Conquest of the Horde

This was different. The pouch at your hip felt heavier than in a long time, which was a very good thing, but you couldn't quite bring yourself to taking that mandatory leap of joy through the cold, echoing hallways. There was no one around, so that wasn't quite the issue. You just couldn't stop yourself from occasionally casting a glance over your left shoulder as if you'd heard something sighing only a few feet behind you. Suffice to say, the place was starting to get to you and you couldn't completely tell why.

It'd been a few days since you came here and being the early bird you've always been, you came in earlier than most of your comrades and were forced to assist with the preparations around the locale so to keep it suited for the incoming parade of fellow accomplices and captives.

The job had sounded easy enough when you accepted it. Hold the captives within the facilities and make sure they don't cause too much trouble until further orders are given from upstairs. Sounds easy, right?

"Bite me."

A cold shudder ran down your spine and the hammer in your hand rattled troublingly from the vibrations. This wasn't going to be so easy as you'd initially anticipated. First of all, there was a lot of work to be done before they arrive. Somehow, you needed to isolate the different chambers from eachother, the furthest off courtyard in particular. Secondly, you soon learned to adjust your routes through the premises in order to avoid certain individuals. While most of your accomplices seemed pleasant and like-minded enough, there were exceptions to this. Some of them could just look at you and make the hair in your neck stand on end. Those were the people you tried to avoid.

And there weren't just a few of them around. They were quite numerous, marching through the hallways as if they owned the place. ... Which wasn't completely unlikely, but nevermind that. None of them seemed to have names, as any inquiries were met by an eerie silence and an empty stare from behind the cover of their thick iron masks, or a swift punch to the face. Needless to say, it only took a few brave sacrifices for the rest to stop trying (Light bless their souls). You've no intention to ask, at least. You're not quite prepared to make that kind of sacrifice for the good of the rest. Reassuring yourself of that, you rest your hand on your heavy moneypouch.

"Yeah... No."

You smirk. At least the payment's worth it. You've not even been here for too long and you're already making a crazy profit. This can't possibly get much harder than it already has, so it shouldn't be too hard to get through these days in this place.

You blink and turn on your heels, hand drifting to the hilt of you sword. You could've sworn you felt something moving behind you. Staring ahead of you for a few moments, you release your weapon and cast a few glances around the room before spinning around again and departing into the nearby hallway, semi-jogging.

"... Earplugs. Time to invest in earplugs."

Kidnapped is a series of events that have been run on CotH for a couple of years now, this being the fourth (obviously) event in the chain. It's an event designed to encourage character development in rather unconventional ways and for players to explore certain roleplaying scenarios that are not always available to them regularly. It leaves scenarios relatively open (or aim to, at least) so to encourage creativity and interaction between characters that previously have no relation to eachother. It gives them a common ground for later roleplaying instances in many ways and a significant milestone in many characters' lives. All in all, Kidnapped exists and keeps going in order to offer an outlet for players and characters alike to develop their concepts and ideas and form new bonds between characters - or strengthen old ones, for that matter!

It's been a bumpy ride up until this point and the three predecessors of this one has had many lessons to teach. Hopefully, they'll have sunken in by this time and the event can become more enjoyable for everyone (even though participants seemed rather satisfied overall the past few times).

For consistency and fluent continuity, rules need to be established for an event of this sort to work properly and for everyone involved to enjoy themselves as much as is possible. Below, the rules will be listed and explained and having read these rules will be an absolute pre-requisite for joining.

1. Godmoding/Metagaming. Stay absolutely clear of these two words, as they will completely trash the immersion for other players and take away from their roleplaying experience. Keep in mind and stick to what your character knows and is capable of, and do everything in your power to steer clear of these two occurances. If it happens unintentionally, it may be excused (unless it happens consistently)
   
2. Avoid leaving the area. Once the event starts, do not leave the event area. This is to avoid inconsistencies and complications for yourself and your fellow players. While there will be an OOC portal leading to the area, I sincerely advice against leaving the area. If you need to take care of other business, it is best to simply switch characters if possible.
   
