ways_back_room | Entries tagged with physical alterations

Preview thumbnail from a video that has been altered to read 'This man will put bees in your bar', with 'bar' in a somewhat smaller font size, and the image replaced with a screenshot of Wilson wearing a beekeeper's hat and wooden armour and holding a bug net.

With mod approval, Wilson will be building a bee box in the lake area, not far from the gardens! Four bees live inside it and they're about the size of hummingbirds or mice; bigger than normal bees, but smaller than the average waitrat or demon bunny. They don't initially have names, but Wilson will take suggestions after the opportunity is pointed out to him.

If any of them meets with an accident, a new bee will hatch inside the box and replace it. They'll fight back as a group if one of them is attacked and can sting as many times as they feel is necessary to make their point, but usually prefer to mind their own beesness. Except in spring! In spring they get ornery and territorial and will try to sting anything animate that stands too close - living, undead, robotic, magic incarnate, most gods except maybe ones with relevant domains, Lovecraftian horrors, as long they physically can sting something they'll try it - and the others will still come to their defense if someone their sister picked a fight with should do something as uncouth as fighting back. When summer rolls around they'll settle back down. They're not a serious threat to a healthy human who can move away from the hive, and armor helps, but they could do some damage to someone who was injured, immobilised, or passed out in a nearby bush.

The bees don't require any upkeep apart from making sure the box doesn't get smashed to pieces. (If it does get smashed to pieces, Wilson, another Don't Starve character, or any other patron who's used the alchemy engine before can probably fix it if you save the parts and recapture all four bees.) They'll pollinate any flowers they can find within a reasonable distance, but Wilson will plant some from his world in the immediate vicinity of the hive just to make sure. When they've produced enough honey to harvest, it oozes out from between the frames without requiring that the box be opened; the bees will still try to sting people who take their excess honey but will give up after a short chase. In winter, they hunker down inside the box, make little or no excess honey, and won't come out of the box even to discourage people from scraping honey off the outside.

If you have any further questions that aren't answered by the wiki page, I'm here to help!

takethatnature

With mod approval, Wilson is deploying an Alchemy Engine out behind the bar, in the area of the lake but not on the immediate waterline. It looks like this: a round metal ball maybe three or four feet in diameter, with a spinning thing on top, a wheel sticking out of the side, and a three-legged wooden frame it sits in with a spiralling yellow cable coming out of it around the middle and reattaching at the bottom of one leg. The whole construction is maybe seven or eight feet or two to 2.5 meters tall; taller than most humans, but not drastically so.

What does it do, you ask? It teaches you how to make implausibly effective wilderness survival tools out of easily scrounged materials and game logic! (It doesn't teach you how to make magic items, although it can show you how to build a comparable research machine that will.) If you stand near it, it shows you its full complement of possible recipes and the thing on top spins faster. Bring 1-3 types of materials to it in accordance with a recipe, and it will help you make the resulting item in mere minutes. From that point on, you'll always be able to make another of that item at the same whirlwind speed if you have the materials on your person.

The Alchemy Engine allows users to craft any item found in the "Science Tier 1" or "Science Tier 2" categories of the Don't Starve wiki, and anything in "Always Available" except character-specific items* (like Woodlegs's boat or Winona's generator) and the Telltale Heart; however, to make an item you must have the full set of ingredients. Some of the crafts the Alchemy Engine teaches are semi-realistic versions of things that actually exist, but with the construction process vastly simplified; some are ridiculous but useful, more useful than they reasonably should be; some exist mainly because of puns. For instance, it can teach characters to make:

beehives
raincoats
rowboats and a variety of sails to stick on them
rope
all-purpose antivenom
armor made of wood, marble, seashells, etc
lanterns
an automatic fire extinguisher
a giant ice cube to wear on your head
fishing rods
and more!

