methuselah (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
singmod) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
singillatim2026-03-09 11:19 pm
singmod) wrote in singillatim2026-03-09 11:19 pm
Entry tags:
don't lie, I know we're fixing to die.
MARCH 2026 EVENT
PROMPT ONE — MISERY: It is the end of days. Interlopers face a dying world as the Darkwalker begins to close in and experience the Five Stages of Misery.
MISERY
WHEN: The month of March
WHERE: Everywhere.
CONTENT WARNINGS: supernatural-induced illness; altered physical states, altered mental states; hallucinations; nightmares/sleep terrors; themes of starvation; themes of disordered eating; emetophobia; suicide ideation.
Into March, the Toxic Fog of Rot subsides, for the most part. It can still be found out in the wilds, if Interlopers delve too far deeply away from Milton. It’s enough to lull people into a false sense of security: not an immediate, seeking threat but one that looms over the heads of Interlopers nevertheless. Interlopers would be prudent to keep up with their protection runes from Enola, just in case. The Darkwalker’s stalking around the edges of Milton isn’t as relentless, either, but it remains. It follows the same pattern: where Interlopers must take care not to venture too far so the Darkwalker can hunt them down. And at the very least, the town of Milton seems spared — the soft iridescent shimmerings remain in place throughout March, too.
But there are more machinations of the being, however. And its methods can be just as insidious as they are direct. The assault is relentless, and it shows no signs of stopping. Interlopers have never faced such a long time in the dark. The sun set over three months ago now, and shows no signs of returning. The green gloom that Interlopers have seen, at the longest amount of some twenty-odd days, now reaches over a month and will surely stretch for another.
It begs the question: where is Enola? Surely she would have come by now, surely she would end the gloom and help restore the sunlight. Enola remains silent, unreachable. It’s hard to know if she may even well be alive, given that silence. But there’s another question: just how much of all of this has she been holding back to keep the Interlopers safe this whole time?
She had told Interlopers she would keep the worst of it back. Could this get worse?
She is still missing, and the Darkwalker persists.
By March, Interlopers are completely void of their Feats. The issues that have persisted through the month of February end up in a full-scale blackout of power. Maybe it is the disconnection from Enola, maybe it’s the Darkwalker’s doing. All but those touched by the being will find that their gifts have gone, and they must face this world as they once were when they arrived: vulnerable, powerless, alone.
Interlopers touched by the Darkwalker will continue to feel a bizarre and exhilarating sense of mania. While other Interlopers settle into a morbid apprehension, those with Darkwalker’s Revenge are out of place with their dispositions: gleeful, thriving and energetic.
But the hunger lingers, more potent than ever. They are tempted by those around them, and the ache to feed upon the very life forces of their fellow Interlopers is an awful kind of madness to endure.
The world is bitter and still. There is no snowfall nor wind, at least. But the cold is biting. Interlopers will continue to find their hunting efforts ruined by the fog that seeks to rot food sources out in the wilds, but even then it is difficult to find wildlife in the first place. The animals continue to become scarce. Interlopers must rely on foodstores and rationing to keep themselves going.
But for how long? The world is wrong, and it is the end of days.
This is the ending of all things.
“She cannot help you now.” the Darkwalker sneers in your ear. ”It could have been so easy. You could have gone so quietly, as it was meant to be. But now… you will know true misery.”
Quietly, you consider: maybe it would have been better to die sooner. The previous attempts of the Darkwalker, surviving through this world was a mercy. Now, the Darkwalker’s attempts to rid the world of Interlopers is far more personal.
And as promised, Misery sets in.
Stage 1: Hardship — Diminished Form: A morbid decay has set in. Your hardiness has failed you. Interlopers will feel themselves physically weak: they will have less energy, stamina and strength and will generally be more vulnerable physically as a whole. Some days, even the smallest of tasks will feel like moving mountains. You find it harder and harder to do more each day, and you cannot ask your body to keep up. Even sometimes in a literal sense, it’s hard for it to keep up — you find yourself slouching more, keeping yourself small, trying to take up as little space as possible.
Stage 2: Sorrow — Haunted Mind: You experience an endless inner turmoil. In Misery, there is not even the promised safety of sleep — a brief respite from the horrors and difficulties of waking life. Over time, sleep begins to evade you, and you find yourself awake more often than not. As sleep deprivation kicks in, you begin to lose your mind to the endless night. Interlopers will begin to experience hallucinations from the lack of sleep, and will be tormented by past regrets. When sleep does come, on rare moments, you are haunted by nightmares — violent, horror-filled and bloody: your own demise, the end of the world. Interlopers may also sleepwalk, or find themselves acting out their dreams — putting themselves and others in danger.
