January Undercurrent: Growing Pains

[lifeaftr_mods]

JANUARY UNDERCURRENT

Who: Everyone!
What: Hey bud, how's it growing?
When: January 3rd to January 20th
Where: Everywhere!
Warnings: This event has a potential for body horror and character death; please mark anything as it comes up!

A Notion Growing Inside Me

Those of you who weren't with us the last time Umui entered the archipelago didn't have to contend with the lethal illness known as the Overgrowth personally, but anyone who remembers it probably doesn't remember it fondly. Fortunately, this isn't quite the same strain of the illness that you had to contend with the last time. It's not unrelentingly and uncompromisingly fatal, for one! That's always nice.

For those that need a primer on the Overgrowth, it is best described as a sickness that overcomes you with floral growth both inside and outside your body that can only be cured by expressions of emotional honesty. Expressions of truths, affections, and admissions of things that you have hidden from yourselves or from others were critical in dispensing of the illness. These could be as simple as admissions of past sins or the revealing of secrets, or as grandiose and overt as confessions of guilt or love. That general idea will remain more or less the key means of curing this strain as well, though the stakes fortunately aren't as high this go around! Which is to say, if you fail to have any grand emotional epiphanies by the time this event ends, you aren't doomed to suffer a character death; symptoms will simply dissipate come January 20th.

So what's this sickness going to be like in this particular instance, then? We're so glad you asked! You can go the standard route, of course. Adventurers' first brush with the illness saw the following afflicted upon them:

[ ♆ ] Stage One: Germination. Initial symptoms involve fever, coughing fits, numbness to nerves and extremities, and general joint stiffness. Difficulty breathing or performing other basic functions will often occur. Fatigue, difficulty sleeping, and intense weakness or dizzy spells are also liable to occur as the flowers begin to harvest nutrients from the body. This will also generate extreme thirst and periods of intense nausea. Tremors and the sensation of something "itching" from inside are also common. The end of Stage One is usually marked by the act of vomiting or coughing up flower petals or spores, along with a not-insignificant amount of blood.

[ ♆ ] Stage Two: Budding. The floral growths spread more completely inside the body, and begin to grow on the skin or exterior. Difficulty performing basic functions will increase as, for example, airways become obstructed and flowers grow around joints and pinch them still. The site of affliction also yields rashes, blisters, and blood sores as the flowers sprout from the skin. The rate of vomiting or coughing up floral growths will increase dramatically. Flowers often bloom quickly, and very painfully. Numbness in affected areas will increase, oftentimes rendering parts of the body completely inert - a pair of legs claimed completely by blooms, for example, will no longer work.

This was followed by Stage Three: Bloom, which resulted in character death. However, this strain will not advance to this style of Stage Three. All symptoms will disperse by the time Umui resurfaces.

This strain is also rather more erratic, which can make emotional repression more of an inconvenience than a horrifying circumstance. For those who would rather not play around with intense sickness (or who have already endured this once before), you have the option to go that route if you like! With this variant of the Overgrowth, one can become, for example, so embarrassed that they hiccup up a flower. A vicious denial of their feelings may cause them to spontaneously erupt into a rash of dandelion puffballs, seemingly immediately. You might end up walking around with a bouquet for an arm for a few hours. Perhaps mortifying, but certainly not fatal! Isn't that nice?

Unless, of course, you want it to be...

I Can't Fight It Much Longer

Now, while the Bloom Stage isn't present in this strain, it has mutated its progression into a rather nasty end stage. Those of you who succumb a little too readily to this illness, who don't fight off the emotional repression quickly, who don't admit those difficult truths to yourself or confess to whatever you're bottling up, you'll be faced with a potentially horrifying transformation. Potentially, because it is your choice whether or not you see fit to commit your character to that fate - as stated above, this option might simply skip over your character entirely, and the worst they'll have to deal with are cartoonishly over-the-top effects that disperse in due time.

But maybe not all of you will be so lucky. Some of you might discover for yourselves how this particular variant of the Overgrowth has mutated.

We call this mutation Stage Three: Outbreak. In this final Stage, those beautiful blooms wither and harden into a fungus-like carapace as the illness grows into the victim's brain and shuts down virtually all higher functions. This can sometimes render them almost wholly recognizable, but not always - oftentimes, it's very obvious who this person once was. The victim is reduced to a carrier of the virus, which causes them to act the way you'd expect most viruses to act: becoming intent on spreading. Advanced brain functions such as speech, rational thought, and so on tend to shut off and become wholly inaccessible.

Now that the victim's body is no longer fighting the Overgrowth, the illness lends them increased speed, strength, and durability, making them dangerous foes indeed. They will usually seek to infect others by whatever means necessary - usually via biting or exuding breathable spores - but in some cases, they will simply reduce to base instincts, and just outright attempt to attack and kill whoever is closest.

Unfortunately, at this point, there is no hope of a cure; it's hard to make someone be emotionally honest when they're capable of little more than blunt, animal instinct. At this point, you can either wait for the Stage Three symptoms to disperse come Umui's return, or take manners into your own hands. You can probably guess what that might entail.

