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Entry tags:
Power/Swap Event
Characters: Ensemble cast, any/all characters of Xistentia!
Summary: Power fluctuations across Xistentia affect not only the electricity of the city, but also the supernatural abilities of the residents. Will you get caught up in the chaos, or try to help out the next poor bastard who accidentally sprouted telekinesis overnight? Check out the mod announcement!
Date(s): Month of March 2018
Warnings/Notes: Potential violence/accidents
Early Saturday evening, the power goes out across Xistentia. Of course, if you were out in the woods roasting marshmallows or hunting elk, it doesn't make much of a difference until you approach the city and find the twinkle of lights has gone out. However, if you were enjoying some of the city amenities, it's immediately obvious that something is very wrong. Almost all stoves, lights, stereos, and heating systems cease to work. Television is right out. Devices running on indepedent power— such as cars, and cellphones and earpieces that relay the daemon network-- continue to work as long as they have battery power.
Or maybe you'll take advantage of the rise of community spirit in the nighttime, and come together to drink and tell stories in the one part of Xistentia that seems to continue to offer a little light— the Temple. There, people congregate to play a drinking game of truth or dare, or possibly complain about them millennials and their dependency on technology.
On the third day, residents begin to find that their daemons are malfunctioning a little. Accidental shitposts, distorted audio, and bizarre typographical errors are the least of it. It's as if your sentient personal assistants have gotten terribly drunk, though they reassure you that it's just part of the repair process...
On day four, the power comes back on and the daemons begin to sober up. It's awesome.
Except that that's when everybody's supernatural powers promptly go haywire.
For some, this is a sudden amplification of powers— superstrength or speed suddenly doubling in measure, or stone skin and magic swords will suddenly jolt into activation in the middle of brunch. A couple of werewolves wake up fuzzy on the morning after a new moon, whereas several wizards find themselves casting unintentional, messy spells while mumbling "shit" over something ordinarily innocuous. Arguably worse, a few people find their powers nullified. It's easier to manage, assuming you arranged your life so that a normal person could go about it. You may have to help one of our local giants escape from their seventy foot suburban home through a towering window, though.
And then there are the swaps. You'll hear about it on the network mainly— people squawking in dismay, that not only have they lost their old powers, but now they have something completely new. Keep your eye out— maybe someone will need your help, managing a terrifying set of abilities and weaknesses that you are familiar with.
Though many PCs have powers available for swap, several NPCs have also unleashed their abilities into the pool! Brief descriptions are below. Players may choose to handwave some off-screen help or instruction from these NPCs, or try and figure it out with the help of PCs.
Summary: Power fluctuations across Xistentia affect not only the electricity of the city, but also the supernatural abilities of the residents. Will you get caught up in the chaos, or try to help out the next poor bastard who accidentally sprouted telekinesis overnight? Check out the mod announcement!
Date(s): Month of March 2018
Warnings/Notes: Potential violence/accidents
Power/Swap Event
That sing the ecstasy of the soul and senses
Blackouts & Brownouts (March 10-13)
Early Saturday evening, the power goes out across Xistentia. Of course, if you were out in the woods roasting marshmallows or hunting elk, it doesn't make much of a difference until you approach the city and find the twinkle of lights has gone out. However, if you were enjoying some of the city amenities, it's immediately obvious that something is very wrong. Almost all stoves, lights, stereos, and heating systems cease to work. Television is right out. Devices running on indepedent power— such as cars, and cellphones and earpieces that relay the daemon network-- continue to work as long as they have battery power.
Or maybe you'll take advantage of the rise of community spirit in the nighttime, and come together to drink and tell stories in the one part of Xistentia that seems to continue to offer a little light— the Temple. There, people congregate to play a drinking game of truth or dare, or possibly complain about them millennials and their dependency on technology.
On the third day, residents begin to find that their daemons are malfunctioning a little. Accidental shitposts, distorted audio, and bizarre typographical errors are the least of it. It's as if your sentient personal assistants have gotten terribly drunk, though they reassure you that it's just part of the repair process...
Swaps and Supercharges (March 14-24)
On day four, the power comes back on and the daemons begin to sober up. It's awesome.
Except that that's when everybody's supernatural powers promptly go haywire.
For some, this is a sudden amplification of powers— superstrength or speed suddenly doubling in measure, or stone skin and magic swords will suddenly jolt into activation in the middle of brunch. A couple of werewolves wake up fuzzy on the morning after a new moon, whereas several wizards find themselves casting unintentional, messy spells while mumbling "shit" over something ordinarily innocuous. Arguably worse, a few people find their powers nullified. It's easier to manage, assuming you arranged your life so that a normal person could go about it. You may have to help one of our local giants escape from their seventy foot suburban home through a towering window, though.
