dard

I agree wholeheartedly. Since there aren't too many suggestions, here's what I would suggest (vaguely) to fix it. They aren't mutually exclusive nor dependent on one another, just what I would argue has been frustrating to deal with. Remove regrowing limbs of any kind. If the RP has been completed to remove the limb, then that should be it unless it can be reattached freshly (1-2 days at most). Consequences for entering a city you are not supposed to be in should mean something. Punishments for stealing should mean something. I once had a player outright refuse to accept his hand was cut off (though GMs solved the problem). In all honesty, I'd like to see a lot more mangled people on LotC. It adds character to your character. Waving a magic wand and regrowing a finger or hand is ridiculous. I heard that it supposedly isn't supposed to be a thing, but plenty of clerics will RP it otherwise. Counterhealing. Add possibility for healing to harm the recipient even more than before, or have some counterweight to it. Tahariae's light doesn't feel like it'd be healthy since its supposed to be dedicated to purging as well. What should be the correct counterbalance? Not sure. Perhaps make it painful for the recipient. Life threatening healing could use some sort of roll system to see if its successful. If you get injured, seeking a cleric should not be the be all end all. In fact, it should be risky. Perhaps make it risky to the healer as well—it should be extremely exhaustive, only able to be used once a day if that's the approach. Combat Healing. Nope. Nope. Nope. Get rid of it. It's dumb. Healing should require concentration, if you get someone out of the fight it should render them incapacitated for the duration of the fight. Potions should have some sort of reemergence if you're looking for a quick fix. Had an issue where a cleric ran into a guardhouse, circlejerk healed with a druid, came back out. He isn't an issue anymore, but I doubt that such a practice wouldn't be seen today. Dedicate it to Healing the Supernatural Afflictions. Remove mundane healing entirely. Clerics, for instance, would now only be able to heal afflictions caused by other magic. This could be tainted wounds from a necromancer, it could be some form of curse, an infection from an ET creature at the most. Anything really that isn't mundane. There would then be a reason to seek out a cleric, while still making it so there isn't "hand wave, wound go away" stuff.

Nasir is overcome with the desire to nod at the poster.

The amendment is getting rid of it being a voidal art. I'm on board with the soul being protected if a person relinquishes sovereignty of it or has some sort of protection on it (i.e. Ascended, Clerics, Shades, Fi' mages). Though with all the benefits that are delegated to being Ascended and having a protected soul, there should be some aim at having drawbacks (not to discuss here, but the positives of being holy folk are outweighing the nonexistent downsides). However, if there is "blanket" immunity to soul puppetry to be given, I don't think that it really needs to be elaborated here but rather other's respective lore, since much of the amendment seems to be clarifications and minor tweaks. It's a dark art. All of the spells have some sort of backfiring effect to them, i.e a happiness curse will reflect back onto the user making them feel somewhat happy. I believe at T3 its a 30% backfire effect, so if you crush someone's lung or something then it'd result in 30% of that backfiring to you, probably resulting in some emphysema effects and maybe coughing up blood. I don't think anything could outright kill you at T3 (though I could be wrong). Possibly at T1, where its a 50% backfire effect, but you can't learn these curses until T3. This is lessened by the tier you are, so a T5 person would feel less of a backfire than others. A T5 person might just develop a nasty cough and chest pains for a while. That's the drawback to the magic, otherwise you'd simply crush people's livers and guts and nothing would happen. I think there is a death curse, at least pre-rewrite, but even so I'd imagine abusing it could result in a PK. The basis for allowing spells that result in death, however, has been accepted (RK's have a "second wind" spell where they accept death and come back to "life," for instance).

thanks, +1 dont need to read further to know you did good kid I will anyways though

I welcome our Cthulhian overlords. +1

yes

So, in terms of player disagreement should I work more so on clarification, red lines, and examples, you'd say? I left it somewhat open to interpretation because I did not want to be a creative stickler for whatever someone might be able to come up. In terms of Undead speaking Latin, there is a language that exists that Watyll created, the Black Language. I feel it would be counter-intuitive to create a whole new system for spooks to talk to each other when one already exists, its just underpracticed and has died out in current roleplay. I did attempt to consolidate/rewrite it into this writeup, but I removed that aspect of the post because many saw that as disrespectful to Watyll.

the dynamic magic we deserve

So, to all of you with concerns, I removed the rewritten lore of the Black Language, I am appreciative of the feedback, and I did not mean to step over any boundaries with someone who has had a profound impact on the community. My intent was not to offend, but to bring my own ideas into the mix with some outdated and under-practiced lore in attempt to help add more flavor to the spook/dark mage RP that has grown in the community. I am solely focusing on the resonance aspect I came up with, as well as any other elements that may come up within that. I am open to input and collaboration for those who express the desire to work on that. Right now, I'll leave this as a WIP while I decide what more to do with it.

