When posting in Hydra, players should GM report the thread or otherwise contact a GM to provide dangers to the Gembound entering or interacting there.

The Hydra threat system works like this:

The Game Master will do an Other roll for "danger."

- A Critical Failure will leave the Gembound safe until the end of the thread, or for one in-character day, whichever comes first.
- A Failure will leave the Gembound safe for the end of the thread or two hours' in-character time, whichever comes first.
- A Barely Successful will result in a danger against which the Gembound must roll to save themselves (using whatever type of defense they wish). Two failures in a row will result in serious injury or a re-entering of the chrysalis for two weeks to reform.
- A Successful roll will result in a serious danger that must be rolled against as above. Three failures in a row will result in the Gembound's death.
- A Critical Success roll will result in a deadly threat that must be rolled against as above. Two failures in a row will result in the Gembound's death.
- Any Critical Fail rolled by a character during an encounter will result in a severe injury.

Multiple-Character Threads

- Gembound arriving in a thread during an encounter already in progress may roll once to attempt to save another character. However, they must then roll to defend themselves (regardless of their own failure or success in rescue), and will only have two chances to do so; failure will result in them taking the consequences of the threat themselves either in place of, or in addition to, the initial victim (depending on if they succeeded in helping).
- For threads in which multiple characters are present when a threat appears, they must each roll to save themselves. Choosing to roll to save their ally first will count against their own number of available attempts to get to safety. Failing to save themselves, however, will also mean that they cannot save their ally.
- For threads in which other characters join after a threat is escaped, defeated or nonexistent, it is up to GM discretion whether to roll for additional danger.

Dangerous threats may include Lesser Gembound (Eyehook Vultures, Spire Spiders, and so on); environmental threats (extreme heat, toxic gas, etc); and more, depending upon location within Hydra and the time of day.

Please note:

- After the "safe time" has passed, either through defending against a threat or receiving a failed Danger roll by a GM, the thread must again be tagged for a new GM roll.
- GMs may roll additional dangers or impose harsher penalties, at their discretion, or be more lenient dependant upon character actions. For example, a character taking steps to cleverly defend itself might receive a less-deadly threat or injury, whereas one attacking Eyehook Vultures during a period of "safe time" may immediately provoke a potentially-deadly encounter.
- Gemstones from those lost in Hydra may be unrecoverable depending upon how the Gembound died.
- Characters living in Hydra must complete at least one thread per Cycle. Should they go inactive and then return, and if the player wishes to assume the character remained in Hydra for the duration, they must retroactively complete these threads. Alternatively, it can be assumed that the character left Hydra for the duration of inactivity. It cannot be assumed that a character has been living consequence-free in Hydra without threading against GM'd threats.

Design an NPC: SPOOKY EDITION

Think you can come up with a spooky, haunting design that'll scare the pants gem right off of your fellow Gembound? Well, give it your best shot!! That's right, we're challenging you to give us your scariest and craziest ideas!


On September 23rd we will condense submissions and open a poll for several days so that you can vote for your favorite spooks. Participants will receive a magicka reward for their efforts.

The spookiest winner will haunt the caves in October, and everyone else will be their minions! Nobody's designs will go unused! *Note! This means if you do not want us to use your design for the upcoming event, regardless if it wins or not, please note this on your submission so we know whether or not to weave it into our plans. Thank you!

@Hikari @Sebastian @Gluttony @Castor
Please add these forms to your submissions! Future submissions, please include this with your entry.

Name/Title: If you have one
Element/Path:
Stone and Location:
Other: Any other information you think is important.

Hello again, Origin!

The Magicka Deluge Contest and Event has now come to an end. The crystals within the cave have fallen silent and magicka is back to normal, but participants have been rewarded with a new spell: Magical Melody! This spell allows users to resonate their gemstone with the beautiful chiming songs. If you missed the event, that's okay; those who took part have unlocked the spell for future purchase in the shop! Visit the Magicka Shop to buy your very own; it's a Low Intensity Manipulation spell in the Earth element!

The winners of the OOC writing contest have also been announced! Congratulations to Silverwinter in first, winning a Rare Character or Mutation Slot; NightWolf for winning 500 magicka; and Moonlit Dream for winning the in-character prize of the revivable gemstone of a small whale-like creature with an affinity for magnificent whalesong.

New Contest

July's contest is the result of May's poll: Design Origin's next NPC!

Post your entries here. At the end of July, Origin's member base will be invited to vote for a winner! The winning vote will become Origin's next NPC!

Rules:

- The NPC design, colors, patterns etc must be entirely your own work.
- The NPC can be as complicated or as simple as you like. You can include lots of details, or leave parts for the GMs to decide upon. It can be lineart alone with a simple description, or a full-color reference sheet with a lore-friendly history, personality and name. It will be up to members to vote on a winner, so go wild!
- The design must be submitted by July 31st, 11:59pm GMT.
- Players can submit as many designs as they like, but please include a title for each submission, so we can add it to the voting list.
- Designs should be posted in this thread.
- Once a winning NPC is chosen, its name, design etc will then belong to Origin Cave, and shouldn't be used elsewhere; this is to avoid future confusion over its ownership/copyright etc. Its design will, however, be credited to the winner once posted in the NPC List.

Please note that GMs will have the option to make small alterations to the winning design, whether to make it more lore-friendly or for other reasons. We will, however, discuss things with the winner should this come up!

Thanks for participating, and we hope to see some creative... creations!

In other news, a reminder that the quest Gone Fishing is still open. A Very Important Object has been found, and your interaction will determine what happens next...

This thread can be joined at any time!

- Game Master Dark

Magical Deluge Writing Contest

To celebrate the flush of magicka filling the caves, and to promote open and active roleplay, we are hosting a writing contest! This contest will reward the most active players, with the most posts in AW threads--but beware! Quality will be judged as well as quantity. For all posts submitted, there will be a 100 word minimum.

Rules:

• Each player should make ONE submission post in this thread, and include links to each post made across their accounts within that submission. Each submitted post link should be edited in later.
• All posts submitted must be 100 words at a minimum.
• Posts should include real content that can be responded to by other players, rather than repetitous or any obvious low-effort writing meant to just reach the minimum wordcount: no "spam" posts. Let's see your real skills!
• The posts submitted for the contest must all be in AW threads. All characters should be welcomed in all of these threads; threads should not be organized as private for contest purposes despite the tag. The thread cannot be created as PRV and edited to AW later.
• Players in the thread must respond within three days, or they forfeit their place in any posting order. Be courteous; if you might not be active for a day or two, try not to stall a particularly fast and active thread. If this does happen, do not argue about it--just move on to another thread.
• Players must have exited the thread before claiming their posts in that thread for the contest.
• The three top posters will receive prizes--but of course all participants will earn plenty of magicka.
• The cutoff date for submitting your entries is 11:59 pm, July 10th GMT. No entries submitted after this point will be accepted. You can enter early, and edit your form to update with further posts; we will only tally the results at the contest's end.

Prizes:

1st Place: Rare Character Slot/Mutation Slot (by player preference)
2nd Place: 500 Magicka
3rd Place: [Mystery Box]

Entry Form: