lucetilogs | Possession Event

Entry tags:

Possession Event

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.

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[ Oh, he doesn't like that. He doesn't like her using the fact that she got out and went about completely unharmed against him. Of course he was glad about that - but that wasn't the point.

When the fire in her palm grows, he steps back to stay more in the shadows than in the light. ]

So you got lucky - once. That doesn't prove anything. Outliers exist. You don't know that you'll be safe if you leave again.

And you don't know that I'll be safe if I stay here. We did have a house blown up in an aerial attack, while both of us were in it. [A point Pepper raises in anger, although a moment after the words come out guilt quickly takes his place. She knows Tony hasn't forgiven himself for that, and it's cruel to use Killian's attack against him, but—she's just so irritated with him.]

Tony, we don't have to do this. Yes, there's risk, but you're going too far. You know this is because of whatever experiment is going on.

[ He tenses at the reminder in her words. That event had hardly left Tony's mind since it happened, as well as the knowledge of all it had cost him - and how lucky he was to escape with what he did. His life and her own, and she was going to push all that aside because of an experiment? ]

Fine - you got me. I'm not myself. You know why? Because I've felt great the past couple of days. I've been sleeping, I've been calm, all because I had to worry about you less. And, what - now you're pulling this. You're going to push me right back to where I was. Do you want that? Do you? I don't.

[ Blame. That was easy. This wasn't his fault - this was good for him. He felt great. This wasn't his fault. ]

No, you're not yourself because you're possessed! [She snaps back quickly, almost talking over him. Yet even as their words begin to overlap she still hears what Tony says, and for a moment after she can only gape at him.]

What?! [Okay maybe, maybe she had gone too far before, but Tony has pushed things to a completely new level.] I cannot believe you just said that.

[She shakes her head, then starts to make her way toward the kitchen.] I can't even talk to you right now.

[ His eyes narrow, even as he keeps to his shadows. ]

You think I can't outwit a spirit? Please, Pepper. Don't - [ Dammit, she wasn't listening. So what if he wasn't listening to her even as he said this? He already knew he was right. He didn't need to listen to what she had to say. ]

Fine, fine - then don't. Just - I'll fix the door. You can make it up to me by notbreaking out tomorrow.

[Congratulations, Tony. You're getting her to talk to you again--just for all the wrong reasons. She stops and turns back around, although she doesn't move any closer to him.]

I can make it up to you? I didn't do anything wrong! You're the one who is so heavily influenced you can't think straight.

And for the record? You can't keep me here anymore, Tony. I know how to use my power now, and I will get out.

Did you miss the part where I just explained how I'm thinking straight for the first time in god knows - [ This wasn't good. Not at all. He feels uncertain, anxious, and part of him knows she's right. But, unfortunately, it was the lesser part. Twila had its claws deep into Tony, and its hold could not so easily be shaken.

But the thought was enough to render him silent, if only for a moment. ]

You can't - you can't do that. I have to keep you safe.

No, Tony. This isn't you.

[God, even when he'd been at his worst, Tony hadn't gone so far. He pushed her away, spent all his time with his suits but he never once tried to trap her. He never got angry at her like this.

But there's more to it than that, and that moment of silence, though brief, serves as a reminder for her. He isn't just angry--he's desperate.]

I can, and we both know it. Just like we both know I didn't have to come back tonight.

[ His eyes dart to her, his features tense. ]

You wouldn't have come back?

Not if I didn't want to.

[Because that's the eventual result of what he's trying to do, and how far Twila is pushing him to go. He's talked about what she has to do, and what she can't do, but for Pepper it all comes down to one simple truth:

She can't live like this.]

I love you. I love being with you--but only you, Tony. Not the spirit that's possessed you. It's another distraction, like before. It's making you forget what really matters.

It's helping me. [ That was the response that came by instinct, but he thought about it. He thought about her words. She wouldn't have both of them, Tony and the spirit inside him. But it had helped him focus on what really matters. It gave him a plan to keep Pepper safe. And when she was safe, he could rest easy.

He couldn't just give that up. Not the peace he had finally found.

But he couldn't give her up, either. ]

So, you're gonna make me choose. Is that it?

What if I did? [She shouldn't be asking this. She knows that, but something inside of her is just so frustrated with him, and upset that he can't see the truth.]

