{ 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

dropping off ONE lung and ONE asshole

[bonobos]

[ sha-ming is in a state of disarray when he appears before seimei.

there's an angry, red snake bite protruding through his midriff; it's purpling with miasma, his hand swelling with the same toxin. his breath is labored, a hand clenched over his stomach -- despite the pain, he's... remarkably quiet, a kind of calmness washing over him as he stumbles towards the man.

he gestures his hand towards seimei -- in its palm is a lung, ripe and ready. ]

Remember... when I said I wasn't gonna touch that shit...

[ ahem. ]

Real... fuckin' funny... take it, dude...

[ and then, more earnestly: ]

...Please help me.

[foxphorus]

[ Oh holy hell, my guy.

Seimei's up and acting before Sha-Ming even speaks, a carefully torn length of paper held up to receive the lung and wrap it like an order at a butcher's shop. He needs to get this squared away not only quickly but securely, so while he's wrapping with one hand and reaching for already dry talismans with his other, he barks an order, ]

Lay down. Now.

[bonobos]

[ no complaints here -- sha-ming drops to the ground immediately, very pathetically flopping onto his back. his throat is tightening, vision hazy, fingers twitching idly as he slips in and out of reality. ]

Probably should start coverin' my stomach, [ he grits out. ] Whoopsieeee.... am I gonna die, Mr. Priest...

[foxphorus]

[ Well that works. He has to stop what he's doing for a second to grab and drag Sha-Ming a little closer, but even a thin mat under you is slightly better for morale than the middle of a street, right? ]

You aren't going to die, but I would wager the next few hours aren't going to be the most comfortable.

[ Okay, he's making quick work of covering the lung in a layer of talismans so he can safely set it aside and give Sha-Ming and those bite wounds his full attention. This'll involve a little more grabbing and dragging, propping up as much of Sha-Ming's upper half that can fit onto Seimei's lap while his hands are up and multitasking again the second they're free--lighting up a new incense stick, freshly grinding out some ink and wringing the tip of his brush. ]

Keep your breathing as even as you can. Alright?

1/2

[bonobos]

[ everything is a haze -- and every sway, every motion is nausea inducing. bile sits at the back of his throat, the bite marks gnawing at his stomach, trepidation stalling his movements.

his shoulders shift onto seimei's lap, and his chest heaves up and down, up and down in an attempt to regulate his own breathing. sha-ming lapses into silence before finally speaking-- ]

Hey...

[ a beat. ]

[bonobos]

You uh, some kind of angel?

[ ...

what? things are really dire right now, and this guy is practically his savior -- it's not a baseless come-on! ]

[foxphorus]

[ Congratulations, Sha-Ming, you actually caught him off guard with that. Enough for him to need a perhaps ill-advised second to stop his brush and just. Look down at him, like he'd suddenly grown two heads.

Thankfully it doesn't seem like offense was taken or anything. Once that short second is over Seimei's brush is moving again, carefully striking small characters in lines down Sha-Ming's neck, a quiet huff of amusement sneaking out before Seimei speaks again. ]

I'm just as mortal a man as you.

[bonobos]

[ sha-ming’s eyes flicker up to him, meeting his gaze in a moment of lucidity — ah, yes, the pain ebbs away… another feeling takes over entirely. there’s the warmth of proximity, a thing that lingers with every stroke of his brush.

badump, badump, badump. is that the miasma? no, it’s— ]

C’mon, you’re sellin’ yourself short… most people wouldn’t help a guy like me, yanno…

[ is this man really shooting his shot on the verge of death because he was pathetic enough to develop an impromptu crush in a fraction of a second?

yes. ]

What’s the, [ he chokes on his own breath for a moment. ] point in savin’ someone who can’t do shit for you?

[foxphorus]

You've already done something for me. [ Eyes still on his work, he nods in the direction of the organ now wrapped tight in paper talismans, ] And for the woman who's missing this lung.

I'm sure she'd prefer you alive to thank properly. In the meantime, you may consider this as my own thanks if you must.

[ Stroke by stroke, the brush is plunging deeper down Sha-Ming's neckline. If that jacket of his isn't already unzipped, Seimei might have to do it himself to get to the rest of the torso on the way to the actual bite. ]

[bonobos]

...I didn't do anything, I just-- [ he can't think straight, not as the fog swarms his mind, not as everything is spinning and pulsing and hurting--

sha-ming's jaw tenses. he focuses on seimei's voice-- what a nice voice, he thinks. the kind that lulled you to sleep. ]

It's not like I could just... let her die.

[ his eyes flicker down. in this state, he doesn't think to unzip his jacket; instead he fixates on the motion of the brush and the way it soothes his skin. ]

...Why're you helping her?

[foxphorus]

[ How strange, he thinks, that this so-called community of criminals is so eager to help one another Just Because. A sense of camaraderie in shared misfortune, perhaps, but he's not holding his breath on this kind of attitude being the norm just yet. ]

You remember this is a matter of life and death for all of us, yes?

[ No bite whatsoever in that chiding, because with the amount of miasma swimming through Sha-Ming's veins it wouldn't be surprising if his mind was more than a little muddled. It's more of a reminder, matter-of-fact. ]

Regulating the energies of a world and all those living within it is one of my duties. Even if I'm not beholden to a certain office here, I intend to keep practicing them for the betterment of this place. [ A quirk of his brow, ] Regardless of all this, it needs it.

[ Just as dutifully, the ink reaches down to the site of the bite, around with a different set of characters are drawn in a circle. Finally he'll set his brush down and take a gentle hold on either side of Sha-Ming's face, his tone becoming firm again. ]

As I warned, this is going to be uncomfortable. I need you to take in as deep a breath as you can, and exhale. No matter what you feel, a tickle, a burning, pins, needles, do not stop until you've let out every last bit of breath you have.

Understood?

[bonobos]

[ he thinks on that-- it roots into his mind, even through the smog, toxic and suffocating. his eyes are wandering, shifting in saccades, and he hears the distant cry of the jungle from long ago. ]

So like... [ he swallows, trying to distract himself from the pain. ] The ecosystem -- and how if even one thing meets its end or comes to life... it affects everything else in the chain, right?

[ he doesn't take it personally. on the contrary he looks to him, genuine respect swimming within him for a change. like he didn't know people could truly be devoted in the world in that way. ]

...Are you really happy -- takin' care of everyone else like that...?

[ what a stupid question. but he can't help himself. sha-ming slips out of his jacket, unable to cope with the growing heat, breathing labored as he nods in affirmation. ]

Okay.

[ and then, before he begins-- ]

Thank you.