Chestnuts roasting on an open fire... if you can find any.

[rubycitymods]

You didn't think we'd let you have an easy winter, did you? The erection of the tree in the centre of the city might have heralded the start of the festive season but it also begins the noticeable descent into the colder weather that this time of year brings.

From Saturday, December 7th, the grocery store will cease to restock its produce. It will likely not be obvious at first, but with the population numbering around one hundred and seventy the decline in supplies will no doubt make itself evident soon enough. Water will continue to run and anything to be found outside of the city is still as edible (or not, as the case may be) as it ever was. By the end of the week, the store will be bare and the city's residents will have to either hunt for their own food, or rely upon those who can...

The following week, beginning Saturday, December 14th, the water pipes will begin to freeze. If you've already taken the precautions of insulating your pipes, you won't have a problem..! At least, not right away. The more run-down houses will be hit first, followed inevitably by the others. The water will first run slowly and ice cold, then stop entirely. If quick action is taken and the pipes are thawed and properly insulated, the freezing will be held off until the end of the week, at which point all running water will be cut off. This also means no heating! Stock up on firewood or risk becoming very, very cold.

From the 14th to the 21st, the weather will also change, and it will start to snow. There's nothing ominous about this snow - it's white, clean, and really quite pretty - aside from the fact that it's coming at a time when people need to be able to move freely to hunt, scavenge and make sure they have running water for as long as possible.

On the 21st, the snow will stop, but the Winter Solstice will bring its own particular difficulties in the form of restless roaming spirits drifting through the city and attaching themselves to the residents. Even those not particularly sensitive to such things may find themselves affected and although many may be harmless - confused, frightened or searching for something lost - some of the hauntings are not too friendly...

If you have any questions, please use the relevant comment below! There will be mod posts periodically to keep everyone aware of what's happening, since this will spread over several app rounds. Have fun plotting :)

Comments

QUESTIONS

[rubycitymods]

Ask them here!

[raindownthesky]

What are some of the effects that the wandering spirits will have on residents?

[honestguy]

So I'm guessing the spirits are humanoid? or vaguely human-ish? male/female? or will we be getting more info later, when they actually appear?

[ceded]

I have a couple of questions!

What does "attach" actually mean with regards to the ghosts? Does that mean following characters around? Literally attaching to a piece of their body? Stalking from a distance? All three or a combination therein?

Also, what ARE the spirits? Like what do they even look like. Are they translucent and silvery? Do they come in technicolor but float? What's the deal there. Will they ever be people characters know, or are they just sort of generic ghosty dudes?

And last, the pipes. So the water pipes begin to freeze on the 14th and the problem gets worse until the end of the week .... meaning what? Friday the 20th? I just wanna clarify the exact date the water stops running despite all heating and insulation efforts. :U

thanks!

[neverbeamemory]

Random question: Will the river freeze over?

PLOTTING

[rubycitymods]

GO FORTH AND PLOT~~~

Re: PLOTTING

[raindownthesky]

Every day, Fang will be going out to get some major hunting done. Her priority houses will be the Flower Shop, the Turk house, and maybe a few other extra houses as a small contribution. If anyone would like to go hunting with her, or have her help out with food, let me know.

As an added extra, and this is mostly just Fang being Fang, she is a natural space heater due to being so active. If any of her friends need some serious snuggle time to keep warm, she is more than happy to provide.

I should also mention that I have no idea how Fang will be effected by the spirits. I would like to ask if anyone has any good ideas? Even if she doesn't get effected too much, she will still be associating with characters who are, so knowing that would help a lot.

Re: PLOTTING

[departed_child_of_gods]

So of the three I can think of:

Hiroshi: The MOMENT the spirits start showing up, he's going to start looking into ANYBODY with any sort of handling of exorcisms to prevent a repeat of last time. Depending on who he finds, he may end up looking into how to negotiate with spirits. In the meantime, he's going to be helping Arthur watch over Ib and Alice and make sure they stay warm. He might also, uh, seek out a book about roughing it.

Soga no Tojiko: Is probably going to be bitchslapping some of the more annoyingly depressing ghosts, and zapping the hostiles. SHE'S dead, and you don't see HER moaning about it, geez. Otherwise, the whole "no water, no food, no heat" thing doesn't really mean much to her.

