it must be that old evil spirit

[singmod]

SEPTEMBER 2024 EVENT

PROMPT ONE — PAINFUL REMINDERS: An Aurora briefly connects the Interlopers to their homeworlds, and with it are able to receive items from home — but these ones will bring no comfort to them.

PROMPT TWO — THE ENEMY WITHIN: Strange and familiar occurrences begin in Milton and Lakeside, growing in frequency and danger for the Interlopers. Who can truly be trusted among their numbers?

PROMPT THREE — BAD BLOOD: The Forest Fighters finally come to Milton, and with it: they bring the yawning grave.

PAINFUL REMINDERS

WHEN: 5th - 9th of September.
WHERE: Everywhere.
CONTENT WARNINGS: potentially upsetting themes; themes of loneliness/isolation.

For many, the sight of the Aurora is now one they have become used to. There have been plenty of them over the year that has passed since the Interlopers first came to the Northern Territories. Often, they have been a sign of great danger, with plenty of unsettling and unnatural things happening when the skies light up. Other times they have been the herald of aid — a link between Interlopers and Enola, gifting them with abilities to help them survive in this world. There is no real knowing what kind of force the Aurora is, truly. And there is a tension that holds amongst the Interlopers as the day turns to night and there is the soft sound that grows louder.

The ethereal, high-pitched chorus of sounds, is difficult to place. Perhaps it sounds like voices, or discordant strings. And with it, the low-drone of electrical buzz — punctuated with the echoing pops and sharp cracks. The sky is alive with sound, and with it comes the swirling streaking of colour against the inky black of night, growing brighter and brighter as time goes on — greens, blues, pinks and purples shifting and dancing across the night. And much like every Aurora before this one, the electricals of the world come to life too. Homes, streetlamps, cars long-stranded in the snow. Man’s world comes alive, buzzing and flickering precariously.

But there are no ghosts like there once was a year ago. No terrible weather, no poisonous fog. If one could call it a ‘normal’ Aurora, that’s what it appears to be. But there is something else in amongst all the light and noise. Snatches of things: whispers of conversations, names called, laughter and tears.

You realise you recognise these voices. They are the voices of home. Perhaps you hear your mother, your siblings or friends. Whoever they are, you can hear them. And although they might not be able to hear you — for one brief night, the Aurora has connected you, bridged the gap between your world and this one. You may sit for a while, simply listening to the voices, relishing in hearing those from back home. If others join you, you will find yourself compelled to speak of them: to share in stories about those from back home — the connections you share with them.

It’s strange, though. These voices do not fill you with comfort or joy. Instead you are left with feelings of sadness, anger, and isolation. The Aurora has connected Interlopers, but now you feel so cut off from home, cut off from friends and loved ones — reminded of everything left behind. Everything you long for. Everything you have lost.

Something strange skips through the sky, a warping of the sound. It’s unsettling. Something feels... wrong, somehow.

It’s not just the voices that will remind you of this. Something else comes through the Aurora after that night. A small token will be brought through. Whatever the item may be, when you go to sleep and next wake, you will find said item. It may be placed on your bedside, on your desk or dining room table.

The item, you will find, will bring you a reminder of pain. Of sadness. Of horror. Perhaps it’s something you haven’t thought of in some time. Maybe it is something that has lingered in the back of your mind. Perhaps it is a part of you, waiting to be uncovered. A sign of something to come. A painful reminder of your past, or an ominous omen of your future.

THE ENEMY WITHIN

WHEN: The month of September.
WHERE: Everywhere.
CONTENT WARNINGS: kidnapping/attempted kidnapping; attempted murder; murder; vandalism; arson; assault; animal mutilation; corpse mutilation/manipulation/desecration; themes of peril/terror; possible character/npc injuries; possible character/npc death.

It starts with strange happenings at night, things left to be found by the next morning. Those within Lakeside many find themselves unsurprised by it, given their location, but the scenes found in Milton are a foreboding sight.

