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This is our Open Log for players to have an easy opportunity to tag others and have fun with prompts that deal with current happenings that are not covered by our MANTA Board quests. Sometimes we provide extra quests at the bottom, but oftentimes we just let the MANTA Board cover it. Players are free to include MANTA Board quests in their toplevels!

Because this is a special event released thanks to the point donations, all threads based off the event are worth 6 points.

Note: This is an opt-in event with the IC timeline lasting throughout the rest of the month. This means a character could go into the Farplane for one day and then sit out for the rest of the month to either go about their business or deal with the troubles that are occurring in the living world. The event should "conclude" by the end of the month, but we will use AC Submissions for details.

For your toplevel, please include the following: Character Name | Canon | Armada Choice.

TOPLEVEL DIRECTORY (Updated November 27th)

As reports of ghosts not returning to the Farplane continue as well as now visible signs of the cracks forming between the realm of the dead and of the living, great measures must now be taken. Tapirfolk who call themselves guardians of the Farplane will be ferried to Eltrut by Envoy Jades and will coordinate with high officials who are more familiar with the spiritual realm. From there, word spreads to the other major leviathans, meetings are conducted, and an organized expedition is set.

It is revealed the newly discovered island of fog, Samdre is a suitable "landing point" for Envoy Jades to ferry those who volunteer to enter the Farplane. However, rather than by any shore, the staging area is in the middle of the island, where a black lake has appeared, one that was certainly not there before. It's here that the Asmodeus will appear in its ghastly glory and everyone will disembark to the Farplane. More of the guardians as well as strange deer will be there as well. To enter the Farplane, however, there are a few things one needs to be aware of:

» Soul expulsion. A living body cannot enter the Farplane, so the soul must be expelled instead. The soul will remain tethered to the body so that it will be able to return easily.
» 3 hour time limit. A living soul can only exist in the Farplane for on average three hours. After which, they must either return to Envoy Jades or activate the provided talisman to immediately return to their bodies. Those who have experienced death before can last at most an hour longer before needing to leave.
» Risk of death. Should a living person stay too long in the Farplane, they risk death and could become a permanent resident of the Farplane unless they can be revived and brought back to life within 24 hours. Fortunately there are different methods to revive a person, and there will be a good stock of Vials of Liquid Life available.
» Side effects. Upon returning to the living, one will feel great fatigue and extreme sickness, as if they had been drowning and brought back to life. These effects last at most an hour and medics on hand will help try to reduce it.
» Downtime. Because of these risks, all who go in will need to stay out of the Farplane for a few hours, even days, or else there could be further strain on the soul.

For those who do not wish to enter the Farplane or are taking a break from their last trip, help in protecting the bodies or tending to the sick will be greatly appreciated. Buildings have been secured to house the bodies and tents are also established for those needing immediate care upon returning.

INTO THE FARPLANE

Once ready, those who board Envoy Jades's ship will need the travel time through the seemingly endless darkness to adjust to being just a soul. Only the lights on the ship will grant them any visibility, and it's under these lights they will notice their forms begin to look more solid, until eventually they look almost like their living body—just a lot paler. They are also able to touch and feel things while also having the ability to pass through objects. Because is anything actually solid in the underworld? Fortunately they won't be able to pass through the ship due to its unique qualities and magic.

Eventually a light will appear, and it will grow and grow and grow until in a blinding flash they breach through and are greeted by a mystical sight. The bell of Cassiopea, the jellyfish that contains all of Farplane, shimmers high above them and is endless. There is no clear beginning or end, it just stretches on forever, the darkness beyond like the night sky. Things float or fly in the air—it's hard to tell if one is underwater or not—and it's not too long before they see what looks to be large land masses with buildings like those found in ancient kingdoms. With lush coral reef forests and seagrass hills, although paler in color, it doesn't look too different from the land of the living.

As they approach what looks to be a white crystalline shore, they are told that they are near Respite Reef, a place where souls that are newly arrived and have yet to accept their fate first stay. This is so they can have the space and protection to acclimate to the afterlife, and reduce risk if they are unable to accept and corrupt instead. Those who choose to slumber for eternal rest or until they are ready to awaken again are taken to a place further beyond called the Gravewaters. Where they are going, however, is the Breathing Depths, where most souls live out their afterlife.

