Monthly Plotting Post | August

[pumpkinhollow]

Monthly 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!

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!

(CODE)

Comments

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS/CONCERNS

[pumpkinhollow]

[pineapplesalmon]

1. What's the chance % of infection outside of fluid contact from later stages, which is extremely high?
2. Is this primarily by fluid contact or is it airborne as well?
3. What stages do people become infectious?

Figure I'd ask these upfront since people will want to plot out desperate escapes/fights that may or may not end badly.

[upshore]

I would like to nominate my stupid reporter as spooky quarantine murder tribute

Rin | Miles, Kitty, Alex, Deon

[upshore]

Right off the bat: Opting out of the illness part of Thatcher's Blight. Sore subject.

Miles will be doing the Clue thing at Leeds Manor, Alex and Kitty will be hunkering down at Baker Ranch (in Kitty's case, maybe Salazar Farm sometimes), and Deon will be hermiting it up in his little hunter house. Everyone who is not infected is welcome to come and see the tinkerer, who's going to have a note up on the bulletin board.

However I am 100% here for the spooky stuff miniplot with all my crew.

[pineapplesalmon]

César is going to be at the Leeds Manor because Magne told him so (what Magne says, he does), but his farm hands will be hunkered there, so Kitty is welcome to help out. And he can bug her for updates IDK.

And César could meet Miles!

House Calls Plotting

[hallwaysempty]

The House on Hilltop Road will be open for exploration, both for threads with a partner where you make your own thrills and for threads between a player and the house.

Event spoilers click here:

Okay, I'm not going to keep doing that throughout, but that may provide the big clue as to what's going on. The House on Hilltop Road is that which haunts itself. Between the island's ambient magic and lingering emotions in the walls, it has become lonely, embittered, and hateful of those who view it as a spectacle instead of what it once was. It is also in more control of its interior and furnishings than most buildings; every creaky floorboard and slamming door is intentional, for attention, an attempt to chase away those who it sees as mocking its current condition.

As I said above, the event will have room for threads with partners where you create your own fun, exploring the space together and examining the wreckage of a loving family's life, but there will also be space for threads directly with the house. That said, I will only do one thread per player with the house at a time. If you want to toss multiple characters off it, you'll need to finish the first thread before you start the second, for my sanity and bandwidth. I am also setting a loose endpoint of September 9th for starting any new threads with the house.

In the end, the fate of the house will be decided by the community.

Phoenix | Nimona, Gaeta, Radar

[yournewsidekick]

I'm probably going to keep Gaeta and Radar's part in Thatcher's Blight to a minimum: Gaeta will shelter in place somewhere downtown (probably the library or Town Hall?), and Radar will jump into assistant mode for the medical team. With Radar especially, please feel free to handwave him scampering around any/all of the clinics -- he can lend an extra pair of hands for basic first aid or patient transport, fill in communication gaps, and act as a gopher for supplies. If you want a specific thread with either of those two, though, hit me up!

As for Nimona. Well.

Raise your hand if you've seen Cujo 😇 And raise your hand even higher if you wanna get attacked by a quasi-rabid shapeshifter!

[maltesefalcon]

...How would Radar like to be picked up and flown somewhere after being cornered on a supply run?

Solstice and Crew (CW: mention of euthanasia)

[maltesefalcon]

Please respond directly to this comment and not to the first down, which I will edit with my plans as I make them.

Angel: Not getting sick. Will be out and about dealing with matters directly. I might get him a plague doctor suit and mask for the fun of it; he has the money to buy it.

Annabel: Will mostly be spending time in spectre form to avoid getting afflicted. However, this is exhausting and at some point she might collapse from the strain.

Cecil: Emergency communications is what the radios were put in place for. Cecil's going to be keeping people informed, and may even use The Weather to help mitigate a scary situation. I'm open to him being infected if there is CR who wants to directly be involved with that.

Cerrit: Aerial surveillance. Cerrit will be able to track infected while keeping his distance from them, and help guide those who aren't ill toward the quarantine sites, as well as bringing supplies to those sites.

Degas: He will be getting infected, and will be killed in Stage 3 by Fever. If anyone wants him early on, stage 1 or even to be the one to infect him, let me know.

