Selenium 2017 Details

[simpathis]

— SELENIUM 2017 DETAILS —


For its third year, we're going to do something different for Selenium. Instead of it being in the city, Theasthai is hosting the festivities. While most of the traditions are the same, the also have their own flair to it. And for those who were expecting previous iterations, fear not! While different, we've managed to keep the essence of previous events while giving it an interesting twist.


» WHAT IS SELENIUM?

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First thing we should explain is to once again explain what the tradition even is. Selenium is basically our version of All Souls Day. Everyone takes the time to send their respects (or grievances) to the dead and on the evening of the last day of the month, they release floating lanterns. The candle symbolizes the departed souls, and the act is to help any lingering spirits to pass on. It's both a solemn and celebratory affair as while there is grief, the goal is to also send the departed off with joy of the lives they lived.


» EVENT DETAILS

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Except for one thing, this will be a bit more straightforward. Nevertheless, be sure to read all the details!

• Time frame. ICly, this happens during the last two days of the month. OOCly, it runs from January 27th through January 31st. As always, you are free to tag in late and tag for as long as you need to. Because this is an event running through the Activity Check, all threads will count toward AC!
  
  
• Location. Just to make it official, it will be set in the Theasthai's Hanging Gardens. Everyone is invited, including the locals of Verens and Shaarnath. The teleporters will be in full operation with additional hot air balloon rides.
  
  
• Opt in. As always, this is an opt-in event. It's also true for locals, as some may stay behind to do their own private ritual of the tradition.
  
  
• Arehtei. Surprise, the Arehtei will be there! This is the first time all of them will be together for Selenium, so they will have a special opportunity for those who wish to visit them to do so. They may even share their own personal memories of their past.
  
  
• Activities. While there will be an overall festive atmospheres, there will be certain items and activities that characters can focus on.
  
  
  • Candles of Remembrance. These candles are freely handed out to those who may want one and are for personal use, not the lanterns. They are made with the petals from the Tree of Memories, and what makes them unique is that when lit, both the flame and the smoke will create a reflection of a dead or just sorely missed but alive individual. It's tuned to draw in good memories, but it is possible for a negative image to slip image instead. This image is viewable to all near it. The only real effect this will have is to evoke emotions regarding the individual, but it's otherwise just a subdued little "memory candle" of sorts. Or at least, it's supposed to be.
    
    
  • Ghostly Matters. For those hoping to have their characters experience the "ghostly shadows" that appeared from memory petals of years previous, they will be able to do so but in a different manner.
    
    
    • Bad grudges. This year, ghostly apparitions will appear in Theasthai and the candles will be the source. From the smoke, a ghostly figure will be recreated and form in front of the individual. However, the difference here is that the figure does not have to be the same as the initial image of the flame. Instead, it will draw deeper and try to pull the worst memories. So even if someone is seeing a loved one in the flame, their hated enemy will appear from the smoke. These apparitions will move and even speak, but their goal is to torment their source.
      
      
    • Soothe the soul...? Like before, the "haunted" character will need outside help to try and get past the negative experience they will be having. However, it will be difficult as the apparition will try to spread the negativity and may even try to physically obstruct them.
      
      
      • Success! If the "haunted" is able to overcome their emotions, then the the apparition will disappear in white fire and disappear. A hint that they are improving is if the candle turns white.
        
        
      • Failure. If the "haunted" is unable to overcome their emotions, then the spirit will actually smile, converge on itself to turn into a black, glowing ball, and disappear. There will be no trace of it left and the affected will be overcome with sickness, but it will pass after a few hours. The hint for failure is the candle will turn black and will even crumble when the apparition disappears.
      
      
    • Bad Ghost Count. While we won't have a separate Emotion Tracker, we'd like for everyone who has a failed bad ghost encounter (ie, the ones who escape), to leave a comment here. Yes, this does mean we actually would encourage failure, and that does mean that this is not the last you will see of them.
      
      
    • "Rare" Occurrence. Although it's clear that the candles are at fault, it is not all the candles. In fact most everyone should have the more pleasant experience with their candles, with only the "unlucky few" getting the bad ones. So these ghostly incidents should not be considered as a widespread problem. Even so, an investigation will be conducted after the festival.
      
      
    • Floating Lanterns. Despite the candle incidents, lanterns will still be lit and released. Just like in Verens, everyone writes the names of their deceased or deeply missed loved ones, attach it to the lantern, light the candle, and release it. For Theasthai, this ceremony will be aided with perfomancy to create an even more illustrious display.
    
    
  • What about the Memory Petals in Verens? For those who stay in Verens, they will actually notice the petals are not behaving as they normally do. That is because if it wasn't noticed before, the petals crystallizing will become more apparent and are actually still crystallizing—even after everyone has returned from the excursion. Even parts of the tree seem to have turned into crystal.

