paradisamods: (bard)
PARADISA MODS ([personal profile] paradisamods) wrote in [community profile] paradisaooc2012-10-03 01:23 pm

Nightmare plot

NIGHTMARES


On October 5th until the 8th, every resident inside Cair Paradisa will fall into an induced sleep where they will be forced to face their fears... or someone else's fears.

This is an interactive event where characters will enter their own nightmares or the nightmares of their peers, but they won't just see the nightmare: they'll experience it as well. It will be as if they are a part of the nightmare, too, and the only way to escape it is to survive it.

Shortly after midnight on October 5th, something strange will be in the air. It seems a toxin has come in through the ventilation system, and is spreading throughout the castle grounds. Any and all residents in or around the castle will find themselves falling asleep right where they are. Here's hoping they're already in bed.

This toxin will affect the mind and keep the characters trapped in the realm of nightmares for the next few days. They'll have to endure the dreams and face their fears, whether they be long lost memories of unpleasant times or a terrible fear they're afraid to face.

When the toxin wears off, the residents will wake, and they'll remember everything they encountered.


A few guidelines!

Nightmares should reflect a bad memory or a great fear.
All memories are up for grabs, not just canon occurances. If your character went through something rather unpleasant during their stay in Paradisa, you may write up a nightmare based upon that. If you'd rather not use memories and just write about a fear, that's fine, too! Maybe your character is afraid of spiders and dream that they're caught in a giant web.

Try to avoid nightmares in which your character brushes off the content of their dreams. They shouldn't enjoy their nightmares, so avoid having your character dream about something they wouldn't be afraid of or wouldn't react negatively to.

Nightmares should be interactive or have some interactive elements.
How you do this is up to you. You don't need to write a mini-plot, but there should be elements that other characters can react to. Instead of residents merely watch events unfold, all characters trapped in the dream will experience it for themselves. (Think of the Christmas 2010 plot where everyone had nice dreams. Same idea, except now they're the opposite of nice dreams.)

Examples: The resident that's afraid of spiders? Anyone in that nightmare is also trapped in a web and has to fight off giant spiders. A resident that was caught in a fire? All nightmare-goers are trapped in that fire, too.

Group nightmares are very much encouraged.
If you'd like to plan for several characters to share the same nightmare, you are more than welcome to do so. Please be sure to allow room for others to enter the dream if they so desire! The more the merrier--just not literally merrier.

Examples: Castmates can share a nightmare about a canon event, children can share a nightmare about Slenderman, etc.

Consequences suffered in the nightmares will stay inside the nightmares.
If your character is physically injured someway, has some power stripped of them, or has something taken away from them, this will not reflect the waking world. The only thing that residents will keep after they wake up are the memories of what they've just seen or experienced. In-dream death is not permanent, but you won't immediately wake up if you die. You might just be returned to the nightmare.

NPCs in the nightmare are controlled by the dreamer unless otherwise stated.
You don't need a separate journal for it, but if you'd like NPC elements to your nightmare, you're more than welcome to have and control them. If you'd like to give some control to those that enter your nightmare, just let them know in your post.

All residents in or around the castle will be put to sleep.
Whether they sleep or not, they will this time. This will affect every resident in the castle. Residents that live in the town will receive an anonymous invitation to attend an event inside the castle. If they choose not to respond, they will simply remain in town unaffected.


OPTING OUT

If you'd like to opt-out, your character will not have a nightmare/experience someone's nightmare.
They will still fall asleep, as everyone will, but they won't dream. They will have a restless sleep in which they feel uncomfortable or stressed, but when they wake up they won't know why.

Alternatively, you may have your character find a reason to stay in town for the next few days, or take a trip somewhere else. They will be far enough that the toxin won't reach them, and they won't fall asleep at all.


QUESTIONS

What if my character never sleeps/is immune to such effects?
This is a unique toxin that will make anyone who comes in contact with it fall asleep. Without the right antidote, residents will just have to wait for it to wear off.

What if my character is living in town, but they want to visit the castle while everyone's asleep?
You're more than welcome to have them try to return to the castle, but the toxin will have spread to the castle grounds. It's very likely that they will fall asleep once they're within range of it, and suffer the nightmares as well.

This seems like a long time for them to be asleep without sustenance...
This isn't the castle's doing, and it's not too thrilled that its occupants are all asleep. The castle will take care of their bodies, making sure they won't wake hungry or thirsty.

If this isn't the castle's handiwork, whose is it?
You'll find out soon enough. ;)


Feel free to use this post as a plotting post as well, and if you have any questions, ask away!
inafadingcrown: (Default)

[personal profile] inafadingcrown 2012-10-04 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, we should definitely do something with this. Maybe we could have one of them visit the other and then in the thread the dreams start to intermingle. Or something, idk. I am so bad at plotting.
both_neither: (neutral)

[personal profile] both_neither 2012-10-04 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, the...becoming what you fear this is difficult to make interactive, because then it's a question of if you're watching it happen of having it actually happen to them. Did you have an idea of how you might do that with Galadriel?

The fire thing is easy to do though, since that's also a thing.

Edit: whooops wrong account but w/e
Edited 2012-10-04 02:01 (UTC)
inafadingcrown: (grave and beautiful)

[personal profile] inafadingcrown 2012-10-04 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I'm...thinking about it. It's tricky. I haven't decided much yet, really; it's all very up in the air.

Yeah. :( I forgot Felix had a fire thing too. WELP WE'LL JUST TRAUMATIZE EACH OTHER, best bonding experience, amirite?