nature offers a violence

[singmod]

NOVEMBER 2023 EVENT

PROMPT ONE — WHITEOUT: Methuselah makes an unexpected early return to Milton to warn Interlopers of an impending monster storm, and boy does it surely come.

PROMPT TWO — A CHOICE: Following the storm, sightings of a mysterious stag prompts a hunt down in the Basin and out in the Outskirts.

PROMPT THREE — REST MY WEARY BONES: While the storm causes a great deal of mess, it also uncovers some far more pleasant surprises. Hot springs.

WHITEOUT

WHEN: Early to mid-month.
WHERE: Milton.
CONTENT WARNINGS: extreme weather; storms; blizzards; themes of survival; possible character cold-related injuries; possible themes of peril.


In the times that he is no longer occupying the Community Hall in the center of town to help tend to the newcomers, Methuselah is out in the wilds. Despite his growing age, he is a hardened survivor, and has been more than accustomed to life living as a nomad, out in the thickest, deepest parts of nature. Sometimes he can be encountered, sheltered in a cave or out in the woods, huddled by a warm campfire, or busying himself with his latest game catch. He seems to be always on the move, never staying for too long, and never coming into town — unless it’s to begin preparations for the latest batch of new arrivals.

To see him returning to Milton outside of these times is a curious sight, and the grim expression he carries is enough to make anyone wary. Even his voice is grave. The warmth and kindness usually found in his expression is gone, replaced with a deathly seriousness. He doesn’t speak in jest.

"I am long used to this world and its weather, even with the changing times to more bitter nights." he will say. "I have seen the years rise and fall, too many to count. Please, I beg that you hear me with this— a storm is coming. Greater than some of you may have ever known. It is in the air, and we must prepare to see it through. We do not have much time. Three days, perhaps. But no more."

He will tell anyone and everyone; encouraging the word to be spread around. He will instruct on what needs to be done, what needs to be gathered. The storm will be long and hard, and will last for some time. With that, Methuselah will begin to prepare the Community Hall as a place of refuge with a stock of food, fuel and water to get through the storm. Interlopers will be free to join Methuselah and bunker down together, or can choose to bunker down on their own in their own homes, or with others.

You have only three days.

And sure enough, the storm comes. Maybe you can notice the signs too: the sudden updraft, the slow gathering of clouds, the drop in temperature, the changes of pressure in the air.

Halfway through the third day, the storm rolls in: a ferocious snow-storm unlike anything you’ve seen before. Even with the fading amount of daylight as mid-winter approaches, the sky turns as dark as night as will stay like night for the duration. Strong howling winds batter the town, and even the sturdiest of buildings creak and groan under the weight. Trees will be felled, some buildings might not fare the storm.

Relentless snow that falls so hard it’s a complete whiteout, and will be impossible to navigate if one were to step outside. Even then, it isn’t advisable. The temperature is bitter, with a frigid windchill. Going out in this kind of storm would be a death sentence. Staying out in it for longer than a half-hour will certainly kill you.

It would be best to wait it out, to huddle around warm fires in the darkness. It may certainly be a test of patience, depending on your choice of place to stay. The storm will last a full week, a stark reminder of what you are, the words you have heard in your arrival: thrown to Mother Nature’s mercy, the Interloper in her design.

But will you persist?

A CHOICE

WHEN: Mid-month, onwards to end of month.
WHERE: Milton Basin, Milton Outskirts.
CONTENT WARNINGS: survival themes; themes of hunting; possible animal death.


After the storm passes, there’s a certain kind of hush that falls upon Milton and its surrounding areas as Interlopers are left to pick through the wake. While the temperature certainly doesn’t get that much warmer, there’s days and nights of clear, calm weather — short afternoons of weak sunshine and nights of chilly peace, the moon hung high in the starry skies. Winter is drawing ever-closer, but it’s still for a little while.

In the early evenings, before the sun sets, there’s strange sightings of a particular white stag that can be found roaming the area — particularly down in the Milton Basin. It seems quite elusive, but there’s plenty of Interlopers that have been able to capture a glimpse over the coming days. Even Methuselah himself has seen this beast before, remarking there has long been tall tales of a ghostly stag that roams the Northern Territories and is said to bring good fortune to those who manage to hunt it down.

Perhaps you’re a little low on luck. Perhaps you’re feeling lucky. You’re going to find that stag.

Hunting down the stag, however, will take a great deal of patience and time. You might find yourself waiting several hours to wait for it to appear. Building a snow shelter, or hunkering down in some old shack might be needed in order to keep warm. But if you’re patient enough, and able to withstand the cold for long enough — the beast will soon make an appearance.

In the dying light of the day, it is there. It’s unlike any deer you’ve seen before: tall and majestic, with thick, soft fur of brilliant white. It almost looks ghost-like in some angles, it’s an incredibly beautiful creature. But it seems to have also noticed you, just as you have noticed it. It doesn’t dart away, however. Instead it stands before you, waiting for you to act.

