expiationlogs | EVENT #9: ADVERSITY 6468468

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EVENT #9: ADVERSITY 6468468

EVENT #9: INFECTION

When characters wake, they’ll find a message splayed across the screens of their tablets; it reads clearly:

⚠️ GNOSIA INFECTION DETECTED

THE ERADICATION OF YOUR EXISTENCE IS IMMINENT; PLEASE TREAT THE INFECTION ACCORDINGLY. YOU HAVE 7 DAYS BEFORE YOUR PROJECTED DESTRUCTION.

IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU ELIMINATE THE GNOSIA.

As their devices flicker to life, another message follows shortly thereafter, a single word, one of the following: GNOSIA, DOCTOR, GUARDIAN ANGEL, AC FOLLOWER, or CREW. The word fades as quickly as it appears — characters will know instinctively what they must do, whether they’d be typically predisposed to it or not. Some may know less about how their role functions than others.

The game has begun. The air has changed, as if time has slowed to a halt. Aldrip is perfectly static and still, and a sense of foreboding will soon come over the city.

DAYS 1-2

The borders surrounding Aldrip have been sealed off by an invisible barrier. It cannot be pierced or damaged in any way. This is the first sign that something has gone terribly awry. Chosen will notice it: the way the city closes in on itself, the buildings much closer knit to one another, as if trying to ensure everyone has as much proximity to each other as possible. NPCs are present, but “lagging,” so to speak, often glitching out or taking longer to “load”. A sense of uncanniness permeates within the city – as if everyone is caught in a waking dream.

CREW are hit with it first: an overwhelming instinct that allows them to tell the truth apart from lies. They won’t realize what it is initially, but when they interact with others, they will frequently be saddled with a nagging instinct that indicates how truthful a person is regardless of the context they’re speaking or acting within. This instinct does not apply to every single interaction and manifests differently for everyone. DOCTORS will feel more in tune with the body, more keenly aware of anatomical knowledge they may not usually possess. GUARDIAN ANGELS will feel an urge to protect someone – or conversely, find someone to protect. GNOSIA will begin their transformation and AC FOLLOWERS will be drawn towards GNOSIA. GNOSIA can recognize other GNOSIA, but not AC FOLLOWERS.

Much of the city still operates despite the Gnosia infection; the NPCs seem largely unaffected by it. And yet when you interact with them, they are visibly off kilter, as if programmed incorrectly. Some may even appear as people from home, only to then glitch back to their normal selves. There is still a sense of calm over the city, but the first 3 days are an opportune time to host and participate in meetings, begin witchhunts, find hiding places and either choose to travel in groups or by your lonesome. Beware of the night: that’s when the Gnosia are most likely to interfere with the space time continuum and make their kills. Anonymous channels will be opened up to cultivate discussion.

Days 3-5

The tension wraps around everyone in Aldrip. Shadows gnaw at every corner. The city is far quieter, the darkness imposing, contributing to the evergrowing sense of paranoia.

CREW will begin to experience prophecies of the immediate future. Visions of what’s to come. Whether or not they’re at liberty of disclosing this or if anyone will believe them is the real question.

GNOSIA will have a go of it: in dreams, your worst memories, regrets, fears, everything you’ve compartmentalized in the hopes of forgetting and letting go of, will play on repeat for the duration of these days. Other Gnosia and AC FOLLOWERS may even intrude on these dreams and catch a glimpse. It will bring out the most vulnerable and darkest parts of you, especially in the presence of other Gnosia. This may lead to friendly fire – or it may be a bonding experience.

The HUMAN SIDE will experience the opposite in these dreamwalking scenarios: you will dream of your loved ones from back home; the things you cherished and were forced to leave behind when you came to Aldrip. Wracked with homesickness, you may begin to wonder: how willing are you to turn on the people you’ve come to care for here? How far are you willing to go in pursuit of victory?

