February Event: The Sound Resounds

[lifeaftr_mods]

FEBRUARY: THE SOUND RESOUNDS

Who: Anyone who wants to deal with some crystalized monstrosities!
What: Something buried becomes unburied
When: February 16th and onward
Where: How could something so terrible reflect so much light?
Warnings: Potential warnings for character illness and body horror; be sure to mark your headers if things get more intense!

I Wish the Tide Would Take Me Over
The Water did a lot of work with the heavens to get that cloud cover to be nudged aside so that you all could access those floating islands. And hopefully you'll be able to get quite a bit out of those fragments of reality while you can still traverse them, because what awaits you on solid ground isn't going to be anywhere near as pleasant.

It seems as though the effort of unveiling those islands has put a lot of strain on the balance of water surrounding Ensō. So much so that those flooded caverns underneath the island have started to overflow. Not very many of you might be left to remember, but those caves already weren't most ideal to go trekking through, even without the discovery of the horrible, humanoid creatures that frequented those areas. The consequences of adventurers' first (and last) excursions into those caverns can be read up on right here, for the curious.

The important part is that, after an awful lot of adventurers perished down there, the Storyteller was able to get everyone to safety (only after being the one to send them down there unprompted in the first place, it should be noted), and immediately prevented the problem from escalating by sealing the underground shut. And for years, that solution has more or less worked out just fine!

Until now. On the morning of February 16th, travelers who live near the monkey compound or the mountain temple will hear a loud rumbling, like the sound of rushing water...right before those big stone doors break violently open and water comes pouring out. It's highly recommended that those who live in either of those regions, or those who keep any important belongings in those regions, do their best to evacuate immediately. It might be possible to rebuild or repair any damages that might be done to those surroundings, but the immediate danger will be very much present at the event's start.

We are happy to leave the choice of damage to individual homes and resources up to you, but at the very least, you can expect that much of the area surrounding both the monkey compound and the mountain temple will be flooded for a few days at the very least - and suffering a great deal of water or structural damage at the most.

Burn Down Our Home
The more pressing issue will be, in all likelihood, the hulking green, humanoid shapes that look to be composed almost entirely of a greenish crystal. Almost immediately after that initial flood of water sweeps over the area, the creatures known as the quartzalcoatl are going to start spilling out as well. While they move slowly, you definitely don't want these things to so much as touch you, for they're capable of spreading a crystalizing "virus" that will steadily consume living tissue and cause crystalline growths to start spreading throughout the body.

This virus is just as awful as it sounds. The crystalline disease spread by the quartzalcoatl cannot be repelled by regenerative abilities, and characters with chances of immunity at 50% or higher will have to RNG the results. Even worse? The local fauna on Ensō is going to be just as susceptible to the spreading virus as any of you. It's in your best interest to dispose of these creatures before they start consuming everything on Ensō. Now, you could just...shatter them and hope that'll be enough. These things can be destroyed with the application of enough force, though you'll probably get overwhelmed if you don't have some kind of strategy on hand. As we mentioned, you really don't want this infection to spread to too many other parts of the island. The last time this infection swept through the ranks of the adventurers, there was no known cure...but fortunately, such is not the case this time! There is a way to cure those afflicted, as long as the affliction is recent - which is to say, that it occurs during the course of this event.

An important thing to keep in mind this event is that much of these quartzalcoatl have been down there for a long time. Those who either succeed in killing or curing any of the quartzalcoatl who originated in the caves (that is, any that were not formed because someone got infected during the course of this event) will find that when they break apart, it will be to something...familiar. For ease, we have unscreened any comments from that event from our Deaths page, and will also be linking the item claim thread for an idea of what other items you might uncover from the dead.

If you want to find something extra special in some quartzalcoatl, however...we've got a special thread for that, in case you go busting open any of these things that were stuck down in those caves before this nightmare began. Just let us know, and we'll be happy to give you a personalized treasure to uncover, if you so desire!

Things Have Gotten Closer to the Sun
So, for those of you who don't want to resort to pure brute force, you have two options, listed below Characters should be advised that if they undertake one solution, they will not be able to go to the other god for the other - the Storyteller will not help someone who has accepted the Water's aid, and vice versa. There will be advantages and disadvantages to aligning yourself with one or the other, just as there will be advantages and disadvantages to aligning yourself with neither!

