PHASE I [ ❓❓❓ ] And then the Flamines are there.
They just appear, suddenly, as if from nowhere. They’re a race of mercenary aliens, and fighting is all they know -- they’re definitely not going to be easy to kill by any means. They seem to have a natural resistance to magic: aside from very specific types of magic (in particular, light magic and anything highly spiritual), they absorb it. Light magic and spiritual magic can harm them, but it will take a lot to take one down.
They can be stabbed, if you can get that close.
But good luck.
Of course, they look like nondescript black shapes with masks until you knock the mask off...and then you can see the true shape of the Flamines.
They’re here to kill you all. :)
PHASE II [ ❓❓❓ ] As if that isn’t enough… it seems the Flamines’ arrival was the last straw for Cerealia and the Nexus Code. There’s a tear in the sky, and from it… the Nexus Code, where all of the lost friends from before, can be seen. It can be entered, even, though remaining there too long can be detrimental to your health.
But people are there.
Old friends, strung up and lifeless, can be seen there, unmoving.
And…
Then some of them move. They open their eyes. They remember how to breathe. And they’re able to return, able to stagger their way back into Cerealia and take their first breath of air in a long, long time.
Welcome back to the chaos of Cerealia, friends.
Unfortunately, you’ve got nothing but the clothes on your back while murderous aliens are rampaging, so hopefully you’re able to think fast. It’d be unfortunate to die so soon after coming back.
As for spiritual and magical characters who were not in the Nexus Code...well, when they return, they’ll find that they’re covered in old, dried blood, and their clothing might have tears in it, as if from a knife.
There are no scars, though, and they’re otherwise fine. Strange.
PHASE III [ ❓❓❓ ] As if this chaos isn’t enough… there are also the masks. Regardless of whether or not characters were around to receive them the first time, regardless what they did with them before, the masks will suddenly reappear in your characters’ hands. They can be tossed aside, but they’ll reappear again eventually, unable to be truly shaken.
Characters who received them before will receive the same mask they had before.
Characters who didn’t receive them before will receive a mask according to the trait that’s more prominent for them.
Either way...it’ll have a profound effect on the Flamines.
They will go after any character with a broken mask in a bloodthirsty rage, intent on murdering them. Characters with a barcode mask or bloody mask will be the next likely to be chased down intently by the Flamines.
Characters with a :( mask will be killed if they get in the Flamines’ way, though they will not go out of their way to chase them down.
Characters with a vine mask or feather mask will be treated with wariness, though they may still be attacked if they get in a Flamines’ way.
Characters with a grey mask will not be killed unless they are first the aggressor, as will characters with a bloody fingerprint mask.
Naturally there will be exceptions to every rule, but the masks will change how the Flamines’ generally act towards characters!
PHASE IV [ ❓❓❓ ] But something’s not quite right.
Regardless of the battles against the Flamines, it seems Cerealia’s just been under too much pressure lately. Something had to give --
And it’s the code building up the characters that really suffers.
Their code has been hanging on by a thread without CERES to maintain it, and now… it’s finally giving out. The glitches that afflicted characters before will be even more prominent now; they might glitch from place to place, or have their powers go totally awry in odd ways. There may be a lack of powers suddenly, or a sudden difficulty staying on the ground as gravity stops working on the character.
They might suddenly be unable to breathe, or go cold, or very nearly die --
But it can be controlled, too, with effort. Characters can learn to control the glitches, gaining an ability to almost teleport, or ways to tweak their powers in exciting new ways.
With a lot of effort, they could even possibly reverse a death -- but only their own, and only once.
BONUS [ ❓❓❓ ] There are also… birds?
Flamingos, to be exact. Who knows where they came from, but either way, there are plastic flamingos chilling all over the place. They’re just normal plastic; they don’t move, they can very easily be destroyed --
But if you touch one with your bare hands… it’ll have an interesting effect.
Characters will suddenly find that they have the abilities or the last person they touched -- but without any of the practice or ability to control it, of course.
Still, it might help with that pesky Flamines problem, right?
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
Welcome to the beginning of Cerealia's endgame event! Please visit the OOC information here, and should you have any questions, feel free to ask them here! You can also check the FAQ for more general inquiries. This event will begin 11/03, or IC 11/18. Should this event log hit Captcha, there is an all-purpose overflow here. Thank you! |
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no subject
She'd known the moment Yosuke had passed, and it had cut her as deep as any knife, providing a moment of absolute berserk strength. It's almost funny, how well that had synced to a moment of desperation on her end, in a morbid sort of way...but she always had a ghoulish sense of humor.
