EVENT LOG: WHEN THE NIGHT IS OVER

[nextnightmods]

EVENT LOG:
WHEN THE NIGHT IS OVER

characters: everyone.
location: Everywhere
date/time: March 15
content: The World Eater arrives.
warnings: probable violence, gore, death; mark threads as needed

Everyone here was brought to Beacon for this one reason: to try and find a way to strike back at the thing that threatens to end the world entirely. You've spent the entire time learning, preparing, and for many, making this dead world your home. You've made friends with each other but also with the forest spirits, you've discovered much of the town's past and have set out to ensure its future.

This is the moment that every decision, and every person, shall finally come together, or be lost forever.

i feel the weather change

At the missile silo, Weaver and those helping her have been busy for over a week straight hammering scrap metal into place, wiring the controls to the launch system, and running new cables from the silo to Solis' lab to get the place set back up onto the Beacon power grid - a feat possible only because several batteries were recovered from the power station some time ago. Disassembled drone pieces lie scattered for easy repurposing, and networked tablets allow easy network chatter between the silo and anyone at the Helix Station who has offered to observe from the lake.

In the distance, those around the missile silo begin to hear an eerie droning hum. Weaver's eyes go wide and her ears lay back against her head. "It's here," she says with a shudder, then quickly bounds over to the control system. "That's the sound that the lighthouse used for the reset. If I don't need you down here, get up top, and get ready to fight."

At ground level above, the snarls and warbled growls of spirits call back, but immediately, there's rapid movement in the trees and some of those calls are cut short with a gurgle. Masked figures with green eyes dart through the brush, giving the silo a wide berth as they move in to fight, but those who would be allies must be outnumbered as aggressive forest spirits, both green-eyed and otherwise, break through into the clearing and seek out the people of Beacon. Their many-eyed leader has been kept occupied, but these ones are still looking to pick off every creature with a lantern. It's time to stand and fight before they make it to those still below, who are preparing to aim and launch the largest bomb Weaver has ever built. If this wasn't difficult enough, the green-eyed spirits are up to their usual tricks - you may find yourself suddenly fighting someone who looks just like your best friend, or perhaps your own animated, dismembered body - a cruel vision of what might soon come to pass. They are fast, they are ruthless, and only with the effects of the potions will you be able to shake off these horrible visuals, so make good use of them.

i hear the river say your name

Those at Helix notice it first - the droning hum that had first been noticed as a minor vibration in the hull swells in volume until it can be heard throughout the station. Thanks to the tablet network, they hear when those at the silo do that the sound is the speech of the World Eater - and it must be very, very close.

Inside the station there's little means to act directly against it; however, you'll find yourselves plenty occupied anyway. The little spirits (and the large corpse-wearer, shrouded in decaying bodies) that had previously been docile and had tucked themselves into hidden corners in the station scurry boldly out of hiding, with teeth and claws at the ready to devour and dismember anyone they find. And proximity to the World Eater once again has its effects - you may feel nauseous, disoriented, or despairing; you may find that it's hard to breathe, that your fingernails fall off their digits, or that sabotaging your fellows is the only way to survive. The potions help substantially, even if the effects aren't completely removed, so drink up, stand your ground, and keep an eye on those tablets to help let those at the silo know when to fire, and if they've succeeded.

Because eventually the creature itself is visible against the night sky over the lake, a void in the place where stars should be, and that means it's close enough to be targeted.

i watch the birds fly by

Soon, Beacon Square and the harbor as well as the general reaches of town become a dangerous place to be, but perhaps you feel you need to brave the run - to get supplies, to check on your friends, to flee and hide as spirits emerge to do the World Eater's bidding. There aren't many, thankfully - for those who care commanded by the many-eyed spirit are busy fighting those at the silo and the green-eyed allies, and nearly every friendly spirit seems to have gone missing. But alone and in the open without anyone to back you up if you need help is a frightening prospect, made even worse when you see the distant figure silhouetted over the lake, vastly taller than anything else you've seen since arriving.

