![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
OOC PLOTTING POST: The Salvation of Geardagas: Part II
The Salvation of Geardagas: Part II
CW: This plot has a general content warning for kidnapping, torture, experimentation, violence, drug use (incl. aphro), infection/disease and potential death. This is entirely opt-in.
STAGE 1 - KIDNAPPED:
- If you hadn't decided whether your character was kidnapped or not during part one of the event, it's okay to backdate/handwave that they were taken before part two. Characters who have been kidnapped by the Evergreen Circle are tattooed with their mark on some part of their body.
- Mild - characters exposed to the Cwyld for a smaller amount of time will get mild symptoms that affect them mostly physically. If the infection spread by touch, the skin that came in contact with the Cwyld will darken, veins turning black; the area may lose sensation if not treated, cause pain and the feeling tingling or burning, etc. Players may come up with other minor physical symptoms similar to this as they like. If the infection was spread by sharing air in the same space as the Shade for too long, characters will suffer respiratory symptoms, nausea, and/or light-headedness and dizziness.
** Notably, characters who regularly join the Wilders or otherwise come in close, consistent contact with the Cwyld, may notice that they have fewer or less severe symptoms, if any, at the "mild" stage of infection.
- Moderate - characters exposed to the Cwyld for longer periods of time will suffer symptoms as above, but at more severe levels. They will also suffer psychological effects, which may include hallucination, anxiety and panic, enhanced aggression, and a "hunger" that manifests as a desire to spread the Cwyld further or come in more contact with other infected beings.
- Severe - this stage of infection is incurable. A character who reaches this stage will feel the above psychological symptoms to severe levels that cause them to lose their sense of self. The dark taint of the Cwyld spreads over their body visibly and they will grow mad, want to spread the infection and/or simply attack and destroy those around them. At this point, they are very nearly a Shade and beyond the help of even the most skilled Witches at the Coven infirmary. If players choose this option, their character will have to be put down, and the Coven will have to be convinced to resurrect them. It will be possible, and the Coven will eventually agree since they weren't quite to the Shade point, but ICly it will be more difficult to resurrect them than usual and there may be extra death consequences because of the delay or difficulty of resurrections. You may PM the mods to let us know if you plan to get your character killed in this way. Please be aware extra effects may be long-term.
Players have two options for how the Cult will make use of their kidnapped characters.
OPTION A. Kidnapped characters are used for Cwyld experiments.
- The majority of experiments take place in the lower levels of Alder’s mansion. The entire bottom floor has been turned into a series of chambers where characters are held and tested.
This involves being exposed to the Cwyld in varying doses, often in the form of being put in close proximity with Shades (failed past subjects). Side effects of the infection and consequences for characters will vary depending on the level of Cwyld exposure (up to player discretion).
After being infected in some way, Cult members will put kidnapped test subjects through increasingly dangerous tests, such as being exposed to intense cold and heat, being brutalized to see how quickly they recover and often being made to fight Shades or other infected among their own to test strength and abilities at varying stages of infection. Some of the Witches involved in the Cult also use invasive mind-reading Divination techniques to try and gauge the mental states of the kidnapped characters throughout their ordeal. Naturally, this can dig up traumatic memories along the way!
OPTION B. Kidnapped characters have been taken to serve the Cult's higher-ups.
- Those characters who are not taken as test subjects will be brainwashed into working for Alder and his inner circle (feel free to make up NPCs) as servants in their households. They may or may not be present for -- and be forced to help with -- the experiments on other characters, depending on players' preferences.
Otherwise, Cult members can use brainwashed servants for things as simple as cleaning their estates, cooking, etc. -- or put them up to more sinister tasks in other ways, such as committing crimes on their behalf or tormenting their fellow kidnapees even if they aren't being experimented on.
How characters are treated by their kidnappers is up to player discretion, but regardless of the details, their memories will be severely scrambled: as far as they know, they’ve been working under their new employer for years and are dedicated to the Evergreen Circle. Optionally, even after they've been rescued, characters will have trouble with recovering their real memories for a while (several days to several weeks, depending entirely on player preference).
