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ateratooc2023-07-28 09:16 pm
sotg: July/August
The sporatic rainstorms of the previous months have abated, leaving Aterat and its environs warm and humid. The encroaching mist is still a problem, but it doesn't seem to be creeping any closer, either. So very odd.
Another odd thing passerby may notice is a new shop front present in the market district. It isn't uncommon to see new arrivals opening businesses, but no one seems to be taking credit for this one. It appears to be under construction, and while improvements to the facade seem to be moving apace, no one ever sees anyone actually working on it, either. Lockpicks won't open the door for anyone industricous (and morally gray) enough to try, and the expansive front windows are blacked out.
(Event credit goes to Whimsy!)
As another month rolls around, things seem to carry on as usual around Aterat as they have for a while now, but as the days pass, people might start to notice that there’s some kind of trend spreading across the city. It starts in small waves at first, nothing that would strike anyone as particularly odd.
One might come across a group or two of the younger locals gathered in the late summer evenings around a fire telling stories to either spook or amuse their friends, each story more wild than the last in an attempt to ‘win’ the game they seem to have decided to play. Best story gets the last s’mores and bragging rights until the next game! Who doesn’t love that? But it’s just good, innocent fun at the end of the day.
Then there might be the odd group at the pub sharing a weird tale or two that they remember from their youths, or heard from a coworker that sounds a little tall even by Aterat’s standards… Probably the product of a little too much ale and the late hour, right? Sure… Strange, though, that more than one person finds themselves claiming to have seen or experienced something similar to the story in the nights following. It must be a coincidence and nothing more…
From there, the inevitable shift continues, moving from the shopkeepers in the market to the guard and onward through the rest of the city. It seems like everyone’s got some kind of story to tell, and they’re incapable of keeping themselves from sharing it with whoever might be around to listen… And as the stories spread, the odd sightings and experiences get more frequent by the day.
The only commonality people might offer if someone asks around is they thought they saw someone out of the corner of their eye just before they felt the need to share. No one is quite able to describe them, beyond a woman in a long, dark gown and a large leather-bound book tucked under her arm.
Finally, the one group that hadn’t been among the storytellers so far is struck. Those not among the ‘locals’ start to feel the terribly odd compulsion to share something as well. A nagging thought tugging at the back of the mind, a story or legend, recalled that they need to get out. Maybe it’s something they have firsthand experience with, but can’t quite prove it happened to this day… Maybe it’s an old tale that they heard growing up or was shared by a friend that stuck with them. It could just be some legend handed down over time that no one quite escapes from hearing once in their life. But whatever it is? They have to share it, and their hand reaches for the tell-phone without even realizing it.
Before long, the story is shared. Maybe a couple people message back to talk about it, laugh a little at the silliness or theorize about what truth might be buried at the bottom… The sharer might feel a little tired, but the weight on their mind is lifted and they can go about their day as normal beyond that.
Until… The story comes back, and not by word of mouth…
Welcome to story time, folks!For the month of August there is now an unknown entity that lives off of stories roaming around Aterat.
The basic idea is it will creep up on your character at some point in time, and compel them to share a particular tale from their world. Whether it’s a ghost story, an urban legend or a piece of folklore from their own world, your character will find themselves unable to keep from opening up the Tell Phone network and sharing. The feeling will dwindle and go away once the tale has been shared, the entity satisfied. Because the story has been drawn from your character’s mind, they might notice they feel a little tired after the fact.
The magically inclined and attuned might be able to tell as it happens that they’re being affected by something outside themselves, but they can’t stop it either. There is also the off chance that those who are particularly observant of their surroundings (Magically inclined or average person) might think they see someone in the shadows or out of the corner of their eye before the feeling hits, but again, they can’t do much about it. The entity won’t let your character see her more than once if she realizes you know she was there. Plus, once she gets her free meal, she leaves pretty quickly.
That said, her being satisfied doesn’t mean that it’s over.
A few hours later, your character (and potentially those who heard the story) will find themselves confronted with the subject of the story shared! Depending on what the tale was, this means that they could be dealing with any number of situations.
Some examples include (but aren't limited to!):
Maybe your character is lucky, and they shared a story about a spirit/creature that’s totally benign, known for being particularly ‘helpful’, either imparting wisdom or doing nice deeds around the house or business…!
Maybe they were less than lucky and shared a story about a mischievous spirit that’s known for playing pranks...
Maybe your character shared something a little less fun to think about and now there’s a ghostly figure wandering the halls whose mournful cries keep people up at night.
Or maybe your character got dealt the worst hand of all and shared a story about something known to be quite unsettling as they follow at best, or are deadly hunters at worst.
