expiationlogs | {EVENT #2} ADVERSITY 168518.2092

Entry tags:

{EVENT #2} ADVERSITY 168518.2092

THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM

MOD NOTES:

Please direct any questions to the corresponding comment below. Note that characters can be involved in multiple prompts (whether you choose to thread that out or not), and that character decisions and actions taken on these prompts will affect future events, storylines, and relationships with other peoples of Expiation.

You can find the OOC poll here. Please pick from the corresponding options with the appropriate character journal. If you use a personal journal or a journal not part of Expiation, your votes will not be counted. Remember that if your character did something different than what is in the prompts given, leave a comment in the OOC poll entry and link to your comment in the option made available.

Our State of the Game, which will include results of this event and changes of the world, along with some future goals and events we would like to work towards will be posted 1 week from today (May 26, 2023).

The various prompts are, of course, optional. Consider that taking part and not taking part both have their potential effects on the world and how Expiation moves forward in terms of overarching storyline.

A FAMOUS DISAPPEARING / REAPPEARING ACT

Those who were plagued by nightmares and visions after venturing into the forest awaken to find that a mark has appeared somewhere on their body. It’s unclear what made it, but its function quickly becomes clear. Upon discovering the mark, whispers begin to sound in their minds, beckoning them to a secret clearing in Pessiria Forest. Something awaits them there.

After some time, a faint image of an unnaturally tall, lanky man appears in the mind. He wears a hooded robe that bears several runes resembling the strange marks and is surrounded by acolytes wearing identical robes. Raising a single hand, he calls the afflicted his Branded, and presents them with a simple offer: “Pledge yourself to my glorious cause, and you shall be granted overwhelming power to twist this world into your personal paradise.”

The offer repeats itself in the minds of the afflicted, slowly intensifying over time. It's clear that this man will not relent unless he gets what he wants. Those with strong willpower, however, may be able to reject his dark offer.

I. A TEST RUN FOR NEW POWER

For whatever reason, you have chosen to accept the whispers’ offer. Some may have been overwhelmed by the mental link that demanded your fealty, while others found the offer of overwhelming power appealing. Regardless of your reasons, this decision finally brings you a strange peace, as the intense demands are replaced with your promised reward. Now, the brands start to feel like a blessing as they begin to spread across your body. They feel good and natural—almost as if you have found a missing part of yourself that you had never known.

You begin to feel an unknown power coursing within your body, but you aren’t entirely sure what it is. Some will gain powers associated with the mind, allowing for psionic powers ranging from telekinesis to possession. Others will gain a mysterious power to cast elemental and blood magics that they had previously never been able to use. Once you reach the secret clearing, its nature and usage will become clearer to you.

Things are odd at the place you’ve been summoned to. In the clearing, you’ll find strange stone monuments and tablets containing text in an indecipherable language. At the centre of this collection of monuments, descends a pit-cave with several winding paths, each containing cells with bruised and battered prisoners. The more perceptive among you may notice that these are the people who have gone missing over the past few months.

You and your fellow Branded are free to do as you like. Will you make these prisoners into experimental pawns to test your new powers with? Or will you try to resist the power you’ve accepted?

II. ABDUCTION

Unlike your possessed fellows, the brand doesn’t take. The whispers intensify with each passing hour, demanding that you give in. Still, for some reason, you never accept their offer. Perhaps somewhere in your heart, you know that this is wrong and have managed to hold on through pure force of will. Maybe your latent powers managed to hold the brand’s influence at bay despite their constant demands. Either way, the hooded figure knows that it has been denied a thrall, and it does not take rejection lightly.

A piercing shriek can be heard from the forest before all hell breaks loose. Shadowy figures emerge from its depths and press into Aldrip. If you are claimed by the shadows, your character will be enveloped in darkness and pulled back to the hidden grove. This will take you out of the action for the duration of the event, only to reappear in Aldrip sometime after the chaos subsides. However, others may choose to flee from the shadows and seek help from other Chosen. This is optional, primarily for those who need a reason to be absent from the event for a portion of the time. For characters who are present and unbranded, consider this an opportunity to interact with those who are, and to be susceptible to their abilities, or experience an odd desire to serve or otherwise demonstrate loyalty toward them.

SPEAK NOT OF THE OLD ONES

Unfortunately for those who were marked, their struggle mostly goes unnoticed in those critical first moments. For most people, it just seems like just another day. Some strange people are rising at strange hours of the morning to venture into Pessiria forest, but for the most part, life goes on as usual. While some of the Chosen may find themselves struck by a sense of unease, the locals go about their normal lives, unaware of what is to come.

