Quest Briefing

[Andromeda]

This thread will be the location for all of the quests through the tournament and your reference for information if need be. I will also post the individual quest in each RP thread to start. I will also explain the bracket system that will be used for the tournament. Remember that I will post the starting thread, the tournament's first rounds will offically begin tomorrow at midnight giving you a full day, plus, to ask questions and plan according. The deadline is not set currently, so you have as long as you want to go. Once we hit the one month mark, I will make a decision on the deadline and you will need to start wrapping up the quests if you have not already. This will be explained again in the starting threads.

With the number of participants the tournament has I have opted for priliminaries and finals rather then a straight out tournament. It will be broken up into 3 groups for the priliminaries and then for the finals I will reorganize the remaining people into two groups until they all merge into one group for the final round(s).

This is what it will look like, with one person being eliminated from each group as the rounds progress. The finals will merge at the third round into a group a four and depending where the story is at will end there or continue for a remaining round with only 3. That will be subject to change as I see where the story goes.

Preliminaries
Group 1
Player 01 -----
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Player 02 -----
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Player 03 -----
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Player 04 -----
Group 2
Player 05 -----
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Player 06 -----
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Player 07 -----
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Player 08 -----
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Player 09 -----
Group 3
Player 10 -----
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Player 11 -----
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Player 12 -----
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Player 13 -----

Finals

Player 1 -----
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Player 2 ----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Player -----
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Player 3 ----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Player -----
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Player 4 -----
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Player 5 -----
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Player 6 ----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Player -----
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Player 7 ----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Player -----
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Player 8 -----

To explain the way the bracket works. The preliminaries will consist of two rounds, the first round is three groups totaling the 13 participants. From that, 3 are cut (one from each group) and the remaining ten proceed to the second rounds of the preliminaries. Then at the end of the second round, the best eight are decided on. Those eight move on to the finals where there are two groups now. At the end of the third round, one is dropped from each group leaving 6 to move to the fourth. There are now two groups of three. At the end of the fourth round one more from each group is dropped. At this point, the two groups merge to be one group of four. From there is the final battle or the round leading up to the final battle depending on the state of the plot.

Group 1 - Jurion-Thiltis
Dragonheart - Jurion
Cassie-Chan - Jurion
Psiko - Jurion - Knight of the Crescent Moon
Musicmuse - Thiltis

Group 2 - Night Fall Thieves
Itachi Uchiha
HUNK
Hexin
Rabble Rouser
Fehrant

Group 3 - Therus-Wuith
Anomaly - Therus
Aerif - Therus
Haku - Wuith
Dante Fatima - Wuith - Crimson Leaves

Quest
Spirits of the Forest - Group 1


Jurion Briefing

Summary: Travel to the Forest of Ynuron and investigate the strange disappearances. Report back to the Knights of the Crescent Moon the findings.
Briefing: Many soldiers have entered the Forest of Ynuron and have not returned. The forest is an ancient land said to hold strange magic as well as powerful monsters. The forest lies on the border of Jurion and Thiltis, try to observe the treaty as best as possible during the investigation of the forest. However, it is important to know what has become of our men, several Crescent Moon knights have been dispatched to the forest as well not to be heard from.
Your mission is to investigate the forest and learn what has become of our men. If it is the work of a monster slay the beast so that no more people come across its path by whatever misfortune. If it is a trick of Thiltis learn as much as possible about the situation and do not attempt a rescue, we do not need you starting a political incident. If it is Thiltis treachery the matter will be handled by the King, report back immediately once you have learned enough of the situation.
If possible account for all those at have been reported missing. The missing are as follows: Knight of the Crescent Moon Ruthin Hillrim, Knight of the Crescent Moon Whinah Eytir, Knight of the Crescent Moon Thini Ortinerm, Tower Guard Yurino Falltial, Sentry Doth Moin, and Scout Murin Roathin including fourteen civilians. Ruthin Hillrim was a male Lt. Mage Knight roughly six feet tall, short brown hair, green eyes, medium build and had the ability of water magic. Whinah Eytir was a female Senior Mage Knight (higher ranking than Lt. Mage) much under six feet tall, long red hair, blue-gray eyes, slender build and had the ability of fire magic and dark magic. Thini Ortinern was a male Senior Mage Knight over six feet tall, medium length brown hair, blue eyes, very muscular and had the ability of physical magic.
Starting Location: Jurion-Thiltis Wall, you will meet a good will ambassador from Thiltis as a sign of good faith from them. Treat them with respect, but be cautious of treachery. Did not attempt open hostility towards the ambassador even if it is discovered to be a Thiltis trick. Escort the ambassador out of the forest after the investigation is complete.
Thiltis Briefing