DOCTORS and GUARDIAN ANGELS will experience manic highs and adrenaline rushes when they successfully treat or protect people. Their energy levels will increase, but they will also become prone to reckless or stupidly happy behaviors they would not usually engage in.

On these days, an especially peculiar event will take place: Chosen will wake in the square outside of City Hall, facing each other with a screen dividing them. The screen will project a series of questions; if they answer untruthfully, it will flash red.

The questions are as follows:

01. DO YOU LIKE HURTING PEOPLE?
02. WHO HURT YOU THE MOST?
03. WHAT ARE YOU MOST AFRAID OF?
04. HAVE YOU KILLED SOMEONE? HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IT?
05. WHAT WILL YOU SACRIFICE TO BE HAPPY?
06. WHAT DO YOU HATE MOST ABOUT YOURSELF?
07. WHAT DO YOU HATE MOST ABOUT OTHERS?
08. WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED METHOD OF MURDER?
09. WOULD YOU HURT THE PERSON ACROSS FROM YOU?
10. WOULD YOU GIVE YOUR LIFE FOR THE PERSON ACROSS FROM YOU?

At the end of the questionnaire, characters must vote whether or not the person they’ve been matched with are Gnosia or Human. If both characters answer the same thing, they will find themselves “tethered” to one another, either mentally or physically, and will be forced to spend the rest of the night together. If both characters answer differently, they will be free to go. Will you be cruel enough to share what you learned with the others?

DAYS 6-7

As the population of the city thins and the NPCs grow more sparse, Aldrip begins to resemble a ghost town more than it does a metropolis. Desperation is potent. Buildings are blocked off. People have retreated into themselves, makeshift clinics to treat Gnosia infection have been created, and the typical liveliness of the city has whittled down to nothing.

GNOSIA will be more volatile than ever; their instincts to kill will extend to fellow GNOSIA. It doesn’t matter who they murder – so long as they’re able to find a victim, be it amongst their own or otherwise, they will gladly take it. The aggregate consciousness of the Gnosia will be stronger than ever. GNOSIA and HUMANS alike will hear each other’s internal voices in bursts, all at once, and be privy to things they shouldn’t be.

DOCTORS and GUARDIAN ANGELS will need more help than usual. Their abilities have slowly drained their energy reserves, and they will find themselves veering into deep emotional lows alongside being saddled with a physical exhaustion they cannot fight. Alliances with CREW and former Gnosia will be pivotal in their path to victory. In these final days, CREW and AC FOLLOWERS have heightened stealth that make it significantly harder for them to be detected by Gnosia. Use this to your advantage.

Eventually– the skies of the city darken and time skids to a halt.

The week has ended. Everything stops.

Who has claimed victory? The Gnos, or the Humans?

Wildcard Just because it’s not in the prompts doesn’t mean it can’t happen. If you have any questions, let us know in the comments below! Otherwise, get to tagging!

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[Fandaniel curls his fingers, ready to tear out the diseased fragment of soul he can feel in Douman but he grips only air.

He doesn't pause to look around, instead vanishing again in a swirl of shadows, narrowly avoiding the winding magical chains reaching up from below.]

My, what a boorish audience you are!

[He twirls in the air, facing in the direction of Douman's voice.]

What is that tired old phrase? One good turn deserves another?

[Fandaniel's robes flare and aetherial chains snake outward from within them. They wind rapidly through the air, dark as shadows but nowhere near as silent. With an audible, almost hungry rattle, they launch themselves at Douman.]

Mh? Isn't audience participation the big thing nowadays? You'll have to excuse an old man for mixing things up.

[The glowing chains of Douman's attack fizzle out of life alongside the grit they originated from, but he doesn't stop to hold still and let himself just be hit either.

A quick chant summons a spherical shield that stops Fandaniel's chains before they can wrap around him.]

Let's assume you got me. What now? The moment you appear in here, I'll strike.

Old man? Isn't that my line?

You said you were twenty...

[Fandaniel floats down to the ground and lands daintily in front of the sphere.]

