💀 a dark magic spreads across the kingdom...

Seeping up from below Ivras's cities is a fast-spreading curse with terrifying power. None know its origins for certain, but the magical affliction began in Faline and spread seemingly overnight to every major settlement in the Kingdom. The King, the Order, and the Archon's Witchfinders are scrabbling to contain it before the whole of Ivras is lost.

Those affected by the curse wander Ivras's streets, ravenous and desperate to spread their affliction. Left to wallow long enough, they become mindless shells, shambling in hordes through the quiet cities, seeking someone to infect.

Unaffected individuals are advised not to interact with anyone acting strangely, to flee for rural areas if possible and, of course, report all sightings of magic to their local Witchfinders.

The Archon lays the blame for the curse at the feet of corrupted mages. She has issued statement after statement telling the people of Ivras to be calm, that help is on the way, that a solution has already been found... But if any of that is true, why won't she come down from her tower? Who really caused this, and who will hold them responsible?

Battle a terrible curse in Anathema's spooky Halloween event: Curse of the Corrupted! Will your characters defend themselves and their loved ones against the Afflicted hordes, or will they succumb to dark magic?

🩸 afflicted, immune, and unaffected

All characters have one of the three statuses below:

Afflicted characters have the curse inside them, and feel compelled to spread it to others. They do not harm other Afflicted characters, and instead feel the desire to ensure any Unaffected characters they find become Afflicted also, and that any known Immune characters are prevented from spreading their immunity. (Afflicted characters will be cured when the event ends!)

Immune characters cannot become Afflicted. While they do not have the ability to cure the Afflicted, they can make Unaffected characters Immune also. Not all Immune persons are charitable however, and some demand a high price for their aid... Unaffected characters are those who are not yet Immune or Afflicted. Unless your character rolled Immunity or Affliction before the event started, your character will begin the event Unaffected.

⚠ symptoms of affliction

All afflicted characters experience a strong, magically-created compulsion to spread the curse to as many others as they can. This can be done through any contact with bodily fluid, including bites, scratches, and even kisses. If your character is Afflicted they may also show any of the following symptoms (choose only the ones that sound fun to you 😉):

• Newly afflicted characters may experience headaches, lethargy, mood swings, insomnia, or uncharacteristic rage while the curse takes hold.
• The afflicted are sensitive to light and fire, and seem to avoid brightness.
• Afflicted persons may take on a monstrous, supernatural appearance. (draw your favorite horror tropes! Many eyes, ghostly/undead forms, flesh nightmares or shadowy eldritch abominations... Go wild! Get scary! Afflicted non-mages are welcome to get in on the fun too! Just be sure to appropriately tag any potential body horror/gore)
• Affliction can give frightening magical abilities, such as climbing on walls/ceilings, extraordinary strength, the ability to eat things that aren't food, and unnatural vocalizations. (Afflicted Non-mages may experience these too!)
• Mages may experience sudden terrifying changes in their magical ability, or lose control of their magic. (Feel free to create a "spooky" variant of your mage's magic!)
• Despite their fearsome appearance, behavior, and abilities, afflicted persons seem unaware that anything is out of the ordinary. They form quick bonds with and behave peacefully toward all other afflicted individuals.

Afflicted characters eventually abandon all of their reason and become mindless, vicious agents who know no desire other than spreading the affliction at any cost. Afflicted characters will be cured at the end of the event, but it is up to you how close your character comes to joining the cursed zombie hordes.

🌑 spreading the affliction, or immunizing against it

The spread of affliction or immunization is done through gift art, art trades, roleplay, writing, or collaboration!

Spreading Affliction or becoming Afflicted

You can spread a character's Affliction by drawing, writing, or roleplaying an Afflicted character interacting with an Unaffected character. Ideally both characters should be depicted, but you may create gift art featuring just the other player's character too.

The spread works both ways, meaning the player of an Unaffected character can have their character become Afflicted by gifting art to an Afflicted character, or an Afflicted character can cause an Unaffected character to become Afflicted with gift art. In character, spreading the Affliction is done with the transfer of bodily fluids, through bite, scratch, etc.

All art, literature, or roleplay used to Afflict a character should be worth at least 5 Gold, and should not be done without the other players' permission! No character can Afflict someone or become Afflicted by someone without the consent of all players involved.

🟢 If your character is Afflicted and spreads their Affliction during the event, they will receive your choice of Corruption or -1 Cost at the end of the event.
🔴 If your character is Afflicted and resists spreading their Affliction, they will receive your choice of Discipline or Power at the end of the event. While these rewards do not stack for additional characters Afflicted, all art created for the event earns DOUBLE GOLD!

Spreading Immunity or becoming Immune

You can spread a character's Immunity by drawing, writing, or roleplaying an Immune character interacting with an Unaffected character. Ideally both characters should be depicted, but you may create gift art featuring just the other player's character too. In character, the spread of Immunity can look however you like; perhaps your character's abilities can tie into their Immunity somehow, or they developed a ritual or ward against the curse. Its up to you!

The spread works both ways, meaning the player of an Unaffected character can have their character become Immune by gifting art to an Immune character, or an Immune character can cause an Unaffected character to become Immune with gift art.

All art, literature, or roleplay used to Afflict a character should be worth at least 5 Gold, and should not be done without the other players' permission! No character can Immunize someone or become Immunized by someone without the consent of all players involved.

🟢 If your character is Immune and freely helps others by making them Immune, they will receive your choice of Power or Discipline at the end of the event.
🔴 If your character is Immune and either withholds their immunity or makes others pay them for it, they will receive your choice of Corruption or -1 Cost at the end of the event.

While these rewards do not stack for additional characters Afflicted, all art created for the event earns DOUBLE GOLD!

🎃 becoming immune or afflicted on your own

To gain the Immune or Afflicted status without involving another player's character, you can simply write something worth at least 5 Gold to describe how your character became Afflicted (through contact with the curse or another Afflicted being) or how they discovered they were Immune. Because we want to know your character's story, this must be written as a literature or roleplay, not drawn!

🥼 returning to unaffected status

If your character has received a status of Immune or Afflicted and you'd like to ditch it, they can perform a simple ritual to be brought back to the Unaffected status. Draw, write, or roleplay your character burning a cleansing candle at any Patron's shrine in a piece worth at least 5 Gold, and your character will become Unaffected.

This ritual can only be performed once per character. Changing your character's status does not let them claim stat rewards from this event more than once.

🎭 open roleplay thread

In the roleplay-threads forum of the Anathema Discord server, you can join in a staff-led, site-wide open roleplay thread, and have your characters take part in the action! You may have your character become Afflicted or Immune, or spread their Affliction or Immunity in this thread, but be sure to communicate with other players!

✨ event tag in wanted-ads forum

In the wanted-ads forum of the Anathema Discord server, you can now add the '🎃 Event' tag to event-related posts, and use that tag to filter threads so you can find someone to RP, collab, or art trade with during this event!

📖 three story prompts

No matter your character's status, you can earn double gold rewards by exploring the strange horrors of the Affliction through three story prompts. Mages will also gain a stat point for each story prompt they complete, based on their choices! Any character can respond to one or all of these prompts.

Click here to see the story prompts!