INTO THE WOODS ※ GAME EVENT

[wildestmods]

INTO THE WOODS

The faerie faire goes on into the evening, the faire filled with the sounds of revelry. For those who've spent the day there, the cool evening air is welcome respite from the bright sun that's shined all day. Those who still have some faerie gold might even want to invest in a cloak if they haven't gotten one yet, because it may get chillier as night falls.

As evening descends and various floating flowers start to glow to provide light, the spring faeries start to bring out night-time merchandise and amusements, like brightly-colored phosphorescent flower jewelry. Fireflies are charmed to blink in different colors and magical fireworks paint the sky in vibrant light. They're quieter than normal fireworks, but there are still satisfying snaps and hisses.

It seems like it'll be a pleasant night at the fair and those only just arriving in the evening will find a charming scene opening up before them.

But one thing that isn't noticed as evening begins to fall is the way the winter faeries suddenly slink away into the rising dark. Or at least it isn't noticed until it's too late. Some of the summer faeries start to react to it with alarm.

"Where did they go? The winter faeries are supposed to provide security, they signed an agreement. Go tell Ponto and get some faeries with warding magic to shore up the wards." Faeries start flying with purpose to speak to others that need to be put on security. "We can handle it ourselves but we need to get enough people out to the borders."

"Should we disperse the faire?"

"No, there's no sign of any threats and if we re-ward it, they'll be safer here than people scattering in the woods at night. Even if we had the bad luck to be attacked before the wards are re-done we can defend them with our magic - and we're contracted to."

Unfortunately that bad luck hits too soon. While the faeries scramble to re-do the defense wards, an unearthly fog rolls in. Terrible screeches start to rend the air, sounding similar to the screams of foxes. Warning bells ring from warning wards placed in certain areas of the woods.

"Nightrenders!" someone calls out and people in the crowd start screaming, gathering their loved ones closer. Horrifying beings start to pour into the faire and the hand stamps of all the people who bought tickets ahead of time start to glow. Faeries rally around those people, casting powerful defensive spells. Due to the panic, several stalls start to go up in flames due to knocked over cooking fires. Fortunately the stalls are small enough for people to escape them easily and spread far enough apart that they can be avoided, but smoke joins the fog in the air.

If a faerie sees one of the squad of otherworlders, and their lack of glowing hand stamp they're quick to offer a warning. "You have to run! The people who bought tickets ahead of time entered into a magical agreement of protection. The warding takes time to charge. We can do nothing for you, without slow-charge wards we're not powerful enough to protect you. The Nightrenders will devour your brain, or your soul."

Apparently that little disclaimer about not being fully protected that some of them read while coming in (for those that had arrived earlier in the day) was more important than it seemed.

The faeries always point the same way, still trying to help the people without tickets. "To the north! There's a place in a canyon with a large, glowing crystal. It looks like an abandoned market and dwellings. You'll be safe there, the magic of the Heartstone will protect you."

USEFUL LINKS

Setting Background/FAQ | Major NPCs


NIGHTRENDERS

The beings known as Nightrenders start amassing on the faire. Their movements are quick but clumsy, as if every one of their movements is made up of a hundred janky, smaller fits and starts, like they're made of clockwork. The faerie magic summer faeries use seems to do no more than stagger them back or temporarily knock them over, but at least makes it clear to the squad that they at least can be knocked over and slowed down. At the very least it seems to take them some time to get off the ground and back to their feet.

Attacks

They attack anyone they see in different ways. Some they wound with massive claws. Or they squeeze someone's torso and nearly suffocate them to give them a chance at possibly chomping into the heads of their victims to get at the brains. Most dangerously of all, they breathe in with a loud sucking noise, clawed hands guiding the magic that lets them drawn out someone's soul to devour it. It looks like a small delicate thing, sometimes in the form of a glittering star or a flower, as its drawn out of the victim's mouth.

This process can fortunately be interrupted if the Nightrender is attacked. As long as the soul hasn't been sucked into their mouths, it goes back into the victim.

Cursed Aura

But the whole thing is complicated by the magical aura caused by the Nightrenders. When they draw close, everyone around them is choked with fear, grief, and dread. Some succumb to visions of their worse memories playing out in their heads over and over. Some might be able to still stagger away in this state, trying to see through the visions, especially if someone helps them along, but others will find it nearly impossible to do anything other than curl on the ground. It is unknown why some don't have the flashbacks or can power through them more than others, though it's thought that those that repress their bad memories or negative emotions struggle more.