Mutilated bodies of animals: rabbits, ptarmigans, even deer — mangled and strewn about the streets, blood upon the snow. Some may awaken in the middle of the night to the sounds of their windows breaking, with houses on the Outskirts being targeted more than those in the middle of town. There is… a kind of unrest in the world.

It escalates.

Some may leave their home for the day and return in the evening to find the place trashed: items broken, precious foodstuffs thrown about the place and destroyed. Those within the Outskirts are once again particularly vulnerable, as are those within Lakeside. Fires are started in some of the abandoned buildings of Milton. Something, someone is targeting the Interlopers.

It is hard to pin-point who exactly, and it only puts the Interlopers on high alert. Nothing like this has never happened before. This is new, especially in Milton.

As the month progresses, the acts become more serious. Fires may be started in the middle of the night in Interlopers’ homes while they sleep. Some are attacked in the night, others are taken from their beds. Some killed within their very homes. Of the Interlopers that go missing, their mutilated remains may be found days later out in the wilds.

In Milton, soon enough, someone is bold enough to come out from the darkness, out from the gloom of the night. Interlopers may be attacked in broad daylight — by those they may recognise as newer Interlopers of the community, who appeared from the wilds: lost and shivering, with nowhere else to go. Some of them have been within Milton for a few months now.

Those in Lakeside will face something similar: Forest Talkers are making a move, rogue and isolated incidents — done with sabotaging attempts at hunting and taking a more direct approach.

They have no qualms about being captured or killed, only determined to get rid of as many of the Interlopers as they can. They whisper, they scream: “You don’t belong here. You should never have come here. It wants you gone, it wants us all gone. The end is here, it’s too late for any of us. Nature must run its course. The yawning grave has been opened.”

The attack is on two fronts: the first of Forest Talkers in Lakeside amplifying their actions. The second in Milton, enemies within the ranks of the Interlopers, Forest Talkers hiding as Interlopers.

Within Milton, newer Interlopers will likely be met with suspicion as being some of the Forest Fighters as a result of these individual acts of violence. As the numbers of Milton have been infiltrated, and it’s easy to have mistrust amongst those newer to the community. In-fighting is likely, and the entire town is stuck in some terrible, tense state — unsure of who to trust within their own numbers. In the days and weeks that follow, it remains like this. Acts of violence and vandalism — chaos and disorder.

BAD BLOOD

WHEN: The night of 27th - 28th September.
WHERE: Milton.
CONTENT WARNINGS: attempted murder; murder; vandalism; arson; assault; mentions of blood; themes of peril/terror; possible character/npc injuries; possible character death/npc death; actual NPC death.

Towards the end of the month, the moon is full. They call it the Harvest Moon, but colour seeps into it — oranges and reds: a blood moon, partially eclipsed. The night is calm and cloudless, but there’s an uneasy feeling in the night.

The earth groans, the rumble of another quake that’s plagued the Northern Territories since the beginning of August. It is the only warning Interlopers will get — if they may realise it as a warning. To some, when they look back, it’s a omen, a starting pistol.

They do not come through the Mines. Thanks to the efforts of Interlopers to guard the entrances of the Milton Mines, they know better. They come to town from the south, not the north.
The quakes of August and September have opened a new way from Lakeside to Milton. They are led by their Leader: a man dressed in white, a large deer skull upon his head. And while their numbers are small in comparison, they come armed and with the determination to get rid of the Interlopers once and for all. As they come into town, they launch their attack.

More fires will be set, Interlopers will be attacked with abandon. Shot at, stabbed, beaten. It is a mass execution. They will not stop until the Interlopers, or them, are dead.

Well, the majority of them. There are just under a dozen teenagers and younger people amongst their ranks who have shown hesitance toward violence in the past. Perhaps they can be reasoned with. Perhaps there may be a way to convince them to abandon their cause. There is fear in their eyes. Some of them do not want to die. They fear the yawning grave.

