logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: DO YOU REALIZE? PART TWO

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EVENT LOG: DO YOU REALIZE? PART TWO

EVENT LOG:
DO YOU REALIZE? PART TWO

characters: everyone.
location: Bonfire Square.
date/time: August 18-19.
content: the party takes a turn for the worst.
warnings: violence, gore, character death.

"but if your lantern's too banged up to fix, you ain't coming back."

Late on Saturday evening, just as the party's hitting its stride for the night, the foghorn sounds. It's a frantic blaring, the deep, hollow bellows of the horn echoing over the trees in some approximation of a song, impossible not to hear from wherever you might be lingering this evening.

It captures the attention of the forest spirits, first and foremost. They drop whatever they're up to as soon as the first note strikes the air, and they listen. You listen, too, though any sense of understanding is lost on you. One thing is clear, though: the time for distraction is over.

•••
The tone of the party has changed, and not for the better. Before, the forest spirits at least seemed to be enjoying themselves, feasting and dancing, wobbling around and entertaining themselves. Now...

Now, the atmosphere has changed. There's tension thrumming through the air.

One's head snaps to the side sharply, focusing on something unseen in the forest. A few moments later, and others do the same: bodies locked in place, limbs frozen, they stare at something out into the darkness. Can you see it? Maybe. Maybe there's something out there... and maybe you'd better not attract its attention. Two pinpoints of green light, glimmering though no light manages to reach its body. It doesn't move, and neither do the spirits in town, but perhaps it's best not to disturb them.

A few aren't so calm. Mouths dropping open, the noises they emit range from low urgent clicks to desperate howls, but all give off a deep feeling of anxiety. Fear, verging into terror, claws digging into dirt and spirits skittering madly over buildings, limbs snapping erratically, the path of their movements understood only to themselves. They don't lash out at others, not yet— but there's a frantic energy to their movements which suggests something is wrong.

Good thing you're disguised as a spirit, isn't it? Although if you haven't gotten to that station yet, rotten luck. Maybe you better get to hiding, because right now it seems like the spirits aren't so keen on things that don't belong.

•••
Ah, but after that initial panic, the foghorn abruptly goes quiet. The lighthouse beam shuts off, too. The thing with the green eyes vanishes, and most of the other forest spirits have already fled or are still stuck frozen in town, but it's now that the others attack. Apparently not all of the spirits were won over by the party's attempt at diplomacy.

The hostile spirits attack with abandon, and can't be reasoned with. The only way to stop them is to kill them or detain them, although you could just wait it out and hope they move on soon. In any case, how you deal with the spirits is up to you. Feel free to NPC them in your own threads if you'd like to fight them or attempt to interact with the frozen ones, though the fighting spirits will continue to fight until dispatched and the frozen spirits won't snap out of it no matter what you do.

As far as what the expedition teams are up to, that's up to them. All expedition teams including the team that's with Winters are able to make it back to town to witness the chaos. What happened out at the lighthouse, though? The Winters crew will be sure to let you all know... soon.

And if you'd like to go after the spirit with the green eyes? Well, go ahead, but do so at your own risk.

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[He doesn't need the command to know that it's a good time to start fighting, he's on the defensive immediately as the foghorn starts to sound. Whatever the thing is in the forest goes unnoticed because he's concentrating on the closest potential enemies. ]

That didn't go as planned.

[He manifests an ice axe in his hand, because of course he's wearing his full armor at what's supposed to be a party.]

Perhaps they'll chase if we lead them away from the center of town.

You don't say.

[dry as the desert. This is a perfect time for sarcasm! As he backs up shoulder to shoulder with Kuai, likewise armored and ready to go.]

No. Did you see them? Out in the forest, the shadows with pinpoints like green eyes. [he shakes his head slowly, and raises his blade only to let a spirit dash past him, clearly keen on fleeing rather than fighting] Toward the darkness is only more danger. We need to stay together. Escort anyone who can't fight to safety, and then form units to do battle.

I saw them. But I'm not about to chase after them with all of this still occurring. Later whatever those things are will need to be dealt with.

[The horn may have been the catalyst for what was going on, but the creatures in the woods were responsible for sending the partying spirits into a frenzy. Or making some of them catatonic. He'd grabbed a few of the smaller forest spirits that appeared to be frozen and plunked them down nearby where they'd be safer and not get trampled by the hostile ones.]

Agreed. We have enough warriors to defend from what I've seen. But everyone is scattered. With any luck they'll make for known areas like the tavern.

Then let us make use of those instincts. Find people gathering in the tavern, the church, or the post office, and build them into units.

[easier said than done, but right now he can at least hope that the others will do so naturally and not just go literally every man for himself.]

If any have run for the village...

[oops hold that thought, this one coming at them is not running, it's here to fight. It's sort of a foxy thing but with a head - and jaws - far too big for its body, even the rows of razor-sharp teeth gleaming in the light from the bonfire. Cao Pi lunges from the protection of Kuai's side and goes to slash at it, cutting quickly to try to turn aside those teeth and find a part of it that isn't so sharp and much easier to stab.]

