EVENT LOG: ENTER MR. SANDMAN (DREAMERS)

[inthenightmods]

EVENT LOG:
ENTER MR. SANDMAN (DREAMERS)

characters: all characters that signed up as a dreamer for the event.
location: dreamland feat. beacon of the past.
date/time: november 16-29.
content: the dreamers investigate beacon as it once was.
warnings: psychological/existential horror. further cws will arise depending on the location; mods will cw tags appropriately, and you will too!

say your prayers, little one.

Hello, dreamers. Welcome to Beacon.




Below, each group has a toplevel ready and waiting for the investigation to begin. Feel free to tag in however to establish a tag order, and mod responses will begin once each character has tagged in. If you need a refresher on how the event will work, give the OOC info another read!

As for those of you in the sin bin opt out area...

The Beacon of the past isn't all too different from the Beacon of the present, frankly, except for a few notable exceptions. For one, it's far better lit: daylight leaves everything feels a lot brighter and more sensible than eternal night does. Several advertisements for community theater in the Invincible are hung up (Tryouts for the Ice Man Cometh! Cometh try your luck!) and minor lost and found posters are tacked to a community bulletin board nearby. Oh, and a merry little tune is playing on loop from a record player set up outside the Invincible.

It's cheerful, if not a little off-putting. But the signs of life are clear, even if the forest still looks darkly oppressive over yonder.

Additionally, since investigation threads 1) rely on mod responses, and 2) will likely move on the slow side given the nature of the event/size of the groups, if you would like to have your characters "mingle" in their assigned location, please feel free to write your own toplevels! We ask that you post them as separate toplevels not in response to the mod toplevels (so our inboxes don't get super flooded/we don't accidentally miss stuff). Remember that groups may only interact with each other during the event, but you're welcome to assume timey-wimey shenanigans to excuse why your characters are mingling instead of searching for clues—they do have two weeks in this dream, technically, and dreams are not always linear. If your investigation thread has not yet progressed to a point in which you've got enough of a handle on the setting to write a separate mingle starter, ask the mod you're working with! We'll fill you in on some OOC details so you can mingle accordingly while still allowing for characters to discover those details ICly in the investigation thread.

If you're still jonesing for more threading action during the event, we encourage you to check out the TDM!

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Comments

[hext]

[ wanda is still holding onto one of buffy's arms to help her balance, all three of them more or less huddled around the door, when she opens her mouth to reply to the man— something about how an engineer should hopefully be able to make heads or tails of this door—

when the door starts writing. her mouth stays frozen, voiceless for a few seconds before glancing up at him, ]

...Is that really your name?

[ as she asks, the song wafting from above them in the lighthouse twists, distorts, and she nearly winces at the garbled, eerie quality. wanda looks between the two of them. ]

Something is wrong. [ she quickly amends, glancing up at the lighthouse windows ] Something new is wrong. Maybe we've been down here too long.

[therewillbeorder]

[Hux glanced at the door, raising his eyebrows. The door apparently could respond to questions and knew something about him. He was wary about what other things the door could disclose. He wasn't sure how his name appeared but there had to be a logical explanation even if nothing else in this place seemed to be real.]

Yes. Just call me Hux though.

[He looked up with a frown when he heard the change in the music. Something in the lighthouse was changing the music and he doubted that they were alone here.]

Does anyone have any ideas about how to get through the door? If not, I suggest we look in the lighthouse for more information. Something is in there.

[first_summers]

[ Between the creepy door that apparently answers questions and the even creepier music that makes her no more eager to venture inside than she had been two minutes ago, Buffy is very much Not Okay with their present situation. She's in the dark here, almost literally again with the sun setting the way it is, and there are forces at work here that she doesn't fully understand. Whatever magic is at play is pointing toward something Big or Scary and she's not certain she really wants to figure out which. Of course, she doesn't really have much of a choice — but when has she ever?

Eyeing Hux for a moment, she contemplates their options, weighing choices before turning her attention back to the door. She watches it closely as she asks it one simple question. ]

Where can we find the key that fits your lock?

[inthenightmods]

[Nothing happens.

At first, that is. Just the group is about to give up on the question, a fleck of paint chips away from the center of the first "A" in Hux's name, and then another, and then a short rain of chips reveals a smiley face.

Another scratchy line appears on the door, this time trailing all the way to the frame and onto the wall of the building before eventually leaping to the lighthouse itself. The scratch continues midway up the tower before ending in an arrow pointing toward the sky.

