ritual 25: ｎｕｍｐｌａ

[thelastfirstborn]

WHO: strangers are just friends We have not met yet
WHERE: the beach
WHEN: Day 74, evening

[ as the sun sets, you can see a bloom of glowing blue begin to trail along the shallows—the baby jellyfish dance to the gentle waves, and as it gets darker, they seem to look more like stars than creatures, reflecting the night sky's constellations.

it's beautiful, but you won't have long to enjoy them. something else—much much bigger than the moonjellies—begins to surface from beyond deeper waters, giving off a bioluminescent glow with a similar hue to the jellies. but whatever this is is more rigid, plant-like in structure—the tendrils that stretch toward the shore look more like plant roots than gelatin.

. . . the waves lap and recede, and a dead fish lays on the sand in its wake. through its stomach one can faintly make out that glowing blue in the shape of a rune—before it is speared by the furthest reaches of the root-like structure and summarily dragged back into the sea.

you may not have seen any of that, if you weren't at the beach. but even if you didn't, you may find yourself drawn toward the ocean anyway—where the roots have grown spindly, stretching out into the sky, stretching out to you . . . no, around you.

the next you see, you're in some sort of cavern, standing amidst tidepools holding galaxies of light: dozens of baby jellyfish, undoubtedly pulled in by the same mysterious force that you were. they float helplessly, as do you, and as the walls light up with symbols of an alien language, you hear a voice reverberate throughout the hollow in a tongue you do not understand. it hurts to listen to, not nails on a chalkboard but uncannily off, dissonant, at a frequency that somehow seems to rattle your bones and boil your blood.

still—through the forming headache, you can strain to understand: ]

Countless years, buoyant . . .
Countless years, roving . . .
Countless, lived and died.

We have waited . . . to meet you.

This tongue is not . . . appropriate . . . to speak to you.

We wish to speak. We will learn to speak. We will remember.
[ the light structures on the walls form nine grids in total, horizontally spread across at eye level. ]

A pact. You shall play. We Many shall provide.
IC RULES | OOC INFO | ASK OOC QUESTIONS HERE | SESSION LINKS | TRIBUTE PAYMENTS

Comments

RULES & INFO

[thelastfirstborn]

IC RULES

[thelastfirstborn]

• Fill the squares, with the language of We Many. Do not repeat, horizontally or vertically.
  
• For failure, tribute shall be paid:

[ a list of every playing character in the session is provided ]

Forfeiture is, completion is, absolution.

Those who forfeit, no longer pay tribute.

To those who complete Our task, We Many shall bestow blessings.

OOC INFO

[thelastfirstborn]

LOGISTICS

Every flock has their own grid to fill, and only they can fill it. However, they are all in the same room! You can go into little nooks in the cavern if you want to talk to your flock with some privacy. Honor system pleaserino.

GUESSES & TRIBUTES

To fill a spot on the grid, you must list a tribute. This means every spot: the total number of tributes you must list at minimum in
order to fill the grid is 6.

You can repeat the same tribute several times over. Nothing stops you from listing Minuet 6 times, especially not Minuet.

You cannot pick a tribute that is not playing in the session. This is a dropdown form and they're just straight up not on the list, dawg.

FORFEITING

Your flock can forfeit at any time.

Forfeiting counts for the whole flock.

Once forfeiting, you cannot edit your grid. Your characters will also be removed from the tribute list.

You can forfeit after you complete your grid and this will not impact your chances of winning.

To forfeit, please make a toplevel/comment in your flock's post to ICly declare forfeiture and ping me into it.

SCORING

This is a speed-based game. There is no guarantee that people will be able to fill the right answers in if they delay too long. Please ping @ youji as soon as you ICly submit a guess. I will be looking at timestamps to decide on ties.

Winning is not tied to healing. Healing will be provided to those that complete a grid. However, you do not need to complete a grid to win the game. Therefore, your flock may lose and still be healed, and likewise, your flock may win and not be healed.

