The Wraiths Are Coming!

[The Wraith]

With Shakira's post about the death of Jenia Adroud, an SL is being started, that may or may not turn out in a number of ways, but as the story works itself out, the rest of the community is invited to "come out and play."

As a result of Shakira's actions, wraiths (or ghosts depending on what you want to call them) have been unleashed in the Arena. These wraiths, for those that are willing to play along, have the ability to possess characters. The premise of the idea is that characters who lose to wraith-possessed characters while dueling in the rings of the Arena (where the Ward's influence can be felt) have a chance of being possessed by a wraith themselves. (The wraiths are able to enter via the Ward's healing influence upon the character. Therefore, those unaffected by the Ward's healing are also immune to possession.)

What happens to characters that are possessed by wraiths? For those that want to play along, this is an opportunity to play your "evil" twin. Characters possessed by one of the wraiths will attempt to get others to duel them (or even to just step into a ring where they can attack them) so that others can be possessed by wraiths. Wraith-possessed characters will act out of the ordinary. More violent. More prone to get into fights. Paranoid and suspicious. Out to cause mischief.

How can a wraith-possessed character be freed? In order to keep the mechanic simple, a wraith-possessed character that loses to a non-possessed character in a dueling ring will either be freed of the wraith, or will at least have a chance to free themselves. (Although, there are probably others means to be freed from wraith possession as well.)

The wraiths, also called "Sword Wraiths", or "Ward Wraiths", are attracted by violence and blood. Where they come from, is part of the story to be revealed.

For reference, the wraiths themselves are not visible to the naked eye. Only those with enchanced senses of some kind will be able to detect their presence. For those that will be able to detect them, they will appear shadow-like.

We hope that some/many of you will join into the fun and help support the storyline.

For more information, contact Shakira, Deluthan, or Jake.

[Karen Wilder]

Aww... And here KW is immune...

Well, I hope to be able to get involved... though KW will likely be very oblivious to the whole situation until/unless people start figuring things out and basically use her immunity as a tool to help free people.

Which would probably end up getting some people very upset with KW... Not that I mind (or that she would care. )

[The Wraith]

Some additional notes on the wraiths, for those that are interested.

As previously noted, the wraiths are generally not visible to the naked eye. At least not for regular folks. Those with enhanced senses may be able to detect them (at the discretion of the player). e.g elves, supernatural beings, etc. It's also certainly possible that characters with technological enhancement might also be able to detect them in some fashion (e.g. infra-red sight detecting them as a spot of "coldness").

This general guideline applies to any wraith outside of the Arena.

It's also possible that the wraiths are partially visible when in the area of influence of the Ward of Gondar. This would explain why duelers have been able to see the wraiths around the character of Jenia. The aura of the Ward in some manner reacts to make the wraiths at least partly visible.
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Also, while a very simple mechanic was developed to get the SL started (e.g. knocking them out to free the wraith-possessed), this mechanic needs some fleshing out. So, here's an attempt at that...

The wraiths use the healing effects of the Ward to enter duelers via wounds inflicted. The same magic that "attracts" the healing energies of the Ward is what allows the wraiths entry into the person. This is why the wraiths cannot enter those unaffected by the Ward.

When a duelist recently infected by a wraith is knocked out, the wraith may leave the body. They are especially inclined to do this if there is another concious body nearby that is being wounded. Rather than stay in an unconcious body, they move to the nearest new body they think they can infect.

The longer a wraith remains in a host, the harder it will become to free the host. The longer the wraith has time to develop a persona and bond/merge with the host, the more difficult it will be to pry the wraith out of them. This sets up the opportunities for more powerful assistance to be sought. e.g. the priests, the holy/power artifacts, the characters powerful in fighting ethereal-type/extra-planar entities.

The longer a wraith remains in a host, the more distinct personality it will develop. The newly infected host will have basic desires, attack, hurt, infect others. The long-term wraith-possessed may gain some of the memories of the host. They will be more devious. More clever. Will have other goals.

Some characters may be "wraith-carriers". An example of that is Jenia, that by whatever means has become a walking carrier for wraiths. Most wraith-possessed will only have the single wraith present. It is also possible for multiple wraiths to infect a person and then fight for control (which might create the appearance of a multiple-personality disorder).

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While the SL has been on simmer for a while, there are still plans and ideas that have been dreamed up to make the SL go on for a while, so for anyone still interested in taking part, there is still plenty of time to do so.

And finally, a big thanks to everyone that has taken any part in the wraith SL so far! (With special thanks to the player of Jenia!) Thanks for helping to make this SL interesting!