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the boy is back in town [diplomanon conclusion]
Who: Manon, the Shard-Bearers, and special surprise guest(s)!
What: Manon has been revived, and there are questions to be asked
Where: The Tree of Life
When: March 3rd
CODING
What: Manon has been revived, and there are questions to be asked
Where: The Tree of Life
When: March 3rd
MANON'S REVIVAL
A few days prior, Manon’s Shard had been planted at the Tree of Life (Tier 2 Meridian and/or those involved with the purification process would know it was by the Tribune himself), and as promised, his revival is providing a neutral ground in which to meet and talk to the man. The Meridian involved in purifying him have been given some basic clothing for Manon, including an eyepatch since just like every other Shard-Bearer who has suffered dissipation, he’ll be hatching from a cocoon the tree weaves. It’s at least a little dignity to be given as a belated “apology” for his revival being a spectacle.
Indeed, when he frees himself from the cocoon, he won’t be ready to be questioned. He’s weak and shaky on his feet, but he’s still rather quick to collect himself and get dressed. Surprisingly, with no apparent shame over being that spectacle!
Some people have “met” Manon already by Communing with his Shard, but otherwise, this is the first that most will be able to see the man causing all of this fuss. He’s short with rust-colored hair and one eye completely covered by the eyepatch he’d been given. He doesn’t exactly seem pleased to be here, though. He looks like he’d much rather be anywhere else. But he’s eventually ready to talk. Best to get this over with.
Indeed, when he frees himself from the cocoon, he won’t be ready to be questioned. He’s weak and shaky on his feet, but he’s still rather quick to collect himself and get dressed. Surprisingly, with no apparent shame over being that spectacle!
Some people have “met” Manon already by Communing with his Shard, but otherwise, this is the first that most will be able to see the man causing all of this fuss. He’s short with rust-colored hair and one eye completely covered by the eyepatch he’d been given. He doesn’t exactly seem pleased to be here, though. He looks like he’d much rather be anywhere else. But he’s eventually ready to talk. Best to get this over with.
INTERRUPTIONS
People are given their chances to question Manon and ask him whatever they wish, but not for long.
Quite suddenly and with no more preamble than a strange, crackling feeling throughout everyone’s Shards, a portal suddenly opens behind all of them. First, out steps a small, slight looking girl whose eyes immediately fall on Manon. But a much larger, more monstrous figure steps out behind her with odd, misshapen hands plodding onto the ground and gripping the roots.
A massive creature plods out, and the flowers that surround the skull ripple as if alive. Both the petals of the flower and the very human hair that drift on the creature’s neck are lavender. A very specific shade of it, in fact. And it howls in a way that would be deafening, were it heard with your ears. No, this scream tears through your very Shards in a way that’s almost paralyzing, and as the portal starts to close, other, smaller creatures skitter out along the larger ones’ feet. It seems someone doesn’t want Manon to talk at all.
And for one of the Shard-Bearers among you, that scream digs deeper. Like a poison into their Shard, it pulls out something vicious, something feral, something they had long wished was left behind—But the past isn't always the past.
Quite suddenly and with no more preamble than a strange, crackling feeling throughout everyone’s Shards, a portal suddenly opens behind all of them. First, out steps a small, slight looking girl whose eyes immediately fall on Manon. But a much larger, more monstrous figure steps out behind her with odd, misshapen hands plodding onto the ground and gripping the roots.
A massive creature plods out, and the flowers that surround the skull ripple as if alive. Both the petals of the flower and the very human hair that drift on the creature’s neck are lavender. A very specific shade of it, in fact. And it howls in a way that would be deafening, were it heard with your ears. No, this scream tears through your very Shards in a way that’s almost paralyzing, and as the portal starts to close, other, smaller creatures skitter out along the larger ones’ feet. It seems someone doesn’t want Manon to talk at all.
And for one of the Shard-Bearers among you, that scream digs deeper. Like a poison into their Shard, it pulls out something vicious, something feral, something they had long wished was left behind—But the past isn't always the past.
OOC NOTES
This portion of the log is divided into four portions because the majority are limited for the mods’ sake. With the exception of number four (which is not limited), you may only sign up for one of these sections or to chase Manon (see next section) because these are all taking place essentially simultaneously.- Vander ; Vander (
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exhound, played by Thirteen) has entered a berserker state and will attack friend and foe without being able to solidly distinguish between the two. Vander can be injured (even severely), but this thread will end with Vander’s capture by Aetós. You can find this toplevel here.
- The Girl (Adelfoúla) ; This is a NPC who will be played by Prince, and is limited to a group of no more than three characters. This thread will end with Adelfoúla’s capture since she will be interrogated to find and rescue Vander. You can find this toplevel here.