The disruption from all the fighting must have delayed the launch, or perhaps something else went wrong. Just looking at the World Eater from a distance creates a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach as it takes one long stride after another, drawing nearer to the town and singing that eerie song that drives the spirits to hunt you and to destroy everything you've built.

And then, suddenly, you hear something else. A counter-drone, a song like birds, like cicadas, like howling wolves and the strange whistle-warbles of the spirits, all merging into one. It's sung from every tree all around, and it drowns out that jarring hum of death.

The spirits so bent on drawing blood and viscera slow, and listen.

The World Eater slows, one foot raised into the air, then swings its head, seeking the source and finding it everywhere. And that's when it happens.

At the missile silo, Weaver has been successfully defended, but just barely. One of the spirits got to her before it could be killed, and a horrible gash has ripped through her clothing and the fur of her back. Her lantern is flickering desperately when she presses the button, and the makeshift missile roars and arcs into the sky.

From the square or the lakeshore, or for those watching monitors at Helix, the streak of vapor from the bomb's tail vanishes somewhere high above. And then moments later, it drops - landing not on the World Eater, but into the lake at its feet.

Rather than a blinding light, the tablet monitors go fully black as an intense roar and rush of water fills the audio channel, and the Helix Station shakes horribly, creaking and groaning as the rush of water from elsewhere in the lake strains every element of its construction. The noise and the confusing darkness persist for several minutes. It feels much longer.

But eventually, the darkness diminishes as stars shine through the mist and ongoing falling rain. There's still a tall column of water vapor in the air over the lake - it stays for nearly half an hour, slowly dissipating as powerful waves smash into the shore, triggering a small series of tsunamis that swallow the harbor and threaten, but never fully inundate, Bonfire Square.

The towering void has buckled where it stood, and only a few pitch-black spines jut out from the surface of the lake before they are slowly swallowed by its returning waters.

i see an emerald in the sky

When the spirits stop singing, the rain persists. Clouds billow up into the sky over the lake, and fall back down. The droplets are warm - warmer than the frigid air, than the ice and snow that surrounds the town.

The damage has been limited - most of the buildings still stand, for there were too few spirits that sought to attack, and those that did now sit in place or pace around curiously as if they hadn't just tried to tear out your intestines and dismantle The Invincible - which, actually, hasn't even seen a single scratch, as suits its optimistic name.

Many of Beacon's people may be injured, and many may be dead. But those whose lanterns still burn bright now find themselves in a slowly thawing world, as the deep and endless winter seems ready to launch into a new spring. Cautious and curious, spirits watch from the trees, then point out at the lake and chitter with excitement.

There is light in the water. It funnels upward from the foam left by the bomb, and with each ever-gentler wave, it touches the shore. And in a few tiny patches of sand, sheltered between rocks, green grasses begin to sprout.

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Comments

Rosinante | OTA

[callada]

1. Prep phase

Rosinante is at the silo doing last-minute repairs to the flooring, of all things. But it's crucial, even if not as mission-critical as the bomb itself. The floor is a mess of scrap and exposed wiring and pipes, and a clear path down here might mean life or death.

But in addition to swinging a hammer and hauling floor panels, he keeps an eye on one of the tablets linked up to Helix, and occasionally checks in when everyone else around him looks too busy.

All quiet here. How's it looking out there?

2. The towering wave

The signal was sent, the spirits have sung, and the bomb was launched - and there's a roar of water from far off. The plume of clouds rises high enough that it can be seen cresting over the trees even from the silo, where people now sit injured and exhausted.

He's alive, and so is Law. Not everyone was so lucky. He's about to sprint down to the control room even in his current state to make sure Weaver and Will are all right and that nothing got down there to him, because he swore he heard shouting echo up the silo's mouth a moment ago, but the cloud pillar makes him pause.

"You think that's it?" he asks, hesitant, afraid to be too hopeful.

3. Light

After his injuries and those of others have been tended to, and after he's certain that everyone is accounted for (poor, poor Pudding though), he ventures toward the lake to see the aftermath for himself. The column of water has mostly dissipated now, and it's a relief to see that nothing remains standing out there.

Quickly, however, the shimmer in the water catches his attention and he carefully crouches down to look. "Is that... light?" he asks, in awe, and covers his lantern with his coat just to make sure it's no reflection.

