BELIAL.
wanna bewitch you in the moonlight
xxxx
/* credit to sugarvine*/
- THE DEVIL YOU KNOWOnce honey-suckle breath was rotten now, stinking of decay and dried spit. The lips that moved, cracked and smeared with flecks of spittle, were not the same lips that Harvey remembered. All of her was the same, or so it would appear, but he knew wholeheartedly that it was not his wife anymore. Sweet Beth, whittled away to bone and stretched flesh, swollen fat against sunken skin.
She lay on their marital bed, something that if he thought carefully about he could recall greater days; softer touches. Her wrists were bound to the bed posts, writhing to an unknown pace, having already rubbed themselves raw in the weeks it had been since sheโd been untied. Her feet lay limp, one fallen to the left and the other inverted to the center. Heโd smashed her ankles about a week ago after sheโd tried to wriggle herself off of the bed, half ripping the joints from her arms and half twisting her own tender limbs into knotted muscle.
He prayed every morning. The cross above the bed, nailed into place after it had fallen off the wall about ten times, seemed to shine like some holy beacon. He hoped it would cure her, but everyday she just got worse. She seemed to waste away in the bed, and everytime he looked at her he could swear that whatever had taken her was looking right back at him.
She spoke, too, but Harvey was sure that Bethโd never spoken more than one language before. Deep, baritone rambles of mere gibberish, or so heโd thought. The feral gaze, twisted tongue, and hate that she spewed told him that he hadnโt prayed enough for her health to return.
How long could a man keep praying before his own words seemed to form gibberish?
Theyโd taken no visitors, no company, not even the doctor. Who would listen to him? Sheโs been taken by the Devil, heโd tried to tell the physician when heโd first come all those weeks ago. I hear him at night, when the house is all quiet. I hear him in my own ears. Satan has taken her!
No one heard his ramblings. He thought himself crazy once the food had begun to rot, and heโd sworn off eating himself. His aching, his pain-- he knew it could save her, right? The hunger pangs had worn away a few days ago, replaced with the bitter clench of a stomach that was always hungry. He sat often, curled into some position to try and squeeze the pain from his skin, like wringing out a wet cloth.
He watched her most nights, praying for her safety. It helped pass the time. It wasnโt as if he could sleep, either.
โHaaaaarvey,โ came her low voice. Rasped from screaming, raw from choking on her own spit.
He looked up from his chair in the corner of the room. The bible was tight in his hands, white knuckles shining like their own light in the dark. The moon tried to peer through the bedroom window, but it was a cloudy night. He was sure he felt static in the air.
A tremble came to his lower lip. He saw her dark eyesโฆ gleaming, almost, in the low light.
โHaaaaarvey.โ
He would not listen.
โHaaaaarveyโฆโ
Silence followed.
โBeth?โ
Then a chuckle, barely audible under the thundering race of his pulse in his ears. Something that melted like a chicken cooked off the bone, the way that the fat would spittle and pop. It sent gooseflesh down his arms, and the hair on the back of his neck rose.
โWe canโt be saved, Harvey. Heโs left you, Harvey. Arenโt you so hungryโฆ?โ
Itโs voice came almost like a death rattle, bouncing with an airy cough from her lungs.
โHaaaaarveyโฆโ
spirits
โฅ spirits, alternatively known as ghosts, are the once living that have been condemned to existing in purgatory. they exist between life and death, somewhat visible to the living through semi-corporeal apparitions or poltergeist behaviour (manipulating of objects, people).
โฅ spirits are, in comparison, rather passive usually. hauntings are plagued by circumstantial maladies, such as flickering of lights, moving of objects, drops in temperature, or potential possessions. it is rare that a spirit, unless they are a full poltergeist, will actively terrorize the living. they require the patience and guidance to reach the afterlife, however, through a variety of means.
โฅ spirits exist in purgatory for several reasons: sudden deaths, violent deaths, unresolved business, vengeance, or extreme emotions at the time of death that render them unable to move on.
