Possession Event

[lucetimods]

Who: People in Luceti
What: Spiritual possession
When: The 26th to the 1st
Where: Luceti!
Summary: Check out the previous mod post.
Rating: If it gets smutty, move it somewhere private.


Starting at midnight on the 26th, Luceti and its inhabitants will find itself the focus of the Filial spirits, usually quiet and reclusive, now stepping out to deal with one of their own.

As promised, here is some additional information to help figure out how to play around with the spirits and interacting with similarly possessed people.

First off, each spirit has a certain time or place when they are at their most powerful. Consequently, characters possessed by them will enjoy these boosts and this in itself can be a deciding factor in what would otherwise be a stalemate. Here’s a quick run down:

Sona - She’s most powerful around lakes, rivers, and the ocean. Mostly this is concentrated at the southern lake.

Kipinn - He’s most powerful in high places, like mountain tops and the roofs of community buildings.

Faeren - She’s most powerful in the farmlands alongside things that grow.

Tsinku - He’s most powerful in the village itself, where technology thrives.

Eferin - He’s most powerful in the center of the forest where his heat may cause trees to burn. In fact, the upcoming forest fire may cause some trouble if his followers get too rowdy.

Hyt - It’s most powerful during the daytime under a bright sky.

Twila - It’s most powerful during the night time.

Nala- She has no domain and is generally welcome wherever she goes.

How possessed characters will deal with other possessed characters will depend on the interactions of the spirits themselves. A useful spreadsheet sums up these relationships. Those that have a friendly attitude to one another will generally allow ‘trespassers’ into their domain, but those they are not so friendly with may cause conflict.

Finally, to elaborate on Twila-possessed characters. Those with a natural affinity for darkness are likely to be possessed first. Once they have, they can try to recruit others less-compatible candidates to ‘join the cause’. Their goal is numbers. The more who are working with Twila, the better. Once they do, they’ll be inclined to act in their own self interest and if necessary, deal with others who try to get in their way. In the long term, the spirit Twila wants to stay this way, bonded to the Lucetians as hybrids, that way it cannot be imprisoned again. Think of it as pure survival instinct of an animal that’s spent way too long in a cage.

All isn’t lost. The other spirits may not be able to cage it again, but they won’t accept Twila reacting in this manner. Though it’s hard to tell what their beef with Twila is, they have an instinctive familiarity with the dark spirit and seem to act as its jail keepers.

They have the power to free people from Twila, but given their poor communication skills, figuring that out might just be a challenge. After all, the spirits can only communicate in shades of feeling and intentions, but not actually verbalize directions or marching orders. However, there will be a Malnosso post mid-event that will give everyone, possessed or otherwise, the info they need to turn things around.

Comments

Day 3, morning

[250mhzwabl]

[Jack had risen bright and early for a jog this morning, as was semi-usual. The only problem is the significantly larger pair of wings on his back, which both fail to fold in as neatly as the little ones and weigh significantly more, effectively amounting to a feathery drag parachute. Besides, running is work, while flying - well. That's fun. And hey, it's exercise enough, right?

It's on the first brisk, wheeling circuit of the town that the little rooftop settlement (sniper nest, a burned-in little corner of his mind suggests) catches his eye, and vivid green wings work in tandem with Kipinn's magic to flutter him close enough to spot whatever's been set up.]

[tearmeanewone]

[It's a nest of sorts, but not exactly a sniper's nest. Elizabeth didn't even have her gun up there with her, Booker would have been mortified.]

[Watching the stars was a late-night event, and so Elizabeth was still asleep come early morning. Even the sun wasn't waking her as she lay in a little pile of blankets and pillows, pen and star maps in the bedding as well. It's clear she's been living up here for a few days, maybe to work on her charts.]

[But the main thing is that there isn't anything dangerous or threatening nearby--just a girl sleeping on a roof. The breeze causes her to stir and blink her eyes open sleepily. The first thing she sees, obviously, is a figure with wings hovering in front of her. Even if the shape is all wrong, Elizabeth still starts upright with a gasp.]

[250mhzwabl]

[In the zombie apocalypse, quickly apologising for startling people isn't just good manners; it's a survival skill. That's reason enough for the almost spinal-level reflex of Jack lifting his empty hands, fingers splayed, winging backwards a few yards before dropping down to the roof.]

Sorry, sorry. [Even as he apologises he's grinning, accent light and lilting, manner easy. It's all a misunderstanding, his posture says without a moment of doubt. Everything's fine.] I just spotted your camp and came around for a look.

[tearmeanewone]

[Ah, it's a person, not a Songbird. The apologizing and talking says that much. Elizabeth relaxes and immediately her mind goes to the rather disheveled state of her little camp. She tries to smooth out her blanket, pull down her skirt, straighten her books...]

