there'll be oats in the water

[singmod]

JULY 2024 EVENT

PROMPT ONE — THE AURORA: REDUX: A storm finally arrives, and with it — Enola extends her hand to help the Interlopers once more, granting them new abilities.

PROMPT TWO — PENSIVE LOOKOUT: With the Forest Talker efforts focused on sabotaging hunting efforts, Interlopers can attempt to explore the Pensive Lookout Tower, where they can uncover secrets from the diary of Sam Bouchard — the former firewatch worker of the summer of 2014.

PROMPT THREE — A PEEK INSIDE: A group of Interlopers get their hands on one of the Forest Talkers in search of answers — and get a little more than they bargained for.

THE AURORA: REDUX

WHEN: Mid-month, for three days.
WHERE: Everywhere.
CONTENT WARNINGS: supernatural/extreme weather; lightning storms; potentially disturbing dreams; dreams of being trapped in ice; dreams of animal death; dreams of the death of loved ones.


July brings warmer weather. The fog has lifted, and the daylight returned — but an odd kind of pressure lingers in the air, the kind that feels similar with oncoming storms but something still feels off about it all. Measurements and readings are erratic, with them often making little sense. It’s hard to predict just what might be coming, but sure enough something is coming.

Hold on a little longer, Enola told you. A storm is coming.

It comes quickly, the gathering of storm clouds. At first, it looks as if a kind of snowstorm is moving in, but there’s something else at play here. Within the grey, cloudy skies, there is a tell-tale sound of an Aurora mixed within those clouds.

And with it, in amongst the dark, the swirling colours. Greens, pinks and purples weaving through the clouds, almost mesmerising to watch. The air is alive with sound: static noise, cracks and pops: a storm and the Aurora mixed into one. For those who’ve been here long enough, it’s a worrying, unnerving sight. The storm rumbles with the low roar of distant thunder, growing ever closer. The electronics of the world begin to come alive, and in the static of it all — you begin to hear Enola’s voice even clearer than before.

After so much darkness, now there is so much light. A lightning storm — aurora colours mingling with the grey clouds, punctured with crackles of lightning. Something powerful and strange — flash forking across the skies, followed by booms of thunder.

The storm lasts three days, and even though her voice is soft — you hear it over all the noise, nestled gently in your ear.

“You're still here. It means something. This isn’t the end, I refuse to let it be the end. It can’t win. You won’t go into the Dark.” Enola tells you. ”I will make you more than what you are, more than what was stolen from you. This place will not be your end. I have to try. We have to try. Together. I showed some of you, once. I’ll show you again.”

She tells you to sleep. For some, they recognise this and realise what may end up happening. For others it feels like going out on a limb. But you sleep, and perhaps a dream may come to you.

COLD FUSION: The colours of the Aurora dance around you in your dreamscape. You dream of a great hall of ice: as if it had been carved into some great ridge of it. You walk through it, marvelling at the beauty of it — a blue gloom, echoing with each of your footsteps. But as you take one particular step, the ground cracks and collapses beneath you, sending you into dark, frozen waters. In seconds, the water freezes around you, encompassing you in thick ice, your entire body trapped within it. The coldness burns you, and you are stuck there — frozen in agony. The pain is immeasurable, your entire body crushed and searing from the ice. There is no escape, no reprieve.

A voice speaks to you, perhaps it is the voice of a stranger, perhaps it is the voice of someone you know: Do you know how you survive the cold?’ They ask you. You do not know, and you wait for the answer: ‘You become colder than it.

Your eyes close. You believe those words, you do. You must become colder than the cold itself. And so you will. Your breathing slows, your heart slows and the cold… it stops hurting, it doesn’t burn. The ice around you begins the crack.

When you awaken the first thing you realise is despite the temperature, you are completely cosy and warmed. You do not feel the slightest chill. It is perhaps only once you are around other than you truly notice the difference to you — you are cold to the touch, lacking the heat you once had. An understanding comes: you are at one with the cold, it will not beat you, it will not cause you agony. Winter is at peace within you: perfect Cold Fusion.

