wildestlogs | INTO THE WOODS ※ GAME EVENT

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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

[Dan doesn't have a compass, but he has an unparalleled sense of where he is on account of eating and breathing wilderness survival training as a child and being unable to ever write down addresses or directions as an adult. There are just enough stars in the pink and lilac sky to orient himself whenever there's a break in the smoke, and the horse keeps him high up enough that he can clear some of the fog.

Which is how he sees CT, looking as if she doesn't know which way to turn. Dan gallops the horse on up to her through the fog, bow and arrow drawn at the nightrenders encroaching on this aisle of abandoned and upturned shop carts. When he talks to CT, his voice is ragged and sounds almost like a painful, scratchy wheeze.]

Passage north's getting tighter by the second. [Dan's been going back and forth from the eye of the fight to the outer ring, escorting people to safety. He's seen how the Sisters' smoke monsters are choking off the escapes.] You okay or you need backup?

[ There's a part of CT that almost has her flat out lying, saying she's totally fine on her own and doesn't need any help whatsoever. Old habits. Old habits she's pretty sure a certain person she cares about very much would figuratively kick her for falling back on, so, goddammit. ]

...I have to admit, I'm a little bit out of my wheelhouse right now. I got turned around. Plus, monsters, magic. Not my usual.

[ Not unfamiliar to her at this point, but not what she's used to fighting, that's for sure. ]

We all got our specialties. Lucky for you, monsters and magic is mine. [Granted, not exactly in this sort of setting; Dan's used to hunting the things that live under the bed and go bump in the night one by one in rural American towns, not a horde of soulsucking creatures launching a full assault on a entire populace, but the fundamentals remain the same: don't get caught, don't die.

Dan reaches down to help her onto Concrete Blonde.] You know how to ride a horse?

Oh, man, not at all. City kid, through and through.

[ But she lets him help her up anyway, because when your options are figure it out or try and make it out of hell on foot? You figure it out. ]

These places sure like to gather a varied collection of people. Where I come from our problems are all about aliens and good old fashioned humanity.

[ Not the most pressing observation nor comment, but thinking about these things helps keep her head on straight, keep her grounded in reality. ]

Then it's a good thing horses are my other specialty. Keep your eyes peeled and cover me. [He arranges them so that she's in the saddle and he's in front, so she can hold onto him as if they're on a motorcycle. He can tell the horse is getting tired from running in and out of the chaos and carrying so many people back and forth, so he doesn't put her in a gallop, just a canter. He, too, understands the important of talking at this moment, of holding themselves both in the here and now when the nightrenders want to suck them all into their pasts.]

I'm positive you'll return me the favor when they let the aliens out of Area 51. [Is Dan a conspiracy theorist? Dan is a conspiracy theorist.] I don't know jack or shit about dealing with aliens, and humans remain an enigma as always. What's your name?

[ She nods firmly, looping her arms around him to hold on. Luckily, months in a weird, digital city haven't dulled her instincts and skills, she's still too damn paranoid for that. Her eye is keen and she's used to watching people's backs in dangerous situations, even if not situations like this. ]

I can do that. [ she shakes her head ] Honestly, aliens are easier than humans. When they came, they came with clear intentions—wipe us out of existence. Humans are messier.

I'm CT. Yes, like the state abbreviation. Connecticut's a mouthful.

[ It's said like she's done the same introduction a few times, anyone who knows anything about American states seems to catch that it's neither the most typical two letter name nor random letters. Now, Connecticut being a mouthful isn't actually why she goes by CT instead, but that's for her to know. ]

Humans are messier than most things. Monsters mostly just want to eat and not be bothered. [Which isn't a take most monster hunters have; Dan's one of the few, the only one he knows of, who tries to foster coexistence between monsters and humans, rather than just exterminating the former like some particular deadly pest.] I'm Dan.

[Price told him about CT briefly, no more information than that she was an agent and doesn't like Price. Dan doesn't see any reason to let that color their interaction, especially weaving between upturned carts and burning tents on a horse.]

I didn't realize CT was an abbreviation. [Dan can't read. He doesn't even know his alphabet. He doesn't even know C and T are letters, and in his head he's already mashed her name with the word "ziti."] How'd you end up holding up against the aliens?

[ She takes note of that. She has no context for a world where hunting monsters is an actual concern, but she has friends now that she knows would be seen and treated as monsters were their true natures ever exposed. Gil and Bugsy without their masks would terrify most people, even Coda would raise some brows. Caring about, bring protective of, people that not only seem to see themselves as monsters sometimes but would be seen that way by others has given her a certain perspective, for sure.

