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

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[Fortunately for Akechi, it so happens that Serph is nearby and has a rather sturdy vehicle. Serph is back to his mostly human form with six wings, but his torso is mostly covered in feathers as well. While he sports a pair of pants -- tailored, thanks to Jack -- he now wears sandals, which are really not a particularly good choice in footwear in the current thorny terrain. But his boots had been lost in the raging storm and there hadn't been anything else he could use as a replacement.

Akechi's changes look far more dramatic by comparison. Serph recalls Akechi mentioning that he had wings once but that change had receded... until now, it seems.

Serph nods. He's more than happy to accompany Akechi on a little scouting. However, Akechi's motorcycle looks like it would have trouble crossing the thorny terrain.]

Do you need a ride? Or will you be flying ahead?

[Akechi's wings unfold, then fold back up.]

I had considered it, but should I exhaust myself mid-flight, I might land in treacherous terrain. A ride may be the more pragmatic choice, really.

[He'd like to cross it himself, but it's too light for it.]

[Serph nods. Well, if Akechi is hitching a ride with him, then they need to do something about his motorbike. Leaving it out here has no guarantee it would be still there, much less in the same condition. It also means that the bike can still be used where terrain is less thorny.]

Let's put your bike in the back.

[Serph moves to the bed of his pickup truck so he can pull out a ramp for the motorbike to be wheeled up. Once it's there, he will secure it with the cables attached to the truck's bed.]

Thank you.

[He nods in acknowledgement. This should do quite nicely.

Once everything's secure, he'll crawl into the passenger seat, careful to fold his wings.]

Frankly, as glad as I am to only have one pair of wings, they're still a bit cumbersome.

[Yeah, tell him about it. Really, probably the most insulting thing about his changes besides the inconvenience of his six wings is that none of this changes seem to serve any particularly useful function. He's still mostly reliant on his demon to defend himself, having gained absolutely no additional combat capabilities. In some ways, that temporary, serpentine form had been more practical.

(Serph fails to consider a non-zero number of people he knows likes being hugged or blanketed by his wings as a benefit.)

The corner of Serph's mouth quirks up into a wry smile before slipping into the driver's seat, starting his vehicle's engine. Even with him having his wings slid in the gaps between the seats and truck frame so he can fold them around the back of the car seat, there's still a lot of feathery intrusion. Once both of them are settled as they can be, Serph puts his foot on the accelerator and begins their trip through the thorns towards the tower.]

No one thought about making anything monster friendly. Seems short-sighted for a world intent on changing us.

I'd noticed that as well.

[Akechi slips the seatbelt on, grumbling out a sigh.]

The talons are manageable, but when my legs change, it may make using my motorcycle more cumbersome. Digitigrade paws are fairly different in structure, and I'm not exactly looking forward to being barefoot out of necessity.

[Fortunately for Akechi, Serph's driving is perfectly sane as they trundle steadily over thorns and wasteland, mildly bumping along whenever they hit a particularly rough patch. He can't really do anything about the sound of pointed dead branches scraping along the metal of his vehicle though.

Serph nods in understanding.]

I couldn't drive when I temporarily lost use of my legs.

[By becoming a snake.]

Ah, right. There were quite a few who took on serpentine traits...

[He hums, talons drumming against his thighs.]

I wonder how many monster varieties there are in total, to say nothing of the individual varieties among each "species."

[Serph frowns a little as he keeps his gaze fized on the path he's making through the thorns. This world had so many similarities to his experiences that he wonders...]

In my original world, most had a demons that were the same as anothers'. Only a few had unique demons, which were stronger than the rest.

[All of the Tribe leaders, for example. But his officers also shared this trait, as well as a very small smattering of people outside the Embryon.]

All the monsters we've encountered can be grouped by their common traits. But we appear unlike any of them. Even when changes are inflicted by a common element [such as, say, a storm] we don't transform the same.

I had noticed that, actually.

[Peering out the window, he takes a moment to ruminate on Serph's words.]

If we assume that the Husk monsters were transformed as we were, then I wonder if it's our nature as beings summoned from other realities that sets us apart. Not to mention, we have the sigils and all the benefits that accompany them.

Jayce mentioned you found a journal entry about needing better vessels from afar. Stronger souls.

[When he had first met Akechi, they had talked briefly about how his Persona was limited since arriving. His demon, too, lost some of its versatility, though it didn't feel 'overwritten' in the same way it had when he left the Junkyard and entered Nirvana.]

Perhaps something was taken from us in exchange for our transformations.

Which begs the question of why. Why hinder our odds of success by exchanging them for these changes?

[It's a troubling thought, to be sure. Tampering with their forms was bad enough, but this...]