Sigma: I might sit him out on this one for my sanity. If someone really wants to make an argument for something, lmk, but I've got six characters to consider. Please be kind.

DO NOT REPLY - Plans

[maltesefalcon]

Angel:
Annabel:
Cecil:
Cerrit:
- Flying Radar to safety on a supply run
Degas:
- Infected by Zivia
- Stage 3 infection: being killed by Fever

Sheogorath and Drelasa

[blindwatchersees]

I am undecided for Sheogorath’s part in this. His mortal aspect is absolutely capable of catching the plague, but the plague has to catch him first. I am open to suggestions for his activity.

As for Drelasa, her Corprus makes her immune to age and disease, but considering how Thatcher’s spreads, there is some risk of her carrying it on her clothing. Considering she is a healer by background (though not by profession here), she’s likely going to be using her Song to alleviate suffering in the afflicted and tending to them in the early stages. I do want a violent incident to lead to her losing her mask for a while- I want to push her to focusing on important things without worrying about how she’s perceived.

[yournewsidekick]

I can volunteer Nimona for said violent incident, if you'd like!

Bird | Dimitri

[prince_of_beasts]

I'd like to get Dimitri involved with the Thatcher's Blight plot, but I'm coming up shallow on ideas! Some thoughts I'm not sure how to convert into action:

• Dimitri's used to plagues from his home in Faerghus, where outbreaks were common and treatment nonexistent. Consequently he has a healthy fear of contagion
  
• With 'uncontrolled aggression' as a symptom on the table, he'll be especially cautious about infection. His inhuman strength and general resilience mean he's highly dangerous and hard to put down; if he gets infected, it's a bad time for everybody
  
• Of course that doesn't mean I'm opposed to getting him infected :)
  
• Shortly before entering his first game, Dimitri witnessed a similar plague, albeit on a timescale of weeks rather than days: lethargy and confusion, followed by explosive aggression. That turned out to have been engineered by a sorcerer for unknown purposes; Dimitri will assume the same of Thatcher's Blight, and be driven to find (and eliminate) whoever or whatever originated it
  
• Dimitri will also be interested in helping to organize quarantine efforts, as well as general assistance moving supplies and intervening with any attacks by patients in the aggressive phase*
  
• Finally: though I, uh, haven't actually formalized it anywhere IC, in theory Dimitri's been spending most of his free time in the library's records and historical archives. He's been focused on farmer's almanacs and crop reports, but he'll have developed a general familiarity with the section*

* While these concepts are less focused/action-intensive, I'm interested in exploring them as possibilities; I'm interested in exploring Dimitri's non-violent skillsets

So that's what I have to put on the table! I'm interested in suggestions/coordination for any of these ideas.

PLANS

[prince_of_beasts]

[this space reserved]

dee | jeff

[cacophonish]

So! Since he's returned to the island as a monster that feeds on fears associated with madness, altered perceptions, delusions, hallucinations, gaslighting, Jeff is basically going to see this outbreak as a FEAST.

I think he'll likely involve himself in relief efforts, pretending to care for the afflicted while actually stoking fears and anxieties associated with their confusion and degrading mental faculties. So! If anyone would like to grow suspicious and catch on to what he's doing, lmk! Or you can be a snack for him, that works too.

Eventually, of course, Jeff's going to contract the illness because, like. He's an idiot who's not taking any precautions. Unfortunately, given his nature, this is going to manifest in ways that will be potentially harmful to others. While experiencing the time loop effects, Jeff will be singing the same maddening ear worm over and over again, which has the potential to afflict anyone who hears it and has a vulnerability to this sort of magic. If you're interested, hit me up and we can work out details!

He'll probably also start uncontrollably creating illusions/hallucinations, so if you come into contact with Jeff, there's a chance you'll experience a bit of a nightmare acid trip.

ANYWAY: I'm so game for anyone to kill him during this plot! Or do anything. I'm running out of word steam so I apologize if this is a jumbled mess

OH YEAH AND HE WOULD LOVE TO TAKE A VICTIM SNACK FRIEND ALONG ON THE HOUSE CALL PLOT LATER.

