Welcome everyone to my first (and probably last, lol) Charming plot. The idea is to do something fun, spooky, and that anyone can get involved in as much as they want. Below is the premise and some ideas on how you can participate. I’ll try and keep this post updated with facts that might be discussed or if staff have any input. Feel free to tag in ideas + which of your characters are “in” below, or you can always message me (PM Ida Chang or DM nolie.xo on Discord).
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Background:
Last year Sophia was gifted a rare text that she was told allows the reader to commune with the dead (nope, you’re not supposed to do that). The Death Book was powerful enough to put her daughter into an unrecoverable coma at Hogsmeade Hospital for the last year (initially treated by Thomasina Dempsey), and is most certainly driving Sophia insane as she’s continued to study it. Kinda like if Gollum stayed cute while the Ring whittled away at him
When this starts:
Late on Saturday, October 19 Sophia will follow a ritual from the book to speak with her late husband and rescue their daughter. She will be in an empty room backstage in the Magical Ballet of London, accompanied by her comatose daughter and a lil baby boy (where’d that come from?). Once Sophia casts a spell from the ritual, it will spill out past the room she is in and cascade out to the rest of the world at a slow and steady rate. This will unwittingly pull in any number of victims into the spell with her.
What happens:
Across centuries and cultures people have described eerily similar experiences when they are on the edge of death: first their lives “flash before their eyes” until they see a bright light, and then people feel drawn to that light as they enter another realm of existence. Characters pulled into this spell will, more or less, have a near-death experience (NDE) while their bodies lay in a coma for the duration of the spell. They will look like Sophia’s daughter – unresponsive, while their souls are trapped in limbo between life and death.
To make things tidy I split the NDE into two parts/opportunities for threads.
Part 1 threads: “My (or your?) life flashing before my eyes”
The first thing that happens to people pulled into this spell together is that they may see their own life memories, or might see someone else’s. Think of this similar to entering someone’s Pensive or like Scrooge in Christmas Carol; you can only observe what is happening and it may be very disorienting at first. I recommend that the player who is volunteering up their character’s memories take the lead on setting the scene and what is happening, to avoid any accidental godmode/powerplay. People witnessing a memory together can physically talk/interact with one another, but not with the memories they’re witnessing. Lastly, consider that your character likely won’t have too much control on what might pop up as an important moment in their lives!
Part 2 threads: Do we go towards the light?
You’re welcome to trip through memories the entire time, but some characters might soon confront a bright white light. It draws them in. As they walk towards it, they emerge in a new, strange place– a sort of limbo between life and death. Different people might see a different place depending on their own cultures and experiences, but it will essentially look like the River Styx that splits the world of the living and dead. There is a ferry that takes souls to the afterlife. Perhaps there are people you recognize getting on that ferry, some of them might be fellow victims of this spell. Or perhaps you even notice some of the dead folks you know standing on the other side of the river, calling you over (or sending you away?). If you are here with another character who has fallen victim to the spell, you can still interact with each other.
Consequences:
Besides the whole bit where your deepest secrets might be exposed through memories people are prancing around in? Well, there can be Serious Consequences depending on your approach to part 2.
Below are a few considerations on how this limbo "works" for you to play.
When does it end?!
Depends on people’s interest, but probably no more than a few IC days. You have IC flexibility though - some might be resourceful enough to break back to the living world before the spell gets broken. Otherwise, the spell will be broken by whomever manages to find Sophia and end it. At that point, your character will come back to the living world unless they decided to cross the river Styx. There is no turning back from death.
Where does the death curse/spell spread?!
It can touch everybody – or it can touch almost nobody. Up to who wants to get involved, but at minimum I suggest they be in London at the time of the event.
Someone had a clever theory that maybe the spell spills out to anywhere it didn’t encounter a closed door or wide body of water; so it can’t cross the English channel to spill out to the rest of the continent for example, and it might skip over a house where the doors and windows are all closed tight, but will seep into the living room where the fireplace is open to the chimney outside, or into the neighbor’s house where the windows are kept open... Who knows. Sounds like a problem for someone at the Ministry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The plot will start with a "read only" thread I will post of Sophia starting the spell.
The plot will end with a thread (might be read only, might be open - pending interest) where something, or someone, causes Sophia's spell to break.
Folks are welcome to 'sign up' as a victim and organize yourselves with partner(s) as you wish below, or just slap up some open threads. You can do as many or as few threads as you want, in whatever 'part' of the near-death-experience you'd like. Main thing is, you are not required to thread with me in order to participate. Below are some thought starters for threads.
thank you gin for the set<3
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Introducing: the Liber Mortis - Death Book Plot!
