OOC PLANNING FOR HARROGATE 2.0 SHOWDOWN
Sep. 12th, 2017 03:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
powersthatbeALL RIGHT, GHOSTS AND LIVING. IT'S TIME TO PLAN FOR A CONFRONTATION.
So. We now know that Bernkastel--or rather, the thing that is now possessing Bernkastel--has set herself up inside the poltergeist shield in the dry lakebed and is huffing ghosts. Both Malik and Armin have had confrontations with her, one after the other. Malik had the element of surprise and got away, in the process losing both his legs to the knee. Armin did not have the element of surprise and Bad Stuff happened. He's now Double Dead and existing as a disembodied mind on the text Network until the end of Jaunt. On the other hand, he was able to identify who Bern's possessor is in the process and he'll be making a psychic log to talk about it pretty soon now.
Part of the planning will no doubt be done ICly and I believe people will be getting together at Dr. Durante's cottage for that, but in the interest of streamlining things, we also have this post for people to volunteer OOCly. Without spoiling too much, we are going to need:
1) A ghost with Teleportation who will either (a) let Armin take over their body to do some ritual stuff or (b) get taught by Armin which ritual stuff to do, according to preference.
2) Living and dead people to distract "Bernkastel" long enough so said ghost can do their thing. Teleportation is definitely a plus although not all of them need it as long as some of them do.
If you think your characters can help with that, please comment here!
So. We now know that Bernkastel--or rather, the thing that is now possessing Bernkastel--has set herself up inside the poltergeist shield in the dry lakebed and is huffing ghosts. Both Malik and Armin have had confrontations with her, one after the other. Malik had the element of surprise and got away, in the process losing both his legs to the knee. Armin did not have the element of surprise and Bad Stuff happened. He's now Double Dead and existing as a disembodied mind on the text Network until the end of Jaunt. On the other hand, he was able to identify who Bern's possessor is in the process and he'll be making a psychic log to talk about it pretty soon now.
Part of the planning will no doubt be done ICly and I believe people will be getting together at Dr. Durante's cottage for that, but in the interest of streamlining things, we also have this post for people to volunteer OOCly. Without spoiling too much, we are going to need:
1) A ghost with Teleportation who will either (a) let Armin take over their body to do some ritual stuff or (b) get taught by Armin which ritual stuff to do, according to preference.
2) Living and dead people to distract "Bernkastel" long enough so said ghost can do their thing. Teleportation is definitely a plus although not all of them need it as long as some of them do.
If you think your characters can help with that, please comment here!
powersthatbeWeek III Summary
[Placeholder]
Week IV Plotting
In the final week of the plot, Harrogate will be racked by rainless thunderstorms with high winds and frequent dust-devils. Given how wet the region in general and England as a whole tends to be, not to mention the fact that the storms will continue for several days without moving, this is obviously unnatural.
The veil between living and dead is in tatters - starting a day or two into the mingle, ghosts will fade in and out of visibility much more easily than before. The living & dead may openly hang out & keep company with one another. But the dead have a worrying message for the living:
The ghosts can feel a wind on their side of the veil, something pushing them north-northwest. And they hear a faint, charming song, urging them to follow it. Whatever that means, it can’t be good, & the wind & song will grow in strength until they’re nearly irresistible to all - or almost all - of the spirits.
That said, there are ways to resist or avoid them, & in the question toplevel below, we welcome questions about how effective or ineffective various attempts to do so are.
Finally, we’ve got one more set of otherworldly encounters, and we’re going back to the tried-and-true RNG method to give three lucky Travelers a final glimpse of the eldritch underpinnings of this event. One of these three encounters will be heavily but temporarily traumatic, but the others will be merely alarming, & you can note in your sign-up comment here whether you have a preference. Characters who have not had a previous dream encounter or NPC haunting will be given priority so we can be as inclusive as possible, but everyone is welcome to sign up!
[Placeholder]
Week IV Plotting
In the final week of the plot, Harrogate will be racked by rainless thunderstorms with high winds and frequent dust-devils. Given how wet the region in general and England as a whole tends to be, not to mention the fact that the storms will continue for several days without moving, this is obviously unnatural.
The veil between living and dead is in tatters - starting a day or two into the mingle, ghosts will fade in and out of visibility much more easily than before. The living & dead may openly hang out & keep company with one another. But the dead have a worrying message for the living:
The ghosts can feel a wind on their side of the veil, something pushing them north-northwest. And they hear a faint, charming song, urging them to follow it. Whatever that means, it can’t be good, & the wind & song will grow in strength until they’re nearly irresistible to all - or almost all - of the spirits.
That said, there are ways to resist or avoid them, & in the question toplevel below, we welcome questions about how effective or ineffective various attempts to do so are.
Finally, we’ve got one more set of otherworldly encounters, and we’re going back to the tried-and-true RNG method to give three lucky Travelers a final glimpse of the eldritch underpinnings of this event. One of these three encounters will be heavily but temporarily traumatic, but the others will be merely alarming, & you can note in your sign-up comment here whether you have a preference. Characters who have not had a previous dream encounter or NPC haunting will be given priority so we can be as inclusive as possible, but everyone is welcome to sign up!
powersthatbeWeek Two Summary
( Read more... )
Week Three Plotting
As always, the plot can be fully deciphered through interaction with Plot Infiltrators; this bonus mechanic is meant to provide more options and let more people participate, not replace CR-driven plotting. We’ve been trying a different exploration mechanic each week to see what works best; & will continue to do so. Before our final mingle goes up in ten days, but after threads from this mingle have started, we’ll post a poll asking players to decide what exploration mechanic or mechanics they want available in Week 4. We appreciate everyone being willing to try new things with us & see what’s most helpful in making the plot accessible to all interested parties!
