route666rp | APRIL EVENT LOG

APRIL EVENT LOG

The grassland gives way to rougher terrain, green fading to cracked red earth with scraggly sharp-edged plants dotting the landscape. With no trees, the sky overhead feels massive, and almost oppressive with how the sun and moon shine down. It’s entirely at odds with the biting wind that often whips across the flatlands. The ground occasionally breaks open into crevasses or rolls along in arid hills, but it remains stark thorn brush for as far as the eye can see… Save for one strange, ominous tower on the horizon.

01:TOWER OF TRANSFORMATION

The tower looks like a giant fang, trying to bite the sky. A strange pressure emits from it and rests on the skin. Drifters can get closer to the tower, but the terrain is covered with puncturing spikes and sharp thorn brush. It will take a TOUGH vehicle to get close without getting cut. Anyone who bleeds within sight of the tower discovers their cuts are transformed; a monster’s form waits under their skin, and transforms them one injury at a time.

It takes several days to get close to the tower via Convoy, with how the road snakes and winds towards it. Drifters won’t be able to reach it without offroad vehicles until April 15th. Getting close to the tower reveals that it is formed out of a strange metal much like the Husks… And that numerous creatures have been melded into the tower’s surface. A strange red ichor seeps out from these forms. Coming into contact with it heals wounds and can revert one transformation.

Drifters can take some of the fluid with them, if they have means to carry it… But only one extra dose; any more makes the fluid unstable and neutralizes the effect entirely.

01-A: TWISTED MONSTERS

The land here is still littered with Husks, ready to break open to fight… But these monsters are more twisted than usual, and seem to be composed of multiple organisms. Prowling cat-centaur esque brutes called panthera protectors, ungainly catoblepas, reptile energy draining bloodhound dogs, and flying lion-bird anzu are all ready to attack with tooth and claw, to make Drifters all the more like them.

Given the influence of the tower, Drifters can feel their forms twisting, the more wounds they take, and the more the moon begins to form into something almost whole. By April 15th the wounds and moon are almost impossible to resist without either vials or message mementos. And those wounds are determined to drag a change out of Drifters. (Of note, Drifters who took on Harpy or Naga traits last month will find those changes can come back to them unnervingly easily, and blend with other creature changes to become a true chimera.)

These changes grow worse until the moon glow and shards reach their absolute peak on April 20th. At this point Twisted Land occurs.

02: ROAD ATTACK 

A week into the thorn brush, chaos starts at sunset. The first warning is a metallic howl echoing down from the hills, followed by a rumble that could almost be thunder… If not for the fact that the sunset stained sky is completely clear. A swarm of metal sweeps over the hills, heading straight at the Convoy.

Running at the lead are more of those canine robots. The Convoy database again identifies them as ‘chromehounds’ and these are clearly in better repair; their fangs and claws are all razor sharp, and they are swiftly closing the distance. Close behind the hounds is a scattered assortment of scrap metal vehicles. The creatures driving aren’t quite human but also aren’t quite monsters; instead they are mechanical forms with just a few remnants of flesh on them. Robot riders and raiders, determined to harry the Convoy.

The goal of the raiders is to crash their vehicles into the Convoy, to slow or halt them. Drifters will need to either fight at a distance… Or hope that their monster side is tough enough for close and bloody combat!

02-A: ATTACK AND AFTERMATH

The attack patterns of the raiders depends on who they are targeting and how transformed the Drifters are. More monstrous Drifters earn full fury, and the vehicles blare with static and a patchy message: “…Purge… Corruption… By steel.” The raiders are determined to kill monsters, even at the cost of their own lives.

By contrast, less transformed Drifters may be overlooked, or only looked at suspicion. But if examined long enough, the raiders will eventually conclude less changed Drifters as still corrupt and attack them, especially if they are associated with the more monstrous!

Afterwards, mechanical salvage can be found to bolster the Convoy vehicles. The machines display a moon stabbed by a sword. It is the same as the symbols on the trap cars from February. Several raiders also carry odd talismans that resemble a rosary formed of tiny computer screens. Many of the screens are broken, but a few carry flickering text: “Your charge: To hunt the Warped. To purify the broken land, purge all sickness that twists us. Only then can Nirvana be opened, and the world reborn without corruption.”

