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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Leo's quick to kneel down next to him, though he keeps his own body between Donnie's and the mouth of the cave. Shielding him from anything that might be out there.

Donnie's hurt, but Leo can't tell what's hurt worse. It's a million little cuts, and he isn't sure where he should be focusing.

"Dee... Dee, I'm so sorry."

He doesn't really know what he's apologizing for - just, everything, really. That he can't protect Donnie better, that he can't find a way to fix this. That it hasn't been okay, even though he said it would be.

He reaches out, gently laying a hand on Donnie's shoulder - and that's when the horn on his head starts to glow with pale white-blue light. It flows off of him and towards Donnie, enveloping him and knitting some of the cuts and scrapes back together, slowly but surely.

Never before has he wanted to be back home so fiercely than he does right then. He wants them to be safe in the arms of their father and their brothers and April. He wants to wake up and just find out that this has all been some horrendous nightmare brought on by a poor decision of questionable pizza toppings. The burning, prickly sensation in his eyes is an unfortunately familiar one, hot tears soaking his bandanna as he squeezes his eyes shut.

He wouldn't have known where to even start if Leo asked where it hurt. Everything seems to hurt, and he's not sure if it's from cuts or scrapes or his own body turning against him. Yet somehow it hurts more, hearing Leo apologizing.

Donnie opens his eyes, perhaps just a little thankful his vision's blurred so he can't see Leo's expression. It can't be any better than his own, exhausted, in pain and at wit's end. The glow is unexpected, and unsure of what to make of it, he can't help but tense. Oh, what now?

At the back of his mind it finally registers, his brother has a horn coming out of his forehead. What irony. He almost laughs, but his emotions are so spent he can't find the breath to spare for it. And then something else happens as that glow spreads to him. He can feel it, some of that pain abating enough that he feels he might be able to actually move without triggering something or another.

Slowly, Donnie lifts a clawed hand to rest over Leo's.

Leo doesn't know what he's doing or how he's doing it, but Donnie seems to perk up, just a little, and he feels relief flow through him. It's okay, Donnie is okay. That means they'll be okay.

He manages a smile when Donnie puts a hand over his, even if it's a bit strained around the edges, not quite meeting his eyes. Still, he tries to project confidence, because that's always been how he's moved through life. And he hopes he can give Donnie confidence, too.

"Hey. There you go." Leo twists his hand to hold on to Donnie. "Let's just take a minute and then... then we can... augh-"

Leo suddenly winces, ducking his head as a sharp pain starts in his scalp and spreads down the back of his neck. It's hot and almost itchy, like all of the skin on the back of his head experienced some kind of road burn.

The horn on his head glows brighter, lighting up the interior of the cave. It seems to glisten and pulse, and then a circle of light emanates from the horn, enveloping the both of them.

The pain in Leo's head grows sharper, and then abates... in time with the change to Donnie's feet retreating.

And on Leo's head, hair has sprouted: silvery and long, framing his face and falling over his shoulders in shaggy waves. Like a horse's mane - or more accurately, like a unicorn's.

Leo gasps as the light dies down, rocking back on his heels and landing on his butt in the dirt.

The world isn't really right if Leo's not smiling, and back when he'd been fighting, it had seemed like his brother had been a different person. Strained as this smile is, it's proof enough Leo's still there.

Donnie's own smile is weak and short-lived, retreating when Leo suddenly reacts in pain himself. "Leo-? H-hey, what's- ack!"

He pushes himself up as he looks at his brother in alarm, flinching back as he has to shield his eyes from the brightness, but he hangs onto Leo's hand, trying to squint against the glare. "What's happening??"

Wary about any strange feelings in his legs, Donnie's reluctant to look as he feels them tingling, not that he can see much when everything is glowing. As the light finally begins to fade, Donnie rubs at his eyes, trying to blink away the after-images of the brightness.

"Are you okay? What was th...at...." He stares at Leo, then rubs at his eyes again.

Leo doesn't know what's happening as it does, but he can't call out in the moment, winded by the pain and the strange feeling of his body changing rapidly. It's only after it's over, as he curls over his knees, panting, that he finds his voice again.

"I... I dunno. That's never happened before."

He gives his head a shake, the new locks fluttering around him, and then looks up at Donnie - only to frown and lean back when he sees his brother's expression.