Stage 3: Despair — Sour Stomach: Your questionable diet has caught up with you. You cannot eat as much before you feel full, and each mouthful feels like a burden. You feel no joy when eating, take no comfort from a hot meal, or drink. It is mere sustenance, but even then it comes with a price. Interlopers will find themselves prone to bouts of nausea and vomiting, or even contracting food poisoning, no matter how well-cooked the food is. Dehydration can creep in quickly if Interlopers don’t take care, and with it comes instances of dizziness, muscle cramps and shallow breathing — and can prove fatal before the end stage has been reached.
Stage 4: Torment — Rheumatic Joints: A painful inflammation has taken hold. To move is agony, as if your joints are filled with glass. Stiffness and swelling is common in the mornings, or long periods without activity. Your hands shake uncontrollably at times, making it difficult to aim weapons. It is harder to warm up, as if the chill has settled in your very bones — which prolongs the pain. You become clumsy and accident-prone. In some cases, Interlopers can experience chest pains.
Stage 5: Ruin — Broken Body: Your body carries the weight of a dying world. In the final stage of Misery, you feel close to the end. You are prone to melancholy and suicidal thoughts. Death would be kinder. Wounds will take longer to heal, illness will take longer to recover from. You bleed more freely. You begin to experience hallucinations of loved ones, from home or here in the Northern Territories. Although they speak to you kindly, or behave just as you remember them, they speak to you only about the end of the world. They encourage you to find your end, try to convince you to give up — by whatever means. Whether it be out of love, or anger, or grief. Dying would be better, dying would be a kindness.
Once the final stage of Misery is reached, it is only a matter of time. Your body gives out, or you choose your own end. You are dying. You will go into the Long Dark.
Or maybe you hang on, just a little while longer. Maybe your stubbornness, or your selfishness keeps you going. Maybe your selflessness does.
Or maybe you remember the voice of a woman dressed in furs, who asked you once to keep holding on.
FAQs
1. Misery marks the beginning of Endgame, and marked a special event of one single prompt compared to the previous three-prompt format. The three-prompt format will return for April's Event.
2. This Event is heavily inspired by the difficulty mode Misery in The Long Dark. You can find more information about this mode on The Long Dark's Wikia.
3. All Feats barring Darkwalker's Revenge are disabled for the month of March.
4. Prompts from February's TDM can be used throughout March, with the exception of the 'Winter Of Our Youth' prompt, as the Forest Talkers have all died by the end of February. February's Test Drive Meme is here.
5. While Interlopers experience all Five Stages of Misery, players do not have to play each stage out and can choose to focus on particular stages instead.
Cornelius Hickey | The Terror | ota!
Cornelius Hickey doesn't live with regret. At least, that's what he tells himself, that's what he desperately tries to prove, to say, to give off to the world. Whatever happened, it's happened. He can't change anything. He can't do anything different. There's no use dwelling on the past, the only thing that matters is going towards the future. It's easy for him to go throughout the day, pushing past whatever this place tries to claim he regrets.
Night is a different story.
At night, Hickey dreams of something he hasn't yet encountered but that he knows from Crozier that he would encounter in the end. Tuunbaq, that bear made of flesh and spells, a spirit that's also a god that's also a monster. In Hickey's dreams, he's the last man standing as the corpses of his fellow mutineers sit at his feet, vivisected, torn in half, guts strewn across the ice. He knows what he should do. He knows what he would do back home. But Hickey is so tired of being used as a pawn, as a plaything by forces beyond his understanding. Fuck all this. So he lunges at the bear, knife in hand.
Unfortunately, that's just a dream. In reality, Hickey is sleepwalking, stalking the streets of Milton, knife in hand, eyes closed and posture unsteady, ready to fight. And it's not the bear that Hickey swings his knife at. It's one of his fellow Interlopers. Whether you're also sleepwalking, headed somewhere in the darkness, keeping an eye out for people, or what have you, sorry! Hickey is absolutely trying to stab you!
stage 3: despair.
Every bite is agony, his gag reflex tightens every time he swallows, but Hickey doesn't fucking care. He's eating anyway. He's dealt with starvation before, with the horror of knowing that the food you eat is killing you, and that's not going to happen again. Hickey isn't going to let this place kill him. He's not going to let this place win. It's already killed so many of his mates, it's not killing him as well.
