EVENT LOG: ENTER MR SANDMAN (DEFENDERS)

[inthenightmods]

EVENT LOG:
ENTER MR. SANDMAN (DEFENDERS)

characters: those who signed up as defenders for the event
location: all around Beacon
date/time: november 16-29
content: the defenders attempt to drive off a spirit invasion
warnings: lots of horror! body horror, psychological horror, gore, violence, etc.. please cw all threads where appropriate! mods will do the same

in your closet, in your head.

It all happens in a matter of moments. Your friends, your companions, and even some people you aren't all that fond of; everyone who took so much as a bite of the spirits' feast suddenly collapses into a comatose heap. Which is bad enough already, but the worst, by far, is yet to come.

Before anyone can really figure out what's happened to the sleepers, the woods surrounding the town come alive with sound. Rustling, screeching, clicking, howling, and under it all, the characteristic hoots and whistles of the forest spirit tongue. But these aren't the friendly creatures that set up the banquet in the first place, and they aren't the familiar faces (or masks) from around Beacon. As they begin to emerge, bursting forth from the trees, these spirits reveal themselves as a horrifying army of terrors. And sprinkled among them, distinguishable by the emerald glint in their sockets, are the infamous "green eyes", the dangerous spirits that appeared once before.

Attempting to talk to these spirits is a moot point, made obvious by their immediate assault on anyone they get close to. They attack with claws and teeth, with limbs far stronger than they have any right to be, and the green eyes, as they are wont to do, will try to get into your head. Somehow, they seem to know what it is that scares you most, and they don't seem too hesitant to use it. It's not clear what they want— are they here to eradicate you? To frighten you? To send a message?

Whatever the case, one thing is very clear: you and everyone else, sleeping or waking, are in serious danger. Are you ready to defend Beacon?

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Comments

[paletteswap]

[At this point there's more people than the Invincible can comfortably hold. He hasn't been to the village since this happened but for all he knows the spirits are raiding the houses of everyone who resides over there. There's no solutions here. They clearly can't stand siege forever - but eliminating every single forest creature seems equally impossible. Their glowing eyes stare back at him as he patrols, waiting for an opportunity to attack. There's so many of them in there, blinking and snarling and intent on their destruction.

At the movement in the trees he reacts without thinking, sending a barrage of icicles towards it. He can't see deeply into the forest but it didn't sound like it hit anything living. Maybe some trees.

A feint then, trying to lure him out alone. Except he isn't alone.

Kneeling down he seems to concentrate on the ground instead of the green eyed creature a short distance away, still invisible in the darkness of the treeline. There's a blue mist rising up around Kuai, frost crusting along the ground by his feet where a shimmering ice ball is coalescing in his palm.

Abruptly he slams it into the ground, ice shooting along the ground towards the creature and then erupting into frozen stalagmites that launch the surprised forest spirit out of the trees and up into the air, limbs flailing as it tries to figure out what's happening to it.]

[paletteswap]

"I've been assisting those who need it." So yes, playing the hero as he always does.

"What have you been doing? Teleporting people into the woods to let them die?" Such a high opinion he has of his brother. But he's tired and cranky and would like to have a good night's sleep for once.

[paletteswap]

Hidden from us, not from the creatures attacking. They can see in the dark and have been here far longer than us, they likely know of even more structures we have yet to discover.

Are you going to take some of those who are unconscious with you to divide up who needs protection?

[sauntered_downward]

Crowley cowers. He imagines his flesh being melted from his bones, imagines turning into a puddle right where he stands----completely obliterated the way he was when he was killed back in Hell. Life over, 100%, never coming back. He imagines it, and his flesh burns and---and----

And he takes a breath. He's still breathing. He hasn't melted yet, there's some part of him still holding on. This is different than it was back in Hell, this is very different somehow. Maybe here, he has a chance to do something to help the human soldier person before he goes completely.

It's a hound. A dog, right? What is it that dogs hate? Well, Crowley hates that mouth of its----so he tries to imagine a muzzle, something wrapped around the green-eyed monster's face, keeping its maw closed. Maybe one attached to a chain leash, with the handle in Crowley's uninjured hand. He has no idea if his abilities will work like that in this place, but he's going to focus, going to try.

He only has seconds before he's liquid, but maybe he can pull the green-eyed hound into the quicksand before he's gone.