Or have you been feeling a tad...confused in your memories of late?

[He curls his fingers next to his cheek and looks Douman over.]

I don't know if I can help you with that. But I can fix this relentless hunger of yours.

That is what I shall do if I do, indeed, "have" you at the end of my proverbial claws. I shall rip and cut until I've torn loose the Gnosia within you.

[Realizing how that sounds, he grins and his eyes flash mischievously.]

It is your soul and mind I shall cut into as I search for the corruption, not the body. You, the real you, will not be harmed! A bit rattled, perhaps, but no worse for wear.

Twenty? [he laughs mirthlessly at that] When was that?

[He doesn't confirm nor deny Fandaniel's suspicion. Douman has always been a shitty loser; if he doesn't admit to having made a mistake and letting slip something he shouldn't have during his glitch, then nobody can say that it really happened. Even if they both know that it did.]

....you realize that anybody with half a working brain would run if you told them something like that, right? Not just the gnosia. You're just missing the "Mwahaha" for a full-blown villain.

Edited 2024-08-09 01:34 (UTC)

[Fandaniel winks and the hand curled against his cheek rises, index finger pointing at the sky.]

Ah. You are mistaken.

I cut not as some unfathomable monster but as a surgeon. With precision and purpose.

You are in good hands.

[A beat, then.]

And yes, you told me you were twenty. Hardly old, if you ask me. You were trying, and failing, to contain a spirit fox of some sort. If none of that was true, then I hope you share the real story with me...

After I've removed that pesky Gnosia corruption, of course!

The one surgeon I know is a literal monster.

[Pardon him the deadpan, but it's true. Both mentally and physically in that particular case, even.]

Huh. So it wasn't just a weird dream.

[He is still standing still, making a point of doing the opposite of Fandaniel and not emoting at all. At least their little banter is invigorating Douman a little, although the squirming gnosia sending invasive thoughts into his head about how he 'must not be caught, kill that person!' is implying that the break he's getting will be brief.]

Do you know what a Nurarihyon is?

"Nurarihyon"?

[He clasps his hands behind him and walks a few steps closer to the sphere with a childlike sway of his hips.]

Mmm... no.

I cannot say I am familiar with that term. Care to enlighten me?

Not particularly.

[The answer comes from behind Fandaniel. Douman's defensive sphere hasn't moved or changed, but he is behind him now. More or less. His upper body raises from the ground as if it were a pool of water until he is standing with his guard down. Douman even goes so far as to lift and spread his arms in a mocking surrender.

This should be good.]

Maybe after you've succeeded in touching and "healing" me.

[It's a malicious prompt, considering that his youkai power is to be too slippery to be caught and that it's a passive trait. Even with him doing nothing Fandaniel will have a hard time just touching him as long as he has evil intentions. Let's see how his would be-surgeon will handle that one.]

[Fandaniel hears the voice speak behind him and slowly turns around, hands still behind his back. The sight of a man slowly rising up from the ground doesn't surprise him much, despite its strangeness.

His grin never falters.]

What an interesting ability.

[He slowly lifts a hand and stares thoughtfully at his fingers.]

It must have served you well these past twenty years.

[With the speed of a striking serpent he lashes out with his arm. Shadows lance from his gloved palm and surge toward Douman's chest. He's hoping to at least stun the other man, if not knock him unconscious.]

[Douman doesn't even flinch as the attack hits him and his body does the fog thing again. The only difference is that this time it'd feel like Fandaniel came even less close to touching than the last time.]

Thanks. I didn't have it back when I was a human, though.

[He wills his body to reshape itself right where it was before, looking unbothered.]

Once I grow bored of this I'll strike you back, alright? It's been almost a day since I killed that fake Seimei with my gnosia ability.

[Fandaniel snarls and grits his teeth in a theatric display of frustration.]

Hah.

What nonsense. There are far too many Gnosia to cure for me to waste my time being toyed with by an infant!

