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INTO THE WOODS ※ GAME EVENT

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"What is th--"

He doesn't even have the time to finish the question that he feels the effects of the magic. His eyes open wide, and the rest of his face crumples as he emits some unnatural growl. His thoughts are hazy, and he can't understand exactly what it is that's triggering his rage to resurface. Before he can even properly wonder, he's already jumped on one of the creatures, clawing at their faces.

Dan wasn't that worried about Price in this fray; Price may be small and physically weak, but he's smart and conniving, and Dan suspects that he would book it north as soon as it presented itself as the most appealing option. He's expecting savviness out of Price, a certain self-serving, composed competence.

He was not expecting to find Price clawing and scratching at a nightrender like a trapped feral cat, and the instant Dan spots that happening he wheels Concrete Blonde around and jumps her over a broken cart to Price's aid.

"Counselor!" Dan draws his bow and fires an arrow into the leg of the nightrender Price is being downright bestial at, unaware that whenever Dan gets within fifteen feet of anyone with his weapon at hand, magic fries itself out, becomes erratic or just fails. Possibly unwisely, he reaches out to get Price by the nape of the collar like a cat, trying to drag him away from the nightrender.

He sees his own hands clawing at the nightrender, but he's not really present at all, and being pulled by Daniel startles him like waking up like one does when they dream of falling.

He finds himself shaking, fingertips ready to bleed. Panting, he looks back at Dan.

"Daniel..." he mumbles, the fatigue from consuming all that energy hitting him all of a sudden "What happened?"

“Hell if I know.” Dan switches from dragging Price to pulling Price into a quick hug, an I’m glad you’re alive embrace he hopes is alright now that he doesn’t have his ability to read emotions, a gesture he figures Price hasn’t gotten a lot of in his life. “You were going postal on one of those monsters. Might could have been the way they mess with people’s heads.”

They messed with Dan’s pretty badly; fortunately for him and everyone else on their side in the fight, Dan responds to upset by throwing himself back into the action. Hard to sit around milling in the memories of your dead family when you’re lining up shots to pin a soulless beast.

“Let’s go. Time for our second daring escape.” Dan gestures with his chin towards the horses, eyes on Price still, trying to take an inventory of ways Price might be injured.

Edited 2021-11-04 23:11 (UTC)

Price is more than happy to receive the hug, in fact he wanted to go for it first but didn't want to seem too clingy.

"Wait." he looks around instead of following Dan "There was someone else here..."

“Yeah?” Dan looks around and can’t see anyone immediately through the smoke and fog. “We’ll see them better from the horse. We’ll see if we find them along the way out and if not, I’ll circle back for them. Who was it?”

For better or worse, Dan’s appointed himself the evacuation crew.

"It was a woman with red hair, wearing a dress." he keeps looking around "...But I can't see her anymore."

“Don’t know her, but good thing redheads stand out.” Dan throws himself onto the horse and starts soothing her, then reaches to help Price up. “And two heads are better than one. You can keep an eye out for her and I’ll steer and shoot these soulsuckers.”

Having a second set of eyes is already going to make this much easier, even if Dan is wary, just a little, of Price shoving him off the horse or stabbing him in the back just to see what happens. “Keep an eye out for anyone else too.”

Price nods, then proceeds to wrap his arms around Dan's waist.

"Thank you."

It's all he says, and probably all that he needs to say. He's glad that Dan is willing to help, although he's perfectly aware that this is not about him and that Dan would rather just die in the process.

“No thanks necessary. How are you feeling?” Price doesn’t look injured, but God only knows what compelled him to claw at an enemy with his bare hands, and people react all kinds of ways to stress and combat. Dan would like a heads up if Price is liable to faint or panic.

He trots the horse, thinking that maybe a roll in the hay with Price afterwards is a tempting idea. It messed things up last time, made the emotions complicated, but Price isn’t the only one who likes to disrupt things just to see what happens. And Dan’s married, not a priest, and is scared of what’s going to happen when this firefight ends and he’s alone with his thoughts again. A nightrender got in his head and made his heart and mind puke up every horrible thing that ever happened to him; the only way Dan knows how to get over that is to swallow those memories back and wash them down with liquor, sex, and danger.

"I'm alright."

He tightens the grip around Dan, thankful once again for the powers being gone. He rests his chin on Dan's shoulder.

"And you?"

“Doing great.”

That’s both a blatant lie and alarmingly true. Here in the heart of chaos is exactly where Dan finds his zen, his hidey-hole from the things that scare him. A threat to his life and limb, a task at hand, someone to support: these are his favorite medicines.

He gives Price’s hand around his waist a squeeze, a way of letting Price know the clingy contact is welcome. He pauses as they hit a clearing in the fog so he can navigate by Polaris. Thank goodness this world, dimension, wherever they are, has the same stars, same meandering constellations, same fat moon emerging from the sky going dark.

“You ain’t gotten your memories showed by one of those soul monsters yet, have you?”