And that should be it! So the main take away from this event will be that it's set in Theasthai's Hanging Gardens, there are memory candles, and some are broken and create bad "ghosts."


» POST-EXCURSION REMINDERS AND UPDATES

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For those wondering about the aftermath of the Excursion, that is still happening. However, we are pushing it to post Selenium as what will happen matches with that. Also, we need everyone who participated to fill out the trackers before we can really proceed.

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And that's it! If you have any questions, feel free to ask here. You are free to use this post for plotting.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[simpathis]

Any and all questions go here!

[shadowofpride]

Just for the sake of having it on record. Since we have criminal movement restrictions setup, I was wondering where Pride would stand right now. Since he hasn't caused any serious offense after his release in Oct, is it ok for him to travel to Theasthai for the event, most likely to be going with Mrs. Bradley.

Re: QUESTIONS

[boundbynaught]

For characters like Riku Replica who had their memories suppressed via canon events, does the "bad grudges" portion account for only memories they can recall now, or can that include previously suppressed stuff?

[gottacatch]

Regarding the memory petals, did anything ever show on them from the point they began appearing, like a static image? Or have they always been crystallised and nothing else?

Would anything happen if someone picked one up and tried to influence one, such as how someone can try and draw out a certain memory through emotions? Also, are the pods doing okay if someone were to check on them?

Also, I'm assuming no ghostly apparitions will be hanging around Verens this year in any form, and the release of the lanterns at Lake Niras will still be a thing for those on the island?

[praelucente]

How do multiple hauntings function in play? Is it one ghost at a time, do they manifest all at once, is there a gap between the manifestations...?

[feistytrader]

"There will be no trace of it left and the affected will be overcome with sickness, but it will pass after a few hours."

What kind of sickness, exactly? Just generally feeling under the weather, or something else?

-OH also are the candles breakable and would that stop the ghosts?

[thatgoodnight]

Out of curiosity, how does one go about meeting the Arehtei in this instance, anyway?

[luckyhood]

Hi, I just wanted to ask a few things about the candles and a scenario I have in mind!

First, I wanted to know if it was possible for a character to have multiple candles, or is it restricted to one per person as with the lanterns?

If the answer to the above is only one, that kind of defeats the purpose of the second question, but... If we're allowed to have more than one candle per person, would it be possible to see a negative image in one candle, and have a ghost appear from another?

Re: QUESTIONS

[protecttheweak]

Is it possible to see a group of people in the candle? not the ghosts just the happy missing people

[spiritofjustice]

So if I'm understanding correctly, the ghostly apparitions are 'hated' enemies who have a reason to hold a grudge against the character, right? Does that mean that their appearance in the smoke hinges on the ghosty holding a grudge, or can they also appear if the character believes that ghost has a reason to hold a grudge (even if they might not?)

What I'm asking, basically, is whether it's seriously the ghost of a dead person brought to life (and transcending universes) through their own hateful emotions, or whether the ghost is born from how the character perceives them and feels about them?

[gardenboxed]

I have a question regarding the memories and ghostly apparitions. Do these things only draw upon remembered memories? For instance, Yuuki here cannot remember the first five years of her life due to a spell that she's under. So she can't actually remember her parents, or what happened to them or her during that time. Would memories from that time period remain locked to her due to the fact that she can't recall them herself?

The same for jerk ghosts?

[jeido]

While haunting the person they originated from, could the ghost change into someone else, or are they to remain in that form for the whole haunting session?

Are the ghosts able to manipulate the emotions that are absorbed into them (i.e. use Dunamis or have uncontrolled bursts of emotion which can affect those in the vicinity)? Or is their tormenting ability more limited to physical and verbal means?

GHOST COUNT

[simpathis]

Just a very quick and easy ghost counter. Just fill out the form and comment!

<b>Player:</b> <b>Character:</b> <b>Alignment:</b> <b># of ghosts:</b> in case you feel sadistic and have your character experience multiple or more than once <b>Description:</b> brief description of the ghost including emotions absorbed into it

Re: GHOST COUNT

[brodakota]

Player: Megan
Character: North Dakota
Alignment: Peromei
# of ghosts: 1
Description: The Ghost is of Agent Maine/Meta. While a former teammate of North's, due to AI shenanigans Maine was taken over by his AI partner and began to seek out the other Agents to take their AIs and became an entity known as the Meta. He killed North in order to take North's AI, Theta.
General emotions include confusion (because North still doesn't have the full story about what happened to Maine) and Fear (big one, because the Meta is terrifying and it is confronting his death)

[feistytrader]

Player: Cam
Character: Silver
Alignment: Aiada
# of ghosts: 1
Description: Petrel: An overall skeevy looking dude that worked as an executive of Team Rocket for some time and tried to control Arceus, aka the Pokémon God Llama. He's skilled in disguising himself as anyone he sees and catching people off guard. Also has a million Koffing. He absolutely hates the guy, so there was a lot of anger/hate, but a good amount of grief as well.