STAGE 2 - INITIATION:
- On the surface, it seems like any other overly fancy, ceremonial event where attendees are expected to dress up and schmooze... but once all the guests arrive, things turn strange. Guests are led from the great hall into the ballrooms, where a number of cages have been arranged, all showing off infected subjects (including player characters). Characters attending the party are encouraged to admire the "fruits of their labour." The atmosphere is thick with enchantments and can be incredibly overwhelming, so some might struggle to keep their cool and not get whipped up into a frenzy like the other members.
The adjoining sitting rooms, meanwhile, are set up to encourage further drunken revelry with the intent of spreading the Cwyld around its members, many of whom are already infectious. This also includes a slightly more private area with a drink spiked with aphrodisiacs and other mind-altering potions for those who want to find more... interesting ways to participate.
Options for this part would include finding ways to slip into the party if your character doesn't have an invite or trying to free kidnapped characters and getting caught up in the whole Manic Cult Party thing. Any characters that have been brainwashed into servitude will also be present and acting as waiters and servants throughout the evening. Snapping them out of it will take work but can be done, even if they might not remember exactly what happened.
STAGE 3 - MIDNIGHT SHOW:
- At midnight, Alder gathers everyone back together and announces that the time has come for their work to finally pay off. He says that, in order to guarantee that their work continues smoothly, sacrifices must be made to the higher beings that gifted them with the Cwyld in the first place. Kidnapped characters are brought out and Alder commands his followers to kill them.
Things obviously don't go as planned. At this point, any investigating Mirrorbound trying to free and protect their kidnapped fellows will be helped out by a Shade that suddenly breaks free from its cage.
In the ensuing chaos, they will have to decide between gathering evidence before it can be destroyed and chasing Alder himself. The decision boils down to immediate or more long-term punishment and consequences for Alder and the Evergreen Circle. They can either get justice against the man who set it all off (Alder) or sacrifice that to make certain that the inner circle of the Cult is brought to justice.
OPTION 1. Prioritizing evidence
- Alder (and a handful of associates) will be basically using anything at their disposal to get rid of evidence! Setting fires, flooding or wrecking the entrances to the basement floor, etc. The evidence that can be obtained, aside from the presence of the "test chambers" and all that goes with them, consists of months of correspondence directly tying members of the inner circle to the Cult and its crimes, including high-standing members who weren't even present at the party. In this option, Alder escapes but the inner circle can be formally charged and face the consequences.
OPTION 2. Prioritizing Alder
- If Alder is caught, even without as much physical proof, there's not a lot he can do to get out of it. However, the majority of the inner circle will get away unscathed as the evidence that might have linked them to his crimes has been destroyed. It remains unclear as to whether they’ll try and resurrect the Cult or not.
If your character will be at the party and in a position to either help save evidence or chase down Alder, please vote in the header below with your IC choice.
FORMS
And now, here is your Plotting form! This will largely be for event planning, but feel free to include other plans as well if you like.
Player Name: Your name, handle, whatever you'd like!
Pronouns: Your preferred pronouns.
Contact: Preferred method of contact - discord, plurk, twitter, PM, ye olde MSN messenger, etc.
Timezone: Where are you in the world?
Character Name: Name & username!
Canon: Exactly as it says.
Appearance: Link an image or describe your character; if there's anything notable about them at first meeting, put it here!
Brief: A few words to sum up your character, a couple of lines to tell what they're about, whatever you'd like. If you have an info post all ready to go, feel free to link it in addition to your summary!
Choice: Witch or Monster; and for the latter, which one?
Event Plans: Anything specific to this month's event!
Anything else? Any other plans you have for the month! Don't forget to check out the Quest Board, too.
ONE FINAL NOTE: Since this event deals with a lot of potentially upsetting content, please be sure to put content warnings in your logs and headers as needed. Just a gentle reminder to be sure you plot everything out accordingly with respect to other players' preferences and always be excellent to each other.
And last but certainly not least, we want to once again extend a huge thank-you to Rachel for all her hard work on this plot! Have fun, everyone!
no subject
no subject
team
rescue... someone? Or just go Cause Problems On Purpose.
no subject
And then probably lose her shit when she sees the scope of what the cult is doing and start mauling cultists because there's no one to wag their nonviolence stick at her this time.
no subject