route666rp | MARCH EVENT LOG

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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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's closing in on the usual mealtime, and SecUnit has set itself up once again on one of the couches, arms crossed over its stomach, the mended sleeve sitting on top. Signs might have pointed to it being asleep, if it weren't for the minute twitch of its helmet in Jack's direction as he enters the space, then again, as he actually approaches.

Then its attention catches on the food in Jack's hands, and it sits up, feet flat against the ground as it leans back warily.

"What's that."

It sounds kind of like Jack just brought it a biohazard, rather than some perfectly innocuous food.

"Well, I believe this may have been a rabbit at some point, but it is a little mutated. It still tastes like rabbit," Jack says, pointing to the cooked meat on the plate he's carrying. It looks fire-roasted. "And this is some kind of melon, only it tastes like a blueberry." He holds the plates out in SecUnit's direction. "Serph and I have already tested them all, they are safe to eat."

"No," it says immediately - kind of rudely, in fact, especially given the way it kind of plasters itself back against the couch as the plate is extended in its direction. At least it has the helmet on, so if it's making any kind of horrified expression, Jack is spared that.

A half-second of pause, before it tries, still sounding deeply uncomfortable, "I'm not hungry." The uncertain inflection makes it sound more like a question. Then another attempt; "I don't get hungry."

Jack retracts the plate with a puzzled frown. "You don't get hungry? ... you don't eat?" Well, SecUnit is at least partly a machine, so maybe that makes sense, even if it's horrible to think about someone who doesn't get to enjoy food, but... "How do you get energy? To run your body and mind?"

The removal of the plate results in a light relaxing of SecUnit's tense posture, though once it doesn't have to worry about that it turns its head away, avoidance obvious even despite the helmet.

"I don't need to," it mutters. "The non-organic components sustain the organic ones."

Not the whole story - it can't be. But it doesn't want to go into the gross squishy details of what would happen if it did have to try and pretend to eat, or explain the system of recharge and reboots to keep it moving.

"You can save the food for the humans."

Jack doesn't push the plate at it again, but he does look concerned. "Do you need to-- to get power from somewhere? To recharge? How long do your non-organic parts' power stores last?" The last thing he wants is to find out SecUnit's power ports, or whatever, aren't compatible with any of the cars in the convoy somehow.

Maybe there could be a magical way to recharge it? Hrm. (There certainly is, but not a way SecUnit will like...)

"I'm fine." Immediate response, without hesitation, as SecUnit looks away and tenses up even more. "If I needed power there's power sources all around." The vehicles, it means, even if that's... potentially dubious. What's it giong to do, attach some jumper cables?

"So long as I don't lose too much body mass I can sustain on reserve power for several thousand hours."

... Is that true? With the amount of shooting it's had to do? Given the mess of its body language, tension and awkward discomfort at being asked in concern, something's certainly off.

Jack considers SecUnit a moment, brows down, taking in the clear discomfort. He doesn't want to push it into a panic or a temper, and at least now he knows its requirements. Sort of.

He doesn't exactly itch to do something to help, but he kind of does. Even if there's nothing he can really do, is there? He's not a battery. So he says, "If you can take power from the convoy or one of the cars, I will try not to worry, then. I can't promise I won't! But I will try."

"Right." Fuck, it's bad at being reassuring. It's one thing to do it during an emergency situation, but another thing entirely to have to do so when the only thing on the line is... well, itself.

In the end it attempts, "I don't want to be trashed either." Which at least has the benefit of being true. It pauses, then adds, "Someone will probably like that food if you give it to them instead." The Preservation humans always complained about the pre-packaged Corporate stuff on the surveys, and it noticed on planet they put a lot of effort into the ways they made it, and the Convoy has been surviving on whatever they can find - this looks different than that.

As long as SecUnit knows how to take care of itself! Which Jack is still a little uncertain about. The horror it has shown at very basic self-care things does not really bode well. Still, he has said he will try not to worry, or at least he will try not to bother SecUnit with any worries.

He looks back down at the half-forgotten plate. "Yes, I will find someone else to give this to. Or eat some of it myself." Jack has admittedly been mostly feeding other people, sticking with porridge and pancakes and some nuts from the fields, himself. "Probably both," he admits.

"Great." It's entirely ready to let that go and let Jack escape to actually eat his meal, and furthermore to not have to do so in front of it where it will have to try hard to ignore what Jack's doing. In all this it's entirely unaware of the concern Jack's feeling, focused mostly on its own discomfort. "Humans need regular meals."

Jack nods. "Humans do."

He might even leave it at that, except... he is trying to be more open about things. Everyone else is also changing into things they don't understand or control, too. And he knows what SecUnit is now, at least to some extent. It seems fair to offer the same knowledge, in turn.

So he hesitates a long moment, then says, "I am not entirely human. And I do not mean the tails. Those are new. Do you have any stored dramas that are about werewolves?"

Okay, now SecUnit is definitely staring right at Jack, rather than going back to lying down on the couch and just taking up space the way it was previously.

"You're saying you're a werewolf," it says, skepticism heavy in its voice. It does in fact have a few clips, most of them dressed up in various degrees of horror. Even a few of the clips from its more escapist shows tend to play up the shocking horror of the transformation. "How does that work?"

