Welcome to Spooktacular April (Player Plot)

[bindsthedead]

Before I begin, this player plot will include zombies (non-disease based), gore, body horror, mind control, and death. This plot will only affect a portion of the Outer Rim bounded by two large canals, and will not extend into any other part of the setting, so that anyone uncomfortable with these elements can easily opt out.

What's Going On?

Some enterprising mages and business people have learned about Sabriel's necromantic bells, and decided that undead servants would make great cheap labor. Things quickly get out of control with the corrupting influence of necromancy leading to one of them coming down with a bad case of megalomania and trying to build an army of the Dead, taking advantage of the absence of some council members who returned to their worlds after the festival.

In other words? One portion of the Outer Rim will be infested by the undead, and characters will have to put a stop to it.

This plot will run through early to mid April, in two stages. The first will be a slow buildup from April 1 through 14, and the second part, where characters directly confront the necromancer, will run from April 15 through 20.

Some general notes on the Dead of Sabriel's canon

The Dead are deceased souls returned to life and twisted by necromantic power. They need to feed on life force to remain in the living world, and they do this by killing people. They can inhabit corpses, or take the form of monstrous shadow-creatures.

While some of the weakest Dead superficially resemble zombies from pop culture, being slow and not particularly clever, they have a very different set of weaknesses. Dead creatures cannot cross running water, and sunlight harms them (So shoving them into canals will kill them.) They're only able to cross if there is a barrier of grave dirt between them and the water they're crossing. Destroying the heart or brain doesn't stop them, and bites and scratches from them don't turn victims into more Dead. Magic based on exorcising or destroying spirits can banish/kill them.

While weaker Dead might look like zombies from a movie, more powerful Dead warp the bodies they inhabit, twisting them into something monstrous. They're fast, and smart enough to do things like open doors and seek out ways around obstacles.

Bodiless Dead are creatures of pure shadow that are more vulnerable to light than those inhabiting a physical form, and cannot be harmed by mundane weapons, though any kind of magic or magical weapon can hurt them.

Other kinds of Dead include Mordaut, a parasitic spirit that posseses a living human, puppeteering their body during the day and sneaking off to feed at night.

There are also gore crows and stoat fingers, Dead made by shattering a single spirit, and placing each fragment in the body of a dead crow (or any other bird) or weasel (or any other small animal), and creating a swarm of animals animated by a single hive mind.

First phase: the lead-up (April 1-14)

Smaller canals in the area are found unexpectedly dammed with junk, or have bridges over them covered with shallow boxes full of dirt- grave dirt. At first, it's assumed to be leftover debris from the festival in march, but more and more keep appearing.

Animals start to disappear, fleeing the area and refusing to return, and there are increasing amounts of grave robbing- initially, this is subtle, with coffins put back and covered with fresh dirt, but towards the end of this phase things will start to unravel- graves will be left open, people will start to go missing, and patches of dense fog start to appear.

There will not be a log for this stage of the plot unless players request it, though characters are free to notice that something weird is starting to happen.

Second phase: The Finale (April 15-20)

Dead bodies start to be found, as the Dead start to feed more openly, and the fog becomes nearly constant. At this point, Sabriel will realize what's going on and provide information to characters about the strengths and weaknesses. Characters who enter the affected part of the Outer Rim after sundown or enter areas of heavy fog may find themselves stalked or attacked by the Dead. Characters who are deceased may find themselves under the control of the necromancer if their players want. (See the sign up in the comments).

This stage will have a dedicated log for freeing controlled characters, fighting the Dead, and confronting the necromancer.

On the 20th, the necromancer will be captured or killed, and the Council members will return, dealing with any remaining Dead and returning them to their graves, and the plot will end.

This post is for plotting, and also to help me gain a better idea of what aspects of the plot people want to play around with. Zombie fighting action? The horror of being stalked by a relentless supernatural predator? Investigating to find the necromancer and understand what happened and what his plans are? All of these are things characters can get involved with!

