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Endgame Pt. 1.
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Fright. Will rise. Once more. Tonight. Light. Will Die. Before. Your Sight. | |
Welcome to the first event in Awash's Endgame, everyone! Further information on this event can be found here at the OOC post. You are welcome to make your own logs and posts for this event! | |
t should be a regular day in the Town... but things somehow feel ominous, odd and just a little off. There's an eerie sort of atmosphere in the Town. One might chalk it up to how close the trees have loomed lately, but...
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[She's surprised, to notice that there's something going on at the well. Wasn't it too early for new people to arrive...?
She peaked over the lip...then quickly backpedaled as a creature crawled its way up the ladder.]
Get back in there! [That's when she throws a rock at it and knock it back into the well.]
What was that!?
ii: There is such a thing as too persistent
[Kaoru is walking with one of those creatures floating along behind her. She looks pretty annoyed. When she spots you, she gestures at the creature following you.]
I'm throwing mine into the harbour. I can take yours too if you want?
ii!
We had best not—at least, until we can discern some information from these apparitions.
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i
Karou! What do you think you're doing?!
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ii
Will that work?
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[ it’s about that time, isn’t it?
sierra rarely checks the well, since she’s not the idealistic young woman she might have been centuries ago, but it’s impossible to ignore the chaos once it begins. rather than people coming out, there are creatures. some humans, too, amidst it all, but the dolls make sierra suspicious of any bodies crawling out of the well alongside them. ]
Return from whence you came, demons!
[ sorry to anyone in or around the well who has to deal with sierra electrocuting the immediate area with a thunderclap. ]
[ whether sierra was friendly with the person or not, any unlucky returnees currently trying to make their way out of the well will be quickly faced with sierra’s claws, combat-ready. she knows that vampires can create doppelgangers of living—or once-living—people, and so it’s not such a stretch to think that the dolls might have managed to fully form those that were lost to them prior, too. ]
Do not take a step out of that well.
[ there’s no friendliness there: it’s possible that this is the coldest sierra has ever been with others in this town. ]
[ sierra is stubborn enough to remain in her flavo cottage even with the woods so close to her home she’s practically living in them now. this means that it’s not impossible that one of the dolls will eventually make its way into her home—when she’s dozing, possibly, because when is she not—and get her in one of her few moments of weakness.
her overconfidence means that much of her is numbed before she can actually fight back, but the one thing that she does have is her voice. taking a deep breath, she gives her best defense: a shriek. ]
Get your FILTHY HANDS off me!
( let’s plot! or just throw something at me! i’m up for anything and everything. )
iii
ELFIRE!
[A horse's whinny, and a fireball aimed right at the tallest doll - it's Maribelle atop her horse, tome in hand, racing to the rescue!]
UNHAND HER LEST YOU ALL TURN TO ASH BY MY HAND!
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i
Is it having any effect?
[ Somehow, it doesn't seem like the population of... creatures doesn't seem to be thinning out.
It's hard to say they're a danger now, but it's a little too late to tell Sierra to investigate first when she already fired off her magic. ]
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iii
Uki asked her if it was okay to visit, and... well, she didn't necessarily mean like this, and she didn't even know where Sierra lived. This isn't how she wanted to find out. As the faceless creature attempts to drag Sierra off, Uki draws out her Di-Sword, shining like a rose-colored beacon. ]
M-Miss Sierra!
[ Her voice, normally so timid and weak, is surprisingly forceful; her demeanor is all anxious adrenaline, though still quite obviously the efforts of a little girl being as brave as she can. Sword in hand, she rushes in to where they've dragged Sierra to and immediately strikes at the doll, the blade quickly coming down at its shoulder. ]
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iii
(It was why he was here today.)
There's suddenly the crack of a whip, then TianWen strikes the doll, glowing with golden energy that explodes outwards, increasing the force of the strike. But it's harmless to Sierra, no matter how close she may be. In fact, another willow branch seems to push out from the ground, wrapping around her gently to pull her away and back towards where Chu Wanning is standing.
His expression is absolutely livid.]
