PLOT IDEAS↴ Sometimes, the player knows best - so this is the page for submitting your plot ideas, suggestions, and proposals for the mods to look at! Lost Carnival is always open to the idea of player plots, and plans to even go as far as letting players run entire world tours, if they are so inclined. Here is an idea of what you could use this page for:
Asking for approval to run a self contained event or plot that will involve a large number of characters or make an impact on the rest of the game.
Inquiring about timing and logistical concerns regards mod plots that are currently being run.
Submitting ideas for worlds you'd like the carnival to visit, or general ideas that you'd like to see more of.
Submitting a proposal for a tour of a world that you'd like to plan and moderate! This is best used for if you'd like the carnival to go to the world your character comes from, which the mods may not be familiar with. We would be happy to accommodate something like this, but of course we would be unable to moderate a setting we are unfamiliar with ourselves.
Asking for permission to do things to NPCs or asking about what NPCs are going to do to you.
Anything else plot related!
Comment are currently unscreened, though if you want to keep a plot secret we can take it to a private channel instead. Otherwise, we'd like to leave it open so that the community has an idea of what is on the table, and so they can second ideas that they like.
HELLO EVERYONE, this is CaityCat and Maggie coming to you with a little player plot we've been cooking up for a while! It's not too huge, and something we hope to be bringing back periodically over the course of the game. It is entirely optional, but should hopefully provide some fun flavor to spice up the experience this month!
THE RUNDOWN↴
Where Ginko and Tanyuu are from, there are creatures called mushi - strange, ethereal organisms that exist in a state unlike that of other living things. Mushi are invisible to most people, but their effects can be quite noticeable nonetheless, and they can cause a lot of trouble for humans on occasion. Usually this only occurs when there is a very large concentration of mushi in the same place, but Ginko attracts mushi as a natural part of his existence/being/soul/what-have-you. As a result, since they aren’t really bound by the barriers between realms, they fairly frequently drift into the carnival. Most aren’t dangerous, and those workers who happen to be able to see them may have caught sight of some odd, glowing creatures clinging to walls or floating around (and this absolutely means people are free to just assume their character has seen these things). Every so often, though, something more troublesome ends up in the carnival.
MUSHI↴
► Un: Un are snail-like mushi that feed off of sound. Usually they live in forests where the natural wildlife provides plenty of food for them, but when winter comes around the snow muffles things down to the point that the Un will migrate towards human settlements in search of sustenance. In this case, the Un drifted toward the carnival, which understandably has plenty of food available for them.
► Ah: More problematic than Un, Ah are a much rarer mushi that live in symbiosis with Un. To those who see them, Ah are only visually distinguishable from Un in that their shells curl clockwise instead of counterclockwise. Functionally, they’re very different; Ah live near colonies of Un, eating the silence that they leave behind. A few of these have followed the Un into the carnival, and are in search of a much harder to find bit of quiet somewhere in the Ringmaster's realm.
INFESTATIONS↴
Starting from January [date], colonies of Un will start infesting trailers and tents around the carnival, dulling or entirely removing any sound in that space depending on the size of the infestation. In some cases, they may even crawl into someone’s ear and eat any incoming sound, deafening their host on that side. It’s pretty annoying, but not really dangerous, and they’re easy to get rid of if the afflicted person goes to Zecora about it.
If an Ah happens to infect someone, the results are rather different, and much more serious: they will grow four small horns from their forehead, and all surrounding noises that are normally too quiet to be heard will be amplified into a constant, deafening roar that makes it incredibly difficult to discern individual sounds or sleep. In cases where Ah infections go untreated, the host will eventually weaken and die; however, if it’s caught and treated, they should be fine.
Anyone who wants to can have their character’s trailer (or ear) infested with Un, which will eat any sounds in that space/that they hear. If you want to have your character infected with Ah, please reply to the comment below; we’ll RNG three victims hosts at [time and date] EST!
There will be a network post going up soon where Ginko and Tanyuu will be asking about Un sightings or hearing problems around the carnival, and a log post for MUSHI SHENANIGANS. Let us know below if you have any questions, comments, or concerns!
so, I know we've talked via plurk about but this is just me making official legit plotting post strides towards Strange fucking everything up seven ways to sunday. Tentative plot: sometime after the Celebration, Strange just straight up uses that cursed object he bought in Atlantis b/c he's an idiot who doesn't think things through. I know info's needed on both ends and I'm okay doing this however y'all think it works best: I write up a plot format post after the mods tell me just what exactly the cursed ointment does, or the mods write up that plot format post after I tell y'all the relevant details about Strange's mental state. Whichever's easiest for y'all works best for me!
Just so you know, I've got this and am aware of it, I'm just waiting until after this plot to get into the detail! I'll get to this when things have opened up.
World idea: giant magical library. Yup, that's all it is, books everywhere. Big enough the students roped into curating it talk about some sections like you talk about climbers dying on the ascent to Mt Everest. No real solid idea of what would be there, but I'm thinking something like a cross between Pagemaster, Discworld, and that weird library in the Chronicles of Narnia where you could read books about your life.
Why is a carnival there? Who knows, libraries need entertainment too. Especially the sentient books, which just might whisper you their secrets if you please them enough...
Performing for books? That sounds like exactly what the carnival needs. This sounds like something very game appropriate so your idea has been HEEDED and I'll think about how to make something like that work!
Popping back in here before I forget ... I don't know how it'd work either, but adding an (optional) RNG element could be fun? Something like the Fairy Tale Meme to determine a 'role' and add a 'genre' (Horror/Romance/Mystery/etc) and characters are obliged to act it out accordingly (and will find themselves temporarily transformed during the duration, etc).
Visually, I'm also really envisioning it being like the Hundred Acre Wood segment of Kingdom Hearts.
I'd like to run a small event at some point, entirely self-contained.
Magical Surge, and everyone gets random mutations for 24 hours, (I'd make up a chart to roll on.) Rainbow hair, extra eyes, taur for a day, all that kind of stuff.
After 24 hours everything goes back to Carnival levels of normal.
Should I PM you for scheduling and refining the details?
This seems like it could be a fun aspect of a larger event, but I don't really want to set a precedent for events happening just because of random magical surges. Especially with things like changes (especially if it includes rare changes) because stuff like that is supposed to be relatively important, and I don't want to depreciate its impact or value by them happening too frequently or randomly.
Generally speaking, for something like this to be run as a player event, I would need a stronger hook for why it's happening and what it contributes story wise. Otherwise, it would just be the mods making up a reason for it to happen, which would ultimately take away from the point in it being player run in the first place.
Hello, all, this is Casey and Maggie (players of Ginko and Tanyuu, your local Absolutely Not Potheads) with another small mushi plot, this time helped along by the ever so wonderful Foster whom we all love and adore. (...that’s a joke. You’re allowed to laugh.) This should run for about a week, and a log will be going up for any and all mushi shenanigans in a few days.
THE RUNDOWN↴
Where Ginko and Tanyuu are from, there are creatures called mushi - strange, ethereal organisms that exist in a state unlike that of other living things. Mushi are invisible to most people, but their effects can be quite noticeable nonetheless, and they can cause a lot of trouble for humans on occasion. Usually this only occurs when there is a very large concentration of mushi in the same place, but Ginko attracts mushi as a natural part of his existence/being/soul/what-have-you. As a result, since they aren’t really bound by the barriers between realms, they fairly frequently drift into the carnival. Most aren’t dangerous, and those workers who happen to be able to see them may have caught sight of some odd, glowing creatures clinging to walls or floating around. (There is no hard rule for who can and cannot see mushi, but supernaturally-inclined characters could be more likely to perceive them. Even the most mundane person could be able to, though, so don’t feel restricted in that sense!)
Normally, Ginko and Tanyuu try to keep the number of mushi in the carnival down through the use of “mushi tobacco” - which isn’t actually tobacco at all, but a mix of herbs that, when burned as incense or in cigarettes, produces a smoke that repels mushi. However, recently, their entire supply has mysteriously gone missing (which is to say, Foster van Denend, local Talker and former cow, stole and hid all of it). As such, starting on Day 87, the number of mushi in the carnival will steadily begin climbing, and continue until Ginko and Tanyuu get hold of the repellent again on Day 90.
MUSHI↴
There are going to be many, many different kinds of mushi swarming the carnival, of all different varieties. Some will cause strange illnesses, and others will simply be a nuisance to their surroundings.
► Yukidangomushi: These tiny mushi roll on top of snow, forming ever-growing snowballs as they move. When the snowball gets too big, the mushi will crash into whatever is nearby - whether that’s a tree or a person - to break it apart. These will be rolling around in the mountains by the lake.
► Un: A returning infestation from the last plot, Un are little snail-like mushi that devour sound in the area where they nest. This will create pockets of silence all around the carnival, so maybe learn how to lip-read for a while.
► Kagebi: A small blue flame that is actually visible to anyone, kagebi infest fires and turn them cold as they absorb the body heat of those who try to warm themselves by them. Food heated by a kagebi flame (and yes, they CAN get into gas burners, sorry guys) will seem to be cooked but actually be ice cold, and when not in a fire they hide inside covered containers.
► Shimi: Essentially mostly-invisible silverfish. However, they eat paper much faster than a non-mushi pest would, so… maybe hope they don’t get into your books.
INFESTATIONS↴
Characters can become infected by mushi and pick up a strange illness, which can range from the annoyance of a particularly nasty cold to something much more life-threatening. Nothing will actually have the time to successfully kill anyone before Ginko and Tanyuu’s herbs are recovered, thankfully, but the danger is still there.
► Mizukagami: A mercury-like mushi that will be inhabiting the carnival’s lake. If someone looks at their reflection in the mizukagami, it will rise from the lake and follow them, gradually sapping their energy. The mizukagami will eventually try to take its “host’s” place as a solid being and turn them into mushi, but will dissolve if it sees its own reflection in the moment before it replaces them.
► Manakonoyami: These mushi infect their host’s eyes, making them extremely sensitive to light to the point that any light at all causes intense pain. However, withdrawing into darkness will only cause the mushi to multiply, making the host’s condition more severe. If caught early, manakonoyami can be treated with medicine.
► Tokoyuki: Tokoyuki resemble snowflakes, and will swirl in swarms around their host, stealing their body heat. Someone infected by tokoyuki will have snow falling over them constantly, but won’t feel the cold and will actually find any heat painful. While it usually isn’t fatal, hosts may suffer frostbite. Tokoyuki can be driven out through consistent heat exposure over a couple of days.
► Tamashi-ka: Worm-like mushi that feed on their host’s life force; though not generally fatal, a severe tamashi-ka infection can be extremely unpleasant. On the other hand, being infected with tamashi-ka can enhance one’s ability to see mushi, or allow someone to see them who normally can’t - which might not be a bright side, depending on how you feel about suddenly being aware of all that.
If none of these options strike your fancy, we can also wildcard some mushi types for you all! Given the wide range of forms, effects, and range of lethality, it won’t be any problem to create (or find a canon mushi) to suit your needs! Just reply below with this form, and we’ll work out something that fits for you!
Characters are absolutely free to help search for the missing mushi tobacco, but the confrontation with Foster has been privately plotted out already and will go down in a closed log. If you have any other questions or concerns, please let us know below.
Hey there! This is Nico with a player plot that will happen sometime in the future! I'm not sure when, because the lead-up is a slow burn, but anyone who wants to join in is absolutely invited! If you've got a dark-aligned character (i.e. demonic, Dark Matter, etc.), you have the chance to be hunted by a bloodthirsty, "divine" power called Innocence! Coming soon to a carnival near you.
INNOCENCE↴
Allen is infected by a divine, sentient parasite called Innocence. His is named Crown Clown. Its purpose is to destroy the Akuma, demonic skeletons forced into a corpse bound with the soul of that corpse's loved one. The Innocence hungers for it, and when it goes too long without destroying demonic creatures, it grows bloodthirsty. Enough so that it will force Allen to destroy such creatures, even if they are his friends.
Due to this Innocence being a part of Allen -- his left arm, to be exact -- he is a weapon. Destroying the Akuma and protecting humanity is the only purpose he has in life. It's the only way for him to feel alive. After being unable to fight in Hellbound Hallows, many failures to come, and an inability to fight Akuma for far too long . . . Allen's depression and anxiety will come to a head just as his Innocence's hunger goes over the edge.
THE PLAN↴
► LEVEL 1: Allen's left arm will go ballistic and begin hunting down every demonic/dark-aligned person in the carnival that signs up for this, controlling Allen's body like a puppet! It will take the form of his claw, pulling his body along and slashing at people. If his body gets too mangled or he fights it too much, Crown Clown's belts will then forcibly move his body like the strings of a marionette.
► LEVEL 2: Inevitably, Allen will either one, become so near death, the Innocence will prioritize keeping him alive, or two, someone will restrain Allen's body enough that the Innocence can no longer move him.
How this stage goes is largely up to all of you! Either one of his "victims" restrains him or beats him bloody, or someone in patrol will stop him or beat him bloody. The goal is to keep this contained enough that the Ringmaster doesn't get involved before Allen gets caught, but the damage extensive enough that it's fun to play with!