I play a guy who can understand it (provided this goes through). I did edit out the part earlier where it was something that was a bit forced for its users, and made clause it where its based on interpretation of the player if they want to go full balls to the wall or not. If someone doesn't want to do it, they don't have to. If someone wants a little, they can use a little of the language. If someone wants to go ham and full on immerse themselves, they can have at it. So, your concern about the renaming, its more so not that it was that Ikuras' power was waning more so that he lost his influence over it and it was something taken by undead. It comes natural to Necromancers, Mystics, people with darkened souls, they just can't speak it. With how Dark Arts are being rewritten, it doesn't make sense to me that Soul Puppeteers would understand it when Soul Puppetry is basically a darker voidal art (unless I'm misunderstanding it). The point for mortal beings (and draughted undead) not being able to speak it was to add context to the fact the language is produced by resonance and not vocals. I didn't think it would be appropriate for me to add methods in which necromancers, mystics and darkened mortals. Rather, if the writers of those lores wished to add caveats for venues to speak it, then that would make more sense to me. I will admit I have a certain vision for the language, but I have been trying my best to pay proper homage to the people who worked on the lore before me. The truth of the matter is that it is very seldomly used, at least as I've seen it in the time I've been on the server. I would love to see it, become something more mainstream like Blah. I can tell that a lot of you are a bit touchy with me doing anything with this lore. I didn't know Watyll, I joined back in July of this year. The amount of effort in his lore is amazing, but the fact of the matter is that it just is sitting there collecting dust and has fallen out of use. Maybe my rewrite doesn't do him justice. I can't presume to know what he would have wanted other than the fact that he probably would not have wanted the things he worked on to fade out use.

Honestly, with the way I wrote out the mechanics of it it's mainly to be used as a hybridization of it and common, and its pretty optional on how much you want to use, if any at all. If you had to make it simpler, what would you do? I trimmed down the grammar portion a bit from what it was originally in its first iteration to try and help that.

It'll become as much of a thing as *speaks in Blah*

I'll give you my first born if you can help me make them. I tried earlier and it broke my post

Well, before I could respond you deleted your comment. But to address your points which I can no longer quote, namely "why I am doing this for all spooks?" I laid it out nicely: the language had very little, lore behind it other than "sp00ky people language" and that it had died out. I saw the tremendous amount of effort that Watyll and Mephistophelian put into this, and I wanted to see the effort that the two of them and those who helped collaborate on the Black Language not be in vain. If you have actual suggestions on how to improve this, I'm all ears. I've already changed several things when others approached me and brought up several criticisms in the past 30 minutes. Like it or not, there are a lot of spooks on the server. That isn't my fault and you shouldn't blame me for that. My intent here is to bring flavor to that roleplay, being something more than "undead human" or "undead elf" that speaks plain common like they have a tongue or something (most don't). How do they speak? What gives them the ability? It's a talking skeleton! How does that even work? What about the mistman wraithboy walking around in black sheets, how is he even talking? Those were the questions I initially wanted to answer.