2.

[paletteswap]

Kuai has been watching the tower of water in almost disbelief, the grimace of pain on his face lightening for a while as he stares out towards the lake. It feels like things are frozen, like they're in the shockwave of an earthquake and the aftershocks will be coming, but haven't reached them yet.

But still it never comes.

"I don't see it anymore." But it's really too far away to tell, maybe the world eater sunk beneath the surface of the lake to emerge later.

"What's happening? Why is it hanging in the air like that?" it seems like the clouds and water should crash down into the lake and cause a tsunami to drown them all.

[callada]

"Dunno. I've seen waterspouts, but..."

Never that big, never that wide. This looks more like something out of myth - something from that outlandish tale by the notorious liar Noland. There's movement, it's not utterly still, but there is so much water still churning upward that it's hard to believe.

He glances toward the silo, again feeling a need to go check on people, but others are rushing down, and maybe the water is the sign of a greater threat they need to be aware of.

"Want to go look?" he asks, tentative.

[paletteswap]

Admittedly he'd hoped for a more reassuring answer from the former sailor marine. Something along the lines of that being a natural phenomena due to algae in the water or somesuch. He knows nothing about bodies of water and couldn't tell the difference between a shark and a whale let alone how tsunamis work.

"We should, in case we need to evacuate to higher ground." Maybe all the way to the mountains. They definitely hadn't planned for that - all their food and supplies are around the Invincible and the village.

"And if the World Eater is lying in wait beneath the surface, we should find out and plan some sort of second attack."

Or worse a retreat.

[callada]

A tsunami is definitely a concern for when all this comes back down, no doubt about it. But the column itself is so strange that he can't help but want to go rush over and make sure of what they're seeing before he starts panicking about a mass evacuation. His failing in particular is, of course, the serious lack of knowledge about a bomb this size and its effects.

Kuai is right on all counts, so he nods, and gives one last glance at the silo before starting to run for the shore. "We might not have much time," he says to justify his pace. Hopefully poor Kuai can keep up, Rosinante's legs are awfully long -

No, of course Kuai can keep up because Rosinante only makes it about fifty feet before falling and having to get back up again.

[paletteswap]

Kuai has that thought as well, that Rosinante is going to get there well before him. He's a fighter not a sprinter and he's not very fast. But fortunately Rosinante has a built in pace reduction strategy.

At least he knows him well enough to not stop every ten feet to offer a hand up. Well provided he doesn't face plant and go sliding into the water or down a ravine, then he'd intervene. As they get closer, going down the hill towards the lake, it's easy to lose sight of the plume of water amid the trees and darkness. Maybe the strange cloud is diminishing, but it's hard to tell when only catching fleeting glimpses.

And then they break from the trees and it's gone.

Did it plummet back into the water or simply evaporate? It seems the mysteries of this place continue. Still, they have reason for being there other than the odd water phenomena and that's to ascertain if the plan worked, if they're really 'safe' now.

"I don't see the world eater, but it may have sunk, the lake is fairly deep." There's an odd glowing, but for a creature that eats light, there could be a logical explanation. "Could the glow be because it's dead? Is it bleeding?"

[callada]

They ran as quickly as they could, and so it's a relief to finally come to a stop and catch their breaths as they look out at the water. Rosinante has a whole new set of dirt stains to mark the journey by, but there are more important things to think about right now.

"Or blown wide open?" he suggests as yet another option as he leans back against a tree, panting a little with the exertion. "Or maybe it's something else. I dunno. I've heard about glowing water from little animals too small to see."

But it's the sort of devil's advocate answer he doesn't really believe, given everything else before them - or not before them. "Whatever it is, it's a relief that thing isn't here. I hope it's dead. But maybe it left." Maybe the tall column of water was some sort of dramatic exit upward to the stars.

[paletteswap]

"Blown wide open is more than I hoped for, but it would be nice if that was the case." He glances back towards where they came from, everything sucking up the light where it looks like they had just emerged from a black hole. Those still at the silo would have to check on Weaver and the others, he didn't want to split their forces, but they needed to confirm the kill.

