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Event - Feeling Faint

Feeling Faint

➥ Flicker

Photo of a wild rooftop garden with a city skyline in the background.
(cw: Alterations in reality and perception, chance for violence or injury, potential chance of loss of name or other pieces of a character’s identity, depending on conversations with NPC)

Somewhere, deep in ADI’s basement, there’s a meadow in a metal room. That room has a door that always stays locked. Yet, after a couple visitors come by to talk to the inhabitant of that room, that door is unlocked and the meadow vanishes along with the inhabitant.

It isn’t a quick thing, no light switch is flicked announcing the change in the status quo, it’s an irregular thing. One day everything is as it should be and then, for an hour, all of the illusions and glamours making every non-human seem human simply vanishes. Then it’s two hours. Then a whole day. Then it’s only flickers now and then or only portions of a body left unchanged, all interspersed with days where nothing seems to happen at all. Like someone’s playing a game. Something that leaves the locals on edge as ‘monster’ sightings increase and send a ripple of fear and doubt through town. Fear and doubt that is sometimes answered in unkindness at best and violence and fear at worse.

Though, who the sadistic someone is might be difficult to pinpoint for those outside of the know. Anyone who goes looking or has ways of sensing where the fluctuations are coming from might come across a handsome stranger perched atop one of the now-vacant warehouses once used by Oculus where a rich carpet of grass and tumbling ivy now overtakes the roof and spills down the sides.

For the brave or curious or angry at heart, the stranger will turn to their visitor with a small, knowing smile from where they’re sat in their meadow, a flower crown in hand and held out like an offering. “Hello, who do we have here, then?”

➥ Feint

Photo of a forested area around a crimson red river.
(cw: extreme distress, hallucinations, supernaturally heightened emotions, blood, monstrous creatures, potential for violence and death)

"Please! Please"--your name, someone is shouting your name--"I need- please! Help!" The voice is a familiar one, someone you care for, or at least have no negative feelings about. They might be someone you've met here in Gloucester, or they could be someone from home. They're distressed, they're in Dogtown. You only hear them as you travel around the edges of the park. And there are even glimpses of them. Flashes of a face that seems to belong to the person who's shouting.

Even if you're wary, sensibly so, the pitch, the distress, puts some sort of feeling into you. Fear, perhaps, for the 'person' in danger? Anger that someone would try to impersonate someone you love? Hopelessness that you can't actually do anything to help? The emotion fills your belly, wells up like a tide and crashes through the mind. It's not impossible to resist going into Dogtown, but it's certainly difficult.

Those who get any substantial distance, will note that they seem to be drawn deeper and deeper into the wood and that the ground grows moist and ruddy. The scent of iron fills the nose and senses. Those who have a sense of Dogtown as it is now may be able to tell that they're being drawn toward the blood river in the southern reaches of the park. Getting closer, you'll be able to see a creature shambling along sideways on clawed and webbed feet. It swings a lantern from its head that flashes to look like the person you know now and again. The false form shouts in fear and terror, crying out.

Should the creature spot you spotting it… be prepared. It will attack immediately, and it doesn't seem to pull its bites or slashes. While ordinary means are enough to bring it down, there is definitely more than one creature. Perhaps a brood has recently hatched in the river.

➥ Figment

White billboard with the words This Ad Is Real written in black and red block font.
(cw: hallucination, altered mental states, gaslighting)

There's a face that keeps turning up around town, but it's not really clear who it is. It's a Caucasian, mustachioed gentleman who seems to be in books where he doesn't belong, in the background of photographs, both old and new, and even on advertisements. You might notice him only in a few things at first, but once you clock him… he's everywhere.

Inquiries into his identity net a mixed response from locals. He's just… some man. Nice mustache, though! Does he look a little like Matthew McConaughey? He just looks like another New Englander, maybe some founder for Gloucester? A reverse image search yields much the same results. There are actors and models who look vaguely like this man, but no one that definitively matches him.

