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Monthly Plotting Post | August
Aug. 12th, 2024 12:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pumpkinhollowMonthly Plotting Post | August
Hello everybody, and welcome to our very first Monthly Plotting Post! From here on out, we'll be setting one of these up at the beginning of every month to help people keep easy-to-access plotting notes and allow Discord and non-Discord players to check in with each other! This will be your one-stop shop for coordinating plotting efforts for the month, and will give you an overview of each of the month's events and a quick and dirty metaplot update. You are NOT REQUIRED to use it, but we highly encourage you to check these out! Discord players should also share their plotting links in RP-link-archive!
This month, we have our TDM reprint which is already live, our main event, Thatcher's Blight, and a guest-written mini event called House Calls by our good pal Sols! Enjoy, and mind the content warnings!
Pandemic/quarantine, exaggerated rabies allegory, loss of faculties, medical, unsanitary, extreme violence, mental degradation and dementia-like symptoms, zombie-like behavior, guaranteed death
As the summer begins to fade slowly into autumn, a chill begins to set into Pumpkin Hollow. It's not unheard of for illnesses to begin to crop up when the seasons start to change, or for running noses and sneezes to start to run rampant.
The morning a strange man steps into town, with his smiles all-too-wide and his demeanor seemingly lost in a dream, this begins to change.
Patient Zero, as he will simply call himself, claims to be very sick, and in need of medical attention. In his dazed state, he's touchy, clingy, and borderline affectionate, keen to grasp onto any who may reach to him to help. His face is unfamiliar, and when he's delivered to any particular clinics, his illness cannot be readily identified as any common afflictions.
While research begins, the plague he bears begins to spread in the town like wildfire.
-
Medical professionals, asked to run tests and search through medical historical texts, will the name Thatcher's Blight referenced as a plague that overwhelmed a village within the Emerald Isles some 20 years ago.
The full breadth of the information will be shared during the event, but the records indicate five distinct stages of the illness, fully culminating over the span of 72 hours. The stages are as follows:
› Incubation is extremely short, and the virus begins manifesting symptoms quickly after initial infection, sometimes as soon as a mere two hours after contact. Patients experience strong flu-like symptoms, including exhaustion, nausea, fever, running nose, sore throat, cough, increased heart-rate, difficulty breathing, and mild delirium.
› Characterized by severely increasing symptoms as patients' bodies attempt to fight off the disease. Flu-like symptoms worsen, and any suffering the illness who were not bedridden will often become so. Confusion worsens severely; completely lucid patients will lose track of where they are, or who they are with. Emotional dysregulation begins, and short-term memory starts to degrade.
› So named due to a return of many of the patients' physical faculties, such as standing and walking without issue, but cold-like symptoms continue. Patients' short-term memory continues to degrade and general confusion remains severe, and many will enter a so-called "time loop" of their day-to-day actions: whatever action they were taking before the "loop" begins, they will repeat. If someone goes to the grocery store, they will pay, take groceries home, drop them, and return to do so again. Phone-calls will be made again, and repeat beat-for-beat.
Addressing the "loop" will often cause a patient to regain some lucidity, but they will often fall back into doing so once more if left to their own devices. As the False Decline moves into the next stage, patients will begin to experience sharp, often unprovoked bursts of rage, or a persistent level of frustration.
› Most often observed in carnivores and omnivorous species, as many herbivores/prey animals will simply attempt to run, hide, or collect with their herd (which frequently performs the same function). Patients seemingly succumb to a deep rage and attack any moving object in sight, track sources of sounds, and occasionally begin lashing out at inanimate objects. Dexterity is reduced sharply; patients with hands will no longer be able to grip doorknobs or use intricate tools.
No regard for physical well-being is maintained, and patients will undergo grievous injury to attempt their attacks. Attacks are never made with intention to kill, though fatality from wounds is possible; the intention of the "Propagation" period is to spread the virus as widely and quickly as possible. If one target is too difficult to reach, it will easily be abandoned in favor of an easier one.
Cognitive functions are scarce beyond seeing and hearing - however, "word salad" often comes from patients capable of speech, frequently containing thoughts or spoken words from their final moments of lucidity.
› After the previous stage's "last push" is complete, patients' bodies begin to shut down. The body succumbs to the virus, leaving the afflicted catatonic and immobilized. In a final attempt to use the host's body to further spread the virus, however, it will use one last strategy: reaching out to the kindness of others.
The patient, despite no longer seeming physically aware of their inability to move, will call for help, plea to anyone they can see, or weep. Any contact with fluids by those attempting to assist will often result in immediate infection.
