contributors to the server this month are:

  • Dr. Winterdawn
  • Minty.__.Jade
  • Cyber ★

Thank you to each of you for keeping things alive!

Forum Contributions

The top 3 forum contributors are:

Thank you to all of you who keep the forum going!

Wiki Contributions

This month we only have 2 non-staff contributors to the Wiki, so here they are:

Thank you to both of you for enriching our collective role playing world.

Storyline Awards

The following people are getting recognition for running plot lines this month:

  • Cyber ★
  • Archer Red the 15th
  • ks
  • Chaos Sorcerer Spartan889
  • Buckethead

The above people have been running plots through the month of October, in particularly, Chaos has turned a character introduction into several successful threads on the forum, something which I heartily congratulate.

Final Awards

So our final award tallies are as follows:

  • Chaos Sorcerer Spartan889 gets 2000 points
  • Cyber ★ gets 1500 points
  • Dr. Winterdawn gets 1500 points
  • Minty.__.Jade gets 1250 points
  • Archer Red the 15th gets 1000 points
  • Buckethead gets 1000 points
  • ks gets 1000 points
  • AscendingCanadian gets 750 points

New Score Board

darktrooper501374964
Archer Red the 15th318872
Uther Tibbs261116
ks174654
The Chubby Gamer161909
Buckethead148479
Dr. Winterdawn119531
Minty.__.Jade109540
JumpingScript89322
Cyber ★64592

Thank you, again, to everyone for all of your contributions to the game, keep it up.