PLAYER PLOT POST: Mask of Fear

[nohproblem]

Hello, Empatheias! I'm looking for some help kicking off a player plot! In short: Kokoro is going to lose a mask.

The Setup
This is the main part I need help with! I can think of a few ways that she could lose a mask:

1. Somebody steals it! This would be a good way to involve another player, if anyone's inclined to steal personal property from strangers.
2. The mask gets knocked away during a casual duel (probably with one of the other touhous), and she doesn't notice, then someone else picks it up. Both this and the previous one would have interesting implications for the person who ends up with the mask.
3. Some sort of incident winds up with the mask being destroyed. But what kind of incident?

So, that's the part I most need input on - anyone willing to volunteer ideas for how to get the mask and its owner separated.

The Impact
The mask that Kokoro will be losing is the Mask of Fear. Since most of Kokoro's emotion is stored in her masks, this has a number of strange effects. To clarify, all of this is one hundred percent optional - none of this has to affect anyone who isn't interested in playing with it!

• Kokoro's emotions will be somewhat destabilized, so she'll be even weirder than normal.
• Kokoro will be unconsciously draining the missing emotion out of the people around her - in this case, stealing fear. The result will be a chance of random people suddenly feeling like nothing in the world can stop them, and doing things they might otherwise be too afraid to consider. Reckless idiots abound.
• If she gets too desperate, Kokoro may resort to going around trying to scare people in an attempt to stabilize her own emotions.
• If someone else stole or picked up the mask, they might start to feel more nervous and paranoid the longer they hold on to it, as its power of fear radiates through them.

The Resolution
How this ends depends on how it begins! Maybe Kokoro finds the mask again and takes it back (if the holder isn't willing to give it back, be ready for a serious fight). Maybe something happens to scare Kokoro enough that she's able to build a new mask on her own. Whatever happens, I don't plan to go more than maybe two weeks with this.

Anyone interested in playing a part in this? Who wants to take a mask and unintentionally case problems? Reply and let's sort something out!

Comments

[omnitrixter]

I don't have any pre-existing CR with Kokoro and this guy is a good guy so being the one to steal it is out, but I'd be willing to be one of the ones who gets fear sucked out of them, that she tries to scare, or one of the unfortunate suckers that comes in contact with the mask accidentally.

[itwouldbeatragedy]

Kaneki hasn't interacted with Kokoro yet, but I'd love to get him involved somehow! Stealing's not his thing, but he could certainly come into contact with the mask or run into Kokoro while she's missing it.

Alternatively, if him being a ghoul (i.e. eating human flesh, having a weird tentacle appendage, etc.) would be enough to scare her, he could help with her creating a new mask? We'd just need to figure out a reason for her to see him like that, since he normally just looks like a regular dude.

[nohproblem]

How about something like

1. Mask gets lost during a tournament fight
2. Kaneki picks it up by coincidence
3. By the time it's clear that someone is looking for it, fear mask influence has Kaneki disinclined to go out of his way to let anyone know he has it
4. Things get out of hand
5. Some kind of resolution

[itwouldbeatragedy]

That sounds like it would work! Paranoia and nervousness are definitely in his wheelhouse, too, so he'd make a decent candidate to end up with the mask.

[not_good_not_wicked]

Marisa can blast the mask half way across Verens if you want to just get this started and let people freestyle it, since there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of plotting going on in here.

[nohproblem]

Yeah, that's about what I'm thinking at this point - maybe lose it during one of her tournament duels. Against Marisa if they end up fighting, or someone else if not.

[not_good_not_wicked]

After all the trash talking they did there's no way we can let them actually meet in the tournament.

[nohproblem]

Yeah, it would be a crying shame to actually deliver on any of that drama.

[gottacatch]

While I'm not sure if this is too early for me to contribute anything (and I've only just joined and still need to actually intro!), I wonder if one of Red's pokémon may be able to assist called Gengar.

Gengars absolutely love scaring people and causing mischief, and this one is no exception. If she were to catch Noh attempting to startle people around Empatheias, whether because she did it to Red or she was just witness to it (as Red would let his pokémon out now and then through the day), Gengar could decide to try and upstage her and/or frighten Noh too.

Gengars have the ability to also cast hexes/curses/basically be pain in the butts, so what I'm sure could be possible and not unreasonable to believe, is that she can leave tiiiiny little spells/enchantments into the most miscellaneous items, quick enough that Red won't have any idea about what she's doing and so she won't get in trouble, and they could activate at a later date/spontaneously.

This can provide the option of having also random scares happening throughout the city too, as basic as restaurant signs flapping wildly/skidding across the street, lights flickering, to blood-curdling screams coming out of bushes or nowhere, sounds of crying, etc. Nothing that would be harmful physically (unless somebody accidentally got smacked by a flapping sign, whoops), and what actually happens could be up to anybody who might want to have those things happen to their character.

This may also help Noh if it started happening everywhere, by causing more fear/unease? Or just be a ghost screwing around and being no help.

[nohproblem]

There are some good ideas in here, but I am obligated to clarify that her name is Hata no Kokoro, not Noh.

[gottacatch]

Which deity takes embarrassment, I need to put it down under my personal emotion tracker.

[wrongeye]

While I'm definitely mulling over what a fearless Redcloak looks like, maybe he'd be way more careless with his words and brutally honest with people, I could have him help her out by casting some divinations for her. It'll take a while to pinpoint it exactly, I'm sure, since he doesn't recall what her fear mask even looked like.

But she does have a goblin cleric on her side!