but a strange light in the sky was shining right into my eyes

[singmod]

JANUARY 2024 EVENT

PROMPT ONE — THE AURORA: NASCENCE: Following the strange dream at new year, a three-day Aurora takes place. During which, Interlopers discover a possible ally in the mysterious woman heard in the static and heard in the dream — potentially earning new abilities.

PROMPT TWO — ADUST: The Interlopers find out what happened to the owners of long-destroyed Milton House in the form of hauntings.

PROMPT THREE — THE VISITOR: Interlopers find themselves with an unwelcome visitor — a shadow doppelganger here to make everything absolutely worse.

THE AURORA: NASCENCE

WHEN: January 13th - 15th.
WHERE: Everywhere.
CONTENT WARNINGS: potentially disturbing dreams; dreams of being burned alive; some minor supernatural horror; some minor ‘ghost’ horror/hauntings; death of npcs in various ways including suicide, murder or exposure to elements.


In the middle of the month, it happens. A herald. The noise starts: faint at first, but then growing louder. An ethereal, high-pitched chorus of sounds difficult to place. There’s a kind of electrical buzzing with it all, a low, endless hum punctuated with cracks and pops. The sky is alive with sound, and with it comes the swirling streaking of colour against the inky black of night: The Aurora has come.

Much of what happened previously happens again: Streetlights, illuminating the town’s roads; lights in stores and homes will come alive, buzzing and flickering at times. Previously abandoned cars will turn on, their headlights blaring. Electronics that had previously seemed broken flick on — and whilst there are no broadcasts available on televisions, and the radio waves only drone on in static, both only occasionally blaring standard emergency broadcasts. Any computers and phones will turn on, but will have no internet or reception. Instead, Interlopers may find texts and emails — many of them unsent. The everyday lives of their users stored within, now readable.

There are still some instances of the ‘ghosts’ from the previous Auroras, but they are now only faint outlines, and far fewer in number. However, whilst the Aurora would usually only last until the next morning on sporadic nights over the month — this time it will last for a full three days. The world is plunged into darkness, a seemingly endless night with only the Aurora to light the skies.

On the second night of lights and noise, a voice calls out to you: static-like, and distant — as if someone speaks over a radio. A woman’s voice. It is the same one you’ve been hearing for a few weeks now, but finally it is far stronger than the scant whispers of name and the word ‘help’. She is far clearer now.

“You.” she says. She may whisper your name, too. “I see you.” You’re unable to speak back, the communication is only one way. She sounds upset, but there’s something more… a kind of wonder, perhaps.

”It’s not just a regular aurora borealis, but then you probably worked that out already, haven’t you? It’s so much more than that. Everything is… changing.”

”I don’t know how you can go back. But— but I can help. Maybe. Maybe I can make this place easier, somehow. I need help, but I’m stuck—” There’s frustration in her voice for a moment. ”It took from you. Took you away. It doesn’t always have to take. We can take, too. Sleep. I will help you take back. You will survive this. You will not go into the Dark. This is not the end.”

You have no idea what that means, for the most part. But you might just end up taking the chance and doing as the woman asked, even if it’s difficult with the noise and light with the Aurora. Sleep, and a dream may come to you.

FREE RUNNER: The colours of the Aurora dance around you in your dreamscape. You dream you are a magnificent stag, galloping through the snowy woods with ease. You seem to go on and on, never tiring, never slowing. You feel like the wind, or perhaps the very wind itself carries you. Not once do you stumble or fall, even when the snow is thick and deep, or the ground is shaky and uneven beneath you. You feel free.

When you awaken, you feel the most refreshed you’ve ever felt since you first came here. For the final day of the Aurora, you are bursting with energy and even when the lights in the sky fade — that revitalised feeling within you remains. There’s something within you that understands: you are the Free Runner. The ground will yield beneath you, your energy will not desert you, the wind will carry you.

