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Concluding the Miharu, and what might come next?

Fred

Fred

Retired Staff
In late October 2005, I joined the Star Army community and introduced my flagship character, Kotori, into the SARPverse. By August 2006, Kotori had become a starship captain and the Miharu plotship launched.

With us now in early April 2011, the adventures done in my plotship have gone on for nearly five years and given a few more months, the plot will come to its conclusion as a completed work.

Through nearly five years, Miharu's playerbase will have achieved elimination of the nekovalkyrja criminal Eve and her organization: aptly named the 'Daughters of Eve'. They'll have played an hand in the defeat of the notorious Mishhuvurthyar warlord Melisson, whom has been a scourge for Yamataian Empire during the YE29-31 period, and prevented her from obtaining enormous power that would've been put to use for her own nefarious ends.

My mandate with Miharu had been to gather player characters whom had been left unfavored and give them a chance to shine in a series of epic events that would pit them against legends and have them emerge from that the greater as heroes whom will have had the power to make a difference.

Now, as Miharu proceeds along with its current momentum, its end is imminent and I ponder what may come next. Even though it would be hard to outdo the epic circumstances I have set up on my plotship, life for the many characters involved, including my own character Kotori, will go on.

It will mean an end, but also new beginnings. Personally, I believe it would be healthy to have my playerbase dissolve and the characters involved invest themselves in other plots. Miharu has been a bit insular over the years with my interest to keeping strongly to its story over other setting happenings and this kind of lead to 'clique-ish' tendencies. As sad at it may be to have close-knit characters part ways, it will also breed new, fresher roleplaying opportunities for all.

I've fancied thoughts and ideas, crafted a plethora of story hooks to exploit... but they remain for the most part a possible wishlist of things I might invest in but do not know quite how I will tackle. I'm going from a structured plot to what could be more episodal events and I'll need to establish some direction for that - for now, Kotori-motivated seems to do, but it feels a little weak and small in scope since, as a Game Master, I consider myself supposed to cater to a playerbase's needs.

So, I'm writing this post, mining for ideas and interests. What ideas might be worth pursuing, what stories some would like to see told, what you would like to see from me and Kotori. who would enjoy the chance of investing themselves in that.
 
DANCE PARTY

It seems only fitting.

Perhaps you could get an NMX plot going? I got the impression you were looking to relax for a bit and simply having fun with the back ground characters would be nice.

I know I'm always looking for people willing to play NMX or participate in cross plot events.

Perhaps you could throw some massive concert on Yamatai for people to attend?

Or open a theme park?

----



Another, more serious, idea would be to offer your services as a guest GM on other plots. I know there are GMs who can get worn out by their jobs and would love to take one plotarc off and just RP their character.

Being able to call on a GM pool is certainly something I would love to have.
 
Two days, no response or interest displayed at all aside from Uso's post above.

No other GM/FM would like to arrange something in the future with me. No one would look forward to me GMing certain issues or adventure-styles. No one whom has in the past enjoyed reading Miharu would be interested in me GMing for them. No one else wants to see something from Kotori and me, in regard to future plans.

So... no one wants me to GM a plot again? That's what the basic response - indifference - seems to indicate.
 
Guy's, you're going make Fred cry...

There is one JP I would really like to do involving the NMX.

I'd like to see the high ranking members of their government get together and decide on their strategy. From what I understand there are two different factions at work here but so far we've seen very little of these two factions fighting between themselves as to the future of the NMX. This would be a great opportunity to show a little bit more of the enemy instead of having them remain faceless.

The JP (Or play by post?) would tie into the Nepleslian plots currently going on, with Fhion giving her report to the NMX as to the current status of Nepleslian operations. The NMX could then begin arguing over which course of action they want to take with Nepleslia (Things like regime change, Subjugation, or outright destruction being on the table.)
 
I have my hands pretty full. But I will simply say what I would like to see more of. Melisson.
 