Anyone that helps someone who's having visions may get a glimpse of their memories - and empathically feel a flash of the pain, fear, rage, or grief they felt during the memory. If two people try to help each other move forward when both are having visions, they may transmit glimpses back and forth.

Weaknesses

The Nightrenders cannot be destroyed, only knocked down, or slowed down. However, those with "holy" weapons, spells, or powers, or those who have weapons, spells, or powers that can hurt "ethereal" beings or evil spirits will find they can cause them enough pain that sometimes they run away. Spells and abilities that create magical manifestations of good will and happiness, as well as spells of light, or purification can also harm them and drive them away.

THE SISTERS

The Nightrenders don't speak, but some have the misfortune of hearing two voices echo out of the fog. The come in stereo, only just slightly out of sync.

"Chosen Ones, you must be so confused. You've become lost in the forest, and the Dark Lord's nightmares already pursue you. Fortunately for you, our mistress desires your company. You'll adore obeying her will. Don't run, embrace a better destiny."

Two woman in white masks and straw hats, with cloaks made from the feathers of ravens, come out of the fog, body language almost identical. No eyes can be seen through the eyeholes of their masks, just darkness.

They start attacking, and when they beset their victims they stop speaking, refusing to talk or answer questions, instead filling the air with wild, mocking laughter. One wields twin katanas, the other a kusarigama with a painful claw at the end of the chain that closes down when it hits something.

Nets

While they're extremely willing to injure the squad they seem to be trying to capture them instead of killing (albeit capturing them after they're maimed), occasionally tossing out nets of glowing silver of moonlight. Being caught in the nets renders someone paralyzed and weak, a deep cold settling into the marrow of their bones. Some may even hear the shrieks of dying loved ones, whether they've actually died in reality or not. The Sisters apparently have the strength to carry even the largest of the squad in the air and will attempt to fly away when someone is ensnared.

The nets are difficult to destroy, but can be with great force of some kind. It has to be aimed at the part closest to the Sisters' hands, because the force required to break the nets would also injure those trapped inside them. The cold and paralysis fades when the victims are free, but some of the rescued may feel weak and need help staying on their feet. Unfortunately, even when they're broken, the nets of moonlight seem to be something they can recreate within several minutes.

Smoke Monsters

For some, they don't attack directly. Instead, one of the sisters pulls out a pipe and smoke monsters pour out of it. They try to drag their victims closer to the sisters so they can be caught in their nets. Fortunately, they can be destroyed with enough force.

While the Sisters seem impossible to injure, they can at least be caused pain with extreme enough attacks, something that makes them teleport away before risking any further injury.

PROMPTS

a) RENT
Uh oh, a Nightrender has you. Either it's squeezing you so hard you're suffocating and about to chomp into some juicy brains, or it's in the process of sucking your soul out through your mouth. In either case, you're likely broadcasting visions of your worst memories in small flashes to whoever is near. You're in desperate need of rescue and the summer faeries can't help - their magic is all but useless on the Nightrenders if it didn't have time to build by a covenant. Only others that fell into the Wilderlands like you did can save you.

(Feel free to provide multiple memory options ala a memshare, but keep in mind they'd only be flashes instead of a full memory!)

b) NABBED
The Sisters have got you, their smoke monsters are trying to drag you away, or you're still trying to fight them to avoid being caught. It'll be a lot easier if you have help - otherwise you're outnumbered and possibly outclassed. The only way to stop them is fight back hard enough that they feel you're not worth the effort and teleport off.

c) RESCUE
Perhaps you're not affected by the Nightrenders or are just good at powering through the haze of painful magic they're inflicting on the area. Either way, you're out to help the people around you. Perhaps you run into another member of the otherworlder squad that needs saving - or maybe they join you to protect a third otherworlder, or a denizen of the Wilderlands that also forewent a ticket and is therefore at risk. Unlike many of the people from other universes, many of the denizens of the Wilderlands are powerless and thought they were in for a day and night of safe fun.