What will do you then, Interloper? Are you willing to fight for your life? Are you willing to take another’s to save your own, or a friends? Will you hide, or run? What choice will you make? The Forest Talkers have long since made their own choice. Now you must make yours.

It is another night of chaos on a town already scarred by the events of June. Interlopers will note two familiar faces in the fray: at some point during the night both Methuselah and Young Bill will arrive. While Methuselah will concentrate on aiding the wounded and trying to shelter Interlopers the best he can, Young Bill will help protect Interlopers from the Forest Talkers with his rifle in hand. But fortunately, it is just for one single night. Ammunition runs out, sides are switched, and people are killed. As dawn approaches, Forest Talker numbers dwindle. Either killed, incapacitated or defected. In the early morning light, bodies lie in the snow both Interloper and Forest Talker alike.

Those trying to hunt down the leader will see him slipping inside an empty cabin, heavily wounded. Following after him, they will find him settling himself down to kneel on the floor. The white of his tactical gear stained red with blood as it blooms from his wounds. Slowly, he removes the deer skull from his head to reveal a clean-shaven man in his late twenties with a shock of white-blond hair. His eyes are blue, calm.

He sets the skull down, panting and sweating. He is dying. He is not afraid.

“My name is Mallory, not that it matters now. We are dead, you and I.” he says softly. “We exist in a dying world.”

He is in much pain from his wounds. He moves again to sit cross-legged on the floor. A hand touches the bloodied fabric of his front and he laughs humourlessly.

“You don’t understand, do you? The end must come. That is the order of things. The end must come so the world can be reborn. That is how it’s always worked. When the world is swallowed, it will grow again from the earth.”

It is a story. The story of the Darkwalker. Some believe it to be the end of the world, but Young Bill had once said there is another telling of the tale. A creation myth. The Darkwalker swallows the world and returns to its slumber within the earth. Within it, everything its swallowed grows again and the world returns.

“We fought against man’s actions to ruin this place, not knowing our true purpose. The Devourer has shown me the truth, and I sought to put that into action.” His head tilts to one side. “The yawning grave is opened. Does new life not grow from the decay? It is a cycle. The grave and the cradle.”

He finds it difficult to breathe, but he presses on.

“You fight to live. You come here and you do not see what you are. You are only delaying the inevitable, perverting the true course. Prolonging the suffering. You are the Interlopers, you are not part of nature’s design. The Darkwalker does not want you here. And where it fails, we have tried to succeed.”

There’s another laugh, something catching in his throat. He coughs, blood bubbling from his lips.

“And failed. For now. The First Cursed cannot hold it forever. She, too, delays the inevitable." Even as he is dying, he still have the energy to sneer. He speaks of Enola. "A woman who plays at being a god. What right does she have? All must go into the Long Dark. ... As will I. Return me to the grave.”

Mallory’s head dips, his body sagging. He inhales once more and then stops.

FAQs

PAINFUL REMINDERS


1. Players must sign up for items. See the toplevel on the plotting post.

2. Items will face the same warps/nerfs as everything else that is brought into the game.

3. Items can be no bigger than something your character can reasonably carry.

4. While items do not have to belong to your character, there has to be a good reason why they’d receive such an item — ie. something related to your character.


THE ENEMY WITHIN

1. The Forest Talkers within Milton are a number of NPCs that have been pre-selected from NPCs who arrived in April and August. Not all of them will show their true intentions as the month goes on but will continue to stay hidden.

2. Two NPCs killed in the June Event were also Forest Talkers. … Good… job?

3. The following NPC Interlopers will out themselves as Forest Talkers at this stage: Devon Busswood; Rita Yee; Realm Lovejoy.


BAD BLOOD

1. Following the events of this prompt, Interlopers now have an additional way into Lakeside. It’s still rather dangerous: it’s through a partially collapsed cave system that ends into abandoned bunker on the Lakeside side. The game map will be marked accordingly in due course.

