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vestigelogs2020-11-22 07:43 pm
vestigemods) wrote in vestigelogs2020-11-22 07:43 pm
(event) H̸̠͉͖͌̓̋̽E̵̯͐ͅĻ̵͛̕̚L̶̨͈̪̗͑̀̀̚Ơ̵̢̠̣̐̏̚
H̸̠͉͖͌̓̋̽E̵͐Ļ̵͛̕̚L̶̨͈̪̗͑̀̀̚Ơ̵̢̠̣̐̏̚
NOVEMBER 25TH - 26TH
► WHERE DID THEY COME FROM, WHERE DID THEY GO?
- Though November is, overall, a fairly dreary and nondescript month, one thing of note has certainly occurred: For the first time since characters were first turned loose in the containment zone, one month has rolled into the next and the increasingly alarming tree hasn't moved any closer. It still sits 50 yards from the barrier, creepy as hell, fucking your brains.
Until suddenly, it doesn't.
On the 25th, at the godawful hour of 5 AM, a ripple wakes everyone from whatever level of sleep they may or may not have been previously enjoying. It's not a sound nor a sight, nor is it even really a sensation that can be felt on the skin - and anyway, it's gone by the time most characters are properly conscious, leaving them wondering what exactly woke them. But everything... seems pretty ordinary, to be honest. They may even decide to settle back in to steal a few more hours of sleep. Wouldn't that be nice. What a shame that things have only just begun.
Five minutes later, with the obtuse buzzing of an emergency alarm, a senderless text alert arrives on every phone:
Wait for follow-up alert that situation has been contained.
They climb down from the tree, and over the course of the next day and a half, they wander the containment zone. Where are they going? What do they want? What even are they? All good questions, but unfortunately, no one seems to have (let alone offer) any answers. All you really know is, it's best to stay away from them. Things get a little bit fucky, if one of the visitors happens to be too close at hand.
Luckily, late on the 26th, the Technicians do indeed contain the visitors with a spectacular lack of subtlety, delivering one further message to the masses:
► MOD NOTES
- This is a catch-all log for top-levels pertaining to November's H̸̠͉͖͌̓̋̽E̵̯͐ͅĻ̵͛̕̚L̶̨͈̪̗͑̀̀̚Ơ̵̢̠̣̐̏̚ event. Go ahead and utilize vestigenet for any event-related network posts you'd like to make.
- This event takes place between the IC dates November 25th and November 26th.
- All event information can be found on the H̸̠͉͖͌̓̋̽E̵̯͐ͅĻ̵͛̕̚L̶̨͈̪̗͑̀̀̚Ơ̵̢̠̣̐̏̚ Infopost! This log (unlike most of the others) is pretty much just poorly-concealed infopost copypasta just to fill the space.
- Please take care to label your top-levels with identifying information like the IC date and location, so that others can see at a glance if their character can hop in!
- There will be a separate Thanksgiving Feast log, so keep an eye out for that.
- Threads involving the after-effects taking place once the visitors are gone can go on the November catch-all!
- Any questions can be directed to this top-level or, for a quicker response, to Trace on discord/plurk.
ellie ; ota (tlou2 spoilers)
[ She'd seen the message, of course. They all had. ...But, Ellie also isn't one to trust the Technicians - or whoever is really behind all this - and had set off for the library in search of answers.
Too bad the whole place is thoroughly fucked. She heaves a sigh as she picks through the books, waterlogged and ruined, mentally chiding herself for having any hope that their captors would just leave anything useful lying around (at least, information-wise). She thumbs through a few of the damp tomes before a strange feeling sets in, sending chills up and down her spine.
Experience has taught her not to make a sound. Instead, she crouches down, wincing, but listening hard for anything (or anyone) that might be nearby. Something is obviously happening, because the world around her seems to flow like molasses, with an unnatural, goopy slowness.
In spite of herself, she finds that she's suddenly seated, back to the shelves. Ellie's never been drunk, but that's where her mind goes...before it drifts to drugged, and her pulse spikes with fear. For now, though, it's all she can do to brace herself against the stacks and breathe deep, mind working wildly to get the body back under control... ]
rec center (later signs)
[ What she'd been looking for were ropes, after having failed to find them in the store. What she'd found were more bouts of alarming oddity, the influence of something out of sight, but definitely not out of mind. She's rifling through a closet in the rec center when the overwhelming feeling from earlier washes over her again, and she's struck completely by visions of an unfamiliar scene.
She's standing in a house: one she doesn't recognize. Ellie swallows, fear and confusion heightened, and even more so when she exhales and sees her breath in the air. It's...cold, and she's been transported, and even her clothes are different.
Who...am I? The words don't make it to her lips, especially not when an agonized scream rips through the air from down below. Ellie snaps back to herself, feeling the bile rise in her throat at the familiarity of the scream, and she stumbles forward down the descending stairs toward a single door, one closed and unquestionably leading to the sound.
