OPEN SIGNUPS The Undying Hunt

[rissa]

THE UNDYING HUNT

INT CHECK | SIGN UPS | LORE | IC

Interstice 0 & Chapter 1: The Horn Sounds


Into this wild abyss,
The womb of Nature, and perhaps her grave,
Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire,
But all these in their pregnant causes mixed
Confusedly, and which thus must ever fight,
Unless the Almighty Maker them ordain
His dark materials to create more worlds;
Into this wild abyss the wary Fiend
Stood on the brink of Hell, and looked a while,
Pondering his voyage; for no narrow frith
He had to cross.

― John Milton, Paradise Lost

MuliMiriam Libre

 

[rissa]

Interstice 0

Elsewhere

The waters were unusually still within the moon’s grove. Even the cascade of rushing water was absent, as if it too could feel the coalescing beneath the motionless white-blue surface. Only one of those gathered could feel the melding of energies, surging deeper and stronger with every moment that passed. He among hundreds stood there, fists clenched, breath labored. And then he sank to his knees without warning.

The twinkling laughter of sprites and fairies became hushed as the moon made its crescendo in the sky, and without warning, She emerged.

From the reflection of the moon in the water she rose, beauty so striking it sent those gathered to their knees, blinded by her presence. Only one was able to keep their eyes on her shimmering starlight skin and moonlit hair, and she beckoned him forward, into the sacred waters of the grove.

“You’ve heeded my call,” the goddess said softly, though her lips did not part. “You, above anyone else, always do…”

The man stepped forward, his feet bare against the soft dewy grass. He bowed before entering the grove’s waters, her waters, his heart ablaze with the recognition she had given him.

“And I always will,” the hunter replied, lips unmoving behind his cervus mask, his antler crown.

The water was cool to the touch, soft as it caressed him, beckoning him forward. The sensation was just as he remembered. From behind his cervine mask, his left eye seared, a pain so sudden and sharp the hunter fell to his knees. Silent water lapping at his waist. The ones who had gathered at his behest cried out in pain, though they did not understand why.

“Stand, Cernunnos, and take my blessing into the next world.” A shimmering starlight hand reached out, imbuing Cernunnos with more divine essence than ever before. “Claim the souls you need, and defeat the aberration attempting to make landfall in the Material.

"Go, Cernunnos... Go sound the horn of your Undying Hunt.”

The man bowed lower, tears threatening to spill from his eyes as the two shards of divinity within him touched, coalesced into something more. The goddess before him spared only another well-wish before thrusting her hand to the side— ripping apart realities, shredding time and space, tearing through the many planes so the Lord of the Undying Hunt could crossover.

Chapter 1: The Horn Sounds

Pirn, Oregon
October 2021

Rain fell in sheets; great forks of lightning illuminated the angry storm clouds above and thunder roiled and toiled, growling and beating in tune to an ancient song long forgotten. All day and all night rain fell, and as midnight approached, so too did a surge of energy that washed across the Material like a biblical flood.

At 12:03 in the morning, the ground beneath Pirn began to shake. It solidified into a violent tremble, the forest surrounding Mount Pirn became an undulating wave as trees unrooted themselves and boulders long in slumber shifted. Similarly, Greenpeaks Park trembled, the velvety green fighting against an unseen force. Sensing its intent, the wonder within bowed, recognizing something otherworldly.

Soon, the park would whisper, and the very air held its breath for what was to come.

And it did not come for another six hours and thirty four minutes.

☽ ꕥ ☾​

At six thirty seven in the morning, the horn sounded.

One prolonged guttural note rented the twilight before sunrise. It was a primal sound, one that tugged at the deepest recesses of one's mind, reminding their very essence of time immemorial. Only those whose eyes could see beyond the veil could hear it, the primordial chord of the Undying Hunt.

No matter where they were or what they were doing, the Unveiled of Pirn could hear the ancient horn. Could feel it deep within their bones, reverberating through their very cells. It wrought both fear and comfort, for their souls knew divinity once again walked amongst them.

The shock of this innate knowledge was even relayed between charges and guides, no matter their location throughout the many planes of existence.

In the early morning hours, with the horn still ringing in the ears of the Unveiled, the sleepy city of Pirn awoke.

---

At 6:57 in the morning, your right eye sears with unimaginable pain.

Your vision wavers. Through the darkened vision you see a cervine mask blinking its way closer, and feyhounds running through your peripheral, rushing you, but when you open them again, they’re gone.

And you’re left with a golden colored eye.

One that keeps seeing strange, strange things.

☽ ꕥ ☾​

It's never good when Pirn wakes before noon. Everyone knows that.

Sirens whirl up and down main street, red and blue raging to and from, ambulances and firetrucks out to set Pirn right side up. Unrooted trees and power poles littered the roadsides and a fire down by the wharf burned with an intensity Pirn hadn’t witnessed in years. Half of the storefronts lining the heart of downtown have their front windows shattered, though whether it was from the surge of energy or the earthquake is quite unknown.

Pirn finds itself in a state of chaos and the Mayor declares a state of emergency, for both the Veiled and Unveiled communities. With three sets of hikers missing, the warehouse fire, the splotchy loss of power, and feyhounds drifting throughout the fading shadows, Pirn readies itself for a day unlike any other.

An alert, and then several, begin to appear on the phone screens of the Unveiled community within Pirn, S.O.S.'s and are-you-okay?'s being sent out as fast as the rain was still falling. The Mayor called for a council meeting and Miri Rozel texted all of her immediate friends. The message reads:

Did you hear the horn too? I'll be at the Hall of Knowledge in 15!​

GM NOTES

ello ello!! to note: the next gm post will not come until the day after christmas, so take the time to introduce your characters, get some collabs between characters (and myself) going, and have fun! remember that this is a character driven narrative, so while i slowly write things into action, its up to you to have your character engage with the world.

if interacting with an npc, gm-written posts will come at max, 2 weeks from the date of your post, but be sure to poke me in the discord when you need a npc reply to continue their narrative!!

currently, pirn is in chaos. how will they react? what's their priority?

- hikers are currently missing in the woods around pirn
- there's a fire raging in a warehouse down by the wharf
- greenpeaks park still trembles, her trees swaying with unseen energy
- downtown is a mess with its shattered windows and rattled populace
- pirn's hospital is quickly reaching its occupancy

and most importantly, perhaps, after the searing pain in your eye, you find yourself with the inexplicable question: why is my eye gold?

 

[Flame]

Well, if the horn hadn't managed to wake Louis up, the feeling of what equated to being stuck in the eye with a lit match surely did the trick. Louis clutched his head, rolling out of bed in pain and smacking his head on the bedside table. "S-Sonova...!", he grunted in pain, standing up in the dim light of his room as he held his head and listened to sirens go off right outside his apartment. The sensory overload made him just stand there and take a couple deep breaths with his eyes closed. As the pain began to subside, he looked around. The red and blue of police lights rushed by his window, illuminating the room for just a moment, as something darted through the doorway, a black mass that he couldn't identify. A tingle ran up his spine... not a feeling of fear, he hadn't felt that in... he couldn't remember, but of his body sensing danger. He reached to pull the cord on his bedside lamp (which had been knocked on it's side in the writhing he'd done moments prior) to find that it wouldn't turn on.

Click. Click, Click...

