IC FAQ

CHARACTER BASICS

Note: The IC FAQ assumes familiarity with the setting terminology of Can Cry. If you're a bit befuddled, give the setting and world information a read and get yourself up to speed. How did my character end up in Purgatory? They died. Happens to the best of us! Note that a character does not have to be dead in canon for you to app them to Can Cry, nor do you need to stick to a canon point where they are dead if they have died in canon. If your character is not dead in canon, it's entirely up to you how much or how little you want to establish about their death! You are 100% free to just handwave it and just ask that nobody thinks about it too hard. Does my character know they're dead? They sure do! While your character will have been a regular old Spectre prior to the start of the game's story, the realization that they are dead is part of what will spark their full awakening into an Eidolon. They won't have any memories of what killed them and there may or may not be any associated angst, depending on how you want to play it. Just an instinctive understanding that they have died and they should be moving on... but aren't. If you feel your character's death would be important for them to know, you can choose to make it one of their memory regains, but this isn't necessary. What does my character remember? Pretty much nothing! Once a character arrives in Purgatory, they will have forgotten everything about their lives and identities. This also includes their personal name – they will instead remember the Title you picked for them during your app. They will still act in accordance with their basic personalities, just without the memories or context of why and how they are the people they've become. When a soul progresses from being from a Spectre to an Eidolon, they are essentially rebuilding their egos and identities from scratch. There's gonna be some bits missing! This aspect of the game is somewhat flexible to give players room to have fun with it, but keep in mind that the "missing" aspects of your character should be substantial enough that regaining them would be a big deal. If you'd like more information on memories, head over to the Memoria and Regains page. But if my character doesn't remember their name, what are people supposed to call them?! Never you fear! Characters might not remember their real names but upon becoming an Executor, they will remember something that is referred to OOCly as a Title. Your character's Title is the name they will be referred to in Purgatory in place of their name, either until they remember their real one or come up with something better. Titles should reflect aspects of your character's life that they strongly identify – this can be an organization or profession your character identifies with, an adjective or personality trait that strongly resonates with them or... well, pretty much anything so long as you feel it's something your character would relate to or identify with. The only hard rule is that a character's title cannot be a name they are called at any point in their life. For some examples: ⚝ "Batman" would not be an acceptable Title for Bruce Wayne. However, "Detective" or "Vigilante" would work just fine. ⚝ "Joker" would not be an acceptable Title for the Persona 5 Protagonist. "Transfer Student" and "Prisoner" would be workable alternatives. ⚝ "Sailor Moon" or "Princess Serenity" would not be acceptable Titles for Usagi Tsukino, but "Meatball Head" or "Senshi" would be fine. In short, the character's Title must give them as few concrete clues about their identity as possible. If you're uncertain about your character's Title, feel free to run it by the mods before submitting your app! How does my character's body work, now that they're dead? The form a character takes in Purgatory is one based on their own mental image of themself and it will function as a character "expects" it to function. So a character who expects to get hungry when they don't eat or tired when they don't sleep will do just that. By that same token, characters who are used to not needing to eat food, sleep, etc will find they don't suddenly need to do things. The one exception to this is that all Eidolons, by default, will bleed when dealt a wound that would draw blood but they won't bleed actual blood. Instead, they will find that their wound bleeds impossibly fine black and purple dust that seems to shine or glitter, and that if they lose too much of this dust they will become woozy and find it hard to hold onto their self-consciousness. The flow can be stopped by treating it like a regular wound and interactions with others will restore their consciousness. "Bleeding" to "death" will cause an Eidolon (or indeed, an Executor) to lose all of their memories again and revert to being a butterfly Spectre. How does my character become an Executor? That's entirely up to you! Please keep in mind, however, that the premise of the game rests pretty much entirely on the characters becoming Executors. While you're free to play out a character being hesitant or unsure about their choice, if you plan to app a character who would outright refuse to become one, then they will not be a suitable fit for Can Cry. Anyway, that's kind of a bummer so let's move onto the fun stuff. Continued exposure to Eidolons or Executors who are already awakened can have a domino effect on Specters who have yet to realize their predicament yet. This can be as simple as overhearing their discussions about their duties as Executors or the details of their situation. This will usually go over the heads of most Specters but for strong-willed individuals who are already close to awakening, this can be the thing that pushes them over the edge. It's a disorienting experience! Characters will realize very suddenly that they're dead and they've arrived in Purgatory, that they've been here for some time and that their memories are missing. Whether or not they feel any angst associated with this is entirely up to you, but they will feel some brief confusion that will clear up pretty quickly. From here, it's up to you! You're free to play out your character's intro by posting them to the comm with an intro log and getting them up to speed with the cast and having them agree to the Executor contract in-game. Or, if you just want to speedrun into actually getting your feet wet, you can handwave the circumstances of your character's awakening and contract and just go ham with getting started as an Executor. This section will be updated as the game's environment evolves, so please check back now and again! Can my character die again?? How would that even work? Yes and no. As mentioned above, if a character is injured to the point of bleeding and does not staunch the wound, they will bleed a sort of sparkling dust. This dust is called pneuma and is one of the components that holds a soul together in Purgatory. Losing too much of it will make the soul lose cohesion and start to come apart. For player characters, this will mean they lose the memories and self-consciousness they have gained as Eidolons and revert to being a simple butterfly Spectre. They can be restored to their Executor selves if enough effort is put into restoring them, however. Aside from this, the only way for characters in Can Cry to permadie is for their souls to be completely destroyed, even down to the smallest components. This would be A Big Fucking Deal and not something that would happen during the normal progression of play, so if you do decide to irrecoverably mcfuck up your character, please contact the mods first – and be aware that we may not give you permission to do it, at least right away. Are there any language barriers? No. Regardless of what languages they spoke before, all characters will by default be able to understand each other through both spoken and written languages. If a character needs to communicate in a non-traditional way (i.e, sign language or telepathy) they will be able to do so without any trouble. Is there a network? How can we access it? Can Cry does not have a traditional network. As of the Invidia chapter of the story, all Executors will be provided with a cell phone they can use to keep in contact with other Executors. The intent is to keep everyone connected and at least mildly coordinated as new areas open up and characters become more and more scattered around Purgatory. The phones can make audio and video calls with up to four people at once on each call. They also have a camera function that will allow Executors to take photos, videos and record sounds that can then be shared with other Executors. There is no 'mass text' function, but there is a group chat. It's basically Discord, But Purgatory. Yes, you can fuck with your display names, pin messages, all that good stuff. You're welcome.

