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Vivification - The Curse Of True Sight

 

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Foreword

 

 

 


 

This lore is intended to fill the niché of the clairvoyant; the non combative seer, gypsy psychic or even priestly exorcist. It as a concept is something I feel Mysticism currently misses the mark on, something myself and Zarsies tried to capture in this unfortunately denied piece as a magic slot of the same name. It is intrinsically linked with mysticism, yes, but given its closer ties to hexing (a specific, coveted feat within mysticism) as well as the current state of affairs with mysticism - the broader magic and its associated creatures in desperate need of a rewrite - I have opted to write this ‘magic’ as a feat separate from yet compatible with mysticism rather than an addition to the current lore. The decision was also made to write vivification as a feat rather than a full scale magic with the understanding that it will be more ‘detrimental’ than ‘beneficial’ to have (for want of better words; I’m unfortunately all too familiar with the ‘win or lose’ mindset most people have to roleplay), serving as a worldbuilding addition to the lore surrounding death with the elysian wastes, as well as a flavoursome curse with no combat utility.

 
 

 


The Elysian Wastes: A Place Caught Between

 

 

 


 

When freed from its mortal bonds the soul travels much. Some are fortunate enough to trace the soulstream from this world into the next. The fates be it the seven skies, stargûsh'stroh, ebrietaes or elsewhere are the final rests - or torments - of the soul for most. Some, however, don’t transition so smoothly. The elysian wastes (named so to parody elysian fields, a fabled alternative) are not a ‘location’ in the conventional sense, but a bridge between all the mortal planes and the soulstream. Its geography is nonexistent; the beings caught in the wastes dwelling in the same towns, forests and mountains as those still present in the realm of the living, albeit unable to interact with them. This is the curse of the elysian waste’s permanent residents: to watch the world of the living move around them, screaming at deaf men, trampled by blind horses and squatting beneath crumbling houses until the end of time.

 


The elysian wastes are inhabited by all varieties of spectral undeath: apparitions, ghosts, gravens, wights, geists, strigae spirits or simply stagnant souls, though the latter is its only true residents. Whilst apparitions are strong enough to interact with both the mortal realm and the elysian wastes, the lesser spectres [ghosts, gravens and wights] root themselves to the mortal planes firmly enough to interact with them and consequently grow ignorant of the waste’s other inhabitants. Geists are also known to only partially linger in the elysian wastes, being prisoners of ebrietaes (the closest fate geographically to the elysian waste tied to axiom and aerios) they may only escape such torment when called upon by mystics through hexing or in the presence of a clairvoyant, in either circumstances empowered to briefly escape their torture by inflicting it upon others. 

 

Stagnant souls then make up the elysian waste’s majority populus; they are the souls of beings not yet willing to pass on through the soulstream for one reason or another, be they clichés with ‘unfinished business’, watchers still attached to the realm of the living or simply those too hesitant or fearful to be carried into their fate (in light of this many atheists, xionists or known sinners in life tend to become stagnant residents of the elysian wastes in death). They are oft known to linger around the site of their death or burial, though in truth are free to roam as they please in line with the mortal laws of travel; for example an unfortunate soul is one who falls down a well, is locked in a mausoleum by an unwitting cemetery master or wanders into a building just before it collapses; being forced in such circumstances to either stay trapped or accept their fate and be carried off by the soulstream. 

 


-Souls can only stagnate in the elysian wastes when accepting true death and choosing to delay their inevitable fate. In this regard the souls of characters that are not permanently killed be it through monk revival, kloning, machine spirits, tree lords, blood magic rebirth etc will be immediately plucked into the soulstream and to their method of revival upon death. They can not linger about the elysian wastes until accepting their permadeath.
 