However, that quiet was only the calm before the storm. After some of your fellow Chosen venture into the forest, a piercing shriek can be heard across the entire region as a gargantuan creature emerges from the earth a mile away from Aldrip. At first, all you see is a giant tentacle made of dark crystal. However, the abomination’s upper body soon emerges, flailing its limbs in an absolute frenzy. Golden tendrils course across its frame and into the ground, draining the life from the surrounding land and leaving rot in its place. Meanwhile, its many tentacles could fell a tree in a single swipe.

This unnatural event causes Aldrip to erupt into absolute chaos. Most of the Aldrip locals take to the street, taking anything valuable they could find in their homes before sprinting away. Others cry out for some kind of divine intervention to save them from their trial. However, there is no order to the escape effort, leaving most either trapped at the city, or at risk of being trampled in an onslaught of fleeing locals.

III. TAKING ON THE UNKNOWN

If the Chosen are to have any hope of dealing with this impending crisis, they need to act soon. For now, the strange beast flails about clumsily, almost as if it is unaccustomed to its corporeal form. However, there’s no telling how long this will last. The golden tendrils emerging from the creature’s body seem to be sapping the life out of the nearby land, strengthening the monster as it prepares to finish climbing out of the ground and destroy Aldrip.

Several opportunities seem obvious at first glance. Brave Chosen may choose to take the gargantuan creature on directly, banding together to bring it down before it can reduce Aldrip into a lifeless husk. However, those who are not as proficient at fighting may instead try to do something about the spreading golden roots that are sapping the life from nearby area. It might not be as glamorous, but it will buy valuable time, nonetheless. Either way, this is not a one-person kind of job. You will need help from your fellow Chosen if you want to see this through.

IV. WHEN CHOSEN CLASH

Characters who have accepted the brand’s offer will hear a call in their minds. It’s the hooded figure that granted you the power you’ve been gifted. His order is clear—the creature’s rebirth must not be disturbed. Protect it at all costs. This will give you a fantastic opportunity to show off your new powers. Band together with your fellow Branded to cause a little mayhem or face off against the unbranded as they struggle to stop the behemoth.

Fighting against former comrades will not be easy for the Chosen. Those bearing the brand have all gained strange powers based on their personalities. They include possession, mind control, elemental and blood magics, the ability to create areas of silence, life draining, or even the ability to capture others in shadowy grasps. Worse yet, the Branded are becoming stranger by the minute. As the Brand spreads across their body, their behaviour becomes increasingly violent and erratic, drawing out the worst of their personalities.

Some of the Chosen may discover a strange quirk about the new abilities that have appeared among the Branded. While the abilities may be powerful, Chosen who act selflessly to help their enthralled comrades will discover that they have become entirely immune to their influence. It won’t remove the mark itself, but it will equalise the playing field for those who want to convince their comrades to renounce the hooded figure.

THE ONE WHERE THERE’S A WILDCARD

V. LEADING—OR BENEFITTING FROM—THE SITUATION

As the creature’s scream resonates across the nearby area, residents of Aldrip begin to panic and flee from their homes. Unfortunately, such processes are often messy. In fact, plumes of smoke are even emerging from a few houses that were left just a little too hastily.

Whether you decide to assist in the process or decide to take advantage of the mayhem is up to you. The evacuation effort could almost certainly use some people to arrange the panicking mass into an organised exodus. Alternatively, you could try and attend to people who can’t get out on their own. Whatever you choose to do, people rarely forget the faces of those who personally come to their aid, and the villagers will almost certainly feel indebted to you if you ensure their safety.

Chaos can also bring opportunities. With everyone leaving their homes, there’s almost certainly plenty of unattended valuables left in the town. If thieving is up your alley, the opportunity to loot to your heart’s content is ripe. Just make sure that no one is watching. It would be a shame if one of your more justice-minded Chosen saw you doing something naughty, after all.

VI. FUCK IT, WE BALL (WILDCARD)

Just because there’s not a prompt for it doesn’t mean that your character’s actions aren’t acceptable. If you wish to do anything that hasn’t been directly addressed by the prompts, leave a message for the mod team to say what your character would do. If you choose to go down this path, note it as a comment on the OOC poll when it goes up, and leave a link to your threads so that we can take all actions into consideration for the next State of the Game.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Despite his efforts his conscience weighs heavy with every evil action he has taken in this life. These days the gnarled twisting of emotions within reaches an intolerable boiling point as that voice refuses to relent. It's an agony out of his own personalized version of hell. Such a complicated relationship with the concept known as God but this voice pulls and pushes and he stumbles to follow it. And thus—

A sense of serenity sweeps in as he accepts that voice's sermon. Finally, now, he feels a complete detachment. It feels like reprieve; it feels nothing at all like freedom. ]

a. Early On, but still too late - Faux Network Post

[ Well! He has been called out by a certain do-gooder and all so who is he not to respond? The charm flickers on to show a back-lit figure. The face, the long silvery braid, the penchant for unnecessary showmanship might seem the same as always to those who have made Nikolai's acquaintance previously. ]

Hiii illustrious and most industrious Chosen of this world! I have been thinking a lot recently. Should I share those thoughts with you?

