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

[catpiper]

[The smile drops from her face.

It happened again. Some kind of bizarre twist of fate keeps Mira's memories from staying with her and no matter how many moments they share together or how much time they spend playing and helping and wandering around with each other-

It's always like this.

And it hurts a bit more this time. The members of her family are gone, friends are forgetting everything and-

It's all falling apart. That's what it feels like.

But it's not Mira's fault and Ren tries to twist her expression into something a little more composed, so she doesn't upset her.

Mira was always so kind. That remains true now-she's sure of it. She doesn't want her to get upset over something she can't control, can't help, can't change-

They can't change it.]

Yes.

[She's careful. Very careful. Trying to keep her eyes from watering because this is all too much. It's too much, but it's fine. It's what happens. It can't be changed and all she can do is say-]

It's okay that you don't remember. We-it was. It's okay.

[There's a pause, and-]

I'm Ren.

[philoxenia]

[ This-- ]

I'm so sorry.

[ The apologize is automatic, and something tugs hard and tight at her heart. Even if she doesn't know this girl--Ren, Mira thinks Ren must have been someone close. Even if she can't feel anyone's emotions anymore, it's written on Ren's face. It's... it's hard for her, to let herself get close to people, especially physically, but...

She takes Ren's hand and gives it a squeeze. ]

It must... hurt, even if you say it's okay.

[catpiper]

[It's so easy-

To fall back into the same old habits, the same old thoughts.

It does hurt. Moreso when Mira apologizes and grips her hands tight and it reminds her of all their time together and-

She forces it all down, because it doesn't matter. The girl in front of her doesn't remember and Mira was always kind and warm and doesn't deserve to feel whatever guilt she's sure overtaking this girl now.

She clutches her hand back, ignoring the way her own fingers tremble, as she forces that same old smile back to her face.]

It's not your fault. It's okay-no matter what, you're still very special to me, Mira.

[philoxenia]

[ Even without her empathy, it aches. To see this girl she barely knows putting on such a brave face, it--

She wonders if, even here, in a place where her world's rules don't apply, people can still be connected through lifetimes. That must be true, right? She doesn't remember this girl, but she wants to. Wants to keep her safe, bring that smile to the surface, real and warm and true.

She squeezes her hands again and smiles. It's a tiny thing, but the warmth is there. ]

I think you could be special to me, too. I want to get to know you, to see if I'm right--that's okay, right?

[catpiper]

[It hurts because Mira's said this before-back when she forgot the first time and Ren knows there's an inkling of familiarity lingering below the surface. It's not the same girl, but it is. That kindness always remains in Mira, no matter how many times she loses herself.

And Ren doesn't want to give up-not on the chance of being her friend again, even if it's going to end up the same way every single time.]

Yes, that's okay. We'll be friends again and-

[Even if it happens over and over-]

No matter what, we can keep trying. We'll stay friends every time you forget because I still remember. So it's okay.

[philoxenia]

[ Every time you forget. Oh, if that just doesn't make her heart ache. Of course... she's not upset at her. She's upset at herself. How many times has this happened, she wonders? More than once, she's guessing, but she also doesn't want to ask, because she doesn't know how much it'll hurt to talk about.

So... ]

I'm counting on you. [ Her voice doesn't wobble, which surprises her. ] So, since we're friends.... Can you tell me what we used to do together? Did we play games, or explore?

[catpiper]

We did both of those things. You used to hold my hand and we would look for treasure together.

[Looking back on the fond memory is better than thinking about only one half of the party remembers. There's no changing the past and dwelling on it for too long is a depressing thought. This is how things are now.]

We would play a lot. And sometimes lay on the grass together and make flower crowns.

[philoxenia]

Treasure-hunting... that sounds like fun.

[ But, ah... Mira blinks, then smiles gently. She lets up on her hand a little, but she's still holding onto it. And she's certainly not going to let go for a while. ]

Flower crowns? I bet you're very good at making them.

[catpiper]

Yes, that's something I'm very good at.

[One of the few things she can have full confidence in. She can make a dank flower crown.]

You were good at it too. I can show you again.