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

[thesamurai]

[ When Levi has to rest against the tree, Michonne leans in, realizing he's in a bad way. So, this is the trade for one of those 'super powers' Chloe explained. If she'd known, she wouldn't have let him heal her, but she gets the impression he might not have realized either. Still, she looks concerned and worried as he explains, but he's right. Jackie's still out there, and she's a fucking lunatic.

But what can they do? ]

She doesn't know you're here either. Can you misdirect? Make her think I'm limping one way.

[ When in reality, Michonne can use the trees as cover, then ambush from behind. ]

[wingbound]

[ He had some idea that it would come with a catch, of course, but he hadn't known exactly. It's hard to say whether he would have done it or not in that case. While he is willing to sacrifice himself for others, he's also practical enough to consider how effective it may be. And he's quite used to being the best choice to fight, which means his Commander has sacrificed others to protect him to give them a better chance -- when necessary. ]

[ He has no idea if that's still the case here, though. He's weaker and his gear doesn't work. And even if it did, he has no gas or blades to resupply with once he runs out. It's not sustainable. ]

[ Besides, what's done is done. He doesn't dwell on his choices, and he does his best not to regret them. ]

So I pretend to be you. Good idea. [ He looks her over. ] Swap coats?

[ Ideally, Jackie shouldn't see much of him at all, but if she does, it's probably good if she catches a flash of the correct color outerwear. His own short dark green cloak, in turn, should blend in quite well with the evergreen trees plentiful in the forest. ]

[thesamurai]

Good call.

[ Michonne's coat is brown in color, good in the dark, and she carefully shrugs it off, still thinking about the way he fixed her leg; people have saved her before, sure, but not like that. She tries to push it to the back of her mind for now, to concentrate as she swaps coats and then, gives him the sheath to the katana, lending more of her likeness if looking for shapes and outlines in the dark, especially from behind. ]

I need that back when this is over.

[ They're parting ways for now, she realizes, and looks at him in the dark. ]

Which direction are you going? I'll find you.

[wingbound]

[ Likewise, Levi takes his own off and then shrugs on the new one, pulling up the hood if there is one. It's a bit long on him, but it'll do. ]

Fine by me.

[ He'd like his cloak back, too, after all. It holds a special meaning to him, especially here, separated from the other remaining Scouts. But he'd never place the importance of an object above the importance of lives, and that's the kind of game they're playing at the moment. ]

[ He thinks for a moment. He needs to make sure that Jackie notices him, so he shouldn't be moving away from where he thinks she's lurking, but it'd also be preferable not to get shot in the head, so no charging head on either. Trying to circle her somewhat diagonally might work, especially if Michonne takes the other side, and so he motions at the direction he's decided on. ]

That way. I'll make sure to make some noise, but be careful.

[ He doesn't think he has another healing bout in him, not so soon after the first one. ]

[thesamurai]

Don't plan on getting shot twice. Same to you, though. Be careful.

[ With that, Michonne makes herself as low as possible, slowly backing up, then slinking around, hoping to ambush Jackie from the back. For now, she tries to stay as quiet as possible, to listen and make sure she's attacking from the right spot.

She hears a soft sound and can't be sure if it was Levi or Jackie getting ready to take another shot, so she waits, listening in the dark, hoping she didn't send Levi out only to die. ]

[wingbound]

Yeah.

[ Levi follows his plan; he marches away from Michonne, and somewhere past where he imagines Jackie must be hiding, catching on branches and pushing bushes out of the way, louder than necessary but not so much that it'd be suspicious because of that. He does pay attention to his surroundings, however, making sure to stay low and near some trees at all times, even if it's a bit challenging with the pain in his leg which he ends up dragging both to play up his part and because it actually hurts. ]

[ Staying near cover turns out to be a damn good decision because after only a the barest rustle that comes from quite a bit closer than he'd anticipated, he hears the click of a gun. ]

[ He dives for the ground behind a tree trunk just as a bullet zaps over his head -- for once in this place, he's lucky to be short -- revealing Jackie's location, followed by her approaching footsteps. He doesn't make a sound, not yet, wary of his voice giving him away, but he's certainly fucking hoping that Michonne is close. ]

[ Preferably right behind Jackie. ]

cw: gore

[thesamurai]

[ He doesn't have to worry long. The shot puts Michonne on target and she steps quickly but quietly. As soon as she sees the dark mass of Jackie shrouded in darkness, there's no hesitation. Especially as she spies her own coat, knows Levi is right there. Jackie begins to aim, but that's as far as she gets before the tip of Michonnne's sword comes through the other side of her throat. The woman gurgles, blood immediately pouring from her mouth, eyes still on Levi's 'hiding' spot.

The gun drops, and when Michonne pulls back, Jackie drops too, dead, or close to it. Eyes on Levi, Michonne flicks the blood and bits off her blood. ]

She didn't hit you did she?

[wingbound]

[ It's a sound Levi knows better than he'd perhaps like, a throat slit by a blade. He doesn't feel particularly victorious, but he does find himself a bit relieved. There goes another threat, and neither of them died in the process. It's good enough. ]

No. [ He finds his voice eerily quiet in the aftermath of a gunshot going off so close by, and he clears his throat as he pushes himself up and tries a little louder, finally hitting a normal volume. ] No, I'm fine. Is she dead?

[thesamurai]

[ Michonne closes her eyes and says a quick, silent thanks to whatever luck was on their side for this. Relieved he's mostly alright, she looks down at Jackie, still now, with her eyes open. There's enough life left in her to draw her lips up into a smile, unnerving Michonne, and then she's lifeless. ]

She's gone. So are the answers to my questions.

[ But there's nothing to be done for that, it wasn't worth either of their lives, and she steps over Jackie to reach out a hand to help Levi. ]

Think my place is closer than Milton. We can go there for now if you're alright with that.

[ She's done with sleuthing for now, this was too close, and they both need the rest in relative safety. ]

[wingbound]

[ He hesitates for a moment but ultimately accepts the hand, casting a glance down at the unmoving body with the macabre smirk etched on its face. That's that. They should probably return later to bury her, but right now is not the time for this, not while they're still in danger. War is relentless light that. His eyes dart toward Michonne instead, sympathetic but somewhat resigned, as he steadies himself on his own feet. ]

If it's any comfort, she probably wouldn't have answered any.

[ They had days to question that Forest Talker they captured and all they got were vague threats and a lot of uneasiness. It did (correctly) warn Levi that attempts at peace were not going to work with someone set to eradicate the Interlopers, but he definitely would have liked more information on the whole predicament in general. ]

Sure. Anything that's got all walls and a roof intact sounds good right now.

[ He'll follow her lead, a slight limp in his step, or maybe they support each other on the way. He's not a fan of touching people, but he'll put up with it for necessity or efficiency. ]