โฅ spirit possession of objects is marked by limited or extreme movement, depending on the nature of the spirit, or proximal effects on their surroundings. as specified, lights that flicker or temperatures that drop, as an example.
โฅ cleansing areas can be enough to ward, or in some cases move on, a trapped spirit. exorcisms may be needed for particularly stubborn, or unresolved, spirits.
โฅ they cannot communicate through a possession of a person, but can speak through radio waves or other energy-based mediums.
โฅ ghost possession of a human is rather painful, inflicting what is known as ghost sickness: flu-like symptoms, purpling of the joints, and vomiting of ectoplasm. flashes of emotions or images may be present in a possessee's mind, being one of the most visual ways that a ghost can express themselves.
demons
โฅ demons are the pure manifestation of evil and chaos, of undoing and destruction. where they come from varies per religion or belief, but the united factor is that they are one of the most terrible things to afflict a person, or home. some demons have names, and it is the only real power that a demon holds: to know its name is to hold control over it, useful for banishing or exorcising.
โฅ their methods are less concise than a spirits, but there are a variety of ways that demons can be found. weak-willed are often more susceptible to possessions or luring demons, as well as those who have preternatural abilities that enable them to linger closer to the afterlife (mediums, coma patients, etc.) what is known, however, is that a demon requires food to stay alive: that of the living, and life force.
โฅ known symptoms of a demon's presence in a home or building include: the smell of decay/sulfur/rotten eggs, objects or things moving on their own, and the death of things in the area (plants, living things like people, pets or insects even). a demon haunting is more violent, with independent interactions being more common as well (in comparison to spirits, who are proximal). hallucinations of bleeding walls or visual disturbances are also common. a demon antagonizes, zapping the will and physical health of those that it wishes to feed from.
โฅ demon sickness is when someone is possessed by a demon, similar to ghost sickness but far, far more lethal. demon sickness results in enlarged or inhuman pupils, the bruising of skin, anemia, forceful manipulations of the limbs or voice (often accented with self-inflicted wounds or violent words), and general decomposition of the host from inside out. the host will succumb to madness, as expected, but those around them may be afflicted by some form of demon sickness but to a lesser degree.
โฅ demons speak a wide array of languages, but notably that of which they do not speak is vulgar latin-- higher tongues and more formal presentation marking them from someone faking.
โฅ the only way to remove a demon is to exorcise it. nothing else will work. cleanses can be temporary wards, but demons can hop hosts and evade wards. you cannot kill a demon. it will always come back.
- premisea little 'the conjuring', a little 'exorcist', a little 'evil dead', a little religious flavoured ghost adventures... This is a re-issue of a previous interest check from 2022, and we are attempting to renew it again!
The year is 1973, within the United States of America. Summer has come full swing, leading into late August. The time period is nestled with war, innovation and the sweeping change of society and the people. US Troops have pulled out of the Vietnam War, the World Trade Center cuts its premiere ribbonโฆ And the cold war has yet to stagnate, forever ramping beneath oneโs nose to the chorus of political intrigue.
Life, otherwise, is normal. All except for a select few who have had the unfortunate witness to be plagued, in some manner, by demon or spirit. Forever severing oneโs soul from normalcy, they are retorted again and again by the masses who would believe hysteria and religious secularism to be the blame for such delusions. Nobody believes you, not for a while.
It started with a flyer on the town bulletin board, or maybe someone you know handed it to you: HAUNTED BY TERRIBLE MEMORIES OF A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE? GHOST, DEMON OR UNFORGIVING POLTERGEIST. SEEKING ANSWERS? SOMEWHERE TO BE HEARD? WEDNESDAYS AT SIX P.M, BENTLEY MERIDIAN COMMUNITY CENTER. FOOD AND SNACK PROVIDED.
Brought together by this trauma, you are not the only person that you know. Belief is so cherished, especially of what one has seen versus what one may choose to understand. To be heard, finally, and find that you are not alone in your nightmares isโฆ reassuring.