[abhorrently]

putting down in writing that we want a terrible no good sleepover

Dahlia's Murder Mystery Party Opt-Out

[thethirteenthchild]

Hey y'all, if you're interested in opting out of Thatcher's Blight, hit me up! A few things to note:

- Dahlia will be collecting people very early and will lock her doors once she's done all she can do, even if people bang on her door calling for help, because she can't risk contaminating the people she is protecting. If you want in, hop aboard ASAP! This can also cause some drama.
- Dahlia's slumber party is not CR exclusive, though she will probably play favorites when it comes to lodging.
- Obviously the killer is the Pine Devil lol. I'll need someone to volunteer to get dead. This can result in the person respawning outside the mansion and getting put back into the event, leaving everyone confused, or the person respawning in her attic and being like GUESS WHAT GUYS I DIED. Either way, they did not see what killed them.
- People staying with Dahlia will not need to deal with problems like supply runs or rationing. There will definitely also be a depressing drinking party.

Lemme know if you wanna hang out! Please tag in even if we talked about it verbally so I can be on the same page with everyone!

[not_the_last]

I would love to get Cassandra in on this, with all the awkwardness it's likely to entail.

Kai | Claude von Riegan, Muriel

[inaurate]

During the Blight, Claude will primarily be acting as Sally's assistant as she goes full in trying to find a cure/vaccine. He would be excited at the on the job learning opportunity if it weren't for the terrible violent plague.

But yeah he'll be on the front lines of this whole event so, come at me with ur infected if you want them to be brought to Sally for treatment.

Also keenly interested in haunted house exploration with Claude. Let him lick the sigils.....

On a lighter meta note, Claude is part of the race for Town Hall so feel free to ask him about that on the tdm or elsewhere!

Muriel has lived through a plague before and it was kinda a Big Deal and blew up his friend group in canon so..... since running away into the woods isn't an option (who would feed his cows and chicken and horse) he will begrudgingly be found helping to set up and maintain one of the smaller shelters.

Muriel has less than zero interest in nosing around a haunted house bc he is smart and minds his business lmao

Guildenstern | Phil, Mulcahy, Link

[goodweather]

Phil is himself a public service and will be holing up in town so he can still do his work and not risk bringing anything back into the farmhouse where his kid and their siblings live. I an very strongly considering him coming down with an unrelated cold, though, putting a strain on the radio and stymieing the weather, as IIRC he’s the only person around who can crunch the numbers and interpret the maps. He will not be infected.

Father Mulcahy will be running support work for the medical personnel much in the fashion of Radar, and spreading information about good sanitary practices and other preventative measures. I have not decided whether or not he gets infected; if he does, he will demand to be put down before he becomes dangerous.

Link has the immune system of a guy who keeps eating mushrooms right out of the dirt and bird eggs he found in a tree. He’s fine. He will be running as much support work as he can, and will put down dangerous individuals if necessary.

Liz And Her Commando - Opt Out{ish} Option!

[theydrewfirstblood]

I’m…not sure how much I want to do the Blight plot, due to some brain weasels and RL bullshit, so John will be around? But won’t have a lot of active engagement. He will be holed up at the ranch mostly with his people, and mostly go out to bring his people home to safety.

So, all his usual close CR have a bed available, but if anyone isn’t sure they want to take part, but wanna keep some options open for limited engagement with the Thatcher’s Blight, I will be opening a few spots up to looser or minimal/no CR if your muse wants to take refuge at Baker Ranch! John will bring you out there and give you a place to stay, and work out his own containment measures to keep folks healthy until it blows over in case you want to come and go as needed. <3

[incomingchoppers]

So I suspect John would have Thoughts(tm) about Radar throwing himself right in the thick of the plague by staying downtown, helping the medical team, and not bunking at Baker Ranch for the duration. I don't know if you want to thread any of them out, but if you do, I hold out the small psychic clerk to you 🤲

Harv's Party Pack

[apocryphalarchivist]

(Shout-out to Sols for being a Certified Cool Dude with this great organization plotting comment idea!)

Please don't reply to the comment directly below while I update it with plans, just to keep everything visible!

