The Unmaking & Staff Events

The Unmaking

“The Crossroads grew from the wills of 8 semi-divine entities, who manifested their Worlds around them from sheer force of thought. The inhabitants and environments of these worlds affect and change the divine spark, providing it energy in the same way it provides the denizens context and habitat. These Arbiters are the closest thing the Crossroads has to gods, and though their forms can be malleable over time, they never willingly destroy or subvert their creations.

At the time the Crossroads were being created, however, there was a Ninth Arbiter. This foul entity felt that it alone should dictate the form and function of the Crossroads, and saw all other Arbiters as decadent and weak. But, the Ninth spent so much energy on trying to steal and control the work of others, it neglected to make a World of its own. In time, it lost its cohesive form, and faded into Unmaking.

For many cycles, the Crossroads thrived and hummed with activity in life. But, in time, things began to grind to a halt on certain worlds. A spark of vitality had left the denizens' hearts, leaving the Arbiter weak, and alone. The Ninth, now known as Darkseid, was little more than a phantom which crept into the fabric of this stagnating world and turned the heart of its Arbiter to destruction and simmering chaos.

The World, weakened as it was, abruptly turned to a place of shadow, distortion, pain, and tyranny. Motes of this Unmaking spread from the World all across the Crossroads like seeds of dark omen, threatening to corrupt the known cosmos. The Unmaking takes root in the hearts of the listless, repressed, and hopeless, leeching off the dregs of their willpower and replacing it with the distorting intentions of Darkseid. In this way, the Fallen Ninth Arbiter has renewed his conquest of the Crossroads, and he is all too eager to pursue his apocalyptic agenda of Unmaking All Things.”

How to Participate

Worlds that begin to fall to Darkseid go through several levels of destruction. There is no hard criterion for how to gauge a given level, writers should just operate under the assumption that things will steadily get worse if left unchecked.

Corruption Effects & Levels

  1. Only minor Unmade presence, either scouts or small gangs of Unthings. No effect on inhabitants.

  2. Significant Unmade beach-head established with hidden or fortified HQ. Occasional raids and patrols harass denizens every week or so. Arbiter sends plea for help, minor environmental warping.

  3. True corruption begins. Arbiter is fully inverted into Unmaking and World begins to fall apart. Frequent Unmade attacks oppress and terrorize denizens. Coin purchases cost 50% more while on this World.

  4. World is almost entirely warped beyond recognition. Denizens evacuate as corrupted Arbiter and Unmade mobs rampage. Life mutates and crumbles. Coin purchases unavailable on this World. Transport Hubs offline.

  5. Complete Unmaking. This World is little more than a cloud of shadows and warped, confused monstrosities with a terrifying Unmade Arbiter looming in its midst. Even stepping foot on this World risks drawing Darkseid's attention. No purchases, no transport, and new characters cannot be created here.

Reducing Corruption

  • Corruption of levels 2 and below is fairly simple; consistent resistance missions and fighting mooks will keep Unmaking at a cool level 1.

  • Worlds of C3 (Corruption level 3) and higher require defeating an Unmade Arbiter, which should be a very difficult boss battle.

  • If a World goes above C3, the Unmade Arbiter becomes too powerful to fight directly. Worlds of C4 and C5 need large scale cooperation and directly supervised missions to reduce the Corruption Level low enough to finally Purify the Arbiter.

Quests

Corruption levels can be reduced by defeating enemies and completing quests. There are currently 8 quests, but as things progress, more will be added. These quests cannot be repeated by the same character multiple times. To accept a quest, you don’t need to notify staff at all until it is complete. Once you complete a quest, respond to this thread with 1) which quest it was, and 2) a link to the quest thread.

Rewards:

  • Quests award the usual amounts of Coin (see: Travel and Questing in the Crossroads).

  • Organizing a group and defeating an Unmade Arbiter in a raid will reveal valuable consumables as well as the chance to activate an Arbiter Boon - an ongoing, passive Ability based on your world’s Arbiter patronage. Only 1 Arbiter Boon may be active at a time, and ceases to function if the Arbiter becomes Unmade again.

Other Staff Events

While Darkseid and the Unmaking will always be there to threaten or enrich your experience on Multerra, they are not the only opportunities to engage with the story of Multerra. From time to time, staff members may ‘host’ other events. The size and scale of these might vary, from a one-off thread starring NPCs to a lengthy ‘saga’ where PCs are pitted against a constantly shifting tapestry of monsters, villains, and endless intrigue. Staff Events might be PvE or PvP, so you should be aware that entering in these events usually implies that you consent to whatever could or might happen to your character (up to and including Death). These smaller scale events pop up from time to time, so you should keep an eye out for them, if you are interested in such things.

Dante’s Abyss is an annual event hosted on Dante’s Comet. The most ‘famous’ incarnation of Dante’s Abyss goes by many names (Murder Island or Battle Royale stand out) and features a number of characters being dropped onto an island, limited in their Abilities, and forced to out last the competition, with only a randomized item to rely upon. Other versions of Dante’s Abyss may happen as time rolls on – stay tuned.

Rewards (Other Staff Events)

Be aware that not every staff event might have extra prizes. The reward might be as simple as the Participation Bonus, or it may include some sort of ‘in-character’ benefit to your character, like knowing some dark secret or being welcomed into the inner circles of an organization. Not every prize on Multerra is going to slot easily onto a Character Profile.

Larger-scale events, like Dante’s Abyss, may reward Trinkets, Relics, and/or Coin (but they also may not). Traditionally speaking, most people who host these staff events based extrinsic rewards on a risk-reward basis.

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