Fred,

It wasn't long ago that I had a plot named Task Force Phantom. My goal for the plot was to get this deep into Misshu territory and have the task force do its best to disable their ability to make war.

But, perhaps this is a plotarc you'd be better suited to lead? I gave up on it -- but it's a perfectly good idea that I'd love to see take flight.

It's just a suggestion; any plot you may choose to do in the future would be wonderful. I sincerely hope you take up another plot, and take in new PC's again.

Honestly, I think I'd set aside a plot to take up a new one by you.
 
One more thing...

You could try and form up an epic scale RP, get some of the most powerful characters on the site involved a truly massive conflict.

Yui, Davis, Wazu, Kotori, The Vanderhuges, ect bringing their fleets together to fight a massive NMX force buildup.

Naturally there would be several staging points and time enough only to save either a Nepleslian world or a Yamatain world. Playing politics could be a lot of fun.
 
That would be an epic little arc there.

Though that would probably be a plot for Veteran Players and/or Fleet-Managing Buffs more so than just standard roleplayers.
 
@Exhack:
Exhack expressed that he was willing to consider roleplaying a Yamataian first contact with any plotship I would GM.

I would point out that by the time the Miharu plot is over, Kotori is not going to have a starship anymore - well, she will probably have Hoshi, but that's hardly the kind of long-range vessel you send to explore and make contact with the Iroma.

The ship I have in store to use for next plot purpose is still in development and it'll be awhile until it's ready. To me this isn't bad as I expected that the Miharu plot would leave me with plenty of more personal aftermath like scenarios to deal with (including Kikyo the assassin and Eve's final safehouses).

I'm unwilling to portray another NPC vessel doing the contact with the Iroma since I believe it would be wasted without a playerbase under me to appreciate the discovery. While I do have excuses to have my character investigate north of our starmap and make that first contact, it might be awhile before I'm able to do so.

@Ira:

I am uncertain of how my players will manage to deal with Melisson at the climax of my plot. Her defeat can be treated in many fashions.

Understand, though, that Melisson's schemes trend toward Xanatos gambits. It's unlikely she allowed Miharu's crew to come this far without being able to accept the possible repercussions, good or bad.

@SSharp:

You'd be welcome to being a player in any plot I pursue, SSharp.

I'm unsure I could have Kotori's follow up plot be in something so elaborate as Task Force Phantom. That group looks to me as too large for Kotori to command through her rank and experience.

Kotori is indeed of Taisa rank, but her adventures on Miharu are unlikely to have her be promoted to Shosho (or up). One argument for that is the much longer time favored captains like Hanako have retained the Taisa rank to Kotori's mere 4 years.

Another is that Kotori's promotion was actually given to support her being able to pull rank on other starship commanders in Miharu's first mission.

Aside from that, Kotori's responsabilities have been more along the roles of a Shosa or Chusa. What her quest to defeat Eve and win against Melisson probably achieves is showing that she richly deserves her Taisa rank despite her lightning fast rise through the ranks. No one can call her an apple polisher anymore - she has credibility of being a good ship commanding officer.

Kotori has experience commanding a mid-size starship, but as a Taisa, she can command up to a five-ship squadron. Before even starting to wonder if she would need a promotion to Shosho, I think it'd make more sense to see to have her gain the experience to command a squadron first - that's what Hanako is doing right now.

There are two ways of dealing with a squadron that have been established. One is the plotship centric, with NPC support vessels, and that's the one Wes uses. The other was shown by the 11th squadron.

While I'm used to the former approach, I do like the second. The 11th squadron allowed a single member to roleplay his captain figurehead along with his ship's crew, making the entire vessel his 'character'. It seemed like a great way to allow veteran members with high ranked characters (whom are usually consigned to co-GM/GM duties) to portray their officers while being players again.

When I asked around for interest in that possibility last year, though, I found pretty lukewarm reactions to it (less in-ship interactions, less possible sex, impersonal involvement in things such as power armor expeditions). Not to mention that the 11th squadron didn't last very long.

