//SCENARIOS.EXE
PHASE I [ 16 00 ] At 4:00 PM, the lightly falling snow will stop and no sounds will be heard.
What will be heard is faint sound of ‘hohoho’ and ‘sleigh bells’ faintly in the distance distinctly in one direction but when you turn that way it seems to disappear and you can’t pick up a trace of sound. It will keep occurring intermittently no matter where you are and each interval of 15 minutes, it will sound as if it’s gotten closer but the same things will occur.
by 6:00 pm, when it sounds really close (like right behind the character or next to them), when they turn they’ll hear the sound of laughter that comes from someone they greatly admire or care about to one side of them. However, unlike how everything else has disappeared, that person remains and even seems to recognize they are there. At first, it seems well enough as they will ask innocent questions such as “What are you looking around for?” and if told the truth, their important person will kindly brush them off as joking and tell them they are imagining it. If told ‘nothing’, the important person will prod them with curiosity (you can have it be annoying, whiny, friendly--however that character would most likely nag them to let them in, including things said such as “you can tell me”).
Regardless of choice from there, the person will eventually decide to assist in locating this sound, as your character will hear it once more and from the sudden surprise on the other person’s face it seems they may have heard it, too.
At 6:30pm, the person will give up, suggesting you guys go back (go home, go shop, go eat, whatever the character would suggest as something fun and interesting. if they are the type of character who would just simply part ways with the other and say they will meet them back somewhere else, that’s fine, too!) In the end, they will start to walk past the PC if they are in front of them, but as soon as they are behind him the PC will get a hand on the shoulder and pulled to be whispered to by that person in the ear (or any variant of it at the player’s discretion to sound more like said individual): “You always did have a habit of looking for the things you can never find. A trait of only the most worthless.” followed by a strong wind that drowns out laughter of the person when they came, but this time much crueler. The wind is gale force so the character will not in any way be able to turn around fast enough to see whether the person walks off or disappears.
Looking to the ground, there are footprints, though, that suggest that person was there. Unfortunately, the snow is light and not wet, so unless the character looks quickly they may miss the evidence. And with the wind starts the heavy wet snow, increasing until blizzard conditions are reached.
OOC NOTES:
- If doing this prompt, people who tag into other people’s top levels can choose if they also have an important person that’s come to them in the same way or they can simply be alone.
- Both characters can see each other’s important persons (assuming the individual tagging the top level has one), and they will treat the other PC polite enough but would do what they normally do with strangers while around their PC. Players might want to take the opportunity to do some simple ‘npcing’ of their character’s important person in relation to the tags their top levels receive or the tagged into, but it is by no means required. Just one more potential thing you can add to your threads if it helps or will be more fun/interesting ).
- If any player-characters would happen to have the same important person, the player-character entering the thread will have their version start to slow down in their movements until they are behind them and no longer keeping up. When they turn around to look for them, they won’t be there any longer, but they will be fully acknowledged by the spectre and act as if the newly arrived isn’t remembering correctly (they ran ahead to find the player they are with now or etc.)
- The spectre should at least be believable to be able to cause doubt on whether it is real or in their heads or some other type of trick. If directly asked, the NPC will never quite say one way or another, but sort of be sympathetic to their uncertainty or laugh it off or dismiss it… again, however that character’s NPC would react to being doubted.
- It doesn’t have to be their “MOST IMPORTANT” person. Just someone that they are close enough to that their opinions matter/the player character really misses/they would be bothered by them not finding them worth anything/etc.
PHASE II [ 1700 ] Now that blizzard conditions have suddenly come into play, including white outs, all that lighting doesn’t seem to be much help (and that’s before any lighting finally ends up blowing out due to the conditions). You might want to look for that person that was with you, because you swore you saw footprints in the dry snow before it was all erased with the force of the wind.
Traveling outside may be more dangerous than you intend, however, not because of the cold, but because you can’t see who’s (or what) coming at you nor who’s (or what) coming behind you… or from any other direction, either.
Pretty convenient for an accidental murder in the form of a hit and run by a moving vehicle.
...Or a sleigh speeding forward by the work of nine reindeer and equipped with saw-blades used for ice cutting in place of the normal runners. You will want to get out of the streets as fast as you can because, while you will not be consistently chased, increased attempts at various times will be made on your life the longer you stay out.
