seven devils all around you, seven devils in your house

[singmod]

JUNE 2024 EVENT

PART ONE — A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME: The Darkwalker claims another victim, and that is only the beginning of troubles for the Interlopers as they face a month of endless night and green gloom.

PART TWO — POLAR SUN: As June continues, Interlopers are faced with food insecurity as wildlife flees; tensions grow as they face hunger and the Darkwalker's continued influence. On the day of the Summer Solstice, the tension finally breaks and violent chaos descends upon Interlopers.

PART THREE — REPRIEVE: The end is in sight, and an ally comes to the Interloper’s aid.

A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME

WHEN: June 1st, then onwards.
WHERE: Milton area; Lakeside area (Carter Hydrodam).
CONTENT WARNINGS: death of playable character; supernatural death; mention of dead body; themes of death; supernatural beings; themes of terror; themes of peril.

The evening is quiet and still. May draws to a close and while the sun does not completely set, it dips low enough for the sky to grow a little darkdim with twilight. The midnight sun is almost upon the Northern Territories, the air is warmer than it has ever felt — even if it remains chilly. If this is summer, it is but a gentle brush of reprieve against the unyielding winter. The Interlopers wind down for the night, many turn to their beds to sleep, others sit awake and ponder their existence in this world. They think of home, of loved ones, of their predicament here in this place. The Forest Talkers, the strange beasts and monsters they’ve encountered.

The moon wanes in the skies, nestled amongst the stars. For those still awake to notice, they can see 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 Northern Territories.

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.

Under a green sky, a cold fear washes over you — squeezing the breath from your lungs. Interlopers will find themselves overcome with that fear, and everything in their bodies and minds tells them to run. To flee. And so you run, heading for cover. Curtains will be drawn, some may hide under beds, within closets or wardrobes. Some desperately 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 cower 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.

For those within Milton, it is further away but is by no means less potent: Interlopers will find themselves frozen with the constant loom of the Darkwalker’s arrival — even if it does not come to Milton. Those within Lakeside, however, will feel the true force of this presence: more like a knife edge — painfully gripping your heart as it draws close.

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.

For those in Lakeside, through the fear, they may be able to note the path: a straight line from the east towards Carter Hydrodam. 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 even with the distance you can hear it. The sound of gnashing teeth, and… laughter. There is no scream, no bright light in the sky — Enola is silent this time. There is only that laughter, echoing off into the night.

The skies do not return to normal. The green gloom hangs in the air. It is done, but it is not yet over. While the overwhelming fear dissolves away, but a kind of… dread remains on the air — almost palpable.


The Darkwalker has devoured another. Braver souls who go out to investigate into Lakeside will find just who has been devoured once they reach the Hydrodam — although it may be a day or two before they will find the body in the medical bay.

At least it is cold enough that the rot does not fully set in — but death will certainly be here.

And this is but the beginning of the Interloper’s troubles.

POLAR SUN

WHEN: The month of June, up to Midsummer’s Eve + Summer Solstice.
WHERE: Milton area; Lakeside area.
CONTENT WARNINGS: themes of survival; food scarcity/food insecurity; supernatural weather; altered mental states; mental manipulation; themes of violence; potential character injury; potential character death; potential NPC death.

In the coming weeks and days, and weeks, the green gloom lingers. From the Darkwalker’s attack, there is no sun. No day, no night. No stars or moon or sun. No Auroras. Just the gloom and biting cold. Life becomes increasingly hard on Interlopers: higher expenditure on fuel — fires and lanterns are imperative to keep the darkness and the cold at bay.

With the green gloom in the air, the wildlife becomes more scarce — as if it has been frightened away into the deeper parts of the wilds. It will be harder to bring in fresh meat in both Milton and Lakeside, and Interlopers will find that they will have to rely on whatever stores they have — and perhaps even rationing for a while.

And it’s not the only thing frightened. Even with the debilitating fear that comes with the Darkwalker’s attack gone, there is still a kind of fear that lingers on the air that slowly eats away at the Interloper’s resolve over time.