Here it is both a "lively" yet "peaceful" place, where souls drift around almost lazily. The concepts of wants, desires, and needs are extremely diminished. While some may hold onto a few things from their past life, many will have completely let go of them to exist happily. Before setting out, it may be a good idea to look around and understand what it's like to "live" in the Farplane.

🙅‍♂️ In denial. Some recently arrived souls may not be ready for the afterlife, and it’s not unusual to see souls try to fight against the guardians or other souls in a last-ditch effort to return home. Help them calm down, either with a comforting word or perhaps by force, and help bring them to Respite Reef.

🫧 Bubble jumping. Moving through the farplane feels much lighter than it does in the living world. Gravity is just a touch lighter in this place. With the amount of large bubbles and jellyfish floating around, it might be fun to be able to jump up on bubbles and jump and float around on them. Reach higher junctions by jumping from bubble to bubble, or make it into a race to see who can get the farthest with a friend.

🐟 Pyreguppies. Swimming around the Farplane are hundreds if not thousands of little glowing guppies that hover and play around any traveling souls. These little floating fishies are playful and sweet, trying to give little kisses to anyone who might still be clinging to life. If they come into contact with a soul, they can give a small warm memory of someone lost.

🍎 Black crabapples. Pretty black crabapple trees grow in random circles all around the Farplane. Despite being black with little crab shaped bits, the apples look tantalizing and delicious and draw souls in to want to snack on them. When eaten, the eater will experience extreme forgetfulness to the point that they don’t even remember who they are. Luckily, the effect only lasts for a few hours.

🎐 Good wishes. In order to support any lost souls wandering about, it is encouraged to write good wishes on small slips of paper and to tie them to trees. It doesn’t only need to be good wishes to the souls here, it can also be good wishes for the people in your life or someone you often think about too. These wishes will cheer up souls that rest here.

📿 Sticky charms. It’s a common trick to ward off the darker spirits by using special handwritten sticky charms with a small ruin spell on it that wards them away. Create some sticky charms and apply them to the forehead in order to make them the most effective.

☁️ Bubble clouds. If caught in one of the various floating puffs of sticky bubble clouds, the soul stuck inside it might experience their perfect bliss. Be it a dream about fulfilling their most sought after desires, finishing a long-lost goal or falling in love. The dream will be so blissful that the soul might not want to leave and be stuck there forever… Don’t let anyone get stuck.

Closer to the edge of the Breathing Depths and towards the wilder area known as the "Uncharted," there are a few natural places one should be aware of. There is a large steaming herbal hot spring that can be found and souls are compelled to come sit in it and to enjoy it. Although, stay long enough and a soul might melt and change into the shape of a frog or otter or any other aquatic creature. The purple and green seagrass fields can be found flourishing through the Farplane. The watercress and seagrass is thick and soft, like a whole forest of colorful grassy fluff. These watery grasses are light to the touch and if walked through, will give traveling souls a sleepy feeling. Falling asleep with someone here will let dreams be shared between companions.

FARPLANE: DARK SIDE

While most of the Farplane is safe, it is natural for there to be areas that are dangerous. The Uncharted, for instance, is a vast wilderness where most souls of animals and beasts roam. More dangerous, in the dark depths deep within Cassiopea is an area called The Locker. It is where the most vicious, unrepentant, monstrous souls are locked away. Unable to be purified, they are slowly tormented and destroyed by the ghostly leviathan. However, there are occasional leaks where some of that malignant energy seeps out into the rest of the Farplane. Referred to as blackwater, the guardians are usually quick to find and clear it up, but sometimes souls will get caught or perhaps even seek out the blackwater.

Regardless of how, souls affected by the blackwater will turn into malignant entities called "malice" and will corrupt the energy around them. If not taken care of quickly, it can spread, attracting more hostile souls and creatures as well as corrupting peaceful ones. The guardians and barrier around the Breathing Depths keep them at bay, but there has been an unusual spike that is making it difficult for them to contain and attacks more frequent. Those that go out to help need to be careful not to be corrupted themselves.

