oh you fool, there are rules, i am coming for you

[singmod]

THE DARKWALKER COMES

The Darkwalker makes its first real strike against the Interlopers, resulting in the death of La'an Noonien-Singh. In the wake of her death, her fellow Interlopers are left to deal with the fallout of this new part of the horror of the Northern Territories.

WHEN: January 25th, onwards.
WHERE: Milton.
CONTENT WARNINGS: death of playable character; supernatural death; mention of dead body; themes of death; supernatural beings; themes of terror; themes of peril.

OH, THE RECKONING BEGINS

On the night of January 25th, all is calm. It is a peaceful, if not cold evening. There are no clouds in the skies, the stars and moon hang high in the blanket of inky black. It would be just another night, until something strange happens: one by one, the stars begin to go out and the moon's light fades from view, as if swallowed whole.

Instead, there is nothing but the gloom. The sky is dark and green and terrible. Interlopers all over the Northern Territories will stop and stare — horrified by such a sight. And then, it washes over you like a cold wave: fear. Interlopers will find themselves over-come, and everything in their bodies and minds tells them to run. To flee. And so you run, heading for cover indoors. Curtains will be drawn, some may hide under beds, within closets or wardrobes. Some desperate attempt to conceal themselves, make themselves small, unseen. Some Interlopers, in that fear, may rush to friends or loved ones to hide with them, others may simply cowered alone — crawling and whimpering away from the night. The fear is irrational, unable to be overcome — even by the bravest or most stoic of Interlopers.

And then: noise. Coming from towards the east, the sounds of unnatural and almost-demonic roars, groans and moans — unable to be likened to or truly described. Drawing nearer and nearer — and you know it, even if you don't understand why: something is coming. It's coming here. You are powerless, unable to do anything. And it is an agony, awaiting its arrival. You cry, you whimper, you cower. Curling up for some shred of comfort, and finding none.

It seems to go on forever, building into a crescendo. Your heart beats so hard you fear it may burst from your chest, as if you might die of fright.

And then, a screaming wail — sharp as it cuts through the building dread. A woman. You know it, don't you? You're sure you've heard it before.

The silence that follows is deafening. The green gloom subsides, the fear slowly melts away within you. You wait, and wait. Finally, when it feels like you can breathe again, you decide to move.

Interlopers who dare to venture outside, who dare to look from behind curtains may see nothing at all. The skies have returned to normal, the moon is out once more. But those close to the center of town will see the small frame of a body curled in the snow. Some may not know her, but plenty will recognise her: Lieutenant La'an Noonien Singh.

It looks almost as if she'd collapsed. But those who decide to investigate will discover a gruesome scene. While there will appear to be no physical wounds, her body will appear contorted — expression frozen in absolute fear. It will be incredibly unnatural and violent to look at. La'an is dead. Around her, the footsteps that brought her to this spot. Strange 'waves' in the snow, too. Hard to define as to what exactly made them. And... faint glimmers of green, intangible. Almost like a residue — which will vanish by the time morning comes.

This is not the first time. La'an Noonien-Singh is the thirteenth Interloper to die since they first began to arrive in this place. But this is certainly the first time something like this has ever happened.

But preparations must be made, an Interloper must be mourned and laid to rest.

And the rest of Milton must come to terms with what has happened, if they can put a name to such a thing.

FAQs

1. Essentially, a 'party post' for reactions to the Darkwalker's Arrival, the immediate aftermath, and any funerary preparations following La'an's death. Have... fun?

2. Information on the Darkwalker's attack can be found here.

3. An OOC Rundown can be found here.

4. For those interested: Harry Goodsir is conducting a post-mortem on La'an, which can be found here.

Comments

Louis de Pointe du Lac | Interview with the Vampire

[flambeaux]

cw: self-harm vampire bite

Louis was at home, and there was hardly time to hide. He made for his coffin and shut the lid tight and screamed until he clamped his fangs on his forearm to stay quiet, and then he had only the comfort of the blood in his mouth. He flinched at the cry outside, and the silence afterward was worse.

He doesn't know what it was or why he was so afraid. No thought of monsters or perhaps truly ancient vampires (he has no idea what they might be like) entered his head, only the fear. Maybe he was the only one who felt it, subject to some psychic machination.

He bandages his arm, dresses, and cautiously leaves his home carrying his fancy walking stick, the kind that's for decoration. But it has a knife hidden in it, so it'll do. He is late; others are already in the street. He thinks to find anyone he knows, ask them if they're all right, gauge strangers' reactions... His worried eyes are two unusually bright green jewels in the dark. He has not yet come upon the body.

