Altivo's story, Part III: Open Challenges
Feb. 17th, 2006 06:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoContinued from this entry. More about the background of Altivo the character and Wild Spirits MUSH.
At the end of the last episode, a date and time had been set for an open challenge to determine new area leadership for two territories on the MUSH, Tornado Lands and Shadow Lands. The actual event was still more than a week off in real time, so there was plenty of time for maneuvering and worry about who would take part and what the outcome would be. I can really only tell this from 'Tivo's point of view, and bits he had second hand from his close acquaintances, but I imagine it was a time of insecurity and worry for the residents and herd members of the territories in question, too. Certainly there were symptoms of that.
I mentioned the attempts on the part of Shadow Lands residents to re-establish contact with their missing stallion player. Those were apparently unsuccessful, as he did not reappear. With no other challengers for the leadership in Shadow Lands, 'Tivo easily stepped into the vacated spot (though not without a lot of struggle and repercussions in actually assuming the responsibilities.)
Tornado Lands, however, posed a different problem. There were a number of issues: the puma Dark was active and making forays into the territory; at least some of the mares in Tornado's herd were agitating for the right to choose their own herd stallion, by election or some other means, rather than by the rules that had already been posted; and shortly before the scheduled challenges, Tornado himself reappeared. This last was the easiest to settle. He might have simply claimed his territory back and probably would have gone unchallenged in that, or he could have RPed the actual challenge in a sincere attempt to win or with every intention of simply losing and bowing out. He announced, however, OOCly, that he wished to retire from leadership and remain a player, returning himself to bachelor status and going into "exile". He said he no longer had the time available to play the part as it was needed.
Tornado put in occasional appearances, mostly late at night and mostly, as far as I could tell, just reading and posting mail messages during that week. However, there was a much more active subplot being played out in his territory, without his knowledge as far as we could tell. A new bachelor stallion named Perihelion had appeared, and seemed to be favored by the mares in Tornado Lands, particularly Strongheart and Seranna (not so much by Daisy, who I believe was Tornado's favorite and who ultimately went into exile with him.) I assume that Perihelion (or Peri as he was often called) would have been the mares' choice to replace Tornado had the MUSH admin allowed that. The admin, however, insisted on playing it by the published rules. We expected that Calydor would have to face Perihelion in a fight at the open challenge.
Because he was favored by the mares, and in Tornado's absence those mares pretty much controlled access to the territory, Perihelion had free entrance and run of Tornado Lands. As an unwelcome bachelor himself, 'Tivo did not see and could not relate what interactions Peri had with the mares or any other residents. However, on the few occasions where 'Tivo and Perihelion met face to face in the common meadow, Peri's disdain and contempt for the small paint from Seminole Mesa were very evident. The feeling was mostly mutual, as 'Tivo felt that Perihelion was a blustery, self-important windbag.
While all this was going on, another incident took place that had some effect on the overall outcome. Dark attacked a young filly named Pasha, daughter to Daisy and Tornado. Perihelion, though he had begun to talk and act as if he were already leader of Tornado Lands, was not present at the time. Calydor, however, did intervene and fought Dark publicly over the situation. Pasha was temporarily spared but died of her injuries a few days later. Dark, though injured in the fight, escaped alive. We thought perhaps that Calydor's actual defense of Tornado's herd members might gain him some edge in the competition for the mares' attention and support, but found little evidence of that in the end. On the day of Pasha's death, Calydor, Littlesuzie, and 'Tivo entered Tornado Lands surreptitiously and heaped flowers by her corpse. Because ownership of created objects could easily be determined, and because the descriptions attached in this case made it clear that all were unhappy about the events and Perihelion's behavior, this amounted to propaganda and troublemaking.
There was another death that same day, a stray foal called Cimmy whom we had all tried to befriend and help but to no avail. Always in poor health, he died of an apparent colic but really because he had lost his will to live. Then, to the amazement of 'Tivo and his friends (though presumably not a surprise to everyone) the body of Perihelion was found. The palomino stallion had apparently died of a snake bite. There was only one poisonous snake character on the MUSH, and 'Tivo later actually had an opportunity to question Soranasha the rattlesnake about that. She neither denied nor admitted to her involvement, but did say something about how Perihelion had "deserved his fate." Another character disappeared as well, and that was HawkWings, a mare noted for her shaman's talents (or witchcraft as some put it.) 'Tivo had contact with HawkWings only once, in a neutral to favorable context in fact, but knew little about her. He was to learn a bit more after the fact, as he tried to reassemble the fragments of Shadow Lands, but at the time, she was only a mystery.
