aka. Scarecrow Fights Archons In Psychedelic Hyperspacee
What even?
In this choose-your-own-adventure game, you will help Scarecrow forge his path towards freeing humankind from the extradimensional entities that feast upon them. These entities are known as Archons, and they have only subtle forms in the normal plane of existence. They feed upon man's very beliefs, and use the power they gain to grow, enslave, and control our very plane of existence.
Concepts you'll need to be aware of to participate
(aka. theories I am accepting as fact in the game to make things fun)
In this game, Scarecrow has become aware of the collective unconscious (as theorized by Jung), and of an inner self that transcends the ego's constraints. He has learned through his own experiences that "The human psyche transcends corporeal existence, therefore we must be multidimensional entities. The ego is not the center of the psyche, but only the space/time portion of a greater reality which unfolds and reveals itself from what the ego perceives as its own unconscious mind."
Scarecrow has become aware of the shamanic map of the cosmos; by this model, the world of physical existence is a "middle world" between the upper and lower realms accessed via altered states, intuitions, and dreams. It is easy for us to comprehend how a zero-dimensional point becomes a one-dimensional line, how a line extends into a two-dimensional plane, and how a plane is extended to become a three-dimensional cube. Just as time is an extra dimension that extends from space, the "imaginal realms," or "mind-space," are real domains that extend from the dimension of consciousness. The shaman, in effect, is an ego who has learned how to reconnect with his source in mind-space (Jung's collective unconscious). The explorer of "mind-space" first discovers a landscape, including beings and artifacts that relate to his own history, but in that new land he also encounters "other" extradimensional entities. The Gnostics had a word for this inner kingdom of spiritual beings. They called it the Pleroma, a Greek term for fullness or plenitude, later used by Jung.
Populated by entities, these other realms have their own ecology, their own hierarchies and operational logic. There exist spirits or deities that seek to compel the attention and belief of human beings, and these are alluded to in every mystical tradition. The Gnostic term for such entities is 'Archons.' The Archons feed on the human soul, and they try to keep human beings imprisoned in the fallen world of physical reality and ignorance. These Archons are nourished by human belief and human will; each Archon seeks to maintain itself, and will conceivably say or do whatever is necessary to gain our attention and worship... without worship, a god starves and is absorbed (eaten) by some other entity.
In our lives, it is obvious that beliefs have independent energy and vitality. Beliefs compel followings and take on a life of their own, leaping from host to host. The belief systems active in controlling our world - whether called "patriotism," "free market capitalism," or even "high culture", are all in fact dangerously independent forces, self-propelling viruses, Archons.
Belief is a form of energy, is food or fuel used in more abstract realms of existence by entities we have always perceived as gods. It is to these entities' advantage to keep us ignorant of their agendas; they would forfeit independent existence if we chose to become gods ourselves by devouring their energy instead of vice-versa.
"note" (Click to Show)
As one of very few to have attained these realizations, Scarecrow is effectively alone in watching his own plane of existence being slowly devoured by the Archons above. He sees no choice but to begin working towards their destruction from his plane upwards.
How to play
This is a choose-your-adventure game. I will provide written descriptions of Scarecrow's situation, and participants will provide suggestions as to how to act. Consider your suggestions as Scarecrow's thoughts. That means you can influence how Scarecrow acts, but you cannot change the way the circumstances change, or how other entities respond. Scarecrow is also conscious of his own thought processes, and reserves the right to dismiss ideas as stupid, boring, or otherwise, or just straight up ignore them entirely.
When posting a thought, please use the following format:
#THOUGHT: [your idea].
For example:
#THOUGHT: Go into the woods looking for mushrooms.
If you just want to comment, or discuss an idea with other players, just post normally. I'm also happy to receive comments and criticism on my writing, so don't be afraid to do so if you don't feel like participating!
If you aren't using the above format I'm going to assume you haven't read the instructions, and ignore you entirely.
