route666rp | MAY EVENT LOG

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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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Jack looks back, a little glad Serph doesn't have traditional eyes so he doesn't have to worry if eye contact would be a challenge or a balm, but he does smile warmly, without teeth, and keeps his hand in place as if completely unafraid.

He's not completely unafraid. He has a healthy sense of self-preservation, and Serph could actually kill him if he really wanted to. But he's not very afraid, because he believes wholeheartedly that Serph would not want to. He's been in Serph's dreams (or will once mun tags into it), he's slept wrapped in Serph's wings, he's held Serph's hand while he fretted about hurting him. He reaches out somehow, inside, and holds him with those feelings as much as with his hand.

"Yes," he says, still calm, but now a bit pleased, too. He recognized him. That was even faster than he'd hoped. "Yes, it's me. You did good."

He's vividly reminded of those times that Sera had soothed their demons before they could become unsavable. Gale, before he could eat Cielo. Heat, after being struck by Varin Omega's strange, hunger inducing power. Sera's song of prayer, piercing through the hunger inflicted upon them by Angel, the creator of the Atma virus.

It's that same feeling, Varuna's hunger quelling and an odd peace falling over him. His head hurts, but the pounding seems so distant compared to Jack's voice. Glowing blue lines spread over his body before he reverts to his human shape, wings shaking free of his back. Blood begins to soak his pants and feathers as the wounds he'd sustained continue to bleed.

"What... happened?" He sounds dazed. "What did you do?"

"I talked to you?" Jack says, a little baffled, himself, if in a more pleased manner than Serph seems to be. He's not entirely sure what else he did, either, if that was all in his head and heart, and not Serph's too. "I've had good luck with that, when people are a little wild today."

He ignores the wounds for now, because this is probably more important. He'll worry about patching him up in a minute. Instead, he keeps his hand on Serph's shoulder, thumb moving against the skin. "I thought about us," he adds, just in case it's possible that's pertinent. There have been some weird empathic and telepathic things going on lately.

Serph lets out a quiet huff. It's unclear if it's a laugh or exhaustion.

"It worked. You pulled me back before I was beyond help." he murmurs, closing his eyes and leaning more heavily into the touch than he initially intended. He needs to take care of his wounds, there are monsters to devour right there. But if he transforms again now... he's not sure he has strength left to keep Varuna at bay even with Jack here.

His head hurts.

He lifts his head, gaze searching their campsite for continued signs of fighting. He would listen for it as well, were it not for his ears feeling like they're stuffed with all the fabric Jack has been collecting. "Have we finished dispatching the monsters?"

The healing magic granted to him leaves him incapable of fighting, but if the fighting is over he can afford to rest through the side effects.

"Mmm, the ones in this area, yes," Jack says, looking around, perking his little fox ears and trying to listen for nearby sounds of cries or scampering feet. It's quiet in their immediate area. "There may be more further down the convoy, but there are a lot of people fighting them. You should rest. I can help with the wounds." Yeah, he's not aware of Serph's healing magic yet.

Not for the first time, he is loath to choose what would logically be the more efficient option: devouring the monsters around him. But with these monsters who can affect his mind in such a way that his control over Varuna is compromised... He dares not risk it while those monsters are still about.

"I'll take care of them." His hands glow with a faint light. "But I need you to keep watch while I recover."

Certain Jack would agree -- he wonders what it would take for Jack to refuse any request of his -- Serph doesn't wait for a reply, pressing glowing hands to wounds. At first they readily close, stitching together to leave flesh unmarred. But as he heals more of the gouges on his limbs, they take longer to mend until Serph sways as he stands -- vision blurring, head pounding -- and reaches for Jack to steady himself.

It would certainly have to be a wild request, or at least one Jack didn't honestly think he could fulfill. He's already nodding agreement, albeit slightly nervous agreement, as Serph's hands start to glow. "Oh wow," he says, mostly under his breath, because he also doesn't want to distract Serph from his magic.