03: OASIS

Just off the road are scattered oases, shining like blue gems in a red wasteland. The waters run surprisingly deep, with monstrous statues submerged in the depths. These statues resemble all 13 types of monsters, some of them even coloring the water depths into shades of green, purple, and red.

The oasis waters can’t fix or restore physical transformations. But it can cure any heat exhaustion with just a few sips, and restore lost strength. Red water can heal wounds, green restores magic fatigue, and purple can stabilize mental exhaustion and strain.

The statues also create a strange resonance on Drifters’ Sigil marks, particularly when Drifters submerge in the water. The statue resonance can’t completely revert transformations but they CAN spread out the transformation between two Drifters and lessen the potency.

04: MONSTER SHIFT, CHIMERA

Peculiar flowers bloom along some of the thorn brush. Drifters who bleed from the thorns will find that their cuts turn into Traits belonging to either Chimera or Unicorns. Chimeras typically appear from red flowered plants, and become increasingly tougher as they gain more traits. The following is also available:
+Tower focus: if growing extra eyes or heads, vision becomes disorienting. Focusing on the tower will help sharpen vision and provide clarity.
+Thermal flight on new wings, as the hot air coming off the ground helps them soar.
+Territorial hunter vs other fully shifted monsters/enemies.
+Blood taste/frenzy: becomes more savage as blood is shed, whether that is their own or others. If it is their own or an enemy, more aggressive; if it is an ally, more protective.
+An increasingly carnivorous and voracious appetite. Plus a craving for raw meat, and a drive to go hunt it personally; the fresher, the better.
+Tough hide. As 3 or more Chimera traits become active, the skin becomes increasingly tougher and harder for cuts and new transformations to occur.
+A sudden roar that cuts into words, easy for conversations to turn into a shouting match.

04: MONSTER SHIFT, UNICORN

As with Chimera, getting cut and bled by flower bearing thorns will impart unicorn traits on Drifters. This typically comes from thorn plants with white flowers. Unicorns have a knack for stabilizing the more violent changes… And perhaps even stopping transformations from bleeding. The following is also available:
+Horn Resonance, a ringing in the horn or forehead the closer one gets to the tower. Can result in either disorientation, or a boost in healing.
+Shift Healing: At the cost of taking on another unicorn/current monster trait, may heal another Drifter of one active trait. This can only be used once per character.
+An increasingly vegetarian diet, including the flowers off various thorn bushes.
+Increased pain or disorientation in the forehead as horn grows in. May also experience pain in feet (hooves) or back (wings or tail) though healing magic can alleviate pain.
+A compulsion to heal the injured or protect those who can. Similarly, a compulsion to protect the virtuous and aid them.
+Fight or Flight response: more likely to bolt at the sign of trouble with increased speed. If fleeing is not possible (or others are in danger) ready to fight to the death in desperate frenzy.
+Urge to run and be outdoors, gains an almost euphoric sensation when running at full speed.

05: TWISTED LAND

Finally the Convoy draws close to the tower and the moon glows balefully overhead, signaling an imminent Moon Warp. Shards of the tower fall away, exposing something encased in the surface. A chimera monster is pierced and pinned to the tower by swords. Elemental blood streams down, glowing in reaction to the Drifters, and causing the blades to glow in turn.

If Drifters make contact with the swords, they explode in a hail of shards, causing more wounds and damaging the tower. The shed blood twists the landscape. Deserts, forests, and swamps all shift together. With them come the hazards of those environments; quicksand, falling trees or strangling vines, terrible draining heat, all blending and switching without pattern. Such twisting weakens the tower. Further fragments break off and turn into monsters, aggressive and ready to fight. The Convoy braces against the twisting, but warning screens say that the shields are low on power. The shields occasionally waver, letting in the Moon Warp and monsters.

With the damage Drifters inflict in their battles, the environment twisting, and the sword shards, the tower crumbles away. It emits a burst of energy that disperses the land twisting, and ends the bloodshed transformations.

