Find the Horcruxes (ooc)

Thank you all so, so much for an amazing eleven months. I will miss the game and all of the wonderful characters so much. Thank you for putting up with me, and for all your plot suggestions and everything. I never expected this game to get even remotely this big, or last nearly this long, and the only reason it did was because of you guys.

I love you all.

♥, Brandi

Okay y'all. You may have noticed that the game has been dying for some time now. Rather than attempt to draw it out to an ending that we are no longer certain will be reasonable, given the previously-set ending date of June 30th, we the mods have decided that instead, the game will close on May 31st. Obviously, the over-arching plot of the war will not be resumed in that time, but we are giving you this last week to tie up any personal plot ends, if you so choose.

This has been a wonderful game and an amazing year, and it was only so great because of you all, our beloved players. Thank you for taking part in this game, and for everything that you brought to it.

All right, guys! The check-in ended last night, but I'm doing the removes this morning. Partly because I was braindead last night.

Anyway! We had several characters dropped this month, and we also lost one player.

Alie decided to drop Beatrice, Cassie let Mafalda go, Christie bid adieu to Gilderoy, and Emily sent Peadar to bed without supper, at least for now. Sadly, Darcy and her character Giles have left us, as well.

I'm still in the process of updating all the lists, I just wanted to get this up before I left, so please swing by the button and run it for all your characters!


ALSO. PLEASE NOTE THE CAPSLOCK, IT MEANS I'M MAKING AN ANNOUNCEMENT. Due to the game ending at the end of June, we will not accept any more applications after May 31st. This way, you don't have to spend forever on an app, just to only get to play your character for a month. So if you're thinking about bringing another character or two (or three or four or five ...) into the game, get the apps submitted before the 31st! We are also no longer accepting any "White Hats" (Order members, DMLE), because they already vastly outnumber the "Bad Guys."

Okay, so, I probably should have been more clear when outlining the information about the extended curfew. That is my fault, and I apologize. So, here I am to clarify even further. And please, if you have any questions about how your characters / their jobs might be affected by the newly-extended curfew, don't hesitate to ask, either in comments here or via e-mail or IM.

Basically, the Special Licensing (which really is just an extension of the special licensing they had to get to stay open during the nights of the full moon) only applies to public businesses that are more geared towards customer service. Bars, pubs, clubs, restaurants, the theatre, stores, etc. The Ministry, St. Mungo's, Daily Prophet offices, and WWN offices are unaffected by this, as the Ministry & Hospital canonically have apparation and floo locations inside the lobby so that people can arrive and leave without having to leave the respective buildings, and we can probably assume that both the DP offices and the WWN offices have the same. And, y'know, the Ministry doesn't want to cut off their news sources! And, generally, the only people who frequent the WWN offices and the DP offices are those who work there. Probably, the hospital will start checking more thoroughly the IDs of those victims who are brought in (and those of visitors): vampires will be turned away (I don't think they'd naturally go to the hospital for being healed, anyway?), werewolves will only be treated overnight on non-full nights, and anyone without an ID at all will be brought to the attention of the Ministry and be arrested. And probably the Ministry will also be Very Strict Indeed about who, exactly, gets past the atrium.

All right guys! In regards to the special licensing that businesses have to get to remain open after dusk:

- It's essentially the same as they had to get if they wanted to remain open after dusk during the nights of the full moon: they have to be inspected by Official Ministry Personnel to ensure that it is a safe place for people to gather after dark, where they won't be attacked by either vampires or werewolves
- If they already have the Full Moon license, then it'll likely be easier for them to get the new license than, say, those businesses that didn't bother with a Full Moon license.
- Among the safety precautions necessary are a designated "safety zone" that at least includes the entire building, and could extend outside of the building, as long as safety wards are in place (that are strong enough to keep out werewolves during the full moon). Within the "safety zone" there must be areas where patrons can apparate or floo in and out safely, so that they don't need to leave the "safety zone" to arrive or depart.
- While businesses aren't restricted from serving werewolves in their human form, they are now restricted from serving vampires, if they wish to remain open after dark. In fact, they must set up precautions (holy water sprinkled across the entrances and/or sunlamps set up inside) to prevent vampires from entering the premises.
- As with the Full Moon license, there is the chance of random Ministry inspection at any time, to ensure that they are complying with the guidelines for having the license.


