singmod: (☄ darkwalker)
methuselah ([personal profile] singmod) wrote in [community profile] singillatim2024-03-02 12:17 am

you can run but you can't escape

THE DARKWALKER COMES


The Darkwalker strikes again. This time, it does not come for one Interloper — but four.

WHEN: March 2nd.
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.

YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T ESCAPE


The sun sets on another day in the Northern Territories. The night is calm but cold, scant clouds drifting low in the skies promising snowfall soon. A waning moon sits in the skies amongst its sea of stars, and those looking up may notice it — slowly, one by one, the stars begin to go out.

Then the moon's light is swallowed whole, and a blanket of green gloom descends upon the town of Milton. One more, the sky is dark and green and terrible. Many of those will recognise it, what this means and what will come. Others will not understand it, not know what it is that awaits them all.

They will soon find out: the Darkwalker comes.

Fear washes over you like a cold wave, a vice-tight grip that squeezes the breath from you. 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.

The Darkwalker howls: indescribable, unnatural, demonic. Low moans and groans. It comes from the east, the faint booms of footsteps in the distance growing ever nearer. It is coming, once more. It's coming for one of you. And still, 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.

The footsteps draw closer and closer, and you feel like the ground itself may be threatening splitting open beneath you. It isn't you that it hunts, but you notice its path — a straight line from the east towards Milton Church. 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.

There is an almighty sound; the Darkwalker devours and suddenly the sky is alight: streaks of pale colour shoot across the gloomy green — almost blinding for one long moment. A woman's scream fills the air and then snaps into silence.

The skies return to normal, the green is gone, the fear melts away from you. It is done.

There is no body in the street. Interlopers venturing out will need to go looking for whoever it is that's fallen victim to the Devourer. The answer will be found within Milton Church.

Towards the altar, peppered amongst faint glimmers of intangible green that will fade by morning, lie the twisted and mangled bodies of Nicholas Wolfwood, Millions Knives and both iterations of Vash the Stampede. There's no blood, no physical wounds — simply the contorted bodies that lie dropped like ragdolls. Each of their faces stare with wide eyes, frozen in horror — just as La'an Noonien-Singh was.

The Darkwalker has devoured more. There is a story, told by Methuselah: It is said that the Darkwalker will awake from its slumber and swallow the world whole. One head will swallow the stars and moon and sun. Another will swallow the seas and lakes and rivers. The third will swallow the land, and every living thing upon it — and only then will the Darkwalker be satisfied and return to sleep once more.

It feels as if the Darkwalker is making good on its story: one by one, it will devour you all whole. And now the Interlopers of Milton must grapple with more death.

FAQs


1. Essentially, a 'party post' for reactions to the Darkwalker's attack, the immediate aftermath, and any funerary preparations. Have... fun???

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

3. An OOC Rundown for the original Darkwalker's attack, which includes some FAQs can be found here.

4. Notes about the characters:

Wolfwood: He doesn't leave any messages behind. Folks are welcome to go through his house, which is the cabin by the pond -- there's nothing in there of his, and the only changes he made to the house was pulling a twin bed over in front of the fireplace. The wall of the cabin is also scorched from inside, from where his Lightbringer power erupted at one point.

Vash The Stampede (Trigun Stampede): He really didn't have much belongings or anything in particular of note, so it is a free for all situation in terms of possessions.

Vash The Stampede (Trigun Maximum): He'll be leaving behind his meager belongings. all of it can be found on either his person or in the church's living quarters which is also decently stocked with foraged foods. alas he's prepared no messages because he is absolutely atrocious at saying goodbyes.

Millions Knives: He'll leave behind sharpened hunting and skinning knives (hah), some fishing equipment, and scattered feathers around the church.
killer: (👻🔪 146)

[personal profile] killer 2024-03-30 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. A woman, right? [ Sam thinks about how utterly helpless and alone she felt throughout the Darkwalker's approach, and how fucking shitty it would be if that had been her last night on Earth. Next time she has to find something strong to smoke or someone fine to fuck; maybe she can't fight the Darkwalker in any meaningful way, but at least she'll spend her final hours being defiant in the face of fear. ]

I've been in some hopeless situations but this is just... it sucks. Feels like we're just standing around waiting to be picked off.