"Shit.", he muttered, that tingling sensation getting stronger as he reached for the sword in the darkness. Thankfully, it was right where he'd left it, just behind the headboard, standing up, in it's sheathe. He pulled it out and tossed the sheathe aside, brandishing it as his eyes searched the darkness, having started to get adjusted to it, he could make out most things in his room with some clarity, but no unfamiliar shapes. That was, until the shape he had been looking for graced him with it's presence, leaping out from behind the foot of his bed, right at him. He didn't hesitate even for a moment, taking the opportunity to swing a masterful stroke of his sword right at the beast as it leapt at him... and on the follow through, shredding a nice deep gash into his mattress. He'd hit air. The thing had completely vanished. He stood there dumbfounded. It's not like he'd killed the thing and it went poof, it simply disappeared just as it had gotten into range... So, an illusion? He sighed, lamenting the loss of his mattress, and searched the floor of his room for clothes to put on. Whatever was going on out there, people would probably need help...

He gave a couple shirts the sniff-test, before putting on a faded "Unicorn Rampage" t-shirt, and throwing on some jeans, slipping his sword back in the sheathe and carrying it with him to the living room, where he slipped on some boots, a leather jacket, and snagging his keys off the key rack, then racing out the door. "Ugh, great...", he remarked, folding his arms as he watched the rain fall. He sighed and walked around his truck to pick up the camper shell. If he was going to be putting people in the back, it'd be better if they weren't soaking wet and freezing when they got to the hospital... but picking this damn thing up and putting it on was a pain by yourself. Still, he persevered, lifting it up, and hoisting it onto the back of the truck, where he hopped in the bed and latched on the clamps to keep it there. With that out of the way, he hopped back out, and shut the tailgate as more sirens rushed past behind him. He turned to look, and found himself face-to-face with a... skull? He wasn't an animal bone expert, but... was that a deer skull? There was no body behind it, and it vanished as quickly as it appeared... Hopefully this wouldn't be a recurring distraction.

With the creepy skull out of the way, he got in his truck and got to rescuing. The ambulances were probably working their tails off right now, so he planned to try to lighten their load by picking up whoever he could that was injured. Sure, he wasn't insured for that or whatever, but this was an emergency. So, he took off down the road, heading into the suburbs nearby. This place was out of power too, and he had to be careful driving around some downed lines, but he managed to find three people right away, on the side of the road, all in various states of "hurt". He could tell at a glance they weren't human, but he wasn't going to let them just sit there and suffer. He hopped out of his truck and waved at them. "Hey, I'm pickin' up people to take to the hospital. You look banged up enough for it, so go ahead and get in. There's room in the back.", he instructed, walking around to the back end of the truck, and opening the tailgate and camper shell door. If they couldn't get in by themselves, he'd give them a hand, seeing as he didn't have a lift gate or anything, and the tailgate sat pretty high, which... might be a challenge for someone injured.

Once they were all in his truck, he closed the door and gate, and made his way back to the front, where he slid open the back window in case they needed to say something. And lastly, he'd almost forgotten the most important thing in his rush to get started... "Uh, one sec guys...", he announced, as he dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone, pulled open the settings bar, turned on bluetooth, selected "The Truck", then fiddled with the radio, pressing aux twice, and waiting...

Phone 1 Connected

​

"Alright guys, let's rock n' roll!", he laughed, before stepping on the gas.

 

[Nemopedia]

One moment ago Aisling was still Jonathan, running around with Padfoot in the darkness, making sure that the homeless who sought shelter in Greenpeaks Park had their blankets. The next she was holding onto the trees of the Prayer’s Circle with all of her might, a searing pain in her right-eye and Padfoot’s appearance slowly disintegrating into the essence that the familiar originally was while her red hair turned curly and back to wispy, back to dark, and shifted between a boy and that of a grown woman. The sound of the horn ringing in her mind as Aisling clenched her eyes tightly, the visions the oaktree shared with her, connected with all other oaktrees in Pirn, flashing through her mind at a greater speed than the shrill of the horn or the pain flaring in her eye.

Shapes and shades, shadows of something, anything, clashes and the screams of the unveiled and veiled both, mixing together, panic and anxiety, and what more was happening in reality and what was to come and what only Aisling could perceive, everything mixed and clashed until the fairy couldn’t hold on any longer and fell in the soil of Greenpeaks Park, releasing the tree she had been holding, her right eye watching the shades and shadows in the branches of her wonder, her left eye watching the trees shake and tremble at the horror of what seemed mother nature, except Aisling knew it wasn’t mother nature, it was something else, something other, elsewhere as she lay exhausted in her true form, while Padfoot tried to feed her with its own essence, but barely maintaining its form itself, even disintegrated.

“The wonder,” she groaned, watching her fellow fairy guardians in the same pain and struggling all the same before Aisling finally grabbed hold of a root of a tree and merged herself in, refocusing, regaining and then recalibrating in search for all of the homeless in Greenpeaks Park who lay vulnerable to the volatile shades that had chosen to violate the peace of her turf.

With torn shreds of napkins from the coffee booth Aisling marked the weaker trees of Greenpeaks Park, those in danger of dropping branches and toppling over while she directed for those she encountered, the homeless she had seen before and the early runners, to head for open fields of the park. A feat made much harder with her familiar too unstable to be of any help and her right-eye burning.

 

[Jig The Zom-B]

Pain, exhaustion and anxiety. These were but three things out of many that stirred within Jilliel as she paused in her travel. Taking a moment to look around, weary eye's looking past the tree's and foliage to check she was not followed. Another moment of silent vigil before sighing and resting against a now wind damaged, tilted tree. Heavy breath's leaving her as she tried to recover from the event's that had assailed her. She was almost free of these woodland's and back at Prin.

Jilliel had been exploring in the early hour's of the morning, taking her time to rummage through the woodland's and it's nature pathway's. She always enjoyed going out, she often found much as she wandered and always took mental note of what she found. She had managed to find a nice little treehouse that she would nap in before the day's unfortunate event's had occurred, it rested in a small clearing in the forest. It was a pleasant little abode, it even had some pillows in it. She hadn't a clue who it belonged too, but she climbed up to it and had claimed it as her new home for a small nap! The sounds of the nocturnal creatures finishing their hunts before the sun would arise was a pleasant ambience to her little exploration. It was peaceful, almost serene! Then the sound of a distant horn would ring in her ears, ruining her quiet and providing a terrible beginning to anyone's day.

Taking another moment after catching her breath, she would look around again. Breath still heavy and deep. She had been running for a while now. So much had gone wrong today! A terrible rainstorm and horrific wind's that had knocked over far too many tree's to be considered anything but unsafe, Jill had attempted to return home. It went well at first, the wind's were violent and rain pelting her. Though the weather was grim, she would navigate through the woodland's with careful pathing and time. But the weather wasn't the worst of it. If it were just the wind and rain, Jill would find little trouble in her retreat to Prin! But the sound of the distant horn would rattle in her head and ears. Jill would clutch at her ear's with her hand's to attempt to block out the noise, but the sound ignored any attempt's she made to protect herself against it! Just as she thought it couldn't get worse, the pain in her eye came next.

Jill had one hand over her ear, the other over her eye as both gave her very unwelcome pain that convinced her she was being attacked by something. Only to believe she was correct, when she saw the hounds approaching her as she unclenched her ear and eye. A concerning mask behind them also slowly approaching with a dread fulfilling pace.

Jill would hit her head against the tree she was resting upon and shake herself away from the uncomfortably fresh memory. An act to try move past the thought, even at the cost of a bruise on her forehead. She had managed to slip the mask and hounds. She wasn't sure how, but they had either given up the chase or she had simply lost them. She didn't find herself believing the latter more than the former. She didn't know how long she had been running through the wood's, but she knew she was close to getting out, she had to be! She at least hoped she was getting close to escaping this forest.

