Info post - Spirit Guardians / Basculegion swarm

[indigo_league]

Uh. What's happening?

On the Fourth of May, two never before seen pokemon will be swarming in Victory Road, namely the White-Striped Basculin and Basculegion. However, all these fish will be the least of the characters' concerns. Because as it turns out, interacting with the swarming Basculegion creates a very unusual effect.

Once a character has touched one of these pokemon, they will suddenly start feeling a sensation on the back of their necks. It could be a chill or a warm brush of air. Then, they'll notice a presence moving at the corner of their eyes. It might even be more than one. And if they are brave enough to turn and face them they'll find themselves staring into the faces of the dead.

Again!! What is happening!!

Much like Basculegion are shaped by the spirits of the fallen, so are most people. In their lives, most people (and thus, most characters) will be shaped, in some way, by the death of another person. It might be a beloved parent that passed away, it might be someone they were unable to save. Or it might even be someone they sacrificed along the way.

During this event, those spirits will become visible.

Now, what this will mean for your character is entirely up to you. It could be a positive experience, where they are able to briefly interact again with someone dear who has passed away. It could be an unpleasant reminder or a source of guilt. It could even be a source of annoyance if an old petty enemy still won't leave them alone from the grave! Any approach is valid.

You are not limited to just one spirit either. If your character has experienced multiple deaths, they can see them all at once, or the spirit that is by their side can change throughout the day.

Can only my character see these spirits or can everybody see them?

The spirits will be visible to others!

Will the spirits be talking or silent?

This will depend on the relationship between your character and the person who died.

Essentially, the closer the relationship between your character and the dead person, the more they are able to communicate. They will only ever be able to communicate things that your character already knows (so no telling you that long lost family secret!) but still, it'll be a comfort to hear that familiar voice again, right?

(well, unless you were the one that killed them)

If the character who died was essentially a stranger to your character, they will be completely silent. After all, you didn't know them well enough to know what they'd say to you.

Of course, the spirits speaking to your character is optional. If you'd rather have your character deal with a silent presence, even if it was someone they were very familiar with, that's fine too.

Other people can see the spirits. Can they also hear them?

They sure can!

Can we actually touch the spirits?

Unfortunately, no. They are still spirits, so if a character tries to touch them, they will pass through them.

How will it feel to pass through a spirit?

This depends entirely on the nature of the spirit. Passing through a spirit who had a positive influence on a character will feel like a warm breeze. Passing through the spirit of an enemy may feel like a static charge. Passing through a stranger or someone whose death the character feels guilty over may feel like touching ice. Go wild!

Victory Road humanises characters when they arrive here. Will the spirits also be humanised?

No, the spirits will be as the characters remember them. So, if the person who died was, in fact, a giant dragon, their spirit is still going to look like a giant dragon to everybody in Victory Road.

So. Due to time shenanigans/weird magic powers/the fact I'm playing from Homestuck, the dead people that have affected my character are their own selves. Can those show up too?

Yes, you can have a tea party with your dead clones.

My character thinks a certain person is dead but they are, in fact, still alive. Would they be able to show up?

The only spirits that can show up are those of the dead.

Additionally, the only people who can show up are those whose deaths the character in question has already experienced. So, if in your character's future a certain person will die but they haven't died yet, that person's spirit won't show up.

If the person whose death your character experienced was later revived, their spirit will only show up if they are still dead at your character's canon point.

What if nobody my character knows has died?

Then un(?)fortunately, they will not be able to see any of their own spirits during this event. But they can see see the spirits of others and interact with the event in that way!

What if the person who died turned into some form of undead?

They can show up as spirits too, especially if the form of undead is of the mindless variety. Think of a shambling zombie -- sure, the body might be moving, but the spirit is gone. And the spirit is what is important during this event!

I'd love to participate in this event, but my character is on a route without water! Now what?

Because this event will take place during a swarm, the Basculegion will be present on every route! Yes, even the ones without fishable water sources. You might find ones in shallow streams and such that are not marked on the general map. Or you might find one splashing in a puddle.

This event really isn't my style...

That's fine! If this is not something you want to explore with your character, please remember that characters will only be able to see the dead if they have physically interacted with a Basculegion. So if you want to sit this one out, just have your character not touch one of the fish.

I have another question!

Comment below and we'll get you an answer ASAP.

Comments

[epitaffio]

As usual, I come bearing questions!

1) Would a character be able to see ghosts of people whose deaths they technically witnessed, but can't remember due to amnesia shenanigans?

... actually 1a) I might as well ask how would this work if, say, Diavolo definitely knows somebody who's died but Doppio doesn't

2) Hypothetically, if the ghost haunting a character would much rather fuck off and go hang out with the character's castmates, can they do that?

3) WAIT SORRY I thought that was all but I thought of something else: if a character happens to be lacking in personal connections but has, shall we say, a body count, would the ghosts of their canonically-irrelevant-but-doubtlessly-existing victims be eligible, or is that a nah because otherwise half the characters in this game would have a ghost army after them?

OK NOW I'M DONE. Thanks mods!

[indigo_league]

1) If they don't remember witnessing the death, either due to amnesia or age, the spirit can still show up to them.

1a) However if Diavolo knows a certain dead person that Doppio doesn't, said spirit would only appear when Diavolo is in control of the body.

2) The spirits are bound to the character and cannot go away from them or go hang out with other people without said character being present.

3) It's absolutely possible to have the spirits of the nameless people they've killed show up. They'd obviously all be silent. Again, it's up to the player to decide which ghosts show up, so even if many characters would technically qualify for having a ghost army surrounding them, they don't necessarily have to go that way with this event.

[epitaffio]

That gives me plenty to ponder already. Thanks!

