(event) SHATTER & DECAY

[vestigemods]

EVENT LOG: SHATTER & DECAY

JULY 21ST - 27TH

► IF THERE'S NOTHING BUT PAIN, PUT IT ON ME

On the morning of the 21st, the sun dawns peacefully over the crystalline lake just as it has every day for nearly three weeks now. Birdsong melodies soften the crisp edge to the morning air, and woodland creatures retreat from many a cabin backyard, unhurried but unwilling to contend with the cabin's residents as they wake. It's... peaceful, more so than one might expect after such a dire fate spelled out in the pamphlets upon your arrival. Perhaps, after many such days, it has managed to lull you into a sense of something like security.

Today we'll be learning a valuable lesson on why that is, in fact, a mistake.

Sometime between the 21st & 22nd, you begin to feel a bit... off. Perhaps the source is apparent at once, the ends of your fingers or toes going stiff and crystalline or swelling and blooming in small rotting sores. Perhaps the source of your discomfort is a bit less clear as your senses begin to sharpen or dull. But make no mistake, this is only the beginning.

As time passes, your situation only worsens. The glass or decay carves a slow but steady path up your limb or limbs. Your sharp senses begin to overwhelm you. Your dull senses muffle altogether. Soon, you may not be alone in your own mind, bombarded by the omnipresent thoughts and feelings of those around you in a way that you can't seem to hide from. Or worse - maybe there's no one around you, and yet you hear whispers in your mind all the same... Whispers which turn to yelling and screams and sharp violent emotions and imagery you can't simply close your eyes to because it exists inside your head.

But there is a solution.

It's detailed inside your new coffee-table centerpiece, a book bound roughly in leather and written in a language none here know or can recognize. All you know is that this book was not here last night. Not far from the book's front cover, you'll find two pages of illustrations with a page of text between them. One depicts humans holding their heads as if in distress, then cutting themselves or one another, then no longer holding their heads in distress. The next depicts much the same, but instead of a their heads they hold a discolored arm or leg... and instead of simply drawing blood, it shows them rubbing one another's blood on their discolored limbs. Skimming the rest of the book will find a dozen or so pages roughly torn from the bindings. Perhaps those were further illustrations. You may never know.

Besides - you have more pressing issues to attend to. Like bleeding, or finding someone else to, in order to make this stop.

You who only suffer the mental effects are lucky, in a sense. Your condition is deeply uncomfortable but it almost definitely isn't fatal. If you've found your limb crystallizing or rotting away, however, you have little choice but to seek a solution or resign yourself to a distinctly unpleasant death.

Regardless of which effects may be lingering, you'll find blessed relief at midnight on the 27th. Over the course of an hour, your senses will fade back into their proper strength, the unwanted guests will evacuate your mind, and the glass or rot will recede from your limbs to leave them just as they were before this veritable nightmare of a week.

Now, it's time to breathe, to recover, and to lick your figurative wounds.

► MOD NOTES

• This log is a general dump for all log threads pertaining to July's Shatter & Decay event! Feel free to utilize vestigenet for any event-related network posts you'd like to make.
  
• The event takes place from July 21st - 27th. All characters begin to experience effects by mid-22nd at the latest. Any event effects lingering at midnight on the 27th fade away over the course of an hour, in much the same way as they would if provided sufficient blood during the event itself.
  
• All event information (in detail rather than the flavortext I've provided) can be found on the July Event Infopost!
  
• Important semantics reminder! While you can have a character experience both psych and body horror within the event, both must be either rot or glass, not mix and match.
  
• Limbs lost or irreversibly damaged to this event reappear next time your character sleeps (as early as right when the event ends) unless you OOCly choose for them to retain the loss, in which case they instead regain the limb upon their next death + respawn. (If your character doesn't sleep, they go offline/fall unconscious and return to consciousness with the limb fixed.)
  
• Any questions can be directed to this top-level or, for a quicker response, to Trace on discord/plurk.

Comments

[mannerless]

( wei wuxian pulls his legs in crosslegged to give his friend room at the end of the couch, sitting up a bit more against the arm of it.

the questions are valid, but wei ying just hums with a dismissive little wave of his hand. ) Tried that. Didn't take. ( his mind is a bit too loud, between the events and revelations of last night and the prevailing presences still whispering (or pleading or screaming or shouting) in his mind.

speaking of, he nods a little in gesture toward the sleeve hanging limp at huaisang's side. quieter and a bit more serious, ) How is it?

