The 144th Ring

[Out of Commission] Welcome to Paradise. Before reading, please view the welcoming and FAQ pages. In order for myself (and others) to view posts and submissions relating to this game, tag it with "the144ring", and track the tag if you so wish. When you submit your form of application to the Ring, please also follow this tumblr in order for you to receive your new title and other announcements as swiftly as possible. Until then. --The Baroness

[the144ring]

The Would-Be Thirty-Eighth Player

expendablesecondarycharacters... Adan. You are the KNIGHT of MIND.

Though this is a canon title, please know that I reached this conclusion without thinking of Latula up until the very end.

Knights are very much team-players. You said that you would help others first because everyone benefits with everyone is strong. This mentality is almost exclusively from the Knight class, and is very distinctive. You said that you will never stop standing up for what you believe, that you will always help someone who can't help themselves. You said that we also play the game to save ourselves, others, and anyone. Knights in real life are known for their "quest for glory", and Knight players are not very different. One inconsistency is that you said that you try to be genuine with others when you meet them. Typically, Knight players try to mask at least some part of their personality that they find undesireable-- but in your case, this could be related to your fear of accidentally offending someone, and having them believe that you are something that you are not. Knights, though they sometimes act like they don't care, honestly need the approval of those they care about (and sometimes, even those they don't).

Mind players are somewhat contradictory in nature, though you are even more so, as you are an inverse Mind player. You said that you are actually indecisive, and that you second-guess yourself. This could be part of your Class interfering with your Aspect, being that your hesitation to make mistakes clouds some of your judgement. You placed intelligence and logic in very high regard, and had a very logical approach to the concept of forgiveness. The real reason I named you as a Mind player was because of your classpect, and the dynamic it creates in relation to your personality.

Your challenge as a Knight is to learn that you cannot always be the leader, and sometimes, it's better to sit on the sidelines. As a Mind player, you need to learn how to better empathize with others-- as sometimes, people don't want to be saved, and there may not be much you can do about it. As a Knight of Mind, however, you must learn that sometimes, fighting the opinions of others (what a Knight of Mind could literally do), such as when you had long hair and were mistaken for someone you were not, is not necessarily the easiest nor wisest decision. Knights will sometimes try to take the most glorified route they can, when in reality, it can be tedious and ultimately not worth it. Your job as a Knight of Mind is to make sure that the decisions you make (while in the position of leadership) ultimately benefits everyone, and that you consider all options before making a rash decision.

With the answers that you’ve given me, this classpect is very suiting. I hope that you agree. If not, I’d be interested to hear why you don’t think so— but regardless, please let me know.

[the144ring]

The Would-Be Thirty-Seventh Player

super-high-school-level-mischief... Ben. You are the THIEF of HOPE.

I personally feel that "assigned gender roles" to classes are rather silly. However, I hope that once I explain, you will understand why I concluded your evaluation with this classpect.

Thieves are players that have self-confidence issues. That being said, a "self-confidence issue" is a giant umbrella term that contains many different specifications. In your case, it would be falsifying yourself for the benefit of others. You answered that you do not trust others at their word, a very Thief-like answer, and said that you lived by the rule that you can "never trust anyone". You believe that everyone else is better than you, and called yourself "masked". Usually, Knights are the players that are typically associated with "masking their personality", but in your case, you "mask" yourself by switching personalities with whoever you're speaking with.

This is what lead me to call you a Hope player, in which you are an inverse. You are pessimistic, as proven by your unwillingness to trust others (and cynical view of the world), and yet you are very interested in the genre of fantasy, where everything is possible. Now, Hope as an aspect is very interesting, as it can drastically change a classpect. When I give the title "Thief of Hope" and tailor it to you, it is rather suiting.

The most clear definition of a Thief of Hope is "one that steals the hope of others for their own benefit". Such as when you change your personality completely depending on who you're meeting, you are "stealing" whatever expectations (or hope) the person you're meeting has in order to transform into the person they want you to be. To clarify: say you encounter a girl that wants you to be bubbly, friendly, and able to give advice. You will "steal" that image from her, her hope of who you are, and use it to your benefit so that you can get what you want from her (along with a new personality to use). This is not only fascinating, but extremely decimating to your personal relationships. Here are your challenges.

As a Thief, you must learn that there are people who honestly, truly want to help you, and that while you may not need to completely "trust" them, you must learn that your paranoia of being betrayed by others should not prohibit you from making real friends. As an inverse Hope player, you must learn that you do not need to be so cynical, and that you do indeed have a personality-- you just need the confidence to be that person. As a Thief of Hope, your ultimate goal is to drop the act, and learn to rely on others instead of closing up and shutting everyone out.