She also notes that he doesn't realise CT's an abbreviation, because it's not actually the first time. Mono, the tiny ten year old from a nightmare world, who she sort of adopted alongside the Changelings back in Svelte always said her name like he was hearing it as a word, not letters, because he couldn't read. (God, she hopes he's alright back there... she didn't mean to leave him alone...) ]

Well, from what I've heard after the fact, we eventually won. Unfortunately, they still wiped out billions of people, so...

[ She didn't live long enough to see that victory, far as she can tell she died a couple years before the war ended and treaties were signed. It brings to mind a flash of grief, of a family lost that she never got to see one last time, but she can't, won't, dwell. ]

Let's call it a mixed result?

[Dan shudders. He's in the hero business, but on a very small scale, a person here, a family there, intimate sorts of hunts and negotiations where problems can usually be solved one-on-one, whether by talking or by shooting. He thinks small, not in a closeminded way, but simply because a more global view always highlights how powerless he is, how he doesn't even know where to start in making this world a better place.

A billion dead. That's more than Dan can hope to ever wrap his head around, and the fact that he's just grabbing people one by one out of the fight here, helping individuals - throwing starfish by starfish back into the ocean, to cite an old morality tale - suddenly feels so small and heavy at the same time.]

I'd call that a loss, personally. [Dan's all about the preservation of life.

He swings the horse around a tight corner, hoping CT is holding on, unaware from this angle that they're being funneled into a trap by the Sisters, who will be able to come at them in a pincer figuration.]

They didn't get us all like they wanted to, some colonies lived on, Earth lived on...

[ But there's a note in her voice that says she doesn't entirely disagree with him. It might be a win on paper, humanity may have persevered against all odds, but the losses they took were nigh incalculable. She's not sure you can call that a win. Survival, sure, but not a win.

Especially considering the things humanity did to itself to get there. Things like Project Freelancer.

She keeps a tight hold, doesn't let herself get thrown loose. Even talking as they are she isn't distracted, she's watching what's coming and what they leave behind, but as they take that tight turn she feels more than sees something coming. Not some uncanny sense, no, just soldier's instinct. ]

Watch out, something feels— off.

[ She looses one arm from his torso to grab the dagger, as if that'll do much against the things out here. Fuck, she misses guns right now. ]

[One doesn't survive as long as Dan has if they don't learn to trust instinct, and Dan's dad's voice is there in the back of his head, reminding him that if something feels off, it probably is. Dan thanks his dad a lot in his head when he's in the middle of action like this; maybe he shouldn't be so grateful to the man who taught him to fire a gun when he was still in diapers and how to disarm a landmine before he hit puberty, but the childhood training pays off.

He slows the horse nearly to a stop, to a little zig-zagging trot as he works his own weapon out from where it's sandwiched between his back and CT, his longbow. He, too, misses guns.

His voice is naturally quiet; now it's quieter.]

What do you think? [CT doubtlessly has better hearing than him; he blew out an ear firing a gun too recklessly a few years back.]

[ CT shifts just enough to give him the space he needs to get the longbow free. Her hearing's still keen, though this goes right on the list of times she wishes she had a helmet full of sensors and a live radar on her head again. ]

Not Nightrenders. [ too subtle and no increase in that creeping dread, the tickle of paranoia and fear in the back of her mind is constant but not spiking ] So if it's anything, it has to be those— other things. Or—

[ Or she really is just being paranoid, she spent a whole month in Svelte feeling like something was about to happen, something was following her, only for the weirdest thing to happen to be an easily explainable glitch. But this doesn't feel like that did. So she shakes the dismissive thought away. ]

Could be an ambush. Could be being followed.

Well, that narrows it down to two directions, forward or behind us. [Dan nocks an arrow, aware by now that it won't do anything against the Sisters but also aware that arrows are mighty good at pinning things to whatever is behind them. And good at snapping through the thin parts of the nets the Sisters have been using.]

If it's those two laughing women, their nets have some kind of paralyzing effect. I think they get in your head like those other creatures do. [Which Dan would like to avoid again, thanks. He nudges the horse slowly forward, eyes and ears peeled.]

Oh, goody. Because why wouldn't both sets of monsters fuck with your head?