Brushing the hair from her face, she would give one last cautionary look around before beginning to move again towards Prin. She was almost freezing cold, soaked through with rain and blistering wind's at her back and soaked clothing, exhausted and in pain. She wanted to hide in her room, pretend today wasn't happening. Part of her was even scolding past Jilliel for going out today at all. The ringing in her ear's had mostly died away, the pain in her eye still stung, but had calmed itself significantly. As she moved, she would keep her thumb pressed into one of her finger's. Ready to lean upon her power if she even glimpsed something. She was no-longer taking chances. "Just a bit further..." She would quietly think to herself as she stalked further towards Prin. She didn't know what those hound's were, who that mask belonged too. She didn't know if she had even truly lost them. All she knew, however, was that there is something in here with her, and she had no idea if it was still there or not.

Another small period of travel, Jill would approach the border of the woodland's and pass through it. The view of Prim would often give her a semblance of safety. Of warmth! What she saw just made her worry more. Prin looked like it had also been attacked. The damage seemed to not just be in the woodlands. She wanted to help people, but her body was constantly reminding her through her own condition that she wasnt in a state to help herself properly, let alone another. Taking a moment to look over Prim, she would grunt as her body protested in more pained movement and begin slowly towards the street's of Prin. At the very least, she made it back to the city.

 

[Lisianthus]

Morgan Owain

---

Location: Hospital | Interaction: @Flame

A week. Morgan has been operating on pure stubbornness for the past week with barely any sleep,though he flinched every five minutes due to the throbbing pain in his head. He relentlessly skinned the dead animals, the stench almost making him gag, the nausea that settled in due to the lack of sleep making him extremely queasy. His blue overalls were dyed red as he fought through the lull of the sandman and the thunderstorm happening outside was not of much help to his plea of staying awake. His struggles were cut short when the energy surge rattled the whole city, the shattering glass and a loose beam knocked him out. He was fortunate not to be in the building when it collapsed, for it would have been much more than a temporary sleep.

He jolted back into consciousness as the burning sensation in his eye gripped his mind, blanking him out for a few moments, his body contorting and squirming upon concrete, blurry visions of a mask and unidentifiable creatures overwhelming his senses. The series of sensory overload lasted for a minute or two, leaving him soaked in his sweat.

"Ma..." His voice trembled as he pushed himself up, dragging himself away from the shop, and out of the downtown area. He headed towards the suburbs, where his adoptive parents would likely be, this early in the morning. The loud sirens forced him to stop every few steps as they amplified the already splitting headache, blurring his vision.

"Morgan, sweets! There you are!" He slumped onto the sidewalk as soon as he heard Prenn, a relieved smile breaking the dark curtain on his face. Adrenalin drained, he could not even take one more step, letting the two witches reach and coddle him instead.

"Are you alright? Look at all the blood on you. We need to get you to the hospital quickly. Prenn. Prenn. Call an ambulance. Right now!" Sofia, who reached him first, was in full panic mode the longer she assessed Morgan. Shards of glass were lodged into his skin, his right leg high likely broken from the loose beam that fell on it.

"Let him breathe, Fie. I am calling the ambulance." Prenn's ever-low soft voice calmed Sofia a little as she took out her phone to speed dial the local ambulance.
Morgan let out a laugh, as he squinted to focus his vision. He could see that the two were safe or healed by a guide.

"Ow!" He let out a hiss as Sofia's palm made contact with his head.

"This is not the time to laugh-" Their interaction was cut short when a truck stopped in front of them, and the owner, who looked to be quite young, with a peculiar fashion sense beckoned them in. Morgan though, was too tired to even react, not that he ever did, as he eyed the man in front of him, the mismatched golden iris, a mirror of his own, stared right back at him, although he was not aware of that.

"Thank you. Thank you. This helps a great lot!" With her usual energy, Sofia jumped up, as both she and Prenn tried to lift him. "What's your name? And if you could help us.." She gestured towards Morgan who couldn't bring his legs to work.

Exhausted and injured, Morgan voluntarily slept for the first time in sixteen years as they were transported to the hospital, where he was passed to the doctors to get himself treated.

 

[TheSly]

~ Seren o Annwn ~
Location - Greenpeaks Park
Interactions - Aisling (@Nemopedia)
​

---

The plan, initially, had been to take the day slowly. Seren had one of the rare days where she didn’t need to wake up at ungodly early times to get to work. But then there was that loud, awful blaring noise that did more than enough to shake thoroughly awake. A mixture of confusion, panic and residual sleepiness was rushing through her when she sprang up from her bed and instinctively headed for the nearest window.

Everything looked fine at a glance, but that noise had left something in Seren, an odd feeling that was familiar, in a sense, and completely alien at the same time. It called forward that memory from her earliest childhood, when she had gotten lost in Cwmcych and ran into what she to this day firmly believed to have been a Ci Annwn, one of the hellhounds from her home country’s folk tales. The feeling that the sound left her with was almost exactly the same as it was then, when she looked that white wolf in the eyes.

Quickly, Seren got dressed in an old pair of jeans that were torn at the knees not deliberately but by overuse, she only kept them because it was starting to be a trend at the time, some washed out long-sleeved T-Shirt from a punk rock band she hadn’t listened to in a few years, dark leather boots and threw on a black beanie to hide the mess of chestnut hair left on her head after just getting up. Something felt way off about all of this, she felt that she needed to leave, right at that moment. For a second she glanced at the clock. 6:54 o’clock. There was still a few hours before she had to clock in for work, plenty to investigate whatever that sound was.

As if on cue, though, the normally pleasantly quiet voices of nature around her perked up. Pleasant low droning, that Seren had gotten more than used to by now, quickly turned into the noises of an upset crowd. Like rabid people storming stores on a Black Friday. It only alarmed her further. If they were suddenly so up in arms, then something must have been seriously wrong.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere a sharp, searing pain spread from Seren’s left temple through the rest of her head a pain much like that unpleasant feeling of holding your hand under hot water, the feeling intensifying the longer the hand remains in the water, only Seren couldn’t get away from the heat. Her vision was blurry, and though she was familiar with her home, everything was so disorienting she felt like she had no idea where she was. To make matters worse, the noises in her head rose from a loud upset crowd to a deafening fever-pitch, until, after only a few seconds, the noise bled out into a sharp long whistling noise in her ears.

In the blur of colours before her she could still barely make out flashing blue lights pass by her windows. People were probably in serious danger. Seren tried her best to get to steady herself, with still blurred vision slowly setting one foot before the other, get out of the house somehow. She tripped, over seemingly nothing, there was a dull thud against the front of her head and without warning, everything faded to black.

With a sharp, sudden breath Seren shot back up as she regained consciousness. Her vision had finally returned to her, and though her head still hurt with a sweltering hot kind of pain, she could somehow manage to get to her feet. The voices had quieted down a little, still, they were upset, but at least they were not nearly as deafening as before. How long had she been out for? It felt both like no time at all and an eternity had passed by her, she had no concept of time anymore. She looked to one of the door frames that had a clock above it. 6:58 o’clock. She couldn’t have been out for longer than a minute. Seren touched the part of her forehead that had collided with what she could now identify to have been her living room coffee table, there was some light swelling already, but no blood. Good.

She quickly rushed outside and hopped in her small, visibly used car and started driving. She didn’t even know exactly where she was going, she just knew that she was going somewhere. These moments would occasionally come over her, when she would just do things with no explanation readily available for her as to why exactly she was doing them, only that she was doing them at that moment. She had been driving somewhat aimless for about ten minutes when she saw the edge of the Greenpeaks Park come into view. It was as good a place as any to start. The wild forest outside Pirn would be fine. Nature has a way of dealing with natural catastrophes by itself, a man-made park however, might not be so lucky.