MOON TOUCHED: The colours of the Aurora dance around you in your dreamscape. You dream of running through the silent woods at night. The moon is full above you, the air is calm and still. Hunger draws you forward, everything is so sharp and vivid in your senses, even in this dreamscape. You hear the crispness of the snow beneath your feet, smell the scent of the pines on the air, feel how warm you are against the coldness around you.

The snuffling of a rabbit catches your attention, and you swiftly leap after it, jaws opening and closing around its neck as you capture it. You bite down hard, feeling the crunch of its bones as they break, the sweet coppery taste of blood filling your mouth and nose. You lift your head towards the stars, blood on your tongue. You realise you are not a person at all, but a beast on all fours: a wolf, content and filling your belly with meat.

You wonder, for a brief moment: were you ever a person at all?

You do not know the answer to the question. You do not seem to worry about such a thing but there’s a flash of warning on the air. Something you cannot quite place, but you know that you should not forget it.

When you awaken, you feel… different, somehow. Everything seems a little sharper, as if the world around you had been dull, or behind some pane of frosted glass. With it comes a strange balance of calmness and chaos, tameness and wildness, fear and bravery. You find yourself looking for the moon in the skies and when you finally find it, it hits you — this is what it means to be Moon Touched.

INTERLOPER’S SACRIFICE: The colours of the Aurora dance around you in your dreamscape and then fade into nothing. You dream of kneeling in a darkened, charred wood. You are not alone. In this dreamscape, you dream of a loss, or a time you have never felt more helpless in your life. Perhaps it is when someone you knew died before you, or you stood as someone was sick and injured and you were unable to do a thing. As you kneel, they are there with you: sick or dying or even dead in your arms. You cannot do anything but hold them, and the helplessness is overwhelming.

You look up and a woman in furs stands before you, her expression solemn. Enola herself. There are tears in her eyes, as if she shares the very pain you do: the loss, the grief, the hopelessness, the powerlessness. She approaches you and lowers herself to kneel in front of you and your companion, bracing your shoulders for a long, lingering moment. There are no words, none from neither of you.

Enola shifts slightly, leans forwards. She kisses your forehead, much like when a parent kisses their child: sweet and tender.

And then you feel it, as if you are set alight: an agonising pain that encompasses you whole — so painful you cannot even open your mouth to scream. You feel yourself growing weak, the corners of your vision blurring into black. It feels as if you might die from the pain, and you want for it to stop but it doesn’t.

Enola pulls away and you gasp, slumping in exhaustion, but still alive, somehow. You stare at her, sweating and clamouring for breath, and she offers you a sad smile. Never again. you feel the words inside of you. This time, it will be different. Better.

When you awaken, you can still feel the kiss upon your forehead — enough to make your fingers reach up to touch it, your entire body tingling a little. A small voice in the back of your mind whispers, reminding you as you find yourself looking down at your hands: never again. Never again, you tell yourself and the comprehension comes to you: you have chosen. This is what it means to be: this is your sacrifice. The Interloper’s Sacrifice.

NOTHING: The colours of the Aurora dance around you in your dreamscape, but only for a moment. The edges of your vision begin the blur with black, slowly closing in until everything goes dark and you fall into a deep, dreamless sleep. You awaken, and although you feel rested, as if the dreamless darkness has helped you feel a little more ready to take on the day — nothing else about you has changed.

PENSIVE LOOKOUT

WHEN: The month of July.
WHERE: Pensive Lookout Tower, Lakeside.
CONTENT WARNINGS: themes of survival; possible fall injuries/treacherous climbs; themes of terror; themes of diminished sanity; themes of starvation.

The Old Hunting Lodge is located in the southern-most area of Lakeside, and its surrounding area is generally considered no-go territory with the presence of the Forest Talkers. As June turned into July, the Forest Talker’s presence in the wilds of Lakeside has begun to grow again — but their efforts appear to be focused on sabotaging the efforts of Interlopers, Methuselah and Young Bill in hunting fresh game. If anything, it could mean that with attentions drawn away — perhaps the braver sorts of the Interlopers can explore the area a little more fully.

