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[ alignment ]
Alignments are a recently added game mechanic that allows characters to focus their crystal amulets to absorb a specific set of emotions. This relates back to the (currently still) mysterious beings, the Arehtei.
❖ How Alignments Work
The IC explanation can be read here, but here is a more summary break-down as to how they work.
» Related to the Arehtei. The Arehtei each have a set of emotions that they represent. By aligning the crystal, characters are effectively directing their emotions toward that specific Arehtei. It is currently unclear what exactly is happening, but it will be explained within the next month or so. For now, just know it is something they will have to do for game progression and is a mechanic that will persist throughout the game. NOTE! Characters are not directly connected to the Arehtei through alignments, nor do they receive any special benefits. However, both of these can change as the game progresses.
» The Crystal. When a character aligns their crystal amulet to a certain set of emotions, those emotions will create larger emotion drops. The crystal will still absorb all emotions, but non-aligned emotions will be significantly smaller. As more of the aligned emotions are collected, the crystal will begin to change color to match its respective Arehtei. In addition, the color can be dark, neutral, or bright. More negative type motions will make the color darker, positive will make it brighter, and an even mix will keep it neutral. Each time a new emotion drop is formed, the crystal will momentarily shimmer.
» One Alignment. A character can only have one alignment at any given time (however, this could change depending on game progression). Players are free to choose which alignment, though it should be the one that best fits the character. If you later realize that another alignment might work better, you are free to switch it (explained below). For characters who do not have any "dominant" emotional sways, you can pick whichever you think would be easiest. If your character is more on the apathetic side or just really difficult to pin down to one, it is possible to force emotions, and there will be events and situations that give options for that to happen. Unlike before, the threshold for an emotion drop to count is much lower, so even if it's a half-hearted feeling, it'll work. In addition, to make things fair, for characters who have trouble with emotions, any that do happen will count significantly greater than they normally would.
» Switching Alignments. It is possible to switch alignments, however it's a bit of a long process. For players, all you have to do is just fill out the appropriate form. ICly, however, the character will have to create enough emotion drops of the new alignment to replace the old one. This could take several months depending on how full the crystal is.
» No Alignment Caps. You do not have to worry about being locked out of an Alignment. Even if one Arehtei has five and another has fifty, if your character would belong with the fifty, that's perfectly fine.
» No Record Keeping Required. As before, there is no need to keep a record of your character's progress. You can if you want, but it's not required. The only thing you will have to do is comment to the Emotion Tracker.
❖ The Alignments
There are seven Arehtei to choose from. Here are the emotions they represent and their color:
In addition to the named emotions, anything that would fall in-between the emotions would also count. For example, hate and love. Emotions such as fondness, annoyance, irritation, all levels of attraction, admiration, etc. Some emotions do overlap with others, so it's possible for an emotion to count for either set. For example, a feeling of wariness or uncertainty could fit under both Piphron (distrust-trust) or Thras (fear-courage). Additional emotions that fit under each Arehtei can be seen here.
The character does not have to display both sides of the emotion dynamic. If a character is just angry all the time, then Sosyne is still a best fit. It will make the character's crystal amulet sway to the negative side, but there are no real consequences to this. For now.
❖ Alignment Switch
If you'd like to switch your alignment, fill out the following form. Include in the subject line "ALIGNMENT SWITCH" so we can spot it easily.
If you have any questions about Alignments in general, comment to the Questions subthread.
The IC explanation can be read here, but here is a more summary break-down as to how they work.
» Related to the Arehtei. The Arehtei each have a set of emotions that they represent. By aligning the crystal, characters are effectively directing their emotions toward that specific Arehtei. It is currently unclear what exactly is happening, but it will be explained within the next month or so. For now, just know it is something they will have to do for game progression and is a mechanic that will persist throughout the game. NOTE! Characters are not directly connected to the Arehtei through alignments, nor do they receive any special benefits. However, both of these can change as the game progresses.
» The Crystal. When a character aligns their crystal amulet to a certain set of emotions, those emotions will create larger emotion drops. The crystal will still absorb all emotions, but non-aligned emotions will be significantly smaller. As more of the aligned emotions are collected, the crystal will begin to change color to match its respective Arehtei. In addition, the color can be dark, neutral, or bright. More negative type motions will make the color darker, positive will make it brighter, and an even mix will keep it neutral. Each time a new emotion drop is formed, the crystal will momentarily shimmer.
» One Alignment. A character can only have one alignment at any given time (however, this could change depending on game progression). Players are free to choose which alignment, though it should be the one that best fits the character. If you later realize that another alignment might work better, you are free to switch it (explained below). For characters who do not have any "dominant" emotional sways, you can pick whichever you think would be easiest. If your character is more on the apathetic side or just really difficult to pin down to one, it is possible to force emotions, and there will be events and situations that give options for that to happen. Unlike before, the threshold for an emotion drop to count is much lower, so even if it's a half-hearted feeling, it'll work. In addition, to make things fair, for characters who have trouble with emotions, any that do happen will count significantly greater than they normally would.
» Switching Alignments. It is possible to switch alignments, however it's a bit of a long process. For players, all you have to do is just fill out the appropriate form. ICly, however, the character will have to create enough emotion drops of the new alignment to replace the old one. This could take several months depending on how full the crystal is.
» No Alignment Caps. You do not have to worry about being locked out of an Alignment. Even if one Arehtei has five and another has fifty, if your character would belong with the fifty, that's perfectly fine.