Phoenix: in addition to trying to figure out how to help out with Integra's curse, he'll probably be doing what little he can to help with the survival issue. Once the spirits kick in, though, he's going to be watching Maya and Pearls and making sure nothing bad happens, since he knows the spiritual overload is going to affect them both adversely.

Alice and Morrigan

[desertedchateau]

Alice: will be helping where that she can (probably with moving blankets to and from places), making sure everyone in the tea shop's okay, and for humor's sake, finding and reading a copy of "The Snow Queen". She'll also be side eying the snow and checking in on her friends.

Morrigan: Will be offering to unfreeze pipes since she can generate small blasts of energy. She's also got an energy source in Lamont, so she'll be able to work for about a week before things start acting up. She's going to fatigue quicker but she'll be going out with Fang to hunt and double check on the youngers in the city/distribute food.

I'm open for any plotting! X3

Re: PLOTTING

[trashkind]

Madoka is going to want to do her best to help out with the food situation once things start running low, since she knows that an archer is probably going to be an asset. It'll take her a while to come to terms with killing animals because she's a precious flower, but considering that the other option is that everyone starves, she'll force herself to do it. At the very least, she'll probably offer to help with carrying back any extra meat or making deliveries to people who can't hunt/go out themselves!

Kariya is pretty much less than useless when it comes to hunting or scavenging anything, but once the heat gets knocked out and things get colder he is going to have an IDEA. Namely, to try and jury-rig up traditionally-heated kotatsu so that freezing to death is not a thing that happens. He'll probably post asking for help with that at some point since clay pots and a means of getting charcoal are required and also c'mon here the entire population of ruby city is not going to fit underneath one kotatsu

Pearl is like nine, no hunting for her. She's under the wing of the Vampirehaus inhabitants, although as a spirit channelling prodigy, the increased spiritual activity around the solstice is gonna be pretty rough on her. I'D QUITE LIKE TO PLOT FOR THIS ACTUALLY y'all should throw ideas at me or something

OTHER THAN THAT LET'S PLOT LET'S DO THE THING

[aworthyrival]

Chika will be hiding out with Fang and co. and trying her best to . . . idk . . . be useful in any capacity. SHE DOESN'T HAVE A LOT OF SKILLS THAT ARE RELEVANT TO THIS though she can try and cook food that the hunters bring in!! 8'D

Re: PLOTTING

[machitobaye]

Machi has a bit of a food-related trigger spot because of homeless orphan thing to begin with. He will be more or less 'under the care' of Jason Todd, but he will also begin hoarding--and keep hoarding, actually.

I haven't decided what I want to do with this kid this event, he's already spent the better part of this month pretty miserable...? What do, come plot with me.

Epsilon is naturally warm because he runs on photon energy, so that's a thing. He's also in trouble. As a robot that runs on photon energy, he relies entirely on the sun to... uh, live. 'Live?' Anyway.

This event is going to see him forced to conserve his energy a lot, and he is going to become very, very worried. Also troubled, because hello, pacifist robot with a lot of concern for human life and human suffering. He may try to help people.

Vincent is... um. He's. I don't think he's capable of starving to death. He is, however, capable of shooting monsters to produce meat. Which may be a thing he does, to help out.

The spirits are going to be a bigger problem. I plan to have a spirit attempt to possess Vincent, upon which he 'freaks out' and transforms into Hellmasker. Who may actually wreck the clinic, mod permission permitting?

It'll be the first transformation he has in Ruby City, so, uh. Surprise!!

Claudia & Manaka

[unhealing]

Claudia is going to be pretty useless this event. She can't hunt, and with the weather being what it is, even scavenging for food and supplies could be too difficult for a frail, sickly lady like her! So, obviously, she's going to need some help in these circumstances, or else she'll probably just let her starve and/or freeze to death. Whoops!

In addition to the above, she's in a very bad state of mind right now thanks to some things that happened last year around Christmas, so... She won't be eating too much, even if she does receive help! It's obviously far more important for everyone else to get enough food, since she can't do much to help anyone, you see. So, basically, she'll probably just be eating the bare minimum she needs to stay alive and sulk around being sad.