[paletteswap]

Kuai hasn't seen him fighting enough times to really judge, but with things starting to get desperate the longer this battle goes on, it's only natural that people start to get sloppy and reckless. Though the Soldier does seem to be one of the calmer ones.

"That's something. They seem to be determined to get to us, to the point that they make mistakes to their detriment. If they backed off and regrouped they'd be even more dangerous - but I witnessed one continue to fight towards us to try and get inside here even as it was dying. It makes me wonder if something is driving them forward."

Last time it had been Robin with the foghorn, maybe this time it's something else.

[featherknives]

[She doesn't blame him, nor teases him about it- better be on guard and jumpy than be ambushed and killed.

Her ears are still flicking from time to time, but she turns attention to talk to the guy. New huh... he looks like a kid...]

There was an incident before. When we tried to reconnect the Keeper to this network thing. They attacked us. A lot of people died, permanently. Never came back.

[Her eyes scan around,] But this is far worse. That attack lasted for several hours. This is already lasting for a few days, it feels.

[shadowsran]

"How much, exactly?" Her eyes don't narrow, but she's curious. "You're not getting saddled with more than your share, are you?" He'd volunteer, certainly, but as far as she's concerned that means it's simply on other people to politely refuse him. One spectacular person need not get themselves killed for others' convenience.

[worthallthis]

The Soldier blinks at her blankly. "I don't understand the question. I'm not too busy. Or tired. I feel. Useful." For the first time in weeks, maybe even since they got here, it feels like they're actually making a difference. Doing something that actually really helps keep people safe, using their training for something good.

[worthallthis]

"The green-eyes." If that's really what's happening, it's not hard to work out what's behind it. And the Soldier is no stranger to being driven by an outside force, so can easily imagine a force like that forcing the other spirits to attack. They frown at their sandwich. "The ones that caused the hallucinations. The ones that attacked when people tried to connect the Lighthouse. They're the dangerous ones. I was warned about them in particular."

[fawcetted]

"Oh, yeah. With this thing? Definitely."

Cue the music. Steve already feels a hundred times more prepared for the incoming onslaught. If he were the kind of dweeb to give a thumbs up, he would. But as it is, he nods at Crowley.

"Those freaks won't know what's coming to them." Steve gives it another practice swing before he notices that between the two of them, he's the only one holding some kind of a weapon. "Hey, what about you? You gonna be okay?"

[fawcetted]

Uh, yeah. You know ... I might have come across something like this before. Not like, spirits or shit like that, but. Monsters. Creepy, giant, man-eating monsters.

[ Literally man-eating, if what the others had been saying was true. The Mindflayer made a monster made of ... people. A bunch of melted people.

Yep.

That'd been his life. ]

Anyway, this one monster ... might be how I ended up here.

[originallutece]

[She curses beneath her breath-- and it's funny, because she doesn't care about him, but still there's sweat at her temples and suddenly everything seems distant. Old memories keep wanting to get in the way of the task at hand, and she can't pay them mind because this boy isn't going to stay alive much longer if she keeps getting distracted.]

Damn it--

[What are her chances? One in eight, ostensibly, but more like one in three, if he's got AB he can take her, or A-- really, she thinks, shoving up her sleeve, the only thing will be if he has type O blood, that'll be a problem, but so will his dying of blood loss.
She grabs the needle and IV from her kit. It takes her far less time than it ought for her to slip it in her arm, and his, and then . . .

Then, she works faster, tending to his leg, keeping an eye on his color and his reaction, hoping that for once, things will go the way she never, ever thinks they do.]

[antiwhat]

I know.

[ Ellever goes quiet, somber. That's why she's in this corner — mentally dealing with the fallout of being dead and what that means — but she won't say it. ]

I meant... here. [ An idle gesture at the walls. ] The Invincible. I don't think we're going to leave Beacon anytime soon. I... don't know if I'd want to.

[ If she goes back, she has to look Circe in the eye. And right now she'd choose getting mauled to death over that. ]

[antiwhat]

[ Ellever's still erecting a solid mental map of the town. It's not foolproof yet. She squints, trying to orient herself. The darkness is a lot more troublesome than she'd thought — her teenage self would be disappointed in the result of constant darkness. ]

Let's... stay defensive. Look for people.

[ Working in security at least gives her productive ideas. ]

I don't think going on the attack will help anything, these things just — seem to keep coming. Sound good?