So Hickey's leaning on a wall of the community center mostly for support (because every bone in his body feels like it's on fire) as he steadfastly chews his way through some rabbit jerky. Each swallow is painful, he winces with every bite, and there are a few times when Hickey looks like he's going to vomit, but he forces the food down anyway.
Approaching Interlopers will get a pause, a frown, and a nod before, "Here. Eat some of this. I don't care if it hurts, don't give this place the satisfaction of starving you."
He's survived so much already. Hickey's not going to let this fucking town have the benefit of killing him.
wildcard
( ota! hit me up on plurk or discord if you want a starter. )
Lt. Ari Tayrey | Original | OTA
[There is a certain obstinacy about Arilanna Tayrey that manifests itself when she's taking on the most difficult tasks. It comes of being raised as a privileged director's daughter, back at the Company. Every advantage, every opportunity, no limitations. Everything she has truly wanted, she has achieved, with the only restrictions upon her being those that she agreed to by contract. She obeys her superiors on the Prosperity simply because she chose that career, and she's certain that it's her own efforts that will make a success of it.
Admirable? Perhaps. It does leave her with a distinct lack of sympathy for those who lack focus and ambition. Today? That category has grown to encompass the unfortunate young lieutenant herself.
She's exhausted. She hardly even wants to leave her bed and face the undifferentiated dark of the morning. The thought of exertion makes her shiver, and yet she can find no reason for it. It can't be the lack of food; she was never like this even when they were down to half-rations shipside. No, she fears it's an altogether psychological malaise, and her only answer to that is simply not to tolerate it.
Responsibilities come first, and she promised that she'd keep the trading line open, so that's what she needs to do. Journey to the coast. Trade goods and information. Carry on. It takes far longer than usual for her to load up her sled. Her weakened muscles protest, and she decides, pragmatically, to take less with her than usual. The idea that she might be physically unwell flits through her mind, but she dismisses it. The atmosphere of this place weakens her, she believes, but she's still genetically enhanced. Every advantage. No excuses.
She doesn't get very far outside Milton before she falls the first time. Tayrey blames a hidden patch of ice as she grumbles to herself about her bloodied knee, her torn trouser leg. Careless. She pushes forward.
The second time Tayrey falls, she doesn't get up. She lies there, her uniform a splash of bright blue flat against the white of the ground, the wooden cargo sled looming behind her. If someone approaches, they might hear her groan.]
Stage 2: Sorrow [cw: violence, death, suicidal behavior, possible discussion of kidnapping and slavery]
[A blast from an energy pistol is surprisingly quiet. There's no loud gunshot crack, nothing to cause alarm. It sounds more like a faint electrical hiss, followed by a clean, sharp burst of energy, leaping the distance like a spark across metal. Tayrey's hand is steady as she takes the shot. No hesitation, not even when the man in her sights lets out an anguished cry, a desperate no as he realises what she intends. He drops to the ground. There's a rising aroma of ozone and burnt, cauterised flesh. Her aim was true; his life snuffed out in an instant.
She turns, staggering away, her eyes glassy. This man, Nicholas Pearson, had done nothing to provoke her. It's almost unthinkable that Arilanna Tayrey could have killed him, given the Code and the contracts she lives by, and her insistence on never initiating aggression against another. Yet there he is, dead, and there she is, moving with urgency now. Towards you.
She's utterly lost to her nightmarish hallucination.
~~~
Apprentice Tayrey sways on her feet. She's tired. Tired to her bones - how can that be? Did she have a double shift as punishment? But Lieutenant Savitskaya wouldn't do that to her - poor Savitskaya - why can't she remember anything? It's so cold. They must be venting atmosphere already, and there's no time, she has to do something. It was a fluke she killed that pirate, she knows it, she never shot so well in training. She was lucky and it saved her life. She needs to raise the alarm, but her communicator's not in her pocket, and the backup on the wall is torn out and sparking. She glances around wildly, and then she sees him. The captain. She can tell him everything.]
Captain! Captain I know I shouldn't be in here but this is urgent... priority one! Comms are all down. The pirates have boarded us. They stuck a hole right through the cargo bay. We tried to seal off the section but there were too many of them. They got through. There were casualties. Everything's offline. I... I'm the last astrogator left. I know my duty. I can do it. I can make sure there's no ship left for them to take.
[Her words are more rushed than usual, and she's shaking with cold or with fear, but she's delivering this information with precision, and relative calm, considering the gravity of it. She seems to believe every word, despite their being no pirates, and indeed no starship, in sight.]
Wildcard
[Up for other things, find me on the plotting post or Plurk!]