[ She takes a drag from her cigarette, turning a thought over in her mind. ] Do you think that's why we're here? To feed this thing?
burying: (pic#14702798)

[personal profile] burying 2024-03-30 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, she was another one that arrived with the first lot of us. [ Kieren didn't know her, but he recognised her. Did a whole lot of patrols around the town, that sort of thing. It's still shit, though. And Kieren's quietly worrying that maybe next time it's going to be someone he does know well. Because of course it will, that's how it always goes. ]

I dunno about us being brought here to feed it, but... it wants to feed on us. [ It... definitely wants to... uh, eat them. The thought of it makes Kieren squirm a little on the spot. He shakes his head, as if it might shake the thought from his head — falling quiet for a few moments as he considers. ]

I mean. It doesn't want us here, right? [ He shrugs a little, mouth upturning briefly. ] It's like— I dunno. We're something wrong, and it wants to fix it. 'You are the Interloper. You are not part of nature's design.' Us being here... it's a mistake.

[ Funny how often that happens, in his experience. ]
killer: (👻🔪 104)

[personal profile] killer 2024-03-30 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
You were with the first group? [ Sam makes a sympathetic noise as she exhales her cigarette smoke through the open door. That must have really sucked, to show up here and not have even the limited answers that were available to newcomers when Sam arrived. ]

So we're being punished for something we couldn't control. [ That is definitely familiar territory. At least this time, people are being targeted just for being here, not by association with Sam. Her survivor's guilt weighs ever-so-slightly less for it. ]

I don't get it, [ she admits, shaking her head. ] Lots of stuff isn't part of nature's design. Why us?
burying: (pic#14702770)

[personal profile] burying 2024-03-30 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah... lucky me, huh. [ His tone is sardonic. Yeah, he does not feel lucky. Not in the slightest. It absolutely sucked ] There was probably about... fifty or sixty turned up? Not as many of us left, now.

[ People died, went missing. People keep coming, people keep leaving. There's maybe about a third of the original Interlopers left now. Kieren doesn't understand why he's still here, why he's included in the number of those that still remain. ]

I guess we are, yeah. [ There's a small, grim smile. ] No idea. Maybe it's... random?

[ Random like The Rising, or so he hopes. Well, it was people who died in the same year that all came back. Other than that, Kieren's sure he's not anything special. He's quiet, considering briefly. ]

One of my mates here reckons we're probably some kind of threat to this... Darkwalker. That's why it wants to get rid of us so bad. [ Kieren winces a little. ] I don't really... know about that.
killer: (👻🔪 189)

[personal profile] killer 2024-03-31 01:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Sam tilts her head to one side, considering. It would explain why the Darkwalker attacks only started after some of them got their shiny new abilities. She has been hesitant to test the full extent of her own power, but she is aware that she has barely scratched the surface. ]

Actually, your friend might be onto something. Maybe that's why we got these powers, so we could fight back. And it wants to eliminate us before we know our own strength.
burying: (pic#14702846)

[personal profile] burying 2024-03-31 02:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Kieren winces a little at the thought. Yeah, he's— he's definitely not someone who's going to get into fight. Not against something like that, not when he's a half-dead thing. Yeah, he's definitely not thrilled about the idea. ]

Mm, I don't reckon even with powers we're gonna be able to fight this thing. [ So yeah, he's doubtful. Afraid even. ] I mean, we can't even see this thing. And we're all too busy hiding away in fear when it turns up.

[ Although he's curious: ]

What... uh, power did you get?
killer: (👻🔪 139)

[personal profile] killer 2024-03-31 03:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Sam shrugs. She would much rather run than fight, but there doesn't seem to be anywhere safe to run to. If it comes down to it, she prefers to go down swinging. ]

I just don't like the idea of being an easy target. If someone wants to take me out, I'm making them work for it.

[ That attitude has gotten her through situations she never expected to survive. Granted, there is a big difference between an asshole with a knife and an actual monster, but no one survives by counting themselves out. ]

I got fire. I'm not that great with it, but if I put my mind to it... I don't know, maybe I could at least light the Darkwalker up before it eats me.

