Crash Log #1 & Will-o'-Wisp Mini-Event

[spoofer]

Characters: Second wave of Xistentia arrivals, greeters/rescuers
Summary: The second wave of characters arrive in Xistentia unexpectedly early... only to face an unexpected threat. D.E.S.T.I.N.Y.'s multiversal attack is disrupting the energy flow, causing a very unusual stampede— of will-o'-wisps, that lure travelers off their path with thoughts. It's up to the residents of Xistentia to help the newcomers!
Date(s): Mid-June 2017
Warnings/Notes: Coercive magic, collisions, moderate injury, dystopian themes

Wisp Mini-Event & Crash #2

Wish you were here. Love comes in waves

A WARNING FROM DAEMONS

Early in the morning, the glow of light to the East, where F.A.T.E.S. resides, begins to turn red in warning. Seconds later, all of the daemons begin to project the same message to their owners. The alarm continues to repeat until the characters acknowledge.

F.A.T.E.S. WARNING SYSTEM
Threat Assessment: Mild
Phenomenon Type: Native Creature Behavior
Predicted Duration: 24 hours

Due to the cosmic energy disruptions by D.E.S.T.I.N.Y., will-o'-wisps are engaging in unusual migratory activity. Residents are advised to remain in the city, or be on-guard against a low level of psychic influence. Wisps feed by creating visual, auditory, and olfactory illusions based on the viewer's needs and temptation. Individuals in compromised emotional states are more susceptible.

The migration will be complete in 24 hours.

It seems straightforward enough. But as dusk begins to fall, the distant sounds of crashing and outcry come from the beach once again. It's familiar-- the first wave of Xistentia residents arrived the exact same way only 2 weeks ago. They're going to need your help.

CRASH LAND INTO ME

For the second wave of Xistentia arrivals, the day is not nearly as ordinary.

Exit one dimension, enter the next. It was chaos: pressure against your ears, light bending in an impossible, unimaginable way. The very molecules of your body vibrating against one another. If you have windows, the view outside makes no sense. Even if not, your hands, your face, your feet seem like an uncertain thing. It's the feel of reality itself tearing apart, reshaping, reconnecting, thread by thread.

And suddenly, there's a beach— or ocean, whichever you land in. Smoke. Fire. Salt water churning up, fizzing around. It's dark— you've arrived at nightfall.

Maybe you crash, in a ship wrecking into sand. Maybe you merely stumble out of a portal, a ragged wormhole in space. Or maybe you fall off the back of an incredible steed, some creature that carried you into this place. Either way, there's pandemonium around you. Incredibly, severe injuries are far and few between— nobody's screaming about the dead. But you might have to help pull someone free of wreckage, or move quickly to salvage burning belongings from the landing craft. Maybe it's the crafts themselves, that you're trying to salvage.

Likely, you don't know them, these other strangers who arrived here^[1]. Maybe you don't trust them— you just came out of a dying world, after all. But you all have one thing in common: you're here now.

When you get a second to breathe, the danger doesn't end... because that's when the wisps come.



At first, they're just a stream of pretty lights. Like fireflies, except that their illumination holds steady as they float through empty air. It's helpful for those of us who don't have night vision. However, as the minutes wear on, the terror and stress of the day starts to change to longing. And then the illusions begin. Voices of lost loved ones calling out, or flickers of familiar figures in the distance. The scent of burgers or cinnamon cake floating through the trees.

Maybe the ones you lost aren't lost after all. Maybe there's dessert out there. Isn't it tempting to follow? But watch your step-- there are ditches, fast-flowing rivers, and sleeping trolls you might run across. The wisps are impervious to these dangers, but you likely are not.

SAVE THEIR SOULS

As rescuers venture into the forests, the wisps' illusions change to accommodate the wishes and fears of the new intruders. Each person sees their own illusion, blind to the experiences of others. However, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. Resistance from the psychic intrusion is far easier when you know what you're dealing with. Still, that doesn't mean that persuading a traumatized apocalypse survivor is easy. They've been through a lot, and if you're claiming that they're seeing things that aren't there, who's to say you aren't imaginary, yourself?



And the trolls get cranky when their sleep is disturbed.

By morning, however, the wisps have cleared and the other creatures of Xistentia are off on their business. Maybe that's when you choose to come out and help, to find new refugees sleeping in trees, thickets, beach-wrecked fuselage, and other places they had found sanctuary for the night.

WELCOME TO THE CITY

The second wave of arrivals comes into a city that is very different from the one that the first refugees did. Sure, there are still animals and overgrown trees intruding in many buildings and streets— but the center looks very civilized now. Eight full city blocks where the hedges are groomed and the building facades are clean and orderly.


