meadowlarklogs | EVENT #010

Entry tags:

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. 😙

> NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I imagine that would have been anyone’s first.

[It’s not a direct answer to her question, but he is pointedly not looking at her, even as he finishes the process of adjusting himself to lay boneless on the bed.

He hurts all over. He has used muscle groups he only knew existed in text books and theory. And he is staining his sheets with his own blood.

But he is alive. And aside from the dull buzz of pain — he actually feels good. That is what is most unsettling here. It means he is distracted from the fact that his chest is still glowing faintly.]

I was raised in a military.

[As if this is supposed to explain it off. He doesn’t necessarily feel bad or awkward about being a virgin because he never really cared —- but he still felt the need to explain it away.]

A soldier? [ she hadn't realized. yennefer takes some interest in that now, officially pliant enough to be toothless. she surveys his features, the warm flush of arousal that creeps across his high cheekbones as well as his ears and neck. ] You don't act like any soldier I've ever met.

[ perhaps it's just the nature of his world, but soldiers of any kingdom she'd been in were used to frontlines fighting. he was obviously not. ]

That is because I am not what you might call a soldier.

[God, he is tired. And lightheaded. Who would ever do this voluntarily?

Finally he ventures a glance at Yennefer when he feels her eyes on his face.]

I am a long term strategist, and a weapons developer. Groomed for it, you might say.

Groomed by whom?

[ she knows a thing or two about grooming. she thinks of tissaia, and strangely, yennefer finds that she misses the old bat. as much as yennefer resented her for so many things, it ... would be nice to have that familiarity. thinking of tissaia is better than thinking of geralt, at last. ]

Other officers. No names you would be familiar with here.

[He would be foolish to think she actually cared to know. She was looking for more leverage while he was still high. That’s all it was.

But it also wasn’t particularly exciting to listen to. Nor was he going to wax poetic about how highly regarded Brendol Hux was.]

[ the faintest hint of anxiety says: ]

You're angry with me.

[ he was withholding as a way of punishing her, as if it mattered. it didn't, in the end. and she was not sorry for putting him in his place, not in the slightest. he had given himself the impression that he was the party in this partnership with more authority, and she had robbed him of it. he would get over it. ]

[That makes Hux chuckle again, brief and hoarse. Of course he was angry with her -- but not the sort of anger that inspired petty revenge schemes. She could have killed him, and she didn't. Ultimately, the abuse he's suffered at her hand had been...enjoyable.

It was an unusual circumstance and experience. So no -- he wasn't quite angry.]

It just isn't an exciting story. They were relics past their time. And they are dead.

[There was no love lost.]

By your hand or another?

[ from what she had seen today, she could accept either possibility. around this moment, she realizes that there's no getting comfortable in her present form. that is motivation, if nothing else, to remedy it.

she sits up and regards the rest of his apartment, finally taking it in. ]

Mine.

[In truth, the only casualty by his hand was his father. But he would not admit that outright, and she had no way to confirm. He had no tells, regarding this. There was little affection for Sloane, and Rax had treated him like a child well beyond the acceptable age.

And Brendol. Well, Brendol was Brendol.]

I do find it curious that you are suddenly so interested in my upbringing.

[ trauma makes her nostalgic. it is not his past that she's dwelling in, but her own. these are things she won't say and hates to even acknowledge, so she deflects promptly. easily. ]

I did fuck you.

[ as if that were the natural consequence: interest in his past. that had never been true, though. she gets up, stretching her arms over her head. ]

An interesting form of quid pro quo.

[But one he's satisfied, as far as he is concerned. He starts to move, as if her stretching was a signal that this bit of intimacy was ending. However, as soon as he moves, some dried blood flexes over one of the cuts that hasn't fully scabbed and he hisses in pain.]

Are you normally this...[Pause]...violent with your partners, or am I a special case?

Most of my partners can take a little violence.

[ ah. there's geralt.

yennefer sours at the memory, the whole of their affair tainted now by the truth of his djinn wish. she'd rather remove the memory, if she's being honest. she glances back at hux. ]

And ordinarily, I don't have claws.

[Yes, the claws. He very nearly points out that he saw her powers -- the power of shapeshifting. He doubts very much that she won't have claws in the future, given the option.]

It wasn't a complaint. It was an observation.

[Pause. Best not leave that door too wide open.]

Alright, it was a minor complaint.

Just as well I didn't do it for your enjoyment, then.