You have a choice: slay the creature, or let it go.

It will not move until you make your decision, holding your gaze until you raise your weapon or until you lower it and give up your hunt. But there is a consequence to either action: if you choose to kill the stag, you will be rewarded with a sizeable bounty of venison. Eating said meat will help you feel fuller for longer, and the meat will keep for far longer than any other deer slain.

However, if you choose to spare the stag, the creature will lower its head, as if bowing to you. Then, it will disappear with a swirling of powdered snow. When you return home for the evening and go to sleep, the next morning you will find a gift at the foot of your bed: a pair of deerskin boots, or a deerskin blanket. These boots are supple, tough and waterproof — allowing for a great balance of mobility and warmth. The blanket is incredibly toasty, and will provide a great deal of comfort in the long nights ahead.

REST MY WEARY BONES

WHEN: Mid-month, onwards indefinitely.
WHERE: Milton Outskirts.
CONTENT WARNINGS: n/a.



The storm has blown in plenty of snow to make traversing the area much more difficult, but there’s something else of note that comes with its passing. While the storm has brought much devastation, and some places have been buried in snow drifts, plenty of snow in areas has been blown away, uncovering otherwise lost secrets within Milton. Clouds of what looks like steam can be noted not too far from town, towards the mountains of the north.

If Interlopers head to explore the clouds, they will find old trails leading up towards the mountains. It isn’t a particularly difficult journey, for once, and they will soon discover that the storm has blown away the previously blocked access to a cave. It appears that this is the right place.

The air is warm here, pleasantly so. Warm enough that hats and mittens and coats seem a little unnecessary. One might wonder if someone lives within, and that a great fire is stoked to keep the place warm. But there’s no one in sight, no sounds of life: human, animal or otherwise. If they press on, they will discover that the cave floor is well worn with footfall: plenty of people have come here before, and the reason why is soon revealed.

The air grows even warmer, and more humid. The space opening to reveal small pools of slow-flowing water, warm water. The stone houses a natural hot spring, and following the cave out the other side will lead to another space in the rock open to the air, where there are even larger pools of warm water, perfectly sized and deep enough to bathe in. It seems that this place was frequently used by the people of Milton, where their life of hardship could be forgotten for an hour or two.

The water is pleasantly hot, and incredibly inviting. After so long in the freezing cold without modern appliances and utilities, a natural hot spring sounds like an absolute luxury.

FAQs

WHITEOUT

1. Characters are free to play around with this prompt how they want. Maybe they're dumb enough to go into the cold and get injured or sick. Maybe they're stuck in the Community Hall for the week. Fights might break out as tensions run high whilst everyone's stuck together, or maybe you're actually having a nice time.

2. For those stuck in the Community Hall: there are board games and old school textbooks stored in cupboards. There is also a piano.

3. A floorplan of the Community Hall can be found here.

A CHOICE

1. .... Yes, you can pet the ghost stag.

2. Characters will get one choice only with the ghost stag, meaning they can't keep going back to find it to get extra gifts.

3. If characters can't agree on a course of action, whoever acts first will get their gift. The second character will have a chance to try again another time.

4. If both characters agree on sparing the stag, but players want different gifts (ie. one player wants the boots and one wants the blanket), characters will get the gift the player wants their character to receive.

REST MY WEARY BONES

1. The hot springs will now be a permanent fixture in the Milton Area, enjoy!

PLOTTING POST

Comments

DW, it is RUDE to make us wait!

[moralabsolutism]

Rorschach looked methodically until he found La'an's place, the sign being most helpful in telling him who should be there. He made a mental note to tell others to do so as well. He wouldn't, of course, wary of having anyone know where he was. But being able to find each other quickly during crisis could help save lives.

Without so much as knocking, Rorschach just barged in like he always did. Personal boundaries were not something he was used to respecting, another aspect of his socially-awkward nature. When he saw La'an, he was pleased. "Oh good. You're not dead." It was hard to tell if he was joking or not in that flat voice of his, devoid of emotion as it usually was.

[rescapee]

From her spot on the bed, propped up against the wall with a blanket over her lap, La'an has a clear line of sight to the door. She'd been dozing slightly, her coughing calmed slightly by the cooling tea in the mug she held in her hands, but she jerks awake at the unexpected sound of someone entering. Had she forgotten to lock the door after she went out earlier? Her hand is under the pillow and grasping the knife there before she registers who's entered, and she pulls it halfway into view before her mind catches up to her instincts.

There's no hiding the flash of fierce determination tinged with fear that crosses her face, though she does her best to smooth out her expression and calm her racing heart with a few deep breaths. "Thanks for the concern," she mutters, considering getting up and then staying where she is. "You might not be able to say the same if you come in here again like that without knocking, though. My reflexes might not be so slow next time."

There's no bravado or threat in her tone; she's offering an honest warning.

[moralabsolutism]

Someday, Rorschach was going to barge into the wrong house, and on that day he'd regret that particular tendency of his. He stopped when he saw La'an lying on her bed, sharp eyes noticing that she was pulling out a knife when she realized just who it was who had broken into her home.

He stood there without moving forward. "Been stabbed before. I'll survive." Was that...an actual joke? Maybe? Sort of? Rorschach's sense of humor, contrary to popular belief, wasn't nonexistent. It was just often dour and bordered on black comedy, not helped by the lack of emotion in his growly tone. He observed her general condition. "You look terrible." Rorschach's lack of tact might have been his true superpower.

[rescapee]

She doesn't mind the man's darker humor, though she does hope he takes the warning to heart. He might be fine with being stabbed but she's not fine with being the stabber. If they were in her own time when a quick trip to sickbay and a dermal regenerator would patch him right up, then sure, but in these conditions, she's not even sure they could properly prevent the wound from getting infected.

Giving him a deadpan look in response, she replies, "Why, thank you. I feel terrible, as well." And then a cough erupts from her, irritated into existence by too much speaking. It isn't as wet and deep as before, at least, which is a glorious sign that her round of antibiotics had done their work.

[moralabsolutism]

Well, at least that explained why he hadn't seen her for days on end. That nasty cough made him glad he was wearing a mask. Two layers of latex would do a lot in helping to filter out some of the germs. He began to wander through the room, examining things in it and touching them, like the blankets covering the windows. While even in normal times he had no concept of personal boundaries, he was now taking advantage of the fact La'an probably wouldn't want to get out of bed to stop him from being nosy.

"How long?" He asked. If she'd been sick for weeks on end, it would be good to know what to look for in case anyone else started getting infected. In a place like this, without a proper way to combat the illness, a bad flu could turn into a plague.

[rescapee]

There isn't anything overly personal for him to find in his perusal, so she doesn't particularly mind the nosiness. The items that are important to her are kept on her person at all times: the broken diving watch on her wrist, and the Starfleet badge pinned at whatever shirt she's wearing at the time. A red scarf carefully folded on the coffee table is the only thing she's gained in this place that has any meaning to her.

La'an takes a sip of nearly cold tea that does little to help with the slight raspiness to her voice. "A few weeks. I went out with Methuselah and came back like this. Well, worse than this — I've had a round of antibiotics and they've helped. I've mostly kept my distance from the others, though, just in case."

[moralabsolutism]

He listened to her talk as he wandered into the other rooms, lingering in the kitchen in the vain hope of finding some sugar cubes. Alas, there was none to be found. Sometimes he thought there weren't any left in the entire town period.

As he came back into the main room, Rorschach shook his head in a disapproving manner. "Wandering around playing out a Jack London novel with an old man in the middle of the ice and snow. Smart." Yep, he was judging her for her choices. She had seemed more sensible than to make such a choice when he'd first met her but perhaps not.

[rescapee]

That disapproval grates on her, though she knows it shouldn't. He isn't her superior or even a fellow officer, nor is he a close friend whose opinion she values dearly. For all intents and purposes, he's a stranger, and it shouldn't matter this much what he thinks of her.

But it does, and that makes her angry.

"It was, actually," she bites out tersely, but she can't just leave it at that. "I didn't have training in tracking or archery before and now I do. Considering how few people there seem to be here with survival skills, I deemed it worth the risk and I stand by that decision."

[moralabsolutism]

He leaned up against the nearest wall, arms folded across his chest as he watched her reaction carefully. Some of Rorschach said and did was deliberate, trying to see how far he could push people before they wrote him off entirely. He was pleasantly surprised that not only did she manage not to start getting into an argument with him despite clearly being angry but also defended her decision with some good reasoning behind it.

"Good," He said approvingly. "Knowledge is power." A lot of people thought Rorschach was completely insane. Not quite. He still had enough of his wits left about him to be crazy like a fox and knew the best way to survive was to learn to adapt to whatever landscape you were in.

[rescapee]

That approval knocks the proverbial wind right out of her sails. Anger and tension drain out of her, leaving her feeling almost hollow as she slumps a bit more against the wall.

"On that we agree," she tells him softly, watching that strange mask of his for any sign of... something. Anything. So much of her life has been spent learning to read people's facial expressions that relying solely on body language and tone is proving difficult while she's not at full mental capacity. After watching him for a few more moments, she gives up and decides to just ask her question. "Did you come here because you were concerned or because you need something?"

[moralabsolutism]

There was a few moments where Rorschach paused, caught between telling a partial lie or the whole truth. "Concern," Rorschach finally answered honestly. "Thought you might have died. Or left. Would have been a waste."

La'an seemed competent and smart, two things that others here were sorely lacking. He'd wanted to make sure someone like that hadn't simply wandered off into the wilderness to die the way he'd suspected some of the others who were missing had done.