August Aftermath: Make Me Okay

[lifeaftr_mods]

AUGUST AFTERMATH: MAKE ME OKAY

Who: Everyone!
What: After the harrowing events of mid-month, it's time to process what you've been through
When: August 24th and onward
Where: Ensō and/or Nastrandir
Warnings: Discussions of violence, injury, forcibly altered mindsets via magical influence, and character deaths. Other than that, tag as you go!

Nastrandir: Can I Fight When I Don't Know How
The morning of August 24th, the day after a Storytelling that was notably later than usual, you will wake to the restoration of your average selves, barring any extenuating circumstances due to recent deaths. The dead will rise again on Ensō, at the Storyteller's Temple, while everyone else will simply wake where they last laid themselves to rest. There's nothing left to do but, perhaps, try to come to terms with all that's just happened.

You've probably witnessed some terrible things, over the past few days. There's a very good chance that you were the one doing the terrible things. Whether you were responsible for the slaughter of a fellow adventurer, watched the fray from the distance, or suffered the spontaneous combustion that seized everyone who hadn't managed to shake away their false memories in time, it's at least all over now. Or...mostly. Any stray sirens that haven't been smashed by the event's end are still shrilling away, though their dangerous effects seem to have been rendered inert without the aid of the broken merotome spilling its memories into everyone else's heads. Likewise, a handful of automatons still wander the island of Nastrandir. Those that have not succumbed to mud and rust and irreparable damage are still capable of firing upon hostiles. Anyone who may have fought by their side before will discover that they're now far less friendly, and will treat former members of the Red Team just the same as they would with any other intruder: with deadly fire.

So you can pick yourselves up off the ground and clean up what remains, or you can say to yourselves: Fuck That, and instead head back to Ensō. Or you could elect to keep exploring Nastrandir, if you're truly a glutton for punishment.

Ensō: Am I Bleeding From the Neck Down
On Ensō and its accompanying islets, it's begun to rain.

It's not a genuine downpour, but more of a gentle, melancholy drizzle. The rain is cool and likely refreshing, particularly if one is just coming away from the humidity of Nastrandir.

Potentially as a form of apology, anyone who goes digging through their belongings will discover that one of the following has ended up in their packs:

[ ♆ ] If you were a member of the Red Team, you will discover that you now own a rather awkwardly-shaped object, about three feet in length. A set of written instructions will inform you that this is known as a redsword, and that, upon placed upon any wet area or body of water, will drain and dry it out over the course of five minutes. This item is single-use, and only works for a ten-foot radius.

[ ♆ ] If you were a member of the Blue Team, you will discover that you now own some very fetching footwear. A set of written instructions will inform you that these are called skip-skops, and can be used to walk on water or wet land without sinking or getting wet. Standard limitations when crossing between islands or attempting to go beyond LifeAftr's limits will still apply. This item is single-use, and will dissolve after one hour total.

[ ♆ ] If you were Neutral, you will discover that you now own, er, this. A set of written instructions will inform you that this object is called a furball, and that it works as a sort of miniature, diminished version of the sirens you spent all that time destroying on Nastrandir. Once planted, it will rapidly grow into a tall, screaming tree full of lorby-like creatures that automatically causes all natural animals in the vicinity to become aggressive for one hour, maximum. This item is single-use.

It's not much, but it might make some of the hell that you suffered through over the past few days worth it! Almost, anyway. In the meantime...relax, lick your wounds, and try and forgive yourselves for what's happened. Please remember to let us know if your character perished in this event! Remember also that death penalties will be reduced following this event; characters will only need to contend with them for a week, and participation in Non-Compulsory AC will not be necessary in removing them.

---

If you're interested, the following links may prove handy:

[ ♆ ] OOC Event Info and Plotting Post
[ ♆ ] Nastrandir's Intro
[ ♆ ] Nastrandir's Locations Page
[ ♆ ] Search Requests Page
[ ♆ ] Deaths Page

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[vagabone]

Ooh, not unlimited. Forget the rope, I'll make it to tomorrow.

[At least he can walk around on his arm-stubs, unlike yesterday. It looks creepy, but he's mobile. Infinitely better than being a skull.]

...What's the weirdest thing they summoned?

[eudaimonikos]

An enormous flying shrimp with three pairs of wings.

[vagabone]

[...And here he'd expected something not remotely appropriate for children. Which a giant flying shrimp probably is, in a completely different way.]

What? Why? What do you even do with that? Eat it?

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah, of course. I made her kill it first. [He grins reflexively.] Oh, that was fun.

[vagabone]

[Of course it was a torture thing. He pulls another face, shaking his head.]

