⇨ New Location: GREYSOL

[ringleaders]

PREPARATION↴ After leaving the previous location, and a few days before coming to Greysol, the Ringmaster puts a massive spell on the souls of every member of the carnival. Greysol is in a world where the souls of every human or sufficiently humanlike person takes the physical form of an animal. Plenty of characters wouldn’t qualify, but what’s the point of going to a dæmon world if not to show them what their inner selves look like? The spell causes dæmons to form for most characters. They will wake up, either from sleep or a daze, with what appears to be an animal pressed against their hearts or equivalent important symbolic organs, but they will almost immediately understand that this is not an animal. This is part of them. As dæmons are souls made physical they will have some element of characters’ soul color. At minimum their eyes are that color, and they may reflect some carnival changes, angelic/demonic nature, etc. For about a day their forms can change instantaneously into those of different animals. Children will remain like this, though there will probably be several preferred forms rather than randomness. Adults will ‘settle’ by the time the carnival arrives in Greysol, the number of forms they take dwindling until they become fixed on a single one. Look to the first comment for a more thorough explanation on dæmons. The spell doesn’t work completely evenly. Some souls are more heavily insulated and do not become external. Players can opt out of dæmons this way and have a few options for their characters. A glamour butterfly in their souls’ colors can follow them while they’re in Greysol. Alternately, they become witches wearing bird pendants to symbolize dæmons supposedly far away. Characters with significant animalistic aspects may take the forms of panserbjørn - slightly anthropomorphized polar bears. (If you don't want to type out dæmon - d & a e l i g ; m o n - all the time, daemon works too. It’s pronounced “demon”.) SETTING↴ Can you imagine my astonishment at learning that part of my own nature was female, and bird-formed, and beautiful? Greysol is a large coastal city that seems to roughly equate to late 20th century Western culture and mores, with a vaguely Victorian teslapunk-influenced aesthetic and somewhat uneven technology. Horse-drawn vehicles and just plain horses are common, but horseless automobiles and strangely 21st century-looking bicycles don’t cause too much of a stir. There are paved streets, skyscrapers, and electricity even if they call it "anbaric lighting". Hot air balloons and dirigibles can be seen in the sky. There are many moving picture theaters, black-and-white and with somewhat questionable sound, but small portable radios are common. Watches that bear a suspicious similarity to smartwatches are all the rage, though they are in fact simply watches and require winding. Every human and witch in this world has an external soul which most cannot go more than about twenty feet from, and non-consensually touching someone else’s dæmon is tantamount to assault. This presents some logistical difficulties in a big city, but humans have built Greysol to accommodate their other halves. Doorways tend to be wide, stairs broad and shallow, there are huge freight elevators in most buildings, and sidewalks are quite broad with human and dæmon lanes, though small souls are usually carried and flying ones can easily just stay above. Slick floors are never seen without hoof-friendly traction rugs and the like. Some of the street traffic consists of people riding their horse or similar dæmons, and you may see a giraffe soul at a lope, keeping pace with the carriage carrying his body. City life is harder on people with especially large dæmons, but they manage okay. It’s much more difficult for aquatic souls and there is constant discussion about and renovation aimed towards accommodating them. Because dæmons aren’t biological, concerns like temperature, salinity, filtration, and oxygenation aren’t as important as for real animals. Still, many can’t support themselves on land and are more comfortable wet. Those who can’t afford certain magic have to carry their souls in bowls, backpack tanks, wheeled tanks etc when out and about. Certain homes and public spaces have “water galleries”, systems of open-topped long tanks or enclosed giant windowed pipes that let dæmons swim to accompany their bodies. Near the docks there are several neighborhoods with an intricate series of connected canals and pools, some of which extend a ways out into the city. People who settle as particularly large sealife usually end up living on houseboats or in places like this. Thankfully very large waterbound dæmons are quite rare; there are far more walruses than whales. There are also benefits to having dæmons. Often the soul acts like a third hand. When someone is unable to speak clearly their dæmon still can communicate, though drugs and alcohol affect both. They help keep an eye out for trouble and have the senses that come with their forms, so it’s very difficult to go unheard by a wary rabbit soul, say. Someone with an eagle dæmon will never need a telescope, and the best trackers have the forms of animals that track well. Humans in this world experience a lesser degree of loneliness than on worlds without dæmons, enjoy somewhat better emotional stability, and seem to learn faster since they can observe things from more angles and discuss with themselves. Children with their shapeshifting souls can defend and protect themselves quite ably. Two people who don’t share a language can understand each other on some level while their dæmons are in physical contact with one another, though they still need translators for specifics. The love between body and dæmon is the single most celebrated bond in this world. Public displays of affection are almost everywhere you look, especially when people are upset. In this world “your other half” never means spouse, and naming conventions in this particular culture reflect that. A dæmon’s name is used like a middle name on paperwork and in formal settings. If you visit a cemetery you will see that cremation is the most preferred method of handling the dead, because this lets the physical body dissipate just as the dæmon did on death. All memorial markers include the dæmon’s name with equal emphasis as first and last, and representations of their forms are ubiquitous on the larger markers. All images of human-type people, on down to the stylized figures on bathroom signs, include some representation of dæmons, even if they’re rarely the central focus. Pets and many childrens’ toys are downplayed compared to on many other worlds. Every human has a permanent companion from infancy, exactly suited to their temperament, that loves