[un_oiseau_rebelle]

Can a character's Pokémon interact with these spirits e.g. attempting to get them to shut up via increasingly extreme methods that don't work because they're spirits?

[indigo_league]

The spirits won't be focusing their attention on the pokemon, but the pokemon can see/hear them and can try and attack them.

[cometkin]

What if your character's most relevant dead person is also a character being played at Victory Road? Do they get a spirit clone showing up?

[indigo_league]

They certainly can!

[fingersandteeth]

What about doubling up on spirits? If two characters (say Steven D and Shinobu) know the same dead person, does she only haunt one of them or can she haunt both? If it's both, are there two of her or is she just splitting her haunting time?

[indigo_league]

Everybody gets their own individual spirits. So if two characters know the same dead person, they would both be able to see their version of her. And if one of them knows said dead person better/more intimately than the other, there would be a difference in how interactive one version of the dead person is VS the other.

[lightningbearer]

A few questions!

Will it be possible for the spirits to be photographed/recorded for network or other shenanigans?

If there's a difference between how a character thinks a dead person would act and the way they actually would, how would the spirit behave? For example say a character believes a loved one would blame them for allegedly causing their death. Would the spirit of said loved one act in the way the character expects and blame them, or act more according to how that person really felt?

How long will the spirits be sticking around? Just the one day?

[indigo_league]

1) They can be recorded and will be visible on the network!

2) The spirits' actions will primarily be determined by the memories a person has of them. So if, for example, someone remembers a person as very kind and loving (because that is what they showed them, even if it wasn't true), that is also how the spirit will appear to them. If someone worries about a spirit blaming them, but there is no actual basis for this in their memories, then the spirit won't blame them.

Of course, it is optional for a spirit to speak at all. So if you'd like it to be left up in the air on what reaction the dead person would have, it is definitely possible to have them appear as a silent spectre rather than someone that can speak.

3) And yes, the spirits will only be around on the day of the actual swarm.

[lightningbearer]

Re: 2, if a character has a conscious misconception but subconsciously some awareness of the truth, even if in extreme denial, would that mean the spirit could indeed behave in the way that person actually would have?

Also, I thought of a couple more:

If someone died before a character could actually meet them (such as a father dying before the character was born) would that still be a possibility or no?

Can characters catch the basculin/basculegion and would doing so potentially have any effect on the seeing spirits thing?

[indigo_league]

The concious misconceptions would be stronger than the subconscious awareness. So it might shine through, but would be more in line what the person would be expecting.

As long as the death still had some effect on the person (which in the case of a parent dying is still present) they can see them.

The characters can catch the Basculin/Basculegion (and after the event they'll be available in the wild) but doing so will have no effect on seeing spirits.

[songofthedawn]

So...can an arcane construct formed through the collective faith of a bunch of people that objectively has no soul but also has a distinct personality through all incarnations be considered a person for the purposes of this event?

[indigo_league]

If its death (or... ceasing to exist?) shaped the character in some form, then yes.

Basically, as long as something had a personality and interacted with a character, and is now unable to do so because it is dead/destroyed/ceased to be, it will count for this event, even if said entity is not exactly a person. A much beloved pet or even an artificial being like a robot would qualify for this event!

[stardiving]

How heavily do the memories (or lack thereof) of the people in question impact their appearance? Like, for instance, if a character can't consciously remember the face of the person appearing?

[indigo_league]

Even if characters cannot consciously remember the face of a person, they will appear true to life. However, in those cases, there would be limited to no interaction possible from the spirits. After all, you don't know how they would've acted!

[wrappedwarm]

Will the spirits be in the state they were when they died? Or are the healthy ghosties?

[indigo_league]

Either can happen. It really depends on what sort of experience you want your character to have.

[wrappedwarm]

y dis

[paladinlost]

Can certain spirits appear if, intellectually, Cecil is aware that the people in question are dead in their own worlds (and upset about it), but he's only met them in an 'alive' state? A lot of the characters in Opera Omnia are taken post-death, even if they don't necessarily remember that at first.

Also, I'm guessing that Opera Omnia characters who are post-death, but are believed alive by Cecil, would not appear even if the characters covered by the previous question could?

[indigo_league]

If I understand it correctly, those people died in their own world, then came to a different world where Cecil met them? In that case, those spirits would not be able to show up, as Cecil has never experienced their deaths. This event is really meant to touch upon people whose deaths have shaped characters in some way or form, but it sounds like in Cecil's case, they've shaped him while they were alive (at least, to his perception).

Please correct me though if I've misunderstood something about the situation.

[paladinlost]

People died in their own world > people get summoned to other world, do not remember that they're dead > people remember that they've died, no one is happy about that discovery! More or less. So the... retroactive death discovery had a limited impact, I guess? In that it convinced Cecil to protect the gods' world and ensure all those people have a nice 'afterlife'.

But that impact is nothing compared to their influence as 'living' characters, that's true. Guess he'll be spared the dead teenagers hanging around! Thank you for your quick answer.

[bloodyroses]

do instances where someone didn't technically die in the clinical sense, but might as well be dead count?

asking because one of the most prominent losses in Cordy's life has been a girl who got melted into a demon hivemind and was forced to be assimilated into said hivemind, where it's clear she's never going to be un-melted again and no longer exists as herself

[indigo_league]

That would certainly count!

[un_oiseau_rebelle]

Would spirits who would normally be visibly wearing weapons in their own worlds still be wearing them?

[indigo_league]

They can, yes. They certainly can't hurt anyone with them anyway, so the normal 'no weapons' rules don't apply.

[prayreturn]

Just to clarify - since the spirits only say things the character would already know, if the character asks what happens after death, would it align with their personal beliefs?