If you go to the Water for help, they will bestow upon you their blessing and a powerful symbol that might appear to be familiar, to some. Once you accept this gift, the Water will inform you that need only engrave or draw that sigil somewhere on the crystal casing of the infected and recite the following phrase:

"We live and die free of the draperies of our fiction."
Once this incantation is uttered, the crystal will harden and drain of color and then start to crack and flake away, leaving its victim disoriented and frail and probably quite confused, but alive. The central drawback to this is that as long as the sigil remains on them, they will be unable to contact the Storyteller for any reason - including Item Requests and Death Penalty Removals! The Storyteller will be, in fact, incapable of even perceiving them. The sigil must be removed if your character wants to contact or interact with the Storyteller again. The sigil will be present on the character's body even after the crystal has all flaked off, whether cut into their clothing or dug into their skin. It'll have to be...removed in whatever way you see fit if you want to make use of the Storyteller's services again.

On the plus side, you now have the Water's blessing, and with it the sigil magic that will not fade even once the threat of the quartzalcoatl has passed. Those who take this route may now use it to repel or keep the Storyteller out of any area they wish. This magic will work virtually anywhere, with the exception of the Storyteller's temple. Those who align themselves with the Storyteller may find themselves extremely uncomfortable with remaining in any area engraved with the sigil. If you go to the Storyteller for help, they will bestow upon you their blessing, along with one of their little paper birds. Once you accept this gift, this bird will silently follow you about. You need only direct it and instruct it by drawing a line across the ground and issuing the following phrase:

"Take your leave, never to return."
Once this incantation is uttered, the quartzalcoatl will not pass the line you draw, even if the physical line is obscured or destroyed. The area of effect is somewhat limited - the incantation will only work on an area of five feet across at a time - but it will ensure your protection from the creatures for a long, long while. Just the same as the case with the Water's sigil, this ability will endure even after the event's end, and your paper bird will continue to follow you, though you can bid it to stay behind or take its leave if you wish. Anyone who aligns themselves with the Water may find themselves extremely uncomfortable with crossing any such line as well.

---

By February 29th, the primary threat of the quartzalcoatl and the flooding of parts of Ensō will have...receded to manageable levels, one way or another. The Storyteller will reseal the doors to the caverns, this time for good. So it's recommended that you shepherd any of these quartz abominations into those caves before this happens, in the case that you never want to see them again. Though you could always just...kill them. That works too.

This doesn't mean that the threat of the quartzalcoatl will be gone completely - whether or not the quartzalcoatl are completely exterminated or not depends on how thorough you all are in dispatching them.

I Could Bring Paradise
Of course, there's a lot going on in the background as well. Characters are not required to face this threat, as it is only present on Ensō; you're free to explore any other minor events listed on our Monthly Rundown post. You are always free to create your own individual logs and posts as needed!

Also remember that if you died this month or this event, to fill out the corresponding form over on our Deaths page! Due to the possibility of a cure, death penalties will NOT be reduced for the duration of this event.

If you have any questions about this event or any others, please feel free to ask them over on our Monthly Rundown post!

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

tim wright | ota | i'll match your formatting

[postictal]

i. the flooding ; rushing thoughts to the back of my mind

[Tim is actually up in the mountain temple around the time that the sound of rushing water starts to hammer at the stone door. He looks up in trepidation and starts to shuffle back, mostly thinking about the water and not the crystalline monstrosities they faced down - what was it, two years ago? Two and a half years ago? Something like that, right?]

[That line of thought promptly stutters and stops when the doors burst open with a flood of water.]

Oh, fuck -

[And then Tim is running.]

[Tim is running as fast as he can, and it's a losing battle. You ever try outrunning a torrent of rushing water? It's not fun. And also pretty impossible by nature.]

[It's not long before the roar of waves catches up with him and lifts him easily, terrifyingly, off his feet, tosses him like a fucking ragdoll. He opens his mouth to shout and promptly inhales a lungful of water.]

[The panic that compresses his chest is sharp and psychological and immediate. He gags on the taste of water and the reminder of what it was to drown, over and over and over, the sting of rain against his skin, the dropping of a cage into the sea, and he never liked water even before he had to deal with being caged up over the ocean, to say nothing of the fact that those crystal things are still down there - ]

[He needs to get out of the water before it swallows him up completely.]

ii. and now we're just running ; been fighting off cold sweats

[Tim would have been perfectly content to never see these...things...again. Ever, in fact. After the horrors of dealing with them the first time, the adjacent horrors to people who got infected with this shit and then did what they could to stop it, it's safe to say he hasn't forgotten.]

[He still hasn't forgotten.]

[First things first: Tim locks up Denny and bars the front doors. He puts up a sign outside that says that if you want to stay inside as a safe-house, you're welcome to - there's a door into the storage at the back, don't break anything, and so on. The front doors are big enough to potentially allow some of the quartzalcoatl inside; he's not taking any chances. Hopefully these things are incapable of reading.]

[Next step: he locks his pauldron into place, packs every weapon he's got, and keeps his honeycomb sledgehammer on hand.]

[He's not here to kill these things. He's not here to cure them, either. He's mostly just here to keep himself and everyone else he runs into alive, and if that means he has to smash a couple of these quartz things to pieces to do it, he's going to do it.]

[If you find yourself in need of a rescue, Tim might very well set upon your attacker with the beat of translucent, crimson wings and the swing of a sledgehammer.]

[Alternatively, you could find him up a tree, grimacing as he presses himself up out of the reach of a couple of the crystalized monstrosities threatening to claw at his feet.]

iii. wildcard ; if you love me don't let me go

[Tim will not be taking the Storyteller or the Water's deal, so he's mostly going to be running and fighting. That being said, if you want a closed starter for anything, let me know and I'll cook something up for you! Feel free to hit me over at arrpee or zero#8942 on discord for one-on-one! I will match prose or brackets!]

[reflash]

rain | for ginko
[He'd gotten caught in the rain, and then...

There's going to be a catch, eventually. Yukio's smart enough to know that, he knows that this cannot possibly be safe or sane or healthy. But the first wash of rain on his skin carried something away, and it was hard not to just curl up at the base of a tree and let the bone-deep calm sink in and take over.

He doesn't quite get away from it. He manages for a day, or two. He works quietly in the clinic, reads, makes sure everything is going smoothly, goes through his routines as normal but the rain keeps catching him off guard.

Or... not off guard, not after a few days. After a few days, the rain starts and Yukio goes outside to stand in it. It's easy. It's easier than not going out to the rain, because he's calm, he's focused, the rain strips away the tension and exhaustion and he can put everything aside and just work. The problem comes when he doesn't remember to go back inside. He ends up sitting outside, waiting for rain.]

flood | OTA (monkey compound)
[On the one hand, the treehouses here might be up high enough that the flooding won't bother them. On the other, it's not worth the risk. He shoves a few important things into his backpack and heads out.

If there's anyone who needs the help, Yukio will be there, pulling people out of the water if they fall, grabbing supplies, trying to be everywhere at once doing everything at once.]

clinic | OTA
[If you need medical treatment, Yukio is essentially living in the infirmary right now. It's a recognizable location, and he can't leave it abandoned while there's danger because if he goes somewhere else, someone will probably go to the clinic looking for help.

So he's there, waiting. He's made his choice, aligned himself with the Storyteller and drawn a line across the door of the building. The barrier should be effective. He hopes it's going to be enough.]

rain!!

[onegreeneye]

[Seeing Yukio taking a break should probably be a relief. The problem is, the fact that it's odd to begin with immediately raises some questions - especially when that "break" seems to consist of just sitting motionless outside.

He crouches down next to him, examining Yukio with some mix of curiosity and concern.] Hey. You alright?

[reflash]

[He can't talk, but that doesn't matter. He answers, without thinking, just giving Ginko a shake of his head. No, he's not alright.]

flood

[ichininyaanshi]

[He's not exactly in the water, but there's a face Yukio might find somewhat familiar nearby - only wearing purple instead of yellow. He's latched into a lattice of vines against the side of a tree; he'd been either trying to climb up to or descend from the nest on top, but failed miserably along the way. Now he's half-dangling with one wrist tangled up in the vines, one foot angrily kicking at the water that hasn't quite risen to his level, and the rest of his limbs flailing in violent, haphazard arcs.]