The strange thing is that as you see him more and more, there's the feeling of a hand gently touching your shoulder. A large, masculine hand, as far as anyone with particularly acute senses can tell. It only lasts a moment, and then it's gone. You can never turn fast enough to see anyone, and they don't appear in any mirrors; though… there's a mild distortion in the air if you manage to glimpse a reflection somehow.

Those touched by the hand of the mustachioed man will find themselves feeling more and more inclined toward mischief. Have you seen the mustachioed man? No, no, you haven't. When shown photos including him, you might be inclined to lie and say you see someone else entirely. It's just a little mean. With things in Gloucester spinning out of control, perhaps you ought to grasp control where you can. Making someone doubt themselves and their reality? That's one of the most powerful forms of control out there.

➥ 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! You're welcome to make up any details for your specific scene. Also, please remember that character deaths are permanent and plan accordingly!
FLICKER (16 August - Potentially Onward) - Players are welcome to control their own NPC interactions. Some might be understanding or come to their defense while others might turn a blind or turn to violence. These moments of violence shouldn’t be outright mobs so much as small groups close to a mugging that only happen once and a while, not a certainty. Characters will have the chance to talk to Milo and either convince them to continue the illusions or drop them entirely, what happens with the illusions from an IC standpoint will depend entirely on these interactions, so if you tag into Milo’s interaction, please make sure that thread is prioritized.
FEINT (16-23 August) - The monstrous creatures can be killed with enough bullets or other normally lethal methods. The figures they mimic will be perfect copies of characters who will elicit strong emotions in your characters. The only limit on who these can be would be for characters already in games. Please just get the other player's permission. If two characters are together, the creature will only mimic one important person. The mimicked individual will provide reasonable (if terrified) responses to questions that are shouted at them.
FIGMENT (16-31 August) - Characters will be able to find plenty of people who look vaguely like the mustachioed man, but efforts to track them down will lead to dead ends. They seem to be ordinary actors, models, and people who have had their photos show up on an image search. Characters trying to investigate the strange happenings in Gloucester and the surrounding area, particularly Dogtown, will find themselves seeing the man more often than others. They'll also suffer the effects of the man's 'touch.' Characters who feel compelled to gaslight and deceive others will be affected until they take out that impulse on someone. It doesn't need to be anyone they care about; though, that makes it feel better somehow. Individuals aligned with the Spiral may find themselves feeling particularly well fed for the month of August on fear juice.

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There’s a tilt to their head, a look of…intrigued curiosity coming over their expression.

“You’re not quite Elias Bouchard, are you? Maybe you never were. And yet more than I am Milo. How fun…”

They lean back on their hands where they sit. “I’m me, as I’ve always been. A thing I don’t think quite exists here, but that’s all well and good when here doesn’t like things like me much. And what are you, besides Eyes that See?”

A few things spring into Elias's mind at that phrasing: a thing that I don't think quite exists here. The most obvious association is the statement of Anya Villette, the woman who slipped through a crack in something around Hilltop Road. Perhaps this thing that calls itself Milo is like that. Something that doesn't belong, that slipped through a crack in the foundation, ending up in a world unlike it's own.

He desperately wants to reach out, to Know, but something about this situation tells him that the moment he reaches out with the Eye, it's going to end poorly.

The other thing that springs to his mind is a quote, applicable and yet not at the same time. "As I was going down the stair, I met a man who wasn't there," Elias idly recites, more to himself than to Milo. There's a pause before, attention fully directed at Milo, "I don't think you could ever be more Milo the way I am more Elias. I doubt you fit the parameters. But as for your question, I'm curious. ADI and it's hunter have a nasty little habit of trying to keep secrets from me."

The flowers in the meadow grow taller, nearly a foot from the ground, and all turn their faces towards Elias.

“What an interesting little rhyme. But if you’re keen for secrets, I see little on the table for me in it. What is it worth to you?”