"I am afraid so." He gives a helpless little shrug. "It does not do much most of the time. I can smell better than a typical human, I heal a little faster, but it makes me partly colorblind and also I cannot eat chocolate or grapes. And then once a month, on the full moon, I turn into a monster." He shuffles his feet a little embarrassedly. "I mostly try to be well away from people, or locked up, when that happens. I do not like hurting people."

It remembers Serph, and the form that he first appeared in on the battlefield - it has to wonder if that's something similar, though Serph had seemed pretty in control of himself, and of the transformation. Briefly SecUnit considers and discards the comparison, but decides against it. It's learned its lesson about sharing other people's information. (Not that it would actually be telling Jack something he doesn't already know, in this situation.)

But the 'locked up' part...

Actually - first, it glances pointedly towards the nearest exit from the car. The moon isn't visible out there, but 'looking up' tends to communicate the point well enough. "Any clue how that works here?"

"It has only happened once, during the moon warp," Jack says. "I had thought the shield might protect me from changing, or that maybe a broken moon could not change me, but I was, um, unfortunately wrong about both things."

And because he knows enough about SecUnit to know it is probably doing lots of calculations about how well the bedroom doors here would hold against, well, anything, he adds, "I do not really trust anything on the convoy to hold me like that, so next time we have warning of a moon warp I will be moving well away from it. As far as I can get. Serph has promised he will try to keep me from hurting people, as well, and John may come as well. He stood against me last moon warp."

Almost - it's mentally reviewing its slightly-fragmented footage of the Moon Warp and trying to determine if it detected any signs of disturbance from inside the Convoy. (The answer is no - it was outside the shields, late to returning to the Convoy, and spent most of that transformed burst focused on the monsters - and most of the post-Warp experience is... well. It's archived that whole section and it'd rather not pull it back up to active memory, thanks).

"You need to be guarded," it summarizes. It's contemplating what that might entail - and trying not to think about whether its energy weapons will even be accessible during the next Moon Warp - when a particular name catches its attention. "John?" it echoes. It sounds skeptical - if only because at this point, it's only seen him as utterly mundane, strange voice aside. He's weird but not a threat.

Jack shrugs a little. "He managed to drag me to the tangling trees, that first moon warp, without dying. I am sure I hurt him, but he still survived. Besides, we are close now, him and I and Serph--" There's a very slight blush to the tips of his ears, at that, but he doesn't hesitate to say it at least. "--and that helps, sometimes? If the wolf remembers the smell of someone, it's possible I will not attack them as savagely." Or at all, he hopes.

He shakes his head. "Either way, I have a plan. A couple plans. I do not want to hurt anyone."

It looks like it's being confronted with a dangerous animal about to bite, when Jack talks about being 'close' to them - but when that doesn't feed further into a talk of anything like relationships it relaxes, slightly, focusing on the more practical part of that, because -- this does actually sound like something it knows about. Sure, usually it's trying to keep hostile attackers out, not in a place, but...

"I can run risk assessment on your plans. That's my job. Security consulting."

It even sits up a little bit to say it.

"I, well, I don't have them written down. I have not found much useful paper yet." Which means he'd have to sit and talk at SecUnit for a while, which he's not sure it would like. (Though if he does, he will probably wind up eating that whole meal himself.) "I could try to explain the wolf's abilities, though," he muses. "And what I have seen of Serph's. I do not remember much from when I fought John, so I cannot really include that."

"Do that."

Sure, it's not being paid to run this analysis, but - it's staring at the wall, now, as the unbidden image fills its head of a blood-covered Jack waking up surrounded by bodies. ~~Did it do that when the RaviHyral--~~

This is a matter of keeping everyone safe, and regardless of the contract it doesn't have, it needs to get it together and do its job. "... I've seen Serph's."

That is, in fact, a thing Jack has done before. It is very much not pleasant.

Well. Apparently they are doing this, then. Jack comes to take a seat on the other couch, not too close to SecUnit, but close enough for easy conversation. "That will help, then. Have you seen him tear the monsters apart and throw them around, too? Or just seen the demon form? He apparently patrols most nights, and often finds and kills monsters who are approaching the convoy."

"I've more or less got a measure of the capacities of the demon form. Blades, strength, reach. ... Ice." Slightly more discomfited, that - but it's still filing the 'magic' under weird shit I'm not thinking too deeply about. "He fought the first wave in that form." Dryly; "I nearly shot him."

Lucky for Serph that one of its guns wasn't actually a gun arm at that point. "Is your transformation's strength comparable?"

"Not quite, I think," Jack muses. "It is stronger than I am, I have thrown human people around with no effort, but I do not think I could throw a car? I have not tried. Cars are not seen as threats, and the wolf for not really think in terms of 'potential weapons'. The wolf is... an animal, really. A canny animal, but I do not understand speech then, and do not really plan for things in advance. I have feelings, like that, but not coherent thoughts that use words. And I have been known not to attack those I am very familiar with or fond of as myself, and not those who manage not to attack me or run away, but that is not safe to count on."

'Are you fond enough of me to risk that' is a stupid question to ask, so SecUnit doesn't - and besides, they're still practically strangers, even if they're strangers who've managed to ge along during a life-or-death situation. "Don't run, don't attack," SecUnit summarizes, instead. "Stunning? Subduing?" It pauses, then adds, for the sake of some degree of exchange, "I can tune down my guns, but that might not do anything at all at a lower setting."

MARCH EVENT LOG

Gatherer

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