"Did you hear that noise?" Louis shivers despite being dressed for the cold in a nice wool coat, clearly his own and not scavenged. His brimmed hat doesn't do much, but he does have some good gloves and a scarf.

[guidemyway]

Ruby had the unfortunate delight of coming across the body earlier- But the more investigative types had already made an effort to keep anyone from getting too close to it. Ruby hadn't wanted to get directly involved with that, but she was doing her best to keep an eye on the scene.

She looks a little haunted but resolved when she catches sight of Louis approaching. After what they had experienced, after what she had seen could anyone blame her?

She gives a nod at the question but her shoulders sag all the same.

"I think everyone did. It's- Not great, huh?"

he's doing great

[flambeaux]

"'Not great'? I'd say so, it's one of the most terrifyin' experiences of my life," he confides, trying to maintain control of the rush of words under his breath. "I--I don't know why I was so afraid, really."

Maybe he should unpack that. Too bad he's so averse to unpacking.

"Miss, what are you doin' outside? Don't try to hunt that thing, it's too big." Well, judging from the footfalls.

[guidemyway]

"Look- It's definitely up there for me too. But-" And there's a pause after that but because while she has seen some intense horrors in her life she didn't exactly have an idea of how to deal with this one either. "But we can't just let our fear consume us." That'll work for now.

And jeez. It looks like she's been pegged pretty quickly as someone who'd do something reckless here. She should actually be a little thankful.

"I think I'm going to hold off on that for now. At least until we know more. And definitely not by myself either."

[flambeaux]

Put a lid on it, that's the way. Awful. Awful to tamp everything down because there is business to attend to and safety to ensure. Louis would like Ruby to not hunt this thing. He shoves his gloved hands into his pockets a little too quickly and winces when his hidden wound smarts.

"Ever had somethin' like this creature where you come from?"

He starts walking to where people are gathering. Are they looking at a footprint perhaps?

"Oh no--"

People are being kept back from the body, and for good reasons. One of them is the state of it, her face frozen in fear. Like something out of a penny dreadful. Louis has seen many bodies, and they tend to go slack. Most of his victims passed out before they actually died of blood loss. This one is like a wax statue, fear quite visible in the expression.

[guidemyway]

It would be hard to sway Ruby not to go after this, but she was at least playing it smart and not rushing right off into danger. Credit where credit is due, that was a good sign from her. She catches the wince but decides not to say anything about it for now. It probably wasn't any of her business to pry right now, not when there was more dire things to worry about. She would bug him later.

There's a light shrug. "We've had things like it, I guess. But this definitely seems to be a different wheel house than what I've fought."

She follows him along until they get to the body, and those investigating it. Her expression sinks, it's not her first time coming by but that never made it any easier. She gives Louis a light little nudge.

"Maybe we should just- Give them room to work?"

[flambeaux]

"Y-Yeah."

He lowers his eyes. Louis isn't as shaken by a corpse as he appears to be. It's just that he thinks he should appear so, out of respect maybe, so he does. Another way he pretends to be human, clinging to the habits and expressions of them to maintain his own humanity. The actual creature's presence, the unexplainable fear, that had scared him more than anything else. A body is a body, and he's seen plenty of those. It's a shame of course, but he doesn't know this person after all.

He turns from the crowd and offers Ruby his elbow. She nudged him, so he offers something back. The old-fashioned gallantry is without pomp or expectation because it's habit. Or maybe it isn't okay, and she's like the college students Claudia must have encountered and emulated, single-minded and independent and rebellious. Young women with pants, short hair, and eyes bright with literature and liberation and no room for his Southern manners. That's fine too.

"Your creatures, they ever leave bodies like that?"

[guidemyway]

Ruby for the most part falls hook line and sinker for the facade. It wasn't her first run in with death but she was shaken enough by the events that she certainly isn't focusing on Louis' reaction at the moment.

She is though still a teenager and lets her arm rest against the elbow, taking a bit of comfort in the moment compared to what she had just seen.

"Most of them no. ...But there is one. We call them the Apathy- If they don't physically get to the body. It can lead to something like that. It looks a lot more peaceful when they do it."

[flambeaux]

It's just as well he's not sweating with fear. It's cold out at night, and it would just make him colder. He doesn't walk far; he wants to stay near to more people, ostensibly for safety. He hopes Ruby won't mind.