The song continues from the ligthhouse.]

[hext]

[ wanda releases buffy and leans down, frowning skeptically up along the trajectory of the arrow, then back at the door. accusatorial, she retorts back at the no longer quite inanimate object, ]

You're a real creep, you know that?

[ she glances around at their motley crew. ]

Up we go, then. If we want the key to Wonderland, it seems we've got to confront nightmare Bobby Darin.

[ wanda turns her chin up toward the lighthouse window, musing to herself as she heads for the door that hangs open, ]

...or is it Frank Sinatra...?

[ natasha always had this pristine collection of old records... wanda stirs herself from the memory of late night drinks and that record player to call over her shoulder, ]

Buffy, you can lean on me if you need to.

[therewillbeorder]

[Hux watches the arrow traveling up the lighthouse. He didn't have an explanation for what was happening and that bothered him. He went down the stairs, making no offer of his own. Either Buffy could walk or couldn't, he would let them figure that out by themselves.]

Nightmare who? Is this Wonderland then?

[He turned to Wanda, raising his eyebrows. The references aren't familiar to him at all. He started to head towards the lighthouse, pausing at the door. He glanced back once before stepping inside.]

[first_summers]

[ The smile is the worst part of the answer, as if it's gloating that it has all the power as a door. But at least it is an answer, pointing them toward the farthest possible point on this little stretch of land. Somehow, achieving even this much gives Buffy a sense of renewed confidence that she can, in fact, handle this — mysterious riddles and magicked objects and cursed places are right in her wheelhouse. ]

I'll be fine, Wanda, thanks.

[ She takes note that Hux doesn't offer his own help, trying not to judge him too harshly for it but also definitely judging him. He does, however, bring up a ridiculous but totally plausible in her world possibility that she mutters about to herself, eyeing that arrow leading up the side of the structure. ]

I sure hope this isn't Wonderland, I'd really like to keep my head today.

[ Her list of prior deaths does not include decapitation and she'd really prefer to keep it that way. It's messy and unpleasant, and if she comes back for a fifth encore... Well, the scarf look to cover scars is just a bit too in-thrall-to-Dracula for her.

Since fighting her way out of things hasn't gotten her very far yet, she hangs back behind the others, limping slightly and keeping an eye (and ear) out for anything they might not notice. Slayer senses, don't fail her now.]

[inthenightmods]

[Before the group moves too far, more paint chips away from the door. NO, it reads this time, and then more paint chips—but, no, that's not paint, that's... An arrow scratches off of the door and into the space between it and Wanda, pointing at her with an impossible tear in the world itself. It's the color behind your eyelids, both something and nothing all at once, a two-dimensional thing gone cockeyed as it rubs against the grain of spacetime. It shouldn't be possible, but it hangs in the air, this arrow scratched out of reality itself.

The song goes quiet as soon as they set foot in the lighthouse, but something about the way it gently fades suggests the silence is meant to be a gift. The door won't slam shut behind them, nothing will pop out of the shadows to maul them to death, they haven't walked into some grisly scene... In fact, what they've walked into is a storeroom that takes up the entirety of the lower level of the lighthouse. It's packed to the gills with just about everything a Lighthouse Keeper could ever need: food and water, of course, but also various toiletries, cleaning supplies, tools, linens, clothing, cookware, first aid supplies, etc. The lighthouse is well stocked.

A set of stairs spirals upward against the far wall, suggesting a second floor, and a body-sized heap of bloody plastic lies in the center of the room, crinkling faintly as raspy breaths heave from under it.]

[hext]

[ no? no, what? no, it's not a creep — no this isn't wonderland — no don't go up —

suddenly wanda almost doubles over and has to catch herself on the stone outer wall of the lighthouse with the effect that reality-shredding, light-blinding arrow has on her mind, just for a moment. it stretches on in an echo (or is that just the sound of her voice she's hearing distantly as she groans?), and she pushes her thumb into her temple, shutting her eyes and then squinting them back open again. why is it pointing at her, only at her? it had to have cut through some kind of physical dimension or probability context, to ripple through her abilities like this.

stung, she does the only thing she can do — stumble away from it and lead the others more quickly into the mystery of the lighthouse. breathlessly, she starts, ]

Did you two see...

[ once inside, still talking and eyes adjusting yet again to the change in light, she scans the circular perimeter for any threats. nothing but stocks of ordinary goods, and in the center — ]

— oh god.