Summary: As a good will ambassador you are there to extend Thiltis hand in friendship as Jurion conducts its investigation of the Forest of Ynuron.
Briefing: The Forest of Ynuron is not a friendly area at the border of our two kingdoms. Many monsters and strange creatures lurk in the forest so be on your guard, but remember that it is the Jurion’s mission and let them handle what you cannot. The forest is said to have magical properties, which would be of great use to the Jurion. Make sure nothing happens to create a political incident, but do not let Jurion roam freely through the forest.
The Jurion military is insisting on investigating the forest for their supposed lost men. While we are forced to believe this story for the time being, watch their actions and report any suspicious behavior back to the court at the completion of the mission. If their story is true then we have nothing to fear and they will no doubt find their men dead. However, if it is a trick of Jurion take what actions you can to prevent a situation and immediately report back to the court. As said before do not start a political incident.
Starting Location: You will travel to the Thiltis-Jurion Wall to meet the soldiers from Jurion. From there you will travel to the forest north. Extend the Jurion soldiers all courtesy and friendship while on your mission. Once the mission is finished, they will escort you out of the forest upon which you will depart company and return to the court.
Boss Fight:
Undead Ruthin: Former Crescent Moon knight with all of his abilities from when he was living along with inhuman strength as an undead. He cannot be instantly killed by curative magic, but it does hurt him. Ruthin wields his sword along with a small shield attached to his arm for blocking strikes. Most of his intelligence has remained making him more than a wandering spirit.
Abilities:
Water Break – A blade of water formed around the user’s hand that can be used as a weapon. It is typically a weak spell that is dispelled quickly.
Aqua Shell – A protective barrier that protects from physical attacks, magical attacks will break it easily.
Needle Rain – A fury of water that is sharp as daggers that assault a small-targeted range.
Undead Whinah: Former Crescent Moon knight with all of her abilities from when she was living along with the inhuman strength as an undead. She cannot be instantly killed by curative magic, but it affects her more than the others. Whinah wield a blade staff, a long pole with a blade similar to that of a sword attached at the end. Most of her intelligence has remained making her more than a wandering spirit.
Abilities:
Pillar of Uthi – A column of flames that breaks up through the ground.
Endowed Flames – Fire that is cast on the user’s weapon granting it temporary elemental properties.
Firestorm – A ball of flames that is directed at a small range that upon impact explodes outward to engulf a larger area.
Night – A spell that blackens the light from the surrounding area.
Black Whip – A rope or whip like matter of darkness that can be uses as a weapon, though more conventionally a restraining spell as it drains the strength of the victim.
Undead Thini: Former Crescent Moon knight will all of his abilities from when he was living along with the inhuman strength as an undead. He cannot be instantly killed by curative magic, but is does hurt him slightly. Thini uses no weapons at all; his method of combat is with his fists. Most of his intelligence has remained making him more than a wandering spirit.
Abilities:
Burning – A spell that increases his strength.
Harden – A spell that toughens his body to attacks.
Flight – A spell that increases his agility and reaction.

Prince Ransom…again?! - Group 2


Summary: The Prince of Thiltis is on route to his uncle’s town, take out the guards and capture the Prince.
Briefing: Prince Tyrak Kose Til Thilterin of the Kingdom of Thiltis is being escorted from the safety of his castle to his uncle’s town by carriage. This leaves him open for several days to attack. He only has the Captain of the Guard and on squad accompanying him.
Your task is take out whatever resistance there is and capture the prince. The Kingdom of Thiltis value their family above all else, they will want their son back. He is also their only heir currently, making him even more valuable. Once you have captured the prince take him back to the hideout in Thiltis in the town of Tourin on the southern border of the kingdom. Keep him until others arrive from the guild to take him back to the main base.
The route they are taking are mostly open fields making it difficult to approached. They must cross the Tyuth River, which lies on the edge of a forest. It is suggested that you use the forest for cover, however it is up to you to decide your method of attack. The forest is crawling it monsters that attack humans without hesitation, be on your guard.
Starting Location: Your team will begin at the hideout in the town of Tourin. It is a small town in the Kingdom of Thiltis that is used for transferring illegal goods throughout the kingdom. Many of the townspeople are part of the guild, though a few are still loyal to the kingdom.
Boss Fight:
Captain of the Guard: He is a ranking member of the Order of Thortin, the elite members of the Thiltis military. He is a master swordsman and is used to fighting several people at once. The man served in the last war against the overwhelming numbers of the Wuith military making a name for himself.
Abilities:
Arc Wave – A large swing of the sword that creates a slicing wind from its point covering 180 degrees.
Earth Gash – A downward thrust into the ground that causes the ground to shake and crack throwing up rock and earth at the opponent.
Cleave – A heavy blow from the sword that is enough to crack shields and stagger the opponent.
Darkness Wolf – A summon creature of magic that is a black mist in the form of a wolf that works independently from the one that summon it. He can summon up to four of these creatures.