In any case, maybe a squadron like that could be intended either for long-range tasks, or for roles such as what Task Force Phantom did. For all we know, it could be a squadron part of Task Force Phantom too. I dunno.

Another point: most of my current storyhooks so far rest in the north of the starmap. Following them and not involving my plot in the war effort makes it less credible to have Kotori stationed in the 1st Expeditionary Fleet. Though most of what Miharu was more in the lines of clandestine operations, I'm unsure of how much Wes will appreciate Kotori being involved elsewhere.

Not to mention that Nashoba's Second Expeditionary Fleet is up there. Nashoba has actually layed down an active, well-established foundations in that area that could be a great springboard for new adventures. It might make sense for Kotori to be stationed to it while she works up north, but that means being involved with the 2nd XF, being under Mikasa Sorano's command and sharing notes with Nashoba.

I've never really ever worked as a GM with Nashoba. I'm not sure how willing or interested he'd be to go for that.

( edit: Whoa, I was mistaken. I always pictured SSS/2nd XF to be in Yamatai's north-east for some reason... and I suddenly find out that the SX star systems are spaced out everywhere and the 2nd XF is actually based in the far west of the map... though there are hints of assets at Veronica too. Confusing ~_~ that starmap needs an update.)

@Uso:

My main interests right now are around Kotori. I can relate to helping as a GM in places, but the focus on Kotori is what I view as my selfish reward to bringing the Miharu plot to a close. Even though Kotori as a person did accomplish some extraordinary accomplishments, I still had long periods of this through which I could not roleplay with her. I want to change that.

What you spoke of, in regard to politics, was actually something Wes and I briefly discussed. One way to bring Kotori to deal with the people higher up was to have her represent the Yamataians in the next IRC. She has to get her diplomatic experience somewhere and participating in such a fashion would allow her contact with the 'bigger crowd' in the setting, thus having her graduate from the largely unknown starship captain she was.

Large scale orchestrations seem unlikely, though. Not until Kotori is older, more seasoned, and has more clout. But participating in the IRC would be a start. Making first contacts would contribute to that (if Yuki Toshiro doesn't do them first ~_~ ). Having more victories and experiences under her belt would also improve her credibility, and ability to orchestrate bigger events.

It's no secret that Kotori has big ambitions. She's, however, not in any hurry to fulfill those ambitions until the time is right. If Kotori became the Yamataian Empress today, she'd be a pretty crummy one. She simply doesn't have the recognition, worldliness, experience and statesmanship to achieve that so what seems best is to work on that, bit by bit. In the future, there may be a point where Kotori will have earned the love, respect and support of her people and that they will approve and be happy to see her sit on the Imperial Throne.

Not to mention that roleplaying in such a situation is an entirely different role to support. In some way, the journey there feels more valuable than the intended goal at the end.

That's, however, pretty far off. Miharu took five years of my life to accomplish. I'm not even sure it's a feasible goal due to real life constraints: would I still be roleplaying on SARP when I'll be 45 years old? Will SARP even still exist by then? Heh.
 
Fred,

The first SX systems were explored by the SSS and are not part of the 2XF holdings. The SSS stopped exploring there whey they found out that region of space had been ceded to the Abwherans.

The majority of the 2XF is located in the western section of the star map. See the cluster map for details.

As for Veronica. With SATA's move there the 2XF dedicated a portion of its forces to the defense of that area, in the same way the 1XF has forces dedicated to the Samurai sector.

I have no problem with a GM wanting to operate out in the frontier under the 2XF.
 
Fred,

I really enjoy your stories and GMing and I want them to continue. I also hope you get to enjoy more 'action' with your flagship character as I understand that you've been very limited in her use for years. Especially since she was a major plot point in the story.

