tushanshu_logs | EVENT | ALL HALLOWED

EVENT | ALL HALLOWED

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

Threaded | Flat

The kedan have observed the Foreigners for over a year and this season, they want to bring a little bit of home to Keeliai. As such, they've decided to adopt a well-known custom in many worlds: trick or treating! Kedan shops in all Sectors will be handing out surprise baggies along with their thanks for keeping Tu Vishan safe. Unfortunately the information they've perused on the holiday got a little muddled and so in addition to small trinkets (simple jewelry, small toys, etc) and food items in the bags, characters may also find odd things like still-squirming squid arms, pieces of knotted string and pickled fish eyeballs.

But hey, they tried!

In addition to these gift bags, some shops will be handing out pretty glass beads with colours that are reminiscent of that Sector. The beads are about the size of a large marble and if asked about them, the kedan will smile and nonchalantly say that they've heard a rumor about the Palace giving out a special surprise to anyone who collects a bead from every Sector.

Upon collecting a bead from every Sector, trick or treaters are directed to visit the Palace to receive a reward. In a small antechamber just inside the entrance, a covered table has been set up and Evandau is stationed there along with a petite kedan woman who smiles at those who approach to let them know they're at the right spot. "Congratulations," she enthuses when they present their findings. "You've done very well! Did you enjoy the collecting game? Don't mind our Alderwood Commander's expression there, he's just a little sore at having drawn this duty..."

Characters will receive a simple written invitation to "experience the Keeliai of ages past" with directions to an address in central Keeliai. Upon visiting characters will discover that an elderly kedan couple have put together a museum in a spacious building with each room laid out as a "snapshot" of life at that decade; basically a life-size panorama to wander through at your leisure. There are some interactive things to do like try "old-fashioned" games, samples of questionable food that there's probably a good reason no one eats anymore (sea prune cake anyone?) and clothing that would put the Swinging Sixties to shame. Most notably the more recent room show a clear improvement in artistic influence whereas the older vistas (particularly ones older than 100 years) are very simplified, spartan and subdued. Most of the tour is vaguely educational and seemingly benign, and the elderly couple are happy to answer any general questions about various rooms.

However not everyone who enters the museum will leave it untouched. Within 24 hours of visiting the museum, some characters will be knocked "out of phase"... essentially making them into ghosts! It can happen anywhere, regardless of what they're doing at the time. To any observer, they will simply seem to disappear suddenly if eyes are taken off of them for even a second; there one moment, gone the next.

Investigating the disappearances will prompt vague confusion from the kedan, who will liken it to a folktale they've heard that tells of a group of kedan who mysteriously disappeared decades ago. While no one seems precisely certain when it happened, the general consensus is around ~100 years ago and that they were never seen again although some will say that shortly thereafter there appeared strange, glowing messages written on walls: accusations by the lost against those who didn't save them in time. It is definitely implied that whatever has happened to these unfortunate Foreigners, there is a time limit in place before it becomes permanent.

When the connection is made that affected characters were all visitors to the museum, the elderly kedan couple will seem quite distraught. They will assure anyone who asks that they know nothing of what happened, offer to let investigators go over their museum with a fine tooth comb, and reveal no falsities to those who can detect such things.

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.

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.

Some spots will act like time capsules and interacting with them will drop an unfamiliar memory into the character's mind, vivid and detailed from the mind of a random citizen from an earlier time. This could be anything from what they had for breakfast to watching an important event, it will be randomly generated and written as an NPC response to characters.

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.

These landmark spots will push characters partially back into sync with regular Keeliai so that they'll appear as transparent images to other people. While kedan who witness this will just shake their heads and move on, characters will now be able to communicate with their fellow Foreigners, albeit they will sound like they're being heard over a terribly static radio connection. This effect lasts approximately ~5 minutes and then can't be triggered again for a few hours.

Characters who are affected will find themselves unable to communicate or affect anyone or anything they try to. Shouting at the top of their lungs attracts no attention at all and trying to touch something only results in their hands going right through the object-- even people. Those will magical abilities will find they seem to work as normal to their own perception, only that they have no impact on anything. It will be as though they're now in a sub-layer of Keeliai... not having left the Life plane, just out of sync with it.

However they will be able to interact normally with any other phased out characters and they will find with a little bit of experimenting an interesting discovery: strange things happen wherever they go! Doors bang, pipes rattle, floors creak and mirrors fog up for no reason. They might not be able to precisely control these classic haunting signs but they can be persistent with them! Most importantly, those who keep their museum invitations will find written on it an additional line that had not previously been visible, which can only be seen by phased out characters.

"In five days, you too will have become part of history."

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