LIGHT BRINGER: The colours of the Aurora dance around you in your dreamscape. You dream of sitting by a lonely campfire in the mouth of a cave at night, warming your hands. As you sit, a strange feeling comes over you, a desire to reach out to the flames. And so you do, reaching with both hands into the fire — gripping at the white-hot embers. It burns you, and for a moment there is blinding hot pain as the fire suddenly explodes around you, consuming you whole. But the pain soon stops. The fire doesn’t burn you. No, you have become the blaze — your body warmed. You burn bright enough that the darkness around you turns into day.

When you awaken the next morning, you feel warmed and comfortable. As if even the coldest of winters couldn’t reach your bones. The warmth remains even when the Aurora ends, and you are left with the innate understanding:you are the Light Bringer. The power of flame is at your very fingertips. You master the light, life, warmth.

AURORA CALL: The colours of the Aurora dance around you in your dreamscape. You dream you are standing in the very sky itself, at the Aurora’s height. Colour and sound twirls around you, within you — and you feel it curl into your body. Your head fills with noise, a chorus of voices calling out, snippets of conversation echoing within you. A woman’s voice calls to you, it is the same voice that spoke to you before you slept: “Don’t you understand it now? We are all connected. The Aurora connects us.”

And you do, you do understand it.

When you awaken, you feel connected to the world around you. To the very people who live amongst you. You feel less lonely, a kind of kinship with others. You have heard the Aurora’s Call and you have answered it, unlocked a connection with your fellow Interlopers. You will be heard.

NOTHING: The colours of the Aurora dance around you in your dreamscape, but only for a moment. The edges of your vision begin the blur with black, slowly closing in until everything goes dark and you fall into a deep, dreamless sleep. You awaken, and although you feel rested, as if the dreamless darkness has helped you feel a little more ready to take on the day — nothing else about you has changed.

ADUST

WHEN: From mid-month to month end.
WHERE: Milton House.
CONTENT WARNINGS: fire; house fire; death of a child/children; hauntings; ghosts; mental manipulation; illusions of burning/being burned; potential injuries via falling/unstable building collapsing.

There is a reason why it is advised to avoid Milton House other than the simple fact that it’s a miracle the house is still standing. Once one of the largest buildings in the town of Milton, it is now a former shell of what was once a fine and grand house. It has lain in ruin for many years, dilapidated and host to a great deal of fire damage.

While he is in town, Methuselah will not speak of the place, but he often looks sad when it has been brought up in conversation. “A great tragedy.” he will say before falling into a pensive silence. “A blackened mark on the town’s memory.” He does not wish to say much more of what happened: sometimes there are things that are just too painful. He will continue to advise the ruin is left alone, out of respect, and the fact that the place is a danger.

Of course, advice will not stop anyone from attempting to get into the ruins and exploring the house, even if it is in fact highly dangerous.

The sounds of voices and whispers may be enough to pique anyone’s interest. You're sure you heard something, maybe you should go to check it out?

It is true in the fact that the house itself is incredibly dangerous structurally: floors and stairs may give way and you’ll find your foot (and half of you) falling right through the floorboards. Damp and rot that have long since set in, and it will be dangerous to breathe in. But you’ll find that the house itself is pretty ordinary: this was once a family home. Just about the entirety of the house and its contents aren't salvageable, but you’ll be able to find out a little about who once lived here.

There are faded, half-destroyed photos that show a family of five: a father, mother, and three young children all under the age of ten. The father with warm, beaming smiles, the mother has kind eyes, the two oldest boys with toothy grins much like their father, the younger girl looks shy, wanting to hide against her mother. They look happy. Just a typical family. In a world where so many strange things are happening, it feels so strange to look upon these family photos and around this home to realise that they simply lost their home in a house fire.

But as you hold a family picture, or some half-destroyed trinket: a toy, a shoe, a book, a vase, you’ll find the item will suddenly catch alight, bursting into flames in your very hands. The flames do not burn you, and as you discard the item, it will fall to the floor as if nothing had happened.

Then, it comes to you. Here and there. Different sensations that stop and start suddenly: the house groans and creaks around you; the smell of smoke enters your nose; the sound of fire cracking and popping with a roar fills your ears; the sensation of heat against your skin; the clawing and suffocating feeling in your lungs that makes you cough and choke; the sounds of terrified shrieks of children echoing above you. Feelings flood you: fear, panic. When you next turn around, the entire house is aflame around you, and you can’t tell if this is real or if you’re reliving some terrifying memory.