Winners will be the flock(s) with the least number of injuries and the flock(s) with the highest % accuracy of correct symbol placement.

CLARIFICATIONS

Both canon and flock powers are on!

Characters ICly choose tributes, but tribute players OOCly choose the punishment! the process is like this:

6 guesses + 6 tributes -> 1 guess is accepted -> i reply to the other 5 tributes' sign-in comments to take tribute

Even if a guess was previously accepted, you can rewrite it/guess something different on the same square. It's editable ICly until the flock forfeits!

There is no punishment for forfeiting. However, this is not ICly known unless you ask We Many.

ASK OOC QUESTIONS HERE

[thelastfirstborn]

SESSION LINKS

[thelastfirstborn]

FRIDAY @ 8pm EST / 7pm CST / 5pm PST (click me!)

MAIN SESSION POST HERE
Bluebell
Daffodil
Lily
Rose
Peony
Thistle
Clover
Weeds

SATURDAY @ 3pm EST / 2pm CST / noon PST (click me!)

MAIN SESSION POST HERE
Bluebell
Daffodil
Lily
Rose
Peony
Thistle
Clover
Weeds

ASSORTED LIST OF AGONIES

[thelastfirstborn]

GENERAL INFO

[thelastfirstborn]

You can OOCly pick which agonies you want! or you can roll :|b world is your oyster

STACKED effects are what happens if you get the same agony more than once, but you can add your own stacked effects if you want. Live your best agony-ful life.

Some agonies have specific flavortext so please tell me if that's the one you're going for :)

AGONIES:
1. ｈｅｍｏｐｏｉｅｔｉｃｉｎｈｉｂｉｔｉｏｎ | physical weakness, fragility (incl. non-trauma option)
   
2. ｃｏｎｃｅｎｔｒａｔｉｏｎｄｉｓｏｒｄｅｒ | mental weakness, sensory (incl. non-trama option)
   
3. ｎｅｕｒｏｄｅｇｅｎｅｒａｔｉｏｎ | magical weakness, memory (incl. non-trauma option)
   
4. ｍｅｔａｓｔａｔｉｃａｂｅｒｒａｔｉｏｎ | body horror
   
5. ｐｒｉｓｏｎｅｒ＇ｓｄｉｌｅｍｍａ | physical trauma
   
6. ｔｒａｕｍａｔｉｃｈｙｓｔｅｒｉａ | receive a memory
   

ｈｅｍｏｐｏｉｅｔｉｃｉｎｈｉｂｉｔｉｏｎ | physical weakness, fragility

[thelastfirstborn]

Accelerated blood cell apoptosis, inhibited bone marrow hematopoiesis.

1. Anime mom sickness/general Illness

   STACKED: bones hurt now :(

   
   
2. Loss of strength/unable to carry anything.

   STACKED: including own body weight/does not have the strength to stand

   
   
3. Reduced stamina, get winded more easily, etc.

   STACKED: difficulty breathing if not in sitting position (lying down also sucks)

   
   
4. Injuries heal slower now.

   STACKED: healing magic, incl. sheep healing magic, does not work

   
   
5. NON-TRAUMA OPT OUT: Nickolodeon slime.

   STACKED: it STAINS your CLOTHES

ｃｏｎｃｅｎｔｒａｔｉｏｎｄｉｓｏｒｄｅｒ | mental weakness, sensory

[thelastfirstborn]

Impairment of sensory functions, loss of coordination, loss of control over stress mechanisms.

1. Loss of a sense

   STACKED: trying to use that sense hurts now :(

   
   
2. Heightened emotions

   STACKED: uncontrollable laughter/crying

   
   
3. Loss of an emotion

   STACKED: loss of knowledge on the emotion

   
   
4. Loss of rationality

   STACKED: only 1 brain cell now

   
   
5. NON-TRAUMA OPT OUT: Sleepy bitch disease

   STACKED: more difficult to wake up when asleep

ｎｅｕｒｏｄｅｇｅｎｅｒａｔｉｏｎ | magical weakness, memory

[thelastfirstborn]

Atrophy of neurons in the brain, delayed reactions, dissociated consciousness.

