A non-verbal climate larp exploring bat habitat degradation, colonial power and pandemics. This larp's title comes from the zoonotic spillover process, which is when disease-carrying organisms called pathogens transfer from wild animals to humans. In the larp, we play out the story that creates the conditions for a pandemic through colonial extractivism, deforestation, and habitat degradation, and how these processes assist and accelerate each other.

It’s World War Two in the Serbian village of Ečka. Yugoslavia was invaded and broken in half. Croatia is a fascist puppet state controlled by Italy, and the Ustaše are their murderous paramilitary. Serbia is under direct military occupation by the Nazis (who

have left local ethnic Germans in charge) and the Četniks are the murderous Serbian paramilitary. All these groups hate the Communist partisans and all have committed terrible atrocities. Now the Soviet Red Army has arrived and swept the fascists away, and the partisans are helping them liberate Yugoslavia. Ečka is free, and there will be a reckoning.

The purpose of this larp is to have fun telling a story about interpersonal connections while exploring the real-life metabolism of cities, and urban ecology, and creating connections to a place. The design draws inspiration from urban sustainability studies and fiction such as Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities”. It is up to the players to determine what balance of factual and fantastical suits their story best.