[porndealer]

[Clearly.

It feels like there's a lot hanging in the air, not necessarily between them, but in general. A heaviness in their new home away from home.

Huaisang goes to say something jokingly, but Wuxian beats him. Asks about his arm and his fingers fidget at the empty sleeve.]

... weird. I don't feel anything. No pain. I guess I'm lucky.

[Lucky compared to others who dealt with worse. Rotting limbs and their minds messed with. He probably got off easy all in all.]

Harder to do stuff now, but it could have been worse.

[Huaisang forces a little laugh. At least it was just his arm.]

[mannerless]

( the laugh is forced, unconvincing in its entirety, but that's fine. it's fine if they don't really joke. later, they can pretend they did - can pretend they weren't cornered into genuine conversation by circumstance, by sliced and shattered limbs, by worry that neither of them are sure how to phrase quite casually enough to fit with the shape of their friendship as they understand it.

it's good, that there's no pain. having never lost a limb, he couldn't begin to imagine how it feels, and he's glad to hear that at least the painful part is over with. now it's time to stop thinking about pain, because it seems to encourage the presences in his mind to renew their efforts in wailing about their own pain. wei wuxian does his best to push that to the back of his mind. )

Stuff like what? ( no, he's not just rubbernecking huaisang's one-armed problems. he asks because, ) I could help.

[porndealer]

[That's how it works right? Hide any actual suffering and pain with something else. It's fine.

Stuff like what?

Oh he could make a list a mile long!]

Do you know how hard it is to get dressed with one hand? I can't even fix my hair, Wei-xiong. [Huaisang lays on a thin layer of petty whining, because in the grand scheme of things, looking good while he's lost an arm and the rest of the people are suffering as well? Not really that important. He knows it. Wuxian knows it.

But oh it's just Nie Huaisang complaining about vain stupid things o'clock. It's mostly an act, just to feel any sort of normalcy.]

Can't braid with only one hand.

[He sighs with a soft pout. For Huaisang he does look disheveled, clothes tugged on as best as he can and his hair has had most of the braids picked out as they'd started to look far too messy as it were. Only a couple are left, but even they aren't looking tip top and perfect. Reaching up he'll fix each of his bangs in turn, looking to Wuxian.]

I wouldn't want to bother you, I'll have to learn to do things myself won't I? It... it doesn't seem like my arm is going to come back. Besides! You have your own stuff to worry about.

[mannerless]

( wei wuxian sits up a bit more now, pulling his legs in cross-legged (and tucking the blanket around them again, more by reflex than anything). getting dressed, fixing his hair... yeah, wei ying can't even imagine trying to do either of those things without one of his arms, or even just one of his hands. he nearly lost one once, or would have if wen chao's troll woman had her say in it. at the time, he was ready to do it to save lotus pier, but he now can recognize that they were going to massacre lotus pier regardless and he has never quite been so relieved that his arm wasn't severed clean at the wrist before that point.

'besides! you have your own stuff to worry about.' there's a brief flicker of his brow, puzzled, because how does he know about a-yuan? but - aha, a moment later it clicks. the bandaging on his arms, that's almost certainly what huaisang is referring to. it's not as if he's covering them up, his sleeves are tied up at the elbow to make sure they can see if he bleeds through (since it's not like he'd feel it). )

Ah, these? Don't worry so much, Huaisang - it's just to stop the bleeding now that nobody needs it. ( yes, along the entire length of both forearms. someone needed quite a bit of it. but there's nonetheless truth in his words, he's arguably very much on the mend. )

And if it bothered me, I wouldn't have offered. Have you ever seen me do a thing I don't want to do? ( on a small scale like this, anyway. there are quite a few larger-scale things he'd rather not have had to do, but those are irrelevant right now. ) I think I remember how to braid, but you'll have to explain your fancy Nie braids. They're all in a lump up here yes? ( he's gesturing at approximately where one's topknot tends to go. )

[porndealer]

Tsk, don't worry-!

[Huaisang makes a face at him.]

