September 2023 Event Plotting

[singmod]

SEPTEMBER 2023 EVENT

PROMPT ONE — THE AURORA: AFTERSHOCKS: The Aurora comes, bringing chaos to the town of Milton. Electronics go haywire, and the Interlopers learn of the original citizens of Milton.
THE AURORA: AFTERSHOCKS — CONTENT WARNINGS: supernatural horror; ‘ghost’ horror; hauntings; death of npcs in various ways including suicide, murder or exposure to elements.

PROMPT TWO — THE HOUR OF THE WOLF: Tainted by the Aurora and attracted to the noise of people inhabiting the town, several packs of wolves descend upon Milton.
THE HOUR OF THE WOLF — CONTENT WARNINGS: (wild) animal attacks, altered wildlife, possible character injury/death, possible (wild) animal injury/death.

PROMPT THREE — IT SPEAKS: A voice comes to the Interlopers, one that knows them and their darkest fears and deepest insecurities, persuading them to fade into the Long Dark by any means necessary.
IT SPEAKS — CONTENT WARNINGS: psychological horror; mental manipulation; themes of suicide; themes of depression; potential self-harm; potential feelings of isolation; potential attempted suicide.

THE AURORA: AFTERSHOCKS

After the feast, and making sure the newcomers to Milton are seen to, Methuselah packs up. He will explain to others that while he will return to check in, he is no resident of Milton and will not stay. He is a nomad, something he has been all his life. He lives in nature. That is where he belongs. But he does assure that people are welcome to remain sheltered in the Hall if they wish to. And sure enough, the old man leaves, wishing the newcomers well. He can still be found out in the wilderness, and will shelter and feed those out exploring should they come across him.

And so the days and nights of this world roll on. The initial time of those who have come to be stranded in this world is unsettled. The weather is always changing, even if it remains bitterly cold. On some nights throughout the next month, however, the snow clouds clear and Interlopers are given a rare, clear night. At first, it’s beautiful: without the light pollution, all the stars can be seen, the moon casts an eerie glow upon the snow in the dead silence of the night. One might even say there is a kind of peace that comes with it all. And for some of these evenings, they pass by: uneventful and silent — the long darkness of an endless winter’s night.

But on others, it isn’t so uneventful. The noise starts: faint at first, but then growing louder. Something in the heavens above. An ethereal, high-pitched chorus of sounds difficult to place. There’s a kind of electrical buzzing with it all, a low, endless hum punctuated with cracks and pops that echo. The sky is alive with sound, louder than anyone could ever expect it to. With it comes the swirling streaking of colour against the inky black of night, growing brighter and brighter as the night goes on: The Aurora has come.

And it isn’t the sky that comes to life too: the whole town does too. Streetlights, illuminating the town’s roads; lights in stores and homes will come alive, buzzing and flickering often. Previously abandoned cars will turn on, their headlights blaring but faltering. Electronics that had previously seemed broken flick on — and whilst there are no broadcasts available on televisions, and the radio waves only drone on in static, both only occasionally blaring standard emergency broadcasts. Any computers and phones will turn on, but will have no internet or reception. Instead, Interlopers may find texts and emails — many of them unsent. The everyday lives of their users stored within, now readable.

But there’s something else too. The Aurora doesn’t just awaken the electronics of the town. Dotted around, in the streets, in homes, in stores, the lights of the Aurora begin to take shape: spectral-like forms of people, their faces hard to make out, details difficult to define. They move in glitching patterns, they speak with voices distorted by static. Eagle-eyed Interlopers may recognise the forms of some, a body or an action:

These are the residents of Milton, in their last moments on this earth.

The forms act out short scenes on repeat: a desperate fight between two men over a vehicle, a murder in a store during a riot, a suicide alone in one of the many houses. An argument over the communication lines going down. A sobbing teen curled up on his bed. A child stares up at the skies, their hands over their ears, crying in fright. A woman begs for her father to leave his home and head to the coast with her, to try to make it to the mainland, but he refuses to leave. A man succumbs to the cold walking alone in the outskirts of town without proper clothing for the elements. Several of these ‘ghosts’ are people fleeing before they stop and simply gasp, staring off into the distance for a few seconds before they drop dead on the spot.

