{ Player Event } What's true of all the evils in the world is true of the plague as well

[quizpersona]

Who: You. (Open to all)
Where: All over Aldrip.
What: This is the log for what we’ve been affectionately dubbing The Organ Player Plot. Various places around Aldrip are facing dangerous supernatural occurrences. It’s a scavenger hunt in some way.
Warnings: MANY SNAKES, Body Horror, Organ Trafficking, Horror Themes, Violence, and we will be updating this as we go along.



A waking scream in the darkness is the first unheard omen.

Snakes, hundreds if not thousands, slither forth from the depths of Lorentia Cave and swiftly invade Aldrip. They are the heralds of the terrible things to come, and there are no corners safe from their encroachment. The serpents come in all shape and sizes, venomous or not, and are quick to become agitated if approached. Their readiness to strike and unwillingness to back off once provoked indicates the lack of survival instinct to flee. They are on the search for what's missing, and they will put up a fight.

An invisible haze sets upon the city , filled with anguish and fury, afflicting residents as it washes through the air and buildings. Children, the elderly, and the sickly are the first to complain of ailment. Within the next few days, patients begin to flood the doors of any hospital or clinic with more serious conditions-- fevers burning from them inside out and excruciating phantom pains that make them writhe in bed.

The longer what's stolen is not returned, the worse things get. Who knows how many bodies will pile high from these plagues if nothing gets done...





ooc//
[ Dara is currently locked behind a barrier in Lorentia Cave to stave off the further spread of deadly miasma. Please retrieve a protection talisman from Seimei and retrieve what she’s lost (and hopefully return it…) !

How This Works–
To begin the search for the supernatural sources a participant can select a number that corresponds to one of the squares on the map (seen below). To go on a route head on down to the numbered top levels in the comments and reply to it. This is your character kicking off their investigation. Some routes will lead to nowhere, some to something, and others to ;)? You’ll find out.

During exploration you will receive responses from either quizpersona or cursegod. This is not an interaction with that particular character unless indicated otherwise.

This event will handwave wrap up by the 20th if no conclusion is reached before then because Dara needs her poor organs back. ]

The Map


Happy Belated Easter lol

Comments

[quizpersona]

[ Signs of civilization are sparse here. Accompanied by tall grass that reaches just below the knee Sha-ming has every right to feel that paranoia. There's a sensation that something is staring holes in the back of his head every time he turns his attention away. Is it the wind that picks up around him, resembling the hiss of a snake, or is it something else? It's hard to tell. The sound of wind isn't often this directional though.

It feels like there must be something that's on the prowl behind him—in front lays a field of the grass soundlessly swaying in a gentle breeze. Where will he go? ]

[bonobos]

[ makin' my way downtown, walking fast, WALKING FASTER.

it isn't new to him -- open grasslands, the sensation of being watched, of being preyed upon. "i fucked up." is his first thought. his second? "i need somewhere to hide, but there are no trees here, so let's work with what i got."

the field could easily be a trap, but looking behind him could be his doom, too. at the end of the day, he's a coward, so he falls for the bait and heads into the field before crouching so that the grass towers over his form. ]

[quizpersona]

[ It's a good instinct, or it would be if the ground Sha-Ming is crouching on didn't produce a slick squelching sound. By all means it looks and feels like normal dirt. Yet if he looks long enough it begins to breathe. Not to far from where he sits it's evident the ground has been disturbed. Something has been buried under ground.

The slithering something undulates through the tall grass off to his right. It's scouring the area searching for something. ]

[bonobos]

[ oh wow. that’s really not normal.

trepidation trickles into his veins. fuck, he’s really in it now. his fingers clasp around the talisman he’d procured. normally, he’d run away — listen to his survival instincts, go in the opposite direction…

but fuck it, this thing was going to chase him anyways, and he had little chance of outrunning it. might as well as get a peek at whatever’s after him. he maneuvers to the right in the hopes that he’ll catch a glimpse of what’s on the prowl. ]

[quizpersona]

[ The slithering movement through the tall grass curls around off to the left side now. It's obvious now: whatever that is, is circling around the area both Sha-Ming and the breathing are contained within. As he moves strategically to the right he gets a glimpse of a long tail as it trails after what must be the rest of the body further up. The movement turns agitated when he gets just a little too close. Something on Sha-Ming is keeping it at bay, and at a very exact distance away from where ever he decides to stand. Just what exactly is it looking or? An opportunity to attack...?

As he tip toes across the hefting ground it abruptly heaves in a breathe. It's not unlike a full bodied gasp produced when one feels shock. Whatever is buried underneath the ground there wasn't expecting to be walked over and takes a moment to try to even out it's breathing like it's a part of a sentient in some way. ]

[bonobos]

[ likely a reptilian predator -- that narrows it down some. it's circling him, but there's a boundary it won't breach either. how strange. it should have ensnared him by now. his best bet is to probably start bolting, but where is there to go?

hold that thought. something maneuvers beneath him, as if reacting to the contact. ]

I am so fucked, man.

[ he creeps away from the ground he's currently on, as far away as possible, in the hopes that this creature will no longer be burrowed beneath him. ]

[quizpersona]

[ Indeed it is something reptilian. Those suspicions will become explicitly confirmed when the snake periscopes up with its head peeking out just over the tall grass to stare Sha-Ming right in the eyes.

As if to agree with his words "I am so fucked, man." the snake snaps forward to nip threateningly at the ground around his feet to make him back up even further. ]

[bonobos]

[ he does, indeed, back away — before reaching for the talisman dangling from his neck and shoving it towards snake in some attempt to ward it off. still backing away though. ]

Just so you know I taste really bad so like, yeah… anyways, check out my holy bling.

[quizpersona]

[ With such a delicious banquet laid out before it a forked tongue flicks out to taste the air. A glint flickers in the snake's eye as he speaks. Oh yes, it knows all about that nasty little holy bling. What else could possibly be saving Sha-Ming from getting snapped up in its jaws after all?

But it's close enough now to get at something else. Something that it WANTS. After tilting its head at Sha-Ming with just a bit more intelligence than the average snake it very suddenly goes into a frenzy. With a great convulsing twitch of its body the snake begins to bite mouthfuls of dirt out of the ground. The ground which begins to breathe as if in a panicked state. ]

[bonobos]

What the hell.

[ not the plot twist he expected — the snake most certainly has more cognizance than the average reptilian, but there’s no explaining why it’s decided to feast on dirt as opposed to flesh.

and then the dirt reacts, as if it’s sentient, and sha-ming is scooting back further. suddenly, his hand slams down against the ground. ]

Hey, whatever the hell’s beneath me… stand up! You’re getting your ass beat!

[quizpersona]

[ Now if only it could. Whatever it is, it seems to be entirely helpless to getting its ass beat. The snake digs, and digs, and digs more with until there's an muffled squelching underground. Very abruptly the breaths moving the ground grow much fainter. Slowly, like it's found satisfaction, the snake begins to undulate backwards out of the impromptu hole that it made.

The snake's head re-emerges partway with something fleshy and pink held in its mouth. The retreating jerks to a stop when something connecting the fleshy mass to the ground pulls taut. Will Sha-Ming watch or will he run? ]

[bonobos]

[ this is bizarrely horrifying. he watches, eyes squinted, completely still.

and then the snake is back up for the count, with what is clearly an… ]

…Mmm, don’t like that…

[ organ. organ! goddamn it, that woman’s organs. the sentencing rattles in his head violently; “you want to pretend like you don’t care, you want to pretend like you’re only out for yourself, but you have to be honest, don’t you?”

if he doesn’t get it back, is she destined to die?

why does it matter to him, anyways? ]

Ugh. Ugh! Man, screw this. Whatever. Who even gives a shit.

[ yeah, he’s going for it. sha-ming does neither, instead opting to lunge for the snake in a snap moment. ]

CW: bodyhorreur

[quizpersona]

[ It's a lung to be exact. One half still remains held together to its twin via the cartilage. For the moment, at least. The snake rolls and tugs in an effort to snap them apart so it may consume the first one.

Due to Sha-Ming's intervention it doesn't get to. When our reluctant hero lunges for the snake it hisses in displeasure. It has to take a moment to partially regurgitate the lung, giving Sha-Ming plenty of time to grab ahold if he wishes. Whether or not that's the strategy the snake will begin to snap viciously at his flesh.

It's looking for unprotected skin to pierce those fangs through. ]

[bonobos]

Gotcha!

[ he lurches forward, fingers winding around the wet pulp of the lung; it sends a shiver up his spine, stomach queasy at the feel of it. for a moment, he’s on the cusp of dissociation, mind somewhere else — memories of the distant past flash, blood and guts and viscera…

the fangs of the snake sink into his stomach and the pain reorients him, tethering him back to reality. exposed midriffs were fashionable — but costly!

don’t dress like a thot, everyone.

he pries the snake off with a bare fist; it gets his palm in the process. fuck. bad, bad, bad. he’s up on his feet, lung in his other hand, now making an actual run for it at long last. ]

[quizpersona]

[ Item get! Sha-Ming now has 1 pair of lungs in his inventory ! As he touches that cursed organ with his bare hands he gets the flash of someone's memory.

...And what a cost it comes at. The talisman is capable of providing protection in situations like this but not when the miasma is injected directly into the flesh. The snake itself is eager to get away from that nasty talisman but not before the hallucinations become internalized within the body.

The veins around each injection site blacken underneath the skin—making it easy to observe just how quickly the venom spreads. The muscles in his affected hand clench and convulse painfully, as do the ones in his stomach. As Sha-Ming runs the imprint of a hand appears on his skin in a way that looks like it's coming from the inside. ]