Virus TP v2.0!

OK, this time I'm actually posting a write-up. Turns out that I DID write one up before, but I found it in the depths of my hard drive. Guess I never actually sent it in. o_O;

Quick catch-up on the Virus TP: One of the scientists in Solaris was experimenting with nanomachines and just for educational purposes developed a nanovirus. It really was just for practice--- there was never any intention of the virus being released. Well, lo and behold, SOMEHOW the virus was actually released. For a few days it looked like nothing was going to happen.

Then the symptoms started kicking in. The first 'stage' of the virus rendered those infected sterile. That doesn't need to be explained in depth--- check the ENN News broadcasts on the IC board if you need to read up more. The second 'stage' kicked in and suddenly people are becoming ill with everything from the flu, pneumonia, the common cold, or worse. It's like their immune system has been completely shut down. AIDS, basically.

As far as the areas of infection, Etrenank is pretty much a giant contained petri dish. I won't say 'everyone in Solaris is infected', but Etrenank is the place of greatest concentration by a long shot. Other areas with reported cases are Kislev, Bledavik, and Aquavy.

That's what's happened so far. Now's the new part that as many people like as dislike.

Naturally, the civilians in Etrenank are going ballistic. The Solarian Government has said they do not know the origins of the virus and that a vaccine is being produced. The civilians aren't satisfied with this answer. They want to know where the virus came from, and they want to know soon.

Only the top-level officials in Solaris know where the virus really came from and who made it. This includes Krelian, Cain, Luka, Ramsus, the Gazel Ministry, and the like. There's no way they're going to say 'a scientist here made it by accident'. So what to they do? Fabricate a story and blame it on someone else. Some of the higher officials don't like the SolAveh compact either. Add two and two together, and...

Blame it on the Yggdrasil pirates! Though Solaris and the Yggdrasil have been at peace due to the compact, the civilians still don't have a very high opinion of the pirates. Both sides have bent strings on the compact (ie: the Ministry sending troops to capture one of the pirates, holding a city hostage to force said pirate to surrender, pirates raiding Etrenank's military branch to rescue the pirate, numerous other occasions). By blaming the virus on the Yggdrasil, it gives Solaris a justified reason to officially cut the treaty.

Now for how to RP this. It only makes sense for Solaris to launch an offensive against the Yggdrasil once they 'discover that the -Lamb- pirates created the virus that is infecting and killing the population'. The way I see it, there would be one, MAYBE two attack campaigns at first. Battle-based TPs tend to suck, and suck majorly. I don't intend for this to become one, but with these kinds of political circumstances, SOME fighting is necessary and logical.

Obviously, Bart and Sigurd would probably get tired of being bombed and attacked quite quickly. Though I leave it up to their RPers, it would make the most sense for the Yggdrasil to go into hiding for a short while and lay as low as possible.

Meanwhile, those on the surface who have at least a shred of trust or faith in the integrity of the Yggdrasil leaders would probably arch an eyebrow at the thought of the pirates creating that potent of a nanomachine-based virus. The only ones on the surface who -might- have access to that kind of technology would be the Ethos, and even then it's questionable. How did the pirates create such a virus? I would encourage that the leaders of Kislev, Shevat, and Aveh (maybe the Ethos too if they want to) should make an agreement with each other to launch a formal investigation on the virus.

I'll have trouble thinking of RP scenes for the investigation, but I'll work on that after/if this plot is approved.

Anyway, eventually the virus would be traced to Solaris. The Yggdrasil's name would be cleared, and there would be much rejoicing. Good times would be had by all.

OR NOT. Those on the surface would be enraged that Solaris would make such a virus THEN try to shift the blame. As for Etrenank itself, all the citizens would be furious once discovering that their own government had been lying to them from day one about the virus. Gazel-RPer suggested that this could lead into a new TP: The 2nd and 3rd class citizens erupting into a revolt against the Solarian government. A civil war.

I won't get into the details of the civil war for now. ...actually, they haven't been worked out yet anyway. ^_^;;; I'm just trying to say that this plot could lead into some very interesting situations once the plot itself is done.

I've already said this, but I need to reinforce this: I know I've screwed up with the Virus TP v1.0 by not doing a write-up before discussion, and I've done that on this plot too. That's why I've gone back and done a (lengthy but detailed) write-up. I know that I've said some things I regret to those who don't like this idea, and I've already apologized. So let's drop THAT unpleasent business, and take this plot into consideration. If it's approved, great! If it's rejected... well, crap, but I trust the Powers That Be's decision.

So, what do you think?

By Luka on Thursday, May 23, 2002 - 02:12 pm:

The seeds of civil war have already been planted if you need them in various degrees--there's been minor shiftoffs between the factions of Cain, the Gazel and Krelian in the past, and again if you look at the angle of having the peace and inclusion of ground-based Solarian citizens (third class rising equality, or at least class equality based on performance); etc. You wouldn't have to have it done to expose Solarian duplicity if you want another angle of just having it be those who are willing to go with the lower classes and those who reject those who have 'dirtied' themselves and hence are being punished by contact with them in some roundabout logical circle. It's possible, but what do other people feel about it? Would that cover the people who want to have Solarian-Surface conflict and provide enough of an option for those who don't?