You need to leave, get out of here. For some, it will be what comes naturally. You’ll have to fight through the flames and escape the house before it burns down completely around you. You’ll have to fight your way out, find an exit not already consumed by flames — through a window, perhaps. Crashing out of the house and into the snow, you’ll look back and see Milton House just as you entered it: nothing more than a half-burned ruin.

But for others, there will be another pull. You are drawn upstairs, to the screams of children. You need to get to them, to help them, save them. You will battle through the flames, heading towards the ruins of what was a child’s bedroom, or towards the bathroom. Inside either, you will find a figure cowering, engulfed wholly in flames: one in the bathtub or one in the closet. You recognise them as the two sons from the family pictures.

Mom. They will call you. Or Dad. They weep, terrified of the flames. I’m scared, I’m scared. I want the fire to go away. Help me. Stay here.

The tragedy of Milton House is before you. More than just a fire. What is more tragic than the death of a child? What silences voices? Breaks spirits? Leaves one helpless to act in the wake of such a passing?

There is something to be done here. You are not so powerless. Calm the child. Offer gentle assurances. They will get out. They are safe. You are there for them. You will stay. Embracing them will set you alight. Too hot. Too bright. It will hurt, but you won’t burn. But don’t let go; holding them will eventually calm them down enough for the flames to grow dim, to slowly ease their spirits to rest.

Soon enough, the flames will go out and the child will disappear, leaving you alone in a decaying, dilapidated room.

In the churchyard of Milton, there is a family grave by the name of Barker. Three lie within it: Thomas it reads, and his beloved sons, Patrick and Christopher.

THE VISITOR

WHEN: The month of January.
WHERE: Everywhere.
CONTENT WARNINGS: erything absolutely worse.
THE VISITOR — CONTENT WARNINGS: supernatural beings; dream-related horror/disturbing dreams; doppelgangers; themes of depression; themes of self-harm; themes of isolation; potential themes of suicide.


It seems the dream of the New Year and the Aurora dreams are not the only odd sleep-related instances occurring this month. You first notice that something is off when a strange dream pulls you from sleep. The dream may feel like any particular dream you have, whether it be a usual nightmare or strange concoction your brain has conjured up for you this night. Maybe it’s a dream you’ve had before, maybe it’s a new dream entirely. But no matter the dream, there is one thing that is odd about it. In tiny moments within the dream, you notice that there is something different, something that feels out of place. Something is there that shouldn’t be.

A figure, tall and silent, entirely made of shadow stands lurking in the background. It looks human, but there is not much more that you can really describe further. It is a sad, unsettling presence.

When you awaken, eyes bleary from sleep, and you look about the room, to the bottom of your bed, for a half-moment you see that figure standing there silently. That unsettling sadness permeates the room, and after a few seconds of blinking and sitting up — the figure disappears. Perhaps it was just some trick of the mind, some half-awake illusion.

But the next time you sleep, it appears again. The same figure, the same emotions surrounding it. And when you awaken, it stands at the bottom of your bed once more. Only this time, it lingers, and you find yourself staring down the figure before it disappears once more.

Over the next several days, the presence continues to linger more and more. It stands silently in the corner of the room of your home; it hovers by the window, staring out into the snow; it stands in the middle of the road as you go about your business. More and more, it is there. Always standing, always watching — silent and sad.

No one else seems to notice it, only you. And over time, the shape of it seems to change — the vague, undefined shape of it slowly shifts into something you recognise. The same hair, the same height, the same way it holds itself: it is exactly like you. A perfect doppelganger, a second shadow. And with it, it exudes an oppressive sadness, a particular kind of loneliness. It is suffocating, bleeding into you.

It makes you withdraw from the world around you, from the people around you. Perhaps you stop spending time with others, retreating into solitude. You hide from others, keep to yourself. You find yourself not sleeping at all or perhaps sleeping too much. Perhaps what little you already eat becomes nothing. The shadowy doppelganger draws ever closer to you, close enough to touch you - ever hovering at your shoulder. Its presence bores down on you, making you feel small and more and more alone even with its ‘company’. No one else can seem to see it but you, mentioning it to others will earn odd looks, or even concern. It seems you and your double are alone together.