Ellie doesn't dare make noise, herself. Instead, she hurries down the steps and pushes through the door, reaching for her weapon -
And finds herself passing from the rec center closet into the center proper. She's breathing heavily and whips around to look behind her, but the vision is gone. ]
What the fuck?
the lake (visual range)
[ Two near-misses with the 'visitors' is enough for one day. Ellie quickly makes her way back to the cabin, avoiding anyone she doesn't recognize on the way, going out of her way to get back home anytime she starts to feel the unease caused by the strangers to wash over her. It takes a while, all things considered, but she makes it to the edge of the lake eventually, nearly to home base.
It's never that easy. One of the visitors ambles out from behind one of the trees, and she's immediately seized by a harsh and urgent survival instinct, stress and anxiety wracking her from the inside out. Ellie trembles in place, hands white where they're wrapped around the straps of her backpack. The figure just stares back, void-eyes boring through her. Fortunately, perhaps, she isn't able to look at them for more than a fraction of a second, and she finds she's instead staring at the ground after what feels like an eternity, but was in reality a few seconds.
Ellie is left standing, hunched, as she recovers herself, while the visitor wanders off elsewhere. ]
Geralt of Rivia // OTA
[ Last time the Technicians told them to not do something, it may have turned out to be a bad idea. That doesn't mean that Geralt is going to approach it any differently this time. He sees no reason whatsoever to listen to them, more inclined to think being told not to do something is purely because there's something the Technicians don't want them to know about.
So he leaves his cabin to check if anything has changed. It doesn't take him long to reach the gas station, because it's close to the stations and one of the first places he checks, but by the time he gets there the visitors have already left. The fact that this very familiar tree has somehow ended up in the middle of the road is, of course, strange even without the visitors' presence, and for several seconds, all he can do is stand and stare at it with a face that is puzzled, concerned and annoyed all at once. ]
Why is it empty?
[ He doesn't like it. ]
B. In town - 25th - Playing with later signs, particularly interested in the interpersonal fuckery
[ After lunch time, one might find Geralt around the town. He's not sure what he's looking for, but he's looking for something, anything. Maybe you pass him by, or maybe he passes you by. Whichever it is, he turns a corner and spots one of the visitors closing in.
So he immediately reaches out to grab whoever is next to him to get them both through the nearest door.
It's not because he's afraid, even if he is. Like it was when they were still sitting on that tree, the unease and discomfort and fear is still present, and he hates it. He doesn't fear monsters. Maybe it's because they're nothing like he's ever seen, maybe it's because he hasn't read about them in a bestiary entry, but he hadn't had that feeling with the monsters that came with the ghosts. So why these things?
At least now, he has the excuse that he's trying to protect someone else. Would he have hidden if he was alone? He likes to think not. This is his job. ]
C. Getting close and personal - 26th, early morning
[ The next day is the first time he manages to convince himself to not look away, to not hide, to not cower. It's an eerie scene, on the empty road between the gas station and the town, of him staring unflinching at the approaching visitor, hands clenched hard enough at his sides for his knuckles to turn white.
This is probably a bad idea, but the fact that they make him feel such intense fear, makes him wonder if the point is that they shouldn't look at them. So, then, why not fight against that? Why not try to stare them down? Will they eventually turn and run away themselves?
But this is definitely a bad idea, so maybe you should tell him to knock it off and run. Or maybe you're curious and want to see what happens. ]
D. Wildcard
[ vague gestures ]
B
So when he finds himself first petrified by one of the visitors closing in and then suddenly roughly hauled into the entranceway of some apartment building... well, it would be too much to ask for to expect gratitude.
Irritation wells up in him, a bubbling well of irritation and helplessness, humiliation and embarrassment at having frozen in the face of danger like some junior disciple on his first night hunt. And underneath it all, that wild fear still thrums through him, leaving him tense, all his instincts convinced that he is in mortal danger, his eyes wide, breath coming fast.
It just won't lead to gratitude as he snarls, ] Why did you ruin my hunt! I had that well in hand!
Jiang Cheng | The Untamed
25th, near the lake, picking a fight & running from visitor
Easier said than done, it turns out.
Intending to fly into town on his sword, he doesn't even make it past the lake before movement catches his attention. He touches down and sticks to the trees, skulking between them, until he suddenly catches sight of it.
A bald, humanoid figure - all wrong, it is wrong! - skulking as he does, but towards the houses. And before he can even fully register what's happening there is suddenly nothing but fear filling him. Sheer panic has his heart racing, every primal instinct telling him he needs to get away, away... Yet he forces himself to keep his eyes on the visitor. He can't look away, he is here to study them, he...
It's approaching one of the houses. Can they get into the houses?
