EVENT LOG: A MONSTER'S HERE

[nextnightmods]

EVENT LOG:
A MONSTER'S HERE

characters: everyone.
location: the mine
date/time: october 19 - 23.
content: exploring the mines and figuring out what became of the wild hunt.
warnings: explorations and threads might include body horror, gore, and monster horror.

i craft my words to fit inside your head, because no one listens to the dead.

It's been a wild few months. The remaining survivors of Beacon have turned their sights on the mine. The last known location of the Wild Hunt, though they haven't been heard from in quite a long time. Thanks to the help of spirits, the group has managed to rally and split off towards the mines to se if they can find out what happened there and if there's any of the Hunt left behind.

THE LONG TRAIL.

The spirits have helped repair a handcart located at the train station. Though, it's probably not fair to say that it helped the journey all that much. Most of it was completed on foot, taking turns pumping rusted old levers. It carried the supplies and little else.

The start of the journey goes well, until the ramshackle handcart fails at the bottom of a particularly steep incline. The group eventually decides it's better to take the time and fix it than leave part of the supplies behind. A few work on the repairs and the rest split themselves between keeping watch and getting rest while they can.

It ends up as one night along the side of the tracks. It's out far enough in the woods that it's integral to keep some of the group on watch. A few spirits will sneak toward camp, though thankfully none actively violent. They mostly seem to want to make away with what supplies the group has. Good luck chasing them back down through the woods if they do make off with something.

The rest of the group should catch rest where they can, though... Rest does not come easy. Dreams will be wrought with fears, dark and personal. Ripped from memories and subconscious, seeping deeper and deeper into dreams that almost feel impossible to wake from. Sleep will be fitful, restless — and when woken, by someone else or bolted up and out on their own, the fears seem to linger. Some might experience sleep paralysis, frozen in their own personal nightmare. Either way, when they wake, it'll be like those nightmares were real. Like they might just whisper around in the dark. Not even those remaining in Beacon are safe from vivid, terrifying dreams -- and the effects will persist for the entirety of the event.

THE DESCENT.

The group arrives at the decrepit mines a few hours after the repairs are completed. There's an eerie silence as they approach, though some might have an uneasy feeling, like there's eyes on the group shrouded in the darkness. Based on a memory shared by a certain spirit, the group is able to get the elevator in Administration functional. It's a tight, claustrophobic experience, only 5 or so bodies at a time. The mechanics whirr, then chug, then creak overhead... and shortly after the group will make it to the mines proper.

As the group organizes itself, the group will quickly be able to notice they are in an observation deck above the mines, and they'll note that there are a few general areas they can explore. The dead tunnels are a closed off, depleted section of the mine. It's noted as dangerous, and it seems as if it had been walled off at some point... but the wall is demolished, allowing entry. There is a very limited crew quarters, a mechanics area, a storage and processing area, and of course, the open mine tunnel.

If your character is inclined to explore any of these areas, please see the comment here. Remember, characters are welcome to explore these areas in top levels — however, to find plot information, a character will have to do a mini-explore.

HUMAN NO MORE.

The group doesn't manage even a few hours of exploration before the worst happens. Spirits suddenly come crawling free of the demolished closed mine — bloodied, eviscerated, emaciated and incredibly feral. The spirits are completely unresponsive to attempts to communicate, and will rend and attack to kill anyone that gets close. Characters can attempt to incapacitate over kill, but they won't be able to talk them down or communicate in any way.

The group will likely sustain some injuries in the fight, but one of the feral spirits spots the active elevator and soon, there's a rush for the cramped escape route. The spirits tear through the top of the elevator and rush up the elevator shaft, cleaving the wires that make the device function. It won't be going anywhere any time soon. The group will need to find an alternative escape route... perhaps there's another way out waiting to be found.

LET THE DEVIL IN.

The spirits swarming in the mines (and escaped to the surface) seem to possess some of the abilities usually only seen in green eyed spirits. They can slip into the subconscious of characters, pull out ugly things better left buried. Fears will come alive unbidden, and there's no way to know they're not real. How this happens can be different for whoever experiences it. For some it's like a waking memory — for others it's completely inside their head and they're catatonic until they wake. It can be limited to a single character witnessing their ugliest fears, or it can drag everyone near them along into a tailor-made nightmare.

