{ 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

[emet_sulk]

[ He doesn't have the strength to argue. Indeed, he practically collapses on the spot while his surroundings continue to teeter precariously on the edges of his mind. His entire being is committed to staying alive, forcing the miasma to remain contained within him so that it doesn't become a new problem for this man and his helpers to deal with.

He's barely responsive. His eyes track Seimei's movements purely through colour recognition. ]

Apologies...for the...inconvenience.

[foxphorus]

[ Lie down, collapse, the end result is the same so it's fine. Scraped knees will be much simpler to deal with than this.

Seimei motions for the concerned locals to stand back, which thankfully they do, while he adjusts Emet to lay on his side. With how severe this is he may need to forego clean brush strokes for precision and efficiency, so the hand not keeping Emet steady will be setting his inkwell down to dip a finger into like a child. ]

Don't be afraid to cry out. This isn't going to be a pleasant experience.

[ Carefully, considering the awkward angle, a five pointed star will be drawn with that third eye right in its center. ]

[emet_sulk]

[ He laughs - weakly this time - already in too much anguish to resist being rolled on to his side and so on. ]

I've...experienced...worse.

[ As much as he resolves not to cry out, it's almost certain he will. If not from the pain then at least the relief of the miasma leaving his body. ]

cw: spiritual puke

[foxphorus]

Have you, now?

[ Even with the gravity of the situation, there's a hint of amusement at the fact Emet's choosing now of all times to posture. If that's how he copes, then so be it--it may be the difference in getting out of this unscathed.

Under his breath, barely audible, Seimei begins to chant. It's a steady, tongue-twisting thing that follows the pace his fingertips circle the third eye with, then draw a line down to the Adam's apple, lingering, circling. There's a vague feeling of something stirring in him at this but it's unclear exactly what as the process repeats against his chest, then at his stomach.

And it is suddenly very clear.

All the pain, the grief, that concentrated hate quickly pools right into his gut, and with all its bubbling and thrashing around it's doing in there it seems like it wants to take the route Seimei had drawn right back out of him. Fast. ]

cw: more of the spiritual puke

[emet_sulk]

[ A man like Emet-Selch has dignity he must cling to in moments like this. He's walked this far through sheer, fucking will alone but it's always that glimmer of hope which destroys men the fastest. So he grits his teeth and closes his eyes, focused on keeping it all down.

...Until it won't be kept any more.

His body convulses and he heaves. Everything he had taken within himself abruptly evacuates. All that concentrated pain and grief and hate leaves him violently through the only way it can. Emet-Selch can barely see the dark muck he's hurling up through the tears in his eyes. It feels endless.

But it isn't. Eventually there's nothing left to hurl up except the contents of his own stomach - which is blessedly mostly empty. ]

[foxphorus]

[ His chanting doesn't slow down or miss a beat, keeping pace until absolutely everything's back up, seeping into the ground beneath Emet to immediately stain. ]

Water.

[ He orders to the onlookers without turning to face them, though with his tone much calmer perhaps the worst of it all's passed. He'll give Emet a helpful push away from the stain he's just made so he isn't going to be marinating in it while already ink-stained fingers are retrieving the onmyoji's brush. ]

Normally I would say the residual pain from such a taint would last over a week.

[ A dip of the brush into the ink, and Seimei's drawing characters across the newly tainted ground. ]

Considering you could hold that much inside you for that long and still speak, however, I'm admittedly uncertain how long you will need to recover.

[emet_sulk]

[ Herculean though his effort was, it still has consequences. Emet-Selch won't be doing anything for the rest of the day - or the week, really, as Seimei estimates.

He can't even make himself sit up after the other man helpfully rolls him away from the black stain. Not even for the water the onlookers rush to fetch for him. Everything hurts. With the danger gone, every ache comes crashing down as if punishing him for his good deed.

This is why he hates doing good, he thinks to himself.

He opens his mouth to speak but this time only a rasp comes out. Sighing, he haltingly reaches for the nearest bit of Seimei he can touch - a wrist or whatever - and tries to transmit his words directly. It will feel like a strange resonance against his soul if it works. ]

I am no mere mortal but neither am I immune to the consequences of poor choices.

[foxphorus]

[ Thank goodness his brush hadn't been touching the ground when Emet's words reach him, because that's. New. Fascinating, but new. Not sure if he's meant to reciprocate somehow, so instead he'll just answer aloud. ]

So I see.

[ All the more reason to keep an eye on this man going forward, disinterested as he may seem until he's all done with his brushwork. Let's see, they had indeed met previously but did they ever properly introduce themselves...? He remembers something-- ]

Hades, was it?

[emet_sulk]

[ He manages to crack his eyelids open to stare at the other man. Eventually his exhausted, pain-addled brain remembers that he had gone by his real name during the memory wipe and sighs. ]

Yes, that is my name.

[ Seimei need not worry about trying to respond in kind. Emet-Selch would actually be shocked if they could. ]

Emet-Selch is my proper title however.

[foxphorus]

Emet-Selch, then.

[ He's well aware names can be a tricksy thing, so far be it from him to argue which one was right to use. ]

Have you dealt with something like this previously? You're taking it in much better stride than others I've treated thus far.

[emet_sulk]

[ He's silent for a little while but his eyes do flicker open again, indicating he hasn't simply fallen unconscious. It's tempting to do so though. There's a sense that he's growing distant and fatigued. ]

When we were trapped in the labyrinth, I saw iteration upon iteration of my star dying. No matter what actions I took to change the future, it all led to the same end. It wasn't until an-- old friend took the lead and showed me kindness that I found the future I sought...

[ His eyes slide shut. He's definitely starting to drift off now, exhaustion taking hold. But he leaves one final thought: ]

I will not give in to despair.