Memloss & Memoria Regains

MEMLOSS MECHANICS

Upon arriving in Purgatory, souls lose all memories of who they are and what their lives were like but if they spend long enough in Purgatory, they can reassemble some of their identity. Executors such as the player characters have a much easier time of this, as becoming an Executor in the first place requires a strong will and sense of self. Despite their missing memories, characters will not be blank slates. At "base", characters will not remember their names or any personal details about themselves, but they will still retain their personalities. In addition, they might also still have some instinctive preferences or aversions for things they felt about very strongly in real life – for example, a character who has a fear of dogs due to being bitten by one might be disinclined to be around dogs and dog-like creatures, even if they don't remember being afraid. There is no blanket baseline for what a character "should" initially have knowledge of, due to how hard it would be to nail down for so many different types of characters. This aspect is left up to player discretion – essentially, if it would be funnier, more interesting or more engaging for you to have a character remember something or not, you are free to take whichever direction you like. Keep in mind, however, that this is still a memloss game and you may receive a warning if it becomes clear if this flexibility is being used as a loophole to get around the memloss mechanics. There are a handful of ways characters can regain this knowledge, so keep reading down the page to find out how you can make this happen.

MEMORIA

Memoria are the fragmented aspects of their identity that characters in Can Cry seek to regain. Despite its name, Memoria doesn't simply refer to memories but all aspects of a character's consciousness that they are rebuilding as they travel through Purgatory. This means it can cover all manner of things – a character's abilities, their likes and dislikes, memories of important people or a rapturous enjoyment of mustard. Memoria can be regained through a number of ways, the main of which is clearing dungeons and defeating the Aberrants at the end of each one. When this happens, every character who tagged into the dungeon log will receive one Idea, which can be exchanged for either a Memoria regain or a new power. If you want to regain these quicker, six Alcea (see the Powers and Abilities page) for a Memoria regain though keep in mind that if you spend them this way, you will not be able to also spend it on a new power for your character. When it's gone, it's gone!

MEMORIA REQUEST

When confirming your new Memoria regain, just fill out the form below and post it in the comments. Comments are screened so people have the option to keep their regains on the down-low, if they want. LISTED MEMORIA: <b>Character:</b> <b>Memoria Request</b> Which of your listed Memoria are you choosing to regain? <b>Payment:</b> Link to your participation in a thread or a log where you were granted a Memoria regain. EXTRA MEMORIA: <b>Character:</b> <b>Memoria Request:</b> Describe the unlisted Memoria you are choosing to regain. If this is an ability, make sure to go into detail about how it works. <b>Payment:</b> Link to your participation in a thread or a log where you were granted either an Idea or Alcea.