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aftr_ooc2019-01-16 05:56 pm
lifeaftr_mods) wrote in aftr_ooc2019-01-16 05:56 pm
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January Event: Fade to Black
JANUARY EVENT: FADE TO BLACK
Those who have spoken with Balance may be aware that the avatar is in extreme distress, given the absolute imbalance of their land. You may also be aware that they're more than willing to take action to resolve it. And in order to do so, they're going to need some help. Your help, actually. Any willingness to help is appreciated. In fact, anyone's conversations with the avatar of Monsun may have been taken as a blanket agreement from all adventurers for the events about to unfold…
In other words, you can't really blame them for what's about to unfold, can you?
Darker: You're Ruled by All the Things You Fear
By January 21st, adventurers may notice their friends are acting a little…off. Rather outspoken, in fact, about their vices, their negative opinions, their secrets…particularly when the voiced grievances relate to whomever they are currently speaking. Characters prone to or capable of violence may act on those instincts and urges more readily. Theft, arson, and apathy run rampant. Really, it's almost like no one is acting as themselves, anymore.
That might be due to them not being the person you know, though they'll stubbornly insist that they are. Their shadow, to be more precise.
Their true self.
These facets of the self are practically identical to the person whose flaws they personify. The only exception is the animal shine of their eyes when exposed to focused beams of light.
Whether accepted or not, these Shadows will disappear from the archipelago by midnight on January 23rd - though, unfortunately for our adventurers, these mischievous spirits will not be the only ones dropping in for a visit.
By January 21st, adventurers may notice their friends are acting a little…off. Rather outspoken, in fact, about their vices, their negative opinions, their secrets…particularly when the voiced grievances relate to whomever they are currently speaking. Characters prone to or capable of violence may act on those instincts and urges more readily. Theft, arson, and apathy run rampant. Really, it's almost like no one is acting as themselves, anymore.
That might be due to them not being the person you know, though they'll stubbornly insist that they are. Their shadow, to be more precise.
Their true self.
These facets of the self are practically identical to the person whose flaws they personify. The only exception is the animal shine of their eyes when exposed to focused beams of light.
Whether accepted or not, these Shadows will disappear from the archipelago by midnight on January 23rd - though, unfortunately for our adventurers, these mischievous spirits will not be the only ones dropping in for a visit.
Yet Darker: Can You Feel the Way Your Face Distorts
Having a heavy case of déjà vu?
If your character has already survived a similar scenario, if you yourself have experienced it several times before, or if you're not quite ready to expose some of your character's worst secrets, we have an optional alternative for this section of the event, for those who'd prefer not to opt out of a Shadow entirely.
As with many of our hardworking higher beings, Balance will be doing their best to create the desired effect and, as a result, inspire balance within characters. There is, however, a slight hitch to said plan. With the intended effect being projected across LifeAftr, to say that Balance is desperately pushing their limits is an understatement. Under such conditions, errors are likely…almost guaranteed.
As the Shadows converge upon the archipelago, some Shadows won’t be- precisely as intended. In some cases, Shadows won’t so much convey the bad so much as they themselves are- bad.
Unlike the more traditional Shadows, these unfortunate duds are rather harmless, about as capable of causing harm as they are in fighting their way out of a wet paper bag. Ignore them, if you like - or do away with them! It's doubtful they'll be missed.
Having a heavy case of déjà vu?
If your character has already survived a similar scenario, if you yourself have experienced it several times before, or if you're not quite ready to expose some of your character's worst secrets, we have an optional alternative for this section of the event, for those who'd prefer not to opt out of a Shadow entirely.
As with many of our hardworking higher beings, Balance will be doing their best to create the desired effect and, as a result, inspire balance within characters. There is, however, a slight hitch to said plan. With the intended effect being projected across LifeAftr, to say that Balance is desperately pushing their limits is an understatement. Under such conditions, errors are likely…almost guaranteed.
As the Shadows converge upon the archipelago, some Shadows won’t be- precisely as intended. In some cases, Shadows won’t so much convey the bad so much as they themselves are- bad.
Unlike the more traditional Shadows, these unfortunate duds are rather harmless, about as capable of causing harm as they are in fighting their way out of a wet paper bag. Ignore them, if you like - or do away with them! It's doubtful they'll be missed.
Brighter: Bless My Darkness...Bless My Light
Following these potentially lethal (and lethally embarrassing) visitors, adventurers can be thankful for the small lull in activity come January 23rd. But alas, this respite won't last forever. After all, what's better than one doppelgänger?