2. Some Interlopers may recognise a familiar face in the Forest Talker ranks: the man who was kidnapped by Interlopers previously in July has returned. Looks like he made good on his promise. He's come back to cause problems.

3. The following NPC Interlopers will out themselves as Forest Talkers during the attack: Jackie Blackmore; Ross Huguet; Jennifer Kitchen; Daniel Kresco.

4. As a reminder of numbers: around fifty Forest Talkers will show up for the attack.

5. There is an OOC vote on the fate of the remaining Forest Talkers, the link is here.

PLOTTING POST

Comments

[notarat]

The words make him stare at the other man for a moment. Billy certainly doesn't like the idea of going out there, but he can't find himself disagreeing with Hickey's description of the situation. And that description means that it's not like it's necessarily going to be all that much more safe in here.

.. if it's going to be dangerous either way, then he'd like to at least be with Hickey, he thinks. They work better as a team for this, especially when it's not like either of them are trained for battle. It's better if they have each other's backs. Besides, Billy will be damned if he is going to lose Hickey to these people after all this time.

"I'll come with you," he decides, Billy already moving to grab his coat and put it on to prepare himself to go out there. Momentarily he thinks about grabbing a weapon, already having spotted the knife in the other's hand, but-- he doesn't need one, does he. Not when he can feel that familiar burning sensation in his chest that always rises alongside any anxiety. "Perhaps we can at least keep them from thinking they can do whatever they might like to our house."

[friendsfordinner]

Hickey blinks, a little surprised, before giving Billy a nod. He's right: they would work better at a team. Hickey's good with back alley fighting, taking someone by surprise and doing what needs to be done. While he's confident in his ability to take someone out if they're alone and surprised, if there's more than two people out there? Or they're in the open? He's a bit hesitant.

Besides, he's not losing Billy. Not here, not now, not to these fucks. He slips off his good coat as he talks, knowing full well that he's probably going to get a little bloody.

"I'll go in first," Hickey says, with a little nod. "You provide back-up, yeah? Set anyone on fire if they get too close. And if it's going south, I'll just shift to a wolf and rip out their throats."

[notarat]

"Alright." It's an easy enough plan to agree with. Billy knows he shouldn't be the one going ahead, considering that Hickey is much better at dealing with these sorts of situations than he is. And considering his power doesn't require him to touch anyone at all, he's more useful from the back.

When Hickey has slipped off his good coat and is about to head out, he only stops him for one more thing. Grabbing the other's arm to get his attention, Billy leans down to press a quick kiss on the other's lips, because-- well, fuck it, if they don't know how this chaos is going to end, then he wants to at least have done this. He knows what dying with regrets is like, and it's not great!

"Go ahead," he says when he pulls back. "I will be right behind you."

[friendsfordinner]

Oh.

That's a nice kiss.

Hickey completely forgets about the whole 'going out and doing some murder' thing for a bit because ooooh, husband kisses nice and Hickey want more. But then he hears the distinct sound of someone trying their door down and nah, fuck that noise.

Knife in hand, Hickey comes face to face with one of the Forest Talkers, turned to the side, obviously about to bash the door in with his shoulder-

- and without hesitation, Hickey immediately goes to stab said Forest Talker in the stomach, bringing his knife in and out for multiple wounds, hoping that at least one attempt pierces something vital.

[notarat]

For a moment Billy just stares.

After all, there's a difference between objectively knowing that this is a thing Hickey does and actually seeing it in person. He's only ever heard about these acts - with Irving, with the actual Cornelius Hickey.. and even the one time Billy had been present for one of these acts, he had been the victim, and the knife had come from behind.

It means it's the first time he's seeing how easily it comes to Hickey. The way he stabs without hesitation, and not just even once, like he had done with Billy. There's something frantic about it, almost utilitarian - trying to get it done as well and quickly as possible.