Hopefully, those around you will notice the change in you. How you stopped reaching out, how you’ve stopped taking care of yourself. Hopefully they will see something isn’t right and reach out. You are doomed to the doppelganger's company otherwise.

However, those around you can push the shadowy double away, and can break its influence and hold over you. Genuine care and concern for you will have it shrinking back. Perhaps it is a kind word, perhaps it is the gentle but insisting coaxing to eat. Perhaps it is an attentive ear to listen to your thoughts, to how the presence has made you feel. Maybe it is even the simplest of touches, an embrace or the holding of a hand, the grip of a shoulder. Continued connection with you will slowly have the visitor’s power diminish.

And hopefully it is done before it is too late, or it may be all too easy to fade into the Long Dark.

FAQs

THE AURORA: NASCENCE

1. Aurora Feats are now unlocked! Please see the following page for more information. Aurora Feats are completely optional.

2. Interlopers will only receive ONE Aurora Event. The only time this is available is this month. After January, players will have to wait for the next Feat round for another chance at an Aurora Feat.

3. This Aurora will last a full three days. It will be a period of only night.

4. For more information on the ghostly loops seen during the Aurora, see this previous event, under 'The Aurora: Aftershocks' prompt.

5. For new players who would like a little extra context regarding the woman can look at December's Tales From The Northern Territories, under the 'New Happenings in December' section.

ADUST

1. Characters will not be physically burned in the fire, but only feel as if they have been. The effects of this illusion will last a short time after they're out the house before they will fade.

2. The only real injuries characters can sustain will be from fall damage, or if the floor gives way and their feet go through, etc. whilst in the house.

3. The children cannot leave the house. They will be too scared to leave. In addition, they are tethered to the house, given that this is where they died. Simply being calmed/comforted is the best way to help them and they will disappear after that.

THE VISITOR

1. An Interloper's Visitor can't be seen by anyone but the Interloper themselves.

2. The Visitor can be spoken to, but it will not speak back. It cannot be interacted with and is intangible.

PLOTTING POST

Comments

[moralabsolutism]

"Saying what?" Rorschach sounded honestly baffled by what Bigby was saying. Was the other man completely losing it? Hearing voices or something like that? His head tilted in confusion.

Of course, his thoughts kept going even when he'd stopped talking. "Great. Everyone's going crazy in this town. Well, I knew it was only a matter of time. Pretty soon it's going to turn into the Donner Party around here before too much longer." With Bigby facing Rorschach, he'd notice something. Usually, there was a bit of movement around the lower half of his mask when he spoke, the fabric expanding and contracting as his jaw moved. Right then, there was nothing.

The dissonance between the halting, stilted way Rorschach spoke normally and the completely normal if verbose way he had of thinking were completely at odds with one another. It was almost like hearing two different people talking in the same voice at times.

[bigbaddy]

The little signs help. Especially when Bigby is a sheriff. Even if he isn't the most subtle sheriff around, it's not like he can't occasionally tell those small things. It's often a good way to see that someone is lying-- though it serves a different purpose right now, making the man slowly realise that Rorschach actually isn't talking at all.

That, coupled with the fact that Bigby is a little more used to supernatural happenings than most people, makes it relatively easy for the dots to end up connected in his head. Enough for him to let out a groan when the realisation of what's going on here hits him.

"You're projecting your thoughts into my head."

He drags a hand down his face in frustration at the realisation.

And, yes, Bigby is saying that like it's a totally normal thing. Who hasn't had that happen once in their lives, right.

"I can literally hear what you're thinking, so don't think anything embarrassing and make this awkward for both of us."

[moralabsolutism]

Rorschach sighed and ran a hand down his face. "Wonderful." That was all he said out loud. Really, what a month he was having. He thought for a moment, trying to figure out where this wonderful little ability could have popped up from. Then he sat up a little bit straight as he remembered.

"The dream", he said in his mind quietly.

"Some gift," he said out loud with the air of someone determined to be grouchy for the foreseeable future. If ever he met the woman who had decided to give him this, there was going to be some strong words about giving him such a useless, pain-in-the-ass ability.

