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SPOOKY SPELL PLOTTING POST
Hello all!! Thank you so much for coming to play.
I wanted to give you a space to plot together so I'm going to drop an overload of info below and a lil plotting form and then we can go to town. If I don't cover anything you want to know, give me a shout!
For some context, my intention is to set up a log as an open playground so you have space to play out whatever interests you about the mini spellcasting prequel arc. You can engage with the prequel log as much or as little as you'd like - there's no pressure, it's there as a CR platform for the involved teens as well as an opportunity to build up some context for any main event log or aftermath threads. Completely fine to plot out handwaved interactions for anybody who wants to limit their thread count!
Event start (aka the day the kids actually cast the spell) is due to be Weds 9th March, so I’ll forward-date this prequel log and put it up a few days ahead of that. I’m thinking Saturday 5th to give a few non-event days to tag around, but completed threads won't be needed to participate in the event log so tagging both simultaneously is a-ok. Now that I've got more of a sense of how this aspect of the plot is working I can also confirm that I will open it up again once the app round has concluded to see if anybody else wants in.
THE BASICS:
And some info about the key elements:
THE BOOK:
The book is shelved in the school library, tucked in amongst the magical reference section. It looks exactly as you'd imagine an old spell book would look: leatherbound, weathered, some mysterious-looking symbol stamped into the cover.
Inside, the majority of the pages are filled with scripts and symbols that don't seem to quite match anything translatable. The kids can check it against any other spell or language book they can find in the library or any app they can bring up on their phones and while they might find the odd rune or symbol or letter that matches up, they're combined in such a strange way that nothing ever properly translates.
It's also structured very oddly: hand written and chaotic. Script bunches together to form structures and patterns, curls in unsteady spirals, plays with empty space, covers pages with a dense layering of ink that would make the script illegible if it weren't already untranslatable.
THE SPELL:
The only exception to the above is a section of script that is written in English. The spine of the book will naturally crack open to these pages, so characters less inclined to sift through it can skip straight to the good stuff.
I'll write a more thorough description of the page and its text, but some key cryptic clues that characters will come across are:
🔦 The spell creates a secret place that sits inside another.
🔦 The place hides those it houses, maps lose their meaning.
🔦 The more people lend the place their power, the better hidden they will be.
Also evident is that the spell has specific requirements for the space it’s cast in: it must be pitch dark, it must be silent, and there must be at least two doors, one to be closed and one left open a crack.
These requirements will ultimately lead the kids to use the middle room of a basement warren, the only room in the house with two doors and no sound, where they can leave the door to the deeper room open a crack without letting in any light.
SUPERNATURAL INFLUENCE:
As we have a really nice mix of characters who need varying degrees of outside influence, we've got a supernatural offering that you can engage with as much or as little as you like. You're also free to have your character unaffected completely!
The book is enchanted to command and keep attention. Proximity to it will draw focus, and once the book is opened the trap closes. Each character's psyche determines how much or little the spell takes hold and what kinds of thoughts manifest as a result but basically, once someone sees the interior, the book will hook itself into a character’s thoughts which will warp towards it. That seed can grow in whatever way you find most fun to play with or most useful to get your character to cooperate.
If your character is the type to look at a magical book and think heck yeah let's go cast a spell, it might just stay rooted in their conscious thoughts all day, intensifying their excitement to mess with it more later. If they're the curious type, it might amplify that curiosity: a mild interest in the contents becomes a fascination becomes a need to experiment. If you want to play with darker themes, the spell might shift their thoughts to generate a more negative fixation: what if everyone else goes and I don't and I miss out on the best ever experience? What if this spell might be the only way to keep my friends safe one day? Wait, where did the book go? Somebody else has it? Unacceptable, time to find them.
THE LOCATION
The place they’ll choose to cast the spell is a big, uninhabited house in Sunset Falls, which has become a haunt and practice ground for the cool local magic kids. How they come to choose this location is completely up to you, depending on the teens.
If you have a teen who’s likely to have fallen into the same circles as Cool Magic Kids, they'll know about it. The school rumour mill will also have plenty of talk about things that have happened there for anybody keyed into that. Maybe your kid has explored Sunset Falls and got a Vibe off of this place previously - it’s damaged and overgrown in contrast to some of the other properties nearby, so looks visibly disused, as well as having an Intense magical aura.) These are just a few possible suggestions, feel free to toss around your own!
