THE VOICE IN THE DARK: voting

[ximilian]

● ● ● THE VOICE IN THE DARK VOTING POST

The time has come for the team to decide how they wish to proceed through the conclusion of the mission. Before we get into planning, here is a quick recap of what has been discovered so far:

• Sam Cooper had an imaginary friend called Freddie.

• Sam moved away to go to university and didn't want to return.

• Forsythe Heights school teacher, Thom Harris knew something about this.

• Sam Cooper may never have said anything about hearing any voices or making any wishes, according to former babysitter, Debbie Martinez.

• The Cooper house is said to be haunted by some but the only thing of note is the VCR player with suspicious markings and a very strange energy to it.

• The orb was successfully contacted at the school, however it does not want to be collected.

• A second VCR tape has been discovered in the A/V room at Forsythe Heights Elementary School. At the moment, its contents are unknown ...

· THE VOTE

For the conclusion, we ask everyone to ICly vote on the following:

• Where the orb might be?
• How to retrieve the orb once the team has found it?

Please place your votes below and/or +1 others’ suggestions. The voting will close on October 28, 6PM GMT before the conclusion goes up on October 31st.

Comments

QUESTIONS.

[ximilian]

Do you have a question about how the voting works, or about anything else? Leave it here!

Re: QUESTIONS.

[foolintherain]

hi mods, sorry to be a pain! i'm new to the game and don't know what i'm doing :,) since the vote ends in two days, can characters keep investigating ICly before we vote OOCly? like can they watch the vhs tape wei wuxian found before we vote, or talk to NPCs or explore areas they haven't yet or are we limited to strictly information obtained oocly before today for this vote?

thank you!!

[ximilian]

Hello! As the search request have ended, the voting will have to happen based on the available information, meaning that no further investigating can be done; any further actions taken should be put as their vote, and the conclusion will then detail what happens based on what they have voted to do.

[foolintherain]

oh maaaaaaan, i see! thank you for clarifying!!

(frozen comment) WHERE IS THE ORB? / HOW TO RETRIEVE THE ORB?

[ximilian]

Please leave your suggestions for where your character believes the orb might be, and how to retrieve it once it's been found?

Others can then comment around and +1 the suggestions their character would agree with.

(frozen comment)

[construing]

When jokes turn a little too real. Gwen believes the orb is in (or is hidden as) a VHS tape. Specifically, the one found by Wei Wuxian at the school—same place where contact was made with the orb, and where either the tape or the school resisted the tape being taken. It fits with the traces of power found by Castiel around the VHS player in the Cooper house, and feels like the type of approach an orb would make with kids and/or entities who loved scary movies (and she is willing to gamble on not-so-imaginary-friend Freddie having been the one to make the deal).

To obtain the orb: pop the tape into a VCR, be ready for whatever comes out. Should they confront Freddie, she favors a gentler approach. His manner seems to be that of a kid who lost something important and cannot understand why it happened nor does he have an adequate way of expressing himself, instead falling back on the scary movie tropes Sam had loved (now taken up to 11 due to the orb). Freddie still thinks Sam might return; he needs to understand that won’t happen.

(frozen comment) +1

[singlelogbridge]

Wei Wuxian is going to agree with this. He'll have his flute on him and be sensing for resentful energy should he feel like a ghost attack is imminent, but at this point he feels like it's the orb's power at work, not anything spooky. He also agrees that if there's a ghost attached to the tape, he'd rather help them to pass on as his duty as a cultivator, rather than attack what seems to be a confused child.

(frozen comment) +1

[dr_unconscious]

This aligns pretty closely to Clayton's thoughts, especially in how to deal with whatever manifestation of Freddie comes out to confront them. No matter what the orb has turned him into, in Clayton's mind, Freddie is fundamentally a splintered spirit that is probably lost, confused, and hurt by Sam's absence. A being in that state ought to be reasoned with rather than immediately met with violence.

Regardless of what the group ends up doing to secure the orb, Clayton knows that it is a pretty intense source of soul-like energy and can directly interface with people's minds, so he'll offer to try and provide a mental buffer for whoever plans on front-lining that approach. He can use his tethers to monitor the minds of whoever is connected to him and attempt to shunt negative energy/thoughts his way, or in severe cases, directly interpose his soul against something that's trying to access another person's mind. Terribly dangerous for him, but, you know, helping!!

(frozen comment) +2

[blackfire]

both itachi and gene would go for this plan.

I HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO ADD FORGIVE ME I AM ON MOBILE AT WORK I FORGOT THE VOTE 🙏 🙏 🙏

(frozen comment) +1

[choicely]

Yennefer has no strong feelings about ghosts — truthfully, it's more of a "whatever happens, happens" philosophy — but her experience attempting to initiate direct contact has left her under the impression that the orb is the malicious force, not the ghost, and that they should treat the Freddie entity with caution instead of immediately leaping to killing (unless they're given ample reason to do so out of self-preservation).

