Event - Aftermath

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Aftermath

➥ Handle With Care

(cw: arachnophobia, entomophobia, chirophobia, elafiphobia)

There is a reason Dogtown has been boarded up. The wicked do not rest and while the majority of ADI's manpower was out of town, those remaining were stretched thin. There simply weren't enough eyes to keep on the park. With too few people, the things that crawl inside crawled out. Most of them have been hunted down and dealt with, but not all. Not nearly all. Though it might not be apparent at first.

The weather is hot and a bit of humidity brings the bugs about. They might all be horrible, but some aren't so bad. Butterflies flit about in the air, their colorful wings offering an aerial show on your walk. Every now and then, however, one or two might catch your eye: there appear to be a few with an odd wing shape that seem to jerk and plunge in their flight. Keep an eye on these odd bugs and you might just finally place the shape: four long, spindly segments. Hands. Interlocked at what would be thumbs, fluttering sets of hands no bigger than the rest of the butterflies flutter about. Some land peacefully, some don't seem to land at all, but just dance about like a perverted wave from no one. Others still, like to land on faces and what a delight it is to be blessed with the gentle legs of a butterfly on your nose as it spreads and stretches its wings! At least until those wings clamp over the eyes under them.

You don't even have to go outside to find things that skitter and hide. Perhaps you've settled down to work on something or read or even check your phone. It'll only take a moment, really, but it has your attention. Enough so that, when you feel a gentle tickle at your neck, you might not even think much of it or reach up to scratch the spot. Except it happens again, slower, more careful; to the point it doesn't tickle, in fact, it feels almost like something is...stroking your neck? Like a tiny hand running along your skin. If you're fast enough, maybe you can brush whatever it is off, or maybe you simply turn your head to look at your shoulder and into the multiple eyes of an eight-legged friend. No, make that six. Six legs and two, long, arms ending in thin-fingered hands.

On the other hand, there are also those things that go bump in the night. Well after sunset, some areas of Gloucester titter with laughter or carry the steady sound of feet hitting the pavement, while some darker corners patter with a rhythmic slapping sound. Following the sound might just lead you through echoing alleyways until you come across the recognizable shape of a deer. A deer whose legs end in hands. Where they start is at the top: curved, gnarled, fingers jut from the top of its head like a perverted crown. Antagonize it or stare too long, and that slapping sound may turn your way, the charging deer aiming for you grasping-fingers-first.

➥ Shipping and Handling

(cw: underwater threats, drowning, refuse/filth, squirmy things, human-caused environmental damage)

Known locally as the Cut, Blynman Canal in southwest Gloucester connects Gloucester Harbor to the Annisquam River. For over a hundred years the Blynman Bridge has spanned that opening, a busy drawbridge that has nonetheless been left to rust. The Cut is a deceptively treacherous little waterway, and it's not unheard of for locals with too much time on their hands to go down to the canalside and watch the boats in the hope of witnessing an entertaining misadventure or two. There's more than one local legend of boats going down in the canal, though no record of it in recent history, and people claim the water is a lot deeper than anyone might expect. But that's not quite why it's caught ADI's attention recently.

No, it's the wretched sobbing from under the bridge at sunset that's new and concerning…and the reports of boats striking something in the canal where there should have been open water. Several owners have reported thumping on the hull of their boats as though they were struck by some furious creature, but the official story is that they simply struck litter and debris that has recently clogged the canal's entrance. It's not a lot to go off of, but with the recent Dogtown troubles, any sudden change at locations of potential significance is worth an investigation.

In daytime it's difficult to see much of anything in the water, and investigators are discouraged from intruding too obviously on the scene during hours when locals are more likely to be present. As the sun sets, though, the water roils and crashes under the bridge for minutes on end. The motion dies down, the water calms, and the lamenting cries begin. There are no words, only broken sobbing in a human voice. Looking into the water in the dying light, one can see something down there, just below the surface now. Is that a face? Did a hand just breach the surface, reaching pitifully skyward before slipping back under?