There are also other hazards to rescue people from. Maybe a small child has been separated from their parents and is disoriented by smoke, in need of rescued from some flaming tents. Or maybe an elderly person has fallen and is at risk of being trampled. There are lots of reasons people might need help, due to fires, panicked horses, collapsing tents, and panicking crowds.

d) RUN
It's time to run! Perhaps, after some screaming and confusion - and teleportation - you finally grab a buddy and bolt through the woods. You better run fast because the Nightrenders and the Sisters may give up chase at some point but it may take time and moving through difficult terrain in the fog to lose them. Perhaps you and a partner have to help a third, injured otherworlder because they're having trouble walking.

Better head north like the faeries said. The faeries were right that this Heartstone to the north may be your only hope - and you'll have to reach it despite the fading evening light, skies overcast with dark clouds, and fog.

It may be easier navigating in the dark with a partner or two.

e) WILDCARD
Maybe you decide to do none of the above. Go nuts!

OOC DETAILS
❧ Quest magic: Players can handwave that the quest bond magic is tugging the group northward to the safe place, with the mysterious Heartstone. They can also use the quest magic as an excuse for many different threads. As the group tries to run, their scattering movements will affect the magic and cause people to teleport at random, allowing for many different encounters with many other characters. This can explain why two characters that might otherwise stay together through the whole thing might get separated.

❧ Network: The network can now be used. Mirrors can and do float if someone is trying to talk through one and running, and can follow someone as they move, allowing people to communicate on the go or during action. Feel free to start using the network in parallel with the log events.

❧ NPCing: The mods won't be npcing but players are free to npc the actions of bystanders, the Nightrenders, and the Sisters. The Sisters won't speak, just continue laughing, and players can npc their specific attacks, capture attempts, and teleportation. Please just don't have them talk or godmode them dying - they're currently a little too sturdy for that. If you have a question about whether/how something will affect them feel free to ask the mods in the first comment below.

❧ Environment: Feel free to manipulate the environment. There are things left over from the faire people can work with like bow and arrow sets from the competition, horses (which can be temporarily stolen, though we'd like to limit any that are permanently stolen to the (1) horse another player already requested), and even explosive faerie fireworks (they're quieter than the normal thing but still create a big bang). Abandoned stalls also have weapons and supplies to grab as people run for it. If they didn't think to steal or buy useful things during the day, please limit this to only grabbing one or two items as they run, like a cloak or sword. They won't have time to loot for more.

❧ Experimentation: We'd like to encourage people to experiment! Obviously ask other players if they're down first, but it could be fun to do something other than 2 person threads, like maybe 2 PCs banding to rescuing a 3rd. Players are also encouraged to set limitations if they think it'd be more interesting, like locking their final escape prompt from the faire grounds to a single thread partner and playing out the drama of a full escape.

[OOC: Plot is visible so people can see and start plotting together but not open until Nov. 1. The mods will enable comments then.]

Comments

Kaworu Nagisa | OPEN

[diedforyoursins]

a.

[Everything is a mess. Screaming and running and burning, and in the middle of it all is a scrawny, pale teen, quiet and still like he's in the eye of the storm.

Kaworu senses the presence lunging at him from behind before he sees it, looking over his shoulder just as one of the things thrusts an arm forward. He doesn't flinch, doesn't even blink. Sharp claws come within a foot of his face before being halted abruptly with an almost metallic ringing sound. They clash against some kind of barrier, visible only in a flickering of orange energy that emanates from the point of contact in an octagonal shape. The creature presses against it with a fury, what passes for feet digging into the earth with the effort of it, but the barrier doesn't budge and Kaworu remains still, watching it with a somber thoughtfulness.

He glances away from it to scan the nearby panicked crowds curiously, apparently unconcerned with the clawed thing viciously stabbing and scratching at his barrier. No one seems to pay him any particular attention – no more than they do to anyone else around defending themselves with whatever might or magic is at their disposal.

It's odd. Interesting. He still has no idea what sort of timeline this is, what sort of world this is, and how he fits into it. The unknown is a little thrilling, even in this chaos.

He's only allowed a moment to muse on it before his attention is dragged back to the creature, a more unexpected effect suddenly hitting him. He can feel it like a wave crashing against his AT field in the more metaphysical sense, grief and despair and failure. His serene expression is finally shaken. Pale brows knit together in a wince and he clenches his eyes shut as it all washes over him. The claws even seem to sink ominously into the barrier in his distraction, just a little.

Well. That's definitely unpleasant.]


b.

[The general consensus seems to be run like hell. Those not under the protection of the faeries are heading north into the woods, fleeing the chaos and creatures chasing them.