Ah, it's alright. Sorry it's a bit of a mess... [She smiles and tries to comb her fingers through her hair.] It's much easier to watch the stars out here, though.

[250mhzwabl]

[Jack gives a short, bright laugh at that, more sympathy than amusement, strolling close enough to chat but leaving enough distance for a stranger in the midst of fixing herself up.]

Oh, it's fine. I have seen so much worse. [All right, so maybe he'll amble a little closer. The telescope is awfully cool.] And hey, it looks cosy. Everything you need right at your fingertips, hey?

[tearmeanewone]

Exactly! [Elizabeth is all smiles, not at all concerned about a stranger looking at her things. He seems friendly, and Elizabeth hasn't felt a care in the world for the past two days. No paranoia, no rogue wonderings, nothing.] I felt so cramped in my room, and I just kind of fells asleep under the stars a few nights ago. It was so nice, I just moved everything I needed up here. There are so many stars out at night, have you noticed that?

[250mhzwabl]

Yeah. [The single word comes out a bit wistfully, but friendly regardless, too many things behind it to want to toss onto the shoulders of a nice young woman camping out on her roof and enjoying the nicer parts of the enclosure.

Of course, it's just as likely that she's a super hero or a mage or some sort of quasihuman other with ridiculous powers. This is Luceti, after all. But that doesn't change a thing about the two of them having a conversation on a lovely morning, does it?

Stepping in closer, he offers his hand.]

I'm Jack Holden. Nice to meet you.

[tearmeanewone]

[Super hero and mage, not quite. Quasihuman.... well, jury's still out on that.]

I'm Elizabeth. [She stands up and takes his hand, smiling brilliantly as she shakes it.] Just Elizabeth.

Do you want some breakfast, Mr. Holden? [Elizabeth crouches down and rifles through a basket of fruit.] I have a couple of apples and pears, and a few chocolates with caramel.

[250mhzwabl]

[Flying does burn energy and work up a thirst, and a ripe, juicy pear is a temptation almost impossible to resist. Jack sinks to the roof alongside her comfortably, leaving enough room to stretch out his wings and back in a gesture that might just be a bit showy, somewhere in the satisfaction of pulling the tightness from coiled muscles.] A pear would be lovely, thank you. And you can just call me Jack.

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth smiles and tosses him the pear.] Alright, Jack then. You can just call me Elizabeth.

[She grins and takes a moment to stretch out her own wings and work some of the kinks out of her neck as she settles in close to him with an apple. It takes a moment for her to realize that she might be a bit too close, but for whatever reason this stranger feels familiar. She shuffles back after a moment, smiling apologetically. Forgot herself for a moment there...]

I don't think I've seen you around before, Jack. Are you new too?

[250mhzwabl]

[Settling in with a ruffle of enormous pinions straightening, Jack meets the two-and-fro dance of positioning with a sidelong and utterly unconcerned little smile of his own. Left to his own devices he's one of the last people calling for strict propriety, and with his spiritual copilot aboard the gesture seems even more unnecessary. It's cute, though. Definitely cute.]

Oh, not really? About . . . six months into living here, actually. [He takes a bite of the pear, only to give a noise of alarm and abruptly pitch forward as the juice wells and threatens to drip off his chin, averted only by a hand rushed up to catch it. He finishes his bite with a less-than-mannerly slurp, already laughing in the back of his throat, smiling at Elizabeth in mixed apology and bemusement from the corner of his eye.]

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth laughs too--she probably should have warned him--and pulls a handkerchief out of her pocket.] I was surprised at how ripe all the fruit was too. Here. [She holds it out to him.]

Six months though, huh. I've only been here for about three weeks. [And while she was reading quite a bit and amusing herself with the stars, she wonders what things will be like in six months.] Are you bored yet?

[250mhzwabl]

[Taking the handkerchief with a muffled thanks, Jack sets to cleaning himself up, still chuckling as he swallows and ensures that his scruff will be only a bit sugary. Ah well, Eugene's probably looking for an excuse to dump him in the lake anyway.]

Bored? Heck no! [The next bite is more careful, and goes off without a hitch, even if ripe pears are not the most gracefully-eaten fruit in the known world.] This place has got to be the most perfect incubating chamber for hobbies. If you want to learn something, odds are there's someone you can find to teach it to you. That's not even starting on the sheer variety of people you meet, or the fact that just about anyone can learn magic.

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth makes a slightly disbelieving face--'magic'. She's not exactly a fan, despite having inexplicable giant wings on her back out of nowhere.]

You know, that's true. I've had someone offer to train me to fly a spaceship! [She laughs, delighted by the memory.] I thought for sure I'd be bored out of my mind by my second month here. I didn't think things like spaceships would happen every day, but... why not?