[bigbaddy]

"Yeah, yeah."

.. apparently Rorschach having gained magical powers from a dream is an idea that is.. thoroughly unimpressive to Bigby, given his answer here. But this place is weird enough that Bigby is just accepting it as something that's possible here, and if the only power Rorschach got was talking straight into people's minds, it's probably the least dangerous power this place could've given him.

Thanks for acknowledging Rorschach shouldn't have some deadly power, whoever's in charge here. Bigby thanks you.

"How about you instead tell me why the hell you're so interested in anything I might be hiding?" At least he sounds more exasperated than angry. A little annoyed at most, but that's pretty much nothing by Bigby standards.

[moralabsolutism]

Bigby had seemed so nonplussed by everything that had happened in this town so far that Rorschach was beginning to wonder if there was anything that could shake this dude's perpetual state of 'seen it all.' He had a feeling the day it happened Rorschach would really be wishing it hadn't.

"Curiosity," he said as an answer. Then, wondering if Bigby would still be able to hear him, he deliberately tried to project out more in his mind. "People are like puzzles. You just have to put all the pieces together to find out what they're all about. But you? I'm still missing a few."

[bigbaddy]

Rorschach will immediately know his attempt worked.

Because the other man's face shifts as if he definitely heard more than just that single word of an answer that was spoken out loud. "Didn't know you were so interested," he adds, dryly, making it even more obvious.

Sure, Rorschach is a bit of a mystery to Bigby too, but he definitely goes by the principle of it being fine as long as said mysteries aren't bothering other people in this place - and Bigby hadn't received or overheard any particular complaints about Rorschach, so he was pretty fine with just letting the other be the resident town weirdo.

"If you really wanna know anything that badly, you can always just ask people and see if they'll answer."

[moralabsolutism]

"Would you?" He asked, again out loud, wondering if Bigby himself would abide by the advice he'd just given to Rorschach.

In his experience, people lied far more often than they told the truth, but Rorschach had long since ended up with most of his interactions being with the lowest sorts of criminals and other vile people. He still wasn't used to being around decent people again and experiencing their way of doing things.

[bigbaddy]

"Yeah." And then, as if to prove his point, without any hesitation whatsoever: "I mean, if you really wanna know so badly, I'm the Big Bad Wolf."

Bigby knows the sort of reaction that saying that without the rest of the explanation usually gets when he says it to the mundies around here, but.. you know, whatever. Rorschach is a huge weirdo anyway, he has no right to think that Bigby's deal is ridiculous.

But at least he doesn't think so little of the other that he would bother to hide that fact on purpose from the other, whereas he's more open about it with the rest of town. Sure, Rorschach can know too. No skin off his back anymore at this point.

"And before you ask--" Mostly because so many people ask.. "I look like this because this place forces anyone with abilities beyond a regular human down to a human level. Hence why I'm not an actual wolf right now."

[moralabsolutism]

There was a long moment where Rorschach just stared at Bigby, absorbing what he'd just said. There was no stray thoughts that drifted out of his mind.

"You're crazy," he finally said in an automatic fashion. Which talk about the pot calling the kettle black. But at least he wasn't deluding himself into thinking he was an entirely different person. Or in this case not even a person, a sentient wolf out of fairy tales!

But then he'd thought Louis was crazy too for wanting to drink blood until he'd gotten his neck punctured by his actual fangs. Was it possible Bigby was telling the truth? Vampires were one thing. Some creature right out of Little Red Riding Hood forced into a human shape? That was something else.

[bigbaddy]

Bigby spreads his arms, hands palms-up.

"You asked!"

Not that he sounds aggressive about that. It's more the sort of 'don't know what you were expecting, pal' kind of tone. It might be a little bit exasperated, because it's really starting to get old that most people react to it this way. You know, maybe they should stop bothering to be so secretive about Fabletown if this is how your average mundy would react anyway. If it wasn't for the Adversary, it'd make things so much easier.

"You really think I'd make up a lie that crazy?" Come on, Rorschach. Bigby likes to think he at least seems like a reasonable enough guy that no one would believe he'd do that.