However it happens, characters will not sustain injuries from their fears, however, if they experience an injury in the nightmare they will have phantom pains left behind for the next week. That said, just because they can't be injured by the projections themselves, doesn't mean they're not in danger... because the spirits will take ample advantage of their impaired state, and attack. It seems they aren't even aware of the damage they're causing, only lashing out mindlessly and instinctively.

And since there are plenty of feral spirits that escaped to above ground, even characters in Beacon proper can still suffer the effects of fear share. They can be more limited if desired, or just as visceral and horrible as you'd like. However, characters above ground cannot apply for a mod-generated fear experience!

Character response to these spirits is important to the ending result of the event. If characters kill the feral spirits, or if they incapacitate and attempt to keep them contained, please indicate that in the toplevel here.

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Comments

EXPLORING THE MINES.

[nextnightmods]

Ready to snoop? Characters can sign up here to search one of the many areas of the mines. Please fill out the text area below to complete a search! Please note that injuries can occur in the searches. An Opt-in is required for death, but consider it a high-risk, high-reward option.

CHARACTER: Character's name.
AREA SEARCHED: What area are they searching?
INTERESTS: Are they searching for something in particular? What are they looking for?
OTHER: Is your character an incredibly astute super soldier? Does your character canvas a room left to right? Use this space to address any search habits that you'd like us to know.
DEATH OPT IN: Yes or no! Characters can and will find things without the possibility of death, but certain plot-items require a death opt-in.

<b>CHARACTER:</b> Character's name. <b>AREA SEARCHED:</b> What area are they searching? <b>INTERESTS:</b> Are they searching for something in particular? What are they looking for? <b>OTHER:</b> Is your character an incredibly astute super soldier? Does your character canvas a room left to right? Use this space to address any search habits that you'd like us to know. <b>DEATH OPT IN</b>: Yes or no! Characters can and will find things without the possibility of death, but certain plot-items <b>require a death opt-in.</b>

[callada]

CHARACTERS: Rosinante & Law
AREA SEARCHED: Tunnels
INTERESTS: These two are going to help push ahead in the hopes that they'll be able to ensure the safety of others who might need to use these tunnels to get back and forth. Their hopes are to continue in the search for finding out what happened to the Wild Hunt.
OTHER: They're both very armed and capable in a fight, Law with his sword and ope-ope fruit powers and Rosinante favoring his shotgun for close quarters plus the ability to let them search in silence as needed. They're both mentally sharp, Law can easily move obstacles or teleport them around if needed, and Rosinante has developed a tendency to photograph useful details with his tablet and keep all sorts of notes that way.

Worth noting is that if things go dramatically south and Law somehow dies, Rosinante does still have his unused hearthstone from Dr. Solis and can nope out back to The Invincible, but would only do this as an absolute last resort to avoid his own death (as he's had a few of those now). He'll keep it accessible in his pocket rather than buried in his bag for this trip.
DEATH OPT IN: Yes, they know this is dangerous and they're willing to take that risk.

TW: BODY HORROR, GORE

[nextnightmods]

The tunnels themselves start scattered and relatively empty. It seems as if the Wild Hunt themselves didn't use this area much. The mines might be in potentially operative order, though learning how to mine uranium is not likely to be an easy task.

As they go deeper, they start to notice a smell. More than musty, stale mine shafts. Something putrid. Something rotten. Something decaying. It's enough to turn the stomach, linger in their throats, coat their tongues whether they like it or not as they press further. The taste of death in the air. They know what they're like to find before they find it. In fact, as they draw closer, they find the floors stained and slick with blood, like a red carpet welcoming them forward.

What they find is a mass grave, though, frankly... grave isn't the right word. There's a dozen bodies, maybe more. Cleaved and butchered, limbs and flesh and viscera and skin. Some of the bodies are vaguely recognizable to Rosinante, members of the Wild Hunt from their time in Beacon. They're long dead, however, probably were before they were harvested and butchered like animals. There's buckets and odd bowls and random containers about, some half-full and some bloodied and empty, scattered aimlessly in the bodies.

The badly lit tunnel is pitch dark past the bloody pile. However, the fellas can hear movement ahead. Sluggish, rhythmic thuds.