- The Creature (Aeternae) ; Is limited to a group of no more than three characters, but will be controlled by these players a la a PvE encounter. The Creature is able to attack with psychic powers (similar to the Force in Star Wars or biotic powers in Mass Effect) and is otherwise very large (
Hayame-sizedthe size of a very large horse) and strong, but not overly so. It will regenerate from all attacks unless the skull is smashed, and it can close the petals of the flower to temporarily protect itself. You can find this toplevel here.
All characters that participate in this thread will also be given psychic information about what happened to create the creature, so comment here to note your participation so I can give you that info! The Creature will also subject everyone present to opt-in effects, which are not limited to only the thread participants.
- Smaller Creatures ; Are not limited encounters, and are controlled by the players a la a PvE encounter. These are smaller, more easily killed monsters that are able to use minor psychic attacks as well as poison when someone is clawed or bitten if you want to go a combat route or can cause more temporary versions of the Aeternae's effects as listed. You can also make up your own style of lil' skullbeast! This is free for players to get creative with and create a fun encounter however you see fit. All characters that participate in this kind of thread will also be given psychic information about what happened to create the creature, so comment here to note your participation so I can give you that info! In addition, please place all threads to engage the smaller creatures here.
GIVING CHASE
As soon as the chaos breaks out, the first to take advantage is… Manon. Though weakened from just hatching from the Tree of Life, Manon immediately runs into the labyrinthine maze of roots that make up the Tree of Life. He’s not so honorable as to stay and fight, and this may be his only chance to actually escape. However, it does also leave him without the protection he was promised…
We encourage discussion of which characters will be participating in this portion of the post in the associated Discord Thread for this plot since the factional makeup of this team is likely very tied to Manon’s fate. As Loremasters, we’re truly cool with whatever, so we encourage players discuss how to make a satisfying narrative and future plot opportunities out of Manon’s overall fate rather than trying to “win” the encounter. Also to note, Manon is weakened, but will be attacking anyone that attacks him assuming (probably correctly) that they’re trying to kill him. There is a risk of dissipation in this encounter!
If a conclusion to this thread is not reached by Wednesday, March 8th, Christy will reach out to all thread participants, and we’ll come to an OOC conclusion for Manon’s overall fate to prepare for the Setting Updates that Friday! We can obviously continue to thread it, though! The toplevel for this chase can be found here.
OOC NOTES
This section is limited to a maximum of three characters from each faction, and they will not be able to participate in the previous section. Manon is fleeing immediately, so giving chase means that these characters similarly will not be sticking around to witness what happens.We encourage discussion of which characters will be participating in this portion of the post in the associated Discord Thread for this plot since the factional makeup of this team is likely very tied to Manon’s fate. As Loremasters, we’re truly cool with whatever, so we encourage players discuss how to make a satisfying narrative and future plot opportunities out of Manon’s overall fate rather than trying to “win” the encounter. Also to note, Manon is weakened, but will be attacking anyone that attacks him assuming (probably correctly) that they’re trying to kill him. There is a risk of dissipation in this encounter!
If a conclusion to this thread is not reached by Wednesday, March 8th, Christy will reach out to all thread participants, and we’ll come to an OOC conclusion for Manon’s overall fate to prepare for the Setting Updates that Friday! We can obviously continue to thread it, though! The toplevel for this chase can be found here.
no subject
Apnea, is the only thought that he communes, scattered indiscriminately, like a helpful hint, before his mind goes completely shut. One may think he has died, with the way the connection is so sharply cut, lingering only what could be similar to the fading blink of an old television being turned off.
But that's only because, at that time, one of the first smaller creatures leaping through the portal has pounced in his direction, long claws and fangs and tongue ready to pierce and tear at him.
Perhaps fluidly (cw: slight gore), but definitely much too fast even within the human realm of capability, Mamoru is seen standing with a long, razor-thin blade in one hand, and his walking cane in the other.
Now behind Mamoru, the monster squeaks, trying to make heads (ha!) or tails of what happened until one of its faces slips off like a magnet has lost its pull. It falls to the floor with a slick—and honestly disgusting—plop.
The swordsman rolls his shoulders. Grouses as though he's aching all over. A small blessing: being healed with magic doesn't, apparently, numb the pain of recovery.
(???)] Get behind me.
no subject
But pain is one thing, and it neither of those experiences left him with the same bone-chilling sense of fear that this silent scream did. This is not Atsumu's first experience with monsters that exist on these broken bits of world, but he's barely better prepared to deal with him than last time he encountered one.
So when Mamoru tells him to get behind him, he's not about to argue. ]
You don't have to tell me twice.
[ Atsumu scrambles to stand back upright, hustling behind the man as he watches the unnerving creature, somehow made worse with one oozing orifice where a face once was.