Finally, Claudia does have the ability to sense malevolent spirits, albeit at the cost of her own health. She'll probably be removing the charm she has that suppresses her ability and actively working to pinpoint which ghosts in particular are dangerous, especially if she has someone who can perform exorcisms to get rid of them helping her. So, exorcists, people with healing abilities, people who want to (probably ineffectually) try to persuade her to save her energy instead...

Manaka isn't going to care. She doesn't need to eat or drink, and she can't freeze to death. So, she'll probably just sit back and be obnoxiously cheerful while everyone else suffers! What a nice young lady. She will, of course, expend a little bit of effort to help the people she actually has some fondness for, or simply people it would amuse her to assist.

Sort of related to that, Manaka's magecraft is good for dealing with spirits like this. I would actually really like her to help someone, whether genuinely or simply on a whim, by protecting them from ghosts. If anyone has a need for this, let me know.

JW and Maurice Hutch

[goldeneyeball]

Hungry Hungry Jaydubs

Sssooo JW is going to get possessed by a ravenous winter spirit and start attacking anything and everything in attempts to get sustenance. This includes friends. Yes, he has those, aren't you impressed?

Before the spirits show up, he'll probably be a smug shithead just because he starves himself on purpose and to see others going through what he puts him through gives him a sick sense of superiority because he 'does it better'. Whatever, JW.


Maurice

Maurice doesn't NEED human food to survive. He's been through this song and dance before and he's going to feel super bad and be all worried for the younger people in town. For a few mouthfuls of blood, your character can hire Maurice for muscle, protection, etc when he's not playing scavenger. Unless things get REALLY ugly, he won't be attacking anyone

Re: PLOTTING

[thedarkheir]

Soma is going to do some hunting as well, and keeping a very close eye on Dracula to keep him from taking advantage of the situation.

And he might have some trouble with ghosts considering his sensitivity, trying to decide on what.

PLOTTING :D

[bifroster]

Jane here is gonna kinda... not be useful for this event.

She doesn't have any experience with hunting, and doesn't like the idea of actually killing something herself. However, she would be more than willing to help cooking, storing, foraging for food, helping with pipes, and anything else that could be useful that way.

She might need some help finding a warmer place to stay for the winter. But she will be more than willing to share blankets and supplies!

[missleadingquestions]

Saber will be just fine. She's a heroic spirit. Being the knight that she is, she'll be feeding Waver and Kariya and then volunteering her services as needed. She hasn't learned to cook, but she sure as hell can hunt.

Conrad is a big weenie, but he's also dead. The cold doesn't bother him much any more. He's pathetic, but Alucard is teaching him-- that means he'll probably not only be trying to keep Hanna and Lamont safe and fed, but also be volunteering as a part of the blood market trade thing. He'll attempt to get you food in exchange for blood.

Katherine is looked after by Jason and Epsilon, but once again, lives alone in a toy shop. She doesn't know how to hunt but can be taught, and has been in many dangerous situations before. She's the Action Survivor trope, so don't count her out-- she's more than just mini Mother Goose. Because Nanda Devi is not a natural piece of machinery, she will still be operational so long as Katherine believes in her; Nanda can be used for deliveries and flying small things around.

Maya will still be under Seras's watchful eye but will be watching over Pearl like a hound. She's technically Pearl's guardian child though she may be herself and she'll be taking that seriously. She and Pearl will be making warding charms or omamori, which they'll be charging with spiritual energy of their own.
She's gotten a might stronger in the city, but those spirits are still gonna do a number on she and her baby cousin. In the end, she'll be no good for hunting partners, but she certainly isn't going to give up on warding charms and shit.

Waver Velvet

[gordianknots]

Waver will mostly be side-eyeing all of the shenanigans with a very resigned, "of fucking course." That said, he will be willing to help manage rations if someone asks, as well as see if any of his alchemy related skills can help in regards to fixing the pipes. As for spirits, he can certainly help research information about them and what to do, but beyond that, well, evocation isn't really his skill set.

mikasa, petra and mikoshiba

[petral]

mikasa and petra will be my most useful characters as they can go hunting and are capable of suriving since they've been thrown out in the cold before they cool

mikoshiba will.... be mostly useless but he'll volunteer to shovel snow!!!!

idk how my characters will be reacting to the spirits. orz i wanted mikasa to do a thing again but then she's...... suffered enough through the holy grail war ahahahahah

BUT!! i might want to do something with petra so i can play off her differently?? ? ? if anyone has ideas you're welcome ahahah i have a weak spot for everything terrible....