In order to end the effects, your character might need a little help from someone else! Or maybe your character knows just what to do, and is saddled with the task of helping people who heard the story too. Or maybe it’s a whole big epic team up to deal with it between a couple or more characters!
So, The tone for this event can range for each character from quirky to exciting or downright scary! The choice is yours!
At the end of the month, the entity will simply return to its slumber with a head full of new stories. Any lingering spirits/creatures will disappear at that time and things will go back to normal.
Considering the wide variety of canons/world types the characters in game come from, it should be a really fun way to get creative and collaborate! Of course, this is not mandatory, it’s just something to have fun with for those interested!
It isn't mandatory to be involved with the manifestations of any stories shared, either, so feel free to use stories told as a springboard for new CR as well!
Please use this post to plot as not everyone has the same method of contact!
Questions
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Whimsy's Crew!
Mono - Nomes
Okay, Mono probably classifies as a cryptid in his own world between himself and the Thin Man… Buuuuuut we also have Nomes!
And I’m saving Thin Man for reasons ;)…There’s only 1 in Little Nightmares II but there are images of them in various places around the Pale City, so Mono is going to share the mystery of them and his hazy recount of the one time he might’ve found one in the hunter’s attic with Aterat.(Because Mono’s memories are mixed with multiple loops; I usually play it that he’s not always sure if he did something, if he did in a past loop, or if he’s imagined it. He at least understands this a little better now because of his canon point.)
What does this mean? Cute lil guys running around! Cute little guys that were once children at some point… but still cute lil guys! They’re smaller than children are, and look like this. They don’t talk, but they do make odd raspy squeaking sounds. They are very good at scurrying into little hiding places when they feel threatened and tend towards being skittish. Some might come across them in large drawers, kitchens/workrooms of varying kinds that were vacant overnight/during breaks, or having made a little haven in their attic like in LNII! That said, they also have a playful side and the braver ones are not above approaching strangers in an attempt to make friends.
I imagine people who talk to Mono/hear his story will probably see them around their homes or businesses, the lucky friendly people might get to befriend them (give em a hug!!) or the less lucky will see them running off to hide once the realize they aren’t alone. I also imagine people might see the brave ones making friends with/playing with children too.
Feel free to poke me about thoughts for your character’s encounters! Mono will be eager to see more Nomes and help out if they need it with approaching the little guys.
Waver Velvet - Beast of Hackney Marshes
I was very torn about what to do with Waver for this. I considered choosing a story about the fae or maybe some legend heard during his travels from before becoming a teacher, but I came across an urban legend from England that actually took place when Waver would have been a child so he probably would have heard about it secondhand from the news or classmates since he didn’t enter the clock tower until his teens.
Basically, wandering around the marshes was a beast described by the children who saw it as a ‘Giant, great, growling, hairy thing that could rise up on its hind legs.’ News reports eventually started writing it off as a hoax by someone pranking the kids, a large dog, and a bear. Now in Waver’s world, anything that falls in the territory of magic is often quieted by manipulating the news and such.
Waver will probably have theorized that it was some mage’s experiment or oversized familiar (like the electric death bunnies from the sewer episode) that was out roaming the grounds around some mage’s workshop that was alerted to the children playing nearby. Still, it’s a fun potential thing. (Well, I think it is, Waver probably won’t)
I’m thinking after he shares it, a large dark furred beast fitting the above description will be seen wandering potential marshes near the forest edge, scaring/going after people who pass. Either near the woods around the hunting lodge, maybe or perhaps not far from chocobo ranch?
Waver will feel responsible and actively try to investigate and deal with this.
Either way, throw ideas at me if you’re interested!
Yusuke Kitagawa - Seto Taisho
Described as a tempest in a teapot, this little samurai is made of dinnerware/teaware and is always looking for a fight!! Unfortunately for him, he is mostly harmless and more of a very stubborn nuisance. This would be because he is both smallish, and because the little wooden spear he carries around is tipped with a rounded jar on the end. So I imagine the biggest thread is for him to give you some pretty good bruises if he hits you.
The best thing to do deal with his feisty attacks is to trick him into running off the edge of a counter by standing there and moving at the last minute. HOWEVER! While he will break in a bad fall, that doesn’t mean he’s down for good! Seto Taisho can reassemble himself even if broken into multiple pieces. Once he does, chances are that he’ll just start bugging you all over again. The best thing to hope for unless another tactic can be devised would be to hope he gets bored and leaves to find someone else to bug.
I expect businesses that sell dinner/teaware can expect to be bothered by this little guy. The same goes for taverns, restaurants and the cafe since they obviously have these things! Yusuke himself will probably discover one while working at the cafe and feel terrible for bringing this chaos upon the fine establishment. >_>
Llewellyn - Is going to do tag outs/arounds for chats and experiencing some of the stories!