While your character is welcome to run into the nearest place they can or continue to stay outside despite being an intended murder victim, the combination of the disorienting whiteout along with the sleigh attacks will strategically attempt to push characters towards the large mall that has been now shut down for the evening. They will find the doors unlocked and most likely others there that have be also driven here by the same situation. Somethings not right, though. Because the mall suddenly doesn’t look the way it once did, especially if you were just there earlier in the day. You are about to find out that the lot of you aren’t much safer, inside, either. Be prepared to run or fight your way out.
PHASE III [ xxxx ]
Depending which side of the mall you enter from depends on the layout of the mall and what you’ll be finding. Please note Cerealia’s mall is incredibly large so it would be quite the effort to go from one end to the other. However, it is possible, and if you reach the middle of the mall, the two variations of the mall will collide with one another. Once you step over into the other version, whatever dangers you faced from the other side will cease. However, now you have the other sides dangers to face, as well.
3A: WARM
The mall looks as if it’s been abandoned suddenly—there are no guards or any sign of movement initially. Despite the power being out, you will actually be able to search if your characters want to and get the power to turn back on. Be aware that turning the power back on in the mall will result in a change noted below for both prompt 3A and 3B.**
Regardless of whether you turn the lights on first or stay in the dark, you will find the multi-levels of the mall scattered with various gifts, left for all of you as gratitude for complying with coming to the mall. These may or may not be your definition of a gift, however. Every package is addressed to someone who has shown up at the mall, yourself included. While wandering by a gift that doesn’t have your name on it will do nothing, doing the same for one that does… Merry Christmas to you! Santa’s elves will be busting out of the packages and will solely be focused on you and you alone. They’ll be sporting just about anything and everything you could think of they could use to harm you, but it’ll be in the form of a creepy toy or candy (to try and choke/suffocate you with if they manage to get close enough to you to do it)—basically anything that could be harmless but is now not, but they will avoid any direct death methods. Their intention is incapacitate you to the point they can eat you. Note they are not easy to kill, but they are killable. However, there will always be at least one elf out chasing you. You might want to team up to take these guys out. (think of them as the hardest normal enemy on a map for your level).
Whether you turned the lights on yourself or not, at some point the lights will come on and make your lives more festive: different elves will be appearing on the upper floors with just about and every possible projectile weapon. There is probably even a canon or two, as well, so watch out! But probably nothing bigger than a canon… and no rocket launchers because there would be no fun in that if everyone died too quickly during playtime. These types of elves are more numerous but they are easier to dispatch and do not have a specific target. They also don’t care if they kill you, but they are more likely to try and slow you down so they can watch you become dinner for one of the bigger ones.
3B: COLD
The other side of the mall looks like quite a bit different and in heavy disrepair.
It is also possible (although more difficult) from this side of the mall to turn on lights (even if the lights will be a lot less numerous than on the other side of the mall.) There are no christmas decorations here, just the snow littering the wrecked structure. Even though it is clear there is a hole in the roof, for some reason the blizzard outside is not through it. Instead it’s just a quiet and light snowfall.
But this is side of the mall where there are LESS, but quite a bit more dangerous enemies. The elves that appear are identical to the ones in packages on the other side of the mall, however, they do not sport weapons other than their sharp teeth and claws (despite pictures, these features aren’t super noticeable on the ones on the other side of the mall like this side until they get at your throat). They are also faster and while they also want to eat you, they don’t care if they rip you apart in the process before getting to eat. All-in-all this would be a lot more of a visually gruesome death to experience as well as watch as the victim will end up in pieces. Since these are a little stronger than their counterparts hiding in the presents, there also aren’t as many (probably 1 for every two characters at all times). They would be the strength of a small mini-boss.
But, it won’t be long because you hear some inhuman snorts and growls that don’t sound very animallike, either. looking up you’ll find that it looks like Santa’s let his 9 reindeer out for the hunt and they’re coming in after you.
There’s only 9 of them (you know dasher, dancer…etc. etc..), but they are each the strength of a harder mini-boss. They withstand a lot of damage and the more injury they take, the more aggressive/frenzied they become. They will eat you/tear you apart/trample you/impale you with their antlers, whatever. While you’ll see them come in from the roof, they act like predators and use the shadows and disrepair of the mall to their advantage to try and corner you and otherwise surprise you. Your best chance with them is to stick together as one of you alone won’t be able to kill one of them), but they will make every effort they possibly can to separate all of you to take you each out one by one (and, why yes, the reindeer will gang up on you once they separate you like a little lamb from its heard…).
This side of the mall is definitely a team-effort survival trip. Each reindeer is slightly different in its methods, but who can really tell the difference when things are at this stage? Rudolph IS THE BOSS OF THE PACK… taking him out first will help your characters greatly, although he’s also the most difficult (and your characters would have to icly figure out killing him will actually help them out, too).
***CONCERNING TURNING ON THE LIGHTS (PROMPTS 3A + 3B): If characters on either side end up turning the lights on manually, they will also end up releasing a creature that is unkillable and will stalk your characters until you are too far away from it and it gives chase to another (so you have to run away when it finds you). The trick to encountering it the least amount of times is to constantly keep moving, although this will make any strategic things difficult against other problems being faced. It is possible to stun it/slow it down temporarily to aid in characters escaping when it shows up if the character has the ability to do it (summons, magic weapons, superhuman strength characters, etc).
This monster is also the only one that will not cease its attacks and ignore you should you cross between the center of the mall. So, yes, if it’s chasing you and you run straight through… it’s gonna CHASE YOU STRAIGHT THROUGH into the other version/side of the mall, so don’t stop D: !!
PHASE IV [ xxxx ]
And if you didn’t run to the mall, or didn’t get chased by santa’s killer sleigh, or heck, maybe you stayed inside your apartment all day? Don’t feel too safe for too long. If you aren’t celebrating christmas properly, aka in an area (a building, an office, a bathroom stall, your apartment, your bed etc etc) that is lacking either a Christmas Tree or the proper milk and cookies for Santa to assist him while he is so busy this night, he’s not going to be happy. Which means, he’s going to come punish you for your lack of respect for the hardworking. It doesn’t pay to be impolite to your elders, you know. This is why we can’t have nice things.
The room/area has to have both the Christmas Tree and the milk & cookies in order to be safe. This is literally the only way to keep Santa from coming at you with a machete like a jolly serial-killer. He starts with a machete, but he can pull just about anything out of his toy sac (semi-automatic machine gun, you got it…). Because Santa is magical, he is unkillable and you can’t injure him, either. The best you can do is break his weapons to stall him and hide, but he’ll stalk around looking for you, telling you what a naughty boy/girl you’ve been and now you’re hiding from the consequences! You can hide from him under beds, in lockers, closets, etc, and while he won’t open any of those things unless you make noise to alert him, he will leave. Don’t stay in the hiding spot for too long, though, because he will come back and that time he will find you.
The trick to getting off of Santa’s murder list? While he disappears once he’s lost sight of you (maybe 15-20 minutes is the grace period that he’ll leave you alone), get a christmas tree and get those milk and cookies out. OR run to a place that has both of these things.
While Santa is chasing/stalking you, he will talk to you and give hints on what the characters need to do to be spared (things along the lines of “good little girls and boys always leave Santa milk and cookies for his long journey” and “where is your christmas spirit? not even a christmas tree for old santa to put his gifts under.” etc etc.).
Once you complete this, he will return and be planning to be murderous once more, but once he sees the tree and cookies he will immediately stop and be extremely jolly and forget you in favor of the cookies in milk as well as putting a couple presents under the tree like he didn’t just terrorize the living snot out of you with sharp objects. And then he’ll be heard with his trademark commentary for those familiar with the Santa Claus lore: “MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL GOOD NIGHT…” and disappear without (anymore, or at least, yours) bloodshed.
BONUS [ whyo'clock ]
{ there isn't a bonus this event, apologies! but we will do our best to remedy this for you guys on the upcoming test drive by connecting it to something appropriately traumatizing for mental processing. Please stay with us :D! }
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with trigger-y or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ]
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ELMOSFIRE.GIF!!!
it's when he feels the cool rush of mana on his leg that he looks up, staring at his father almost dumbfoundedly as he heals his leg. compared to the Professor's artes, Kratos's First Aid only heals the minimum of what can be healed, but Lloyd can already feel the pain ebb away and he sees the puncture wounds from the teeth gradually grow smaller. he doesn't think twice before removing his hands and stretching hsi leg out a littke more, so that his father could get a better look at it. it doesn't take long before the wound is healed to something more manageable: a few puncture wounds with far less blood flow.
sure, he'd end up with scars, but they wouldn't be the first scars he ended up with. at least he can use his leg again.
as Kratos finishes healing it up, though, several thoughts start running through Lloyd's head. Kratos saw his wings. he can't remember if he had ever seen them before-- it's been so long since he'd gotten them already. he doesn't know what Kratos had thought when he finally saw them at this point, but it doesn't take a genius to realize that his reaction is probably Not Good, as it's wont to be.
well, whatever. what's past is past, and Lloyd figured if he didn't already know, then he deserved to. plus, now was as good a time as any to reveal it (unlike, you know, every other opportunity he had in the past). ]
...Thanks, dad. [ he moves to stand (still keeping his wings out), using the rubble as support as he test his leg. good, he can still stand on it. if it weren't for his dad showing up...
it's then that a thought crosses his mind. ] Wait, when did you get here?