[250mhzwabl]

That's the spirit! [Jack grins, heartened by the sound of her laughter. He knows that some people come from some pretty nice-sounding worlds, and that the relative simplicity of Luceti is a disappointment to them, but he doesn't see how anyone can find it boring.] What sort of things did you do for fun at home, even? There's bound to be something similar here.

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth's smile and laugh dies almost immediately at the mention of home. The memories of Columbia come back to her hard, like the most unpleasant of sudden realizations.]

[She looks back down at the ground below, her hands folding into her lap.]

I painted. Read. Sang. Danced, sometimes.

[250mhzwabl]

[Oh, hell. That was more or less the opposite of the intended effect. Jack deflates as well with the sudden sobriety, an apology on his lips by the time Elizabeth opens her mouth.]

Sorry, I didn't . . . heck. Sorry. I forget not everyone's home is cheerful. [Which is one elephant of an irony, but this is neither the time nor the place to go into that.] But . . . hey! If it's dancing you like, my partner's good at it. Or, well, good enough to make fun of my own efforts, at least.

[tearmeanewone]

[That was one way to put it. Thoughts of her in her tower, likening of it to where she was now, threatened to creep back in. There were photos and pictures of her doing all of the things she liked--it was creepy, it was invasive!]

[She didn't have to think about this now. It was a nice morning, she was having a nice conversation.]

You have a dance partner? For a class or maybe a club? [She'd just learned what that was, and felt very proud that she could use the term correctly as it pertained to Luceti.] I didn't see a dancing club at the welcome party...

[250mhzwabl]

Oh.

[That's all Jack says for a moment. It's all he can think to say for a few seconds, faced with a sweet young American lady who needs the explanation that he's gay, at the very least. He's not exactly closeted or ashamed, but it still is awkward, telling people who don't naturally pick up on the word cues.]

Ah- no, actually. We don't have a dancing club. When I say 'partner' I mean . . . well. Romantic partner. [A beat. Yeah, Luceti makes this extra awkward. Who knows what kind of world Elizabeth comes from.]

. . . his name's Eugene.

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth is completely thrown for a moment. First, she wonders if somehow Jack was really a girl and in his world all the women look like men (hey, it could happen...). But he has facial hair, and his voice is deep, and Elizabeth isn't really willing to conduct a physical examination to further her curiosity. So awkward confirmations it is then...]

And... Eugene is a, ah, man, too... ... ...? [That is the faintest question mark Jack will ever hear in his life.]

[250mhzwabl]

Yeah, it's . . . sort of this thing that exists in just a few percents of the population, they think. Attraction to the same sex instead of the opposite one.

[Jack has no idea if he's sassing the girl or honestly explaining it to her, but he has an odd feeling it might be the latter. She doesn't look disgusted or offput, just unsure and confused. So he changes a little smile, shrugging one shoulder.]

It's just the way you're made, one way or the other. I couldn't tell you why.

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth looks confused now.] I've read so many books on everything, and nothing ever mentioned physical attraction to the same sex. And if there's a percentage that can be measured, that means enough people are born attracted to the same sex that it is actually a significant measurement. Not just ten or fifteen people in the whole world or something like that. Why didn't I read anything about this...

[She looks back up at Jack, blushing.] This is so embarrassing. I'm sorry, I must be the only person who had to have this explained to her.

[250mhzwabl]

[The moment she's properly off on a ramble, Jack relaxes - mostly because all the unfavourable reactions he's used to come about as quick as reflexes, and probably with as little thought. That Elizabeth is thinking the thing through out loud and so obviously bewildered . . . he'll admit it again. It's really, really cute. So much that he outright laughs with the apology, waving it off.]

You're fine, shush. It's probably just as well you're not familiar. It's not exactly a well-loved trait throughout history, and I like explaining better than I like people being disgusted with me.

[tearmeanewone]

Why isn't it? [Elizabeth raises an eyebrow.] And don't tell me 'that's just the way it is', I know someone who did that to me all the time. We walked by these bathrooms once, and there was one for men, one for women, and one labeled 'Colored and Irish'. And when I asked he wouldn't tell me.

[250mhzwabl]

[. . . mother of God, when is this poor girl from.

Jack is sure he does a poor job at hiding his disquiet with the large, blinking, neon sign that they are probably somewhere in the neighbourhood of a century removed from one another. But that Elizabeth comes out of that time and doesn't seem to get it the rationale behind that sort of belief . . . it's heartening. Bizarre, but heartening.]

To the best of my knowledge, a lot of people decided that rules against it are an extremely important part of the bible and people like me are openly defying the almighty. Or that it must be unnatural just because it's rare.