[policier]

CHARACTER: javert
AREA SEARCHED: storage & processing area
INTERESTS: his primary goal is to get information on the wild hunt, but he will also be keeping an eye out for any tools or supplies that may help them escape or keep people alive.
OTHER: javert is one of the most wisest and thorough detectives in his canon. he has a keen eye for details and will sweep the area meticulously. he has two pistols with him, one loaded with armor piercing bullets and the other with regular bullets. he also has his sword for close combat as well as a knife and a small first aid kit if he gets injured. if a spirit attacks him, he will aim to kill, not to incapacitate.
DEATH OPT IN: yes

[p0isonpink]

CHARACTER: Reiju
AREA SEARCHED: Mechanics area
INTERESTS: She'll have two primary focuses: the operation of the mine itself and any functioning or repairable mechanical implements to assist in exploring the mine tunnels, and evidence of what happened to the Wild Hunt.
OTHER: My character is in fact an incredibly astute super soldier. She's also knowledgeable about technology and mechanical operations. She is methodical in her examination and uses her tablet liberally to take photographs from various angles of everything that looks even moderately important. Even if she doesn't recognize something, surely someone else in the group will.
DEATH OPT IN: Yes.

[worthallthis]

CHARACTER: Soldat and Misty
AREA SEARCHED: Crew quarters
INTERESTS: Technically they're looking for Javert who ran off on his own, but they'll give the place a thorough investigation in the process, since nobody else has been this way yet.
OTHER: Soldat, uh, is in fact an astute super soldier, and Misty is a suspicious witch. Soldat is loaded down with two handguns, like five knives, body armor, enhanced senses, his unbreakable rope, and a heat-sensing scope just in case since that will point out anyone with a lantern and that's what they're looking for. (He left the rifle it attaches to at the cart, figuring it would be less useful in a small area like this.) Misty has her magic and a cudgel and a bad attitude, and is probably more focused on watching Soldat's back than the search itself.
DEATH OPT IN: Yes, though given both of them are extremely protective of each other, it's likely if anyone dies it's because they're trying to protect the other...

MOD-GENERATED FEAR EXPERIENCE.

[nextnightmods]

Want a tailor-made nightmare from the mods themselves? Let us know here! Please note that there is a chance of plot info, however the plot info will be related to what happened in the past. Additionally, there is a potential for injury or death involved in this option. An opt-in is required for death, but consider it a high-risk, high-reward option.

CHARACTER: Character's name.
FEARS: Give us an idea of what scares them. What gets under their skin (literally is fine). Listing characters they are close to could be helpful. We can also wildcard it for characters with limited fears.
OPT OUT: Any fear experiences you are not comfortable being included, triggers, etc, please list them here.
OTHER: Where are they likely to explore? What is their behavior in the mines? How are they treating the spirits? This is your place to share flavor to help mods tailor a fear experience to your character.
DEATH OPT IN: Yes or no! Characters can and will learn things without the possibility of death, but certain plot-items require a death opt-in.

<b>CHARACTER:</b> Character's name. <b>FEARS:</b> Give us an idea of what scares them. What gets under their skin (literally is fine). Listing characters they are close to could be helpful. We can also wildcard it for characters with limited fears. <b>OPT OUT:</b> Any fear experiences you are not comfortable being included, triggers, etc, please list them here. <b>OTHER:</b> Where are they likely to explore? What is their behavior in the mines? How are they treating the spirits? This is your place to share flavor to help mods tailor a fear experience to your character. <b>DEATH OPT IN</b>: Yes or no! Characters can and will learn things without the possibility of death, but certain plot-items <b>require a death opt-in.</b>

[p0isonpink]

CHARACTER: Reiju
FEARS:
- Drowning
- Twofer: her father, and his ability to force a loss of self-control on her. She is programmed to be obedient to her father no matter her desire to rebel against him.
- Being forced to hurt innocent people, and/or being (rightfully) accused of all the bad things she's had to do in life.

Characters she is close to: Pudding, Soldat, Cao Pi. She also has highly ambiguous CR with Rosinante.
OPT OUT: I can't think of anything that would be really relevant to Reiju. Just in case: no forced eating or eating disorder-related stuff.
OTHER: Reiju is particularly interested in mechanical apparatus in the mines. She's also on high alert for the possibility of bad air, and ready to take point on dealing with it -- as she's the one who is least likely to be harmed by it (immunity to poisonous things, and ability to control them when wearing her raid suit, which she is). Insofar as interactions with the spirits go, she's actively trying to fight them, doing her best not to kill them, but is taking the safety of the rest of the group as her primary priority.