them and will do more than even the best-trained pet. Some animals are still companions to whatever degree, but most domestic animals are utilitarian. Animals see dæmons as humans, and they are, but a cat soul, for example, has a better understanding of cats than an armadillo soul would. Magic is a known quality and not generally feared, but because it takes years to learn any spells of substance, humans on the street tend to assume human magic is very limited. Many middle-aged or older men and women make a career of creating water bubbles - gravity-null bubbles of water that encase aquatic dæmons and allow them to fly slowly. Demand is great and the bubbles are much glamorized. Witch magic is much more mysterious and assumed to be far more powerful and versatile, though the only difference is that witches have the time and inclination to learn for centuries. In fact all magic can be traced back to knowledge discovered and shared by witches. That other realities exist, similar in some ways and radically different in others, is well known. This world has discovered ways to reach them. In the past there used to be great expeditions and adventures and some very strange visitors. Unfortunately, with the way artificial portals to other worlds work this meant there were soul-eating invincible creatures in this world too, which at one point swarmed. It was a dark time, which only witches and some quite old humans remember personally, but it lives on in popular culture. These days, in order to prevent this happening again there is very limited congress with other worlds. Unsettled children and adolescents are safe and the Spectres can’t cross deep water, so there are still facilities on certain islands, and children who go there to create windows and bring things back from the other side. PATRONS↴ ► HUMANS: Only unusual in that they have dæmons, and expect you to as well. They become uneasy seeing human-shaped people without their souls, even if it's as simple as "he’s in my pocket". The concept of a human type without a dæmon is as horrifying and repulsive to local people as seeing someone walking around with no head or an opened-up chest - some people would adjust to the idea faster than others, but you would have screams, fainting, outbursts, fear and pity. Their depictions of other worlds, whether labeled fiction or non, usually involve dæmons or other obvious manifestations of souls just to get around that discomfort. These humans can also learn magic through long study. Most characters will be glamored to look human. ► WITCHES: Extremely similar to and interbreeding with humans, witches in this world are all ethereal androgynous people, nearly all women, whose dæmons always settle as flighted birds. The upper limits of their lifespans, when not cut short by disease or violence, are determined by their sense of loss related to outliving their loved ones. All witches very slowly grow taller throughout their lives, so the older a witch is the easier they are to identify, even if they don’t advertise it. Witches spend much of their lives studying and learning magic, and have learned to stay as far away from their dæmons as they wish. Their inherent powers include immunity to extremes of temperature and the ability to fly using cloudpine branches. Those working with and around many humans usually wear gold necklaces bearing images of their dæmons when their souls are elsewhere, which helps put humans at ease. Witches prefer to keep to their own affairs and are baffled by capitalism, and many were around in previous centuries when humans hated and distrusted them, but there are a few pausing in the city or even living there with their mortal spouses and children. Some characters will get to be witch-based and glamored to look it too; if they have dæmons these are inherently able to fly and will be glamored to look like birds. ► BEARS: Panserbjørn are huge, slightly anthropomorphized polar bears which speak and have thumbs, retractable claws, and astonishing dexterity. They're very rare in such 'civilized' surroundings as the city, much preferring their looser bear society or outright solitude, but everyone knows about them and there is a market for bear-made items. Bears are masters of shaping metal and have no dæmons, but regard certain things they make, usually armor, as their souls. In their right minds, untroubled by human doubts and aspirations, bears can read human intentions and cannot be tricked. Some characters who are already bestial in shape (IE a quadruped/dragon/etc) may take on the form of bears while here, but it will be rare. They won’t have bear minds, but may have a better aptitude for sensing lies while in bear form. ► DUST and ANGELS: In this reality "Dust" is an elementary particle generated by consciousness, gathering around people and things people have created. Dæmons are made of it and it gathers thickly on panserbjørn souls. Very few can see it or detect it aside from in the injuries or deaths of dæmons, but it's everywhere. More is generated when people make art, tell stories, or come to understand each other better. Dust is part of nearly every magic people use in this world and a source of knowledge and wisdom. It also sometimes forms into conscious entities called angels. Normally invisible except in near darkness, angels are more like works of architecture than like winged humans. They are nearly intangible and all but the strongest have barely any ability to affect the physical world, but they can easily pass from reality to reality and are able to fight Spectres. Most angels are caught up in some kind of inter-reality conflict and may take a passing interest in carnies with angelic or demonic natures left over from Portland, but they’ll move on without making trouble. Dust is not a usual sort of patron, but there'll be a hella lot of it around for the Carnival. No characters will take the forms of Dust or angels. DANGERS↴ ► AN EXTERNAL SOUL: Suddenly all the strength went out of her. It was as if an alien hand had reached right inside where no hand had a right to be, and wrenched at something deep and precious. She felt faint, dizzy, sick, disgusted, limp with shock. One of the men was holding Pantalaimon. He had seized Lyra’s dæmon in his human hands, and poor Pan was shaking, nearly out of his mind with horror and disgust. She felt those hands… It wasn’t allowed... Not supposed to touch… Wrong. Sensations between dæmon and body are shared, but people usually unconsciously block out many of them. They can’t block pain. Any hurt caused to either half will be felt by both. When humans fight each other, the taboo against touching someone else’s soul holds so in human or witch combat body fights body, dæmon fights dæmon. When fighting bears, normal animals, or hostile creatures from