There’s little in terms of buildings of interest in this area. The wilderness is thick and deep here. Perhaps the odd ransacked cabin once belonging to a local may be stumbled across — its contents picked clean, presumably by the Forest Talkers. Many of these buildings will be completely inhabitable due to the damage done — with some cabins being razed to the ground.

However, on higher ground, with a good hike to access it, stands a watch tower.

These lookout towers could mean a number of things: a chance to access supplies that may have otherwise been forgotten about due to the hike to get up there, a better view of the surrounding area, and the possibility of a radio — given the sign of a radio transmitter that can be found blinking a feeble red on Aurora nights.

With the snow on the ground it’s a little more treacherous, but given the circumstances, anything’s worth a shot, right? Those who attempt the hike may fall foul to slips and trips along the steep slow to reach the tower, and should take care in the ascent. Even with the warmth of July, it’s difficult. One might hope this might make the place a decent outpost, if you think about it. Somewhere hard to reach, and with such a vantage point.

Reaching the tower and climbing it to its interior will it largely intact but a mess. Someone has lived here for some time. Interlopers will find no food here, but some useful tools that belonged to the lookout: binoculars, maps, a compass, an alidade. There is even a radio sat upon a desk, and with it — a journal.

The journal, Interlopers will find, belonged to a man named Sam Bouchard — the firewatcher for the season during the previous year, detailing the months of his arrival and ending in November last year. It is unknown what happened to Sam, but his journal will perhaps offer some insight and even some information.

A PEEK INSIDE

WHEN: The month of July.
WHERE: The Gas Station, Milton.
CONTENT WARNINGS: themes of kidnapping; imprisonment; self-starvation; blood/minor injuries; psychological torment, supernatural abilities.

The Forest Talkers have a long history in the Northern Territories, long before Interlopers started arriving in Milton. Champions of nature, they have sought to put an end to the industries and tourism-related expansions in the Lakeside area, first peacefully and then… not-so-peacefully. But with the events known as the ‘The Flare’ last year, Forest Talkers have been… acting peculiarly, disturbingly, aggressively.

There are plenty of questions to be asked. But the Forest Talkers are difficult to communicate with. Previous attempts have ended up in aggression or being ignored entirely. And now, even with the events of the previous month coming to an end — game remains difficult to find, and Forest Talkers are keen on sabotaging any attempts of hunting made by Interlopers, Young Bill or Methuselah. And more importantly: what is the yawning grave?

It starts as mutterings between tired and disgruntled Interlopers. They need answers, and there’s got to be a way in trying to get some. They’re hungry and exhausted and so many of their numbers are now dead. Those mutterings grow, and soon enough a plan is put into place. A small group of Interlopers embark into Lakeside and wait.

Soon enough, it bears fruit. A man is captured, bound and blindfolded — quietly and secretly brought back to Milton to be held up in the unused Gas Station to be questioned. It is not the leader, but surely one of them is better than no one at all. He is injured, but not enough to kill him. It will prove challenging in trying to get answers out of him, but soon enough the Interlopers will get him to talk.

News of the Forest Talker in their midst will inevitably spread, as most things do in small communities. Secrets are hard to guard. It won’t be just those behind the kidnapping who might end up coming across the man being held in the Gas Station.

Anyone who goes to investigate will find the man sat on the floor in quiet contemplation. Attempts of conversation will be met with long, silent stares — holding your gaze for an uncomfortably long time. He will spurn any gestures of kindness: spit on the floor at Interloper’s feet, refuse any food offered — as if the man has chosen to starve himself in protest. He says nothing, at first.

But after some time, he will look into an Interloper’s eyes and utter something. A word. A phrase. It may be a name, or a place. It may be a specific thing an Interloper has read, or been spoken to by someone. Something that holds meaning to the Interloper. It may be the name of a loved one from home, or the last words ever spoken to you by a friend. Something the man shouldn’t know.

Whatever it is that he speaks to you, it is not something that will fill you with hope or fondness to remember — but quite the opposite. A reminder of something painful, of a loss, or some other thing that caused you misery. As if he had reached right inside your mind and plucked some painful part of your past from you and spoken it to the wind.