3. Submitting your character. For the duration of the event, if I see you slipping out to RP in other areas, I will likely remove you from the event altogether. If you wish to remove your character from the event to be elsewhere, make sure you contact me (Loxmardin) first by dropping me a forum PM or by speaking to me directly if I'm online so that I'm aware of your withdrawn participation.
   
4. Respect boundaries. Not everyone's going to be comfortable with everything. While the players have been warned about the possibilities of this event, everyone needs to respect a "no". If you attempt to bring upon unprovoked violence on someone without their consent, you will be reprimanded and may be removed from the event depending on the severity of the offense. Accidental events of this kind will be retconned if victimised parties are not comfortable with the results. NO ONE WILL EVER BE FORCED INTO PARTICIPATION.
   
5. Outrageous behaviour. If your character acts outrageously In Character, there will be repercussions for it. This is the only time when you will be excempt from the rule of consent above. If your character steps out of their way to do harm upon someone else or break rules, they will be punished for it as deemed necessary (be it by physical punishment, removal of privileges, or maiming of some relevant kind).
   
6. Give and take. If you give a Character Warning to another character, you automatically submit yourself to a Character Warning of equal (and sometimes worse) severity.
   
7. The Server Rules. Yes, they all apply. All of them. Here's a link. And here's another one.
   
8. Trouble-making. I reserve the right to remove trouble-makers from the event if the situation requires it or deems it appropriate, as well as enforce repercussions against bad behaviour and the creation of drama (intentional, careless). Do not bring drama into the event, unless it is strictly In Character.

There are three defined factions in the game this time around, which is a change from what Kidnapped usually runs with. This is more to add definition and division in a good way, and an additional possibility for scenarios and character concepts. The "Kidnapper" faction has simply been divided in two groups - Kidnappers and Enslaved Guards.

• THE KIDNAPPER. You are somoene who signed on for the journey with something in mind. Be it money or sheer sadistic pleasure, you're here to do your job and you're fully intent on doing it well. No matter the reason you have for being here, you're here for the ride and you get paid for every single day of service (IC Currency). There are numerous ways in which you could've been contacted. Either they managed to catch your eye with a decorative poster, eerily misplaced in one of the more peculiar alleys in town. Or, perhaps the hooded courier found you on your way out of the city one day, discreetly passing on a sealed envelope into your hands before continuing as if nothing happened. Be creative. Everything's possible, as long as you're willing and able in return for a rather generous payment.
  Spoiler:

  Race Restrictions: Races with generally Good morality are unlikely, such as Draenei. You'd have to give a very good motivation for that.
  Class Restrictions: Paladins need clear motivations. Because of their virtues, they are extremely unlikely as canditates for Willing Kidnappers.
  Other Restrictions: They cannot use teleportation magic; All other magic is usable and there are no obvious restrictions.
  THE ENSLAVED GUARD. You are someone who woke up the next day, not recognizing the ceiling above you. You were greeted by someone you'd likely never seen before who explained to you that you no longer had a will of your own and that your life was forfeit if you disobeyed any and all of the orders that were bound to come your way, starting now. Around your neck is a rather thick collar. Metallic, from the feel of it. You can't tell exactly what it is by your examinations, but it seems heavy, dense, and your captors claim it to be explosive. They even had the kindness to give you a peek of the button that supposedly activates it. You, together with a number of others, are bundled together and generously equipped before being dispatched to aid your less unwilling comrades-to-be.
  Spoiler:

  Race Restrictions: None. Since you're Enslaved, you can be from any race or political faction as they'd have captured and forced you into the role, no matter who you are.
  Class Restrictions: See above.
  Other Restrictions: Cannot use any kind of magic; Your collars function as magical jammers.
  THE VICTIM. You are someone, anyone, who only just woke up. Whoever that face belonged to that greeted you when you awoke let you in on the somewhat surprising news that you've been sleeping for approximately four days. Around your neck, there's a thick collar that your captors claim to be explosive. You can't tell, though. All you know is that it's cold and metallic and rather uncomfortable in the long run. There's not much more that you're actually enlightened about before you're mercilessly torn out of the bedroll they'd spared you for the duration of your drugged sleep, putting you in cold and heavy iron shackles behind the rest of the sorry sods who'd suffered the same fate as you. Your destination is unknown and the purpose of you being here is yet unavailable to you as no one around you has an answer; be it that they simply do not know or do not wish to tell, it makes no difference.
  Spoiler:

  Race Restrictions: None. You were snatched up from somewhere. They wouldn't have been considerate of your racial or political faction.
  Class Restrictions: None. See above.
  Other Restrictions: You cannot use any kind of magic; Your collars function as magical jammers.