other worlds dæmons fight directly, but sufficient pain to either half will disable both halves. A killing blow to a dæmon kills the body at the exact same time, so it falls without a mark. Two people’s dæmons can touch each other without a problem. People take great comfort in touching their own dæmons. A dæmon touching someone else without their consent will feel strange and electric and stressed, but the person being touched may not feel anything special. Someone touching someone else’s dæmon consensually will feel strange and electric and revelatory on both parts. Finally, someone nonconsensually touching someone else’s dæmon will feel some level of discomfort which they can overcome, but the other person will be incapacitated, feeling tremendously weakened and sick and horror-stricken. Touching someone’s soul is a huge deal. The taboo against touching someone else’s dæmon is built in, something even babies at the grabby stage understand, but there are some genuinely terrible people here, as anywhere. Some of them have discovered they can incapacitate or kill victims very easily by disregarding the taboo. People who will do this are utterly and instinctively hated by nearly everyone if it’s found out. They’re very rare. Carnival members have a sense of the taboo but it’s less powerful and inherent, and they could hurt someone. ► SEPARATION: It was as if he’d said, “No, don’t kill me, I’m frightened; kill my mother instead; she doesn’t matter, I don’t love her,” and as if she’d heard him say it, and pretended she hadn’t so as to spare his feelings, and offered herself in his place anyway because of her love for him. He felt as bad as that. There was nothing worse to feel. In most cases, getting too far from your dæmon will kill you. Being more than about twenty feet apart causes increasingly sharp emotional and physical pain, described as intense sorrow and love and a wrenching ache which only eases when they’re touching again. It’s possible for one half of someone to literally use their bond like a rope to drag the other somewhere they’re really conflicted about going, so death by separation can’t just casually happen. However it’s entirely possible to be killed by any circumstance which carries one half of you away from the other too fast to keep up. Careful about elevators and sheer cliffs. Witches, and some humans, may learn to be further from their dæmons, but it requires going into places where dæmons can’t follow, experiencing the pain of deliberate step-by-step separation, and living. Characters who have been dead or had their souls removed may have gone through a similar enough process that they and their dæmons can be apart without issue, though they’re at their best and sharpest when both halves are together. ► SPECTRES: Well, when a Spectre catch a grownup, that’s bad to see. They eat the life out of them there and then, all right. At first they know it’s happening, and they’re afraid; they cry and cry. They try and look away and pretend it ain’ happenin’, but it is. It’s too late. And no one ain’ gonna go near them, they on they own. Then they get pale and they stop moving. They still alive, but it’s like they been eaten from the inside. You look in they eyes, you see the back of they heads. Ain’ nothing there. Properly known as Spectres of Indifference, these are creatures from the interstitial space between realities, let into this one when humans started opening portals. Spectres appear as vague, insubstantial shapes that seem to be made out of mist or heat-haze or light reflecting on water. Even in the best lighting it’s impossible to make out what they look like, but their shapes may seem humanoid or treelike. They eat the souls of adults of any species, a deeply unpleasant process that usually only takes a few minutes. No magic or weapon on this world can harm or contain them, and they’re able to seep through the tiniest openings in walls. Only angels are unharmed and can take them on. A person whose soul has been consumed breathes and may with great effort look towards something that’s hurting them or trying to attract their attention, but is incurious and understands, feels, thinks, does nothing. One standing in running water will do nothing but make the constant small motions to stay upright until they die of thirst. Someone in this state can be kept alive indefinitely but they will never recover. It’s worse than death. Fortunately, the Spectres can’t cross deep water, and so presently all Spectres in this part of the world are confined to Kerner Island, which hosts a portal facility. Children and teens whose dæmons are unsettled are completely unable to sense Spectres and are of no interest to them, so they are the only people to be found there. More details about the dangers of Spectres to come later. ► SOME RANDOM CREATURES FROM OTHER REALITIES: Not infrequently something that can fit through a child-sized hole in the air slips through a portal made on Kerner Island, and is more than a fourteen-year-old with hasty security training can handle. It might stay on the island or be able to leave and cause trouble elsewhere. The local authorities would be able to handle it eventually and it shouldn’t be too much of a problem for carnival workers, but it would be embarrassing to get savaged by a random Tektite. Reply to one of the toplevel comments if you want to suggest a small hostile non-sentient creature from some other canon. REWARDS↴ Soon after leaving this world charater’s dæmon forms will fade away and their souls will become internal again, but characters can purchase a spell, possibly discounted if there have been sufficient threads involving dæmons, to manifest theirs temporarily. Outside of the Carnival, only people who can see spirits will be able to see or hear their dæmons, no glamour needed. CHANGES↴ Characters who turned into armored bears can keep an uncommon change related to bears or metal. Characters who had dæmons can have an uncommon change related to them after the event ends. Their souls took new shapes, and when they became internal again it’s possible that something carried over. These may be relevant animal features or something to do with being formed of golden motes. IMPORTANT NOTE: This is out first play-run guest location! That means that this event is being run by joysweeper, with the secondary help/moderation of the regular mod team. This is going to be a bit of a learning experience, given it's the first time, but setting questions should go towards Joy, while mod rulings should still go towards Quix. Beyond that, this is a PLOTTING POST, which means you can use it to make plans! The game chat is also a great place to discuss plots, so we welcome you to pop on in if you haven't already! A mingle log will be posted at the beginning of September.