With the answers that you’ve given me, this classpect is very suitable. I hope you find it at least somewhat accurate. If not, I’d be interested to hear why you don’t think so— but regardless, please let me know.

[the144ring]

The Would-Be Thirty-Sixth Player

procrastinationstat... Gillian. You are the ROGUE of LIFE.

Though this title has been given before, you will find that you have achieved this godtier for variably different reasons.

Rogues are players that are typically hyperactive, and are usually light-hearted, or "eccentric", as you described yourself. Your application had a very bouncy tone, and when you answered certain questions, your replies had very enthusiastic tonality. You said that you enjoy having fun, and that you want to be able to help others. That being said, you answered that you linger on the past. Rogues are hard-pressed to forget transgressions. As you said, you are very willing to forgive, but you don't forget. And, in turn, you said that your worst fear is being forgotten. A common paranoia among Rogues is that their friends will leave them behind, and it is no different for you.

The reason I said that you were a Life player was because you referenced it very strongly in at least two of your answers. You said that the game we played was life. You also said that "life doesn't have to be doom and gloom". Life players have the tendancy to feel that they need to be something they aren't (how you lie/manipulate others during first impressions so that they'll get to know you better), but you are generally optimistic. Life, as the aspect, can loosely be related to "happiness" or "energy".

As a Rogue, you have to learn that sometimes people simply won't like you. And, even if that happens, that doesn't mean that you're necessarily the person at fault. Your blindness to love could stem from your unawareness of those that aren't your friends-- so as a Life player, you must become more attuned to your surroundings and the feelings of others (instead of getting wrapped up in your own world). As a Rogue of Life, your specific challenge is to learn that if you want to stave your fear of being left behind, you should make an active effort to reach out to those you wish to keep close. Rogues are passive players, though they can sometimes make active initiative, but being passive in relationships can weaken them.

With the answers that you’ve given me, this classpect is suitable. I hope you find it so. If not, I’d be interested to hear why you don’t think so— but regardless, please let me know.

[the144ring]

Im so sorry to bother you, but I applied before the cut off date, but I haven't been processed. Are you still going to do that or not? Ps. Let me just say your blog is great!

It is quite alright. As you might have seen, the Ring is closing down, mostly due to the fact that I have very little time at the moment. I am going to put in a particular effort to process classpects over this week, but I cannot promise anything in stone. Please, forgive me. I will message each individual privately once I have posted their classpect so that they can view it immediately. I will most likely allow this blog to remain in existence in paradox time by funneling whatever leftover energy I have to it, but I doubt that anything will happen for a very long time.

I am so very sorry for having to end the game before you were able to participate. Perhaps in the future, I will be able to maintain a more successful project. Thank you for your kind words.

Until then.--The Baroness 

[the144ring]

would you be willing to let us know when the final post will be? (whether its a pseudo-player entering or otherwise?)

Yes, I will let you all know when the blog will be closing.

I'm terribly sorry for the wait-- things are getting quite busy behind the scenes.

Until then.--The Baroness 

[the144ring]

The Second Challenge: Submission

Tonality (or Tuning) Soulmates:     When warring emotions, discord or discouragement threatens the teamwork needed to defeat an enemy, The sylph of heart gathers the charged negeative emotional energy from the environment and turns it inward. The energy collecteted is shown in the symbol of the heart players before disappearing into the slyth as a ribbon.Then that energy that has now turned positive and healing  is passed to the heir of blood through a kiss;  it could be as simple as a kiss on the cheek or hand, all the way up to a very passionate kiss. Through that kiss the sylph transfers the heart healing energy to the heir and he spreads it through the others with his connection to them. This distribution of energy appears as blood red veins and targets the players who need it most to heal then negative energy in their relationships. This helps the teams awarness and self confedence, which in turn helps the teams overall offensive and defensive capabilities. This is effective in and out of battle and can only be used once every few days.

Note: the players that entered this fraymotif claim not to be matesprits. This is simply how a potential fraymotif between their classpects would work.

[the144ring]

The Would-Be Thirty-Fifth Player

notresponsibleforaccidents... Aidan. You are the HEIR of LIFE.

Of the first things you said in your application, you said that you hated restrictions. Another was that you're not sure if you intentionally make impressions on people. You said that you look for friendship because you want to be "bros" with people, and that you have a natural, almost furiously burning curiosity. You said that you "go with the flow", in terms of forgiveness, but I feel that those words described most, if not all of your application. And those are words that can accurately describe an Heir.