Interlopers will find themselves anxious, on edge. Some will be prone to anger in their fear, others prone to fits of melancholy: tearfulness and sorrow. Between the cold, the lack of fresh game and the fear on the air — it’s no wonder spirits are low. Bickering and minor upsets between Interlopers are likely.

They call it the midnight sun, the polar day. It's opposite is the polar night. This is neither and both. On the day of midsummer's eve, that fear on the air is even more palpable. The air feels a little stifling at times, as if the pressure is all off — often quite oppressive, a strange kind of tension. There is something brewing, a low burning thing that begins from the moment Interlopers wake — heavy and sharp in their chest.

’So, Interloper. What will you do now?’ A voice sneers in your ear. The very same voice that has haunted Interlopers since the very beginning. The Darkwalker finally speaks after all these weeks of gloom since its most recent attack. ’When all is gone, when even the sun does not rise? What will you do then?’

A nervousness sits within you as you remember the Darkwalker’s words. What will you do if the sun does not rise? If the darkness is all that is left? If the food runs out? Your wonderings will continue to gnaw away within you. The darkness is hollowing.

’Will you lean on others, like you have always tried to do?’ the voice continues. ’What bonds you hold with them, the ones with those around you. But how strong are they, truly? Can you trust them? Will it matter when your belly is empty and your heart is low? Perhaps it is time to see.

’Never forget, Interloper. I am the Rot. And I will rot within you.’

As the day progresses into the Solstice, that tension lingers in the air, and the wonderings within you continue to wear at you. You find yourself becoming more and more agitated as time goes on. Those feelings that have been brewing for some time now have started to grow close to boiling. You may snap at others, grow restless, become enraged at the tiniest of things — the upsets wildly out of proportion for the smallest slights or issues.

You find your thoughts wandering, too. Perhaps it is to someone you know in this place, or perhaps it is to someone previously unknown to you. Maybe you have an issue with this person, or perhaps the voice’s influence extends further — not only adding to your agitations but creating them, too. A slight, a grudge, a bias.

You feel a bitter gnawing within you. The nightmarish green gloom above you persists and everything bubbles up from within. From the dark, the anger within you become too much. The tension finally snaps.

For some, it might come out as a vicious argument where you air your grievances, or finally let slip the things you’ve been holding close to your chest. A verbal beat down, incredibly hurtful in nature. For others, things may be drawn to getting physical. A literal beat down where your fists grow bruised and bloody, or perhaps even worse. Whatever it is, you want to do damage to someone else — there is darkness here, and so many things come out in the dark, don’t they?

Like a ripple, all around you: all hell breaks loose. Chaos erupts, and the air is filled with violence.

Let’s hope you might stop, or someone else stops you, before someone gets killed.

REPRIEVE

WHEN: Circa three days after the Summer Solstice.
WHERE: Milton.
CONTENT WARNINGS: blood.

All things must come to an end, even the most violent of deadly storms. In the midst of the seemingly endless violence of the night, you find yourself outside. Maybe you're fleeing from another Interloper, maybe you're desperately trying to reach someone you care for, maybe you're simply trying to find somewhere new to hide. Interlopers are hunting one another, blood lies on the snow, bodies too — some breathing, some not.

Perhaps it is a trick of the light. Perhaps it's the Darkwalker’s influence still warping your already frayed mind. Or it's the blood in your eyes, your battered and bruised body struggling to get through it all.

In the gloom, you see it. See her.

A woman, dressed in furs, stones and shells glimmering on her chest like armour, stands in the snow before you. Thin and pale, eyes sunken. Her chest heaves with each breath as she looks around with wide eyes. Her hands are bare and bloody. It drips slowly from her fingers. Is it her blood? Or someone else's? You cannot tell, but you cannot mistake how thick it coats her skin.

Her head turns to look at you. You are stunned, but not frightened. Even through the gloom, after a moment or two, her eyes widen in recognition: she knows you.

