methuselah (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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singillppl2023-08-10 12:13 am
singmod) wrote in singillppl2023-08-10 12:13 am
Entry tags:
August 2023 Test Drive Meme
AUGUST 2023 TDM
PROMPT ONE — ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST: A group of newcomers find themselves lost in the frozen wilds and vulnerable to the dangers of nature. With luck, they make it to the town of Milton, and to a friendly face offering food, warmth and shelter.
PROMPT TWO — HOPE NOBODY NEEDS THIS ANYMORE: Once recovered from their journey, newcomers are free to explore the town of Milton for supplies and find any signs of the townsfolk.
PROMPT THREE — THE SIREN OF MILTON BASIN: A mysterious woman haunts the frozen lake of the Milton Basin, trying to lure newcomers to their deaths.
ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST
WHEN: Day One.
WHERE: Milton, Milton Outskirts.
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential animal attacks, potential injuries, potential cold injuries/hyperthermia risk.
’You are the Interloper. You are not part of nature’s design.’
It’s the last thing you hear. A dark, deep voice. Impossibly ancient. You feel afraid. Maybe you’re dreaming, maybe you’re wide awake. You saw the lights, and then your world went dark. But you hear it in the blackness, you won’t forget those words.
You awaken. You are not where you were before. It’s different for everyone, there doesn’t seem to be much of a pattern in where you find yourself. You may open your eyes to find yourself in a cold, dim and dank cabin. The air is stale, dust hangs in the rays of weak sunlight that shine through the tiny windows. Someone lived here once, but they aren’t to be found. You look around, it seems like no one has been here in several days, maybe longer. The fire is cold, the dishes in the sink are a little mouldy. It is quiet. The wood creaks around you. Or perhaps you may awaken to find yourself shivering in the yawning maw of a cave, the freezing stone below you. Or maybe you’re unfortunate enough to sit up to find yourself lying in the snow, in the middle of the wilderness. Snow lies thick around you. It’s freezing out. You haven’t felt a cold like this before in your entire life. Cruel and biting. You have no idea where you are, and what’s worse — you are completely alone.
You may feel different, too. Any powers or magics you may have feel... absent. Disconnected. Things that may not have affected you previously now do. Something in you has changed.
You know you can’t stay where you are. You’ll need to move, try to work out where you are and how you came to be here. So you walk, head out into the unknown, in hope of finding a trail or a road. You’ll find one soon enough. It’s here you may find someone else in the same boat as yourself, equally freezing and confused. You’ll both need to keep going. It won’t be easy. You hear howls of wolves around you, and the terrain is difficult: slips and falls are likely. You’re completely vulnerable out here in the open.
But it won’t be long until you see it: the lazy trail of smoke rising in the air. Fire.
Follow it, and soon enough the way you’ve taken will certainly become a path or road. Unfolding before you in the mountainous forests, you’ll see the most welcome of sights: a small mining town tucked up in the valley. Battered, rusted road signs will direct to “MILTON, POP. 947”. You’re almost there, you keep going, and it looks like other people have had the same idea as you. As you head into the outskirts and further into town, you’ll find it’s a little easier to walk but the cold has gripped you hard. You’ll find the buildings, both shops and homes, are dark and lifeless, some of them are boarded up. Other than those heading in the same direction, towards the smoke, you won’t find any townsfolk coming to greet you, or even looking at you from behind curtains. … Where is everyone?
Towards the center of town, you’ll find the building from which the smoke rises: a school-house of sorts, or some kind of community hall. Perhaps both. You’ll find more and more people all drawn to this place, each and every one of them in the same position as yourself (and your companion, if you’ve found one). Some are in worse states than others: some are bloodied, nursing bite wounds or cuts; others might have some other kind of injury sustained in the journey here from falls. Others may look as if they could faint from the cold at any second.
The door opens, and you’re greeted by the gnarled, wizened face of an elderly man, dressed in thick furs. He has a kind face. He smiles warmly, and with pity, ushering you in with haste.
“It seems like a great deal of you have come.” he muses finally. “I am Methuselah. I welcome you Newcomer, although I’m sorry for how you’ve come to find yourself here. Please, warm yourselves. Eat. Get your bearings. Mother Nature has not been kind to you.”