Two, of course. The Shadows were intent on expressing the worst of what adventurers have to hide. But, because this is an effort made to establish balance, you can't have one without the other. And so this next expression of self takes things in the...opposite direction.
For rejecting your Light comes with much harsher consequences than failing to come to terms with your Shadow.
Following these potentially lethal (and lethally embarrassing) visitors, adventurers can be thankful for the small lull in activity come January 23rd. But alas, this respite won't last forever. After all, what's better than one doppelgänger?
Two, of course. The Shadows were intent on expressing the worst of what adventurers have to hide. But, because this is an effort made to establish balance, you can't have one without the other. And so this next expression of self takes things in the...opposite direction.
For rejecting your Light comes with much harsher consequences than failing to come to terms with your Shadow.
Rejection Rooms: The Real Face of All Your Enemies
Characters intent on rejecting their Light will find themselves irrevocably drawn to Monsun's shores. They might not even be aware of it - driven by their rage, their paranoia, their fear, or all of the above, and more. Monsun, for its part, is happy to receive them. Its landscape has become so warped over time...and those parts of Monsun consumed by shadow will start to distort, molding into structures that such characters are only too happy to hide within: Rejection Rooms.
In contrast to Mind Palaces, however, a Rejection Room does not contain several levels of twisted labyrinth to struggle through. They are, after all, just a singular room. Some will be large and wide, some will be narrow but impossibly high, and so on. A single room hardly constitutes for a labyrinth, most would agree - but it does make for a rather fetching boss room. And the boss?
Why, that's you, of course.
Characters driven to their Rejection Room will be capable of exhibiting additional strength and powers that may be approved from currently nerfed abilities, or created solely for this battle. And they're not inclined to listen to reason, either; instead, it's up to their fellow adventurers to beat some sense into their rattled noggins. Those who challenge the Rejection Rooms need not worry about death for themselves - damage taken within the rooms will simply translate to exhaustion outside of it, with seemingly mortal wounds leading to expulsion from the room itself, and an inability to re-enter.
The same holds true for the boss of each Room. Failure to beat them into expulsion means that the Room will continue to feed from their wildly catastrophizing mind, until there's nothing left to save at all.
Opting into creation of a Rejection Room will require completing the form down below. Keep in mind that players will be restricted to opting in one character only. As we may need to cut off the opt-in process dependant on interest, please note your interest as soon as possible. You are welcome to continue editing your opt in over the coming days as you flesh out the details. We also heavily encourage ensuring others are happy to plot out an intervention with your Rejection Room, as failure to save characters will result in a guaranteed death for the character influenced by the room itself.
Please extend a warm thank you to Coco, player of Ann Takamaki (ladytakamaki) and Acxa (sideswitch), for the suggestion and logistics involved in this part of the event!
Characters intent on rejecting their Light will find themselves irrevocably drawn to Monsun's shores. They might not even be aware of it - driven by their rage, their paranoia, their fear, or all of the above, and more. Monsun, for its part, is happy to receive them. Its landscape has become so warped over time...and those parts of Monsun consumed by shadow will start to distort, molding into structures that such characters are only too happy to hide within: Rejection Rooms.
In contrast to Mind Palaces, however, a Rejection Room does not contain several levels of twisted labyrinth to struggle through. They are, after all, just a singular room. Some will be large and wide, some will be narrow but impossibly high, and so on. A single room hardly constitutes for a labyrinth, most would agree - but it does make for a rather fetching boss room. And the boss?
Why, that's you, of course.
Characters driven to their Rejection Room will be capable of exhibiting additional strength and powers that may be approved from currently nerfed abilities, or created solely for this battle. And they're not inclined to listen to reason, either; instead, it's up to their fellow adventurers to beat some sense into their rattled noggins. Those who challenge the Rejection Rooms need not worry about death for themselves - damage taken within the rooms will simply translate to exhaustion outside of it, with seemingly mortal wounds leading to expulsion from the room itself, and an inability to re-enter.
The same holds true for the boss of each Room. Failure to beat them into expulsion means that the Room will continue to feed from their wildly catastrophizing mind, until there's nothing left to save at all.
Opting into creation of a Rejection Room will require completing the form down below. Keep in mind that players will be restricted to opting in one character only. As we may need to cut off the opt-in process dependant on interest, please note your interest as soon as possible. You are welcome to continue editing your opt in over the coming days as you flesh out the details. We also heavily encourage ensuring others are happy to plot out an intervention with your Rejection Room, as failure to save characters will result in a guaranteed death for the character influenced by the room itself.
Please extend a warm thank you to Coco, player of Ann Takamaki (
ladytakamaki) and Acxa (sideswitch), for the suggestion and logistics involved in this part of the event!