Slowly and silent, other than her noisy breathing, she draws close to you. Maybe in turn you draw close to her, closing the distance between you. Up close, her eyes are blue, and sad. You cannot mistake the sorrow in them. She is tired, weary. Her hair is dark, worn loose and long. For some, you feel as if you've seen her before, but you can't quite place her face.

Softly, she says your name.

For some, there may be no recognition. This woman is a stranger, who knows your name somehow. She has been silent the past couple of months, after all.

For others, hearing her speak brings a sudden, jarring realisation: this is Enola.

She’s here. Enola. All this time, she’s whispered to you in dreams, in static, in the very air itself.

She raises one hand, dark and dripping in the green light. Lightly, her fingers brush against your chest. You don’t feel the pressure of them, don’t feel the odd heat of blood — only the weight of her stare as she holds your gaze. It’s a long moment of peace in amongst the chaos.

You feel her exhaustion, a tiredness that sinks into your very bones. Apologies, too. You have never known anything like it. But there’s something else too, something that takes a moment or two to put your finger on. Defiance. A renewal. Something shifts in the air, a growing tension, different from the kind that’s been held on the air throughout the month. It’s the coming of a storm, the rolling clouds, the growing rumble of thunder before the first lightning strike.

Enola nods, her expression grave. She pulls away and turns from you — her head lifting towards the skies as she walks. Her arms raise, bloodied hands twisting and tensing before her. They curl, almost into fists, and she makes a gesture: the slow tearing of something huge and invisible before her — a shriek spilling from her lips. A battle-cry, a last stand, a wail of agony. It echoes.

The sky cracks and splits open before you, dazzling light and colours blinding your vision into pure white. The world tilts too hard below your feet, and you don’t remember passing out.

When you awaken, Enola is gone. The skies are clear and blue, the sun is high in the sky. As you pick yourself up from the snow, in the harsh light of the polar day, blood has never looked so red. The horrors of the night laid bare. Interlopers are dead, but the Darkwalker’s influence is gone. For now.

In the wake of Midsummer, all Interlopers can do is try reconcile. Bury the dead, rebuild, lick wounds. But that feeling in the air still remains — that different, new kind of tension that has come with Enola’s appearance. The first of the lightning bolts has struck, but more are coming.

FAQs

A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME

1. Alexander Hilbert has been devoured by the Darkwalker. His remains can be found in the Hydrodam. The following note has been left by Kates concerning his death: ‘Sveta gets possession of his research notes + blood samples + creepy lab journal because it's all in Russian, lmao.’

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

3. Usually, after the Darkwalker attacks, the sky would return to normal. This won’t happen. Instead, the usual atmospheric changes that occur during Darkwalker attacks will remain in place as June continues..


POLAR SUN

1. For an idea how the setting appears for June, it's like what you see in the game during the Escape The Darkwalker Challenge. Inside, there'll be a degree of green shades to rooms etc via what comes through windows but with it being lit up via fires and light sources, the gloom will be chased back.


2. Characters are free to use this event to kill NPC Interlopers. Methuselah and Young Bill are off the table, as are two marked NPC Interlopers. Please let Mods know if you intend on doing this for record keeping!

3. These acts of violence can be physical or verbal altercations, players are encouraged to work with the prompt however they'd like! However, anything potentially world-altering (ie. building destruction) must be first discussed with mods.

4. Interlopers under the Darkwalker's influence can be stopped in a number of ways. Showing genuine care and compassion in the face of violence is one way. Knocking an Interloper out is another way. Sometimes killing an Interloper may be needed, or simply restraining them and keeping them locked up somewhere so they can't hurt anyone else until the night is over would also work.

5. Talismans made by Heartman back in March with a Ward Sigil against the Darkwalker will come into effect during this prompt. It's been an ongoing process, with new Interlopers being offered them from their arrival. Players are free to choose what kind of talisman they received, or if they chose to get one at all. Their effectiveness is dependent on the type of blood used on the talisman.