[He's also just hissing loudly and angrily like a really pissed-off cat. If he's aware of any danger he might be in, the "flight" response has definitely been overridden by the less contextually-appropriate "fight" one.]

[reflash]

[oh no it's that guy and he's... what is he doing???

Yukio, wading through the rising water, stops to stare up at this very familiar stranger who is once again doing something weird. The worst part is that Yukio can't even say what the hell are you doing because he died last month and his voice still hasn't come back.

So he just. Waves to get the guys attention and makes a gesture he hopes reads as "get down out of that tree".]

ren | ota

[catpiper]

A

[The noise isn't normal. It echoes across the island and while she wonders what it means, it doesn't deter her from her normal horrible duties. She has to draw on the trees and collect rocks-why even bother leaving camp if she can't bring home the hard garbage bacon?

She doesn't head towards the noise-tries to avoid it, in fact, by wandering further from the source. Sources. It's impossible to tell what's going on, just that she doesn't need to be a part of it.

And it's not until later that she wanders closed to the compound, on the edges of it, and straight into the aftermath. Her bare feet are touching water and that shouldn't be anywhere near here. It's only at her ankles, so she-

Bends down to lightly smack the water with her hand. Don't mind her scolding the ocean?? A god?? She's doing something very wrong here.]

You're being very bad. This is the ground-it can't be water. That's not how it works. Don't be mean.

B

[Turns out the water was going to be the least of her worries. Seeing those crystalline monsters come out of the caverns and rapidly take over the land-it's a problem. She remembers being stuck underground for days and how that cramped space had become less so with the series of deaths that followed-from an airborne sickness, from these monsters and-

She remembers the last time these creatures were around, Taako didn't come home one evening.

And for once, she's glad he's not around, so he doesn't have to see this again. They never spoke about it, but-

Well, neither of them are here anymore. It doesn't matter.

She had immediately gone to the Storyteller for support and eagerly accepted their help and naturally, their assistance comes in the form of a paper bird friend. One she promptly named Porridge and tried to capture to give it some nice chalky purple streaks. There might be teeth on this one too. Teeth are intimidating, probably, and she put it on another the last time the fluttering papers were around. Porridge the Purple Paper Bird-incredible.

Ren can be found at Camp Base, hiding in the tent behind a line that's been enchanted, in the jungle trying to hide from the creatures or behind an enchanted line by the Storyteller's temple. If anyone walks by, they might see the fluttering, tooth covered purple paper bird hovering above a bush or near a tree-it's by wherever she's hiding and she doesn't seem keen on moving from branches she's on or the brush she's burrowed in.

But if she sees you, she'll quietly say-]

Be very careful.

b.

[hyperlit]

[The Drifter is accompanied by their own fluttering paper bird, though they also have their sword out. They look better than they did the last time she spoke to them, however - they're capable of walking and running just like before, and even chain-dashing if the mood arises. It feels much better.]

[They stop and glance in the direction of a familiar voice, freezing in the midst of the jungle to take stock, and...there she is.]

ok
are you?

[catpiper]

[The blue dashing bean is a sight for sore eyes. She had sort of given her warning without really taking a look at who was in front of her, but-

Seeing them, she feels at ease. The little paper bird hovers around her as she slowly pushes herself up from the bush.]

I'm okay. I haven't run into those scary things-have you?

A

[forwearemany]

(She is a child, and her behaviors are not always rational: this they know, and yet they can't help but stare at her as she apparently scolds the water.)

Error: success unlikely.

[catpiper]

[Their warning startles her from further scolding the water-she didn't hear anyone come up, but-]

It might hear me. Its heart might and-

[She pats the water again, pointing towards Legion.]

They're a 'robot'-you can't go near them. Water will hurt them, so don't go any farther, okay?

