APRIL EVENT LOG

[monstertruckers]

code

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

Comments

3 Oasis

[bufudine]

[There were plenty of new people who had joined the Convoy and even if Serph may not have directly interacted with them all, he's certainly been keeping an eye out for them. Although he looks somewhat human, he has six large wings with feathers covering much of his torso.

Serph isn't bothered by the sight of blood and gore at all, so when the other drifter questions him, he responds in a calm and even tone.]

It is, despite the colour.

[He tilts his head. It's a bit hard to tell if all that blood is the other drifter's or from the monsters roaming about.]

Are you injured?

[winparadise]

It will take more than the likes of them to injure me.

[He says it haughtily, sluicing the last of the blood from his feathers and fanning out his wings in the sun to dry more quickly. Annoying. He never had to worry about such things when his 'feathers' were composed of blades alone, though perhaps it's less annoying than six wings.]

And most of you seem to be blessed with either fighting prowess, or the monstrous strength to otherwise fight for your lives.

[Which is a longwinded way of saying he assumes Serph isn't injured, either.]

[bufudine]

[Serph isn't injured... now. Whatever wounds he had sustained have since closed up thanks to his demon's ability to recover using the monsters that attack them. While Serph is well acquainted with those who are decidedly not fighters, Serph nods.]

They have places to return to. Unfinished goals. Promises to keep.

[Not him, though.]

[winparadise]

You don't include yourself in that?

[The phrasing isn't lost on him, and he fixes him with an even stare.]

What do you fight for, then?

[bufudine]

[He doesn't; how can he, when he's a dead man?

What does he fight for? It had been Nirvana, it had always been Nirvana. But the real thing -- a land of peace -- seems to be once again slipping through his fingers.]

I fight to ensure they make it there.

[winparadise]

[He sounds like Vash, which means Knives doesn't believe a word of that for a moment. He rises to his feet, not bothering to hide his distaste.]

And what compels you to care for a herd of strangers? Moreover, if they're nothing but mindless beasts by the time you've shepherded them to their destination, what then?

[bufudine]

They won't be strangers forever.

[There's plenty of time to know the people he's travelling with. He remembers what it was like to gaze upon his unified territory and see a sea of orange, his banner.]

I will do what is necessary.

[He says the last part with a completely calm and even tone, but the slight narrowing of his eyes carries dangerous implication. He has no qualms in slaying his allies if they're too much of a danger and there's nothing he can do to return them to themselves; he's already done it before.]

Why do you fight?

[winparadise]

[Just when he's sure the other is about to say something sentimental, Knives is pleasantly surprised by the pragmatism of that response. Doing what needs to be done -- it seems inevitable, so why not sow those seeds of doubt now? It makes things simpler later.]

Ineffectual though they were, my motives aren't so different from the raiders who attacked us. I will find the means to purge the impurity that afflicts my brother and I.

[bufudine]

[Railing against the changes, then? He can understand it, even if he personally thinks that acceptance is the more effective path to survival.

Brother... Serph's brows briefly pull together at the mention of it.]

You have... family here?

[The way Serph says family, it's like he's speaking an unfamiliar word for the first time.]

[winparadise]

My younger brother. The rest of our brethren are not here.

[It's not lost on him that Serph seems unaccustomed to the concept somehow, and he tilts his head slightly.]

You have none of your own?

[bufudine]

[Serph shakes his head.]

My original world was created by another world we knew as Nirvana. We were all artificial creations.

[He hasn't exactly kept it hidden, but he doesn't really parade it around either.]

So we weren't born from parents nor do we have siblings.

[winparadise]

My brethren were also created -- all save for my brother and I.

[So the idea of having no family is just as foreign to him as the reverse is for Serph. He's quiet for a moment, wondering at the implications of 'Nirvana'.]

Those who hunted us sought the way to a Nirvana, too. What do you know of it?

[bufudine]

[Hm. What does that make this stranger, then?]

We know little of this world's Nirvana, only that it's the destination of the Convoy.

[Supposedly.]

This world has many [almost disconcertingly so] similarities to the worlds I came from. It wouldn't surprise me if they also believe Nirvana is a promised land without suffering.

[winparadise]

Even if this Nirvana exists, mankind will covet it for themselves, and the sin in their hearts will invite further conflict and suffering. This journey is wasted on them.

[He raises one of his hands, serrated claws forming out of the skin like a bone growth. Idly examining them for what he sees as the inevitable time they'll be needed once again, should they even survive as far as the end of the journey.]

Will you still escort them, knowing this to be true?

[bufudine]

[Serph nods, gaze sliding over towards Knives' now clawed hands, but his expression remains impassive and his voice as calm as even as before.]

Even if their suffering is brought upon themselves, I would give them the opportunity to make amends.

[Serph tilts his head.]

What would you do instead?

[winparadise]

Remove them. There's no purpose in coddling what are ultimately obstructions.

[And he looks as if he would enjoy it, too. He lowers his hand again, the claws melting back into his skin just as easily as they had appeared.]

For now, we should watch over their progress.

[bufudine]

[Serph's expression doesn't change. Hm. It seems they've picked up a dangerous one to be travelling with them and Serph isn't in the business of picking fights without information about his opponent. Although there hasn't been much in this land that he's found particularly threatening to him, that could change at any moment. Especially if the threat is another drifter.

He notes the 'we' in that last statement as he nods.]

Your name?

[winparadise]

Millions Knives. [A totally non-threatening name for a totally non-threatening addition to the Convoy.]

And you?

[bufudine]

[Honestly, it's one of the better names he's heard here.]

Serph.

[If there isn't anything else the other drifter wants to talk about, Serph will silently take his leave.]