► Aftermath: Extreme guilt!!! Allen will publicly apologize before locking himself up forever. Or someone punches some sense into him and drags him back out. #squadgoals Depending on how badly he hurt some people, he may try to make it up to them with acts of service.
It's up to the RM what happens to him beyond that. Likely, his arm will be bound so it won't negatively affect carnival workers any longer.
POSSIBLE ROUTES↴
► Benny Hill: Allen's Crown Clown will chase after you without you getting too hurt. Great for comedy and small injuries! ► Collateral: You're in the wrong place and the wrong time, buddy. You may not be demonic in any way, but you're still getting caught in the storm. ► Injury: The furthest Allen will get is injury, from the smallest cut to the biggest gaping wound. You won't die! But there will be blood.
Edited (YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT) 2017-05-11 06:28 (UTC)
I've been reading His Dark Materials so... time to suggest a dæmon world to visit! The series has an infamous anti-organized-religion slant which is absent from the setting I will describe. Nah, this is all about souls made physical.
PREPARATION↴
Can you imagine my astonishment at learning that part of my own nature was female, and bird-formed, and beautiful?
After leaving the previous location, and a few days before coming to Greysol, the Ringmaster puts a massive spell on the souls of every member of the carnival. Greysol is in a world where the souls of every human or sufficiently humanlike person takes the physical form of an animal. Plenty of carnies wouldn’t qualify, but really, what’s the point of going to a dæmon world if not to show them what their inner selves looks like?
[this goes into a toplevel comment:]
Dæmons always take animal shapes, though humans, dæmons, and normal animals are instantly able to tell upon looking that a dæmon is not an animal. They are intelligent and capable of speech and may seem like they're independent of their people, but when you get down to it a human and a dæmon are one being, with one mind, sharing thoughts and sensations. Body and soul cannot move more than maybe twenty feet apart without feeling great pain and anguish and eventually dying, with some rare exceptions. Touching someone else’s soul is the greatest intimacy; horrific and violating if done without consent, uplifting and splendid with it.
While they appear to be flesh and blood and have mass and the ability to manipulate objects, they are in fact formed of particles of this universe’s magic, called Dust. They have heartbeats that are in perfect time with their human bodies, but there’s no metabolic activity. No need to eat. A cobra has no venom, a slug will leave no slime trail, a fish is only comfortable when wet but won’t come to harm dry. Injure a dæmon and golden motes appear, though only psychological hurts last. Kill a soul and the body dies instantly.
With rare exceptions, a character and their soul will have different genders. A dæmon always reflects its human's inner life. The back-and-forth of internal conflict,the internal monologue, seems like a dialogue, and people with dæmons may process their way through uncertainty and indecision faster and more thoroughly than those without. If emotion doesn't show on a face or stance it may show on the soul, though there are plenty of stoic dæmons.
A young person's dæmon instantly changes into different creatures in response to mood or need, but during their teens they "settle" into a permanent form and never change again. That form is based on their personality, especially on inner aspects of themselves. Plenty of big, tough people who you’d expect to be lions are rodents instead, and don’t forget that herbivores are not necessarily passive and cowardly, nor are predators inherently courageous. One of the most stalwart, moral fighters in HDM has a hare dæmon.
A form may have to do with animal symbolism or with the animal’s behavior and ecology. Someone with an emperor scorpion dæmon might be calculating and treacherous as scorpion symbolism suggests, or nurturing, social, and shy as the real animals are. Choose what seems good! Don’t be shy about asking for suggestions. For premade behavior-and-ecology based form analyses, feel free to check this forum.
Remember also, it’s fine if you don’t feel like handling all this. Maybe the spell didn’t take properly and your character’s dæmon stops speaking after a few days and their internal monologue returns to normal. Maybe they never manifested one at all. [/toplevel comment] The spell causes dæmons to form for most characters. As they are souls made physical they will have some element of characters’ soul color. At minimum their eyes are that color. For about a day their forms are as changeable as children’s souls. Adults will settle by the time the carnival arrives.
Of course the spell doesn’t work completely evenly. Some souls are more heavily insulated and do not become external. Players can opt out of dæmons this way and have one of three options for their characters: a glamour butterfly in their souls’ colors follows them while in Greysol, they become witches encouraged to wear bird pendants, or they become talking polar bears.
(If you don't want to type out d & a e l i g ; m o n all the time, daemon is perfectly acceptable.)
SETTING↴
The Carnival's come to a manicured park in Greysol, a large coastal city that seems to roughly equate to late 20th century Western culture and mores, with a vaguely Victorian steampunk-influenced aesthetic and somewhat uneven technology. Horse-drawn vehicles and just plain horses are common, but horseless automobiles and strangely 21st century-looking bicycles don’t cause too much of a stir. There are paved streets, skyscrapers, and electricity even if they call it "anbaric lighting". Hot air balloons and dirigibles can be seen in the sky. There are many moving picture theaters, black-and-white and with somewhat questionable sound, but small portable radios are common.
Every human and witch has a dæmon. The city is built to accommodate this. Doorways tend to be wide, stairs wide and shallow, there are huge freight elevators in most buildings, and sidewalks are quite broad, making it easier not to accidentally touch someone else’s soul. Slick floors are rare and virtually always have hoof-friendly rugs and the like. Life for someone with a giraffe soul is hard in the big city, but an effort has been made. If you visit a cemetery you will see that cremation is the most preferred method of handling the dead, because this lets the body dissolve just as the soul did.
Pets and many childrens’ toys are downplayed compared to on many other worlds. Every human has a permanent companion from infancy, exactly suited to their temperament, that loves them and will do most of the things any pet would and more. Some animals are still companions to whatever degree, but most domestic animals are utilitarian. On a similar note, humans in this world experience a lesser degree of loneliness than on worlds without dæmons, and seem to learn faster since they can discuss things with themselves.
Magic is a known quality but because it takes years to learn any spells of substance, humans on the street tend to assume it’s trivial, that all but the elderly can only call on it for doing tricks. Witch magic is better regarded and much more mysterious, though the only difference is that witches have the time and inclination to learn far more.
That other realities exist, similar in some ways and radically different in others, is well known. In the past there used to be great expeditions and adventures and some very strange visitors. Unfortunately this meant there were soul-eating invincible creatures in this world too. Only witches and some quite old humans remember that time themselves. These days, in order to avoid the creation of soul-eaters there is very limited congress with other worlds. It’s on the level of children going to island facilities, going through windows there, and bringing things back. (Possibly an NPC contract is behind this?)
►SETTLING PARTY: Elaine Aracari, sixteen-year-old daughter of two actors and a moving pictures sensation herself, just settled as a blue peacock. Settling is a major coming of age milestone and celebrated as such in different ways all over the world. She and her family are throwing a massive party and inviting the public to join in! In parks, anyway, but hey, randos can still enjoy free catering, live music and showings of moving pictures, and displays of mostly trivial magic. There are also form readers from across the country, happy to inspect your dæmon’s form and tell you what it means. Is there anything to these analyses? Eh, maybe, but they’re generally flattering.
►KERNER ISLAND: From the harbor you can see a wooded island. Although there are no rocks to speak of around it there’s a tall lighthouse, and nearly all boat traffic avoids it carefully. On a clear day an adult with binoculars or a particularly sharp-eyed soul can see vague shapes moving on the shore, and… children?
When asked about it the first and last thing any adult will say to another adult is don’t go there. They’ll hold their dæmons close and tell you that on that island are things that eat souls. They may also admit with mixed pride and shame that it’s been a source of wealth and innovation for the city. There’s a facility there that can apparently open portals into other worlds, and the children who can reach it can cross through and bring things back. These children are mostly recruited by research and development teams on the lookout for items they can use, but there are also kids out to have adventures or who’ve run away. Usually small boats take them close enough to swim or ride there on dolphin-shaped dæmons.
Most people are violently opposed to visiting the island. If you’re a bear, a witch, haven’t settled yet and look capable, or are just tough-minded and have a small soul, you may be asked for help. The children ‘staffing’ things do some work but there isn’t a central authority in charge of these things anymore. Lighthouse and facility equipment needs checking and maintenance. Maybe a child has been hurt and needs to be retrieved.
PATRONS↴
► HUMANS: Only unusual in that they have dæmons, and expect you to as well. They become uneasy seeing human-shaped people without their souls, even if it's as simple as "he’s in my pocket or the other room". The concept of a human type without a dæmon is as horrifying and repulsive to local people as seeing someone walking around with no head or an opened-up chest - some people would adjust to the idea faster than others, but you would have screams, fainting, outbursts, fear and pity. These humans can learn magic through long study. Most carnies will be glamored to look human. ► WITCHES: Extremely similar to and interbreeding with humans, witches in this world are all tall, youngish-looking androgynous-to-femme people whose dæmons always settle as birds. They live unusually long, use much of that time studying and learning magic, and have learned to stay as far away from their dæmons as they wish. Witches working with and around many humans usually wear gold necklaces bearing images of their dæmons when their souls are elsewhere, which helps put humans at ease. Witches prefer to keep to their own affairs and are baffled by capitalism and material needs, but there are a few pausing in the city. Some carnies will be glamored or changed to look like witches. ► BEARS: Slightly anthropomorphized polar bears which speak and have thumbs. They're very rare in such 'civilized' surroundings as the city, much preferring solitude, but everyone knows about them and there is a market for bear-made items. Bears are masters of shaping metal and have no dæmons, but regard certain things they make, usually armor, as their souls. In their right minds, untroubled by human doubts and aspirations, bears can read human intentions and cannot be tricked. Some carnies may be changed into bears. They won’t have bear minds, but may have a better aptitude for sensing lies while in bear form. ► ...DUST?: In this reality "Dust" is a conscious elementary particle generated by consciousness, gathering around people and things people have created. Dæmons are made of it. Very few can see it or detect it, but it's everywhere. More is generated when people make art, tell stories, or come to understand each other better. Dust is part of nearly every magic people use in this world and a source of knowledge and wisdom. It's also conscious itself, in a strange way, and may form into entities called angels, but almost no one in the world knows about that.
So it's not a usual sort of patron, but there'll be a hella lot of it around for the Carnival. No carnies will be Dust or angels.
► SEPARATION:It was as if he’d said, “No, don’t kill me, I’m frightened; kill my mother instead; she doesn’t matter, I don’t love her,” and as if she’d heard him say it, and pretended she hadn’t so as to spare his feelings, and offered herself in his place anyway because of her love for him. He felt as bad as that. There was nothing worse to feel.
In most cases, getting too far from your dæmon will kill you. Being more than twenty feet or so apart causes increasingly sharp emotional and physical pain, described as intense sorrow and love and a wrenching ache which only ease when they’re touching again. It’s possible for one half of someone to literally drag the other somewhere they’re really conflicted about going to, so death by separation can’t just casually happen. However it’s entirely possible to die by one half going off a cliff without the other, or boarding an elevator or a fast car. Any hurt to a dæmon you will feel yourself, too. Be careful.
Witches, and some humans, may learn to be further from their dæmons, but it requires going into places where dæmons can’t follow, experiencing the pain of deliberate step-by-step separation, and living. Characters who have been dead or had their souls removed may have gone through a similar enough process that they and their dæmons can be apart without issue, though they’re at their best and sharpest when both halves are together.
► SPECTRES:Well, when a Specter catch a grownup, that’s bad to see. They eat the life out of them there and then, all right. At first they know it’s happening, and they’re afraid; they cry and cry. They try and look away and pretend it ain’ happenin’, but it is. It’s too late. And no one ain’ gonna go near them, they on they own. Then they get pale and they stop moving. They still alive, but it’s like they been eaten from the inside. You look in they eyes, you see the back of they heads. Ain’ nothing there.
Properly known as Spectres of Indifference, these are vague shapes that seem to be made out of mist or heat-haze or light reflecting on water. They can be taken as humanoid in shape, or as treelike. They eat the souls of adults, a horribly unpleasant process that usually takes a minute or so. No magic or weapon on this world can harm or contain them, and they’re able to seep through the tiniest openings in walls.
Someone whose soul has been consumed breathes and may with great effort look towards something making noise or hurting them, but understands, feels, thinks, does nothing. Even if they’re standing in running water they will do nothing but make the constant small motions to stay upright until they die of thirst. Do not get your soul eaten.
Fortunately, these Spectres can’t cross deep water or reach above twelve feet in the air. As soon as any quarry they pursue goes out of reach they lose interest. Presently all Spectres in this part of the world are confined to Kerner Island, where the portal facility is. Children and teens whose dæmons are unsettled are of no interest to Spectres and in fact can’t see them. As they grow close to settling the Spectres start to follow them around and their dæmons start to see flickers of the creatures.
Adolescents not quite settled and people who can keep their dæmons out of reach - whether these are bears who take off their armor or human types with their souls at great distance or as flying creatures over twelve feet up - can endure some proximity to Spectres, but unlike younger children they are still affected and will feel nausea and a degree of discomfort and apathy, worse the longer they’re around the creatures. The best way to recover from this is by taking actions that attract more Dust. That is, telling stories, making art, taking an active interest in and understanding people.
