[Rogue] [20-30] When Carnivals Collide - Arc ID: 33211

[Ankylosaur]

When Carnivals Collide!

The Praetorian refugees are building a new home outside the war walls of Paragon City. Help the Carnival of Shadows remind the Carnivals of Light and War that there is already a Carnival in town. [SFMA]

 

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I'm going to be making a few runs to polish it up and look for errant typos, but its ready to go. 

 

Inspiration

 

Spoiler

 

As is typically the case, it started with a few vaguely related things and came together as I explored the lore, the mobs, and the maps. Here's where the ideas sprang from and what I tried to fit into the story - full of spoilers.

• The End of Praetoria - despite the fact that you can still get to First Ward, and even wander the city - the storyline makes Praetoria as a liviable place - over. The Hamidon is running rampant, the city is irradiated, and refugees are Earth-bound. Policemen vs. Aliens explored this story in one way, but it did not explore the refugees. While I thought it could be fun to do something with the Citizens of First Ward, I then had the idea to do the Carnival.
• Maps & Mobs - There are a few Carnival related maps (though they are big which can be problematic) and as I have said before, maps that fit the story well and give a unique sense of place make for a better story. Similarly, there are many flavors of The Carnival on Praetoria so there was a lot to explore and work with there. Plus - there are two Vanessa DeVores - so I figured it would be fun to have the Light and Shadow sides in the same mission somehow - would they work together? would they fight? I didn't know yet but thought it would be fun.
• The Carnivals of Light and War - two parts of the same group, they are consolidated from the magic users from Praetoria's Midnight Squad and Legacy Chain. So it stands to reason that those orgs on Primal Earth would try to recruit some of their old Praetorian versions of themselves into their groups. Since we have mostly good guy mobs here it meant the mission should be villainous. Thought I would go for rogue as it is all more about putting some pressure on them at first anyway. Would love to know if people felt I got that right.
• The Carnival/Talons of Vengeance - The Carnival of Vengeance is evolving into the Talons of Vengeance which were sprung on first ward by Sorceress Serene, who was defeated by Diabolique who then brought them to face Mot but then she defected and joined mot, and well there is a lot of story there. Enough to play with that's for sure. Plus the whole fire and ice blades of Sorceress Serene tapped into a whole fire and ice mob idea I had had. So that meant I had a chance to build a few mobs and an obvious map (also kinda big) to populate. 
• Other Mobs - So then we already have the Legacy Chain, The Midnight Squad, The Carnivals of Light, War, Vengeance, and Shadow, but then the Praetorian exodus meant I should work in Citizens of The First Ward, The Resistance (founded by Vanessa Devore Lightside) and The Shepherds from Praetoria too. So I did.
• And that - as they say - is that. We'll see if anyone else thinks it worked. 🙂

 

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Hope you are willing to give it a run and hope you have fun at the Carnival!

 

Feedback welcome and encouraged! Please be kind with stars while it gets a few extra coats of paint and let me know if there is anything that needs fixing or tweaking.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Ankylosaur

[Ankylosaur]

After realizing that the Praetorian Vanessa DeVore of the Carnival of Light is not actually walking around (because of the Underground trial) but instead trapped in her mask which is worn by Desdemona (as also seen in the primal Mr. G arcs) a major premise of this arc was undone!

 

So I made some tweaks here to insert Desdemona into this as someone you face while she is wearing the Praetorian Vanessa DeVore mask, and then having a way that Vanessa is restored to being ambulatory before you meet her. It's a little shoehorned in but works well enough. 

[Ankylosaur]

I was thinking about pulling this down, as the lore is a bit off in it, and I have heavily expanded on part of the core idea in All That Glimmers. (The First Ward evacuees finding a new home in the reclaimed Astoria area)

 

This plot is quite different though and as it was the inspiration for All That Glimmers, am leaving it up there for now.

Edited August 28, 2021 by Ankylosaur