 

 

The Curse Of True Sight

 

 

To most, the elysian wastes serve as a one way mirror; its inhabitants are forced to watch the realm of the living and remain unseen by all in the realm of the living but the clairvoyant, those cursed with true sight. This curse (oft called vivification) forces its victims to passively see and hear beings trapped in the elysian wastes and live their lives out amongst both the living and the dead. They are able to see not only the stagnant souls with which they share the realm, but also apparitions and ghosts regardless of their desired visibility and are often targeted by geists. 

 

 

-Whilst stagnant souls are usually NPCs akin to geists, dead characters will require the consent of their former players to communicate with. Stagnant souls will usually (though aren’t forced to) linger near the site of their death or burial, making battlefields and graveyards traumatic and confusing sites for those cursed with true sight.

 

It should be noted that in these interactions - with the exception of the monstrous appearances of apparitions and geists - the unliving will always take the appearance of their living selves and are usually at first mistaken for such and ignored by clairvoyants, though through physical contact with a dead man’s belongings a clairvoyant may try to beseech a soul from the elysian wastes intentionally and if they’ve access to a corpse or skeletal remains a clairvoyant may even try to conduct a seance speak with souls that have passed on to fates beyond the soulstream (with the exception of the ebreitaes), at the expense of crippling fatigue. Not only are clairvoyants able to communicate with the elysian waste’s residents but they may also offer (or more often lose) control over their bodies to the unliving through possession.

 

-Whilst otherwise invisible ghosts can be seen by clairvoyants there is no reason for them to be suspected as anything out of the ordinary unless made evident (by walking through someone for example).

 

-The ability to see ghosts and apparitions that would usually wish to remain unseen does not extend to other spectres being seen through physical mass, such as apparitions, wights, ghosts or gravens that choose to possess physical bodies or objects. Similarly vivification does not allow one to recognise haunted or hexed objects.

 

-Beseeching a stagnant soul from the elysian wastes will require an item once belonging to the dead individual. 

 

-Conducting a seance to temporarily call upon dead characters beyond the soulstream (for instance in stargûsh'stroh) will require the character’s corpse or skeletal remains and the OOC consent of the player behind it. Souls doomed to ebrietaes can only be contacted through mysticism’s seances, making them beyond the common clairvoyant’s reach.

 

-After conducting a seance successfully souls will return to their designated fates and a clairvoyant is left paralysed by exertion for one IRL day.

 

-A possessed clairvoyant (willing or not) will gain no physical or magical prowess or benefit.

 

-Magics can not be taught by dead characters being spoken with via vivification. 

-Dead player characters that have been killed by other player characters can not name or allude to the identity of their killer (for metagaming concerns). They can however give minor details like the whereabouts of their body or their cause of death, IE “I drowned in <x lake>” but NOT “I was pushed into <x lake> by <y character>”.

 

The curse of true sight can be bestowed in the three ways. The first being the reading of the grimoire of phantoms by a Mystic who -  having peered into the ebrietaes by the will of Mthyul Tlan itself - will have the Elysian Wastes unveiled to them. Those not practicing Mysticism can still be cursed however, though not by simply reading the grimoire. Barrow-born, as they are known, are product of ghastly experimentation upon a pregnant woman, wherein an apparition (either of its own accord or instructed by a mystic) afflicts the curse upon a child whilst still in the womb, making them ‘barrow-born’; cursed with vivification their entire lives, however unable to conduct seancés and beseech the dead until they come of proper age. The life of a barrow-born is a troubled one, often shrugged off as ‘born mad’ or disowned by their peers, these cursed children live in the cold light of the elysian wastes and will be subject to the dead’s torment their whole lives. The third method of cursing is perhaps the simplest: a mystic or a barrow-born already themselves cursed can smite vivification upon a sleeping individual (without magical protection of some sort) by physical touch, forcing them into a three day coma wherein they are subject to the horrific torment of geists and shall eventually awaken traumatised with true sight.

 

-Vivification is a dark magic feat and requires an application.