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Mitsuru would help Waver investigate! Though I'd actually kind of really like Aerith to run into it since she goes to the chocobo ranch and also has her flower garden. OMG I would kinda LOVE for it to run over some of her flowers if you'd be down for that? The hilarity of her flowers always getting crushed by something never gets old to me and at least this time it wouldn't be a person!
We have already discussed the Haru/Yusuke thing and that sounds adorable as fuck. BUT also I kind of want Ivy's pizza place to find one....she'll be so annoyed
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Ok Mitsuru is always welcome, but I LOVE the idea with Aerith! That sounds both hilarious and fun. God, what if Waver got the creature’s attention while investigating and accidentally is the one to lead them across her flowers when trying to get some distance between them to think of how to deal with it.
Like: HI, SORRY THAT BOTH I AND THE MONSTER THAT SPRANG INTO EXISTENCE FROM MY STUPID STORY TRAMPLED YOUR FLOWERS GOTTA GO BYYYYE… ALSO YOU SHOULD PROBABLY RUN TOO MAYBE.So >> let’s do it???I am SO EXCITED for Haru and Yusuke, but also would totally have him rush over to Ivy’s pizzeria to try to help there too like ‘oh no I have brought this upon more than just the cafe!!’
Yusuke’s very long busy month of dealing with porcelain samurai problems!no subject
OMG YES lets do it for sure! She'll be so frustrated like WHY IS IT ALWAYS MY FLOWERS WHYYY. Time to laser beam the monster. just goes straight to ray of judgement.
I mean lbr that sounds like Yusuke's luck. At least it's not rain? Wait--unless one of the porcelain samurai cut the water pipes in Haru's cafe then they both get wet like it's raining inside.
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Skjrngkrjngkrjgn I love this idea so much, it’s such a mental image. I’m sorry for your flowers Aerith you can put Waver to work later for leading this trouble to you u_u… Waver decides that Aerith is scary when mad as his first impression. Then finds out this is the lady Zack has mentioned multiple times.
LOL god now THAT Would be Yusuke’s luck. I feel like that needs to happen too. I love these ideas so much.
Plotting post!
Aerith will be telling a tale of the Train Graveyard and she is very freaked out by the Ghouls and Eligor that will show up. These things can also bring about some feelings of despair and images from the past to further haunt someone.
Haru loves her some horror and folklore so she will do the Tall Woman urban legend. She can be seen through a haunting 8 foot tall figure that can be glimpsed outside windows, following behind you, from the corner of your eyes, and slowly coming towards you. Run if you hear "po po po po"
Mitsuru Okiku Doll. Everyone loves a haunted doll right? For this one, Mitsuru's going to have her dreams haunted for a bit by the doll, refuse to tell anyone why she's so exhausted, and potentially face off against her own version of Chucky.
Illyana Koschei the Deathless will be kidnapping Illyana as a bride. He can be stopped by finding his soul which is in a needle, in an egg, in a duck in a chest buried in a crypt in the graveyard for the sake of simplicity. Break the needle and he dies. She will mention this in her story then hate the people that go to save her because she doesn't need saving you all suck.
/slides in here/
I would love something with Ivy and Llewellyn. Either maybe him happening upon her being confronted by the spider lady after hearing the story?? Otherwise it could be a fun/interesting conversation when she shares the story!
And it’s been a while since they talked, so maybe Mono and Aerith? He def can relate to bad experiences in places with trains too (lol he decides trains are just BAD NEWS in any world). They can bond over the effects!
Also, I know they don’t currently have CR, but I kinda want to throw him at Haru because uh... Hey look, he has experience with overly tall creepy people too!
Maybe Mitsuru and Yusuke with the dolls?? Idk why, but I feel like it could be interesting since he tends to be around when stuff happens and might notice her being tired. Or Maybe after he hears the story he ends up with one too! And which would kinda put her in the position to talk about it? Like she’s obviously tired, so like ‘Mitsuru I have a strong feeling that there is something more to this than growing hair, have you noticed?’ is kinda hard for her to deny!
Also, I feel like it would be an utter CRIME to not have Waver go on a scavenger hunt to help Illyana? She can be annoyed for a change!! Even though Waver will complain in return and pretend, he doesn’t care when he does. This is their friendship… Frankly, their back and forth gives me great amusement and joy.
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Oh yes! Mono and Aerith would be fun and also kinda sad, so I love it!
I am always up for more Mono so yes please, throw him her way. She'd be curious about his experience with a tall creepy man too.
OH I like the idea of him getting one too and then confronting her and being like I think we may be suffering from the same thing meanwhile she's still like nope there's nothing wrong
oh god Illyana will be so salty by Waver helping to save her SO salt
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Mono and Aerith train graveyard bonding boogaloo is a go then!!
