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..."

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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

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.

[manofiron]

[ A fit of swearing isn’t the reaction he’s expecting either, and Tony accepts that that may be the order of the day today. Expect the unexpected. Or at least, don’t be surprised.

What he doesn’t question is that it doesn’t mean anything good. Nothing good has happened since waking up here. ]

Yeah. Sure.

[ He moves closer, ready to fall in beside Loki when he starts walking. ]

Lay on, MacDuff.

[bacondivination]

First, though... [ He reaches over in a sudden movement, poking Tony's arm before pulling his hand back and shoving his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. He doesn't quite laugh, but he isn't entirely capable of suppressing the giddy noise he makes. It was exciting! He touched someone!

Congratulations, Tony, you're stuck being essentially a ghost along with a mad god. ] Okay, I'm good. Just had to check something.

[ As if that were completely reasonable, he sets off. ]

So we're trapped on an unusual plane of existence. Good news is that the keyword is exist. Bad news is that it's bad. Really, really bad.

[manofiron]

[ Tony’s eyebrows rise at the poke, but he doesn’t complain. Frankly, he’s just happy someone can touch him. It feels like it’s been months, even though it’s only really been a few days. ]

That I’m not really haunting you? Yeah, thanks. Really.

[ He moves along beside him, hands shoved in his pockets, listening to Loki’s explanation. It doesn’t fill him with confidence, but then again, what does anymore? ]

So what, we’re out of phase? Or is it… [ He tries for nonchalance and probably fails miserably. ] You didn’t die recently, did you? Just wondering.

[bacondivination]

Huh? No, oh no, this isn't death. I'd have been reincarnated in a snap.

[ Illustratively, he snaps his fingers. ]

At least, I would with my brother here. He'd not let my soul wander long. This? Kinda worse. It was a trap, my friend, and a clever one. We're merely shoved a little to the side.

[ He makes a vague hand gesture, well aware he's babbling. He definitely doesn't function well under circumstances like these. ]

I daresay we irked someone quite thoroughly.

[manofiron]

[ It must be nice, he thinks, to be able to come back to life as easily as Loki talks about it. From what he remembers, and he tries not to think about it, of his own untimely demise only a few short weeks ago, he didn’t languish for long in the void. But after waking up in the palace, and then hearing the Emperor complain about individuals dying, he thinks his quick resurrection had more to do with that than anything else. ]

That’s like every day ending in a y for me.

[ He keeps his tone blithe, trying to play off how badly he’s been rattled by this. More for his own sake than Loki’s, though he would rather not look like a fragile idiot in front of him either. ]

Unless… [ He hasn’t been lurking around other people. It only took a few attempts to interact with the world and the people in it before he’d realized he couldn’t and had stopped trying. He doesn’t know how wide-spread this is. ] Do you think it’s her? The Emperor trying to squash dissent before it happens?

[bacondivination]

I fear there is the chance. She does have greatest control over manipulation of dimensional barriers in this realm, but I've no proof.

[ Catching sight of one of the fountains in the district, he changes course to go towards it. It seemed as good a destination as any, and they could always people watch from it. ]

It would be convenient, wouldn't it? Were I in her shoes, I'd consider it if I had reason to need any dissidents for a greater purpose.

[manofiron]

It makes sense. I'd probably want to get rid of the sour apples too.

[ Not that he wants to be numbered among them, but Tony can see the logic in it. That's not what bothers him the most, though. What bothers him is a little more personal. ]

What bothers me is the fact that she heard us. I didn't think we were terribly loud about our displeasure with the situation. Which means that if this is her at work, then she's spying on us somehow.

[ And that doesn't fly with him. Not one bit. ]