His hands both hover in the air around Serph as he gets clearly more and more exhausted, not wanting to grab him if he's still working but afraid of what might happen if Serph just keeps going right until he collapses. Thankfully it doesn't quite go that far, and Jack surges up to catch him before he can actually stagger or fall. "Are you all right?" he demands, there's more worry in his voice than anything else.

Serph leans heavily on Jack and closes his eyes, assurance in his voice. "The vertigo will pass."

It did, the other few times he's used it. If he keeps his eyes shut, the lack of additional sensory input helps him stabilise more quickly. But the inconvenience rankles and chafes.

"Magic is not meant to be like this," he murmurs. It's not useful for combat.

"Magic in my experience is exhausting," Jack points out, ducking under his arm to be the best support he can. He badly wants to help. Something itches in the back of his throat, something cold and buzzing. He ignores it for the moment, more concerned about Serph. "I'm always a wreck after I transform. You could have stopped sooner, and not been so worn down."

? What does Jack's transformation have to do with magic...?

"You're here to keep watch," Serph murmurs, matter-of-fact. Even if Jack can't fight, he trusts Jack in this at least. He could have stopped earlier, it's true; they have more medical supplies now. "It will pass soon."

It's a curse! It's magical! Terrible magic, but still. He puts his free hand to Serph's face, worried still, their faces close together with his attempt at support. "I'm good at keeping watch, but terrible at doing something about it if I see something," he warns. The buzzing is getting worse. He swallows a few times, but it doesn't go away, fueled by the need to fix this, to not see his friend, roommate, and who knows what else this helpless and exhausted. "What if I could help?"

"Then I would accept it."

There's no question about it. He trusts Jack. His comrade. If he says he can help, then Serph will believe him wholeheartedly.

Well. Though he almost doesn't know what he's doing, that immediate acceptance melts through any worry or resistance. He won't hurt his friend, no matter what this is, and if it will help... he's going to try.

His free hand comes up to Serph's cheek, turning his head just a little, and he leans up to kiss him.

The buzzing in his throat fills his mouth, pressing against the back of his lips. It feels like the phantom fire, except inside, not on his fingertips. He doesn't open his mouth to let it out yet-- it depends on whether Serph pushes him off, first.

Whatever Jack had been intending to do, Serph doesn't expect this. His eyes fly open in surprise... but he doesn't push Jack away.

John had breathed life back into him. So he will trust Jack in this, too.

Closing his eyes again, he simply allows things to run its course.

Edited (oops typo) 2025-05-20 07:06 (UTC)

The surprise is expected. The lack of resistance, slightly less so. Not entirely unexpected, not after how well Serph continues to react to more casual affection, but still. The John thing, and all. Jack is not going to be the same kind of kisser as someone who had seconds before been fighting anyone.

But, it's nice. He's kind of wanted to kiss Serph for a while. He didn't expect to be doing it for magic reasons, but he'll take it, even if it's the only one he gets.

It's only a beat later, then, that Jack deepens the kiss, leaning up and opening his mouth to Serph's lips. The buzzing energy blooms up between them, cool and crisp on the tongue, almost exactly like the phantom fire, and if Serph responds by opening his mouth to accept it, a burst of rejuvination will rush into him.

Jack kissing him is a completely different experience to John doing the same. For one, Jack doesn't have a maw full of spines, nor does he have a long, winding tentacle for a tongue. And this time, Serph is actually cognisant for the beginning and doesn't have a mouth full of pointed teeth.

It's warm and gentle like Jack, contrasting the cool press of something between their mouths. Serph doesn't think twice about accepting it, a hand fisting in Jack's shirt as a energy floods into him. The dizziness and exhaustion from his own magic lifts away in the face of Jack's. Renewal and rejuventaion spreads though him, Serph fiercely returning the kiss as though trying to devour the rest of the magic passing between them.