Comments

⇨ MORE DAEMON DEETS

[ringleaders]

A dæmon is not an animal of course, a dæmon is a person. A real cat, face to face with a dæmon in cat form, would not be puzzled for a moment. She would see a human being.

Dæmons always take animal shapes, though as stated above it’s instantly clear to animals and people that a dæmon is not actually an animal. They are intelligent and capable of speech and may seem like they're independent entities with their own personalities and opinions, but when you get down to it someone and their dæmon are one being, with one mind, sharing thoughts and sensations. Body and soul cannot move more than maybe twenty feet apart without feeling great pain and anguish that eventually kills, with some rare exceptions. Touching someone else’s soul with your body is the greatest intimacy; horrific and violating if done without consent, uplifting and splendid with it. With rare exceptions, a character and their soul will have different genders. (Mod roll for it similar chance to shiny pokemon? I’d like it if it was basically that rare and arbitrary.)

While they appear to be flesh and blood, and have mass and the ability to manipulate objects, they are in formed of particles of this universe’s magic, called Dust. They have heartbeats that are in perfect time with their human bodies, ones in forms that have lungs stir the air with breath, but they have no metabolic activity. No need to eat, and if they do it’s only to taste. A cobra has no venom, a dog’s tongue will feel wet but leave no drool, a fish is only comfortable when damp but won’t come to harm dry. Injure a dæmon and golden motes appear at the wound instead of blood and insides. Kill a soul and the body dies instantly.

If your character’s dæmon is a fish or another aquatic animal it’s able to fly like it’s swimming, if more slowly than actual flying animals, and very large ones can only go so high. You can’t fly on the back of your dolphin soul, but you can totally scoot around a few feet above the ground. Give the dæmon some water and the water will surround them like a close-fitting skin, keeping it more comfortable. When out in Greysol all such daemons are glamoured to have a water bubble.

A dæmon always reflects its human's inner life. The back-and-forth of internal conflict and debate, the internal monologue, becomes a dialogue, and people with dæmons may process their way through uncertainty and indecision faster and more thoroughly than those without. If emotion doesn't show on a face or stance it may show on the soul, though there are plenty of stoic dæmons. Sometimes dæmon personalities aren’t significantly removed from the character. Sometimes they are. Dæmons can act as consciences urging good behavior, or shoulder-devils bringing up the temptations of being ‘bad’, or just remind characters of things they had almost forgotten. If they like or dislike someone more than the character seems to, it’s a reflection of how the character feels deep down.

A child's dæmon instantly changes into different creatures in response to mood or need, but between the ages of twelve and nineteen they "settle" into a permanent form and never change again. That form is based on their personality, especially on inner, less obvious aspects of themselves. Plenty of big, tough people who you’d expect to be lions are rodents instead, and don’t forget that herbivores are not necessarily passive and cowardly, nor are predators inherently courageous. One of the most stalwart, moral fighters in HDM has an arctic hare dæmon.

A form may have to do with animal symbolism or with the animal’s behavior and ecology. Someone with an emperor scorpion dæmon might be calculating and treacherous as scorpion symbolism suggests, or nurturing, social, and shy as the real animals are. Choose what seems good! Don’t be shy about asking for suggestions. For premade behavior-and-ecology based form analyses, feel free to check this forum.

Most dæmons will take the forms of living Earth animals, but if your character’s canon has another animal that works really well, they may settle as it. For that matter if you want your character’s soul to be an atypical version of an Earth animal beyond coloration and fae changes, go for it. Bring on the maned lionesses and lure-sporting male anglerfish. Outside of the carnival all dæmons will be glamoured to look like normal animals.

Any powers or inherent abilities your character has, their dæmon has as well.

Remember also, it’s fine if you don’t feel like handling all this. Maybe the spell didn’t take properly and your character’s dæmon stops speaking after a few days and their internal monologue returns to normal. Maybe they never manifested one at all.

⇨ QUESTIONS

[ringleaders]

Something that hasn't been covered? Ask away!

Re: ⇨ QUESTIONS

[puddingemote]

1. Characters who have been dead or had their souls removed may have gone through a similar enough process that they and their dæmons can be apart without issue, though they’re at their best and sharpest when both halves are together. Would being a ghost in Portland count in this sense as dying/having a soul removed?

2. Are Pokemon glamoured while in Greysol?

[whattaprick]

Daemon deets post above mentioned mod rolling for the possibility of your character's daemon being of a different gender! Will there be a separate plurk for this to keep the main announcement one uncluttered?

[soft_focus]

IMPORTANT DAEMON QUESTION-

So I have Reira here. ...Reira has so recently come into even comprehending the idea of being one's own self that there are honestly subtitles and fandom based interpretations coming away from things with the assumption that she didn't even have her own soul until the end of it.

Obviously she has a soul and always did BUT given how Daemons are formed and such....could that possibly mean that hers manifests in what looks to be a 'delayed' state (so not quite as developed as one would expect for her age), or would there be other things that such a person's daemon would likely display?

[periphrasing]

I thought I read something in the post about this, but now that I'm ctrl + f searching the thing I can't find it. Do people name their daemons, or do they form with names in mind already? I'm trying to decide on one but the source of it will probably affect the choice I land on.

Blue, rambling and plotting.

[diamondsare]

Blue Diamond is going to have a serious mixed reaction to this world. While she's there it'll be great but after it ends.. not so much.

Her daemon is named Vajraneel. As she is a matriarch, so too is her daemon a king, a tiger of size to match her, with thick orange fur, stripes that look blueish in some lights and sharp blue eyes, with teeth and claws that look more made of faceted gemstone than keratin and bone. Hidden among the fur of his chest is a cut, sparkling diamond that matches hers perfectly in shape, size and color. He is her perpetual shadow, and a source of comfort and reassurance. He shares her obsessions and focus, but is more willing to speak or react to things without the mask of controlled pleasantness Blue works to maintain. Vajraneel is more willing to touch and lean and be near people than Blue is, though this is mostly demonstrated to other daemons as the touch of 'other' humans is revolting. If Blue is fond of a person, he will demonstrate this more clearly than she does, likewise if she dislikes someone it will be very obvious while he is around. They fit together like puzzle pieces, like something long absent finally found and made whole. For the duration of the visit, she will have someone she can trust and rely on absolutely, who shares her feelings and hopes and dreams.