Getting out of her car and taking a few steps into the park, Seren was presented with a picture of destruction. Some trees were fully uprooted and others were only a hair's breadth away. Animals, birds, a few stray rabbits and goats were running about the destroyed landscape, mostly trying to get away from it. Rebuilding the park just as it was would be difficult and, given the age some of these trees had reached, Seren guessed she wouldn’t ever see it just like it was just the day before again.

With a deep breath Seren closed her eyes, trying to focus and to drown out all but the nearest of voices in her head, desperately looking for something she could deal with at that moment in between the wails and cries of the entirety of nearby flora and fauna. Something pulled her in a particular direction in the park and without hesitation, Seren bolted after whatever it was that was pulling her. She knew it wasn’t what was calling to her, but she happened to be travelling roughly in the same direction that she knew a prayer circle was located in. She’d have to check-up on that straight away afterwards, hopefully it was still intact.

It only took a few seconds of sprinting in the direction of the pull that Seren could see where she ended up. Not that long ago a small petting zoo had been opened up. Luckily, judging by all the animals that were now running around freely, it didn’t seem that that much damage had been caused here. Seren did quickly spot one of the animals had gotten into trouble however. A small young grey furred goat with white stripes across its torso and dark, almost black spots on its head was crying loudly, trying desperately to free an older, bigger goat with similar colouration.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright!” Seren called out, rushing up to the two goats, “I’ll help, okay?” She could now see that the older goat, still alive, had gotten trapped by one of its hind legs that was stuck under some of the mesh fence, which had gotten pinned to the ground by a large-ish fallen tree trunk. Somewhere between the tree flattening the fence and the baby goat trying to pull the other one free, some part of the metal fence had slightly cut into the goat’s leg.

“Okay, listen.” Seren tried to talk to the frantic baby goat, Seren had to call out to it a few more times before it finally seemed to react to her, “I’m going to try to lift up this trunk, okay? You should be able to get her free then. Got it?”

She didn’t really wait for a response from there, she just walked over to one of the ends of the tree trunk and did her best to get a good grip on it. ‘Let’s hope that I can lift this thing.’, with a small strained groan, Seren did her best to lift the trunk, which turned out to actually be a little heavier than she had anticipated. It wasn’t much, but she did eventually manage to lift it a few centimeters off the ground, enough for the smaller goat to pull the bigger one free, the very moment the goat’s hind leg wasn’t stuck under the fence anymore, Seren immediately dropped the trunk again with a heavy sigh. When she looked back to where the goat was just pinned, she could only see that both of them had taken the chance to immediately run away.

“You’re welcome.” Seren said with a small smile, “At least it looks like the leg wasn’t hurt too badly, if she can dash away like that.”

Seren took one more deep breath and faced the direction of the Prayer Circle. ‘They shouldn’t be having any problems there. At least, less so than everywhere else. But… I guess it can’t hurt to check.’. With that, Seren bolted toward where the Prayer Circle was located. It only took about a minute until the warped, almost domed trees that made it up came into view. A little worse for wear, but as she had suspected, the circle seemed to have taken the least damage out of everything from the park.

“Is everything alright here?! Nobody hurt? Nothing got too broken?”

---

 

[MiharuAya]

Elouan Montagu
Location: Hospital​

The moment Elouan woke up, he knew that the day would be unlike any other. The sound of the horn still reverberated in his mind, while his right eye continued to sting with enough intensity to cause tears to drip down his cheek. His mind was swirling as he tried to come up with some sort of explanation for all of these strange occurrences. Was this some kind of reckoning from his past? Or something new? In the end, all he was left with was stomach-churning with anxiety and more questions than answers.

Even though he felt like hiding away inside, just couldn’t bring himself to ignore the desperate calls from the hospital. From the few messages that were able to get through, it seemed that the earthquake had caused significant damage to the city, and the higher-ups were expecting a large influx of injured patients. It hardly took any thought at all before Elouan was walking towards the hospital.

While he hurried towards the hospital, he was surprised to see the amount of damage. He had to carefully step over down powerlines, many that he was uncertain if they were still active and sending out electricity. Several trees were blocking the street, so he decided to climb over instead of taking the detour. Compared to his normal commute, this was much more of a workout than he was used to.

By the time he reached the hospital, Elouan was out of breath. However, there wasn't a moment to spare. It seemed like an unending flow of ambulances and volunteers in their own personal cars were pulling up with injured patients, and every available healthcare worker was working on bringing them inside. It was pure chaos.

As he entered the emergency department, all the rooms were taken and patients were now starting to overflow into the waiting room and hallways. Elouan had never seen the hospital so busy before. It is evident that they needed help. He quickly reported to the head nurse and scrubbed in. Once he was updated, he started helping the nurses stabilize the most critical patients. While he worked, he was finally able to settle some of his nerves. As he normally does for anything stressful in his life, he simply can throw himself into work and forgets about it.

 

[Pupperr]

WYATT WHITLOCK

/*upper banner*/

Location: all over! | interactions: n/a | mentions: Louis @Flame and Morgan @Lisianthus

Iridescent flecks of blues as light as ice and purples as rich as amethyst materialized in a downward stream alongside the falling rain from the sunless sky. The light collected in one spot until it softened to reveal the face of a young man. Wyatt Whitlock stepped into the flickering light of one of the lamp posts in the neighborhood his mother lived in.

The rain beat against the pavement and it wasn’t long before Wyatt’s hair was sticking to the dampness of his forehead. Overhead the skies shrieked and clapped. It truly was a dreadful night.

Wyatt was a number of blocks down from his mother’s house but from where he stood he could see that a light was on behind the curtains within the white walls of the old house. Some would find it odd given the time of night but he remembered his mother always telling him to leave one light on so it looked like someone was awake to deter people from breaking in. His mother was always a bit nervous when it came to those things but he couldn’t blame her. She had survived so much. The light being on brought him comfort. She was OK - next, he would check on Selena.

He stepped back from the light of the lamp post but before he could dematerialize, the very ground beneath his feet began to rumble. At first, it was like the rumblings of a dryer but it wasn’t long before it became forceful and violent; it shook the sleeping city and ripped it apart. Wyatt watched as the pavement cracked open where street lights began to fall from their place and the boulevard of trees revealed its roots as the ground turned up. After a few minutes, the shaking slowed; it had stopped as quickly as it had started.

Looking this way and that, Wyatt stepped out onto the street. “An earthquake?” he asked to no one. His eyes fell on his mother’s house. From where he was standing it looked intact but he would investigate just to be sure and then he would check to see if his sister was OK. He had to be quick though, surely there would be people that were injured and could be in need of his help. Wyatt disappeared in a stream of light.

///​

There were people in every direction that Wyatt looked - some strewn across the pavement among the wreckage of the downtown core and others huddled together on the sidewalk, afraid and confused. For those in critical condition, Wyatt materialized them to the hospital - he wasn’t worried about them remembering what happened to them or how they got there. At worst, they would consider it a near-death experience, touched by an angel. But when he helped one person, it was as though three more took their place. He simply couldn’t keep up. Pirn had never known such chaos.

And then it came; the sound of the horn. It rang through Wyatt’s ears and it was as though he could feel it throughout his entire body. Hair stood on end, arms dimpled, and a shiver crawled up his spine. Wyatt stood in the street, unmoving like a porous stone carved statue. There was a God among them again.

“... just what is happening..” words fell quietly.

Wyatt looked around him once more at the chaos that had befallen his home. Buildings were destroyed, the ground was turned upside down, trees had fallen… It was no coincidence; the earthquake and then the horn. There was something larger at play but he didn’t know what. His head fell back as his eyes turned to the world above.

“Tell me, what is the meaning of this?" but there would be no answer.