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what is necessary, however, is not lingering here much longer. those annoying creatures are stirring all around, eager to jump their prey and rip them apart. kratos straightens before getting a proper look at the surroundings. two choices present themselves: find an escape route or fight. going back the way he'd come in or an aerial escape seem most feasible. neither of them have any issues with leaving on foot or... by wings.
...dammit. just goddammit.
focusing on the situation at hand proves difficult when his mind keeps on drifting back to those wings and the implications behind them. to think kvar's attempts at crafting an evolving exsphere actually succeeded. why though. why lloyd? why did he, of all people, need to be saddled with a burden of this degree?]
Now isn't the time for chitchat.
[or dwelling on the unnecessary. right, this is a conversation best left when neither of their lives remain at risk. he pushes any and all emotions down, the extreme calmness of his voice while speaking being a product of that. it takes a sizable effort to remain that calm. thousands of years of practice does that. pointedly avoiding looking at the cause of his discomfort helps, too.]
Have you noticed any weaknesses in these creatures while dealing with them?
[lloyd may lack in some skills, but the boy is a warrior. being able to determine some sort of weakness in a short span of time isn't out of the question and weaknesses mean defeating these things is doable. better to fight than have to watch the boy fly again.]
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but now isn't the time for that, as he said. they're still not quite out of the fire, and even if things seem calm and still, Lloyd can still hear more of those buggers wandering around not far from them. at least with their wings out, a quick getaway out of the mall through a skylight or something is feasible, even if the glow from their wings is basically painting a giant target on them-- complete with flashing, neon arrows.
not that Lloyd is too worried about being a sitting duck-- partly because it never crossed his mind, but also because Kratos is here. on his own he had some trouble, but now that he has an ally (that can heal too!!), survival became less of an issue. he hums in thought, trying to recall what he learned about the monstrosities to properly answer Kratos's question. ]
They're fast but weak. [ except for their teeth, but that goes without saying. ow, his leg. ] It's not like their skin is tough-- I was able to take some down in one or two hits. You just gotta be quick enough and they'll go down easy.
[ which Lloyd was easily able to do-- he may not have been the physically strongest fighter of the group (much as he'd claim otherwise), but he did have speed under his belt. he glances around, trying to look for the elf that he flung and making sure that it's not trying to sneak up on them. he doesn't hear any snow crunching nearby, so he's assuming that it's either knocked out cold or dead. the latter would be preferable at this point.
with a grimace, he flexes his leg once more. jeez, even with Kratos's First Aid, he can still feel the sting from the bite. ]
They're a pain to deal with if you're caught in a pack of 'em, though.
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now, how to go about escaping? going via air means making them easier targets but going via foot means more will likely attack. can lloyd battle properly while airborne? ignoring the butterflies at the airborne part, it's a question kratos lacks answer to and lacks the luxury of fully looking into. those creatures are beginning to charge toward them. by foot it is.]
Then our best course of action would be to force our way through them while exerting caution as we make our way toward the door.
[it's a great plan. usually. on any other day, it would already be set in motion and they'd be well on their way to escape. one little fact renders it potentially impossible, however.
his gaze briefly darts over at lloyd and that serious expression gains the teeniest hint of concern to it. non-life threatening though the wound may be, a father will always worry about their child. kratos found this out the hard way during their travels together. the number of times in battle (or outside) that lloyd caused that fatherly sense of worry to flare up is innumerable. it still feels odd, having parental emotion toward a child after so long a time.]
Can you walk?
[decently healed though the injury may be, it doesn't mean the leg itself is capable of that much movement. rapid movement to boot. walking slowly without any reason to move quickly hardly compares to fleet-footed steps while fending off a hoard of demonic elves. rapid movement to boot. should it be that bad then the only exit that they could take is via air regardless of lloyd's flying prowess or there lack of.]
