EVENT | ALL HALLOWED

[cherrywood]

Characters: Everyone!
Date: Oct 27th - Nov 2nd
Location: The City of Keeliai
Situation: The kedan have decided to participate in an Earth tradition: Hallowe'en! But there are other mysterious things afoot this holiday and when people start disappearing they'll have to find a way to reverse the effect... though all of their selves might not make it back.
Warnings/Rating: Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

As the weather turns crisper, the nights and mornings carry with them a hint of chill promising cooler days to come, the month starts drawing to a close. This is a pleasant time, soon to be the season of harvest even on such a nomad as Tu Vishan. Yet the relations with the kedan have been good lately and even the Emperor's latest warning has not dampened the resilience of her people (both willing citizens and not) and so today marks a new tradition to Keeliai and it starts with receiving a simple, handwritten invitation.

"Come and celebrate the Keeliai of ages past..."

---

OOC: See the OOC plotting post for event details and this post for assorted subheaders outlining various parts of the plot. Feel free to start your own thread header if none suit, or make your own logs for various threadings... this is just for a central post for the event. Any questions can be directed HERE. Thank you!

NOTE: NPC tagging will be mostly in the Palace Rewards and Touch of Memory threads unless specifically requested elsewhere! Normal rules for players writing NPC interactions remains the same as always.

MID PLOT UPDATE!
Through the course of investigations will be discovered that every Foreigner who went trick or treating has acquired themselves at least one pot of what appears to be iridescent paint, sometimes more than one. Experimenting with these pots (because lbr who doesn't want a few randomly shimmery possessions) oddly enough lets ghosted characters interact with them completely solidly. Which, if you've inadvertently been ignoring someone, might mean you get your new shiny lamp thrown at your head.

Now if people get the smart idea to the paint the paint, that would let ghosted characters get hold of this stuff themselves...

TL;DR - Ghosted characters can paint themselves back into phase. Eating the stuff is also acceptable.

I. GIVE A LITTLE, GET A LITTLE!
Trick or Treating (All Sectors) | Palace Rewards

II. SHADOWS AND SHADES
Tangible: Kedan Museum | Disappearances | Investigations
Ghosted: Sense of Loss | Touch of Memory | Shift of Perception | Poltergeisting

Comments

Ghosted: Sense of Loss

[cherrywood]

As these phased out characters explore the city, they will discover that certain random landmarks without rhyme or reason (a fire fountain, a water sculpture, a particular street intersection, the side of a building, someone's kitchen sink, etc) have some unusual effects on them.

Characters interacting with Loss spots will feel themselves losing something of themselves. It could be a sense like hearing or touch, or it could be a memory, or it could be the loss the ability to feel a specific emotion. It could be partial or full and the effect will be strongest when they're in the immediate vicinity of the landmark.

Zel | Open

[gathersnomoss]

[Well, Zelgadis had been trying to figure out what the hell had happened. Granted, it had taken him a bit to notice, given his general dislike of interacting with people, but even he had to notice that his hand had gone through his doorknob. So, he decided to head to the palace, on the general idea that if he caused enough of a fuss, he could at least get noticed by guards... ]

[Well, he had been, except on crossing an intersection he'd crossed many times, he'd suddenly lost sight of... well, everything.]

[It turns out that not being able to interact with the normal world plus blindness are two things that don't go well together; he couldn't even find a wall to figure out if he'd left the street. Which was actually pretty terrifying.]

[Other ghosts might see a cloaked figure groping for some point of reference and yelling for help]

Clara | Open

[parallels]

[Clara is not pleased with being ghosted at all. She's walking around the city with her arms crossed and scowling slightly. But then suddenly she stops dead in the middle of the street.

Her arms drop to her sides and her eyes go wide and she twists around on her feet to look around the city as if she's never seen it before. She seems to be in a panic. She stumbles back and nearly trips over her own feet, her breath coming in heavy, sharp, pants.

Her head is pounding. It's full of memories. Memories of millions of places, millions of lives, billions of moments in a life. And yet, she can't remember where she is, why she's here, where she came from, what her name is.

