lifeaftr | January Undercurrent: Growing Pains

January Undercurrent: Growing Pains

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 )

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[The sound is enough to draw its attention. It snaps around with the appearance of staring down its target, despite lacking any apparent eyes. The Drifter's obsidian-dark stare is all but absent, veiled by thick layers of hardened fungal matter that leak with pus-like gobbets of sap.]

[The moment she bolts, the creature that used to be the Drifter tears after her.]

[It's...incredibly fast.]

[It isn't impeded by illness the same way that they were.]

Shit shit shit shit--

[Well this is awful! Thanks! Beau's eyes dart a quick left-right before looking up and deciding that's a plan if any. She leaps upwards, grabbing at a branch and swinging her ankles up to hug it so she can look at them a little closer. Fuck. She had spent so much time trying to cure herself she had missed finding some of her friends, and now--

Well, they stopped her when she was going rabid. Guess she owes them one for that. But jumping straight to murder is hard, and she's planning on trying out other tactics first. In the meantime though, she's looking down to see if they spotted her leap, or if they're bringing the fight right to her again.]

[And this thing is...a lot less intelligent than the Drifter is, as well. It claws at the tree trunk, having zeroed in on her position, but doesn't seem to have any means of scaling it. It simply scratches at the bark and makes low, shuddering noises that land somewhere between coughs and wheezes.]

[As long as it can see her...or perhaps smell her...it seems intent on pursuing its quarry.]

[Well this is the pits. Beau centers herself up on the branch, making a closer up check on what's happening here. Damnit. Her usual MO in this situation is some kind of mercy kill, but-- well, she should attempt at least a little talking. Drifter can have little a conversation. As a treat.]

Oy! Drifter! Can you hear me?? I know you can't say something but you've got that words thing!

[She gestures to her shoulder on the same side they have their sprite, as if somehow that makes any sense. Hopefully, even if she gave them her location, they're not gonna have the momentum to go straight the hell up.

And if they do well, uhhhh, we move to plan B.]

[No answer. That would be a "no," then.]

[It doesn't so much as acknowledge that it's being spoken to. It doesn't even utter a sound as it continues to rake at the bark of the tree, trying vainly to claw its way up. It's not capable of answering; the Drifter's damaged vocal cords don't make for much in the way of verbalization even when they haven't been consumed by massive fungal growths.]

[Their sprite, it seems, is also conspicuously absent.]

[Damn. Okay. If they're not smart enough to get that, they're probably not smart enough to pick a lock or anything. If she could trap them somehow, but... well, that's gonna be difficult. Maybe a big hole? Gotta be a big hole around here. It just becomes an issue of how she can get them anywhere.

Beau moves to more of a crouch, stepping delicately to the main trunk of the tree. If she wants to do this, she needs their attention, but not the range.]

C'mon fungal funk, you can do better than that!

[And she leaps to the next tree over, starting her run across the overhead while trying to keep sight on them- and their sight on her.]

[It can see - or perhaps smell - its prey moving, and naturally, it follows. It's a fairly easy opponent to kite into any position one wants. The only real hurdle to clear, at least at this point, is that it is an exceptionally fast creature - it is not withheld the way the Drifter was. It does not suffer that grievous illness.]

[It's stronger, too. But right now, all it can do is follow.]

[Which it does, eagerly.]

[Yeah, all of those things are why she's not planning on getting into their grabbing range. They can't seem to go Up very well, so the Hole Plan is still viable. She steps carefully, one eye on them and another where she's heading. Maybe she can just... restrain them? Get the jump? It's so much harder to function here without being able to straight murder your opponent.

It's not long before the ground gets more uneven though, Beau spotting something that might be suitable not far along. It's not very deep- maybe as tall as they are- but she has a plan. 40% of a plan. It goes like this- she's grabbing vines and anything on her person that can be tied into a knot, and then positioning herself to divebomb them from the tree. Without warning, she'll drop on them like some kind of messy possum, trying to hit a weak point or two with her ki to try for a stunning strike.]