There is nothing that can be done to stop these endless loops. Nothing to help these poor souls. Each of these moments are captured by the Aurora: final, desperate and tragic moments in some unknown, chaotic time. Some of these ‘ghosts’ maybe stop after so many loops — flickering out into nothing, others will last all night. But all will be gone by the morning and the Aurora comes to an end. There are answers, and there are none.

THE HOUR OF THE WOLF

The growing presence of people within the town of Milton has meant more light, more warmth, more noise. The Aurora has created great change, but people are not the only thing the ethereal lights in the sky has brought down upon this old mining town.

When the sun slips below the horizon, and the clear skies of burnt embers and inky blues alight with stars, they come.

A lone howl, long and haunting. It is the first signal, which carries on the air. You can’t seem to place from which direction it comes from, it feels like it encompasses you. Then another voice joins it, and another, and another. A chorus of them. As the sound echoes off, another fills its place: a strange feral chittering, snarling and snapping — the drumming of feet upon the snow, heading right for you.

Wolves.

Unnatural, glowing green eyes in the dark — tendrils of light seeping from them as they rush in and encircle those they come across outside. They come in packs of three or more, and they are clever. They’re quicker than any wolf you’ve ever known, bigger and hardier too. They will try to strike fast by zipping in when you’re distracted, snapping and nipping at legs or trying to take quick bites out of arms before drawing back. They work together to bring their prey down, a solid unit of noise and teeth. They will hunt down those who hide inside, try to claw their way inside of homes and buildings — dead set on finding you and tearing you apart. There is no hiding from them. They will find you.

But breaking the pack can send them back. If they’re broken, their morale is depleted. Fire is your biggest friend: torches, campfires and flames will keep them mostly at bay and only the bravest of these packs may attack. Striking them with flares or flames will actually send them into brief retreats. Bullets and arrows are effective with both noise and injuring the wolves, and although hitting one will be difficult due their speed, it’s possible. Killing one of these wolves will dissolve the pack’s morale entirely, and the rest will flee off into the night.

Until next time. Maybe it’s best you don’t stick around. They do hold a relentless determination.

IT SPEAKS

There are whispers. Small, at first. Distracting. Perhaps it is only the wind you hear. Milton is so quiet, even with the new hustle and bustle of the new people to this place. Wood creaks and the trees rustle, there are plenty of sounds you could mistake it for.

‘Interloper.’ It is an old voice. Something deep and dark and ancient. Something impossible, older than the earth itself. It floats into your ears and nestles there, sending an ice-cold shiver down your spine. Even to the most stoic and unshakeable souls, it is a unnerving voice. It feels wrong. It feels like an ending. To hear the voice is deeply unsettling... and yet... you recognise it.

It comes to you, in the dead of night when sleep is far. In the long stretches of day as you go about your business, as you travel across the frigid landscape or gather firewood or try to pass the time within whatever home you’ve made for yourself. For some the voice will be clear as day, for others it may be some distant whisper — something gently murmuring in your ear. But the voice will be heard, no matter the person.

‘Interloper. Do you know what it means?’ It asks. ‘It means one that involves itself in a place it does not belong. You do not belong.’

That it isn’t the only thing it tells you. For everyone, it’s different. It knows you. It picks up on any weakness, any insecurity. It makes you feel small, insignificant. It tells you all the quiet, terrible things you hide down within yourself. For days, weeks, the voice is there. Speaking to you. It will wear you down, insist you are not wanted, that you do not belong here.

... And wouldn’t it be better if you weren’t here at all?

The voice seeks to break you. It will push you to your limit. Sleep will become hard to find, your spirits low and hollow. In time you might seem to believe it. Maybe it’s better if you weren’t here. You don’t belong in this place, why should you stay?

‘Disappear, Interloper. Go into the Long Dark.’

Perhaps you next find yourself atop the steep cliffs, looking down into the Milton Basin below. Perhaps you find yourself with a gun in your hand, or a rope. Perhaps you find your feet carrying you out into the snow. You’re going to disappear. You’re going to go into the Dark.