► SOME RANDOM CREATURES FROM OTHER REALITIES:Grr!
Inevitably the wrong portal is opened on Kerner Island and something that can fit through a child-sized hole in the air slips through and is more than a fourteen-year-old with hasty security training can handle, and may or may not be able to escape the island. The local authorities would be able to handle it eventually and it shouldn’t be too much of a problem for a seasoned carnie, but it would be embarrassing to get savaged by a random Tektite.
CHANGES↴ Characters who turned into armored bears can keep an uncommon change related to that. This may include an increased aptitude to shaping metal and sensing its weak and strong points, or a better ability to tell if someone is lying.
Soon after leaving this world charater’s dæmons will fade away and become internal again, but characters can purchase a simple spell to manifest theirs for short periods. The spell can be recast as often as they like. Outside of the Carnival, if they visit any world with their dæmon which doesn’t have dæmons, then only people who can see spirits will be able to see or hear them, no glamour needed.
There's not much preparation to this event. At the start of Day X, characters will wake up to find the carnival on a distant planet, underneath a biodome. They'll also find themselves changed into a more alien form (more details on that below!). Characters who don't sleep will have blacked out for a few minutes so that the fun magic can take shape.
The Ringmaster will give the carnival members a brief overview which basically consists of welcome to the Space Olympics, you can compete in one event, don't compete in Space SILLY SPORT HERE because she is going to get that gold medal herself, dammit.
SETTING↴
You stand on a distant planet Skyline of red plateaus Strange air and vegetation You're a winner!
Welcome to the Space Olympics! The year is 3022. This year's host is Zargon, which is only hosting because the four previous hosts all dropped out. Still, Zargon's put lot of time and money into developing a complex perfect for the Space Olympics. Floating above the planet's atmosphere is a large spaceship turned athletic arena, obviously named Olympic Spaceship. Stadiums are on every corner, there's swimming pools every other block, and a large racetrack surrounds the city. Places in Olympic Spaceship that aren't arenas either cater to athletes (training facilities, locker rooms, medical facilities, saunas) or cater to those watching the games (concession stands, shopping malls, merch stands, quiet rooms where people can just sit down). Space public transit can get you from one end of the ship to another in mere seconds.
The athlete's village is on Zargon, as well as the carnival. People can either stay at the carnival or in the athlete's village. Though Zargon doesn't have any oxygen, a combination of biodomes and terraforming technology have made it so that all athletes can breathe comfortably on Zargon, no matter what their species! Just stay inside the biodome. Space shuttles go from Olympic Spaceship to Zargon at regular ten minute intervals. Those staying in the athlete's village will get a junior suite: basically a small, hotel room type set up with queen sized bed, microwave and refrigerator, and an attached bathroom. The Ringmaster will only cover minor incidentals—so keep your ass out the minibar!
The Space Olympics comprises literally every sport that people can think of, both summer and winter. There's track and field, ice skating, luge, and beach volleyball, but there's also more alien sports: three dimensional chess, pod racing, space poker, mechanical bull riding but the bull's some sort of weird Doctor Who type alien, and so on and so forth. All sports inexplicably have the word 'space' in front of their name. There will be plenty of opportunities for characters to try out any kind of sport when the arena is not in session! Any fake games from character's canons will not be represented, but if you ask around you can find suspiciously similar substitutes. Want to play a game of Space Muel Donsters? How about a round of that popular card game Space Schment?
PATRONS↴
► OTHER ATHLETES: There are other athletes here of all races, species, sizes, shapes, colors, etc. Most of them get along fairly well with the carnival on the basis of friendly competition and goodwill throughout the galaxy but a few of them are a bit too competitive for their own good. Thankfully, nothing gets to Tonya Harding levels of competitive, though there is plenty of trash talk in the games themselves.
► SANDY AMBURG: He's the main coordinator of the Space Olympics and certainly isn't Andy Samburg in a dumb wig. He'll answer all your questions, direct you to wherever you need to find, and happily reassure everyone that they totally have everything under control!
DANGERS↴
► BUDGET SNAFU: The Space Olympics do not have everything under control. There was a bit of a budget snafu. As such, various events are canceled, the schedule's constantly in flux, there's not as much food as expected, and some of the buildings in the athlete's village are still under construction when people arrive. The Labor department will be conscripted to help patch up as many buildings as possible, while the Kitchen staff will be conscripted to help make do with what supplies they have to help feed the athletes. Good luck figuring out what the hell that fruit is.
Some necessary goods can't be found, tempers are short, and while fighting in the athlete's village is strictly prohibited, some athletes are willing to overlook that in order to get their aggression out. Those working under the Warden & Nightrunner will be asked to help patrol the area and break up any fights they see. Of course, it's a bit harder than expected to break up fights between two eight foot tall creatures. Don't get punched!
► MECHANICAL FAILURES: Midway through the event, things start to break down. Members of the Carnival will be drafted to help with these mechanical failures. As they're independent athletes, there's less chance of the Space Olympic Commission getting sued by the planets! Mechanical failures can range from crawling through this ventilation shaft to unstick whatever's stuck at the end to rewiring this complex piece of future technology to good ol'fashioned elbow grease. Engineering, this is your time to shine! The rest of you...well, good luck anyway.
All of the mechanical failure is noticeable, but the most annoying is the artificial gravity inducers, which break multiple times during the event. Brace yourselves cause there's no gravity. The universal translators break a few times too, much to the annoyance of the Wookies, Ewoks, Judoon, etc.
► STRANGE AIR AND VEGETATION: Want to rent a spacesuit to explore Zargon? You can do so! Feel free to go explore outside of the biodome area! Just be careful of the man-eating plants, poisonous mold spores, and pockets of hallucinogenic gas.
► THE ALIEN HORDES: A log for this will go up near the end of the event. But basically? Aw heck, it's an alien invasion. Thanks, Sandy Amberg, you did wonderful at this. There'll be a drag down, knock out fight for a bit before the Ringmaster decides "fuck this noise," pulls everybody back into the carnival, and they get the heck out of dodge.
REWARDS↴ ► SPACE MERCH: Like every sporting event, there's merch to be bought, all emblazoned with the mascot of this year's Space Olympics, Johan the Athletic Porg! Buy a shirt with Johan playing basketball! Buy a mug with Johan on a sled! Who cares that Porgs technically aren't native to Zargon, they're cute and there's no way the planet's native species, the Zargon Death Flytrap, would ever make a halfway decent mascot in the first place. Unfortunately, there was an ordering snafu and the merch tables are just STACKED high with merchandise. Some sellers are still trying to actually pawn off the merch, but a few of them have resorted to just giving it away.
► YOU'RE A WINNER: Want to compete in the Space Olympics? Guess what! You can! The Ringmaster's crew has been shoved under the catch-all leftover label of Independent Athletes. Keep in mind that it will be very hard to actually place in the Space Olympics, as characters are going up against literally the best of the best in the entire universe. But if you want your character to at least make an attempt at winning a medal, drop a line in the 'going for a medal' section, icly justify your case with either info from your app or linked ingame examples/in canon scenes of your character doing the thing, and we'll RNG to see how you do! Winners actually get a physical medal and bragging rights. All participants get a consolation prize of a space gadget, the effects of which will be RNGed. Don't think this is anything cool, however, most of the space gadgets are things like 'kitchenwear' or 'outdated children's toys.'
The way that medaling works is that you'll comment to the 'going for a medal' comment and say whether your character is poor, fair, or good at the sport they're going for. We'll roll a d20 for successes: poor means you need to get a nat 20 in order to reach bronze. fair means 18-19 for bronze, nat 20 for silver. Good means 16-17 for bronze, 18-19 for silver, nat 20 for gold. If two people are competing in the same sport and hit the same medal tier, the higher point gets the medal or there'll be a roll-off.
EXAMPLE RANKINGS: SPACE HORSE RACING Poor: Cole has ridden a horse once or twice in his entire life. Fair: Strange knows how to handle a horse, though he's mostly ridden them going from place to place, not in any sort of competition. Good: Lambert knows how to handle a horse, calm it down, keep it from being spooked when huge monsters are attacking, etc. thanks to his witcher training. His canon has horse riding contest sidequests and Lambert's been doing this for literal years. He also rides horses on a regular basis in the carnival, thanks to his Pokemon.
There will be a separate thread where you can tell which medal your characters are going to attempt to go for and where you can justify if they'd be fair or good at the event. All dice rolling will be done in a mod plurk, midway through the event.
► SPACE KNOWLEDGE: Got that pesky change that you're still getting used to? Developed a weird power that you're having trouble with? There are literally aliens of all shapes/sizes/types here at the Space Olympics. One of them can help with your new changes/provide that IC justification you need for Jim Bob to get better at fire-breathing.
CHANGES↴ Coincidentally, any home planet where a player character is from are unable to participate as well due to various accounting errors. As this is the case, the Ringmaster's decided to slap a few changes on people so that they'll fit in better. All members of the Carnival will be changed into aliens. Some will adopt a few superficial alien characteristics or two: ridged foreheads, tentacle arms, antennae, etc. Some characters will change shape entirely, looking like different aliens from fiction. These will solely include physical changes and characters will NOT gain any powers of the aliens they look like. Possible species for consideration include:
VULCANS: You suddenly get pointy ears and green blood! SONTARANS: You're short, brown-skinned and oddly potato shaped. WOOKIE: You're taller, fuzzier, and communicate in growling noises. Sure is nice that there's universal translator technology all over the place because buddy, you'll need that. SKRULLS: You're green, have pointed ears, large eyes, and ridges on your chin! TRIFFID: You're a tall, quadripedal, plant-like creature with a whip-like proboscis. MAU: You look like a perfectly normal human except for the fact that you might have a cat tail. GREEN SKINNED SPACE BABE: You're green. That's about it. FLORA COLOSSUS: You are Groot. H'LVENITE: You look like a literal squirrel.
You can't turn your character into any of the in-game aliens. However, you can have your character turn into a different alien from a character's canon. So you can't be a Homestuck troll, but you can be a Wookie. Characters may keep one common or uncommon change from the event.
- SUBSECTIONS: investigation, going for a medal, others as needed? I don't mind going for a medal to be linked on the ooc post instead of the main ic log. The tolls will be halfway through the event, so that everybody can stake their claim in time. - I'll be in charge of the dice rolling & prize distribution just to save you a headache - the prizes will literally be the most useless things imagineable. like, space as seen on tv shit or an out of date vhs tape (it's ancient technology!!!). someone is gonna win themselves a space snuggie. Likewise, considering that December might have an item gain event, I'm up for not having the prizes/just having the prizes be bragging rights. - winning is hard on purpose because this is the literal SPACE OLYMPICS and absolutely none of the carnival people are olympic level anything. Still, I'm 100% up for tweaking the winning mechanics if ya want - wow, how weird that the ray guns of the alien hordes are all set to stun, they must have had a budget snafu as well. - this is lighthearted and silly and fun and there will be no fatalities, just light comic injuries and dumbness. - what's the dumbest space sport that RM can win a gold medal in (because she is WINNING THAT MEDAL)
YEAR WALK↴ A simple idea for one of the last nights of Winter Vaycay (as a compromise between Christmas and whatever New Years would be). Based on the puzzle game and Swedish mythos, Year Walk centers around Årsgång, the tradition of walking into the forest at night, solving strange encounters with mythical beings (in this case, they'll be NPCs that appear at the discretion of the player, or I can be summoned in a thread to give a short reaction for each of them, NPCing all four.)
The idea is that if you participate, you will be able to see what the year holds for you. Since the Carnival is laden with fae magic, this can also go for your past, or what would have happened if you went home, or a change in your fate. Simply, it's for characters who don't want to canon update (due to being dead or other reasons) or to share a memory with someone, leave some regrets in the past year, or see a personal CR plot reach its completion!
SETTING↴
First, the rumor gets passed around the merchants; they do travel everywhere, you know! As word spreads about the Year Walk, potentially more characters get curious about it. There are characters who want to solve the riddles, and ones who accompany them to assure their safety. The boon of the vision goes to the one questing for it.
- If only one person goes, only they'll see. - If they split the work and do their best together, they will get their own, unique vision. - If one is solving the puzzle and the other isn't, they will share the same vision the victor got.
To simplify things from the game itself, since it's graphically puzzle-heavy.
► The Brook Horse requires you find a ghostly infant nearby. (It will trace its outline in white and point to it. The infant can also be seen appearing and reappearing out of nearby foliage) ► The Huldra requires you bring her a single button. (It gestures to its dress, which is missing one.) ► The Night Raven requires a riddle it can't solve. (It perches upon a question mark.) ► The Church Grim requires a secret of yours, spoken in front of your companion, that you intended to take to the grave. (It communicates the idea to you telepathically.)
If two people complete two tasks each, they will get individual boons. If it's skewed towards one person (they did three-four of the tasks), only they will get the reward.
Upon that, you will be taken to a place made only of white light and a fractal orb, showing either your past, future, or a future that could have been. As soon as the vision fades, the little quest is complete and all is well. Better get back to your cabin before you freeze!
