Marik Ishtar | Plotting Post

[thetombkeeper]

You think you've private lives, think nothing of the kind
There is no true escape, I'm watching all the time

As Nyarlathotep's newly appointed Cult Leader, Marik's going to be people watching more than ever. He's always been an odd one, especially during large gatherings, where he'll simply stand on the sidelines and watch everyone. He may not be able to watch through the eyes of a person like he did when in possession of the Millennium Rod but he hasn't let that stop him. When viewing people, Marik studies their body language, listens to the tone even if he can't hear the full conversation, reads their expressions, stuff like that.

The Dark Lord asks that his new stooge servant be on the lookout people who are easily persuaded or of an unstable mind.

This is where you all come in. ♥

Would you like your character to be watched/investigated/possibly manipulated by Marik?

It can be as something simple as him hearing rumors or the tomb keeper conveniently appearing in the same locations as your character. If you'd prefer something more involved, I'm all for it! Just let me know in the comments or on discord if you'd like your character/s to potentially be a candidate for the wonderful Cult of the Crawling Chaos. You can write a little blurb of stuff he might here/see/learn that he can report back to Nyarly or we can even thread stuff out!

Comments

[worstorganplayer]

Snakes may or may not be easily persuaded (depends on what it is, how scared he is, if he's at a weak point, etc), but he's definitely been growing more unstable the longer he's around. He can definitely be watched and/or investigated, but actually manipulating him may or may not be easy. (I rather lean towards it ending up not being easy, even if they're fooled into thinking it might be. He didn't give in to the repeated temptations to become an Avatar in October, even though the Fears probably thought he'd be an easy target.) It would be fun to give him something to do and perhaps finally more of a way to shine.

[configuration_birdwatcher]

I don't think Bastion can ultimately be convinced to join the Cult of the Crawling Chaos, especially after getting put through the salad spinner vis-a-vis chaos as a supernatural force and being at the bottom of the cosmic magical food chain in their CRAU, but they're mentally unstable enough to be scouted out.

Their unarticulated faceplate means no facial expressions to read, but their body language is emotive enough to make up for it. They often seem fretful and anxious, or get disproportionately startled by something minor, and summon their Togekiss to them for comfort. Being around a lot of humans makes them visibly more tense; they show up at a lot of open social events despite this but tend to be one of the first to leave. They tend to isolate themself (Pokémon notwithstanding) and fuck off into the less populated/built-up parts of the island when they're not doing well mentally, like how they spent the better part of a month in Paradesium after the Fears invaded.

[thetombkeeper]

Marik could definitely keep an eye on him, even if he isn't easily persuaded. Is it mostly how Snakes carries himself that would tip Marik off?

[thetombkeeper]

Ooohhh, this is good to know. Marik hasn't outright dealt with robots before so it'll likely take him a bit to pick up on the body language aspect, even if he's familiar with not being able to read facial expressions.

Besides social gatherings, where can Marik find Bastion on the day to day?

[worstorganplayer]

Snakes has been absolutely falling apart since October, drinking himself to excess whenever he has a moment. He stays sober on the job and still struggles to do it, but he's slipping more into apathy when it comes to disasters, like, "Oh, we got kidnapped again? *yawn.*" But he still tries to pull himself together enough to help others he might run into. Marik would probably definitely notice weariness and resignation to despair in how he moves.