CWs for everything included in Thatcher's Blight as a whole, including potential euthanasia.

Jon is going to be in the thick of it, and likely get infected at least once. He's really not good at steering clear of these sorts of things. He's available to be gotten infected by somebody, cause some infections of his own, and try to hide out with someone once he's back from getting killed.

Laios is going to be in the Opt-Out, trying to crack the mystery of who killed someone hiding out among them, after getting picked up by Dahlia before the reality of what is happening truly comes to light. Find him here, rope him into investigations, he's game for any of it!

Dr. Coldwood is no medical professional, but will be using his experience in other studies to try to help gather whatever the medical team needs. He'll also be doing his best to explore the town thoroughly, trying to catch anyone who might've returned after their first infected death, in hopes of preventing another. He's very much open as a wildcard, and can be involved in rescues, hiding out, and just about anything else you can think of!

Mr. Pennyburrow is, for the most part, locking down the Autumn Leaves Dormitory House intensely to keep the kids safe above all else. Unfortunately, he is weak of heart, and cannot resist people who seem like they need help. He intends to sneak out the back and attempt to help wherever he can, and leave himself outside if he catches anything. He's not the most capable, but he so desperately wants to make himself of use, and will tend to the ill, help doctors, or run notes to quarantine zones as needed!

(Do not reply!!) - Confirmed Plans

[apocryphalarchivist]

Jon:
-Infection and subsequent death early on in the Blight
-Will 100% be investigating the haunted house and could use a friend to go with!

Laios:

Elias:

Pennyburrow:

Sentis | Don Plotting

[suenoimposible]

Don wouldn't have any issues with fending off anyone attacking her but... there are other problems. Don's extremely hesitant to actually strike down people who are infected, she seemingly doesn't ever take off her shoes, meaning she'll likely make contact with something infected eventually, and she's also not the type to sit things out either.

She likely will get herself infected at some point just because she doesn't want to sit idle while people are suffering. If anyone wishes to kill Don at this point then it's reasonable to do so, I kinda want an excuse for her to lose Rocinante for a little bit at least since that'll lead to some INTERESTING stuff.

Jenn | César Salazar

[pineapplesalmon]

General idea: Magne gets César to Dahlia's. He worries. And does druid stuff to give people other things to eat.

More Specific Ideas - Reply to toplevel so I can keep editing this

[pineapplesalmon]

Stealing this idea from Sols.

Location: Dahlia's Estate (because Magne makes him go)
Family and friends on the outside: chatting via sending stones, fussing
Valdis: reassuring him about worries in the outside
People inside the estate: He might do druid stuff if bored, so sorry if... plants happen?

Batya | Zivia, Edgar, Cassandra

[not_the_last]

Zivia. I'd like her to get sick early on, and be the one to pass the disease to Degas (and possibly others if anyone's interested!). I don't know if I want her to seriously hurt anyone while she's in later stages of the Blight; I do know that I'd like her to be involved in helping the medical crew, either before contracting the disease or (if time permits) after returning from death.

Edgar. No specific ideas for him yet -- anyone want to suggest anything? If nothing comes up, he'll most likely be sheltering in place at Baker Ranch and doing what he can to help John.

Cassandra. Opting her out of Thatcher's Blight and into the murder mystery! She's currently got both sympathy for and suspicions of Dahlia, and the proximity is likely to heighten both of those. Anyone want to talk with her about either?

DO NOT REPLY - specific plans, to be edited (what can I say, Sols has a real good idea)

[not_the_last]

[Placeholder]

Sid/Zak | L.V. Morgenshtern, A.T. Menelikov

[graphomaniac]

I think I'll be opting out of the actual infection part of Thatcher's Blight, but I'd like Anzu to still take part in research somehow.

I think he'll be sending Lev/Lyubov to Dahlia's manor, though. Out of harm's way.

DO NOT REPLY - specific plans, to be edited

[graphomaniac]

Also stealing this idea from Sols.

Meghan's Chaos Crew! [CW: euthanasia]

[ss_buttcrack]

Crichton: Crichton will be in the opt-out zone during the blight event, but that might not necessarily mean he's safe. But that will limit his thread partners to people who are also in the opt-out zone.