Shaken by all the deaths and emotional tremors that took place in that three day period, Altivo withdrew into his private retreat in Seminole Mesa, wondering whether he could possible deal with this emotional content on a long term basis. Laithran was there, and listened sympathetically as 'Tivo poured out his fears and apprehensions, but the other stallion steadfastly supported 'Tivo's hope of leadership and a chance to be an example. He reassured his friend and frequent companion, giving him a new resolve to make the attempt.
Meanwhile, Tornado was apprised of all that had happened, and gave his blessing OOCly to Calydor as successor. Daisy insisted that she would remain with Tornado and go with him into exile (he ended up in Seminole Mesa, the catch basin at the time for unattached stallions.) Some of Tornado's mares agreed that they would stay in the territory and accept Calydor as herd stallion, while others scattered or disappeared. Jewel, Tornado's second, ultimately became Calydor's lead mare. Seranna, who had been taken into Tornado's herd, left it after Perihelion's death and ended up in Seminole Mesa with Black Star. Because of her close association with Perihelion and Strongheart, 'Tivo mistrusted her and avoided her, probably unnecessarily, for as long as she remained.
At last the day of the challenge arrived, and the actual event was almost an anticlimax. A very large portion of the MUSH participants showed up for the formalities. Shadow Lands was put on the block first, and 'Tivo stepped forward. No challengers declared themselves, and admin granted him the leadership. He, Moonleg, and Cherokee entered their new territory only to be greeted by the unhappy and unappeasable lead mare of Heart Seer. She became quite shrill about her disapproval of 'Tivo's methods and decisions, despite having refused his OOC attempts at compromise during the prior weeks. The best known and most notorious of the lesbian mare herd was also present, but Ironhoof did not make her customary offer to geld 'Tivo on the spot. Instead she gave a few OOC hints about hidden entrances and pathways before vanishing. The chief MUSH admin, in the form of the spirit Puma, was listening to the whole conversation and stepped in angrily. She accused Tempest, the former lead mare, of subterfuge and "stealing" players to go to some competing MUSH. Ultimately, the players of both Tempest and Ironhoof were banished from the MUSH along with their alts. The OOC politics behind this were never entirely clear to 'Tivo, but he was left to repair a damaged territory on his own, without interference from the former residents.
Then Tornado Lands was finally put up for challenge. Calydor declared himself, and like 'Tivo, found he had no challengers. The competition had played itself out before the actual challenge took place, and, for whatever reasons, Perihelion had withdrawn and resigned his character to death. Littlesuzie was expected to join Calydor in Tornado Lands, though they had a falling out not long after that and she withdrew from play.
Black Star had not been able to be present for the challenge itself, He appeared later that evening, though, to find that his favorite mare Littlesuzie had abandoned him. 'Tivo had to add the "insult" of telling his leader of his own departure to assume leadership in Shadow Lands. Genuinely concerned for Star, who had on the whole treated him well, 'Tivo was very worried about this conference. In the end, it went well enough. He found Black Star high on the mesa, at an overlook that featured a terrifying drop. Although he seemed despondent, Star nonetheless told 'Tivo that he understood and wished him well, and that he would always be welcome to return to the Mesa either as a resident or a visitor. 'Tivo took some relief in that, because it implied that Star had no intention of resigning or disappearing himself, despite the dramatic setting in which he could have easily plunged over the edge to end his character's existence. Departing quietly in the dusk, 'Tivo went home to Cherokee and Moonleg, thinking about the tasks ahead of him. Had he any idea how large some of those were going to be, he might have been considering his own disappearance, but he was blissfully ignorant at the time.
A raw log of events on the day of the challenge, from 'Tivo's point of view, is available here. This contains a lot of OOC (out of character) material, because the events were largely OOC. However, it also provides a lot of background if you wish to slog through it. This was all publicly visible, so I don't anticipate any complaints about having posted it.
Next installment: The Scouring of the Shadow Lands
At the end of the last episode, a date and time had been set for an open challenge to determine new area leadership for two territories on the MUSH, Tornado Lands and Shadow Lands. The actual event was still more than a week off in real time, so there was plenty of time for maneuvering and worry about who would take part and what the outcome would be. I can really only tell this from 'Tivo's point of view, and bits he had second hand from his close acquaintances, but I imagine it was a time of insecurity and worry for the residents and herd members of the territories in question, too. Certainly there were symptoms of that.
I mentioned the attempts on the part of Shadow Lands residents to re-establish contact with their missing stallion player. Those were apparently unsuccessful, as he did not reappear. With no other challengers for the leadership in Shadow Lands, 'Tivo easily stepped into the vacated spot (though not without a lot of struggle and repercussions in actually assuming the responsibilities.)
