SHARON DA SILVA (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fogsong) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
countryclub2022-12-02 01:00 pm
fogsong) wrote in countryclub2022-12-02 01:00 pm
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An Otherwordly Player Plot!
Did you know that everyone has their own hell in Silent Hill?
This is a long-term player plot that will last for several months starting December. Sleepers will have the chance to be suddenly transported to a hellish otherworldly version of Trench where they can be confronted by monsters born of their fears, guilt, and personal traumas, along with a strange variety of puzzles and items that will hint that this world is picking up on the things they refuse to address.
Wait, what?
Sharon has the ability to shift reality and pull others into a nightmarish version of the world she's in! It's an ability that she's avoided taking advantage of due to personal issues but she's come to realize that it might prove useful in the future so she's out here practicing by sporadically opening up the Otherworld and drawing characters in for a limited amount of time.
This is her testing her reach and her control by picking and choosing the districts she plunges and limiting the amount of Sleepers that can be drawn in. As the weeks go on, her reach extends and her control grows as she begins to better understand her ability.
Like all player plots, this is entirely optional!
How do they end up there?
It can happen anywhere and at any time. A dense fog will roll in, no matter where a Sleeper might be, inside or outside, that will obscure their vision and muffle sound. A darkness follows soon after, followed by the sound of a siren. If your character has a light on them or can see in the dark, they'll see that the fog is gone but the world around them is shifting, aging and corrupting in fast forward right before their very eyes. (Outdoor Example, Indoor Example, and Indoor Example II)
Once the siren is done sounding, the darkness will let up and they'll be in a very different Trench. A Trench full of different monsters, some that may tickle at their memories or remind them of people or experiences that have impacted them through their life. A Trench that taps into their fears and regrets and brings them to life.
What's it like?
The Otherworld is very clearly Trench. Sleepers will be able to recognize shops and homes and familiar streets but it's as if the city itself has succumbed to corruption; twisted and rotted after years of neglect. The streets in areas have given way and collapsed, taking a normal route from Sleepers and forcing them to cut through row houses or shops to reach the other side. Monsters roam the dark streets, and it's always safer to be inside than it is to be outside but there may be times when Sleepers have no choice.
Although Trench will be dealing with snow, this Otherworld version of it will be notably absent of thick drifts. There may be the occasional dusting of snow, or even rain, but it will be appear wrong; tainted and dirty.
Each district might have a different vibe to it. Lumenwood may find monsters based around plague doctors, blood ministers, and nurses roaming the streets and buildings and there might be plenty of used, rusted medical equipment laying about. Whereas Crenshaw might have smaller monsters that remind Sleepers of children or horrifying family units that stalk the streets while toys, drawings, and bicycles could litter the ground..
Monsters?
The monsters can change depending on the Sleeper, often reflecting their own traumas or guilt back at them (though not always) in ways that might not always be obvious (eg: the armless man symbolizes being trapped in one's self as well as a toxic hatred that corrodes everything around it due to the acid it can spew from its chest or dark nurses who represent Alessa's jealousy of womanhood). It's possible for two Sleepers to be in the Otherworld together, fighting the same creature, but both seeing something entirely different!
Don't be afraid to experiment!
Give your Sleeper a boss fight they have to beat to finally escape this Otherworld! Give them a stalker monster that hunts them relentlessly through this twisted city until the darkness fades! Give them a monster that never attacks but whenever it's around there's a heavy feeling of oppression and sorrow in the air! Hell, give them a monster that helps them out when they're in danger that reminds them of someone important to them! The sky is the absolute limit here!
Feel free to use monsters already known to the Silent Hill universe
Safe Rooms?
Although it's not a feature in the films, it's common in the games for our protagonists to have a room where they can collect themselves and save the game. The Trench version of the Otherworld will have safe rooms that can be easily located by clusters of wispy butterflies that hang around the doors leading to the room. It will almost seem as if people are being led there on purpose. In every safe room, there will be a note telling characters they can remain in this room until the world returns to normal if they need to.
What else can be found?
That depends on you and what you'd like to do with this place! Maybe your Sleeper is a soldier and they find the dog tags of long dead companions. Maybe your Sleeper is a parent and they find sketches that look a lot like something their child once drew. Or maybe your Sleeper spent a lot of time in a hospital and they start finding old hospital records.
Can my character figure out its Sharon?
Yes! It won't be obvious to the majority, in fact it will just seem like your average Trench nonsense, but anyone she's discussed her ability to shift the world with could easily put two-and-two together. There will be notes throughout the Otherworld in her handwriting offering tips (eg: "they're attracted to the light" & "keep quiet" & "sometimes it's better to run") and, sometimes, apologies. Of course, your character could miss those notes entirely!
If you think your character may be able to put it together because of a specific ability they have, let me know! I'm pretty open about what can come from this!
How long are characters trapped in this Otherworld?
Sleepers can be trapped for upwards of a day or as little as an hour! It's entirely up to you and what you're willing to put your character through!
Here's a plotting form to help you get started but feel free to add anything that helps give a good feel of what your characters Otherworld will be like including pictures and descriptions!
Keith - Monster Ideas
- A tall man, burning, fast... if you chase him, you'll never reach him. You have this desire to go after him, to find him, to get him back. You're afraid to lose him. This represents Keith's dad and his grief over losing him when Keith was very young. However, while chasing him, he'll always lead you to a safe room.
- A woman, mysterious... there's no defined shape to her body. She seems to morph between various people you may know, but never really defined as someone in particular. She's hard to catch, hard to find, even. But, if you do catch her, she finally settles in shape into someone you recognize as a mother figure. This represents Keith's mom and his years of never knowing who she was. She will take you to a safe room.
