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

[eudaimonikos]

I'm fine.

[He also seems like he's totally fine with just lying there for the foreseeable future.]

[salutosinedelectat]

[ People might have varying definitions of “fine”, but this seems a bit much.

The angel hesitates in doing anything at first, but it is abundantly clear that the demon isn’t feeling well. So he starts by gently pulling him into sitting up again, taking care not to jostle Potrick too much.

Perhaps we should get you inside.

[eudaimonikos]

Okay.

[Michael lets Aziraphale pull him upright easily; he wasn't motivated to do anything for himself, but he's not that motivated to resist either. His gaze falls on Potrick, and after a second he adds in a hollow voice:]

That's Potrick. [...] A pot.

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Aziraphale does a double-take at Potrick. ]

Ah...yes, quite. Hum, hello, Potrick. [ Why did he do that? He doesn't know. He's very confused. ]

Can you stand?

[eudaimonikos]

[Ordinarily Michael would probably provide more detail on Potrick's general existence, but right now it just doesn't seem worth the effort.

Standing hadn't, either. But a total lack of willpower means that someone else's will can propel him pretty easily, so he just starts standing up. Doesn't look like there's anything physically wrong.]

Sure.

[salutosinedelectat]

[ The angel takes a moment to look him over, to check for any signs. But nothing looks out of the ordinary.

So he does wonder if it's simply a case of the demon feeling under the weather...or yet another case of a strange mind and body altering situation. Plants again? Food, perhaps? ]

Ah, good, there we are. [ He watches the demon move. The fact that he's not struggling at all is the most mind boggling part of the whole thing.

With a hand on Michael's shoulder he leads him toward the cottage door and inside. ]

Come on now, lets get a good look at you.

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael follows without comment, just kinda drifting to a stop in the middle of the room. The space is pretty basic, like any of the cob houses in the area. There's a few extra shirts and ties carefully folded on a shelf, for lack of drawers, and a few attempts to spruce things up with some plants. Michael's not really used to having a house, but he knows the gist of it.

Florida the lorby bounds up, winding around Aziraphale's ankles with a curious chitter.]

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Aziraphale is mildly startled when he nearly trips over something around his feet, funny sound included, before he recognizes the creature as one of those- what were they called? Ah, yes, lorbies.

He composes himself, hands held up daintily as if he's not sure what to do. This is only the second time he's encountered one of these in person, and the first time he had to deal with a bunch of screaming baby ones. ]

Oh, hum, hullo there.

[eudaimonikos]

...that's Florida.

[He says, with no further explanation.]

[salutosinedelectat]

Right. Yes. Hullo.

[ Good Florida. Nice Florida. He's just going to...step over her strange, long fuzzy body. ]

How about you take a seat, Michael?

[eudaimonikos]

Okay.

[He does. There are, miraculously, two chairs in here. Florida hops up on his lap; Michael doesn't react until the lorby starts headbutting his hand for pets, at which point he starts petting him.]

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Aziraphale watches Michael for another good few, awkward seconds, just trying to see any signs of well, anything that might've happened. ]

So...hm. [ He purses his lips. ]

Did anything...strange happen? Earlier today, perhaps?

[eudaimonikos]

[Strange? Everything seems pretty much the same right now, but he guesses some things are unusual.]

There was a fox outside.

[salutosinedelectat]

[ What is even unusual anymore? They’re a person shaped demon and angel, that’s normal. In magic islands in an alternate or pocket dimension. That’s normal too.]

A fox?

[ Living in Britain for so long, he knows foxes, but he doesn’t think they’re natural to magic tropical islands.]

A...normal one?

[eudaimonikos]

They steal your stuff. Pretty sure there's a different name for them, not sure what it is...

[He's always gotten by just fine calling them foxes.]

[salutosinedelectat]

Right... [ He continues to observe Michael carefully, as if that might bring him any answers.

Glancing around, he pulls a chair over and sits across from the demon.]

So, it stole something from you?

[eudaimonikos]

[Did...it? He doesn't think so. He can't quite remember what happened there or where it went, admittedly, but he doesn't own that many things here and he doesn't think any are missing.]

...I think I chased it away.

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Aziraphale nods, observing him rather attentively.]

Right...

And what happened after that?

[eudaimonikos]

[What did happen after that...? It's all hazy around there.]

You showed up?

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Aziraphale furrows his brow in thought. ]

Are you sure nothing else happened?

No...strange plants, or other creatures, perhaps?

[eudaimonikos]

No, that was it.

[Potrick was there too, he guesses, but Aziraphale saw that part.]

Just that tree.

[salutosinedelectat]

Hm. I see...

[ That seems far too odd, even for this place. Certainly something has to have happened - he might not know Michael too closely, but he sure seemed a bit more lively other times they have seen each other. ]

Perhaps you are in need of some rest. How do you feel?

[eudaimonikos]

Not...

[How does he feel? He doesn't feel like much of anything. Michael trails off with a shrug.]

Whatever.

[salutosinedelectat]

[ Aziraphale blinks, really not sure what to make of that answer. ]

Any exhaustion? Do you feel sick?

[eudaimonikos]

I've never been sick.

[Is this what sick feels like? He's aware that he could get sick now, reduced as he is, but it hasn't happened yet.]