Or maybe the voice isn’t so loud. You can push it down, ignore it. Perhaps Faith is what keeps you steady, perhaps knowing who you are despite your faults stops the voice from taking over. Maybe you can help those who can’t block out the voice. Words of encouragement, affirmation, kindness, determination, even spite. The voice wants you dead, but you will not let it. You will not fall. You will not let anyone else fall, either.

FAQs

THE AURORA: AFTERSHOCKS

1. While examples are given, players are encouraged to come up with their own ghostly loops of similar loops. The key thing to remember is that the people of Milton have descended into public disorder. Fights, arguments and murders have occurred, as have suicides or other unexplained deaths. People are frightened. They want to leave the town.

2. Ghostly loops cannot be interacted with, only witnessed.

3. There is no way of putting these 'ghosts' to rest. These loops are more like residual memories, as if the energy of the townsfolk remained, and have been reconstructed by the Aurora.

THE HOUR OF THE WOLF

1. Due to the Aurora's influence, these wolves are harder, better, faster, stronger, than typical wild wolves. They do not die as easily, and are much more difficult to wound and kill. But not impossible. Scaring the wolves will be far easier to accomplish than killing them.

2. Wolves will return, sometimes more than once on the same night, or on other nights during the month. The only sure-fire way to have them stop coming back is to kill the pack or beat them back enough until they finally learn to leave the Interlopers alone.

3. Wolf meat is technically edible. But not advised due to parasites. Characters are still welcome to harvest the wolves they kill, however. Who would say no to a cool ass wolf cape.

IT SPEAKS

1. Characters can be talked down and broken from the voice's influence by others. Genuine connection and empathy will work massively, but even encouragement and affirmations to keep surviving will be powerful enough to break the voice's hold.

2. Players are welcome to play with the length of time the voice can be heard with characters. Some may want to have it over a short space of time, others can have this progress over a longer time period.

PLOTTING FORM

<b>Player Name:</b> Your name here. <b>Player Contact:</b> What’s the best way to reach you? <b>Pacing:</b> What's your monthly speed looking like? Explain it here. <b>OOC Limits:</b> Any hard limits for RP go here. <b>Character Name:</b> Your character name here. <b>Canon:</b> Your character canon here. <b>Wanted CR:</b> Friends? Mentors? Hunting buddies? Lovers? State preferences here. <b>Unwanted CR:</b> Not keen on romance? Mortal enemies? State preferences here. <b>Event Ideas:</b> Your event plotting here! <b>Anything Else?:</b> You know what to do.

EVENT POST

Comments

Edward Little | The Terror

[fidior]

Player Name: Jhey (also I'm completely dumb and failed to include on my ooc introduction that I'm a Helper Mod here, doing Activity Check Business and proudly supporting our Captain Cheryl! Feel free to reach out to me any time if you have an AC question or concern.)
Player Contact: horreur / hagfishs @ discord / pm
Pacing: I run a little more slowly through the week, but have more availability on weekends.
OOC Limits: N/A

Character Name: Edward Little
Canon: The Terror

Wanted CR: I'm wide open to anything, whether it's exploring cr and seeing what grows organically, or trying to find An Angle to play around with! Some specific beats that I'd enjoy: others from around his time (1840's) he can vibe with, those from modern times to teach him new things (he'll be very anxious and no fun at all), perhaps those with modern medical experience to take a look at him... others with military training, people he can nanny in his nervous but resilient way...

Unwanted CR: N/A

Event Ideas:

general — Lieutenant Little has been spending his days keeping busy and trying to be useful (inbetween bouts of debilitating dissociation and horror that he has to just kind of Take Time to get Through). He'll have been doing patrols, checking corpses to see if any are his men (and subsequently helping with corpse disposal), checking in on people he's met here so far, and trying to locate a man named Cornelius Hickey, have you see him As the days go on, he's going to be defaulting to trying to keep some kind of order, which may or may not fail miserably! I'm down to thread out some first meetings or cr-building things, whether inbetween event shenanigans or as a part of.