 

-Apparitions creating ‘barrow-born’ with vivification require LT approval (as apparitions always do) for their creation and an LT or approved ET to play them, as well as a player mother; barrow-born need to be applied for as new characters following an event. There is no ‘becoming’ barrow-born on a pre-existing character.

 

-Barrow-born or Mystic users of vivification will require a TA to bestow the curse upon another.

 

-’Magical protection’ referenced above indicates some sort of interfearance with the curse, meaning it can not be bestowed to that individual. This protection could come in the form of a connection with Xan, Aeriel, Tahariae, Yeu Rthulhu or Scorthuz or having some sort of protective enchantment/ ward of the aforementioned deities on their person whilst the cursing is attempted. Mental protection in the form of Shade parasites, Cognatism and Blood Mage-Rogue ‘Lesser Mind Marrow’ also render those individuals immune to cursing. Those without souls and already undead creatures (with the exception of Wights reading the grimoire of phantoms) can not be cursed with vivification either due to their already close bonds with the elysian wastes (or complete lack thereof).


-Whilst most people can be cursed, only the barrow-born or the mystics who have read the Grimoire of Phantoms to be cursed can make a TA and spread the curse which in this regard is functionally similar to the spread of Arcane Displacement. 

 

-vivification is an optional side effect of hexing, still serving the purpose of a seperate feat rather than just a mysticism addition; any mystic who reads the grimoire of phantoms following this piece’s acceptance CAN be cursed with vivification though this is not mandatory.


-There is no cure for the curse, meaning this brings about a permanent change of character and requires OOC consent of whoever is being cursed, either from players lined up to play barrow-born, mystics reading the grimoire of phantoms or regular people being cursed in their sleep.

 

Most clairvoyants would do well to live as hermits for fear of scrutiny from both the living and dead. If choosing to integrate with society then superstitious tendencies are rife, usually keeping aurum handy to keep the unliving at an arm’s reach at the very least. There are many reasons for a clairvoyant to avoid the dead, for example mistaking a spectre for a mortal man is an easy mistake to make and can prove detrimental to users of vivification either in accusations of insanity or heresy by their fellow living men or in the desperate pursuit from the dead seeking anything from well meaning company and favours to granting the clairvoyant a lifetime of torture as entertainment for a mind dirtied by aeons of stagnation. Geists too prey on those with true sight; foul creatures taking the opportunity of a brief escape ebrietas’ torment by afflicting it upon another similarly to how their influence is used in hexed items by mystics. The full extent this affliction is felt by the sleeping clairvoyant, whose body becomes prime for the taking by any stagnant soul or geist looking to possess it; their resting bodies also become invitations to geists temporarily hoping to leave the ebreitaes, clairvoyants often being startled awake by the same nasty afflictions one might experience from touching a hexed item.

 

-A clairvoyant must use aurum if they wish to harm to stagnant souls, even then unable to destroy them, only causing the unliving great pain for forcing them to stay at bay. Stagnant souls are otherwise unable to interact with the physical world and will pass through people and objects, though will be stopped by doors and walls (in this sense a clairvoyant couldn’t have an invisible undead NPC walk through walls to spy on someone).

 

Vivification has no permanent cure though its effects are most potent when the victim is empty of mind and the terror of constant haunting can briefly be kept at bay in the absence of such. This usually leads clairvoyants that wish to keep their sanity down an unhealthy spiral of zealotry or abuse when pursuing a moment’s respite or a good night’s sleep, usually through drugs and alcohol in excess, risk taking for adrenaline rushes or fanatical religiosity (as a means of honing the curse and almost always misinterpreting it as a divine ‘gift’).

 

-A clairvoyant can not opt out of seeing the nearby dead - to suspend the implied mental detriment of vivification - unless by sacrificing their clarity of mind also accepting the consequences of drug and alcohol abuse or physical harm risked by chasing adrenaline rushes. 