The room is dim, lit mostly by the weak natural daylight through the windows. A roaring fire sits at one end of the huge hall. It crackles, bright and cheerful…. and warm. Even as big as this place is, the room is pleasantly warm. You’ll also find basic cots set up down one side of the hall, places to rest for a moment and get your bearings, or just trying to recover from the cold or any injuries. Down the other side are tables and chairs, and long, foldable tables laden with food, drinks and bottled water similar to one might find at a soup kitchen.
There are canisters with hot herbal teas and coffee, along with soup and stew and trays of charred moose, deer and rabbit meats, instant mashed potatoes, and tinned vegetables. It’s very basic, but it’s hot and filling. A feast. The old man has been busy. And Methuselah will continue to busy himself, still; there is plenty to do. He will fetch blankets, tend to wounds, serve food and drinks. He does not have much time to talk. More and more people seem to be coming in from the cold. He will not stop to sit and rest until everyone is seen to, taking up a place by the fire to gaze silently into its flames. He is troubled, thoughtful.
If you ask him where you are, he will simply respond: “This is Milton, of the Northern Territories.”
If you ask how you came to be here, he will shake his head: “Something has changed. The sky, it was… full of light. The Flare. I felt you coming, a great arrival. But I cannot say for certain how, or why you are here.”
He is regretful, genuinely so. He wishes he had more answers for you, but he does not. Instead he will simply insist you rest, get warm and eat. There is plenty to go around. Eventually, when you feel well enough, Methuselah will gesture to the door: “When you are ready and able, explore the town. Many left, others could not make it out. I have found no one but the dead. They will have no use of the place now, perhaps you might in the meantime.”
HOPE NOBODY NEEDS THIS ANYMORE
WHEN: First couple of weeks since arrival.
WHERE: Milton.
CONTENT WARNINGS: frozen dead bodies, unexplained deaths, suicide, murder.
Other than Methuselah in the Hall, the town of Milton is void of life. While not a particularly large town, there’s a few stores and even a gas station. Life here is rustic. Function over form. Homes are simple but sturdy and warm, it’s a rugged place and one can easily deduce that the folk living here led simple, self-sufficient lives.
Commercial buildings and stores of note include a bank and post office, a hunting/fishing supply store, a grocery store, and a clothing store. There is even a church just on the outskirts of town. The buildings are ripe for picking, with most of them still with the doors unlocked, including the residential buildings. Others are locked, but can be broken into easily enough. A few are even trickier, with some of them boarded up or with entrances blocked. In terms of contents, a third of the residential buildings seem to be almost empty, as if the owners moved out long ago. There might still be things left behind of use: old, warm clothes good for the wintery weather, tools and cooking utensils — but little in terms of food. Even if the former residents move some time ago, they didn’t completely empty their homes.
Most of the homes in Milton seem to be left as if the owner stepped out only a short while ago, and with very little disturbance. Some houses, however, seem to be abandoned in a hurry, with a mess of items strewn about in some last-minute dash to grab essentials: keys, identification, treasured personal items, supplies for a quick exit. Cupboards are typically filled with an abundance of canned goods, and some chilled goods might have survived in the cold weather within the fridge-freezers, but it might be a gamble if one wants to try and eat them. Any and all electronics within homes: televisions, computers, mobile-phones — although dated, will all appear cracked and damaged, and will not function or turn out at all. The same will go for any vehicles around the town: there is no hope of starting any of them.
Diaries and journals kept by the former residents may remark on a change in the weather, with the cold and harsh climate becoming more hostile as of late. Others remark strange lights in the skies, dating several weeks or so ago, strange noises in the air, issues with power and electrical items. Some make mentions of changes to the wildlife, with wolves coming close to the town even when they had never done so before. One or two mention problems on the Mainland, with increasing difficulty of reaching out to loved ones who don’t live in the Northern Territories, or deliveries being unable to arrive. The growing trend is that something odd and terrible has been happening, although no one can truly explain what, and the problems have been growing increasingly worse and worse up to the final entries. You might note that the actual years and dates might not line up with your own: the current year given in these entries is 2014.
The newcomers are free to take over these homes, if they wish. No one appears to be stopping them, and even Methuselah seems to shrug about moving in. And as he’d mentioned, he has found no one but the dead: and plenty of them can be found.