Which means when this visit ends she's going to be absolutely devastated. No 'oh he's still there just INSIDE' is ever going to be a comfort, and may feel like metaphorical salt in the wound. This will the third time she's lost someone she loved, and barring some serious intervention it's not going to go well at all when Vajraneel disappears. First Pink, then AU-Shiro, and now the other half of her being, poof! Gone!

But until then he will be a balm to her grief and fear and encourage that tiny flame of hope she's been keeping ever since coming to the Carnival. Come get your daemon petted by an enormous tiger.

Re: Blue, rambling and plotting.

[spaghettimonster]

Aww Blue... would she be interested in learning that proposed spell for temporarily manifesting daemon again, or would the transience not be any better?

daemon plotting for Strange!

[kingsroads]

so Strange is going to have a grey seal for his daemon named Siobhan because Strange wanted to make a cool selkie reference but forgot that they're associated with Scotland a lot more than Ireland. Siobhan has greyish-blue eyes and an oddly reflective sheen to her fur. She's also VERY BIG because did you know grey seals can get up to six feet long, I sure as hell didn't.

Much like Strange, Siobhan is a goddamn show off and will spend a lot of time doing sick flips in the air and things like that. She's just as friendly and inquisitive as he is and is also a total attention hog. Thankfully, she's not as impulsive as he is and will serve as Strange's impulse control for a good chunk of the event. Like all seals, she enjoys belly rubs and will happily swim up to other people's daemons and demand to be petted while mr. english repression over here looks on in embarrassment (his soul does not want scratchies, tyvm. >| )

Surprising no one, Strange is gonna throw himself headfirst into the ~magical bullshit~ of Greysol. Once he gets the hang of it, Strange will happily make any water bubbles for any aquatic daemons. That being said, he's not going to get the hang of it for a while and will just straight up cause a few rain showers in order to keep poor Siobhan wet. Unsurprisingly, he's going to end up with a cold halfway through, sorry everything's a bit waterlogged, his bad.

Scout

[stillwinningthehardway]

Scout's dæmon will settle as a creature from Star Wars: a Mantessan Panthac who goes by Tràkata or Tràka. This is totally taken from my old Distant Skies app. Here is a more homely-cute picture I drew back then! Scout's soul is not so scarred as that version, though, and he's got blue eyes and brass claws and possibly the same kind of tail she has.

The panthac is about the size of a small bobcat, not counting his tail. Since Scout will be a witch for this event he can fly, and when in Greysol will be glamored to look like a small ocellated turkey. She's a witch, but they can't go far from each other; she's a very young witch.

Personalitywise Tràka is much more quiet and reserved than Scout tends to be, rarely speaking where others can hear him, and not as friendly to most of the people she's friendly with, though he may accept some affection from other dæmons. He watches everyone much more closely than she does, embodying her distrust and paranoia and the anger and grief she hides. Scout will be uncomfortable about what a relief it is to have the sense of someone to share this with. When Tràka speaks it's quietly and efficiently, and he may let slip things Scout prefers to keep hush.

[whattaprick]

Lambert's daemon is going to be a chatty and irritable little marble polecat who will refuse a name from him and either come up with a name for herself eventually (aka when I come up with something suitably cheesy for her or if someone Lambert is close to ICly suggests something that catches her fancy).

She will generally be quarrelsome with Lambert, as she's most of the noble urges and affection that his cynicism usually keeps on a damper, meaning she'll keep prodding him to stop being an asshole, nobody's going to like us this way, as well as someone to drag Lambert to places he doesn't want to go. That said, she has as little a sense of personal space as he does, so she'll probably be inquisitive and nosy about other people's daemons and eager to play.

He's keeping a wary eye on that island -- the last thing he wants is soul-eating Spectres following them home, thanks -- and will probably be hitting up the locals to learn more about the area and that dimension-hopping technology, etc.

[atouts]

SHE SCREAM lmao what was that shriek even

[flashover]

Rin's daemon, named Kagami, is still in flux, but has the (eventual) settled form of a steel-blue whydah with brilliant blue eyes. Despite being female, she'll have the male plumage shown in that picture because aesthetic and no actual reason. Like cuckoos, whydahs are brood parasites that lay their eggs in other birds' nests. LIKE SATAN LAID HIS EGG IN A LADY. I guess.

Other forms she might take include an ocelot (his whole family is CATS), a rainbow boa (satan, snakes, you know. They're a thing), or a dark-colored kiko goat doe (SATAN!!!).

However, no matter what animal form she takes, Kagami is cheerful and talkative, but not too smart.

[moonfang]

Zangetsu is a bit of a special case, in that... as the manifestation of Ichigo's soul, he kind of already IS, himself, a daemon. However, for the sake of blending in, he'll be getting one of his very own, representing the Hollowfication virus that infected Ichigo's mother and resulted in Zangetsu becoming what he is today. And like that Hollow, her name shall simply be "White".

Initially, White will manifest as... well. Something. A wet-looking, writhing mass of darkness with no real form. Eventually, she will take the form of a winter stoat with nuclear red eyes and an inky black hole through her breastbone. From a distance, aside from her odd hole and red eyes, she looks much like a normal stoat-daemon. However, get too close, and it becomes obvious there is something amiss. Like she's some weird thing wearing a stoat skin and pretending, but not managing to beat the uncanniness. Watch too long and you might see something move under her skin...