Anyone who tries to enter the water will feel detritus brush against them, all manner of sunbleached plastic debris clogging the canal. The walls go straight down under the bridge and the water is deep. It won't be long before one finds oneself not just swimming in trash but entangled in it. It drags even the strongest swimmer down, snaring arms and legs. Fight and cut yourself free, hope for a rescue…or await the end.

➥ Say, Say, O Playmate

(cw: hallucination, disorientation, synesthesia, altered mental states, breaking and entering)

There is someone in the mirror. They appear when you're alone. A childish, friendly face, or what you would consider friendly, interesting, someone you would be willing to play a game with… or at least entertain the possibility for. Your new playmate has something to show you. It's something good, and you should follow! Even those who might not usually be inclined, will find themselves drawn in. This playmate seems to be tailor made for you, someone you could get along with. Someone who whispers into your mind and no one but you can see, even if they have their own playmate.

There are too many reflective surfaces in Gloucester, and you'll find your playmate flitting easily between them, like they're stuck in a world beyond the glass. Maybe they are. They might even tell you that's the case. Help them, please! They've been trapped here by some monster for so long.

Those drawn into the chase will find themselves directed to all sorts of places around Gloucester, from publicly open buildings to private residences to other buildings they really shouldn't be going into without a very good reason, like the police station. Maybe try getting in there under the cover of night? Your playmate is insistent that wherever they're leading you, it's important to the trail. And you can feel that they really mean it. This is important, this is vital. It might be harder than usual to say no. Maybe you can make yourself believe this isn't as dangerous as it seems. That's far too easy.

It's a trail that does seem to have an end for those willing to stick it out… and who aren't arrested in the middle of all this for breaking and entering or trespassing. A tiny mirror shard, something no bigger than a fingernail. That's what you've been looking for. Grab it! Grab it! Those unfortunate enough to take their playmate's advice will find themselves experiencing sudden and intense disorientation followed by a 24-hr bout of synesthesia. Ever wondered what gray smells like? What flavor your favorite song is? The color of a burger wafting under your nose? All yours for the price of a mirror shard!

Destroying smashing the shard to even smaller pieces seems to end the disorientation, at least, but synesthesia is something that persists for at least a day after. One thing that becomes immediately apparent, though, as soon as you find the mirror, whatever you do with it, your playmate disappears.

➥ Let's Have a Tea Party

(cw: death; drowning; choking; claustrophobia; nausea; emetophobia/vomiting; disorientation/vertigo; body horror)

It begins with a news headline: Lost Baby Dolls Cry Foul On Beach! The article details strange new visitors to Gloucester's beaches, and the residents making efforts to clean up the dolls along with other debris from recent 4th of July fireworks displays. The leader of the local non-profit, I Love a Clean Gloucester, leading the clean-up is quoted as saying some volunteers have been experiencing some unpleasant side-effects from contact with the dolls, clearly indicating there may be something toxic in them. Paul Rudder encourages everyone to be vigilant to pollution and wear thick gloves when assisting.

But ADI digs deeper. It seems those 'toxic' effects aren't what they first appear. There is something supernatural going on. Two dedicated beach clean-up volunteers have been found dead in their homes, drowned on dry land. The police are puzzled. The lungs of both bodies are filled with seawater.

ADI takes over investigating as a stretch of beach is closed to the public. Perhaps you're brave enough to check on these dolls for yourself. Perhaps you're just here to try to bury the things deep where no one can reach them. Those who pick up the dolls, even those wearing gloves, will feel a strange, rocking sensation that grows more intense the longer they hold and manipulate the dolls.

Regardless of actually touching the dolls, those who visit the beach will find themselves dreaming. They are out at sea, exhausted, struggling to keep afloat, their articulated ball joints ache. They can feel the last of their energy reserves bleeding away, their mouth, something they can never close, filling with water as they sink down, deep, deeper, the weight of the water pressing in around them, constricting their body.

Waking up might just be nauseating or a violently unpleasant affair as you'll find the ground still lurching like you're trapped out at sea for minutes or even more than an hour, or hacking up seawater. Repeated visits to the beach worsens the effect, and if the clean-up volunteers are anything to go by, too much dedication might well be deadly.

