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

[coffinturk]

Hm. Alright.

[ He does believe the assessment. However. ]

Don't forget where we are.

[ What he means is a harsh environment, middle of nowhere; monsters and enemies in abundance. Get the cuts cleaned out later at the very least whatever their state. And probably 'pace yourself' or something like that. But words? Vincent Valentine? Hah, that's rich.

Faith earns a more direct gaze when she remarks on his skills. ...And his fashion sense. ]

Left my suit at home.

[ There's a hint of dry words to suggest that this is some type of joke. But he cuts quite a serious deadpan that it's easy to take seriously or might hold a grain of truth on some level. He doesn't deny being a 'gun nut'. ]

Use the safety next time. Even if you think the gun's empty.

[ That's the only thing he's going to really chide Faith about on the matter of weapon care. Even if he is appalled at how she treated it. ]

[definitionofcrazy]

Safety? Wait, machine guns have safeties?

[Yeah, that's not a machine gun, it's a semiautomatic rifle.

Ya girl is really not into guns.]

Sorry, I'm usually more of a crossbow kinda gal. I'd even settle for a, like, bow-bow.

[coffinturk]

[ Would she have even thought to check for the safety? ]

Semiautomatic rifle. Most guns do. Even machine guns.

[ But Vincent isn't going to judge her lack of knowledge even if he did automatically correct her. At least his tone doesn't indicate she should be expected to know everything about firearms just because he does. ]

Hm. Haven't seen either. [ There's a pause as he glances around them. ] ...Don't suppose anyone has metalwork skills in the Convoy? You could probably get one fabricated if you find the right scrap.

[ The look around them had served to assure him that, for the time being, no more raiders are coming. So he begins to crouch over the bodies, even the chrome hounds, to check for loot anything useful. Ammo and other guns for example. ]

[definitionofcrazy]

Yeah, maybe.

[She'd never even considered that, but he wasn't wrong.]

Meanwhile, uh, how does that safety thing work?

[...Look, she's not too proud to learn something new. She's never liked guns anyway, where she's from they're usually not helpful, but she's willing to adopt to the lay of the land.]

Not out here trying to mess up and shoot my own foot on accident.

[coffinturk]

Or someone else.

[ He was somewhat relieved the gun hadn't gone off when she'd dropped it. Would have been annoying to get shot. After a moment's study of Faith, Vincent holds out the rifle she had abandoned in a presentation. He doesn't move closer but it does indicate she's welcome to do so herself. ]

There's different types of safeties. This one uses a selector switch.

[ Looks like a lever with 'S', 'E', 'F' stamped in the metal. ]

S for safety engaged. E for single shot. F is full fire.

[ So technically the rifle had a full auto setting. The narrator decided to use an HK41 for the representative shape. Go with it.

In any case, Vincent continues. ]

Finger away from the trigger until you plan to fire. Always treat it as if it's loaded. Even when you're sure it isn't.

[ Perhaps especially when you're sure. ]

And just like that Faith has a signature gun for me to reference now.

[definitionofcrazy]

[Right. Okay. She'll gingerly take the gun again- funny, she'd been so comfortable with it when there was nobody but her around to accidentally injure.

She did, at least, know not to point it at anything she doesn't want perforated. She takes a second to peer at the switch he mentioned, switches it experimentally, makes sure it's locked into the S position, and nods.]

Check, check, aaaaand check. Any other notes? The, uh, guy I got this from wasn't real chatty.

[On account of the knife in his neck. It made conversation difficult.]

[coffinturk]

[ Hrmph. No doubt the man wasn't chatty. Vincent is probably a social bird compared to that raider. ]

You'll need ammo. Take out the magazine. There's a release on the right side.

[ He's intentionally not taking it back, eyes watching closely to see how Faith handles the weapon while figuring out the instructions.

And he does remember seeing a couple rounds left. ]

You can use it to compare. If you're lucky, you'll find ones stamped with the caliber.

