introductory mingle: FEAST OF THE DYING

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Feast of the Dying
when: Feast of the Dying from October 1st-8th; various other prompts over the whole month of October.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

feast of the dying

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.

celebrating the transition from life to death

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. 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. ghosts from the past

During the 10th month of every year on the moon, due to a complex series of chemical, electromagnetic, and magical forces that no one has ever exactly distinguished or completely understands, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead are weakened almost to the point of nonexistence. During this time, residents of the moon are able to see and interact with the dead - ghosts, manifesting in ways that run the gamut from being a strange sense of being watched or being visible or audible all the way to more corporeal spirits that can affect the world around them. The barriers are weaker in some parts of the city than they are in others, with some areas experiencing little to no ghost activity, while others are so populated with these ghosts that residents can barely go a few feet without running into one. The ghosts are generally the unsettled dead, people who died violently, or who were lost, seeking a place to call home, and their behavior is as varied as it was while they were alive. Some ghosts are angry and vengeful, some are simply lonely and lost.

While some people tend to interact with the ghosts only a little and as necessary, others avoid them as completely as possible, and yet others actively seek out souls who are suffering and try to ease that so they can stop coming back year after year. There are other people who have found that ghosts from their home worlds have come through with them, following them through the portal when they arrived, even if they did not die on the moon...

Whether facing death or making peace with those who have died, this is a time to reflect.

A Few OOC Guidelines:
● Characters may see or interact with ghosts from the Quarantine's past. These people will be as varied as the NPCs, from a multitude of different worlds, and characters are welcome to either engage or avoid, as players wish.
● Most Quarantine-based ghosts will have died in either the Great War with the neighboring reality or in the Pandemic that wiped out the population of the Abandoned City years ago.
● Characters may also see or interact with ghosts from their own or other characters' canons, providing the character in question is dead in canon and is not currently being played in the game.
● Canon-based ghosts should not be simply transplanted into the game as they were in canon - they are ghosts, and therefore 'not quite right,' and should not be used as an excuse to NPC a canonmate for a month. These ghosts are there to be used as plot devices to open up new avenues of CR, to create angst, to help a character make peace with their past, or other similar reasons.
● Ghosts should not be complete corporeal physical presences indistinguishable from living people, but barring this, how strongly the ghosts manifest and how much they can interact with the world around them is up to player discretion. Ghosts shouldn't be present the whole month straight, but can disappear and reappear at random times.

● Mod questions and plotting regarding this prompt can be found here.

ii. the feast of the dying

The month's holiday is named after a long-standing tradition in the Quarantine - the Feast of the Dying - that starts at sundown on the first day of the month and continues until sunrise on the ninth day. The Feast of the Dying is a costumed masquerade-style party that is continuously available for the entire week. Set up by volunteers specializing in both magic and science, the Feast of the Dying is hosted in a large conference center that has been decorated and magically altered to provide a very formal, intensely creepy atmosphere. The decor can run the gamut from fancy and classy decorations featuring iconic skeletons or ghosts to incredibly realistic catacombs or any other frightening settings that you can think of. Rooms often become more and more foggy the more people enter them to mingle, and in many rooms the air pressure will be slightly played with to make the atmosphere seem more oppressive and spooky. Costumes and masks are required, and anything from a Halloween-style costume to a formal outfit with mask is acceptable.

Players can feel free to go wild with ideas for decor at the Feast, including linking to inspiration images in their posts - it is, essentially, like having a Masquerade ball inside a disturbingly realistic haunted house.

The venue the Feast is held in includes several large rooms intended for dancing with different themes and decorations that can change off and on throughout the week, two large dining rooms where feasts will be held at mealtimes and snacks or drinks (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) will be promptly served to anyone who sits at one of the tables, and a plethora of rooms meant for mingling and relaxing. Additionally, there are a large number of smaller lockable rooms set up for sleeping or private encounters.

iii. escape rooms

One of the fun and more commercialized aspects of the season are the many Escape Rooms that pop up throughout the Quarantine. Residents are encouraged to test their survival skills by grouping up with friends or strangers to escape difficult and scary situations together by solving a series of puzzles.