May you enjoy the feeling of your soul rotting.

[He disappears in a swirl of shadows. This time he doesn't appear again.

But he hasn't gone anywhere.

He hangs over the street, cloaked in an invisibility spell, waiting to see what Douman does next.]

[He waits silently until Fandaniel is 'gone' before he tuts under his breath.]

Youth these days. ....no perseverance or patience. [Is that what you want me to say? His teeth bare into a sadistic smirk behind his mask as he looks around as if he were expecting his opponent to suddenly pop up right in front or behind him again before Douman walks to the next wall and sits down in front of it. Waiting calmly.

For a moment he considers sending out some very basic shikigami to scout the premise, but he quickly decides against it. Doing that would take too much energy for very little gain considering that those things would only work as glorified movement detectors. Douman needs to preserve what little reserves he still has to end this fight, no matter what the gosia in him says. Getting impatient and making mistakes is no option.

Only Seimei is allowed to defeat him.

No, not even Seimei....

What is the best way to get out of a trap realm again, if one can't find the caster and can't shatter it by force?]

[Fandaniel silently descends to the ground again and watches Douman. Slowly, he raises a glove and conjures his chains once more. As extensions of his aether, they, too, are invisible.

They snake through the air above Douman, pause almost thoughtfully, and then come down to wrap around him. This time Fandaniel attempts to trap not the body, but the spirit. The chains do not wrap tightly but curl to bind in a loose, shimmering circle.]

[Douman makes a surprised sound at being suddenly magically grabbed, but doesn't make any attempts to break free. He wants to see where this is going.]

Ah. Back so soon?

[Fandaniel drops the invisibility spell and levitates over Douman.]

Play time is over.

Let us get that Gnosia out of you, hm?

You may thank me later.

And that coming from you.

[The quip is amused rather than annoyed as Douman takes a deep breath and relaxes into the magical hold. He will have to react quickly if the chains are dropped, but he isn't concerned about Fandaniel having any more luck at directly touching him than he did the last times.

But he will have to get close to and be corporal to do it. That's what Douman is gambling on.]

It has gotten to your head too, hasn't it? The opposite of the Gnosia.

[Fandaniel descends to the ground and lowers himself into a crouch in front of Douman, the metal chains around his waist rattling at the movement.]

Oh, it would seem so.

Gnosia and doctors alike, we have all been given our parts to play in this little comedy of errors. Who am I to resist?

...Now, the thing is...

[He reaches out a gloved hand and pokes Douman's nose. Boop.]

I'm not a fan of fighting I'm afraid. All this back-and-forth nonsense, trading blows... It grows so dreadfully tedious after a while.

My bag is full of tricks, and I have many more where my shackles came from but I'm hoping you'll be a good boy and let me off the hook.

[As he speaks, his eyes glitter manically beneath the shadows of his hood.]

Submit to me, then we can both be on our merry ways, hm?

[There is no malicious intent nor any to grab or hold, so Fandaniel doesn't trigger Douman's youkai power when he touches his mask's nose. Douman still rolls his eyes, though.]

Putting the dramatics on thick, are you?

[and then he goes and says that. Submit. As if Douman has ever submitted to anything! There is a palpable change of air and a crackle of power as his old rage and refusal to submit in any way possible rises its head, but Douman still doesn't act. Not yet. This arrogant brat if going to get what he's asking for so desperately, but Douman wants him to run into it face-first. Let's see who's the one laughing then.]

I may be. I have been known to do that, incorrigible thespian that I am!

[Fandaniel feels a static-like surge of power from Douman; the sense of something recoiling in anger, bearing its teeth, though the man himself never moves.]

Oh my, have I said something wrong?

Only a little bit.

[The pentagram over his eye is glowing brighter, leaking more little versions of himself as if it were reacting to his rage. It hurts, but none of that matters. Fandaniel is so close to being within his reach now. Closer... closer... just a little bit more.]