Eugh. No, let's put that on the list of things I'd rather eat bite-size.

[eudaimonikos]

[Honestly? He thinks Eleanor enjoyed it, too! Probably not Chidi and Tahani, but you can't please (or torture) everybody at once.]

It lasted her a long time! There was still a ton left when I rebooted that one...

[vagabone]

'Rebooted'?

[That word sounds vaguely familiar as... some weird fancy modern thing. Probably has to do with calculators.]

[eudaimonikos]

[god dammit, that's right]

Just - wiped their memories, cycled everything back. I did that a lot, back in the day.

[vagabone]

...Oookay, moving on, new topic.

[No more devil or hell talk!! Not again!! No screwing with memories either, memories are all he is.]

So who's 'her'? The shrimp lover.

[eudaimonikos]

Oh! Eleanor!

[Michael lights up. He adores Eleanor!]

Boy, she's something. A real firecracker. It didn't matter what I did - every dumb game I tried to play with them, she figured me out every time. She's such a, a...she's so strong.

[vagabone]

[That reaction seems too genuine to have been faked, and he's totally smiling himself. But. Well. He's been very, very wrong about someone before, hasn't he? And he paid for it.]

Huh. You... really, really like those humans. That's pretty awesome. Who are the others, anyway? There were four of them, right?

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah. Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason. And Janet, but she's not a human.

[Was this, like, you asking to hear about all his cool friends? If not, too fucking late!]

Now, Chidi's really the lynchpin to the whole thing. He's a moral philosophy professor - I set it up so he'd have to teach Eleanor to be a better person, but he kinda ended up dragging everybody into his ethics orbit.

[Including, like, the literal devil, so kudos to Chidi]

[vagabone]

[He is always down to hear about someone's very cool friends, okay. Doubly so, in this case.]

Wait, wait, wait... he got you into it too, didn't he? He did, that's what started it all! Hah, that's amazing. I bet he'd blow my mind too.

[eudaimonikos]

It was a team effort. Eleanor's the one who forced me to go to his class in the first place - but Chidi just believes in people. He really always thought we could all be better, even me.

[vagabone]

[Yep. Fantastic people. He's getting sucked in himself, Michael's enthusiasm is contagious.]

And he was right! Wasn't he? Seems like he was right. [A beat.] What on Earth did he say that was so convincing?

[eudaimonikos]

Oh, I don't know that it was any one thing. Just everything. 

[Telling him he was going to die, maybe? That he wasn't inherently evil? Maybe he is, in a way, but.]

They were all very nice to me, you know, when I joined their group. They knew I'd been torturing them for three hundred years, they really didn't have to be.

[vagabone]

Really?

[What are they? Actual saints? What are the odds?]

...that says something incredible about them, because I don't think I could.

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah. I guess it probably helps that they didn't remember most of it. And that it wasn't very effective.

[The story he told them - and it was true, they knew that before he opened his mouth - was one of a demon who was constantly defeated. He wasn't much of an evil mastermind.]

[vagabone]

[A touch amused.]

I'd say failing at torture is a good sign. But still, they sound like a cool bunch.

[eudaimonikos]

[shut up, he's a terrifying demon]

They really are.

[vagabone]

[He very much was for about a month. And now he's gone and ruined it. Gushing about his favorite humans. Making the tastiest meal the skeledude's had in fifty years. Terrifying!!]

Hey, wait, what about the other two?

[eudaimonikos]

Oh! Tahani and Jason! Yes, yes - actually, I do have pictures. Here...

[He swipes up at the air to summon his phone again, and flips through some stuff until he gets to a photo of all the humans.]

That's Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason. You can't really tell in this, but Eleanor's like, here-ish. [He gestures to indicate that she's very short compared to him.] Tahani's very fancy. She's British, you know, and from money. Used to be real big into philanthropy.

[vagabone]

[Imagine him turned loose with a phone--oh, he'd take so many fantastic pictures once he worked out how.

And tiny fiery ladies are the best, of course. One in particular especially. Oh, he misses her...]

Rich, fancy, and nice? That hardly ever happens. [Money always seems to turn people nasty.] What's Jason like?

[eudaimonikos]

Well, the nice is a work in progress.

[Look, he loves Tahani, but it's true and we all know it.]

Jason's a total moron. I've never met a single human that dumb. But he also...I don't know. It's like he...understands...feelings.

[Jason has emotional intelligence, unlike anyone else in the squad in general and Michael in particular.]

[vagabone]

[Being The Dumb One with loads of feelings is a héckin' mood.]

...how many humans have you met? Because I can tell you right now, there are plenty of idiots out there.