Bodies of the town’s former residence can be found scattered over the town. In homes, in stores, out in the snow. They appear still relatively fresh, although it may be hard to tell if it’s from the cold or if it’s from very little time passing. Most appear to have died from cold exposure, some appear to have simply dropped dead on the spot. Others may be found with a gun in hand. Some, worryingly, appear to have perished by another’s hand. You won’t find the entirety of the town’s population, but there’ll be at least several dozen. Men, women, children.
Methuselah seems to have begun laying the dead to rest, but there’s too many for one man to do. Maybe you can work out what to do with them, try to bury them in their backyards, or try to take them to the churchyard.
THE SIREN OF MILTON BASIN
WHEN: Until the next Aurora.
WHERE: Milton Basin.
CONTENT WARNINGS: mental manipulation, malevolent mythical creatures, falling through ice, attempted drowning/possible successful drowning, potential character death.
Those who venture further south of the town will find themselves traversing the steep, winding paths down towards the Milton Basin. The way down is treacherous, but if enough care is taken you should be able to make it down in one piece. The water is just about completely frozen over down here, thick and sturdy enough to walk over for the most part. Within the Basin there’s more wildlife to be found: deer and rabbit are plenty. And there’s even plenty of foragables, too.
Out on the water are two small ice-fishing cabins, enough to fit one or two people inside comfortably, which hold a few forgotten supplies to try out some ice-fishing if you want to see if anything bites. Both even hold little log burners to keep warm. An old hunter’s shack can be found along the water’s edge, for those not quite brave enough to travel out onto the ice, to take shelter in for when the weather gets a little too difficult, with an old log burner still working within it.
But it’s calm down here, for the most part. Peaceful even. It’s an excellent place for fishing and hunting, and a little more sheltered from the freezing winds.
Until you hear the voice. Something soft and feminine, echoing across the ice. The Basin helps to amplify the sound, and for a long time you can’t quite be sure of where exactly it’s coming from. It’s singing, she is singing. Something old, in a language you can’t quite understand. Maybe it’s not even a language at all, but simply melodic vocalizations. It’s... beautiful, you’ve never heard anything like it before in your life.
And then you see her: a woman standing upon the frozen waters of the Basin. You realise she’s probably the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen in your life, even if you can’t quite even begin to describe her. She appears different to everyone who beholds her, some one might see her hair is long and dark, others might see her with neat red curls. Some swear her skin is dark and rich, that looks almost plum when the light hits it just so, others claim it to be cool-toned that glistens like sunlight on snow. Whatever someone might find aesthetically pleasing is how she’ll appear, and even then to describe her to others will bring you at a loss for words. And she’s singing… to you, for you.
You’re compelled to go to her, although you can’t explain why. You’re drawn to approach her, to hear her better, see her better. Your feet carry you onto the ice, out into the midst of the Basin. You ignore the calls of everyone and anyone around you, fixated on the woman before you. She smiles when you’re close enough, beckons you a little closer.
… Then everything changes. Without warning, the woman leaps for you, her face contorting into something hideous, mouth opening to scream to reveal rows upon rows of tiny, needle-like teeth. She collides with you, and the force (paired with the slippery ice below you) is enough to send you off your feet. As you fall back, the ice cracks beneath you with an almighty sound, plunging you into the frigid depths below.
The woman fights to put you beneath the water’s surface, those needle-like teeth bared like some ferocious beast. She can be fought off easily enough, but she might just drown you before you’re able to. If you’re lucky, someone might be able to help pull you out. Tools or weapons made of iron or silver are especially harmful to her.
Once you’re pulled from the water, getting somewhere warm will be the utmost priority — otherwise the cold will kill you quicker than the woman would. The woman, you’ll find, will have vanished, and the ice where you’d fallen will have restored itself, as if it had never been broken at all.
FAQs
1. Items characters have brought from home can be found either strewn around them when they awaken, or in the community hall — as if someone left them out for them to collect. Methuselah will not know how they got there, and will be quite bemused by the happenings.
2. Reminder that all characters are now depowered upon arrival. They can choose not to notice it at first, or can immediately sense something is different about them.