The Forest Talker smiles, and will say nothing else. The damage has already been done.

FAQs

THE AURORA: REDUX

1. The next three Aurora Feats are unlocked! Please see the following page for more information.

2. Aurora Feats are completely optional.

3. Interlopers will only receive ONE Aurora Feat. The only time this is available is this month. After July, players will have to wait for the next Feat round for another chance at an Aurora Feat.

4. This Aurora/storm will last a full three days, darkening the skies almost to night.

PENSIVE LOOKOUT

1. Interlopers who dwell in the lookout for the next Aurora will find the radio works, albeit poorly. They will be able to pick up the same broken morse code message.

2. There are no signs of blood/injury that befell Sam in the lookout. It appears he made good on what he wrote on in his journal and attempted to leave to get to Silverpoint.

A PEEK INSIDE

1. While only a small number was involved in the kidnapping itself, anyone can discover the fact there's a Forest Talker being held in Milton.

2. In terms of appearance, the Forest Talker is very much your typical average white guy. Bearded, weathered by the cold, someone who's lived several years without much in the way of comforts or luxuries.

PLOTTING POST

Comments

[bigbaddy]

[ Even with Jason leaning over him, Bigby doesn't really seem all that bothered. He's used to things way bigger than Jason picking fights with him on the daily, and even then, he's not sure if that's what the other is doing. It partially seems like it, sure, but it also seems like there's more to it.

(Besides, who the fuck is "D" supposed to be?) ]

Yeah.

[ Sorry. He's answering it. So calmly too.

At least he does provide a little bit more, adding: ]

I'm far over a thousand years old. How do you think you're not going to look like one to me? [ Granted, some of Jason's behavior sure doesn't help. Even if he wouldn't be considered a full kid anymore by human standards, there's parts of his personality that still feel like they linger in an earlier period of his aging. Most of his behavior even today right here feels like either a temper tantrum or a little kid trying to mess with Bigby.

A pause, and then: ]

Now, do you want a shirt or not?

[ He knows that's what the other was looking for, after all. Can't even really blame him in this weather. ]

[reneger]

( bigby's not special. there's a shitton of ancient randos wandering around his universe. a lot of assholes and people who were once thought to only exist in fairy tales, too. maybe not in the same way bigby is, but.

there's something that really, really pisses jason off about how calmly he answers the question. how unaffected he seems. how jason's right in his face, and bigby doesn't seem to give two shits. he knows why, almost immediately: bruce does the same shit, constantly. scowls and looks entirely unaffected unless you're looking at him close enough, unless you're good enough to read the small tells in his body language and jason hates it. hates how hard it is to get a rise out of him.

luckily for both of them, bigby isn't bruce. and while jason's irritated by the lack of response, it's not the kind of irritation that causes him to intentionally piss people off more to see that outer shell crack.

yet.

his hand moves away from bigby, as jason pulls himself upright. )

Obviously. It's cold as fuck.

[bigbaddy]

C'mon then.

[ For all of Bigby's attitude - or lack thereof, perhaps - he doesn't seem opposed to helping Jason out a little bit here. What the other saying is true, after all, and Bigby can hardly send the kid home through this cold when he isn't even wearing a shirt, let alone a cold. That's a recipe for disaster in a place like this, when Bigby has seen way more frozen bodies here than he'd ever want to in his life.

So he gets up from his chair, starting to move through the house to lead Jason over towards his bedroom. He opens up the closet-- which used to be empty up until a little while ago, but Snow insisted on him actually gathering a few more articles of clothing over here instead of always wearing the same outfit day in and day out, so there's some choice of shirts there for the other guy to grab. ]

Just take one. I'm not gonna let you freeze your ass off.

[reneger]

( most people would probably be grateful to, you know, have the guy whose house you've broken into offer the shit you came in for like it's nothing. but jason isn't most people. and he doesn't respond like most people would, because why would he.

instead, he follows bigby through the house, idly looking through any open doors and open spaces, mapping out windows, easy exits, hiding spaces - but when bigby opens the closet and offers whatever to jason, he - presses his tongue against his upper teeth, thumbs hooking into the pockets of his stolen pants and tips his head back towards the front door. )

I should find the shit I'd--left out in the fucking woods. My knife's out there.