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he blinks at Kratos's question, glancing down at his blood-stained leg. that… sure was a lot of blood. here's hoping those imps don't operate like sharks. ]
Y-yeah. Don't worry, it's not that bad now.
[ if anything, it's true. Lloyd can tell the injury will slow him down significantly, but he's not completely immobile now-- he can walk thanks to Kratos's healing, at the very least, unlike earlier when there was blood practically gushing out. fighting's going to be a bit tricky, but it wouldn't be the first time he's fought with an injury, much less one that should have incapacitated him in normal circumstances.
hell, if push comes to shove, at least he can fly now. Lloyd's not… exactly well-versed in fighting during flight (he tried once and learned the hard way that his wings are simply Too Big for such a task-- he always wondered how Colette was able to pick it up so quickly), but he can definitely make a quick getaway with them if earlier events were any proof. he unsheathes his swords, testing his leg one more time before nodding to his left. ]
C'mon-- I think I saw a way out that way!
no subject
now to officially set the plan in motion. he glances in the direction lloyd indicates, noting the few approaching elves. no time gets wasted before kratos casts a quick thunder blade to clear the path. one of the best choices made during his long existence: drinking that vile mineral and gaining access to magic. it makes dealing with pests far less headache-inducing.]
Let's go.
[with path cleared, it's time to get a move on. ah, first thing first though: the wings. they're bright, they're big (with lloyd's being enormous) and draw far too much unnecessary attention. kratos' suddenly vanish into thin air and he turns toward lloyd seconds later.]
And put your wings away. They draw too much attention.
[the order comes out harsher than intended but the lack of a good mood means any niceness will be minimal (and only exists because it's lloyd). speaking about the wings themselves doesn't help, either. maybe at some point later on, kratos will actually be impressed at the sheer size of them. right now, however, mentioning them only causes a sense of hatred for himself to flare up.
no matter how one looks at it, those wings are his fault. some way to prevent lloyd transitioning fully into an angel had to have existed. maybe had he allowed lloyd to destroy that exsphere... no. no, not even with this in front of him could that action have been justified. that stone holds far too much meaning to be tossed away. blaming the stone only serves as a means to remove blame for the one responsible: himself. okay okay, enough self hatred for now. properly hating on himself can come later.]
no subject
no. the two of them will be alright. he knows they'll be alright. Lloyd's a powerful fighter in his own right, and Kratos an even greater one than he (much as he's begrudging to admit it more often than not). they will definitely make it out of this alive and okay.
Kratos's rough demand has Lloyd obey almost instantly, but not without a very teenager-esque click of the tongue to go along with it. jeez, old man, couldn't you have asked a little more nicely? in a flash, the wings fade away, leaving only a couple of glowing blue feathers to fade in the snow. the fact that they're too attention-grabbing makes sense, but what if they need to make a quick getaway and Lloyd didn't have the luxury of pulling out his wings like he did before? that was a lucky break right there!
and like hell will Lloyd spare his pride enough to let Kratos carry him. he had to deal with that when he was (stupider) still on the Journey of Regeneration and he ended up hurting his ankle-- he'll never live that down.
but okay. gripping his sword (because like hell is he letting his father get all the action), he tails after Kratos, making sure to move slow so that he doesn't irritate his leg. the lack of lighting makes it hard to see in the darkness, but at least his hearing isn't failing him in figuring out where to go. and speaking of… ]
I think I hear some more. [ there's no mistaking the skittering he hears from those damned elves, however faint it is. ] They're pretty far up ahead.
no subject
the sound of elves reach kratos' ears quickly enough. normal humans wouldn't notice the noise so far a distance away, but it's unmistakable. a knot forms in kratos' stomach at the fact lloyd pointed it out. having hearing sensitive to this degree leaves little remaining doubt (as if there were much) about his son and what he is.
goddammit.
how could he have even let that happen! kratos' jaw clenches while the men mentally berates himself for this egregious of a failure. it never should've happened. lloyd never needed to be saddled with this burden! shouting at himself leads to an oddly long moment of silence, one almost making it seem if the observation hadn't been heard. finally, after one final mental scolding, comes a nod.]
So long as we proceed with caution then we'll be fine.
[his voice holds far colder a tone than intended and he mentally kicks himself for it. don't take anger out on someone who does not deserve it. don't take anger out on your son who had zero say in what happened. parent of the year right here. a small sigh comes before he spares a glance over at lloyd. this time, the coldness gets replaced by a kinder, far gentler tone.]
How's your leg faring?