Some of the things it offers call for esoteric materials from Wilson's world that aren't generally just left lying around, like Doydoy feathers, Dragonfly scales, or valuable coins from the Hamlet civilization; the more potent the finished product, the more likely this is. Other items call for live animals, which Bar definitely won't help you with. The Alchemy Engine's recipes will accept a little bit of substitution - demon bunnies instead of normal rabbits, for instance - but it won't settle for something substantially more convenient, so getting the materials could be an adventure unto itself.

( Further Minutiae )

*Some of the character-specific items might also be available to the right person; it might be possible for a fellow plant-person to make Wormwood's items with the guidance of the Alchemy Engine, for instance.

bjornwilde

First, let me apologize for being radio silent and not tagging back with threads. Work has been nutty and it's been pretty hot when I get home, not to mention end of the school year shenanigans with my daughter, which all adds up to a shortage of RPG spoons for me. I will try to get back to threads tomorrow, if not tonight.

Next up, the fight club! Since this is possibly a more permanent thing, Sam insisted I get buy off from both Security and the Milliways Mods, both of which I have done. Mod approval was due to the fact he wants to build more lasting sparing rings outback, rather than the rough ones he marked out with his heel last time. Security buy off was to make sure we played by the rules and no one gets locked up.

What I have in mind so far are slightly raised rings of different shapes: circles for hand-to-hand, squares for weapons, and rings with triangles within them for teaching. For example, a circle with a triangle will be for hand-to-hand instruction. The idea of the shapes is to make it as easy as possible to know what type of sparing is expected. The number of rings will be left vague so we can have as many as needed for each fight club.

Karkat has alchemized weapons that heal when they strike and so we can plan safe, right? Sam will have the index cards for the weapons with him at the fight club and the weapons should have the same weight and feel of the non-alchemized ones.

The ground outback is like that of the Scottish highlands, and so the rings ground will match, unless anyone wants to come up with ways to add loose gravel/sand, padding of some sort, or whatever else, that's what we get. Also, if enough time occurs between fight clubs, the forest may grow over the area. Could make for some plot there me thinks.

I mean to EP Sam working on building the rings either Sunday or Monday. The week of the next fight club, I will post any updates on the rings, as well as IC and OoC rules for the fight club.

So any questions or ideas? This is for all of us, so I am open to changing any of this.

yinyangwizard

Some time late Sunday night, the wind shakes the last of the cherry blossoms loose from the trees. Both trees and fallen petals become ghostly in the moonlight, growing more and more transparent until at last they vanish. The landscape of Milliways is left as it was before - no sign of the trees remains.

I'm so glad people enjoyed this little diversion! It was lovely to see you all working the cherry blossoms into your threads. I'll do this again next year - assuming I don't derp out and forget.

yinyangwizard

The cherry trees are starting to sprout bright green leaves, and the blossoms are beginning to fall and blow away in the wind.

yinyangwizard

Just a reminder that the cherry blossoms are still blooming in the mountains of Milliways! On Friday the trees will start growing leaves and on Saturday the blossoms will start falling.

I want to say that I really love how people have been referencing the blossoms in their EPs and comments - I'm glad people are enjoying them so much!

yinyangwizard

The cherry blossoms in the mountains of Milliways are now in full bloom! They look like this, only more so. :)

yinyangwizard

Milliways has cherry blossoms! Well, almost. It has budding cherry trees on the mountains and foothills. They will start blossoming on Saturday, 3/26, and go into full bloom on Sunday, 3/27.

On Thursday, 3/31 leaves will start appearing on the trees. Over the next three days the cherry blossoms will start blowing away in the wind. On Sunday, 4/3, the trees will fade away, leaving the landscape as it was before.

I will post updates in the back room as the status of the trees changes.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, etc.

yinyangwizard

Attention Milliways! With mod approval, the Milliways grounds will experience their first (and hopefully not last) cherry blossom season! This is a temporary cosmetic change and will have no other effects.

Abe no Seimei will work a spell on the grounds that will, starting on Friday (March 25th), cause budding Yoshino cherry trees to appear on the mountains and foothills outside. There will also be groves around the church and the air temple. The trees will start blooming over the weekend, and stay in bloom until the following Friday when the blossoms start blowing away.