Oh. Oh, that is very nice, Serph responding in kind. Jack slides his hand up into Serph's hair, the other, around behind his back, wrapping around the join of one wing for something to hold on to.

The magic only lasts a few moments, just enough to bring Serph back to feeling alert and strong again, and then it's just-- kissing.

Jack comes up for air after a moment, nuzzling instead into Serph's neck. "Did it work?" he asks, only a little breathless, knees feeling quite unsteady, though he doesn't know if it's from the magic, the kiss, or both.

Serph lets Jack pull away, slowly opening his eyes. His vision is focused, his mind alert. He doesn't need support to stand.

The hunger is back. No, Jack had called it desire. Serph squashes down the feeling -- now is not the time -- hand going to Jack's waist to keep him steady. With Jack nestled in the feathers on his neck, he can't nod in response to the question.

"Yes." They're not entirely in the clear, they shouldn't linger. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, I'm... okay, I just got kissed silly for the first time in a few years, so I am probably a bit wobbly, but I do not think the magic did anything to me," he offers. He proves it by lifting his head up, smiling lop-sidedly at Serph, and detatching his hand from the back of Serph's neck. "I would say I am sorry for doing that, but you do not seem to have minded?"

He hopes. Serph's reactions are not always what he would expect, but you don't really kiss back like that if you aren't into it.

Why would Jack be sorry about helping?

"I didn't mind." He wouldn't mind doing it again...

But... Serph's wings twitch, fluffing awkwardly as he gently pushes Jack back so they both have some space.

"We shouldn't get distracted while there's danger."

Given what had happened last time he'd been distracted, they can't afford to have a repeat. His loose control over Varuna in the presence of the monsters is a danger in of itself even with Jack. He doesn't want to hurt Jack by accident.

"Yes, yes. Okay." Serph has a point. There might still be monsters around. Though them not being bothered for long enough for a make-out session suggests this part of the convoy, at least, is clean.

Still. He straightens up, ruffles at his own hair and fox ears a moment with both hands, then steps back all the way. "Do you need to eat? Or should we just leave these to disappear, as they do?" He's seen monsters die. He knows what happens sometimes.

Serph shakes his head. He doesn't trust himself to devour right now. He's not sure how many he'd eaten while he'd been in that mental haze, too. But he should be alright, for now. If he needs to, he can always hunt for something later.

"Let's go."

Jack readily lets Serph lead the way, keeping a hand on some part of him as they walk, whether it be shoulder or wing. He just kissed Serph. For magical purposes, but still. "I didn't know I could do that," he admits. "It just started-- feeling like the false fire I came, except inside me? And it needed to come out and-- that was the only way."

A pause, and then, "Well, I knew I could kiss people. I have done a lot of that, in my time. But I didn't know about the magic."

Jack is over 200 years old. That seems like plenty of time to do a lot of things.

Serph listens to Jack's rambling as he holds on to a wing while they're moving.

Was that instinct to kiss him for some kind of magical effect the same for John? Unfortunately, he'd lost consciousness at the time so he has no idea if John already knew he could breathe life back into him or had been struck by instinct in the same way.

But there's something about Jack's rambling explanation, the mention of the magic a few extra times, that strikes him as a little odd. Almost like an attempt to direct his attention to that, rather than...

"Are you sure you're alright? You seem... worried." Fretting? Over the kissing?

"No, no, not... exactly?" Jack gives a helpless little laugh. "Sorry. I do tend to ramble. I am not really worried in the way I think you think I might be."

He considers how to explain, because Serph will want him to explain. And he's been avoiding explaining this for a long time now. "I am very old," he begins as they approach the convoy proper. "You, I think, are not. You don't know very much about how actual humans interact, while I have seen so many relationships and falling outs and reunions and makings up in my time. I do not want to hurt you, without meaning to, because you do not understand everything that I understand. Does that make sense?"

MAY EVENT LOG

Re: IV

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