*Dear Honored Guest,* *King Triton wishes to personally extend an invitation to you on this most auspicious New Year's Eve. You are invited to attend the Neptune Ball, the most exclusive, and grandest ball in all of Atlantica. There will be dancing, refreshments, and a grand banquet, with all of the finery the palace has to offer.* *In attendance will be many of Atlantica's social and political elite. For the first time in a hundred years of war, the Neptune Ball will also be host to talks of peace with Pacifica. Witness history being made - or have your voice heard, and help steer your country in the right direction. Should politics bore you, there will always be the intrigue of court to divert you. Be careful though, in pursuit of other's secrets, you may find your own revealed as well.*

*The Royal Family eagerly awaits your RSVP.*

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"The Netune Ball" is inspired by Disney's The Little Mermaid, but is darker than the bright premise would suggest. This game sits in the timeline around the same time as The Little Mermaid 2 would (Ariel is Queen on land, Flounder is all grown up, Sebastian and King Triton are still around, etc.) but in an alternate timeline where certain things didn't go quite the way we remember from the Disney movie. The character's motivations are murky, and the back-story dark - so be warned. Guard your back during your time under the sea - and watch out for the sharks...

This game brings together political intrigue, magic, uncovering history, and familial tension. As a player in this game, you should expect to spend your time engaging in one or more of the following:

- Political maneuvering to secure a favorable treaty for your faction - Completing Mechanics (e.g.: research notebooks, riddle chains) to uncover important historical information that have the potential to radically change character goals. - Social maneuvering to settle old debts and grudges, and to accomplish personal goals.

As an NPC in this game, you should expect to spend your game interchagably playing:

- A minnow - a page in the palace who runs small errand and tries to, but may fail, to carry messages for PCs, and deceminiates important announcements throughout game from the In-game Rulers. These NPCs add an element of chaos and unreliability to game. - A shark - a top predator in the ocean attracted to blood and violence. These NPCs add an extra element of danger and risk to violence. - Various bit-part NPCs that show up, follow a fairly rigid script to determine if the PCs have accomplished something or not, and then sweep away imperiously. - Deceminates important announcements from bit part NPCs that may be summoned by certain mechanics. - There is one extended NPC role that lasts for about half of the game.

We will employ "Open Door," "Cut and Brake," and the "Okay Check-In," safety mechanics.

Dear Honored Guest, King Triton wishes to personally extend an invitation to you on this most auspicious New Year’s Eve. You are invited to attend the Neptune Ball, the most exclusive, and grandest ball in all of Atlantica. There will be dancing, refreshments, and a grand banquet, with all of the finery the palace has to offer. In attendance will be many of Atlantica’s social and political elite. For the first time in a hundred years of war, the Neptune Ball will also be host to talks of peace with Pacifica. Witness history being made - or have your voice heard, and help steer your country in the right direction. Should politics bore you, there will always be the intrigue of court to divert you. Be careful though, in pursuit of other’s secrets, you may find your own revealed as well.

The Royal Family eagerly awaits your RSVP.

“The Netune Ball” is inspired by Disney’s The Little Mermaid, but is darker than the bright premise would suggest. This game sits in the timeline around the same time as The Little Mermaid 2 would (Ariel is Queen on land, Flounder is all grown up, Sebastian and King Triton are still around, etc.) but in an alternate timeline where certain things didn’t go quite the way we remember from the Disney movie. The character’s motivations are murky, and the back-story dark - so be warned. Guard your back during your time under the sea - and watch out for the sharks…

This game brings together political intrigue, magic, uncovering history, and familial tension. As a player in this game, you should expect to spend your time engaging in one or more of the following:

Political maneuvering to secure a favorable treaty for your faction
Completing Mechanics (e.g.: research notebooks, riddle chains) to uncover important historical information that have the potential to radically change character goals.
Social maneuvering to settle old debts and grudges, and to accomplish personal goals.

As an NPC in this game, you should expect to spend your game interchagably playing:

A minnow - a page in the palace who runs small errand and tries to, but may fail, to carry messages for PCs, and deceminiates important announcements throughout game from the In-game Rulers. These NPCs add an element of chaos and unreliability to game.
A shark - a top predator in the ocean attracted to blood and violence. These NPCs add an extra element of danger and risk to violence.
Various bit-part NPCs that show up, follow a fairly rigid script to determine if the PCs have accomplished something or not, and then sweep away imperiously.
Disseminates important announcements from bit part NPCs that may be summoned by certain mechanics.
There is one extended NPC role that lasts for about half of the game.

This game is a Lit Form / Secrets & Powers style game, in the style of some MIT and Stanford Games. This game has lots of little pieces of paper to represent game items, your character abilities, etc. There will be signs on the walls allowing you to interact with the world, find things, and accomplish various tasks without waiting for a GM. There will be actual puzzles to solve, in cooperation and competition with fellow players, and the outside bounds of what is possible are well defined, allowing players to bounce off of them, come up with creative solutions within these limitations, and chew the scenery as hard as they like.

We will employ the Tapestries Convention safety mechanics, and will review them only briefly at the begining of the event. Players who have played before can return as NPCs if they so desire.
Content Warnings
This game includes: depression, substance abuse, mind control, kidnapping (adults and babies), and (in backstory only) sexual violence. The tension in this game also depends somewhat on characters enforcing the tradition of sealing a treaty by marriage - Discrimination against LGBT+ relationships in or out of character will not be tolerated. All characters may tangentially encounter each of these things as they impact the overall narrative of the game, but individual characters can be more insulated from them.