[ Save for the mask none of his usual jester-y accoutrements are anywhere to be seen. That last piece was saved for a live removal. He does so with a branded hand. The brand itself resembles the diamond one can find on playing cards.

In part, it's an obvious public retort intended to taunt, and yet the thing about instinctual awareness is how terrifying it is to sense wrongness but not to know the extent of it. Freedom of the mind is something Nikolai's is focused on always and so the blithe voice dies off as quickly as it came. The emotion that presides now is confusion. ]

I can no longer tell if I'm not me. And so? Do you think that's plausible evidence that I'm no longer myself?

ii.

a. The Devil Made Me Do It But I Also Kinda Wanted To CW: referenced gruesome death of a npc

[ A pale figure stands silent in the clearing off to the side of the stone monuments. He's waiting as it turns out... but for what? A snarl like grin slashes across the figure's features as he beckons out with a bloodied hand held out. Caught him after the act, have you? Being close enough to see that means that he can see you.

Despite all the screaming from the lump of viscera at his feet earlier there's not even the sound of the breeze in the surrounding area now. The... trail of evidence leads halfway back to the cages. Suddenly words soundlessly shape around the being's mouth. The words are not even a whisper but perhaps you'll be able to discern it from the unnatural silence regardless.

"Come here." ]

b. And Now For My Next Trick!

[ That figure gets tired of waiting. Those who stall for too long will find themselves pulled mercilessly through a shimmering golden tear in the fabric of reality. Despite travelling an unknown distance quickly it's evident that you're not alone. The culprit has subsequently followed. But where is Gogol stalking?

Wait just a few more seconds and find out! The silence drops abruptly for a cheery lilt to ring out as the man himself steps back into view. Bent slightly at the waist, he's got a hand pressed behind his back while the other gesticulates while he speaks. ]

So sorry for the inconvenience but as you can probably tell you've actually got a big choice to make here. Can you guess what it is?

c. Velociraptor Tactics!

[ Maybe you never got near the action at all. Those who believe they've got safety in numbers might find themselves getting snatched at the most inopportune times. A keen sensation of being watched will accompany Chosen when they gather to strategize what to do to stop the birth of the creature.

Gogol can, and will, and is using his spatial ability to open up the space beneath people's feet to steal them in front of others mid-sentence. Dare to wander from the group? He'll happily try to abduct those easy targets as well. ]

iii. Wildcard! It's as they say... fuck it we ball. 🕊️
{ooc; (´⊙ω⊙`) Spatial ability Opt-in here. Prompt ii.b and ii.c are the Overcoat immediate ones so if you tag those it's a given that ability is being used there so !Beware!

For prompt ii.c. I'm willing to take at least one thread with more than one person if you'd like your character to chase after a friend who has been yoinked right in front of them. Just lmk here if this is the case. }

(gogol's done this trick once, and it's not going to happen again. he's been searching, attentive, and it's for this exact reason he ditched his shoes - to feel the earth moving underneath him as the portal start to open. a touch, and it closes back again, and dazai yells into it as it dissipates.)

Come grab me, love!

(HE IS SO MAD AT THIS WHOLE THING.)

[ In this context that surely sounds like a taunt but it does get his attention. Even at a distance his head slowly but visibly turns to look at the reason he hasn't unable to pull off using The Overcoat and... Of course. Perhaps he shouldn't have used that trick on Dazai previously. ]

[The advantage is at a distance yet the very real potential for Dazai to throw a wrench in the plans is what compels Gogol to take an action he wouldn't usually. The compulsion to protect what's in the forest makes him step through space to get closer. Inevitably to give Dazai a very personal death.]

Dazai! Guess whaaaat? You're actually going to have more than just a few splinters in a minute. How does it make you feel?

Disappointed that someone as into free will as you are is falling for this. Don't you want freedom, Nikol? It's easy, you know that! Should I kiss you just to make it a little more romantic?

(zero expectations that it will work, but alas, it's true, isn't it? this is the very opposite of free will, and nikolai is the very embodiment of a crazed need to be free. perhaps that itself can spark some resistance, and he can subdue the other.

maybe.)