Gameplay intricacies
HUD: At the start and end of each update post, I'll include a text-based Heads-Up-Display with a few stats on it. This will allow you to track the vital effects of what happened during the update. It will look like this:
HEALTH:
[++++++++++]
CONSCIOUSNESS:
[+++++|_____|_____]
[Uncon|Alert|Hyper]
INVENTORY [10]:
| Swiss Card | Sickle | [etc...] |
TIME:
Day 1, 8 AM
Health and time should be self-explanatory. Inventory space is limited; the number of places Scarecrow has to put things in is listed, as well as the number of occupied slots, and contents. Consciousness level is explained below.
CONSCIOUSNESS LEVEL
Scarecrow's connection to the spirit realm/collective unconscious/"mind-space" is temperamental, fueled mainly by psychoactive plants, but lingering to a subtle degree in his daily life. His level of consciousness, seen above in the HUD, gives significant information about how easily he can interact with the spirit realm.
What you see on the bar now (that is, having the first section of the bar full) is normal "Alert" level consciousness.
Consciousness will increase over time after the ingestion of psychoactive substances, and other things (eg. splashing water on self, or even just focusing attention) may help improve consciousness also. Having a higher level of alertness may help Scarecrow notice some details. As the middle section of the bar becomes more full, Scarecrow will start being aware of the spirit realm bleeding over into his own plane, leading to some visual distortions, ability to percieve good or bad "vibes", and so forth.
If Scarecrow's consciousness raises into the hyperconscious level (third section) of the bar, Scarecrow will begin to trip. In this state, Scarecrow can interact directly with the spirit realm. Filling the bar entirely
Conversely, if consciousness drops to zero, Scarecrow will pass out entirely. Certain situations (perhaps exhaustion, or a good beating) may lead to unconsciousness. The closer Scarecrow gets to unconsciousness, the more he will struggle to continue.
FINDING ITEMS
Scarecrow likes to carry useful things around, so he picks up anything USEFUL (ie. capitalized collectables) he finds when he CHECKS or SEARCHES something. You may find yourself needing to get rid of the things he's picked up, that don't seem to be especially necessary or useful in the particular circumstances.
ACQUIRING SUBSTANCES
In this game, Scarecrow has an extensive supply of herbal psychoactives growing at home. If you're running low on them, try returning home to pick up some more.
Scarecrow can also forage for naturally occuring substances and herbs, including mushrooms and herbal remedies.
DESTROYING ARCHONS
It is possible to deprive Archons of their food source by damaging the belief people in his own plane hold in the concepts they represent (ie. Scarecrow COULD destroy an Archon by destroying all faith in a religion), but this is highly impractical in most cases.
To interact directly with Archons to destroy them directly, Scarecrow must enter the spirit realm. He can only do this by increasing his consciousness level enough using psychedelics. Certain substances will grant him certain kinds of power which he can use to fight Archons with.
HEALING AT HOME
Using a variety of herbs from his GARDEN appropriate to whatever he needs, Scarecrow can make a FRESH CHINESE MEDICINE BREW to TREAT ANYTHING while he is at home. This will take about an hour, but restore Scarecrow to full health and normal consciousness.
EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SUBSTANCES
Scarecrow may need to experiment with the different powers that different substances grant him to find out what will be most appropriate in different circumstances. However, as an already experienced shaman, he has some ideas regarding their effects already:
Caapi Vine: Spirit guidance (opens a channel to communicate with spirits that can help you. not compatible with everything!)
Mushrooms: Power of earth (connects with the earth to channel strong energy - think chi/qi)
Cactus: Power of future sight (can perceive several moments ahead of time)
LSD: Power of change (can influence others, bend physical space)
DMT: Raw power (augments some other powers significantly!)
Salvia Divinorum: Power of water (your movements become fluid, and you can influence water)
Sinuichi: Power of the Sun (fire!!)
Iboga: Cleansing (can be used for powerful self-cleansing, but an extremely long and immense trip)
Brugmansia: Power of Disassociation (gives disassociation from body/third person perspective. one benefit of this is loss of the pain sensation)
Yopo (allows interaction with lower dimensions)
Datura (opens access to all dimensions simultaneously, resulting in hellish chaos but with potential for immense power)
note that an Ayahuasca Brew = Caapi Vine + a plant that contains DMT (for example Chacruna).