Another common description of Heirs are that they are "surrounded by their aspect". For you in particular, that rings very true for your Aspect. You said that you were surrounded by life, and that you live on a planet which has so much of it. You enunciated your appreciation of happiness (a loose translation of the aspect of Life) and how you seek it out in others. I say that you are a Life player because of the classpect dynamic-- and because of your fear. You said that you were worried that you would never be able to grow, or that you would be too confined to do so. Life players have a very large problem with restrictions, and have a tenancy to subconsciously want to break rules (but not in a bad way). This fear, combined with your general optimism and your description of the game as a chance to win "life and opportunity", makes your classpect very suiting.

Your challenge as an Heir is to learn that not everything will come to you on a silver platter. You said that because you are almost never wronged, you have never truly had the opportunity to forgive someone-- and that is something that you're going to have to learn how to do. As a Life player, your challenge is to be creative with the rules, and learn to work with or around them in order to achieve your goals. As an Heir of Life, however, your ultimate challenge is to let go of your fear of your emotions and grow in the way that you choose-- and learn that while there may be many opportunities, they are almost always better when shared with friends.

With the answers that you've given me, this classpect is very suiting. I hope you find it so. If not, I’d be interested to hear why you don't think so-- but regardless, please let me know.

[the144ring]

The Would-Be Thirty-Fourth Player

s33rofh34rt... Athesia. You are the MAID of LIGHT.

Though this title is different from your URL, I do hope that you will understand my logic after a short explanation.

Maids, of all of the classes (short of Muse), are the players that have the strangest personality. You said that you were modest, which is a natural trait for a Maid, and that you get along with others. However, at the same time, you said that you were an actress, posing for 10,000 cameras, even though most were just in your head. Maids feel a very strange sort of compulsion to be perfect-- not in the way of a Prince, Thief, or Rogue-- but in the sense that they have to be exactly what other people expect if them; nothing more, nothing less.

Going off of this, you described yourself as sad and lonely. Your exact description was that, "just because you smile all the time doesn't mean you're happy". Maids will shoulder some of the largest burdens without letting on to it (as shown with Damara suffering under Meenah's torture, among other things). Interestingly, though, you said that you seek out people with more positive emotions because you feed off of the energy around you. Maids are sensitive to their friends and session-mates, and you are no exception.

There are a couple of reasons as to why I judged you as a Light player. You said that you could "see visions", and predict what was going to happen in someone's love life. Your classpect, phonetically "made of light", could mean that you are literally made of light, or alternatively, "made of knowledge"; and this explain a few things about what you told me. Light players find forgiveness to be difficult, if only because they'll never forget transgressions. You said that you and your friends were what lurked in the darkness, even though you are (ironically) made of light. You worry frequently about both the past and present, as Maids often do, and you have a problem with pausing and using "uhm" and "uhh". Your classpect, with this evidence, is suiting.

Your challenge as a Maid is to learn that you won't be forgotten. Though it is your worst fear to be left behind, you must seek out people that you can rely on to be there for you, and trust them to have your back when you need them the most. As a Light player, your goal is to make sure you don't get off track and chase false victory. As a Maid of Light, however, your ultimate challenge is to learn how to personify "light". This could be knowledge, luck, or even just "optimism". Whichever form of this light you choose to give off, you must pursue it diligently. It won't be easy, as no true title challenge is.

With the responses you've given me, this title is appropriate. I hope you agree. If not, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter. Please, let me know.

[the144ring]

An Outcrier's Farewell

I'm sure by now you've heard the news. I could say I'm saddened, but when you're a fully realized Seer of Doom, you tend to be prepared for the worst. But I know things aren't as detached for you who put time and energy into challenges and personas and whatever else you may have done. And despite my best efforts to try to keep this stable, I, too, have failed you.

((OOC: Sorry, what with school and personal sh*t, I don't have the energy to keep this up either. It was fun, but draining for both of us. And if you want to keep the spirit of the Ring going, roleplay is super fun and the dream bubbles (i.e., #open rp, #open starter, et al.) are full of friendly people to go on adventures with. I wouldn't recommend running something like Ring 144 unless you've done hella planning, have a large team of people working with you, and are prepared to do a lot more work than you signed up for...which we didn't have. But that doesn't mean you have to give up being a magical kid in fancy pajamas.))

If you want to talk to me after we're scattered across the Furthest Ring, send a message. Otherwise, good luck.

 -- The Outcrier

[the144ring]

The End of the Ring

Dearest participants...