Those who have started to take up residence there may have. But the creatures seem to want to attack us in this area, I haven't seen them give chase. What's the difference between the ones that are hostile and those that are transfixed?

[he doesn't see much of a difference, and he hadn't really been paying attention when the attack came to determine if they all came from one area. Perhaps the ones that are hostile came from the woods, maybe they're a different species, he can't tell. And now isn't the time to dwell.

He sends a barrage of icicles towards the fox critter, with how spikey it is a lot of them shatter and bounce off, but at least it seems to have distracted it.]

You handle that, I'll get the one by the bonfire.

[He manifests an ice axe in his hand and charges off after a sort of wolf lizard hybrid that's heading towards them.]

[oh, that's rather interesting. Icicles? Ice blades? Looks familiar. Of course, Cao Pi hasn't even begun to test to see whether any of his special moves still work here but given how thick this battle is turning, he may have a chance to test it shortly.

The ice barrage knocks the fox-like spirit's toothy maw aside enough for Zihuan to find his opening and go at it from the side, ripping it to shreds and rendering it down for the count. For the briefest moment he wonders if there'll be consequences for killing the spirits they were supposed to have been befriending, but he can see the kill-or-be-killed momentum already, and he's not dying today no sir. He has a moment to re-hook his lantern to the sheath in order to draw the second sword, which he joins to the first with a click to form one long double-bladed weapon.]

I don't know. [he finally says to answer the question posed.] If there is one, I don't think it matters right now.

[he weaves easily among the stupefied ones in order to target the aggressive ones, focusing solely on threats and leaving the rest be. Pure Havoc cuts gleaming arcs through the air as it twirls and slices, making this whole thing look easy even if Zihuan is already sweating with the effort.]

[Kuai glances back at where Cao Pi is easily slicing forest spirits to pieces, reassured that the Emperor can indeed take care of himself. The level of skill he'd encountered in people here had varied wildly from knowing how to throw a punch to being trained in several schools of martial arts; he hadn't been sure which category Cao Pi fell into.

The axe shatters as it lodges in the wolf creatures head, and Kuai is already twisting to the side to freeze another one as it charges. Cao Pi is right, the why doesn't matter right now. but it's something that Kuai files away to wonder about in the future. If they know the difference between the hostile and the friendly forest spirits it may be easier to find out information from them.

A concern for another time.]

If we fall back to the tavern we can see who else has gathered there. Taking them on one by one will take too much time.

[As he says that he shoots a ball of ice at one near the perimeter that seems to be making for the forest path and the bridge. If the two of them get tied up fighting individuals then the rest could escape. ]

[Kuai is not wrong. Cao Pi pauses to look around and notices it for himself, and then nods, backing away past the bonfire toward the other guy and covering himself with his blade as he goes]

There seems to be no one else human around here. If the spirits aren't attacking each other, best to draw back to where the others might be.

[his eyes follow the lobbing of ice, and he picks up on the same threat. Attackers with no more targets in the immediate vicinity turning to go toward the village. The only long-range attacks he has are his own ice-based abilities, time to see if they work. Drawing the two blades apart from one another, he traces a circular pattern in the air and then closes the gesture with one sword thrust straight out toward his targets on the far side of the fire. The gestures call up a cluster of ice crystals floating over his head, which fly toward the rampaging spirits as directed, pelting them with shards. Between the two of them, they've made enough of a dent and a distraction to allow them to get out of the square and head toward the tavern, or so it seems.

Cao Pi merely sniffs a small grunt of satisfaction and turns to lead the way. He doesn't have a lot of that power in him but it looks like things are working normally, good.]

[His eyes widen in surprise as the creatures are impaled by shards of ice from someone other than himself. He's almost a little impressed, inclining his head in a gesture of acknowledgement. One cryomancer to another.]

You keep secrets, Emperor.

[Which would also be a conversation for another time. He tosses his ice axe into one of the creatures and follows Cao Pi towards the tavern, turning and shooting ice balls occasionally as he goes. He could freeze a small section of the square, but that would hit the non-hostile creatures as well. If it came to it he'd do that as a last resort, but the more innocents that could be spared (if the forest creatures could be called innocent) the better.]

Anyone with foresight would have barricaded the door. But I'm not sure many here are combatants.

[Cao Pi chuckles softly as he stays within weapons-distance of Kuai, watching his back and letting him handle the heavy artillery there] I keep a great many of them. But that was nothing - I merely hadn't had a chance yet to test and see if it worked here. Apparently, it does.

[it's not something he's adept with, or uses frequently, but what do you know? They have that in common. Ice buddies indeed]

More than you'd think but you have a point, they may or may not be locking it up tight. At the very least I would hope someone is on lookout to let stragglers in.

Was that in question?

[All his powers worked the same as they had for him back home, he wasn't aware that some had theirs taken away. Which may explain the lack of fire coming from his Grandmaster counterpart. Hm. He'd have to discuss that with him later.

He backs up to the door, throwing one last icicle blast before trying the handle. Unlocked. ]

Maybe they think the creatures can't use doors.

[Which wouldn't be a smart assumption considering most of them have hands. But he darts inside, waiting for Cao Pi to follow before shutting the door and securing it.]

