PHASE I [ 9 00 ] The peace of the morning in the Residential District shatters just as the wall caves through. It’s a small segment of wall -- no more than five feet across at most. And yet the crash and groan of the metal being stretched is ominously accompanied by the distinct piercing screech of metal and another sound. A raucous noise, a combination of ungodly wailing and sharp, victorious laughter spills forth from the hole left in the wall as a myriad of ghosts and spirits erupt from the newly created exit. Characters with any type of spiritual sense will find themselves nearly overwhelmed by the amount of negative ghostly energy that suddenly floods Cerealia and characters with no sense of preservation will find any attempt to enter the hole blocked by the fiercest of ghosts, met with deadly force if they try to pass, as the ghosts won’t hesitate to do things such as reach straight into your body to try to stop your heart.
These ghosts are out for blood, and they don’t seem to stop no matter how you try to talk to them -- they just hiss out, over and over again, “Murderersmurderersmurderers.”
From there, the ghosts move on. Their true target, after all, is CERES… but to them, there’s no difference between the character players and CERES. They’ll go for whoever gets in their way, phasing through walls and becoming tangible long enough to reach for characters before fading away again. Characters with special abilities will find themselves in a similar state. Their abilities may increase and decrease in power sporadically, or be completely gone. They may attempt to cast a spell only to find that the wrong spell is cast instead, or an attempt at healing may end up a more dangerous spell. Be careful with your own magical skills!
Those with items or powers specifically intended to ward off spirits will still fulfill their intended purposes when used – unless malicious spiritual energy gets to them first.
PHASE II [ 1400 ] It seems the ghosts have more tricks up their sleeves. It seems that a not-so-friendly ghost has decided to play a game with you. It doesn't matter where you are, or what you're doing, because a moment later a voice calls out -- Hey. Can you see me? -- and once you turn your head, you’ll come face to face with a surprise.
Who is it in this world (or your world, or any world) that you have managed to disappoint the most? A family member? A friend? Yourself? They face you now, eyes full of sadness, and they say, “I need you to do something for me.” Without another word, they’ll turn away and begin to walk. Your vision grows foggy, focused solely on the need to do whatever this person wants – they need you, after all. Your legs move to follow them, unless you manage to somehow resist.
But you apparently don’t seem to notice that you’re the only one who can see this person – or that they’re leading you stray toward that monorail track with the sound of the train coming closer, or that busy intersection, or right off the sky bridge.
PHASE III [ 600 ] Other ghosts don’t feel like borrowing faces in order to inflict damage. No, they’ll inflict their damage on a far more personal level. They manifest suddenly and without warning – then all it takes is a simple touch. A ghostly hand reaches out to you and it feels like the cold wraps around your heart, and your vision skews, and then... they leave just as suddenly as they came.
Those who have been around for awhile may very well recognize the ghosts, at that.
But the damage has already been done. Depending on a character’s assigned sense, they will feel one of the following changes:
Sight: Hopefully you aren’t in the habit of bending the truth. Dead men tell no tales, they say. But what happens to a living person unable to tell lies? Any attempt at telling any lie or falsehood will cause the character to feel as though their throat has closed off, and they can do nothing more than choke.
Smell: The cold passes, but in some way that it never really leaves. And then everything seems perfectly normal. Nothing has changed, right? You're fine -- except that in a short period of time with how crazy things are, it becomes apparent that you're unable to feel pain. The damage to your body is the same as ever, but dangerously, you can't feel a thing.
Taste: It would appear as though the ghosts have a sense of humor. From those who rest in eternal slumber, try a few days of being unable to sleep. Everything seems fine at first... but slowly but surely, that lack of sleep will start to take its toll.
Hearing: Most others would feel relief once the ghosts left, finally a moment of peace. But you? You don’t feel anything – nothing kind, anyway. Rather, you have been left unable to feel joy. Everything seems either bleak or as though it simply has no emotional impact at all.
