(event) GHOSTS & HOSTS

[vestigemods]

GHOSTS & HOSTS

SEPTEMBER 22ND - 28TH

► WAS THERE ONE YOU SAW TOO CLEARLY? DID THEY FEEL TOO REAL TO YOU?

To some, the newfound territory within the containment zone is a blessing. Others, perhaps, worry that it may be a curse in disguise. The only way to find out which is true is, of course, to explore it for yourselves. But while the nature of the miles of new frontier remains ambiguous so far, one thing has quickly become apparent: You weren't the first to find it.

While every ounce of rationality (and all five or more of your senses) may tell you as you step into town or explore the farm's shady orchard that you're alone in this place, not a day has gone by since the barrier expanded that you haven't at some point felt a prickle along the back of your neck, or a subconscious tension inching through your body. Not a day has gone by that you haven't felt inexplicably watched.

Perhaps you told someone. Perhaps you kept it to yourself, for fear of sounding crazy. Either way, your suspicion is soundly validated on September 22nd as spirits begin to manifest all through the containment zone. Some are overtly hostile, utilizing their newfound traction on this mortal plane to wreak some form of harm. Others at first seem benign, but you'll quickly learn that no spirit here is truly harmless.

DID YOU TOUCH THEM, DID YOU HOLD THEM? DID THEY FOLLOW YOU TO TOWN?

You'll also learn quickly that very little that you do can stop them. Fists and blades sail through their intangible forms as if through fog, and unless you're actively working toward gaining them that which they seek (and even still then, sometimes), words do little against them either. So what can you do? Good news, research nerds: The answer lies in a book. A very familiar book, to those who were here when they and others rotted away or turned to glass. A copy appeared on the coffee-table of each cabin that month, and regardless of where it has gone or what has been done with it since, it does so again now with a formerly-blank space now filled in. The diagrams, it seems, depict what seems to be a spirit giving his heart to what seems to be a ramshackle beast. Below it, a figure seems to be waving an iron object through a spirit - insight on how to disperse one, even if not to kill it entirely.

But what are these ramshackle beasts they depict? The answer lies amongst the trees, stone-still and watchful. You may not even realize once you've spotted one - it hardly registers as a creature, a feral patchwork of skeleton and loose fur and misshapen flesh, limbs too long or too gangly, posture far too still to be canny. Very few still have eyes in the holes of their skeletal faces, yet there's no mistaking the way they watch you. It isn't predatory, for these aren't predators, but it's vigilant and unafraid.

It makes no move to attack. Instead, it offers acknowledgment - perhaps a less derelict creature might have offered a bow of its head, but all the beast can offer is a twitch-tilt of its skeletal head, a shift of weight from one forelimb to another. And from here, you may very well seal your fate. Should you choose to walk away, a halcyon truce falls between you and the beast, and it makes no move to threaten or hinder you as you make your way off through the trees. Should you try to approach or so much as flinch in the direction of your weapon, however, and the best is upon you in seconds, far more strong and fast and sharp than such a dilapidated creature has any right to be.

THEY WERE KIDS THAT I ONCE KNEW, NOW THEY'RE ALL DEAD HEARTS TO YOU

Whether you fall prey to your better nature and strive to help each damaged soul find peace or risk life and limb to carve out the beating heart within each beast, the war against the spirits is not an easy one, and few escape it mentally and physically unscathed. It lasts for nearly a week, at which point you may very well have begun to feel hopeless, wounded and sleepless and unable to see any end to it all.

And yet an end does come. As September 28th approaches sunset, the spirits have begun to retreat. Even those who have one of the living in their clutches may stop abruptly, appear to draw in a bracing breath, then turn and step into nothingness, fading from sight right before your eyes. What has drawn or sent them away, and where have they gone? These are questions for another day. For now, take a moment to bask in the first time you've felt truly alone and unwatched in weeks as, deep within the woods, an array of beasts clamber serenely back into the muck from which they emerged.

You've done it. Or... at least somebody has.

► MOD NOTES

• This is a catch-all log for top-levels pertaining to September's Ghosts & Hosts event. Go ahead and utilize vestigenet for any event-related network posts you'd like to make.
  
• This event takes place between the IC dates September 22nd and September 28th.
  
• All event information can be found on the Ghosts & Hosts Infopost! The logs are largely flavor-text to supplement the information offered in the infopost.
  
• Feel free to use my Example Spirits list to inspire your own ideas, or even steal spirits wholesale from that list if you'd like! You're also welcome to bring me a theme or desired effect/ability for the spirit and have me brainstorm up a spirit idea for you.
  