The paperwork is available at the Ministry, and those who already have a Full Moon license are given priority on getting the new license before the 7th.

Hello my lovelies! The check-in period is officially over, which means that we, sadly, have a few removes to go through. We are losing nine characters tonight and two players.

Darcy has decided to drop Minerva McGonagall.
Dawn has decided to drop Hope Dobbs.
Emily has decided to drop Royden Poke.
Kaitlin has decided to drop Marissa Avery.
and Whit has decided to drop Doris Purkiss.

We are also losing Britt and her two characters, Filemina Attley and Xavier Avery, as well as Jenny and her two characters, Hector Gibbon and William Proudfoot.

We are sad to see these nine characters go, and wish our two departing players the best of luck in their future endeavors.


If you could please swing by the button and run if for all of your characters, it has been updated.


In modly news, with Wolfie having stepped down as a mod and Kate currently being buried by an overabundance of RL, as well, at the moment please direct any modly concerns to Brandi and/or Dawn. This coming weekend, however, Dawn will be the go-to mod, as Brandi will be sequestering herself all weekend (no internet, no phone, no TV ...) as she prepares to present the results of her research study next Wednesday.

Just a quick thing about this month's calendar, as I've been asked about it by a few different people:

Yes, there are a lot of vampire attacks. No, there's not a lot of Death Eatery, aside from the mid-month plottage.

Lately, things have happened in game that have led to a sort of "well, why aren't the DEs attacking them?!" kind of thing, where someone shoots their mouth off in their journal and the DEs would go after them because of that whole In Character Actions = In Character Consequences thing. And some planned attacks haven't made as much sense once the time comes for them to happen as they had made when the calendar was first made.

So, regarding DE activity ... the DEs can still be doing stuff. Go out and create chaos, guys. Utilize non-related NPCs if you just want to have fun, or if you want to cause plot, chat with other characters about using their family members for terror, but be sure to run it past the mods, as well! And non-DE players? Just keep in mind that if your character shoots off their mouth and attracts the notice of the DEs, we might start up discussions about stuff happening (ICA = ICC!) as a result, regardless of the calendar.

And as for the vampires, that's part of a plot to get the curfew extended to not being just on the full moon, but month-round. It's not necessarily the DEs going "HEY VAMPIRES, GO ATTACK THIS SPECIFIC PERSON," but more of a "wrong place, wrong time" kind of thing (see: Meredith Watkins last Friday night). Unless you want your character to be specifically targeted (see: Morgan MacDougal), in which case, hit up the modlies if you've already volunteered your character to be attacked. (We're trying to not OVERSATURATE the month with vampire attacks, so we don't need any more, sorry.)

Like I said! I've just been asked about these two things by multiple people, so I just wanted to go ahead and clear things up for everyone. :)



Also, due to an overabundance of Real Life, Wolfie is stepping down as a mod. Wolfie, we love you! Go kick Real Life's butt!

The March Calendar has been slightly altered to add in St. Patrick's Day (since I forgot it) and to throw in the dates for the spring holiday from Hogwarts (which, according to the lexicon, is 2 weeks long, so), and I removed one of the disapperances.

Also, just a reminder, if there's anything you'd like to see on the April calendar, let the modlies know and we can work it in. :)

Okay guys! With the check-in creeping up on us (Monday morning!), I thought it's about time to work out some kinks in the whole system.

• As always, anyone who's not on a hiatus has to check in at some point during the seven-day check-in period.
  
• For the past few months, we've not been doing adds or removes immediately before or during the check-ins, but that'll start changing now.
  
  • FOR CURRENT MEMBERS: If you want to bring in a new character within the week before or the week of check-in, all of your current characters need to be ready for the check-in (or already checked in). Your new character will not need to meet check-in requirements for the current check-in period (but if you could have at least one piece of activity for the new character, that'd be awesome ...).
    