The Resonant Dead [[I apologize to those of you who got offended when I tried to revitalize Watyll's lore. This is everything that was my idea now just made into some roleplay guidelines with explainations. Is it necessary or essential? No. Would I like it implemented? Yes, tired of undead being just the dead version of whatever race they were before. I'm not doing anymore full-on rewrites, this is the fourth and final total rewrite. I’ll accept feedback, additions and minor changes where need be.]] The Resonance of Undeath All undead possess full comprehension and fluency of their native tongue upon their rebirth, but it does not reproduce from the same sounds as that of mortal beings. This is because undead creatures speak differently than mortals, as they do not possess the same mechanics for speech. Lich-types, apparitions, eidolai, dread knights, daeva, wraiths, morghuul and other undead communicate through a resonant form of sound differing from that of mortal language. While the nature of where the sound comes from differs from creature to creature, it is explained by one logical answer: magic. Undead perform a sort of magical resonance. The scope of the sounds different undead are different than that of normal vocal-cords. For some undead creatures, it may be a form of telepathy where the voice is transmitted to the minds of those nearby. For others, it could be a form of clicking or whispers, the forces that bind them bending the air around them to create sounds not unlike woodwind instruments. Regardless of the nature of their new voice, one will never make a flute sound like a trumpet even if they are a master trumpeter. Therefore, in undeath, a creature would sound much more differently than they were perceived in life. Creatures of undeath can find their grasp of language skewed. Those with the worse cases can feel as if they are learning to speak again, and may only possess the ability to utter fragments of their past vernacular with their resonance. As the undead are those who have a less than traditional diet, they may find themselves speaking more primal and rudimentary phrases when they hunger for the life essence that sustains them. Undead who have taken the draught of incite, or who are husked, may once more speak their native tongue with ease. Those who are draughted may not perform their resonance. Undead who are husked possess the advantage of being able to express resonance and the actual vocals of their husked body, making things extra spooky. Normal beings who hear resonance often describe it as an incoherent clicking, hissing, or whispering. While they can understand the words, the nature of resonance can sometimes cause frisson and chills for those with unaltered souls. Usage This allows players to have more flavor when emoting with their undead characters. While it does not give special powers such as full on telepathy, it offers some insight on how a creature without vocal-cords can talk. It is purely up to each player how, or if, they wish to do this. Tips and Examples Though it is not required, italicizing, bolding, punctuation, and capitalization of words can also help add emphasis to the strain an undead creature might have in their resonance. These are merely examples, if you are playing a wraith and want to have some form of general telepathy when you speak that is your prerogative, provided it does not go outside the red lines. Morghuul often speak in loud hissing and clicking, or just outright dredging raw, primal sounds from their damaged body to create speech. [!]The decaying creature croaked, its teeth chattering as it rasped some dreadful sound from the pit of its throat, “I des..pise clerics..” Wraiths may twist the air in front of them to produce a heinous, shriek-like noise to communicate. Angzmarku’s visage produced a disgruntling noise; air contorted, cascading off of the eldritch faceplate as it produced a perverted, wailing voice: “The. Abyss. Is. Mine.” Ghostlike beings sometimes communicate by producing a telepathic-sort of whisper around them. [!]A whisper filled the minds of those nearby, the words as coherent as sound. Each word lingered for a moment as it faded from thought, “Where is my amulet, mortal?” To the man appeared before, the she-ghost was there mouthing along with each word. Lich-type beings can have a special resonance where their inner-voice is emanated from the skull in general telepathy. Gravelord Adremeich’s eye sockets glowed green in hue, seeming to burn ever brighter. Words filled the minds of those nearby in the vernacular of a mortal man, “I will speak with the coven in regards to your trials.” Dread knights and pale knights sometimes have an unrefined resonance, akin to that of morghuuls and wraiths, where their words are produced by magically-enhanced raw sound. [!]Grinding metallic sounds reverberate from the armor’s faceplate, creating primal, loud sounds. “RHADE. DOES. NOT. CARE.” The hulking armor proceeded to slam the ferrum blade into the Cleric’s skull. Wights can mimic the resonance of most other creatures. Marlon had a depraved grin on his face. As he went to speak, a different voice came out; not from his mouth. From his mind to that of his associate came the words that trailed with each motion of his jaw. “You dumb ****.” Red Lines Undead creatures that can transmit a telepathic voice are greater creatures of undeath (i.e. liches, wraiths, darkstalkers). Ghosts who grown accustomed to their form may also do so. Morghuuls will never be able to do this. Undead creatures who use a telepathic resonance do not get to control the targets of their resonance. It will be just like a normal voice, instead of through sound-waves, it goes to the minds of those nearby. There must also be some form of tell, (i.e. mandible mouthing as it speaks, glowing eyes that punctuate with each word, ect.) but this is mostly up to the player. Resonance is not a separate language. People can understand it, provided they understand the language that is being resonated. The general telepathy cannot be used to cause bodily or mental harm. At the most it can cause a little shivering to those of weaker constitution.