Comments

Questions?

[bindsthedead]

Have any questions? Ask them here!

Necromancer Control Sign Up

[bindsthedead]

Want your character to end up under the necromancer's control? Sign up here! Do you want them acting in a mindless state, or conscious of their own actions, but unable to disobey commands?

[tvdemon]

Yes yes yes, let's gooo! I absolutely want to do a thing where Vox is controlled by the necromancer, but isn't actively aware it's happening until about a week later. And the more he pushes back, the more the necromancer exerts control until around April 16th or 17th or so, Vox goes missing because there isn't any self left in him, only mindless puppet.

Maaaybe leading to a boss fight where he's ordered to protect the necromancer? And maaaybe gets killed because of it? Or just heavily taken apart. It's fine, he's a demon who can regenerate, most shenanigans don't actually kill him. If it comes down to it though, one of the local angels can harm him for real with some divine smiting, and won't that be delicious karma?

[strutwhenyourebluffin]

Husk is absolutely going to end up controlled. After chat with Vox-mun, Vox is going to kidnap Husk as a present for the necromancer, and he'll end up fighting with Vox for the necromancer. He's got the same regeneration, but Husk (probably) wont' end up dead. Just Hurt.

[pangolins]

Signing Emily here up for this! To make a long story short, the plan is for her to notice something amiss at VoxCo and confront Vox about it while he's already too far gone. It will end up with her getting infected by one of the parasitic spirits. Or maybe a bunch? If that's possible? Either way, I'm thinking she could serve as another boss fight alongside Vox and whoever else signs up?

Despite being a pacifist, Emily is a seraphim and thus stupidly powerful. However, she is going to be actively fighting against the possession so the more broken of her abilities will likely either be sealed or limited. With that said, it's still going to take a lot to stop her. I think a combination of violence and the power of friendship managing to snap her out of it would be great especially since it'd make her feel even worse about not being able to stop Vox but I'm pretty open!

Re: Necromancer Control Sign Up

[hellhathnofurry]

Signing Loona up to be mind controlled. She will be conscious the whole time!

A⁴'s Duo

[totaldadbeat]

I'm shoving Lucifer into a coma just as things are becoming super blatant, because... his Sensing abilities are a little OP? He'd get nosy and start tracking that shit down, out of a super overly protective desire.

And I don't feel like juggling that headache for a plot that sounds so fun!!!! Also it's just funny as fuck to have him literally sleeping through this, then waking up just in time to beat up Vox. Somethingsomething joke about waking up on the wrong side of the bed.

Then for Jinx, she will be rushing to Sabriel's side once things kick off, because she will have approximately 1000 questions, and she's gonna be so ready to throw down. She will avoid fighting her boss, since it looks like some scarier types have that covered, lmao.

She'll focus on providing decent backup against any other enemies, and maybe on rapidly yanking less OP folks out of the line of electricity. The joys of being able to move Fast.

[pangolins]

I know we talked about it on Discord, but I figure it'd make sense to put it here as well. Since both Jinx and Emily work at Voxco, are you down with the plan for Emily and Jinx to kind of work together? I figure they could try and slow down the spread of misinformation. Then as things ramps up, Emily tries to talk to Vox about it, letting Jinx know in case anything bad happens.

And then nothing awful will happen. Totally. Mm-hmm.

[vindicato]

Lute's sword isn't magical per se, but it's made out of angelic steel, so it has special properties (for fighting demons and other angels). Curious to see how it'll work against the Dead.

The important thing here is: Please point this battle angel at whatever needs to be fought/killed and she will do her absolute best. She's very efficient and very... uh... enthusiastic. She's more likely to lead a charge, but she'll provide backup where necessary too.

[bindsthedead]

I think given angelic steel's ability to permakill angels and sinners, it would probably be effective against the Dead! Because like Sinners, they're human souls.