( he doesn't want it now that it's being offered. instead, jason's going to saunter his way back down the hallway. don't mind him. )

[bigbaddy]

[ ....

Jason may not be able to see it, with the way he's walking away and all, but Bigby's facial expression is just sheer exasperation right now. And here he thought his actual kid - a prime example of someone else in this exact same age range - was already enough of a pain in the ass at times. But Jason is making Connor look like an absolute angel. If Bigby is going to ruffle Connor's hair later, the latter will definitely have no context for it, but Bigby will know what it's for.

For a moment he contemplates just letting Jason walk out.

But he can't. He's not a monster - not anymore. Even when it's sometimes really fucking tempting.

Bigby grits his teeth, stepping after Jason with a determination that's quicker than the other's saunter, and reaches out to latch onto the other's arm with a vice grip. ]

Are you a fucking idiot?

[ He's not enraged. Bigby's eyes are his normal human color, not the golden wolf color, which is saying enough about that - but does he sound annoyed? Yes, definitely. ]

All this time, and you still haven't even fucking realized yet I'm not going to just let you kill yourself? Especially over dumb shit like this?

[reneger]

( he's not looking at his face, but jason hears bigby's approach. lets him grab onto his arm before he turns back to face him with a raised brow. )

No, I'm not a fucking idiot. ( but he is grinning like one, arm trying to shake bigby's off for a moment before he gives up on that altogether. ) You wanna keep me in one piece? Follow after me for all I care.

( the grin doesn't fade any, even when there's the disconcerting sound of bones popping out of place, of joints shifting, his snout elongating in a way that has to be painful - until he's once again slipped out of his hard-earned, stolen pants, and bigby's holding onto a much thinner, furrier arm. or might still be, considering it doesn't take jason long to take advantage of having better teeth for biting and while his gnawing at bigby's arm isn't meant to leave lasting marks, it's probably not, you know, all that pleasant. )

[bigbaddy]

Oh fucking hell--

[ Bigby is already starting the moment Jason starts transforming. Bigby can tell more quickly what's happening here than anyone else, after all. The moment he feels the shape of Jason's arm changing even slightly in his grip he knows what's up.

And that it's annoying. Hence the exasperated proclamation.

A proclamation that's only cut off by Jason's wolf teeth burying into his arm. Not incredibly hard - which is so telling in some ways, Jason - but still enough for him to feel it, cutting himself off with a muttered curse under his breath.

Bigby doesn't say anything else though.

Instead he acts. The man quickly pulls his shirt off over his head - not wanting to rip yet another one, considering Snow would rip him a new one if he had to explain that one to her - and then starts shifting as well.

And Bigby knows how to navigate a wolf body a little too well. He's lived like that for thousands of years, after all. It's a piece of cake for the large, black wolf - almost too large to fit into the width of the hallway - to knock over Jason until the other is lying there on his back, Bigby hovering over him in wolf form, growling down at him.

Does he thinks asking for submission from Jason like this is going to work? No. But he's still going to do it anyway. ]

[reneger]

( bigby's very familiar with how to move around with four legs, whereas jason isn't. he's worn this skin twice now, and he's still in the process of - adjusting to it, learning how to use his limbs efficiently.

which is how bigby manages to shove him over so easily. jason's coat is a good, solid black, thick, and fluffy and he's big, but not quite as large as bigby. when bigby knocks him over, he gives a low growl, and bares his teeth in a feral snarl while jason squirms from side to side to get his legs back under him. it's not as easy as if he were human, his legs only bend so much, and with bigby growling down at him trying to establish dominance, it's--well. harder.

unfortunately for both of them, jason's always responded to people trying to push him over by pushing back, harder. it's no different now. bigby asks for submission, and jason instead twists to bite at his legs again.

fuck your submission, or whatever. )

[bigbaddy]

[ Jason truly never changes. Even when he's a wolf, he's still trying to bite every single ankle he sees. Bigby growls again and it sounds like a warning, but he knows that won't do shit when it's Jason he's dealing with here. Some of the people he knows in this place would have listened to it, but not this guy.

