[early morning cat posting]

[sevenhorrorsmods]

Who: everyone
When: July 25
Where: class 3-C
What: a few visitors!
Warnings: none!

[On Friday morning at 6:00 a.m. on the dot, the student body is awoken not by the bell, but by the sound of meowing echoing over the intercom.

[It's not just the PA system, either. Soft, gentle, and very cute mewls fill the classroom hallways; distant on floors one and two, but much louder on floor three. Intrepid explorers who follow the noise will find that one of the third floor classrooms has been overtaken by a pack of ghostly cats!]

[Each creature is the size of a normal housecat, and has the mannerisms of one. That is, they will attempt to hop into your lap for some prime cuddling time, ears and tails flicking adorably all the while. Their bodies are a pale, ghostly white, and their eyes glow a soft, gentle blue. Although they are translucent, they are still solid to the touch, and they feel just like a normal cat does. Soft fur and everything! Aren't they precious? Aren't they just so stinkin' cute??? DON'T YOU JUST WANT TO SMOOSH THEIR ROUND LI'L KITTEN FACES??]

[So long as characters are kind to the cat spirits, the Nekomata are completely harmless. They just want to play and snuggle!! Although. . .]

[Anyone who touches a cat spirit will find themselves hit with a sudden need for physical contact. This can range from something small (desiring a high five) to something bigger (needing to CUDDLE THE SHIT outta someone). Being surrounded by more than one Nekomata means the compulsion becomes stronger, too! One cat means it can probably be safely ignored, but five?? If you don't HOLD SOMEONE'S HAND RIGHT THIS SECOND you JUST MAY DIE!!]

[Oh, so you don't like cats? No problem! The Nekomata are mischievous creatures, and they WILL leap onto people's backs and shoulders without warning. Being cat spirits, they can also teleport from one place to another, so. . . you can be minding your own business one second, blink, and then be staring into the eyes of a cute cat spirit perched on your lap the next.]

[The Nekomata will be drawn towards members of Anzen more than anyone else per their target lock curse, but they are excited to shower literally anyone in a bit of cute kitty affection, regardless of their homeroom]

[Please let me know if your character is being violent and/or aggressive towards the Nekomata. Otherwise, enjoy some compulsive physical bonding with a cute ghostly flair!]

Comments

[presgarddihellis]

It's a bit like one. But it's a specific practice, you could say.

One of my teachers is on that Pathway and his messengers are giant skeletons, in fact. So that makes sense enough.

[bowtiedbones]

[A COLLEAGUE????!]

What kind? Humanoid? Giant skeletons are my specialty! I study megafauna!

[presgarddihellis]

Humanoid, yes.

... giants were more common in the far past, so the skeleton may have been from then.

[bowtiedbones]

It's possible! I don't work with them, but we used to have giants too— magical animal-type ones, I mean, like humans are. Like there's still giant fae, but that's a whole different thing.

[presgarddihellis]

I don't know anything about giant fae...

But my teacher's lived a very long time, so it stands to reason that that may be the case.

[bowtiedbones]

Ooh... I might know how to do something your teacher doesn't.

[presgarddihellis]

It's possible. He's had memory troubles, also.

[bowtiedbones]

[squeaks]

Don't say that! I can't be proud of having a one-up on someone senile!

[presgarddihellis]

He's not senile, don't worry.

[bowtiedbones]

Or an amnesiac...!

[but she can't NOT say it. she doesn't have a truth effect, she just doesn't want to leave the thought unfinished]

I summon really, really old skeletons. Like died three-thousand-years before I was born old.

[presgarddihellis]

... bones that old can really respond to summons like that?

[bowtiedbones]

That old and older. As long as they're still bones. If they're fully fossilized, I can't do them, but I can go pretty far back with subfossils. The trick is that I'm not calling the original owner.

[presgarddihellis]

Eh? Then who are you calling?

[bowtiedbones]

I'm calling fragments. A soul can't survive that long, but the pieces can last. And if you get enough of them to cooperate, they can possess that skeleton as a new soul.

[presgarddihellis]

That... actually makes sense.

[bowtiedbones]

Doesn't it? And it works.

[presgarddihellis]

Do you select the pieces? As in... if one doesn't cooperate... you can just... disregard it?

[bowtiedbones]

Basically. It feels like, um, putting a puzzle together upside down? Or like building Legos with a secondhand kit. That 2x4 is not the right color, but it still fits. If I'm lucky a whole section will already be done, but otherwise I have to keep trying until I get ones that will click together.

If it's something new and common, like a pigeon, then I can throw that together in minutes. Seconds even! But if it's really old, it can take over a day.

[presgarddihellis]

[one day maybe she will understand how wild this concept is for the Lord of the Mysteries lore.]

... I think I understand the gist of it.

[bowtiedbones]

It works great! And you can use a skeleton that's made up of multiple specimens too. You get better results if it is all one donor, but it's fine since you're already not using the original soul..

[presgarddihellis]

But like seeks out like, often, right?

[bowtiedbones]

Oh sure. Like one of my familiars is mostly all one specimen and another familiar is the same species from the same site. Between the two of them, they probably have a lot of souls that were related to each other and to the bones.

[presgarddihellis]

... that is useful to know.

[bowtiedbones]

Got some skeletons you need possessed?

[presgarddihellis]

Unfortunately, no.

But your understanding of souls and the like is good for understanding how Beyonders and their characteristics work. And having someone who can understand it in concept is a relief for me.