[Cao Pi's only answer is a silent nod - he'd been paying attention to open discussions, he's heard a few rumors. Granted, his limited abilities aren't related to fire or light but he still hadn't had occasion to test - they only really come out when he fights. But that's too much to explain without an open discussion and right now they need to get inside and take a break.

Only when the door is latched does he sheath one of the blades, and then goes to the nearest window to have a look]

Of course they can use doors, they get in and out of the shops and post. [please let no one here actually be so dumb as to assume spirits can't get inside even when berserk.] All we can do is watch for any others still caught outside. I'm inclined to leave the spirits to their rampage so long as they don't harm the bonfire or... [ah shit] ...Master Rastus.

I know that. But people do strange things when they're frightened and unprepared.

[He closes his eyes for a second and then looks away. Curses. He hadn't considered Rastus. That's... unfortunate.]

If he's been here so long perhaps he's witnessed something similar and has means to protect himself?

[But he doesn't sound sure about that at all. He'd spoken to Rastus and he didn't seem like the sort who had a secret stash of weapons nearby.]

[well, Kuai, you're not wrong...

Cao Pi's face tightens, a mix of frustration and determination. They've got to protect Rastus, if the bonfire is their link to life and he's their link to the bonfire]

Someone will have to go and rescue him. Or find him, and make sure he's safe, at least. [turning swiftly toward his companion] Does he have a tablet, that he can communicate with us?

[he's literally never checked but. Speedy methods first, dangerous methods if that doesn't work]

He does have one, he's contacted me on it once before. But I think he prefers to not use it. He may not have it on his person, but it's worth a try before anyone ventures out to check on him.

[He pulls his tablet out from where he's been storing it in his tunic, flipping through it and seeing if he can put in a call to Rastus.]

[yes, good. You do that while he stands lookout]

At a time like this you would think the tablet thing would be everyone's recourse, sending out warnings and messages.

[and yet. Really, for him to grasp that value of this technology is pretty mind-blowing, but he'll sit down and work out the real advantages and drawbacks later. Right now they need to make sure everyone has gotten to safety, and if not, start organizing rescues. But how do you do that when you have no idea where anyone is?]

Those who are used to them, but many have no idea what they are. I find myself being technologically advanced here and I had need to use a phone perhaps three times a year.

[Meanwhile he puts in a call to Rastus and leaves a message. Hopefully they hear back.]

I wonder if these can track people. The Special Forces had something like that to show where their troops were. If there is that functionality I'm unsure how to activate it.

[KUAI WHAT IS PHONE]

That would be surprisingly convenient, so it's my guess that despite being a wonderful idea, it isn't possible. [with a huff of frustration] Like so much here. I can't help but wonder if maybe half the problems that need to be solved have been solved, previously, but then came a reset and all that knowledge and progress was lost.

[he's mostly just complaining out loud but as he says it, that idea takes hold. It might be more true than not, he'll have to hold onto that thought.]

That would make sense. We were here for some time before Will made the map program. He's been here for long enough that he probably had that already, and then during the reset it was removed. Rolled back to a period before that existed and he had to make it all over again.

[That makes a fair amount of sense if the reset is in fact a reset and not just wiping out the population to start again. ]

Same with the village. That's always been there but we just now discovered it. Those who were here previously would have had lights and pathways to get to it, but those were also removed.

[well that's an absolutely fucking terrifying thought thanks Kuai.]

...we cannot let that happen. What...foolish, idiotic sort of idea is that? Revive a world of darkness, but fail even a little bit and the entire thing is wiped out, down to the very memories of anyone left behind...?

[forgive him a brief moment of genuine anger. This is all so stupid, and he's only just realizing it.]

[Leave it to the optimistic guy to think up the most horrifying thing possible!]

It's all a game to someone. Our lives are meaningless to whomever controls this place. I had thought that might be the lighthouse keeper, which may explain what's happening. It was the sound of the horn that threw the spirits into chaos.

You're right...

[cue the biggest long-suffering sigh ever]

And here I had hoped death might finally be the end of having to deal with secret overlords manipulating everyone from their ivory towers. I would have liked to rest and not deal with this again.

I too had imagined something far different. Something slightly more relaxing.

[Though who is he kidding, he wouldn't know how to relax if his entire afterlife depended on it. Sounds fake.]

It seems this is our curse.

I should have been happy with simply being able to rest.

[no rest for the wicked, eh Kuai?]

Ah, well. Cursed or not, one thing at a time, here. Let us make sure everyone is safe, and then take the rest as it comes.

[if that means going back out there, or just locking the door and waiting it out, whatever, he's good to go. And hey, they were smart enough to duck into the place with the booze, so when everything gets frustrating, there's drink to be had. Could be worse, really.]

[He's doomed to always fighting forever it seems. And he certainly doesn't feel like its worthwhile here. Not with how many things keep going wrong.]

If Rastus does not respond I'll look for him, but its more likely hes not using his tablet.

[Or so he hopes.]

We all need a break from this.

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EVENT LOG: DO YOU REALIZE? PART TWO

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