And then there are the swaps. You'll hear about it on the network mainly— people squawking in dismay, that not only have they lost their old powers, but now they have something completely new. Keep your eye out— maybe someone will need your help, managing a terrifying set of abilities and weaknesses that you are familiar with.
NPC Swaps
Though many PCs have powers available for swap, several NPCs have also unleashed their abilities into the pool! Brief descriptions are below. Players may choose to handwave some off-screen help or instruction from these NPCs, or try and figure it out with the help of PCs.
- Telekinesis— 2 tonne maximum left (equivalent of a player vehicle), may throw or catch knives. Special feats, such as flight, may also be available but require study to master.
- Elemental Control
- Hydrokinesis— 15 cubic feet of water may be moved at one time, such as the volume of a square room of 'typical' adult bedroom height. This volume may be shaped or hurled around with the force of an ocean wave (for surfing, rather than storm). Water cannot be generated, but with effort and concentration, it may be pulled from the air or smaller bodies at a distance. Bodily transformation into water is an option.
- Pyrokinesis— the ability to generate and manipulate flames. Fires will start small, such as fireballs the size of a fist, and be fairly easy to maintain. However, with greater effort, larger, shorter-lived fireballs may be summoned for attacks, such as they may destroy 1 normal passenger vehicle in one shot. Bodily transformation into fire is an option.
- Terrakinesis— shockwaves through stone/earth/sediment or 15 cubic feet of earth may be moved at one time. Characters may raise pillars or shields of earth for offensive purposes, generating enough destructive force to flip or destroy a car in a single shot. With less offensive goals, they may reshape landscapes. Bodily transformation into earth/stone is an option.
- Touch Telepathy - Characters may read or affect the thoughts of others by coming into physical contact with them, with effect proportional to effort. Weaknesses will include that the target's willpower can overcome the ability, as characters learn to detect intrusion over time; they may also suffer from difficulty 'shutting out' the thoughts of others that they touch. Opt-out/consent pages will be required.
Will Solace | Camp Half-Blood Chronicles
Once the power comes back on, Will goes about life as normal... until he starts noticing a few things. He spends most of his time with Nico, so Nico is how he figures it out; when he holds his hand for long periods of time, he can't... sense how he's doing physically. Usually he'd be able to tell if he was tired or... or something but there's nothing.
He follows what other people are talking about and eventually he realizes with a sinking horror... his powers are gone. He really really hopes it's only temporary because he can't even begin to think about what life is going to be like if he's just a regular mortal now. He doesn't say anything about it, just says he's going to go play his guitar for a bit, picks it up, and goes somewhere somewhat secluded to sit down.
He doesn't play though, just resting the guitar in his lap. What if any talent he had with it was because he was a son of Apollo? What if he sucks now? What if he tries to play something and all that comes out is an awful twang and that's it? Or worse, what if someone shows up needing help and Will can't tell what's wrong with them because he can't touch them and figure out what's wrong? What if he can't heal them fast enough before they die if they're bleeding out?
He manages to keep his calm for the most part in that regard, because he's confident enough in his own medical know-how to help someone if someone needed it. It might not be as fast but he still knows basic medical first aid, knows how to take care of wounds and set broken bones and other things like that. There's a nagging what if lurking in the back of his brain, but he knows he's not absolutely useless without his demigod abilities.
He still can't bring himself to touch his beloved guitar though. Sure, he was never as talented as some of his other siblings but the thought that he might actually have zero musical talent and that what little he does/did? have is only because of his father makes him feel like something is breaking a little bit inside of him. He's resting his guitar on his lap with his arms draped over it, holding his hands out with one palm up and the other holding his celestial bronze dagger, eying the dagger like he's contemplating using it. He's only intending to prick himself with it for medical reasons, but it might not exactly look like that. If he's a regular mortal, the celestial bronze will go right through him, and he'd rather find that out now versus when he needs some nectar or ambrosia and tries to take some only for it to end up badly. He remembers trying to give ambrosia to his completely mortal father and... well... It'd been a good thing he hadn't accidentally killed him, let's just say. Regular mortals and ambrosia or nectar did not mix, at all.]
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will, sitting there with his dagger in hand, as if he might do something drastic with it. immediately, nico rushes to his side, kneeling before will in order to hopefully talk him out of whatever is going through his fiance's head. ]
Will? What in- What are you doing?
[ he reaches out to lay a hand on the blade, figuring putting himself in harm's way might jolt will to his sense, but to his surprise, his fingers and palm pass right through the blade as if it were air. ]
Will... Are you...?