"If there was some glowing forest spirit in the lake we may have disturbed it with the bomb." But that doesn't explain the lack of World Eater. Or what happened to that column of water.

"I don't think it's cunning enough to be lying in wait to strategize its next move. Everything we know of it seems like it would lumber straight towards what it wanted without much forethought. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but if it was alive, I think it would have reemerged in the time it took us to get down here."

[callada]

"I agree. And it wouldn't just leave back up into the sky, it would come looking for us." Probably, right? Who can say how a World Eater thinks. It's almost a shame they never got to really understand, but doing so would have been far too dangerous.

"Wonder if anyone else saw," he says, as he takes his tablet in hand. "Anyone at Helix was supposed to be watching, maybe they know."

But he stops short of actually looking at the screen. He's holding it, but his eyes are still glued on the lake and its lapping waves of lit water, daring for something to move out in the darkness.

[paletteswap]

"It knows we're here, and it continued to come back after every reset, I find it hard to believe that it would retreat so suddenly. If it was injured maybe it's gone off to lick its wounds, but surely we would have seen that?"

Unless that's what the water column was, but they should have seen it ascending into the sky, even for as dark as the eternal night is. It would have blotted out the stars entirely as it fled.

"It almost seems too quiet doesn't it?" saying what they're both thinking, that they're just waiting for movement, on edge for this to be some brief moment of hope that will be dashed when reality hits.

[callada]

It is definitely quiet, aside from the gentle lap of waves on the lakeshore now that the water has sunk back into place.

"I don't hear the spirits," he confirms. "Not used to that. I wonder if they're all right?"

No birds or insects, or the creatures that mimic them. No far-off hoots and howls and whistles. They'd banded together to sing, and then all fallen quiet. "Maybe they're just as shocked as we are," he proposes.

[paletteswap]

"I hope they didn't all die as well. I'd wondered that before, if they might be tied to the world eater and ending it would harm them." For as much as he'd not understood them, fought them, and is currently suffering burns and bite wounds from them, he didn't wish all of them ill.

In fact some of them he'd been fond of.

"I hope you're right, that they're just in shock. Maybe they'll come out soon."

[callada]

"Maybe."

Cautious optimism at best, which is how he feels about the whole situation now. He wants it to be over, he wants everyone and everything here to be safe for real, but it's going to be a while still before he truly believes they did it.

"...Do we go out there and check?" he asks after a pause, nodding to the dark water, before pulling out his tablet to glance at the network chatter. "I know Helix was watching, but I don't feel great assuming that just because we don't see it above the surface means it's really gone."

Going out there sounds like an awful idea, of course. That means braving the water and potential proximity to the creature just to confirm that it's gone. But someone has to do it, because leaving the World Eater's destruction unconfirmed sits even worse with him.

3!

[donttalktome]

Will is well aware that he shouldn't be out here, but he also knows that if he didn't look, no amount of rest would really be effective. He has to see. He has to know. He's lived in both the literal and proverbial shadow of this thing for years, and he's not exactly a born optimist. He can't just take it on faith that it's all over so quickly.

... Even though that would be the smart idea, given his situation. The healing wasn't exactly pleasant, and it also wasn't perfect. He (thankfully) doesn't have to deal with making his way up any more ladders anytime soon, but his chest still hurts with every breath, with every movement in his arms. His gait still wobbles a little from all the blood loss. But he's nothing if not tenacious.

When Will makes it to the shoreline, he almost doesn't want to look. It's a good sign that Rosinante isn't staring at the horizon like a doomed man, but it's not good enough. He has to be sure. He squints at the receding mist for what feels like hours, eyes searching for any twitch of movement. Listening for that damn sound.

But there's nothing. It's all just still and silent.

Will almost doesn't register the words when Rosinante speaks, but they catch up to him. He blinks and refocuses on the water in front of them, and frowns.

"It almost looks... organic." Following Rosinante's lead, he shuts his lantern, but the glow remains. So it's real. But is that a good sign, or a bad one?