Tornado Lands, however, posed a different problem. There were a number of issues: the puma Dark was active and making forays into the territory; at least some of the mares in Tornado's herd were agitating for the right to choose their own herd stallion, by election or some other means, rather than by the rules that had already been posted; and shortly before the scheduled challenges, Tornado himself reappeared. This last was the easiest to settle. He might have simply claimed his territory back and probably would have gone unchallenged in that, or he could have RPed the actual challenge in a sincere attempt to win or with every intention of simply losing and bowing out. He announced, however, OOCly, that he wished to retire from leadership and remain a player, returning himself to bachelor status and going into "exile". He said he no longer had the time available to play the part as it was needed.
Tornado put in occasional appearances, mostly late at night and mostly, as far as I could tell, just reading and posting mail messages during that week. However, there was a much more active subplot being played out in his territory, without his knowledge as far as we could tell. A new bachelor stallion named Perihelion had appeared, and seemed to be favored by the mares in Tornado Lands, particularly Strongheart and Seranna (not so much by Daisy, who I believe was Tornado's favorite and who ultimately went into exile with him.) I assume that Perihelion (or Peri as he was often called) would have been the mares' choice to replace Tornado had the MUSH admin allowed that. The admin, however, insisted on playing it by the published rules. We expected that Calydor would have to face Perihelion in a fight at the open challenge.
Because he was favored by the mares, and in Tornado's absence those mares pretty much controlled access to the territory, Perihelion had free entrance and run of Tornado Lands. As an unwelcome bachelor himself, 'Tivo did not see and could not relate what interactions Peri had with the mares or any other residents. However, on the few occasions where 'Tivo and Perihelion met face to face in the common meadow, Peri's disdain and contempt for the small paint from Seminole Mesa were very evident. The feeling was mostly mutual, as 'Tivo felt that Perihelion was a blustery, self-important windbag.
While all this was going on, another incident took place that had some effect on the overall outcome. Dark attacked a young filly named Pasha, daughter to Daisy and Tornado. Perihelion, though he had begun to talk and act as if he were already leader of Tornado Lands, was not present at the time. Calydor, however, did intervene and fought Dark publicly over the situation. Pasha was temporarily spared but died of her injuries a few days later. Dark, though injured in the fight, escaped alive. We thought perhaps that Calydor's actual defense of Tornado's herd members might gain him some edge in the competition for the mares' attention and support, but found little evidence of that in the end. On the day of Pasha's death, Calydor, Littlesuzie, and 'Tivo entered Tornado Lands surreptitiously and heaped flowers by her corpse. Because ownership of created objects could easily be determined, and because the descriptions attached in this case made it clear that all were unhappy about the events and Perihelion's behavior, this amounted to propaganda and troublemaking.
There was another death that same day, a stray foal called Cimmy whom we had all tried to befriend and help but to no avail. Always in poor health, he died of an apparent colic but really because he had lost his will to live. Then, to the amazement of 'Tivo and his friends (though presumably not a surprise to everyone) the body of Perihelion was found. The palomino stallion had apparently died of a snake bite. There was only one poisonous snake character on the MUSH, and 'Tivo later actually had an opportunity to question Soranasha the rattlesnake about that. She neither denied nor admitted to her involvement, but did say something about how Perihelion had "deserved his fate." Another character disappeared as well, and that was HawkWings, a mare noted for her shaman's talents (or witchcraft as some put it.) 'Tivo had contact with HawkWings only once, in a neutral to favorable context in fact, but knew little about her. He was to learn a bit more after the fact, as he tried to reassemble the fragments of Shadow Lands, but at the time, she was only a mystery.
Shaken by all the deaths and emotional tremors that took place in that three day period, Altivo withdrew into his private retreat in Seminole Mesa, wondering whether he could possible deal with this emotional content on a long term basis. Laithran was there, and listened sympathetically as 'Tivo poured out his fears and apprehensions, but the other stallion steadfastly supported 'Tivo's hope of leadership and a chance to be an example. He reassured his friend and frequent companion, giving him a new resolve to make the attempt.
Meanwhile, Tornado was apprised of all that had happened, and gave his blessing OOCly to Calydor as successor. Daisy insisted that she would remain with Tornado and go with him into exile (he ended up in Seminole Mesa, the catch basin at the time for unattached stallions.) Some of Tornado's mares agreed that they would stay in the territory and accept Calydor as herd stallion, while others scattered or disappeared. Jewel, Tornado's second, ultimately became Calydor's lead mare. Seranna, who had been taken into Tornado's herd, left it after Perihelion's death and ended up in Seminole Mesa with Black Star. Because of her close association with Perihelion and Strongheart, 'Tivo mistrusted her and avoided her, probably unnecessarily, for as long as she remained.