She's incredibly intelligent, but violent and destructive. She is more than capable of speaking, but chooses not to, instead opting for growls and screeches that, again, aren't quite right for her stoat-like form. She also bites. A lot.

Her favorite place to hang out is in Zangetsu's own hollow hole in his chest... which will be hidden by glamor, making it look like he has half a stoat sticking out of his chest. It's fine, it's fine. Due to her weird nature and Zangetsu's nature, she is not as bound by the distance restriction as 'normal' daemons would be, but she's usually not far from her host.

Yuya & Syrlya

[hippocarnival]

YUYA

Will have a female Asian Small Claw Otter as his daemon (name pending)! Golden yellow fur like his soul and a runt since Yuya is a piece of his original soul. There's also some scarring from when he was stabbed. EDITS: She's largely a reflection of Yuya's more private and less secure inner emotions since he tends to project his confidence very strongly. As such she largely lets Yuya do all the talking and interacting, although she's bolder with other daemons. When Yuya's comfortable with a person she tends to fall a lot more in sync with his behavior, to the point they mimic each other or speak in turn.

He's going to be 100% attached to his daemon because it's his soul and also vulnerable, so they'll be even more inseparable than normal (she's gonna ride on his shoulders). I'm really interested in playing up the daemon stuff, and also doing some performance logs cause that's Yuya's job.

SYRLYA

Is getting a Great Gray Owl with purple at the tips of its feathers. Syrlya thinks this whole deal is weird and doesn't actually like interacting with it. His daemon doesn't really argue keeping distance since he's basically distancing... himself, but it's always perched high somewhere and watching. It doesn't tend to converse so much as speak out of turn, and often very directly and bluntly relaying thoughts Syrlya tends to restrain. His daemon is more obviously listless, philosophical, and impatient. But it's still dutiful and acts very much as eyes and ears for Syrlya, especially in regards to danger.

He's gonna definitely be checking out the spectres with the nightrunners and also the magic of the world. Again, interested in daemon specific shenanigans!

[destiny_key]

Sora's daemon is gonna be extra weird, just because of the weird amount of stuff going on with his heart. His daemon is essentially going to be a form of Roxas, who is canonically the other half of Sora's heart, and I think I'm gonna go with the name Rohan (unless someone suggests something better). Note that Rohan is not actually Roxas, but displays similar traits and personality, to the point that he may very well seem like Roxas to anyone who knows him. Which is basically just Sora, but if you want a rundown of what Rohan will be like, he's Roxas but not really lmao. Also he sounds like Jesse McCartney.

Rohan is still in flux for a majority of this event, but near the end he'll be settling into a simple domestic cat. Until then, he'll also rotate between that, a gray wolf, a marine otter, and a house finch as his favored forms. May also occasionally turn into a sora bird because Rohan thinks it's hilarious. Sora and Rohan also have the ability to be further apart than the average person, since Sora did lose his heart at one point in canon.

Sora's still slightly out of it due to Portland, but he's a whole lot better than he was, so he'll be running around and investigating things with everyone else.

[kingsroads]

So, I vote all the aquatic daemons have a lake party because that would be absolutely adorable. Obviously Sora needs to show up when Rohan's in otter form!

also I've had "Beautiful Soul" stuck in my head ever since I read the Jesse McCartney comment, thanks for that

Rita Mordio

[anti_nonsense]

Rita's still on the young side, so she'll have a shifting daemon for at least part of the event. Its main forms will be a caracal, a scarlet tanager, a fallow deer, and idk probably others. We'll see!! His name will be Krios and he'll have a bit of know-it-all haughtiness in his voice even though he's still distinctly young-sounding. He'll also try to rein in Rita's aggression a bit and encourage her to be cooperative with people, because that's the kind of advice she needs from her shapeshifting Jiminy Cricket. Like Rita, he'll try to keep to his own personal space most of the time, but unlike her, he'd be tolerant and receptive to other daemons being affectionate and playful with him.

Rita will be pretty into this whole "having intimate connections with magical bullshit" thing because that's kinda what she lives for, except instead of loving inanimate objects, this is something that's actually alive and responsive, so that's kind of an improvement over her usual magic obsessions.

She'll definitely take an interest in the magic and weirdo science of this world and will try to learn what she can about it. This might be a chance for her to pick up some new books, too. (time to read up on particle metaphysics or some shit??) Dust would be of particular interest to her, if she can find some good info on that.

Ginko and Miko Nakadai

[dontpokethat]

Ginko is going to be getting an ornate flying snake (that is, of course, a link to a snake pic, so don't click that if you don't want to see a snake) named Midori! Because of course Ginko just names this physical projection of his soul 'green'.

Midori will probably spend most of her time hanging around Ginko's shoulders; she's somewhat chattier than Ginko, and sometimes kind of rude, though not with any real malicious intent. It's... just kind of how she is. On the other hand, she's also likely to be more straightforward than her other half about positive feelings toward those around her.

Miko will have a black-masked lovebird named Hatebeak, and I cannot thank Harry enough for alerting me to the fact that that's a real band that exists. He might still be in flux but I'm not totally sure yet?? Updates on that later probably.

As his name might suggest, Hatebeak's hobbies include screaming whenever anything interesting happens, scrambling all over Miko's head and shoulders, and biting things. He's a rude boy who loves making a mess. Ironically, though, he's not quite as gung-ho as Miko about actual danger, and prefers his destruction to be controlled thank you very much.

Gongenzaka, Carly, Reira

[soft_focus]

GONGENZAKA is the perfect candidate for a Bear, but instead of going the route of what's perfect, he's getting the opposite...OR IS HE?