Excellent, I love throwing Mono at yours! Tall Lady looks so cool and lol Haru can totally hear the complicated story of the Thin Man and Mono u.u… And having someone to team up against it will be a nice change of pace!!
And hey she’ll know what’s going on when we do that other thing!Right?? Like they both got a doll and something is most certainly wrong Mitsuru please your friend is BEGGING you here.
Also yesssssss it’s his turn!!! BD … He’ll be happier/enjoy this moment more after the digging up the nesting doll nightmare hidden needle is over with.
Churby's Folk
Have you heard the good word of Flerkens? They're sort of like orange tabby cats. But they're also an alien species that can store entire universes in their mouths. Yes, cats with hammer space. They also have tentacles in there And multiple sets of jaws. Fun!
Good thing is that these will be much like the only Flerken she's met, so relatively friendly. But Flerkek are pretty cool with just... eating things they're interested in. Or that are threatening them. Or that are just around. Hope you don't leave your wallet on a table. Might be in a Flerkin now. You're going to want to convince it to cough it up. Without getting eaten yourself. Oh, did I mention they share the same dimension? So something eaten by one Flerken can come out of any? Treasure hunt time.
Good news is that Flerken are capable of human level intelligence, are overwhelmingly cute, and like fish. So you've got negotiation ground here. Offer them food, offer them cuddles, offer them a truly irresponsible amount of gossip. Might work. Or muzzle them if you can. Then they're no different from an Earth Cat. Once all of the Flerkens are more or less under control, they will pop themselves out to another dimension. They were only visiting.
Nida
So, uh, anyone wanna fight a god? I wish I was kidding. This is probably a story that I would want to have at least two other people with characters that can fight hard to help out Nida before I actually pull the trigger on it. Magic extra useful of course. Some of the details may need to wait until after I get some feedback on a power update (as it becomes suddenly massively important), but yeah.
Long story short, Nida's story centers around the supposed god of his world, Hyne. It's the sorta story told to kids in general, part boogieman, part explanation for sorcery. All of it involves a god that decided, after discovering just how much his creations had reproduced and spread over his creation, decided to cull their numbers. War ensued. But good news, he would technically be only half a god, so defeat is possible?
If I get sufficient bites on this I'll probably do a whole separate plotting comment for it to coordinate.
Hilariously, he's going to be feeling something going on because magic senses are a bitch. The voice in his head is really going to be annoyed.
Rhy
Dragons? Dragons. Rhy will tell a bit of folklore about a sea dragon. One that fell in love with a female sailor, and so took human form to romance them. Consider it a tale of the origin of mermaids. The docks are going to definitely have a very VERY beautiful person wandering around trying to seduce people. HAVE FUN WITH THAT. It will give up with a bribe of course. It IS a dragon.
Tommy
AKA sir tagging around in this episode. Mostly because the things he'd talk about would be epic scale stuff that could get cities destroyed. But hey, he's all up for experiencing stories. So many stories. Dude loves stories.
Zack
Are you familiar with the concept of Seven Wonders in the concept of strange phenomena? Shinra Inc had their own variations amid the Soldier floors, a list of strange happenings from his workplace collated by Zack's other best friend, a Soldier named Kunsel. He'll be sharing one of his favorites. The Mystery of the Buzzing Closet!
What will this mean for you? Well, when passing doors that lead into small rooms or closets you might well hear a buzzing, whirring noise. It will not stop until the door is opened, releasing a little security robot. Don't worry, these things are mostly harmless. You could probably knock out these roomba knock offs with a few good whaps of a broom. They DO try to zap people they consider to be in restricted areas. And they think just about everywhere is restricted. But come on, you can handle these.
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I can volunteer Illyana for Nida's if you'd like! She can fight hard, has magic, and has fought kinda gods before.
The idea of Aerith having to deal with security robots trying to tell her that her shop is a restricted area also really really amuses me if you'd be cool with that? I'm just picturing her trying to hit roomba's with a broom while being like it's my shop! if anything it's restricted to you little things!!
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How about Llewellyn and Lauri-Ell for a thread? I feel like Llewellyn and Flerkens could be hilarious considering he has a habit of putting things down/losing them out of his pockets >> Walking Flerken-snack dispenser.
Maybe Yusuke for Nida’s? Even if Nida hasn’t seen him actually fight or anything the Art Friend still volunteers his service with a giant ice magic guy u.u
I would def like for Llewellyn to hear a story from his husband so maybe a convo thread for them about that. Tell him a story from your world, Rhy u.u I don’t really know if I have anyone who could be seduced I think but a story time is still fun!
I feel like the hilarity that will follow with Waver randomly opening a buzzing closet to be harassed by zappy security robots would be too good to pass up…
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