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

"Dodging. Yeah, never my style."

She's being snarky, but she's also more than a little self-conscious of how much slower she's been since she arrived- her strength, her slayer instincts, and her toughness were all still there, along with all the muscle memory she'd built up over the years, but she'd had to adjust to losing her increased speed and reflexes.

And she'd never been as fast as Buffy, which she tried not to think about.

"I just know this is gonna make driving a pain in the ass." Beat. "...I guess literally."

The pun makes him grin. "Serph wasn't able to drive for half a month, when he wound up with a snake tail instead of feet," he says, considering the logistics of tails and car seats. "But I think you can probably manage it with just the one tail. Mine get a little squished, but I can do it. I think yours can probably curve over the seat without too much trouble, maybe?"

He holds up his hands. "But! If you want to ride in the convoy or in someone else's car, yours will follow us after a time. Serph's did."

She'd heard about the cars following automatically, but she never thought about trying it until he suggested it.

"Worst case, I just put the back of the seat down. I'll deal."

The tail shifts again, and it visibly distracts her. Her hand idly drifts toward the pocket with the cigarettes, but instead of pulling one out, she just stuffs the hand in the pocket to occupy it.

"Hoping it doesn't stick around, though, it's distracting as hell."

"You will get used to it even if it does," Jack assures her. "Serph got used to his wings very quickly, really, and even if my tails aren't as, er, big as that one, I can still see them when I look to the side sometimes. They move a lot."

Not even on purpose! They're just restless, like the rest of him, complimenting or perhaps adding to the occasional overwhelming-ness of his hand gestures and body language.

"Yours seem a lot more comfortable, what with the fur. Hey, maybe I can learn to fight with it, right?"

She pauses and frowns.

"...Scorpions don't die when they sting people, right? That's just bees?"

...forgive her, Jack, for she is not well-read.

Edited 2025-04-26 06:19 (UTC)

"It's only some kinds of bees, too," Jack says. "But you're right, it's not scorpions. I do think it would be useful in fighting, if it lasts. And who knows, maybe whatever you wind up turning into will also have a tail, so learning how to manage it now will help?" He doesn't know. He honestly has no idea what changes she has so far.

"Thinkin' not."

The mention of long-term changes seems to quickly and profoundly dampen her spirits, though she makes a spirited- if ineffectual- attempt to hide it with a forced neutral expression.

"Still, poison, I guess, that's kinda cool. Unless I accidentally poison myself."

"You know, I do not know if scorpions are immune to their own poison? I would think so, but they also have that hard outer shell, so maybe it never comes up," Jack muses, watching her, half to distract her from that moment of dismay. "I would think poison that comes from you would not harm you. But I can't be sure. I'd hate to suggest you try it out only to die horribly."

"Yeah, I kinda outgrew my 'self-destructive experimental phase' while I was in the slammer."

She tries to force a laugh, but it wasn't really as funny out loud as it was in her head.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful." After a brief pause, she adds- "...You-careful, not me-careful. Promise."

"Oh good. It seems like we all have one of those," Jack says ruefully, remembering his own nihilistic monster phase in his youth. "But it is good to grow out of them. And to be careful." He gives her shoulder a little pat, careful of the tail. "I was trying to get to the pool that direction--" He gestures. "--when the cat-person found me. Want to walk with me the rest of the way?"

They can wash off the blood at least.

She doesn't actually recoil from the shoulder pat, but she does look a little surprised by it for a moment. She recovers quickly enough, though, and gestures up ahead.

"Lead the way, yo. Any more cats mistake you for a yarn ball, I'll be sure to set 'em straight."

Surprise is okay. Surprise just means you need to show some physical affection more often. Jack makes a mental note to give that a try as he starts picking his way through the thorn bushes again. "I may be able to protect you from the thorns," he offers. "At least for a little bit. Would you be okay with that?"

"Well, if I get any fluffier I'm gonna have to switch to dog shampoo." Wait. "I mean, uh... sounds good, yeah."

She sounds like she genuinely regrets the phrasing, at least.

Jack rolls his eyes a little at that, but good-naturedly. Mostly. "Ha ha. Here," he says, beckoning her to come up beside him. Then he holds out his hand and a little blue-white flame springs up over it. "It doesn't burn," he explains. "It's a little cold, but not enough to hurt."

She considers apologizing, decides it would only make things more awkward, and leaves it instead.

"Guess I know who to call if I run out of lighters."

Yes, snark is always the answer. Also, presumably if it's cold you can't light a cigarette with it, but- look, it was funny in her head.

"So, what, you just use that on the thorns like Roundup?"

"No, no, I use it on you, and it keeps the thorns from touching you," Jack explains. "It stopped the metal shards during the storm. I would think the thorns are easier to protect from than that. May I?" He holds out his hand in her direction, clearing asking if he can touch the flame to her, aiming at the moment for her shoulder.

"Oh, right, have at."

She turns her arm toward him so he can access it easier. Total cooperation, that's her.

"You put a curse on me or something, I'm kickin' your ass."

She flashes a smirk to make it clear that's a joke- of all the people here, Jack's probably the last one she thinks would hurt her.

"You would kick it all the way across the countryside, I'm sure," Jack assures her, a little amused, and touches his hand and the phantom fire to her shoulders, letting it run down her arms, and up her neck a little. It stops under her jaw, and at the base of her fingers. It's a little cold, like tiny droplets of water all up and down her arm, constantly moving, but not cold enough to be uncomfortable. Maybe distracting.

She has clothes on her midsection and legs, and he can't really make that much fire at once anyway, so that's all she gets.

"There," he says, stepping back and surveying his handywork.

"Huh. That's a trip." She rolls her shoulders, shaking her arms a little. "Kinda tickles."

She examines her own arm, as much because it feels weird as because it looks weird.

"So what, it's just... magic teflon? Thorns just gonna slide off?"

"It made the metal shards disappear," Jack says, a little dubiously, like he's not a hundred percent sure he remembers that right, "but I don't think it will do that to the thorns. Probably it will just be like-- like something soft between you and them."

"Right, not something we wanna stress test. Check."

But she's still gonna take the lead as they proceed.

"I gotta stick with you more often, feels like you keep saving my ass from stuff like this."

Between the weird monster thorns, the first aid, and the bear traps, he was definitely earning his keep.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

APRIL EVENT LOG

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