— Animal Blood: Interlopers carrying talismans using blood from animals found in the world, such as deer, rabbits or wolves will find themselves more susceptible to the Darkwalker’s influence and disposition towards violence. They will be much harder to break out of the hold over them, and become almost frenzied state.
— Monster Blood: Interlopers carrying talismans using blood from any creatures or monsters that Interlopers have encountered in their time in the Northern Territories, such as the Serpent from December’s TDM will find there are no negative nor positive effects. The talisman is essentially useless. and Interlopers will fall under the Darkwalker's influence.
— Interloper Blood: Interlopers carrying talismans using blood for Interlopers will be offered protection/resistance from the Darkwalker’s influence and disposition towards violence. They may be slightly affected but will have their wits about them more compared to others. If the blood came from an Interloper with an Aurora Feat — this protection/resistance will be largely increased, an the Interloper may even feel braver, less affected by the fear in the atmosphere.
— No Talisman: Similar to the Monster Blood Talisman, Interlopers will be affected typically by the Darkwalker's influence in due course.

There are no additional affects with an Interloper using their own blood, just if they have an Aurora Feat or not.

6. Animals owned by Interlopers will be more frightened and will want to hide away in the build up — they will be disturbed by the world. Mostly lying down and whining/restlessness. They may display some signs of aggression on occasion, but not to the same degree of humans.

7. Forest Talkers are hidden away and will not be able to be reached during the Solstice.

REPRIEVE

1. Enola can only be met alone, but she will appear to all Interlopers in Milton.

2. Enola will be nowhere to be found afterwards, there are no tracks to be followed. She has simply vanished.

PLOTTING POST

Comments

[burying]

[ Kieren tilts his head to one side, frowning slightly. ]

Mmm, yeah — pretty sure the whole 'eating people' thing is worse. Like, you know— the whole 'taboo' thing.

[desperate_times_right]

I don't think most people are cool with guys just killing random women even if they don't eat them.

And you couldn't help it, yeah? Like, if I was drugged and I did something bad, yeah I might feel bad about it but it's not my fault. This place drove you to it. I knew when I saw it how much you'd hate it.

[flanerie]

"Lurk?" Lestat shoots her an affronted look, eyes brightening with amusement. "Lurking is for pickpockets, derelicts, and catfish. I never deign to lurk. I entice, or sometimes shadow - but lurk? You wound me."

[desperate_times_right]

“I dunno, man. I feel like we’re lurking right now.” Dragging a questionable package had elevated it on the way over.

cw: mention of (badly done, unwilling) electroshock therapy

[pacificator]

I've had therapists. All they did was zap me when I tried to tell the truth.

[ Even now, she sometimes feels a ghost of those shocks at the word demon. She hadn't called the damn things revenants during those sessions, at least. Small favors, or she'd be psychosomatically zapping herself with every other thought. ]

Well, maybe he's right. Not like anything we manage to do is usually enough to fix shit completely, so sometimes you gotta blow off a little steam. There are way worse ways than yelling at somebody, believe me.

[questioningmermaids]

[ March freezes completely, staring directly at Chloe.

That’s a yes. ]

[desperate_times_right]

Ohhhh.

[Chloe giggles obnoxiously. Sorry, man.]

Well, on the bright side being here has to be better than all that.

[flanerie]

"Lurking is a quiescent and aimless endeavour. We're on our feet, stealing through the trees with purpose, not lounging in the doorway of a speakeasy."

He lifts a hand to underscore his point and breaks into a laugh as he has to readjust the weight of the sledge across his back, jerking the lead down to keep his burden in place.

"Be precise about your disrepute."

[desperate_times_right]

Chloe snickers. “Okay, okay, I can’t steal through the woods with purpose to find some guy to chomp on whenever I get hungry.”

[questioningmermaids]

[ That giggle? Dagger to the heart. Pow. March wrinkles his nose, not actually insulted, but damn if he's not going to put on a face. ]

I dig it. Being a PI. Lot more freedom than when I was on the beat. What do you do, Miss Judgey?