3. If asked any personal questions, Methuselah will smile and say "Oh, you don't want to know about an old man like me. But I have lived all over in these parts for all my life." He will be more concerned with trying to help Newcomers, and is genuinely concerned for them and their well-being.
4. If asked how he knew that the Newcomers were arriving, he concedes that although it is a strange thing to know, it is much like how one knows a storm is coming.
1. Characters are welcome to take up residency in any of the homes of Milton. Methuselah will strongly advise characters to leave a huge, dilapidated house — known as Milton House — well alone, due to extensive fire damage.
2. More information about Milton can be found here.
1. Characters with hearing impairments will not be susceptible to the Siren's song, or may only be somewhat susceptible depending, but may be entranced to a degree by looking at the Siren. However, this will be far easier to snap out of.
2. The Siren cannot be killed, only fought off. She will disappear for a length of time to recover before she attempts to lure her next victim.
Jack Russell | Werewolf By Night | OTA
There have been times when Jack's woken up somewhere unfamiliar, but that's normally the night after a full moon. And the full moon is still several nights away, as far as he's aware. He looks around the obviously abandoned cabin he's woken up in, in confusion. It's not even somewhere the werewolf would go.
He pokes around it, hoping for something to jog his memory, then opens the door to peek outside at the snow-- or at the other person standing outside. "Oh, er. Is this your home?"
II. Methuseluh's Feast
By the time Jack makes it to the village and the fire and the food, he's noticed he's different. Scents aren't as strong, sounds aren't as loud, and he cannot tell what phase the moon is. (He's still partially colorblind, which is decidedly unfair, but that's a small thing.)
So as he collects a plate of meat and vegetables and potatoes, he's beaming at people. Sure, he's kidnapped to some strange cold town in the middle of nowhere, but he's not currently a werewolf as far as he can tell, and that's reason to be happy. Ted will probably find him eventually, anyway.
"Is this good?" he asks thoughtfully of the stew, or perhaps the person standing next to him. "It smells pretty good. Ah--" He realizes he is talking to someone next to him, and offers a smile. "I'm Jack, by the way."
III. Hope Nobody Needs This
After finding some suitable clothes and picking out a house to clean out and make somewhat liveable, Jack starts popping around town to check on everyone else. He might show up at someone's door as they're struggling with a piece of broken furniture to grab the other end and steady it. Or he might bring some of the canned goods he found in his cabin around to someone else, or a spare coat. Or maybe he's got a broom and a bucket of melted snow to get something clean.
Either way, he's being a busy-body in a useful fashion today. "Can I help?" he asks.
Only when the living seem settled and safe will he start helping with the dead. Not that he disrespects the dead, Jack has a very healthy respect for those who came before, but they're not exactly going to be impatient. So eventually he'll a shovel and is only somewhat effectively start trying to stab the ground with it.
Jack is not exactly a big, strong guy, but he's trying, okay.
Methuseluh's Feast / cw near-death via space exposure, hypothermia and hypoxia symptoms
That's why it's so difficult to admit her limits here. Christine isn't in peak condition. The last thing she remembers, besides a hazy vision of Spock, is the void of space spiriting the final vestiges of oxygen from her lungs and her saliva boiling on her tongue. Time must have passed since then, or she wouldn't have had the wherewithal to make it to the hall, or even onto her feet once her eyes opened. But she's damn sure it wasn't enough, and the threat of hypothermia certainly hasn't helped.
They're all exhausted, all hungry and slow and pale. It's the inarticulateness she can't stand. Her thoughts feel excruciatingly sluggish, because even the slightest delay means a wait on treatment for someone who's worse off than her. Her muscles spasm unpredictably and her fingers fail her. Stubbornly, she tries to work through it, but that worsens every symptom along with her mood. Eventually, once she's become more of a hindrance than a help, she relents.
With a blanket draped over her shoulders and a bowl in her hand, she approaches the stew. Christine isn't expecting the man there to strike up a conversation with her, and she's glad of the surprise. The cloud of frustration and helplessness hanging over her dissipates. She smiles easily back at him. That's muscle memory, too. Her bedside manner can be a bit of a crutch but right now she could use something to lean on.
"Christine," she responds. "And you know what they say: Hunger makes the best sauce, so it smells pretty good to me. Would you mind?" She holds her bowl out to him. She's been asking too much of her hands and doesn't want to embarrass herself by fumbling the ladle, now someone's paying attention to her.