➥ Mod Notes

• GENERAL - Players are welcome to play background NPCs for themselves when they are needed in a thread. If you need more information on general behavior for these types of NPCs, please feel free to ask! In general, the information provided in the prompts should be sufficient and ordinary people will act like… ordinary people! Although, the people of Gloucester seem to be becoming more and more aware of supernatural phenomenon and they are frightened by it. You're welcome to make up any details beyond that for your specific scene. Also, please remember that character deaths are permanent and plan accordingly!
  
  
• HANDLE WITH CARE (16-20 July) - All creatures can be killed similar to their normal counterparts, but smashing the butterflies or spiders will result in smashed blood, skin, and bone (on whatever instrument you use to smash them with). The deer itself can cause potential harm as it will attempt to gouge, scratch, or even strangle those who threaten it.
  
  
• SHIPPING AND HANDLING (28-31 July) - From above the water it will not be possible to make out the full shape of whatever is in the canal regardless of the quality of light. Anyone who enters the water and keeps their eyes open will get an impression of a long, eel-like creature with a human-like face; it also has many hands on short, jointless arms all down the sides of its body. It is the garbage, not the creature, that drags characters down–the creature also seems to be entangled.
  
  
• SAY, SAY, O PLAYMATE (16-25 July) - Your character's playmate can interact only with your character, no others. But two people might see different playmates in the same reflective surface who could be telling them wildly different things. The playmate is someone who will be specifically tailored to appear as non-threatening and friendly as possible to your character. If that means they're a small scared child claiming to be trapped in the mirror, or an older teen or young adult with a rakish air and charming wink. This is about your character's perceptions, not any consistency. Their appeals to 'play' will also be tailored to your character. They might be requesting help, asking for a favor with the promise of a payback, encouraging some silly game, or whatever might motivate your character. The mirror shards will continue to induce synesthesia and disorientation if they are not destroyed. Any shards brought back to ADI will be examined and then ordered destroyed. The playmates will all disappear when all of the shards have been collected, whether your character has successfully collected one they were on the trail of, or not.
  
  
• LET'S HAVE A TEA PARTY (16-31 July) - Not every doll induces the rocking sensation, but many do. Characters will have a hell of a time trying to pinpoint any source for the dolls. More of them keep washing up, seemingly at random; though, they definitely seem to be coming in batches, and any time a stretch of beach is fully cleaned up, more appear, like something has been watching and waiting to unleash more of the things. Multiple visits to the beach may result in significant lung damage, akin to what you might experience from having partially drowned.
  
  

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Comments

[bloodalwaystells]

That conjecture draws a quiet laugh from Jaeger, because Garner is very right in his assessment.

There's a weight to the whole thing, but the more Jaeger lets himself think about it, really process it...well, there's potential there too. Promise. He's still not entirely sure what it all means, or how it's going to affect him here, but he has it in his mind, and he thinks that makes things a little better.

"I'm not dead, no. I got a glimpse of about six months of my life, from that moment." He pauses again, hand dropping to rub his right thigh. The pain isn't much right now, just a faint twinge that comes and goes, and right now it's gone. He suspects it will be back, because these things always have a price, but for now, it's okay.

It's better than the alternative, the idea of dying in the cold rain and dirt by a lonely highway.

"The people that I've been working with, they came for me at exactly the right time. Combined with the fact that Easterbrook- the man hunting me- wanted me alive. The killers he sent after me like to play with their prey, though, and I was severely wounded. Shot in the leg at close range. I spent most all of that six months recovering in a secret place. Safety, or as close as we get to it. Even with magic, they couldn't undo all the damage."

His voice is soft in the quiet air, some of the roughness gone just from the simple fact of weariness. Healing was tough. Learning to accept new limits? That was even tougher.