We're getting mixed messages. The Convoy tells us to remain as human as possible, yet this world's religion seems to value the changes as divine gifts.

[Different groups with different goals, perhaps? He can't help but think of how relentlessly Jayce had been pursued by monsters when he apparently attracted the attention of Something. That they might be needed, but not necessarily alive.]

Taking our power may not be intentional.

[It could be simply a side effect of the summoning. Or that transformation in of itself takes something from a person.]

In my original world, my demon was strong. We had conquered all territories. But when I entered the Nirvana that created my world, that strength was stripped completely. I was like a fresh rookie. Crossing worlds doesn't seem like an easy task.

Admittedly, my only real point of comparison is the Metaverse, and it's there that I awakened my abilities.

[But then, this isn't the Metaverse. By all accounts, it's not a world forged from the collective unconsciousness or pockets of individual distortion...]

That I can summon Hereward at all is already impressive, given that this is a far more tangible and grounded reality.

[Ah, the parallel world based in cognition? It hadn't occurred to him that Akechi's Persona couldn't manifest outside of it. Circling back to Akechi's previous thought...]

I don't think the Convoy and the Silver Tears are allies.

[At first glance, it seems that the Convoy would be serving the Silver Tears. After all, the Silver Tears worship monsters and the Convoy protects them as they travel a route to Nirvana. And it seems that the Silver Tears want them to help with fixing the failed ritual, so it would make sense for the Convoy to bring Drifters to wherever the Silver Tears are.]

Did you read Jayce's experiment report?

Multiple times, as a matter of fact.

[Serph's conclusion is reasonable, really. There are discrepancies, oddities, to be sure...]

Summoning circles fit quite neatly into the Tears' cult-like mentality, yet the vehicles and the Convoy itself don't quite align, do they? The prerecorded messages urge us not to change. The Tears would undoubtedly expect us to embrace change instead...

Yet, regardless of who beckoned us, we're pawns to rectify their mistakes.

[Needless to say, he's not a fan.]

[Except... if they changed too much, would they still even be useful? It's a thought he's had, seeing how there are other fully changed monsters that aren't being used in sacrifice. Because they're unsuitable?]

I was with Jayce during his third experiment. I happened to come across him beyond the safety of the shields. His mental state was as... disconcerting as his report suggests.

[Jayce's report had stated insistent and focused monster attacks until sunrise.]

But my concern is that he came under attack by the monsters. The monsters targetted him and only him, despite my presence on the field. No matter how many I cut down, or if I put myself between Jayce and the monsters, they would ignore me completely in favour of attacking Jayce.

Edited 2025-04-26 11:17 (UTC)

[Eyes wide, Akechi quiets. Thinking back on the entry, on the details in Jayce's research...

So many dreams, so many sacrificial images, the voices he heard, all leading up to the monster attacks.]

I wonder if they attacked him due to his meddling with the runes. Given the content of his dreams, could it be that the monsters were influenced by a higher power, sent to punish him for 'meddling'?

[Serph agrees that there was some other being that is able to control the monsters. He's not so sure about the punishment part.]

"I need you. I see you." Then... "Next time, you are mine."

[They're drawing closer to the tower. It looms tall, a structure that demands their attention. Serph hesitates briefly, frowning as he gazes at the tower. He doesn't have very sound reasoning for his next line of thought, but he voices it to see what Akechi would make of it.]

Did he form a connection to the god?

[Akechi is neither religious nor superstitious.

However, he cannot deny the existence of higher powers, between what he heard of the 'God of Control' from Ren and what he's experienced here.

His right hand brushes against the sleeve of his left arm, no longer bearing the brand from the roadside shrine.]

We mustn't rule out the possibility. No, if anything, meddling with these runes so intensively may very well have drawn her attention.

And yet we must, if we are to find any answers.

[They're getting close to the tower now though, so Serph slows on the approach, pickup truck coming to a stop once he decides they're close enough to go on foot.]

[Once they stop, Akechi unfastens his seatbelt and prepares to continue thee rest of the way forward.]

Well then. With luck, we'll find something substantial...

[Serph kills the engine before he steps out from his vehicle, frowning as he gazes up at the tower. Yet another huge, ominous tower. Unease settles down his spine as he realises the tower's surface is mishappen because...]

It isn't made of just metal.

[Shapes of creatures protrude from metal as though they were swallowed up and encased, twisted bodies unable to escape their fate, ichor oozing slowly down the tower.]

[Akechi, quiet at first, takes in the sight through narrowed eyes.

Creatures melded with metal. Ichor trickling down its surface...]

I wonder what purpose it held...

[He takes two tentative steps closer, but not too close.]

We should search for clues. It's possible that there are runes or other indications that could help us discern its origins.

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APRIL EVENT LOG

The tower

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