CASTING THE SPELL
This is a hefty section, brace yourselves!
As group threads can be unwieldy and I’d like to avoid putting any pressure on anyone to thread it out, the spell will focus on individual experiences. I'll include a prompt in the log to provide all the beats and you’re welcome to write up character experiences of the casting in response, but if you'd rather just hash out the key points here and use that to run into the event log that's also golden. If you decide to do a group thread leading up to the casting that’s completely fine of course! But it isn’t a must.
Notes:
🔦 once the first person speaks the spell words the spell is cast and everyone inside the room will be caught within it, so your character can opt to not actively participate at this stage and will still be trapped within the spell.
🔦 speaking the words severs any psychological hold the book had on a character, the effects of which can diminish as quickly or as slowly as you like.
🔦 after casting, characters will be solo as a default, but two or more characters can start out in the event log together by choosing the same door/taking the same action at the same time.
The Casting -
As per the spell's instructions, characters will position themselves in the casting room facing the closed door with their backs to the slightly open one. They must then shut off any light source in the room. At this point, each character participating will speak a short, memorised incantation from the spell book in their own time. Once they've done this, the darkness and silence of the room around them becomes absolute. No sound or light that anyone else creates will reach them.
After some time, each character who has spoken the incantation will come to ~feel~ as though the door behind them has fully opened. The spell advises they should then turn and go through it. They will find they are able to walk to it confidently through the dark if they choose to go, but they are equally free to decide they’d rather not and attempt another action: maybe finding a light, or trying to speak to somebody else, or feeling around for other characters or the closed door instead. Joke’s on them though! The spell has been cast, and anything they do now is an interaction with the spellscape.
Or the Not Casting? -
Characters who choose not to speak the incantation will remain in the original room, but if they turns on a light or try to speak to the other they'll find that they've vanished. The only people left in this room will be those who chose not to say the spell.
Once they leave the room through either door, they will be integrated into the spell: this room was the eye of the storm created by those who spoke the incantation, and they have left its safety. If they stay here however, they can be rescued before becoming trapped.
Hidden Option Number Three -
If you decide that you’d like your character to be involved in the prequel but not actually get trapped in the spell, I can facilitate this! Your character will need to 1. not participate in the incantation, 2. either stay put in the casting room after the others have left or not have gone into the room at all.
They will still be able to enter into the spellscape again after they’ve been retrieved from the house, but it’ll be as an outsider rather than one of the lost teens, so the experience will be slightly different. Let me know if you’re interested in this and I’ll factor it into my planning/probably ask to be put on your dance card for a prequel log thread between your character and Stephen.
PLOTTING
I’ve come up with a few headers that might be useful in putting together a plotting comment and some guiding questions, but feel free to go completely off script and add/remove sections as it suits you, or not use ti at all. The form is just here to give some structure if you want it.
And with that I’m finally finished! If you have any questions or want to hash out some more details or a specific scenario with me, pop on over and let me know here: QUESTIONS/PLOT CHAT.
I’ll be 👀ing your chats and ready and waiting for your questions, I hope this gives you some fun stuff to work with!
I wanted to give you a space to plot together so I'm going to drop an overload of info below and a lil plotting form and then we can go to town. If I don't cover anything you want to know, give me a shout!
For some context, my intention is to set up a log as an open playground so you have space to play out whatever interests you about the mini spellcasting prequel arc. You can engage with the prequel log as much or as little as you'd like - there's no pressure, it's there as a CR platform for the involved teens as well as an opportunity to build up some context for any main event log or aftermath threads. Completely fine to plot out handwaved interactions for anybody who wants to limit their thread count!
Event start (aka the day the kids actually cast the spell) is due to be Weds 9th March, so I’ll forward-date this prequel log and put it up a few days ahead of that. I’m thinking Saturday 5th to give a few non-event days to tag around, but completed threads won't be needed to participate in the event log so tagging both simultaneously is a-ok. Now that I've got more of a sense of how this aspect of the plot is working I can also confirm that I will open it up again once the app round has concluded to see if anybody else wants in.