the aurora: aftershocks — I would deeply enjoy (potentially lighter-hearted) opportunities for the sensible Victorian naval officer to be exposed to electricity and other such modern inventions.... please help him learn what an email is. I'm also very much here for doing things with the "ghosts" — Edward is carrying heaps and heaps of guilt with him, and already halfway thinks this may be some Hell he deserves to be in. Witnessing people's final moments playing on loop will be Impacting to him for sure; it could be an interesting point of conversation / potential for some heavier or thoughtful talks with other characters.

the hour of the wolf — While Edward is hardly A Fighter, he'll be doing whatever he can to help keep people safe against the wolves. He does have his shotgun with him here, but it's very low on ammo. I think it'd be very fun to play out some holing up against wolves, finding ways to scare them off, etc.

it speaks — Ned will be extremely susceptible to this, due to that aforementioned "heaps and heaps of guilt" he is carrying around with him, as well as plenty of self-loathing and shame! I can very much see him reaching a point where he's at his limit, and probably will intend to use his shotgun to do the job with. If anyone is interested in stopping him, that could be a meaningful thread. Alternatively, I'd also love for him to help others down from their own ledges (whether literal in this case or metaphorical) — probably after he's experienced and survived his own.

Anything Else?:

[castitas]

I am Looking Politely 👀 at this soggy wet dog of a man.

[fidior]

Him looking back at you like .....

But yes we've got some fun shit to do, I am so excited for the agony!!!! Can't wait to cry!!!

[castitas]

Hilariously, that emoji looks VERY different in my darkmode inbox on my phone and thought it was just a haunted thing with HEAVY dark circles...... which would still work for him tbh.

Since we've talked about Things, I'll 100% have a starter for you in her toplevel. TIME TO HURT.

[jackdawvision]

Edward showing up like hey I got a wolf pelt isn’t this coo—what are you doing with that shotgun

[fidior]

fjsjf two very different Edward Energies.... Kenway rocking his new coat, Little holding his shotgun like a baseball bat.... It actually could be fun to toss these two at the wolves together or something like that! "Forced to help each other survive" part 2: Wolf Edition

[jackdawvision]

oh SHIT that would be SO COOL. Victorian era sailor and colonial era pirate working together to chase off wolves is such fun and it'd be such a fun opportunity for them to see what the other's capable of!

[fidior]

hell yeah let's do it!! Are you planning to toplevel this time around? I'm going to be sticking to tagins, so I can either hop into yours or toss up a closed starter for us B)

[jackdawvision]

I have toplevel plans, yeah! I can put up a closed starter for Little if you want.

[fidior]

That would be perfect! ty ♥

[missionem]

Just imagine for a moment how Thomas would 'pep talk' Edward in the midst of his miseries. Their time on the lake but 100x worse. Someone else should definitely do that so Edward doesn't end up more depressed.

On a serious note, given that Thomas has already consulted one Arctic explorer on survival and is interested in the town having a modicum of order for No Reason, perhaps they could bump into each other on one of Thomas' own little scavenging missions! I think it might help Edward's impression of Thomas if he finds out Thomas is trying to be useful, and it would raise Thomas' evaluation of Edward to know he's getting it together for the community as well.

And maybe Thomas can tell him about the other Arctic survivor he met, the impressive Mr. Hickey, do you know him, Lieutenant Little? < this is a bit let's keep that egg intact for now

[fidior]

Oh my god, Thomas giving a pep talk, Edward just comes out of it more suicidal...... Though weirdly (and hilariously), tough love does seem to work on him... Rei set him straight by Being Mean To Him and it worked flawlessly...

I'm very here for this!!! I'd love to toss them together again and see how they do, getting to know each other more a bit beyond "the ways this person behaves when in a completely distressful situation", aka Thomas turning Feral Dog and Edward turning Beaten Dog..... They both have layers, okay....

And please I absolutely love that Thomas has met Hickey and finds him Impressive and Useful in this situation, someday he drops Hickey's name so favourably and Edward loses twenty years of his life.... we have to keep this information hidden as long as we can, it's too funny...

[missionem]

It's the naval discipline/being reminded of Crozier that does it, probably.