In a nutshell: doing her best to play protector for the rest of the group, using the advantages that make her not fully human. You might call it auditioning to be counted as a worthwhile human being and part of the community.
DEATH OPT IN: Definitely. She's not going to be foolhardy but she is absolutely putting herself between danger and other people as much as she can.

SPIRITS.

[nextnightmods]

Please let us know here if your character killed a spirit or if your character chose a non-fatal route. While it is an option to not kill the spirits, characters will have to find a way to contain those spirits while they are trapped in the mines.

CHARACTER: Character name here.
CHARACTER ACTION: Did your character kill spirits? If so, how many? Or did they manage to incapacitate them?
OTHER: Please describe how the character kept the spirits contained. If there is a group effort in containing the spirits, it is perfectly fine to list the same option as someone else!

<b>CHARACTER</b>: Character name here. <B>CHARACTER ACTION:</b> Did your character kill spirits? If so, how many? Or did they manage to incapacitate them? <b>OTHER:</b> Please describe how the character kept the spirits contained. If there is a group effort in containing the spirits, it is perfectly fine to list the same option as someone else!

[callada]

CHARACTER: Rosinante and Law
CHARACTER ACTION: Some dead spirits, some incapacitated spirits, see below.
OTHER: The one spirit that attacked Law in their explore is quite dead. Rosi blasted it with his shotgun that initial time, Law chopped it into a few pieces with his Amputate ability after so it couldn't run off deeper into the tunnels, and Rosi finished it off with a blast to the head and anything else that looked like it might still move afterward.

They likely encountered others either previous to that point or after while trapped in the mines and what may come as a surprise to some people in Beacon is that Law is typically the less murderous of the two, so while Rosi would be prone to killing any that presented an actual immediate threat, the bulk of those they encountered were incapacitated by Law, who prefers to disable his victims by severing their legs, heads, arms, etc and just sticking them on walls or in makeshift prisons carved from the stone around them by his ability. Dismembering the spirits with his ability does not kill them and he can reattach the parts any way he likes, so for example it's possible for groups to come across a spirit's legs sticking out of one wall, its torso stuck to the ceiling, and its head on the opposite wall. As long as nobody picks up all the pieces and puts them back together, the spirit will stay stuck in its various places, alive, and conscious - it can still talk and see, feel pain if someone pokes it in the foot, etc but is pretty much incapacitated otherwise.

Honestly it might be preferable to be dead, but Law's a doctor, he doesn't like killing creatures unless he absolutely has to. So now most of the ones they encountered are some macabre wall ornaments I guess, with only a few shot through the face for getting too dangerous too quickly.

Re: SPIRITS.

[worthallthis]

CHARACTER: Bucky/Soldat
CHARACTER ACTION: One spirit got a shot to the eye on the explore with Misty, one other got multiple shots point blank during the surge attack when he thought it was Alexander Pierce. It's likely at least one more wound up dead, but he was aiming for defense when not in the grip of a hallucination.
OTHER: Soldat and Misty did tie up a torture victim spirit on their explore, using various chains from the walls. During the surge attack, he did try to knock spirits out or throw them into things as much as possible, but there was some injuring going on.

Rosinante | OTA who are going to the mines

[callada]

night on the trail

It's satisfying to follow the tracks past where they had stopped before, and nice this time to have gear with them - tools, in case the mines have collapsed anywhere; plenty of food and water if they have lots to explore, or if there are still trapped people to help. It's less satisfying when the cart breaks down and they have to stop, but at least it means there's time to rest.

When he leans back against the cart and tries to doze, he finds it utterly impossible. Insomnia is nothing new but he's plagued by nightmares from his childhood, as vivid as they were when he saw them firsthand - being chased, beaten, tortured over the flames of his burning childhood home. He snaps his eyes back open more than once, heart racing, and gives up on rest as he instead lights a fresh cigarette and hunches forward over his knees.

He swears he can feel eyes on him - from those around him; from the unseen things that lurk in the dark. Trying to mask his uneasiness, he looks over at whoever is nearby. "Guess I've gotten too used to sleeping in a bed," he says, chuckling as if this is all perfectly fine. "What do you think, can't be much farther, right?"

gods and devils

Over a day has passed trapped in these depths. He'd told Will he'd probably be back by now, but that's not happening.