The leader of these meetings never showed his face, talking through a representative who regularly changed hands every few meetings. First it was a weathered old man, blind in one eye. Then it was a mysterious woman, draped in red with a head of tight curls. All seemed to communicate a specific intent: to lull you into a sense of agreement for what they had planned later along...
The talking became planning, as was expected, and the planning became a full fledged agreement: that you and the motley crew would tour and educate, expunge and exorcise whatever demonic or spiritual hosts plagued the innocents. Your mysterious benefactor had a goal in mind to organize a group of people who would perform these duties and return with as much evidence as they could; each resulting in a tidy payment per person, and per piece of evidence. It would be foolish to call it anything other than group insanity, really-- but you all believe, and you're all getting paid, and thatโs enough for anyone, surely.
- THE "ROLES"
Different to the last interest check, we won't have any 'specific' roles. Everyone is sort of equal in being paid and essentially hired, each with their own motivations, for the RP's premise. However, we will recognize specific role types and traits that can be used. While more details will be provided on the CS page (to be released in a day or two), here is some information.
1. Mediums and the like are welcome, psychics that can communicate with energy, spirits and et cetera. These will be moderated in both number and strength, so be sure to think more humbly about it than going all out.
2. Everyone's going to be a rather every-man, paired with the 1973 setting, so don't go crazy with outfitting your OC in equipment, gear or anything that'll make 'em lethal. All that will be provided by the IC benefactor. The less prepared you are, with a chance to learn and grow your OC along the way, the better.
3. Keep an active eye for characters already claimed/reserved or published. Trying to fit into the group best will give you the best chance of getting your OC accepted! Characters that are too similar will be asked to change/judged on which dynamic or execution fits better with the setting.
4. Again, this is gonna be a lot more free with your character dev, so if you need any help or ideas please ask!! AND AGAIN, please review both the setting and the tone of the RP.
- rulespreface: roles are interpretive, free to manipulate but must be within the confines of setting and tone for the RP. If you blatantly ignore this, I will ask you to delete your app.
general rules
1. follow RPN TOS, bits and bobs-- the usual. please respect one another and try not to bring your real life drama into the OOC. If you have any problems with someone, or any issues come up, please reach out to a GM (myself or idalie ). We will try to resolve it, but it is not our job to deal with your beef with other people.
2. 18+ only, please.
3. As mentioned, heavy topics will be brought up. Composed of but not limited to: possession, body horror, critiques and religious trauma/horror, ghost horror, mentions of child death, descriptions of death (anything you'd find in a horror movie, really, that isn't some gratuitous torture genre.) Intense descriptions will not be permitted of gore, but of the spookies and the scaries, yes. If this is not your vibe, be warned.
4. real life faceclaims only, please. try to go for something 70s-90s esque; but you do not need to include actual actors from the 1960s-70s, unless you choose to. no anime, no drawings, no artbreeder. NO AI ART, I will KNOW if it's an AI interpretation of an actor. Just don't.
5. posting will be once a week minimum, if you please. more per week is fine, and we will adjust as needed if some folks post faster than others. trying to keep this relatively paced, if you feel that you cannot post during the week be sure to communicate to others the best way to work around it. two paragraphs minimum: we won't heavily enforce the minimum unless it is routine that shorter posts are killing people's inspiration. we want to foster semi-lit/literate writers; essentially: NO ONE LINERS. As always, quality over quantity, so don't be pressed if you feel you're wanting to hit a high number of paragraphs but they are all fodder.
6. discord OOC is mandatory, as we will have lore/fun tidbits. Until sheets/characters are accepted we will have the OOC on RPN.
7. roles will not be first come first serve, but we will check them on a rolling basis and accept 10 maximum. if there is an influx of characters, and they are really great, we will accept three extra people to the 10 maximum. But this is an RP better had with a smaller group, so please forgive us for keeping the numbers small.
8. this rp will require active communication on posts, plots and puzzles. if you're more of a lax rper who doesn't want to be involved with things, or doesn't wish to do more than passively post, this is not the RP for you.
9. more character/character sheet specific rules will be released when the CS Thread goes up. For now we can answer any questions!
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