Mabel, though, had hit her harder because she'd been right there. She'd been standing there, talking to Rei, nodding along with her reassurances as Rei promised to get her to safety. She'd trusted Rei, and Rei had failed her.
Then there was Dipper. His reaction.
That had been almost worse. Almost. So is it any wonder she's not able to sleep?
Yu's voice breaks her reverie, the awful mental record replaying the sounds of that day over and over scratching to a halt, and she looks over her shoulder.]
Yu. You're alive.
no subject
Somehow.
[ His voice is pale and tired. So is the rest of him, really. ]
Thank you for your help today.
[ Said quietly. He's all too aware of how she must be feeling. She did so much, and worked so hard, and yet they lost Mabel, too. All of her good work, and yet... with the deaths that have happened, it's hard to feel remotely good about any of it. But the work she did is still work worth recognizing, he thinks. ]
no subject
She didn't do anything, but he's just human. She can't...show weakness. No cracks, no chinks in the armor. That's a mantra she has to repeat, over and over, words she's forcing onto repeat.]
It's nothing. It was the right thing to do.
[She keeps her eyes distant, blotting out the distant sounds of alarms, cars, noise of an embattled city.]
You made it unharmed, I see.
no subject
... it isn't surprising, to think that Rei is hurting just as badly. They're all hurting.
How did they lose so many people in the space of just one day?
Yu looks ahead, out over the city, and not at her. His eyes are half-lidded. ]
I've had time to do a little healing.
[ It doesn't need to be said that he was an absolute mess earlier, when Naoto found him. ]
Have you had a chance to rest?
no subject
[Closing her eyes to blot out the images of the cityscape, Rei takes a long, slow breath. There's an elephant in the room, and it needs to be addressed.]
I'll be fine. I can't sleep though. I won't be able to face my own dreams.
[She can't even imagine trying to sleep with Mabel's face to haunt her, with Yosuke's right beside it. It hurts all the more knowing her last words to both of them. Platitudes, trying to calm Mabel down and get her to trust her. While Yosuke had gotten sharp, harsh words. She'd been cold, mean, commanding. And neither one of those things was particularly comforting, when you thought about it.]
Not after...today.
no subject
...
Yu glances at her, his eyes hooded. He doesn't know what happened with Mabel, though given what Rei is saying and the way she's acting, it's not too hard to piece together that she was probably at least nearby for her death. And then, of course, there's Yosuke... they aren't even the only ones dead. Jaune is gone, too. There are probably more, reports that just haven't reached their ears yet. ]
Do you think they'll come back?
[ It's an honest question, quiet. An echo of the one Dipper had asked him, hours before. ]
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His query, though, earned a wheeze of laughter.]
I do. I don't think...the code's that badly damaged. It's weird, but I keep feeling like there's more to their stories too. I keep getting snatches of the future, and they're in it. It's hazy, but I think so.
no subject
He doesn't remember things too clearly after that. Not for some time.
Coming back here had been hard. Once they were safe, he and Naoto had to reckon with their grief over Yosuke a second time; and Rise, poor Rise, feeling every death, had been absolutely beside herself. For a time they'd all just huddled together, sharing their grief and their hurt and trying to keep their heads above water.
Yu's expression is open, not reflecting any thought or feeling in particular, as Rei shares her belief with him. He'd told Dipper that he didn't know if the dead would return; and that's still how he feels. But still ... it's not in him to be a cynic, and Rei's answer brings some comfort. His expression softens just a touch, and he nods slowly before looking out over the city again. ]
I'm glad. [ There's a quiet depth of feeling there. ] If you're the one saying it, then I can believe it.
[ A beat, and: ] We're lucky, that we have you.
[ More softly than before, and he glances sideways at her again. ]
no subject
Not that she remembered much of the last few hours. Mabel had died.
In front of her.
And then there was red. Heat. Fire. Violence. The kind of berserk frenzy she couldn't even put into words. She'd found Dipper, dragged him and the body here, and then gone out to hurt things. That much she could remember, at least. But now she was just done. Tired, having cried over and over for much of the last hour alone.
His compliment makes her turn away, staring out into space again. She didn't want to rebuke him, but she couldn't agree with that statement. Not when she'd failed so spectacularly, and not when all she was doing was sharing uncertain snatches of an even more uncertain future.]
No. You're not. I couldn't stop them from hurting Mabel, and she was right in front of me.
[More softly:]
The last thing I said to her was that I'd keep her safe. I couldn't do that.
I'm no lucky charm, I'm just an old crow.