For the most part, there isn't much prep for this location-but it IS a unique one, so the Ringmaster does at least cover what's important; namely that the patrons this time are conducting a bit of a trade, which involves them chilling out on the 'Celestial Royal Family's' boat.
For the most part, the Performance Week will thus be spent on the ship known as 'The Ark of Yamato', what with everyone entertaining the Princess and her entourage-during the off week however they'll be docking at the Celestial Capital to take part in the Parade of Demons!
...And naturally, preparing for it is going to be nowhere near as easy as it sounds.
SETTING↴
If any characters have had fairy tales of gods and spirits who live in the 'heavens', this might strike a familiar chord. The land of the Celestials takes the idea of the cosmos and slams it into a more mystical plane, as the Carnival enters a world where the Milky Way really is a river of stars, with various distant constellation beasts making their way across the sky. On day ___ the Carnival will be exiting onto a sort of bridge that's been fashioned between themselves, and a great alien-seeming boat known as 'The Ark of Yamato' (no relation to the boat that got all those Celestials in Okami killed)- where they're to entertain the Celestial Princess and her Entourage. The Ark has a number of facilities that the Princess will in turn be offering up to her entertainers-most of them 'standard' rooms that allow pleasant viewing of the sea of stars, as well as tea rooms, rooms for combat training...there are even small row-boats linked to the ship itself, which can be borrowed to get a closer look at the seas.
Until they reach the Celestial Plain, much of the ship's surroundings will speak of a bizarre mix between Heian-era Japan and various elements of 'magitech'-this means that while auto-opening doors may be a thing, it's going to be futons on tatami for those who take the Princess up on her offer of a room, along with heated kotatsu tables and appropriately prepared cusine. Which you'll be cooking yourself. Sorry! Outside the ship, it's easier to put to words; the river of the milky way resembles a swirling torrent of white and glittery dust, and various creatures of almost identical hue can occasionally be seen cutting through the waters. Some might even recognize these as constellations from their world-there's a lot of cosmic representation in this place.
When the ship DOES dock at the Celestial Plain, things will be more clearly 'Japanese' in their aesthetic. Set beneath a permanent sunset, there are towering pagoda-like buildings with strings and strings of paper lanterns hung between. The entire city will be decked out for the upcoming parade-and aside from various parade participants preparing their own supplies, characters will find numerous stands selling things like pin-wheels, wooden charms, puppets, and...Whatever this stuff is.
PATRONS↴
► YOUKAI: Youkai, or 'Demons', are far from anything connected to the demons found in hell. If anything they're more akin to nature spirits; many of them resemble animals, while others simply arose from objects that took in enough life energy to gain sapience. Essentially you could call them the collective results of spiritual scraps. Naturally, that means they come in all shapes and sizes, organic, in-organic, and anything in between!
One thing they all have in common though-they love a good laugh. While most are content to get their kicks out of the Carnival shows and games, don't be surprised if Security has to chase one or two off the stage for trying to 'join in'. It seems the only ones with a fair amount of self restraint are those serving Kaguya directly-she has little tolerance for this tom-foolery.
► Princess Kaguya: Daughter of the Yokai Royal Family, or 'Celestials' as they prefer, Kaguya is a kind, if not rather naive princess who will insist absolutely that whatever you desire, she can get it done! (Which RM no doubt finds laughable) Regardless of how true those words are, she's the one the Carnival is supposed to be entertaining...depite her being curtained behind a palanquin for most of the trek. Veiled or not, she'll be eager to answer any questions characters have about the 'majesty' of the Celestial realm, quickly brushing aside any issues with the idea of it being some imp's idea of a joke.
DANGERS↴
► THE EYES HAVE IT: Unfortunately, 'some imp's idea of a joke' is going to be creating a lot of hassle during this trek, and Kaguya is only going to catch on near the end of the ship-ride. As part of her own personal thanks for enteraining herself and her fellows, Kaguya will be presenting various characters with masks-which she claims have been personalized to each one. Unfortunately, she can't actually see from behind that ridiculous palanquin veil of hers, which means she also won't see when those imps she may have mentioned tamper with said masks.
What should (and following their arrival at the Celestial Plain, will) be a mundane if not beautiful mask will instead cause a bit of a literal mix up. In addition to each mask being delivered to the wrong person in most cases, those who place the masks on will find themselves somehow 'overshadowed' by the intended owner.
This 'overshadowing' will vary in intensity-some might only see or hear what the other is. Others might find their emotions superimposed by someone else's, or even end up with their opinions swayed by that someone else's existing ideals! The overlap can even grow intense enough that mask-wearers will end up with a startling out-of-body experience as they seem to 'join' their match in their body.
Over all, no one should be getting too hurt, but it's definitely making performances interesting! (Further details can be found under 'Rewards')
► THE SEA OF STARS: Ever wanted to swim in a whole sea of stars? Well, you can, but it's not really recommended. The sea isn't really meant for swimming in-at all-it's as vicious as the most rapid falls on a human planet, and it'll threaten to steal even the most powerful swimmer away. Don't be fooled by the kappa you might see poking their heads out; they were made for this. Those who end up swept away will actually be brought BACK by one of those things in fact-so enjoy being rescued by buff turtles.
► ASTERISMS: Residing in the sea itself-or the sky, or the....Not Sky (it's hard to tell while on the Milky Way, to be frank), various creatures of innumerable shape and size cane be seen in and out from the stars. Mostly pale or even translucent, they all have brilliant 'stars' within their bodies-which many will be able to match to constellations! Unfortunately, just as people might spy the adorably small 'Flying Fish', they're just as likely to see the massive 'Hydra', or 'Great Bear'. Or a giant triangle might just spear your boat- not all constellations are animals after all!
► ONI: Remember those Imps from the ship? Meet their bigger, grouchier cousins. Once the Ark of Yamato has reached the Celestial Plain, a log for the Parade of Demons will go up-featuring these guys. Much like the Imps, they largely exist to cause utter mayhem, delighting in doing whatever they can to make everyone else's float suck (and more importantly, make theirs Better). There might be a bit of a tussle, before the backlash from irritated Carnival members spooks them off enough that everyone can enjoy the parade, festival, and fireworks.
REWARDS↴
► OBLIGATORY WEIRD JAPANESE MERCH: Given that the parade is an enormous event for the Youkai and Celestials, numerous stalls hawking their wares will be around once the Ark of Yamato has docked. Much of these stalls have standard festival goods-come get your masks, if you weren't sick of those things already! Or just get some local clothes, parasols, lots of food and candy...
Notably, there's a lot of games in a similar vein to those on the Carnival Grounds-but instead of enchanted prizes, it's mostly bizarre, Almost-Useless inventions. For today only, these games are free to play too! So...enjoy whatever That Thing is, if you win it.
► FISH: A game more unique to the celbrations involves catching tiny celestial fish with a paper-net; these fish are small, and unique in that they don't actually require much of anything to live...just regular moonlight, in accordance to the day-night cycle. Successfully catching these little guys in the net makes you their new owner, so enjoy your free 'friend'! (The fishbowls are included, decorations Are Not.)
► (NON)-MAGICAL MASKS: As part of Kaguya's offer on the ship, various characters will be presented with masks-however, as noted above, these masks are going to initially be tampered with. Kaguya herself will catch wind of things through her more composed assistants and swiftly remove the charms from each mask by the end of the Performance week, and allow those interested the chance to claim the again mundane masks for themselves-but before that time their magic will be running amok.
As for how that happens in the first place, there will be an RNG sign-up located below for those who wish to be randomly paired with another character for a 'Mask Mix Up' (players are free to plot between themselves for pre-determined matches as well). When the official event log is released, rolls will be completed so that no one is left waiting.
ICly what is happening is that each 'match' involves a mask recipient, and an intended wearer. The recipient will be receiving various influences from the wearer whenever they have the mask in contact with their skin-and in some cases might even be unable to remove the mask if it's been placed on their face! Once the mask has been returned to its intended wearer, the magic will be banished from it with or without Kaguya's involvment, allowing players to wrap up such things as quickly as they like.
When it comes to how a recipient can be influenced by a wearer however, there are a number of options-all of these are focused around the idea of synchronizing with the other, or 'overlaying' one's presence. Examples include:
Experiencing the phyiscal sensations of the other, smelling the tea they are brewing perhaps, or feeling the fatigue of a long training session.
Experiencing the emotional sensations of the other, crying their tears, or being unable to stop smiling due to someone's cheer.
Feeling particularly strongly about certain actions or objects, due to the desires of the other- ie: craving cookies when one would ordinarily avoid sweets
Having the feeling of someone whispering for you to avoid something, due to the other's experiences with that thing
Hearing the other's active thoughts in your character's mind
Being so 'connected' to the other, that it feels the character is no longer even in their own body, but instead accompanying that other person
With such a varying scale, players are open to stick with just one manifestation of the mask's magic, or even gradiate the effects according to whether or not the mask is necessarily on someone's face. Either way, when the Imp's magic is removed, the masks will revert to a more customized state so that players can still choose 'their own' masks for each character.
► SAGE ADVICE: On a more mundane note, the youkai attending to Kaguya will be openly presenting themselves as scholars-while they certainly can't help you with matters specific to the Fae and related nonsense, they can provide some assistance with magic, if one needs an IC excuse for that shiny new spell.
CHANGES↴
Since Youkai aren't especially far off from the Fae when it comes to aesthetic, no one has to look any different for this visit. However, changes of the Common and Uncommon variety are both quite likely, especially if characters were taking trips out into the Milky Way, or caught up in the mask nonsense; in the case of the latter, changes can be related to the representation of the mask.
Other changes, along the lines of any who decide to try some magic alongside Kaguya's aides, could happen just from participating in the Parade of Demons; there's a lot of magic in the air, and a LOT of tricky youkai trying to be funny.
Edited (BIGGER, BETTER, LESS REDUNDANT-) 2018-04-14 02:52 (UTC)
> Went as far down mem-share and bodyswap without going mem-share and bodyswap please carnival, don't trauma this up, it's for goofy silly fun > I couldn't find pictures of fish in tiny jars without being sad so apparently Celestial Goldfish are jellyfish now > The Oni are basically enormous babies and will be entirely incapable of actual harm, following the idea of youkai prioritizing Terrible Mischief over Actual Hurt > If RM wants a literal constellation somewhere, Go Ahead RM- > ...But mostly my money is on RM playing a lot of Drinking Games on that boat > Really there's not much to say here other than that action logs will have more in the way of setting description, particularly in the case of the Celestial Plain/Celestial Capital > The Actual Definition of Chindogu makes the judgment of festival stall prizes really easy, go figure. I look forward to the sea of cat-paw mops- > I would definitely (on my own time) set up two event logs for this-one for the Ark/Performance Week and one that would begin with the Off Week for the Celestial Plain.
Hello all! This is Casey and Maggie, players of Ginko and Tanyuu, here to bring you another mushi plot after far too long without! This one will be a lot more low-key and less disasterous, and hopefully enjoyable for this bit of recovery-downtime that the carnival is enjoying. Participation in this plot is entirely optional, and will have no lasting effects! We’re here to chill, guys, not have another mini-catastrophe.
The whole event will take place over the span of about 3 IC days, and a radio and log post will be going up for Ginko and Tanyuu’s IC alert of the infestation and for mushi shenanigans, respectively.
THE RUNDOWN↴
Where Ginko and Tanyuu are from, there are creatures called mushi - strange, ethereal organisms that exist in a state unlike that of other living things. Mushi are invisible to most people, but their effects can be quite noticeable nonetheless, and they can cause a lot of trouble for humans on occasion. Usually this only occurs when there is a very large concentration of mushi in the same place, but Ginko attracts mushi as a natural part of his existence/being/soul/what-have-you. As a result, since they aren’t really bound by the barriers between realms, they fairly frequently drift into the carnival. Most aren’t dangerous, and those workers who happen to be able to see them may have caught sight of some odd, glowing creatures clinging to walls or floating around. (There is no hard rule for who can and cannot see mushi, but supernaturally-inclined characters could be more likely to perceive them. Even the most mundane person could be able to, though, so don’t feel restricted in that sense!)
Starting on Day 66, patches of white, translucent wildflowers will start growing among the vegetation around the tents. They do not carry any energy related to the fae and look mostly unremarkable, but once everyone goes to sleep for the night the effects of their presence will become clear as everyone’s dreams get a bit...interesting.
WHERE’S THE WEED-B-GONE↴
The mushi, called kaoriyoroboki, have the effect of blurring the lines between sleeping minds and encouraging a peaceful sleep. This means that everyone affected will be drifting between other people’s dreams. That can mean simply passing from your dream into someone else’s, or two dreams colliding and merging together. These dreams are otherwise fairly normal--dream logic is at play, and it’s only as easy to start lucid dreaming as it would on any other average day. Characters can remember the dreams or not as per your own preference, but there will be a feeling of peace on waking--nightmares are a near impossibility under the effects of this mushi.