Billy only snaps out of it when the Forest Talker collapses on the floor with a groan, blood starting to pour out across the wood and the snow. He stares at the body, but his head snaps back up when he hears more sounds from further outside the house.

"There's more of them."

[friendsfordinner]

Hickey always acts decisively. He's not going to end up dead. He's going to fight, going to keep going, going to push as hard and as fast as he can, just to keep himself alive. So yeah, he acts quickly, he acts as fast as possible to make sure the bastard's dead because there's no alternative. The alternative is that he dies and that's really not happening.

As he hears Billy's warning, Hickey looks up, frown on his face as he looks at the distance.

"Keep an eye on me," Hickey says, with a nod. "I'm gonna go in but if there's three or more of those blokes, I'll need some help." Hickey knows his limitations. Plus, it's hard to stab three people at once.

He rushes towards the sounds, keeping quiet in the hopes that he can get the jump on whoever's in the way.

cw: someone being set on fire! fun times!

[notarat]

Yeah, Billy is definitely not having any delusions about how much Hickey can handle at once. No matter how easily he does this sort of thing compared to most people, he's still only human. There's no way he could handle an entire group of them.

So he easily agrees with the idea of keeping an eye on the other. He doesn't move quite as quickly as Hickey does, but Billy still follows the other further outside, just in time to see Hickey move towards the first of the Forest Talkers that have gathered just outside their house, two of them with torches in their hands, making their intent very obvious here.

It's likely he is being quiet enough to get the drop on that first one, but the other two see what's happening quickly enough.

So does Billy, though. The moment he sees one of the two with torches reach out to Hickey as if to grab him, Billy rushes forward, grabbing onto the Forest Talker's arm instead to stop him and push him away. As he does, the flame on the man's torch suddenly grows a lot larger, immediately consuming the torch and then moving onto the Forest Talker's arm, flame starting to consume the man as he screams in pain.

cw: murder & blood & all that stuff!

[friendsfordinner]

Hickey thrusts his knife in the man's gut, going after that Forest Talker with the same quickness and gusto that he did the first Forest Talker. And then, close to him, he feels heat.

Both Hickey and the Forest Talker he's stabbing turn to look at the heat, taking a moment to watch as the man screams in pain. The Forest Talker is terrified. Hickey is absolutely turned on. He's watching the man scream with a wide, dumb grin on his face—oh wait, right, Forest Talkers.

Hickey quickly brings his knife to the bleeding Forest Talker's throat, slitting it deep—and then instantly starts to scramble backwards as the other Forest Talker, the one with the torch, attempts to bring it down on Hickey's head.

[notarat]

It's chaotic enough that it's hard to even fully tell what's going on anymore - especially with the screaming. Billy hates the screaming. It's far too much like what happened at Carnivale, and he doesn't want to think back on that. Even less so right in this moment.

So he isn't even fully sure what happened to the Forest Talker Hickey was dealing with, whether he's already dead or not. All Billy manages to catch a glimpse of is the last one of the group trying to go for Hickey now, and - more importantly - that torch in their hand.

Billy hardly even has to think about it. It's just like with Rorschach. There's a part of him so done with the idea of people here thinking they can try to screw over the happier life he's trying to build in this place by taking out Hickey, and Billy doesn't even have to touch that Forest Talker because of it. The flame grows all by itself, engulving them in mere seconds.

He reaches out between all the fire and screaming and - there's a body falling, is that the third Forest Talker, did Hickey take care of them? - Billy reaches out to latch onto Hickey's arm, pulling the man away from the fire and closer towards himself.

Billy's hands are particularly hot in this moment, but thankfully not burning.

"Did you get the third one?" He asks - some worry in his voice, but Billy standards? The fact that he's not completely freaking out in the middle of this situation is already a huge difference. He's trying to be strong too.

