Community Profile

THE INTOLERABLE CLOCK
a non-canon hexarchate RPG

The hexarchate is a star-spanning polity of monstrosities small and great, where consensus reality is enforced not just by a rigid police state but by the ritual torture of "heretics" on state holidays. Lately it is not just wracked by internal dissent but by the discovery of rifts in time and space through which people from other worlds appear.

You are one of a hardy group of people--whether from the hexarchate (or heptarchate) itself, a foreign state, or another world in the multiverse entirely--who have gathered with the explicit goal of destroying the hexarchate by going back in time and preventing its creation, or otherwise seeding its destruction.

The question is, can you succeed before the hexarchate's agents catch on and eliminate you?

- List of current characters.
- Handy index of important posts.

Summary of the first arc (Station Moongray), courtesy of zuhrovet:

The team's first mission is to use a ship called the Wasp to travel through a rift to the year 361 in order to retrieve a Nirai researcher named Remi. Remi specializes in the study of moths, and has many other biographical similarities to a young version of the Nirai shadow hexarch Kujen; however, his concern for moth welfare appears to be legitimate. In particular, he insists that his baby moth or "mothling" research subjects be retrieved along with him. The station's Rahal representative, Gerae, has recently been implicated in a corruption scandal. The team's Rahal members retrieve Remi, Gerae, and the mothlings by pretending to arrest them.

Meanwhile, something about the earlier calendar has affected the Wasp's harness, and the moth inside it awakens. The team member Alaric establishes contact. The moth is friendly, but also insists on retrieval of the mothlings.

Though the team is successful in its mission, the level of interpersonal strife is remarkable. The team suspects that the lack of appropriate training and team-building is the fault of Quill, a rebellion facilitator. Quill may also have inserted a youthful version of the Shuos hexarch Mikodez on the team, in coordination with Shuos officials.

Summary of the second arc:

The team is sent back in time to just before The Battle of Candle Arc. They are tasked with helping a rebellion higher-up named Flute. Distrusting their leadership, the team, instead of carrying out Flute's plan to assist the Lanterner assassination of General Shuos Jedao, kidnaps him instead. The Rahal scry him and Reshad attempts an interrogation that goes sideways both due to Seyli's hostility to the notorious figure and Jedao threatening Ione, the medic and empath. They discover in the interrogation that Jedao has been conspiring with a mysterious Nirai ally; feeling himself compromised, Jedao swears fealty to team leader Sasha. Other team members have their doubts, especially Reshad, who finds this action both unethical and dangerous.

GUIDELINES

- Note: as of 12/12/2019 we are closed to new player applications.

- Familiarity with the hexarchate setting is strongly recommended. However, the game is non-canon (the hexarchate setting has no time travel) and all material created by players is their own.

- NEW [7/4/2017]: All approved players should join the community as members, as there may occasionally be member-only posts for OOC discussion.

- NEW: All players are required to be 18 or older. NSFW sexually explicit content is permitted (not required), but must be posted under access lock.

- Format: posts/comments in this DW community. I ask that you include any supplemental information that other players would find helpful [in brackets], e.g.

She shuffles the deck of jeng-zai cards, then draws out a Drowned General.

[Jeng-zai is a card game from the hexarchate that is a little like a cross between poker and mahjong, and people use it both for gambling and fortunetelling. The Drowned General is one of the unluckier cards. Her expression as she does this is mournful, if you know to look for it.]

- REVISED [11/1/2018]: Players should expect to check on the game at least every other day. Posting speed varies, but the game can go without warning from quiet periods to being very busy (numerous comments in a day). We highly recommend tracking the community so as not to miss updates.

- Characters may come from any point in the hexarchate/heptarchate's timeline, or from another setting, or be original, so long as they fit into the scenario. You are welcome to submit canon-divergence AU versions of canon characters due to the influence of time travel.

- While the hexarchate is a pretty nasty place, no torture will happen to characters unless the player(s) agree upon it beforehand. There will be no sexual violence. (Non-graphic references to past incidents in backstory are permitted.)

- Character write-ups and moves will be public and viewable to all, including other players, with the exception of NSFW posts, which will be locked. Players are encouraged to discuss their goals for a given scene or interaction with each other so they can help each other reach those goals for their characters (example: I want my character to get badly wounded in a group firefight, so I arrange for another player's character to come to my character's aid too late, cue hurt/comfort).

- Characters are encouraged to invent setting details and NPCs as they need them. This is a non-canon multiverse, go to town. Unless there are special circumstances, it should be assumed that new setting details and NPCs are free for any player's use as well as the GM's.

- If an issue arises in the game, please bring it privately to the GM (yoon at yoonhalee dot com). Yoon is the GM; the DW comm also has a second admin, ursula (zuhrovet).

- NEW:
I attest that the characters and settings in hexarchate-rpg are not canonical Machineries of Empire characters or settings. Although I may use or modify characters or settings created by players within hexarchate-rpg, the characters that players create will remain their own. I am not entitled to any credit or income associated with player-created characters beyond the game itself. Any similarities between my professional writing and hexarchate-rpg player characters or character-created settings are coincidental.--Yoon Ha Lee

===

PLAYER APPLICATION FORM

NOTE: Player applications are now closed.

[For reference: Player Application Post: Round 1; Player Application Post: Round 2; Player Application Post: Round 3.]

Player name or handle:

RPG DW account (if separate):

How can we get in touch with you? (email, DW messaging, other):

Character name:

One-paragraph (100 words) summary of your character.


NOTE: In the following section, limit your answers to up to 100 words per question.
===

How did your character first learn of the hexarchate?

Why did your character join this rebellion?

What type of role would your character play in a mission?

What kinds of missions would your character like to see? (e.g. spying, opportunities for romance, intrigue, diplomacy, etc.)

What is your character's secret dream or desire, the one they've never told anyone?

How will your character die?
(NOTE: I will not kill your character unless you pre-arrange it with me, but I may put you in a dangerous situation based on this.)

Does your character have any powers that the hexarchate would consider "exotic" (magical)?

What do you (the player) enjoy most in an RPG?

You have 100 words to tell me anything else you want me and the other players to know about your character. Do it here.

Player agreement
I recognize that the characters and settings in hexarchate-rpg are not canonical Machineries of Empire characters or settings. Participation in hexarchate-rpg does not entitle me to any credit or income associated with Machineries of Empire beyond hexarchate-rpg itself. I recognize that characters or settings that I create within hexarchate-rpg may be used or modified within hexarchate-rpg by other players or the GM (Yoon Ha Lee), but characters I create will remain my own. Any similarities between my professional writing and Machineries of Empire are coincidental.