Wyatt caught himself as his knees struck the ground and he fell over. He drove his fingers into the ground as he gripped the cement below him. His chest waxed and waned in desperation to catch his breath. One hand shot to the right side of his face in a frenzied effort to relieve the harrowing pain in his eye. Coloured light collected around Wyatt until his body was nothing more than a prismatic figure bent over on the street, materializing in and out as his heart raced.

The world darkened around him. He could feel himself slipping away. Shadowed figures ran along his periphery and there was a horned creature coming closer and closer. The burning in his eye began to subside and as it did, light returned and his vision became clear again. Just what the hell was going on? First the earthquake, then the horn, and now this unimaginable pain in his eye.

Wyatt caught his breath before falling back onto his behind. He looked around once more, to see maybe if this was all a horrid dream, but much to his dismay… Pirn was still in shambles. He reached for his eye to see whether or not it was still there. His hand trembled as it came closer to his skin and once his fingers made contact with flesh he felt a sense of relief. Wyatt would have to take a better look at it later. He pulled himself to his feet with shaky legs and in the distance, he could hear the sound of a punk rock band. Was he hallucinating again? The music got louder and louder until a truck with a load of people flew by in the direction of the hospital. “...unveiled?.”

I better get to the hospital.. I’ll be needed there.

Made by Marygold

 

[rissa]

Coalescing
Ashland Medical | #hospitalgang

Ashland Medical was the only hospital in all of Wolfpine county. Sure there were a few clinics and a few specialists and a few doctors of the Unveiled persuasion, but their small emergency room was in no way equipped for such chaos. For such pandemonium. There simply weren't enough beds nor staff to handle the influx of patients. Resources focused on the most needy; the elderly, the young, and those most injured, and yet people continued to trickle in in large groups, pairs, and trios, chauffeured by others less injured or stumbling in alone, bruised and bloodied, eyes filled with pain and fear and confusion.

It took less than two hours for energy to begin to form and coalesce, resting heavy in the corners of the rooms. Too dark and cloying to be natural. Children and the elderly were keen, their senses closer to elsewhere, but Elouan would be able to see them clear as day, growing and pulsing, feasting on the negative energy that suffused Ashland Medical. As the white willow of Pirn made his rounds in the hospital proper, doubling the pace and efficiency of his Veiled counterparts, Elouan would find no reprieve.

Shadows danced in his peripheral as buds of eidolons grew from the overwhelming negativity. As he saw patient after patient, a whirlwind of injuries that varied from minor to severe, there was no let up in sight and just as he managed to find a moment's rest, a flash of gold and a scream from the nurses office would catch his attention. Blood curling and profoundly stark against the cries of pain.

The first eidolon of the day has struck.

☽ ꕥ ☾​

By the time Louis made it to Ashland Medical, his truck was ladened down with several additional hitchhikers. One with a broken leg, another two unconscious from who-knows-what, but most were simply quiet with shock, a little banged and bruised true, but mostly out of it. Veiled and Unveiled alike huddled in the back, watching pockets of devastation pass by out of the camper shell windows.

There was worried, muffled whispering from beside Louis, a hushed discussion that blossomed as Ashland Medical came into full view; the E.R. wing was backed up, several ambulances and frantic drivers were fighting in line and though punk rock drowned out the noise, the scene ahead was chaotic.

Sparing a glance at the couple in the front, one of the first hitchhikers Louis picked up spoke, glancing into the rearview mirror as best he could. “Looks like a scene out of some movie,”

“Name’s Michael, by the way, thanks for helpin’ all of us out. Maybe we should park…”

He shifted and knelt, trying not to jostle anyone as he did. Michael pointed at the emergency drop-off and the growing scene. “Maybe we ought to park and try and… and try and get everyone up there?”

Sofia and Prenn nodded in agreement, though their jaws were set, a decision swimming in their posture. When Louis parked, Prenn and Sofia thanked Louis for his help, but declined to go any further, taking their son in their arms and disappearing with a soft popping noise.

Michael squeezed through the window, his body shifting in ways it really shouldn’t and with a wolfy grin, asked Louis if he was ready to handle the crowd.

☽ ꕥ ☾​

The truck whizzed past Wyatt without stopping, leaving a trail of punk rock and the essence of Unveiled creatures. They were in need of aid, like everyone else in the city of Pirn, but at least they were heading in the right direction, Ashland Medical was a mere fifteen minute drive from his mother’s neighborhood.

As Wyatt stood, he’d find himself shifting, melding, being summoned up above. His body burst into iridescent particles, amethyst and cerulean, forcibly dematerializing into the clouds. No one waited for him, but they showed him, an uncertain future, and uncertain figure, and then, pushing him back to earth, opened his heart to another charge. Materializing once more, Wyatt would see glimpses of Ashland Medical through the eyes of an unknown charge, the emergency drop off a frenzy of different people.

The telltale signs of being assigned a new charge slowly reveal themselves, though it was perhaps an unusual way to receive them. While he was only in the clouds looking down for a brief moment, Greenpeaks Park, Ashland Medical, and downtown sure seemed to be dark despite the growing light of morning.

---

@Flame @Lisianthus @Pupperr @MiharuAya

Revealing
Greenpeaks Park | #parkgang

The wonder spoke to Aisling in a way it rarely had before. As she marked trees and melded through their roots, Padfoot would attempt to reform, its presence tugging at her spirit whenever doing so. Until finally, at the center of the Prayer Circle, Aisling finally heard word from the wonder itself.

A bright light exuded from the autumn fairy in response. She stood in the center of the ancient grove of trees, the wonder she was attached to, and blinded all against the dull rain and chaos riddled morning. At least, those of the Unveiled variety. A homeless man, unsteady on his feet, hollered to Seren in response, his voice quivering slightly, completely unawares of the blinding light to his left.

“The roots! Ahaha! Lis-listen to this! The roots, they saved me! Pulled my ass right out of the way of a falling branch. Aha!” The old man clutched his head and leaned back up against the tree in shocked awe, already forgetting about Seren as he devolved into a fit, clapping the roots beneath him gratefully.

Seren would feel the pull once again, but also something else… something darker. From the treeline she just left and far off from where she stood, the shadows trembled, quivered with secret intent. Encircling the Prayer Circle was a darker circle, a growing ring of dark energy pulsating in tune with the emeraldine light now exuding from Aisling.

In her mind, the wonder speaks and so too does the horned man.

”He comes to protect. You must defend the Circle alone for now, I slumber to quicken the manifestation.​”

“IT LIES BEHIND STARS AND UNDER THE HILLS AND EMPTY HEARTS DOES IT FILL. I TIRE OF IT ENDING LIFE AND KILLING LAUGHTER, DISCARD OF THE SHADOW WITHIN PIRN BEFORE I RETURN. THE BROKEN STAFF WILL AID THOSE WHO WIELD IT’S PIECES.​”

Seren would watch as the blinding light lifted off the ground and from around the fairy and hover a good ten feet above her head, pulsing like a heartbeat, white and gold and emerald energies dancing in the soft rain. The ancient trees waited, happily, their protective branches seeming to curl in further.

The very ground seemed to want to protect this place against the creeping darkness in the tree line.

☽ ꕥ ☾​

“Look mommy!”

A heavy, tired sigh came from Wendy Pendleton, her face swarthy, dirty, caked with muck and worry and exhaustion. “Not right now, sweetie.”

She tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice as Anders called for her another three times, his little boots squelching in the mud and triggering her last semblance of patience. “Not right now.” Wendy chanted, wrapping the bandages around her husband's ankle and securing them tightly. “In a moment, okay? Just give me a second.”

“B-but mommy!”

Wendy turned with an irritated glare, a shout half way out of her mouth when she noticed.

“But mommy it’s GLOWING!”