But by all appearances, one would guess that Kaworu didn't get the memo. He's moving north, sure, but it's completely without any sense of urgency. His pace is relaxed enough that it almost seems like he's being overlooked by the enemies hunting them through sheer nonchalance. Not quite, if the way another Nightrender dashes at him and clashes against his strange energy barrier is any indication, but. Y'know. Someone tell this kid to get his ass moving.]


WILDCARD

((ooc: Hit me with a starter of your own! Feel free to poke me @ tinybro if you wanna plan something specific!))

b

[takenalive]

<You are falling behind,> a voice says. Receiving thought-speech isn't the same as picking up sound - there's not a sense of what direction it's coming from, but it is fainter than when the Andalite is right up close in a clearing.

Up above, visible only as a shape passing across the stars and a weird shimmer of teeth, is a great dark delta-winged flying animal a little bit like a rayfish, staying well clear of the sister-creatures.

Alloran continues, sarcastically courteous. <I don't suppose it's particularly scenic down there?>

[diedforyoursins]

Maybe it should be more unsettling to get a mysterious voice in his head from an indiscernible flying shape overhead. But Kaworu doesn't seem particularly unsettled by it. He's heard this voice before, at least. And after all, his own siblings often took strange and monstrous shapes.

"There's beauty even in chaos," he calls up to the flying thing, conversationally even as he carries on at his sedate pace. True, the destruction of what had been a joyous occasion was sad, but purely in terms of scenery? The flickering of firelight against the shadowed woods could be seen as aesthetically appealing. He was fairly certain Lilim artists called it chiaroscuro.

[takenalive]

Circling just close enough to hear, Alloran laughs sardonically. From him, part of a species that does not vocalize or have anything like the human laughter/sobbing reflex of short stuttered inhalations and exhalations, that's a series of something like painless static pops of emotion.

The nightrender notices the breeze from his passage and looks up, head tilting. The flying alien is too far away to get its full effect and it is intelligent enough to realize that even if it can climb the AT bubble, Alloran can fly away. Still.

<So you're one of those! I'm not going to argue that.> During his long infestation, the two and a half decades where Alloran's mind and body were completely at the disposal of the Yeerk in his brain, he had learned that he couldn't stay in true and total despair at all times. His main resorts had been daydreaming and going long periods without conscious thought, just an awareness of the body he could not move, that went on doing things without his willing it. There's a kind of appreciation in non-thought. Of course, now that he's not infested he has to work to not blank out or get caught in daydreams. <All the same, if there's beauty in chaos it ought to be there in calm too, don't you think?>

a. (cw assassination/choking)

[zerg_rush]

[Sure, Nightrenders don't have lungs (probably? what does she know about demonic magical construct biology?) but someone tightening a rope around what answers for one's neck is still a hell of a distraction, not to mention an easy way for Kerrigan to unbalance the thing and bring it to the ground with a sharp backwards jerk. Its claws disengage from Kaworu's force field as it instead scrabbles to get hold of the person garroting it.

For a moment, the scene flickers, changes. The redheaded woman ruthlessly choking her target remains constant, but now the action takes place inside a nondescript office and instead of a nightmare creature, there's a man in a business suit, eyes bulging and neck and hands bloodied by his own attempts to loosen the ligature. It's all but silent, the victim unable to make a sound beyond his heels scraping helplessly against the carpet and Kerrigan not speaking, only breathing in and out in unintentional mockery of the man she's preventing from doing the same. A feral panic drapes over the tableau. His panic, somehow. Not hers. She feels nothing. It's easier that way.]

Dammit!

[Kerrigan shatters the past with a curse, the office reverting to a ruined fairground and the dying man becoming a still-animate Nightrender again.]

Kid, seriously. Get it in gear!

OOC: Telepathy permissions!

[diedforyoursins]

[If the intent was to give him a chance to run, then unfortunately it's an counterproductive effort as Kaworu pauses to watch her struggle. The panic bleeding out into the air – echoes of someone else's, determinedly not hers – are met with vague sense of sadness. No judgement, just somber witness of something that can't be undone.

Kaworu pauses behind her as she struggles with it, thoughtful.]

It seems easier not to feel at all, doesn't it? But you can't live like that.

[ for fuck's sake kid is this really the time for this??? ]

[zerg_rush]

[Kerrigan favors him with an intense "are you shitting me?" look. The hempen rope creaks as she involuntarily pulls it even tighter around the Nightrender's neck.]