[IT'S WATER IT DOESN'T UNDERSTAND.]

slides in late for b :V who wants to fight a crystal taako

[deathfindsaway]

[For all the time he's been here, Kravitz keeps being presented with things where his expertise is just a little too out of date. He never found out about exactly what occurred here, nor how to deal with them, but thankfully he can mostly keep them at a distance. He doesn't have any protections from either side aside from Pepper flying somewhere close, but it makes Ren a little easier to keep near. At the time, he's trying to shepherd her to the temple, the Denny, anywhere he knows she'll be safe.

This is getting harder to do, with just him around. It's one of those times he misses Taako more than ever, the ache in his chest familiar but still painful.

His hand is on Ren's back for now, trying to keep them unknown, eyes darting around their surroundings as they travel with his voice hushed.]

Do you see anything?

yes absolutely always

[catpiper]

[The reemergence of the cave creatures and the disease that came with it is an unexpected and extremely hated island development. Kravitz wasn't around during that time, but she was and the vivid memory of being trapped while these creatures slowly worked their way up the dark tunnels is a feeling she won't ever forget.

She won't ever forget the way Lup cried for days after and how Taako had gone missing-an explanation she realized far too late was a cover for-

Well, it doesn't matter. Neither one of them are here to face this and it's up to her to guide Kravitz through this mess, even if her temperament is resting somewhere between an anxious dog during a thunderstorm and someone walking through a dark forest after watching horror movies. It's not ideal. She's doing her best to keep her breathing steady and not panic because Kravitz is trying to keep her safe, but-

She knows it has to go both ways. That she has to watch out for him to. ]

No, it's very dark, but-I might hear something. I think I do. I don't know.

[It's difficult to figure out if her ears are deceiving her or the rustle of branches is something more than an animal running along the treetops. It's just a lot. Her voice is barely audible as they walk and she tries to resist the urge to bolt in any one direction by clutching his sleeve.

She can't trust herself to not run, but at least he'll be pulled alongside her.]

the drifter | ota | i'll match your format!

[hyperlit]

i. 16th - 19th ; all i was looking for was colors blurred

[This is a poor time to be possessed with an inability to run very fast.]

[The Drifter spends most of the early parts of this event doing the exact opposite of what they usually do, and hiding as opposed to out-and-out fighting. They're unable to do much at all in the way of quick movement, and so they are limited to attempting to snipe the creatures from afar, usually positioned behind some kind of barrier or cover, if possible.]

[Perhaps the wisest thing to do would be to hide from the fight entirely until they can do a better task of repelling the quartzalcoatl. But alas, this isn't the Drifter's style.]

[You might catch them limping very fast in an effort to get away from a lumbering quartzbeast, or worse, pressed against a wall with only a few timely seconds and your potential intervention to save them from enduring another death before they've even shrugged off the effects of their first.]

ii. 20th - 29th ; all you wanted was some violent form of love

[And then, once they've shaken those effects - ]

[The Drifter is a lightning bolt of light across the ground.]

[Their blade is out and ablaze. They streak for quartzalcoatl and hack at them in sharp, deft precision cuts before dashing away again, always limiting their contact. They remember what happened last time they encountered these creatures.]

[And speaking of the last time...]

[They don't recognize the crystalized monstrosity that comes lumbering for them at first. Why would they? It's as interchangeable as any of the others they've fought in the past few days. It doesn't occur to them that this one is different from the rest until they manage to separate its arm from its body with a powerful cleave.]

[And realize that the figure encased within is shod in skin that's a familiar shade of blue.]

iii. wildcard ; somehow we figured out how to cope

[The Drifter will be taking the Storyteller's deal. iI you want a closed starter for anything, let me know and I'll cook something up for you! Feel free to hit me over at arrpee or zero#8942 on discord for one-on-one! I will match prose or brackets!]

i

[forwearemany]

(Cr-ack!

The aim is deadly accurate: Legion is a military sniper, and parts of them have been using the Widow for centuries longer than the Drifter has been alive.

There's not even the briefest momentary twinge of concern that they might miss and destroy their ally. They just blow that Quartzalcoatl's head clean off.)

[hyperlit]

[The Drifter immediately flinches away from the blast, uttering a low, rasping cough. They yank their cowl tight around the lower part of their face; they don't need to go breathing in these particles and risking infection again.]

[Once was enough, thanks.]