There are a number of fully operational businesses, including restaurants and a tailor. Agriculture is taking off gradually, albeit in a disorganized fashion, thanks to the fact most of the people involved are amateurs. Street lights, the beacons that sense character interactions, are fully operational throughout the day-- likewise, most of the city's functions work just fine now, including indoor lights, plumbing, electricity, etc. Cable isn't great, though. Depending on how badly your encounter with the Wisps was, you may also get acquainted with the hospital. It still looks shabby and moss-eaten, but its glowing recovery enhancement beds work very well. Better bring someone with you, though!

Current Sentient Population
of Xistentia:
222

We now have Instagram!

There's a lot to explore, if you're into that. The two most prominent landmarks are the Central Citadel that overlooks the sea to the West, and the Temple on the Eastern edge of the forest. The former has a bar and lounge, and an oddly self-replenishing availability of liquor, as well as a variety of defunct audotitoriums, bedrooms and technology laboratories. The latter contains strange stone artefacts that blur the line between magic and technology, but are largely unresponsive to touch. The only exception is one sleek screen, black and shiny as volcano glass: an amenities request interface. Tell F.A.T.E.S. what you need.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

hells yeah

Footnotes

1. Some of these can be nameless, plot-device NPCs to facilitate interactions! But even in this case, please avoid gore in describing their current state of being. Anyone dead or catastrophically injured will have disappeared by the time your characters make it to Xistentia. There are no corpses or dying here.
   
   
2. But like OOCly ask permission ofc.

Comments

Jaden Cosgrove | Original Character | OTA (cw for gruesome injury)

[poenitudo]

I. Crash.

[ Blood and fire. It felt like home, in the very, very worst way. He went through the portal without thinking, without hesitating - with the world quaking under his feet, hesitation would have meant ending up crushed under a building. But he dropped right into the ocean, which he didn't expect; portals to the Other World were always solid, not unstable like this one had felt.

When he gets to the beach, feeling scraped raw from the impact of the ocean, he can tell he isn't where he was supposed to be. This isn't the Other World; even in the darkness, he has an incredible sense of being displaced. Nothing here feels like it should, and Jaden falls to his knees, the water still lapping at his feet, his clothes hanging heavy over him.

He doesn't spot the little moon-like shape that comes zipping towards him, making happy little robotic noises. ]

Where the hell am I?

[ Xistentia, the little moon says. Jaden spits out blood in the sand. ]

II. Wisps.

[ Somehow, he makes it to the forest, dragging his feet, tiredness making everything difficult, heavier. He doesn't even realize he's been following the wisps until it's too late, and he looks around only to find himself surrounded by them, beautiful and eerie. He reaches out to one, helpless to resist, but movement in a nearby shrub startles him, making him turn. ]

Who's here?

[ His mouth falls open on a silent gasp at the voice that echoes around, like a rush of wind that makes him spin around wildly for the source. Let's play catch! it says, giggly and happy, followed by the thump of small footsteps. ]

Cody? Cody!

[ Jaden follows the footsteps helplessly, taking off into a run as he tries to catch up. Cody is here, Cody is alive, did this place save his little brother? He runs, and runs, Cody's voice tantalizing.

He's not looking at his feet. He's not looking at the ground. He entirely misses the ditch - a ten-foot drop he falls into at full speed, turning over to his back. So he doesn't see, either, the branch sticking out from the dirt like a spike or the fallen tree it belongs to, lying in the bottom of the ditch.

But he feels it, when it pierces through his thigh, a scream tearing through his throat as it does. ]

III. City.

[ Jaden ends up in the hospital. He wakes up, disoriented and thirsty, but his leg is fine - due to his own regenerative powers, or the recovery bed, he isn't sure.

One thing is for sure, though, is that he doesn't expect any visitors... ]

Maybe I should just make myself a home here...

IV. Wild.

[ Hit me up with anything! Will match brackets or prose! ]

II

[hasitsthorns]

[ Assisting the people who had crash landed was something that helped Rose feel like she was contributing to this growing community. (They even had Instagram now!) Though admittedly hesitant at the mention of the will-o'-wisps - she has experience with the little buggers and their mind tricks - she pushes it aside and sets off running for the beach with her pack of dogs in tow.

Cutting through the forest to the beach is the quickest route, but she gets stopped in her tracks by that pained scream. Her dogs hear it, too, ears perking up at the sound and a couple even throwing their heads back and howling in response. ] C'mon, boys, [ she whispers, eyes glowing in the half-light of the wisps illuminating the way.