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"I'd like to meet anyone that did." She accepts her now full bowl with both hands. "You sure seem in good spirits." A tinge of appreciation in that remark. Any Starfleet officer will tell you: Morale matters.
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Jack retrieves his plate and suggests, "I can sit with you? It may not help much, but it might help a little." He won't even suggest wrapping her up in a hug, since he's a strange man she doesn't know, but sitting with their shoulders together is still some warmth to share.
iii
And when Jack approaches, Bigby does seem to stop what he's doing for a moment, turning his head to look at the other guy.
(If Bigby still had his sense of smell, he'd definitely smell something familiar on the other guy-- but as-is, he's got no idea. Instead he raises an eyebrow, watching the man like he's appraising him in the moment.)
And since he's got no idea about the coat offer just yet, he just speaks up after a moment to ask: "What do you want?"
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His own coat is maybe a bit big for him, even with an extra layer underneath. Jack is not a large man.
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And it's not like he's going to reject it, anyway. Even if Bigby wasn't wearing a coat just yet, he is actually quite bothered by the cold, much more so than he's supposed to be. So when Jack holds the thing out, Bigby takes a hold of it, even dropping everything he was holding to first put it on, seeing if it fits. (It does.)
"You trying to make friends here or something?"
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But even though that's Bigby's answer, it does seem - judging by the small pause before it - that he actually had to consider it for a moment. He wouldn't say he's here to make friends, after all, but.. on the other hand, Bigby also knows that that has to do with a whole lot of his personal issues.
Like, you know, never ever admitting to a single feeling, maybe.
"I imagine we aren't just going to be able to get back home real quick." Usually in these sorts of situations.. If no one finds an exit soon, then one usually isn't found in a while. In Bigby's experience, anyway. "So we're probably all going to have to end up dealing with each other a lot."
He gestures with his hand at their surroundings.
"And this place doesn't seem too big."
So running into people is inevitable. It's a little like Fabletown, in that sense, though for entirely different reasons.
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Jack is, at heart, a people person. (A pack animal. Heh.) The thought of isolating himself for any other reason than the full moon is ridiculous.
"I'm Jack, by the way," he adds, because if he's making friends, he's gotta give his prospective friend something to call him.
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That's clearly not the thing he was thinking about, since he does - thank you - remember his name, actually. He's also rather glad everyone seems to have decided to only introduce themselves with first names, because while he doesn't think his last name would usually raise eyebrows, there sure is the potential for people to make dumb jokes about it in this situation with the wolves right out there outside town and all.
"You sound like you enjoy being around people, Jack."
Apparently that was the thing Bigby was thinking about a moment ago, though it took him a slight pause after his name to speak up with it. Not that it's an odd sentiment on the other's part - it just stands out to him a little bit, since Bigby can definitely imagine some of the upsides of living away from other people, honestly.
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"Well, yes," he has to agree, vaguely baffled, not sure if there's some kind of gotcha coming here. "It would be a little silly of me to want to make friends if I didn't like being around people. Do you not like being around people?"
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Though that isn't really Jack's question, is it. Is Bigby one of those?
It'd be an easy question to dodge by just leaving it at his early answer, but it doesn't seem like he opts for that. Instead the man shrugs after a faint pause, and then adds: "I'd be fine on my own."
It's how things always used to be, after all.
(Maybe things aren't fully that way anymore now, but he can't admit that, not even to himself. Denial is a strong force.)
"People tend to avoid me anyway."
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Jack has had that effect on people, too, though probably for very different reasons than Bigby. Bigby does not seem the talk-your-ear-off type. Or the get-into-stupid-trouble-and-need-rescue type.
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Because he's fine on his own, clearly. He's happy on his own, totally. Look at this guy, clearly looks like someone who's super happy all the time, that's why he's looking like the grumpiest guy in this entire village.
It might be why Bigby raises an eyebrow as he looks at the other guy, asking: "Are you going to give me a reason to tell you to avoid me?"
Are you the overly sociable type, Jack.. Is that it.. Because that sure is the impression Bigby is getting right about now.
So far he seems bearable enough though, Bigby supposes, but his standards are just.. very low in the first place, let's be real.