She chokes and tries to catch her breath as she hunches over and wraps her arms around herself as if to anchor herself against the mental onslaught. Blood drips from her nose.]

[dunhaming]

[ Olivia is walking everywhere and anywhere, without any other purpose than to keep moving or else explode with frustration and anger, when she spots Clara. She doesn't know if the younger woman can hear her or see her, but she forgets all about that when Olivia sees her stumble, trip, and hunch over. ]

Clara!

[ The frustration she felt moments before is almost completely replaced by concern and she runs over, almost glad that she can move through the people on the street. Olivia drops to a crouch in front of Clara and places a hand on her shoulder, steadying. She can touch her. Good. And bad, but in this moment, good. ]

Hey, you alright?

[parallels]

[Clara stumbles to the side but thankfully Olivia steadies her. She looks around wildly to see the person holding her up. An auburn-haired woman that she doesn't recognize. Or does she? Is that her friend Lesara... Lesara has auburn hair. Or might it be a girl who traveled with the Doctor? No that's... that's Amelia Pond.

Then the pain recedes and her memories, Clara Oswald's memories, flow back into her mind. She catches her breath and manages not to gag.]

'Livia. I'm fine.

[dunhaming]

[ That is a boldfaced lie. She fishes in her pockets until she finds a leftover napkin from some takeout, and offers it up to Clara, other hand still holding her steady. ]

Yeah, I'm here. What happened?

[parallels]

Just a headache.

[Honestly, Clara herself isn't even sure exactly what that was. She presses the napkin to her nose.]

[dunhaming]

[ That's some headache then. ]

I've never seen a headache like that before. You practically fell over and got a bloody nose.

[iguanasolution]

Hey! Hey, are you okay?

[Frank didn't recognize the girl, even though he did recognize her face from that one time Stiles had had her body and made a post. He had been too freaked out, frustrated and outright angry at this whole thing to even try to start up conversation with other... ghost-like beings, but the girl seemed to be- in pain? In trouble?

Probably in need of help, anyway.] Are you hurt? What's wrong?

[parallels]

[She stares at the man approaching her. She can't place him in her head. So many memories in her head and he's in none of them.

She steps to the side and grabs a lamp post for support.]

I'm fine. Just a headache.

[iguanasolution]

[He frowns, reaching for his pocket- after a few seconds he hands her a handkerchief.]

I think- I think that's blood, from you nose. It doesn't look like only a headache... have you been- well. [He motions up and down himself, then around.] Invisible, for long? Maybe it has secondary effects?

[imaginate]

[He's spent the better part of the last half hour attempting to kick a lamppost. The day went about as well as anybody expected: and he's always hated waiting. Currently, he's absorbed in something pointless while waiting for Olivia to come back, and the lamppost isn't obliging him by keeling over. He can't quite place himself in frustration or boredom; but since he's physically incapable of any anxiety, boredom is winning.]

[Whistling loudly, he continues assaulting it.]

[parallels]

[There's someone up ahead near a lamp post. Clara catches sight of him as she hunches over and tries to steady herself. A tall young man. She knows him. But she can't remember how or why.

For a second, she thinks he might be her brother. Clara Oswald doesn't have a brother, but a girl who lives on a space colony also named Clara has a brother and those memories are swimming around in her head.

She steps forward eagerly. Her brother works long hours and she rarely gets to see him. But he tells her about life outside the colony. She's two steps forward when suddenly she remembers herself. The smile doesn't fade, but she seems a little confused.]

Kyle?

[It sounds like an actual question.]

[imaginate]

[He turns to look at her, and his brow creases in worry. He stops kicking the lamppost and wanders over to her.

Clara? You too, huh?

[parallels]

[She stares at him for a few seconds before everything snaps into place. He's Kyle, she's Clara. And he's very very important to her.

She tries to move closer to him, but her steps are still unsteady.]

Yeah. Woke up from a nap and found myself a ghost. Imagine that.

closed to MCU Tony

[bacondivination]

[ This was not working for him. Nothing was, in fact. It's quite the impressive light show that he can build up, not that anyone useful can see it, but eventually he just cuts his attempts at magic off entirely. ]

This is not working for me.

[ It seemed worth saying out loud.