[If this thing could scream in anger, doubtless it would. It doesn't. It flails, apoplectic, when she lands on top of it, but its movements are uncoordinated and lurching and messy. Its only advantage is in its unpredictability, but soon even that won't protect it any longer.]

[With a rasping heave of its sap-thickened lungs, it keels over. Some of the gently pulsating sacs hanging from its flesh split open like rotting fruit, heaving a powder of spores out into the open air.]

Ohhh, awwww, come on, that's gross--

[She's complaining, but not stopping. Quickly she's working on binding their feet and trying to stay out of range, even if she's coughing at spores and knows that's gonna fuck her up later. She's cured herself once-- maybe that'll be enough.

She'll just keep complaining in the meantime.]

C'mon, stay still, it's better for you!!

[Of course it doesn't listen. It thrashes, breathing hoarsely. It's the closest that this thing can get to snarling or screaming the way a proper zombie ought to. But the Drifter's vocal cords are damaged beyond repair, and it's something that no virus can alleviate. So it's reduced to trying to claw its way at her, struggling in the dirt. It doesn't even go for the bindings around its feet. It just tries to haul itself closer and closer to its target by the power of its upper body strength alone.]

[It does have that, though. Upper body strength. More than the Drifter does, anyway.]

[Of course they do, because anything else would be easier. Beau might be lithe, but she isn't raw strength- her muscles are built for working in tandem, not for restraining or overpowering a single thing. It's mostly leading to a lot of wiggling, and not a lot of working.

And still, she chatters, either out of nerves or because she simply can't keep still.]

Just stop trying to eat me, fucking hell, you're the worst--

[She can't quite bind both their feet, but as soon as she has something tied around their ankle she gives them a solid punch to the chest, trying to escape. If she succeeds, she'll stumble back to hold the length of vine now around them, and begins to attempt to drag them across the forest.]

Ccccccome on! Let's go! You better remember that I tried to help your ass when this is over, damn.

[The strikes manages to stun it, though it doesn't stay down for long. It's mostly the shock of being physically jarred and jostled about. It doesn't have nearly enough cognizance to be affected much more than that. If it has a complaint at its treatment, it doesn't voice it. Mostly it just tries to writhe up to its feet and get at her, fruitlessly. It barely acknowledges the fact that it's being dragged over the ground. Bits of fungal growth snap off as it's rustled over the leaves, leaving trails of dark pink stained against the rocks and greenery.]

[It lacks enough intelligence to try and get free of its bindings. It just wants to spread.]

This is the most horrible thing I've ever had to do, you know that? I've had to do some sick shit, and this is just-- this just sucks.

[It's not long before she finds a divet, somewhere the ground has caved down, and drags Drifter-- or what was once Drifter-- right in on there. Now it's just a matter of getting the hell out before they catch her, and she stares at them as she backs away, trying to find an opening.]

Can you just chill here for a minute?? Just stay so I can figure this out.

[Without other warning, she darts for the edge of the hole, using a ki point to double her jump and try to shimmy on out.]

[Of course it lurches and tries to claw at her, but she's faster than it is, and it's still impeded by her bindings. It simply breathes out, hoarse and rasping, as it scrabbles ineffectually at the walls of its prison.]

[It has one thought, and only one. It is reduced to pure, base instinct, and nothing more.]

[It cannot climb the walls. It isn't smart enough for that.]

[Okay. Okay, goodness, she's out. Beau puts her hands on her knees, crouched a bit to look down at Drifter while she catches her breath.]

Okay, okay, just hang out, I'll-- I'm gonna figure something the hell out here, just chill.

[And she sprints off. It's a solid plan, but... as Drifter claws at the sides, the dirt will simply crumble down, and make them a nice ramp to get the hell out- especially since those ties were temporary on their ankles.

She did try, at least. Rip Drifter.]

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January Undercurrent: Growing Pains

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