For the initial time when the spell is cast, Gongenzaka's daemon will shuffle through a few traditional forms-a fox, a carp, a dragon-carp...even a tailed tortoise, before settling into a maltese cheetah (much to Gongenzaka's chagrin).

'Chagrin?! But that's his soul!' YESSSS and Gongenzaka questions himself a lot if you look close at him-'Marishiten' as she is named represents at the core, Gongenzaka's capacity for change, and his acceptance of it. She represents the need to remain calm and think as well however-for cheetah can run swiftly, but only for short bursts, before it becomes self-destructive. Gongenzaka has a habit of moving first for his friends, and not thinking about his own health, and Marishi is that little voice telling him that's a bad idea, made larger. Over all, she's all the things that Gongenzaka has been trying rather hard not to think about, and she's here to make sure he thinks about them-at least long enough to sort himself out.

While figuring all of that out will take time, he will however, bond rather quickly with her-it's himself after all! And with his soul colour being a 'steely blue', no wonder she's so full of that shade.

Bonus Point Though:

Cheetah (males at least, shush) tend to bond in coalitions with brothers or even just other cheetahs, and get super super stressed and anxious without their buddy bro around. This is actually part of why so many zoo cheetah get paired up with dogs as cubs; the dogs are generally more receptive to New Things, so when the dog friend is fine, the cheetah feels fine as well!

Best Friend needs.........................

CARLY is basically d o n e when it comes to souls doing things, and will very politely be looking for any way out of this as she can. She doesn't care if it's her soul, she'd like it to stay inside and not have a voice right now!

Butttttt after everyone insists once, twice, maybe even five times, she DOES cave...And ends up with one of These Weenies. The American Pipe Snake, albeit with orange instead of black stripes here, is equally as airheaded as Carly, but even more impulsive, as a whole acting on her desires far more openly than she. Where Carly tends to hold herself back when it comes to things like embarrassment, 'Iskai'...just does it. She just kinda does it.

When in Greysol, despite having her own Daemon however, Carly glamors up as a Witch-she kind of has a pile of magic you see. As a result, Iskai gets to be shoved into a more feathered shape, which she dislikes. She'll occasionally forget the limitations of her's and Carly's magic and try turning back to a snake, in fact-which doesn't work since their only transformation spell is to become a hummingbird. ALAS.

In any case Carly doesn't much like getting her ear chewed off, so she'll typically be working with the outfits here.

REIRA though...is a mess. Reira barely had a sense of self to begin with-she only slightly has an idea of even a few of her interests, and while she's remarkably adaptable and creative, the fact is that her general sense of self within the world is barely there. More than that, her empathy-and her daemon's empathy-isn't restricted to humans. It latches on to anything experiencing emotions, leading to one thing and one thing only:

A daemon that refuses to settle. Remaining as one form for no more than 60 seconds at best, Reira's daemon shifts continuously, and others might note that the forms actually relate to what Reira has seen-during the first bit at the carnival, it'll seem to stick to mirroring various creatures in the menagerie, or even other daemons. Soon after they arrive in Greysol, it may even mix traits, creating for example...A pea-snat. The forms bounce around, and are always juvenile forms; kittens, puppies, fluffy down covered birds, romping colts...

Once they're in Greysol, the forms scatter more-so, varying between nearby animals they've seen, or new daemons, whose forms they're unfamiliar with. However, over the course of the two weeks, depending on Reira's experiences, her Daemon DOES start to trim down on their options...perhaps showing that she's starting to get her head into things a little more. Until then though, the nameless daemon bounces around-and they DO remain nameless.

This daemon speaks with a voice that in the Carnival sounds commanding yet unidentifiable as any particular sort of person, while outside in Greysol, it sounds more like an assertive elder brother. If pressed for answers on just what their name is, they reply cryptically that "Neither of us existed in the time which we were named. Our name is unknown, and the name that one half carries is meaningless to me."...which at the very least implies that Reira's daemon represents more of her old self than even she knows.

The gist? Her daemon is the one with the keys to Reira's past prior meeting her 'family', and is constantly shifting through under-developed forms, a blended symbol of both their still developing sense of identity, and their uncertainty toward where they even stand within the world.

Foster

[control_freak]

I haven't yet decided if Foster is going to be a human with a daemon, or a bear... there are honestly pros and cons to both so???

Pros for the bear: it continues a theme from Portland and perpetuates that, and it suits his nature of being kind of. at odds with humanity as a thing.

Pros for being human with a daemon: his daemon would be a female oppossum in reference to Amethyst, and it would offer some unique opportunities and insight for him, I feel like.

Other than that, there aren't really any solid plans in place for Foster yet, so? Let me know if you have any ideas of what to do with him??? The story is so vague for this starter week that I haven't really settled on any solid details on what Foster will be doing there just yet.

Taako

[tacosgay]

Taako's daemon is a female African bush viper named Flauta! She tends to embody the parts of himself that he tries to keep hidden-- his craving for companionship and the fact that, deep down, he cares a whole lot more about people than he admits to. She also tends to be more expressive about it than his body is when Taako is having a bad time/feeling down. Basically, they're the same, but she lacks the mental blocks he has about expressing weakness and vulnerability, and so keeping an eye on her is honestly a much more clear picture of how he's feeling at any given time.

Childermass and ??? the Crow.

[atouts]

Because this is something left over from Portland that Childermass needs to resolve, his daemon will be a hooded crow. She is currently without a name, both because Childermass refuses to acknowledge her and thus give her one and also because he won't ask her if she has one or wants to pick her own.

If it hadn't been for the events in Portland, she would likely be something else entirely, but his soul (color and all) was altered there and this is an after effect of that. He is aware of this and resents it, so he also resents his poor little birdy soul's form. She's actually a clever and quick little thing, happy to offer insight on just about anything and to steal shiny things or food as she can, but for the first part of the month she will be silent, distant, and incredibly sad because of Childermass being a huge jerk.

Things will get better in the later part, since he will, inevitably, get the hell over himself and accept her as a part of himself. Then she'll get a name and overall be better off.

Julien

[espigeon]

Julien's dæmon Julie is going to take a number of forms. Sparrow, kangaroo, jay, grey wolf, rabbit, rat snake, salmon, budgie... Vampire bat will be very tempting and actually now I'm second guessing myself argh look I can change my mind later.

Ultimately she'll probably settle as, yes, a domestic pigeon, though at least not just a miniature version of him. (Pigeons fit way too well, it's in-universe the reason why he is one.)

Julie is still sunny and social and likes people a lot, but she's more impulsive and direct than Julien, blunter and less politic. She will probably flirt with other dæmons.

Julien's already a mind spread across two bodies. He can put one away into the stasis of his inventory, but his mind is still present and unchanged. Julie can go into his inventory, but when she does her quasi-independent consciousness is still present and can take one of his bodies, or just share space if his human body is also in stasis. This will be weird and mean that Julie can take that human body far away from his bird body while still actually being very close. So that will be interesting.

Tyki

[prazerbutterfly]

I was going to go with something a little more elaborate but even with all of Tyki's powerhouse abilities and his insatiable mannerisms and charm I settled on his dæmon being a black panther. It's because despite everything he is a very simple man. He has basic needs just like everyone and she'll be just as laid back and lazy as he is with a warm temperament. Yet she'll enjoy the thrill of a good challenge while being polite and respective of others. She enjoys a good hunt just as much as Tyki and will be just as curious.

She's large and in control most of the time with black sheen for fur. In the sunlight one might see faint rosettes mark patterns on her body similar to a Melanistic leopard.

As for names I was thinking either Morticia, Hecate or Santana. I am really bad at naming things and open to suggestions.

[sunflowerfields]

Hinawa's daemon is going to be a big ol' African elephant, because they're an animal that cares for their young for a long time. HAHA, MOTHERHOOD SYMBOLISM.

Anyway, his name is Mortimer because that's a sufficiently goofy name, and he's a BIG DAD. He is constantly stopping to waggle his ears for kids and telling dad jokes. Hinawa's just gonna ride around on top of him most of the time because how the heck else are you suppose to get around with a giant elephant?

Papyrus

[spaghettimonster]

It turns out that the Ringmaster's powerful and skilled enough for her spell to pull the souls out of monsters who are basically just soul. It's impressive as all heck, and alarming, and mostly it's reassuring that yeah, she can totally handle the barrier.

As usual, Papyrus chooses not to worry about that stuff! His daemon, a snow goose (with the blue morph coloration, and orange eyes, and small crystals clustered on beak and legs and maybe fringes of stone on wingtips) is more of a worrier.

She'll want to check on Sans in particular, and other friends in general, after they figure out what's happened. Make sure they're okay, hang out talking a while, and be a bit clingy. She's a lot of the parts of Papyrus that really notice when they're worrying what others think of them, or what might happen in the future, essential to planning things out. Her loud honks of dismay or irritation go right with with Papyrus' own loud voice. They'll probably have a lot of very noisy conversations in place of his usual inner dialogues, going through her worries, his optimistic reassurances, her doubts, and ending in his insistent showy confidence in himself. That part, she'll never try to discourage; it's important they be true to themselves and work hard to accomplish all they want. And they are pretty great.

Allen Walker

[showmystar]

Allen is Unsettled, but his female daemon generally sticks to four faved forms: an American Pine Marten, a Kingfisher, a British Columbian Wolf, and a Maned Wolf. (I couldn't resist the faery wolf.) If needed, she may take the form of a falcon in aerial battles. She definitely can shift to nearly anything, same as a child, but she doesn't like to. She's just as stubborn as Allen, but also just as cunning.

Her name is Farrawae. Farrah for short. Allen tried naming her Corona or Pierrot, after his Innocence, Crown Clown, and even Tim, after his golem. But she was having none of it. So she chose her own damn name. (Or maybe I just liked the sound of the name Farrah and clung to it no matter how much world research I did, and then I thought Allen Faraway Walker would be a funny name.)

One of her eyes is gold, and the other silver. That, the British Columbian Wolf, and Allen's unsettled nature is all meant to reflect his unstable identity, stuck between Nea and Allen. (Just because he can't completely take Allen over doesn't mean he can't make his life hell!) Similarly, both Allen's and Nea's natures resulted in a predatory form. When Allen is feeling meek is the only time she will take the form of a prey animal.

In the carnival, she will also have blue bioluminescent spots along her spine or on her Kingfisher wings, in order to reflect Allen's face. (And maybe foreshadow him getting more bio marks!)

Farrah will be the caution and reason to Allen's reckless attitude. Though not all that patient -- this is Allen we're talking about -- she heckles him like a mother. However, that doesn't mean she won't badmouth someone if they deserve it. She has kind of become Allen's mouthpiece when he's being polite; she says what he actually means. In those moments, they are partners in crime.

Allen will be most interested in the island of children. Hit me up to also recklessly row to the island and fight some monsters have some dumb adventures!! I'm holding out for that log, largely, but he's already heckling a kid at the harbor. As always, discord me at Nicola#9971 or plurk me at Nicola.