methuselah (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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singillppl2023-12-06 12:21 am
singmod) wrote in singillppl2023-12-06 12:21 am
Entry tags:
December 2023 Test Drive Meme
DECEMBER 2023 TDM
PROMPT ONE — ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST: A new group of arrivals 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 — not to mention the fact they are not the first to come here.
PROMPT TWO — MISTY FALLS CAVE: The Interlopers go out in search of a hidden cave in the mountains found by Methuselah, which may still contain the hidden stash of a doomsday prepper. However, they get a little more than they bargained for when they venture inside.
PROMPT THREE — SERPENT'S BREATH: Interlopers investigate the mysterious cause of whatever is killing and poisoning the wildlife and vegetation of the area — and discover a supernatural creature is behind it.
ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST
WHEN: Mid-Decmber.
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 a long time. The fire is cold, the dishes in the sink are pretty 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.
It’s possible you may come across someone here. Another fellow Interloper, out hunting or gathering. They’ll likely offer help and get you into town. However, for the unlucky ones who don’t come across anyone, you’ll carry on until you see it: the lazy trail of smoke rising in the air. Fire. Not just one, but several. Civilisation…?
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. In fact, you’ll hear the muffled sounds of life. People. In The town!
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, some are dark and lifeless, some of them are boarded up, some of them are occupied. People are going about their business, or stood watching from their tiny porches of their small, timber homes. For a town this big, there doesn’t seem to be many people.
Towards the center of town, you’ll find the building from which the biggest of the smoke trail 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.
“Ah, even more, still. Just as I thought.” he muses. “I wonder if this is perhaps the new status quo. I am Methuselah. I welcome you Newcomer, although I’m sorry for how you’ve come to find yourself here. You are not the only one, the lights are changing things. They bring more of you every so often. Come. Mother Nature has not been kind to you, but there are plenty here to help.”
The room is dim, lit only by 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. Down the other side are tables and chairs, and long tables with food, drinks and bottled water similar to one might find at a soup kitchen. Once again, Methuselah offers a feast, aided by some of the other Interlopers.
There are canisters with hot herbal teas and coffee, along with soup and stew and trays of charred deer and rabbit meats, plus grilled fish. There's also things like instant mashed potatoes, and tinned vegetables. It’s very basic, but it’s hot and filling. A feast, although newcomers will note from others who have been here some time that this particular feast is less bountiful this time.
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.
He will encourage newcomers to get warm and eat, and when they are ready to — they can explore the time and find one of the many empty homes to call their own. He will not speak much, but perhaps you might be able to get some answers from those fellow arrivals who’ve been in this place for some time now.
However, he will speak of something important, and will gladly share with others: “I have been looking for something for you all. There was once a townsfolk I knew of: Matthew. A suspicious, paranoid old miner who was interested in Prepping. He often spoke of the world coming to an end and strived to survive it. He often spoke of a cache hidden in the mountains, where he collected things of value. I have found the place, a hidden cave, but I am unable to get through, myself.”
… Well, he is an old man, after all.
“There are signs outside, so it is promising it is still intact. Perhaps the cache is still there. It might provide something useful for your growing numbers.”
MISTY FALLS CAVE
WHEN: Mid-month, onwards.
WHERE: Milton Outskirts.
CONTENT WARNINGS: booby traps; claustrophobic situations; potential injury/maiming; potential hyperthermic situations; exploration horror;
Methuselah gives directions to those willing to check out the lead for the old prepper cache. Following the river up from Milton Basin will lead to rugged, difficult pathways up towards Misty Falls — a waterfall, the river source itself. Most of the river is completely frozen with the freezing temperatures, but it is not completely so the closer to the source you go. Misty Falls is certainly idyllic, or it would be perhaps on a fine summer’s day — good for a nice hike. But the place looks desolate in the eternal winter cursing the Northern Territories.