[whisperedone]

Garner listens and what he hears draws not sympathy, but empathy. Their parallels continued and Garner sincerely wished that weren't true. His own path was not one he anticipated ending well back home, he didn't wish that on anyone and certainly not someone he considered a friend. Jaeger didn't deserve to suffer more.

His voice is soft, not just in volume, but in tone. "I am not as familiar with guns as I could be, but what I do know...I imagine that was a substantial injury; healing could not have been a pleasant thing to endure.." And he's sorry Jaeger had to...but... "I am glad you did not die. You deserve as much of your life as you can have."

[bloodalwaystells]

None of them deserved it, in Jaeger's mind, but sadly, the world...every world, really...isn't always as fair as they'd wish it to be.

Jaeger hadn't asked to be born into the life he was, and his choices could have been better but in his own defense, he'd been misled from the start. That was worth a little forgiveness, he thinks. He might still have a lot to atone for, but at least he'd made the choice to do that, to use the horrors he'd been indoctrinated to for a better purpose.

Sometimes, fighting terrible things means understanding that darkness, being able to wield it yourself. He took some comfort in that.

"If not for magical healing, I probably would have lost the leg," he says grimly, and his hand drops to his thigh to rub the site of the injury. Just a twinge, right now, but the memory of bleeding in the rain is still a little too close, a little too real.

He's not going to focus on it, though, and he forces his hand to still as he speaks again. This time, there's a faint smile with it.

"Strangely, it was good for me in a way, too. While I was recovering, I was away from the fight for a while. Someplace peaceful, where I could think and work without constantly being in the middle of a fight for my life. I helped others who were healing, too, took the time to make things better for them, and I think it was a change of task that I really needed." He pauses, then continues. "It reminded me that there was more than just blood and the hunt, and that what we do is for a good reason, a good cause. We save people from the horrors that we've lived through, and being able to do that...it was a good reminder."

[whisperedone]

Garner nods, a soft smile tracing along his lips for the reflection. "Your time gave you wisdom. It can be hard to remember to lift your head and look around when the goal seems all consuming and imperative. Particularly when the safety of others might be assured through your actions...it can be easy to forget there are other ways to help people suffering now, rather than aiming to stop suffering later."

For his part he knows he...tries. It is nearly impossible on his own, but having others around him helps to remind him there is more than blood and hunt to be had in what life they had available to them.

"It sounds to me like you were able to enjoy life for that time. Some might say finding a reason to live is more important than simply surviving, it certainly seems...happier." He would be inclined to agree on principle, but not all were meant for it.

[bloodalwaystells]

Jaeger finds himself nodding, then adds words for Garner's benefit.

"It wasn't the way I would have chosen, maybe, but it made me stop and think. And I spent some of that time with a very wise woman, as well. The person who gave me a chance to be my own man, when I most feared that I was too broken to be any good to anyone. Purpose. Direction. Something good, that makes it all worthwhile."

What does the whole thing mean? Jaeger isn't sure, but at the time, it was what he needed. A reminder of what is still left of his soul, that still wants to fight. That still wants good things, comforts and a life that holds meaning beyond just blood and vengeance.

"I'm glad for the chance, and to know that I survived and can keep going. It's still very disorienting, knowing I lived all that time in just minutes, here, but it's something to hold onto."

[whisperedone]

Companionship was important. He couldn't agree more. Even just having the friends and connections he had here had taught him that much. He listens to the rest of Jaeger's words with that same fond smile. He wouldn't have chosen that cause for his friend either, but the result sounded....worthwhile, at least.

"I'm glad for you as well, even if it is still much to deal with. You deserved that closure and the knowledge that you are still 'good for anyone.' Still good for yourself. I am sorry that it came with an injury, I hope that does not end up outweighing the knowledge you now have." It doesn't seem like something Jaeger would end up regretting, but it wasn't Garner's place to guess or assume. "Is there anything I can do to help with your disorientation?"

[bloodalwaystells]

Sometimes, the right thing to do was to use bad powers for a good cause. It wasn't an enviable situation, but Jaeger was far more well equipped to deal with dark magic than most. He understood it, the ways and means of it and how to defend against those particular skills.