  • FOR NEW MEMBERS: It ... doesn't really matter. :D You just don't have to worry about the current check-in period (but at least one piece of activity wouldn't be turned away ...).
• Except in cases of unforseen circumstances, if you want to go on hiatus within the week before or the week of check-in, please try to have your characters ready for the check-in before you go on hiatus.

One more modpost from me for the night! Two short tidbits from the Various Information page.

The about the journals doc has been updated with some information that I've said in various places but it had never actually made it into the doc until today. It's about warding and such.

Basically, here's the scoop: you go to the bookstore and buy a journal. It is keyed to you, so it "recognises" you and it accepts any wards that include you. This, however, means that anybody who opens that journal can read those wards, unless there are locking charms installed on the journal to keep people-who-aren't-the-owner from opening it. These can range from charms that simply lock the journal down tight to charms that cause the journal to destroy itself in various manners, should someone other than the owner attempt to open it.

Example time!

Marlene buys a new journal. It is keyed to her. The journal recognizes itself as Marlene McKinnon's Journal. Alex Savage writes a journal entry and includes a ward to Marlene. The only journal that picks up on this ward is Marlene's journal. Even if Marlene picks up her roommate Roland Williamson's journal, she wouldn't be able to read Alex's ward to her, because the ward is keyed to Marlene McKinnon's Journal. However, if Roland Williamson picks up Marlene's journal and she doesn't have locking charms on it, he can read Alex's ward to Marlene (and any other wards that include Marlene among them).

It is, therefore, INCREDIBLY LIKELY that all DEs and all Order members, at the very least, have strong locking charms on their journals because, if they fall into enemy hands, they would be pretty much screwed because the enemy would then be able to find out who's in the other organization.

I realize this is probably really freaking confusing and probably only makes sense in my head because I'm nuts, but. If there's any questions, I'd be happy to try to explain better.

(And I've just realized I ought to add: sloppily done or weak wards might leave a sort of "mark" on other journals, where you can kind of tell that there's supposed to be something else there. Of course, you still have to go through the nasty business of using the difficult charms to break the wards.)



The second Various Information tidbit is considerably less confusing. Thanks to the lovely Kate, we have a "Random Shit" doc for your consumption. All sorts of random cultural bits and pieces, and if you'd like to add something, let one of us know and we can get you added onto the doc to edit it.

H'okai guys! I just updated the calendar with this little bit of news that we completely slipped on adding:

On Wednesday, January 13th, Barty Jr will be put on trial for all the various things he was accused of in that article. More info on the trial will be put up on Wednesday by ... someone. Whit, perhaps? Or one of the DMLE peeps. Or even from the mod journal, who knows?

Alright guys! The January calendar just went up, go check it out!

Also, you'll notice that the trainees (Auror, Hitwizard, Healer, & Mediwizard) have today (see December's calendar) and tomorrow (see January's) off from training. But, seeing as it's the full moon, they'll still be on call in case shit goes down. Which, as you can see from January's calendar, it does.

Busy month coming up, guys! So hold on tight because this is gonna be a fun ride. :D

Okay, so. If you've been keeping up with the month's calendar, you know that today, Aurors are given the canonical permission to use unforgivables on suspects.

Those who were working the day shift today were gathered together this afternoon (along with the trainees and those who had today off [they were called in just for the meeting]) to be informed of this. Those who were out on patrol were informed to see McK (who is not happy about this and was visibly displeased when giving the news) when they got back. Those who are working the night shift today will be asked to stop by and see McK on their way in tonight.

Yes, there will be training for the Aurors to learn how to cast the unforgivables. Think "Moody's" class in GoF. Y'know, with the spiders? The AK and Crucio will only be practiced on spiders and rats, and they'll start out with the imperius on just spiders and rats, but they'll be working their way up to practicing the imperius on each other (benefits include ... learning how to try to fight it?). Said training will be worked into the trainees' regular training, and special sessions will be set up for the full Aurors to learn to cast the unforgivables, too.

