monthly mingle: FEAST OF THE DYING

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: monthly mingle: feast of the dying + agricultural emergency
when: the month of october
where: anywhere around the city
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

monthly mingle: october

During the month of October, a particular natural phenomenon on the moon weakens the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead, allowing for the crossover of those dead into the world of the living, with ghosts from the pasts of both the residents and the Quarantine itself to take corporeal form. This has given rise to an array of celebrations and traditions surrounding the transition from life to death, encouraging residents not to fear death, but to embrace it.

Things aren't all spooky celebrations this month, though. There's also a serious emergency happening in the agricultural district, where a herd of vengeful and intelligent hog-like creatures has decided to mount an attack on the city, with a large measure of success. Between September 20th and September 25th, they rammed the fences near the agriculture district where most of the farms providing livestock and produce for the city are located, succeeding in breaking through the fence on the 25th. Drastic action needs to be taken in order to protect the city's ability to feed itself throughout the upcoming months.

feast of the dying: a celebration of the transition between life and death

In the days leading up to October 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: the Feast of the Dying. There is an old, widely-known, and widely-believed superstition or proverb in Riverview Quarantine: 'The greater your fear of death, the easier it is for death to find you.' This is a cornerstone belief of a lot of the residents of the Quarantine, most of whom have survived intensely difficult and violent pasts on their own worlds and who are still willing and eager to throw themselves into exploring and settling new worlds, starting their lives fresh. To honor this spirit, the Feast of the Dying is a celebration of the transition between life and death, an opportunity to face death both figuratively and literally, and come out on top.

The festivities during this time feature tests of courage in highly haunted places, escape rooms both virtual and physical with varying levels of danger, and the week-long Feast of the Dying itself, between October 1st and 8th this year.

i. feast of the dying traditions

Much like any culture, there are a few traditions and events that happen every year in the Quarantine, to celebrate the Feast of the Dying. In-depth information on these traditions and events can be found on last year's Feast of the Dying post, and include:

● Ghosts From the Past: Characters will see ghosts of the deceased in various places around the Quarantine, with some areas, where the boundaries between the living and dead are weakest, being heavily infested with these ghosts, while other areas are nearly ghost-free. These ghosts can be from characters' canons (with limitations - see last year's post for OOC guidelines) or from the Quarantine itself.
● Escape Rooms: Horror-themed escape rooms pop up all over the city, augmented with tech or magic to make them seem more menacing. The difficulty levels and scares range from easy to incredibly difficult, and they feature themes from Zombie Attack to Prison to Torture Traps to Mad Science Experiments, and just about anything else you can think of.
● Tests of Courage: In various places around the city, there are establishments where the boundaries between the living and dead are so fragile as to be barely there - hospitals that treated the ill during the Pandemic, insane asylums or prisons where inmates were mistreated, homes where terrible murders happened, places exposed to dark magic, and other similar places. During October, these places are shut down except to those who wish to stay the night as a test of courage. Characters who stay the night will encounter hordes of ghosts and experience extremely realistic hallucinations that may result in injury (which is up to player discretion) in the name of proving their courage.
● Doom Dates: This year, with the amusement park open for business, there is an event called Doom Date, a spooky themed night at the fair featuring haunted houses, costumed actors, and free rides with the price of admission. More information on this prompt can be found on the September Test Drive Meme.
● Feast of the Dying: A week-long masquerade-style party that is open from sundown October 1st until sunrise on October 9th. Sort of like a formal ball inside an incredibly realistic haunted house, the Feast of the Dying is the tradition that the holiday is named after, and features dancing, party events, plenty of food and drink for everyone, and private rooms for resting or engaging in...private activities with close friends.

ii. creepy chaos

This year, there's something a little different going around the Quarantine. The influx of refugees, the Frysh, that recently arrived, have brought a few new spooky traditions with them - while their celebration of horror usually happens in the dead of winter, they've shared the custom for the Feast of the Dying. And what is that custom? Dressing up as monsters, ghosts, demons, and other terrifying creatures! Considering how many other worlds and universes have similar traditions, it's caught on quickly, with costumes incredibly varied in subject matter and level of intricacy, from standard run-of-the-mill costumes pieces purchased from the local costume shop to intricately detailed costumes featuring holographic accents - and, of course, the 'sexy' version of everything. The culmination of the Frysh tradition is the tenth day of the month, where everyone dresses as something or someone scary, and brings treats (handmade or purchased) to give to family, lovers, friends, coworkers, classmates, or anyone else. It fits with the Feast of the Dying theme quite smoothly, reminding residents that joy and togetherness can come even from frightening situations.