The half-frozen waterfall is a din of sound, but the water itself is incredibly fresh and cooling for those hot and tired from the hike up. Those paying attention might notice a small space between the water and rock, big enough to squeeze through to get behind the waterfall itself. In the small space, the entrance to a small cave can be found. There are faded handmade signs, all in the same hand, reading ‘DANGER KEEP OUT’ and it isn’t too far of a stretch to wonder if perhaps this might be the secret stash of the old miner that Methuselah spoke of.
Venturing into the cave will not be an easy task. It seems the old miner was keen to keep any trespassers out, and most of this comes down to the cave itself. The walls of the cave quickly narrow, with only enough space to walk in single file. Jutting stone will easily make those stumble and trip. Occasionally the cave’s passage becomes narrower, meaning one might have to stoop or even crawl to carry on through. Here and there, the uneven floor dips, and your feet will find themselves in shin-deep frigid water. It’s slow-going, even if the actual passage itself isn’t incredibly long.
But perhaps the worst of all is the pressing darkness. A darkness so black even with lanterns switched off, one’s eyes cannot adjust to it. It is smothering, pressing. The air is stale and damp, you feel small — and the cave itself still presses in on you. The miner also kept a few tricks up his sleeve in order to keep out intruders. There are dead-ends, making it easy to get lost. Trip wires are hidden in the darkness, causing small man-made cave-ins to fall upon unsuspecting heads.
It might be safer, saner to give up and turn back. But persevering will see the cave opening up once more, this time widening into a room. The place is fashioned into some crude shelter. There is furniture, lanterns to be lit.
With more light, the miner’s stash is revealed: the painstaking, time-costing work of a paranoid old recluse. Crates of non-perishable foods, MREs, and bottled water. Medicines and basic medical supplies, flares and tools.
A perfect supply of survival goods, ripe for the taking.
SERPENT'S BREATH
WHEN: Throughout the month.
WHERE: The entirety of the Milton area.
CONTENT WARNINGS: mentions of dead animals; malevolent creature; snakes/serpents; poison/airborne toxins; potential poisonings; potential burn injuries; potential (temporary) blinding.
It’s noticed in different ways: perhaps a trail of dead animals stands before you, each one with no particular injury other than what appears to be burned hides and flesh — it is as if the wildlife simply dropped dead, for the most part. Perhaps you notice huge, tunnel-like grooves in the deepest parts of the snow, a few feet in width — as if something long and thick had made its way through to clear a path. More worryingly for some, they might notice trails of rot: destroyed trees, decaying plant life, as if the very earth itself has been scorched in the wake of something passing through, leaving nothing but destruction and devastation.
Something is destroying the flora and fauna of the world. There seems to be no pattern, simply the random trails all over the place. There appears to be no other tracks, other than the long, smooth tunnel-like pathways. Whatever it is, it must be stopped. Resources are so precious in this world, if the beast is allowed to continue then all who live here will soon starve due to lack of animals to hunt and plants to gather.
Following the tunnels is a sure-way to hunt the beast down, although these paths will lead far from town. It is best to go prepared. But soon enough, you may come across the slumbering beast, curled up on the snow or coiled underneath some jutting space of stone along the mountains. You’ll hear and smell it before you see it: the long grumbling snores as it sleeps, and the putrid stench of rot. Everything in you tells you to flee, much like when an animal senses something toxic, or poisoning.
You press on, finally stumbling across the beast: a long, serpent-like dragon, with tremendous horns and fangs, coloured with muted grey scales and huge, glowing, flamed eyes.
The element of surprise will work in your favour to try and kill the beast, but it will give up a good fight. It will take several rounds of fights with it before it will finally be taken down permanently. It moves quickly, with scales like steel. Its eyes and mouth are its weakest spots, as is the soft underbelly of its body — fire will work well on harming this beast, especially with a well aimed shot into its mouth.