At the moment, those who know are: Bagnold, Crouch Sr, and the Aurors. Hope probably knows since she's McK's secretary. Emmeline probably knows because she's Bagnold's. Other DMLE personnel might not know, though Barty Jr might if Daddy told him that he had been working on Bagnold to okay it. There'll be a DP article tomorrow to announce it, so that crimials are aware that Aurors have been given this authorization, and also so that bystanders aren't all "OMGWTFBBQ?!?!?!?!" if they see an Auror using an unforgivable.

Okay guys, this is going to be a bit of an odd request. Don't bother asking questions now, you'll see what it's for in due time.

I need people to submit Agony Aunt questions. They don't necessarily have to be from your character(s), just anything that you think would be amusing for AJ to answer. I need these by December 23rd at the latest. Send them either to my e-mail (garnet.sunrise@gmail) or the mod e-mail (find.the.mod@gmail).

Secondly, if any of your characters have businesses that they would want to advertise (and this does include family businesses!), contact me (Brandi) if you might want to create a small advertisement for the business.

Again ... you'll see what all this is for in due time.

Alright guys! Those of you who were in chat probably saw the links, but to make it official so that everybody knows about it, tonight I (with assistance from Dawn & Kate) made up a shifts / rotations / etc schedule with hours and days and things like that for Aurors, Hitwizards, Healers, and Mediwizards.

The one for Aurors & Hitwizards is located here, and the one for Healers & Mediwizards is located here.

You don't have to ~declare~ whether your character is a switcher, a daytimer, or a nighttimer, nor do you need to declare where in the schedule they are, what their "day one" is, etc etc. Just figure it out for your own reference and maybe stick it in your character's info somewhere, or something, so that others who would know when your character works would be able to figure it out.



... if that last bit didn't make sense, blame my Finals-Mode Brain Mush.

Dawn had a question, and so I had an answer! The question was about whether Hogsmeade businesses would be open today, considering last night's events.

Executive decision says probably all businesses were closed, unless the owner specifically wanted to stay open.

So.

There ya go.

Also, Hogwarts!parents, expect letters from your kids today, they're all safe and sound because Hogwarts' protections rawk, but Dumbles probably told all the kids "hey, owl your parents and let them know you're alive, kthnx."

Alright guys! Remember the Character Death and Family Member Death (& Etc) posts that went up a while ago? I link them in the acceptance comment, so y'all better. *finger wag*

Anyway. I went through and purged all the comments that had been left to the two posts and re-wrote the information in the posts and provided a form to be filled out (as well as examples for each post).

So! If you have any characters you want to kill, go here and comment.

If you have any characters' NPC!relatives that you'd like to have attacked, go disappear-y, or die, go here and comment.

Okay so. One last modly note.

The Auror trainees have proven themselves.

They no longer need to do the volunteering thing.

I've been meaning to mention this for a while, and I just kept forgetting. >> SORRY! :D

Dawn pointed out that we don't have a Hogsmeade weekend on the calendar, and since there's so many characters who live in the Hogsmeade area, they'd know when they suddenly have a bunch of teenagers descending on their town.

So, this Saturday is a Hogsmeade trip for the Hogwarts students.


As you were.


(Also, last night's #5 wasn't a public dig at anyone, it was just a general reminder. Nothing happened.)

Okay, guys! Just a couple quick notes.

Firstly: Thanks to Wolfie, we have a revamped various information page that is all nicely organized all pretty-like, which will make finding information that much easier. :)

Secondly: Chantal has contributed to our ever-growing supply of Information with a doc (that is now linked in the above-linked various info post) about the training programme for Magical Veterinarians.

Thirdly: We are now linking to plot documents in the various info post. You can't view or edit any of the information on those docs unless you have access; if you have a character in one (or more) of the groups, comment to the various info post and we'll get you added.

Fourthly: Speaking of plot documents, if you create any more, please invite at least the mod journal to them, and we'll get them added to the list, as well.

Fifthly: As yet another reminder, please chat with the mommy mod beforehand if you're going to be doing anything that might out a character as an Order member or a DE (even if it's your own character). It's not like I'm going to say no, you can't! I just need to know these things ahead of time so that the game keeps running smoothly.



And that is all for tonight. :) Hopefully.