THE BASICS:
Over the course of one to three days (we can figure out the timescale here), a spellbook is found and a plan hatched to cast the spell inside of it.
The location chosen is a big old spooky house in Sunset Falls, which the grapevine says is abandoned and a popular magic spot for local kids.
The teens go to the house after school one day.
The spell is cast. This was A Mistake.
And some info about the key elements:
THE BOOK:
The book is shelved in the school library, tucked in amongst the magical reference section. It looks exactly as you'd imagine an old spell book would look: leatherbound, weathered, some mysterious-looking symbol stamped into the cover.
Inside, the majority of the pages are filled with scripts and symbols that don't seem to quite match anything translatable. The kids can check it against any other spell or language book they can find in the library or any app they can bring up on their phones and while they might find the odd rune or symbol or letter that matches up, they're combined in such a strange way that nothing ever properly translates.
It's also structured very oddly: hand written and chaotic. Script bunches together to form structures and patterns, curls in unsteady spirals, plays with empty space, covers pages with a dense layering of ink that would make the script illegible if it weren't already untranslatable.
THE SPELL:
The only exception to the above is a section of script that is written in English. The spine of the book will naturally crack open to these pages, so characters less inclined to sift through it can skip straight to the good stuff.
I'll write a more thorough description of the page and its text, but some key cryptic clues that characters will come across are:
🔦 The spell creates a secret place that sits inside another.
🔦 The place hides those it houses, maps lose their meaning.
🔦 The more people lend the place their power, the better hidden they will be.
Also evident is that the spell has specific requirements for the space it’s cast in: it must be pitch dark, it must be silent, and there must be at least two doors, one to be closed and one left open a crack.
These requirements will ultimately lead the kids to use the middle room of a basement warren, the only room in the house with two doors and no sound, where they can leave the door to the deeper room open a crack without letting in any light.
SUPERNATURAL INFLUENCE:
As we have a really nice mix of characters who need varying degrees of outside influence, we've got a supernatural offering that you can engage with as much or as little as you like. You're also free to have your character unaffected completely!
The book is enchanted to command and keep attention. Proximity to it will draw focus, and once the book is opened the trap closes. Each character's psyche determines how much or little the spell takes hold and what kinds of thoughts manifest as a result but basically, once someone sees the interior, the book will hook itself into a character’s thoughts which will warp towards it. That seed can grow in whatever way you find most fun to play with or most useful to get your character to cooperate.
If your character is the type to look at a magical book and think heck yeah let's go cast a spell, it might just stay rooted in their conscious thoughts all day, intensifying their excitement to mess with it more later. If they're the curious type, it might amplify that curiosity: a mild interest in the contents becomes a fascination becomes a need to experiment. If you want to play with darker themes, the spell might shift their thoughts to generate a more negative fixation: what if everyone else goes and I don't and I miss out on the best ever experience? What if this spell might be the only way to keep my friends safe one day? Wait, where did the book go? Somebody else has it? Unacceptable, time to find them.
THE LOCATION
The place they’ll choose to cast the spell is a big, uninhabited house in Sunset Falls, which has become a haunt and practice ground for the cool local magic kids. How they come to choose this location is completely up to you, depending on the teens.
If you have a teen who’s likely to have fallen into the same circles as Cool Magic Kids, they'll know about it. The school rumour mill will also have plenty of talk about things that have happened there for anybody keyed into that. Maybe your kid has explored Sunset Falls and got a Vibe off of this place previously - it’s damaged and overgrown in contrast to some of the other properties nearby, so looks visibly disused, as well as having an Intense magical aura.) These are just a few possible suggestions, feel free to toss around your own!
CASTING THE SPELL
This is a hefty section, brace yourselves!
As group threads can be unwieldy and I’d like to avoid putting any pressure on anyone to thread it out, the spell will focus on individual experiences. I'll include a prompt in the log to provide all the beats and you’re welcome to write up character experiences of the casting in response, but if you'd rather just hash out the key points here and use that to run into the event log that's also golden. If you decide to do a group thread leading up to the casting that’s completely fine of course! But it isn’t a must.