All well and good, but someone has other ideas - enter Phineas, a rather notorious mage who's just recently gotten out of a year-long stint in prison. Elderly, a bit of a codger, more than a bit eccentric, and extremely powerful, Phineas has decided to put his own spin on this particular spooky tradition by casting a powerful citywide spell. On October 10, anyone who puts on a costume to participate in this particular celebration will find themselves turning into their costume for the evening. Dressed up as a werewolf? Prepare to howl at the moon! Dressed as a vampire? Be prepared to get a serious taste for blood. The possibilities are endless...

OOC Note: Please remember that Riverview does not allow non-consensual sex, and that game mechanics are not put in place to encourage sexual assault, or to 'trick' characters into having sex that they would not normally have. If your character's costume is the 'sexy' version of anything, feel free to play with aphrodisiac effects or lowered inhibitions, but keep this rule in mind.

emergency in the agricultural district!

iii. hog wild

Residents of the city may or may not remember a particular patch of fertile ground that was scouted over a year ago, and the highly-intelligent and territorial alien hogs that were protecting it because the soil's fertility stems from it being a alien hog graveyard. After that revelation, the city had abandoned the project for the foreseeable future, as digging up an intelligent species' graveyard is more than a little beyond the pale.

That would've been all well and good, had the alien hogs stayed in their territory. However, after being disrupted by two teams over the course of a few months, the hogs (who have an excellent memory for this kind of thing) have started to get a little restless. It's not enough to be left alone - they want revenge. And with the summer winding down into harvest season, they've figured out how to get that revenge. As September winds down and October starts to dawn, the powerful and intimidating hogs have started on stage one of enacting that revenge - they've been making concentrated runs at the fences closest to their territory, hitting it in the same spot over and over again, herd mentality at its strongest, trying to make a dent. And they're succeeding.

The big problem here is that, on the inside of that fence, is the bulk of the Quarantine's agriculture sector. Fields full of livestock and crops that are meant to make up the majority of the winter's food supply are in danger of being wiped out if that fence falls, and if that happens, it's going to be a cold, hungry winter, no matter how many supplies the Capital World manages to send up to the moon.

Since September 20th, residents have been being called into service whenever they were willing to, at first to try to repair the damage to the wall and keep the hogs from bursting through, and after September 25th, to help stem the damage being done by the rampaging hogs. As September ends and October begins, the fight is still underway, and residents haven't managed to do much to stop the creatures encroaching on the agricultural district, so more help is always welcome.

A full write-up of this situation can be found on September's Test Drive Meme.

iv. drift compatible

As October continues on, the situation with the invasion of hogs and all the other creatures that are coming through the massive breach in the outer wall of the Inhabited City is starting to get really dire. As a last-ditch effort, the government is pulling what remains of their fleet of three-story-tall mech suits out of storage. Longer-term residents may remember these mechs from last January, when a herd of behemoth monsters was attacking the city. Since then, the five remaining mechs were taken over by a private tech company, improved upon to some extent, and then sold back to the government, where they were reverse engineered into something new and a little different, and more were manufactured.

As of now, the government is holding on to a fleet of around 40 smaller, more maneuverable mechs that are still quite powerful, but most importantly which still need to be piloted by two people. Considering the emergency the city is facing, the government has released the fleet of mechs to the Perimeter Guard, and is calling for anyone with piloting experience, or even people willing to take a quick course in it, to help man the fleet and head out into the battle, backing up fighters on the ground to try to push back the tide of creatures flooding into the vulnerable and very important agricultural district.