A stupid, split-second decision has him leaving the cover of the trees even as his breath comes even faster and it is sheer stomach-curdling fear rather than the usual rage that sparks Zidian to life. The whip cracks and he yells with a shaking voice ] Come here if you want a fight!
[ And then he's simply running and hoping that the fear won't lock up his legs. Or that these things aren't faster than he has seen them move so far. ]
26th, in town
He is just about to turn a corner near the collection of stores when he is suddenly gripped by that feeling of the world being not quite right, everything moving around him too fast and too slow at once, sounds muffled and distorted.
He presses a hand to his forehead and grits his teeth but the feeling is growing stronger.
A sound catches his attention, even drawn-out as it is, something metallic crashing to the ground.
His hand tightens around his sword and he forces himself to step around the corner. ]
no subject
Quiet.
[ You are so useless. ]
no subject
All that comes out is a hiss of ] I was trying to investigate!
Rhys // SSSS and co. cabin
1. 25th, 5AM
[ Rhys does, in fact, settle down for another few hours of sleep, despite the vague discomfort that lingers after ... whatever that was. When the blaring alarm comes, however, he's wide awake, because the siege by Maliwan is still fresh enough in his mind and his immediate thought is that there's an attack. He's up on his feet practically in an instant, his heart racing as he lifts his cybernetic hand to check for messages and make calls--
Then he remembers where he is, and he scrubs a hand over his face for a moment before sitting down to pick up the phone. ]
Okay, okay, I'm listening, shut up.
2. 25th, morning
[ Maybe his skittish nature doesn't give that impression, but Rhys is normally onboard with ignoring any words of caution or warning from the Technicians (because fuck them). In this case, though, the warning doesn't sound like an order to make them not do something the Technicians don't want them to do, and more like something they actually really should do.
Which is why he's preparing his coffee and settling down at the kitchen table like nothing out of the ordinary is going on. Because he is not going anywhere.
Unlike many other mornings, especially considering the hour, he's a lot more alert. Enough that he jumps if someone else enters the room. ]
Oh, it's you.
B. 25th, afternoon - playing with effects
[ As the day goes on, he still hasn't figured out what the Technicians warned them about. Might be because he's been keeping quiet and mostly sitting around. He's not used to this anymore, though, and it doesn't take all that long for him to start pacing.
That's when he spots one of the visitors out the window. He recognises the feeling from the few times he's tried to look at the tree, that deep-seated dread that sticks in his throat and chest and makes his feet feel heavy. Only the figure has never been this close.
It's only a moment, but it feels like forever before he manages to get his shit together and duck below the window sill, but he can't shake the feeling that he's given himself away. His breath is quick and harsh, as he tries not to spiral into panic. It saw him. It definitely saw him. It must have, right? It'll kill him. If it comes in here, it will definitely kill him. He can't move. Why can't he move?
(It actually didn't see him, but if anyone else in the cabin looks out the window too, it's getting pretty close.) ]
no subject
[ They can have this argument later, when that thing isn't so close.
Not for the first time since his arrival here, he finds his senses distorted. He's not actually sure if Jiang Cheng is being loud, because for some reason, everything suddenly sounds like it's underwater. ]
no subject
Is that your plan?[ At least he's whispering properly now, his body tense and still. ] Hide and wait?
no subject
[ And he can only assume that it's close, because something is messing with him again. At least this time, there's a reasonable suspect, and now all they need to do is work out what to do about it.
But he has yet to get a proper look at them, if only because he struggles to make himself look at it at all.
The closest thing he can think of are wraiths - and Jiang Cheng will be treated to a brief flash of a wraith as their memories blend together - but they don't do this. They don't instill such fear in him. No monster does. ]
no subject
And then the memories of his own past terrors mingle with a flash of something else, a creature that isn't quite familiar though almost, and for a moment his mind almost insists that this is his own memory...
He shakes his head and presses his fingers against his temples. ]
I'm... This isn't good.
no subject
He shakes his head, trying to quiet that thought because it is in no way significant to anything.
The medallion is becoming warm against his chest, a constant warning of the danger.
He leans to the side to peek through the doorway, to see the Strange almost right in front of him. His heart leaps into his throat, and he pulls back with a barely restrained gasp. Speaking is a very bad idea, even to, again, remind Jiang Cheng to shut up. ]
no subject
Geralt's gasp has his eyes widen, his body tensing up, and he grasps his shoulder, his fingers digging in a little too deep. Another wave overcomes him, the world distorting, but this time he doesn't speak, just jerks his head urgently towards the back. They have to get deeper into the building, trying to put distance between themselves and this thing - and new fear is mingling with old, with the sense of being pursued, running, hiding, flashes of a forest, of a field, his tears, his hands closing around another boy's throat. ]
no subject
Get away.
He grits his teeth together, and nods once. Fine. That's probably a good idea. So he pushes away from the wall, but doesn't stand, as he starts moving towards the back of the room. ]