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II. Because nothing can ever be easy
His attention is immediately drawn to the sharp voice nearby as he drops neatly back to the ground beside the well, and-- ah... Nevermind the disorientation of being brought back--of realizing he'd forgotten all of this to begin with--because you know? He's been through a lot in his last 24 hours. He doesn't need this now, too.
"I suppose only a fool would expect any warmer welcome," he says, lifting his hands into a placating sort of gesture. Calm down...! "But I'm afraid if you expect me to stand around down there, I'll have to refuse."
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i. Anywhere in town
Tristan sits—upon bench, rubble, fallen log, or what have you—contemplatively strumming his harp, as the creature from the well remains close by. It could just be sitting beside him, or peering at you from behind his shoulder, or simply leaning in. Regardless, you’ll come upon this unusual scene quickly enough, for all throughout his ordeal with this specter he’s strumming his harp and singing some melancholy tune.
He’ll stop when you approach, however, and nod at you in greeting.
“It seems some disaster is soon to befall us.”
ii. Near the forest
You’re minding your own business as you take a stroll about town, drawing dangerously close to the forest before that faceless creature strikes out at you—
“Stay back!”
—and Tristan comes swooping in in heroic knightly fashion, smacking away at the outstretched hand of the creature. Too bad for him that his arm’s made contact with the creature, whereupon it quickly drops to his side, numbed. Yet still he persists in keeping himself between you and that ghostly apparition, though he does manage to find his voice in time to instruct you to:
“Run!”
iii. Wildcard!
i
Get up.
[
Whipcrack.](no subject)
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ii
There's too many things happening at once, but one thing is for certain - she is not leaving without him.
"G-Get back, let's get away from here!"
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ii
Then he steps around him so they're side by side. He spares a moment to glare at Tristan.
"I don't need to be protected." He'd let himself be distracted by the cacophony of the forest and the creature had nearly gotten him. He won't let it happen again.
He glanced at Tristan's arm. It had been working before, hadn't it? But the way it was hanging right now...
"You're the one who's injured. If anyone should run it should be you."
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i
But following the sound of the sad tune, it is no surprise to find Tristan-dono at the source.
Tonbokiri nods at the man's statement, frowns at both the human-like things that are hovering near-by, and sits beside him on the log. Rather than propping his spear against the log as well, he keeps a firm hand on it.
"I feel so as well. Yet we shall overcome it, as we have all the ones before." His sigh holds a sliver of frustration as he adds, "I'd rather it be a straight-forward disaster that we could fight through. Killing these things", he motions at the one lurking behind him, "does not seem right."
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ii
As Archer approaches, unless he looks closely, she'll appear as she always does - unarmed, small in stature, timid. But if he does look, one of her arms is stretched above her, the other seemingly gripping nothing at all. Every few seconds, there's a minuscule moment where an illusory blue light pulsates in the rough shape of a sword. When he arrives, though, and blocks off the creature from her view, her eyes widen and her invisible grip loosens in surprise.
"Mister Archer!" Her cry is shocked, strangled. She hadn't expected anyone to appear, and it shows - the moment he does, her entire body shakes. "I-I... I don't want to leave you..."
Especially because she notices the way his arm drops, and she doesn't quite know why. Her mind immediately races to the conclusion that he was somehow injured. If he's hurt, she isn't leaving.
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i
Berkut glances at the doll sitting beside Tristan, then at the man himself. It's obvious by now that something is bound to happen, but he should like to hear Tristan's opinion. Albeit by a small margin, disaster is still a marked improvement from sadness.
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[ You might find her within the chamber that houses the book, and you've caught her just at the end of using her foresight upon it: a gasp escaping her, her head whipping back as if she's just been slapped, and then a stumble back. Mythra clutches her chest, breathing heavily as she stares down the book upon the table.
Instead of showing any definite future, her visions show only a myriad of vague pathways and branches and offshoots and possibilities, nothing specific, but all there. It could mean that there is still time. Could mean, but then... with all those puppets shambling around the town, it doesn't seem like it. ]
D-damn.
B: Orders
You.