⚫ Black ooze. Although can be mistaken for blackwater, this black ooze is thicker in substance, like tar. It can be cleared out, but care still needs to be taken. Those trapped by it or exposed to it for too long will experience immense despair, vividly recalling their greatest regrets and moments of hopelessness. This can cause a soul to be corrupt, so although it's not blackwater, it's being treated similarly.

👻 Heliobi. Energy-sucking ghost-like parasites, they take root in a host’s nervous system and slowly feed on their emotions and energy. They will use the host’s deepest, darkest desires to create wild delusions and manipulate the host like a chess piece. The host has no choice but to obey and is possessed. If left long enough, the host will no longer be who they once were and will be exhausted by the heliobi. To stop these creatures, an “evil binding matrix relic” will be needed to imprison the abominations. Or just smack them around enough until they come to.

👾 Dearly Departed Foes. The Farplane is not only home to the souls of people, but also animals and other creatures. Those who venture deep into the Farplane may also come across the departed souls of monsters that had once been hunted as bounties in the land of the living. They’re definitely not happy about seeing the face of those who had slain them, so they will be hostile to those who were the reason for their demise. Arm yourself carefully if you want to fight these bounty monsters a second time!

☠️ Marked for Death. Corrupted souls may recognize those who were once dead and now living, marking them as a target of aggression by souls angry at their circumstances. Those who have returned from death may even have ghosts try to replace their souls with their own, or even displace them and drag them deep into the Farplane to join the dead properly.

👥 Possessions. There are more aggressive, fearless souls that seek out bodies of the living to possess. Like the others, they will feed on the memories of those that they encounter. However, unlike the ones that simply take shape, they will possess the body of the ones they find. Sometimes, they will make for a very convincing version of that person, and other times, they will take on the form of another in those memories. They will act like them, speak like them, and bear all of the same memories. A powerful soul may even be able to change the host's appearance, though it may "glitch" out and appear strange, as if something is slightly off. Be careful not to get caught by these ghosts, or else they might just follow people out. Find a way to dispel them or fend them off before they take over the body and mind completely...

The cracks from within the Farplane are more likely to be found in the Uncharted area, making them harder to find. They appear like giant gashes, as if someone had claws through the air or the ground, and a distorted view of the land of the living can be seen. Once found, however, it only needs to be attacked to be destroyed. However, care must be given to not be pulled out of the Farplane and back into the world. Because their souls are still alive, they are more likely to be pulled out and fairly quickly. If that happens, they will need to either re-enter the crack or risk being stuck outside and needing to make their way back to their body as the talisman will not work.

The ghost ship Envoy Jades had been trying to hunt down will be seen appearing and disappearing to attack certain parts of Cassiopea at random, creating and leaving cracks behind. When not ferrying the dead, Envoy Jades will take his ship and chase after it to try and rid of it once and for all. Those who wish to help will be armed with special purifying relics made and brought from outside, and because they are still living they are the only ones who can use it. These relics are all long range, from cannons to long range firearms to harpoons to magic staves. If enough people are able to use and hit the ship, they should be able to destroy it so that Envoy Jades can collect and drag the souls to the Locker where they belong.

REALM OF THE LIVING

With ghosts and creatures slipping through the cracks all over the world, those of the living need to do their part to deal with the issues brewing on their side. Fortunately, the number of ghosts and ghouls have been significantly reduced, so rather than a flood of attacks there are only a few that appear here and there. Thus it's manageable but still a problem, especially as the days drag on and it continues to persist. For those focusing on the general dangers and ghosts, there are a few ways one can help.

🦴 Gravestones. Several of the dull gravestones outside the Farplane’s entrance are grimy and icky with mud and time. Cleaning them might be able to protect the entrance of the Farplane better and keep the souls that are going inside safer. Clean the graves and offer them stories about your life to help them glow with energy again.

🧵 Leylines. There are several long tendrils of energy connecting the living world to the Farplane. These lines of energy are the very tethers that keep souls grounded and so they can return to the living world when the time is right. In order to keep them strong, use magic and energy to fuel the tether’s power. Letting them go out will surely mean a lost soul never returning.