Escape Rooms can be either physical, set up inside buildings with realistic decorations, or they can be Virtual Reality, where the players don VR masks and cooperate in a virtual world. While the former can be more challenging and realistic, the latter provides for higher stakes. Physical Escape Rooms are generally set up to avoid any kind of physical harm to participants, but the Virtual Reality Escape Rooms can simulate pain and injury quite handily, and therefore can put participants in more dangerous situations.

While players can make up an Escape Room that uses whatever theme they like, some prompts are below:

● Zombie Attack
● Torture Machines or Traps
● Cannibal Warlock
● Wrongly Convicted: Escape from Prison
● Escape from Sewer Monsters
● Mad Scientist Experiments

iv. tests of courage

As mentioned before, there are certain parts of the city where the ghost activity is much stronger than elsewhere. These are places where terrible things have happened - 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. Every year during October, these places are shut down or vacated (unless they were already sitting empty) and entrance is allowed to people wishing to partake in a traditional Test of Courage - to enter these deeply haunted and dangerous places, and stay there as long as possible, sometimes even overnight.

In these particularly vulnerable and terrifying places, ghost activity is intense and almost constant. Characters will encounter strange sounds, smells, and visions; will encounter ghosts that are capable of throwing items or people; and most of all, they will experience powerful and realistic hallucinations due to the sheer lack of boundary between the worlds of the living and dead in these areas. Whether the hallucinations are manifestations of their own worst fears, the ghosts retelling their own tortured stories, or any other kind of terrifying vision, they feel very real. While characters will not be injured by the hallucinations, the sensations of pain, pleasure, hunger, thirst, or other sensations will be almost impossible to tell from the real thing until the hallucination subsides at daylight.

While the haunted locations are highly unlikely to kill characters, whether or not they experience serious injury due to physical actions they do while under the influence of a hallucination (eg. falling down a flight of stairs) or attacks from ghosts (eg. an angry ghost throws books at a character) is up to player discretion.

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: Olivier Le Gall; image ii: John Watkiss; image iii: unknown (wallpapersfan); image iv: signed (pinterest); images v and vi: unknown (pinterest)

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Comments

[eternalmagic]

Tell me where to meet you.

[ikols]

Porch, Sanctum Sanctorum.

[eternalmagic]

[Mordred doesn't ask further questions. He just goes. The Sanctum Sanctorum isn't a location he's frequent often, despite the absolute lure of magic within it, but because of that he does know exactly where it is and how to reach it quickly.

Whatever he's going to find -- whatever a god of chaos can fret over and yet not handle himself -- is already incredibly mysterious.]

[ikols]

[ Loki sits on the doorstep, head in his hands as a little green ghost boy stands nearby. They both look around when Mordred arrives and, simultaneously, point to each other and say, ]

Make him vanish.

[ The dirty look they give each other is identical. ]

[eternalmagic]

[His eyebrow goes up.]

That was cute. Did you rehearse before I got here?

[ikols]

Very funny. Can you make him go away or not?

[ The Boy looks on sullenly at Loki as the godling sighs, seemingly disappointed in him. ]

He's giving me a migraine.

[eternalmagic]

[Mordred frowns slightly. It's not obvious what connection Loki has with this spirit, but it appears very young, and very similar to Loki at that. He looks between them for a moment and then settles on the boy.]

Do you understand that? You can leave on your own, but if you don't, I'm going to do what he asks.

[Most spirits don't like being banished if they can depart voluntarily. It's the nasty ones that don't care so much.]

[ikols]

[ The Boy shrugs, addressing both men without ire or impatience. ]

I will return. This is not something either of you can change.

[ But he seems to dislike the idea of someone showing up who can actually banish him, so he disappears on the spot. Loki sighs in relief, rubbing a temple. ]

Thank you, Mordred.

[eternalmagic]

[Yeah, yeah, ghosts always have something important to say.

In any case, the disappearance is more or less what he expected from this particular spirit. But Loki has been left looking pretty rough.]

