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











solitarysoul: (uh?)

II

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-10 06:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[Levi currently has moth wings along with his usual dog traits and is flitting around the battle field to loot things. Don't tell him its flitting, he'll insist he's just flying.

He spots Faith getting ready to saw off a raiders hand and moves closer.]

I-if its okay, I have a better tool for that.
definitionofcrazy: (pic#17735184)

[personal profile] definitionofcrazy 2025-05-13 07:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[Her initial assumption is that the flitting of moth wings means a thread, and so she yanks her knife free of the fresh slice she put into it- gross- and wheels around with it.

Oh. Okay. Clearly not a monster. The knife is lowered.]


Yeah, alright. Pretty sure the bone was gonna jack the blade all up anyway.
solitarysoul: (kassara)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-13 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[He lands and pulls a curved blade about the size of his forearm out of his satchel.]

It was made for tree branches, I think.

[He eyes the raider for a moment before bringing the blade down on its arm, a few inches above the crossbow, with a much strength as he can muster without falling over. It easily slices through.]

But it works pretty well for other things.
definitionofcrazy: (pic#17735171)

[personal profile] definitionofcrazy 2025-05-15 07:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[The sudden appearance and unannounced swing of a weapon makes her tense up, but she resists the impulse to lash out at him, thankfully, and instead simply steps back so he's clear.]

Jeez! What're you tryin' to do, take my hand off?

[Okay, a little bit testy. She takes a breath and forces herself to calm down a little, then tries again.]

Thanks for the assist.
solitarysoul: commisioned art (Default)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-15 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, not yours.

[He flicks the blood or oil or whatever the raider left on his blade off (away from her).]

No problem. Do you know how to use one of those, uh...bows?

[He's not very familiar with bows or crossbows. Also maybe he should have asked if she knew how to use it before helping her get it but oh well.]
definitionofcrazy: (pic#17735136)

[personal profile] definitionofcrazy 2025-05-16 05:34 am (UTC)(link)
[She gives him a long, flat look.]

Let's just say I dabble.

[She immediately begins extracting the severed wrist and hand from the crossbow, which is turning out to be more stubborn than she'd expect.]

Been hoping for a decent bow or a crossbow since we got here. Not huge with the guns.

[She was learning out of necessity, thanks to Vincent, but she still preferred old-school.]
solitarysoul: commisioned art (Default)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-16 05:14 pm (UTC)(link)
I think this is the first bow I've seen here. Crossbow? I-is that what that one is?
definitionofcrazy: (pic#17735129)

[personal profile] definitionofcrazy 2025-05-17 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
Crossbow, yeah. Frame holds the bolt in place while you aim. Hits just as hard, aim is more accurate.

[Wrist-mounted, though. Wouldn't be her first choice, but still better than a gun.]

Don't get me wrong, I normally like getting up close and personal with the violence, but a gal likes some variety.
solitarysoul: (sniper)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-17 02:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[The frame holds the bolt...that must be the arrow. It seems to make sense with how the thing is constructed.]

I tend to prefer longer range myself. But we keep running into enemies with numbers too big to keep away from all of them.

[Not unless he wants to use up all his ammo in one fight.]
definitionofcrazy: (pic#17735187)

[personal profile] definitionofcrazy 2025-05-20 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
Hey, maybe you get lucky and the wings stick around.

[Wait.]

Unless you had those already. Guess I shouldn't assume.
solitarysoul: commisioned art (:|)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-20 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
No...these just showed up not long ago.

[He looks back at them.]

I had wings once before but they didn't stay after the storm. Its not so easy to fire a gun in the air. At least not something like my rifle.

[Recoil with no ground to brace against was tricky.]
definitionofcrazy: (pic#17734955)

[personal profile] definitionofcrazy 2025-05-21 05:21 am (UTC)(link)
[She figured the wings were just more of the local color rubbing off on him, but she wanted to check.]

Yeah, I guess that kickback would be a bitch.

[She finally manages to wrench... most of the severed wrist from the launcher.]

Maybe you could just drop stuff on people's heads.
solitarysoul: commisioned art (Default)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-23 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah...I guess I could probably get used to it, but I'd need to know they were sticking around before I tried.

[He blinks.]

Um, yeah, I guess. Or just get up somewhere real high.

[To them shoot at people.]
definitionofcrazy: (pic#17735135)

[personal profile] definitionofcrazy 2025-05-27 06:15 am (UTC)(link)
Oh... yeah, good point. Also an option.

[She's never thought about the tactical applications of wings. The closest to flying she's ever come is falling off a high-rise with a knife wound in her.

She's assuming the real thing feels nicer.]


Maybe we gotta get you a crossbow. No recoil.
solitarysoul: commisioned art (hmm)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-28 10:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[He thinks he probably wouldn't mind if they stayed, but Levi's not really looking forward to future changes.

He eyes the crossbow.]

Maybe. If you ever find another one. And were willing to show me how to use it.
definitionofcrazy: (pic#17734955)

[personal profile] definitionofcrazy 2025-05-30 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
Hey, sounds good to me.

[She's not optimistic, it took months just to find this one, but hope springs eternal.

Whatever that means.]


Figure we're all in the same boat here, I'm not too good to give some lessons.

[She eyes the clear but still-bloody cuff of the wrist mount.]

...If yours is this nasty, though, you gotta clean it yourself.
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.