PLAYER ACTIVITIES
Aside from contracting the disease yourself and attacking your neighbors, townsfolk will be attempting to create shelters in centralized places like the Oak & Iron, Town Hall, and Prague Mill. Orchestrating rescue missions and supply runs and defending shelters will be primary activities! Additionally, medical personnel will have a special role in attempting to cure the disease by researching historical medical records, searching for medicinal components, running tests, and asking the right questions! We'll get more into the specifics when the event launches, but a coordinated effort between medical folks will be important!
THATCHER'S BLIGHT OPT-OUT
Not comfy with the specific flavor of terror offered by the uncanny plague, but want to have something to do? No worries! It's your favorite local nepo baby to the rescue! Just as the problems start, Dahlia will be gathering as many healthy people as she can while there's still time--- almost as if she knows the problem is coming. Hunker down in Leeds Estate with Dahlia for a more robust shelter, safe from the violent plague victims outside her stable walls--- at least until one of the people staying over meets a swift and violent end from something in the shadows. The safehouse has just turned into the scene of a murder mystery.
Additional note: Characters that lack biological functions, such as machines, undead, or incorporeal entities, will not be impacted by Thatcher's Blight. However, there is a small chance that they could become a carrier through contact. It's far from a guarantee, but asymptomatic carriers interacting with the infected should be conscientious not to pass it along! The virus can be carried via contact with clothing or hard surfaces.
This guest-written mini event will be written by Solstice, the visionary behind Cecil Palmer's articles in the Pumpkin Hollow Gazette and writer of beloved local Degas Clayton, and will feature a guest NPC played by them! In the interest of allowing Sols to control what information they'd like to share about the house and its workings, we'll let them create a plotting post at their leisure with further details!
Additionally, Jon Sims will be gaining access to a strange, garbled tape ostensibly from his world that contains interesting implication about his own future back home... but possibly something relevant to Pumpkin Hollow as well? Please feel free to reach out to a mod if you have ideas for meta plot planning! We're happy to hear your thoughts!
This month, we have our TDM reprint which is already live, our main event, Thatcher's Blight, and a guest-written mini event called House Calls by our good pal Sols! Enjoy, and mind the content warnings!
THATCHER'S BLIGHT
Content Warnings:Pandemic/quarantine, exaggerated rabies allegory, loss of faculties, medical, unsanitary, extreme violence, mental degradation and dementia-like symptoms, zombie-like behavior, guaranteed death
As the summer begins to fade slowly into autumn, a chill begins to set into Pumpkin Hollow. It's not unheard of for illnesses to begin to crop up when the seasons start to change, or for running noses and sneezes to start to run rampant.
The morning a strange man steps into town, with his smiles all-too-wide and his demeanor seemingly lost in a dream, this begins to change.
Patient Zero, as he will simply call himself, claims to be very sick, and in need of medical attention. In his dazed state, he's touchy, clingy, and borderline affectionate, keen to grasp onto any who may reach to him to help. His face is unfamiliar, and when he's delivered to any particular clinics, his illness cannot be readily identified as any common afflictions.
While research begins, the plague he bears begins to spread in the town like wildfire.
-
Medical professionals, asked to run tests and search through medical historical texts, will the name Thatcher's Blight referenced as a plague that overwhelmed a village within the Emerald Isles some 20 years ago.
The full breadth of the information will be shared during the event, but the records indicate five distinct stages of the illness, fully culminating over the span of 72 hours. The stages are as follows:
• Stage 1. Incubation + Initial Infection [ 2-6 HOURS AFTER CONTACT ]
› Incubation is extremely short, and the virus begins manifesting symptoms quickly after initial infection, sometimes as soon as a mere two hours after contact. Patients experience strong flu-like symptoms, including exhaustion, nausea, fever, running nose, sore throat, cough, increased heart-rate, difficulty breathing, and mild delirium.
• Stage 2. Prodromal [ 16-24 HOURS AFTER CONTACT ]
› Characterized by severely increasing symptoms as patients' bodies attempt to fight off the disease. Flu-like symptoms worsen, and any suffering the illness who were not bedridden will often become so. Confusion worsens severely; completely lucid patients will lose track of where they are, or who they are with. Emotional dysregulation begins, and short-term memory starts to degrade.
• Stage 3. "Amnesiac's Recovery" / False Decline [ 30-38 HOURS AFTER CONTACT ]
› So named due to a return of many of the patients' physical faculties, such as standing and walking without issue, but cold-like symptoms continue. Patients' short-term memory continues to degrade and general confusion remains severe, and many will enter a so-called "time loop" of their day-to-day actions: whatever action they were taking before the "loop" begins, they will repeat. If someone goes to the grocery store, they will pay, take groceries home, drop them, and return to do so again. Phone-calls will be made again, and repeat beat-for-beat.