TW: Death, near-death experiences, loss/grief, memories shared & seen w/o consent
TW: Death, near-death experiences, loss/grief, memories shared & seen w/o consent
Background:
Last year Sophia was gifted a rare text that she was told allows the reader to commune with the dead (nope, you’re not supposed to do that). The Death Book was powerful enough to put her daughter into an unrecoverable coma at Hogsmeade Hospital for the last year (initially treated by Thomasina Dempsey), and is most certainly driving Sophia insane as she’s continued to study it. Kinda like if Gollum stayed cute while the Ring whittled away at him
When this starts:
Late on Saturday, October 19 Sophia will follow a ritual from the book to speak with her late husband and rescue their daughter. She will be in an empty room backstage in the Magical Ballet of London, accompanied by her comatose daughter and a lil baby boy (where’d that come from?). Once Sophia casts a spell from the ritual, it will spill out past the room she is in and cascade out to the rest of the world at a slow and steady rate. This will unwittingly pull in any number of victims into the spell with her.
What happens:
Across centuries and cultures people have described eerily similar experiences when they are on the edge of death: first their lives “flash before their eyes” until they see a bright light, and then people feel drawn to that light as they enter another realm of existence. Characters pulled into this spell will, more or less, have a near-death experience (NDE) while their bodies lay in a coma for the duration of the spell. They will look like Sophia’s daughter – unresponsive, while their souls are trapped in limbo between life and death.
To make things tidy I split the NDE into two parts/opportunities for threads.
Part 1 threads: “My (or your?) life flashing before my eyes”
The first thing that happens to people pulled into this spell together is that they may see their own life memories, or might see someone else’s. Think of this similar to entering someone’s Pensive or like Scrooge in Christmas Carol; you can only observe what is happening and it may be very disorienting at first. I recommend that the player who is volunteering up their character’s memories take the lead on setting the scene and what is happening, to avoid any accidental godmode/powerplay. People witnessing a memory together can physically talk/interact with one another, but not with the memories they’re witnessing. Lastly, consider that your character likely won’t have too much control on what might pop up as an important moment in their lives!
Part 2 threads: Do we go towards the light?
You’re welcome to trip through memories the entire time, but some characters might soon confront a bright white light. It draws them in. As they walk towards it, they emerge in a new, strange place– a sort of limbo between life and death. Different people might see a different place depending on their own cultures and experiences, but it will essentially look like the River Styx that splits the world of the living and dead. There is a ferry that takes souls to the afterlife. Perhaps there are people you recognize getting on that ferry, some of them might be fellow victims of this spell. Or perhaps you even notice some of the dead folks you know standing on the other side of the river, calling you over (or sending you away?). If you are here with another character who has fallen victim to the spell, you can still interact with each other.
Consequences:
Besides the whole bit where your deepest secrets might be exposed through memories people are prancing around in? Well, there can be Serious Consequences depending on your approach to part 2.
- Maybe you do nothing at all here, and just stay where you are. You’ll be stuck in limbo, a lot like Sophia’s daughter in her coma.
- Maybe you cross the river. There’s no turning back from this - your character will die.
- Maybe you turn around and try to escape and run back from where you came. This could bring you back to memories – maybe you trip through your own memories or someone else’s, for a change. Or maybe you are one of the lucky few who finds a way to make it ‘all the way back,’ and you wake up from your coma with a frightful start.
- In addition, staff might enforce other IC consequences -eg, I assume Soph will be in trouble with the Ministry after this. Proceed at your own risk.
Below are a few considerations on how this limbo "works" for you to play.
When does it end?!
Depends on people’s interest, but probably no more than a few IC days. You have IC flexibility though - some might be resourceful enough to break back to the living world before the spell gets broken. Otherwise, the spell will be broken by whomever manages to find Sophia and end it. At that point, your character will come back to the living world unless they decided to cross the river Styx. There is no turning back from death.
Where does the death curse/spell spread?!
It can touch everybody – or it can touch almost nobody. Up to who wants to get involved, but at minimum I suggest they be in London at the time of the event.
Someone had a clever theory that maybe the spell spills out to anywhere it didn’t encounter a closed door or wide body of water; so it can’t cross the English channel to spill out to the rest of the continent for example, and it might skip over a house where the doors and windows are all closed tight, but will seep into the living room where the fireplace is open to the chimney outside, or into the neighbor’s house where the windows are kept open... Who knows. Sounds like a problem for someone at the Ministry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Get involved!
The plot will start with a "read only" thread I will post of Sophia starting the spell.
The plot will end with a thread (might be read only, might be open - pending interest) where something, or someone, causes Sophia's spell to break.
Folks are welcome to 'sign up' as a victim and organize yourselves with partner(s) as you wish below, or just slap up some open threads. You can do as many or as few threads as you want, in whatever 'part' of the near-death-experience you'd like. Main thing is, you are not required to thread with me in order to participate. Below are some thought starters for threads.
The following 4 users Like Sophia Lissington's post:
Basil Foxwood, Elias Grimstone, Gus Lissington, Philomena Sprout
Basil Foxwood, Elias Grimstone, Gus Lissington, Philomena Sprout
thank you gin for the set<3