monstertruckers: (Default)
monstertruckers ([personal profile] monstertruckers) wrote in [community profile] route666rp2025-03-06 05:39 pm

MARCH EVENT LOG




After weeks in the forest, the trees begin to fade out in favor of grass; miles of it with every shade of green you’ve ever seen, covering rolling hills. The weather tends to be mild, with scattered clouds blown on gentle winds… But the nights somehow seem just as ominous as those in the forest, with the moon uncovered and glaring down balefully like a broken eye. And wide open as they are, the grasslands have their own share of danger and weirdness.


















01: MESSAGES


The grasslands are dotted with abandoned electrical poles and power pylons. Ruined electric cables hand off these towers… But along with that are kites and balloons tied to the structures. If a Drifter gets close enough to grab one, they can find a message tied to the tail end. It’s printed with a memory or a phrase that is distinctly from their home, and their past.

If a Drifter holds onto the message, it might just remind them of home and help them resist any changes. Or even pull them back out of a monster transformation! Or it might just haunt their senses instead, and almost make them visualize and hear where they heard that phrase for the first time. Try not to get lost in those visions. Drifters can potentially carry one other message for another character, if need be; especially if they need to revert someone else from a painful transformation. Be advised that doing so will result in haunted senses.

Drifters are advised not to grip the old electric wires too tightly. They might get voices from the past of this world, all crowding their mind; old talk shows, sports games, and news reports on the moon. It’s enough to leave them with a serious headache if you hang on for too long, if not knocking them out completely.

02: TRANSMITTER
Out on the road, Drifters glimpse buildings, which are unnervingly empty. Equally unnerving are strange forms lining the roads, the closer the Convoy gets to the broken buildings. All of them look vaguely humanoid, but half melted and coated in something metallic. Clearly the Husks weren’t limited to the forest, with how many litter the landscape. Some Husks become violent, breaking open as strange ostritch-bird and reptilian monsters claw their way out. Such creatures can be easily dispatched, but still harry Drifters.

Other, inert Husks give off an odd metallic hum. Getting close enough to touch the Husks makes the hum louder, and can trigger behavior changes in Drifters. While the inert Husks can’t force transformations, they leave Drifters restless, on edge, and activating psychological monster traits.

When the Convoy makes camp, it is inevitably near Husk clusters. The metallic hum only increases as the sun goes down. But the Convoy has a counter for that. A haunting melody starts to play on the Convoy speakers, and from any phones; taking the sound closer to the Husks causes ghostly forms to rise up and towards the moon. It puts a stop to the odd humming… At least until the next camp.
03: ROUND 'EM UP
Those with sharp eyes will notice something different one morning, on a nearby hill. It appears to be a flock of cattle… Which might well be a welcome sight for those wanting beef for dinner. As the Convoy rolls closer, it swiftly becomes clear these aren’t normal cattle. Their skin is shiny, scale-like and metallic, and their eyes glow. Those hooves also look sharp enough to punch right through a car door.

These are bull gorgons, the guidance computer helpfully notes. And they are capable of exhaling a petrifying mist; one deep breath is enough to make a person slow, two freezes them in place, and three turns them to stone. Luckily the blood of a gorgon bull can also cure the effect. Drifters won’t be able to capture such dangerous beasts for livestock, but they can still try and wrangle them and harvest them for meat! The skin and horns are both tough enough to be turned into tools, as needed.

Tough cars can easily square off with a gorgon bull and come away victorious. Other cars are advised to try lassoing from a distance, and wearing the animals down before moving in for the kill.
04: BUILDING THUNDER
There’s dark clouds boiling up in the sky. Those who shelter in the Convoy will be spared the worst of the storm… Though the winds have a way of screaming, trying to call Drifters out into the storm. And flecks of metal and glowing moonshard stone have a way of replacing rain and intensifying the storm.

If exposed to the storm outside the forcefield, Drifters experience the following:
Gale Force: Drifters are swept up by the winds and tossed about, and even thrown skyward. Drifters damaged by the wind will find themselves inflicted with temporary Harpy traits. These traits become more intense as Drifters experience hunger or violence.
Deluge: Drifters exposed to rain are at risk of almost drowning, along with shards of Husk metal and moon shards slicing down. Drifters damaged from rain will find themselves inflicted with temporary Naga traits. These traits grow worse as Drifters lie, omit truths, or tell falsehoods.