As you have noticed, there was a distinct lack of activity within the Ring before the Second Challenge was concluded. The Outcrier and I have failed in our duties to maintain this game, and for that, I apologize deeply.

Another thing I must apologize for is the announcement that the Ring will be permanently closing.

This may not come as a shock to many of you, but regardless, I will explain myself. My abilities as the Thief of Time were not great enough to elude the grasp of your Alpha timelines combined, and my own time is drawing short. Despite this, I will gather my strength long enough to evaluate the applicants that have already applied before I free you all to scatter throughout the Furthest Rings, and hope that you will find your way to safety.

((OOC: Honestly... I've lost my spark. I can't find the energy to come up with challenges or evaluate people snappily enough for my own standards-- and I'm really sorry to let anybody down. I hope that you all forgive me, and like I said, I'll be processing all of the people that submitted, even though the game will not be continued.

When I saw you all respond so positively to the results of the second challenge, I felt terrible... I'm really glad that some of you got into the game and enjoyed it-- or so I could see. For those that didn't get to join, thank you for your interest, and again, I'm terribly sorry.))

The winning submissions to the challenge were posted. If you would like for me to post your submission as well, even if it was not the winning one, simply let me know. If someone shows interest in seeing any of the other posts, I will post them upon request.

Please contact me privately if you wish to stay in touch past the destruction of your palaces. Otherwise-- I wish you all farewell.

Until then. --The Baroness

[the144ring]

The Second Challenge: 3rd Place

Continual Cadence

Continual Cadence is a fraymotif used by a Knight of Life and a Bard of Mind in battle. It spawns a lute with a chant carved on the handle. The lute is played by the Bard on the outskirts of the battle, preferably on a sniper post or other such platform with a good view of what’s going on. As the Bard plays the lute to release the power of the fraymotif, the Knight will sing the chant so the power channels to them. This also forms a mental link between the two players, which allows them to discuss battle plans, and the Bard informs the Knight about what’s going on in the battle so they can react faster than most. We chose Continual Cadence as the title of our fraymotif because a cadence is a call and response song, similar to the playing of the lute and the chanting of the Knight. Continual is a synonym for survival, which connects to both our aspects. In Life, it symbolizes the will to survive in any way possible, and in Mind it shows how logic can twist the rules as far as they’ll go to ensure a favorable outcome. The lute and chant both stem from the middle ages, where you can find Knights (Greatly controlled by the church, and the church’s songs mainly consist of unaccompanied chanting) and Bards (Who play a lute to entertain the king and keep their heads.) The lute is also a nod to one of Andrew Hussie’s previous comics, Bardquest. The main way this fraymotif operates is based on how the two Godtiers involved mesh. The aspects of Life and Mind influence how powerful the fraymotif is, and how it uses that power. Life is an aspect very much based on raw power, where as Mind prides itself on logic and strategy. As such, it is very fitting that the Life player receives the power and the Mind player helps them with how best to use it. The player’s classes factor in to determine how difficult the fraymotif is to master. The Knight is very in their element, fighting and protecting. However, they must strip away their masks and trust the Bard to tell them the truth, and give them the best options, and if the session has progressed like many that contain Bards, the Bard has likely proved themselves untrustworthy many times over. The Bard must fight the urge to give the Knight the wrong instructions, or to simply throw down the lute and go blow something up; which is like swimming upstream to the oft destructive and chaotic Bard. In short, this fraymotif operates both musically and strategically on teamwork and character building, much like Sburb itself. It forces it’s operators to grow as people and players in order to function at full capacity.

[the144ring]

