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apocalypsehowcomm2023-09-16 08:32 am
Event - A Little Perspective
The citizens of Gloucester are abuzz with talk of the new town square in the heart of the city. After some miserable few months… years(?) for some of the citizenry, it's a welcome spark of joy. The prize at the center of the square is a perfect replica of Gloucester set upon a large stone slab for people to view and enjoy. Some small festivities have been set up around the square. Food carts with tasty local offerings–it's a lot of seafood–and hawkers looking to sell jewelry, paintings, and other sundries.
The new town square, itself, is bracketed by the General's Store on one side, other tourist-type shops on two others, and an open park field with benches and plenty of shade trees on the other side. There are planters with gorgeous new flowers and everything has a shining, new feeling to it. Ring out the end of summer with the tiny bells that adorn the mini-clocktower in the replica city!
(cw: altered perception of reality, existential crisis, possible starvation, isolation)
The disappearances don’t happen all at once, but they do take place over the course of a few, unremarkable, hours. One by one, seven people step through a door, cross a street, or go to investigate the brand new replica of Gloucester unveiled in the middle of town and vanish.
Except, to them, they don’t. It’s everyone else who vanishes. Whatever path they were on goes uninterrupted, but every other soul is gone, leaving the streets eerily silent. Perhaps you can find each other through calling out or through chance, but it seems only a few others have been left behind.
It’s not just the lack of anyone else that’s off. It’s there in the very sky, a fog-filled horizon leaves little else to see even from the tallest building in the city…if you’re lucky. Where there should be stars or roads or trees beyond the confines of the city, there are unimaginably massive shadows, creatures that loom and shift and seem to occasionally try to stretch their dark and foggy forms down to grab for people who stay outside too long. Surely inside will be safer.
And, for the most part, it is. There’s no running water, no food that isn’t made of plastic, and only the weak yellow glow of lights that seem to come on and off every few hours without any switches or plugs to be seen. Except then there’s the nightmares. There’s no rhyme or reason, no indication of which building will hold the nightmarish scenario that plays out. The only certain thing is that there’s seven of them…and they’re oddly specific, as though tailor made to one individual. Hopefully a friend or stranger can be the voice of reason needed to see you through, but even facing your fears doesn’t seem to set things right. If anything, as time goes on, it only seems to make the shadows get more agitated. More creative…
(cw: gaslighting, potential for sadism, potential for large-scale destruction and injury/death, body horror, nausea, vertigo, supernaturally induced dread)
For those fortunate enough not to be sucked into the miniature town at the center of Gloucester, there's still more than enough trouble to go around. Mainly, the matter of getting people out of the town, whether they be friends or strangers. You might notice the little figures darting about the replica streets or banging at the tiny windows of buildings. Unfortunate that most (or maybe all) of them run in terror at the sight of you when you try to reach out and the sound of you when you make to run.
Most ordinary people walking by don't seem to notice anything amiss like you do. To them, it's just a quaint little attraction to view for a few minutes and then move on. The people trapped within it go unnoticed or unremarked. Even some of the people who work for ADI can't see it, like they have some sort of blindspot that you lack.
Regardless, there's the matter of rescue (or torment for the more sadistic persons out there). The tiny town, itself is designed in such a manner as to make access to the deeper portions of it challenging. The raised platform and general size makes it all but impossible for anyone under 8 feet tall to actually reach the center of the town without having to climb up onto it. And that… has rather dire ramifications. Those seeking to simply pull apart the town or climb onto it with little regard to the structures will find that any time they disturb or destroy a structure, they have a sinking, horrible feeling in the pit of their stomach. If it's a building that's near to where they are, they might even hear the sound of the real structure in Gloucester buckling and breaking as people scream and flee. Some unnatural force seems to be destroying their town and they have no explanation for it. You do, though. You know exactly what you've done. Perhaps you'll even hear about the injured and dead the next time you happen to read, listen to, or watch the news.
With wanton destruction a less-than-ideal solution to get to the darting figures in the town, that leaves a few other solutions. You could gather a team of people to help you corral the figures. If your hands aren't enough, perhaps others will be. The figures are far faster than they should be when they're that tiny or maybe it's that you're having trouble perceiving the depth of the place and where they are in space. In any case… more hands.
Or, maybe you'll go for a more creative option. If hands won't work, then some tape or netting or other traps might slow your quarry down enough to snatch. Perhaps you're even the sort to construct elaborate, Rube Goldberg-style contraptions to catch the tiny figures without hurting them. Much.
Emotion might rule the day for you instead. If you can just find some way to communicate that you're not a danger, that you're there to help, maybe that would have the figure willing to approach you, to climb into your hand of their own accord. It's maybe the kindest and least terrifying route, but it's also likely to take the longest, and time is of the essence.