• Please take care to label your top-levels with identifying information like the IC date and location, so that others can see at a glance if their character can hop in!
  
• Also make sure to label content warnings for any troubling subject matter in the backgrounds or present behaviors of spirits you create. Possible CWs coming to mind are for self-harm or suicide, excessive/vivid gore, any sort of abuse, or animal harm/death - but even if I haven't listed it, if it feels like it might need it then slap one on there anyway!
  
• Any questions can be directed to this top-level or, for a quicker response, to Trace on discord/plurk.

Comments

[backpacking]

No problem. [ What a weird little dude. ] And - I know, right? It's super-freakin' big. Which is great, 'cause it also seems to be full of stuff.

[ In a way she isn't used to, but is currently very grateful for. Ellie glances around the store, letting out an impressed, approving whistle before turning back to Vivi, expression bright. ]

Find anything cool yet?

[toosmall]

[He is a weird little dude, but he's okay with that. Weird can be good! Weird is just different and he's learned the being different isn't always a bad thing.]

There's so much food here or I think it's food... everything is packaged up so fancy.

[He's not used to that, where he's from most foods are sold fresh at stalls. When she asks if he's found anything cool yet he'll look at the bottle she'd given him and he'll blink a bit owlishly as he tries to read the words on it.]

Uhh... is um, iso... propyl alcohol cool?

[Rubbing alcohol. Very cool. So fun.]

[backpacking]

[ As someone who is one-of-a-kind, herself, Ellie can appreciate the fact that...this is a person (creature?) the likes of which she's never met before. As a lover of comics and other media, she's delighted at the possibilities.

One thing at a time, Ellie. ]

I'm not really used to a lot of this stuff, either. It's kinda awesome that it's all just sitting around.

[ At his question, she cracks a smile and scoffs a little, amused. ]

Uh...sorta? It's good for injuries and stuff. Definitely don't try and drink it, or anything. [ Oh, God. Little guy, tell her you didn't try to drink it already. ]

[toosmall]

[It's a good thing she tells him not to drink it. Anything in a bottle back home good for injuries was ingested by drinking so...]

Huh? If you don't drink it how does it help your wounds?

[You mean it's not a magic elixir?]

[backpacking]

Well, you usually put some on a cloth or something and use it to clean the wound. So, it's less like something that helps from the inside out. Mostly, it prevents infection.

[ Crucially: that's a lowercase "i" in "infection." ]

Glad I caught you before you tried it out, though. That stuff probably would've made you really sick. [ Or worse... ]

I'm Ellie, by the way.

[toosmall]

[As Ellie explains there's a soft amazed "oooohhh" from Vivi. Things are so different from other places!]

We have magic that can prevent and cure infections and bad stuff back home, but this is powerful if it can stop stuff too.

[Prevent. Stop. Same thing. When a name is given he realizes that oh! Oh is this making a new friend? It feels good to make new friends, especially when all of his friends aren't here with him.]

I'm Vivi, it's nice to meet you.

[He'll peek down at the stuff Ellie had been gathering and then back to her.]

You found so much stuff, do you need help carrying it?

[backpacking]

Magic, huh? That's awesome. [ He isn't the first one she's heard who has magic in their world, but it's cool every time. ] Can you use it? Here, I mean?

[ That'd probably come in handy if things get dicey in the future... ]

Nice to meet you, too, Vivi. [ At the question, she chuckles and shifts the bundle in her arms, considering. ] Uh...I think I'm good? But if you see a bag or a basket or whatever, I wouldn't say no.

[ Otherwise, she's going to have quite the time getting this back to the cabin. ]

[toosmall]

Uh huh.

[Vivi holds his hands close together and focuses for a moment-- a small flame seems to sprout out of thin air, hovering between his gloved hands. Magic!]

Magic is what I'm good at.

[He's still not sure if that's something he's proud of, considering why he can use magic, but he's used it so many times to protect his friends so. That's something to consider.]

[backpacking]

Whoa. [ Color her impressed! Ellie's eyes go wide as dinner plates at the display, the small flame reflected in her gaze. ] That's cool as hell! Can you teach me to do that?

[ God. What a benefit against Infected, to be able to conjure fire at will. ]

I wish we had someone like you back home. [ She laments, shifting the pile of groceries in her arms. ] I think we'd be able to keep a lot more people safe.