...

[ "Don't you want freedom?" When has he not? With eyes wide and unseeing his breathing begins to pick up. There is a Wrongness here he'd already known. Now a means to dispel it stands in front of Gogol. It deeply sickens him and that's because...

Dazai—now the grinning avatar of everything he avoids dearly—taunts him with something like attachment. It's crueller than he likely realizes. Both fates clip his wings. But one of them can be addressed immediately, can't it?

The words spark much more than a resistance. This time when he approaches to reach for Dazai's neck it's with every intention of mercilessly strangling all the life from him. He's not in the free state of mind to consider a more removed action. Strangely, it's not with Gogol's dominant hand... That one he's been favoring. The blood attests to why. ]

(it worked - not his favorite outcome, but one he surely had thought possible. it means that dazai is touched, and he can strip gogol from both 'overcoat' and the monster that sets its roots into his mind. it's good enough, and dazai notices immediately the change of hand, it's still strong, but not nearly at how much he knows gogol can squeeze.

so, that means. his hand touches the other's face, to release him, and then the other moves to the injured hand with all his strength, pulling it back until it breaks.)

[Clarity of mind comes just in time to feel already torn tendons grind together in protests against the pressure. The hand that strangles releases to grab at the hand breaking his own too late. Like a string tautly pulled beyond its limit there's a sickening popping which accompanies his index and middle finger snapping. A surge of warm, wet, red sluices down to his wrist as hasty first aid from before fails to stop the tearing open of the bullet wound in his palm.

A silent scream at first; the sound heightens then shifts into sick hysterical laughter. Driven by the instinct to get away from the pain Gogol claws at Dazai's arm while a string of giggling babble escapes him.]

That hurts...! It hurts, it hurts, itHURTSLETGO!

(... insertherealewdthoughtforamonthfromnowdamngogol

he doesn't particularly enjoy this. this is someone he cares about, but dazai's never shyed away from doing atrocities in the name of doing something right, something for someone else even if they can't fully see why he's doing it. even if it hurts, even if it bleeds. he doesn't like it, but it is awfully necessary, so here he is, holding onto broken bone, hands soaked in blood as they used to be in the past.)

I need your help.

What's that hmmmmm~m??? If you wanted to-- ah, ahh,

[ Unable to really focus on the request just yet Gogol smiles with gritted teeth. There's a laugh without any humor but ultimately because Dazai hasn't let go of his mangled hand yet he hiccups in pain. The blood loss, or the pain, or the everything else is making him lightheaded now that there's no whispering voice in his ear. ]

...to hold hands you could've asked! Hah, haha, please let go though.

That's exactly what I want. To hold hands. I need you to protect me as much as you can, so we can drag the unconscious to the forest. Then I can use 'No Longer Human' on everyone. Do you want to hold hands? Since you denied my kissing in a warzone, very rudely?

(he won't let go until there's confirmation, but he'll give him some space by loosening the grip and holding the uninjured hand. please, gogol, he's begging, you just can't tell!!!)

Oh noes, shall I disappoint you a second time then? Because a bird does not change its feathers. You should really know that all clowns aren't good people like that. Sooo,

[ The petulance is a bit of a defence mechanism. Most of all so he doesn't spend any time feeling every bit of used as he has been... will it return if he breaks free here? He doesn't know. There's the quietest inhale during the split second where he's unsure if he's being let go of entirely. He brings his injured hand to cradle against his chest shakily. ]

Can you really expect me to cooperate?

Do you want me to attempt to manipulate you, or do you want to help me out of your own free will? You've been cooperating with me. I somewhat trust you to trust me, don't you think it's fair to think that way?

(he cares, and perhaps gogol might use that against him in some future near or far from them. either way, it's a gentle caress, just one, against the back of his good hand before he has to dodge a tree that nearly falls on him from behind.)

[ A tender caress will always be distracting. Which leaves him enough time with the only option left which is jump-skip-shuffling after Dazai and away from the falling tree with a yelp. He's not risking letting go just in case he loses clarity of mind again. ]

Fine, you've got me. No manipulation required! If I'm comparing you to a certain little thing hiding away from all the action I'm more inclined to get back at the latter.

[ Oh he. wants. it. DEAD. Tender roots pushed slowly into a meat grinder. ]

(thank god. he looks at his feet, bleeding, the bandages that wrap around it already torn and gone, and then he looks at gogol with a squint of his eye, which reinforces the fact HE IS OWED SOME SHOES. at least that's over it, and he squeezes the hand as a reassuring comfort. he's here.)