🎶 Sing a verse. The Farplane is also incredibly sensitive to heartfelt emotions. To keep the score between the living world and the Farplane stable, sing a song together about something meaningful or heartfelt. Let the energy and sound fill up and strengthen the energy between both. Don’t be afraid, sing a song! Any song! Give it some ompph!

🌑 Shadow Beasts Some emotions and lingering resentment or regret coalesce and manifest into ephemeral, shadowy monsters that can be found lurking on the edges of the Farplane and devouring any lost soul that strays too far. These shadow beasts take all kinds of forms, and are drawn to particularly strong emotions, both positive and negative. They can be defeated with magical attacks, but overwhelming them with strong, positive emotions can help calm and dispel them naturally.

👥 Fight for your life. Just because someone is not in the Farplane does not mean they are safe from it. The escaped souls are searching for any unfortunate person they can drag back to replace their soul so that they can continue to stay in the land of the living by any means necessary. Whether it is kidnapping, fighting, or even trying to kill. Those who have experienced death before will be especially targeted. Help those who are being taken and try to subdue and fight off these souls to send them back where they belong.

The next important matter to deal with are the cracks. Just like in the Farplane, they need to be found and sealed off and are, somewhat fortunately, quite visible, appearing like gashes in the air or on the ground with unstable magic pouring out of it. One may even hear strange gurgling sounds, like something slowly moving underwater. Using strong magic, sealing spells or relics, or even attacking the cracks will close them up. There is a risk of falling through, so be careful. Fortunately, should one accidentally feel themselves being pulled in, it's a slow process and they may find themselves just stuck in the gap for a fair amount of time first, long enough for someone to help. They may even get pushed out by Cassiopea or a guardian if they happen to notice from within the Farplane.

However, these cracks and the corruptions of souls within the Farplane will continue so long as cultists performing blood rituals that use living sacrifices continue. Investigations have revealed that there has been a rise in the number of them, and while they do not know what purpose they have for all these rituals, it can be concluded that it needs to stop. The objectives for dealing with the cultists are straightforward:

🗺️ Find their secret locations. They could be on remote islands, in caves, or even in secret basements. Taking the form of spectral horses, the guardians will lead any willing to deal with the cultists to where the ghostly gatherings are found.

💥 Capture or kill the members. Capture is preferred for investigation, but no one will be faulted if they took a more vigilante route. Just don't let their blood spill onto an active ritual.

🕊️ Rescue any victims. They will use any kind of living body, be it person or animal. If too late, recover the body to bring peace to their soul…or risk their spirit corrupting.

🧟 Destroy summoned creatures. If a team arrives too late to stop a ritual, then the cultists are likely already dead, destroyed by the very thing they summoned. It could be a fiend, a monster, a demented soul—whatever it is, it will need to be destroyed. Some could try to purify it to let it return to the Farplane, but the ritual twists and corrupts the soul, so it may be difficult. Destroying it may be the more merciful route. Should one manage to purify it, bring the creature or soul to Samdre where it can be taken to the Farplane by Envoy Jades.

(note: players can find ritual circles made in blood, along with sacrificial displays involving the souls of both people and animals. On the edges of these ritual sights, black ooze can be found seeping up from the ground, as if tainted by the rituals)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

🫀 Farplane: Dark Side

Black Ooze CW: slight body horror, suicidal idealization
[ The problem with the black ooze is that it's sticky as hell, which means getting it off is pretty difficult. Nimona doesn't even realize some of it is stuck to her for an extended period of time as she treks through the Uncharted wilderness. She runs through the landscape - shifting through different forms as though there are knights on her tail ready to kill her.

Nimona only stops short when it seems her despair has reached the highest limit of what her heart can take, much like after Ballister learned the truth. Memories bombard her of the villagers hurting her - poking her with pitchforks, smacking her with torches, hitting her and everyone is afraid. It blends together with Ballister's face when he discovered that she wasn't just different, she was Gloreth's monster. The pain and anguish wells up inside of her, bubbling over, and she shifts to the form of a young girl.

What are you? Monster. Are you even human? Just be a girl. There is no place for you. Don't lie to me. You monster. Go back to the shadows from whence you came. There is something really wrong with you.