With this arc wrapping up and a slew of loose ends set to be tied up what should happen next? I have to say that there were several possible future hooks noted among Melisson's files. They shouldn't even have to be epic. With Kotori no longer having to worry about being the "Signaler" weapon and key to beating Melisson then she should be able to step out and interact more in person than being sheltered within the ship.

One idea I threw out at Fred was running into Nyton's grandfather on some NMX controlled world while finding leads to tracking Nobumoto Shinichiro. Not only is he kind of a wanted criminal but he's also got much insight into the creation of the NH series. I also figured that may be a step in solving one of those personal Kotori issues regarding being trapped in the Signaler body.

That was just one thought. The intel files already had plenty of ideas like dealing and negotiating with hidden True Nekovalkyrja Worlds or rescuing a marooned 'Second Hanako.'

Then there's the thought of the Melisson bug being kept as a pet. Maybe it will survive after the main body of Melisson dies. Think of the diplomatic issues they'll have to deal with trying to locate it. Heck, what if it IS Melisson just in a tiny and not too powerful form. You know, that could be one way in which Mel could survive, Ira, Fred. Its a tiny bug but it has Melisson's mind and like almost none of the powers. Heck, then just for laughs it could be turned into a Chibi-Mel. XD

The Miharu crew, having the only bits of knowledge regarding the Varin may be inclined to go conduct a first contact mission with the group observing the Iromakuanhe Astral Commonwealth and this other group, the Xudathi. If they can beat Toshiro to them at least.

Anyways, there are more adventures that could be had or even parceled out to others and held jointly. Fred I know you mentioned that you want the characters to branch out and maybe not be so consolidated but without a really good written out reason there is none for Nyton to just up and leave. Is that a problem for me? Not really. I've been looking at some other plots lately and if need be I can always start a new character. But the notion doesn't particularly bother me. Its just where the character is written.
 
@Nashoba:

I appreciate the clarifications. My perceptions were behind the times, it seems.

Well, in any case, the point isn't to become a burden. Nashoba, you and I don't interact much, but I've noticed we have many points in common such as appreciation for cohesion, credibility and attention to detail.

Daichi is a bit out of the way, though. Though, for awhile now I've been strongly considering the Zodiac-class fortress Virgo as homeport with stories told around that region. Though that'd likely imply a warfare plot, the place doesn't see all that much attention (there doesn't seem to be much fleets actually based on Virgo, from what I see in the Wiki) so it's actually one place that if a plot happened there, there'd be 'activity'.

That, and my zodiac sign is Virgo. =P

@Nyton:

I was speaking in a generalized fashion; I understand your circumstances.

While Shinichiro is a tempting target, truth be told, I'm not sure it's such a good idea to pursue him at this time. Truth be told, there's much less detail to pursue on Shinichiro aside from what's in Wes' head - enough so that I feel somewhat inadequate in approximating the current going ons of the guy, turn him into an antagonistic figure, figure out what he's doing and then have that reflect on the playerbase that'd eventually oppose him.

...it just seems and feels like too tall an order. He's unreachable because I don't know how to reach him. The scant details I have are from one Sakura mission and the NH-7 instruction manual.

Y'know, if my idea of what was going on in Nepleslia was less nebulous and that nekos were actually allowed on the planet, I might have liked to do something there. I kept trying to figure out if Kotori could send Nyton in vacation so he could go back home, but last I heard Nepleslia was and still is fighting off a Mishhu occupation. It's not really vacationing to go into a war zone.

The idea of having Nyton go, end up being embroiled in the problems over there, and Kotori clandestinely showing up to help him free his neighborhood was kind of appealing, if perhaps unrealistic. But, it felt like an opportunity to do something with Kotori that did not involve ships, or something she was starring in as pivotal characters (meaning, less spotlight from her, though she participates).