[callada]

"Could be," he says, then rocks back from his crouch into a seated position (with a bit of a teeter backward and collapse before righting himself on the gravel). He glances over at Will to try and gauge how he's feeling now, for he heard about the thing that slipped past and attacked the two down below and has been trying not to feel too guilty. The defenders above did their best; nobody would claim otherwise.

Mostly it's a relief to see Will up and walking. Had he not heard from him in a little while, he had planned to go over and check on him, maybe make some coffee. He knows Will doesn't sleep much at all if he can help it, and so it was a tossup between whether he'd want company or not. But now he doesn't need to wonder, and so he leans ever so slightly toward Will. With Will standing and Rosinante seated, his head contacts Will's shoulder - gently, though. Just a touch, since he's not entirely sure of the full extent of Will's injuries.

"I've heard about things like that," he continues. "Some little animal in the water that glows in the waves, right? Never seen it myself. I thought maybe... maybe it was the light that spilled out of that thing out there. Proof it's dead."

After all, it ate light, right? Is that a dumb assumption? If you cut open a monstrous fish, you find out what it last ate, so do World Eaters work the same?

[donttalktome]

As far as Will is concerned, the evidence that the defenders did their best is clear in the fact that he's still alive at all. Judging by how well (or not well) he and Weaver dealt with just one spirit, a second would've likely meant the end of them both. And with them, their chance at destroying the World Eater for certain.

It's sinking in just how close they were to complete and utter failure, how stacked the odds were against them. Of course he knew all that in the weeks leading up, but then there wasn't room for it between programming a launch sequence and making sure the old wiring wouldn't fail and just... everything else. There was no point in worrying, because there was only one solution.

He lets out a breath he feels like he's been holding for months. Defying certain disaster— at least that part's familiar.

He puts a hand on Rosinante's shoulder, which does double duty as repaying the head touch and also steadying himself.

"Right, an algae." Which is closer to a plant than an animal, but he'll let it pass. "Though they usually only glow when agitated. This seems to be a bit more widespread." In that it's basically covering the entire lake.

In another world, maybe Rosinante's assumption would be dumb. But here? "Light spilling out makes just about as much sense as anything else. We've never had this much of it, so this is uncharted territory." He pauses. "We should probably try to catch some of it." Yet he also makes no move to do so.

[callada]

"Like with a jar?" Lightning in a bottle. The idea makes him chuckle softly. "I don't really know if it's safe to touch it."

What if it burns? What if it renders him nonexistent, like the spirits with the aurora? What if it's completely harmless, like the light in their lanterns? It's sort of a frightening unknown, he realizes. This was the right thing to do, but what have they done?

He doesn't want Will to try messing with the light, either, at least not without some sort of tools, some planning. He turns his attention away from the light to look at him. "Glad to see you're up and walking already. You feeling all right?"

[donttalktome]

"Well not with our hands." Maybe they could rig up some kind of pole with a jar on the end. Use Weaver's drone. Something. Rosinante is right, that's a problem for later, as the light doesn't seem to be dissipating. It seems to be rolling ashore with the waves, in fact, so they might not have to put in much effort.

"'All right' is a subjective state. I don't feel fantastic, but I also don't feel like lying around in pain, and I don't feel like I'm about to collapse." Well, alright, he feels a little like that. But he's got a good support here. "I don't think the adrenaline's worn off quite yet. Ask me again tomorrow."

Because they get to have a tomorrow now. What passes for one in Beacon, anyway.

"And you?" Will glances down at Rosinante. He's still alive, and that's what matters. Whatever else is happening, they can work with it.

[callada]

Tomorrow, noted. He will ask. He'll check in regularly, in fact, or maybe just stay with him a while. Law is busy being the community doctor and there's little to be worried about, for now.

"Could be better," he admits with a similar tone as he reaches to shove a sleeve up his right arm to show the bandages that go all the way up. "Almost had my arms chewed off and blown up. The thing ruined Winters' shotgun," he grumbled, then smooths his sleeve back down. "I guess I'm lucky I lost the gun and nothing else."

The hallucinations, well, that's probably just stress. He read about that in that book. Law is fine and alive and doing better than most. They'll pass, surely.