...and of course there are less potent herbal concoctions that Scarecrow can use; Different herbal remedies may either restore some health, normalize consciousness (ie. move consciousness towards normal levels), cure a wound, restore some consciousness temporarily, or other effects.
Scarecrow has wide knowledge, and will remember details for substances and herbal remedies if he encounters them or feels that he needs them, instead of listing every plant ever here.
Checkpoints and dying
Every now and then, I'll mention that a checkpoint has been reached. This means that if you die, you'll be able to try again from that checkpoint. This way I won't be ending the entire story if you die. And yes, that means I have no qualms with killing Scarecrow if you fuck up!
CHECKPOINTS LOG
1. Game Start
2. Seeking Guidance
3. Final Preparations for the Quest
4. Drew
5. Here we go...!
6. Earth and Water
7. Fire!
8. Miniboss Battle: HUNTER
9. Boss battle: ARCHON #1 - Brutal Hand
Key Items
Some of the items Scarecrow may find are of particular use, or have special functions. These key items and their descriptions will be listed here.
- The POWER STONE has been imbued with the POWER you will need to face your first ARCHON, as well as a portion of the AYAHUASCA SPIRIT. It will lead you in the right direction if an ARCHON you can match is nearby, and feed you energy in battle through the vine. Conversely, it will also try to keep you out of danger if you are dealing with forces you aren't powerful enough to deal with yet. Whenever you destroy an ARCHON, its power will be absorbed by the POWER STONE, and made available to you. Also, it doesn't occupy an inventory slot because it's a necklace.
- The SMARTPHONE can do a variety of stuff, including LEAD YOU HOME, CALL PEOPLE, and RUN OUT OF BATTERY. Now that it's off its charger, it will stay alive for about 24 hours. You can turn it off when you aren't using it (it won't be needed when you're entering the SPIRIT REALM) to save battery. After being combined with the HEADPHONES, the SMARTPHONE can now PLAY APPROPRIATE MUSIC. Scarecrow normally uses his phone as a media player, and as a result it has a song for every occasion on it. It will use battery TWICE AS FAST while PLAYING APPROPRIATE MUSIC.
- Scarecrow's KIT is where he stores a collection of pyschoactive-related items, for such as non-liquid SUBSTANCES, ROLLING NECESSITIES, and a SWISS CARD (note: this is kind of a like a swiss army knife, but is flatter and more compact. It has some handy tools like a small knife, miniature scissors, and so forth). The KIT takes up one inventory slot, and you will automatically put certain things in the KIT as you find them. You can CHECK your kit to see if it contains anything that might be helpful.
- The WALLET is used to buy things. Scarecrow doesn't know how much money he has exactly, but probably not more than $200.
- The SICKLE is needed to HARVEST most plants while FORAGING, because Scarecrow doesn't want to harm any plants by leaving rough wounds. The SICKLE leaves a nice clean cut, and is also a sort of ritual blade to Scarecrow. He can also use the SICKLE as a WEAPON, and can channel his energy through it.
Some last comments
This is meant to be entertaining, but please do take it seriously to an extent. Don't waste your time and mine by giving me stupid suggestions. Try to actually think about what you want to do in order to progress. Remember, Scarecrow's goal is to destroy Archons, but he doesn't quite know what he's up against yet. I intend for things to get more and more interesting as the game progresses, and I'll try and lead the story in the right direction where necessary.
I've tried to give as many tips and as much information as I can to ensure that this can run smoothly, but while I have some ideas and core concepts, even I don't quite know how this will go. I may struggle to update this very frequently, so please, if you're enjoying the story, post in the thread and let me know, as it'll give me a bit of extra motivation.
Also, I'd like to mention that my friends aren't anywhere near as bad as I'm portraying them. For the sake of making an archon controlling them justifiabl