These traits last as long as the weather remains stormy; the symptoms ease as the skies clear, only to flare back up as storms return, and will remain that way as long as the Convoy remains in the grasslands.
04: MONSTER SHIFT, NAGA
This month, Drifters will have access to the serpentine Naga. On top of all Naga species traits being available, the following occurs:
+Cold Blooded: the rain and storms can potentially make Naga slow and sluggish, or inclined to sleep or seek out other heat sources to gain energy; this includes basking in body heat from others!
+Water Divert: With their water shaping, Naga can divert falling rain and even ground saturation to make the area or other Drifters more dry. They can also concentrate water into different areas, and can also change water into mist or ice.
+Blue shift: the scales of Naga become more vibrantly blue, or a strange mottled combination of blue and stormy gray, the more intense the rains become. These scale colors can also reflect their moods.
+Extra arms that are painful and disorienting to grow, and can result in coordination issues.
+Scale Pains: Pain and discomfort when scales grow in, as well as fangs or talons!
+Water glide: during floods from the rains, Naga find they can easily traverse deep water as though they were simply walking (or slithering) across it.
+Thermal vision, making it easy to track others in the middle of storms. Vision may also become disorienting, and eyes become slitted.
04: MONSTER SHIFT, HARPY
The storm will bring a second monster this month, in the form of Harpy. On top of all Harpy species traits being active, the following occurs:
+Storm Rider: high agility and capable of flying through the storm winds without hindrance. Even tornadoes can be mastered!
+Feather pains: itching, or full pain when growing feathers or wings. Talons may also be painful when growing from fingers or from feet.
+Wind Affinity: able to shape wind, including diverting the worst of the storm winds, or summon and focus wind into razors.
+Warbling Voice: words may waver and slip into something more songlike, or even a damaging sonic scream if emotions are heightened.
+Height Call: a need to get higher into the air, whether through perching on buildings or the convoy, or through flight. A sense of euphoria as they go higher.
+Nest Building: a compulsion to create a nest out of spare and soft objects, and feeling more safe inside that space.
+Heightened vision like a bird of prey, able to pick out details even at great distance. This may be disorienting at first, as vision becomes telescopic.
05: ZOLOM HUNT
As the Convoy travels into marshy points in the grasslands, it becomes clear something is following. Something is hunting the Convoy, disturbing the boggy ground in waves and humps as it travels. It’s hard to say what exactly the monster is, just that it’s BIG and feeling out the Convoy, seeing if it can find prey.

Drifters who try attacking as it hunts will see the shape sink into marshy ground and shrink away, before returning. After about an hour of building tension, it finally strikes. The ground erupts in a spray of water, as a thirty foot serpent called a Zolom rises out of the ground.

Going by the hissing surrounding the Convoy, it’s clear there isn’t just one. The Zoloms go for any who attacked them while hunting, identifying those as the biggest threat, followed by whatever looks like the best prey.

In the aftermath, Zoloms can be harvested. Their fangs are sharp, their scales are tough and can make good leather, and their blood, while corrosive, can still be contained in vials for poisons or anti-venom study by the more medically inclined. And the meat may taste a bit gamey and oddly spicey, but it’s still edible. But first, Drifters need to survive the onslaught.
05-A: ZOLOM ATTACK

Constrictor: The lead Zolom constricts the Convoy trailers to try and crack them open and spill any Drifters out. Other Zoloms target vehicles, trying to get at the Drifters driving them. Tough cars can stand up to the coils and ram into the Zoloms enough to disorient them. Fast cars can easily outpace the Zolom, and if needed lead serpents away from the Convoy before doubling back.

Beta and Venom: There's more danger after Zoloms take wounds. Their blood steams as it hits the ground, burning grass and earth and steaming the water. Zolom blood is laced with venom that either burns Drifters bodies… Or burns their thoughts, inflicting them with a berserk frenzy. The Zoloms also super heat the air in a circle and spit out venom as fire. Cars can protect from the firestorm, though only the Toughest of the bunch will be able to drive away without serious damage.

Death Rattle: With enough tenacity, Drifters are capable of defeating the Zoloms or driving them away. (Spiking them on the top of a nearby tree is optional.) At the end of combat, the Zoloms have a parting gift as they lash, writhe, and snap.
MICRO ENCOUNTERS:

PLEASE NOTE! These are small bits of set dressing for players to include in threads if they wish, rather than full fledged prompts or events. You may handwave your exploration of these areas, or thread them out.

Ruined Buildings: Grow more numerous, encountering one or two a day. Usually in the form of residences, or farms. Many of them have been gutted from both time, elements, and moon warps. But a handful still hold basic supplies; medical kits, canned food, etc. They also hold hastily scrawled maps that show the surrounding area… And a parched looking area surrounding the grasslands. It looks as though the Convoy is heading right towards it.

Farmlands: Occasionally interrupt the rolling grasslands. They look scraggly and overgrown, with sparse crops available. The handful of food in such areas is edible with no ill affects, but the taste profile is confused: apples taste like watermelons, corn tastes like avocados, etc.