The acrid smell of blood is one she'll always be able to pinpoint. Something about the predator in her, she's sure, and also having spent so much time with it on her her hands or her person. Either way, it's not a good smell and definitely worrying.
Apollod stops her from making the same mistake at Jaden by blocking her way before she can walk right off slope into the ditch too.

She spots him then with the sharp end of a tree branch spearing his thigh. That's the blood she had caught on the air, that her dogs are notably anxious over. ] Hold on, dude, [ she calls out, before hopping over her pup and essentially power-sliding her way down the side of the ditch. The dogs follow - a bit more carefully, even if Apollod still manages to fumble and roll - and hang on the fringes of this scene. ]

Okay, so, good news. I'm here to help! Bad news: getting you out of this mess is going to hurt. A fucking lot.

[poenitudo]

[ Jaden, breathing harshly through clenched teeth, knows there's only one thing he can do - get himself off so that his regenerative powers can kick off. But the branch is quite long, and his strength is sapped by the pain, making it difficult to break it off. His hand slip in his own blood when he grabs at it, grunting with the strain, but to no avail.

He's still trying when Rosie shows up, sweat on his brow and his muscles trembling with the effort. He hears her coming and for a moment, for a wonderful, pain-fueled moment, he thinks it'll be Cody, in the flesh, grinning and happy and alive.

He's not mad, exactly, that it isn't. At least she's an adult, and might actually be able to help. But he can't help the half-hearted effort he makes at sitting up anyway, grabbing the branch sticking out of his leg again. ]

It's cool. I'm good. I can - do it -

[ He grunts again, before his hands slip and he falls back again, this time a moan of pain exploding from him, his eyes scrunched up. ]

Fuck. Fuck.

[hasitsthorns]

[ That depends on your definition of 'adult,' Jaden. Still. Rose is probably a bit more capable than the next person at dealing with injuries. She's had to stitch up herself quite a few times and, honestly, it's easier when it's someone else. ]

Yup, you sure can do it. Swear a lot, that is, not. Y'know. Get yourself out of this situation on your own.

[ Rosie, don't sass the dude with a leg injury. Help him. ]

I have the strength to pull out the branch, if you let me. Like I said, it'll probably hurt a metric fuckton but. You'll heal.

[ Through the blood and sweat, she can smell the wolf of him. He's probably been through worse, healed through more grievous injuries than this. ]

[poenitudo]

[ Look, she's not 6 years old, that is mainly what he's looking at, right now. And then she's being all sarcastic at him, and Jaden looks at her, almost feeling like pouting, if he wasn't in so much pain. ]

Wow, being mean to the guy with a branch in his leg, I see how it is.

[ He clenches his jaw as pain shoots up his body, his head thumping back against the dirt. He breathes hard, before nodding. ]

Fucking fine. Just - do it fast.

i

[helical]

[ alec hears jaden by the water and approaches with his witchlight in hand, lifting it to create more light around them. there's a moon floating around him, and he wonders if it's the same version of the snow leopard that was tailing him until he told it to wait for him somewhere, before it tripped him.

that's not his most urgent question, though. ]

Are you injured? [ he looks over his shoulder, back to jaden. he can't tell if he's hurt. it's too dark, his clothes too wet. ] I can take you to someone who can heal you if you are.

[poenitudo]

[ Jaden looks up from his kneeling position, blowing out a breath before rubbing a hand over his close-shaved head. ]

Just a couple bruises and scrapes, I'm fine.

[ Nothing that won't be healed in a couple of hours at worst, anyway. The best thing about being a werewolf, to him, is still that he heals so fast he has barely any time to feel physical pain anymore. It's definitely a plus. ]

Did you just land here too? D'you know where we are?

[ He keeps looking at the guy, but that's when the little moon spins around his head again, looking all agitated. ]

Xistentia! You are on Xistentia, the last line of defense in the Multiverse! I am Celestiald and I am your Daemon, Jaden Cosgrove! Xistentia welcomes you!

[ Jaden blinks. ] Jesus Christ. Okay.

[helical]

Yeah. Just landed. [ crashed, more like. or...whatever it is happened. the portal seems to have been hijacked, at the very least, and spat them back out here. ]

We got these... [ he jerks his chin toward the moon. ] Programs, I guess, telling us where we are. There's a city near here.

[ they're not the most pleasant as far as he can tell, but that might have a lot to do with hating every minute of what's happening right now. stranded somewhere unknown, lost, without bearings and none of the people he traveled with pretty much spells out a nightmare. ]

Did you come here alone?