[ There's any number of reasons the caliber won't be stamped on the end in this environment but no few of the ammo Vincent's managed to gather from these ambushes seem to come from some mass production line, so it's a safe bet to suggest it. ]

If you're not sure, you can bring them to me. If you plan to use a gun indefinitely, you'll need to know a lot more. How to service it. Be efficient. Maybe try a few different types to find something that fits.

[ Not that the rifle doesn't have its advantages and Faith's shown some basic competency with it for someone who is obviously not a gun girl. ]

[definitionofcrazy]

[Alright. Sure. Ammo release. Right side. She angles the rifle to the side so she can hunt down the release, but to her credit, she's still controlling which direction it's pointed. It's pretty easy to spot, thankfully, and she quickly releases and removes the magazine.]

Seems easy enough.

[She carefully pulls the top round out and inspects it, then offers it to him.]

Not stamped. Guess I'll have an excuse to come bug you after all.

[She's probably joking, despite the deadpan.]

[coffinturk]

[ He doesn't need to look at it or take it. ]

Seven point six two by fifty-one.

[ He does reach over and tap a place near the shot and safety slider. There are words there, including CAL 7.62mm. Maybe some of the other words would suggest it comes from earth. Maybe not. The narrator is not sure how well things filter through. But let's just say this bit was somehow universal. Once upon a time. ]

If you're lucky, the gun will also tell you the basics. There's other things to consider. Never use ammo you're not sure of even if it fits.

[ He then sighs, crossing his arms like what Faith says is something he's bracing for. Well, he did promise. ]

Not too often. [ This is probably no surprise. The guy screams introverted loner. ] But sure. If you plan to keep at it, I'll teach you a few things.

[definitionofcrazy]

[She squints at where he pointed, then glances back up at him.]

Nice party trick y'got there.

[She wasn't sure if he'd just noticed it when he had the gun before, or if he could actually identify guns on sight and remember what type of ammo they used. Either way, color her impressed. She gives a slightly teasing smirk.]

Don't worry, I'll try to keep the random pop quizzes to a minimum. Think I've picked up the basics.

[She's not planning to use it that often anyway. She's more likely to contribute ammo she finds to the communal resources than use it for herself.]

[coffinturk]

[ Look. The answer is probably yes to all of that. But he's teaching Faith how to gun. She's going to get the starter lessons. Will she also get a glimpse of a smile? Maybe if she's peering hard enough and catches the brief upturn of a corner of his mouth. It's not always hidden by the high collar. ]

You needed to know how to find it on the bullet. How to remove the magazine. And on the gun.

[ And he just taught her that. He paces around their short area. Plenty of corpses to look over, pick at and.... ah, lucky. Crouching, Vincent goes through one of the raiders' belongings and finds a magazine matching Faith's new weapon. If it's the guy she killed for the weapon in the first place or just someone who had a compatible clip and bullets? We'll never know. Maybe. A quick check of the ammo assures him. He brings it back to hand over. ]

You also need ammo. Keep it on single shot. Body shots are better than trying to get fancy.

[ There... IS something in his tone that suggests he's starting to wrap up their conversation. Or is it first lesson at this point? ]

[definitionofcrazy]

[There's a gently teasing note in her voice again when she replies.]

Well, I was gonna say thanks, Teach, I was just waiting for the end of class.

[But she nods at the little note he gives, and her tone is more serious.]

Single shot, got it. This thing ain't my style as a rule, I'm not lookin' to overuse it.

[She takes the ammo and tucks it in her jacket pocket.]

For real, though, appreciate the Cliff notes. Especially if this- [A gentle pat of the rifle barrel-] is all we're gettin' for a while.

[coffinturk]

[ Vincent nods. The gratitude is accepted, her assurance acknowledged. ]

Stop by when the Convoy camps for the night. Show me what you collected. I'll trade the type of ammo you need for what you collect of other calibers and weapons. Show you how to clean the weapon.

[ And just like that he turns and starts to walk away. The loot here? Well he's leaving that for Faith. Mostly because they were her kills. But also it's another type of lesson if she's going to provide for her own gun.

It's totally not because he's bad at being social for social's sake. ]