[crowsicle]

The bad news is Davesprite's gonna be pissy as heck about the cold and the weather, but the good news is he doesn't have to eat. The other bad news is that he's not really a hunter nor a winter survivalist, having grown up in Houston, Texas.

What he does have, though, is a knight complex, laser powers, and a body that literally glows. Once it really starts snowing, he'll offer to help guide people around and push big snow drifts out of the way. He is a squire to an officer of the law, and all. It's his civic duty.

Setsuna F. Seiei

[jesus_is_gundam]

Setsuna won't be bothered much by this event, at least not at first. He's had to scavenge and hunt and survive before, in the desert no less. This won't hit him too badly.

That said, he'll probably be more than a little bothered by the spirits. He's kind of sensitive to those things, in a way (space canon is weird) so he'll have some trouble dealing and adjusting to their presence. He'll also probably be doing that freaky glowy eye thing and stealing all of your pants (look his canon is really weird okay). He may or may not need some help getting through this.

Jason Todd, Levi, and Labrys

[waywardbird]

Jason has a literal apartment full of weapons. Literal. They're in the walls. So if anyone needs a rifle for hunting expeditions, he's probably the guy to talk to. In the mean time, he's gonna really focus on making sure that Machi and Kat are eating enough and staying warm? And any other kid, really. He'll be taking care of bare minimum stuff for himself. No kid is going hungry on his watch.

And he's gonna have a beard. Because ginger mountain man.

Levi miiiiiight be going most of this alone. Probably going to check up on the kids a lot because whatever, he kind of has to, it's this thing, but he's actually sort of still at a point where he's less used to watching other peoples backs and more used to other people watching his? Cause that's what his squad does for him?? Eren is a special case. He's used to most people just watching out for themselves and then there's this kid.

Labrys has the distinct honor of being a robot. The cold doesn't affect her in the usual ways, so you'll probably see her swapping out her axe for a shovel once the snow really starts piling up. She's good at heavy lifting, so snow won't be too bad, as long as she paces herself. Also she's gonna have to make sure she doesn't freeze up, so somebody might wanna watch her for any signs of that??? Also don't touch her she's fucking cold.




(also i kind of want a spirit to possess jason im just saying)

PLOTTING

[zuipperpips]

Roxy is a good shot, so she'll be willing to help the hunting parties-- although mostly she's going to be concerned about her cats, and will be setting aside a lot of meat for them. And corralling all of her friends to build a shelter in the backyard, since the majority of the cats are still pretty wary around humans and more comfortable outside. But she's probably going to be of more use because of her appearifying powers!! Technically she has the power to make absolutely anything appear, but it takes a lot of concentration and energy, so in the interests of speed she'll be focusing on what she's best at. Which is pumpkins. And pumpkin pie. And pumpkin bread. Et cetera. Here's hoping Ruby City likes gourds!

Mileina is 100% useless, considering that she grew up in space and has an affinity to machines. Pretty much all she's going to be good for is boosting morale by building snow creatures, although she's a smart girl and will probably be able to quickly pick up on the proper techniques for roasting squirrel over an open flame or whatever everyone is doing for food.

Hans Gunsche

[mute_mutt]

"But Captain, hunting is pointless when we have free supplies" they said.

"But Captain, this is pointless" they said.

WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?

That being said, Captain will continue to hunt as per usual. He doesn't eat much of what he kills, so it'll be plenty for other people.

He might even bring the carcasses to town if people ask him nicely.

Jane Crocker

[heiress_apparent]

oops, I'm lame and had work all week

So! Jane may not know much about hunting, but the gist is, you stick the pointy end into things, right?

If she's no good at that, she'll sure as hell help cook large, long-lasting meals for people.

Not sure about the spirits yet, but I am way WAY open to it.