[poenitudo]

[ Jaden just gives Alec a look. ]

Huh, yeah. [ Now, no reason to be a dick, there's no way for Alec to know that Jaden doesn't really have anyone in his life. ]

Why, did you bring your family along or something?

ii

[locoparentis]

[Declan is smarter than this. He's smarter than to wander out into something like this, but then he thought that he might be smarter than that, but Ronan, who is led by his temper and rarely by his brain, isn't. Remaind is with him, whispering about the dangers, and Ronan, impervious (not true) to the magic of lights (not impervious, simply exposed, it was a dream that invaded the Barns when they were children and when they returned, and Declan finds them just another reminder of how ordinary he is) he doesn't follow them. He just keeps his eyes open.

And then he hears it.

Remaind, in the usual fashion, caws out Cody. Cody!]

That's not helpful.

[Declan says it carefully.]

Where are you trying to go?

[poenitudo]

[ Jaden blinks sweat out of his eyes at the voice. It's a new, foreign voice, and it sounds sort of wary. Which, good, because Jaden feels so frayed at the edges right now he isn't sure he's not just about to shift and eat someone. ]

What do you mean, where am I trying to go?

[ He's frustrated, angry as hell, and he wants his brother, he wants to see him. ] Can't you hear him? He's only 6, okay, he can't be out in the forest at night on his own!

[locoparentis]

I can't hear him.

[Declan looks up. It could that he's hallucinating. Or, it could be that there really is a six year old out there, and Declan, unwilling to let either side be more reasonable than the other, approaches slowly. He doesn't look like he's trying to be pacifying at all.]

Okay, look. I'll help you look, all right? Remaind-

[She whispers got it and takes off, silent.]

But don't make so much noise. It might scare him, lost here.

[poenitudo]

He's my brother, he's not scared of me!

[ Although he might be. After all, it's been a long time since they've seen each other, and Jaden has undoubtedly changed, a lot. Still, Cody would know his voice, and he'd know not to be scared. Hopefully. ]

You really can't hear? He's quite loud, man. [ That - that is worrying. ]

iv

[mordacita]

[ Jaden is out of the hospital by the time Rafa runs across him. He's not far out of it, since the vampire is watching proceedings from just outside, but it's far enough.

It's still dark enough for Rafa to be out without his sunglasses. His arms are folded over his chest, while he watches the new intake leave the building. He's never been fond of hospitals. They tend to be filled with the sick and dying, neither of which is overly appealing to him. By all accounts, there's no one dying inside this hospital, and so Rafa could have made an exception, but he still lingers outside instead.

His first thought: they need more numbers than this.

His second: he'll revise the first, if they're all like that boy.

Jaden's scent hits Rafa at once. Warm, earthen, not solely human. Rafa has been around werewolves for long enough to pick it out at once. Someone as handsome as Jaden would likely have caught his attention regardless of that scent, but with it, he's impossible to ignore. Curious, and quite pleased, Rafa approaches him. ]

You are a new arrival? [ It's not really a question. They are few enough here that he knows the new faces when he sees them. ] You are prettier than the last ones. I dare hope this trend continues.

[poenitudo]

[ Jaden only decides to leave the hospital when it's dark out, feeling somewhat more comfortable in the dim lights of the city at night than in broad daylight. He's expecting - hoping for, really - a quiet walk to his new lodgings, as Celestiald keeps on referring to them, telling him over and over the hospital is not a home and she has a place for him to stay in, why doesn't he want to see it?

He's only left to shut her up, because goddamn but his Daemon talks. A. Lot.

He's not been outdoors for five minutes that he gets accosted. Which startles him, he's not going to lie. Jaden immediately tenses, taking a step back as he eyes the man in front of him. He's handsome, if short, and definitely smells familiar - it takes Jaden a moment, but then it hits him. Vampire. ]

Uh. Yeah. [ Taken aback, Jaden can only answer by the affirmative. And the next second, he's bristling, starting the guy down. ]

I'm not - really? You take a look at me and you think pretty? Are you serious right now?

[ Jaden wasn't pretty. Pretty was delicate, dainty. He was too big, too scarred and damaged to be pretty.

Well, at least he had to admit the guy had balls. ]

[mordacita]

[ Rafa's eyebrow lifts. ]

Forgive me. It was far from an insult.

I have been here a month, and this is the first time new arrivals have come. I wanted to see them...well. You, all of you. Your arrival was much less peaceful than ours.

[ Peaceful, he says. He'd landed right in the ocean, and honestly the suit he was wearing will never quite be the same again. He senses this man would not be sympathetic to that problem, so he doesn't raise it. ]

Welcome to the city. I am sorry your first day was so exciting. It is not always like this, I assure you.