The Second Challenge: 2nd Place

Consonance of Oblivion  The final resource of the Mage of Space and the Thief of Doom is the ultimate wave of destruction: an attack that combines the decay and destructive nature of the aspect of the Heroes of Doom, and the ever-expansive nature and scope that accompanies the Space aspect. The Consonance of Oblivion, priced at 444,444,444,444 Boondollars is a Fraymotif not meant to be used lightly, swiftly, or in simply any and every combat scenario… For its destructive nature could very well spell the end for an entire session if used improperly… The ability is thus regulated in part with the massive amount of energy required on the part of both players and their aspects involved in the attack. Because Mages are known for using their magical power and knowledge of their aspect from within to serve themselves, the Mage of Space’s attempt at an ultimate attack is the root of this ability. The Mage, pushed to desperate extremes, summons enough power from his aspect and commands enough raw space potential that his body actually begins to break down, and as the potential energy builds up, the Hero of Space’s body begins to pulsate and flash with a powerful green light that appears to begin to cause grievous harm to the space player… Once the raw spatial energy is released from the Hero’s body it begins to form into a gargantuan, pulsing green Space Aspect symbol that flashes for a moment before scattering into an energetic mess of uncontrolled spatial energy, as the Mage’s eyes glow bright green and the The Hero of Doom is called in to assist in the final, destructive part of this attack. Though, it is not as initially evident, the Thief of Doom has not been spending its time up to now picking her nose, rather feeling the Fraymotif’s influence and the power of her friend, she and her God-tiered power have been studying and stealing the number of people who are destined to die in the upcoming battle- without the ability of the Consonance, with the Power of Doom, defies destiny itself. The Thief’s duty is to steal the potential Doom of these allies (Approximately three permanently killed God-tiers is usually the amount of raw destiny-defying Doom required to power her part of the ability to succeed and not result in the raw space simply wiping everyone in the battlefield off the multiverse.) and use the mysterious power fueling them to bring order and a definitive purpose into the massive amount of raw space… Forcing it into a rhythmic and destructive order within the chaos. The Doom gives the Space purpose. The quiet, darker green flows into the various space aspect symbols as they begin to cease pulsating in green and rather control themselves into black forms, refusing to lose any more excess energy. This assistance and control very, grants the Mage of Space enough relief to survive, providing even more energy for the Hero of Doom: having successfully  stolen the God-Tier’s death by his own hand. The Consonance, with The Heroes of Doom and Space acting in absolute unison, control their energy to destroy whatever enemy had put them in such a situation, as the Space aspects let out one more stunning flare of green light… But with the darkened Space Aspect symbols notably staying black in the plane of Green that this attack creates…. Each of the individual space aspects come together to form the Skull of the Doom Aspect. Though the field of Green space and doom energy is impressive, it is not the true nature of the attack, just the excessive, unwieldy energy that was not needed for the midnight-hued aspect symbols to transform into destructive black holes pointed in the direction of their soon to be destroyed enemy. For what else could one get from combining the expansive and powerful qualities of the Universe with Death itself but utter destruction? Oblivion. If used incorrectly or improperly, the ability could result in the destruction of allies and innocents alike, and because of this is taken with special care by the Heroes of Doom and Space that command it. Outside of combat, the ability could be, in theory, used for menial tasks such as House-cleaning… But such endeavors are ill-advised at best, and blatantly irresponsibly dangerous at worst… Though if three souls of God-Tiers were to be saved by such a cleaning, who are we to judge?

[the144ring]

The Second Challenge: 1st Place

Phantom Crescendo [breath/blood/void]

A powerful offensive illusion for three.  Each player creates a multitude of shadows, which match their creators in power and ability.  These shadows are bound the the players' will,  allowing for coordinated attacks or escapes, and when caught in an unfavorable situation, a player is free to switch places with a shadow, putting the player in a better position for their next move.

[the144ring]

The Second Challenge: Results

So there's been a change of plans because of some stuff that I'll leave for the Baroness to explain. Basically, skipping voting and going straight to awarding points.

...and if you want the stats for this, go ask Barry. I have enough numbers to deal with as it is.

First place: Phantom Crescendo (inactiat/glilimith/buttercandles), plus extra credit

Second place: Consonance of Oblivion (clockworksprite/thatrandomwanderer), plus extra credit

Third place: Continual Cadence (sheergossamer/kill-the-batterwitch)

You all sent in some really good stuff and this was hard to evaluate. Thanks to everyone for participating.

 -- The Outcrier

[the144ring]

how long does it usually take for results to be posted and where do they show up?

The results of the Second Challenge will be posted shortly, right here.

All of the submissions that were entered will also be posted after the results are announced.

... Unfortunately, there is also some bad news that I must deliver after the Outcrier crowns his winners.

All in due time, however.

Until then.--The Baroness 

[the144ring]

Second Challenge Submissions Close

Listen up, kiddos, the second challenge is no longer open to entries with one exception. But there's been a few complications, so we'll be delaying the voting until we can sort those out. The Submissions box will be open for one exception to the "no entries" rule (this is what happens when you ask for an extension, folks), which the Baroness will be handling. The rest of you just go do... whatever it is you normally do. We'll be back in a day or two.

[the144ring]

While the second challenge is going on will you still be processing applicants?

Yes. Forms are still currently being processed, though they will most likely be published nearing the end of the challenge. Should I spontaneously decide otherwise, I will simply begin posting those that have been finished.

Until then.--The Baroness