Another thing that sometimes bugs me/worries me is the perception people have of Kotori and my not hiding that eventually, I'd like to have her ascend on the imperial throne. I worry that some people might think a "just who does this guy think he is" in scorn and paint me as deluded. Especially in light of how Wes has "Hanako-hime" not enjoy portraying herself as a princess while Kotori (though initially reticent) got around to it. The title of 'princess' has grown important to me, enough so for me to want to use its symbolism because, if credibility is to be maintained, I feel it should mean something after all; from how Kotori presents herself (which indirectly symbolized the prestige of the Empire) to how people whom perceive her and what she symbolizes in turn.

Speaking of princessly traits, I've been aware for some time that not all actually liked the picture of Kotori that is presently on her wiki (I've heard comparisons like "she's like a golden-eyed praying mantis waiting to snap my head of and chew half from it with her teeth!"). I liked it, and I was thrilled that Wes went and obtained that commission... but in time I also started to feel that my character had outgrown it, so, I had another made that should represent 5-years old Kotori post-Miharu plot.

ai290.photobucket.com_albums_ll277_Zoberraz_kotori_sample.jpg
Click on picture to see full version
 
viewtopic.php?f=129&t=4356&start=51

This is the summery of what is going on for Nepleslia right now. The planet isn't occupied, it just has terrorists running around making things difficult for people.


The 'nekos aren't allowed on Nepleslia thing was from decree 16 I think

Nekovalkyrja and will not be allowed on Nepleslian planets except to conduct official business for the Yamatai Government or Star Army of Yamatai. Nekovalkyrja are not to be allowed citizenship or to hold any government or military position in the Empire of Nepleslia or Star Army of Nepleslia. All Nekovalkyrja serving as government officials of Yamatai must first report to the government of Nepleslia for proper identification except for those serving as part of Star Army starship crews.
Click to expand...

Which has since been invalidated. I'm not aware of it existing in current laws.
 
Yeah I know Shinichiro is just a pie in the sky so I didn't put too much stock in it. Plus it does land more under 'epic' realms and since we're trying to go less epic I'd say that would be much later.

Given the war and such I don't think even a vacation to a non-invaded Nepleslia was feasible at the moment. (although this is Nyton after all, maybe a vacation to a warzone WOULD be a vacation for him. At least he's just fighting plain old people and regular Mishhu, not psychotic galactic warlords and uber nekos with psionic powers) Ny would just have to make do with some long distance phone calls or something. But your idea IS rather interesting within the vein of having Kotori arrive in secret to help out. Definitely interesting. I wouldn't completely rule it out since as Uso remarked the whole forbidden neko thing has been overruled. I wasn't even aware of that so I thought nekos were forbidden from setting foot on Nepleslia as well.

Its a great idea to get Kotori out and let her stretch her legs some on ground missions. I'm sure the idea and occasion will arise after some thought.

As for the princess thing its not something that has especially concerned me in a negative sense. Given how you'd written Kotori and her reluctance to take the throne along with any huge promotions its obvious that she is not about to ascend any time soon. You've already explained it before so I don't know why anyone would have hostility. Kotori becoming Empress is not set in stone nor is it outlandish to suppose something like that. At least not after the incident where Uesu abrogated the throne to someone else and there was a brief family shift.

Now the previous wiki image that you've had for some time I don't know where the mantis thing came from. That picture was really good! I thought it captured Kotori's girlishly appearance perfectly. Now the new image I also like it. That is an amazing piece and it does portray the more matured Kotori post-epic-mission. Good job art guy.
 
Why do you think Decree 16 would be invalid, Uso?
 
Well it does state here: wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=nepleslia:democratic_imperium_of_nepleslia&s[]=laws, that the decree which mentions the no nekos allowed rule was invalid due to the dissolution of the Nepleslian Star Empire when it reorganized into the Democratic Imperium. It looks like a technicality since it was legit under the Empire but not carried over into the Imperium. Kind of like an old SOP that was signed by the previous commander of a unit but did not get updated and signed when a new commander arrived.

Technically a bunch of nekos could land planetside and after getting arrested point out the decree is invalid because of the regime change. "Oops!"
 
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