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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I mean I guess I didn't really think about it that way. Which means that it's probably the same for a lot of people...you think if maybe we apologize and try to reason with them they can cross over or whatever?
[He sounds doubtful and more like he'd just prefer to suck them up and deal with them later, but it doesn't hurt to ask.]
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I tried it already, they don't respond to anything! Anger, humor, crying-- n-not that I cried. I didn't cry! I mean, I fake cried. But I did that weird thing where you... you confuse your body and you think you're really crying but you're not? And that's when the real tears come out, and by that point it's like "what the heck", I'll just roll with it, y'know? Maybe I'll feel better, right?
...
I didn't cry.
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R…ight. [He's not even sure how to respond to that but he bites back a laugh. Give him a moment, he's just taking Jaune's Arcuum to start assessing it. It's best to give him something to do while he's talking or he'll end up being kind of awkward.] If they're not reacting at all, that sounds like it might be bad news for us. Means they're way too focused on their goal to listen to anything we might have to say.
You ever deal with ghosts or monsters or anything back in your world? Might be useful to brainstorm other strategies.
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[ That probably wasn't the point of Hiro's question. ]
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[Hiro, stop gabbing and keep working to figure out why the vacuum stopped...] I know a few monster hunters. They're not from my world or anything but I've heard a lot of stories. Some of them are even going to school to become monster hunters so...it's kinda cool hearing about the same sort of thing from other people. [Oh, right, the point.] Anyway I guess j just wanted to know if there was maybe a strategy we could use to hunt these guys better. I'm running out of ideas and the vacuums not the perfect answer. [Seeing how Jaune's is busted]
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There's a world somewhere that's just like mine...?
[ Jaune, think harder. ]
--oh, hang on, you probably met Yang or Ruby. Or was it Nora? Sorry about her, by the way. ... All of them. [ As if you're any less ridiculous, Jaune. ] But it's true, we all go to the same school! Sadly, we didn't get to Ghosts 101 before this whole... thing happened. [ He's happy to brainstorm, though! ]
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W-Wait!
What if we figure out a way to get a lot of these ghosts in one place? Bait them all to one spot and then, I dunno... invent some kinda weapon to deal with them right there! Like a ghost trap! Can you make a ghost trap?!
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[...and there's a slightly devious grin.] How would you feel about having a really, really important job?
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[ Just like everyone else.
Ah, someone sure has hangups about being the damsel in distress instead of the hero...!! And he knows the weakest person is always the bait! ]
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[He doesn't know all about Jaune's lack of...everything, but now he's starting to wonder what that's all about. It just leads to his next question.]
What's your Semblance?
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It doesn't matter, I'll do it.
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There's nothing wrong-- I mean, you didn't do anything wrong. I just... don't have an answer to that, yet.
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And I fight just fine! I got a sword, and a shield, and a shield that can get smaller if I want it-- I-I sometimes use my Aura to deflect, or heal myself really fast, I mean... I still dunno how that works exactly, but I totally did it once!
[ He also has a gun. Someone in Cerealia gave him a handgun, which by some miracle he hasn't shot himself in the foot with so far. ]
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Wait why would you want your shield to get smaller? Isn't that kinda counterproductive? [But then again--] Sword's pretty cool though. Something classic, right? I don't really fight with a weapon back home because I have my team but I made one here. Totally not effective for ghost fighting since you can't slice 'em and you can't shoot 'em, but still.
[What was the point again?] If you did it once you can probably do it again and that's why you're perfect bait. I promise I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you.
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And as much as he hates that they're calling this bait, he's still a team player in the end, so he resigns with a small smile. ]
Alright, super hero, let's catch some ghosts.
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Cool. Follow me, I'll explain the plan on the way back to the shop. Gotta grab something to try and fix this thing. [He waves the Arcuum. It's probably not going to be a great plan, but it's a plan nevertheless. Sorry, Jaune.]