Touch: How many deaths have been caused in the name of heroics? Apparently in an attempt to keep future casualties down (or perhaps for their own laughter), the ghosts have left you unable to be brave. Suddenly, a situation you'd face fearlessly is one that has sent you running, panic sharp in your chest.
These effects will last throughout the event, if a character is caught by them.
PHASE IV [ 1000 ] While chaos erupts throughout the city, some of the more misguided ghosts (but still bloodthirsty, so very bloodthirsty) just happened to run into the wrong part of town and don’t know how to give a proper scaring. One ghost seems to think that it was a great idea to possess a masseusebot from the Spa. You’re grabbed suddenly! You fight for your life but can’t seem to get yourself out of its metal grip! With expert precision that only a robot can mange, it finds your pressure points – and releases all that tension from this Incredibly Bad Day. The ghost inside the robot is confused, distressed -- why is this human suddenly so relaxed? It only wants to murder. But the only illegal thing happening here is how good this massage makes you feel.
Maybe later you’ll walk down the street and get stopped by the ghost that possessed a balloon dispenser. Perhaps a ghost has possessed the friendly McCERES mascot, and is now handing out coupons with murderous intent. And of course, there are always the hug bots...
Look, they tried really hard, okay.
Of course... they might end up possessing technology a little closer to home as well, at which point it's not so funny.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Hopefully you have friends who have ghost-fighting skills. Or ghost-taming skills. Or ghost-bellydancing skills, who knows, we won't judge them if you don't. But what of those poor people who come from worlds where the supernatural is some weird television show?
Worry not, poor souls, for CERES is here to provide! Some time after the ruckus begins, characters will find what looks to be a hand-held vacuum cleaner situated innocuously in their rooms (only one per person, you greedy gus). The logo on the side will helpfully inform you that this is of CERES make, because the paper pamphlet beside your new device? Well, it's more like a picture book. Observe Stick-Man Sully as he uses his vacuum cleaner to capture ghosts! Learn from his stellar example! Do not stick the hose in your mouth or attempt to give the vacuum CPR, there's a big X over that picture. Also of the one where Stick-Man Sully sets his captive ghosts free once more, we don't want that, do we?
Your new ghost vacuum should prove effective against any ghastly ghoul that shoots your way, but beware! Should you capture a ghost and not turn in your vacuum to CERES for weekly ghost disposal, your ghost will serenade you in the wee hours of the morning with its song of choice. If you capture a whole horde of ghosts, well, congratulations. You have a boy band living in your vacuum.
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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no subject
No, it didn't do anything too painful. It tried to give me a massage I didn't want.
[The seraph still looks a bit sickly pale, though. Clearly, he's pushing through the mysterious illness in order to help combat the spiritual threat.]
I'm Mikleo. Good to know you can perceive me.
no subject
[Giving this poor punk a sympathetic look... He Knows. He's definitely been there before. That said, the strange choice of words has him arching a brow in brief curiosity.]
Perceive you? [But ah, right, manners and introductions--] I'm Kashuu Kiyomitsu! Good to meet you while you're still in one piece. [This said in a lightly teasing way - how else does one cope with stressful ghost situations?]
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Glad you came when you did. As for perceiving me, I'm not normally seen or heard by humans because I'm a seraph. Everyone's able to see me in ViViD and on the CereVices, but it's more iffy outside of them.
[He lives a complicated life.]
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I guess it probably helps that I'm not human. I'm a tsukumogami - we're object spirits. [Kashuu's not much better though, considering he comes from the same class of ghosts as haunted futons and one-eyed umbrellas.]
A-ny-way! Let's get outta here. These guys like to linger and possess other robots and there's not really a shortage of those things in the city. [TECHNOLOGY HEADACHES.]
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Like Kogi? Or...his full name is Kogitsunemaru, I think.
[Mikleo's going to feel good about himself if he got Kogi's full name right.]
I agree. This ghost has been purified already, but there might be others nearby we haven't seen yet. Any suggestions? I've only been here for a little less than a month.