Elias stares the flowers down. Watching. Keeping his eyes open. Drinking in as much of this...oddity as possible.

"I suspect I know what our next challenge will be. Do you want to know? Or perhaps you would prefer to know I became more Elias?"

Their head tilts in interest and they shift to lean forward, with elbows braced on their knees.

“Your challenges here? That holds little meaning to me and what context I’ve been afforded…your little situation, however, might be of interest. How Elias Elias you?”

"I'm amenable to talking about that," he nods. "My secrets for yours sounds like a fair deal."

He can't help but smirk a little, gesturing to himself as he continues, "If you'd like, I'd even go first."

They offer a smile and a hand that reaches a little too far from them. “A deal. Your secret for mine…but you go first.”

Elias takes the hand and shakes it. And then, he starts to explain.

He explains his Institute. How his role has been to watch over it. How it serves the Eye and how he's worked so damn hard to make sure his Institute fills it's purpose. And he explains Elias Bouchard, scared little stoner who applied to the Magnus Institute simply because he felt he was destined for more. He describes the ritual used, noting that Bouchard wasn't the first person he's done something like that to. Bodies had a nasty little habit of aging. Decaying. And he craved immortality. He explains how he brought Elias Bouchard down to his panopticon, how the last thing the boy felt was overwhelming fear and overwhelming pain as the ritual started and he plucked Elias's eyes out. After all, the boy wouldn't be needing them anymore.

Nowhere in the explanation does he use the name 'Jonah Magnus.' It is simply 'I' and 'Elias Bouchard.'

The description is easy to follow, but vague in a few aspects. Elias is perfectly fine saying how he did it. But as far as he's concerned, Milo doesn't need a step-by-step instant replay. Once the explanation is done, he looks over at them before asking, "Any questions?"

They listen to it all intently, gaze rarely leaving Elias as he tells his tale. When he’s finished, Milo smiles a slow, curving thing.

“What an interesting power the Eyes have after all…I do wonder…with only eyes left, how are you so sure you’re you? How much of Elias and every other she’ll has now bleed into you as well? Perhaps you’ve become a little more Distorted than you’d even admit to yourself.”

Which was just delightful, really.

“What do you wish to know?”

Does it matter if he's him? After all, Elias has seen his End. He knows what he will be. He is part of the Eye, a limb to something greater than himself. Elias, Jonah, James, they're all one in the same. They're all him. And he will see everything from on top of his Panopticon and indulge in the sheer pleasure of knowing, right up to his death.

Which, granted, still terrifies him more than he'd like to admit. Might as well take advantage of this lovely new world, so close to tipping in the right direction instead. See if he can't go two for two on apocalypses.

"How long have you been here?" he asks. "How long have you been a part of this?" Said with a gesture to the warehouse, the flowers, this entire world as a whole.

They sigh in that way of someone asked to remember something they'd rather forget. "Decades. Maybe not quite a hundred years. I fell through a hole...and into ADI's parlor. So I've been part of this all the longest while. I thought I'd be the only one like me until a few years ago."

Elias's idle thought about Anya Villette makes even more sense now. Though into ADI's parlor...they could be speaking metaphorically. But based on everything that's happened in this world? Elias doubts that.

That might solve one question on people's minds. How do you get home? You can't.

"Out of idle curiosity, were the ADI buildings at the same location decades ago that they are today?"

"Hmm...no. They moved once, a long while ago. Perhaps when the town got bigger? The buildings certainly weren't yet made of metal as they are now. The current building was also nearly leveled once and rebuilt as it is now." They think idly a moment and sigh. "Maybe it's been more than a hundred years. Time is as fallible as memory."

"On that, we can agree."

Elias already has plans, ideas, things wrapped up in motion running through his head. Maybe it's time to share a bit of that information with the class.

"If you want to slip free from ADI's yoke, I would be more than happy to help. After all, it seems like you've been doing plenty of work with little reward. And perhaps it's time for this world to...stop sticking it's head in the sand, so to speak."