[ Yeah, she's not a big fan of the idea either. She's had more than enough of that kind of thing in Svelte and certainly hasn't enjoyed her taste of it tonight. She's relived her own death enough in her own head without having it dragged back up full force by some monster the way it was, earlier.

She turns enough to keep her eye on their 6'o'clock. At least if she sees the women come up on them from there, she can make the call for them to try and bolt.

She wishes she'd at least had the foresight to pick up a ranged weapon, in the chaos if not during the day. The dagger in her hand is feeling more and more useless of a choice by the second. ]

At least they got a theme? [Dan doesn't bother to laugh at his own lame joke.

As if reading CT's mind:] Can you shoot? It's hard to multi-task if I have to take this girl into a gallop.

[He hands his bow back to her, cocking his head at the quiver on his back.] Don't worry none about wasting arrows. They don't seem to run out.

I don’t exactly have much experience with a bow, [ she says even as she takes it, and grabs an arrow to notch ] but nothing like some in the moment pressure to make you learn quickly.

[ And she still fancies their odds better with her missing a few times than being able to do the absolute nothing she could with her own weapons. She at least knows the form, gave the archery range a little go earlier in the day, so she adjusts her position and prepares to shoot at the first clear sign of the sisters, or any hostile. ]

Rule of thumb is generally to aim the pointy part at the thing you want to shoot, so once you got that, you're golden.

[The cackling women are somewhere near; Dan can hear them, which probably means CT can hear them even more than that. They may the hair on the back of his neck stand up.]

And so far as I know from this, the thing you want to shoot is their hands so they drop those fuckawful weapons.

[ Oh, yeah, she hears them. Close, now. Closer than she'd like but hey, since when did you ever get to decide how things are going to go in a combat situation? At least that's familiar enough, magical twist or not. ]

Aim for the hands. Got it.

[ Disarm them long enough to get away, then. She can't say she's a big fan of how hard these things seem to be to do real damage to, but it's not really her first time dealing with that, either. When poor Gil lost control and went after her, the only way she could hurt him in return was cold iron. She wonders what these creatures are all vulnerable to.

Bow brought to bear, she keeps her eye out and waits, listening closely to try and guess where they'll actually come from. At the first sign of either sister, she lets the arrow loose, aiming for a limb but mostly aiming to get the first strike at all, first. ]

[And the sisters zip out of the fog, two at once, and Dan gives CT just enough time to aim her shot and fire before he urges Concrete Blonde into a full-tilt gallop, one hand tight around the reins and pommel, the other reached behind him and gripping CT's thigh to keep her firmly on a horse that is far from easy to hold onto without use of her arms. He hopes CT doesn't mind, but he figures she knows that propriety falls out the window when life or death are concerned.

The sister laughs all the harder at the arrow sticking out of her forearm, and divebombs the two of them with her katanas bared, seeking to knock them off the horse, and Dan makes the executive decision that it's better to abandon the horse and hit the ground of their own accord than being plowed off by the sister's blades.]

Brace-!

[He lets go of the pommel and throws his weight to the side - his feet already were out of the stirrups - trying to bring CT with him into a barrel roll off the horse. He rolls enough that he doesn't injure himself too badly, but he does knock the wind out of himself.

He'll find the horse later, if he can. The important thing right now was not to get impaled.]

[ CT barely even registers the hand on her thigh, and she matches Dan without even having to think about it—her combat experience is obvious. Though, used to adjusting motion to her armour in situations like this, she hits the ground a little harder than she should have for a perfect roll and she's sure she'll have a lovely bruise on her shoulder, later.

But she's got back to her feet with much worse than a jarred shoulder, before. She rolls up to one knee, and glancing Dan's way she holds the bow out to him. He's got the quiver, if they're on their own two feet right now it's best if he takes it back, she figures. ]

[Dan takes the bow back and fires a shot off, pegging the Sister's net to her own thigh and then hitting her with another shot to pin her arm to her waist. It doesn't seem to hurt her, but it tangles her as she has to choose between holding her second katana and untangling herself from the net, and that buys them precious seconds.

Dan doesn't have time to ask CT if she's okay. He only has time to glance at her, see that she's on her feet, and start moving.]

Run!

[ Her eyes flick toward the tangled up sister, but he doesn't have to tell her twice. Grabbing her knife from her hip again with her non-jarred arm, because having something in hand's better than nothing, she pushes herself fully upright and runs whilst they have the chance. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

INTO THE WOODS ※ GAME EVENT

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