Caves and Dragons, something amiss? - Group 3


Therus Weapons Company Briefing

Summary: The Kingdom of Wuith is having a Dragon problem and has requested the aid of Therus to aid them in slaying the beast.
Briefing: The Kingdom of Wuith has requested the aid of the Therus Weapons Company to slay a dragon that is creating havoc in the nearby towns. The dragon lives in a cave nearby to the towns surrounded by a dense forest. The cave is deep and vast, but the smell of brimstone should lead you to the dragon.
The Therus Research Team has requested something during the mission, so you have a secondary objective. Silencing the beast is important to the continued relationship with Wuith, but there is something else in the cave that is of importance to Therus. The cave is a strange source of magic, it could be the reason of the dragon, but the magic has become concentrated into the raw materials of the cave. Locate and extract enough samples for the research teams to examine. It will be important that the beast is dead, if the samples prove themselves to be useful it will mean less trouble in the future.
The forest is filled with monsters that are on edge from the high activity of the dragon so be careful while approaching the cave. The cave itself should be empty of monsters aside from the dragon, but always be on the look out for trouble.
Starting Location: Those from Wuith will meet the Therus agents in the town of Emerit, one of the towns near to the cave that has been troubled by the dragon’s attacks. Once the mission is complete return immediately to Therus to report.
Wuith Briefing:
Summary: The Eremt region is under attack from a rampaging dragon and the military has been unable to stop to thus far. Hunt down the dragon and kill it before it hurts anymore of the people.
Briefing: The military has reluctantly given into the demands of the court to request the aid of the Therus Weapons Company in this mission. The soldiers from Therus will arrive and aid you in the hunt for the dragon. The lair for the beast is in a cave nearby the town of Emerit. Around the cave is a forest dense with monsters that have become aggressive from the dragon’s activity. It is important that the dragon is stopped as it is creating an imbalance in nature and halting trade.
The lair of the dragon has a strong magic aura coming from it, which may give the dragon increased abilities. Do not hesitate to use the Therus soldiers for your cover while you go in for the killing blow. This is a matter of honor for the Wuith military do not fail and do not let those cowards from Therus steal the glory from you.
Starting Location: You are to meet the Therus soldiers in the town of Emerit and travel through the forest into the cave where the dragon lies. Return to the town of Emerit upon completion of the mission to inform the residents of its death.
Boss Fight:
Dragon: It seems to be just a normal dragon, not too many of them are seen these days in the land of Thuyin since the magic barrier went up. The dragon however is not to be underestimated as it is aggressive and will seek out its prey. It can breathe fire and with the magic amplification of the cave will only serve to increase its potential.
Dragon Breath – A standard breath attack.
Prism Fire – A charged up flame attack that had been enhanced by the magic of the cave.
Torrent – A breath attack spread across a wide area.
Wing Send – The wings beat quickly creating a gale force wind that will send opponents flying away from the area.

[Fehrant]

Nothing to comment upon, really. Objectives and everything else is very clear. Just one thing though. Do the members of the group know the existence of each other, or is that up to us to decide?

[Andromeda]

Since in the case of the Thieves guild, you are all on the same side so it can be up to you if you have known each other or not. You may have done work together in the past, know each other by name. It is as you said, up to you decide if you want to be acquianted or not with each other.

In cases of the other groups it is more possible they would not know each other with the exception of Therus. But that too is up to them to decide if they want to know each other or not.

Since everyone from the RP is used to having a OoC thread, I will ask if you wish to have one for cooperative matters. I have no objections to it myself, I can make one for each of the groups that wish to have one. Otherwise you can PM between each other or just play it impromptu.

[Fehrant]

Yeah, that was my concern. That since we belong to the same guild, it would not be unheard of to know/have seen someone from the group before. As per usual slight metacharacter knowledge is under our discretion, then.