“Harold. Harold!” Wendy shook her husband from his pain induced reprieve, her expression one of utter shock. There was a dusting of gold across the forest floor, a dainty little path lit by the graces of fate and good luck. “Harold, c’mon!”

⚵​

“JILLIEL, FINALLY.”

Zintraya, still within her golden orb form saddled up to Jillel, swirling around her like a wisp made up of golden light. “You’re an absolute mess,” she stated, materializing in the middle of the road in a shower of gold sparks, staring down at Jill with a stern but concerned expression. The woman plucked a birch leaf from Jill’s hair and pointed down the road, towards the heart of town.

“Something’s happening at the Prayer Circle. I saw it on the way here.”

She glanced down at Jilliel with an odd expression, a question dangling somewhere within.

“We should head there, your magic may be of use— but first.”

Zin cupped her hands and what resembled fairy dust shimmered into existence, soon overflowing her grasp. She smiled, a rare picture and dusted them atop Jillel. It would feel like a warm shower, a comforting warmth of healing spreading across her body as wounds stitched themselves back together and muscles kneaded themselves back to tiptop shape.

She held out a hand for Jill to take before dematerializing away.

☽ ꕥ ☾​

“Oh no, no no no.” Miri cried out, looking at the buried entrance to the Vault of Secrets. She grabbed stone and threw it behind her, rustling chunks bigger than her torso out of the way. Her heart thundered in her chest, the sound of the horn still reverberating throughout her bones.

She dug and dug, wondering why the structural enchantments didn’t hold, until a particularly sharp rock took a chunk out of her finger. Goosebumps crawled across her skin and she whipped around, sensing something behind her. But nothing was there.

Miri bit her lip and closed her eyes. The tips of her hair began to lift, magic pulsating throughout the space, sufficing it under her control. She turned stone to dirt and dirt to flowers, sufficiently unblocking the Vault of Secrets. She rushed inside, heart still beating wildly in her chest and let out a happy cry when everything seemed to be intact— not even a book had fallen out of place.

She was searching through a particularly old section of the Vault when her guide materialized before her, nearly giving Miri a heart attack. Dropping the stack of books she was carrying in fright, she laughed as the comforting imprint of angel wings materialized into existence and then so too did Maria Fernanda González Ramos.

“Just in time!” Miri said through her teeth, shuffling the fallen books off her toes.

“Quick— what do elements and magic have in common?!”

---

@Nemopedia @TheSly @Jig The Zom-B @Kuno

GM NOTES

And so it begins! 1.5 became a little more in depth as I started writing it, but I still don't consider it a "full GM post" -- so get some replies and collabs going and see what's happening! If you need a plotting channel or you have any questions, feel free to hit me up in the server!

Tagging you Lis to give you a final goodbye. Good luck in all your future endeavors, we'll be around if you ever wanna pop in the Discord and let us know how things are going! <3

I / npcs are open for collabs, just lemme know who, what, when, and where, and shoot me dat starter!

Quick recap:

- A nurse has been attacked at the slightly overrun Ashland Medical
- The hospital is PACKED— what's the move?
- Sofia and Prenn, seeing the crowded hospital, have elected to take Morgan elsewhere
- A darkness clings to Ashland Medical, Greenpeaks Park, and somewhere downtown
- One of the families managed to make it out of the woods, thanks to Jill's ambient magic
- Those sensitive to energy can feel a concentration at Greenpeaks Park, dissimilar to the darkness cloying at the tree line

 

[Jig The Zom-B]

Jilliel would take pause as her body adjusted to the sudden repairs and invigorating. It was always an uncomfortable feeling, going from complete exhaustion to rested and well in such a short time. She was glad that the fatigue and pain were gone, but her eye still felt off. A weird feeling that hopefully would fade soon. Jill would rub at it, for a moment only to feel wet bandage smudge rainwater over her eyelid.

"Ohh, that's right." She would mumble to herself. Looking to her bandaged fingers. They were soaked like her clothes and hair. Most of the bandage had dirt and grime stuck in them too. She would figure from the forest escape no doubt.

Jilliel had questions aplenty, she wanted to ask what was going on and if Zintraya knew about any of it. The physical fatigue was gone, but mentally she was still ready to curl up somewhere. At the least she wanted to get some warm clothes. She was sure at least some of her dress was transparent from all the rain.

dismissing them all for now, Jilliel would just take zin's hand. At least zin was with her, it helped her fears drain away. She didn't know what was going on or where she was going next. All she did know was that a bad day could always get worse.
she just hoped that it would soon be over. She was sure zin would explain things to her soon.

@rissa

 

[Nemopedia]

The tug of the Circle, then a pull of darkness. It was both invigorating as it was exhausting while the fairy tried to make sense out of it, her eyes shifting and her body burning and glowing as she heard voices, familiar voices, unfamiliar voices, speaking to her and to all.

“Don’t leave,” she tried to beg the wonder, afraid what a slumber would mean for her powers and the Circle and the unknown creature, the horned man. She regretted wishing for adventure, hoping for change, for now that the time of change came upon her Aisling was terrified. Afraid of the creeping darkness that was approaching her, curling her hair not in the same way that winter did. This wasn’t a winter chill, nor was this anything similar to any of the seasons. This was decay and no being in the world was prepared for what that suggested.

“Behind stars and under the hills,” Aisling repeated the words of the horned figure when she came to herself once more, her eyes blinking, her right still hurting and golden, but the light now above her head as she tried to make sense of the riddle she was left with.

The Circle was still shaking and darkness was still looming, but there was no time to worry about that now as Aisling focused on bordering the Circle off, the trees ever so lightly bending towards each other so that it wouldn’t startle the humans, like a flower folding into itself to protect its heart, so the trees did to protect the people from the assault that came from outside.

"What does it mean, what does it mean?!" Aisling would ask the trees, but none answered, their last energies focused on their own preservation right before slumber.

"I can't do this alone, please," Aisling begs, feeling a sob building up in the back of her throat.

 

[Kuno]

Maria F. G. Ramos

If there ever was an embodiment of comfort in the flesh, it was in the petite woman before Miri. The glow of her entrance dissipated, leaving naught but Maria's outline. A second passed while she gathered her bearings. Right - this was the Vault of Secrets. Her eyes passed over the disarray of books on the floor and her equally flustered charge. Something was bothering her - ah. There it was. Her finger.

Maria took the girl's hand within hers without a word. As a warm, comforting power of her healing bathed Miri's fingers in gold, Maria's eyes rose to meet Miri's, her gaze searching.

"Very little," She answered patiently. But that alone would not satisfy her. "Though there are the seven sacred elements...why? What's troubling you, my child?"

A better question might have been what wasn't troubling her. How did the English phrase go? When it rained, it poured?

So many things had happened in the span of that morning that had demanded Maria's attention. She did not need a phone or tv to know things had gone horribly wrong in Pirn. She had awaken to a state of imbalance, the anguish of her charges enough to puncture even her subconscious. It was a crisis stacked upon another, for the horn had sounded, and her right eye was...

Different. She did not want to dwell on it.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?"

Another's cries twinged her heart. Aisling, wherever she was, was in great need of assistance. But so was Miri, and she could not abandon one for the other.

 

[Flame]

"Yeah, like a movie, though, I don't think a truck fulla hurt folk would make for good main character material. Here's hopin' that doesn't mean we're expendable extras...", he grumbled, looking up in his rearview mirror at the man in the back who had been speaking to him. That's when he noticed it. His eye. The truck stopped mid turn. "The hell..?", he murmured, before sitting up in his seat and eyeballing the rearview mirror. One of his eyes was... gold? He was then reminded of the pain he'd had in that eye when he'd woke up this morning... Louis grit his teeth and focused on parking as he thought about it. Probably the same asshole who tried to spook him with the damn illusory hound and skull. "Tsk, fuckin' tacky.", he grumbled, shaking his head, as he pulled into a parking space. He shut the truck off, and almost barely registered the stranger who'd introduced himself contorting himself through the window as he asked his question.

