you can run but you can't escape

[singmod]

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.

Comments

[lilredvamp]

“Taken?” Jessica repeats in a hushed whisper. Her bright blue eyes could barely be seen between the cracks of the chest. “Like, are they dead then? What happened to them? What was that green glow thing?”

Jessica didn’t feel claustrophobic in coffins before, but in the chest she certainly does. She doesn’t feel safe in the chest, nor in the community hall, or anywhere really. But now it’s daylight she doesn’t dare go out of her chest. For all she knows all the curtains are withdrawn and the sunlight is shining through the windows. She’s already risking a lot by opening a crack.

But she’s already starting to suspect something is different. Whenever vampires stay past sunrise, they get the bleeds, which is blood bleeding from the ears and eyes. That hasn’t happen yet. She doesn’t know why it’s not.

[solitarysoul]

This was so fucking weird, she wouldn't even come out of her box. But he's just going to do his best to ignore that and pretend this is a normal conversation. Well, as normal as something about the Darkwalker can be.

"...yeah, they're dead. If its like the last time their hearts just stopped, and they looked terrified. That green glowy thing is called the Darkwalker; I think Kate put up a picture of it on the board outside, but we don't really know much about it. Its, uh, its supposed to be the end of all things."

Then again, maybe hiding in a box didn't seem so bad.

"We've been trying to find a way to fight it or protect ourselves from it but...we don't really understand it at all."

[lilredvamp]

“Oh my God!” Jessica can only cry out, new bloody tears of anguish and fear dripping down her face. “We are all gonna die here, aren’t we? And I’m going to die in this stupid, stupid box.”

She died once before and it was awful. She doesn’t want to experience it again!

[solitarysoul]

"No! We're not hopeless, we don't have to die. We're trying to figure out ways to fight back even against something like that. A lot of things have happened since I got here that might have killed us, but we're still here." Well, each one had taken some people, but the bulk of town was still trying their best to stay alive.

[lilredvamp]

Well, she supposed that was comforting in general but not for Jessica. She was feeling weak for staying up past the sun and the lid of the wooden chest she’s in was feeling heavy.

“But it won’t return, right? Not for a while, at least.”

[solitarysoul]

"Um." Well, they don't really know, do they? Its shown up just twice so that's hardly a pattern. Hopefully it wasn't like when new people showed up every few months.

"There were a few months between the last time it happened and now, at least."

[lilredvamp]

This place fucking sucks holy shit. For once she actually wish Bill was here. Or any other vampire, even Pam. They would know what to do.

“Why didn’t anyone this town left after the first attack?”

[solitarysoul]

"...there's not really anywhere else to go. There are no other towns or whatever we can reach. A few people have gone out to look, but never returned." Also he's not sure a thing like the Darkwalker would care about location.