October Event: Crystal Clear

[lifeaftr_mods]

OCTOBER EVENT: CRYSTAL CLEAR

Who: Everyone!
What: Your exploration takes a turn.
When: October 20th - 26th
Where: The caverns situated underneath Ensō
Warnings: Character death, body horror, descriptions of illness. Please mark any additional warnings as needed!

Part I: Attack, Attack!
Congratulations! You've successfully gone where no Storyteller has gone or can go, and woken up in the network of subterranean caves buried beneath the island's mass, along with your designated supplies: a miner's cap, a week's worth of food, and both your knapsacks and their collective contents. And the further along you go, the vaster and more sprawling these almost labyrinthian tunnels seem to get. There’s certainly evidence that civilization once thrived here - old buildings hewed from the rock of the cave walls may very well contain old tools, or even salvageable supplies. Careful examination of structures and cavern walls alike will reveal sigils resembling those carved on the doors, each of which will need to be destroyed entirely at the Storyteller's behest. Whatever was down here was advanced enough to dwell without sunlight. But that raises a rather pertinent question...

If there were once people here, where did they all go?

Fortunately, one will soon discover that there's plenty of natural light underground, exhibited by the crystalline growths on the walls. None of them appear to be dangerous, and those attracted to shiny things might even find them useful for picking up or chipping away in order to better light their way. The crystal has about the thickness and hardness of quartz, and bathes its surroundings in a luminous green glow.

The closer you come to the center of the mass, however, the denser the crystalline growths seem to become, until one has to be quite ingenious in navigating them. Eventually, they'll simply be too dense to be squeezed through, even by the smallest and most agile of your number.

That’s when they it will start to become apparent.
Something in the crystal is moving.

Huge chunks of crystal are starting to detach from the center and move slowly, inexorably, toward those unfortunate enough to have explored the caverns. Unmistakably humanoid silhouettes, distorted by awful crystalline growths, most of which have completely swallowed any recognizable features.

...most.

The good news is that the creatures can be shattered, and beaten back. The bad news? Well...

Part II: Retreat, Retreat!
Those who get close enough to the crystalized beasts to get a good look at them will soon make a horrifying discovery - the fact that, underneath those thick layers of luminescent quartz, there was once something that might have been recognizable as human. These quartz monsters aren't native to this region, or indeed, to any region of the island at all. They were formed.

Formed out of the very crystal that you explorers have been touching, picking up, sleeping on, and just generally remaining in prolonged contact with ever since you set foot down here.

Indeed, anyone who has been in contact with the crystal for extended periods of time - sleeping on it or getting dealt a swipe from one of the crystalized monsters, for example - will find that tiny, quartz-like growths have started to sprout on their skin as well. Once the virus has taken root, it will spread rapidly until it has swallowed you whole. Indeed, the unpleasant symptoms will reveal themselves within twenty-four hours of the initial exposure: in addition to clusters of crystalline growths pocking the affected areas, the inflicted will begin to experience intense stabbing pains all over as the crystal begins to grow - both inside and out. The transformation is slow and arduous and painful, and vocalization tends to be one of the first things to go once the crystals sprout in the mouth and throat. Within the span of about three days since the initial exposure, the transformation will have sheathed most of the physical body in crystal entirely, sealing the victim in a humanoid cast of glasslike green.

It has not been confirmed if the inflicted are sentient and aware of their state of being once they are completely consumed. Whatever their intentions, those are easily overridden by the virus's innate desire to spread to as many organisms as possible.

As this is an event with a high risk of death, the Storyteller will impose death penalties for one week only. Additionally, deaths succumbed during the event count towards the character's total. There is no known cure to the virus, but that doesn't mean characters can't or shouldn't try!

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] October 20th: Spelunking begins. Points of interest will be provided.
[ ♆ ] October 22nd: The Quartzalcoatl make their presence known.
[ ♆ ] October 24th: The final sigils are broken, and the Storyteller will return all uninfected to the Islets.
[ ♆ ] October 26th: All deceased will be returned at midday, suffering from a reduced death penalty.

Event Specifics

[ ♆ ] If your character perishes in this event, please let us know!
[ ♆ ] For those who opted out, please see the top-level below!
[ ♆ ] Item claims can be found on the OOC plotting post here!

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[catpiper]

[She does not, in fact, enjoy being knocked down. That's on her top ten list of 'Things I don't like' between ghosts and moldy green beans.

She plops to the ground, pulling ESP kitty into her lap and under the poncho. She has her hands over his little cat ears because he's The Most Important. Bring on the surprise, Kidwun. She's ready. The cat's ready. But is the world ready?]

Do you want to sit by me?

1/2

[achievementhunter]

Of course.

[Not. No offence to her, of course, but as they take a seat, it is firmly for her own benefit than their own. Just as the countdown is; voice entirely calm as they announce it clearly.]

On three. One, two-

Three.

[achievementhunter]

[Boom.

As promised, the surprise is- loud. Extremely. What Chara should have also warned about, even if they alluded to it, was the manner in which the ground shakes, trembling violently with the aftershock. Both of them are still close enough that the noise is nearly overwhelming- a buzz in their ears, muting the noise around them into a tight ring that's slow to dissipate.

But once they press the trigger, Chara's hand goes to her arm. Completely steady and remaining there throughout.

They also attempt to keep their giddy laughter to a minimum.]

[catpiper]

[hm

ESP Kitty seems to understand what's going to happen in the following seconds. She feels his claws dig into her legs before the shrill ringing completely takes over, even before the ground starts to shake under her feet. It doesn't bother her, really. It gives her a warning that he senses something in the way animals tend to do. And then it begins.