"Mm? Yeah, just gimme a sec.", he replied, hopping out of the truck, and pulling his sword out. Sure, it was a hospital, sure, there were a lot of scared people in there, sure, he might get some shit for bringing it with him... but there was no way in hell he was going to leave without it with the circumstances the way they were... this... eye situation changed things for him personally. Sure, he wasn't injured by any of the wild stuff that had happened this morning, but this... thing on his eye... it was a mark of some sort. He fastened his sheathe onto his belt behind him as he considered it... whatever had caused this... eye mark, well, maybe they could see through his eye, right? He didn't understand the finer details of magic himself, but whatever had caused this, if it didn't even have to come anywhere close to him (that he was aware of) to mark him like this, he was willing to bet there was more to it than that.

So, he did the most rational thing he could think of.

He looked himself in the mirror and flipped himself the bird. "Hope you caught that, if yer lookin'.", Louis said with a smug grin, before turning away from the mirror, and walking to the back of the truck.

"Probably best that you don't walk on that. Sit on the tailgate, I'm gonna go fetch a wheel chair, eh?", he ordered the stranger among them with the busted up leg, then strode off to the emergency entrance. If push came to shove, he knew how to carry an injured person, but here was hoping that "broken leg" wasn't a common injury... the ER was already beginning to look packed, and the air itself felt off. It was probably just all the fear and pain in this one room, but... a tickle down his spine made him feel like there was something more to it. For now though, he grabbed a wheel chair and headed to the truck again, helping their injured stranger into it before he looked to... Michael.

"Gonna be real with ya, this place is totally failin' the vibe check... I don't have anything concrete, but I just have... that feeling, and usually my feelings ain't wrong, you know?", he explained, folding his arms. The mostly carefree look to his face had entirely faded, giving way to the usual grim-looking poker face he had when "doing work". "Don't think the staff are gonna like me sniffin' out whatever it is, but they can suck it. Once I get y'all inside, I think I'm gonna take me a stroll around here.", he sighed, grabbing the handles of the wheelchair, and pushing in the man who'd had the misfortune of breaking his leg.

 

[Jig The Zom-B]

Silence. Jilliel would quietly watch from the golden orb that Zintreya was using to reach the forest. She once had questions before taking Zin's hand and warping away, but once they got into the air, they vanished swiftly. The view from the orb would be something to soak in! To see all the buildings, parks, restaurants and and more. To even look for unvisited spots to later visit. The enthusiasm just wasn't there though. As she looked over the storm broken town, there was a twist in her gutt when she took it all in.

The view of the ruined buildings and sight of people in panic moving to and from each area in groups would often be a reason one would use to label a bad stomach. After all, the stress from such a view of ones own home could do that! But for jill, the answer was a bit different, as she would not only see the town but it's misfortune directly. She looked at the town and saw not only it's damage, but it's fortune almost drowned in misfortune. It was heavy enough to make jill feel unwell. The people, the town, it's forest. All of it, she wanted to help. But where would she even begin?! She didn't even know if she could shift any of it in the first place... So she waited, in a depressive silence as they swiftly moved. Blankly gazing over the town, she would see varying levels of misfortune over areas of the city. The hospital having the biggest cloud of misfortune over everything else. At least until they approached the forest.

It didn't take long sadly. The warmth of the orb vanishing as Jilliel and Zintreya came to land in the forest. A stinging cold wind and heavy rain rushing to meet them. The treeline stopped a lot of the rain, yet much of it still made it through.

Taking a moment to adjust to the sudden cold temperature and weather, Jilliel's attention would be drawn to the forest and tree's. Her gut still churning as she not only just saw the town, but she now had two new issues to deal with. The first being that she was back in the treeline once more, the memory of the mask and hounds poking at her. The other being that the forest reeked of misfortune. She didn't want to be here... She wanted to hurl and pass out about now, her blank gaze lingering as her brain tried to catch up to her. To calm her.

It took a moment before she would shake herself out of it, taking a moment to think before recognising where she was. The trees looked odd around here. They were bendy, was it wind damage? Signing deeply, she would turn to Zintreya.
She didn't know how to ask properly, but she needed to know why she was here!
"Zin..? What's happening? You appeared and we left to come here just as quickly! I'm still lost. I don't... I mean... " her voice trailing off as her questions would become ones she asked in her own head. She sounded tired despite the rejuvenation and her voice gave off light tones that she could just burst into tears and run off. She would stand there waiting for any kind of answer. She didn't know what else to do.

 

[rissa]

Coalescing
Ashland Medical | #hospitalgang

One eidolon formed and then another. Their good fortune rolling out in spades— a waterfall of manifestations erupted throughout Ashland Medical after that first blood curdling scream. Fear, it seemed, was a bountiful feast. As it grew within the long white hallways silent with held breath and the chaotic ramble of urgent care as cries of pain rang out, their cadence like beating drums striking out ever louder, the eidolons surged into existence, claiming their spot on the Mortal Plane.

And staking their claim on humankind’s negative emotions.

Invisible to most, the eidolons ambled forward, towards the hotspots throbbing with fear.

And Ashton knew they needed to do something to stem the tide.

He had driven like a bat out of hell to the hospital as soon as he’d got his bearings after having what felt like a searing lance pierce him through the face. His heart thudded, seeming to pulse with the throb of fear, a collective heart pumping adrenaline into every available body.

“Look, you’ll be okay — just keep a hand on this, keep pressure for me,” Ashton said to Abe Sanderson, a junior at the high school who had had a lamp fall on his head and sliced him open. “Head wounds always look worse than they actually are.”

He had tried to avoid siphoning the fears around him, knowing as soon as the gates flooded open, he would have no choice but to take it — and ride out. That choice was stolen from him as he turned away from his patient and ran with long legged stride toward the screams of the nurse.

CNA and third generation witch, Bettany Marquese stuck her head out of Patient Room 207, green eyes wide and full of barely-disguised fright. The hall had gone eerily quiet after the scream and her patients shared a look between themselves and then to her for guidance. She gulped.

What the hell is going on now?! That better not have been Meredith, I swear if she—

Ashton, one of her Unveiled coworkers snatched her right out of the threshold and down the hallway, her legs better at keeping up then her mind was. The instinct to protect was always within her, surging like a prayer, but Bett bit down on it, shoved it away in the face of fear.

“Wh-what are you doing?!” Bettany half-shouted, yanking her wrist out of his grip as they neared the end of the hall and the nurses station that laid beyond the double doors. “Why’d you grab me?” She whispered angrily, though perhaps the anger wasn’t directed at Ash, “Ain’t nothin’ that I can do! I can barely cast a spell right now!”

☽ ꕥ ☾​

As Louis wheeled the man with the broken leg up into the building, Michael roused those who were still shell-shocked in the back of his camper shell and urged them out with kind beckoning words. The two that were still unconscious were thrown over his shoulders with a grunt and a wince, but he managed well enough. Michael urged his little flock forward and when he caught up with Louis, he tossed the two unconscious men into wheelchairs and stretched.

Nodding to his sheathed sword, Michael spoke under his breath. “You’re not the only one that can feel ‘em.” The shifter in front of Louis shivered, his form blurring at the edges as his other side rose to the surface. “If you’re about to go hunting, mind if I join? There’s gotta be a ton of those things here.”

“And it’s always nice to have someone watchin’ your back.”

---

@Doctor Jax @Flame

Revealing
Greenpeaks Park | #parkgang

"You... are... never... alone... Aisling..." A myriad of would-be-voices echoed out, though only she could hear. They echoed through the branches of her beloved trees, on the wind that rustled through the leaves, protective now, as if aiding in the Wood's boundary of this sacred place and sanctified manifestation. The grass rippled and spoke comforting words, as did the flying dandelion bristles, uprooted and whispering to the fairy that made this place a home. “You… and… the… Wonder… are… One…”

And in time Aisling would feel it, the soft surging of power within her chest, oh so comforting and recognizable, a physical reminder that the Wonder was in truth a part of her.

Above her, the world began to break apart.

☽ ꕥ ☾​

Zintraya reached for Jill’s hands, acting on instinct. Young and flighty, Jill still had a lot to learn and a lot to understand- about herself and the Unveiled world as a whole. But that was part of the reason Zin was here; so heavily invested in the Mortal Plane. Jilliel’s potential needed to be sown and nurtured, brought to the surface, and her knowledge of how to use said potential…

Well, that comes first.

“I’m not quite entirely sure,” Zin said truthfully, kneeling in the wet grass to be closer to Jill’s eyes. “But there are two things I know for certain: a manifestation of some kind is happening there, where that light is hovering above the fairy of this grove and some kind of… darkness is creeping towards it- towards us -in defiance against that manifestation. Or perhaps because of it.

“Like I said, I’m not entirely sure what is happening right now, but that’s my best guess. And we’re here, Jill, to help however we can. Don’t you think the Wonder before you could use a little bit of luck?”

⚵​

"Just my toe," Miri said with a dismissive laugh, stretching the new chunk of flesh that had healed and regrown. Magic, especially healing magic, had not yet lost its charm and Miri’s eyes filled with awe and wonder, theories of magic and spells speeding behind her eyes. It took a moment for her to slow down, to really look at her Guide. “Ah, I’m so- Maria, wait, why is your eye gold?”

Miri dropped the stack of books on the nearest table and rushed forward, personal space be damned. Miri’s eyes were alight with magic, attempting to discern the indiscernible and with a frustrated look of confusion, wrung her hands, gave her guide a tight hug, and urged her to leave.

“You’ve more people to heal. Go, please, don’t wait on me. I can suffer through a stubbed toe— others may not be so blessed. One thing though, before you go— Once the chaos settles, there’ll need to be a Forum. Most likely in the Undercity. Tell all the Unveiled that you encounter. Three days should be enough time.”

A bit sheepishly, Miri added, “And I’ll look for anything about golden eyes.”

---

@Nemopedia @Jig The Zom-B @Kuno

GM NOTES

Hello! It’s been awhile, but I’m here to make life hell :^)

I’ve only tagged those who responded to my last post (Or that I’ve been plottin’ with in secret), but if you didn’t post in the last cycle and would still like to be a part of Undying, feel free to jump in wherever you’d like! If you need help figuring out where to insert your character or would like to officially drop, just shoot me a message to let me know!

I / npcs are open for collabs, just lemme know who, what, when, and where, and/or shoot me dat starter! We have many of the same goals going on as last time, but if you need inspiration or a bit of help, poke me <3

 

[Jig The Zom-B]

Jilliel would stare blankly at Zintreya for a moment that felt like a minute, her brain failing to register anything and trying desperately to understand what her situation even was! It would be a second before it would finally click on her head, and then she hit another mental block...

Hands still in zintreyas, the cold wet bandage around her digits not warming, yet giving a semblance of comfort, yet jill looked pale at where she was now mentally. Turning from Zintreya towards the great circle, they would see the misfortune that hung about a it. There was so much... Far too much, and yet it still grew! T he misfortune was almost a smog in thickness and tirelessly grew. In increments and little by little, yet grew. Signing softly through her nose, she genuinely had no idea of it would be possible or not to make any difference. But zin had asked her to at least try. Freeing her hands from Zin's own, eyes on zin for a long moment before finally deciding. Raising her hands, she would look to the wet dirty bandages that blanketed her fingers and thumbs. With a simple gesture of her index fingers, all bandages on each hand would fall away. The bandages would fly away in the violent winds and rain swiftly, scar tissue covered fingers and thumbs now free to breathe in the cold forest air.

With a moment of hesitation, they would look to the digits, a blank yet disappointed face gazing at them. Jilliel was unsure how what she was about to do would affect her, but knew one way or another it would hurt. Looking to zin one last time, would give her a hug, she was scared and needed this. Just as quickly as she had given it, she was waking towards the prayer circle.

As they approached, jill would spot aisling. They seemed distraught, almost as much, if not more so than herself... She wanted to talk, comfort aisling and hope today ended. But there was work to be done, with a dour sigh leaving her, she would walk into the prayer circle. Raising both hands, she would click both thumbs. And with swift motions of each, drive her thumbs into the bottoms of her index fingers. Wincing at the pain, would move to the next part. Dragging her thumbs across from her index fingers to her pinkies, would slice open the bottom of each digit, a final flick of each wrist sending blood fleckling around her. The last motion of the wrist having each thumb impaling each other as to allow them to bleed freely alongside the other digits.

Cold rain against the ten wounds across her digits would invite stinging pains across them all! The rain washing her digits, yet constant flow of crimson ensuring that they remained red. With her digits unbound, she would look the the prayer circle, a moment of glazed stating before she would look to the darkness that surrounded it. Looking upon it, would see that the darkness had an uncanny fortune to it. It's misfortune almost non-existent! It was an oddity, yet it gave jill what she needed to overcome the mental block.

Raising both hands, she would have each digit wrapped in chain links, most fingers having two or three links over each finger. The chains would have a ghostly source, coming from each direction seeming at random. With each digit secured, the thought would now pass through Jilliel's head. The misfortune of the prayer circle was far too dense to make a significant effort against. However... With the darkness around it having a fortunate streak about it, there WAS now something to be done about it. Certain in the garuntee that this would cost her nearly both hands worth of fingers at the very least. But also certain they could shift this fortune

With a huff and straining digits, they would begin, taking the misfortune of the circle, the fortune of the darkness, and with significant strain... Would begin to swap them.

Mentions: Zintreya @rissa - Aisling @Nemopedia

 

[Nemopedia]

Kisses from the heavens. That was what Aisling used to call the rain, allowing fat cool drops to replace the warmth escaping her own eyes, washing the dirt and grime she had accidentally rubbed into them at the comfort of the wonder, her wonder, herself. Yet answers did not come for her, the riddle ringing and repeating as she wondered what it could mean.

And then, the darkness that loomed from the edge of the Circle, trying to invade and poison her trees, retreated, replacing with something warmer, a mother’s autumnal embrace, comforting but with the knowledge that it was finite unlike her love. Aisling felt she could breathe again, her eyes thrown up now turning to the trees at the border, its crows bowing towards the centre and then the faint outlines of the chains of the fabric of time, helping her, helping the wonder. Aisling realised then that this wasn’t her fight alone to fight. There were others in the city, those she had played with as Jonathan and those she had served coffee with as herself. Those who had recognised her and those who were about to see her for who she truly was.

Rising from her spot Aisling guided the crowns to open once more, allowing a fresh breeze and the blessing of the sky to fall upon them, the light filtering through the thick foliage once more that proudly provided shade on a hot summer day and covered the heads of humans that didn’t like the rain.

Next to her Padfoot came to sniff, rubbing against her leg in a desperate whine as Aisling and Padfoot shared their feelings, their heart hardening against the emptiness that tried to invade like the fortune that was being tilted.

Embracing the tree to which Aisling had clutched herself the fairy travelled to the edge, to the source of darkness that was trying to enter as Padfoot paddled over to Jill, a wet nose booping against her arm to share a vision, her vision.