The Colonial News Bulletin
For thirty years, the Colonial News Bulletin has been the most trusted source for news throughout the Circinus Galaxy. Now, with the establishment of the first new colony since before the Homeworld War, the Bulletin will be on the ground, reporting on everything as it happens. Two of the senior editors of the Bulletin are here, with a rare team of dedicated full-time journalists. You’ll be covering everything, from politics and research to personal stories and the darker underbelly of the colony. It’s an intense job, and one you’re all ready and proud to tackle.
During the game, you will actually have access to a newsroom in which to write news stories and publish them via the communicators. All players will see these articles! So we encourage you to be actual journalists--track stories and plots, conduct interviews, and get the news out to the fledgling colony. And if your articles come out biased or inaccurate? Well, that’s just part of the drama. No one said your news had to be perfect--just interesting.
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1095024263943166/
Group Members:
T. Aurora ((Liza Jaye))
O. Lysa ((Steve McClellan))
A. Vendette ((Shana Hausman))
W. Nett ((Aaron Roan))
V. Amaranth ((Pythe Courter))
N. Ransha ((Stephanie DeMane))
For thirty years, the Colonial News Bulletin has been the most trusted source for news throughout the Circinus Galaxy. Now, with the establishment of the first new colony since before the Homeworld War, the Bulletin will be on the ground, reporting on everything as it happens. Two of the senior editors of the Bulletin are here, with a rare team of dedicated full-time journalists. You’ll be covering everything, from politics and research to personal stories and the darker underbelly of the colony. It’s an intense job, and one you’re all ready and proud to tackle.
During the game, you will actually have access to a newsroom in which to write news stories and publish them via the communicators. All players will see these articles! So we encourage you to be actual journalists--track stories and plots, conduct interviews, and get the news out to the fledgling colony. And if your articles come out biased or inaccurate? Well, that’s just part of the drama. No one said your news had to be perfect--just interesting.
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1095024263943166/
Group Members:
T. Aurora ((Liza Jaye))
O. Lysa ((Steve McClellan))
A. Vendette ((Shana Hausman))
W. Nett ((Aaron Roan))
V. Amaranth ((Pythe Courter))
N. Ransha ((Stephanie DeMane))
Player: Pythe Courter
Name: V. Amaranth
Group: The Bulletin
Homeworld: The Colonies
Variant: Baseline
Character Coach: Rachel Nations ([email protected])
Description:
You were raised among the vast towers and wild jungles of Ottsalia, a world of constant change and rebirth. You had parents who cared for you, and a giant genetically-engineered dog creature for a pet, and an elder sibling who you absolutely never understood. X. Amaranth ((Abe Pressman)) was endlessly awkward, and the two of you never got along. It took you years to figure out that a huge part of it was that you were too similar. Both of you were curious to no end, and both of you took that in different directions.
X became a scientist and engineer, designing machines and robots. Robots didn’t matter to you, people did. You wanted to understand people, why they did the things they do, the things they care about, the ways their lives work. Mostly you were curious about the Ancients, the ones who made your planet as strange as it was. Your parents were willing to fund you going on various trips to other planets, especially ones with Ancient ruins.
You started keeping a journal on one of those trips, inspired by young friends you made on Dor Len Sono. On a trip out to the colonies, you showed your journal to N. Ransha ((Stephanie DeMane)), another friend you made, and Ransha loved them so much they said you should publish. It seemed ridiculous, but Ransha pushed you into sending them to the Bulletin, and to your shock, the Bulletin bought them and started publishing them as travel journals!
You’ve been freelancing for the Bulletin ever since, as a travel writer and reporter studying the Ancients. You spend a bunch of time on archaeological sites, meeting researchers, and hearing their stories. You love figuring out what makes them curious, and why they got into their researcher. You combine that with explanations of their research laid-out clearly enough for non-scientists to understand. Enabling that kind of access is hugely important to you--you love this old stuff, and you want everyone else to be able to love it too.
You also gently pushed N. Ransha into writing for the Bulletin, and the two of you have been friends ever since. Once the two of you were onboard, you befriended A. Vendette ((Shana Hausman)), another reporter from the far-out colony of Edge. You’ve never been all the way out to Edge, but you love asking Vendette questions about life out there by a black hole, and Vendette loves talking about it. It works out well for everyone involved.
Or it did for a while, anyway. A few years ago, you got sick. Really sick. You went home to Ottsalia, and your parents started throwing everything they could find at the problem. You saw doctors, specialists, everyone money could get you close to, but no one could find a cure. You had to confront the very real possibility you might die.
When X reached out to you, you were hesitant at best. Yes, they were your sibling, but you’d barely talked in years. You didn’t want their help, but you were desperate. They said in their research they’d developed something that might work as a cure, but that it was so secret they couldn’t tell you how it worked. Reluctantly you agreed, having no other options. You went to X’s lab on Ottsalia, and they did all kinds of scans on you, taking enormous amounts of data. Just in case, you said your goodbyes to your parents, to Ransha, to Vendette.
But whatever X did? It worked. They put you under, and when you awoke, you were… fine. As if the disease had never happened. It was like X had done some kind of magic spell, and everything wrong with your body had just vanished. You still have no idea what they did, but you’ve wondered. You suspect they may have put some kind of secret cybernetic device in you, making you some kind of Augment. You’ve noticed occasional odd side effects that you can’t explain, either. Your memory is clearer than ever, but you never remember your dreams any more.