[ wanda rushes for the heap, then glances hastily back at her comrades. ]

Oh god, [ she repeats, ] I think there's someone alive under here.

[ one hand reaches for the edge of the blood-stained plastic covering. ]

[therewillbeorder]

[The first thing he noticed was the sound of the song fading away. He wasn't sure if it was reassuring or ominous- something was clearly here but he couldn't see anything other than Wanda and Buffy with him.

And the body on the floor. He glanced around the room to see what else was there but it looked like a storage room, his attention was on the breathing under the bloody plastic covering.

He moved around the body as Wanda reached for the plastic. He wasn't going to touch it- he didn't want to get his own hands dirty even if he wore gloves.]

The blood doesn't seem as if it's dry- this looks recent.

[And what was under there clearly wasn't dead.]

[first_summers]

[ The scent of blood is one she recognizes in her very soul, the coppery tang of it on her tongue screaming as loud to her enhanced senses as those rasping breaths. But everything in her is warning caution, an innate distrust of this place combining with the pain radiating up her leg to send her instincts into a spiral of self-preserving urges. Run, get out, fight. But it's not like she has anywhere to go.

So while Wanda moves to help whoever or whatever might be under that plastic, Buffy scans the room, taking in her options before grabbing a hammer from the assortment of tools available — or the closest thing to it. Just having a weapon in her hand makes her feel infinitely more prepared for whatever might come next. ]

1/4

[inthenightmods]

[Buffy grabs a hammer, and Wanda reaches for the edge of the plastic covering... and something reaches back, a mottled hand shooting out from under the plastic to grab for her arm. It yanks her hard to the ground, snapping her wrist in the process.

The body rises suddenly, clambering to its feet, the plastic falling away to reveal a thing that shouldn't be alive. The corpse—still breathing raggedly, somehow, despite its crushed chest and its caved-in skull—stands crookedly before them, its spine too twisted for it to hold itself upright. A jagged spike of clavicle juts out from its neck and its face is bruised and scraped free of its skin all down one side.

The body is nigh unrecognizable given the state of it, hardly even human anymore, but...]

2/4; wanda

[inthenightmods]

[Wanda will recognize this corpse as Pietro.

As soon as the recognition hits, he crumples as the life is sucked out of him all at once, his corpse hitting the floor with a wet smack.

When she looks up again, Hux and Buffy are gone.]

[hext]

[ wanda screams in both surprise and pain as her wrist is broken, eyes squeezing shut tight momentarily and body curling in on itself. she opens them again, trying to wrest her arm free from the bony, bloody grip, and it's only as she rolls away that she sees what's left of the face— ]

—Pietro!

[ it's a hoarse, husk of a cry that escapes her mouth; just as she lunges toward him, previous danger forgotten, however... he crumples again to the floor, any sign of ambulatory life gone once more. wanda crawls closer on her knees, lame wrist clutched at her chest, wide eyes pinned to the form in a heap before her. ]

...No, no, no... Pietro, Pietro— please— what have they done to you... come back...

[ she glances around frantically for help from her comrades, only to find that they've vanished without a trace. ]

Buffy! Hux! Where are you??

[inthenightmods]

[Buffy and Hux are long gone, it seems, and Pietro's corpse shows no signs of—wait.

Something rustles from under the plastic still covering a bit of Pietro's legs.]

3/4; hux

[inthenightmods]

[Hux will recognize this corpse as his father.

As soon as the recognition hits, Brendol crumples as the life is sucked out of him all at once, his corpse hitting the floor with a wet smack.

When he looks up again, Wanda and Buffy are gone.]

[therewillbeorder]

[Hux's breath caught when he saw Brendol, backing away quickly until his back hit a crate. He had watched his father explode into a mass of liquid goo after his insides had been rotted from the inside out.

But Brendol's body collapsed to the floor before he could think about what to do. It was only after the body hit the floor that he noticed Wanda and Buffy were nowhere to be found. He doesn't know where they've gone to- he hadn't heard them leave.

It had been years since Brendol had died painfully but he needed a moment to catch his breath and move away from the crate. Brendol was dead, he had made sure of it.

But he still wouldn't approach the corpse, shifting around it as he looked up at where the staircase leads. He wanted to get away from Brendol's corpse.]

[inthenightmods]

[The stairs lead to the lighthouse's second level, which appears to be some sort of records room. Shelves of boxes line the walls, much like one would see in an archive, and stacks of computer terminals sit in the center. But, no matter what Hux tries to look at in this room, he'll find that it's all blank.