I definitely want to send Crichton into the spooky House. Hit me up if you want to come along with him! I don't know if the damage to his psyche will help or hurt on his journey there but I may let the dice decide.

Max Maximum: [CW: euthanasia] Max is going through his rebellious arc so he doesn't want to hide, he wants to help. That will lead him to helping Magne try to subdue the sick to keep them from hurting anyone. He is not, however, immune to the illness so he is probably doomed to contract it himself. If he does, he may ask for a mercy killing before he can become violent. (Baby's first death in PH!)

I'd also be interested in sending Max to the spooky house with a partner. (I'm having a hairbrained idea--wouldn't it be kind of funny to have Erik and Max get stuck in there together and have to work some things out? IDK how I'd make that work but what if?)

Erik Osborne: [CW: euthanasia] Erik will be immune to the sickness but he will be fussing very hard about his lovers who he can only assume are not. (And fussing about Max, too, lbr.) He will be around and available to give assistance up to and including quickly killing anyone who requests it. He's also willing to fight and subdue anyone that has become uncontrollable and violent. He won't be drinking any of their blood, however, because he's taking no chances. He will be only drinking from his emergency blood fruit stash for the duration.

Obviously, I wanna send Erik into the spooky house. Fuck him up.

Elsie [CW: euthanasia] She's been warned by several of her friends from town not to approach until this blows over. But, she'll feel worried for those same friends and want to help keep them safe so she might show up to lend a hand if needed (re: requested). She has no qualms about mercy killing anyone. I don't plan to have her contract the illness.

Not gonna lie, she's also curious about the spooky house but I'll leave it to the PCs unless someone specifically requests doing a run with her.

Rose's Assorted Bastards

[lofi_charm]

-THATCHER'S BLIGHT-

Dahlia will be heading up the opt-out option!

Neil will be attempting to run a shelter in Prague Mill, up in Northwest Hollow. He's both the glassiest and the cannonest of glass cannons so if you need rear support, Neil's your guy! He's even got a pretty wild AOE spell. He's a great option for a shelter group that's on the outskirts of town that isn't as secure as one's characters might like!

Zelda will probably also be at Neil's shelter and will be involved in organizing supply runs into town (probably with Link and Jean, player schedules willing!) for anyone in the Northwest Hollow area. I'm sure nothing will go wrong.

Gerry intends to organize a defense effort for the radio station, both in the interest of preserving means of information transfer and for Boyfriend Reasons. Though I might like for him to get infected.

Sally will be working hard alongside other medical professionals to help with the cure. She's very conscientious and I don't plan to have her get infected and would like to have her help with puzzle solving! If any other doctory sorts would like to work with her, I'd appreciate it!

Mairi will be sheltering in place, trying to keep people healed and fed. I'm not sure on where yet!

Martin will be getting infected by Jon and doing a bad job finding shelter after he comes back!


-HOUSE CALLS-

Definitely not all of mine will be involved w the mini because I'm going to be focused on completing just a few threads! I for sure plan to send Neil, Martin, and/or Mairi into the house!

TO DO LIST (Don't reply here please!)

[lofi_charm]

Dahlia: Opt-out thing
Neil:
Zelda:
Gerry:
Sally: Thatcher's Blight puzzle solving w Claude! (And others?)
Mairi:
Martin: Passing Thatcher's Blight back n forth with Jon lol

mira | fever, helena

[abhorrently]

Fever:

• In terms of Thatcher's Blight, she may or may not get ill - this is still up in the air. However, she will unhesitatingly be there to kill the infected the same way she did on the Stag Beetle, and will take up defending locations unless otherwise requested, such as on a rescue mission or to specifically find those people want to check in on. She will also be wholeheartedly willing to go and look for supplies for the medical folks if they need something in a harder to reach area - adventurers are made for fetch quests.
• She will be investigating the House, potentially even daring a full overnight in the place alongside anyone who wants to test their courage. This may not be wise, but since when did she have a track record of doing wise things?
• For more general plots this month, I don't have much, thought residents of the Oak and Iron are free to notice that one morning in early August, Fever was storming out from a room, drenched to the skin and extremely agitated. Hit me with whatever comes to mind!