Did you get one?
guidemyway: (From the sky)

[personal profile] guidemyway 2024-03-31 08:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Thankfully any other sense of the word flew right over Ruby's head. She was such a sweet and innocent girl after all.

"Never been a huge fan of it either. But- That's kind of the situation we're staring down at the moment. We just have to find a way around it." Because there had to be a way around it. She wasn't about to give up on that yet.

She gives a little grin hearing that. "Well- Most of the monsters back at home you could do that. ...But there was someone old and ancient pulling the strings on them. Unlike the monsters she can't be killed. I was still working on what to do with that before I wound up here."
bigbaddy: (001)

[personal profile] bigbaddy 2024-03-31 09:48 pm (UTC)(link)
She definitely isn't exactly seeming stable. The blood on her face isn't contributing to it, but the stuff she's saying? Also not the greatest thing to hear in this situation, especially when Bigby is still so high strung, still determined to take care of any threat he can tackle here, since he apparently just can't do a thing about the Darkwalker as he is right now.

So the least he can do is make sure that Jessica doesn't end up hungry enough to just randomly attack someone in town.

"How much blood do you need to feel less hungry?"

He isn't crazy. He isn't going to get himself killed. But if a bit is enough, just enough to tide her over while he figures something out, maybe seeing whether or not she can't just drink animal blood-- he's got plenty of that, especially with how often he hunts.
lilredvamp: (August sipped away like a bottle of wine)

[personal profile] lilredvamp 2024-04-01 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
“I don’t know…It’s not like I measured how much I drank out of the few people I bit from.” The few times she did bit people while she stayed in Fangtasia Eric or Pam were there to pull her off when they thought she was going on for too long. “But they were fine and walked around without any problems after I was done.”


There is a long dramatic sigh from the box. She feels less panicked about it after talking it out. At least someone gives a shit about her. Even if she doesn’t know his name of the guy she’s talking to.

“I mean, I got two bottles of TruBlood. I’m not kidding about the taste but it does the job in stopping the hunger. I can stretched it out for a couple of nights until I find some other source.”
flambeaux: a gay little depression stroll (gay walking)

Re: cw: death

[personal profile] flambeaux 2024-04-01 08:21 am (UTC)(link)
Lestat's quick retort should startle him to his senses, but it only reminds Louis how much more uphill he has to climb than Lestat every damn night. Lestat the indomitable, the survivor. Mercurial as always: absent gun, Lestat seems more himself, or maybe it's just that he had no need of a hunting rifle in New Orleans.

Louis closes the door and leans against it with his arms crossed and a morose expression on his face. The office is hardly private, anyone could come in, but it'll do.

"Let's say, hypothetically,” he continues in French, “this thing can kill vampires. We can't allow anyone to open us up. They do advanced things with examinations now in this century," he explains. "They can take our blood and discover its properties."

He pushes off the door with his shoulders and wanders over to Lestat. The presence of the bodies no longer darkens the air, but he can’t shake feeling unsettled. He tells himself he doesn't want closeness, but here he is leaning against the desk very close anyway, head turned to the side towards Lestat.

"I've already mentioned to one person I'd prefer to be cremated. It's morbid, but it's necessary."
salamanca: (Default)

ohmigod i'm sorry this is so late!!

[personal profile] salamanca 2024-04-02 04:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Lalo is - there's no other word for it - charmed. There's the faintest edge of embarrassment tracing his broad smile, but it's a deeply pleased self-consciousness, more simply self-aware than self-effacing.

Perhaps the smile itself is out of place among the dead, but then, Lalo sees dead bodies often. Just not quite like this.

"Right!" Lalo agrees, too jolly, but he suspect Lestat won't mind because Lestat seems normal and not fussy like some of the do-gooders here. He watches Lestat's eyes gleam with rapt interest. His own glimmer back.

"Oh, I'm sure he has reasons. Nobody kills somebody for no reason. Me, I just don't know what the reason could be. What do you think?"

His eyes linger approvingly on Lestat's blond curls, shining in the rapidly dimming green glow.
salamanca: (006)

[personal profile] salamanca 2024-04-02 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
A lot of people would definitely say Lalo's world sucks. Lalo would disagree.