At last the day of the challenge arrived, and the actual event was almost an anticlimax. A very large portion of the MUSH participants showed up for the formalities. Shadow Lands was put on the block first, and 'Tivo stepped forward. No challengers declared themselves, and admin granted him the leadership. He, Moonleg, and Cherokee entered their new territory only to be greeted by the unhappy and unappeasable lead mare of Heart Seer. She became quite shrill about her disapproval of 'Tivo's methods and decisions, despite having refused his OOC attempts at compromise during the prior weeks. The best known and most notorious of the lesbian mare herd was also present, but Ironhoof did not make her customary offer to geld 'Tivo on the spot. Instead she gave a few OOC hints about hidden entrances and pathways before vanishing. The chief MUSH admin, in the form of the spirit Puma, was listening to the whole conversation and stepped in angrily. She accused Tempest, the former lead mare, of subterfuge and "stealing" players to go to some competing MUSH. Ultimately, the players of both Tempest and Ironhoof were banished from the MUSH along with their alts. The OOC politics behind this were never entirely clear to 'Tivo, but he was left to repair a damaged territory on his own, without interference from the former residents.
Then Tornado Lands was finally put up for challenge. Calydor declared himself, and like 'Tivo, found he had no challengers. The competition had played itself out before the actual challenge took place, and, for whatever reasons, Perihelion had withdrawn and resigned his character to death. Littlesuzie was expected to join Calydor in Tornado Lands, though they had a falling out not long after that and she withdrew from play.
Black Star had not been able to be present for the challenge itself, He appeared later that evening, though, to find that his favorite mare Littlesuzie had abandoned him. 'Tivo had to add the "insult" of telling his leader of his own departure to assume leadership in Shadow Lands. Genuinely concerned for Star, who had on the whole treated him well, 'Tivo was very worried about this conference. In the end, it went well enough. He found Black Star high on the mesa, at an overlook that featured a terrifying drop. Although he seemed despondent, Star nonetheless told 'Tivo that he understood and wished him well, and that he would always be welcome to return to the Mesa either as a resident or a visitor. 'Tivo took some relief in that, because it implied that Star had no intention of resigning or disappearing himself, despite the dramatic setting in which he could have easily plunged over the edge to end his character's existence. Departing quietly in the dusk, 'Tivo went home to Cherokee and Moonleg, thinking about the tasks ahead of him. Had he any idea how large some of those were going to be, he might have been considering his own disappearance, but he was blissfully ignorant at the time.
A raw log of events on the day of the challenge, from 'Tivo's point of view, is available here. This contains a lot of OOC (out of character) material, because the events were largely OOC. However, it also provides a lot of background if you wish to slog through it. This was all publicly visible, so I don't anticipate any complaints about having posted it.
Next installment: The Scouring of the Shadow Lands
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-02-17 08:55 am (UTC)My thoughts and feelings and attempts to help were always focused on you, even if it might hurt out of my imperfections about knowing everybody involved in this world whether intimately or as a simple, passing stranger.
Calydor was always right in there and a big part, as was Eagle.
Over time we can look back and figure things out we will never ever see at the moment. Such is life.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-17 11:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-17 03:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-17 07:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-17 07:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-17 07:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-17 07:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-17 07:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-17 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-17 09:28 pm (UTC)Heart-Seer's player would be fuming if he found out Puma @forced his objects for her own entertainment. :/
no subject
Date: 2006-02-17 09:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-18 04:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-18 11:25 am (UTC)I really wish I'd stumbled across that place myself back then.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-18 03:54 pm (UTC)Yes, unfortunately, I don't know of any other place like it. It was an unusual idea and it's a shame it didn't last longer.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-20 01:21 am (UTC)HawkWings was Tornado's lead mare until she became very enamored with Ironhoof while seeing Ironhoof out actively recruiting for Wild Sisters herd members in the Silver Moon Meadow. Furious with Ironhoof for stealing his lead mare, Tornado teamed up with IceHeart and Domino to try and teach Ironhoof a lesson ... this is what The Night That Never Happened was (ICly) to be about.
I also added in Ghlu, a stallion I remember Tempest had a fling with (but don't remember any details about) and Liluye, who was very close to Tempest and went essentially everywhere Tempest went. She tended to be quiet and shy, but she came to really hate Ironhoof and was glad when Tempest left the Wild Sisters to join Heart Seer's herd, Liluye was happy to no longer have to be around Ironhoof.