However, they do pose a danger if left unchecked, as their effects encourage those affected to sleep more and more, causing their minds (and subsequently identities and memories) to blur together with those around them. Tanyuu and Ginko will both realize exactly what’s up after the first night, however, and issue a warning to the carnival over the radio. While they have most of the ingredients for the mushi purge to get rid of the kaoriyoroboki on hand, they are missing one ingredient that got left behind when RM kicked everyone out (thanks, boss). They’ll be scouring the forest on days 67 and 68, and will welcome help in gathering the herb needed. The evening of day 68 the purge will be administered and the kaoriyoroboki removed before any long-lasting effects can set in.
MISTER SANDMAN, BRING ME A DREAM↴
I think we all know how dream-share plots work, but for clarity’s sake some ground rules will be in place.
► No dreams will be able to turn into nightmares. Kaoriyoroboki work on the principle of luring people into sleeping more, and nightmares don’t help that much. Distressing things could happen in the dream, but can be easily overcome or stopped before it gets out of hand. Think daring adventures rather than nights in spooky mansions (unless that’s you’re thing, I guess).
► Characters will not be immediately aware they are dreaming or have crossed into another dream. The drifting follows the usual sort of logic that dream transitions normally go by, and unless characters have extensive experience with dreamwalking or manipulation may not even realize what is going on. However, this doesn't mean they CAN'T realize something is up, it will just take some cajoling to work it out.
► No long-term effects of the mushi will have time to set in. While Ginko and Tanyuu WILL be informing the carnival at large the potential dangers of long-term exposure, no blurring of identities, memories, or emotions will actually take place, other than in the very short term and strictly temporary if you really wanna play with that. The point of this event is fun dream shenanigans, not mind-fucky nonsense. Go pester Quix for some of that in a future event if you really want it, we won’t complain!
If you have any other questions regarding the event or mushi in general, please use the comment below!
Edited (probably the last edit sorry) 2018-06-02 16:52 (UTC)
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ringleaders) wrote2016-09-02 09:54 am
no subject
HELLO EVERYONE, this is CaityCat and Maggie coming to you with a little player plot we've been cooking up for a while! It's not too huge, and something we hope to be bringing back periodically over the course of the game. It is entirely optional, but should hopefully provide some fun flavor to spice up the experience this month!
THE RUNDOWN↴
Where Ginko and Tanyuu are from, there are creatures called mushi - strange, ethereal organisms that exist in a state unlike that of other living things. Mushi are invisible to most people, but their effects can be quite noticeable nonetheless, and they can cause a lot of trouble for humans on occasion. Usually this only occurs when there is a very large concentration of mushi in the same place, but Ginko attracts mushi as a natural part of his existence/being/soul/what-have-you. As a result, since they aren’t really bound by the barriers between realms, they fairly frequently drift into the carnival. Most aren’t dangerous, and those workers who happen to be able to see them may have caught sight of some odd, glowing creatures clinging to walls or floating around (and this absolutely means people are free to just assume their character has seen these things). Every so often, though, something more troublesome ends up in the carnival.
MUSHI↴
► Un: Un are snail-like mushi that feed off of sound. Usually they live in forests where the natural wildlife provides plenty of food for them, but when winter comes around the snow muffles things down to the point that the Un will migrate towards human settlements in search of sustenance. In this case, the Un drifted toward the carnival, which understandably has plenty of food available for them.
► Ah: More problematic than Un, Ah are a much rarer mushi that live in symbiosis with Un. To those who see them, Ah are only visually distinguishable from Un in that their shells curl clockwise instead of counterclockwise. Functionally, they’re very different; Ah live near colonies of Un, eating the silence that they leave behind. A few of these have followed the Un into the carnival, and are in search of a much harder to find bit of quiet somewhere in the Ringmaster's realm.
INFESTATIONS↴
Starting from January [date], colonies of Un will start infesting trailers and tents around the carnival, dulling or entirely removing any sound in that space depending on the size of the infestation. In some cases, they may even crawl into someone’s ear and eat any incoming sound, deafening their host on that side. It’s pretty annoying, but not really dangerous, and they’re easy to get rid of if the afflicted person goes to Zecora about it.
If an Ah happens to infect someone, the results are rather different, and much more serious: they will grow four small horns from their forehead, and all surrounding noises that are normally too quiet to be heard will be amplified into a constant, deafening roar that makes it incredibly difficult to discern individual sounds or sleep. In cases where Ah infections go untreated, the host will eventually weaken and die; however, if it’s caught and treated, they should be fine.
Anyone who wants to can have their character’s trailer (or ear) infested with Un, which will eat any sounds in that space/that they hear. If you want to have your character infected with Ah, please reply to the comment below; we’ll RNG three
victimshosts at [time and date] EST!There will be a network post going up soon where Ginko and Tanyuu will be asking about Un sightings or hearing problems around the carnival, and a log post for MUSHI SHENANIGANS. Let us know below if you have any questions, comments, or concerns!
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Why is a carnival there? Who knows, libraries need entertainment too. Especially the sentient books, which just might whisper you their secrets if you please them enough...
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Visually, I'm also really envisioning it being like the Hundred Acre Wood segment of Kingdom Hearts.
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Event Idea
Magical Surge, and everyone gets random mutations for 24 hours, (I'd make up a chart to roll on.) Rainbow hair, extra eyes, taur for a day, all that kind of stuff.
After 24 hours everything goes back to Carnival levels of normal.
Should I PM you for scheduling and refining the details?
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Generally speaking, for something like this to be run as a player event, I would need a stronger hook for why it's happening and what it contributes story wise. Otherwise, it would just be the mods making up a reason for it to happen, which would ultimately take away from the point in it being player run in the first place.
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I'm happy to help contribute. If this will fit in well with a larger event, then I'm happy to chip in. :)
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Hello, all, this is Casey and Maggie (players of Ginko and Tanyuu, your local Absolutely Not Potheads) with another small mushi plot, this time helped along by the ever so wonderful Foster whom we all love and adore. (...that’s a joke. You’re allowed to laugh.) This should run for about a week, and a log will be going up for any and all mushi shenanigans in a few days.
THE RUNDOWN↴
Where Ginko and Tanyuu are from, there are creatures called mushi - strange, ethereal organisms that exist in a state unlike that of other living things. Mushi are invisible to most people, but their effects can be quite noticeable nonetheless, and they can cause a lot of trouble for humans on occasion. Usually this only occurs when there is a very large concentration of mushi in the same place, but Ginko attracts mushi as a natural part of his existence/being/soul/what-have-you. As a result, since they aren’t really bound by the barriers between realms, they fairly frequently drift into the carnival. Most aren’t dangerous, and those workers who happen to be able to see them may have caught sight of some odd, glowing creatures clinging to walls or floating around. (There is no hard rule for who can and cannot see mushi, but supernaturally-inclined characters could be more likely to perceive them. Even the most mundane person could be able to, though, so don’t feel restricted in that sense!)
Normally, Ginko and Tanyuu try to keep the number of mushi in the carnival down through the use of “mushi tobacco” - which isn’t actually tobacco at all, but a mix of herbs that, when burned as incense or in cigarettes, produces a smoke that repels mushi. However, recently, their entire supply has mysteriously gone missing (which is to say, Foster van Denend, local Talker and former cow, stole and hid all of it). As such, starting on Day 87, the number of mushi in the carnival will steadily begin climbing, and continue until Ginko and Tanyuu get hold of the repellent again on Day 90.
MUSHI↴
There are going to be many, many different kinds of mushi swarming the carnival, of all different varieties. Some will cause strange illnesses, and others will simply be a nuisance to their surroundings.
► Yukidangomushi: These tiny mushi roll on top of snow, forming ever-growing snowballs as they move. When the snowball gets too big, the mushi will crash into whatever is nearby - whether that’s a tree or a person - to break it apart. These will be rolling around in the mountains by the lake.
► Un: A returning infestation from the last plot, Un are little snail-like mushi that devour sound in the area where they nest. This will create pockets of silence all around the carnival, so maybe learn how to lip-read for a while.
► Kagebi: A small blue flame that is actually visible to anyone, kagebi infest fires and turn them cold as they absorb the body heat of those who try to warm themselves by them. Food heated by a kagebi flame (and yes, they CAN get into gas burners, sorry guys) will seem to be cooked but actually be ice cold, and when not in a fire they hide inside covered containers.
► Shimi: Essentially mostly-invisible silverfish. However, they eat paper much faster than a non-mushi pest would, so… maybe hope they don’t get into your books.
INFESTATIONS↴
Characters can become infected by mushi and pick up a strange illness, which can range from the annoyance of a particularly nasty cold to something much more life-threatening. Nothing will actually have the time to successfully kill anyone before Ginko and Tanyuu’s herbs are recovered, thankfully, but the danger is still there.
► Mizukagami: A mercury-like mushi that will be inhabiting the carnival’s lake. If someone looks at their reflection in the mizukagami, it will rise from the lake and follow them, gradually sapping their energy. The mizukagami will eventually try to take its “host’s” place as a solid being and turn them into mushi, but will dissolve if it sees its own reflection in the moment before it replaces them.
► Manakonoyami: These mushi infect their host’s eyes, making them extremely sensitive to light to the point that any light at all causes intense pain. However, withdrawing into darkness will only cause the mushi to multiply, making the host’s condition more severe. If caught early, manakonoyami can be treated with medicine.
► Tokoyuki: Tokoyuki resemble snowflakes, and will swirl in swarms around their host, stealing their body heat. Someone infected by tokoyuki will have snow falling over them constantly, but won’t feel the cold and will actually find any heat painful. While it usually isn’t fatal, hosts may suffer frostbite. Tokoyuki can be driven out through consistent heat exposure over a couple of days.
► Tamashi-ka: Worm-like mushi that feed on their host’s life force; though not generally fatal, a severe tamashi-ka infection can be extremely unpleasant. On the other hand, being infected with tamashi-ka can enhance one’s ability to see mushi, or allow someone to see them who normally can’t - which might not be a bright side, depending on how you feel about suddenly being aware of all that.
If none of these options strike your fancy, we can also wildcard some mushi types for you all! Given the wide range of forms, effects, and range of lethality, it won’t be any problem to create (or find a canon mushi) to suit your needs! Just reply below with this form, and we’ll work out something that fits for you!
Characters are absolutely free to help search for the missing mushi tobacco, but the confrontation with Foster has been privately plotted out already and will go down in a closed log. If you have any other questions or concerns, please let us know below.
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Hey there! This is Nico with a player plot that will happen sometime in the future! I'm not sure when, because the lead-up is a slow burn, but anyone who wants to join in is absolutely invited! If you've got a dark-aligned character (i.e. demonic, Dark Matter, etc.), you have the chance to be hunted by a bloodthirsty, "divine" power called Innocence! Coming soon to a carnival near you.
INNOCENCE↴
Allen is infected by a divine, sentient parasite called Innocence. His is named Crown Clown. Its purpose is to destroy the Akuma, demonic skeletons forced into a corpse bound with the soul of that corpse's loved one. The Innocence hungers for it, and when it goes too long without destroying demonic creatures, it grows bloodthirsty. Enough so that it will force Allen to destroy such creatures, even if they are his friends.
Due to this Innocence being a part of Allen -- his left arm, to be exact -- he is a weapon. Destroying the Akuma and protecting humanity is the only purpose he has in life. It's the only way for him to feel alive. After being unable to fight in Hellbound Hallows, many failures to come, and an inability to fight Akuma for far too long . . . Allen's depression and anxiety will come to a head just as his Innocence's hunger goes over the edge.
THE PLAN↴
► LEVEL 1: Allen's left arm will go ballistic and begin hunting down every demonic/dark-aligned person in the carnival
that signs up for this, controlling Allen's body like a puppet! It will take the form of his claw, pulling his body along and slashing at people. If his body gets too mangled or he fights it too much, Crown Clown's belts will then forcibly move his body like the strings of a marionette.► LEVEL 2: Inevitably, Allen will either one, become so near death, the Innocence will prioritize keeping him alive, or two, someone will restrain Allen's body enough that the Innocence can no longer move him.
How this stage goes is largely up to all of you! Either one of his "victims" restrains him or beats him bloody, or someone in patrol will stop him or beat him bloody. The goal is to keep this contained enough that the Ringmaster doesn't get involved before Allen gets caught, but the damage extensive enough that it's fun to play with!
► Aftermath: Extreme guilt!!! Allen will publicly apologize before locking himself up forever. Or someone punches some sense into him and drags him back out. #squadgoals Depending on how badly he hurt some people, he may try to make it up to them with acts of service.
It's up to the RM what happens to him beyond that. Likely, his arm will be bound so it won't negatively affect carnival workers any longer.
POSSIBLE ROUTES↴
► Benny Hill: Allen's Crown Clown will chase after you without you getting too hurt. Great for comedy and small injuries!
► Collateral: You're in the wrong place and the wrong time, buddy. You may not be demonic in any way, but you're still getting caught in the storm.
► Injury: The furthest Allen will get is injury, from the smallest cut to the biggest gaping wound. You won't die! But there will be blood.