-A religious clairvoyant will be granted similar peace of mind to a clairvoyant in the above circumstances only whilst performing religious duties and rituals. They are by no means immune to the detrimental effects of Vivification. Furthermore, fanatics of religions that condemn the undead will be subject to far more vicious attacks from Geists whilst attempting to sleep, often resting at holy sites in an attempt to hide from them.
 


 

 

 

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Idk I guess go ahead sure

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4 minutes ago, Dunstan said:

What format is this?

The one titled “there is no format explicitly listed for feats I guess you’ll just have to read 9 ENTIRE paragraphs with appropriately situated redlines” on the thread, fear not.

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remove this weird striga spirit **** lol

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i smell a comeback +1

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Currently both necromancer lores in submissions both have the spell vivification. I recommend waiting until the new Story Team Lore Masters decide if it is to be removed before attempting to implement it in another lore piece.

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4 hours ago, Jenny_Bobbs said:

Currently both necromancer lores in submissions both have the spell vivification. I recommend waiting until the new Story Team Lore Masters decide if it is to be removed before attempting to implement it in another lore piece.

As far as im aware neither of those pieces use the word vivification to describe what ive submitted; if the team has a problem with the name alone then im sure thats something that can be changed when they review it. The idea of waiting to submit based on that alone seems a bit silly

7 hours ago, ScreamingDingo said:

remove this weird striga spirit **** lol

If/ When striga are removed, sure.

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So this lore seems to be using  spells and ideas that had, long before this was posted, been included in an ongoing rewrite of Mysticism that I and a few others have been working on. Something called True Sight and Seances were both established quite some time ago, so I’m not entirely happy about this post using those ideas. I don’t claim to have sole rights to the concepts of course, given they originated in Zarsies’ attempt at merging necromancy and mysticism, but this is overall very inconvenient for the Mystics hopes of a rewrite / lore that isn’t spread over six posts like the current one, let alone for us having coherency within that lore.

 

I think I’m obligated to note that I do not intend to adjust my rewrite to accommodate this lore post since I was never contacted about it and have already done work on these same ideas. Should the aforementioned rewrite go through, the concepts of True Sight and Seances will be end up being overwritten, as about half of our rewrite focuses towards that same exorcist / medium style roleplay, including those specific terms and effects, and is honestly (in my humble opinion) a lot more expansive in doing so, offering more abilities and utilities towards it.

 

I can’t -1 since its fine lore, but I do want to say that I don’t believe this is a very good way to implement these ideas. Had I been contacted beforehand, I would have happily tried to integrate everything into the rewrite; the goal, to allow the wider playerbase access to this kind of medium-esque roleplay, is very much something I had wanted as well.

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3 hours ago, The King Of The Moon said:

 

If/ When striga are removed, sure.

Either way involving a creature that has absolutely zero involvement with mysticism and inserting these "striga souls" is stupid and something that goes against everything the lore has. Don't want it to be another blood mage situation so it'd be great to remove it, even if striga aren't successfully shelved

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23 minutes ago, ScreamingDingo said:

Either way involving a creature that has absolutely zero involvement with mysticism and inserting these "striga souls" is stupid and something that goes against everything the lore has. Don't want it to be another blood mage situation so it'd be great to remove it, even if striga aren't successfully shelved

To quote the Striga lore:

“Even though a greater striga’s body may be totally destroyed and their ‘life’ ended, they are not so easily eliminated. A byproduct of the curse is that the spirit lingers on (Initially bound to the general area of the site of death - upon discovery by another striga it may move in order to commune with its corporeal comrade)”

 

There is no reason for these spirits to behave especially different to anyone else’s souls. Striga lore is – at least for the time being – still part of LoTC’s lore and has no cause for it to be kept separate from it in this regard. If this submission is passed and you’re still adamant the reference to Striga should be removed then you can take it up with the LT but for the time being I’m not editing it out.

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Thank you for submitting your piece! It is now under review, you should have a verdict in about 1 ½ weeks to 2 weeks.

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