[poenitudo]

What was it, if not an insult?

[ Pretty, Jaden thinks again. He has to resist not rolling his eyes. And yet, look at him, asking for more. After all, if Rafa was flirting, Jaden should really just stop it here and now, and not needle for more.

Man, but he is a glutton for punishment. ]

Oh, well, that's a shame. I was really looking forward to getting myself impaled every fucking day.

[ Excuse his saltiness, Rafa. He's still running on adrenaline and pain from his regeneration, which is still not quite done. He's a cranky shit at the best of times, but he's worse now. ]

How many of us are here?

[poenitudo]

[ Jaden's first thought at hearing the question is to ask, do I look like I'm okay? but the answer to that would be, actually, yes. And he is. Sort of.

He is in a random place on a random world and he just got impaled by a tree at some nebulous point in the past. Probably no more than a few days. Still. Not exactly okay.

And yet: ]

I'm fine. Don't I look fine?

[poenitudo]

[ Jaden rolls his eyes, hard, at the shitty joke Axel makes, but still huffs out a chuckle. ]

Yeah, sure. It's not because you're on a diet that you can't look at the menu, you know. Or tell the menu it looks excellent.

[ Okay, he'll have to put the weird flirting on the regeneration; he feels mildly high - probably due to the adrenaline. Letting his head fall back on the pillow, he tries to banish the thoughts of hearing Cody's voice. It'd felt so real. ]

I had an encounter with a tree. [ To give Axel an idea, he pushes the thin sheet from his leg, showing the wound in his thigh, still getting knitted back together, the new skin pinker than the rest of Jaden, a fist-sized indent. ]

( iii. )

[creatio]

[ She's looking for someone.

Actually, she's looking for multiple someones. Having found Jace, she now knows that her home world is in danger too. So that means her mom, Simon, Luke, Isabelle. All people she cares about, all people she can't afford to lose. The hospital seems like the safest bet - Shadowhunters can heal themselves, but it's still a port in the middle of a storm and if they're looking for each other than this seems like a good place to pick.

So far, she hasn't seen any sign. Clary's trying to not let that worry her, even as she peeks into another ward, catches the tail-end of someone's statement. Immediately her gaze seeks out the speaker. Part of her thinks it would be easier to just go about on her search, but he looks tired and something stills her. ]

Maybe. But I hear we get apartments and I'm kind of hoping they don't smell of bleach.

[ His voice was rough, and so she steps towards his bed and the table bearing the jug of water. ] You thirsty?

[ She is clearly not a nurse, but what the hell. ]

[poenitudo]

[ Even with his super-hearing, it took for Clary to be pretty close for Jaden to pick up on her steps - she's very, very quiet. Still, when she speaks, he's expecting it. He turns to look at her; she's pretty, in a 'I'll fuck you up' kind of way, which, Jaden isn't going to lie - is totally his type.

So he raises an eyebrow, licks his chapped, dry lips. ] We get apartments?

[ Maybe, with everything that's happened, he hasn't been paying attention to Celestiald. Especially since she never stops talking, so Jaden learned to shut her out very, very fast. But now he feels like he missed out on something.

Still, when she offers water, he nods. ]

Yeah. Thanks. I'm - Jaden.

[creatio]

Clary. [ She smiles, closing the jap. ] And that's what Pikachu tells me.

[ She is not actually insane. Because there is a little yellow mouse-like creature following her into the room. ] I haven't checked it out yet. I'm still trying to find people. But he hasn't lied about anything else so far.

[ She pours him a glass, and then brings it over, trying not to look too obvious as she tries gaging how injured he is. ]

Do you need a straw or anything?

[poenitudo]

[ He raises an eyebrow when she says Pikachu, but, yep, that's an honest to god Pokemon walking behind her, still there, even after Jaden rubs his eyes. ]

Considering I was hallucinating before, I'm still not sure I believe that Pokemon are real.

[ But there's humor in his words when he speaks, eyes fixed on the Pikachu walking around like it owns the place. Amazing.

When she asks him if he needs a straw, Jaden chuckles. ] Do I look like I do? If you're that curious, you can just ask. [He takes the glass, nodding. ] Thanks. [ And then, he flips over the thin blanket that was covering his leg, showing her the obviously new, pink skin in an irregular, fist-sized circle scar on his thigh, where the tree branch pierced through him. It's still tender and working at repairing him - which is why he's not exactly walking right now - but it's getting there. ]

Ta-daa.