[Merlin]

You have the preliminaries ending with 10 people, but the finals start with 8. Perhaps you simply listed an example of the general flow, but if not... you might want to correct that typo. XD

[Andromeda]

Silly me, made a bit of a goof. Explaining from that the preliminaries are two rounds, the second with ten people. And then the finals start up with those that remain from the best of the eight, being the third round. Since the groups are going to be re-organized afterwards, the second round of the preliminaries will end and two from all of them will be dropped. Those that make it will pass on to the finals. I probably should have explained that a little better. Sorry about that. I was trying to find a way to get down to a more managable number since 13 is really hard to work with. I would have preferred 16.

Thanks Merlin for catching that.

EDIT: I edited the main post to more thoroughly explain the bracket system and the way it works. It is under the bracket layout and goes through the process step by step.

[Aerif]

EDITED LINK - CORRECTED

I have forseen many people becoming very very confused over the bracket system, so my good deed for the day was to create this flow chart in Microsoft Excel. It is colour coded and quite a bit more easier to understand than Andromerda's text version (well for me anyway ) and is available to download here:

http://www.sendmefile.com/00503686

However to download the file you need the password, which is: tff

[Merlin]

Aerif, in group3 you have 4 'remaining' players instead of 3 in the first round.

You know, in graphical version, it makes this thing look like its going to take a year to finish. You might have to cap the quests at some point less than a month with that many rounds.

[Aerif]

I've fixed that now, but from looking at it I can see that this tournament will take a long time... Even if each quest is only around 2 weeks long that will be a 3 month long tournament! And I doubt the quests could be completed in 2 weeks...

[Andromeda]

Well a lot of it will depend on how quickly everyone posts. If they all post really fast then it could be done quickly. However, the end goal is as important as the process. Which is why saying a deadline is going to be difficult. If I say you much be finished in a month and you do not make it, what then. I disqualify the entire group for failing to meet the deadline? I would prefer not to do that.

But yes, you do make a valid point that this will be a long process. In an ideal world, I want these to took no longer than a month. So this does not take much more than say, half of the year to complete. Then you can all recoop for the next tournament for however long.

What I can do, is make a tentative month deadline and then allow for a week to wrap up the story and bring a close. How does that sound, to make things a little more concrete? But also remember that a group can be quick and finish their's in a week or two if they are all really active. Once one group does finish, even with a soft deadline, I will be making it a more solid deadline at that point.

[Merlin]

Six months is freakin ridiculous for many reasons. First of all, are these 'epic' quests that require mass amounts of posts, etc to complete? With all due respect to all of you here, I'll have to go Simon on you for a moment. I don't need to read through 15+ pages of an RP to tell if you suck or not in these preliminaries. A decent RPer should be able to pull off 2+ posts a week. Thats pretty generous, IMHO. Personally if you're worth your weight, you should be able to post every other day... but life's a bitch, so I am going with 2+ a week. If you haven't wrote 2 posts in a week, you really aren't serious about this Tourney and should be dropped.

Giving you a month to post isn't going to make your work any better, even if you're a good writer in a slump... it simply won't make a difference in the long run. If you aren't doing good, then you can try again in another Tourney. Obviously, if you're in a slump you're not at your best, so why would you win? Makes sense, right? Dragging the whole system down some long, neverending process hurts everyone.

So here's how you can make this into something reasonable: The preliminaries would last 1-2 weeks each. The judges can easily pick off the folks not doing very well. If you don't post 2+ a week, you're gone. Don't sit around waiting on some lazy punk to post... its your ass on the line. Improvise.

The first round of preliminaries has 4/5/4 as stated. That means after the first round you have 3/4/3. The next round you will end up with 2/3/2. That leaves us with 7 people(not 8 as listed...). Notice, you're still stuck with an odd number. This could be resolved in round one. From the middle team(the big one) eliminate the two weakest links. But that's not fair!!! Actually it is. You'd just get eliminated in the next round, so I'm saving you the hurt. If you do that you end up with 3/3/3 after the first round. Then you can have another preliminary and end up with 2/2/2. That's six people left out of 13. Now we can get serious. If you want longer times on quests, now is the time to start doing it. Its going to take more scrutiny to analyze the remaining ones, so longer time is fine.

The main point is this: A lot of things change in six months on a forum. New people will arrive at TFF who may wish to participate in a Tourney. Some people may leave. Others may get sick of the Tourney after that long. Compressing the timeline really has no major disadvantages, but adds quite a few advantages. I see no reason to drag this out for all eternity. Its a tournament, not a MMORPG.