1. Magical (incl. sheep) abilities become hair-trigger/emotion-based.

   STACKED: abilities become uncontrollable

   
   
2. PTSD/memory flashbacks

   STACKED: hallucinations of dead people, or that everyone around you is currently dead

   
   
3. Partial amnesia

   STACKED: full amnesia

   
   
4. Unable to recognize people's faces

   STACKED: Unable to recognize people's emotions

   
   
5. NON-TRAUMA OPT OUT: Forget the concept of a door

   STACKED: forget the concept of silverware

ｍｅｔａｓｔａｔｉｃａｂｅｒｒａｔｉｏｎ | body horror

[thelastfirstborn]

External cells observed in circulatory system, ectopic electrical signaling, whole-body tissue spasms.

1. Consume We Many (cw: force feeding)


2. Join We Many (cw: cannibalism, parasite)


3. Become We Many (cw: fish transformation)

There are no trauma opt-outs for body horror. Please ping if you pick one of these options for a special flavortext :)

ｐｒｉｓｏｎｅｒ＇ｓｄｉｌｅｍｍａ | physical trauma

[thelastfirstborn]

The collective seeks survival, and survival is suffering. Therefore, we continue to evolve, overcoming flaws, facing nature, fighting external foes.

1. Broken bone


2. Stabbed (non-fatally)


3. Corrosive burn


4. Scraped by spines


5. Bitten

There are no trauma opt-outs for physical trauma.

ｔｒａｕｍａｔｉｃｈｙｓｔｅｒｉａ | receive a memory

[thelastfirstborn]

But in the end, he too dissipates.

1. ??? (cw: force-feeding, cannibalism; the memory owner is not subject to either of these things)


2. ???


3. ???

Please ping if you pick one of these options for a special flavortext :)

PRE-GAME MINGLE

[crittersheep]

INTERACT?

[thelastfirstborn]

[ if you want to poke the jellies . . . they're just vibing . . . ]

Re: PRE-GAME MINGLE

[rumorradio]

( she's honestly just. unfazed. floating. booping jellies. it's giving 'just leave me with the jellies' tbh. )

Re: PRE-GAME MINGLE

[wants_the_phd]

[Today (and possibly every day from now on, we just don't know) Azdaja has some weird markings on the side of her throat. They're three little squiggles, like a word written in another language.

That's all, carry on.]

Mmm, no thanks. Pass.

Re: PRE-GAME MINGLE

[rugpull]

[PAWING AT HIS EARS OWWWWWIIIEEEE]

Re: PRE-GAME MINGLE

[abandon_hope]

...

So this is a different kind of ritual from the last one?

[sweetsmarts]

[ He'll just be standing there with his arms crossed, tbh. ]

Re: PRE-GAME MINGLE

[electricflock]

[whhhhhiiIIIIIIIIIIiinessss grrrrrumble]

Was sleeping.

Re: PRE-GAME MINGLE

[mykidisthebest]

[covers his ears with his hands]

Ow.

Re: PRE-GAME MINGLE

[aiwillneversmile]

[considering the jellies, even giving one a thoughtful poke]

Lovecraft . . . Okay.

POST-SESSION 1 MINGLE

[crittersheep]

Re: POST-SESSION 1 MINGLE

[finalbows]

[ confusedly scribbling in his notebook ]

POST-SESSION 2 MINGLE

[crittersheep]

BOOZE?

[thelastfirstborn]

You, have finished.

We, are grateful.

For this, a gift.
[ several more, uh . . . creatures . . . drop themselves onto the slab. these, for whatever reason, have holes at the top of them and inside . . . are . . . uhm . . . liquids? iridescent, a rainbow of liquids . . . ]

'Booze'.
[ well.

if you drink it, it does taste like booze. specifically, it tastes like a sweet sherry with marzipan flavoring? you can roll a 1d6 if you want to see if it'll do anything special but otherwise by default it's just like, decently passable booze. ]