At least once you manage to pull a rescued person past a seeming threshold, they transform very suddenly into their full-sized self with all the pain, nausea, and vertigo that comes with the sensation of your body exploding from within. The sense of being too large may persist for just a few hours or up to several days for the particularly unlucky.
Those who spend long enough observing the tiny town will note that there is a small timer affixed to one of the buildings where a billboard is in the real Gloucester. It is steadily counting down and it carries with it a sense of impending doom. When the clock strikes zero, the entire display will simply vanish from the center of Gloucester, like it was never there. Anyone still trapped within will also vanish. All references in newspapers and news stories from the past few weeks will vanish.
Was it ever really there? Most ordinary people don't seem to think so. What an interesting suggestion. Maybe you should let the mayor know. A tiny version of Gloucester sounds like it would be a lovely little attraction in the new town square!
(cw: altered mental states; compulsion; painful transformation; dehumanization; being hunted; potential for violence, injury, and death, including gun violence)
There's a restless feeling about ADI headquarters, a strange sort of readiness and tension growing under the day to day office drudgery one always experiences in a lull between major crises. It's an itch in the back of one's mind, a half-noticed shift like the scent of blood carried on a distant wind. The longer the feeling lingers, the more unbearably dull all the paperwork and research and so forth becomes.
Then, all at once, it comes into focus. For some, it's sharp pain followed by a sudden feeling of terror, the knowledge that you are among predators that mean you harm. For others, it's that scent growing sharp and strong the moment you spot your prey.
The prey are easily spotted, at least within the bounds of ADI property, where Milo's glamour doesn't hide nonhumans and not-quite-humans from one another. The change is often small but always unmistakeable: a set of horns or antlers sprouting from one's head, still bloody from their sudden extrusion; the long ears of a rabbit, quivering with the effort to hear the hunters' approach; feathers that ripple out along one's arms in a mockery of wings; or the silky tail of a fox or mink, the mark of a predator long turned prey at the hands of humans. Any who find themselves marked as prey undergo one or more of these small transformations, gaining characteristics that clearly mark them as one of many animals traditionally considered to be game for hunting or trapping.
And if you're not prey? That makes you the hunter. The compulsion to hunt is overwhelming from the moment you spot a coworker, roommate, or even a dear friend marked as prey. Perhaps you're sly about it and set traps, or stalk them from afar. Or perhaps they run and you simply can't resist the urge to chase. What you'll do if you catch them…well, that depends on one's personality, or perhaps on luck. Maybe you'll snap out of it long enough to let them go. Maybe you'll try to lock them up–for their own good, of course, until you work out how to fix this. Or maybe just chasing them down isn't enough to satisfy the urge–the most obsessed hunters might attack, maul, or even shoot their prey if nothing stops them.
Everyone feels it, though. Anyone who isn't marked as prey will feel the compulsion to hunt when they see someone who is, and it simply will not stop as long as the mark remains. Even outside of ADI, normal citizens will even start to react the same way to something they can't even see through the glamour. The only way to end this curse is to remove the animal feature that grew from you–whether that's sawing off a pair of antlers or chopping off a tail.
Good luck…and good hunting.
- 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!
- SMALL FEARS (16-19 September) - Characters trapped in the tiny town will notice the buildings themselves, while sturdy and able to hold their weight, aren’t exactly built to code, almost like they’re made of various craft supplies and short cuts, even if the end result is very convincing. There’s no food or water in the tiny town, but enterprising characters might be able to collect dew outside and survive a little longer that way. Each character has their own ‘nightmare room’ across the various buildings in town and they won’t be able to escape their own nightmare room without someone else’s help. How they get out of the town through the various efforts of those outside is up to the individual player, but anyone still left in town after four days will either die of lack of resources or from the miniature town’s collapse. Please remember that death is permanent.
- BIG FEARS (16-19 September) - Players on the outside are welcome to enact as much destruction and mayhem on Gloucester and its citizens as they would like via the tiny town. Please just let the mods know on the OOC Post in the section dedicated to Town Destruction and Damage so that we can make note of it for future events/the final chapter of the game. Characters that destroy the town will sense the weight of what they've done, even if they don't see or hear the immediate effects. It feels bad to destroy the tiny town. Players are also welcome to come up with creative rescue solutions. The only limitations are that the tiny characters will not be able to understand their speech or anything written for them, so another form of communication may need to be found that doesn't use language.
- ONE FEAR (16-30 September) - Players are free to choose any variety of animal features beyond the ones listed, so long as a.) the feature is linked to an animal traditionally hunted and b.) the change is a discrete feature that can be removed, however painfully. Characters with animal features will find that everyone, not just offworlders and people within ADI, seem to feel the same compulsion to hunt them down until the feature is removed.