[jamminshield]

Player: Gore
Character: Steven Quartz Universe
Alignment: Daimonia
# of ghosts: 1
Description: A ghost of Rose Quartz (Steven's mother whom he's never actually met) reflecting all of the negative accounts that he's been hearing about her recently at home.
The emotions absorbed into it include despair, grief, distrust and fear.

[actualhumandisaster]

Player: Zet
Character: Anakin Skywalker
Alignment: Sosyne
# of ghosts: 1
Description: The (very disapproving) ghost of Jedi Master Mace Windu whom Anakin had a hand in murdering shortly before arriving in Verens. You know. The grim guy with the purple lightsaber.
Emotions are guilt, regret, despair and fear.

[jeido]

Player: Slip
Character: Jade Curtiss
Alignment: Sosyne
# of ghosts: 1
Description: Nebilim Replica, the first replica Jade has created in an attempt to revive his teacher. He's tried to dispose of her before, but failed in doing so, which led to a certain serial killing incident. In game, she's a very destructive boss who is nothing like his teacher except in appearance. He hasn't had any of the closure provided by the related sidequest in the game, so things go badly when she pushes all the wrong buttons. Emotions absorbed into it include: grief, despair, hate, regret, longing. It's a mess I'm so sorry

[authorofanomalies]

Player: Ryu
Character: Stanford Pines
Alignment: Piphron
# of ghosts: 1
Description: Bill Cipher showed up. Bill is a triangular chaos demon who gained young Ford's trust, and then manipulated him into building a trans-dimensional portal. The last thirty years of Ford's life have been spent trying to destroy Bill, while being trapped on the other side of said portal. He was recently defeated, nearly at the cost of the few family members Ford had left. The emotions going into this are dismay, distrust, fear, and anger.

[sobored]

Player: Steve
Character: Junko Enoshima
Alignment: Peromei
# of ghosts: Just the one
Description: Izuru Kamukura, one of the first and most important pieces in Junko's plan to ruin Hope's Peak Academy and then the entire world. Let's see, we've got anger, hate, grief, despair, distrust, and hell, even a little fear that'll get thrown in.

[holdsodear]

Player: Sapphire
Character: Mrs. Bradley
Alignment: Daimonia
# of ghosts: 1
Description: King Bradley, her husband who disappeared from the island while they had been living separated due to a variety of issues, namely unresolved distrust. The ghost represents the self-blame and doubts that she had been burying and turning inward; including guilt, grief, despair, confusion, anger

[shepherds_pie]

Player: Ryuuto
Character: Sorey
Alignment: Peromei
# of ghosts: 1
Description: The ghost of Heldalf is the Big Bad in Sorey's world. This dude is very powerful, since he was able to lock away Sorey's resonance the first time he challenged the Lord of Calamity. Heldalf did some body horror by absorbing Zenrus, Sorey and Mikleo's caretaker in Elysia, and then the two of them mercy killed said caretaker. Sorey also straight up mercy killed Heldalf by stabbing him with his own sword. He...hasn't had any closure on this at all.

The emotions absorbed by this apparition are primarily guilt, sorrow, and some anger.

[gottacatch]

Player: Reena
Character: Red
Alignment: Sosyne
# of ghosts: 1
Description: An apparition of Red himself during his time when overwhelmed by anger and hate when Sosyne attacked Verens, and the lingering regret he holds for what happened and his growing fear of going home because of it. Along with regret and fear, guilt, grief and shame/humiliation were pulled out.

[pr159]

Player: Eric
Character: Rideaux Zek Rugievit
Alignment: Elios
# of ghosts: 1
Description: Julius Will Kresnik, his rival of seventeen years and also the closest thing to a friend he ever had even though he fucking hates him. Rideaux's survival basically depends on Julius dying (and vice versa) so he's been fighting like hell to prove himself to be more useful for over a decade, and has pretty much destroyed himself doing it. At the same time he's also bitter that Julius has grown away from him.

Emotions: Hatred, anger, jealousy.

[spiritofjustice]

Player: Meowzy
Character: Bobby Fulbright
Alignment: Piphron
# of ghosts: 1
Description: The ghost of the real Bobby Fulbright. Looks exactly the same as the one who's been in Verens all this time, right down to the little details. Emotions involved are primarily fear, but also some despair and distrust. (Fear of being exposed as an imposter and fear of being a nobody with no real identity. Coupled with the latter is also a bit of despair. Finally, there's the distrust, partly thanks to Maya tricking him into lighting the candle in the first place.)