06: SALVE

In the aftermath of the warp, the tower has cracked and broken. A column of wavering light takes its place, reaching thin tendrils up towards the moon.

The red ichor leaks out of the tower in rivers, and any Husk it comes in contact with breaks open without transforming into a monster, instead releasing another glowing shard that travels upwards. Drifters can still harness this ichor to undo one change, though the limits still apply. Submerging in the ichor does not undo more than one change… Though it will stain Drifters with red.

The ichor can also heal wounds, and repair those quite thoroughly, acting as a good salve to mend Drifters from past battles.

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.

Twisted Creatures: Local fauna (flying rabbits, jackalopes, gorgons wandering in from the grasslands, etc) gets caught in the thorn bushes and begins bleeding, and turning into a monster. The process is slow and painful, giving Drifters enough time to get away from the scrub brush and the monster if they wish; or enough time to try and dispatch the creature.

Thorn brush: Clumps of thorn brush line the road. A time or two they even grow over the road and need to be hacked through, in order for the Convoy to proceed. The brush is almost like razor wire, with how sharp the thorns are, and how ready they are to slice up skin.

Watering Hole: Rarely, one can find a small oasis in the bleached land. Unfortunately, many of the twisted creatures want a drink from this place as well; it’s a task to grab water and avoid getting on their bad side.

NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I. A city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven;

[A peculiar tower in the distance, you say? Only off-road capable vehicles can take a straight path there, you say? Tough enough vehicles are able to crash through the thorns, you say? Well guess who's having a real good day.

Expect to see Faith- or, more accurately, her increasingly beat-up and battered Jeep- taking trips out front to clear the way for any forward parties. Of course, this won't always go as planned- obviously, it's easier to get out and fight the monsters hand to hand in some cases, and that means she's gonna get exposed to thorns. Red thorns.

And where the thorns hit, there will increasingly be... fur. First her arms and newly-clawed hands, then her shoulders, then her neck and upper torso.

By the end of the month, after getting into a full-on brawl with a panthera protector that drives her back into more thorns, she even sprouts a full-on tail. But not a lion's tail, or anything else that matches her fur, but a fully-formed scorpion tail.]

...least nothing fell off.

[She sounds like she takes very little comfort in this fact.]

II. But it shall be for those: the wayfaring men

[Given her increasingly obvious manticore-style chimera traits, Faith is an obvious priority target for the raiders and chromehounds.

This suits her just fine. Given her increasingly obvious manticore-style chimera traits, Faith is in a bad mood again, and that means she has some rage and anxiety-induced stress to work off. Then again, what else is new?

Well, for one thing, she's at least showing a little restraint this time. That's new. She's a little less hasty with jumping into the crowd. Once she's fought a few of the raiders, she'll even pick up one of their beat-up guns and start practicing with it. Her aim is good, her handling and maintenance of the weapon, not so much. Don't worry, she knows not to fire toward anybody she likes.

Y'know, assuming she knows you're there.]

III. Wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought,

[The scorpion tail winds up being too much. The next Oasis she sees after she grows the tail, she's absolutely stopping.

But, of course, the oasis doesn't fix the transformations. Not in the slightest. The tail is still right there. Still, it's... relaxing. Refreshing, even. Can't complain, even if the fur is really uncomfortable when it's soggy.

Still, she's here. She may as well kick back and have a smoke. God knows she'll take what little she can get.]

IVa. So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are

[When the Moon Warp finally approaches and the tower starts to crumble, Faith immediately hauls ass back to the convoy, and she'll be helping along anybody she runs into along the way, protecting them from monsters if necessary- hell, she's pretty strong, she's not above carrying somebody back to the shields.

Later, as the twisting landscape weakens the barrier and allows monsters and twisting landscape through, she's going to be on combat duty again. Unlike earlier in the month, she's definitely going all out here. She might even be trying a little too hard to play hero here, running herself ragged in the process, a nonstop flurry of fighting off monsters and trying to help people get to safety from the shifting terrain.]

IVb. And the land cannot be cleansed

[When the moon warp ends and the distortions fade away, Faith doesn't even bother to go back into the sleeper truck of the convoy, she just passes out right there in her Jeep.

When she wakes up, she's relieved to discover that the Chimera traits have faded away. But as she's feeling over her body to make sure everything is gone- claws, tail, fur- she pauses at her neck. Something is wrong.

When she gets out of the vehicle and stands upright, she looks decidedly different. The fur was hiding gaunt, pale skin, deep sunken eyes, and- most alarmingly of all- a grotesque, ragged line of crimson around her neck, almost like a horrible and very fresh scar.

She looks, in other words, like a corpse whose head was severed and reattached. And when she bends down to check her reflection in the side mirror...]

No... no, no, c'mon, no!

[The last 'no' is accompanied by her slamming her fist into the rear door of her truck, her breath getting quick and uneven, her eyes wide with panic.]

V. Wildcard!

(Don't see anything you like? Have something specific in mind? Feel free to hit me up in DMs or on plurk at

yonfellow)

[ If there's one thing Vincent knows, it's guns. What they are, how well they're maintained, how to use them and how to be the most efficient.

Whether it's worth taking up the armaments and using them on the fly or leaving them to collect later. How to not be where a raider is aiming his gun. And how to not be downrange of an amateur. ]

Eleven o'clock.

[ Vincent had been in the vicinity long enough- drawn to the source of such fierce gunfire that he had gone to lend his support- and she may well have seen him in action from afar. A man that slips in and out of cover, makes extraordinarily impossible leaps and twists mid-air while making use of his cloak to prevent the enemy from seeing where he's shooting from and what they're trying to aim at specific to cloth or body part. One of the new Drifters; but just because he's from a world distant to this one doesn't remove the possibility of extraordinary gifts, now does it?

He wishes his materia worked. But that's something to worry about later. He's sprouting a tail and long horns, some feathers from chimerical transformations. And if Faith turns to take care of the problem she was just warned about, Vincent will be slipping in close enough to cover her back.

Whether or not she needed an immediate break from the strong onslaught, Vincent has determined that she is probably nearing a point where it's probably a good idea.

And everyone can use backup. One way or another, between the two warriors, guns or not, there will be a point where the last chromehound goes down and there's no further shouts to indicate a new, incoming wave. ]

[The good news is, she has great reflexes. She immediately turns- behind her.

The bad news is, she's not great at clock directions. It takes her a fraction of a second too long to look the right way, and instead of time to respond-]

Damn.

[She drops to avoid the flurry of bullets. Sorry, Vincent, she's doing her best. At least she doesn't stop shooting, she just goes prone instead and keeps firing until the last chromehound drops.]

God, I miss killing vamps.

[She drops the gun- no attempt made whatsoever to engage the safety, mind you- and climbs to her feet, staring at her temporary battle buddy. And- Oh. Whoops.]

...no offense.

[ Other good news; Vincent has superb reflexes and adjusts accordingly so he isn't suddenly pelted with gunfire. He might not look like it, but he's armored a fair bit. But that doesn't mean it'll deflect everything. Like some of his other equipment, it seems to be performing less than stellar right now.

There's no reproach. Vincent continues to direct his own shots until everything is silent. Well... not until the young woman drops the gun summarily to the ground. That earned her a mild look. Really, Faith? ]

None taken. [ There's a dry tone that suggests he's used to hearing the word. Well, 'vampire'. Vamps is... slang, he supposes. ] I only look the part.

[ ...That will be words he has to swallow in the coming months as the transformations take hold. ]

Injuries?

[ As he speaks, once he's ascertained they have a moment, he crouches down and picks up the gun in his left hand. While it's covered with a nasty looking piece of armor- metal claws extended beyond the gloved hand- he handles it dexterously. Safety first, then after holstering his own weapon, several deft motions to check the remaining ammo if there's any. ]

[Harder to assess, since she's got her own inconvenient fur to deal with right now, but she gives herself a quick pat down.]

Cuts and bruises. Nothing that isn't walk-it-off-able.

[She nods down at her discarded gun as he deals with it. Oh, yeah, she's definitely been making up for experience with an abundance of trigger-pulling, the clip is nearly empty.]

You're pretty good with those. Gotta say, the outfit doesn't scream 'gun nut.'

Faith Lehane | Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel

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