It was a hard line to walk, but it had saved his life, and others, so many times he couldn't deny the dark practicality of it.

He rubs his leg again, absently, callous against denim. It's going to be a while before he shakes that new habit, if ever. Even when it doesn't hurt, it's still strange, an odd, lingering juxtaposition of reality and vision.

"Just talking about it helps," he says after a moment. "It feels like more than a dream. It's staying with me. I can taste antiseptic. Rain and gunpowder. I remember what it felt like, bleeding, and I remember coffee and mountain air at dawn." He tips his head back to collect his thoughts further, feeling the warmer, humid air of Massachusetts in summer.

"The more I talk about it, the more it all seems to settle. The less crazy it seems." That fleeting smile again, though Garner can't see it. It's odd how much he finds himself doing that around the other man, that it feels like that little bit of weight is lifted, but...there it is.

"I think in a day or two I'll be ready to pick up life as usual, here, but maybe that time to process will be good for me anyway."

[whisperedone]

He can hear the shifting sound of a hand on cloth and he reaches over slowly to place his hand on Jaeger's. It occurs to him why he might be doing it a moment after. Phantom pains? A memory of an injury that might need such attention to ease when time had done all it could. He found that happened to him at times with the fingers of his left hand and his left knee. Parting gifts from his time interrogating Fenix. He pulls his hand back again.

"You do not need to rush it. We're not imminently in danger any more than usual. You taking time to put your head back in place is far more important than pushing yourself before you are ready. And...if you have a need to talk about it with or without my responding, you are always welcome to send me a voice message, I will listen regardless."

There was likely little else he could truly offer, but if that was enough, then he could accept that. He couldn't imagine having new memories shoved into his head, especially ones you could still so keenly feel. Jaeger was a stronger man than most, in his estimation, to be able to handle it as well as he was. Most might not even go looking for those answers. He's not sure he would.

Garner already held respect for his friend, but he could feel it deepen for that alone.

[bloodalwaystells]

The moment he realizes that Garner's hand is on his, is a strange one. Jaeger isn't one for touch, has only seldom had that offered to him in recent years. Once upon a time, he'd been a loving and doting husband, but it wasn't easy to recapture that idyllic ease.

Since the scars, mostly. There's a moment where he freezes like a trapped rabbit, not sure what it means. If it means anything, or if it's an innocent gesture. It's a touch that verges on his scarred forearm, but Garner knows about the scars. Jaeger steadies himself, and wonders just a little bit why he cares if the man finds those marks of torment or not.

He breathes out slowly, and accepts the touch, forcing the strain to relax from his broad shoulders and tight arms.

"I'm grateful for the quiet," he admits. "I know when things get bad, I need to be at my best, and having some time to get there again, that's a relief." He pauses a beat. "It's strange to realize that there are others here who will take up some of the work, too. I'm not used to that. But I appreciate it now."

The idea of others to watch his back, to be able to lay down his burden for at least a little while and fulfill another role. One of the gifts, lessons, whathaveyou from his little venture. Time to heal, to become strong again.

"And...I appreciate the offer. And I'll keep it in mind, as I work out more of it in my head. It's starting to feel real, and I expect that will take some time to...integrate, I suppose. To absorb."

[whisperedone]

He nods and sits back a bit more. "I imagine it will. I don't know what you're going through, but I know the...difficulty of allowing others to help you. Not even necessarily out of a lack of stubbornness, so much as the expectation that there simply isn't anyone else to rely on. I have found...despite the number of people involved, cults and cult-like establishments can feel like the most lonely grouping of people in the world."

There was a community, they were all working towards a common goal and it would be unfair to say they didn't look out for each other or care for each other in a superficial way, but no one was there for anyone else. There was no connection.

Most of the time. His mind flits back to Gate and their hurt and betrayal.

"There were only a couple I thought I could rely on in my own community, but in the end I don't think they were there for me the way they thought they were. Or maybe that was on me." Certainly he was not infallible, nor always kind back then.

