Upcoming Event: Croatoan Virus

[artificial_intelligence]

Hello, Atlantis!

During weeks 21 & 22 (June 9th through June 23rd), a very unique sort of plague will be sweeping its way across Atlantis in the form of the Croatoan virus. The virus is bloodborne and demonic in origin, requiring blood-to-blood contact to spread. Those who are infected will behave as though possessed, retaining their normal personalities, thoughts and memories until the ideal moment to strike arrives, at which point they will feel compelled to spread the virus to those who are not yet infected – in most cases, violently.

There is no antidote for the virus, but those who choose to study it will notice that it leaves traces of sulfur in the blood, which takes three to four hours to manifest, meaning that while someone may be infected, it will take time for tests to confirm or deny their status. The only sure way to stop the spread of the virus is death: killing someone who is either infected or carrying the virus is the only way to ensure that they won’t go on to spread it to other victims, meaning that characters close to the infected will be forced to make difficult choices.

Though the virus itself is bloodborne, the first batch of victims will find themselves infected even without having had any blood-to-blood contact beforehand. It’s entirely up to you to decide whether you want your character to be a part of the initial group of victims, or whether you want them to become infected later on in the event. Additionally, you can opt out if you don’t want your character to be effected at all – they can lock themselves up somewhere good and tight and avoid the whole thing.

There are some biological limitations, as well, though not many. Anyone who is a demon, part-demon, demon-possessed or otherwise has demon blood in them will be immune to the virus, as they already possess demonic presence of some kind. Additionally, any characters who are undead or have inborn powers that allow them to heal or regenerate (such as werewolves or certain mutants) have the ability to be carriers without actually being infected themselves – which means that they can accidentally infect someone if they’re injured and not careful about where they bleed. However, if you play a character who falls under this category and would like them to be fully infected, by all means! It’s certainly possible.

Those who are infected become something like zombies, though they still breathe air and appear quite human. They seem to operate with a hivemind mentality and nearly all of them will feel compelled to work together to spread the virus to the furthest reaches of the island. Though they may operate on their own, they all share a common goal and will do what they can to keep people contained in the city and further the spread of the virus.

At 11:59 PM on June 23rd, anyone who is infected that has not been killed during the event will succumb to the virus and die, only to wake up in the catacombs three days later on the morning of the 26th. Anyone who is killed during the course of the event itself will wake up in the catacombs on the 24th.

Looking for someone to blame for this particular mess? Look no further, Atlantis. Lucifer is going to be more than happy to take the fall for this one. Feel free to share your feelings with him on the matter when it’s all over! We’re sure he’d love to hear from you.

Feel free to use this post to ask questions, make suggestions and plot! This is an event that will rely heavily on characters' own actions and decisions, rather than having something obvious for everyone to band together against, so everything that happens? Well, now. That's up to you. ;)

Comments

Christine

[lightgunhustler]

- Adam (didntgetthatmemo) will be getting infected at some point, probably late in the game. Sorry, bros. The "how" is still undetermined, so if anyone is looking to play out spreading the virus, he's free for that.

- Alex (needspunctuation) is host to a demonic entity and therefore will be immune.

- Anita (animator) will be helping to organized the stand at Xavier Academy and doing whatever she can to put down those who are infected to help stop the spread. She will be getting infected later on and will need to be put down, as well.

- Connor (waywardboy) will be immune as he qualifies as a demon by his world's standards, proven by his being effected by spells meant specifically for demons. He will be spending the event protecting Alisha and Cassie.

- Darla (dearone) will be getting infected and turned by Angelus at the last minute. Vampire Bonnie and Clyde are back.

- Emma (cursebreaking) will be doing whatever she can to help in the resistance against the infected. Undecided on whether or not she'll be infected yet, but I'm open to it.

- Howl (vainities) will be doing his hermit thing and staying out of the line of fire, though I am open to having him infected as well.

- Jaime (lordcommander) will arrive in the middle of the event and end up protecting Bran Stark from the infected.

- Jo (lightgunhustler) will be among the first people to be infected and will be going around spreading the virus to others in spades. If you want to play out a little bit of violence, let me know, because I'm all about causing all sorts of trauma with this one.

- Lyla (pandoraproject) will be immune because of her genetic makeup but will act as a carrier regardless.

- Raven (metamorphosing) will become infected and need to be killed at some point. It's totally Sam's fault. :>

- Thor (deemedworthy) will be immune. Asgardian and all.

[tower_bound]

Carrie, Adam, accidental infection, let's do this.

And if Howl wants, if I bring in Punz soon and if they have good CR by then, he can keep her in his castle. She might be able to cure the infection in others, and we certainly don't want that wandering freely on the island.

[animator]

I am late to responding but yes! I hadn't even thought of her curing the infection, that's a great idea. I should be making some kind of Howl post finally tonight and I'm planning to throw him into Punz's post -- both she and Sophie will be welcome to come take refuge in his "castle," since honestly, it doesn't take much for him to extend an invitation to pretty girls.

CARRIE, ADAM, ACCIDENTAL INFECTION IS GO.

[dreamsofsanfran]

YES refuge will be good ;w; Scary people are scary.

MUWAHAHA. You know what's best? She'll have to be bleeding to infect him, right? Well, Carrie's the type of person to NOT "heal" herself when others take notice of her injuries (mostly because she doesn't want to reveal she has that ability). It's totally IC for her to just grin and bear a wound in the name of fear and the withholding of truth instead of fixing it. And her lack of power-induced preemptive action is going to hurt Adam. It'll definitely be a good eye-opener for her in terms of figuring out that sometimes she has to face her anxieties and do the smart thing instead of trying to hide behind the image of something she can't be (in this case, "normal").

[mischiefmaker]

Can Jo be the one who infected Cas?

[lightgunhustler]

ABSOLUTELY.

[fallen_angel]

YAY IT EVEN MERITED CAPS RESPONSE. <3 This shouldn't make me as excited as it does, probably.