The voices of her past drown out any who might say different, overwhelming any sense of hope that she'd found here in this world. Breathing becomes a struggle and Nimona curls into herself, clenching at her head as though that will stop the voices, but tendrils of darkness start to consume her form. White light pours out of her eyes and mouth as the darkness strips away her human form, a scream ripping from her mouth as the girl becomes the monster they all painted her to be.

It echoes throughout the Uncharted wilderness as she goes from a small child to a fifty foot shadow dragon that's very difficult to miss. A thousand years worth of pain poured into the heartrending sound.

To anyone who isn't aware of Nimona's darkness, there won't be any sign of the girl within the large beast lumbering around. While she isn't vicious enough to attack on sight, the dragon isn't careful in how it moves and she is making her way to the Envoy Jades with an unknown intent. ]

[ OOC Note: This will be the only prompt for Nimona this month, people are free to fight her with the intent to kill her - but papa Cloud will be saving her. She's very hard to kill, so go ahead and fite. Only close CR can have aftermath threads, because she'll be sticking to her ship after this. We can plot on plurk or discord:

Tsukeru, xae7866 ]

[You'd have to have had a much worse sense of hearing than Naeva does to not hear that sound, and so she had been quick to lope in the direction of the dragon, already in her bestial form...not that it's very impressive in this situation. Nine feet tall doesn't matter too much when faced with a dragon.

It's as she skids to a stop in front of it that she notices. That doesn't smell like a dragon. Through the oozes' horrible scent, there is something else. Something underneath all this.

Jackals, as a rule, can't really howl. But she does make a loud, rattling chatter as she pours magic into whatever plant life she can find, trying to reach out and grab the dragon, stop it, slow it down. She's not particularly gentle or careful--she can't be. It's a really bad idea to let this reach the Envoy, she's pretty sure.]

[ She's too far gone to realize that there is another "monster" arriving. Only that there is someone trying to stop her from her goal. Plants grab at her feet, but the brittle things are no match for a dragon. With a little bit of extra oomph, its feet are ripped from the spiky branches of the tree - some of the deeper thorns cutting into the dark shadows.

Light pours out of the wound and the beast howls briefly at the pain, but it seems a more inconvenience than anything.

Those multiple eyes turn to look at Naeva, before turning back towards its goal. Whether the dragon sees Naeva as a threat or simply isn't interested in attacking something so small is unclear. ]

[Light. Light? If she doesn't have blood, that makes her next move a little harder. And if just stopping her won't work...

Naeva's vocal cords don't work very well like this. In fact, what she says is mostly an unintelligible growl, muttered under her voice.

Forgive me.

With that, she launches herself at the dragon's tail, grabbing and pulling back with all her strength, claws digging deep into the shadowy--flesh? Is it even fleshy? She doesn't expect to stop her like that but she does hope it is enough an annoyance to slow her down.]

[ It seems they have that in common, because Nimona has no real voice in this form - even if the dragon's cries sound like a chorus of them.

The growl doesn't go unnoticed, but the black ooze is too strong to listen to any attempts at communication. The dragon's smoky tail will try to flick off the annoyance, and even if that's not successful - well, the ground is possibly most likely to give way first than either Nimona or Naeva.

Naeva may find herself going skiing in the dirt as the dragon attempts to lumber onward. Yet there is still no attack to the being tugging on that tail. ]

[Bad. This is bad. This is really bad. The creature isn't fighting back, but is still lumbering towards the ships. Why? Naeva cannot think of any good outcome, not really.

She reaches again for the plants, latching them onto herself and the dragon as she tries, with all her strength, to at least slow her down a little. Enough to think of any solution.

In the distance, her ears pick it up--the order for cannons to be loaded.

Oh no.]

Stop! Don't keep going that way! Do you want to get shot?!

[It's more of a garbled loud gekkering than words, but one hopes the message is conveyed.]

INTO THE FARPLANE

FARPLANE: DARK SIDE

REALM OF THE LIVING

Nimona | Paladin

charges

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cw: more suicidal ideation.

nimona ;;

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dragon versus cat, FIGHT!

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Sorry for the delay writer's block was destroying me

no worries, happens to us all