» No Record Keeping Required. As before, there is no need to keep a record of your character's progress. You can if you want, but it's not required. The only thing you will have to do is comment to the Emotion Tracker.
❖ The Alignments
There are seven Arehtei to choose from. Here are the emotions they represent and their color:
- Aiada: envy and appreciation; mint green
- Daimonia: grief and joy; coral pink
- Elios: hate and love; blood orange
- Peromei: despair and hope; creamy white
- Piphron: distrust and trust; navy blue
- Sosyne: anger and calm; periwinkle blue
- Thras: fear and bravery; golden yellow
In addition to the named emotions, anything that would fall in-between the emotions would also count. For example, hate and love. Emotions such as fondness, annoyance, irritation, all levels of attraction, admiration, etc. Some emotions do overlap with others, so it's possible for an emotion to count for either set. For example, a feeling of wariness or uncertainty could fit under both Piphron (distrust-trust) or Thras (fear-courage). Additional emotions that fit under each Arehtei can be seen here.
The character does not have to display both sides of the emotion dynamic. If a character is just angry all the time, then Sosyne is still a best fit. It will make the character's crystal amulet sway to the negative side, but there are no real consequences to this. For now.
❖ Alignment Switch
If you'd like to switch your alignment, fill out the following form. Include in the subject line "ALIGNMENT SWITCH" so we can spot it easily.
If you have any questions about Alignments in general, comment to the Questions subthread.
no subject
The crystal changes color based on "drops" and the characters are brought here during an event that inspires a lot of emotion. So that event is going to create a large drop, initially staining the crystal. Let's say the primary emotion this event caused the character to feel was anger.
However, during their stay here and rather quick after recovery in fact, the emotion they most felt was distrust. Do I need to fill out an alignment switch? Do I initially align my character with Sosyne or should I have the forward knowledge that my character is going to lean towards Piphron?
I guess this is sort of a sub-question to this... Let's say a character's emotional motivation for everything they do is love and hate, but they arrive here without anyone they know or any canonmates. Obviously 'love' and 'hate' aren't getting tapped -- or, drops aren't getting made of them -- because the people they feel those emotions aren't present, and our natural instinct towards strangers is just going to be apathy or distrust. However, they're actively angry that they're being trapped in Emphatheias away from a goal or a loved one...
So, ultimately, do we align with 'surface' emotions, or deeper ones that are at the heart of the character's motivations? Do we align with the emotions that are the most 'active' in our character all the time, even if that isn't the root cause? Or, when those deeper emotions are tapped, are they just going to make a bigger drop that stains the color of the crystal overall? But you can only have one alignment...
I'm sorry this is such an unnecessarily complicated question, I just want to have a firm grip on this really great concept!
no subject
From a completely OOC/RP standpoint, the best way to look at the alignment is choosing one that would best fit the character and how you think they will feel. Under normal circumstances, the easiest way to determine that is choosing which emotion they are most naturally inclined toward and the one they express most. So really it is more of the most "active," and those "active" emotions could come from either the surface or deep rooted. However, some characters are a bit more nuanced and aren't as obvious, and this is where it can be more difficult.
So in your example with love/hate, the initial choice would be Elios (love and hate). But if the reasons for those emotions aren't readily available, you would need to consider what your character will do in the game and how 1) their general behavior would be; or 2) which emotion, even if rare, would reflect his character more. This latter option lends more to your question about the drops. If you choose an alignment that is only "activated" or "visible" very rarely, but is still representative of the character, then yes, those drops would be larger.
To give an example, let's take Tamaki Suoh from Ouran High School Host Club and your character. Tamaki is known to be happy all the time full of love for everyone. So he's a toss-up between Elios (love) and Daimonia (joy). Let's say we pick Daimonia for Tamaki. He might have a lot of happy feelings every day, and that will certainly give a lot of drops, but because they happen so frequently the drops are smaller. They still stain and color the crystal, but the accumulation is slower because of the drop sizes. So Tamaki is representative of option #1. Your character, on the other hand—let's say we choose Piphron. On a day to day basis, not much will happen for Piphron. His crystal will still accumulate other drops, but none that are going toward the alignment so his crystal just remains neutral for the most part. But if an event occurs that triggers an emotion of trust or distrust toward someone, that drop will form and it will be three times larger than the drops Tamaki made. In one event, your character's one drop is about the same amount as three day's worth for Tamaki. That's how it would work for option #2.
There is yet a third way to choose alignments. You can just arbitrarily choose one and that can also be reflected in the character's choice. Generally alignments are "pre-established" so right now most characters are only beginning to learn and discover who they are aligned with. So you as a player can just pick one and the character is set. But it is possible for a character to make an in-game conscious decision as to which Arehtei they want to align with. In this situation, you don't need too deep of a reason, but from an player standpoint, it would be best to choose something that you might want the character to work on. If they don't normally feel joy, you might want to have them aligned with Daimonia and work on that kind of character development for them. In-game wise, that means they could be put in situations where they have to actually try and experience those feelings, either naturally or forced.
This third option is probably the best option for players who have characters that could be all over the place and difficult to choose just one. It's a bit more "forced" and arbitrary, but it's still doable. There are in-game references indicating that even the locals of the past consciously chose an Arehtei and half-forced emotions to work toward that alignment.
Phew, that was quite a lot and I hope I did not end up confusing you more! If I did, let me know and I'll try and clarify any points.
no subject