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

[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.