[salamanca]

[ Lalo closes his eyes. His lids are heavy. Fortunately, he's always had an easy time falling asleep. He wastes no time at all drifting off. ]

[flanerie]

"Much better." He's indulgent with his approval, as ever.

"And while we remain committed to accuracy - you could, as distasteful as it would be." He pulls a face. "I'm relieved I don't have to chew them. This town is more gristle than good flesh."

[desperate_times_right]

Treasure hunter.

[She’s been vague about it to a lot of people but what’s he actually going to do to her?]

[desperate_times_right]

“God, right?” It's enough to make her glad that she hadn't been involved in Hickey’s situation back home, that's for certain. “Especially now that we've all been starving for weeks. Most of us, anyway.”

[flanerie]

"It's dreadful. You've all gone thin as a spendthrift's purse, with all the piquancy of dishwater."

Maybe there's more benefit to the farming proposal than he grasped immediately. If green pepper, onion, and celery are the backbone of Louis' often reminisced cuisine, turnips and rosehips might be the secret ingredient to restoring some flavour to the locals.

"So don't think I don't suffer with you. I won't be making a habit of this. Who has the time?"

SORRY I MISSED THIS. I'm fine continuing unless you all would like to handwave o/ it's my fault

[edamamepon]

[ Levi's fist lands easily. Makoto's flailing is not calculated, and not strong enough to stop the force behind it. He's far too busy yelping at the pain, an angry sound starting and dying into another sound of surprise as his feet are relieved of their duty to keep him standing. Hitting the ground hard, instinct already has him pressing his arms protectively over his head and his knees curling in.

It's dizzying, everything hurts, and Makoto knows he won't be able to move out of the way of whatever is coming next. His whole body jolts into a defensive flinch at the threat of Levi's leg in the air. He tenses, eyes screwed shut. When the foot doesn't land, Makoto opens one eye. And then the other. The wide eyes blink from between his arms would be comical if not for the smears of blood on his face and splattered violently across his clothes. ]

The problem?

[ His chest is still heaving when he answers his savior with a breathless question, voice cracking as he scrambles back out of Levi's range. It comes out stuffy, as if he's pinching his nose. Except he clearly isn't. ]

Well, I think your friend can answer that better than I can.

[ Makoto stands with a wince, balance wobbly. He looks more annoyed than scared now, tenderly touching his nose. Which only prompts a hiss to accompany his frown. ]

[desperate_times_right]

“That's a good point. These trips wouldn't be so special if you made them all the time, huh?” Even mutilating bodies like that can probably get old, and since he's a vampire, it might have done even before he got here.

well i'm good to keep going-

[wingbound]

[ It feels wrong, the way he's so easily pulled back. He tries to get away for a moment, wiggling and pulling like a rabid dog on a leash trying to get at its half dead prey, but it predictably does not work. ]

[ For a moment, he stills when he hears the name. No. No, she shouldn't be seeing him like this. But she's dead, all of them are dead because Levi wasn't decisive enough when it mattered, wasn't violent enough when it mattered -- or that's what the green whisper tells him, anyway. ]

[ He growls and tries to twist around to get at the man holding him. If he manages to latch onto his arm, he'll be trying to throw the whole person. ]

[notarat]

.. I suppose that people liking to crush others underneath their heels is not exactly something that's only common to one time, no.

[ Not that Billy has ever really experienced bullying like that - but he likes to think that's more because he tends to keep his head down. It's difficult to bully someone you hardly even notice being around. Better forgotten than harassed, he thinks.

But maybe Peter never had that choice. ]

But to me you don't seem like the type who would find themselves in the path of people like that. [ Peter seems smart, after all. It's not something Billy would think about just anyone, but he's willing to grant the other this much.

Smart enough to know to avoid those people. ]

[notarat]

[ They said.

This isn't just about the woman out there. It's also about back home. About Kieren's condition. Billy may not know all the details, but he's relatively smart enough to be able to put some pieces of the puzzle together here. This happened to Kieren before back home, a certain loss of control. Something that haunts the other even to this day, or maybe especially in the light of these recent events. It's not something Billy can just talk the other out of with some careful words, he realizes the more he thinks about Kieren, about the tone in the other's voice, like a panicked, wounded animal.