As I'm planning I'll go ahead and slot a 'general wandering around' into my top leveling so that'll be easy to kick off - and if we want to toss into some Aurora shenanigans it occurs to me we could add some 'what the fuck is a computer and why are they all yelling' in there as they loot explore a house. Basically just talking to each other more as the fabled 'human adult men' they allegedly both are...

Edward collapsing to his knees like HE CAN'T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS as Hickey beams angelically in the background. This is the vision.

Re: Edward Little | The Terror

[solitarysoul]

levi is also doing patrols, so they might have run into each other. he's also military and susceptible to needing nannying

[fidior]

I'm definitely down for that! Edward would definitely be reminded of the ship's boys and want to keep an eye out for the younger folks around here, but also I love that Levi has training of his own and they could vibe that way.

[solitarysoul]

sounds fun
they can just run into each other randomly, or of the prompts i think the wolf one will have levi the most, uh, not traumatized

[symptomatic]

i have to say that the terror cast are so exciting to me as a person, who loves sad old men, even though there is nothing else i know about the terror except that it involves old sad men.

having said that, team modern medical here, reporting! she's hardly a very good therapist, but she's absolutely up for giving him a once-over, either pre-event or sometime nebulously in-between events. or involving the ghosts, even? there are options!!

[fidior]

Old sad men about covers it!!! Just a bunch of frosty lads....... facing doom

But oh gosh, I would love this cr opportunity! Edward could definitely also use a general medical physical, because he's coming in with things like......... some amounts of scurvy (getting better after a couple weeks eating Better Food here!) and lead poisoning (a bit more difficult to help....) His case didn't get nearly as bad as some of the others', but he is definitely dealing with some Bad Lead Effects, and if he met a doctor with more modern knowledge, he would absolutely want to Chat (while simultaneously being very shook by all of the advancements...)

We could definitely tie in a few fun things here, the ghosts could be a really fun extra little boost for cr meeting 👀 Maybe she could bump into him having A Time watching a ghost loop, it could lead into lending some assistance whether mentally or actually physically / either way pave the way for Ned to get some medical help that isn't Tragically & Horrifically Victorian....

[symptomatic]

eat foods in amino acids, lt. sad old little!! corn! spinach! pomegranates! the other option is chelation therapy but obviously that seems..... perhaps not as available here in the..... totally not at all haunted snow....

👀 sold to the man with the ghosts!! we can definitely do a ghost loop -- she can attempt to intervene/redirect him from freaking out too much, and we can use that as a springboard for some eventual medical Chat? diving into this cr headfirst with the power of moDeRn medIcINe!

[fanoperator]

Where does huaisang sign up for nanny services 🥺 he can't and/or doesn't want to do anything for himself 🥺

[fidior]

omg... I'm canonblind but he's Too Cute, please yes let Nedward nanny him....

We could maybe facilitate a first meeting with one of the event prompts (Edward will be just as wigged out about the electrical things suddenly happening but if he saw Huaisang wigging out HARDER he could step in to try and help him.... or a possible Wolf Rescue??) or a pre-event thing for something less harrowing — he could bump into Huaisang at the community center when he goes to check up on Kate Marsh or just stumble across his house and come in for some nice hot water (th-thanks Huaisang) or smth! I'm totally easy B)

[fanoperator]

Huaisang can definitely win at wigging out Hardest, here is a photo of Huaisang in the face of danger:


Maybe Huaisang runs shrieking out of his house when some electronics turn on and crashes into Edward in the street like help my house is possessed!!!!!!

[fidior]

KAGPjAGpkagPJGPJAGK{GaG

Oh my god please let's do it......................... I-it's okay young sir he'll help you!!! Edward just thinking that at first this is a screaming woman crashing into him

[fanoperator]

huaisang's pretty easy to mistake for a woman with his soft cheeks, long and intricately braided hair, silk robes, and, well, the shrieking

(also the actor does a whole movie in drag and i will talk about it and picspam from it all day long he's so cute)

until he calms down and he's a baritone

but yes!!! it's happening

[fanoperator]

ok here we go! Haunted Television prompt for nedward if that works