"Yet the friends I made at home and the ones I have made here have taught me connection is necessary to survive...and can make the surviving itself feel worthwhile, though...the tone of your voice has changed some. In a good way. I think you might have started learning that yourself. Perhaps more than you are aware of."

[bloodalwaystells]

"That's it exactly," he says quietly, nodding mostly to himself. "Cults and organizations like that, there's so much isolation, so much self-doubt and manipulation. To keep you faithful, keep you believing. And to remind you that there's nowhere else to go, that they are the center of your world." He huffs, runs a hand over his short-cropped hair with a soft sound.

For a while, he'd believed that. That he was alone. That associating with anyone else would bring pain, and visit upon them a fate that only Jaeger could prevent.

"The breaking point for me was when they threatened my wife and daughter." The words hang heavy in the still air, a surprising confession. He stops, shakes his head, lets his hands drop to his lap again and clench into quiet fists. "When I was no longer obedient, they used what leverage they had."

He goes quiet for another few seconds, because that part hurts. Even with Jordan and Claudia dead in the ground with iron curses on their graves.

What follows is a quiet laugh, and the strain goes out of him just as suddenly.

"It's hard to unlearn lessons drilled into you with pain and fear. But I think I'm starting to get there. It feels different, and that's something. Even just having made the decision to do things in a new way...it's freeing, even if it's also a little terrifying."

[whisperedone]

There's sympathy in him for that added context and he wears it in his eyes even if they only fall mostly on Jaeger in his attempt to 'look' at the other man. He reaches out to his shoulder, another brief touch, more hesitant for its reception than any uncertainty on Garner's end.

Either way, it doesn't last too long before he brings his hand back into his lap. "I'm sorry your family was used like that. You have suffered much." The rest of that...yes, the rest of that Garner could imagine just fine. He knew exactly what Jaeger meant.

"You are doing things a new way and, though that, becoming a new person." He gives a small smile. "I am looking forward to meeting this new person the more you discover him."

[bloodalwaystells]

The shoulder touch is a little easier, a little more familiar, and Jaeger relaxes the rest of the way, most of the tension sliding out of him as he accepts the company.

"I'm hoping that it's a better person. I like to think that no matter how hard some of these lessons were, I can still do good with them." He pauses, gazing out over the yard thoughtfully. "Sometimes, the world needs people to do hard things. Those who understand the darkness well enough to fight it."

A dark and battered knight to charge to the rescue when all else fails. It's an image he clings to, the belief that all his pain has brought him here for a reason. It's more romantic than he would normally allow himself, but...Indigo had faith in him, and now Garner, and that means a lot more than he ever realized.

He shakes off his thoughts, then, in favor of that brighter moment. That sense of faith, of solidarity that he's only now starting to find again.

"And, thank you. I've really appreciated having you around, not just for sparring but being able to talk, to have someone around who understands. It's not an easy topic, and others here...I think some of them understand a little, but it's still not quite the same."

[whisperedone]

He smiles down towards Jaeger's chest for the sentiment. Both of them. 'Sometimes, the world needs people to do hard things. Those who understand the darkness well enough to fight it. That was what the Claret Order was based on. Taking people and letting them become monsters so that they could effectively fight the monsters. Let his hands stain with blood so innocents weren't forced to know what lingered in the dark. It was his purpose at home: hunting down his old cult members as well as things that preyed on the innocent, that was why it wasn't hard to do so here as well. Avatars were no different to Vecna's cult leaders in his mind.

All the warnings he'd been given by the Order back home and ADI here that he might well become the monster he hunted didn't change anything. He'd already done monstrous things, things he hadn't even yet told Jaeger...if that meant he become something to hunt, then hopefully his friends here would be as strong as he'd hoped his friends back home would be when the time came.

"I'm glad for those things as well. It is nice to have oddly shaped common ground with another. I've only told one other person as much as you know and I don't think he fully understood either, but he is a good man and he tried. Companionship is important. My Order back home and ADI seem to think differently, but I believe connections are the only way we keep ourselves going in that darkness. So, thank you for your role in that for me."