"Like apathy?" he guesses. "Lie down and waste away? Fittin' name. I know it only by its mundane counterpart."

He has lain in a depressive state on the couch before, reading a book without really reading it, not wanting to muster the energy to get up and do things. It's so easy for him to drown under the surface of a dark lake.

"Maybe you'd call this one Fear. But nothin' like that in my world, at least nothin' we can see. Those the kind of monsters you hunt?"

[guidemyway]

Ruby doesn't mind at all. She'd rather be closer to the people here herself too. She gives a little nod.

"Yeah, just like that. But it's amplified until you either die or they get their claws on you. ...I got caught up in their thrall once and it was not a fun time." Look- She almost died. No big deal.

"Fear isn't a bad name for it- That's for sure. ...But yeah. It's a lot like something I'd fight back there. Maybe a little worse."

[flambeaux]

"Lord..." Yes, big deal! It's a big deal, Ruby!

Louis begins to look divinely uncomfortable, which only means he twists his mouth in an unsure way and looks at the ground.

"Can't help but worry. I got a daughter myself. Your teachers, do they come with you on these fights?"

[guidemyway]

Between that response and the discomfort on his face Ruby is pretty sure she went a little too far in her description. Jeez. Earth People were so queasy about things.

"Fair enough." Is her first response and she fumbles for how to word the second. "I was out of school at this point. But I had my team with me, along with a former Pro and my Uncle. He's a big shot huntsmen and used to be a teacher too." ...She's going to leave out the fact that he had been drunk and not a whole lot of help in that particular run in. No need to worry this guy further.

"...I'm guessing your daughter doesn't go off and do stuff like that every day, huh?"

cw: serial killing

[flambeaux]

If Louis looked awkward before, he's nearly crawling out of his skin now. He shuffles his feet and only glances at her in short intervals.

"I'm... glad you had people with you. Adults. My daughter, she... uh... leads a very different life than you, yes. She likes to... write."

In addition to writing about her life, she likes to record the last words of her victims before she kills them. She took to killing much easier than Louis. Sometimes she'd take out entire families, pick them off one by one. It wasn't just her vampire's appetite, but some other unsatisfied frustration with her life as it was. Is. Louis failed her over and over.

"Fills up these journals of hers, she does it very religiously."

[guidemyway]

Ruby isn't exactly sure what she said to get him feeling quite so awkward, but either way she feels a little sorry that she did.

"Yeah. I guess." Even if after awhile it sort of fell on her to carry the adults. But that didn't matter. "Oh. Well I mean not everyone can be a girl of action, right? Nothing wrong with reading or writing. I actually love books myself. More of a fantasy girl than journals though." Phew. Nice save here hopefully. Had something happened to his daughter? He wasn't using the past tense of anything. But asking might not be a good idea either.

"Either way. It's good that she's got a passion. You that's something you should nurture."

[flambeaux]

If Louis found out that Ruby had to shoulder both her team and the adults around her, he might have words with them.

Louis smiles hesitantly at her, not shy exactly, but still mincing. Nurture the murder, well, he didn't anticipate the usual hunting going that far...

"She, uh, does want to travel though. For research. Dead set on learnin' things in Europe. I was goin' to go with her. Adventure of our lives, as she might put it. Wound up here."

Now he truly looks bleak. "She ain't got no one else. She's more alone than she ever has been. Now I'm stuck in this town and we got some beast comin' after us. It ain't natural, whatever that was."

Takes one supernatural being to know another.

[guidemyway]

"Ooooffff. That's rough, bud." It's the first thing that comes to mind so it's the first thing that comes out of her mouth.

She frowns and it does remind her a little of how her dad must have felt after she ran away from home. Though she did have people that ended up chasing after her and finding her.

"Look- I know things look bleak. But- You can still make it home and go on the trip with her. Just because things are bad doesn't mean we should give up hope."

[flambeaux]

"That seems quite the impossibility, young miss."

He shakes his head and smiles, and now it's the different sort of smile of a man looking at a lost cause. He does not believe there is a chance, partly because if there were, and he took it, it would not guarantee he would have his daughter back. Yes, they were meant to travel together, and they would, but he's failed her so much and for so long, even at the last moment when it would have mattered most. He isn't sure she would stay with him.

"Why you have to go and comfort me, I should be the one doin' that," he tries to tease. It sounds more sad than teasing, his voice stumbling a little bit.