"The government?" Lalo shakes his head in condolences. "That's no good, kid. Let me tell you one thing. You can never trust the government. They're all corrupt." In Lalo's world, they are often corrupt in his favor, but the point still stands.

"Last time?" Lalo continues picking at the bodies for anything interesting. He hands Levi a small knife. "Here. Take this kid. What happened last time?"

Lalo, after all, had not been present for La'an's death or its aftermath. Too busy traveling with Methuselah and getting attacked by wolves.
salamanca: (008)

sorry this is so late!

[personal profile] salamanca 2024-04-02 04:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"A past life? Did you come back from the dead?"

His eyes twinkle. A joke, of course. People don't really come back from the dead. The bodies going into rigor mortis around them are proof enough of that.

There's very little distance between them now. Catlike, he watches her. His gaze is half-predatory, half simply enjoying the unearthly beauty of her in the greenish glow.

"I knew an innkeeper once. He was more than an innkeeper, too. But I think you might be made of tougher stuff than he was. Am I right?"

A hand slides into his pocket. But he keeps a thumb poking out so she can see the pocket isn't shallow enough to hide a weapon. "Seems like you're good at sensing things, too." She knew how to pump him for information, after all.
salamanca: (015)

[personal profile] salamanca 2024-04-02 04:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Lalo hesitates. He looks Hickey over. "What do I think about it?" he says. He glances around. That he can see it, it's just the two of them. "You got everything you're gonna keep? Let's walk and talk. And I'll tell you. We don't want anybody to see us here. I mean" -- a slightly teasing grin -- "especially not you. I don't want you to get your pretty little ass kicked again."

Too much? Too soon? Lalo seems to intend it good-naturedly enough anyway, looking entertained.

It's not that Hickey seems trustworthy, exactly -- he does not -- but something about him strikes Lalo as a kindred, someone he can open up to about certain things. If nothing else, based on this alone, he's certainly a practical man, unburdened by silly little things like sentimentality or respect for the dead.
solitarysoul: commisioned art (Default)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2024-04-02 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
"I know," he says in the most unimpressed voice possible. He'd seen enough to know not to trust or expect fairness from the government before he was even enlisted.

He takes the knife, though he's not sure why it's being handed over. "We found her outside. Nobody could tell what happened so Dr Goodsir performed an autopsy. We didn't find anything useful, though. Just her heart stopped...and she hadn't eaten for a few days."
salamanca: (004)

[personal profile] salamanca 2024-04-02 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
"Smart kid." Lalo means that.

Heart stopped. Hadn't eaten for a few days. "When was the last time anybody saw her? Before she" -- Lalo mimes slashing his own throat with a hand -- "you know."
solitarysoul: (sitting)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2024-04-02 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"Um...I'm not sure. It didn't seem like she'd been missing or anything. Fraser, the mounty guy with the weird hat, lived with her or something."
sputnik: — 𝑺𝑷𝑼𝑻𝑵𝑰𝑲 (ᴛᴏ ᴡɪᴘᴇ ʜɪs ᴛᴇᴀʀs)

[personal profile] sputnik 2024-04-03 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
They had ways to be very secretive. Hidden cameras, one-way windows.... Every home in this place could be set up for surveillance.

[ It would be very surprising to him if that weren't the case. ]

I only barely managed to escape, last time. ....And in the end, I think they were going to catch me again, anyway. [ Konstantin frowns softly; it's not something he's revealed to many people. ]
solitarysoul: (sitting)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2024-04-03 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
I don't know. We would have noticed cameras, and where would they be hiding anyway?

[Please not underground.]

...but you ended up here instead?
sputnik: — 𝑺𝑷𝑼𝑻𝑵𝑰𝑲 (ᴍᴏsᴛ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜɴɪᴠᴇʀsᴇ ɪs ɢᴏɴᴇ)

[personal profile] sputnik 2024-04-03 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
'Creature' is the word the other man uses, and the one that maybe a great deal of other people would, too. It's certainly not an unfamiliar word to the cosmonaut; it's the one he uses to describe the thing from another world that has made him its home.

He's quiet, thoughtful as he listens, gazing at the bodies and then the face of the corpse closest to him, eyes glassy and lifeless. Like something stuffed. Like the imitation of a person, now.