His magic did him no good. Spells that should have allowed him to step between the layers of reality did not affect anything. He's not horribly surprised, his ability to play havoc with reality was unfairly neutered to begin with. New plan of attack? Nothing was going to stop him from causing trouble at SI, of course. The only strategy he has right now is inconveniencing and/or terrorizing people that might be able to fix things until someone does something about it. ]

Bored now. Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored.

Re: closed to MCU Tony

[manofiron]

[ Though he rarely admits to any of them, there are many things that Tony Stark fears. Not tangible things. Not irrational things like insects or clowns or small, enclosed spaces. What he fears is being forgotten, being replaced, being rendered insensate, the deterioration of his mind. He fears being a non-entity, being invisible and unimportant.

And now he is. Literally a ghost, and so soon after his death, is as unsettling as it is debilitating. He can’t interact with the suit, can’t even contact JARVIS. He’s alone in a world full of people, just like he’s always been, but this time, no one even knows he’s there.

It’s coincidence more than design that brings him upon Loki. In the beginning, he may have attempted to engage him, not fully understanding the limitations placed upon him by being like this. But he understands them now and he knows the little Norse alien can’t hear him.

As he walks by him, Tony mutters under his breath, loud enough that, were the situation not as it is, Loki would be able to hear him. ]

Yeah, you and me both.

[bacondivination]

Hel yes!

[ Loki immediately turns to point at Tony. His eyes are somewhat wild, his expression that of a young man that is not anywhere near even his baseline of something sort of like sanity. He isn't handling this situation well in the least.

His entire existence is predicated on the idea that other people acknowledge him. Lacking that had been steadily making him deteriorate towards a complete and entire breakdown, but this? This is good. This is something to hang onto rather than have his usual existential crisis turn into a full blown meltdown. ]

You heard me!

[ It's a bit strange. The last time he'd been heard had been by the other Tony Stark, for all the good that had done him. ]

[manofiron]

[ That’s the last reaction Tony’s expecting. It brings him up short, twists him around to stare at Loki in disbelief. How is it he’s hearing – and seeing if that pointing finger is any indication – him? Because of what he is? The magic? Something indeterminate other quality Tony knows nothing about?

He doesn’t know, but someone acknowledging him for the first time in days can’t be ignored. ]

Of course I heard you. [ His eyes narrow into a squint as he studies him, unable to find an answer to his questions on his own. ] How did you hear me? How are you even seeing me right now? No one else does.

[bacondivination]

[ Excitement rapidly gave way to frustration, and he makes a wordless and distinctly whiny sound as he facepalms quite thoroughly. ]

That answers that. Dammit, dammit, dammit...

[ Nothing could ever be reasonably easy here, could it? No, that would just be completely ridiculous. He takes a slow breath as if that might calm him. Predictably, it does absolutely nothing for his state of mind. ]

It's not for good reasons, I'll tell you. [ After a moment, he removes his hand from his face. ] Walk with me. I'll explain what I can.

[starcharter]

[The situation is difficult for Chekov to wrap his head around. All he knows so far is that he's completely intangible and invisible to everyone he's encountered so far. The only thing for him to do right now is to investigate, try to find some way to communicate or some clue as to how he ended up this way.

He had just passed by a small food stand in Wood when suddenly he feels... odd. Like something is trickling out of his mind, leaving a cold space behind. He leans against a wall, suddenly feeling dizzy.]

[parallels]

Hey. Cute one with the goggles.

[Clara walks over to him. But the way she moves is... different. It's much more jovial and amused as opposed to her usual aloof air. She stands close too him, too close.]

So. I'm wondering around and can't seem to touch anything and nearly everyone I meet can't see me. What the hell is going on. Help a girl out?

[starcharter]

[He can tell something's off immediately. Chekov looks puzzled as he replies.]

I cannot either. Clara, are you alright?

[parallels]

[The girl winces.]

Sorry. Got me confused for someone else. Terribly awkward.

It's Oswin. Oswin Oswald.

[starcharter]

[He frowns, clearly confused.]

You are her-- [He's about to say 'sister' but then his head throbs and he's swaying off-balance. The cold vagueness has gotten stronger.]