"No, they didn't manage to get close enough."

Which gives him relief more because the memories would give him some kind of embarrassment in reminding him there was something before the project than because of danger. As much as he seeks to protect himself he is aware that he does it out of habit than out of an actual desire to stay alive, he is not sure he can actually get to play the way he used to.

"I'm assuming you have."

“Nah, but I saw them get some others. Gave them flashbacks or something.”

A lie, but after Price used Dan’s memories of his kid to nail Dan to the wall, Price isn’t allowed access to that part of Dan’s inner world anymore.

“Seems pretty awful.”

Edited 2021-11-05 18:34 (UTC)

Price hums. He doesn't exactly have proof, but somehow he caught it, he understood that it was a lie. It's so typical of Dan, anyway.

"Indeed."

Only the tiniest, barely distinguishable hint of delight shows in his voice. He knows, and doesn't mind communicating it. He cannot really be mad at Dan for choosing to protect himself, for now, but he can at the next misstep.

Dan hears it, and doesn’t know if Price’s mostly-suppressed glee is because of some sadism directed at the nightrenders’ victims or because he knows somehow that Dan’s glossing over what happened to him today. He decides not to tip his hand and let Price know that he noticed anything amiss.

“Alright, hold tight, I think we got a clear shot.” Dan urges the horse into a gallop, which is a bit rough on him since he’s in front of the saddle, speeding through a break in the fog and the action. Best to reconnect Price with the others and then circle back. “I seen Stacia and Bunny already, think I saw Cammie for a second, so we at least got a few Rig folks to join you with. Didn’t see none of your agents.”

Which, given Price’s popularity with them, is probably a good thing.

"About that..." he is not exactly excited to tell anyone, but he figures it's best to say it now rather than hide it and have it possibly backfire, if only to pretend he's being perfectly transparent "I recognized two of my agents who were not on the Rig, Agent Texas and Agent Connecticut."

“Huh.” This is the first Dan’s heard of people coming from familiar worlds who weren’t pulled from the Rig. He’s suddenly very grateful he has no one alive back home to get brought here, no potential hostages in his old life. “And are you giving them their space?”

He suspects Price isn’t.

"Well, I did speak to them when I met them." he doesn't mask the annoyance in his voice "And one of them actually approached me first just to threaten me, so it's not like I have a choice in the matter."

Texas and Connecticut are a special kind of problem. They are the ones that tore the family apart, and they will parade their sense of justice as the reason why they did it. They will complain about him ruining their life as if they didn't ruin his. It's not fair. They should pay for it.

"Charming." Dan doesn't figure there's anything wrong with taken Price's side right now, even if he's relatively certain that there's some distortion of the truth going on. Maybe right now one of them approached Price out of the blue to menace him, but Dan's certain there's some unspoken history that's getting swept under the rug, something Dan wouldn't be able to wrap his head around if he tried.

"Do you want me to act as a buffer if they approach you again?"

Edited 2021-11-05 20:35 (UTC)

"No need, I doubt they will." he sighs hopelessly "I think it's safe for you to befriend them, if you want, just don't tell them that you speak to me or they might be harsh."

Yes, he's saying this as an act of self sabotage. After all, who wouldn't prefer Texas or Connecticut to him? He's giving Dan another chance to abandon him. If he doesn't, well, maybe he deserves to have bad things happen to him, be those bad things merely having to put up with Price existing near him. It's enough of a punishment for most people, anyway.

"You think I can't handle a little harshness? You done met me?" Dan shoots Price a smile and a wink. "If I make them my friends, it ain't going to be at your expense."

If Dan ends his friendship with Price, it'll be on Dan's usual terms: vanishing without a trace, giving himself over to the abandon of the unknown and unfettered. It won't be some middle school picking sides.

He holds back a giggle, shakes his head.

"What I am trying to say is that Agent Texas is prone to violence. It would be wise not to anger her. While I do trust in your combat abilities, I may have to inform you that she has been often described as a 'killing machine'."

He smiles, he is a little bit proud of her. Shame is wasting her gifts.

"So if you are interested in befriending her, it's understandable if you want to end our interactions."

It always goes back to this suggestion. What else is he supposed to do other than warn people that he's bad for them? Behave? That sounds like a short term solution at best.

"So would a lot of folks I know. You met Guts? He's eight feet tall and carries a sword the size of a train car." That's a little bit of an exaggeration, but not much. "I don't got any intention of ending our interactions."

He brings the horse to a canter as they get out of the fog and towards the woods. "I reckon this is where I leave you so I can get back and see if there are any stragglers left in there. Folks are moving north through that passage. You sure you're alright?"

"You...You want me to wait here?"

He tries to soothe himself with a self hugging gesture. While he's not necessarily going to say anything about it, what Rowena did to him left him quite disturbed. From where he is from magic doesn't exist, and he is unable to understand the principles on which it is based. Basically, Dan does not seem to realize how scary that was.

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