[toosmall]

[Oh... oh that's. It feels really nice to hear someone say that. That his powers could help keep a lot of people safe.

Usually it's the opposite. People see black mages and are afraid. He understands why, but it still hurts.]

Are there monsters and bad people where you're from?

[Vivi puts his hands together, putting the fire out.]

I'm sorry, it's not something I can teach I was made to use magic like this.

[backpacking]

[ "It's mostly monsters and bad people," she almost says. Instead, she chews on her lip for a minute and then replies: ]

Uh - yeah, there are. The monsters are, um-... They used to be people. And there are bad people, too. [ ... ] And good ones.

[ Sometimes. ]

Oh. It's okay. [ Disappointment!! But she offers a smile, shrugging. ] Wishful thinking, I guess. And it's still really, really cool. Do you just do stuff with fire, or can you also control water, or plants, or something?

[toosmall]

Huh? Used to be people...? What happened to them to make them monsters?

[It must be terrible. He can only imagine.]

Mhm! Fire, ice, lightning, water... I even have a spell for sleep, but it doesn't always work. I need to practice that one more. Uhm here-

[He'll set the bottle down and back away a couple steps and focusing his magic he'll cast a low level ice spell on it, freezing the glass bottle up.]

I'd show you the other ones, but maybe not in here. It could make a mess.

[Let's not get things wet or be casting lightning inside.]

[backpacking]

A...fungus. Fungal infection. [ She shrugs helplessly, looking away. ] It basically just...takes over.

[ No need to talk about that, though, when there's magic to be discussed! ]

Whoa. Let's go outside! [ Without further ado, she sets down her pile and begins to move to the door, face alight with excitement. ] Do you mind? The stuff'll be here when we get back!

[toosmall]

Oh... that sounds horrible.

[He's not entirely sure what it means, but it's something that turns people into monsters. So it must be bad.]

N-No I don't mind.

[Honestly he's a little shell shocked that someone finds his magic, and him in general, so exciting. It feels nice.

Vivi follows her outside a little nervous now, though why should he be? Magic is his thing, he's got this!]

Okay um, stand back a little-

[Pulling out his staff, shh don't ask where it came from, he just has it, he'll focus his magic into it before giving a little hop into the air. It takes a second, but Ellie might feel the hairs on her arms standing up from the static electricity as a moment later a small flash of lightning crackles down onto the ground a few feet in front of Vivi.

It leaves a nice little burn mark even, though thankfully does not make too loud of a thundering noise when it hits.]

This ones not dangerous, unless you're weak to water.

[Vivi explains as he starts to cast another spell. He'll point his staff out towards where the lightning hit and water droplets start to firm mid air, until there's a big orb of water hovering above the ground.

A second later it bursts, splashing water all over the place.]

I've got other spells too, but they're uh... situ... situational?

[backpacking]

That's so cool! [ Ellie whoops, pumping a fist into the air at the display of the lightning and the water. ] You can really do all that just...whenever you want? Damn. I'm impressed!

[ Easy to impress when she's never seen magic before, but. Still! ]

You don't even need other spells, probably. [ She offers, waving a hand dismissively. ] With those three? I mean, you could do so much.

[ Yeah, she's jealous, but she's also just excited about his abilities. He seems like a pretty humble kid, too, so she has no issue hyping him up a bit. He deserves it! ]

Does everyone know how to do magic where you came from?

[toosmall]

[He always feels a little bashful at people complimenting him like this. It's really nice though. To be told he can help instead of being told he can only hurt or kill.

He'll shake his head.]

Some people can, not everyone. Other people can do what I do, black magic, others white magic, that heals and cures bad stuff. One of my friends can learn magic from eating certain monsters!

Then there's these special people that can summon giant powerful creatures to fight for them. Like Bahamut king of dragons!

[backpacking]

From eating them? Gross! [ Contrary to what she says, Ellie looks somewhat delighted and/or intrigued at the concept. ] And people can...fuckin' summon dragons? Ugh...

[ Ellie seems to deflate a little, shaking her head, though she's still grinning. ]

Man. I really lost out on the multiverse lottery. Can I just go back home with you, if we get a way out of here?

[toosmall]

[He laughs a little at her 'gross', honestly he didn't get the eating monsters thing the Qu did either, but hey. It helped sometimes.]

Mhm, there's only a couple summoners left in the world, they're my friends! One of them is going to be a queen too, she's really nice.

[Vivi just hopes one day he'll get to go back home and see that happen for Dagger.]

Oh I... guess? No one would miss you back home?