He still has a sword, having not been fully willing to part with it despite having shown how piss poor his swordsmanship is, but he's also strapped a few other weapons onto him that he's been testing out lately. He pulls one of them out from beneath the coat he's wearing, a small, thin knife that won't do him a lick of good if that creature decides to make this into a melee fight, but should have some pretty good range while being just weighty enough to have some oomph if he decides to throw it. ]
The hell is that thing?
[ The little one, but also the bigger creature as well. ]
cw. slight? body horror? kinda?
Though he still asks, because he's an ass.] You know how to use that thing?
[He means the sword and the knife, and honestly, Mamoru should really request the strap of throwing knives he tends to carry under his jacket. Note to self.]
I'm not sure. But widen that stance of yours. Its chicks are coming.
[And indeed, three creatures approach, surprisingly fast for the way their entrails are just there, swinging with each step.
Step and not prowl. A lot in these beings is uncannily human, especially in the limbs, which means they have the same tendons.] Stay put.
[Sorry for barking things around, Atsumu, but Mamoru needs to test something. He lunges. The gravitational axis of these creatures is all wrong, teeth and claws first, but if he gets past the length of their arms, the rest of them can't injure them, and if he ducks enough—
He slices through the back of its heels, and the being at the forefront of the trio screeches and scrambles and falls faces-first on the floor, its legs contorting underneath the layer of skin from the tendon coiling unnaturally around muscle fibers and bone now that it wasn't anchored.
'Hello, Achilles.'] Kill it! I'll take down the other two.
cw. Body horror, gore, also an emeto-ish warning
Agitated or not, sore feelings aren't worth risking death over, so he does exactly as he's instructed, widening his stance as he braces himself, trying to ignore the way his stomach churns uncomfortably at the horrific sight of the creatures. CGI has gotten pretty impressive in his time, but apparently it still has a long way to go before it really manages to hit true realism, because nothing he's seen in any horror movie has anything on the way the bodies of these monsters wobble grotesquely.
Made all the worse by what he witnesses happen when Mamoru slices into the monster. Slices into it, and then yells at Atsumu to finish it off, causing the boy to freeze in spot for a second. ]
What?
[ He'd come across monsters before, but he'd been mostly useless and hid behind a more capable fighter. His weaknesses were covered for, and he almost wants to yell more at Mamoru to just kill the thing himself, but he didn't want to take away the man's concentration when he was dealing with more immediate threats of monsters that could still move around.
So fine... okay... he could do this. He'd done worse before.
(He had not).
Steeling himself, Atsumu creeps slowly towards the monster that thrashes around on the floor, slowly tucking away one of his knives, and pulling the sword out of the sheath attached to his hip. If he can just get close enough to--
There's a yelp as Atsumu leaps into the air as clawed hands slash out towards him, his wind keeping him aloft for a moment longer than normal, before he comes crashing back down to the ground, sword point turned down to spear through the creatures hand. The sound it makes as he rips it out of the hand is mostly covered up by the sound of the creature screaming... mostly.
The sounds that come after as he stabs the sword haphazardly into the place where muscle connects with one of the skulls is more audible though, as is the third, and forth, and fifth, as Atsumu desperately hacks away like a little kid learning to use a knife for the very first time.
By the time he's done the creature is barely twitching, most of the life and fight having literally been brutalized right out of it. Atsumu's clothing is a mess of something akin to blood, and small bits of viscera. Something he'll have to burn later, because there's no saving them from this mess.
He raises a shaky hand to the back of his mouth, pressing it against his lips as he suppresses a gag, his stomach roiling rebelliously. One down, two(+) to go...
His eyes tear away from the creature to look and see how Mamoru is doing with his own terrible twosome. ]
general cw that everything here is gross
[Case in point, the second is down in a sea of dark liquid—blood— and Mamoru is efficiently slicing the jaw of the third monster off, even after cutting both its hands, as it had lunged face first with snapping fangs.
It falls right on the large open wound, and just to make sure, Mamoru steps on the remaining skulls with a sickening crunch. Covered in grime and blood, he shakes off the slick from his blade with one well-practiced flick of his wrist as he stands back up.
Except he hears screeching and clicking from
everywhere, really.] Shit.
[He mutters something quietly, and a bird of prey shows up, scattering phantom feathers everywhere before it takes flight and scans their surroundings from a high point.
The magical equivalent of a drone shot. The bird is gone as fast as it shows up. He can't afford to lose too much of his own consciousness.
He sends a very urgent, no-time-for-bullshit-boundaries communion. These creatures surround them both, having deemed them a proper threat.]
What spells do you have?
Gross all the way down really
It is deeply, deeply uncool that Atsumu's trying so hard not to vomit all over the place, and contribute to the mess the monsters splattered around him are currently making. It probably also says a lot about him that he manages to feel embarrassed about that fact even amidst all the horror and nausea.