Helena:

• For Thatcher's Blight, I remain heavily undecided - she has no combat capability or medical knowledge, so the most she can do is run or simply try to provide morale support to whoever is nearby. She may simply shelter in place to try and avoid the worst - Stage 4 will remind her of being hunted, so she'd prefer to avoid it.
• On the flip side, she will become invested in the House, and will seek to understand what's going on even as the hauntings continue. Definitely, she'll need a companion for at least part of it, but I'd like to have her draw on her experience being under great stress and terror to be potentially a calmer figure to anyone who's scared and to try to find the truth.
• General plot wise, what she needs the most help with is figuring out what she's going to do for a job, since her work experience is nil at the moment. I am saying her temporary reclusiveness was IC, as she's been rewriting her diaries and records of what she's been through, and in general will be around trying to learn and memorize the layout of the town. Going outside of its limits, she'd prefer company, but is happy to go with even strangers should they get along. She's also been going to mass, and is really trying to settle in here. Anything else, I'm happy to talk about and try!

[lofi_charm]

I was looking for a house buddy for Martin, and we wanted him and Helena to meet! Good excuse? :D

Sydney | Imbros

[mindflayed]

Imbros has never been sick before! He will be furiously taking notes for as long as he can because how exciting and interesting! Untilllll the memory loss happens at which point he will straight up panic and go hide in the woods for the rest of the event because his identity is all he has and he doesn't even really have that.

He will definitely not be traumatized by this in any way, shape, or form.

As for the House he will absolutely love that. Because he's a weirdo he will love it even more if he gets injured or dies because that's how he learns. It's all about the knowledge afterall.

Long term he really needs a job so he doesn't spend half his time floating on the top of the bluffs like a Victorian widow who's waiting for a husband to come back from the war. He's not enjoying being a regular mortal who can get sick and doesn't have all his psychic powers and has to play nice with others.

Also: he's very hungry.

[abhorrently]

i'd absolutely love some interaction with imbros this event - either him taking notes and fever going "you NEED to go see a doctor" or potentially finding him in the woods or something - the idea of identity being all you have and it being then threatened is a concept fever is greatly familiar with, and i think it'd add a neat twist onto their cr if this comes to light.

Albion | George & Rue

[stonecoldtop]

Rue normally keeps to herself in her music shop on the outskirts of town, but once she's aware of the plague she'll be heading into town proper to help out as much as possible. She doesn't have much in the way of useful skills for this, but she'll be happy to go on supply runs / whatever else she's asked to do, and is pretty good with mechanics & electronics if anything needs repairs or the like.

She'll also be going to the haunted house out of sheer curiosity

George I'm currently undecided on, he'll probably end up taking the opportunity to avoid the whole thing w Dahlia. Unless I can think of something interesting to do with him on the infection side

Cameo | Bastion, Wilson, Fuelweaver, Moiré

[configuration_birdwatcher]

Bastion has approximately the medical knowledge of someone who's memorised an anatomy textbook or two and taken a course in basic-to-intermediate first aid, although it was uploaded to their systems for the purpose of inflicting injuries on humans more effectively, so diseases weren't given much coverage. They can't get sick themself, but they're going to have an encounter with an infected Nimona.

Wilson was trained as a professional chemist before canon happened to him, and has some medical training from his university days but ultimately didn't get or come very close to getting an entire degree in it. He also lived through the 1918 influenza pandemic and learned some useful stuff from that experience (and some less-useful/useful-only-to-him stuff like "how to tie a flu mask so the straps don't get stuck in his hair"), kind of like how a bunch of us learned new things about virology in 2020. He's joining the medical team.

Fuelweaver is probably nigh-untouchable by the sickness, because he's far too dead to catch it and I don't think the germs can survive for long in his aura of shadows, nor does he wear a lot of clothes for them to stick to. I'm sending him to the Leeds estate because I'd like to have someone there and my plans for the other three preclude that.

Moiré is going to get sick as a proverbial dog. I think it's going to make their glitchy broken-TV Mien get glitchier, too.