Well, since Rat_lady7 wants to tell everyone about everything we discussed, I might as wall post all the plans I had mentioned (at least the ones that we will apparently go through with).
Chronicler, Ruby, Claw, and Chomper spend the entire day going to the home of Ruby's family, since it is the only place where Claw can find the cure for his problem. After talking with Ruby's family, Chronicler wanders off on his own in the evening. He is furious about not being home and declares that he will do whatever it takes to get back home, then he encounters a Fast-Biter than can speak both sharptooth and leafeater (called a "double-speaker" in the LBT world). The Fast-Biter reveals that he is alone because sharpteeth typically shun double-speakers as wimps, and he want's to prove them wrong. Realizing that both of them are desperate for something, Chronicler proposes a deal. Suspicious that the Rainbowfaces were responsible for bringing the GoF members to the LBT universe, Chronicler asks the Fast-Biter to capture one and get answers from him. In return, Chronicler will give knowledge on human combat that would benefit the Fast-Biters. They agree and walk away before anyone can notice them. It is the beginning of Chronicler's plot to betray the Great Valley.
(I'll admit it may have been influenced by Bionicle, but I'm quite fond of a plot that features a traitor.)
The next day, Chronicler discovers a surface deposit of iron ore. Intending to turn the iron into a sword, he digs up enough iron to fill a hollow log that he and Ruby carry with them back to the Great Valley. Along the way, Chronicler slips and breaks his leg. Refusing to go anywhere without the iron, he asks Claw and Chomper to go back to the Great Valley and get some help. While they're gone, a pack of Fast-Biters attack, and with Chronicler unable to stand, Ruby has no choice but to fight them off herself. She is able to hold them back for some time, but they're too much for her alone. The help from the Great Valley arrives at the last minute and saves them and takes them back to the Great Valley. Chronicler is forced to not go anywhere for a day while his leg heals. After that, he takes some of the iron to the Smoking Mountain and successfully forges a crude sword.
(The rest of these plans are so far ahead in the RP that they might as well be spoilers to anyone but you.)
After Screech and Thud decided to ditch Redclaw, they decide to join forces with the talking Fast-Biter when he convinces them that they will be guaranteed to be the most powerful Fast-Biters in the world, thanks to a traitor in the Great Valley. One night, Chronicler finds a secret location at the edge of the valley to meet with the Fast-Biter. Although he had successfully captured a Rainbowface and got some answers, Screech and Thud lost patience and killed him. As a result of getting little knowledge, Chronicler gives little knowledge to the talking Fast-Biter. However, it is enough for the Great Valley to get suspicious the next day. They realize someone is betraying the Great Valley, but nobody knows who it is (possibly further increasing tensions between the Great Valley residents and the GoF members). Things get even worse when Chronicler's sword goes missing and is revealed to have been given to the talking Fast-Biter by the traitor (everyone is still unaware that it's Chronicler).
(I haven't thought of what will happen here, but I'll let other people deal with it.)
Later on, the GoF members, along with the gang and others, are out in the Mysterious Beyond, but are ambushed by the talking Fast-Biter, who has now formed a pack comparable to an organized army, all of them armed with swords of their own. He takes all of the group prisoner, except for the traitor. It is at this time that Chronicler reveals himself as the traitor, much to everyone's (especially Ruby's) horror. The pack had indeed captured another Rainbowface, who Chronicler hopes to use to get back home. Eventually, after traveling some distance, the prisoners decide to fight back, despite the long odds.
When the captured group fights back at the Fast-Biter army, my character tries to make his escape, knowing that traitors always get the worst punishment. His hopes of using the Rainbowface to escape sci-fi style turns out to be futile. As the tide of the battle turns against the Fast-Biter army, the talking Fast-Biter decides to call off the deal by throwing my character at the group while he, Screech, Thud, and the rest of the army flee. My character is then dragged back to the Great Valley and everyone is told of his treachery. Virtually everyone avoids him, but after a few days, some help from Ruby, and helping to defend the valley from another attack, he eventually regains everyone's trust. Meanwhile, the Fast-Biter army ends up competing with Redclaw to attempt to take over the Great Valley.
I hate to say it, but I have a lot of problems with these ideas. (I feel obliged to include my standard clause that I know full well that my opinions do not outweigh anyone else’s, and I intend absolutely no offense or ill will.)
Firstly, I would really, REALLY, emphatically prefer that there not be a war in this RP. This RP is already dark and violent enough for me; the last battle (which also involved an army of fast biters) was pushing it. Forgive me for being a LBT purist, but an army of sword-bearing sharpteeth intent on subjugating the Great Valley crosses the line WAY too far.
Also, I think Chronicler’s character is already the subject of some resentment for his rant preceding (and, perhaps in some valleyers’ eyes, provoking) the earlier sharptooth battle. While I certainly don’t have anything against Chronicler’s wishes to be more involved in the RP, is something as dramatic as his character deliberately betraying the valley and all the other characters really necessary for such a thing? It seems a stretch that the valley dinosaurs would EVER trust him again after that sort of thing.
I might need a refresher on the purpose and intentions of this RP; I always interpreted it as primarily a means for GOF members to imagine ourselves visiting the LBT world, meeting and interacting with LBT characters and each other. Assuming I’m not wearing a pair of rose-colored glasses here, wouldn’t this subplot idea have too much of a (negative, in the context of the RP) impact on too many players?
Finally, I don’t think it’s written as a rule anywhere, but aren’t we supposed to be playing as ourselves in this RP? Chronicler betraying the entire valley seems awfully out-of-character (or else there’s something about real-life Chronicler I don’t know :unsure:).
That’s not to say that I think all of these ideas are bad. I like the idea of the “double-speaker” fast biter, and think it’s something we could work with. Chronicler, rather than your character being intentionally traitorous, what if his deal with that fast biter had some sort of pretense, like that the fast biter could not directly share any of the information given to him with any other sharpteeth (only using it to make himself a more efficient hunter, etc.), or that he had to promise would be that he would not harm Ruby’s family or any of the dinosaurs in the Great Valley? Basically, the “double-speaker” would end up being the traitorous character (preferably in some way other than leading a horde of Mesozoic barbarian warriors into battle against the Great Valley). One idea is that they could use iron tools to excavate a tunnel into the Great Valley that would enable them to sneak in and out and “harvest” valley prey in secret. (Yeah, my ideas aren’t very creative or interesting; I just would really prefer it if we could tone down the humanlike warfare and deliberate betrayal of every friend and benevolent character in the RP.) The valley dinosaurs would still blame Chronicler’s character for it, and he’d have a more realistic chance of redeeming himself.
Also, I personally prefer the cause of our characters’ transportation to the LBT universe remaining blissfully ambiguous, but if Chronicler’s character’s rainbow face theory turns out to be just a red herring, I don’t have a problem with it. In fact, I think that sort of thing (trying to find out how our characters got to the LBT world, but failing to find out the exact cause) could make for an interesting subplot.
That’s about all I can come up with to say on this matter at the moment. (All I can do now is wait for other RPers’ feedback with a strong feeling of anxiety… :unsure:)