Sabriel will be grateful for the help... probably.

zoki (zack)

[heroicdream]

(I also have Kaiba in-game, but he will most likely be sitting this plot out. His skillset isn't super relevant.)

So Zack here has a vested interest in protecting people. At his canon point he was dying, not dead, so thankfully he isn't at risk of being controlled. For defenses he has a single Blizzard materia for spellcasting, and Cure if needed.

He'll be having a few flashbacks to creepy events back home, those prompts will be warned for of course! But his main focus is on defense and rescue, other fighters with magical weapons and light-based abilities are better suited to the front lines.

[alphabynamealphabynature]

I would love the chance to get into an aspect of Poppi that otherwise hasn't come up here, and this is the perfect opportunity!

Poppi is pretty strong on her own, but at heart she's an artificial Blade, which means rather than fighting directly herself, her true strength comes out when she's empowering a person who fights with her weapon, otherwise known as her Driver. Poppi only has one Driver who of course isn't here, so giving her strength to anyone else will be a real struggle and maybe even feel like a betrayal to her, no matter how necessary it is.

So: anyone up for gaining some pretty handy zombie-fighting power, while at the same time navigating the issues that offering it causes her?

[threadsbare]

I would be interested both in seeing this conflict and growing Poppi and Lace's CR. Lace is a pretty powerful fighter despite her looks and her own thoughts.

Im still a little unclear though--do Blades turn into actual weapons or do they empower those they aid?

[sousoucerer]

Pinkie Pie will be sitting this one out, as I don't particularly feel like traumatizing my kids' show pony right now.

However, Frieren is a powerful mage who has experience fighting those who reanimate dead bodies to do their bidding. She has demonstrated the ability to disanimate walking corpses, and will likely be focusing on that tactic, rather than using more destructive magic on the bodies of those who didn't choose to be resurrected.

I offer Frieren up for anyone who wants/needs to be protected from zombies, and/or people who have some magical ability who want to be taught the disanimation spell.

[roachband]

Stolas will probably be sitting this out. He is not much of a fighter so he'd likely stay home with Snow to wait if Blitz, Octavia or Loona are all going to be involved in this.

Fai is undecided. If I toss him, it'll be for fighting the dead and watching Kurogane's back - as they do for each other.

Niffty is likely gonna spy on Vox early days and report weirdness back to Alastor - but nothing's gonna really happen there until Vox kidnaps Husk. Then... she'll tell Alastor and the two of them will be getting their kitty back. There will be some hilariousness involved in the middle of this seriousness as Niffty literally carries Al to the fight through the city!

Bonus! If Sabriel wants a dead person to control, feel free to use Niffty! She's already said she likes it~

[featherings]

Sakura would probably stay back out of this, aside from maybe acting more as support? Helping sort out supplies/food for anyone in need while this is going on? The moment any chaos starts, Fai and Kurogane are definitely likely to want her to stay safe out of it and protect her (they know Syaoran would be furious if anything happened to her!). But she would still want to feel useful somehow. To do something, even if more as support during this, if not fighting.

I'm unsure if her whole 'good luck' might play some part in keeping her safe? Or her 'Understanding the sensations, feelings and emotions of all living and non-living things (includes the inanimate things such as water, air, wind, fire, earth)' thing might come into things??? because. Yeah, she would fret and want to help somehow, especially if she could kinda. Sense that things are not right. If people are suffering/being controlled/manipulated.

[roachband]

As said in your plurk:

Fai and Kuro are going to fight, but maybe they set up a base camp for medical in the Outer Rim away from the actual main fight. That way Sakura can be safe inside a building while mommy and daddy protect it.

It also gives other people a chance to have their characters involved without being part of the actual fighting - if they want to help with medical for normal civilians.

supply chain/medical tent thingie is a good idea i feel

[seaprayer]

Shirley would definitely want to help with this too and use her healing magic, if that's alright!