[It gives them ample time to stagger away from the remnants of the crystalline creature that's now crumbling to the ground, though.]

Aziraphale | OTA | any format

[salutosinedelectat]

I. Flood [Enso, monkey compound]
[ Aziraphale doesn't really tend to hang around the monkey compound, sticking usually in the general area of the library and the Denny, but his curiosity gets the best of him after he's heard news of the flood. With some people residing there, and whatever resources are grown in the area, he can't it'll be a pleasant sight.

Obviously, he holds some regret over this decision when the soil is predictably terrible to thread through. He goes through great lenghts to try and find higher patches of ground to not soak his shoes entirely.

When he does reach the area, it's a mess. He wouldn't even know where to start. Maybe someone might have some suggestions. ]

Excuse me- what exactly happened here?


II. Damage control [Enso, throughout the event]
[ What on Earth is THAT?

There isn't much time to discuss anything. Before they know it, these crystalline monsters are making their way down from the temple, and their effects become very clear, very fast.

At first, he just tries to avoid them. Keeping away from the areas where they seem to come from, as he absolutely has no intention of getting infected by some kind of affliction that will most likely lead to a painful death. Again.

But the creatures keep coming as the days and hours tick away. Those who fight are doing their best to keep them at bay, but there's so many of them. Too many. And the animals, they're being affected too. It's overwhelming.

He doesn't...fight. He's not a fighter. But he can't just stand idly by as things keep happening and the entire population of the island is in danger of being overrun.

Specially not when they get way, way too close.



A few days into the invasion, he can be seen with a sword in hand. He's not happy about this turn of events, and seems to go through great lengths to not actually have to use it. But evasion doesn't always work, and they can't run any risks.]


III. And the after [Enso, library, end of the month]
[ He looks exhausted. That's the first thing - using his limited powers to heal and to repair, and running around trying to keep those quartz monstrosities from spreading too far inland and, in the process, getting once again intimately acquainted to the limitations of his current very physical form, did not really allow for much rest in the last whole week. Even the rain didn't really help much, though he thinks it's still having some strange soothing effect. Maybe.

He's in the library, just semi desperately trying to invest his time in something that is familiar and doesn't have him picking up a weapon and fighting for his or anyone's sake. A sword. He's used a sword again, of all things, and the irony of it does not escape him.

And while he's trying to get back to his more routine and familiar tasks, he can't help himself to once again try to look up whatever information on the so-called "gods" again. The conditions for their help during this particularly stressing situation left him with a bad taste in his mouth, for reasons far too intimate to discuss with just about anyone.

But, point is, the library is still open. To hide in, to rest in. To find a distraction. Books are particularly good for that, he believes, even if the selection here is so limited. ]


IV. Wildcard
[ Aziraphale will take a while before any affiliation decision is taken, and he most likely won't take any of them. He'll be around Enso, specially the Monkey Compound, to try and help people by repairing their items, but he's limited to three uses a day. He doesn't want to fight, either, but he'll try to get people out of trouble.

Feel free to message this account or skree for plotting. ]

i.

[postictal]

[Tim's still hacking up water from when he got fucked from by the flood in the mountain temple. Soon as he figured what was going on, he headed down here almost at once, and...yeah, this basically confirms all his worst fears.]

[He shoves the sopping wet hair from his face, grimacing.]

Fuck.

This place too, huh?

II- The Swordening

[agathokakological]

[Crowley of course hasn't much fighting experience himself, but when these things creep even close to their cottage, he's quick to defend it. He had tried throwing rocks, kicking widely, etc- but it only really slowed them down, didn't stop them entirely.]

You're going to have to kill them. [He shouts this at Aziraphale, specifically. Why he hadn't said we is beyond him, force of habit maybe.]