[ Hand! On your shoulder! Spinning you around. ]
Go write something in the damn book if you haven't already. [ ....As if she has any authority to tell anyone to do anything..... ]
Puppet People
[ The puppets might follow you, but it's only at the edge of the woods that they actually make a move to grab at you. At one point, Mythra just stops and turns to face her personal stalker, and it, too, also stops only a few yards away from her. This one is wearing garb from her world, but it's not of anyone she recognizes. ] ...They seem like half-finished products.
Wildcard
[ Have something in mind for Mythra/Pyra? HMU here with your own prompt, PP at
B
I beg your pardon?
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A
1/2
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A
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a;
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b
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Puppet people
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1/2
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[It's a face that clearly doesn't think it would be back here, especially not reappearing in a well that is nothing like the one she remembers.
For one, the creepiness has been dialed all the way up and of course, her first reaction to seeing a shambling, faceless creature straight out of her nightmares is to scream, the sound echoing off the inner walls of the well and off the water itself.
Backpedaling in a flurry of water, she gropes around her person for a gun, fighting down her panic, walking back and nearly tripping over her feet. Are you down in that well with her? Because she's whirling back, one hand coming up to grab your wrist before she realizes it's not a creature at all.]
II. The logical second step
[A shot rings out from the well, and in the moments past a crying, clearly distressed Shiho is coming ungracefully out of the well, glad just to be around something not-occult for a moment.
Which is why she clings to whoever is closest whether it be a tree or an actual person.
literally no one:
Shiho:]
I-I'm not crying!
i
And then she hears her scream and that's all the reason she needs to descend upon the well like a falling meteorite and kick the creature approaching Shiho.]
Get away from her!
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ii
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ii
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ii
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ii;
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I.
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[This influx of strange faceless humans is solved easily enough--with a sword! By which I mean the first few creatures to try to stalk Xie Lian get beheaded, stabbed, just plain killed. He's chopped the legs off this latest one, though that isn't actually a killing blow, so it's started dragging itself along with its arms.]
....These things are really quite tenacious, aren't they...?
ii.
[You know what's way too dangerously close to the tree line? His shrine.
You know who's too stubborn to stop visiting the shrine? This guy right here.
Having inevitably gotten used to what appears to be a harmless (if intensely creepy) follower, Xie Lian may have let his guard down a little too far...before he knows it, his entire arm has gone numb where the thing's latched on, and he finds himself awkwardly trying to reach the sword on his back with his free hand as it drags him back towards the trees. Someone help?]
ii;
Hmph. These things don't know when to quit.
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[ he's lived here a long time; therefore, he can confidently say he's seen a lot of weird and terrible things go on in this town. As he stands here watching blank-faced people crawl up out of the well (having arrived with the plan to help, as he usually does), he has to say that this might be the worst thing he's seen yet - only because he severely dislikes the implications of what's happening.
Lupin's not a violent sort, luckily(?); his first instinct is to inspect them, not attack them. The longer he lingers around the well, though, the more of them end up drawn to him, and at the moment, he's got a small crowd forming around him of a handful of gray humanoids in a menagerie of monotone costumes. After poking at them uncertainly with his cane (and, of course, after trying to talk to them, which failed completely), he's instead taking a closer look at them, and has the edge of one's coat in his hand, brow furrowed. ]
You see this coat? I recognize it.
[ great! ]
ii / near the woods
[ and he has one other important townly duty around this time - keeping people from wandering off into the woods. This time around, though, it's less wandering and more being kidnapped. If he spies your character being apprehended, he appears seemingly out of nowhere to give the offending doll a solid whack upside the head with his cane. ]
Close one. Can you stand? We'd best hurry out of here before they catch up to me.
[ who's "they?" that crowd of them from earlier, who are, of course, following after him and gaining in speed and determination as they get closer to the tree line. ]
i
Though his expression was as impassive as ever, he had been ready to jump in to help.
It wasn't necessary, in the end, but he remained hovering nearby just in case.
Now that he's mentioned it though.]
I noticed familiar outfits as well. [The blue uniform of SiSheng Peak disciples had stuck out to him immediately.]
...does it belong to anyone you know or is it just the style that's familiar?
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sorry i'm late
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[ This is not the first time Joshua has found himself at the bottom of a strange well.