Are you all right?

[ikols]

Relatively speaking. Thank you for ... showing up, mostly.

[ Head rising out of his hands, he stands and gestures to the house. ]

Want a drink? Least I can do.

[eternalmagic]

Mm, no thank you. It's starting to feel like all I do around here is drink. [It's clear that he's not in a rush to head off, however.] But I'll come with, if you like.

[Mordred could hardly blame him if he feels like he needs a drink, anyway.]

[ikols]

I have an array of milkshake options, for the record.

[ Leading the way into the Sanctum showcases a house with more corridors and rooms than belied by the exterior, and he keeps an eye on Mordred to ensure he doesn't lose him on the way to the kitchen. ]

Busy today?

[eternalmagic]

[He smiles slightly.] I'm counting those. [He doesn't drink much that isn't sweet, after all, and it's sugar more than liquor that he should go easy on.

The interior of the Sanctum is fascinating to him, and very exciting; it's a good thing Loki is looking out for him, although Mordred wouldn't necessarily mind ending up lost in these halls.]

A bit. [He has to drag his attention back.] Cleaning up after the ghosts here and there.

[ikols]

[ Betting Mordred wouldn't have fun with the acid bathroom if he stumbled into it. ]

Oh, so you're everyone's saviour this afternoon.

[eternalmagic]

[He'd still investigate.]

I wouldn't say that. [Ever.] Just experienced. How long was yours following you?

[ikols]

He's using the magical atmosphere to manifest more under his own will. He used to do that, a long time ago, but now everyone else is seeing him too.

[ Which the kid loves, of course. Getting to trash-talk Loki is the highlight of his un-life.

The kitchen is normal enough except for the chains around the fridge, which Loki skirts to take the milk out of a cupboard ensorcelled to stay cold. ]

[eternalmagic]

Mhm, that part is very inconvenient.

[He's already had a few unflattering moments with his own ghosts and is not keen to have anyone else witness another one, so.

Mordred takes a seat at the counter and folds his arms on it, watching Loki.] Is something wrong with the refrigerator, or is someone taking their diet really seriously?

[ikols]

Stephen eats Eldritch Horrors ...

[ Waving that off as entirely normal, he starts sorting fruit from a basket. ]

Banana, strawberry, blueberries? Pick your poison.

[eternalmagic]

[Mordred has sort of an 'alright, cool' moment and then moves on.]

Blueberries, please. [He's still regarding his host thoughtfully.]

[ikols]

[ Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries ... In they all go, a distraction for his hands as his busy mind wanders. The concoction will be too sweet. ]

I wonder, which ghosts have you been seeing, if any?

[eternalmagic]

[He does not want to answer that question, regardless of whether he's gotten a look at Loki's personal haunting already.]

Noisy ones. [Not unlike Loki's, although Mordred sort of expects his own had worse attitudes about it.] When all they can do is complain, they milk it for everything it's worth. They don't need more attention after they're gone -- and that includes yours.

[ikols]

You don't want to talk about them. That's fine, you've been a good cocopuff today, I won't pry when you're being so obliging.

[ The milkshake whirrs noisily. ]

So why are you sticking around if not to lavish me in emotional support? I appreciate the job you've done, truly.

[eternalmagic]

[He sighs.]

I'm not good for emotional support. [He is just being honest, and in his opinion the disclosure is a courtesy in itself.] But I'll take your mind off of it, if I can.

[ikols]

[ It's interesting to know Mordred's opinion of his perceived weakness. ]

How so?

[ A milkshake with far too many ingredients is set down before the sorcerer, murky and thick. ]

[eternalmagic]

[Okay, Loki, you can't just put treats down in front of him and expect him to maintain the conversation. Whether you're trying to go easy on sweet things or not, when a god offers you something, you don't just decline. Obviously. Also, a berry smoothie doesn't even really count, berries are healthy.

He takes a very long drink and discovers that it is delicious, before he looks at Loki again.]

At the risk of a typecast, you are a shapeshifter, aren't you?