Addressing the "loop" will often cause a patient to regain some lucidity, but they will often fall back into doing so once more if left to their own devices. As the False Decline moves into the next stage, patients will begin to experience sharp, often unprovoked bursts of rage, or a persistent level of frustration.
• Stage 4. "Propagation" / Furious Form [ 40 - 52 HOURS AFTER CONTACT ]
› Most often observed in carnivores and omnivorous species, as many herbivores/prey animals will simply attempt to run, hide, or collect with their herd (which frequently performs the same function). Patients seemingly succumb to a deep rage and attack any moving object in sight, track sources of sounds, and occasionally begin lashing out at inanimate objects. Dexterity is reduced sharply; patients with hands will no longer be able to grip doorknobs or use intricate tools.
No regard for physical well-being is maintained, and patients will undergo grievous injury to attempt their attacks. Attacks are never made with intention to kill, though fatality from wounds is possible; the intention of the "Propagation" period is to spread the virus as widely and quickly as possible. If one target is too difficult to reach, it will easily be abandoned in favor of an easier one.
Cognitive functions are scarce beyond seeing and hearing - however, "word salad" often comes from patients capable of speech, frequently containing thoughts or spoken words from their final moments of lucidity.
• Stage 5. "Last Ditch Effort" / Paralytic Form [ 62 - 70 HOURS AFTER CONTACT ]
› After the previous stage's "last push" is complete, patients' bodies begin to shut down. The body succumbs to the virus, leaving the afflicted catatonic and immobilized. In a final attempt to use the host's body to further spread the virus, however, it will use one last strategy: reaching out to the kindness of others.
The patient, despite no longer seeming physically aware of their inability to move, will call for help, plea to anyone they can see, or weep. Any contact with fluids by those attempting to assist will often result in immediate infection.
PLAYER ACTIVITIES
Aside from contracting the disease yourself and attacking your neighbors, townsfolk will be attempting to create shelters in centralized places like the Oak & Iron, Town Hall, and Prague Mill. Orchestrating rescue missions and supply runs and defending shelters will be primary activities! Additionally, medical personnel will have a special role in attempting to cure the disease by researching historical medical records, searching for medicinal components, running tests, and asking the right questions! We'll get more into the specifics when the event launches, but a coordinated effort between medical folks will be important!
THATCHER'S BLIGHT OPT-OUT
Not comfy with the specific flavor of terror offered by the uncanny plague, but want to have something to do? No worries! It's your favorite local nepo baby to the rescue! Just as the problems start, Dahlia will be gathering as many healthy people as she can while there's still time--- almost as if she knows the problem is coming. Hunker down in Leeds Estate with Dahlia for a more robust shelter, safe from the violent plague victims outside her stable walls--- at least until one of the people staying over meets a swift and violent end from something in the shadows. The safehouse has just turned into the scene of a murder mystery.
Additional note: Characters that lack biological functions, such as machines, undead, or incorporeal entities, will not be impacted by Thatcher's Blight. However, there is a small chance that they could become a carrier through contact. It's far from a guarantee, but asymptomatic carriers interacting with the infected should be conscientious not to pass it along! The virus can be carried via contact with clothing or hard surfaces.
HOUSE CALLS
The leaves begin to faintly turn and the time of scary stories and whispering spirits approaches as August draws to its close, and not even the residents of the world's most cursed island can resist a tale of festive terror. Which is why, with Thatcher's Blight comfortably behind them, the town's youngsters are getting up to some youthful mischief, daring each other to stray further and longer into an apparently haunted house. But as rumors swell about previously harmless spooks growing into potentially dangerous scares, volunteers are recruited to investigate what's going on with this mysterious old house. But is the house really haunted?This guest-written mini event will be written by Solstice, the visionary behind Cecil Palmer's articles in the Pumpkin Hollow Gazette and writer of beloved local Degas Clayton, and will feature a guest NPC played by them! In the interest of allowing Sols to control what information they'd like to share about the house and its workings, we'll let them create a plotting post at their leisure with further details!
CURRENT METAPLOT
Currently we have no specific meta plot plans for August as we gear up for Dahlia's birthday gala in September, which will feature her big plot reveal and an encounter with Mendel, the Prince of Fools. However, we have some ongoing events such as the Leeds Estate basement break-in by Agent Connecticut, Tarantulas, and Valdis, and the interrogation of Lysander Ecclestone, the arsonist who burned down the home of former Mayor Larkin, by Cerrit Agrupnin and Alex Conklin. Additionally, Jon Sims will be gaining access to a strange, garbled tape ostensibly from his world that contains interesting implication about his own future back home... but possibly something relevant to Pumpkin Hollow as well? Please feel free to reach out to a mod if you have ideas for meta plot planning! We're happy to hear your thoughts!