Magic is useless to everyone but the Kidnappers. Even then, they may not use any magic related to teleportation or summoning as something about the zone disturbs such magic. Everyone else has a collar around their neck, and this collar functions as a magical jammer which completely disrupts any attempts at spellcasting, cutting off any connection you may otherwise be able to form with the chosen source of energy that you otherwise draw magical energies from. Think of it as a small anti-magic buffer built into each and every one of these collars, affecting the person wearing it. This also makes magic that is cast against them slightly disrupted, but it still affects them. The main purpose of the collars is to strike out the casting possibility, negating the connection-forming.

Joining the event is rather easy. You simply read through this post until you're satisfied, then you send in a PM with the provided application form below. Something important to note for the application process is that applicants who send in their PMs before March 15th will receive a custom intrigue written for their character. Every single participant will receive a PM before the event starts with a piece of information about the setting depening on their chosen faction, but applicants who apply before the mentioned date will additionally receive a custom piece for their character. Anyone who wants a good and enjoyable intrigue is warmly encouraged to make use of the "Details" section in the application.

Simply copy the section in the Code box below and fill it in, sending it in a PM to Loxmardin, titled simply "Kidnapped". Makes it easier to navigate in the PM inbox.

• LATE ENTRIES? We accept late entries. If the event has caught your interest after it's already started, you're free to join as long as you follow the instructions likely to be given to you. Such as reading through this post first, and possibly any addendums that are likely to show up as the event comes closer or proceeds past the first day.
  
  Keep in mind that I reserve the right to deny any application to the event if I feel it's lacking (primarily in the Motivation section for Willing Kidnappers).

Awwwwwww yeah.

Hopefully I can make it this time...

Since I've been around for every single one, but I've never been able to haha.

Wow, now that sounds like one well planned event 0.0 I'm gonna have a character in!

If you've never been to one of these, I highly recommend it. Kidnapped was a blast last time. I'll be waiting to see the general proportions between the groups before I sign up, though.

Now to think of which of my 20+ characters to bring. Kapre and Kantado are out (Kapre was in the last Kidnapping and Kantado was in Skin Thieves), and I won't bring Dino unless he's requested.

I am sooooo joining in on this.

Doran has a nasty habit of getting kidnapped.
Must be that adorabru fais.

I think I may finally participate in this as well.

So many unused alts...

Roster updated with the current, proper applications.

There's a few TBAs to the above post, as well. Once I get those done, I'll include IC Guidelines and Pointers for the different factions like I've had the last two times, as well as a Guide to the Monastery with screenshots of the different areas and explanations of them. To avoid confusion later.

And once the event starts, I'll make sure to keep a "journal" of the IC events so people can keep up on important happenings.

Well, let's see who I can torment this time...

I'm SO bringing Thalion into this.

OH YEAH.

... I may shorten the date for intrigue signups at this rate, heh. ^^'''

---

After being asked, I feel it necessary to note: YES, you may have more than one character in the event (and get intrigues for all of them if you really want) as long as you feel you can keep up with all of them.

Holy moly, another one! I can't wait, last one was really fun.

What does * intrigue mean?

"Something important to note for the application process is that applicants who send in their PMs before March 30th will receive a custom intrigue written for their character. Every single participant will receive a PM before the event starts with a piece of information about the setting depening on their chosen faction, but applicants who apply before the mentioned date will additionally receive a custom piece for their character. Anyone who wants a good and enjoyable intrigue is warmly encouraged to make use of the "Details" section in the application."

Lrn2read, Astusnub.

Intrigues (correct me if I'm wrong, O Great Not-First-Timers) is Loxxy writing you a story about how your character got involved and stuff.