( Read more... )
Week Three Plotting
- At the beginning of this week, breathside, almost all dreams become vivid nightmares involving the dead. Possessions and poltergeist incidents become ten times more common than they already were. And the living can clearly and lucidly hear the dead in their dreams. The mass insomnia this inspires and public confusion or panic lead almost immediately to the government cordoning off the town, preventing any and all travel by road or rail from passing the city limits in either direction. The city government receives a notice that under the Emergency Powers Act, executive authority has been vested in agents of military intelligence already on site.
- Deathside, the number of roaming, restless spirits grows tenfold, and the newcomers are almost all mad, deteriorated ghosts, little more than chaotic extensions of some necromancer’s will. Travel becomes unsafe for this reason, leaving hiding and dreaming as the safest course of action - and in dreams, the Veil is now all but nonexistent, permitting clear communication with any living soul they choose to contact.
- On both sides of the veil, it is clear that whatever is afoot, time is rapidly running out to find the source of the danger and set things right. Whatever is coming up must be worse - unimaginably worse - than what has been seen so far. Even though knowledge of the unnatural is dangerous, ignorance is hardly safety, under the circumstances.
- A dream exploration prompt will be provided for Travelers to submit their exploration of deep and dangerous dreams, but rather than RNG, this week we will be looking for especially creative and daring experiments to reward with fragments of plot. (If you submitted yourself for RNG in week 1, & link us a dream exploration this week, you’ll have preference in getting selected for something now).
As always, the plot can be fully deciphered through interaction with Plot Infiltrators; this bonus mechanic is meant to provide more options and let more people participate, not replace CR-driven plotting. We’ve been trying a different exploration mechanic each week to see what works best; & will continue to do so. Before our final mingle goes up in ten days, but after threads from this mingle have started, we’ll post a poll asking players to decide what exploration mechanic or mechanics they want available in Week 4. We appreciate everyone being willing to try new things with us & see what’s most helpful in making the plot accessible to all interested parties!
Unquiet Dead week two plotting
Aug. 16th, 2017 11:17 pmpowersthatbe( spookier and spookier )
Week Two Plotting
When a sinkhole opens on the south side of town, ghosts and living alike explore the peculiar underground regions that have been uncovered. Those on either side will discover certain areas where direct communication & perception across the veil between life & death are possible.
Meanwhile, Investigators must deal with sudden unexplained reductions in their ability to access Liminal Space & the Psychic Network. These changes will be mimicked on the walkabout side, and posted separately there so walkabouters don't have to read the jaunt mingle for them. This is the only crossover between the two events that will be present.
Week Two Plotting
When a sinkhole opens on the south side of town, ghosts and living alike explore the peculiar underground regions that have been uncovered. Those on either side will discover certain areas where direct communication & perception across the veil between life & death are possible.
Meanwhile, Investigators must deal with sudden unexplained reductions in their ability to access Liminal Space & the Psychic Network. These changes will be mimicked on the walkabout side, and posted separately there so walkabouters don't have to read the jaunt mingle for them. This is the only crossover between the two events that will be present.
UNQUIET DEAD: Jaunt Info
Jul. 30th, 2017 12:16 ampowersthatbeAn Eldritch Ghost Story Jaunt In the City of Harrogate
August 7th–September 16th
Harrogate is a little British resort town with a dark past. A little over one hundred and twenty years ago, a large portion of the town died when a fire consumed a theater in the middle of a performance. But time passed, the dead were forgotten, and everyone rebuilt.
But in death, as in taxes, forgetting something doesn’t always make it go away. Harrogate has been dying of the same forces that kill towns everywhere: a sluggish economy, a stagnant middle class, corrupt management, being a tourist town in a decade when nobody can afford to be a tourist in England. It’s a slow, grim death, but a mundane one. Ignorable. The sort of thing that starts a clawing existential dread in your heart, but you push it down and get on with your day because that’s life, after all. That pain and uncertainty? That is normal.
What is happening now is anything but normal. People have been seeing ghosts. Not diaphanous white figures. Just - people. People they lost. Reflected in windshields, mirrors, still water - just for a moment. Hearing their voice on the wind, or in the creaking of a settling house at night. Probably just the power of suggestion. Probably, except that it’s happened to almost everyone, even people who didn’t know that this was going around like a rumor, or the flu.
Artie Grove has just died. A local celebrity, a philanthropist and former child actor, Artie was always considered the luck of the town, almost like a mascot, and their sweet, too-public romance with a stranded tourist was the stuff of gossip right up to their star-spangled wedding last month. Now Artie’s gone, car wrapped around a bridge abutment in one of those accidents that looks like a deliberate and unhappy act. Shocked, devastated, the town - and an all-too-cynically welcome flood of tourists - have come into Harrogate to pay their respects. But when wild, undismissable supernatural events plague the funeral - what will everyone think? Is it a public health crisis? Mass hallucination? Publicity stunt? Cover-up?
Of course, it can’t really be the spirits of the dead. Can it?
Travelers are struck with a worse problem. Mundane circumstances, fewer people here than expected—it must be a Walkabout, mustn’t it? Only—Harrogate’s a horror story among Travelers, one of those where almost everyone dying was actually the best available end to the Jaunt. Is this really the same town?
And some Travelers—investigators and infiltrators alike—will be waking up in an empty, mist-wracked city full of dark memories that echo. Ghosts, knowing and unknowing, will slowly discover that there are no revivals here—but possession of the living is far too easy… whatever that portends.
It’s coming. Soon. And death, or the dead, and the twists and turns of wicked history may be the only way to stop it, if the living cannot be made to see the truth.