Hunter | The Owl House | ota
The replica of Gloucester doesn't even register at first. Hunter passes it at least three times while frantically searching for Eda and Raine. He refuses to accept that they've just vanished, even after his texts and calls go unanswered.
It's only by chance that he hears that there are people in the tiny town. And peering in, sure enough, there they are! Only they don't seem to understand when he calls out to them, and they run when he tries to reach for them.
Which leaves him staring hard at the model. At one point, he takes Flapjack between his hands and holds him over the model to determine if the little red cardinal will fit in the small streets without causing damage.
"...maybe?"
[ One Fear ]
(cw: bood, mentions of possession, child abuse, body horror)
It's not the first time antlers have erupted from his head.
The first time had hardly registered - just one more awful thing in a long list of awful things. Belos's possession had leached into his skin and bones and left a roadmap of scars behind - but thankfully the antlers had not remained.
This time, the pain is sudden and sharp and terribly familiar, but not much else is. The blood is new, staining his blond hair. There's bone instead of sickly green rot. The antlers aren't very impressive - kind of small and curved, but definitely too big to throw a hood or hat over.
Which sucks, because it makes it that much harder to hide from the people suddenly determined to chase him down. He's not used to being on this side of things.
So he runs and tosses himself into the first shadowy hiding spot he can find, holding his breath so he doesn't breathe too loud.
[ Wildcard ]
Surprise me! Or don't (
Flapzilla - closed
Hunter gently sets the palisman on the edge of the model town with a warning to be careful. "Don't touch anything and don't...step on anyone..."
Flapjack chirps his understanding and starts picking his way deeper into the model. His witch had called this reconnaissance, a scouting mission. Learn the terrain, locate
snack-sizedsmall people, report back.Fortunately, he spots a person-shaped figure fairly early in his search. Unfortunately, in his excitement, he trills happily and starts quickly hopping toward them, unaware of how they might perceive him.
Flapzilla!!!
So, seeing a large, shadowy creature land not too far away from them was just another problem in the long list of them. But the thing coming towards them struck a feeling of both terror and frustration. Terror, because a giant shadow thing is never a fun sight, and frustration because they just wanted to go home.
Raine turned on their heel, and decided to run back around the corner, and into the building they'd left Eda in.
"Eda! Hide! There's- there's a thing following me."
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That was overwhelming enough, but Eda was still bruised from her fight with Raine. Which she didn't blame them for, but it had still been a terrible time.
While she was alone, Eda dropped any attempts to pretend she was doing alright, let alone fine. She slouched back against the thin wall and sank down to sit by it, arms wrapped around herself and looking thoroughly exhausted. She was tired enough that it took her a second too long to look up when Raine rushed back in.
Only a second, though. Then she scrambled to her feet, braced for the next thing this place was going to throw at them.
"What... kind of thing?"
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Maybe they were leading him to the other one! Because surely they weren't running away for any other reason.
Flap followed them as best they could and, when Raine went inside, bent his head down to try and look inside. He chirps a bit, even if they can't understand him (because he is not either of their palisman, of course).
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"That!" Raine pointed to the shadow creature. They positioned themself between Eda and the giant shadow creature- mostly because they saw how tired Eda looked. It made their stomach twist with guilt because it was partly their fault.
So, what a better way to make up for that than by defence. They put their fingers to their lips, and produced a sharp whistle to try and push whatever the thing was, back.
It caused a little more property damage than Raine had expected- windows blown out and shattered, doors off hinges, and perhaps a little structural damage that Raine wasn't really inclined to stick around and find out about. They felt fortunate that this wasn't the real Gloucester.
Raine turned on their heel, and grabbed Eda, regardless of what state of standing she was in.
"Come on!"
They pulled her along with them, and ran out the door, away from the monster.
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It felt like they were missing something. Or maybe she was just tired, and trying to put together clues that weren't there.
She was relieved to see that Raine still had some power, even if she couldn't help wincing at the sound of the breaking windows.
Eda stumbled as Raine grabbed her, but managed to keep her footing as they pulled her along.
"We need to--to find some better cover--!" Unfortunately, none of the buildings here seemed all that sturdy. But she wasn't sure fighting back would be enough to make the thing give up.
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Waiting on the sidelines, Hunter hears something break and shatter somewhere in town. He ducks and turns to look around, but is quickly distracted by a faceful of red feathers and a lot of squawking. He holds his hands out for Flap to rest on them.
"Slow down. What happened?"