What's on my mind right now is the worry that assuming a Virus-based worldwide to a dramatic degree will let the natural IC fears that might arise to rapidly crashland in fears vs. epidemics... pretty much, that having something else going on in addition to it might provide a good insulation just in case. It's just the backup plans as well as other things for people to RP if they want that might not center around Virus-related points--the standard 'what else' and 'what if' that goes in.

Is it completely central to have the Yggdrasil be blamed entirely for that portion of time? I know that the pirates have done a lot of hard work in trying to clear their name, and having it go back to ground zero, even temporarily, might frustrate. In other words, is there a possible third group that can shoulder that level of blame more easily than the battered reputation of the pirates? Even willingly--sometimes people speak up to claim credit for various crimes and so forth.

It's partially the matter of coordination for all those areas at once, and partially coming up with alternatives that's sparking my wish to slow down and go through the process step by step; I apologize. But overall, can people think of a way to keep things paced enough that players don't feel completely left out with nothing to do if they're offline for a day, or having to wait for world leaders to meet?

By Luka on Thursday, May 23, 2002 - 03:27 pm:

....rereading that, the first paragraph isn't to contradict Ryu, but in case he wanted any of the prior reasons for use or other ways of putting it together. I personally am also starting to favor a civil war myself to cover all bases, as it were.

All of these are just the 'what-ifs, let's think about this', not 'I think you're wrong and here's why I think why'. Sorry. ^^

By Ramsus on Thursday, May 23, 2002 - 08:36 pm:

First and foremost, I apologize for sounding like I've had a semi-truck shoved up my @$$ on here, the MUCK, AIM, and my LJ.

Those are good points, Luka. If this plot just won't work out, then I'd be more than willing to work with you to set up a separate civil war plot. :D

Gabriel was on to something when he mentioned the Jasper being neutral ground. That's actually a very good idea for justifying only one battle sequence. Whether the Jasper is controlled by Nisan or a multinational council, it would be watching both the Ygg and Solaris -very- carefully. If it looked like one of them was up to something, the Jasper cannon could be used as a threat if they don't back down. They wouldn't fire a shot directly at either Etrenank or the Yggdrasil, but the cannon would be a good trump card to PREVENT further battles.

I also really like the idea of the multinational council. If done right, that could be pretty cool. :D

Anyone got other good ideas like these?

By Gabriel on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 02:32 am:

I could go into greater depth on my idea here, or I could write it up in a seperate topic-- would that be better?

By Ramsus on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 03:59 am:

Keep it in-topic, please. :D

By Gabriel on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 06:27 pm:

Erm, right. ^^;

Anyway, I envision events unfolding something like this: Kaori and I are currently searching for a way to contact the Yggdrasil without Shevat knowing. To this end, we will sneak to the ocean and use a costal route around Aveh to get to the old Pirate Hideout, which I believe is now abandoned (correct me if I'm wrong on this). Reguardless, it should still have some communication equipment. I would use said equipment to contact the Yggdrasil, which may or may not draw Shevat at the same time.

Depending upon how that plays out, the Ygg would pick us up and the plot would then be revealed. Naturally, any battle involving Fort Jasper would involve potential collateral damage to Nisan, something which I'm sure the "protagonists" will want to avoid.

This means that the Ygg, Solaris AND Shevat will all have to be in the Nisan/Jasper area at the same time. While this could potentially explode, all it would ALSO take would be someone to stand up and offer a unilateral peace that would satisfy everyone. Solaris would hate to loose Jasper, but two opponents at once like that would still offer more resistance than they're willing to fight right now. Shevat would regret not having Jasper for itself, but at least it's not in the hands of Solaris.

That would leave it either in the direct control of Nisan (which isn't all that innacurate; the Perfect Works Book shows Jasper as being the soverign territory of Nisan anyway) or under the control of a multinational council, consisting of equal representation from Solaris, Shevat, Aveh, Kislev and Nisan. Something like a 3/4 vote would be needed to fire the cannon at anything, and it would force the nations of this planet to think as a single union and not work apart.

This would have fascinating political effects, I believe. The Gazel still have their dastardly plans to think of, as well as Krellian's place in the whole scheme. They would probably oppose such a union-- or would they?

If necessary, weaving the Virus into this would be a cinch. Perhaps the first action of this new Jasper Assembly would be to find the Virus' cause and eventual cure...

By Ramsus on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 09:11 pm:

Good idea. As far as Krel's and the Gazel's involvement, I'm not speaking FOR them, but I'm GUESSING that they either:
1) Would not support the union
2) Would not give a flying flip and would continue their plans as if there were no council.