Besides, what could he even say to reassure the other? It's just true that Kieren can't take it back. Billy can't argue with that.

So when he's finished with ridding Kieren's hands of most of the gore, he tries to think of what Kieren might do in this situation if the roles were reversed. He's such a different type than Billy, and from such a different time, and maybe that means Billy should attempt a form of comfort that feels a lot more foreign to him. ]

.. Kieren.

[ His voice is soft, a bit of emphasis on the other's name, like he's trying to snap Kieren further out of his own thoughts, since those clearly don't seem to help him when they're spiralling back to everything that happened back home.

A second attempt to snap him out of them is made right after. Billy reaches out, an arm wrapping around Kieren to loosely pull the other against Billy. The hug is a little awkward at first, like he's really unused to this, but he slowly eases into it a little more.

He doesn't say anything, not right away. ]

[sputnik]

[ Konstantin doesn't delay, won't let anything keep him from this task, but he does take that minute or two at the sink to adjust himself. Rinsing out the washcloth, he stares down, watching soot slip from the thing, and he's strangely nervous to return to Vasiliy's side.

It's stupid. Whatever that.... emotion, or sensation is, his odd anxiety about it is... silly. He's simply grown very attached to this man, the way he would have to one of his fellow military-men, or another cosmonaut. A comrade. There's no reason why standing beside Vasiliy should make him nervous. He can't remember ever being nervous like this, in his life. Maybe when he was much younger, much more uncertain.

Wringing out the cloth again, he returns to Vasya and gently holds his arm up so he can rinse off the soapy residue there, a smile returning to his face. He'll continue this process with the other one, slow and gentle. ]

The soot's coming off, slowly but surely. I'll be able to properly see you again in no time.

[m1895]

Leave a little bit on. [ His voice is hoarse, and muffled by the mask, but there's humor in it, maybe a little bit of a desire to diffuse some of the onesided sexual tension holding him so firmly in its thrall. ] Women go for firefighters. They always told us all about it at the station.

[ Vasiliy coughs, clears his throat, immediately winces at the stab of pain in his soft palate and the back of his throat. That was a mistake. ]

There are no "sexy EMT" calendars. [ It only occurs to him after a few moments that Kostya probably doesn't have the frame of reference to understand the quip, being that he's never lived in the States, and such things weren't exactly common in the Soviet Union. ] In America, there are these... pinup calendars, with photographs of muscular firemen with no shirts on for the women to admire.

Re: huge mood

[flambeaux]

Fire rises, Louis remembers. The roof is a lost cause as well as a death trap. Louis darts in and starts carrying whatever he can outside, the bales in particular making for awkward passengers. Louis has no doubt Vasiliy is stronger given the work history he indicated.

Eventually the smoke gets to be too much for Louis, and he slumps on his knees in the snow next to a haphazardly thrown cattle lead.

"How the fuck does a fire start... when it's so goddamn cold!" he coughs. He knows full well warmth can thrive in freezing temperatures. It's the frustration talking.

[flanerie]

"It's all very tedious - present company excepted, of course." Once again, Chloe demonstrates an admirable understanding of his plight.

"I had an incinerator in New Orleans. It made everything so much simpler. Modern conveniences," he says, with a heavy sigh, "I never thought I'd return to this primitive era."

[flambeaux]

Kieren goes pallid, and Louis has a real concern he might keel over right now, but he's not keen on reaching out to him and invading his space. Louis is not an overly tactile person, plus he likes his fingers attached to his hands.

"This death was not yours! You need to get yourself together, boy. You said you were in control of your instincts, but I saw what you did. What's done is done, and you gotta take measures. We stick to animals, you and I, but I'm not lettin' these go to waste either. If animals aren't provin' enough for you..."

Louis isn't sure what to do if that's the case. He doesn't know for sure. Maybe it's just something in the air, in the lurid green sky...