If you decide to put your Overgrown friends out of their misery, this will count as a character death. If it comes to that, be sure to let us know on the Deaths page! Death penalties, however, will not be reduced for this event.

Try to Get Through It

Of course, there's a lot going on in the background as well. You're free to use this log as a catch-all for the duration of January's Undercurrent Event, as well as any of the other minor events listed on our Monthly Rundown post. And, of course, you are always free to create your own individual logs and posts as needed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them over on the Questions header on our Rundown post!

January Timeline

[ ♆ ] January 1st: "This Sucks" begins and lasts until January 10th
[ ♆ ] January 3rd: "Growing Pains" begins and lasts until January 20th
[ ♆ ] January 11th: "No Water is Safe" begins and lasts until January 19th
[ ♆ ] January 20th: Umui returns to the archipelago
[ ♆ ] January 21st: "Impawsible Geometries" begins and lasts until January 31st

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

Jan 5th

[forwearemany]

(To return is unwise. Their previous visit to Monsun nearly destroyed them.

But the lure of the Geth, of being connected to the collective again, is overwhelming, even if it is not real.

Their journey is halted, however, by the sight and sound of movemrnt on the ice. Their eye focuses, zooms in, their visual program increases frames taken per second to better analyze what they see.

...Drifter?

It is easy enough to extrapolate from their own experiences and determine what is likely going on.

They are also aware that fighting will not help.

The Drifter, however, is clearly not.

Abandoning their own objective, Legion begins to run towards the Drifter, and whatever spectre threatens them.)

[hyperlit]

[Blood spots the snow in droplets of pink as the Drifter hauls themself to their feet, wearily, their sword out. They faced this creature down once. They can do so again. It may very well kill them a second time. This is an acceptable loss.]

[Someone else is moving for them. Immediately, they flare up a warning message.]

STAY BACK

[As if it weren't obvious - that thing is immense, towering over them. Surely everyone else can see it, can't they?]

[forwearemany]

(They do not, in fact, stay back.)

Drifter! This location brings fears to life! Your presence is giving it power!

(Can they see what the Drifter sees? No. Do they have any idea what "it" is? No. But the Drifter is attempting to fight it, so presumably, it is some form of enemy.

They are not yet certain of what they will do should the Drifter choose not to listen.)

[hyperlit]

[What are they saying? Brings fears to life. They cannot take their eyes away from the thing as it sways there, massive and far-reaching. It could devour this entire world whole. It could seize it and spit it back out, corrupted and bleeding pinkish ichor like everything else in Buried Time before - before - ]

[They can't look away.]

IT WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING

[forwearemany]

(They are close enough now that they no longer feel the need to shout.)

No. It can only do so if you linger in this area.

(The Shepard-Commander of their timeline nearly destroyed them.

But she was only able to do so after they had gotten bewildered, lost. After they had lingered.)

We have also experienced this phenomena. The subject of our fears vanished upon leaving the area.

(They move to stand in front of the Drifter, though they do not seek, yet, to block their movements.)

[hyperlit]

[They can't turn their back on it. It would be unthinkable to simply...leave. It isn't real, Legion says. But the Drifter has seen how Judgment functions. They know how it functions. Not everyone sees it. Not everyone experiences it. But, inevitably, it claims.]

NOT ALL CAN SEE IT
DOES NOT MAKE IT NOT REAL

[forwearemany]

Yes. Ours was real as well. And still, she vanished.

(The longer they delay their travels, the more chance there is that she will return.

The longer they stand in this place, the greater the risk that they will discover just what it is the Drifter fears.)

Come with us?

[hyperlit]

MANY NEVER SEE IT
DOES NOT MAKE IT LESS REAL

[Just because it does not exist in a shape that all can see does not mean it is not real. The Drifter shakes their head, their sword still humming.]

STILL A DANGER

[forwearemany]

(This isn't working they think: the Drifter is stuck in a logical loop, defending the reality of this enemy.

It is a common problem when trying to convince them, they've found.

...How do they stop it?)

Acknowledged. We believe you.

(They step slightly out of the way.)

It will continue to grow stronger from your presence.

(They will not abandon their ally, but they are uncertain how to proceed.

They simply know that no argument has worked in the past.

Unless...)

This will place others who enter this location in greater danger.

(They look at the obvious marks of where they've repaired themselves after being injured, accidentally and otherwise, by the Drifter. It is one of the few things that seems to have any chance to get through to them.)

Will you risk causing harm?

[hyperlit]

[Perhaps it is. Perhaps it requires their presence to feed itself, to bolster itself. They cannot say. They don't know because their death had been necessary to facilitate its death the last time, and they did not know, could not ever truly know, if it actually succeeded. All they have is the hope that it did.]

[The promise of a god. Assuming that was what it was - and not just a feverish, desperate hope, some dying dream.]

KILLED IT BEFORE
WILL KILL IT AGAIN

[Just because others cannot see it does not mean it is not real. The people in Buried Time - not all of them had been capable of seeing it either. It had been just beneath their town, and they had done nothing but avoid the arcane markings set into the floor, as though they did not exist.]