[ she lifts her chin a little, studies him. ]

Unless ... You're saying this to avoid it happening again. [ she can't well arch her eyebrows like this. the tone of her voice does the same job. as if it were laughable to imagine her fucking him a second time. ] There's little risk of that.

Obviously.

[Surely she does not think him so desperate. But its the last thing that baits him.]

Oh, is that so?

[He scoffs, one hand moving down to soothe his hip bones, which will surely be bruised tomorrow morning.]

Interesting. You certainly weren't complaining a few minutes ago.

A few minutes ago you weren't talking.

[ he's ruined it, obviously. she's getting the distinctive impression that he hasn't actually learned anything from this about which of them has the power here. yennefer advances back towards him, a threat in that step. ]

And I was doing all of the work.

[ just to be clear. ]

[Armitage stands when he notices Yennefer advancing back toward him. He's not quite ready for a round two -- not like what had just happened. He is pretty sure if Yennefer rides him like that again, she will break his spine.]

Talking happens less when someone else's tongue is half way down your throat. You wanted to do all the work. I was just the warm body in the room.

[She is advancing on him, but he holds his ground for the time being. If she was going to kill him, she would have done it already.]

You crave that sort control, don't you? [The question is rhetorical.] Stand down. There's no use to play the martyr here, Yennefer.

Edited 2020-08-06 05:27 (UTC)

[ yennefer is used to men with power who disregard the women who guide them. she is used to handsy men whose own desires to curdle their respect for the women around them. she is used to these things, and she had abandoned them to a purpose. ]

How quickly you forget yourself.

[ she doesn't lash out, not yet, but she will make it clear that, if he continues on this way, he cannot expect her to brook that kind of talk from him without a well-deserved retaliation. ]

I remember quite clearly. I just told you.

[He leaves it there and moves to collect his clothes, slipping back into them despite the fact that all he really wants to do is fall over and sleep. His countertop is a mess of insect venom, and there are still slugs that he needs to store until Yennefer is in a state where something can be done with them.

The verbal sparing does nothing for either of them except waste their time. What's been done is done, and whether or not Yennefer wants to repeat it is up to her.

For now, it will be difficult for him to disassociate that act from the scorpion-like creature that had attempted to devour him.]

Do you want that venom or not?

If you would be so kind.

[ the saccharine tension in her smile suggests that she does not, in fact, consider him kind at all. but she gestures with half her arms to wave him towards the stinger. ]

[It's a feat that he does not roll his eyes where she can see, but only after he's shown her his back. Hux makes certain to put his gloves back on to avoid getting any of the creature's bits onto his skin. The last thing they needed was two monsters under one roof.

He is surprisingly careful and precise in his cuts, estimating with the press of the knife to figure out how much pressure to apply. It takes him a few moments to really dig down to the glands and puncture them. But once he does, its a matter of turning the remains upside down to empty the venom into one of the open and empty jar.

He pours until it stops draining.]

[ that pitiful volume is all that keeps her from a lifetime of this. so she fears, anyway. yennefer watches the last of it dribble out from a safe distance, then invites herself into his space to swipe it away. ]

I'll take that.

[ she screws the lid on with some trouble. it will be hard, if not impossible, to do this on her own. but she can ask after clarke, perhaps. she doesn't even consider stephen because she refuses to consider the possibility of facing him in this state of great failure. but she'll figure it out. ]

Can I trust that the slugs will remain secure here? [ will he ... be an idiot and wind up letting them out on accident ... ]

Yes, your highness.

[There is some obvious exasperation in his voice and expression when she swipes the venom away form him, aggravated only by her insulting question.]

Unless they are capable of unscrewing lids from the inside, they are not going anywhere.

[Though they had no way of knowing how long they would live.]

Keep them somewhere dark and cool. I don't want them dying.

[ she would point out the insult she took in being called your highness, as she was far more capable and powerful than any lady of court, but she held it in. larger concerns.

though she didn't much want to go back out into the city like this, where displaced might try to kill her, she glanced back at the door. ]

Where's the closest train stop?

[ the trains weren't running at this point, of course, but she could walk the tunnels. ]

[He very nearly lays it on a little thicker, but the truth is that he wants to be alone to sleep. Now is one of those times where he reconsiders his position on strong alcohol.

At least his door has a lock.]

Four blocks north.

[He then sets to collecting the jars to store them in a cupboard. He can guess why she is asking about the train station -- he wouldn't want to be in public looking like she was either.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

EVENT #010

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject