spoofer: (piano)
Xistentia: Mod ([personal profile] spoofer) wrote in [community profile] xistentia2017-06-24 05:42 pm

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

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.
moshennik: (sass ✘ smile ✘ wave)

her face is ridic.

[personal profile] moshennik 2017-08-11 06:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Kenzi gets one of those heebie jeebie shivers that runs up her spine upon looking at the possum because it's basically a giant rat but as it speaks, she realizes it's actually cute in it's own ugly way. She waves at it because, why not?

Meow Meow waves his own hand, paw, whatever, dismissively at the other animal, gnawing on a rather large acorn he'd found in the few moments between warning Kenzi and this one. Meow Meow was always eating, just like his master wanted to be doing herself.

Of course, she's used to the whole Disney-talking-animals-routine by now.]


Apparently, the animals here got some serious brain injections and are uber smart. [ That earns a snort/chuffing sound from a certain raccoon.] They come in peace, though. That's mine over there, his name is Meow Meow. [ The raccoon opens his mouth to correct her and she throws him a look.] The name he gave me was stupid so I changed it. Who names a raccoon Theodore?
disbands: (easycompany-barclay-46)

[personal profile] disbands 2017-08-19 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
Technically, [says the possum,] he was Theodored and now he's Meow Meowd. And I'm Flourd. The -d means we're your daemons. [A little optimistic, the small creature starts to shuffle forward, raising its snout to sniff at the couple. Barclay doesn't look aggressive anymore.] We didn't get 'injections.' We were born with it. It's no Maybelline.

[Having subsided, pistol and all, Barclay starts to properly right himself. Smoothing his shirt, straightening his shoulders, getting his feet properly balanced beneath himself. This is fine. Superintelligent fairytale creatures. Kenzi's...]

Hang on. [He slips an arm around her waist, and looks at her little face closely, to assure that she won't misunderstand.] Am I quite confused, or was that a display of some 'uber' abilities of your own? [His brows furrow.] Don't tell me that was injections.
moshennik: (sass ✘ advice face)

[personal profile] moshennik 2017-08-19 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
[ Kenzi rolls her eyes (good-naturedly) at the little creature who seems to be well on his way to being as an insufferable know-it-all as her own daemon.

Although, at Barclay's question, she's distracted by the oh-so-nice-ness of his arm slipping around her waist once again, a sensation she didn't think she'd get to feel. At his question, she nods.]
I came here locked and loaded with my incentive. [ Meow Meow has now made his way over to Flourd and is wordless offering him two berries because he's a gentleman raccoon because this might take a while in his opinion.]

No injections. I'm all siren, baby.
disbands: (easycompany-barclay-6)

[personal profile] disbands 2017-09-02 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[Flourd accepts the berries with interest, sitting back on its fuzzy pale hindquarters. It wraps its tiny possum handsa round one of the berries and brings it up to its snout to eat, twitching its whiskers in thanks for its fellow trash friend. If Barclay knew how these animals were regarded in memes around the 21st century, he would be offended. But he has no idea. And more than anything, he's glad to be alive. He's glad Kenzi's alive.

And surprised she's--]


A siren? [It takes him a moment. But since she'd told him about the faeries of her world, he'd tried to learn a little about them. He remembers a little of what he'd read, at least in the myths and legends.] Are you not supposed to lure me to be dashed across the stones while wearing conch shells on your breasts? [He's smiling at her, foolishly but fond.]
moshennik: (listen ✘ closer)

[personal profile] moshennik 2017-09-03 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ His words pull a laugh from her, although it's closer to a snort before she moves to brush an escaped lock of hair behind his ear. ] If that's what you're into, I could see what I can do.... [ She waggles her eyebrows at him with a playful regard before she glances down.] We can probably find seashells small enough to cover the ladies.