This time, however, he has at least a slight inkling of what it might mean, and he's lacking his usual companion.
So he doesn't really have many reasons to bother sticking around at the bottom before he picks the likeliest looking wall, grabs a handhold or whatever passes for one, and starts climbing like a monkey on crack. ]
ii. out of the well
[ And here's some deja vu as he hauls himself out over the lip and drops to the ground in a crouch. The ninja-like grace hasn't changed, at least.
What has changed, if you knew him during his previous stay? Well, the noticeable lack of that tattoo that used to be on his left arm, mostly, but he doesn't really carry himself the same way, either. He's as calm as ever, but there's something more resilient about it now. Genuine, maybe, like he honestly feels at peace and isn't just sealing himself off from feeling anything.
He frowns as he takes a look around him. ]
...so, what did I miss?
ii
J… Joshua.
[ everyone else in the house has left. dextera didn’t think he would ever see one of his original friends again. ]
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[ Shen Qingqiu has been having a terrible, no good, bad month. It only feels like it has gotten significantly worse with the fact that there are Putty Patrollers! Not only that but a few seem to want to follow him around.
Cool.
(Not cool.) ]
Are you okay?
[ This is what one would call a STUPID question but he has no idea what else to say to these things? He dislikes the idea of calling them "things" because they came out of the well. Could it be all the messing around in the forest and whatnot has caused some issue? Could these be people that were dragged out of their world but not completely whole?
Why do they have to look to terrifying, then?! But at the same time, are they terrified? Without color, that means emotions are pretty limited, which means they are probably as chill as a person could be, but that just makes his heart hurt.
Regardless of what issues that he is presently having, he really doesn't think it right to leave these poor creatures on their own. ]
Come, come, come. Just following after me isn't going to do you any good. [ He lightly pats their shoulder as he leads them to take a sit down on one of the benches. With all the color drained out of them, there's nothing to do with conversation -- he remembers how hard it was to drag anything out of Wei Wuxian, after all! ]
Still ... will you be all right staying like this? [ How will they eat?
So, this is how someone finds Shen Qingqiu. Sitting with a magnitude of these odd creatures standing and staring at him, as he attempts to chat them up and return some color to them, like that is a possibility. ]
ii. No Good Deed
I can't say I'm great to be looked at--
[ His looks, as he considers them, are quite average. The Putty Patrol (and he is very sorry that he has nicknamed them such, and will ask forgiveness in his heart should they regain color and faces) would do better to look upon others that have a lot better looks to them! ]
All the attention is a bit embarrassing --
[ But he tries to give them a scenic tour around the town. He tells them where things are, wondering if they'll remember, and points out the forest to be avoided. Yet as he is pointing toward the forest, his arm -- his RIGHT ARM -- is suddenly grabbed. ]
Hey! HEY! [ As soon as it is grabbed, he feels the whole limb grow numb. What the?! This is by far one of the newer problems with the discolored, and could this be related to the weird way that they were brought into the world and --
-- he isn't so nice as to let himself be dragged anywhere he doesn't want to go, okay?! Filling his hand with spiritual power, he slams it into the chest of one of the lot. It shoves them back and he's certain if they had a mouth, they'd be coughing up blood. ]
Really! What is this about!!
[ But he's grabbed around the waist and his lower body falls numb. His legs slip and slide as he struggles to fight them off with his spiritual power. BACK OFF! He's able to be dropped but it isn't like he can get too far away. ]
Why. [ Really. He's starting to feel more than a little wronged here!! ]
i
What are you doing?
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ii
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[After the first few strange people turn up, Thancred can't help but wonder. He goes to find a little more rope, then goes to look into the well itself, humming thoughtfully.]
Has anyone had a very good look down there? After arriving, naturally. Since… well, I suppose most of us were probably somewhat distracted…
ii. white
[He's still trying to figure out the dolls- not that talking to them seems to have got much response. At least, until he gets incautious, and the one following him latches onto his arm.]
Ah-!? [He's going to dig his heels in, trying to reach for his daggers- but he's not pleased, reaching with his other hand for a dagger.]. Well- are these their colours after all?