At least the sound of more monsters slowly closing in on them do wonders to distract him from those feelings! Though admittedly he'd happily take the shame over the fear of death any day.
He slowly backs up towards Mamoru, eyes wide as he grips the hilt of his sword hard enough his knuckles go white. ]
Some stuff with wind, and I can make a shield for myself, but it ain't gonna cover us both.
[ And he's not sure it'll hold up for long even for him. Not with the numbers he's hearing... ]
There's this other thing... but you gotta get closer for it to work.
no subject
[One of the critters goes and sniffles on one of the carcasses that Mamoru just left. The others watch carefully, growling something wet and sickly. Do they have protective instincts? Are they herd-like? If so, it's a matter of finding the leader.]
I don't need the shield.
no subject
And if he could get away with that a third time, then he sure as hell would.
He spares a look behind him just long enough to get a better sense of Mamoru's presence, and reaches over his own shoulder to grab onto Mamoru's. ]
It ain't the shield.
[ Though his hand glows slightly, and whatever is happening Mamoru should be able to feel a pulse of energy flowing through him right now. Atsumu really should explain himself before just doing things like this, but he figures they don't have much time.
So running short on that, the figures he should speed things up, or at least speed people up. Mamoru is already fast as it is, but the guy can always be faster. ]
i can't believe i default iconed runs hands down face
And it would be something entirely distracting—something to work on—if it weren't for the sudden surge of how everything seems to slow down in front of him.
He looks over his shoulder at the kid, eyes wide behind his red lenses, then back at the monsters.]
What the hell?
[Though he doesn't waste any more time dwelling on it, as he lunges, fast, into the closest line of monsters gathering around him.]
It's fiiiiiiine!
In this moment the fact that they're part of different factions, that they're only here in the first place because of a conflict their faction is having, has melted out of Atsumu's mind as the need for survival kicked in. All he wants right now is to walk out of this alive, and as he turns his head at normal speed to watch the blur of motion that is Mamoru making his way towards the monsters, he lets out a small sigh of relief.
It's too early for that, of course. Extra speed doesn't mean that he can actually kill all of them, but at least the man isn't wasting the help Atsumu just offered him. It gives Atsumu a chance to stumble back a few steps, eyes scanning the monsters around him as he tries to figure out the best way to make his escape from this mess. ]
no subject
Force = Mass x Speed.
Mamoru isn't as strong as some people here, perhaps slightly stronger than most normal people around, but now that he's faster, he can add a bit of a boost to what he can throw.] Get to higher ground; their vertical axis is shit. They won't climb after you.
no subject
Looks like speed was the right choice to make, though he's not relying on it fully on it and sword guy to handle everything here.
So that mind command isn't going to get any kickback from Atsumu as he steels himself and charges for where the line of monsters seems the thinnest. ]
You don't gotta tell me twice.
[ Before a strong gust of wind blasts those distracted monsters onto their sides as he blows past them. His fast might be a more typical sort of speed a human can achieve on their own, but he's still very, very fast for a regular guy, and he clears the circle quickly, before looking for something he can jump up and climb onto.
As he starts on up a structure, he'll also give Mamoru a warning. ]
That ain't gonna last forever, so you might wanna take 'em out quick.
no subject
[Of course, these things don't last, and it's a good thing, too. Atsumu's voice comes into his mind slowly, and it's terribly distracting when he's basically facing monsters with an anatomy that goes beyond everything he knows that find him an exotic appetizer.
He quickly casts a mending spell on the blade of his sword and rounds most of them all up into one place.
He seems he's trying to hit their legs and not being successful. Instead, the blade swipes across a jumbled mess of roots and branches on the ground, the beasts trying to stomp on it and leaving
He steps back and calls out to a couple more.] C'mon, ugly.
[Maybe these critters have a sense of pride because they ruffle… something, not feathers, certainly not fur, but something, as though taking offense to being called ugly. They stomp and step onto that field that Mamoru had been circling with his extra speed, where the others are, gathering close in what looks like a starting line in a track, ready to rush the swordsman as soon as he stops.
But the floor creaks, crackles, and crumbles underneath their weight.
And now, with more than half of them gone, Mamoru runs.] Time to make ourselves scarce.
no subject
Gnarled tree trunks tend to have a lot of those, fortunately. It means Atsumu gets up high enough he feels comfortable turning and watching the end of the scene that unfolds.
While he misses the trick Mamoru pulled in order to pull the rug right out from under the monsters, he does get to see them all go tumbling down with a sick wave of relief.
The parting words don't get a communion response from Atsumu, though he does mutter a quiet- ]
Yeah...
[ Out into the air as he starts to slide sideways, trying to quietly slip away and out of sight while the monsters aren't paying any attention to him. ]