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Will just kind of stares at the blade for a moment, then passes the blade between his own hand, carefully so he doesn't actually cut himself if it's still working. It goes right through.]
... You too?
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[ his tone is a little harsh, demanding as he takes the blade by the hilt and sets it aside. on days like today, he wishes he could read minds, know what his beloved is thinking in order to figure out what's wrong. but even if he were not mortal right now, he'd still be unable to. ]
Something must be up, but if we weren't both mortal right now... [ he lifts a hand to cup will's cheek. ] What's going on in that head of yours?
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Looks like you're banned from any ambrosia or nectar too though. This... is so bizarre. [He tries not to frown in frustration about it. It's really bothering him not being able to tell what's wrong with them, why they're like this.]
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[ shaking his head a little, he shifts to sit next to will. being mortal is definitely bizarre like will said, but he likes to think they've been through worse. ]
No nectar or ambrosia, got it, Doc. But we need to figure out what's happened to us. It can't be like Apollo. The gods wouldn't have reach here anyway. It must be something related to D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. or the F.A.T.E.S. like things usually are. Whatever it is, we'll get through this. Our training doesn't just make us rely on our powers, after all.
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Yeah, must be. Probably not a lot we can do about it either. Same old, same old, right? [He sounds so thrilled, doesn't he.] Once again, powerful beings a lot stronger than us are controlling our lives. [He heaves a sigh, drumming his fingers restlessly against the guitar.] Sorry. I know you don't need any powers at all to kick some ass. [He gives his fiance an encouraging grin.] Not with that sword of yours. But I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to be picking up a bow again anytime soon.
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[ he kisses his fiance, rough and passionate to emphasize his determination and then pulls back. ]
Why can't you pick up a bow, caro mio? My sword arm doesn't come from my powers and neither is your aim. Remember how worried Austin and Kayla were for nothing when Apollo showed up without his powers? It shouldn't affect you that way. You're still you.
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[He will return that kiss firmly, wanting to give Nico reassurance, smiling a bit when they pull apart but then frowning again once Nico brings up a bow.] Yeah, it's probably best to try and fire an arrow to make sure I don't shoot myself in the foot before I actually use it in any sort of fight. [Not his guitar though. He can't bring himself to even pluck a string.]
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I doubt you'll shoot yourself in the foot. Besides, if anyone tries to take you away from me before we're finally married, I'd hunt them down myself, powers or no.
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Listen to what you just said. All those years of training. It's not magic that allows you to hit a target, Will Solace. It's all that practice. Just like I know how to swing a sword from practice. We all have skills we worked hard for and they won't go away just because our powers are gone.
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If he's honest with himself, he probably wouldn't be here if he'd known Will already was, and he's halfway through stepping back and turning around when he really takes in what he's looking at.
The taut, hunched line of Will's shoulders, the way he's holding his guitar without really holding onto it, and--most worryingly--the grim focus, the intent with which he looks down at a knife in his hand.
Maybe it's been long enough that his earlier humiliation has gone numb, or maybe the skirt Mandy made him for his birthday has made him more brazen. Regardless of why, he closes the distance between them and gently, firmly takes hold of Will's wrist.
He'd intended to take the dagger away before Will could hurt himself, but he doesn't get that far--as soon as skin touches skin, there's a flood of emotion so strong it nearly sweeps him away, and it takes a moment for him to realize the thoughts aren't his.]
Oh--Will.
[He'd had no idea. It's dizzying, trying to sort through the bits he doesn't understand with the raw fear and hopelessness and overwhelming insecurity that he understands too well, and for a long moment the only thing he can do is hold on tight with his hand. There's a part of him that wants to make excuses for himself, to back off and stop intruding on someone else's head, but...he just can't. Propriety seems a bit pointless, in comparison to dark thunderheads where he's used to seeing the gold of the sun.
He bites his lip and tilts his head to meet Will's eyes, reaching up with his free hand to brush his fingertips over the handsome line of his cheek.]
This isn't all there is to you. It doesn't change who you are or what you've done.
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He's surprised by what Arthur says and looks down in slight sheepishness.] Must not have been doing as good a job at making it seem like there's nothing wrong than I usually am.
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To say nothing of the fact that he's still holding onto Will's wrist, which he's suddenly very aware of and flushing hot, but there's so much weight here. So much Arthur hadn't seen under what had apparently been a facade, blinded by his own affection.
But then Will is looking at him with something just a bit timid, and Arthur realizes he doesn't know--apparently, it's a one-way street.]
You're not--it's me. I'm not sure what's happening, but as soon as I touched you, I could...hear you.
[There's a beat, then he feels himself go pink and quickly lets go.] I'm sorry. I shouldn't have intruded--I didn't mean to.
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