Mechs are piloted by two people working together - while it's not exactly drift compatibility, the two characters need to act together, with one directing where the mech goes and keeping an eye on the terrain, and the other one manning the guns and keeping an eye on the mech's defenses and energy and ammunition levels. This takes a lot of concentration and cooperation, and this day is bound to forge a lot of new friendships....and probably a few mortal enemies. On top of the difficulty of working with someone who may be a total stranger, don't forget this new fleet of mechs are in beta-testing and are only being used as a last resort, which means they have a bad tendency to break down in unexpected ways.

Each mech is fitted with one large canon-style gun that can be semi-automatic or automatic with a limited amount of ammunition, one plasma sword, and a force shield that can take four serious hits before it is depleted. They have a finite amount of energy storage and are able to be in continuous use for 3 hours maximum before shutting down. Out of the fleet of 40 mechs, the mod expects only about 5 to still be functional at the end of the month, so feel free to destroy or seriously damage them in threads.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up the mod-posted prompt to create a Communal Housing floor mingle. Or, if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during the Feast of the Dying, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view; images may contain disturbing themes


Credit: image i: Logan Preshaw; image ii: Alejandro D'Marco; image iii: Jeff Jumper; image iv: Johannes Mücke; image v: Davey Baker; image vi: David Edwards

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Comments

Jintetsu | Kurogane | OTA

[jintetsu]

1. fuck, it's you i hate the most (ghosts)

Festivals for the dead are one thing. A celebration of death itself is kind of weird, but not particularly scary. Death loses a lot of the grim mystique once you've actually experienced it.

No. What's worth fearing is what comes after.

The ghosts are everywhere, despite Jintetsu's best attempts at avoiding them. Most don't seem too interested in him, either, or give up when he pretends not to see them. But some are more persistent. Angrier. For some reason, these nastier spirits seem to gravitate toward him, fading in and out of sight, never quite where he saw them last. Sometimes they only manifest as furious, unintelligible whispers, sometimes as wisps of black smoke trailing around the edges of unseen figures, themselves only almost human-shaped. And sometimes, especially after dark, they become more substantial, empty-eyed or half-skeletal phantoms stalking him from the shadows.

He pretends not to see them, either. But they find him just about anywhere he goes, and everyone else can see them, too. It's not a problem, in theory, as long as Haganemaru's at his side. Even empowered by the night, most of the specters tend to keep a few feet away from him. (The living give him a wider berth.) Every so often, one or a few will give it a try, lunging toward him with a bone-chilling shriek. But they're always stopped a couple inches away, as if repelled by a magnet, and can't get any closer than that; after a few seconds they'll break off and disappear, rejoining the others.

When that happens, there's nothing he can do but wait it out. It beats the alternative, at least.

But just because he's relatively safe from them doesn't mean they're harmless. They can be pretty disruptive, especially after dark. Mostly they're just creepy and occasionally noisy, but then you get the ones who can manifest enough to, say, make the lights flicker, or knock a tray of food out of a server's hands. Basically, it's a lot easier on everyone if he just gets his meals to go and eats them somewhere else. Like a park bench, or under one of the city's many trees.

(In short, this prompt can happen pretty much anywhere, and/or in conjunction with other prompts.)

2. just here for the food (masquerade)

"What? No, you've got the wrong guy. I don't know anything about a party."

Just because he's wearing a mask, that doesn't mean he's looking for a masquerade! But he's found one, quite by accident, and someone hanging out by the entrance just had to turn on the peer pressure. He soon relents, because 1) it's open to all, 2) it doesn't cost anything, and 3) there's free food. (Mostly 3, honestly. Not being able to work for the better part of a month will do that.)

So here he is, for one night only, lurking in the general vicinity of the refreshments like the wallflower he was born to be. He's got a pretty nice, uh, Japanese steampunk costume going on, though? The robot arm in particular looks super realistic.

3. waiter this bacon tastes like war crimes (hogs)

It took a while, but Jintetsu's finally back in fighting shape enough that he can start putting out feelers for work. And he's found some, out in the city's breadbasket. The monstrous hogs have been menacing the area for weeks, and everyone's desperate to get rid of them - enough so that there's at least one property owner willing to shell out for a more permanent solution.

Even so, Jintetsu's pretty sure he was picked as the lowball option. But what can you do? He could command some pretty obscene rates back in Japan, but only because of his reputation as a scary bastard who does big murder real good, and that didn't follow him through the portal, for better or worse. A clean slate is an amazing opportunity, and he wants to at least try to make something of it, but this is one of the inevitable drawbacks.