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Can you imagine my astonishment at learning that part of my own nature was female, and bird-formed, and beautiful?
After leaving the previous location, and a few days before coming to Greysol, the Ringmaster puts a massive spell on the souls of every member of the carnival. Greysol is in a world where the souls of every human or sufficiently humanlike person takes the physical form of an animal. Plenty of carnies wouldn’t qualify, but really, what’s the point of going to a dæmon world if not to show them what their inner selves looks like?
[this goes into a toplevel comment:]
Dæmons always take animal shapes, though humans, dæmons, and normal animals are instantly able to tell upon looking that a dæmon is not an animal. They are intelligent and capable of speech and may seem like they're independent of their people, but when you get down to it a human and a dæmon are one being, with one mind, sharing thoughts and sensations. Body and soul cannot move more than maybe twenty feet apart without feeling great pain and anguish and eventually dying, with some rare exceptions. Touching someone else’s soul is the greatest intimacy; horrific and violating if done without consent, uplifting and splendid with it.
While they appear to be flesh and blood and have mass and the ability to manipulate objects, they are in fact formed of particles of this universe’s magic, called Dust. They have heartbeats that are in perfect time with their human bodies, but there’s no metabolic activity. No need to eat. A cobra has no venom, a slug will leave no slime trail, a fish is only comfortable when wet but won’t come to harm dry. Injure a dæmon and golden motes appear, though only psychological hurts last. Kill a soul and the body dies instantly.
With rare exceptions, a character and their soul will have different genders. A dæmon always reflects its human's inner life. The back-and-forth of internal conflict,the internal monologue, seems like a dialogue, and people with dæmons may process their way through uncertainty and indecision faster and more thoroughly than those without. If emotion doesn't show on a face or stance it may show on the soul, though there are plenty of stoic dæmons.
A young person's dæmon instantly changes into different creatures in response to mood or need, but during their teens they "settle" into a permanent form and never change again. That form is based on their personality, especially on inner aspects of themselves. Plenty of big, tough people who you’d expect to be lions are rodents instead, and don’t forget that herbivores are not necessarily passive and cowardly, nor are predators inherently courageous. One of the most stalwart, moral fighters in HDM has a hare dæmon.
A form may have to do with animal symbolism or with the animal’s behavior and ecology. Someone with an emperor scorpion dæmon might be calculating and treacherous as scorpion symbolism suggests, or nurturing, social, and shy as the real animals are. Choose what seems good! Don’t be shy about asking for suggestions. For premade behavior-and-ecology based form analyses, feel free to check this forum.
Remember also, it’s fine if you don’t feel like handling all this. Maybe the spell didn’t take properly and your character’s dæmon stops speaking after a few days and their internal monologue returns to normal. Maybe they never manifested one at all.
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The spell causes dæmons to form for most characters. As they are souls made physical they will have some element of characters’ soul color. At minimum their eyes are that color. For about a day their forms are as changeable as children’s souls. Adults will settle by the time the carnival arrives.
Of course the spell doesn’t work completely evenly. Some souls are more heavily insulated and do not become external. Players can opt out of dæmons this way and have one of three options for their characters: a glamour butterfly in their souls’ colors follows them while in Greysol, they become witches encouraged to wear bird pendants, or they become talking polar bears.
(If you don't want to type out d & a e l i g ; m o n all the time, daemon is perfectly acceptable.)
SETTING↴
The Carnival's come to a manicured park in Greysol, a large coastal city that seems to roughly equate to late 20th century Western culture and mores, with a vaguely Victorian steampunk-influenced aesthetic and somewhat uneven technology. Horse-drawn vehicles and just plain horses are common, but horseless automobiles and strangely 21st century-looking bicycles don’t cause too much of a stir. There are paved streets, skyscrapers, and electricity even if they call it "anbaric lighting". Hot air balloons and dirigibles can be seen in the sky. There are many moving picture theaters, black-and-white and with somewhat questionable sound, but small portable radios are common.
Every human and witch has a dæmon. The city is built to accommodate this. Doorways tend to be wide, stairs wide and shallow, there are huge freight elevators in most buildings, and sidewalks are quite broad, making it easier not to accidentally touch someone else’s soul. Slick floors are rare and virtually always have hoof-friendly rugs and the like. Life for someone with a giraffe soul is hard in the big city, but an effort has been made. If you visit a cemetery you will see that cremation is the most preferred method of handling the dead, because this lets the body dissolve just as the soul did.
Pets and many childrens’ toys are downplayed compared to on many other worlds. Every human has a permanent companion from infancy, exactly suited to their temperament, that loves them and will do most of the things any pet would and more. Some animals are still companions to whatever degree, but most domestic animals are utilitarian. On a similar note, humans in this world experience a lesser degree of loneliness than on worlds without dæmons, and seem to learn faster since they can discuss things with themselves.
Magic is a known quality but because it takes years to learn any spells of substance, humans on the street tend to assume it’s trivial, that all but the elderly can only call on it for doing tricks. Witch magic is better regarded and much more mysterious, though the only difference is that witches have the time and inclination to learn far more.
That other realities exist, similar in some ways and radically different in others, is well known. In the past there used to be great expeditions and adventures and some very strange visitors. Unfortunately this meant there were soul-eating invincible creatures in this world too. Only witches and some quite old humans remember that time themselves. These days, in order to avoid the creation of soul-eaters there is very limited congress with other worlds. It’s on the level of children going to island facilities, going through windows there, and bringing things back. (Possibly an NPC contract is behind this?)
►SETTLING PARTY: Elaine Aracari, sixteen-year-old daughter of two actors and a moving pictures sensation herself, just settled as a blue peacock. Settling is a major coming of age milestone and celebrated as such in different ways all over the world. She and her family are throwing a massive party and inviting the public to join in! In parks, anyway, but hey, randos can still enjoy free catering, live music and showings of moving pictures, and displays of mostly trivial magic. There are also form readers from across the country, happy to inspect your dæmon’s form and tell you what it means. Is there anything to these analyses? Eh, maybe, but they’re generally flattering.
►KERNER ISLAND: From the harbor you can see a wooded island. Although there are no rocks to speak of around it there’s a tall lighthouse, and nearly all boat traffic avoids it carefully. On a clear day an adult with binoculars or a particularly sharp-eyed soul can see vague shapes moving on the shore, and… children?
When asked about it the first and last thing any adult will say to another adult is don’t go there. They’ll hold their dæmons close and tell you that on that island are things that eat souls. They may also admit with mixed pride and shame that it’s been a source of wealth and innovation for the city. There’s a facility there that can apparently open portals into other worlds, and the children who can reach it can cross through and bring things back. These children are mostly recruited by research and development teams on the lookout for items they can use, but there are also kids out to have adventures or who’ve run away. Usually small boats take them close enough to swim or ride there on dolphin-shaped dæmons.
Most people are violently opposed to visiting the island. If you’re a bear, a witch, haven’t settled yet and look capable, or are just tough-minded and have a small soul, you may be asked for help. The children ‘staffing’ things do some work but there isn’t a central authority in charge of these things anymore. Lighthouse and facility equipment needs checking and maintenance. Maybe a child has been hurt and needs to be retrieved.
PATRONS↴
► HUMANS: Only unusual in that they have dæmons, and expect you to as well. They become uneasy seeing human-shaped people without their souls, even if it's as simple as "he’s in my pocket or the other room". The concept of a human type without a dæmon is as horrifying and repulsive to local people as seeing someone walking around with no head or an opened-up chest - some people would adjust to the idea faster than others, but you would have screams, fainting, outbursts, fear and pity. These humans can learn magic through long study. Most carnies will be glamored to look human.
► WITCHES: Extremely similar to and interbreeding with humans, witches in this world are all tall, youngish-looking androgynous-to-femme people whose dæmons always settle as birds. They live unusually long, use much of that time studying and learning magic, and have learned to stay as far away from their dæmons as they wish. Witches working with and around many humans usually wear gold necklaces bearing images of their dæmons when their souls are elsewhere, which helps put humans at ease. Witches prefer to keep to their own affairs and are baffled by capitalism and material needs, but there are a few pausing in the city. Some carnies will be glamored or changed to look like witches.
► BEARS: Slightly anthropomorphized polar bears which speak and have thumbs. They're very rare in such 'civilized' surroundings as the city, much preferring solitude, but everyone knows about them and there is a market for bear-made items. Bears are masters of shaping metal and have no dæmons, but regard certain things they make, usually armor, as their souls. In their right minds, untroubled by human doubts and aspirations, bears can read human intentions and cannot be tricked. Some carnies may be changed into bears. They won’t have bear minds, but may have a better aptitude for sensing lies while in bear form.
► ...DUST?: In this reality "Dust" is a conscious elementary particle generated by consciousness, gathering around people and things people have created. Dæmons are made of it. Very few can see it or detect it, but it's everywhere. More is generated when people make art, tell stories, or come to understand each other better. Dust is part of nearly every magic people use in this world and a source of knowledge and wisdom. It's also conscious itself, in a strange way, and may form into entities called angels, but almost no one in the world knows about that.
So it's not a usual sort of patron, but there'll be a hella lot of it around for the Carnival. No carnies will be Dust or angels.
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DANGERS↴
► SEPARATION: It was as if he’d said, “No, don’t kill me, I’m frightened; kill my mother instead; she doesn’t matter, I don’t love her,” and as if she’d heard him say it, and pretended she hadn’t so as to spare his feelings, and offered herself in his place anyway because of her love for him. He felt as bad as that. There was nothing worse to feel.
In most cases, getting too far from your dæmon will kill you. Being more than twenty feet or so apart causes increasingly sharp emotional and physical pain, described as intense sorrow and love and a wrenching ache which only ease when they’re touching again. It’s possible for one half of someone to literally drag the other somewhere they’re really conflicted about going to, so death by separation can’t just casually happen. However it’s entirely possible to die by one half going off a cliff without the other, or boarding an elevator or a fast car. Any hurt to a dæmon you will feel yourself, too. Be careful.
Witches, and some humans, may learn to be further from their dæmons, but it requires going into places where dæmons can’t follow, experiencing the pain of deliberate step-by-step separation, and living. Characters who have been dead or had their souls removed may have gone through a similar enough process that they and their dæmons can be apart without issue, though they’re at their best and sharpest when both halves are together.
► SPECTRES: Well, when a Specter catch a grownup, that’s bad to see. They eat the life out of them there and then, all right. At first they know it’s happening, and they’re afraid; they cry and cry. They try and look away and pretend it ain’ happenin’, but it is. It’s too late. And no one ain’ gonna go near them, they on they own. Then they get pale and they stop moving. They still alive, but it’s like they been eaten from the inside. You look in they eyes, you see the back of they heads. Ain’ nothing there.
Properly known as Spectres of Indifference, these are vague shapes that seem to be made out of mist or heat-haze or light reflecting on water. They can be taken as humanoid in shape, or as treelike. They eat the souls of adults, a horribly unpleasant process that usually takes a minute or so. No magic or weapon on this world can harm or contain them, and they’re able to seep through the tiniest openings in walls.
Someone whose soul has been consumed breathes and may with great effort look towards something making noise or hurting them, but understands, feels, thinks, does nothing. Even if they’re standing in running water they will do nothing but make the constant small motions to stay upright until they die of thirst. Do not get your soul eaten.
Fortunately, these Spectres can’t cross deep water or reach above twelve feet in the air. As soon as any quarry they pursue goes out of reach they lose interest. Presently all Spectres in this part of the world are confined to Kerner Island, where the portal facility is. Children and teens whose dæmons are unsettled are of no interest to Spectres and in fact can’t see them. As they grow close to settling the Spectres start to follow them around and their dæmons start to see flickers of the creatures.
Adolescents not quite settled and people who can keep their dæmons out of reach - whether these are bears who take off their armor or human types with their souls at great distance or as flying creatures over twelve feet up - can endure some proximity to Spectres, but unlike younger children they are still affected and will feel nausea and a degree of discomfort and apathy, worse the longer they’re around the creatures. The best way to recover from this is by taking actions that attract more Dust. That is, telling stories, making art, taking an active interest in and understanding people.
► SOME RANDOM CREATURES FROM OTHER REALITIES: Grr!
Inevitably the wrong portal is opened on Kerner Island and something that can fit through a child-sized hole in the air slips through and is more than a fourteen-year-old with hasty security training can handle, and may or may not be able to escape the island. The local authorities would be able to handle it eventually and it shouldn’t be too much of a problem for a seasoned carnie, but it would be embarrassing to get savaged by a random Tektite.
CHANGES↴
Characters who turned into armored bears can keep an uncommon change related to that. This may include an increased aptitude to shaping metal and sensing its weak and strong points, or a better ability to tell if someone is lying.
Soon after leaving this world charater’s dæmons will fade away and become internal again, but characters can purchase a simple spell to manifest theirs for short periods. The spell can be recast as often as they like. Outside of the Carnival, if they visit any world with their dæmon which doesn’t have dæmons, then only people who can see spirits will be able to see or hear them, no glamour needed.