[friendsfordinner]

Hickey compartmentalizes it all. It helps that out of everybody, he experienced the fewest horrors with regards to Carnivale—whether that's due to luck or to providence, Hickey still doesn't know. All he knows is that he's spent the past few months trying to push past the shock and horror he remembers seeing on Dr. MacDonald's face, and he's going to continue doing that now.

He darts forward with his knife, ready to cut down whoever's threatening them, whoever's getting in his way that's not Billy—

—when he feels the heat of Billy's hands on him. The heat of his husband is something that Hickey's gotten familiar with, ever since Billy turned into a walking space heater. It's familiar and reassuring.

"Yeah," Hickey says, with a little nod. He knows he's got to be the strong one. This isn't the first person he's cut down and it certainly won't be the last. But the fact that Billy doesn't seem to be actively panicking...well. That's amazing.

"I suspect some of them are going to the town, aiming for the church, the community center, things like that. Frankly, I don't give a shit about those. Let them burn. I say we stay put, stay at our house, protect us and ours, yeah?"

[notarat]

".. yes," he says. Not immediately, since Billy still seems on edge, still seems to need to gather his mind enough for a moment to think, but then he does agree. They have to prioritize what's most important here, and Billy knows what that is for him. Their house. The man in front of him, though he'd loathe to admit it in other circumstances.

But right now Hickey's presence is reminding him of what he likes about the other. The way Hickey is keeping a cool head is helping Billy ground himself a little bit as well, even in the middle of this chaos. Even though they're standing with a bunch of bleeding and burnt bodies in the snow around them.

"Though-- There are some. Kieren, Miss Frazer-- Should we not make sure they are alright as well?"

Partially because it'd be easier to keep things going here if at least not the entire town is dead after this, but there's also a much more personal worry than Billy is willing to admit to at the root of it.

[friendsfordinner]

Shit. Yeah, Billy's right about that. Hickey frowns, swearing to himself, giving Billy a little nod before,

"Kieren, yeah. Chloe's smart, she can hold her own with this bullshit. But Kieren...he'll need help."

Kieren's smart. He's a good kid. He has a strong head on his shoulders and Hickey is absolutely certain that Kieren won't be able to take care of himself in situations like this. He's a good kid, but he's a scared kid as well. And that fear would overtake him before he realizes.

"No matter what, promise that you'll look out for yourself. If it's between Kieren and you, focus on you, okay?"

Hickey's not losing Billy again.

[notarat]

It feels tempting to say something. To ask something. If Hickey really thinks him to be selfless enough to put someone else above himself - but then again, he has been a bit more like that here than back home, considering he's been given more things to actually care about - or if it's just that the other wants him around that badly.

He opts for the latter. There's something nice about it. Something that fills Billy with the courage to actually be able to step out across town, even in the middle of this dangerous mess.

"I will," he says - still sounding a little shaky, but less than before. Like he's made up his mind. "You take care of anyone who comes to the house. I can hear people fighting-- I can't imagine anyone managing to blame you for killing these people when they are doing the same. Just don't get hurt."

[friendsfordinner]

That's something they're both worried about. All this chaos, all this madness, wouldn't surprise Hickey if someone decided to take a shot at him. After all, it's not like he's the most popular person here. And even if he was slightly popular, he's burned enough bridges that of course someone would fight back.

"Course," Hickey says, with a nod. "Worst comes to worst, I'll just shift to wolf and rip out their throats." At least that would be a surprise...though he really doesn't want to ruin the clothes he's currently wearing.

"Stay safe. I'll keep our house standing."

[notarat]

Billy stares at the other for a brief moment - then grabs a brief hold of the other man's wrist, just long enough to pull him closer, close enough for Billy can press a quick kiss against his lips. Not minding Hickey's violent words, the blood on the other's clothes, the scent of smoke coming off Billy's own hands.

"I will be back," he says after pulling away again, before turning to quickly move away before more of these people have a chance to show up to accost them, heading directly towards where he knows Kieren's house to be.