"What's wrong?" he asks, hesitant, like he doesn't really want to know.

No answer is immediately forthcoming and no amount of eye-rubbing seems to dismiss what he's seeing. And yet, all things considered, the sudden sprouting of hair just seems so bizarrely mundane by comparison to everything else.

A laugh finally does escape him, shaky and uncertain. Maybe he's actually losing it. Donnie vaguely gestures with a claw by the side of his head, primping invisible hair.

The fact that Donnie isn't able to muster any actual words about the situation is... not reassuring. Leo spends a moment trying to decipher his charades, before he lifts his free hand towards his head and shakily feels...

...Hair!?

Leo clenches strands of it in his fist and then lets go, looking stunned. Then he runs his fingers through it, then tugs it forward so he can see it with his eyes.

"...I have hair!?"

When did that happen!? Why did that happen!?

Okay good, it's not just him going crazy. Donnie feels only slightly relieved, watching as Leo starts pawing at his newfound head of hair.

"I-I don't know!" he says, shaking his head. "One moment your horn was blinding and my feet were feeling kind of fu- MY FEET ARE BACK!!"

He pulls up his feet in closer, hesitantly running a hand over where his wraps had been shredded by monster claws and the uncomfortable warping of his own legs and feet. The cuts had been pretty deep, but they looked to have scabbed over like older wounds than they should have been. Donnie wiggles his toes in testing- everything seems to be in working order.

"Your feet...?"

Leo, still holding fistfuls of his hair, finally looks over at Donnie properly, noticing that his feet do seem totally normal. But a moment ago they weren't? That explains why he couldn't run very well.

"My horn was glowing... and now your feet are normal and I have hair."

Leo had noticed the horn growing in, though he hasn't had much time to think about it in the last few hours. Now he lets go of the hair (mane??) so he can touch it, feeling the swirls of the hard, smooth surface, spiraling all the way up to a point.

"...I'm a unicorn now!?" Leo flails his hands. "That was an option!?"

Then why has he been turning into a weird undead thing! This is so unfair!

"...."

Somehow, the reaction surprises him, and yet Donnie finds the corner of his mouth twitching into some crooked smile, a choked laugh escaping him at the sheer ridiculousness. Maybe he shouldn't find it funny, but it's not even completely for that reason that he laughs.

Leo's remembered he's Leo, after all that. The exasperated response is proof enough, in spite of the horrible situation. But Donnie sobers not long after. It really isn't fair, not with his brother's shell becoming more and more compromised, and the way his blood's just been kind of...sitting there, barely oozing from the wounds sustained. He doesn't understand any of it, but then maybe there's nothing to understand other than that they're forced to become things they're not.

Leo isn't sure what he did to get a laugh out of his brother, but he catches it all the same. Of course, it's gone in the next moment, and Leo feels his heart sink.

"...Hey," he says, letting go of his hair and shifting to sit on crossed legs. "Do you have your phone on you?" He strikes a pose. "I feel like we have to get a pic of my fabulousness!"

It's a silly request, like one he'd make back home if he found a silly hat or a pair of sunglasses to try on, but maybe it will get Donnie to lighten up again. And... he has to admit, he's curious about what he looks like...

Donnie lifts his head at that, blinking. His lips twist in smirk as Leo poses, and he breathes a sigh.

"Guess it'd only be fair to archive that much. Not quite the onesie you were gunning for..." he says as he digs his phone out from a belt pouch. But if it makes Leo happy...

He realizes he hasn't taken any pictures with it since he'd gotten here. Apocalyptic wasteland doesn't exactly scream selfie-spot. There's nothing he wants to remember of being part snake, or bleeding towers. Donnie taps at the camera icon and holds his phone up towards Leo.

"All right, show me that sparkle."

Leo shifts his pose to be a bit more elaborate, mugging for the camera with all the enthusiasm to be there that he’s always had. If nothing else, maybe he can hang on to his vanity.

“Be sure you get my good side.” His grin widens. “Not that I have any bad ones.”

That finally manages to coax another grin from him, as well as a roll of his eyes while he angles the phone. Mentioning the concerning pallor and the blood would just spoil the mood, so Donnie manages to hold his tongue as he taps the button, taking a few shots.

Of course he has to try and catch at least one that looks unflattering before he flips through the images, smiling blandly before he hands the phone over for Leo's inspection.

"Your glamour shots, sir."

Leo takes the phone, his eyes going wider as he looks at himself with the hair and horn. He reaches up to touch the mane again, to confirm that it's really there and not some weird filter.

It's kind of fun, though he wouldn't say silver is his color. Why get hair for the first time just to be prematurely gray!?

Still, it's... fun to see himself like this, in a way. He just has to ignore the way his skin looks off and the cuts on his arms and legs.

He's actually smiling a bit... until he gets to the last picture of himself, at which point he frowns and huffs, looking up at Donnie.

"Okay, you're deleting that one," he says, flipping the phone around.

The smile makes him feel warmer. The near pout makes his chest feel lighter despite Leo's reaction, and this time Donnie does openly laugh as he takes his phone back.

"Fiiiiiine," he sighs, unable to keep from breaking off into another snicker, but he does tap on the little garbage icon. It's fine, it won't delete permanently for 30 days.

That was a suspiciously easy agreement, which makes Leo think it is definitely not deleted and he'll have to be stealing that phone sometime in the near future!

For a few moments, Leo can almost forget they're in a cave, in a terrible place, but imagine they're in their home, in one of their rooms, laughing about silly filters on Snapchat. But of course it can't last; outside, the landscape twists again, and the cries of monsters come ever closer.

Leo goes still, his head, turning toward the noise. He reaches for Donnie's arm again, holding on.

"We need to find somewhere safe."

Why deprive him of a good laugh when he might need it in this place!!

Donnie stiffens as he shoves his phone back into its pouch, catching the noises from outside. The cave, right. This is all temporary. He tenses, glancing at Leo.

"Yeah..." he agrees, even though he has no idea if such a place exists. Still, he grabs for his bō, pulling a leg up in preparation to move.

Leo is still watching outside the cave, pushing himself up onto his haunches. His fight or flight is kicking in again, strongly on the side of flight. If he had ears, they'd be swiveling, but he doesn't so he makes do with his head.

"Don't worry," he says, voice distant. "I'll protect you."

It's a promise that almost seems to come from someone else, as Leo pushes to his feet, still holding on tight to Donnie's arm.

"I can fight too."

Donnie doesn't like that Leo seems suddenly distracted again, but the reminder of their situation seems reason enough. With him getting to his feet, Donnie can only follow suit as he's still being held.

"But we can't just keep running. We....we need a plan."

"No," he argues, his voice still distant. "It has to be me, I have to protect you."

A plan. A plan would be smart, but trying to think of anything feels so difficult. The frenzy is taking hold of his mind again, the panicked instinct to run, run, run.

He approaches the mouth of the cave, his free hand pulling his katana free.

He hadn't expected any push-back on that part. Fighting is what they do, after all, there's no logical reason to be shouldering it all. Donnie frowns, trying to pull his arm back.

"Why? I feel better- you...you healed me. I can still fight. You're the one who's hurt," he points out. He grips his staff tighter as they near the opening, glancing anxiously as things begin to flicker and fade like a mirage.

"No," says Leo, more forcefully. His grip grows tighter on Donnie's arm. "No, you can't- I can't let anything happen to you. I have to protect you."

Something growls and snarls off in the distance, and Leo turns his attention that way, his eyes wide and frantic.

"I can't let anyone get hurt," he says, more to himself than Donnie now.

This isn't right... Donnie winces, but he can't really try and pry Leo's fingers off when his other hand is full.

"You're hurting me now!" he hisses, but there's a frightened look on his face, unsure of what's happening to his brother and not liking this shift, more intense than before, when they'd been running.

Leo reacts like he doesn't hear that, his grip not loosening on Donnie even slightly. Though it turns out to be a moot point when one of the beasts appears from the scrub.

When it does, Leo abruptly drops Donnie's arm, launching himself forward with a ferocious, animalistic cry. He's still skilled with his katana, but there's a ferocity to his movements that isn't usually there, all showboating and careful tactical strikes gone in favor of pure, decisive strength. He isn't even bothering with his portals. It's like he doesn't even remember them. Like he doesn't remember much of anything other than killing anything that might harm his brother.

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