[forwearemany]

It will be restored: the frozen area of Monsun will continue to give it life through your memories.

(They chatter.)

Most efficient method of destruction is to leave.

[hyperlit]

THEN IT WILL TAKE EVERYTHING

[They've seen it happen. They've seen people let the Cell fester and rot everything in its path. They're not sure they can stop it a second time. Everything Legion insists runs counter to what they know of the Cell - of this thing that they've vanquished once before (thought they had vanquished, were not certain that they had but thought, hoped they had) and just because they insist it is some apparition does not mean it is so. It had not been real to everyone in Buried Time. That had not made its effects any less pronounced.]

[forwearemany]

No. It will not.

(They are certain of it.)

Suggestion: cross over into the opposite side of Monsun. If it does not disappear, you may return to fight without issue.

[hyperlit]

CANNOT TURN BACK ON ENEMY

[Or are they meant to walk backwards all the way to the other side of Monsun? Turning away from it may very well kill them - again. Crush them into jelly. Impale them. Rip out their throat.]

[(They have died so many times to it, watched it happen over and over, and they do not necessarily mind dying for this cause but they mind it more so when they are dying without a clear purpose.)]

[forwearemany]

Not even to flee?

(They chatter.)

Drifter, the longer we linger, the more both of us are at risk.

[hyperlit]

ALREADY AT RISK

[Their conversation abruptly halts when Judgement surges for them, a swarm of black tendrils arcing for them. They shoot back, their sword up, slashing at the dark, clawlike drips of shadow reaching for them. They immediately dissipate on contact, but they can't keep this up forever.]

GO

[The implication is probably clear: go, and they'll hold it back.]

[forwearemany]

We are not abandoning you!

(They back up a bit, to avoid being accidentally hit by Drifter's sword, then move to the side, to avoid getting to close to their own manifestation.

But they don't move beyond that.)

[hyperlit]

WANT TO LEAVE
THEN LEAVE

[They seem intent on telling the Drifter to desert this fight, but the Drifter knows what this is - knows it to be Judgment, believes it to be Judgment, and just because it appears only to them does not make it any less real. If there is even the smallest chance that it is real, that it is not some mere hallucination - then they must destroy it.]

[forwearemany]

Our current desire is to prevent you from suffering a needless, preventable death.

(This will end badly, they know.

Drifter's actions suggest it is attacking. Perhaps ...

They can't see judgement, but they try to move in its way. Perhaps, if an attack connects with them and they are unharmed, the Drifter will be convinced.)

We will not leave until you do.

[hyperlit]

THEN STAY

[They leave it at that. There's no time for anything else. Judgment is shifting, issuing a hail of tiny projectiles that fan out in the Drifter's direction. Their focus on the battle is absolute, in spite of the way their sickness threatens to double them over. Inconsequential. Their sword connects with several of the bullets, winging them back at the hulking mass.]

[It doesn't relent. Its eye peers at them with unparalleled malice.]

[forwearemany]

Then we will both die, because you are controlled by your fear.

(They'd prefer not to get in the Drifter's way, because it seems like a good way to get stabbed. But it seems as though, if they want to prove anything, they have little choice.

They watch for a moment, follow the Drifter's gaze, estimate the path of an imaginary line from them to their invisible foe.

And then, without hesitation, they move to stand in it, putting themseves in the path of oncoming attacks from either side.)

[hyperlit]

IT IS REAL

[Just because Legion cannot see it does not mean that it is not real. That's how the Cell functions. Not all see it. Those stricken with illness, those who fall to pieces when the plague starts to ravage them inside out, they have no difficulty glimpsing it. The Drifter certainly has no difficult glimpsing it.]

[It is not fear that guides them - it can't be. What sort of fear has them standing against the thing that has killed them and will kill them and has almost killed their entire world, and fighting anyway?]

[Legion gets in the way. The Drifter glowers at them, but they don't have time for admonitions. Instead they dart around instead, narrowing their dash into a bladed tip that slams through the Judgment's black mass and spews shadow out onto the other side.]

[forwearemany]

It is a temporary construction of the magic inherent to Monsun and it will cease to exist once you leave! The same occurs with desires on the opposite side!

(They continue getting in the way, faster now, and attempt to move closer to ... whatever this invisible menace is.)

[hyperlit]

THEN LEAVE

[No one comes between the Drifter and their target. Those that do only do so to die, and Legion is proving - difficult. They don't want to simply bowl them over, but they cannot continue to fight a battle on two fronts. They sling one of their bombs from their cloak, duck, and let it detonate. Legion, as a friendly, should remain unscathed, but in the Drifter's perspective, they can see the impact blowing a hole in Judgment's side. The damage immediately begins to coalesce over regardless.]

[forwearemany]

We will not leave without you.

(They are, in fact, unscathed! They are also undeterred from continuing to be a nusiance.

They know enough to know the Drifter won't harm them without a threat first.

Admittedly, at this point even if the Drifter hurt them, there are worse things to fear than death.)

If it is real, then why has it not harmed us?