Bigby does manage to get his leg away just in time before those teeth manage to sink down into it even slightly, but it also means he has to move off Jason, giving the other space to get up again.

In the meantime Bigby is moving over towards the door, knowing that if he doesn't take this outside, Jason may just wreck his entire house.

And then Bigby is the one who's going to get in trouble with his thousand year old crush. Nope. No way. He pitches his growl different, making it sound taunting, challenging, trying to get Jason to charge at him while Bigby moves towards the door. ]

[reneger]

( jason takes every attempt shove him over as a challenge to push harder. he's done this for years with his family and has no problem continuing to do so here with bigby. but biting at him wasn't the intention here.

and luckily, bigby plays into exactly what he was going for. not the fight, he hears it in the growl, the challenge he's given, but - getting out. bigby tries to coax jason towards the door, and jason twists around until he can get his legs back under him, and runs towards the door.

tries to shove passed bigby on the way out, nose flaring. if he can get ahead of him, he'll start running out into the forested area, in the same direction he'd originally come from. )

[bigbaddy]

[ He can get ahead of Bigby.

Mostly because Bigby still has to occupy himself with something else - which is moving to shut the door behind the two of them. It's still his house, after all, and he'll be damned if he lets anything enter it while he isn't there. Mostly because it's also the place Snow and Connor live, and he has to keep them safe.

But he's not neglecting what Jason is doing here either. As soon as Bigby has given the door a good enough shove that it slams shut, he's already running after the other wolf - and fairly quickly too. He can't go above the limits that wolves naturally have, but Bigby's size helps him in being relatively fast. It isn't happening very rapidly, but he is very slowly closing the gap between him and Jason more and more as he chases the other in the direction of the forest.

It's something Jason will also likely be able to tell, just from the sound of another running wolf behind him. ]

[reneger]

( bigby distracts himself with the door, which gives jason plenty of time to get ahead. he's following his footprints here, or what's left of them considering how cautious he was in keeping his trail from leading directly to bigby's house. paw prints start a good fourth of a mile away from the house itself, leading out into the trees.

and jason hears bigby's approach. slows down for a moment to let him get even closer before jason picks up his speed, running himself as hard as he can. he's a little smaller than bigby, but not by a significant amount. enough to give bigby an edge over him, especially given it's not like jason knows what the fuck he's doing on four legs, but he is damn good at evading being caught when he doesn't want to be.

when he's a good distance outside of milton, he comes to a sudden stop. drops down into the snow and starts fucking burrowing into it. as if one could hide a giant black wolf in snow that's been dug into.

or maybe he's just after the heap of crap that smells like jason under the snow. )

[bigbaddy]

[ It's definitely the scent, really. Bigby can follow Jason even before he sees the other. Telling the scent of anything that isn't just snow or tree around here is pretty obvious, but it helps that Bigby can even pick up Jason's specific scent. He knows it's him. He's pretty sure he could pick him out anywhere now. Just a few encounters - and some vague instinct of wanting to take care of him - was enough for Bigby to easily learn his scent.

It means he arrives at the area where Jason has dug himself in pretty casually. It almost looks like he doesn't even realize where the other is.

But then, quickly - too quickly, really, considering he's using his other Aurora Feat here - he jumps right on top of the pile of snow he knows Jason is hiding underneath, growling as he does. ]

[reneger]

( he's expecting bigby to catch up to him, but not that soon. jason anticipates bigby the wolf who runs at normal wolf speeds, not bigby the wolf who can also run too fast.

which means he's anticipating having enough time to get to his things before bigby manages to launch himself at jason. unfortunately, it doesn't quite work out that way. he's nosing his way deeper into the snow when another mass of wolf lands right on top of him. jason gives a started yelp, neck reclining back as he drops down into the snow and tries to find something he can bite. there's no intention of actually hurting bigby, just - if the guy's gonna jump on him, he should clearly expect to get the shit bitten out of him. )