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There's not much preparation to this event. At the start of Day X, characters will wake up to find the carnival on a distant planet, underneath a biodome. They'll also find themselves changed into a more alien form (more details on that below!). Characters who don't sleep will have blacked out for a few minutes so that the fun magic can take shape.
The Ringmaster will give the carnival members a brief overview which basically consists of welcome to the Space Olympics, you can compete in one event, don't compete in Space SILLY SPORT HERE because she is going to get that gold medal herself, dammit.
SETTING↴
You stand on a distant planet
Skyline of red plateaus
Strange air and vegetation
You're a winner!
Welcome to the Space Olympics! The year is 3022. This year's host is Zargon, which is only hosting because the four previous hosts all dropped out. Still, Zargon's put lot of time and money into developing a complex perfect for the Space Olympics. Floating above the planet's atmosphere is a large spaceship turned athletic arena, obviously named Olympic Spaceship. Stadiums are on every corner, there's swimming pools every other block, and a large racetrack surrounds the city. Places in Olympic Spaceship that aren't arenas either cater to athletes (training facilities, locker rooms, medical facilities, saunas) or cater to those watching the games (concession stands, shopping malls, merch stands, quiet rooms where people can just sit down). Space public transit can get you from one end of the ship to another in mere seconds.
The athlete's village is on Zargon, as well as the carnival. People can either stay at the carnival or in the athlete's village. Though Zargon doesn't have any oxygen, a combination of biodomes and terraforming technology have made it so that all athletes can breathe comfortably on Zargon, no matter what their species! Just stay inside the biodome. Space shuttles go from Olympic Spaceship to Zargon at regular ten minute intervals. Those staying in the athlete's village will get a junior suite: basically a small, hotel room type set up with queen sized bed, microwave and refrigerator, and an attached bathroom. The Ringmaster will only cover minor incidentals—so keep your ass out the minibar!
The Space Olympics comprises literally every sport that people can think of, both summer and winter. There's track and field, ice skating, luge, and beach volleyball, but there's also more alien sports: three dimensional chess, pod racing, space poker, mechanical bull riding but the bull's some sort of weird Doctor Who type alien, and so on and so forth. All sports inexplicably have the word 'space' in front of their name. There will be plenty of opportunities for characters to try out any kind of sport when the arena is not in session! Any fake games from character's canons will not be represented, but if you ask around you can find suspiciously similar substitutes. Want to play a game of Space Muel Donsters? How about a round of that popular card game Space Schment?
PATRONS↴
► OTHER ATHLETES: There are other athletes here of all races, species, sizes, shapes, colors, etc. Most of them get along fairly well with the carnival on the basis of friendly competition and goodwill throughout the galaxy but a few of them are a bit too competitive for their own good. Thankfully, nothing gets to Tonya Harding levels of competitive, though there is plenty of trash talk in the games themselves.
► SANDY AMBURG: He's the main coordinator of the Space Olympics and certainly isn't Andy Samburg in a dumb wig. He'll answer all your questions, direct you to wherever you need to find, and happily reassure everyone that they totally have everything under control!
DANGERS↴
► BUDGET SNAFU: The Space Olympics do not have everything under control. There was a bit of a budget snafu. As such, various events are canceled, the schedule's constantly in flux, there's not as much food as expected, and some of the buildings in the athlete's village are still under construction when people arrive. The Labor department will be conscripted to help patch up as many buildings as possible, while the Kitchen staff will be conscripted to help make do with what supplies they have to help feed the athletes. Good luck figuring out what the hell that fruit is.
Some necessary goods can't be found, tempers are short, and while fighting in the athlete's village is strictly prohibited, some athletes are willing to overlook that in order to get their aggression out. Those working under the Warden & Nightrunner will be asked to help patrol the area and break up any fights they see. Of course, it's a bit harder than expected to break up fights between two eight foot tall creatures. Don't get punched!
► MECHANICAL FAILURES: Midway through the event, things start to break down. Members of the Carnival will be drafted to help with these mechanical failures. As they're independent athletes, there's less chance of the Space Olympic Commission getting sued by the planets! Mechanical failures can range from crawling through this ventilation shaft to unstick whatever's stuck at the end to rewiring this complex piece of future technology to good ol'fashioned elbow grease. Engineering, this is your time to shine! The rest of you...well, good luck anyway.
All of the mechanical failure is noticeable, but the most annoying is the artificial gravity inducers, which break multiple times during the event. Brace yourselves cause there's no gravity. The universal translators break a few times too, much to the annoyance of the Wookies, Ewoks, Judoon, etc.
► STRANGE AIR AND VEGETATION: Want to rent a spacesuit to explore Zargon? You can do so! Feel free to go explore outside of the biodome area! Just be careful of the man-eating plants, poisonous mold spores, and pockets of hallucinogenic gas.
► THE ALIEN HORDES: A log for this will go up near the end of the event. But basically? Aw heck, it's an alien invasion. Thanks, Sandy Amberg, you did wonderful at this. There'll be a drag down, knock out fight for a bit before the Ringmaster decides "fuck this noise," pulls everybody back into the carnival, and they get the heck out of dodge.
REWARDS↴
► SPACE MERCH: Like every sporting event, there's merch to be bought, all emblazoned with the mascot of this year's Space Olympics, Johan the Athletic Porg! Buy a shirt with Johan playing basketball! Buy a mug with Johan on a sled! Who cares that Porgs technically aren't native to Zargon, they're cute and there's no way the planet's native species, the Zargon Death Flytrap, would ever make a halfway decent mascot in the first place. Unfortunately, there was an ordering snafu and the merch tables are just STACKED high with merchandise. Some sellers are still trying to actually pawn off the merch, but a few of them have resorted to just giving it away.
► YOU'RE A WINNER: Want to compete in the Space Olympics? Guess what! You can! The Ringmaster's crew has been shoved under the catch-all leftover label of Independent Athletes. Keep in mind that it will be very hard to actually place in the Space Olympics, as characters are going up against literally the best of the best in the entire universe. But if you want your character to at least make an attempt at winning a medal, drop a line in the 'going for a medal' section, icly justify your case with either info from your app or linked ingame examples/in canon scenes of your character doing the thing, and we'll RNG to see how you do! Winners actually get a physical medal and bragging rights. All participants get a consolation prize of a space gadget, the effects of which will be RNGed. Don't think this is anything cool, however, most of the space gadgets are things like 'kitchenwear' or 'outdated children's toys.'
The way that medaling works is that you'll comment to the 'going for a medal' comment and say whether your character is poor, fair, or good at the sport they're going for. We'll roll a d20 for successes: poor means you need to get a nat 20 in order to reach bronze. fair means 18-19 for bronze, nat 20 for silver. Good means 16-17 for bronze, 18-19 for silver, nat 20 for gold. If two people are competing in the same sport and hit the same medal tier, the higher point gets the medal or there'll be a roll-off.
EXAMPLE RANKINGS: SPACE HORSE RACING
Poor: Cole has ridden a horse once or twice in his entire life.
Fair: Strange knows how to handle a horse, though he's mostly ridden them going from place to place, not in any sort of competition.
Good: Lambert knows how to handle a horse, calm it down, keep it from being spooked when huge monsters are attacking, etc. thanks to his witcher training. His canon has horse riding contest sidequests and Lambert's been doing this for literal years. He also rides horses on a regular basis in the carnival, thanks to his Pokemon.
There will be a separate thread where you can tell which medal your characters are going to attempt to go for and where you can justify if they'd be fair or good at the event. All dice rolling will be done in a mod plurk, midway through the event.
► SPACE KNOWLEDGE: Got that pesky change that you're still getting used to? Developed a weird power that you're having trouble with? There are literally aliens of all shapes/sizes/types here at the Space Olympics. One of them can help with your new changes/provide that IC justification you need for Jim Bob to get better at fire-breathing.
CHANGES↴
Coincidentally, any home planet where a player character is from are unable to participate as well due to various accounting errors. As this is the case, the Ringmaster's decided to slap a few changes on people so that they'll fit in better. All members of the Carnival will be changed into aliens. Some will adopt a few superficial alien characteristics or two: ridged foreheads, tentacle arms, antennae, etc. Some characters will change shape entirely, looking like different aliens from fiction. These will solely include physical changes and characters will NOT gain any powers of the aliens they look like. Possible species for consideration include:
VULCANS: You suddenly get pointy ears and green blood!
SONTARANS: You're short, brown-skinned and oddly potato shaped.
WOOKIE: You're taller, fuzzier, and communicate in growling noises. Sure is nice that there's universal translator technology all over the place because buddy, you'll need that.
SKRULLS: You're green, have pointed ears, large eyes, and ridges on your chin!
TRIFFID: You're a tall, quadripedal, plant-like creature with a whip-like proboscis.
MAU: You look like a perfectly normal human except for the fact that you might have a cat tail.
GREEN SKINNED SPACE BABE: You're green. That's about it.
FLORA COLOSSUS: You are Groot.
H'LVENITE: You look like a literal squirrel.
You can't turn your character into any of the in-game aliens. However, you can have your character turn into a different alien from a character's canon. So you can't be a Homestuck troll, but you can be a Wookie. Characters may keep one common or uncommon change from the event.
NOTES:
- I'll be in charge of the dice rolling & prize distribution just to save you a headache
- the prizes will literally be the most useless things imagineable. like, space as seen on tv shit or an out of date vhs tape (it's ancient technology!!!). someone is gonna win themselves a space snuggie. Likewise, considering that December might have an item gain event, I'm up for not having the prizes/just having the prizes be bragging rights.
- winning is hard on purpose because this is the literal SPACE OLYMPICS and absolutely none of the carnival people are olympic level anything. Still, I'm 100% up for tweaking the winning mechanics if ya want
- wow, how weird that the ray guns of the alien hordes are all set to stun, they must have had a budget snafu as well.
- this is lighthearted and silly and fun and there will be no fatalities, just light comic injuries and dumbness.
- what's the dumbest space sport that RM can win a gold medal in (because she is WINNING THAT MEDAL)
I haven't read all of this yet but
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A simple idea for one of the last nights of Winter Vaycay (as a compromise between Christmas and whatever New Years would be). Based on the puzzle game and Swedish mythos, Year Walk centers around Årsgång, the tradition of walking into the forest at night, solving strange encounters with mythical beings (in this case, they'll be NPCs that appear at the discretion of the player, or I can be summoned in a thread to give a short reaction for each of them, NPCing all four.)
The idea is that if you participate, you will be able to see what the year holds for you. Since the Carnival is laden with fae magic, this can also go for your past, or what would have happened if you went home, or a change in your fate. Simply, it's for characters who don't want to canon update (due to being dead or other reasons) or to share a memory with someone, leave some regrets in the past year, or see a personal CR plot reach its completion!
SETTING↴
First, the rumor gets passed around the merchants; they do travel everywhere, you know! As word spreads about the Year Walk, potentially more characters get curious about it. There are characters who want to solve the riddles, and ones who accompany them to assure their safety. The boon of the vision goes to the one questing for it.
- If only one person goes, only they'll see.
- If they split the work and do their best together, they will get their own, unique vision.
- If one is solving the puzzle and the other isn't, they will share the same vision the victor got.
NPCs include the Brook Horse, the Huldra, the Night Raven, and finally, the Church Grim.
To simplify things from the game itself, since it's graphically puzzle-heavy.
► The Brook Horse requires you find a ghostly infant nearby. (It will trace its outline in white and point to it. The infant can also be seen appearing and reappearing out of nearby foliage)
► The Huldra requires you bring her a single button. (It gestures to its dress, which is missing one.)
► The Night Raven requires a riddle it can't solve. (It perches upon a question mark.)
► The Church Grim requires a secret of yours, spoken in front of your companion, that you intended to take to the grave. (It communicates the idea to you telepathically.)
If two people complete two tasks each, they will get individual boons.
If it's skewed towards one person (they did three-four of the tasks), only they will get the reward.
Upon that, you will be taken to a place made only of white light and a fractal orb, showing either your past, future, or a future that could have been. As soon as the vision fades, the little quest is complete and all is well. Better get back to your cabin before you freeze!
The Ark of Yamato/Night Parade of 1000 Demons
For the most part, there isn't much prep for this location-but it IS a unique one, so the Ringmaster does at least cover what's important; namely that the patrons this time are conducting a bit of a trade, which involves them chilling out on the 'Celestial Royal Family's' boat.
For the most part, the Performance Week will thus be spent on the ship known as 'The Ark of Yamato', what with everyone entertaining the Princess and her entourage-during the off week however they'll be docking at the Celestial Capital to take part in the Parade of Demons!
...And naturally, preparing for it is going to be nowhere near as easy as it sounds.
SETTING↴
If any characters have had fairy tales of gods and spirits who live in the 'heavens', this might strike a familiar chord. The land of the Celestials takes the idea of the cosmos and slams it into a more mystical plane, as the Carnival enters a world where the Milky Way really is a river of stars, with various distant constellation beasts making their way across the sky. On day ___ the Carnival will be exiting onto a sort of bridge that's been fashioned between themselves, and a great alien-seeming boat known as 'The Ark of Yamato' (no relation to the boat that got all those Celestials in Okami killed)- where they're to entertain the Celestial Princess and her Entourage. The Ark has a number of facilities that the Princess will in turn be offering up to her entertainers-most of them 'standard' rooms that allow pleasant viewing of the sea of stars, as well as tea rooms, rooms for combat training...there are even small row-boats linked to the ship itself, which can be borrowed to get a closer look at the seas.