Its open mouth is where it holds its most powerful weapon. Not the fangs, no. The very reason why the air smells of rot, why the wildlife lay dead, why the earth decays at your feet: its breath. The beast’s breath is highly toxic, it will burn the skin of those it comes into contact with. Breathing in the fumes will poison those who breathe it in, and will cause a weakening, sickly illness. The breath may even temporarily blind.
These injuries are not fatal, and will heal with time and the basic medical attention available in the world. Victims will require rest for at least a week, depending on how severe the blast of the serpent’s breath. But killing the best will ensure its havoc is brought to an end.
FAQs
1. Arrival threads can be treated as game canon.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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. Other Interlopers will say much of the same — there's little to know about him.
5. More information about Milton can be found here.
1. Tools found would be basic survival/camping tools one might expect: knives, hand axes, rope, handsaws, torches, batteries, etc.
1. The Stoor Worm, or Mester Stoor Worm, was a gigantic evil sea serpent of Orcadian folklore, capable of contaminating plants and destroying animals and humans with its putrid breath. Assipattle, the youngest son of a local farmer, defeated the creature by flinging still-burning peat into its mouth. As it died its teeth fell out to become the islands of Orkney, Shetland and the Faroes, and its body became Iceland.
2. It is possible the harvest the beast once it is killed, particularly for its fangs and skin. The skin/scales will provide ample protection to try to use it for armouring themselves. The fangs would provide useful for crafting knives or weapons.
3. It is... technically possible to eat the meat of the beast. Care should be taken in butchering, however. And it is not advised to eat the head.
no subject
Maybe all of that stuff is just real. Even if the thought of it threatens to make his head spin, the man quickly forcing himself to not think about it too hard.
At least Billy does know some stuff here. Like, for example, the fact that you don't go and make enemies right away in a situation like this. So even though a part of him definitely is thinking you're the strangest thing here, he's holding his tongue. Thankfully he's good at that.
Instead he goes for the more diplomatic version of it. Like-- ]
Is that why you are wearing that mask?
[ Because it's weird, Rorschach!! It's so weird and unsettling!! ]
no subject
No. Always wear this.
[Which was probably not going to help his status as being seen as a weirdo by Billy but he was alright with that. He knew he was weird and had ceased to care what other people thought about years ago.]
no subject
Mind you, it's only been a little bit since he was being chased by some weird spirit-bear or whatever, so that's saying something. The scale of weird events got upped real quick two times in a row, apparently.
He decides to not question it though. Not for now. He's so cold, and he doesn't want to think about that weird mask too hard, doesn't want to keep looking at it. Billy tugs his own coat a little tighter around himself and glances at his surroundings rather than over at Rorschach, like he's trying to see if he can spot anything but nature around them. (So far, he's failing.) ]
Do you know if there is shelter nearby?
[ There. A more useful question. Surely you can at least answer this one for him, right, strange mask man?? So Billy can leave and go there and not be stuck in this weird unsettling situation?? ]
no subject
[He started walking in the direction of where Milton lay. Billy likely would have found it eventually on his own but Rorschach was in the mood to actually be helpful. He carefully made sure that Billy was never fully behind him or where Rorschach couldn't keep an eye on him. He didn't trust anyone and especially wasn't about to think the best of a newcomer.
He didn't speak as he moved through the snow and with hardly any sound made by his feet as well. Rorschach might as well as have been a ghost with how silent he was.]
no subject
No. Absolutely not. It feels like he wandered straight into hell and the devil himself is guiding him around. There's something so incredibly unsettling about the other's presence, even though Billy isn't ignoring the help. Unsettling man or not, Billy does have to get to some sort of civilisation, after all. He's going to die if he stays behind out here in the cold. And dying again is the last thing he wants to do when it seems that he somehow managed to escape that fate.
.. still, the silence as they walk is.. unsettling. Usually he'd actually find it comforting, not being forced into awkward small talk or forced to listen to whatever the lieutenants have on their mind, but with Rorschach being Rorschach, him not talking doesn't feel like a good thing.