Coming that close to death also gave you a sense of renewed purpose. Writing your travel journals and reports on the Ancients is all well and good, but you need more. You need to finally do something with the quiet passion you’ve always had in the back of your mind: fiction. You’ve written the occasional short story here and there, mostly fictionalized accounts of the lives of the Ancients, but you’ve never had the guts to try to publish one. You know you’ve got a novel in you somewhere, you just need to find the right inspiration. You’re hoping this trip to Phaelos III will give you that spark that you need, and you can finally release your grand opus to the world.
Light: You have a passion for understanding people, and helping them understand each other. You want everyone to be able to share your love of old things and the stories they create.
Dark: When something challenges or scares you, you’re more likely to run away to something easier than confront it. Most of your strength comes from your friends, and you worry about what you’d be like without them around.
Questions:
X. Amaranth ((Abe Pressman))
N. Ransha ((Stephanie DeMane))
A. Vendette ((Shana Hausman))
Name: V. Amaranth
Group: The Bulletin
Homeworld: The Colonies
Variant: Baseline
Character Coach: Rachel Nations ([email protected])
Description:
You were raised among the vast towers and wild jungles of Ottsalia, a world of constant change and rebirth. You had parents who cared for you, and a giant genetically-engineered dog creature for a pet, and an elder sibling who you absolutely never understood. X. Amaranth ((Abe Pressman)) was endlessly awkward, and the two of you never got along. It took you years to figure out that a huge part of it was that you were too similar. Both of you were curious to no end, and both of you took that in different directions.
X became a scientist and engineer, designing machines and robots. Robots didn’t matter to you, people did. You wanted to understand people, why they did the things they do, the things they care about, the ways their lives work. Mostly you were curious about the Ancients, the ones who made your planet as strange as it was. Your parents were willing to fund you going on various trips to other planets, especially ones with Ancient ruins.
You started keeping a journal on one of those trips, inspired by young friends you made on Dor Len Sono. On a trip out to the colonies, you showed your journal to N. Ransha ((Stephanie DeMane)), another friend you made, and Ransha loved them so much they said you should publish. It seemed ridiculous, but Ransha pushed you into sending them to the Bulletin, and to your shock, the Bulletin bought them and started publishing them as travel journals!
You’ve been freelancing for the Bulletin ever since, as a travel writer and reporter studying the Ancients. You spend a bunch of time on archaeological sites, meeting researchers, and hearing their stories. You love figuring out what makes them curious, and why they got into their researcher. You combine that with explanations of their research laid-out clearly enough for non-scientists to understand. Enabling that kind of access is hugely important to you--you love this old stuff, and you want everyone else to be able to love it too.
You also gently pushed N. Ransha into writing for the Bulletin, and the two of you have been friends ever since. Once the two of you were onboard, you befriended A. Vendette ((Shana Hausman)), another reporter from the far-out colony of Edge. You’ve never been all the way out to Edge, but you love asking Vendette questions about life out there by a black hole, and Vendette loves talking about it. It works out well for everyone involved.
Or it did for a while, anyway. A few years ago, you got sick. Really sick. You went home to Ottsalia, and your parents started throwing everything they could find at the problem. You saw doctors, specialists, everyone money could get you close to, but no one could find a cure. You had to confront the very real possibility you might die.
When X reached out to you, you were hesitant at best. Yes, they were your sibling, but you’d barely talked in years. You didn’t want their help, but you were desperate. They said in their research they’d developed something that might work as a cure, but that it was so secret they couldn’t tell you how it worked. Reluctantly you agreed, having no other options. You went to X’s lab on Ottsalia, and they did all kinds of scans on you, taking enormous amounts of data. Just in case, you said your goodbyes to your parents, to Ransha, to Vendette.
But whatever X did? It worked. They put you under, and when you awoke, you were… fine. As if the disease had never happened. It was like X had done some kind of magic spell, and everything wrong with your body had just vanished. You still have no idea what they did, but you’ve wondered. You suspect they may have put some kind of secret cybernetic device in you, making you some kind of Augment. You’ve noticed occasional odd side effects that you can’t explain, either. Your memory is clearer than ever, but you never remember your dreams any more.
Coming that close to death also gave you a sense of renewed purpose. Writing your travel journals and reports on the Ancients is all well and good, but you need more. You need to finally do something with the quiet passion you’ve always had in the back of your mind: fiction. You’ve written the occasional short story here and there, mostly fictionalized accounts of the lives of the Ancients, but you’ve never had the guts to try to publish one. You know you’ve got a novel in you somewhere, you just need to find the right inspiration. You’re hoping this trip to Phaelos III will give you that spark that you need, and you can finally release your grand opus to the world.
Light: You have a passion for understanding people, and helping them understand each other. You want everyone to be able to share your love of old things and the stories they create.
Dark: When something challenges or scares you, you’re more likely to run away to something easier than confront it. Most of your strength comes from your friends, and you worry about what you’d be like without them around.
Questions:
- What’s the most interesting place you’ve ever been?
- Is there something you want to report on but haven’t been able to?
- What do you think of the Journal?
- What is the kindest thing someone else has ever done for you?
- Do the changes to your body scare you?
X. Amaranth ((Abe Pressman))
N. Ransha ((Stephanie DeMane))
A. Vendette ((Shana Hausman))