But there's another staircase, again on the far side of the room, and should he continue to climb, he'll find himself in the control room at the top of the lighthouse.]

[therewillbeorder]

[Hux went for the computer terminals but everything was blank. He didn't have any tools with him to try to make heads or tails of the technology though.

The staircase caught his attention and curiosity drew him towards it. He carefully ascended the stairs, wondering what he would find at the top of the tower.]

[inthenightmods]

[The control room resembles that of a submarine or spaceship, the room claustrophobic with pipes and machinery despite the fact that it takes up the whole top level of the lighthouse. In the center of the room, there's a spiral staircase leading up to the lighthouse's beacon, which doesn't seem to be turned on at the moment. Instead, sunlight streams in.

Inspecting the room will reveal various terminals meant for the operation of many complicated instruments... In particular, there are labels for a translator, portal control, and a vast array of radar screens.

The control room's main attraction, though, is the computer hub. It's equipped with many screens, and seems to have access to Beacon's network. And clearly, someone's spent a lot of time here. The little hub has been outfitted with various creature comforts: a blanket folded over the back of the desk chair, little trinkets and stickers decorating around the screens, a minifridge under the desk filled with snacks and soda... A teenage girl has been here.

The hub faces a cozy little lounge space, decorated with fairy lights and posters of unfamiliar bands and stuffed animals, all wearing little handmade outfits. A handful of feathers sits on the coffee table next to a hammock and beanbag chair.

After he wakes up, Hux will recognize this scene in the weekly bulletin.]

4/4; buffy

[inthenightmods]

[Buffy will recognize this corpse as her sister.

As soon as the recognition hits, Dawn crumples as the life is sucked out of her all at once, her corpse hitting the floor with a wet smack.

When she looks up again, Hux and Wanda are gone.]

[first_summers]

[ Buffy moves to attack the thing under the plastic when it grabs Wanda, that crack deafening in her ears, but she freezes mid-swing, eyes going wide with horror as she sees not a mindless corpse but—

Dawnie?

The hammer thuds to the floor only a second after the body, but still she stares at it, her mind struggling to process what's happened. Her sister. ]

Do you—

[ She doesn't know how that sentence would have ended; the question disappears from her thoughts as she looks up and finds herself alone in the room. Turning left, right, she calls out with only slight panic in her voice. ]

Wanda? Hux?

[inthenightmods]

[The room is quiet save for the muffled crash of waves against the cliffs below. Blood begins to seep outward from Dawn's corpse.]

[first_summers]

[ A few more seconds pass as that blood moves, Buffy's gaze catching on it, before she leans down to pick up that hammer again, her expression becoming more angry than upset. Addressing the corpse that dares to wear Dawn's face, she practically growls at it. ]

You are not my sister.

[ Then she turns away from the grotesque corpse to head for the stairs. ]

[inthenightmods]

[Dawn's corpse continues to bleed, defiantly.

The stairs lead to the lighthouse's second level, which appears to be some sort of records room. Shelves of boxes line the walls, much like one would see in an archive, and stacks of computer terminals sit in the center. But, no matter what Buffy tries to look at in this room, she'll find that it's all blank.

But there's another staircase, again on the far side of the room, and should she continue to climb, she'll find herself in the control room at the top of the lighthouse.

The control room resembles that of a submarine or spaceship, the room claustrophobic with pipes and machinery despite the fact that it takes up the whole top level of the lighthouse. In the center of the room, there's a spiral staircase leading up to the lighthouse's beacon, which doesn't seem to be turned on at the moment. Instead, sunlight streams in.

Inspecting the room will reveal various terminals meant for the operation of many complicated instruments... In particular, there are labels for a translator, portal control, and a vast array of radar screens.

The control room's main attraction, though, is the computer hub. It's equipped with many screens, and seems to have access to Beacon's network. And clearly, someone's spent a lot of time here. The little hub has been outfitted with various creature comforts: a blanket folded over the back of the desk chair, little trinkets and stickers decorating around the screens, a minifridge under the desk filled with snacks and soda... A teenage girl has been here.

The hub faces a cozy little lounge space, decorated with fairy lights and posters of unfamiliar bands and stuffed animals, all wearing little handmade outfits. A handful of feathers sits on the coffee table next to a hammock and beanbag chair.

After she wakes up, Buffy will recognize this scene in the weekly bulletin.]