Who needed so much blood? You should be resting not worrying about how to braid my hair.

[He'd be pointing his fan at him if he'd not left it up in his room. With a sigh Huaisang shakes his head a little.]

No no, an arrogant guy like you will make a scene before doing something he doesn't want to.

['Arrogant guy', how many times had they jokingly jabbed at each other with that title.]

[mannerless]

( plenty of times, and they'll certainly do so plenty of times more.

and even now, the jab has a conspiratory grin forming on his face before he realizes that works against him and shifts to something like a pouty scowl instead. )

Do you want your silly braids or not? So long as I'm sitting down, I'm resting. Do I need to bored as well?

( because that's what he is, or at least was before huaisang joined him out here. )

[porndealer]

[Good! The occasional 'arrogant guy' needs to be sprinkled throughout their friendship. It keeps things feeling like it had been before everything got too serious.]

Silly-! Wei-xiong they're not silly!

[Indignant, but not so much that he's actually insulted.]

... do you even know how to braid?

[mannerless]

I said that I do, or at least that I did once, ( he says with the faintest scowl, like 'keep up, huaisang'. one of the couch cushions is stolen away to set it on the floor in front of the couch instead, and he nods down toward it to indicate huaisang sit there instead.

if the man complies, wei ying pulls his legs up cross-legged and shifts to sit behind him, knees settling companionably against the backs of huaisang's shoulders. )

So your Nie braids - they're all in a lump up here? ( he repeats his prior question, one claw-gestured hand tapping fingers against the top-back of the man's at approximately the topknot location. ) Any along the front, or is that too Jin for your tastes?

[porndealer]

[For the moment things almost feel "normal". Back before the Sunshot campaign. When things were simpler and easier. Before he lost both of his friends. Meng Yao, now Jin Guangyao, to the hard justice of his brother and Wei Wuxian to the injustice against people who couldn't protect themselves.

But here in all this confusing madness, with everyone suffering. Some how they had this moment of something akin to back in Cloud Recesses. When they were just boys breaking stupid rules and just having fun. Huaisang moves to sit after Wuxian's insistence that he can do this.]

You make it sound so disheveled. A lump.

[Huaisang huffs, one of his wispy bangs dancing to the side.]

Hmph too Jin. They borrowed that from us you mean.

[Let's not get into it over hair braids now. He'll reach up with his one hand, a finger drawing an invisible line from his ear up to where the "lump" of braids would be.]

Sometimes we have a single braid here too, on each side. Don't worry about it though, I'll be very impressed if you can handle braiding the lump.

[mannerless]

( yes, it's a lump. a very braidy lump, but it's certainly no topknot so he isn't sure what else to call it. as for the second bit, wei wuxian grins, and - )

Ah, you see? And I wouldn't have known that. You've taught me something. ( about the braids, that is. he already knew that jins were dirty rotten thieves, what with stealing his shijie away. there's a selfish sort of satisfaction in the fact that she doesn't seem to remember as much here - now if only he could say the same for a-cheng.

he listens, of course, to the braid description... and while that's likely within his realm of capability, it might indeed be smarter to start on a smaller scale. ) Alright, alright, just the top then, ( he muses aloud, at once regretting having huaisang sit down before he's asked the man to fetch a ribbon or hairpiece or something. eyes drop to the bandaging around his arm, wishing at once that he instead had his robes with the sash-wrapped sleeves - if such wrappings could be used as a blindfold, they could certainly be used to tie hair.

but alas, no such luck. and so he lifts fingers to his own ribbon, tugging it loose and setting it ready in his lap. ) Now hold still, I'm out of practice. ( and thus he begins to collect huaisang's hair into what amounts to a high ponytail at the back of his head, smoothing it carefully along the top and sides (as best he can, at least, without a comb). tilting his head a bit, he examines the angle of it and decides it's at least close to the appropriate height.

the ribbon is reclaimed from his lap now, and he winds it once, twice, three times around the pony-tail to make sure it's tight enough to let go of the hair altogether, collecting both ends of the ribbon and tying a flat sort of knot, the first half of a bow that he never completes. it leaves the hair secure enough to actually set to work on the braids, so he releases the ribbon tails (huaisang will likely notice them falling down over his shoulders), beginning to braid the topmost segment. ) Now, tell me more about how terrible Jins are. ( what? he has to get something out of this, and he also has to pretend that helping huaisang isn't reward enough, so. )

[porndealer]

[It's all very intricately braided and done up to look like a lump. It's a deliberate lump thank you very much. He's not really insulted, but of course they both know that, it's all performance for a grasp at normality.