Wind Turbines: A few lonely wind turbines still dot the landscape, spinning even without anyone to maintain them. They give a lonely whistle as they turn, perhaps even sounding a little like a whisper… And one trying to mimic the message Drifters may have received on the power lines.


NAVIGATION
constantvrunning: (Carefully Blank)

Storm Form! Gotta have at least one sort-of-snake meet a fox.

[personal profile] constantvrunning 2025-03-07 11:30 pm (UTC)(link)
V had kept in touch - mostly over the radio, but sometimes visiting in-person, or driving alongside Jack's van to act as bait for particularly persistent monsters.

Once the storm hit, however, there was a lot more to process. While they didn't have any tails to deal with, the changes in their vision and skin were alternately interesting and concerning.

The water had provided them a new kind of strength, but out of the water they grew tired more easily. Especially with the storm-lowered temperatures.

Still, rescue was well within their power at this point.

"You look like you need to get inside. Is it alright if I carry you?"

Lack of tail means no completely convenient way to catch a ride - not when V is away from their car at the moment - but perhaps Jack doesn't want that.
wereperrito: (hopeful)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-03-08 07:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Jack is hopping energetically from puddle to puddle, like a child on a normal rainy day, tails bouncing and leaving trails of white fire behind him. He pauses at V's voice, perks his ears in his direction, and says, "Why do I need to go inside? I am fine!"

It does sound like Jack, at least, though the voice is oddly echoey, like it's coming from down a stone hallway or from the bottom of a well. Or like he's some kind of ghost, speaking from the Other Side.
constantvrunning: (Exasperated)

[personal profile] constantvrunning 2025-03-09 02:55 pm (UTC)(link)
The difference between the Jack they've met and this - smaller, cuter - form, is a bit of a surprise, but one V can put aside.

For now, their main concern is the weather.

"That doesn't eliminate the potential for exposure," V puts out, gently exasperated.

"Or for the abating of the storm causing headaches all around. Would you at least care to ride on me for a bit?"

Time to see if their car has flooded... V briefly grimaces at the thought.
wereperrito: (laugh)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-03-10 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm already very exposed," Jack points out, hopping just out of reach and into another puddle, making a satisfying splash. "I turned into this as soon as the rain hit me! But I'm still me, I can talk and think and not want to murder anyone at all!" He punctuates this with another splash.

He sounds far too excited about this situation. Some of that might be explained by what he told V before, about his other transformation, but some of it is definitely... more than one might expect for that. He just has so much energy! And energy tends to translate to cheerful boisterousness, with Jack.
constantvrunning: (Confused)

[personal profile] constantvrunning 2025-03-10 01:19 pm (UTC)(link)
"There are moon shards in the rain... but something about this does feel different, you're right."

Still, bad weather is bad weather, and they can't stay here forever just because they're not in the middle of a disaster.

"... Would you say you prefer playing, right now?"

Perhaps what V needs to do here is shift tactics.
wereperrito: (smilebig)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-03-12 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh, but look, look, the moon shards can't hurt me!" Jack swipes his tails excitedly across the air, and they trail blue-white fire behind them. A metal shard that fell from the clouds above meets the fire and disappears. "See? The fire makes it safe! It's not real fire, it doesn't burn at all, I think it's mostly illusion, but it protects."

He sounds inordinately proud of that. Jack has never really protected anyone before, not even himself. It's novel.
constantvrunning: (A Smile!)

[personal profile] constantvrunning 2025-03-12 10:27 pm (UTC)(link)
This revelation actually does leave V excited.

"That is a useful bonus for that form. ... Can you swim?"

If Jack has discovered any illusion-based cheats to swimming, he may actually have everything covered... as long as he's not left alone, that's just too much risk.
wereperrito: (Default)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-03-14 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
"Hrm? Yes, of course I can swim. I learned when I was a child." He bounces back V's way, leaving trails and pawprints of fire behind him. "So see? I am fine! And I do not think I could stay inside anywhere, anyway." It would drive him mad. He knows what the wanderlust feels like, normally, but it's much worse than usual tonight.

It has been for a couple of days, really. Very unhelpful!
constantvrunning: (Exasperated)

[personal profile] constantvrunning 2025-03-15 01:10 pm (UTC)(link)
How is Jack this cute?

V fights the urge to sigh again. Really, they don't want to leave Jack alone right now... though that may also be due to their own changes.

"Even in a car? ... Or on a car."

Wet fur is not a fun smell to get out of anything, something they've learned for themselves in the past month or so.
wereperrito: (hopeful)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-03-16 06:08 am (UTC)(link)
Because he is friendly and hyperactive and also well-meaning. And fluffy. Let's not forget fluffy.