The question earns a noticeable pause. He's been... careful with what he reveals, and how, and hasn't given too much out about his own circumstances. But he's been listening to what others have to say, and oh, he's heard things. Talks of worlds with monsters, mutations, gods. Konstantin doesn't know how to feel about anything he can't prove, but he has something of his own that can be. He'll stay vague about it, but there's no harm in what he says next.

"Nothing like this there. Not on Earth. The worst monster to be found there is only the people." A small, wry smile.

"But.... above it, out in the universe — I believe there are many things that humans haven't discovered yet. Things we aren't prepared for."

He gives a soft laugh, brushing his palms over the front of his coat. "The insight of an old spaceman. What about you, my friend? Do things like this happen where you're from? Monsters roaming?"
sputnik: — 𝑺𝑷𝑼𝑻𝑵𝑰𝑲 (sᴛᴀʀs ᴡɪᴛʜ sᴛᴀɪɴs)

[personal profile] sputnik 2024-04-03 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Ahhhh, a man of the law. Very cool. [ The corner of Konstantin's mouth tugs upwards in a crooked smile, but on him it's boyish, easy. Assuming that detail is actually true and not part of some delusion (sorry Bigby.....he still thinks you might be living in La La Land,) he wonders how the other man might feel to learn that he's technically a fugitive.

...How strange to think that someone like him could ever end up like that. On the run, no longer a revered Hero but a monster? At least he'd escaped that place before they managed to turn him into an even worse one.

He looks over at the item Bigby holds up, and moves closer so he can narrow his eyes at it thoughtfully.
]

I noticed a few of those around the church itself, too... [ He can't quite identify what kind of bird they came from. Something big. ]

He collected them?
sputnik: — 𝑺𝑷𝑼𝑻𝑵𝑰𝑲 (ᴡᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ʀᴜɪɴs ᴡɪᴛʜɪɴ ʀᴜɪɴs)

cw: introspection of suicide (via gun)

[personal profile] sputnik 2024-04-03 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
They could have a base of operations just outside of this place. Or somewhere further out. It's all so remote; they could do anything they wanted out here.

[ The fact no one can even leave this town without great risk means they couldn't find such a base of operations. They're like rats, trapped in the middle of nowhere. But he sobers at the question, giving a soft sigh. ]

Yes, I had just escaped. A doctor helped me. But they were coming for me again, and I was.... hurt, couldn't run away anymore. I knew no matter what it took, I couldn't go back there.

[ He's sorry to have done that to Tatiana so suddenly, to press the gun to his abdomen without even a chance to say goodbye. He wonders what happened to her. ]

...Then I woke up here. And it's...different from the facility before, but feels the same, underneath. Someone or something trapped us here. If we can figure out why, then maybe.... we can use that to our advantage and escape.
solitarysoul: (Scope)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2024-04-03 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[That pause says a lot, but Levi won't say anything. Konstantin can tell him if he wants to, and it hardly mattered here.]

I guess. Its all kind of...too big for me. Why we're here, how it all works. I want to figure it out...but its all over way my head. I'm not smart enough for this sort of thing, but there are plenty of people here who are.

[Or were smarter than him, at least.]
bigbaddy: (014)

[personal profile] bigbaddy 2024-04-03 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
"You can drink from me."

Maybe it isn't the world's best decision. Bigby doesn't know. But he told other people that he wanted to take care of the people of this town, and isn't this exactly the sort of moment where he's got to step up and hold himself to those words? Sure, this girl may have some supply left as she's saying, but it sounds like stretching that out won't last her for very long either.

If she drinks from him now, then at least it means she'll need to stretch them for one less meal. And Bigby-- Well, he'll just have to trust that the now less terrified girl isn't lying about what she's saying. That she really won't take that much blood.

Still, even with his lack of certainty, his words do sound sure. It sounds like he didn't even really have to think about what he was going to say, right before he said it.

"That'll help, right? One less time you have to find some other source."

And if it goes well, then maybe he'll have strengthened back up enough for her to drink again by the time she's gotten through that.. TruBlood, or whatever that stuff is. Bigby gets that it things can be difficult when you don't exactly eat conventional meals.

Page 6 of 10