It's hard to fight back the old fears that have risen to the surface. Beacon has felt almost safe; most here don't know what he is, what his parents were, and the few who've seen glimpses thanks to that one earlier break in his sanity months ago didn't have the context to understand. Now, it feels like everyone is moments away from realizing. He's seen them staring. They're still staring, watching his every move, waiting for the moment to catch him off guard and throw him down some abandoned pit. The only thing he can do is to keep making himself useful. The spirits here aren't their friends, not like the last ones to visit. These are monstrous horrors that seek to tear them all apart.

"Look out!" he shouts, as another pack of them comes around a corner, and levels his shotgun at the seeking masks. "They're trying to separate us. Stay behind me and they won't hear us."

They can still see the lanterns, of course, but for the moment they have a few seconds to organize before the spirits come running.

everyone's worst nightmare

One moment he's clutching at his own throat, gasping for air against a mine tunnel; the next he's pinned with fear as unseen hands hold him in place. It's been days, there's no way out, and the fear is crushing.

They know. They must. The hallucinations run rampant; he sees fragments of other people's personal horrors and knows that his have been let loose on the group, and he can't even move. He sags in place, knees buckling, mouth dry.

"How do we get out?" he whispers. "I just... want to go." The damned spirits can have these mines and everything else that remains in them. It's too much to bear.

wildcard

Rosi's own fears are here and I'll be drawing from others people have posted as well! Feel free to see him as a Celestial Dragon, or see his child self running deeper into the mines (and it's a-ok to know that's him, by the way). As always, hit me up on plurk or in DMs if you have anything you want to hash out first!

Worst Nightmare

[worthallthis]

Soldat has just finished with some seriously overkill shooting of a spirit that looked like one Alexander Pierce, and they're all but panting as they back away from the body, bumping into Rosinante as he slumps down. The gun comes up hastily-- it's empty, so it won't hurt him-- and they twitch away, but then they register who it is.

"Ros-- Rosinante. You. Are you hurt." They lower the gun again, and finally eject the clip to slam in another one.

this is technically a wildcard I guess

[donttalktome]

This feels stupid. More than that, it feels very... unlike him.

Will paces back and forth at the south edge of town, leaving a trail through the fallen leaves to mark where he's already been. It's a bit chilly out now, but even without a winter coat, he barely notices. Also unlike him— normally he'd take any opportunity to be uncomfortable and grumpy about it, but things have hardly been normal lately, even for Beacon.

He was already worried about the expedition to the mines, and he told himself it was because more than half the town went along. Half their manpower, half their chances of survival. Somewhere he knows that isn't entirely true. To top it all off, things... happened while the others were gone, and he doesn't entirely know what it means. The expedition is alive, that much he knows from Rosinante's messages, but that is far from the only thing he wants to talk about.

And since he can't stop thinking about it either, here he is. Just sort of waiting for everyone to limp back into town. Rosi would seek him out, he knows, but there's no point in wasting time.

Even if that's essentially what he's currently doing.

[theimpatientone]

The Long Trail

She's not sure why she's here, why she's come, why she's involving herself, except that it seems important. It seems like a thing that needs doing, so she's here to help, to be one more pair of eyes on watch.

Merwen's found some sort of cloak with a hood to keep warm with, though (unsurprisingly) that is the only piece of clothing she is wearing. When she comes to take over from someone else's watch, though, her complexion is ashen, her face haggard. "If you need rest, I can share watch."

The Descent

Oh. Okay. She suddenly found she has a limit.

Merwen stops, abruptly, at the elevator. "This goes deeper," she says, her voice thick. "I cannot. I cannot. Stone above and stone below and stone on all sides, I cannot go further into stone, I cannot."

She covers her face, suppressing a sob.

Let the Devil In

Having remained above while other people explore deeper into the mines than she has any will to go, Merwen waits, a watch at the elevator, cross-legged against the wall, her lantern between her legs. This place, these mines, a dead place to dig dead stone out of the earth, is horrific enough for her on her own.

But there is no word for "metal" in her language, and while admittedly she's not always the best at telling metal and stone apart, there is a particular type of metal that she will never forget. At some point the mines became that metal, the coldness of steel, all around her, and there's the hum of machinery in her ears, and distantly, the crying out of voices she knows.

"No," she moans, unable to stop listening. "No. How did they get them? My daughters. They have my daughters."

And when she turns to look someone in the face, her expression turns to horror, grief. "Is this your doing? Have you come to share your sickness with me again?"

Descent

[worthallthis]

Oh, no, Merwen... Soldat can understand. They really can. They wave the others off for a moment and come to her side. They've been trying to practice this touching thing, trying to extent their limits on contact, almost exclusively for this kind of situation.