Notes:
🔦 once the first person speaks the spell words the spell is cast and everyone inside the room will be caught within it, so your character can opt to not actively participate at this stage and will still be trapped within the spell.
🔦 speaking the words severs any psychological hold the book had on a character, the effects of which can diminish as quickly or as slowly as you like.
🔦 after casting, characters will be solo as a default, but two or more characters can start out in the event log together by choosing the same door/taking the same action at the same time.
The Casting -
As per the spell's instructions, characters will position themselves in the casting room facing the closed door with their backs to the slightly open one. They must then shut off any light source in the room. At this point, each character participating will speak a short, memorised incantation from the spell book in their own time. Once they've done this, the darkness and silence of the room around them becomes absolute. No sound or light that anyone else creates will reach them.
After some time, each character who has spoken the incantation will come to ~feel~ as though the door behind them has fully opened. The spell advises they should then turn and go through it. They will find they are able to walk to it confidently through the dark if they choose to go, but they are equally free to decide they’d rather not and attempt another action: maybe finding a light, or trying to speak to somebody else, or feeling around for other characters or the closed door instead. Joke’s on them though! The spell has been cast, and anything they do now is an interaction with the spellscape.
Or the Not Casting? -
Characters who choose not to speak the incantation will remain in the original room, but if they turns on a light or try to speak to the other they'll find that they've vanished. The only people left in this room will be those who chose not to say the spell.
Once they leave the room through either door, they will be integrated into the spell: this room was the eye of the storm created by those who spoke the incantation, and they have left its safety. If they stay here however, they can be rescued before becoming trapped.
Hidden Option Number Three -
If you decide that you’d like your character to be involved in the prequel but not actually get trapped in the spell, I can facilitate this! Your character will need to 1. not participate in the incantation, 2. either stay put in the casting room after the others have left or not have gone into the room at all.
They will still be able to enter into the spellscape again after they’ve been retrieved from the house, but it’ll be as an outsider rather than one of the lost teens, so the experience will be slightly different. Let me know if you’re interested in this and I’ll factor it into my planning/probably ask to be put on your dance card for a prequel log thread between your character and Stephen.
PLOTTING
I’ve come up with a few headers that might be useful in putting together a plotting comment and some guiding questions, but feel free to go completely off script and add/remove sections as it suits you, or not use ti at all. The form is just here to give some structure if you want it.
THE BOOK: Do you have any plans for how your character comes across it? In the library, or would you rather this happen via another character, or are you open? Is the book’s influence going to take a hold of your character, and if so how will that manifest? Is your character interested in the book itself or more interested in the idea of casting the spell?
THE SPELL: What about the spell appeals to your character/what might make them want to get involved with casting it? Does your character want a secret clubhouse? Is it the implication of a safe place? Are they interested to see what it means by more people=better hiding, or worried by that? Maybe they're just in it for the bonding experience, or tagging along because this spell looks risky as hell? Will it take persuasion to get them interested? An idea of this might help to see which characters might gravitate toward each other in the run up.
THE PLAN: How are these teens ending up at the spooky house? Does your character know about the house? Would your character propose casting the spell? Would they try to persuade others or attempt to go by themselves, paving the way for them to be followed? Will your character try to avoid getting involved and need coaxing? If you’ve got thoughts on this leave ‘em here.
THE CASTING: Will your character be speaking the words or not? Do you want your character to end up grouped with someone entering into the event log? Do you have an idea of how your character might react to the casting?
OTHER: Anything else you think it might be handy for people to know about your character, any interest in handwaved CR leading up to this, or things you’d like to play with that aren’t covered in the above sections, etc.
And with that I’m finally finished! If you have any questions or want to hash out some more details or a specific scenario with me, pop on over and let me know here: QUESTIONS/PLOT CHAT.
I’ll be 👀ing your chats and ready and waiting for your questions, I hope this gives you some fun stuff to work with!
QUESTIONS/PLOT CHATS
THE TEENS
The teens entering the spooky spell will be:
Ken Kaneki (
Harleen Quinzel (
Kamala Khan (
Alina Starkov (
Kumoko (
Bart Allen (
Jinx (
Loki Laufeyson (
Peter Parker (