Besides, there's something he.. has to know. Even though he knows he's going to sound ridiculous while asking this. Maybe it's better to ask it from a weirdly unsettling person he'd rather never interact with after this though than from someone nicer he would be more in touch with, though, so.. ]
Do-- [ God.
How does he even word this. It's ridiculous. This entire situation is too strange for words. ]
Do dead people ever show up here?
[ Rorschach sure seemed entirely unsurprised to find him out there.. Even though Billy knows he doesn't exactly have 'actually a dead guy' written on his forehead, or anything.. ]
no subject
Not sure. Still figuring that out.
[He found it odd that at least in his own personal case he'd likely only been a few hours away from his own death. Ozymandias was faster, smarter, and a better fighter than Rorschach and Nite Owl combined. The idea he might not be coming back from the Arctic wasn't surprising to him.
He wondered if that was true for some of the others here and decided it was another thing he'd have to look into.]
Why?
no subject
Which is definitely since Billy is trying to figure out what to share here. He'd like to keep pretty much everything close to his chest, especially in such an unknown situation, but.. on the other hand, if he does that, he might not be able to find out anything.
Even though he thinks there's absolutely no way he can trust a man in a mask like that.
But what then if the masked man is - for now - all he has?
... ]
Because I died.
[ He decides to admit to the truth. Mostly because he has little else to go on, and since he's pretty sure there's no way that information could be used against him. .. Hopefully.
At worst the other might think he's insane, but Billy won't mind that judgement from someone who clearly seems insane himself. ]
And yet I'm here.
no subject
...and promptly poked him very hard with a gloved finger to make sure he was a solid figure and not a ghost.]
no subject
And yet, despite having no idea, this is even far beyond the field of possible ideas Billy could have guessed for another person's reaction. The only upside is that Rorschach isn't poking him directly into his stab wound. But a sudden poke? For a man from Billy's time? Please, this is unheard of. It's so unexpected that despite the cold and fatigue, Billy actually lets out a very unelegant yelp, jumping away from the poke as if Rorschach stabbed him with a knife, rather than just poked him with a finger.
If it wasn't so cold, he might have outright blushed - with both the surprise and the fluster over his own surprise, to not mention the physical contact on top of it all. But with a lack of warmth to actually motivate his blood to rise up to his cheeks, he just stares at Rorschach like the man is utterly crazy.
A thing that Billy already thought before this, yes, but now he's not even going to bother to hide it anymore. He couldn't at this point, even if he'd still want to. ]
What are you doing?!
[ He still doesn't exactly sound angry, more just.. confused?? Flustered?? Rorschach, was this really necessary.
And yes, he is totally solid, thank you very much! ]
no subject
Had to make sure you're not a ghost.
[Rorschach said this with the most obvious tone possible, as if there couldn't have possibly been any other reason for the way he was acting. He'd done the same thing with March when he'd talked to the man the first time he'd met. In this place, someone being a ghost seemed as if it could be a likely possibility!]
no subject
Why would I be a ghost?!
[ Granted, it's only recently that Billy learned there might be a little bit more after all in this world than just ordinary things, but.. that doesn't mean he's that ready to accept the existence of ghosts, okay. Let alone assume he might be one. ]
Is everyone in this place like you..?! [ Please don't let that be true.
Billy won't make it a week if that's the case. ]
no subject
[He had a very good reason for doing what he did! He didn't move, having all the social skills of a goat. So poor Billy was forced to use the last of his energy to get away from the masked weirdo.
Rorschach immediately shook his head when Billy asked him if the people in Milton were like him.]
No one here is like me.
[Which everyone could be very thankful for. Rorschach was, for better or for worse, one of a kind.]
no subject
He shivers, apparently still recovering from the touch, but quickly moves to keep walking again. He just wants to get to town so he can ditch this odd, odd person. Hopefully in favour of someone a little more helpful. Or he'll take just less strange. ]
Don't be ridiculous. Ghosts don't exist.
[ Granted, apparently weird spirits disguised as bears apparently do, but that had already been a wild stretch of Billy's imagination.
The other acting like ghosts are totally normal is a stretch too far, making Billy a little more openly bitchy than he'd usually be around strangers. (The cold also isn't helping.) ]
no subject
Where you're from? Maybe. Here? Very real.
[Rorschach looked a bit eccentric dressed the way he was and with the fabric mask he wore but he was far from someone to exaggerate or make fanciful claims. He was dead-serious when he spoke about the ghosts he'd seen in Milton, those figures that kept playing out the last moments of their lives.]
no subject
[ Congratulations, Rorschach.
You're getting a very rare thing from Billy here: more open bitchiness from him than most people get this relatively early into getting to know him. It sounds like Billy didn't even hesitate about saying that.. Which is mostly because this sort of judgement exists in his mind all the time, it's just that usually there are enough factors at play for him to know to keep those on the inside.
No such thing right now though. The only value Rorschach has right now is showing him the way to town. Otherwise he's just a weirdo with no sense of personal space, which is a concept near and dear to Billy's heart, okay!! ]
So if you are truly just a man [ despite.. being the way Rorschach is.. ] then there is no need to believe in anything more odd actually existing.
no subject
What makes you think I'm not?
[In truth, Rorschach had a reputation both in his own world and Milton that made him seem a bit more like a legend than an actual flesh-and-blood man. New York cops had been known to gossip among one another about how he'd been shot at and merely stood there without a single bullet hitting their target. The underworld didn't think him so much a man as some kind of boogeyman that knew all and who would appear when wrongdoing was going on to deal out his own version of justice.]
no subject
Have you taken a look in a mirror recently?
[ He likes to think the answer to your question is fairly obvious, Rorschach! Billy has known some weirdass people in the navy, and yet none of them went around with a mask like that, especially when sometimes it seems to almost weirdly move in the corner of his eye - something he's currently attributing to him just being way too tired and only recently revived for all of this. ]
What sort of person goes around looking like that?
no subject
Someone you don't want to mess with.
[There was such a dark, grim way he said the words that made it clear he was neither joking nor exaggerating. The aura that seemed to hang about him was like that of someone who had absolutely no limits to what he would do.]
no subject
And that's saying a lot, considering Billy - a very gay guy - had to put up with closely serving an actively homophobic boss for multiple years in a row, alright. He'd even rather be dealing with Irving right now than with Rorschach, especially when the other is doing this.
At least Billy isn't stupid. He isn't going to say anything that will just get him beaten up by this psychopath in the middle of nowhere, especially when his body feels so cold and weak, the scurvy having left a wrecked body in its wake. Rorschach being smaller than him doesn't mean he couldn't easily beat up someone who's got the constitution of a sick stickbug.
So he doesn't say anything to that. Billy lingers for a moment, but then he continues walking, staying silent.
Whatever, Rorschach, you terrifying weirdo! Have it your way!! ]
no subject
It wasn't long before they got to the outskirts of Milton. He pointed the route that the Community Hall was on.]
Community Hall that way. Will have food for you there if you don't drop dead by the time you reach it.
[There, he'd done his good deed for the day, now he was just going to be focusing on going back to being the antisocial weirdo that he normally tended to be. Honestly, it was too much fucking work interacting with people most days. He turned and walked off towards the part of town where he was still setting up the library for the Interlopers to use.]
and that's a wrap! c: thank you!!
Maybe it's just that with the town right in front of him and with Rorschach - who was starting to feel more and more like a threat - gone, Billy finally feels that he might have a chance to live after all.
He sucks in a breath, trying to gain control again over his feelings after the panic of having to spend time walking with Rorschach after the other's threat, but then Billy walks onwards into town. ]