Huaisang would agree with Wuxian about the Jin. Of course they're not all bad, it was the same for any sect. There were always good and bad no matter where one went. Nothing was black or white, most things were very gray. Perhaps not as outwardly, Jin Guangshan was no better than Wen Ruohan if anyone were brave enough to speak up. Wei Wuxian had been the closest so far, even if he hadn't straight up said it to his face.

It was implied in a lot of what had happened the last time he'd seen his friend before he fled to the Burial Mounds with the last of the Wen. All he'd done is sat there and watched it all happen too, like everyone else. Done nothing.

Huaisang sits now as Wuxian asks him to. Hold still. Even when the tell tale red ribbon falls over his shoulders, Huaisang has to stop himself from looking back. He will however reach up to gently pluck the end of it off one shoulder smiling softly to himself before letting it fall back against his robes again. A dramatic exhale leaves him a second later.]

Where to start- when their robes aren't boring they're gaudy, though not nearly so much as their decor.

[After a beat and kinder in tone-]

San-ge might help with that a little... if anyone will listen to him.

[mannerless]

( that was some real weak complaining, huaisang. you can do much better.

buuuut wei wuxian supposes he can understand not necessarily wanting to disparage them too terribly, since that very san-ge is one of them now and huaisang did seem somewhat fond of him. )

He seems to be doing alright for himself, ( wei ying offers, for what that's worth. ) They gave him a fancy new name, a nice tall-person hat. He speaks for Sect Leader Jin now, that's certainly something.

( still braiding, braiding all the while. )

[porndealer]

[He was fond of Meng- er Jin Guangyao. When his brother had kicked him out wounded as he was he thought he'd never see him again. All through the Sunshot campaign Mingjue had tried to find out where he'd ended up, if he were even alive.

Huaisang hadn't found out what had happened until after everything had gone down, that Jin Guangyao had basically won the battle for them, along with Wuxian's scary new powers. Honestly having everyone safe was a relief, since he wasn't really allowed to be a part of all the fighting.

He just hoped things were okay back home.]

Wei-xiong!

[A little gasp that's mostly a laugh at Wuxian calling San-ge's hat a "tall person" hat.]

He's earned it, I guess I just... worry. The Jin are so stuck up and fussy! I don't think they understand how good they have it with San-ge there.

[mannerless]

( how hilariously misleading - 'since he wasn't really allowed to be a part of all the fighting,' as if he would have marched right in to slay puppets if he had been. good thing it wasn't out loud or he'd be getting a merciless (if fond) teasing right about now.

meanwhile, huaisang's concerns are entirely valid, and - hold on, give wei ying a moment to loop that uppermost braid back up, securing it in the ribbon just to hold it braided for now, then grabbing a new patch of hair to braid - anyway, wei ying sincerely considers them for a moment before he speaks. )

No, ( he says, ) they definitely don't. And they probably aren't going to figure it out, because they're more stupid than they are fussy, but that's fine. Even if he'd do better as some kind of actual advisor, maybe, it's not like they've given him a bad lot. ( he's not touching the fact that jin guangshan supposedly rejected the guy once already, or so the rumors in cloud recesses had said, because wei wuxian has a lot of negative and entirely-too-serious opinions about a sect leader who shits on the disenfranchised until they just so happen to be useful. )

[porndealer]

[LOOK. He could have fought! Maybe. Erm... his brother wouldn't have allowed it, not with his poor cultivation and fighting skills. Even if it were expected of him.

Which it weren't. Not much of anything was expected of him.]

He'd do better with us!

[Huaisang huffs.]

With da-ge and me... he won't tell me why he threw him out still, just that he betrayed his trust, but- but he could have died protecting da-ge.

[Could have died out there wounded like that too. He was lucky he ran into Zewu-jun. Huaisang sighs.]

How's it going? When can I see?