Until they reach the Celestial Plain, much of the ship's surroundings will speak of a bizarre mix between Heian-era Japan and various elements of 'magitech'-this means that while auto-opening doors may be a thing, it's going to be futons on tatami for those who take the Princess up on her offer of a room, along with heated kotatsu tables and appropriately prepared cusine. Which you'll be cooking yourself. Sorry! Outside the ship, it's easier to put to words; the river of the milky way resembles a swirling torrent of white and glittery dust, and various creatures of almost identical hue can occasionally be seen cutting through the waters. Some might even recognize these as constellations from their world-there's a lot of cosmic representation in this place.
When the ship DOES dock at the Celestial Plain, things will be more clearly 'Japanese' in their aesthetic. Set beneath a permanent sunset, there are towering pagoda-like buildings with strings and strings of paper lanterns hung between. The entire city will be decked out for the upcoming parade-and aside from various parade participants preparing their own supplies, characters will find numerous stands selling things like pin-wheels, wooden charms, puppets, and...Whatever this stuff is.
PATRONS↴
► YOUKAI: Youkai, or 'Demons', are far from anything connected to the demons found in hell. If anything they're more akin to nature spirits; many of them resemble animals, while others simply arose from objects that took in enough life energy to gain sapience. Essentially you could call them the collective results of spiritual scraps. Naturally, that means they come in all shapes and sizes, organic, in-organic, and anything in between!
One thing they all have in common though-they love a good laugh. While most are content to get their kicks out of the Carnival shows and games, don't be surprised if Security has to chase one or two off the stage for trying to 'join in'. It seems the only ones with a fair amount of self restraint are those serving Kaguya directly-she has little tolerance for this tom-foolery.
► Princess Kaguya: Daughter of the Yokai Royal Family, or 'Celestials' as they prefer, Kaguya is a kind, if not rather naive princess who will insist absolutely that whatever you desire, she can get it done! (Which RM no doubt finds laughable) Regardless of how true those words are, she's the one the Carnival is supposed to be entertaining...depite her being curtained behind a palanquin for most of the trek. Veiled or not, she'll be eager to answer any questions characters have about the 'majesty' of the Celestial realm, quickly brushing aside any issues with the idea of it being some imp's idea of a joke.
DANGERS↴
► THE EYES HAVE IT: Unfortunately, 'some imp's idea of a joke' is going to be creating a lot of hassle during this trek, and Kaguya is only going to catch on near the end of the ship-ride. As part of her own personal thanks for enteraining herself and her fellows, Kaguya will be presenting various characters with masks-which she claims have been personalized to each one. Unfortunately, she can't actually see from behind that ridiculous palanquin veil of hers, which means she also won't see when those imps she may have mentioned tamper with said masks.
What should (and following their arrival at the Celestial Plain, will) be a mundane if not beautiful mask will instead cause a bit of a literal mix up. In addition to each mask being delivered to the wrong person in most cases, those who place the masks on will find themselves somehow 'overshadowed' by the intended owner.
This 'overshadowing' will vary in intensity-some might only see or hear what the other is. Others might find their emotions superimposed by someone else's, or even end up with their opinions swayed by that someone else's existing ideals! The overlap can even grow intense enough that mask-wearers will end up with a startling out-of-body experience as they seem to 'join' their match in their body.
Over all, no one should be getting too hurt, but it's definitely making performances interesting! (Further details can be found under 'Rewards')
► THE SEA OF STARS: Ever wanted to swim in a whole sea of stars? Well, you can, but it's not really recommended. The sea isn't really meant for swimming in-at all-it's as vicious as the most rapid falls on a human planet, and it'll threaten to steal even the most powerful swimmer away. Don't be fooled by the kappa you might see poking their heads out; they were made for this. Those who end up swept away will actually be brought BACK by one of those things in fact-so enjoy being rescued by buff turtles.
► ASTERISMS: Residing in the sea itself-or the sky, or the....Not Sky (it's hard to tell while on the Milky Way, to be frank), various creatures of innumerable shape and size cane be seen in and out from the stars. Mostly pale or even translucent, they all have brilliant 'stars' within their bodies-which many will be able to match to constellations! Unfortunately, just as people might spy the adorably small 'Flying Fish', they're just as likely to see the massive 'Hydra', or 'Great Bear'. Or a giant triangle might just spear your boat- not all constellations are animals after all!
► ONI: Remember those Imps from the ship? Meet their bigger, grouchier cousins. Once the Ark of Yamato has reached the Celestial Plain, a log for the Parade of Demons will go up-featuring these guys. Much like the Imps, they largely exist to cause utter mayhem, delighting in doing whatever they can to make everyone else's float suck (and more importantly, make theirs Better). There might be a bit of a tussle, before the backlash from irritated Carnival members spooks them off enough that everyone can enjoy the parade, festival, and fireworks.
REWARDS↴
► OBLIGATORY WEIRD JAPANESE MERCH: Given that the parade is an enormous event for the Youkai and Celestials, numerous stalls hawking their wares will be around once the Ark of Yamato has docked. Much of these stalls have standard festival goods-come get your masks, if you weren't sick of those things already! Or just get some local clothes, parasols, lots of food and candy...
Notably, there's a lot of games in a similar vein to those on the Carnival Grounds-but instead of enchanted prizes, it's mostly bizarre, Almost-Useless inventions. For today only, these games are free to play too! So...enjoy whatever That Thing is, if you win it.
► FISH: A game more unique to the celbrations involves catching tiny celestial fish with a paper-net; these fish are small, and unique in that they don't actually require much of anything to live...just regular moonlight, in accordance to the day-night cycle. Successfully catching these little guys in the net makes you their new owner, so enjoy your free 'friend'! (The fishbowls are included, decorations Are Not.)
► (NON)-MAGICAL MASKS: As part of Kaguya's offer on the ship, various characters will be presented with masks-however, as noted above, these masks are going to initially be tampered with. Kaguya herself will catch wind of things through her more composed assistants and swiftly remove the charms from each mask by the end of the Performance week, and allow those interested the chance to claim the again mundane masks for themselves-but before that time their magic will be running amok.
As for how that happens in the first place, there will be an RNG sign-up located below for those who wish to be randomly paired with another character for a 'Mask Mix Up' (players are free to plot between themselves for pre-determined matches as well). When the official event log is released, rolls will be completed so that no one is left waiting.
ICly what is happening is that each 'match' involves a mask recipient, and an intended wearer. The recipient will be receiving various influences from the wearer whenever they have the mask in contact with their skin-and in some cases might even be unable to remove the mask if it's been placed on their face! Once the mask has been returned to its intended wearer, the magic will be banished from it with or without Kaguya's involvment, allowing players to wrap up such things as quickly as they like.
When it comes to how a recipient can be influenced by a wearer however, there are a number of options-all of these are focused around the idea of synchronizing with the other, or 'overlaying' one's presence. Examples include:
With such a varying scale, players are open to stick with just one manifestation of the mask's magic, or even gradiate the effects according to whether or not the mask is necessarily on someone's face. Either way, when the Imp's magic is removed, the masks will revert to a more customized state so that players can still choose 'their own' masks for each character.
► SAGE ADVICE: On a more mundane note, the youkai attending to Kaguya will be openly presenting themselves as scholars-while they certainly can't help you with matters specific to the Fae and related nonsense, they can provide some assistance with magic, if one needs an IC excuse for that shiny new spell.
CHANGES↴
Since Youkai aren't especially far off from the Fae when it comes to aesthetic, no one has to look any different for this visit. However, changes of the Common and Uncommon variety are both quite likely, especially if characters were taking trips out into the Milky Way, or caught up in the mask nonsense; in the case of the latter, changes can be related to the representation of the mask.
Other changes, along the lines of any who decide to try some magic alongside Kaguya's aides, could happen just from participating in the Parade of Demons; there's a lot of magic in the air, and a LOT of tricky youkai trying to be funny.
AND NOTES-!
> I couldn't find pictures of fish in tiny jars without being sad so apparently Celestial Goldfish are jellyfish now
> The Oni are basically enormous babies and will be entirely incapable of actual harm, following the idea of youkai prioritizing Terrible Mischief over Actual Hurt
> If RM wants a literal constellation somewhere, Go Ahead RM-
> ...But mostly my money is on RM playing a lot of Drinking Games on that boat
> Really there's not much to say here other than that action logs will have more in the way of setting description, particularly in the case of the Celestial Plain/Celestial Capital
> The Actual Definition of Chindogu makes the judgment of festival stall prizes really easy, go figure. I look forward to the sea of cat-paw mops-
> I would definitely (on my own time) set up two event logs for this-one for the Ark/Performance Week and one that would begin with the Off Week for the Celestial Plain.
yet another mushi plot, hold your surprise
Hello all! This is Casey and Maggie, players of Ginko and Tanyuu, here to bring you another mushi plot after far too long without! This one will be a lot more low-key and less disasterous, and hopefully enjoyable for this bit of recovery-downtime that the carnival is enjoying. Participation in this plot is entirely optional, and will have no lasting effects! We’re here to chill, guys, not have another mini-catastrophe.
The whole event will take place over the span of about 3 IC days, and a radio and log post will be going up for Ginko and Tanyuu’s IC alert of the infestation and for mushi shenanigans, respectively.
THE RUNDOWN↴
Where Ginko and Tanyuu are from, there are creatures called mushi - strange, ethereal organisms that exist in a state unlike that of other living things. Mushi are invisible to most people, but their effects can be quite noticeable nonetheless, and they can cause a lot of trouble for humans on occasion. Usually this only occurs when there is a very large concentration of mushi in the same place, but Ginko attracts mushi as a natural part of his existence/being/soul/what-have-you. As a result, since they aren’t really bound by the barriers between realms, they fairly frequently drift into the carnival. Most aren’t dangerous, and those workers who happen to be able to see them may have caught sight of some odd, glowing creatures clinging to walls or floating around. (There is no hard rule for who can and cannot see mushi, but supernaturally-inclined characters could be more likely to perceive them. Even the most mundane person could be able to, though, so don’t feel restricted in that sense!)
Starting on Day 66, patches of white, translucent wildflowers will start growing among the vegetation around the tents. They do not carry any energy related to the fae and look mostly unremarkable, but once everyone goes to sleep for the night the effects of their presence will become clear as everyone’s dreams get a bit...interesting.
WHERE’S THE WEED-B-GONE↴
The mushi, called kaoriyoroboki, have the effect of blurring the lines between sleeping minds and encouraging a peaceful sleep. This means that everyone affected will be drifting between other people’s dreams. That can mean simply passing from your dream into someone else’s, or two dreams colliding and merging together. These dreams are otherwise fairly normal--dream logic is at play, and it’s only as easy to start lucid dreaming as it would on any other average day. Characters can remember the dreams or not as per your own preference, but there will be a feeling of peace on waking--nightmares are a near impossibility under the effects of this mushi.
However, they do pose a danger if left unchecked, as their effects encourage those affected to sleep more and more, causing their minds (and subsequently identities and memories) to blur together with those around them. Tanyuu and Ginko will both realize exactly what’s up after the first night, however, and issue a warning to the carnival over the radio. While they have most of the ingredients for the mushi purge to get rid of the kaoriyoroboki on hand, they are missing one ingredient that got left behind when RM kicked everyone out (thanks, boss). They’ll be scouring the forest on days 67 and 68, and will welcome help in gathering the herb needed. The evening of day 68 the purge will be administered and the kaoriyoroboki removed before any long-lasting effects can set in.
MISTER SANDMAN, BRING ME A DREAM↴
I think we all know how dream-share plots work, but for clarity’s sake some ground rules will be in place.
► No dreams will be able to turn into nightmares. Kaoriyoroboki work on the principle of luring people into sleeping more, and nightmares don’t help that much. Distressing things could happen in the dream, but can be easily overcome or stopped before it gets out of hand. Think daring adventures rather than nights in spooky mansions (unless that’s you’re thing, I guess).
► Characters will not be immediately aware they are dreaming or have crossed into another dream. The drifting follows the usual sort of logic that dream transitions normally go by, and unless characters have extensive experience with dreamwalking or manipulation may not even realize what is going on. However, this doesn't mean they CAN'T realize something is up, it will just take some cajoling to work it out.
► No long-term effects of the mushi will have time to set in. While Ginko and Tanyuu WILL be informing the carnival at large the potential dangers of long-term exposure, no blurring of identities, memories, or emotions will actually take place, other than in the very short term and strictly temporary if you really wanna play with that. The point of this event is fun dream shenanigans, not mind-fucky nonsense.
Go pester Quix for some of that in a future event if you really want it, we won’t complain!If you have any other questions regarding the event or mushi in general, please use the comment below!
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