"Oh! I could ride on top of a car, maybe! If the car is moving!" And it's big enough for him to move around on top of it? A thought crosses his extremely distractable mind, and of course he immediately voices it: "Maybe we can look for Serph! I saw him earlier, but the water washed me away and I lost track of him."
constantvrunning: (Neutral)

[personal profile] constantvrunning 2025-03-17 09:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, Jack is a BIG fluffy. That sure does help.

"When it comes to keeping track of the others, two pairs of eyes are certainly better than one."

And while V's vision had been altered - even improved - by their current changes, that didn't mean they had more eyes.

"I... believe I can influence the water, though I would prefer being in the car and driving, myself."
wereperrito: (Default)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-03-20 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
"I can't drive, unless I figure out how to change back, so you will have to," Jack allows. He is much too small in this shape, unless V's car has some very peculiar dimensions.

He does one more good puddle splash before looking up at V and saying, "Okay. Lead the way to your car, then!"
constantvrunning: (Side-Eye Time)

[personal profile] constantvrunning 2025-03-21 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
"Right."

And if Jack did not go out of contact with the water... that would probably be fine.

V moves slow enough that Jack can run in front of them if he wants, pointing out the way to where their car should be.

"Are you able to smell differences between the vehicles in this form?"
wereperrito: (sneak)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-03-24 05:13 am (UTC)(link)
"Er, they all smell mostly like metal, unless your car has something different in it?" Jack says. He does, indeed, run ahead, then comes back to scamper in hyperactive circles around V before darting ahead again. "Yours might smell more like you maybe! But I can't tell in this rain. Rain keeps making everything smell like water instead."
constantvrunning: (Surprised)

[personal profile] constantvrunning 2025-03-24 09:28 pm (UTC)(link)
"So these aren't precisely supernatural animal senses, just because our forms are more than normal creatures."

V is definitely thinking out loud here, even as they come in range of detecting their car and getting 'in tune' with it. They flash the headlights once.

"Because that does sound like something that would effect how foxes smell things, as far as I know. Go ahead and test the grip up there, okay?"

Maybe Jack has a way to himself from prevent slipping off, as well.
Edited 2025-03-24 21:29 (UTC)
wereperrito: (Default)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-03-25 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
"No, it is not supernatural. It is because I have a longer nose with more room for sensory nerves! I have a supernatural sort of sense of smell normally, but it's not this sharp then." Is V one of the people he'd told about the werewolf thing? He can't remember, and right now it really doesn't matter to him.

He considers the car, and his size, and the slick of the rain... then turns to V. "Put me up on top? If I try to jump I think I'll just slide right back down again. I cannot jump all that high still."
constantvrunning: Dark-skinned person, hand covering mouth, much amused. (Hand over Mouth)

[personal profile] constantvrunning 2025-03-25 10:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Fortunately, V is one of those people, so they take the anecdote in stride.

"All right. Let me know when to let go."

Despite the alterations enforced by the weather, they are tall enough to give large-mystic-fox Jack a lift.

"Here you go."

V is mostly making sure they don't squeeze too tightly, without risking simply dropping him.
wereperrito: (sneak)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-03-26 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
Jack mostly manages to avoid wriggling while in the air, but once the roof of the car is within reach he stretches out his paws, then flails them, almost like he's running in the air even though he's not touching the ground.

Should be high enough now, so long as V doesn't just drop him without him being actually over the top of the car.
constantvrunning: (Neutral)

[personal profile] constantvrunning 2025-03-26 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
V keeps an eye on the relative angle between Jack and the car's roof, not letting go until it's clear Jack won't have to jump.

... The pawing gestures are cute, though. Maybe they shouldn't say anything about that.
wereperrito: (poke)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-03-28 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
Once he is over the car roof, it's safe. Jack flails once more then gets his paws under him. "Thank you!" he tells them, sounding as pleased as one can when your voice is weird and echoey. "Now we just need to find Serph. I was looking for him but got distracted. I am more easily distracted right now, I am sure you noticed."

And that's vaguely chagrined, though not very.
constantvrunning: (Neutral)

[personal profile] constantvrunning 2025-03-28 10:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"I suppose there is something to say about you also seeming... more upbeat, in this form."

They're trying to be politic, even as they get in the car and turn the rest of the systems on. They really need to put tracking of the other Convoy vehicles in this, or something...

"Will you be able to hear me up there?"
wereperrito: (Default)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-03-29 06:14 am (UTC)(link)
"You will need to speak loudly and keep the window open," Jack admits, hunkering down a little on the top of the car, trying to dig in claws that don't actually dig very well. "The wind and rain are not quiet."
constantvrunning: (Side-Eye Time)

[personal profile] constantvrunning 2025-03-29 12:49 pm (UTC)(link)
"I can do both of those things,"

Though drying the car once this storm is over will be annoying, it is worth it for the sake of Jack's comfort and cooperation.

"I'll also try not to drive very fast."