It's a simple enough job on paper. Kill as many hogs as you can find, bring back an ear each as proof, receive X amount per kill. He doesn't expect it to be easy, of course, and what info he's been able to gather confirms it won't. They're huge even for wild hogs, and thick-skinned, and if they go into a charge nothing short of divine intervention's gonna stop them. But supposedly, they're also just as smart as humans, hence why his employer wants to keep this on the down low. It's not a good look, you know? Justifiable or not, it could kind of be considered homicide.

Jintetsu's fine with that. But what he says is Your name won't come up.

---

Simple enough on paper. They're big, they're strong, they're tough, they're fast, and they're smart. Half a ton apiece of concentrated malice. But they're not agile, and he can use that.

His strategy is simple: climb a tree or building, drop onto them from above, and go for the eyes. And then, whatever you do, don't fall off.

And it's worked, at least well enough that he's already managed to turn in a small handful of ears. But his success is starting to taper off. The hogs are, after all, smart, and apparently word's been getting out among them about the human in a metal mask. It's getting harder to draw them out. They've learned not to pursue him, no matter how bad he pisses them off. Now, if any of them spots him, they immediately head for the nearest flat, open space - such as the fields, which coincides neatly with their goal of wrecking said fields.

So that's where we find Jintetsu - sitting up in a tree, watching a pair of hogs as they dig up and trample a nearby pumpkin patch, and apparently talking it over with... nobody.

"Yeah, they're definitely onto us. Damn." Haganemaru sighs. "What are we up to now, four?" (Jintetsu holds up five fingers.) "Five, whatever. It's still not enough to cover it. I hate to say it, but... we might need to bring in some outside help."

4. fast and furious: edo drift (mechs)

Of course, all plans are off the table as soon as the city sets loose its war machines.

For the most part, Jintetsu just wants to stay as far out of their path as possible, even once he realizes they're on the same side. But if someone were to use one to rescue him from a charging hog (which he managed to wound, but not kill, so it's pissed), you might be able to recruit him as a gunner (if only because it's that or getting trampled to death).

*Disclaimer: Jintetsu has never fired a gun in his life, so don't get too attached to your mech. Trust me, it'd be worse if he was driving.

5. wildcard

[Prose or brackets is fine!]

[Want a more different prompt? Go for it! Or hit me up at caturday to plot stuff out \o/]

2.

[apt666]

Ryo, despite his dislike of Halloween, feels he can have a sense of humor about himself. So today, he's wearing a very traditional looking devil costume. What can he say? He knows that he looks nothing like this, but the times with the ghosts has been stressful, so he's found that this is the best way to deal with it.

So he wears a pair of red pants, a red blouse, horns on his head, and a tail attached to his belt loop in the back. It had a wire neatly put into it to cause the tail to curl.

It was the devil, sure, but a devil with fashion Ryo could get behind.

He had a glass of wine, some food, and was there - quietly eyeballing the costumes. "That's not very traditional." He says, there was a hint of joke to his tone. He has to admit, even though he's not a huge fan of Halloween - or holidays like this, he is a fan of the costumes. It's interesting to see how people depict other creatures.

[jintetsu]

Jintetsu pauses for a second, glances to both sides - oh. Crap, the guy's talking to him.

"... What do you mean?" he asks. There's any number of things about him that you could call "non-traditional," assuming the remark's even referring to him.

[apt666]

There were, of course, a lot of things. But Ryo's mainly thinking of the robotic arm. "Robotic arms aren't terribly traditional Japanese." He pondered over it. He didn't come here to offend anyone, of course. Or make anyone upset. "It's very creative." He noted. Unlike his own outfit.

He had spotted at least ten other devils or Satans at the party. But as far as Japanese Steampunk? Ryo could say this was the only one of his kind. "You stand out."

He wasn't sure, since he didn't know the other yet, if that was the goal. Wallflowers often hang near the food and away from the crowd. And Ryo, who always liked to stand out - for once seemed to blend in with the rest of the crowd. It was a change of pace.