Are you going to do it remotely? Or will you get your hands dirty, kid?

I don't like getting my hands dirty when I can avoid it. Far too messy.

[Fandaniel rises from his crouch and looks down at Douman, a smirk lifting the corner of his lips.]

Remote it shall have to be. But how will I do it, I wonder?

There are so many nightmarish methods at my disposal.

Or, as I said, you could simply allow me to extract the corruption. A far more gentle experience.

[Though still, hardly gentle in itself.

The Ascian clasps his hands behind his back and watches the glowing pentagram closely.]

Your choice, old sir.

[Douman huffs at the speech.]

Spoken a real youngster with no tangible life experience. Or should I call you a theater man instead?

Like I said - do it if you can.

[Fandaniel sighs a deep, long suffering sigh.]

Very well then.

But do not say that I never attempted mercy.

[He stoops in a low bow.

Really, he's not even certain if his idea will work. He wasn't lying when he said he preferred not to fight. For thousands of years, he's fallen back to the sidelines to watch the more powerful Ascians fight it out with the great heroes and dragons who poured out of the Light to stop them.

But, well, it is worth a try.

As he rises from his bow he attempts the shadow lance again. Or, rather, a variation of it. Instead of shadow, Fandaniel dives deep within himself to unlock the power of the Echo. The walls around his mind seem to fall and he hurls his own soul at Douman with the force of a battering ram.

Should he make contact, Douman will feel the Ascian's presence: Sparkling laughter at first followed by an intense wave of rage and pain that hammers into him, intent on driving the Gnosia out.]

[Mercy that's a bare-faced ridicule is no mercy at all. Douman is tempted to tell him that when Fandaniel tries his previous attack again except this time it's different and he has barely time to flinch before it hit.

For a moment the nurarihyon just stares speechlessly at the lance that's stuck inside his chest. It feels.... Wrong. Not just on a physical level because there is no blood and barely any pain, but on an emotional level. Like somebody took a big pot of mixed up ground souls and decided to pour it all over him. It's oppressive and sticky and he doesn't like it one b- Oh gods, what's that!? The mix of random laughter in that overwhelming pool of rage and pain is almost like he is being swallowed by a big battlefield's curse which is trying to tear him apart! It his Douman instinctively brace himself and dig in his heels, ardent on protecting what makes him him rather than letting it be swept away and himself by dyed black.

For a moment they are leaning their souls straight against each other. Douman offers his own history of hope that was ridiculed and crushed in front of those he'd wanted to prove himself of again and again, the empty hollowness when that whole world was ripped away from him, friends, enemy and home gone, and even his own sense of self nothing but shreds. There's confusion and a severe feeling of being lost, followed by a low simmering rage that turned into a protective pride eventually. Contentment, but always with an undercurrent of sadness and feeling like he hasn't done enough yet to restore a home.

And then he starts slipping away again. Douman has barely a mind to notice that he's yelling when the fabric of his body ripples and dissipates around Fandaniel's link to him again because his youkai-ism is pushing past the Gnosia infection in a desperate of self-preservation. Once, he had just wanted to be somebody. Now, even his souls is trying to slip away from being noticed, dissolving into proverbial sand between the Ascian's fingers.]

[The scarlet glyph ignites once again in front of Fandaniel's face, casting his features in an eerie glow.

He glares maniacally as he presses forward with the Echo, against Douman's soul. All around and within him he feels the other man's presence: Despair, loneliness, emptiness, death of a home, death of ego. Beneath the current of pain he finds a knot of defiant pride, still standing against his battering spiritual assault.

The Ascian snarls, barely aware of his enemy-- no, his patient's shouting. Sounds and colors drain away into a meaningless blur. All that matters is the Gnosia, the infection must be purged.

His soul tears through Douman like an ancient wild beast, digging through mind and spirit to find the infection's source. Its movements ripple like laughter.]

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nuraridouman - 2024-09-07 05:04 (UTC) - Expand

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