Late Sunday (April 3rd), when the blossoms are gone, the trees will fade away and vanish without a trace. Have your pups enjoy them while they last!

dragon_dealt

Hey everybody! Just an FYI that as of Kazul's entrance post, a small section of the Enchanted Forest (from the Enchanted Forest Chronicles) now connects to the Milliways forest. This is a mod-approved permanent change -- it isn't dependent on Kazul being in the bar.

There's a FAQ-style write-up on her journal of what exactly this means: what kind of stuff you might find in the Enchanted Forest, what you might use it for, what you won't find there, etc. But basically, within the general limits I outline there, the Enchanted Forest is now available for your characters to have adventures and get lost and find plot devices in. (Please note that the canonical characters will not be around as NPCs, and you can't get into her world from there without making special arrangements with me -- it's just one section of the Forest, available for Milliways hijinks.)

If you have any questions, feel free to ask here or to contact me otherwise!

is_the_motion

As of this post last week, which is starting to work itself to a conclusion, there is now a small Mod-approved Scout Hut with associated mini climbing wall (on the back), graffiti wall (on the side) and children's playground including Jay's big climbing web of awesomeness.

Feel free to come have a play on the playground whether you're a Scout or not.

There's also a sign at the hut that states Bonnie is happy for your pups to use the hut for other groups and activities between scout sessions (e.g. if you want to rehearse a play or start a band), providing they tidy up after.

garde723

With mod approval and this post, I would like to announce the return of the flight simulator room to Milliways, with an upgrade. For now, the room is a bit of a mess, having been neglected by the Loompas and patrons, and used for some storage by them for "things". (gee, I hope that doesn't sound sinister.)

What I have in mind is as follows:
The room is filled with large simulators of various vehicles, no longer just airplanes or Star Wars fighters. This can be 20th century airplanes, tanks, mecha, X-wings, Halo vehicles, whatever you desire. Much like the garage, what you want to play with can be found. The simulators are big, containing cockpits or whatever passes for them; think military flight simulators.

I am picturing the room as being empty except for the simulators, sort of like a video game arcade with booths you sit down in. Obviously the booths are much larger. Due to the Loompas, there may be old arcade video game consoles mixed in. (Shh don't ask.)

I am going to assume the door is near the elevator as it will need a larger power supply. I am more than willing to change this if need be. Why hasn't it been noticed before? I don't know, maybe a light bulb went out and it finally got fixed.

The simulators can be found fully functional, in need of repair, or disassembled as serves your narrative purpose. If enough people use the space, I will be happy to keep a list of used simulators, much like the room list. All I ask is a description, however brief, of what the inside of the simulator looks like and what sort of scenarios are likely to be found in case another pup wants to use it too.

Any questions? Ask away. Any thoughts? Share!

Also, would anyone be interested in an actual video game arcade to become active in Milliways?

bjornwilde

Seems I sparked something yesterday. I love when a DE does that. Running off the subject, let's do a landscape rollcall. What is out there? And heck, what is in there, i.e. what rooms and or special features do you think folks need to be reminded about?

Also, why don't we throw in any jobs your pups do as well.

herr_bookman

Inspired by today's DE, I've whipped up a guide for Milliways' first time patrons from Autor's perspective. I most certainly need help on this, so please tell me what else it needs. Thanks!

ETA: And now there's a post for pups to discuss it as well.

the_shaper

As of this post, the Dreaming is reconnected to Milliways. Nobody will notice this; however, if your character runs back far enough in the forest, they may slip into the Dreaming -- the estate of Dream of the Endless, for lack of a better metaphor. To do it, they first go into a soft place (as seen in "Soft Places" and "Exiles" in Sandman). Pursuant to this back room post, though, please let me know prior to having your character do this!

Oh, yeah, and ~~bartending is open until 10pm Mountain.~~ bartending is closed to new threads, and all incomplete threads now in slowtime! Thanks, y'all -- I'm loving every single one!

guppy_sandhu

Thanks to everyone who has volunteered to help construct the Infirmary day room. Construction has begun here and will last 3-4 weeks, of which the first 2-3 will be building and the last week interior decoration.