(frozen comment)

[ruinously]

Dean is of the mind to watch the tape ASAP to get the orb, and put a devils trap AND salt circle all around the television and VCR. He also came into the game with holy oil, which he’s dragged along on every mission he’s able - and would be very keen to also circle it with some holy fire, juuuust in case. He doesn’t trust Freddie at ALL, and thinks maybe he’s some manifestation of the orb who’s gone rogue without Sam around to keep everything in check & will kill everyone without a second thought (bc that's what angry spirits do). Mr. Eternal Pessimist, at your service, & his knee jerk is to gank him, or trap him.

(frozen comment) +1

[groupiedrifter]

Newt is putting faith in Dean's skillset as a supernatural hunter and would highly recommend allowing him to set up some failsafes in case watching this VHS tape causes any additional issues that can be remedied. Let's watch the tape, though! YOLO

(frozen comment) +1

[callada]

Rosinante just learned what a VHS tape is basically yesterday and he has no idea what to do about ghosts, BUT this guy sounds like he knows and is prepared.

The tape is clearly important and nothing he or anyone else has found really points to anything else as far as he can tell. And if all this is Freddie's fault, fuck Freddie you piece of shit. He's mad grenades probably don't kill ghosts so let's go with whatever does.

(frozen comment) +1

[cruelyethuman]

Post-jump scare Aleksander thinks Dean's plan makes the most sense. He's willing to lend a hand in protecting the rest of the orbers with a wall of shadows - nothing fancy, just. A wall of it.

Dean's plan scratches that itch of retaliation and overkill that this mission so sorely needs.

Backup plan: Set everything on fire.

(frozen comment) +1

[peasant]

deferring to the resident ghost expert dean winchester, in this case. she'd advocate for trapping and failsafes, above immediately setting out toward direct violence against a ghost child — in the hopes that freddie can possibly be talked down. but if not, it's good to come prepared.

(frozen comment) +1

[drawsblood]

Joric is down with this plan. He doesn't know what a VHS tape even is, but he's under the impression that Freddie is a minor god and in his land, the gods test them in different ways. Basically they just power through whatever the gods throw at them so he figures he can do the same here. He has no problem with preparing for violence coming from Freddie as he assumes this guy is the one who resurrected walking dead versions of their loved ones to scare them off. So he'll bring his sword and observe to see how Freddie should be handled.

(frozen comment) +2

[starer]

Bucky already wants to play the new video in the VCR in the Cooper house. But would very much defer to Dean on this by virtue of the fact that he Know His Stuff. And he actually trusts him too. So whatever precautions their resident supernatural expert deems necessary, Bucky will go along with it. And, because its become his MO here, if there's a way he can help Freddie out in the process, he'll try to take it.


Daryl would also agree to go along with Dean's plan/help scrounge up supplies for them. But he'd very much like to keep his distance. Hearing those voices when he tries to sleep is bad enough already, without tempting fate for worse.

(frozen comment) +1

[gusurules]

Wangji will have repaired his guqin (replaced the snapped strings with a set of 'modern' strings knicked from the school's music room - he'll leave a lump of silver in exchange); and will be ready to play certain songs if needed:

Evocation to pull the ghost child away from the orb if he is there with it/tied to it

Rest if the ghost child manifests in the room - will attempt this the longest in the hopes of giving the ghost child a peaceful send off to the next life as well as end any connection between the ghost child and the orb if the ghost sticking around is potentially what the 'bargin' hinges on.

Vanquish if the ghost child violently resists rest too long and there doesn't look like there's any other choice in getting the ghost child to move on

EDIT: Wangji will vehemently refuse the Orb's offer if it attempts to remind/entice him with it again.

(frozen comment) +1

[laviny]

This seems to be Dean's area of expertise, and failsafe contingencies are always a good idea.

(frozen comment) +1

[morethan084]

Daisy trusts Dean enough after their recent conversation to take the lead on this. She’ll also offer her powers if they’re able to do anything in the way of helping here.

(frozen comment) +1

[foolintherain]

Like Gwen, Castiel believes the orb is inside (or has become?) the VHS Wei Wuxian found and would like to see it played in the Cooper's VHS to get more information and/or obtain it, but like Dean, he believes that Freddie is a part of the orb, not an innocent spirit, and it will act malevolently and resist capture. Castiel will help Dean try to trap the tape/vhs and the orb along with anyone else willing.

Either before or after the VHS confrontation (whatever works for the group), Castiel (and/or anyone else who wants to) would like to locate Sam Cooper outside of town and talk to him about what happened with Freddie. He believes Sam may have made the wish that inadvertently caused the hauntings.

(frozen comment) +1

[chrysology]

Ed has no idea what a VHS is but this is def more Dean's domain than his sort of expertise. So. He'll go with this and roll with it.

(frozen comment)

[shadysided]

Ziggy would also like to +1 -- she would like it to go peacefully but if this potential ghost is violent from the get go, she'll opt for everyone to defend themselves. If it isn't violent, however, she would heavily recommend a peaceful way to get the orb. She's been stabbed to death (pretty much) by a 'ghost', she doesn't want it to happen to any of them.

(frozen comment) +1

[knightof]

Suzaku's all for following the lead of someone who actually knows what they're doing regarding ghosts/the supernatural. Plus, taking precautions and trapping whatever comes out only makes sense. If things go well, it'll give them the opportunity to talk it out with Freddie and end things peaceably. Or, if that's not a possibility, take him out with whatever means necessary.