[moralabsolutism]

Bigby did have a point there. Anyone who was actually trying to fool him would have come up with a much more plausible lie than 'I'm a creature you've read about in fairy tales.' Rorschach considered that for a long moment, again the thoughts being projected outwards silenced for the moment as his rigid mind tried to absorb and understand this new information.

His next words came slowly and in almost a begrudging fashion. "Things that sound too crazy to be true usually are." Did that mean he was absolutely going to believe Bigby in lieu of any other hard evidence? Not entirely. But he also wasn't going to entirely dismiss the man's claims of being the Big Bad Wolf. Sometimes, being paranoid had an advantage when it came to believing the insane things that went on in this town. It meant even the craziest things could still have a grain of truth to them in Rorschach's mind.

[bigbaddy]

.. well, it's better than total disbelief, he guesses.

But that's a very low bar to clear, and Bigby lets out a sigh as he mentally chews on those words for a moment.

"Right. I guess it doesn't really matter if you believe me or not." After all, Rorschach was the one apparently so curious as to the skeletons in his closet. If he won't believe Bigby when the other is opening said closet for him, that's the other man's problem, not Bigby's own. He's not going to pull out his partial transformation here like it's some parlor trick.

"You'll find out sooner or later that I'm telling the truth anyway."

[moralabsolutism]

"Will be an interesting day when that happens," he said dryly. Granted, he didn't think it was out of the realm of possibility but he wasn't counting on it happening. Until then, he was maintaining a hefty dose of skepticism when it came to Bigby's claim that he really was the Big Bad Wolf.

Still, he was a bit curious as to what Bigby would say if he asked him a fairy-tale related question. So he asked one. "Seem tough enough to take on three pigs. Why'd the brick house stop you?"

[bigbaddy]

Bigby blinks.

It's the first time someone actually asked him something like this after confessing what he really is. Most people either just seemed to not believe it, or need so much time to process that idea that their brain probably didn't even arrive at the idea of actually questioning him on the stories..

Either way, he doesn't really seem to mind. If Rorschach knows what he is - or is trying to figure out whether he should believe him or not, anyway - then talking about anything related to it doesn't feel all that important to shove underneath the rug. Even mundies know the tales, after all. They know what happened. It's just the surprise of the question catching him off guard for a moment, but it seems to fade into something a little more casual easily enough.

Especially since the man just shrugs a little in response to the question.

"I was still a pup back then." Don't think about it too hard, Rorschach. Don't imagine Bigby as a pup!! "So my powers weren't as strong back then. There's no way a brick house could stop me at this point."

[moralabsolutism]

Rorschach abruptly went into something between a choking fit and actual laughter upon hearing Bigby had once been a puppy. Yes, he was absolutely trying to picture the scruffy. tough-looking man before him as an adorable wolf pup and finding a level of hilarious absurdity in the idea. The only stray thought that came through was "A puppy..." with that exact emphasis on the words.

It took him a while to recover enough to speak. "Of course. Makes perfect sense," Rorschach said in such a dull tone that it was impossible to tell if hearing that had strengthened Bigby's claims for Rorschach or diminished them. At least it certainly was a creative way to explain the hole he'd seen in the wolf's background.

[bigbaddy]

Someone please tell him just how many times he had to go through this. Why is it that every single time he brings up anything about himself, he just gets laughed at? It's even weirder when it's coming from Rorschach, since Bigby wasn't even sure whether or not the other man could even laugh at all! Are wolves just that inherently funny to mundies or something?

Weird people.

"Do you think wolf pups are that funny?" He asks, his tone just as dry as Rorschach's own had been dull just now.

[moralabsolutism]

Once Rorschach was done finding hilarity in the idea, it was simple to tell why he'd been laughing at hearing that. "I just have a hard time picturing you as a kid of any species," he explained.

Bigby just sort of had the air of always being as world-weary and hard-bitten as he was at the present moment. Then again, so did Rorschach himself, but people didn't just spring forth fully-grown from the earth. (Most of the time.) Everyone came from somewhere, so it made sense a big bad wolf would have had to start off as a puppy at some point.