CatBird: Search or Rescue - Season Three, Mission 1
Rollover and Finale written by Aleena, Catrina, Blackeagle, Dash, Mary Kate, Sassy Snake and Shelldor
(misison logo by J (Dash/ Wildfall/ Becky))

Historical recap: The story of Adventures in Loathing is now a sprawling epic, starting in the shadow of a legendary clan war and focusing on the major clan (at the time), the Kingdom of KOL, and their conflicts with the penguin mafia (where they got their first hint of the Somber Six) and the now-fallen Knob Goblin kingdom. It took our heroes to Hey Daze and back (twice), to the distant futuristic land of Honorburg and the alternate dimension of the so-called Mirrorverse, a twisted 'opposite world' to our own, and to more familiar KOL locations as well.

Some adventurers from early stories (Catrina and Dash as well as Prince Blahking, now a NPC) are still around and new adventurers have joined them over the missions, from earlier missions like Wildfall, Sassy Snake and Aleena to more later additions, such as Alys, Blackeagle and Shelldor.

Season 1 ended on a war with the Knob Goblins, which eventually lead to the corruption of Catrina and Kadlin. Catrina takes over the Knob Goblin Kingdom and Kadlin, seduced by the dark power of a glaive with a cursed spirit inside, eventually siezes control and threatens the entire world.

Eventually, under the looming threat of multiple disasters (most of which were potentially world ending), the heroes, rogues and even gods of the world united to confront Kadlin, resulting in the the death of both her and her heroic brother Konall. The Adventurers were left to try to deal with unresolved issues and the mystery of a strange bugbear shaped ship which seemed to have arrived from another world, setting the stage for Season three. . .

The Story so far: Season 3 started with the Penguin Mafia in firm control of Seaside Town, which they seized during the issues with Kadlin. Adventurers were divided into two goals; work with the Council to get the Penguins to agree to leave, or attempt to sneak into town to drive them out by force. The Penguin Mafia claimed to want help shutting down the random portals which were still opening around the Kingdom. After a confrontation between all three groups, Wildfall helped the Council and Penguins come to an acceptable compromise, which had the penguins giving up control of Seaside Town in exchange for some seats on a new Council of Loathing board. Oh, and the portal problem was dealt with largely off camera by Alsy and Aleena. Thanks gals!

That sets the scene for the Penguins to be partially in control of the Council as it again requests assistance from local adventurers for a local Kingdom problem.

This is the first time I've tried starting the archive before the mission is actually over. I'm hoping to do this for future missions that reach at least ten roleplays, so if something happens to the main forum, I'm more likely to have most of it backed up. (The threshold of ten roleplays is because I format pieces with nine or less roleplays differently.) Ultimately though it still ended up taking a few months to get up. In fact, as I write this, we're working on the Finale for the next mission. Oops. Not the archive, just the Finale.

Additional update: As I edit this page, we're in the NEXT mission, Mansion's Maniac Mysteries. To be fair, I was off on a RL family trip for two weeks!

Another thing that sets it apart is the sheer number of pieces in this one. We got 27 pieces during roleplaying for this mission! Meaning solo roleplays and co-writes. Duh.) That, obviously, is quite a bit. The previous high was like, 24 pieces during Holiday. Another great mission worth reading.

It isn't just the number of roleplays; this one had it all! We see a brand new player to AIL in the form of Mary Kate while Blackeagle, who debut during last mission's Finale part II, make their roleplaying debut. The mission is also split into two goals, with each mission getting enough attention that it could have been successful as its own mission. That's without counting a pair of awesome Becky Joy/ Sassy Snake co-writes "crossover" roleplays! We've got a mix of veteran AIL characters, with Sebastian Dash, Catrina Whiteclaw and Aleena joining up, and we've got more recent additions like Shelldor and Alys here too! There's co-writes and solos, and short pieces and some pretty long pieces in here.

The Council have requested local adventurers aid the Council by tracking down (KOL creature) the Toot Oriole, who has been missing since the Season 2 Finale, as it turns out. That's one quest. Meanwhile, during the Rollover, Catrina, Dash and Aleena are ambushed and kidnapped, so the other quest is KOKOL's request to track them down and rescue them.

These two goals lead to the most roleplayed for mission in AIL history to date!

Feature character: Mary Kate O'Toole debuts! What a strong debut it is, too! She starts in six co-writes with Wildfall, including their debut in Old (young) friends reunited! They're back together when Wildfall meets Mary's father, and they spend four more co-writes with either Alys, Todd or both. Mary is a very fun character and you can see her wonderful little personality quirks starting even in her earliest stories here. It's fun seeing another figure from Wildfall's past as well as meeting her old friend, Captain Horatio. A very strong debut mission secured her the featured character spot!
Co feature character: Sassy Snake is all over the boards again- and this time it's finally for a mission that gets votes! She is in an amazing five roleplays plus two more with Becky Joy- and one of those is mostly a Sassy Snake epic story. She introduced a wide range of memorable new characters - and Blorf- even as she gives generous screen time to her collection of five NPC's from earlier missions.
Co feature character: Blackeagle (the team of John and Sherri) also debut, although they don't have the length of stories of Sassy or Mary. They do manage to pull off three short roleplays as well as a co-write with Becky Joy, and again, it's a good read as we see them adjusting to this world. Oh, and this mission sees their rivalry with Blake continue from their debut in the last mission's Finale. Watch 'em craft sticks and wrestle the Gorlock!
Jarlsboris Wildfall - or just Wildfall- benefits greatly from Mary's presence! He starts with a powerful short piece where he's sold his and Summer's house. Then he is in all of Mary's stories before getting a co-write with just Wildfall and Todd, a classic combination which earned the two a Best Chemistry award in a previous mission.
Todd Blackpaws is the second player character Mary meets. Todd spends a lot of time in the background to Mary and Wildfall although he does get a chance to tell her about his past, growing up in a cathouse. Later, he and Wildfall are off on their own, where they run into a couple of. . . strange NPC's, Wilma and Gina. Sha-wing.
Cattaras Whiteclaw and Jen both show up early and late in the mission, scoring a big presence during roleplaying, the Rollover and of course, the Finale! Although they explore their relationship a bit and interact with Sir Fumblies and Becky Joy, most of their story this time around focuses on their battle with former Elite 8 members - especially Daisuke, Cattaras's former master.
Shelldor tripped a ninja! Oh, and Bob and he fought ninjas, boarded a pirate ship, and met John the Trapper. Quite a good run in spite of showing up fairly late in the mission.
Queen Aleena undergoes a devastating loss in this piece, something which will set the story for the future of AIL for missions to come! She's plays a key part in the Rollover.
Sebastian Dash is back! This time, it's Dash and his allies, Aleena and Catrina Whiteclaw, who need to be saved. It's a very different role for the original AIL hero, to say the least.
Catrina Whiteclaw, Dash and Aleena were missing the last mission. Well, they're back in a big way, searching for Catrina's lost kit (child) and quickly being kidnapped by unknown sources.
Becky Joy joined Cattaras and Jen on an attack, went on her own (with NPC's) to try to rescue someone, joined up with Sassy Snake and capped things off with Blackeagle! Silly gal. Busy silly gal.
Sir Fumblies shows up early and even gets to play the hero, saving Cattaras, Becky and Jen at one point. We get to see him interact with Blackeagle too.
Alys hangs out with Todd, Wildfall and Mary. She even breaks the 4th wall at one amusing point. Cute little stories from her.

2007 Ultimate KOL Spoiler page!
- JAD!