[mannerless]

( honestly, as much as wei ying usually has no trouble throwing his opinions around, he truly doesn't know nearly enough of meng yao (jin guangyao, pardon) and his relationship with the nie sect to know one way or another. he hasn't heard why the man was kicked out, either. huaisang is essentially his resident expert on the matter, so if huaisang says meng yao would've been better if he stayed, so it is.

now he's asking about the braids as if they're anywhere near done, and wei ying's scowling, mouth opening in something like indignation. he gives the braid he's working on the slightest scolding tug. ) It's going to take longer if you ask me that every two minutes! If you're so bored talking about the Jin, figure something else out. ( but that braid's about done now too, and he ties that up with the first one now to start on a third. )

[porndealer]

[Meng Yao is a cuter name fight me Huaisang had a lot of feelings about everything, but what could he do? His brother was sect leader and Jin Guangyao was now firmly entrenched in the Jin sect and he hated it. Yet he should be happy for him, isn't that what he wanted anyway? To be noticed and accepted by his father?

It still felt wrong, but maybe that was just him wishing everything was like before. So much would be better if it were.]

I've only asked once! Hmph, not bored, besides I know Wei-xiong will take his time and make sure I look my best.

[He could half ass it, but there was a time and place for such things. Wuxian wouldn't do Huaisang dirty like that. Not right now.]

Better than some pompous Jin.

[mannerless]

( and thus they bullshit for as long as it takes wei wuxian to manage to braid all of that hair, at which point he shushes huaisang so as to focus on what is arguably the actual complicated part: the bun. and it isn't a tight bun, either. some of the braids drape a bit, he remembers that much, and so he begins the process of winding the braids and tying their ends out of sight.

before too mind-numbingly long, he sits back in his seat to rub his hands together and survey his work. ) Alright, I think we've done it. ( it's... not nie quality, certainly not, but it's also not so bad as one might expect from wei wuxian. )

[porndealer]

[Once he's sushed Huaisang does his best not to squirm. He's excited to see the results, which is very obvious by the way he'll grab for his phone once Wuxian is finished.

He turns back to press it into his friend's hands.]

Take a picture, take a picture! I want to see!

[mannerless]

( with a conceding sort of grin, he takes hold of the phone and leans back just enough to get a good angle. pardon wei ying's entire lap in the picture. at the very least, it captures the braids themselves, tied in place by a bright red ribbon.

he hands the phone back now. ) If you laugh at my work, it's the last braid I'll ever give you, ( he warns, because such a thing absolutely needs said. )

[porndealer]

[Wuxian chides that if he makes fun of the work he's done he'll never help him with it again and he knows it's probably not completely true, but Huaisang isn't going to test that. Once he gets his phone back and sees the picture he doesn't even think about laughing.

Of course they're not perfect and the bright red of the ribbon is never a color he'd wear back home... but the effort that his friend put into this makes up for any imperfections. They truly do look good, but that Wuxian did this for him, and will continue to help him with this, it hits him harder than he thought it would or could.

Ugh, he's not going to cry right now! There is a little sniff, but he tries to pass it off as being critical of what he's looking at, clearing his throat. He's fine.]

Whoa, Wei-xiong is truly so talented. I should have never doubted your skills.

[The bright red ribbon now in his hair is like a beacon. If they were back home no doubt it would have people whispering some not so kind things. Was the young Nie heir trying to show support for that wicked evil Yiling patriarch? How dare!]

... thank you, Wei-xiong.

[mannerless]

( though he was the one who made the threat about laughing, he's not entirely prepared for the opposite response, and the praise and especially the thanks have him humming and huffing a couple of vague noncommittal (fond, appreciative) noises before patting at huaisang's shoulder. )

If you're going to stay down there, I'll take the rest of my couch back. ( as it stands, there's a whole half-couch waiting for huaisang to scoot back up onto. )

[porndealer]

[It's okay Wuxian you can be flustered from the praise, it's fine. He will scoot on back up onto the couch, unable to stop the little smile on his face.]

So are you bored anymore?

[A very important question.]

[mannerless]

( the question (and huaisang's migration up onto the couch) earns a grin and the faintest shake of his head. ) No, it seems you've sufficiently entertained me. And who better to do so?