If your pup would like in on some paid work, please comment here and go and see Guppy in the above linked post.

Construction details can be as vague as you like but it will, I would have thought, go foundations - bricklaying - wiring/plumbing - everything else. There is a rough plan linked in the above post.

Any remaining building work not covered by pups will be done by the Oompa Loompas (thanks Bing).

If you are not involved, there is now an area outside next to the bar that is cordened off.

If you have any questions please comment here, or ping me, guppymun on AIM.

:)

fowl_beast

As announced by the new flyer on the notice board Amascut (currently using the pseudonym Sarah Black) is constructing a combat training grounds and obstacle course out back.

As I mentioned, feel free to have your pup leave a note IC there whether they want to help out, if they want to leave a suggestion, or just be involved in general. Then, we can totally handwave things so that they get credit for the construction or thread if you think that would be necessary.

After we collectively decide its done, it will be open for use and the equipment present and missing is totally handwavable for any pups that want to use it. Of course, the equipment won't be made of unobtainium. It will be all wood, iron, rocks, and ropes. But steadily constructed, of course, for all your oversized or superpowered pups if Amascut has help from at least one of those types of pups.

It is in a wooded part of the mountains, so training can spill out into the surrounding woods. Amascut is also planing on planting a wheat field up there so that some sneaking around and pouncing can go on. The entrance to the Labyrinth is close, but not so close that people will stumble into it.

Are you interested?

unique-clayr.livejournal.com

Sooo busy. But I have time to pop in with a quick question. Milliways magical library? What's the deal and while we're there...I could with a refresher course in all the other areas of Milliways...can it be posted in the bar? Or are there certain comms. Sometime I want to do other things that just...sitting in a bar, and It'd be awesome to take note of the other places.

So yes, just basically asking for people's memories/knowledge on where else there is.

I personally know of the bar, the cells, the lake...erm toilets. XD Thanks

yakalskovich

As of this thread, Teja and Yrael have hung up a low-hanging tyre swing on a rope, on the sturdy branch of a wild-growing willow (not pruned!) very close to the forge. It's a hitherto unremarkable tree that nobody has given a name or meaning to yet.

The swing is made of a lorry (or truck) tyre, suspended by the rope in one place; the rope is fortified with Charter magic by Yrael. The tyre hangs down so far that it can easily reached by a cat wanting to sharpen its claws on it, and only the very smallest of children can possibly sit in it to use it as a swing.

It should not be in anybody's way if you don't want anything to do with it, but feel free to use it for EP or threads.-

no-prisoner.livejournal.com

Hhhhhokay, so. Here's ~~the Earth~~ Eddie Dean's little black book of invented Milliways cocktails.

I have linked this before. I am linking this again. Why? Because when people mention, even in passing, anything I have created, it gives me a little ego-glow, and I want to encourage that. Frankly, I'm a pretty pathetic human being, but there you have it.

Oh right. Also because we have a lot of new and volunteer 'tenders these days, and they may not know that this resource is behind the bar with all the other books of cocktail recipes your character may be drawing on. It probably has witty and obscene commentary by Eddie Dean on how he invented the drinks and the people he invented them for, too.

Also, so that this post is not for nothing, what do you want to remind people about in the bar? Not that anyone has to acknowledge anything--consensual geography, best thing ever--but what has your character built or established or left behind that new people may not know about and even oldbies may have missed? Post it here so people can feel free to notice it later.

In addition to the Little Black Book, after the Dean left, Bernard hung a little circle of glass from their door over the bar; it's a scale-model of the rose window at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and when the light comes in right from the lake it should be pretty gorgeous.

I know there are lots more! Who can remember what the shrine to Sirius and Kassandra looks like? Trilobites? Hmm?

/tired

seaweedbrain.livejournal.com

As Percy has left the bar, (which, sorry he wasn't around for a bit, I was waiting on this awesomeness), a doorway to the Labyrinth has opened in one of the caves on one of Belar's mountains.