Flap is no less frazzled, but his reply is a little more calm. Hunter learns that Eda and Raine seem to be afraid of the palisman and that Raine had attacked him. Normally, that wouldn't make sense, but nothing about this is normal. It appears they don't even recognize Flapjack. So they probably don't recognize Hunter either, which is disheartening.
There must be some way to let them know Flapjack isn't a threat. He doesn't have a pen or paper to write or draw a message. He digs in his pockets, but all he has is lint and a length of thread that felt too long to throw away.
Then he remembers that he has been collecting and adding patches to all of his clothes since before he even arrived in this town. He tears one off - a cartoonish smiling wolf head topped with "COOL!" in bubble letters (it is, indeed, 100% cool) - and hands it to his palisman.
He tells Flap, "Set this somewhere near where they are and keep your distance. We don't want them attacking again." For Flap's sake, and the town's.
Flap does as told, carefully carrying the patch to where he last saw tiny Raine and tiny Eda and leaving it on the street, where it lays like an awkward, abandoned rug.
Sorry this took so long! I graduate in like a week and a half
"Are you okay, Eda?" Raine exhaled heavily, and they looked her over for any sort of bruise or injury. "I'm sorry for pulling you like that, I was worried it would take one of us."
They backed away enough to give her space to breathe- and to look out the window. They wanted to apologise too, for what happened in the house, and contemplated exactly what they'd say for a moment. It was hard to apologise for actions that were yours, but not ones you made- not because they didn't want to, but rather because they weren't sure how to apologise for something they didn't even remember.
But, perhaps, it could wait over the return of the shadowy creature they'd seen.
"Uhh, it's back.. and it has... something."
All good!
"Yeah, I'm... it's fine," she said, a little vaguely. She course corrected before saying she was fine. But she wasn't upset with them.
She was... trying very hard not to be upset with them. Nothing they'd done in the house was their fault.
It wasn't important right now. Right now she raised an eyebrow before going over the window and trying to get a good look at... what had it dropped? Some kind of fabric? That was new. And hiding wasn't getting them anywhere except tired and hungry, so she went to poke her head out of the door.
"What is that? I'm... I'm gonna get a better look."
There was something familiar, but she couldn't quite see whole thing until she risked a few steps closer.
"That's Hunter's!"
No worries!
Instead, he very carefully scoots out of hiding and settles in the street, he hopes, a safe distance away. Hunter told him not to get too close.
...Maybe he'll scoot a liiiittle closer.
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So, they quietly followed, and as soon as they could get a better view of the patch Raine gasped.
"It is! That must mean..."
An embarrassed flush fell over their face as they addressed the shadowy figure.
"Flapjack?!"
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And a lot of things are clicking into place. The things that are off about the town, the scale of the figures that keep harassing them, the attempts the block their path, the sticky-tape...
The size of the patch confirms a lot, and she feels somewhat stupid for not being certain until now.
"...Is that you, Red?" It doesn't exactly look like the cardinal, but she wants it to be true. And at this point they might be better off taking their chances.
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One Fear
And he maybe had been hiding, too, trying to work out a safe path back to the house, when he saw Hunter bolt by. He's not about to let that stand. He lunges out to bowl over whoever was chasing him in that moment, kicking them viciously into the nearest wall-- pretty sure he didn't break anything vital, but still hard enough to knock them out-- before following in Hunter's wake.
"Hunter!" he hisses, hoping the boy will hear him. And not run away. "Hunter?"
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His gaze drifts to the unconscious person behind him - the one that had been chasing him - then back to Winter, up to his antlers.
"Can I trust you?"
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"More will be coming." He's already scanning around, afraid the commotion may have drawn out others. "We need to move."
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He takes another step, this time to one side, in the direction of his house, glancing over his shoulder to see if Hunter will follow. "We'll cross this street, then take the alley."
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He keeps his ears and eyes open for any danger while crossing the street and can't help but think he'd feel safer, braver, if he had a mask. But right now he can't even pull his hood over his head.
"Does your room have an alternate exit? Just in case."
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He certainly can't do anything about his own antlers, they're far too big, but-- he slides off his coat and offers it to Hunter, at the end of his arm. "Put it over your head. If you want. Disguise your shape a little."
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He blinks at the jacket before taking it with a quiet, "Thanks." It probably looks stupid as he slings it up and over his antlers, but he tries to arrange it so maybe he gives off the impression of a taller person at first glance. Bonus, his big pointy ears are also hidden. His vision is restricted, but he originally trained in a mask and hood so...it's fine. He can deal.
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He pauses, itchy with nerves himself, then offers, "Want to run?"
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"Yeah." He nods. Running is a great idea. If it wouldn't draw unwanted attention, he would fly. "If you're sure you can keep up."
An attempt to lighten the mood. Blame Eda. She's rubbing off on him.
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