It's a good thing Kidwun's hand is on her because it's made clear by the jerking motion her body makes that she was going to run. It was instinct. She doesn't have the same instantaneous reaction of laughter they do. She's as far from laughing as humanly possible actually. A brave person might find enjoyment in something like this, but-

She hates it. Takes back what she says about 'the cat's here it's fine' because this is definitely not fine. It's clear why their sibling doesn't enjoy this surprise. They did warn her though and that's something she recalls now, with her fingers pressed against the cat in her lap to keep him from running off.]

Scary.

[She can't hear anything over the temporary tinnitus and she looks to Kidwun with some obvious displeasure across her whole face. Surprises suck. And since she can't hear the answer to the 'are you scared? are you okay?' questions she wants to ask, if they let her, she's going to place her hand over the one they have grasping her arm and gives it a little squeeze. U OK friend?]

[achievementhunter]

[They did try to warn her. And as it stands, they can't truly be all too disappointed that she obviously did not like it- she didn't like going through the mana pool for the first time. They'd be surprised if she'd attempted it since.

But just like then, she does stay by them. Gives their hand a squeeze, pets her cat and waits with them as the world stops shaking and slowly, the ringing starts to die off in their ears. It'll take a minute. One of these days, Chara is absolutely going deaf from this.

But right now, they use their free hand to sign to her, confident that she'll be capable of understanding from the magical translation this world provides... even if she can't sign back.]

It worked. It's over.

You're okay.

[catpiper]

[While she can understand the weird, rapid way their hand is moving, she remains fixated on the the aftereffects of the surprise. Her fingers move to the cat's fur and remain buried there until she's sure It's over really means what she thinks it does.

And when the ringing begins to completely fade away, she starts to speak up.]

This-

[Oh, good. Her ears work again. That's dope.

She's not here to judge Kidwun's life choices or hobbies, but yeah. Let's get outta here friend. She's 100% done with the caves for today and with surprises forever.]

I'll take you back. To a safe place.

[Away from b o m b s]

[achievementhunter]

[By the time she deems it okay to speak, they've stopped laughing, at least, amusement and general rush of adrenaline received from raising absolute Hell warring with a small spatter of guilt at how shaken she is. Frisk would probably respond similarly, with a tight hand around theirs, lips pressed into a thin line.

So they gather she's not a fan of booms, then.]

Of course. Do you need help getting up? [She did what they wanted, it's only fair they return the favor-- until she's a little more calm.]

[catpiper]

It's okay. I can stand by myself.

[She says that, but she doesn't trust the ground right now and there's a noticeable pause in her movements. Knees half bent, she listens for a second rumble-a second surprise and when that doesn't happen, she stands. Cool, step one.

Her grip is tight around Kidwun's hand and she looks down to check on the cat by her feet. He shakes his head, paws at his ears and stretches. That's a fantastic sign. Everyone's alive? Great.]

That loud surprise made you very happy.

[If their laughter and smile was any indication of that. As nice as it would be to join them for a second 'surprise', Ren's not sure her heart could take it.]

Do you like 'quiet' surprises?

[achievementhunter]

Yes. [And her the opposite. They wish that was a surprise to them, but since when has anything they enjoyed been common, normal?

This is the very reason they'd had such trouble with humans in the first place, yet they find no judgement in her queries.]

I'm rather partial to flowers- does that count as 'quiet'?

[catpiper]

[That does count. Quiet because they don't explode. They don't make any noise at all, unless little bees are buzzing around them, and that's 100% preferable to what happened here.]

Yes!

[Comes the excited response the second they're done talking, though her entire expression lit up after 'flowers'. Whatever pieces of fear remained from their mini exploding adventure-it's all gone now.]

I'll look for quiet surprises and come find you.

[CAVE FLOWERS here she comes.]

[achievementhunter]

[Boy golly Ren you are going to have so much fun if Chara ever gets an Echo Flower. Mind blown.

Right now, she's being overly loud for someone who was looking for a Quiet surprise. Chara starts, taken aback by the sudden change in disposition- until their lips quirk upwards in an overly fond smile, genuine-- and slightly nostalgic.]

If you like. Just don't stray too far from camp.

[catpiper]

I won't.

[She absolutely will. Put a leash on her. I'm not brave she says, wandering through the dimly lit crystal caves like it's her second home. There's treasure. She's got a cat. How could it get any safer? It can't. This is the Ideal Situation so far. Good thing there aren't any spooky crystal demons or contagious diseases in here. That'd be horrible.]

You should stay by the camp too.

[achievementhunter]

Not just yet; I have some things to do.

[More loud 'surprises' that are best conducted as far away from the general populace as possible. It'd be a shame if they were stuck down here so long that something truly horrible happened, and countless people died to horrific creatures no one had been prepared for.]

But should you be there later on, we can have a meal together.

[Another 'quiet' surprise.



Also incentive for her to stay close to camp lol not that that's something they're thinking about why would you even, bring that up]

[catpiper]

[And like that, Chara ends up being the reason Ren didn't die in October.]

I'll wait for you there.

[Because the idea of sharing a meal with them is enough to keep her butt plastered near the camp. She can think of a few select places hasn't explored yet that's closer to the campsite. Maybe those areas will have quiet surprises? She can ask the the other campers about cave flowers that might be further down. Can't miss an opportunity to be with this peanut.]

Taako and Lup and Drifter are coming back too-we'll all eat together.

[ H A H A ]