You'll need a weapon. [He looks about, spotting the small man-made shovel he's used for gardening, and using that for inspiration, produced a longer shovel with a sharp metal edge, which he hopes will be enough to behead a crystalline creature.]

shows up late for 2

[deathfindsaway]

[Kravitz wouldn't peg himself as a soldier, or even your standard defender, but or the amount he's gone to bat fighting for residents of the island who can't really says otherwise. He's lucky that his scythe has a bit of range, enough that he can typically knock crystal creatures off and away from him. On top of that, he can use his telekinesis to create a sort of barrier... but it's certainly harder when there's more and more of them that cannot be allowed to pass. It's in one such situation that Aziraphale might find him, holding a line unfortunately solo, beating crystalline creatures back and forth before throwing a barrier in front of him quickly as one falls forward towards him. He hefts it off, like one would if overturning a rock or gigantic door, but he's tired. He looks exhausted, and there is only more coming. His breathing is heavy but he stands, weapon in hand, looking at the oncoming group. Kravitz isn't even aware Aziraphale is there, but he certainly looks like he needs the help.]

You'd think... if the Water could flood somewhere... they could just wipe these things into the ocean, but no. I guess that's our problem.

agent washington | ota | i'll match your formatting!

[counterblows]

i. 16th - 21st ; i'm criticized, but all your bullets ricochet

[Figures. Every time something here shows up wanting to kill people, guns don't do shit.]

Come on!

[Wash ducks a slow, heavy swipe from one of the quartz monsters and rolls back into a crouch, bringing his battle rifle up to his shoulder in one fluid motion. He opens fire with a sharp burst-fire that shatters chunks off the thing's shoulder but doesn't do nearly enough in slowing it down. It barely seems to notice.]

[It's going to take more than that. If he had to guess, he'd say a lot of blunt force trauma. Maybe if he had a giant mace or a hammer or something equally cartoonishly huge, he might stand a chance here.]

[At least in full armor, he's pretty sure he's safe from the worst of whatever this illness is. (Pretty sure. Not one hundred percent on that.) Helmet's got a built in filter and everything, so at least it won't be likely that he's gonna breathe any of this shit in.]

[With a sigh, Wash unclips his last grenade and runs his thumb over the pin.]

Anybody here?

[Basically, he wants to make sure he gets no one else in this blast radius if he has to chuck this thing.]

ii. 22nd - 29th ; you shoot me down, but i won't fall

[All right, fine. Fine. If drawing fancy symbols on these things is what it takes to get rid of them, he'll do it. Even if it means that he might end up permanently aligned against the Storyteller - whatever. He hasn't bothered chatting up the local deities anyway. Doesn't matter. What matters, what always matters, is survival.]

[He's going to survive. He's going to make sure as many people survive as possible. And that means taking an offense where other people might not.]

[Running towards one of these quartz-things with his rifle mag-clamped to his back instead of in his hands feels incredibly wrong, but Wash powers toward the thing at a dead sprint before, with an uncertain yell, jumping for it. He ends up awkwardly clutching onto its back, frantically trying to carve the fucking sigil into the greenish crystal with one of his combat knives.]

[The beast does what anything would do once a fully-armored space marine decides to limpet itself to your back, and tries shaking him off.]

[Wash clings doggedly on.]

Fucking - hold - still!

iii. wildcard ; i'm titanium

[Wash will be taking the Water's deal. if you want a closed starter for anything, let me know and I'll cook something up for you! Feel free to hit me over at arrpee or zero#8942 on discord for one-on-one! I will match prose or brackets!]

Ginko | closed w/ open wildcard

[onegreeneye]

disarming - closed to epsilon and yukio - Feb 21st

Ginko knows very well how lucky he and Epsilon are to be alive at all; neither of them is particularly suited to handling things like the quartzalcoatl, even if they know that they’re out there, and a salvaged sword that Ginko doesn’t even know how to use can’t do much to change that. The fact that they got away may be something of a miracle in itself, and the fact that Epsilon seems to be pretty much alright is certainly a relief. It is, at least, some consolation for the state of Ginko’s left arm.

He’s not sure whether the bone cracked under the impact of the thing’s claws, but, right now, the open gashes left behind are of more concern. There’s no way he’s not infected - and he absolutely can’t let it set in any further than it already has.