"Is it inspired by your home?" That was the goal, after all. As Satan, and a man who studied history and archaeology, he took interest in other worlds. And maybe something like this - a simple costume, could give him insight to another.

[jintetsu]

What the heck is he talking about? It takes Jintetsu a second to make the connection. This is a costume party. All the guests are in costume. Hell, Jintetsu was invited in because someone thought he was in costume. Why wouldn't this guy think the same?

He holds up his hands, uncomfortable. "Ah - no, this is..."

But he hesitates. What if he just... lied? He could pretend to be a regular guy in a costume, and nobody would know the difference. This is probably the one situation where he could get away with it, after all. But no convincing story comes to him right away. Turns out he's actually not all that creative? Haganemaru's by far the better liar, of the two of them, but he doesn't seem to have any ideas handy, either.

Okay, well, uh... the truth it is, then.

"Sorry, but... I'm not wearing a costume," he says. "This is just how I look."

[apt666]

"It's not?" Ryo almost laughed. He wondered what this boy was doing in a costume party without a costume. Did he even want to be here? Even Ryo dressed up, which he wouldn't have bothered doing if he didn't want to do. He was here with the intention to check things out, observe people. There was free food, of course. But it seemed like a lot of effort with little return.

"Interesting. Traditional clothing from your world, then?" he asked. If it wasn't a costume, he was going to get a little information if he could. If the other would be willing to answer, of course.

"It's not as if you have to be in an actual costume." From what he could tell, the mask was the most important part of a masquerade. They didn't seem to care too much what people wore, as long as it seemed like they were in costumes. "It looks like one. After all, all that really matters is the mask."

[jintetsu]

The mask - really little more than a steel plate with an eye hole and mouth slit cut into it - does a lot to conceal his discomfort at this line of conversation. This guy was trying not to laugh there for a second, he could tell. What, did he think something's funny? Jintetsu gets enough snide remarks about his appearance as it is, he didn't come in here to be gawked at.

But you know what, whatever. He doesn't have the energy to get offended every single time, and he doesn't have to explain himself to some guy he just met.

"... Sure," he replies flatly. "So what are you supposed to be, an oni or something?"

[apt666]

Ryo's amusement really comes from someone being where they don't want to be. He gets it. He spent his life somewhere he didn't want to be. Well, Ryo didn't mind it, but Satan - Lucifer - didn't want to be there. He didn't like it here much more than he liked earth. He shrugged, feeling a little indifferent at the clear disinterest of the other.

He's used to a different sort of personality. People like Akira. Like the Akira he has seen around whenever ghosts chose to appear before him. Akira, who was loud and cried when he was upset. This kid didn't seem to even care. Ryo could play that game, too.

"Satan. The Devil. Mao." He pondered over what he was. "Oni are a bit more like ogres. The mask really is a bit more Oni than Satan, though." He was used to the imagery, having spent most of his life in Japan. A half-smirk, "Imitating life, I guess."

He shrugged. "There's no point to being here if you don't want to. There's plenty of festivities."

[jintetsu]

Eh, close enough. Without more cultural context behind it, Jintetsu doesn't really get the significance of the name or the distinction. And what's he mean by "imitating life"? Weird guy...

Ryo didn't waste any time turning the conversation back around, though. Jintetsu kind of wishes he hadn't taken his hat off earlier, so he could hide behind it. As it is, he just kind of... awkwardly glances away.

"It's not that. I was passing by, and someone invited me in, that's all. I'm not planning to stay long."

[apt666]

"Well, you do look like you're meant to be here." Ryo suggested. The other's outfit resembled costumes. It wasn't clothes he typically saw people wear from day to day. He had intended to be in the party himself, but he thought it was silly to torture oneself with the company of others if that wasn't what one wanted to do. Even the food wasn't worth it when he found that you could get just as good of things outside of this place.

"Certainly, I won't be the last to approach you, so if you don't want a bit of conversation, I'd suggest you make that sooner than later."

A grin, he lifted his mask for just a moment. "Don't you think?" Not that the other's opinion mattered to him. Still, being who he was, he wanted to hear the answer - be proven right. Or wrong, he supposed. Not that Ryo ever thought that he was wrong.