[He's not as familiar with the colony's layout as he'd like.]
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Mmhm! Exactly like him! He's one of my comrades; we're both swords. [He gestures toward said sword at his own hip, which has definitely seen a lot of use in the past few hours.
As for that question:] It feels like those guys are heading toward the center of the colony. [Where CERES' headquarters are, so he's not surprised.] Buuut they're not really picking and choosing their fights, so... I was gonna head out into the shopping area to try clearing some of 'em out, if you wanna come with me. I can't purify these guys, but I can cut down what they possess.
[He hasn't actually tried cutting a ghost yet, though?! The spirits he fights back home are different since they also have manifested bodies, but these ones are even less tangible.]
no subject
Mikleo nods in acknowledgment. If they're comrades, then Kashuu must be a good spirit as well.]
Well, I'm not so sure where my friends are at this point, so it's better I head there with you and tell them where to meet me. I'll do what I can to help you out, but be careful. My spells are...kind of fluctuating, and I don't want to risk trying to heal you and it turning out to be something offensive instead. [Although, after a moment of thought:] I do have medicine on hand that can heal your wounds near instantly.
no subject
Mm, Haruji's abilities are doing that, too. [He almost lit the coffee table on fire trying to summon a shikigami, so that was fun... As for the offer:]
Oh— Thanks! That's really nice of you, but you should probably save it for a human. Any damage this body takes will heal on its own eventually, so I'll be fine!
[Just as long as his blade is left in good condition, because the real problems start when that's damaged.]
no subject
That seems to be happening a lot. Perhaps it has something to do with all of this negative spiritual energy.
[He's not sure, though. Magic and whatnot going haywire like this isn't something that's happened before with his experience in manifested corruption.]
That's handy. Very well, then. Let's get going before we get swarmed.
no subject
But he'll nod in response to that, turning on his heel and gesturing forward.]
Keep an eye out. The bots down in this district are pretty advanced so they can help shopkeepers out and stuff like that.
[Which means they have arms and sometimes feet and sometimes wheeled feet and it's just a right mess.]
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Mikleo follows along, dismissing his staff in blue light.]
Wonderful. These might have a better chance at killing us than the others did.
[Carefully, he uses his CereVice to send a quick text to Sorey, letting him know where he's going.]
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That said:] Right? They definitely don't have to try very hard if they possess the right robots.
[Like the barberbots, good lord... He's mentally crossing his fingers in the hopes that they won't be running into any of those.]
You should prooobably stay away from the vending machines, too.
no subject
It takes Mikleo a moment to understand with the vending machines. He's not used to this kind of technology, especially when he's sick from all the corruption.]
Ah. Projectiles. Right.
[That can be a problem.]
If we need stealth, then I have a temporary invisibility Arte we can use. I'd need to reapply it every so often if we're going a long distance, though.
no subject
Exactly. Those things are small but they hurt a whole lot, y'know? [Being whopped by a full can of soda at high speeds is definitely not fun... HE'S ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THEM. Luckily, they seem to be blessedly out of range of any possessed machine for now.]
Oh— That might come in handy later, just in case there are any robots we really need to avoid. D'you think it'd work against the ghosts when they're not possessing anything?
no subject
Mikleo nods at the question.]
It should, if they rely on sight. The spell only fools the eyes.
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That'd be a good thing. I'm just worried that they might be able to feel us the same way we can feel them.
[There are so many people in the city that it would probably be hard to track individuals down, though... Hopefully.]
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If they do, then we'll find out and fight them off.
[Sadly, that's the only strategy he can think of to counter that. At least they'll know if it works?]
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[FAMOUS LAST WORDS--
Except no, most of the robots in this part of town are relatively benign and not all that large or strong, either. It's not like the areas where construction is happening and there are massive constructionbots to deal with... Kashuu will keep his blade at the ready just in case, nodding forward.]
So! Let's head out, 'kay? Oh— could you give me a quick description of the friends that are gonna come looking for you, too? Just so I can let you know if I spot any of 'em first.