[worthallthis]

[The Soldier looks at her sidelong. There might be sympathy in their face, just a little.]

I don't want to. If it were me. Was your life a terrible one?

[It's the main reason they can think of why someone wouldn't want to go back to it, if it were possible.]

[paletteswap]

He'd put together that the green eyed ones were different than the regular spirits that interacted with them in a much friendlier manner, but not why. Maybe they were different species, or had different intentions. Were they attacking the friendly spirits as well? It occurred to him only now that he hadn't seen any of the regular forest creatures since this started.

"Someone warned you about them? What did they say?"

[antiwhat]

Isn't this place just a bucket of fun.

[ Ellever smiles, thinly, the expression strained with everything going on around them. ]

I think you could be onto something, there. If they kill everyone who wanders too far, maybe there's something we're not supposed to find out there.

[ That just... inspires all kinds of curious thoughts in her, but she's also got a drop of common sense. A drop. ]

[worthallthis]

"I have a contact with the spirits. They said that the green-eyes are 'nasty'. Mean. Not just to us. To the other spirits, too. That they were the ones behind the hallucinations. That they don't like us, or anybody." The Soldier looks aside again, away from both meal and Kuai. Looks vaguely worried, in fact. "I looked for my contact yesterday. I can't find them."

[antiwhat]

[ She looks at him, tries to imagine what kind of life he had that he doesn't want to go back to. If he hasn't offered his name, he's not going to offer that much. Ellever can respect someone who wants to keep a lid on things. ]

...it wasn't terrible. It. I don't know. It was mixed. [ Ellever lets out a slow, long sigh. ] My dad was nice. And the Moth. And my research. But there were a lot of things riding on my shoulders, you know? And sometimes it was too many things. Sometimes it just felt like...

[ Like she'd fail in the end. Surprise, surprise. Someone had forced her hand. ]

I don't know. I'll miss my dad. Otherwise, I'm probably better off here. [ She offers an attempt at a smile. ] At least I have good company.

[saibot]

"No, but that suggestion is duly noted." And was actually a good idea. He could get rid of a few annoying ones that way. Drop them off in the middle of the rampaging spirits ...

"And you always were so soft, Kuai. An unbecoming trait for an assassin, but I suppose it was one of your many flaws."

Not that he never helped anyone in the past but you know that doesn't matter.

[worthallthis]

[Oh, you've got that wrong, Elle. The Soldier has like no filter when it comes to sharing about their awful life. Just, you know. No name to share, and they weren't feeling up to "Soldat" today. Yes, their priorities are very fucked up when it comes to conversation....

But they smile, back. It's a small one, but it's real. Fond, even.]

There are good people. Here. More of them than I ever remember knowing.

[Then, very briefly, they look up at her and make eye contact. Just for a second, before looking off over her shoulder.]

I think you're one of them, too. So you should take care of yourself. And let people help if we can.

[saibot]

"I imagine infiltration into the lighthouse will be the most difficult part. However teleportation inside should not be an issue," he hopes anyway. He hasn't exactly tried to get in there like that. His abilities work everywhere else though.

"If it comes to it, if you provide a distraction, I will end her existence."

Did he openly just say he would straight up kill her? Yes, yes he did.

XD oh my god 1/?

[techtype]

He did tell Riku to say something if he got cold. Riku's the one transporting everyone, so he's the captain of the ship and therefore gets first priority for warmth. Or something like that, that seems like a good a reason as any.

Besides, once they get to the armory, he can just take the jacket back.

2/2 Ridiculous boys

[techtype]

"No proble--huh?"

There's something reaching for his hand, and it doesn't come to him immediately that it's Riku's hand and he jolts in surprise before hesitantly taking it.

And oh...he's being pulled in closer...for warmth? Hmm, he can live with this.

"Mm, didn't think of this. Maybe I'll get some sleep."

Of course, he isn't, but Riku will just have to find out that much himself. In the meantime, he'll just accept the offer of shared warmth and keep his arms clasped around Riku's stomach.

[saibot]

"And where exactly is there to go in this place? I am as stuck here as you, but that does not mean I have to help those who are pathetic."

Or that he'd even help those who weren't. Though that's not exactly true. He did save M.K. that one time, but he doesn't think anyone else knows about that and it's better it stays that way. He only helped him because the kid could fight and that was a useful skill.

"Leaving the weak outside would be an ideal distraction to keep the ones attacking away."