We need to get to Chuuya and Kotone-chan, before Chuuya kills himself. I can't get close, so I need you and those legs of yours kicking things out of our way.

[Coincidentally Gogol looks away with comical timing when Dazai sends him that look. A slight look of guilt if there was ever one. He does miss the obfuscating quality of his mask. More than that as someone who has been just freed from the servitude there's a helplessly human pang of sympathy. It doesn't necessary show, but he feels it. Last he'd personally seen of Chuuya he wasn't not complicit with delivering the man over to the same disturbing fate.]

I'll accompany you long enough for you to save that dear friend of yours.

Thank you, Nikol.

(it is important, after all. chuuya's body can only deal with so much, each passing second closer to his death in this state, but the way nikolai manages to show a little bit of himself makes dazai giggle, just a tiny bit, before he pulls the other back towards the chaos.

god bless them.)

[It's like the whole town is in up flames. People are screaming and fleeing as some of the 'Chosen' had suddenly turned up against them, spreading chaos and destruction. Some of those who had been spared from the brand's influence had decided to take arm themselves in order to protect the weaker ones. Some other decided to take advantage of the situation and take part to some good old fashioned looting.

Akechi, however, did none of them. The chaos was worrying, of course, but at the same time he found some.. soothing comfort in all of it. And strange jealousy, as Loki kept screaming inside him -- urging him to go join them and let him out. Come on, indulge in the violence. But he can't, not as long as the demon with its powers are out of his reach. He's no use to either side, not in his current state.

So, he's just observing. Trying to stay out of harms way the best he can. Well, too bad that the harm itself had other plans. Akechi's loitering around the marker square when he suddenly feels the ground just disappear under his feet. He has barely time to react as the gold circle swallows him up and drops down ass first on the solid ground somewhere far away. The sensation vaguely reminds him of activating the nav-app to enter the Metaverse. Just a little less woozy, at least.

Despite his rather ungraceful landing Akechi the currents events have him ready, hand almost reaching to his inner pocket where his gun is hiding in its holster. He's not pulling it out just yet, not wanting to reveal his cards until the time is right.

Ah..]

You. [He actually recognizes the man in white. It's the same clown he had met during his first week in here.]

It's been a while since I've seen your face, freak. I see you've grown out of apples.

How nice to see a familiar face drop in!

[ Chosen by the forest eldritch aside he's still very Gogol unfortunately. ]

No apples today. [ Finger wag. ] and no time for the pleasantries sadly. We've got places to be so come along now.

[ he has his hand offered out for Akechi to take. To help the youth up or to guide him to the intended location. It reads as something that's a suggestion if the greater context is taken into account; it couldn't be anything further from the truth. There's no rejecting the suggestion without consequences. The choice being given is "come along nicely" or "come along not so nicely."]

Kidnapping is an ugly crime, much more grave than juvenile apple theft. But I'm sure you know that already.

[The hand is swatted away. He'll get up by himself, thank you very much! Akechi makes sure taking his sweet time as much as he can with the process, patting down his clothes to get the dust off. The purpose of it is not only to piss off the clown, but also to retain a some kind of control over the situation where he's currently outmatched]

Unfortunately for you, however, I have no reason to play your games, clown.

Well then! Who said we were playing?

[ Akechi gets the dubious honor of witnessing the Gogol who kidnaps, who murders, and in Akechi's own words-- the Gogol who commits ugly crimes with the face of a monster. Which means after Akechi swats his hand away and gets up on his own two legs Gogol leg he waits a moment for the prideful youth to put on his strong face. Then he leg sweeps him violently with his walking stick so he'll plummet right back to the ground. ]

Let's try that again. Get up~

[Akechi's faced his fair share of monsters before. Both literally and figuratively. He's dealt with men who who were a mask of a sheep to hide away their sharp fangs, and the ugliness within their souls. Shido's associates were all ready to commit horrible acts of violence and cruelty, stepping on the weak for their own benefit. But among those men Akechi was the biggest monster, the only one willing to dirty his own hands to bring them down from their towers.

That's the world he comes from, so when seeing Gogol's nearly manic expression he knows that this is not a game. He's also, painfully so, aware of his own disadvantaged situation here. The gun felt heavy against his chest as he fell back on his ass, both Loki and Robin screaming within him, trying to get out.

He whispers a quiet curse and slowly gets back up, making sure to maintain the eye contact with the other one. No provocation from him this time]

And now what?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

{EVENT #2} ADVERSITY 168518.2092

Nikolai Gogol | Bungo Stray Dogs | Branded (ota!)

c ish? i do what i want.

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw description of a hand injury

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

b - let's deal with this pennywise

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject