larkers: (pic#12386235)
MEADOWLARK MODS ([personal profile] larkers) wrote in [community profile] meadowlarklogs2020-07-25 02:09 pm

EVENT #010

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam and any other megacity the Displaced happen to be in/travel to!
WHEN: May 28, 2512
WHAT: Golden-eyed monsters stream into New Amsterdam and other megacities the world over.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Violence, death, body horror, mind control, and transformation.

> EVENT #010

It starts in the middle of the night, when most everyone should be fast asleep in their beds, whether they're still taking up a cot in the safehouse or staying in their own apartment. One moment it's quiet, with most of the rest of the city having also turned in for the night, and then in the next? It isn't.

There will be mass confusion as the scope of the situation becomes clear. Monsters stream out onto the streets, thundering up the stairs of a train station, skittering out of construction sites, or climbing up the walls. Some of them fly. Others slither. Others run, loping forward with only one goal in mind: to find something to sink their teeth or claws into and to leave destruction in their wake at every turn. They are a horde, a swarm, a teeming mass of creatures that have no intention of stopping. All of them have eyes or bodies that shine gold and wherever they go, they seem to leave decay. Concrete turns black and porous where they step; plants wither and die.

There is no real preparing for an attack of this scale. New Amsterdam will awaken as the sound of these monsters crashing down on cars or bursting through storefronts or into homes forces people to run screaming from their dwellings or places of work. There is no discrimination in who these beasts might target, and no discernable pattern in where they go.

All that one can really tell is that they seem to want to spread out. They're constantly on the move, leaping from victim to victim, and they're relentless. No one knows why they've come, where they're come from, or what will make them stop. At least for now, the only option seems to be to cut down their numbers. It's time to fight the horde.

The first night will be utter chaos as everyone reacts to the monsters' sudden appearance, but by the morning hours news reports will start streaming in. This is not only happening in New Amsterdam, or wherever else a Displaced might be staying, but seemingly everywhere. Some cities seem harder hit than others, but practically every megacity is overrun with the creatures.

With no way of knowing who might have unleashed the monsters, all of these cities have essentially been turned into battlefields. Not many civilians are prepared to fight for their lives, and it will take a mobilization effort from the police, Morningstar, the Displaced, and anyone else who's willing to take up arms in order to survive.

◉ As a note, this attack starts simultaneously in multiple cities. While it's the middle of the night in New Amsterdam, the monsters will appear at other times of the day in other parts of the world depending on the timezone!

> BESTIARY

So as to not make this post overly long, we have compiled all of the monster descriptions into a Google doc here for everyone's reference!

> (NOT SO) SAFEHOUSE

For those Displaced who stay at (or spend any time in) the safehouse under the hoverbike shop or the Red Wings bar, they may become aware of the presence of the monsters sooner than others, due to the fact that at least a few of the giant mole monsters will end up burrowing up through the concrete basements to wreak havoc. The screeching noise of steel claws tearing through the floor will be sure to wake up even the deepest of sleepers.

This won't just be an occurrence on the first night of the attack, either. Unless something is done to deter them, tunnels leading straight into the safehouses will continue to be created, allowing even other types of monsters to find their way through (the smaller ones, that is). Where exactly they're coming from won't be entirely clear, though it's a safe bet to assume that they must have originated in the cave system somehow.

Suffice to say that El won't be happy about the safehouse being compromised in this way, though this isn't a possibility that ze or anyone else could have really prepared for. While ze can't do much to physically help with containing the invasion of the monsters, ze will offer whatever resources ze can—though Morningstar is going to be busy in plenty of other locations, as well, and they only have so many resources.

The Red Wings, being a Displaced-operated location, will also be in need of assistance, especially if it's meant to be a point of safety and a hub for handing out supplies. Speaking of—

> RED WINGS HQ

As things begin to deteriorate, Clarke Griffin and Stephen Strange sink their resources into Red Wings, adapting it into a base of operations for the Displaced. Clarke also called in PRESERVE to set up a checkpoint here, too, and anyone—from the Displaced to civilians—will be able to seek aid here. (Of course, Red Wings will be just one of a few locations throughout the city where they attempt to set up shop, but Red Wings may prove to be more fortified thanks to the talents of the Displaced.) Civilians will not have access to Red Wings' safehouse, however. That's still something that Clarke and Stephen want to keep under wraps, for now.

In the bar proper, there will be medical aid, supplies, and even weapons for those who can use them. During rare moments of downtime, the gang at Red Wings will also work on reconnaissance missions to find safe spots throughout the city to provide much needed protection and safety for the people of New Amsterdam. This task may be much easier said than done. Gathering intel on the monsters is a high priority, too, and for anyone who tries to capture a monster to learn more about them, the basement might be a good place to hold them. If the Displaced are going to be able to fight back, they need to know exactly what it is they're fighting.

However, the truth of the matter is that this attack happened quickly, and in the middle of the night to boot. As much as the group at Red Wings tries, resources are stretched thin, and they didn't have time to prepare as much as they wanted to. Supplies need to be rationed, bandages and stitches used for wounds that really need them, and if you're not a great shot, it might be best to let someone with more training take that gun you're eyeing.

More than anything, despite the difficulty, this is a way for the Displaced to help out as many people as they can, and a way for them to cement their humanitarian efforts and affect the population's opinion of them. The citizens of New Amsterdam are sick of this cycle of destruction, and are just waiting to be empowered. Now's the time to teach them to fight back and help them protect their city.

Red Wings' safehouse underground will be damaged by burrowing monsters as well, and will need protection. The bar itself will escape relatively unscathed.

> INVESTIGATING / GATES

Maybe the best way of dealing with the monsters isn't violence at all. Maybe there's a more strategic way to deal with this.

The monsters will be moving from city to city via the gates, just like the Displaced do. There might be a way to keep them from spreading, or at least slow them down, by shutting down the gate network. Of course, with the mag trains shutting down, getting back home could be an issue. One option is the delivery network of hover trucks. They'll still be running to get supplies from city to city, but their batteries don't run indefinitely, so these will be relatively local trips only. No getting from New Tokyo back to New Amsterdam with this method, unfortunately, and convincing a driver to let you hitch a ride might be a challenge, but it's doable.

Of course, there's also the question of where these things are coming from. Intrepid characters might be able to track them back to their nests, which are tucked away in wildly different places depending on the city. In New Amsterdam, they might be in the caves below the city. In other places, they might not be in the city proper at all, but just outside of it. It's important to keep in mind that the nests are far away from any of the action taking place elsewhere. Tracking these origin points may provide some answers, but the cost would be less involvement in the crisis taking place.

And then there's the matter of the monsters themselves. How can you fight an enemy you know nothing about? For those determined or crafty enough, capturing them might be an option, although this will take some creativity. Once these creatures are captured, they'll need to be kept contained, and kept alive. Just because they're monstrous doesn't mean they don't have to eat, after all, and some will need special environmental considerations as well, such as the mind control slugs.

What happens after that is up to the Displaced. Is dissecting them the best bet? Their internal anatomy won't be wildly different from most "normal" animals, with the exception of some creatures who have strange appendages or the like. Still, this might give the Displaced a better idea of how they operate and what their weak spots are. Sending samples to a lab is another possibility, if the Displaced can figure out how to safely store those samples. After all, the world is in a crisis, and no one is running tests at the moment.

All monsters, though, seem drawn to the blue light. When a Displaced uses a power or activates the empathy bond, the creatures will lock onto it, utterly transfixed, and if this is done enough times, that gold glow of theirs will intensify. What does it all mean? Maybe figuring that out will be a pathway to stopping their attacks.

> PITCHING IN

While all of this is going on, it certainly won't be just the Displaced who are heading out into the streets to try and stem the flow of the monster attack. These creatures are certainly not holding back, and no matter how much work might be put in, their numbers are overwhelming. Plenty of people will end up dead as a result, ripped to shreds or dragged off somewhere to be eaten. Yet, for some reason, these monsters are not as vicious toward the Displaced. They'll engage them in a fight and injure them, but they never go so far as dealing a fatal blow.

Seeing how that's not the case for the rest of the populace throughout the world, however, some groups and organizations will be rising up to do their part.

Police departments will be mobilizing in every megacity to put the monsters down, and while they are armed, it's not on the same level as the UNA. They also don't have any sort of training that's prepared them to fight monsters, but they'll still be putting their lives on the line to put a dent in the monsters' onslaught. When it comes to enforcing regular law and order, they certainly won't have the bandwidth for anything like that. Then again, most people won't be in any position to take advantage and commit crimes either, given the chaos that will be a constant everywhere.

Morningstar will also be jumping into action around the world. The New Amsterdam branch will be most likely to work alongside the Displaced and share some of their resources, particularly with those who are signed up as official agents or those who've supported them in the past. In cities like New Prague and New Beijing where the Displaced have made some contact with Morningstar before, they'll also be open to working with the Displaced. However, their resources are by no means robust. Morningstar is an organized rebel group, but they're hardly an official army in any sense of the word. They might be able to hand out a weapon here or there and they have a safehouse set up in almost every city, but beyond that, they'll mainly be getting boots on the ground to help with the fighting.

UNA soldiers who have been left without any sort of purpose or guidance will now have an opportunity to put some of that training to use. Their involvement will be much more scattered, though in some cases small groups of these soldiers who used to work in units together will reconnect in their effort to fight off the horde. However, having been cut off from the UNA in an official capacity, they won't have much in the way of gear or weapons. They're still formidable fighters, though, and now might be the perfect time to reach out and make a connection with some of them.

Mercenaries belonging to various different outfits, depending on what city they're based in, will also be joining the cause. Whether they're acting out of a basic desire to survive the attacks or if they're actually being paid by someone to go out there and risk their lives will be less clear, but they're some of the best-equipped fighters (other than the police). They also won't really find much reason to protest any of the Displaced pitching in to fight with them. The more firepower, the better, right?

A group of regulars from the New Amsterdam fighting rings will be rising up to add their fuel to the monster-fighting fire, as encouraged by Hawke and whoever else might know them well enough to reach out. Given that some of these people have illegal mods to enhance their strength or cybernetic attachments that can do impressive amounts of damage, some of them might hold their own against the monsters. Hell, some of them might even ask the Displaced to demonstrate some of their powers if they end up fighting together, as word of their abilities has become more known among their ranks. Either way, they'll be jumping into the fray with quite a bit of gusto.

PRESERVE will be involved on the other end of these efforts and will be doing their best to tend to the wounded and the dead, along with finding shelter and safe spots for people to barricade themselves from the attacks. It's not like the grand majority of civilians could stand a chance against these monsters, after all, yet not all of them can rely on their homes to be safe enough to stay in. They'll be quick to accept an offer of Displaced help, as they'll be doing their best to try and drag the recently dead to hospitals to get them put into medi-units before they're too late. Along with what's set up at Red Wings, they'll also be cobbling together other relief spots throughout the city for taking care of wounded and offering up what supplies they have (food and water, medical supplies, etc).

And what are the corporations doing in all of this? Well, suffice to say, mainly just panicking. Unsurprisingly, they're not much help during a crisis like this, with most of the super-rich opting to hide away in whatever highly secure bunkers they might have. Too bad that these bunkers might not prove so secure in the face of these attacks. Could that prove to be an opportunity if someone went looking?

> FINAL OOC NOES

Please refer to the OOC EVENT POST for all OOC info, including suggestions for directions on how to engage with the event. Given the spread out nature of this event, as well as the amount of additional details provided here, please direct all questions to our QUESTIONS thread below. This is, naturally, a huge event in terms of scale, and so we're certain there are aspects of it we haven't covered and questions that have yet to be answered. We do encourage that all of our players use the event planning post for any additional ideas and for touching base!

Please do not begin to thread out any aftermath until AUGUST 8, 2020, which is when we will put up the aftermath log and OOC post. If this date changes, we will provide a gamewide update as needed! As a note, the August calendar will be posted alongside the aftermath!

As a reminder, there is one power level up available for this event, granted for a thread of at least 5 log/action comments containing your character utilizing their power in some way during the event itself. They will need to reach the 5 comments required by SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 to be eligible. Submission will be handled on the wrap up post.

Our Activity Check will be posted AUGUST 1 at 12 AM UTC. It will run for seven days and close on AUGUST 8 at 12 AM UTC.

Have fun and fight some monsters! Or … whatever else you might do with them. 😉😏 Your secret's safe with us. 😙

dragonwarder: (we will glide over the world)

The Work Is Never Done (open)

[personal profile] dragonwarder 2020-07-25 11:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[Daenerys' life in New Amsterdam had centered around the golden eyed animals. And, with all of her contacts either dead or stuck down in Antarctica, she could not help but feel it was more important now than ever to make sure the few people left at the labs would have something to analyze.

A. The Slugs are easy enough to spot, and Daenerys has equipment to store them for analysis. Catching them, though -- that's a different story. After seeing what they had done to another Displaced, she is extra careful around them. The last thing she needed was for her powers to react while she was doing this delicate work.

B. The Plant Creatures give her trouble as well, despite being plentiful in number. They are more agile than she is, and larger than the other specimens she had been trying to gather. All she needs is a sample -- and so she has a crude knife with her to try and retrieve it. It likely will not be long before more of them join in her quarry's games.

C. The Bats are not an animal she was looking to obtain a sample from after she watched them carry off a citizen right in front of her. She was not a particularly large person, after all, and it made her the perfect snack-size companion for them. So, when one of them realizes they agree with her assessment, she's stuck spending much of the afternoon trying to get away from it.

No matter what anyone spots her doing, she will sharply turn once she spots someone near to her.]


Help me with this.

[Her tone leaves little room for argument.]
championofsnark: (Default)

The Bats!

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-07-26 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
[Hawke looks a complete wreck at this point, having stopped for breath only a few times since it started, but she's got a running list in her head of the things she's had to kill so far. The bats give her much less trouble than most, as she's not new to fighting flying animals. She spots Daenerys, she's hard to miss after all, having seen her on the road to Antarctica but they were all busy. Or found busy work to do.

She salutes her request but then puts a finger to her lips to warn her; the bats have perfect hearing. She's used this to her advantage.
Hawke clangs her blade into the nearest debris, of which there is much out and about, getting their attention. She can be utterly silent on her feet, but in this case she is making noise, running toward a wall.

When it comes in after her, Hawke simply runs right up the side of it, flips backward, and lands her full weight down on the bat. It crashes down to the ground with her on top, lifting her blade with intention to kill it, unless she's told to keep it alive.]
dragonwarder: (when your standin in the hall of fame)

[personal profile] dragonwarder 2020-07-27 03:06 am (UTC)(link)
Wait!

[In truth, she hadn't expected Hawke to be so efficient. Daenerys even has the grace to look impressed -- and its what nearly keeps her from not issuing the command in time to stop the killing.

While the bat struggles beneath Hawke's weight, Daenerys inches closer. One good thrash has her thinking twice. She would have nowhere to hide it reliably, and she wasn't about to set him loose inside of the EcoFriends' labs.]


Cut the head.

[At least she can carry that.]
championofsnark: (serious cool)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-07-29 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
[Hawke pauses the moment Daenerys speaks, keeping from the kill and holding the bat down to see what she wants. Despite being a leader in her city, she's much more comfortable working as a team, and never balks at following orders when they're made in good faith.

The problem with the struggling bat shows them both quickly that it would be difficult to keep. Not impossible. She could probably cut the wings and knock it unconscious, but there's no knowing really with something this unusual and animalistic. Hawke nods and doesn't hesitate before slicing the head right off. Her blade is of extraordinary quality, designed by the qunari with silverite. It's better than any blade in this city.

Hawke lets the head drain so she doesn't end up with more blood on her than necessary, glancing over at Daenerys. She's so calm and casual about it, it speaks to her decades of experience as a killer.]


This world really did seem to say reptiles who, let's throw every other creature there is at you.
dragonwarder: (they gonna have to see)

[personal profile] dragonwarder 2020-07-29 08:17 am (UTC)(link)
[There is something about other women coming to her aid that always makes her smile.

The effortless way that Hawke proceeds to dispatch the bat is also impressive -- there is no hiding it in her face, despite the fact that she does flinch a bit while watching the act. She wasn't particularly happy doing this to any of these creatures. They were just animals, following and acting on instinct.

Slaughtering them so clinically, even in self defense, still feels cruel.]


Nice sword.

[And she means it too. She says it like she's seen a particularly attractive person. Longclaw, the sword that Jon Snow carried, had stirred a similar feeling within her. Despite them being tools of war, they were familiar symbols and things she recognized as something distinctly belonging to people who could understand what a struggle life was in New Amsterdam amidst all of the technology.

Rather than linger on that, she shifts her weight and moves to pick up the head. It was still warm, and still draining blood.]


We must wrap this -- and perhaps find something large and cold enough to keep it frozen.
championofsnark: (blood on face close)

I'm sorry for the wait, I am alive!

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-08-03 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
[Hawke always prefers it when her enemies are animals rather than people. As cold as it may be, she rarely has to see family or friends of creatures and explain to them why they're dead, whereas her person kills always have that potential. Being a warrior can come with a calm acceptance toward death, although she doesn't take pleasure in it, so that's good. She holds onto that.

She flashes Daenerys a smile at the compliment to her sword as if it is indeed a compliment to her.]


Thank you, it's called the Bassrath-Kata.

[It was won by a mix of diplomacy, honor, and violence, by the qunari who respect the latter two the most. It has emotional value to her, which is why she's so glad to have it back in her hand, and she yields it like it belongs there. Her other weapon is a longer sword and made here; it does the deed, but it's not made by a proper blacksmith.]

Do we have anything that can actually keep things cold? I don't know of a ... what's it called, refrigerator, that can fit it.

[Hawke is not used to modern appliances, but she finds them wonderfully ueful. A machine that can keep things cold is a delight to her. She frowns and looks at the head, considering.]

A restaurant might have one? But that's not portable.
Edited 2020-08-03 03:09 (UTC)
dragonwarder: (for you)

No worries!! It's been a nutty month

[personal profile] dragonwarder 2020-08-04 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
[An interesting language. She almost asks after its meaning -- but there are more important things at hand.]

The labs where I work do. The challenge will be getting there, with all of these creatures in our way.

[And, possibly, getting inside -- with many of her coworkers still stranded in Antarctica, there was no telling how much longer she would have before she was fired. Or how long it would take to have it analyzed.

She gestures at the outside to make her point.]


But if this sample rots too soon, there are plenty more to go around.
championofsnark: (serious glance away)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-08-06 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
[Hawke glances at the outside too. It's a good point. She has no idea how far it is and what will be in their way. She knows that they all had to outrun the disaster in Antarctica and that may have upset her, what with them being her coworkers and on the dig. There hadn't been much of a choice at the time but that doesn't make it easy.]

How far would you say? Could be we start in that direction and if we kill more things on the way we'll have more samples.

[Hawke shrugs. She sounds very cavalier and maybe she is, in her way. She has no idea if this would even be helpful long term, if finding out how these things ticked mattered. What mattered was right in front of them. A dangerous trek might be asking for it, but she's willing.] Red Wings might have a freezer too.
dragonwarder: (blood of dragon)

[personal profile] dragonwarder 2020-08-08 06:46 am (UTC)(link)
Red Wings is closer, if they possess the tools.

[And she hadn't thought of a freezer being located there -- frankly, anything that kept her away from the thick of the action was a good idea. If she was not careful and too much danger encroached on them the city would be dealing with a much bigger problem than just the monsters alone.

Whenever given the choice, Daenerys would always choose the option that meant LESS of a chance of her turning into a dragon.]


If we had a horse...
championofsnark: (Default)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-08-17 04:18 am (UTC)(link)
I bet they do. There's ice and such, and food that's frozen I think. So that might be our best bet.

[Hawke sighs dramatically at that.]

I would love a horse. I don't like those bikes they have here, I haven't been able to ride one but they're too touchy.

[Hawke may never really get over her discomfort with technology. The head isn't that heavy so she won't have trouble carrying it there.]

We'll probably have to carry it in the back, there's a lot of people camped out there that don't need to see creepy face here.
unwings: (021)

B

[personal profile] unwings 2020-08-03 03:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ argue, he does not. cas was already jogging his way over to this woman who looks like she's about to be overwhelmed by plant monsters, and the command barked to him doesn't faze him. the swing of his machete takes off a lurching, clawed arm reaching for Daenerys' back, and as another leaps for her, castiel moves to block the creature from her and reaches out to... tap the monster's forehead.

as if very abruptly chloroformed, the monster flops down to the street, sprawled out and completely unconscious, as the blue glow from underneath castiel's shirt gradually fades after the power use. ]


Do you need assistance getting to Red Wings?

[ since he's not sure what 'this' is that he's supposed to be helping with, other than making sure monsters don't eat this woman. ]
dragonwarder: (pic#13915652)

[personal profile] dragonwarder 2020-08-05 07:23 am (UTC)(link)
[Castiel's decisive action means she can breath for a moment, combing stray silver hair that had fallen out of her braids back from her eyes. She does take a moment to pause and glance down at the plant creature who had fallen unconscious.

That...could come in handy, she realizes suddenly.]


No, I am collecting samples.

[And on that note, she knees down to pick up the arm that he had severed.]

Thank you. [She pauses while inspecting the other monster again.] What exactly is your gift?
unwings: (pic#14232312)

[personal profile] unwings 2020-08-20 02:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[ the unconscious plant creature is unfortunately going to die in its sleep, but it's much easier to decapitate while prone and motionless than flying through the air and trying to murder people, so cas goes about taking care of finishing it off while the woman collects her samples. ]

Some form of sleep inducement or cognitive suppression. It doesn't last long. [ cas replies with a bit of a frown, not entirely confident in that answer. ] I've only had it for a day.

[ so we're still kind of figuring it out. since she mentioned samples, cas swings the pack on his back around his side to dig in a pocket. his hand comes out around a long, talon looking thing - one pulled from one of the mole creatures, and he hold it out to her, offering. ]

For your research.