![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
expiationmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
expiationlogs2023-05-19 08:15 am
{EVENT #2} ADVERSITY 168518.2092
| 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.
no subject
So eager to die. So eager to kill for what you wanted.
Where's that eagerness gone now?
You don't know them. Any of them.
What's one more life if it means seeing Yeul again? Or Serah?
One more death won't do anything to you.
He doesn't really have a choice, either, does he?
The temperature begins to drop, little by little. Blizzaga is a powerful spell, more powerful than he usually needs, but with the power given to him by the brand, now it's so much more. The very air seems to freeze, turning from balmy spring to frigid cold.]
I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work. There's no getting out of this -- not for me, and not for you, either.
[He punctuates those last words with an icy blast aimed at Izuku's feet. He'll follow him with those blasts, trying to freeze him in place.]
no subject
In another circumstance, the mounting side effects could give Noel an edge. Even without knowing about this part of Izuku's Quirk, he's not being very subtle about it. And Izuku might be from a world with powerful abilities, but those abilities aren't magic. He doesn't know any rules or limits for that.
Except Noel's using ice. Izuku didn't become friends and well-coordinated teammates with Todoroki without getting very very good at facing off against ice. He knows on sight what Noel's trying to do and throws down the challenge of making himself as mobile as possible, green energy crackling from his skin as he darts and leaps around, always trying to get behind Noel and force him to turn around. Force him to waste his time, and give Izuku a clear signal of when to move again.]
I'm going to save everyone who needs it. Including you!
[Just keep moving, don't sit still long enough to let him dial in. Figure out how to stop a Todoroki who doesn't know what One For All can do without hurting him. Think, think, think!]
no subject
[He doesn't even realize he's said it aloud until he hears the silence left behind from his own words. They feel bitter on the repeat, though, not just because it's been so long but because Izuku isn't anywhere near the self-serving headstrong hero that Snow tends to be.
No. In fact, he reminds Noel more of himself -- when he says things like that.
He feels a surge of energy as the creature urges him to go after the kid, throwing one blast after another, just barely catching at his heels. Meanwhile the creature seems to be moving on its own, weaving its vines into nets to hamper Izuku's progress. To slow him down.]
What're you gonna do when you can't save everyone? Huh?!
[Is he asking Izuku that...or himself? In the controlled haze the creature is keeping him in, it's hard to tell for sure.]
no subject
He doesn't exactly have time to think about it at the moment, let alone formulate a response. Noel's keeping the pressure, and the vines are gradually making evasion more and more complicated. He's got the practice (and aid of Float) to at first make the vines into as much of a help as a hindrance, trying to compensate for the loss of space and direct lines of movement by just jumping off of them, bouncing around like a human pinball.
But vines are different than man-made objects or even trees, slippery and flexible; it's only a matter of time before his feet don't quite land right, and once it happens his whole rhythm is off. He's almost too slow on the jump, the ice catching his foot just enough to ruin his balance, and when he lands next he has to throw himself into a roll to avoid falling over. Crap, crap, does he have time to get back into it? Should he change tactics? What's the best choice to make here?
What will he do when he can't save someone...?]
Keep trying harder!
no subject
[He can't tell if it's his own anger at people like Izuku, like himself, like Snow -- or if the creature is channeling its own rage and frustration into him, through him, to use against his friend.
It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter where the anger is coming from, because he can't stop himself from using it. So he keeps the pressure building, keeps up the barrage of ice as the creature keeps trying to push closer, inch by inch, building a trap around Izuku, dropping little bits of cage to keep him contained. When he finally falls, the creature starts twisting some of its vines together to form a lance. Noel may not be attacking, but he's not stopping it, either.]
Eventually, someone's going to get hurt. No matter how hard you try.
no subject
[Because he knows this. He's lived this. He couldn't protect Kacchan at camp; none of them could save Sir Nighteye. All Might, the greatest hero in the entire world, told him point blank that a hero can't save someone who's out of their reach, let alone someone they don't even know is in danger.
It was an awful, traumatizing lesson to learn first-hand, even with that advice.
Izuku doesn't notice the vine lance forming right away, not until it's too late for any reaction other than desperately bolting out of the way. There's just too much "interference" with Danger Sense to sort through quickly, now, especially when he's still trying to talk through to Noel to whatever degree is possible. He's completely lost whatever proactive initiative he had in this fight...even if he hasn't realized it yet.]
no subject
He couldn't protect anyone. Not Yeul, not Serah -- in the end, he had failed. Is he really going to stop trying, just because of that?
How stupid is he...?
For a moment, Noel freezes, everything he is warring with everything the creature wants him to be. Has he ever, ever in his life, been the type to not fight, even in a situation that seems hopeless? No. No way. He can't just sit by and let this thing win. It's that sudden burst of clarity, Izuku's determination to to be unapologetically him, to fight for what he believes in, that snaps him out of whatever fog the monster had him in. And in that moment, he sees the lance, twisting and writing as it makes its way toward his friend.]
Deku, get down!
[For his part, he flings ice at the lance, trying to freeze it in place. Blizzaga is powerful, but it's not the fastest spell; in the end, the vines will freeze, but he can't tell yet whether Izuku was able to avoid them or not.]