monstertruckers: (Default)
monstertruckers ([personal profile] monstertruckers) wrote in [community profile] route666rp2025-05-06 05:39 pm

MAY EVENT LOG




Out of the thorn brush, the land still looks twisted and broken. And it turns a lot more jagged as rocks burst up and out of the ground like teeth… And keep reaching upwards, in defiance of all the gravity that should be pulling them down. The further up the rock spires reach, the more they splinter until the stones are free floating. The same happens to the threadbare trees, their branches and leaves breaking off and hovering in empty air. The nature of this place becomes clear: reach too high, and eventually gravity gives up.


















01: BATTLE GROUND


The ground grows rougher, pockmarked with craters and rents, like the landscape is scarred. A little further up the road is the source of those wounds. Curious Drifters will find a tangle of rock and metal reaching high up to the sky. It’s a snarl of wrecked vehicles, rock spires… And bodies.

Robotic hunters are half melted into the bones of a giant monster, and the lights have long since gone out of their lens eyes. Many of them still clutch weapons; swords, guns, and bullets by the bag-full. The hunters and weapons remain locked with the corpse of a horn crowned monster with arm length teeth, and it’s clear this tangle is the only thing that keeps the hunters or their weapons from floating off. Drifters can potentially loot the weapons… They just have to be careful about not floating off while they salvage equipment. The footing here is uneven, and the ground looks ready to break with a wrong step.

These hunters also carry prayer screen beads, but the data on them is horribly scrambled. Any attempts to tamper with them cause them to repeat a single message: “I STILL LIVE” before shorting out and shutting down.
02: HEALTH INVERSION
A building grows out of the valley; a hospital that has been turned upside down, and its foundations reach for the sky like weird tree branches. The hallways inside are all sorts of twisted up, and the building can’t seem to decide if Drifters should walk on the ceiling or the floors.

Twisted as the building is, ruins gutted by time and overgrown with vegetation… There is salvage available. Medical supplies, healing potions, healing herbs, all of it is bountiful in the hospital. The hospital is also rife with Husks, but all of them are inert… Or have already been broken apart long ago.

Then there’s the matter of the hospital screens flickering on in the wake of the Drifters. Warning lights try to flicker on, as old electronics try to scan the Drifters. The machines give up flickers of data, declaring Drifters to be “infected.” The old restraining systems of the hospital are still active, as manacles and straps alike shoot out, trying to restrain Drifters. The bonds keep them inert until they can be sedated and enclosed in what look like holding pens for violent patients. Best hope there’s someone around to help break a Drifter out.


03: SHARED THOUGHTS
The valley is overgrown with strange plants that glow with eerie light. Sometimes in camp stray glowing tumbleweeds roll through… And any contact has interesting side effects. Drifters will find they’re more aware and capable of picking up on unsaid things. These powers can the month. Each glow confers different abilities:

Blue Glow: Makes Drifters more empathetic in a psychic sense. They can register the emotions of those nearby, and may start to feel those same emotions.
Green Glow: Makes Drifters capable of projecting their emotions to other people.
Purple Glow: Gives Drifters telepathy, to hear and send thoughts to others.
Orange Glow: Grants Drifters limited psychometry. (Object reading.) Using it in the hospital or the battleground will yield unique visions and messages. Please comment to the mod/NPC thread below if your character wishes to do so!

Drifters can stack these effects, but this can overload their minds and force transformations. Those with Swarm traits will find it easier to handle psionic abilities. Additionally, ALL DRIFTERS who experience psionics will find themselves susceptible to Events 4 and 5.
04: MONSTER SHIFT, HIVE-MIND
Worryingly, extra contact with the glowing plants can not only stack mind abilities, but also force Swarm traits. The more a Drifter is overwhelmed by psionics, the more likely this is. Drifters will have access to all Swarm traits for this event, and the following:
+Psi Hunger. A need to eat psychic energy in the form of dreams, psi-infused objects (like sage brush) or even psychic minds.
+Psi Senses: luckily, Drifters can glimpse heavy psychic energy in the brush through enhanced senses, and pick out strange brain monsters. These are good eating for Swarm monsters… And there’s an unnervingly high number of them.
+Group Mind: compelled to link thoughts with other Drifters, to share emotions, memories, and achieve cohesion.
+An increasing reliance on telepathy/empathy/etc in place of speech.
+Increasing collectivist mindset. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few; this becomes more evident during high stress situations.
+Compelled to spend more time in the wilds, absorbing power from plants and hunting prey in wilderness. May also be compelled to share this prey with others.
+Gravity Affinity: If possessing wings or the ability to wall climb, may freely hunt/traverse corrupted gravity areas.
05: WHAT DREAMS MAY COME
On several nights the wind picks up, and sage brush is uprooted and sent tumbling into camp. The plants trade their prior glow to something more baleful and crimson. With the wind whipping through the camp, it’s almost impossible to avoid unless a Drifter is already secure in the Convoy.

The effects aren’t immediately obvious, until the Convoy sleeps for the night… And that sleep is different. Namely the sleep is connected, showing both memories and dreams from other Drifters.

Memories from their pasts can blend together to form a strange dreamscape, that connected Drifters can travel through. But those dreams can easily turn into nightmares. Those who were exposed to the fear toxin in February will trend towards nightmares and may have their old fears make a reappearance.
If those nightmares are vivid and unsettling enough, they can force a transformation. (This may be either current monster traits, or a Swarm monster!) And then…



06: BRAIN ATTACK
It happens just before dawn, during the blue hour… Or perhaps it might be more apt to call it the red hour, with how the sky is stained crimson. It’s just bright enough to distinguish something moving in the hills. Drifters can pick out a rustling in the brush; something that isn’t wind. There’s something moving, crawling on claw tipped legs… And looking less like sage brush and more like a brain.

The Intellect Devourers numbers in the hundreds. Their claws scour the ground as they race towards the Convoy and smash into the shield. Numbers start to overwhelm the generator, along with the chaos the brain brush has sown with their psychic echoes.

The psychic echoes increase as they swarm the campsite, trying to drive Drifters into a frenzy with nightmares, fears, and strange visions. The brains are also ready to use those long sharp claws to tear anyone disoriented enough into ribbons, and start feasting on them.

06-A: BRAIN BRAWL
Hallucinations: The Intellect Devourers try to whip up more terrifying visions. Anything to disorient the entire Convoy, or drive the Drifters into a madness that leaves them transformed and too wild to easily counterattack. These hallucinations may be past trauma, or something a Drifter fears happening; the ultimate goal is to leave Drifters panicking, changed, and vulnerable.

Rally: Still, there’s one thing the Devourers didn’t anticipate: and that is how sharing a mental link has given the Drifters an anchor with each other. With all the psychic echoes spreading through the camp, any and all mental links from before can easily flare back up. Drifters who have shared dreams or some form of mental connection may still transform, but their mental link can keep their minds stable and coherent instead of growing feral.

Scars: Whether through brute force battles or mental link resistance, eventually the Convoy is able to shrug off the attack… But there is still some damage done. The shield generator has shorted out, and the Convoy itself has taken a few gashes and gouges. Not to mention any transformed Drifters will still need to be talked down. Luckily the mental links are still in place to help with that, and there’s a truck full of medical supplies to help with patching up any hurts.
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.

Disorientation: When wandering through the brush, Drifters may experience a swarm of disorientation: their thoughts suddenly scramble, they forget where they were going or what they were doing. They may also come to with a set of gashes along their legs, and a sense that they may have seen something in the sage brush move… Or maybe it was just the wind.

Float: Occasionally, parts of the road just give up their hold on the ground and go drifting skywards. Hopefully those chunks of road don’t take Drifters and their vehicles with them. Tough vehicles can likely survive the drop, while Fast vehicles can speed away before they float too far upwards. Drifters caught outside their vehicles will have to hope they have fast reflexes… Or are either good fliers or good jumpers for the leap back down.

Raining Down: On occasion, gravity will flicker and warp oddly… And that means that other odd things can fall where they used to float; rocks, plants, not to mention the odd bit of hardware and buildings. Watch for falling objects of various shapes and sizes!


NAVIGATION











tokencanadian: (Doubtful)

[personal profile] tokencanadian 2025-05-30 09:36 am (UTC)(link)
[Blake gets a pass. She appreciates Huntresses who can accessorize.

It'd be almost comical to not bring up any of the recent changes the team had been experiencing. Pyrrha might be shut down on certain topics, but she still had eyes.
]

Oh, you noticed that too? It was pretty surprising when I looked in the mirror.

[She's quick to toy with the end of her long hair, where the familiar crimson still belonged.]

I've never considered a new look... What do you think?
hexrot: (pic#17857996)

[personal profile] hexrot 2025-05-30 10:20 am (UTC)(link)
[ it angers the deer clearly, but the dog is in a good spot— jayce has height, uses it to kick his left and ram his front hooves below in an attempt to cage and tramble as any deer would. claws split some hide on his belly, coming undone like felt tearing at the seams, but it doesn't to bother him more than his leg.

his maw splices with light and the whirr of a core building power. building, building, building— ]
hexrot: (pic#17857909)

[personal profile] hexrot 2025-05-30 10:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ a big sigh puffs out at the depths of being upset with himself, but jayce manages a slight curl of his lips at the end of it. ]

—Sure. I can afford a glass.

[ the time, specifically, and drinking just enough to relax. ]

There's . . . Something else, too.
hexrot: (pic#17857984)

[personal profile] hexrot 2025-05-30 11:06 am (UTC)(link)
How?

[ leaving this place would bring its own complications, but jayce has little choice. return or risk the world in ruins and viktor gone. ]

We can't just— Ask, can we?
bufudine: (what're you thinking? :|)

[personal profile] bufudine 2025-05-30 11:19 am (UTC)(link)
[Serph tilts his head.]

Why not?

[Seems like a perfectly logical course of action to him. If the god has the answers, then wouldn't asking be the most direct route to solutions?]
rootlessly: (pic#16620236)

ii.

[personal profile] rootlessly 2025-05-30 01:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[He hasn't slept next to Nai in a hundred and fifty years. Somehow it's the strangest thing to get accustomed to yet, moreso than the flora and fauna, the bodies of water, or even the shifts in the bodies of those all around them; he's forgotten what feels like to fit his back snugly within the curve of Nai's chest, to fall asleep to the sound of their hearts beating in what had felt like unison, back then.

It's been a very long time since Vash has slept soundly at all. He curls up fitfully near Nai for the same reason he agreed to stay with him during the storm their first night, the same reason he never quite feels comfortable letting him get far out of sight for long. It's safer for everyone else when his brother is focused on him, even if he no longer knows how they fit.

Eventually, sleep takes him, bringing him somewhere only too familiar. Rem's name jars his insides like he himself is a Grand Worm hosting its own electron network, just as much as the young voice who speaks it.

He doesn't dare to look at his hands. Maybe everything else was the dream, and he is really still here, with the other half of him that always fit so neatly at his side, and the only mother they've ever known. Maybe nothing ever had to change at all.]


It's just me, Nai.
undyingcrow: (glare)

[personal profile] undyingcrow 2025-05-30 01:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[Akechi beats his wings, ascending higher, while blowing back a blast of wind to hopefully push Viktor further back.]

Then we're done here.

[Higher and higher he ascends, to further protect himself.]
rootlessly: (pic#16293952)

A

[personal profile] rootlessly 2025-05-30 02:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[For his own part, Vash mostly just likes watching them from a distance -- not so much out of an abundance of caution, though, not really. Rather -- they're beautiful, and he doesn't want to interfere. There's so much natural life here, for all the devastation that surrounds them. He wonders if the Earth looked something like this when the SEEDS fleet left it.

He happens to be quietly watching a few pass by when Akechi speaks up to him, and he blinks, a little startled -- whether from the unexpected interruption or the sudden rush of emotion is hard to say, though.]


Oh, no, not really! I wouldn't mind, though. Are there any in particular you're curious about?
winparadise: (136)

[personal profile] winparadise 2025-05-30 02:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[Nai squints up at him for a second, assessing. This is less the linear logic of a memory and more the hazier unreality of a dream, so beyond his initial surprise, it isn't so strange that his little brother would appear here... not so little. That they'd fallen asleep in close proximity, not entirely like they used to but not so far apart, helps.]

I need to go tell Rem something. Have you seen her?

[There's no point worrying his little brother unnecessarily, or showing his own fear. Vash loves the humans, after all, and he'll freak out if something is wrong.]
undyingcrow: (smug)

[personal profile] undyingcrow 2025-05-30 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
And if not, I'm sure we can always figure something out.

[He snorts, shaking his head.]

A pity there aren't many books to use as a resource.
undyingcrow: (wtf)

[personal profile] undyingcrow 2025-05-30 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
...Are we really having a debate about the validity of puns in the middle of a fight?

[Shit. Something's skittering his way.

So, turning on a heel, he faces an incoming brain and spews more flames from his maw.]
undyingcrow: (distant)

[personal profile] undyingcrow 2025-05-30 02:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[...Ah, yes. The vision.

Akechi breaths a slow, silent sigh, averting his eyes.]


After slaying a monster, a soldier approached unarmed civilians and began slaughtering them mercilessly.
undyingcrow: (thinking)

[personal profile] undyingcrow 2025-05-30 02:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's a good question, really.

Having already touched the green sagebrush, Vash may feel ripples of curiosity permeating from Akechi's body. His eyes scan over the plants, and he hums softly, chin in hand.]


The trouble is, they all fascinate me, but without knowing if they have any special properties, I'm hesitant to experiment with too many at once.

[His gaze drifts to the green sagebrush.]

Thus far, I've handled this particular plant, but I'm not entirely sure if anything's changed.
rootlessly: (pic#16647397)

[personal profile] rootlessly 2025-05-30 02:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[Not in a long, long time--

Not recently. When was the last time? Surely some time after (lunch? dinner?) the last meal they had, where Nai sulked at the plate of unnecessary food that he was poking at with a fork just to keep Vash company. Where had she gone after that? Sometimes she'd go away into parts of the ship they weren't supposed to follow. Nai didn't like it. Vash (tried) tries not to think about it.]


Not really. What's going on?

[Does he even want to know?]
winparadise: (135)

[personal profile] winparadise 2025-05-30 02:24 pm (UTC)(link)
It's just ship maintenance stuff. You'd find it boring.

[Which is sort of a half-truth, at least. Nai had taken an active interest in learning everything he could from Rem on how to operate various aspects of the ship, from piloting to repairs, ostensibly so he could help out... and extra thing she didn't want him to know. Vash had learned some of it too, of course, but he was less interested in the minutiae compared to Nai.

He heads past him to leave the chamber, trying not to make it obvious under his fur-lined hood that he's stealing nervous looks at some of the pods as he leaves. Vash doesn't seem to have noticed anything wrong, so maybe he really did just imagine it...]
rootlessly: (pic#16304117)

[personal profile] rootlessly 2025-05-30 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
...Maintenance?

[Nai isn't wrong; Vash really hasn't (hadn't) taken a particular interest in the fine mechanical operations of the ship, far more interested in the less immediately practical concerns. The greenhouse, for one thing. The red geraniums which were Rem's favorite...he likes checking up on them. He isn't as avid a reader as Nai, but sometimes he brings by books of fairytales and nursery rhymes and reads them aloud for the flowers. They might not quite be like the Plants which he can hear more directly, but he finds it comforting all the same.

Even so, seeking out Rem to tell her something about maintenance makes him a little uneasy. Maybe he's just being a scaredy-cat, but ...]


You don't think there's anything wrong, do you?
rootlessly: (pic#16304710)

[personal profile] rootlessly 2025-05-30 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[He does feel it, yet it's such an innocent sensation he doesn't immediately recognize it as foreign to himself.]

That's probably a good idea. We should be cautious of casually making contact with anything we don't recognize by this point, huh? Thanks for the reminder, haha.

[This is entirely genuine of a statement, though, no sarcasm in sight even though Akechi himself has just admitted to having handled one of them intentionally. Perhaps even more strangely, he adds, then:]

I could test out at least one more for you, and then you'd have about half the possibilities covered?
winparadise: (133)

[personal profile] winparadise 2025-05-30 02:58 pm (UTC)(link)
What are you being a baby for? [He pokes Vash in the stomach, teasing.] it's just a screen being weird. I'm not sure how to fix it, but she can.

[The lie is seamless enough, and as they exit the chamber, he turns to offer his book to Vash. A distraction.]

Can you take this back to my room? I'll come find you when we're done.
rootlessly: (pic#16304121)

[personal profile] rootlessly 2025-05-30 03:09 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not a baby!

[It's so oddly easy to slide into the rhythm that was all he knew, once upon a time. Like it hasn't been a second, let alone a hundred and fifty years. It feels safe. Like a blanket, or one of Rem's hugs. He slides the feeling into place around himself and doesn't look back.]

It's just...the screens in here are pretty important, right? Isn't it bad for the humans if something goes weird?

[He frowns a little bit ... but then he slowly reaches out to take the book anyway.]

...Okay. I'll wait for you in the garden, then. Let's watch the stars again tonight.
undyingcrow: (thinking)

[personal profile] undyingcrow 2025-05-30 03:17 pm (UTC)(link)
A wise idea.

[But how to decide... That's the difficult part, isn't it? Blue, orange, green, and purple...]

I suppose, pick your preferred color between the other three, and we can start there?
winparadise: (137)

[personal profile] winparadise 2025-05-30 03:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll be there. [It's a promise. Even if he has to lie to Vash right now, it's for the best. He'll make up for it by spending time with him tonight.

For now, he goes his separate way and brings Rem to the chamber. Weirdly, she finds nothing wrong, and even more weirdly, none of the humans he'd seen moving around were showing any indication of having woken up, even when Rem checked their logs. She just smiled, kindly put a hand on his shoulder and asked if he was tired, to which Nai grumpily insisted an Independent like him doesn't get tired. Not like Vash, anyway.

It's only when they leave the chamber together that a noise makes Nai freeze up. It sounds like a scream coming from the plant room, and it plunges another jolt of fear into him like an icy dagger in his heart.

When he looks at Rem, though, she just smiles and takes his hand, either because she hasn't heard anything, or is deliberately pretending to be deaf to it. Rem had always been a comforting prescence in his life, but looking at her in this moment, he almost feels afraid fo her, too.

He doesn't run to the plant room like he wants to. The noise dies down as quickly as it comes, and he doesn't want Rem following him. Instead, he grabs a blanket, some snacks and a drink for Vash, and goes to find him in the garden. By now, he's not able to hide the upset expression written on his face.]
becomerobot: (94)

[personal profile] becomerobot 2025-05-30 04:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"I will wait, then, but not for long." Viktor answers, because he is somewhat suggestible in this state, easy to reason with in a practical sense while so lacking in emotional drive. The caveat is that his purpose is unalterable. Find Jayce. Be with him. This must be accomplished, the means do not matter beyond the outcome.

It will give Serph a head start, at least. Viktor isn't swift in this form, grounded due to a lack of any wings or levitation ability. He's on foot speed at best, having abandoned his vehicle back in the Convoy area. Much better that Serph discover Jayce than Viktor, who only upsets his partner's monstrous instincts all the more in his present form as the Herald.
purplexing: (plotting your demise)

[personal profile] purplexing 2025-05-30 04:54 pm (UTC)(link)
I do have some fallback ideas, but they may be draining and will likely still need someone who at least has a basic idea of what they're doing.

Oh please don't mention books, I'm still upset about that.
solitarysoul: (Doggy neutral)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-30 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks. And, yeah, I wouldn't expect you to. Cleaning it would be a good way to see how it works.

[Though the wrist-mounted part probably wasn't required for it working. But he'd want to look at it up close anyway.]

Assuming I ever find one. Um, i-if you want I can try to teach you something or do something for you to make up for it.
solitarysoul: (chibi)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-30 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh no, he messed up socializing again. He always does that then he always feels bad about it but he's not really sure what to apologize for. Why does he even bother dealing with people?

"S-so, uh, so you got a bunch of supplies, I-I can take those to the medic's, um, office or whatever if you want. I-if we don't see someone who needs them first." A lot of the injuries seemed to be emotional this time and Levi's not at all equipped to deal with that.