Odds and Ends: Can You Stomach It Anymore
By January 28th, both the Lights and the Rejection Rooms will disperse. Monsun will be restored to its relatively clear self - no longer struggling with and overlap of shadowscapes and the patterns of Ziziphus's vines. Of course, all its usual effects will remain...and on the western side at least, more than a few spots of Ziziphus's meadowland and trees may remain. Almost like a memento.
So take care.
By January 28th, both the Lights and the Rejection Rooms will disperse. Monsun will be restored to its relatively clear self - no longer struggling with and overlap of shadowscapes and the patterns of Ziziphus's vines. Of course, all its usual effects will remain...and on the western side at least, more than a few spots of Ziziphus's meadowland and trees may remain. Almost like a memento.
So take care.
Event Timeline
[ ♆ ] January 10th: Monsun reappears, and is accessible via mana pool.
[ ♆ ] January 20th: The monthly Storytelling occurs.
[ ♆ ] January 21st: Shadows of both initial variants appear.
[ ♆ ] January 23rd: Shadows of both initial variants disappear.
[ ♆ ] January 25th Lights and Rejection Rooms appear.
[ ♆ ] January 28th: Lights and Rejection Rooms dissipate. Those still trapped in their Rejection Rooms by the event's end will suffer a character death.
( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )
CW undeath/body horror, mind control mushrooms, medical trauma
Character Name/Journal: Foster van Denend
Room Overview: Welcome to Escher's hospital room--the distortion is reflective of Foster's actual brainmeat, a spatial misalignment chamber made of shifting splinter fragments. Various pieces of a nurse's station, surgery, ICU, MRI chamber, and so on are all present. There's a static hospital bed with a copy of Foster in it, but he's nonresponsive. All objects in the room are physically real, from the MRI readouts to the IV poles. The walls indicate this may be a children's hospital--most of them are various pastels, pinks and blues and yellows and greens. There are no windows. The most useful object in the room are the syringes are full of radioactive green liquid known as Reagent, and those will actually buff you if you're reckless enough to inject yourself with their contents, bestowing super strength and stamina as well as healing physical injuries (broken bones, etc.) Foster never makes use of them himself for Reasons, so if no one tries it, they're basically decorative. Notably, picking one of these syringes up will make you his target immediately.
Otherwise, Foster himself will not approach anyone holding medical paraphernalia--his medical records won't save you, but a stethoscope will.
Desired Boss Moves:
Control Freak- Summoning/animating undead versions of his original human self out of the hospital bed to serve as weaker mob spawns. Like Magitroika undead, they don't need any specific body parts to continue to function, so you can decapitate them or cut their arms off all you want without ill effect, but they don't have any special abilities otherwise. Because they're 'animated' rather than 'raised' (ie soulless) they also operate in a 'static' or mindless fashion, meaning all action is entirely at his direction. If you distract him sufficiently they'll just continue to follow whatever command he last willed them to. Max of two at a time, and each time he replaces one, he's reusing the same body. The more of them he has to re-re-reanimate, the less stable they are and the more perverted from their original appearance. Eventually he'll just have an uncontrolled abomination and have to stop because fuck that.
The Earth Will Overflow - The precondition for this involves him bleeding onto the floor in some way. The Earth Spirit from AU Portland (I'm so sorry) coalesces out of it as a massive bear-shaped apparition and wrecks anything in its path as it heads for the door. You can dodge it if you're willing to cram into a corner or dive into the MRI machine, but it can't be killed and it will just run you over if you try. Good news is, it also obliterates any Undead Fosters that happen to be active at the time.
It's All In Who You Know - Foster becomes increasingly covered in rot and fungi as he takes damage, but he can use his mushrooms to produce spores (I'm SO sorry) that will charm a single opponent briefly, effectively turning them to his side. Whether this counts as pure mental domination or his opponent just takes his side for a bit is up to the player. He can only perform this on one person at a time, and cannot do this when Undead Fosters are active. This will cause mushrooms to proliferate somewhere on the afflicted person's body (I'm SO... SORRY), which can be removed by others to remove his control. This can result in anything from him attacking others using his controlled victim to using his control over the victim to make them damage themself. (For clarity: depending on the player's permissions, this might just mean he runs the character into a wall repeatedly.)
It's Britney, Bitch! - All his bodily fluids (which... hopefully just means blood and spit and like... sebaceous fluids) are acidic, and will inflict burns of increasing severity in accordance to volume of blood/length of contact. That's it. That's his last line of defence. He's basically one of those bosses that tries to keep you from hitting him.... er, while encouraging you enthusiastically to hit him. Whatever.