It's another experiment, Tony. It isn't real. But we are. Would you really give that up for that thing inside of you?

[ Twila rears her ugly head. He can feel it. Because the spirit knows what choice he will make. It's why she targeted him in the first place - he had such a need, such a vulnerability in his need to keep Pepper safe. It was an easy sell, because she was what he cared about more than anything. But by that same hand, it was also where the spirit couldn't win. Not while Tony still had some semblance of control over himself.

This wasn't what he wanted, was it? It was happening again. He was pushing Pepper away by trying to keep her safe, putting their relationship in jeopardy by trying to earn some peace of mind in the wrong ways.

But at least it was peace, god, he doesn't know what to do. ]

Look, I need to - take a walk. Clear my head. Okay?

[Normally, she might give him that. Honestly, it'd be a moment to breathe for both of them. But regardless of the fact that she'd been about to walk out herself moments before, that'd she posed it at a hypothetical question, something in her is urging her on down this path.]

No. [She almost sounds surprised at her own answer, but she knows it's also right. So Pepper takes a step closer to Tony, trying to find his eyes in the shadows.] It's not okay. Which of us would you choose?

You can't ask me that right now. You said it yourself, I'm not thinking -

[ But Twila's had just about enough of this argument. The spirit knows how to end it, knows how to give both Tony and Pepper the answer they want. But does it have to be true?

Well, time would tell. For now, he could say what he wanted, because Twila knew her influence wouldn't be so easily brushed off. ]

You, Pepper. Of course I'd choose you.

[She almost has the chance to reply, to point out that she not only can but that she is. But Tony does give her an answer, so suddenly it almost seems like backpedaling somehow, and it feels off to her.

There's no time to linger on it, however. Pepper releases the fire, pitching the room into darkness in favor of moving closer to Tony, her hands extended to grasp his shoulders.]

Then do it. You're so much better than whatever's inside of you right now. I know it's hard, but just...stop listening to it, okay? What it's giving you isn't real.

[ Relief washes over him when the darkness envelopes the room. It was so much easier to think straight in the darkness like this - no, it wasn't, this isn't you,think, Tony - and he reaches out to hold her.

The weren't lies. They weren't. The truth just hadn't been tested yet. ]

You're right. I'll try and - tune it out. Throw myself into something else. But - please, Pepper. You have to stay safe. Deal?

You know I’ll do my best. [Her arms slip around him, Pepper’s fingers curling against Tony’s back as they embrace each other. Though there’s a sense inside of her that insists this isn’t so easy, she’s happy with the start. And maybe she can push things a little further give him greater reassurance.] I was in the forest today. Tony, you wouldn’t believe what I can do now. The control I have over fire is—it’s amazing.

[ He tries not to frown of the idea of her out in the forest, wielding a dangerous element. It probably wasn't so far off from what her Extremis powers allowed her to do, but that was perhaps what made him more uncomfortable with it. ]

I sort of gathered that from the, um, melted door handle.

Oh. Right. [She'd forgotten about that in the interim. Her grin turns a bit sheepish.] But it was just the handle! I didn't burn the door, or myself. That's a good thing.

Let's count our blessings. [ He says dryly, but more than anything, he was glad she was okay. Twila couldn't drown out that truth. ] You're not...going to keep that up, are you?

[That makes Pepper hesitate; there are a few things about her days she plans to repeat, because frankly? It’s fun. For the first time Pepper feels like she has some control over what’s in her, and she doesn’t want to give that up.

But in light of what she’s asking Tony to do, it’s just not fair to give him nothing in return.] If you don’t lock me in, there’s no reason for me to melt any more of the house. [Which may not have been exactly what Tony asked for, but it’s something, right?]

Are you going to be melting anything else, then? Kind of - a volatile power, don't you think?

[ He didn't like the idea of her going overboard with her powers at all. ]

I thought that before, yes. But everything's changed now; I know Extremis is supposed to be unstable, but that's not what I feel at all.

[All the fear she'd had is gone, and that's clear in her eyes when she meets Tony's gaze.]

[ She didn't seem fearful at all, and that only served to make him more uncertain. Was she being careless? She couldn't already be that confident in her new skills. ]

You don't know that it will stay that way. You just got this.

Re: spoilers!

handing - 2013-06-08 05:35 (UTC) - Expand

spoilers!

alloys - 2013-06-08 06:02 (UTC) - Expand

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