- A black and white monster with glowing eyes... they shift between yellow and purple. He attacks with a blade of magenta light coming from the right arm. The arm is mutated and grotesque, oversized, metal. The metal goes from the entire shoulder all the way to the fingertips. The monster is mostly incoherent, but occasionally nitpicks your worst doubts about yourself, undermining any confidence you might have. If you fight him, the magenta light of the blade will, at some point, disappear, and the arm turns into a massive canon, firing magenta laser bolts. The light burns if it touches you, searing hot, and can slice through anything, leaving a melted mess in its wake. It's relentless in its fighting. The only way to defeat it is to cut off the right arm. This represents the clone of Shiro and how it forced Keith to fight it. As you're fighting, part of you wants desperately to "cure" the monster of whatever you think might be causing it to be so violent towards you.
- There are five different lions. Black, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow. Each of them will lead you to a safe room. The Black one is sure-footed and steady. He just brings you straight there (he might even kitten carry you in his mouth). The Red one is a little picky. She might lead you on a little chase around town before getting you to the room. Depends on her mood. The Green one is curious and tends to get distracted by interesting things along the way. You'll have to keep her focused. The Blue one is encouraging, giving you the sense that she wants you to find your place in the world. She's a bit of a mother hen type, and might even stop to groom you if you've just come from a rough fight. The Yellow one is a solid presence, and will let you ride on his back if you need to. He's a little slower than the others, but steady as a rock. All of them will fight alongside you and defend you. Together, they represent the parts Voltron itself, and are the defenders of Sleepers in Trench.
- There are monster versions of the lions. From a distance, it's hard to tell the difference. These versions are the same colors, but they're corrupted, almost zombie-like. The Black one will turn its back on you and try to abandon you to whatever other creatures are looking to do harm. If you try to follow, it will attack, sending out violet-colored stars like bullets from its mouth. The Red one is the fastest to attack. It's angry, and breathes fire. The Green one will likely ignore you unless you attract its attention. Then it will ensnare you in vines, slowly constricting them until you choke or get crushed. The Blue one judges you from afar, watching you. If it thinks you're a threat, it breathes ice, and will encase you in ice, freezing you to death if you can't break out in time. The Yellow one is the least likely to attack. However, if you do manage to rile it up, it will try to crush you under its massive weight after turning itself into living rock. These represent Keith's fear of failing as Voltron's leader.
- There is also a white lion. She can shift between benevolent and helpful, a healthy-looking lion that will lead you to a safe room. Or, a wasted zombie-like creature, snarling and growling, eager to rip your face off if you let her. Most of the time, she is the former and willing to protect and lead, but, if you have any doubt in your heart, she will appear as the monster of herself. This represents Allura and how Keith thought she had turned on him when he found out he was Galra. This is why the lion only becomes evil when she senses doubt. This can even happen during an interaction. She may initially appear as helpful, but if you begin to feel doubt of any kind, then she will turn on you. The only way she can be defeated is by conquering your doubt... otherwise, you might want to run.
- A massive dark cyclops. It screams at you, and you get this crushing sense of hopelessness, that anything you do is wrong, and all is lost. It can eject you from any room you're in with it. It is capable of sucking away any confidence you have in yourself and your abilities to survive this world. It cannot be defeated, but it can be left behind. This represents the drill instructor from the Garrison and how Keith got expelled.
- This large lizard has a prehensile tail it can use to grapple its victims. It's purple, but that's kind of hard to make out under all the burns and charring. It's dripping with ichor and blood, and has large claws. This represents Regris, another member of the Blade of Marmora who was killed in the explosion of a sabotaged battlecruiser during a mission Keith was on with him and Kolivan. Keith made it out, barely, but Regris did not, and Keith deeply regretted the loss of his fellow Blade and that he'd been unable to go back for him.
- Another reptilian-like creature, this one is capable of teleporting, the power manifesting with a blur of shadow each time it disappears. It stands on two legs, and can use blasts of dark energy to fire off at its target. It's fast, and hard to track when it teleports. This represents Macidus, a Galra druid Keith had to fight twice in canon. Keith was burned in the first fight on his right hand, and Macidus disappeared when Pidge broke through the wall with the Green Lion's head to rescue him. Macidus later was slowly luring in all the Blades by using a tortured and captive Kolivan as bait, and fought Keith again after showcasing all the swords of the other Blades he had killed. For Keith, this was a consequence of Voltron's fight with Lotor, that the jumping between realities they had done had cost them three years of being absent from the universe, and much of the work they had done to take down the Empire had been lost when various Galra military leaders took over worlds and became warlords, tearing the universe apart into more fighting.
- You get a strange message on your Omni, almost a distress call. You can't tell who it's from, but you're compelled to answer. When you arrive, the building the message came from looks abandoned and empty. Going inside to investigate definitely feels creepy, and, the more you explore and look for the message's source, the more you feel like you're being followed... tracked... hunted. You never quite see what it is, you just know that its there, and it wants you. No one else. In fact, you're pretty sure it doesn't care about anyone else with you. You can feel it. It moves fast, just large shapeless shadows on the edge of your vision. If you try to leave, the building is locked and you're trapped inside. The monster can only be defeated by trapping it in a room inside the building, and then destroying the room, whether by explosion or magical fire or something, but, as long as its free, it can't be hit by attacks. This monster represents the "Weapon" created by a Galra General using too much quintessence he couldn't control. Keith and Krolia (his mother) set it loose inside the base it was developed on while they were trying to escape. However, the creature was attuned in such a way that it only tracked other Galra to kill them, and no one else. The creature later found a way to escape the base they had left it on, and began making its way from Galra base to Galra base, slowly, and destroying them and killing all the Galra occupants inside. To defeat it, Keith used himself and another Galra as bait to lure it into a control room and locked it inside, destroying the room with it in there.