[donttalktome]

The destruction of the shotgun makes him frown, struck by an unexpected sadness at its loss. There wasn't much left of Winters already, and now it's only his tablet. Wherever that is. Even the one who had it is gone, now.

"Chewed off and blown up? Not at the same time, I hope." Not that it matters, since whatever caused it is dead. For good this time. "I'm sure Winters would've appreciated that you used it to shoot off some monster's face." He's assuming there was at least a little face-shooting.

"... Pity he isn't here to see this." He tries to keep the emotion out of his voice, and mostly succeeds. It's not as if he and Winters were friends. They barely even worked together, and only then because they had to. He doesn't feel like he owed the man, exactly, for convincing Robin to call off the spirits. Truth be told, he doesn't know what he feels. But the least he can do is bring the memory up, right? The physical objects are gone, but that's still there.

[callada]

There was indeed face-shooting, as confirmed by his nod and his smile before he nestles his head a little more firmly against Will's shoulder. It was a mess, the whole moment, but he's here and he's alive. Minus one gun.

A gun belonging to a man they both admired, even if Rosinante barely came to know him. Winters' leadership and courage can't be denied.

"Wish he could know we did it," he agrees, and casts his eyes upward toward that star named after the man. "Him and a lot of others. Robin, Pluto, Dr. Solis..." He stops, not for lack of names but to keep from choking up. It's hard to balance elation at their victory with the grief of what it cost to get here. Will's presence here and now is a much-needed comfort.

"I still have the stock. From the shotgun, I mean. Dunno if I can salvage any of it, but if you think of anything..."

[donttalktome]

"Unfortunately, woodworking is not among my many talents." The stock is the wooden part, right? Guns are also not among his many talents, even if he now knows how to point one in the right direction. "But I'll keep it in mind." Maybe someone will decide to take up whittling. It won't be Will.

Truth be told, there are a lot of people he feels absolutely nothing about having lost. It's too exhausting, trying to find room among the guilt for everyone. Yes, he's generally unhappy with how many died, but he's already got a lot on his conscience and it wasn't very big to begin with.

He also doesn't have any comforting words about them going on to some brighter place and looking down on the survivors. Because that's all sentimental bullshit.

"Well, they're not stuck here anymore, at least." That's about as far as he can go. "The rest of us unfortunates still have to figure out a way home."

[callada]

"Home, or elsewhere," he says with a slow nod. "Can't say I'm especially in a hurry to go back. I miss the sea, but I wasn't exactly in anyone's good graces when I left the place."

Except Law's, but. Law is here now. And Will is here, at least for now, but:

"You want to go back home?"

He's careful to ask neutrally, to keep the worry from affecting his voice, but he's not about to presume he'd just be invited along.

[donttalktome]

He might never get used to stopping before he speaks, pausing to think about how his words might sound to someone else. Because unless he's been trying to cut especially deep, he's never really bothered.

"Well... I don't want to stay here." Maybe the threat is gone, or maybe they've just bought themselves another few years, but either way this place is too full of bad memories. And it's still dead.

"I suppose we don't have to go back to my world, but wherever we end up, this high-gravity nonsense has got to go." And weather? Whose bright idea was that? It doesn't occur to him that he's using we instead of I. Mostly because it doesn't occur to him that they might not be going somewhere together.

Of course Rosinante won't leave him behind, because he's important. And the same thing applies in the reverse.

[callada]

Will says we and it's as simple as that, and Rosinante's smile grows with each word. It's as simple as that, then. Of course, the we will have to include Law also, and hopefully Will is aware of that by now. But the feeling of being just naturally included, like there's obviously no other alternative worth thinking about, fills him with warmth.

"I want to make sure this place will be all right long-term before we go anywhere," he says. "And I still think we should make sure other places understand that the world eaters are a possible threat, and that they should be prepared. If there's a way we can arrange to go different places, that would be nice, and then maybe you could see where I'm from for a short visit before anyone notices I'm there."

Now he's just going to end up daydreaming, because suddenly the opportunities seem endless. Traveling across the sea of stars, using portals or ships, visiting new worlds like islands in all that wide-open sky, is the most incredible journey he can think of.