Marked with Δ of Daedalus, the details are available on the linked post (which will also serve as an FAQ, so please ask any Labyrinth-specific questions there) for how your pup can use this either as it's own adventure or as a part of another plot. For anyone wondering, though, this is a permanent addition so this plot can totally be done on your own time. For those not yet interested, a quick bulletpoint list of things you could use it for is here though:

( I <3 bullet points! )

If you have any questions that aren't specific to how the Labyrinth itself works, or comments, or anything like that, leave 'em here and I'll be happy to talk.

muji

How many landmarks and details of the grounds of Milliways (anything outside) can you name?

List so far:
1. The stables.
2. Asar-Suti's gardens.
3. The lake.
4. The forest.
5. The forge, orig. built by Gimli with the help of quite a lot of other patrons.
6. The three mountains on the far side of the lake, put up by Belar. Peculiarity: if you try to go over the mountains you find yourself back on the same side you started from.
7. The lake inlet that's OMGWARMCARIBBEANWHUT.
8. The impromptu firing range.
9. The punching bag on the edge of the woods, which Wells put up and generally just leaves there.
10. Stargate! :D!
11. Bypass door - It allows you to go up to the rooms upstairs without having to go through the main bar. It's on the outside of the building.
12. Greenhouse.
13. ~~Caspian's boat~~ The Hope.
14. There's a nice big comfy sunning rock by the lake somewhere that smells faintly of raspberries from all the times Raz has sat on it.
15. Doesn't Raph still have a tent set up on the roof?
16. There should be a raft on or near the lake, courtesy of Valentine (waaaaaaaaaay back in the day).
17. Charlie Pace is buried out by the forest under a black stone that Hephaestus made.
18. A bayou shack on stilts in the shallows of the lake.
19. There's at least one treehouse in the woods, as built by Enzo and Tyler, I think; there may also be one left over from Rufio's stay at the bar.
20. Audrey II. :O!

( Also, Milliways Public Radio. )

Any questions, email me or comment.

Oh, also! If you have any OOC notes or announcements (Anything from "Happy Birthday/Milliversary!" to "I'm gonna be gone from X to Y date") for the month of May, email me at milliways.mal@gmail.com and I'll read them off in the next MPR ep.

gone_byebye

Attention, everybody: as of this post, we are now operating in gaslight/steampunk mode. Anyone from after 1905 who enters the Bar will find himself or herself promptly garbed in clothing appropriate to the era (this and this should give you an idea what you're dealing with). http://www.brassgoggles.co.uk/brassgoggles/ will also be helpful if you're looking for stylistic ideas. Anyone from before 1905 can also be affected, but the magic's mostly interested in reining things back to Victorian steampunky style rather than pushing it forward. Clothing given out by Bar will be of that time period and type as well until Gaslight Week is over.

People from planets other than Earth that're more advanced than about 1905 in terms of tech will be treated as coming from later in history and garbed appropriately. People from worlds less advanced will be affected or not as you like.

Have fun!

henry-jones-jr.livejournal.com

In the wake of this thread, if your pup was a nightmare sufferer who was sleeping in the gym, please handwave that Indy popped his head in tonight and gave them the all clear to go back to their rooms.

His summary of 'why' it's all clear will be pretty much verbatim from Lilly's report in the linked thread. Your pups are free to stay there longer if they are still suspicious. But, at some point they're going to realize they haven't had a nightmare for a while, thus verifying the report.

The gym will be returned to its normal state by this coming Monday.

henry-jones-jr.livejournal.com

As of shortly after this thread, the public gym down the staff corridor (Raph's old room) now has a number of cots/beds in it for the purposes of Thy Kingdom Come plot victims. The various machines and equipment have been pushed to the wall, as has Raph's motorbike. The latter is under some kind of dust cover.

Not that anyone has ever really made posts in this room except me, until now. But... informative!

This state change is Bar Mod endorsed. Unless otherwise noted, please assume that the room stays like this until the plot ends.