[mist_the_point]

Foulques will absolutely be fighting some zombies; finally a use for his stabby skills! On his own, he'll be able to handle zombie trash mobs with relative ease, especially once he learns that water is an insta-kill, but spirits or larger monsters he might need some help with. Anybody who'd want to party up and play Tank and/or Healer to his DPS would be welcome. :3

[vindicato]

Lute's not a tank precisely, but she's used to fighting alongside others and would probably enjoy partying up if you're interested. Obviously, she and Foulques have never met, but what's a better time than in the midst of battle!

[unbalances]

Agatha is going to try and siphon some magic off the undead, if it does anything well let's find out.

She's going to be very interested in finding out who did this, mainly because magic can't bring back the dead without upsetting the natural order in her world. Believe me, she's had that thought before and helped break some rules.

Overall I can see this leading to some fun paranoid oh shit I hope my ex doesn't show up, because you know that ex is the embodiment of Death.

Mesi's Mess

[celestialedict]

Elsa: Elsa is probably going to be a pass on this particular event, just to keep her from freezing everything which would cause problems since there'd be no running water keeping them out.

Rapunzel: She is one that would certainly look into what's going on and her curiosity is bound to get in trouble. It would be kind of interesting to use this as a chance to play her Decay incantation either trying to stop them or being controlled and using it.

Octavia: Octavia is going to get involved probably since several of her friends are getting pulled into it. She's going to be using her magic to aide what she can in the big fight.

Sera: Sera isn't on the network often, and doesn't visit the outer parts of Iyashikei often. So she is going to likely be unaware of what is happening until the climax unless someone brings it to her attention. Though once she finds out what's happening to Emily is likely going to be the nuclear option if needed. Otherwise she'll be hesitant and restrained in fear of hurting those who have been taken under control.

I'm really open to plotting and planning anything for the event though, so feel free to poke this or message me on plurk at likethelibrary.

[vindicato]

Sera, feel free to give Lute orders to do the thing she's planning on doing anyway. (Especially once she finds out about Emily, if Sera doesn't want to get her own hands bloody)

[bindsthedead]

Sabriel will be trying to share information about what's happening, and once things properly kick off, she will be using her bells to banish as many Dead as she can. Feel free to poke at her with questions like 'How do you know all this?', 'Why do you think the person behind this has magic bells?', or 'Why do you have magic bells?'. Make her squirm.

She'll be confronting the necromancer at the end of the plot, and unless someone wants to step in or do it themselves, she'll kill him and hand over his bells to the Council.

[totaldadbeat]

What if... Jinx teaming up with Sabriel

[castironhound]

I'm open to Sam, Iroh, and Vander getting caught up in all of this if anyone is interested in having them join in. Sam would likely be the first to notice since he lives out that way and would notice the darkness having seen the whole creeping evil thing before. But Iroh and Vander would be willing to fight and jump in if anyone needs help.

Y'all like boss fights?

[pangolins]

As things ramp up, Emily will think it's weird that VoxCo isn't covering all this scary stuff and talk to Jinx about it. After which point she'll come up with a plan to confront Vox, letting Jinx take over in case anything goes wrong. Unfortunately something will go wrong, and she'll wind up possessed by a Mordaut; becoming a boss fight alongside other possessed characters. Unsure if I want to have her be around while being puppeteered for a bit, as it might be fairly obvious something is up with her. Maybe the necromancer finds a way to siphon her powers in order to increase their own strength, so she goes missing? Or they need to keep an eye on her so she doesn't break free? Unsure! Though I could be convinced to keep her around for a bit.

As for the fight itself, Emily will be doing her best to hold back the Mordaut from trying to kill anyone as best she can. However, seraphim are insanely powerful and Emily lacks combat experience and the Mordaut likely doesn't know how her abilities work completely either, so I imagine there will be a chaotic element to the fight? Especially since angels are pretty durable and seraphim even more so.