“--Have to stop the bloodflow in my arm.” He’s in no state to prepare a tourniquet himself, so the sudden statement is a request at least as much as it’s him thinking out loud. “We’re not too far off from the clinic, we’ve got to either get there or get Yukio here.”

wildcard

(( OOC: SO before the 21st, Ginko will be around to try and help people escape the quartzalcoatls, and afterward he will mostly be resting in the clinic/eventually at his and Epsilon’s cottage, because that arm is coming off y’all. If it’s raining, he may also be outdoors in the vicinity of those areas sometimes! ))

[conscientiousobject]

Epsilon is all right because he can fly, Ginko, but he cannot do what he wishes he could do, which is heal. What he can do is actually stunningly limited, unless Ginko wants him to cauterise the wound with concentrated sunlight.... which Epsilon has reason to suspect would actually solve the problem by killing the Troll.

Not an auspicious start to a relationship.

"Hold still--" He means that, by the way, but it's also a bit of a warning before he wraps a vine, constrictor-like, around Ginko's upper arm to try and reduce the bloodflow. Ginko's blood is on his hands--literally--and while his programming maintains his calm, his voice nonetheless evinces worry.

"We'll go together. I can get there faster, but I wouldn't leave you."

He means that, too.

Héctor | ota-ish

[vagabone]

rain / general

[It's the best damn rain he's felt in his life. It washes away his various aches and pains, soothing his spirits and making him feel as if thirty years have been taken off his afterlife. Each time it drenches him, he feels like a young, healthy skeleton again. Yes, he can see how it could be addicting.

It becomes part of his daily routine very quickly, with him dropping everything to rush outdoors each time he sees clouds rolling in. He's never doing much particularly urgent, anyway, even after he becomes solid again. Baking, mostly. Card games. The usual. Probably there will be a catch, everything nice around here comes with a cost, but he finds himself not caring once he's good and wet...]

snap crackle pop - cw vague violence, injuries (limit to one thread only please, but feel free to jump in!)

[Did someone call for a bad idea?? Because Héctor is a pro when it comes to bad ideas. He's chosen to side with Water, simply because curing the infected sounds better than fighting them... and not too difficult, right?

He starts out up a tree, armed with slips of paper and duct tape. It's a pretty simple plan, honestly--wait until one of the crystal creatures shambles by and drop down onto its back, slapping on one of the papers, each one having the Water's sigil drawn on. Unfortunately, like the vast majority of his other plans, it's going to fail. Spectacularly.

One passes by, sooner or later, and all his patience pays off. He drops out of the tree, grinning to no one, his final thought before disaster something along the lines of finally, he's going to do some good, and catches hold of the golem's neck. Piggyback skeleton! Perhaps he should have considered the possibility that the crystals might be contagious. He smacks the paper down about where a neck should be, and... nothing happens. No miraculous cure, no burst of light, no breaking of a curse.

Whoops.

The quartzalcoatl bucks, reaching backwards to pull the skeleman off its back and into the air he goes, hitting the dirt and having no time to panic before the creature starts to stomp on him. It doesn't seem to have the sense to use its hands, but then it doesn't need to. It's much heavier than he is. Old brittle bones snap and crunch. Ribs, vertebrae, every bone it steps on, splintering and cracking hideously. His skull survives, which is a pity. Maybe if it had shattered too, he'd simply fade away and be done with it. He's used to pain--enough to walk on a broken leg if he must, to put up with aches and pains nearly all the time. He's survived fracturing his bones before, but never to this extent. The pain swallows him up as the creature loses interest, moving onwards and leaving him where he lies. He can't think. He can't bear to move. He can't even call out for help.

Worse, he's infected now, though no signs are showing. Yet.]

wildcard

[Until the 20th he'll be a golden ghost and not able to touch or interact with anything that's wasn't on his person when he last died! He can sure blab though. And the second prompt takes place on the 24th, I'd rather wait to see what condition he's in before starting any threads following that up. Otherwise, hit me.]

SNAP CRACKLE POP

[bitch4bitch]

[When Erika finds what remains of Hector, it's just something small - some little movement of his skull - that lets her know that he's still alive (or, well. Undead.) at all. After all, pieces of shattered bone strewn around the area don't exactly scream "injured and in need of assistance".

But she does notice, and she almost swears out loud before catching herself. For all she knows, the thing that did this might still be nearby. Instead, she drops down to squat next to him and whispers.]

Jesus. You're really made to last, huh - don't yell or anything, by the way.