How about we save the psychoanalysis for when nothing's trying to kill us?

[Or never. Never would also be good.]

[diedforyoursins]

[The answering smile is more sad than at all sassy or anything. He seems painfully sincere.]

Is there ever really a time when you feel safe?

[That's not the feeling he's getting from these repression flashes.]

[zerg_rush]

All right, you know what? We can do this the hard way.

[Why would she even have thought she could do something the easy way? It's always the hard way!

She grabs one of the Nightrender's flailing arms by the wrist and uses her two points of leverage to haul it back to its feet. With a huff, she slams its head into the slats of a convenient cart abandoned by its owner, tipping precariously on a broken axle. The strange pointed head of the creature acts like a barbed arrowhead, trapping it until it can flail its way free. Kerrigan doesn't plan to be around by then.

Rather than have a discussion about what is safety really or wherever the hell he was going with that, she just throws the infuriating kid over her shoulder and starts running north.

At least being intensely annoyed is counteracting that fear aura!]

[diedforyoursins]

[It's a little dizzying – he's not used to being manhandled, let alone nearly tossed head over heels like this. Instinctual flare-ups of his A.T. Field would typically prevent it. But he knows she isn't a threat to him – he could feel her soul through the nightrender's aura enough to feel certain of that.

So as he gets his bearings – upside-down and being carried along at a sprint – he can take a moment to recognize the thrill in the novelty of it. This is sort of fun, actually.

He props himself up against her back on his forearms to steady the jostling a little so his head isn't bouncing against her back, and takes the moment to appreciate the scenery speeding past.]

This is the hard way?

[He sounds far too sincerely entertained for what should be a kid getting forcibly dragged out of danger. Jesus christ.]

[zerg_rush]

[She hates you so much, Kaworu.

But, even annoyed to the point of distraction, Kerrigan's not going to leave an innocent to die.]

Just standing there like a dumbass while the world burns endangers other people, you realize!

[She ignores the question, her own words rising and falling strangely in time with her running footfalls.]

B

[greyerrant]

Time to go, boy! [ An enormous figure in armor thunders at the small lad. ] These foes seem immune to cold steel, no matter who wields it. [ The figure's tone is bitter indeed at that last statement ]

[diedforyoursins]

[There's no reaction to the heavy pounding of footsteps in his direction, only a calm look back over his shoulder upon being directly addressed.]

I am going.

[There's a wry sense of humor in how he says it, a slight smile that feels at odds with the tension in the air. He inclines his head in the direction he's moving, still walking calmly forward.]

Does it bother you? Feeling unable to do more?

[greyerrant]

Yes. [ He husks, and considers if it's time to pick up Kaworu and just jog away with him ] We should move with purpose.

B

[unsealthecatbox]

[Were she listening to this in some sort of anecdote or story, Ange perhaps would nod and inwardly think such nonchalance would have gotten him killed at any other moment. Seeing it happen in front of her makes it grating.

Unlike Kaworu, Ange has been running as fast as she could. Her immediate thought is that perhaps he has some sort of trick -- and the Nightrender finding that out the hard way proves it. Alright, not as much urgency as she thought, but still...!]

Don't you have a better place to be at?!

[A better place to be at, such as...very far away from here, you know? That's definitely an indirect way of telling him to get his ass moving, indeed.]

[diedforyoursins]

[Is there anything worse than running for your life and seeing someone just meandering along giving you a pleasant smile?? Probably not.]

Perhaps. Or maybe I'm exactly where I'm meant to be.

[Not knowing is wonderfully freeing. He can't remember the last time he didn't feel a constant sense of obligation, the fog of orders or instincts or plans tinging even his leisurely moments. The vague notion that he should go this way with the others is sort of similar, but he can't even begin to guess what it will lead to. It's nice.

Anyway. The airy, unhurried response is probably not the sort of answer she was looking for. Especially not with the nightrender behind him righting itself after its first failed attack and now debating between targets.]

[unsealthecatbox]

[She definitely notices the Nightrenders debating between what target to choose. Ange knows very well that, given the chance to choose between a target that has shown some level of protection and one that is defenseless, she'd go for the defenseless one. If the Nightrenders has even a little bit of intelligence they'll do the same.

She's definitely in danger here. Despite that, she turns her head towards Kaworu, upset]

Stop putting yourself in danger and get moving!