Once again, that sharp spark of interest is keen in their gaze as they look back to Elias. "Really...? Call my foolish and curious...and wary of a deal that doesn't sound equal. What would be your gain in it?"

"You would inconvenience the warden."

Which is a simple enough answer. Nia is interesting but, as most dogs do, Elias feels she is absolutely biting off more than she can chew. Best to give her a real challenge (one in which he can hopefully push her in the right direction.)

"Aside from that, perhaps it's time for those of us blessed with certain gifts to not stay in the shadows. That's how it was back in my world, after all," due to an apocalypse that he is not telling Milo about! "They got used to it in the end. They can get used to anything."

"Ah...a tempting offer, I assure you. So...you would have me not use my particular gifts at all? And in so doing, drive chaos and danger through the streets. That is...also tempting, in its own way. Less boring for now...then again, how would I...maintain myself, I wonder."

"Oh, you can use your gifts all you wish. I wouldn't want to deprive you of what you're best at. I'm simply suggesting you rethink your service to ADI."

Elias gives them a cavalier little shrug before, "You don't seem to be the sort to let yourself be stuck on a leash."

I do tire of the yoke...and yet, you speak in two directions at once. Interesting. Perhaps there's some strands of Webs holding you together..."

They fold their hands before them as they think, the fingers of one hand seeming to wrap momentarily around the other in an impossible angle before slithering back. "Perhaps it is time for my own path...though whether that's here or not seems undecided, but I tire of that room and that building and those faces. I'm....curious, though, why would one of the Eye seek chaos? Anything could slip by unnoticed in such a state."

"I wouldn't describe it as seeking chaos," Elias muses, with a small frown on his face. He takes a moment to decide hot to phrase this before, "I would consider it more as insurance. Your lack of presence at ADI would hasten some factors that I'm interested in watching."

After all, the more ADI is struggling, the easier it would be to offer up his own suggestions. To whisper a word or two in Nia's ear—or whoever comes next.

“I will think on it. I’m undecided as of yet, but I imagine it will not be long before some Hunt dog comes barking at me.”

They sigh as though the imposition was immeasurable. “I hope your observations go…entertainingly. Though I suppose I could spare a couple more answers for a couple more queries, if you had them?”

Now that is something worth thinking about. Elias frowns for a moment, thinking things over, before,

"Again. What might you be? Because you're certainly a different...flavor than the Avatars here."

"Nothing that exists here, therefore I expect the knowledge to be little more than a spice upon your plate. I am called a 'Sídhfir' and the thing that Twists and Turns and Never Was agreed I did not exist."

Elias simply gives Milo a little nod at that. Inwardly, his confusion and desire to learn is going full tilt ahead. A fairy? An actual fairy. Well it's to be expected, the crack between dimensions did bring in things like Rue and those weird sentient turtle teenagers. But it's a bit odd to be talking to an actual fairy. Will wonders never cease.

"The Spiral can be...testy at times. We've never really gotten along." The thing that wishes to know and learn and figure out whatever the costs is anathema to the thing made of deceptions, twists, and falsehoods, who'd have guessed. "Well. Now I've certainly got a few questions for the Warden about how long-standing ADI's history is."

There's a pause before, "My second question. What do you want?"

"I hope she may yet answer you...she's never been anything but curt to me, what few times we've met." They do seem a little surprised for the question posed, however, and study Elias a moment.

"I'm surprised you would ask. So few do. What I want is simple." They sweep their hand over the air and the flowers turn and march in rows to form a facsimile of a city made of twisting, branching, and nonsensical shapes. "I wish to go home. Yet that is not possible, as I think you know...so instead I would find a way to live and Eat and exist as I like. There are so many scared people here...a lot of them already lie to themselves every day...I only one a corner."

Event - Feeling Faint

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cw: eye trauma

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ftr, I am 100% fine with whatever consequences he gets trying to Know Dogtown

Ok :)

rip this guy

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