So they gingerly put the flesh hand on her shoulder, petting slowly. "Hey, hey. It's okay. Take your time, doll. You don't gotta go anywhere you don't want to."

Trail

[callada]

"Thanks," he sighs at the offer, but his eyes are turned to the sky above, with its missing stars. His cigarette is almost out, and rather than snuff it out and let her take over, he fumbles in his pocket for another.

"I'm all right, though. Hard to get much sleep out here," he explains as if that's fully the reason before turning his head from where he's sitting to look over at her. And hey, look at that, she has clothing on, sort of. That's new. "I like your cloak, that looks warm."

Bucky/Soldat | OTA for mine crew

[worthallthis]

I. Guard Duty, Outside Edition

Soldat is not expecting to sleep much this trip. They never do, on these things, not unless they last days and days. So once the group is forced to stop for a few hours and let everyone rest, Soldat stays on their feet, volunteers to keep watch, prowls around the cart and those actually trying to sleep.

Sings warnings and then throws knives at any spirit that creeps close to try and steal (or hurt; he doesn't know they're not violent), aiming to frighten or to wound rather than kill.


II. Guard Duty, Inside Edition

Then they're inside, and Soldat's goal is to keep the supplies safe, provide a home base for everyone else to return to for meals and patching up. Sure, they have Law, but Law isn't always at the observation deck, and maybe they don't need Law for little things, anyway.

It still seems safer than risking running into green-eyes and potentially betraying the whole team. Or even just being useless, lost in memories of the Chair.

So Soldat stays put. Prowls the deck and the nearest branches of the tunnel, always keeping their supplies in sight.


III. Guard Duty, Babysitting Edition

Well, until Javert disappears, anyway. Soldat took one turn around the "safe" area and suddenly the Inspector is gone. "Hey-- hey, have you seen the Inspector?" they ask whoever's still there, trying not to sound worried. And failing. "Javert? He was just here."

The guy has been known to go off on his own, the idiot, but they're in hostile territory and he could well have been fucking kidnapped, too.


IV. Guard Duty, Spirit Flood Edition

Running back from their fruitless search for Javert (provided nobody dies, anyway) at the sound of the spirits clamoring into the main deck, Soldat has a gun out and at the ready, calling ahead in the spirit language, "Stop stop we are friendly!"

Not that it does any good. They will plant themselves between anyone wounded or caught off-guard and fight, hurling spirits away with the metal arm, knifing them, shooting them if they have to, all the while pleading that the spirits stop, please, they don't want to hurt anyone. Their goal is not to kill, but they'll absolutely do so if they must. Though when one surges up in front of Soldat wearing the face of Alexander Pierce, they actually scream and empty half a clip into the spirit's mask, and then the rest into the spirit's body when it collapses. That's fifteen bullets into one poor feral spirit.

Only then does the vision let go and they blink down in confusion, panting. Uh. Oops. Good thing the Glock has plenty of extra ammo. Thanks, Crowley.

late iv

[policier]

( Javert is not much farther behind him, rushing in to the sound of gunfire and Soldat's screams. His pistol is already in his hand when he enters, and he doesn't hesitate to shoot the nearest spirit that crosses into his path. What the devil had happened while he was away? Had the spirits taken advantage of their inattention to attack?

He doesn't have time to consider it. He notices Soldat standing nearby, breathing heavily and near to trembling, and Javert goes to him without a second thought. His gun is held at his side, his stance protective and alert, and with his finger still pressed against the trigger. He doesn't dare to touch Soldat, though he does stand as close to him as he can manage, asking, )

What happened?

Cao Pi | open

[pure_havoc]

[Cao Pi did not go to the mines. Someone needs to guard the town, and after the relatively breezy time they had down at Helix Station (proximity to dead World Eater notwithstanding) he came back feeling like the other shoe was about to drop. They don't need any more food, supplies, or lanterns falling to mischief, so one pair of swords is still in Beacon.

At the very end when the spirits begin to find the town and infect it with fear, he can be found standing with his back to the bonfire, staring at the remnants of the bluff where the lighthouse once was with a look of angry fear knitting his brows. No one else can see it unless they come close enough - an arm's breadth away and you might see the shimmer of mirage, a haze around the bluff, suggesting that there is something there. Stand there long enough and you can get an idea of what it is. Touch Cao Pi, even just brush his arm, and you'll be drawn into the shared nightmare:

There is a massive, eight-headed serpent monster sitting on the rocks, roaring a challenge to the skies, occasionally blasting something distant with a fireball from one or more sets of jaws. It's as if it will spot the Bonfire and come for it any second now.

Cao Pi is frozen where he is, though how much of it is fear and how much of it is uncertainty is hard to say. He has no idea how to handle this thing, now that it's here. If you haven't spotted it yet, come closer to hear him murmur.]

How did it get here...? Did the portal do this...?

[paletteswap]

[Things are most assuredly not going well. And not simply because Kuai is fretting over those who went to the mine (which he will never admit under threat of torture), but the sense of impending dread that he's had since the return from the Helix Station has finally somewhat come to a head.

There's certainly something happening. He keeps just barely seeing something, and then it'll disappear as soon as he looks at it, until it doesn't. And then he's seeing all kinds of things he would rather not.

At least Cao Pi is a normal grounding presence.]

My lord, I would have thought you would go to the mine with those who have ventured forth.

[He has not spotted the monster yet.]

post-escape

[callada]

[Well, that was truly one of the most terrifying experiences of his life. And he's still deeply worried about the fallout that could come from it. That plus the injury really means he ought to keep to himself for a while, let it blow over, let people's urgent questions simmer until they come up against some other catastrophe to worry about instead.

But he has questions of his own, especially after realizing everyone's fears had run rampant in the last week. How had people here fared? Had they heard yet about what had been encountered in the mines? If anyone needed to be caught up on those facts it's Cao Pi, and so he knocks on the man's door once he feels less like dying in a corner of his own room.]

We found the mines. Found what happened to the Hunt.

Kuai Liang || OTA

[paletteswap]

The Send Off
Kuai has opted to stay behind, some need to remain and defend the town should anything happen to it. It'd be a shame for everyone to go out to the mines and come back to a massacre or the place overrun with spirits gnawing on their furniture and dragging their belongings into the woods.

It's a somber departure as the crew heading to the mine trundles away with the cart. He'll watch them until they disappear into the darkness and their lanterns are no longer visible.

By now he should be used to watching warriors leave who have long odds at returning.

Blood Runs Cold || Around Beacon
Kuai's normal patrol route is probably well known at this point: from the Invincible, across the bridge to the village, over towards the greenhouse and back. It's reassuringly familiar to have a routine that one does not deviate from.

But for a few days he seems to go off course. He keeps seeing things that give him pause. A little boy who hides behind a tree and then runs into the woods, gunfire he can never find the source of, bright lights, someone vaguely familiar in the periphery of his vision. While he tries to rationalize that these things are probably not real, he's been on the receiving end of the green eyes before, there's always the nagging sensation of what if they are?

Worse are the hallucinations he knows are things that happened. Things he'd rather forget forever. But things that follow him nontheless.

Kuai can be found all over Beacon, staring off into the woods or looking like he's about to go charging in there and investigate.

post-escape

[callada]

Kuai is another who should be kept informed on what they found in the mines. And as much as he may have thought to himself how overly-honest and deeply noble Kuai is, and how naive that makes him seem, right now it makes Rosinante feel comfortable. There's a sense of real trust. If any of his own personal nightmares had escaped into town, Kuai is one of the few who he feels able to speak with about them. Maybe. Sort of. Cautiously.

That, and he had seen the strangest thing out there in the tunnels. For a time, he had thought Kuai had come to help break them out, but it was just another illusion. He should know, in case others mention it.

Rosinante comes to find Kuai at his room, rather than stopping him in any of the common areas. He's just not feeling up for anything more public. He waits until he thinks he sees lantern light slipping beneath the gap of the door, and then knocks.

"You in?"

Blood Runs Cold - hope this is ok!

[390h]

She's seen him around the Invincible before, but his presence is a little...intimidating for a sheltered young woman, so they've never spoken. Just passed in the halls or on the streets. Which is what's happening now - she's just coming in, he's just going out - when Hope suddenly feels a blast of icy wind.

She instinctively turns away from it, gasping, and finds herself standing next to Kuai in the middle of a frozen street. Not the one she'd just come in from - this is a much larger city, more buildings than Hope has ever seen before - and entirely encased in ice. She knows what the green-eyes can do - knows what sort of things happen in this town - but fear still grips her. The door to the Invincible is gone.

"Are you real?" she asks Kuai quietly. If he's not, then she's all alone out here.