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magisteriaexe2024-11-17 04:12 pm
magisteriamods) wrote in magisteriaexe2024-11-17 04:12 pm
Event #003, Part I: The Symphony of Disruption
🌠The Symphony of Disruption đźŚ
Part I: The Darkness
OOC Notes: Here it is! The game's first "Intense Event"! Some special notes for this event --
* Death is possible, and PCs can also kill citizens or creatures in the distrct. This event will have special revive mechanics which will be explained later, and PCs will not have to go through the usual revival process for an in-game death. "Light Sentinels" can even kill fellow PCs as a means of saving them, and this will be briefly explained to them, though the means of revival and specifics around this won't be revealed until the event's second half.
* For the corruption element: your character does not necessarily have to be corrupted. If and how they are is up to player discretion, as is the extent and manifestation of the corruption. They can just get lucky or manage to resist through will power, however you want it. Characters can be brought back to themselves by the power of Light Sentinel allies, or by the alignment switch Blessing from the game's third TDM. If you wish to engage with the event both corrupted and un-corrupted via separate prompts/TLs, that is Fine.
Dark City
Locals familiar with the Supernatural Undercity will tell the Otherworlders that, during the autumn and winter seasons, it’s not unheard of for Magisteria to feel different. The spookier residents have a way of making their presence more known, and those with spooky potential have a way of going… more feral. The succubi and the demon women of the Entertainment District are known to come with a lot more bite, and only the biggest of daredevils would be advised to purchase their services during the apex of the season.
It’s different from year to year, but these seasonal changes are always mitigated by the Authorities of each district and their powers. The spooky season in Magisteria becomes a respectful celebration of the diversity of the undead, demons, succubi, and other creatures, and both locals and Otherworlders are encouraged to cede respectful distance to those who may be experiencing enhanced primal urges during these months.
This year, something is different. One night, a darkness falls which overtakes the Bios in the Entertainment District and the bright corners of High Rise Village.
The darkness is as heavy as a tangible thing. At night, the stars and moon disappear. When day comes, the sky is grey as slate.
A Grey Day
When dawn arrives, those living in High Rise Village will begin to hear notes of music. Dissonant, eerie, chaotic: disruptive. A symphony composed of a cacophony of sounds. Moreover, different people may hear different tunes. The only commonality is the lack of rhyme or reason, the lack of cohesion.
The songs play and weave through invisible algorithms, beckoning to the district’s citizens to unleash their inner turmoil, and other sides of themselves.
Holograms appear informing residents to take shelter and advising of the safest locations within the district. For weeks, most of the people and creatures of High Rise Village have been migrating to Evergreen Terrace, entrusting their protection to Arwyn. The apartments are brimming, full, and busy. The streets, by contrast, are ghostly, empty, and disorganized.
But not everyone can simply wait in the apartments and ride out the storm. After all, if this is an attack, someone(s) has to form a counter-strike. So Enforcers and other members of Magisteria’s various law enforcement agencies and vigilante groups are out and about, along with others who are not afraid of a conflict and who have sufficient training for battle.
No one demands that Otherworlders leave the safety of the apartments unless they have specifically expressed a will to do battle or unless they have a specific role to play in stopping – or ending – what’s coming, but should they enter High Rise Village, they will encounter the Chaos.
Chaos Comes to High Rise Village
Everything has the potential to become or manifest a twisted version of itself. The people, the animals, the buildings – even those in opposition, such as the fighters and those aligned with law enforcement. Even they can be Changed and altered by the chaos in the district.
Of course, those with powers are using them to resist in various ways, relying on their forces of will, but it’s like the whole district is in a trance, a hallucination, or perhaps a simulation.
But if that’s what this is, it feels all too real.
Throughout the district, spider-shaped lepidoperatives on thin, silver webs jump and move about. They’re fast and small and difficult to spot. Connected to the invisible mechanisms of Phantom Cipher’s Manifestation, these metallic insects can affect everything they touch by planting tokens on them: known as void imprints, wraith marks, and eclipse sigils, these tokens can induce a being to manifest or become a phantom version of themselves.
I. Alignment Shift(ed)
Otherworlders, natives, and creatures may become, or manifest (or both) different versions of themselves. In keeping with the spookier time of year, this other version could be a werewolf, a vampire, a ghostly manifestation, or a cryptid, or it could be One’s Self, Inversed: there is no apparent rhyme or reason to what you may become or what you may apparate. There may even be more than one “you” at a given time, depending on how far the effects of the corruption tokens reach.
Affected Otherworlders may find themselves attached to the silver webs, becoming like puppets. You may find that allies are now enemies, or enemies are allies. Nothing is as before, and everything is thrown into Chaos. Your actions may no longer be your own, and what you do or whom you fight may no longer be your choice.
II. Mecha Monstrosities
The district pulses with cyborgs and phantom creatures, and those who, like Phantom Cipher himself, seem to be a mixture of both. The Fractured have returned. Only now, they are walking about in the daylight, or what passes for daylight in the corrupted district.
Androids with barbs and spikes patrol the district, and many are not shy for conflict. Like Lysa’s “pet,” Grimm, these androids are powerful and can regenerate a certain number of times when attacked. Some will attack on sight, and others may try to “play” with the Otherworlders, or with citizens or creatures in the district, whether the latter are corrupted or not.
Of course, alignment-shifted PCs may also be able to ally destructively with such entities. Those on the path of destruction may find common ground in trying to take down the infrastructure of the district.
III. The Party of the Damned
All around, people, organic and inorganic, appear with skull-like features. There may even be faces you recognize, from work, from the clubs, from elsewhere in the district. But now, their features have changed.
These skull-faced citizens of Magisteria insist upon partying just as they do within the clubs in the evening. They dance and sing along with the music, encouraging Otherworlders to join them.
If anyone speaks to them or asks what is going on, the answer is the same:
Nothing. Nothing at all. This is who we are, who we’ve always been. Why do you look so strange, Otherworlders?
This is the paradise city… the city of all our dreams. Magisteria. Light and Darkness.
Bios and Umbra. This is what’s always been inside all of us, all along. Inside of you all... inside of Everyone...
Are you only just now seeing it? But this is what we’ve always been. The skin hangs over the bones, but the bones are inside, underneath…
They move and move, like puppets, but with a strange sense of freedom nonetheless. Beckoning. Whispering. Just let it out. Let out what has been inside of you, all along. It's inside of us all. The darkness that walks with the light. Bios and Umbra. Look at what we can become when not forced towards "Perfection." Inside of Magisteria, all along. And these party-goers do not slow or tire. Though their movements are haphazard, like zombies from films, still they keep moving, keep going, never growing exhausting, never ceasing...
IV. Elemental Nightmares
News comes that the source of the “hack” is Magisteria’s Elemental Control Center. This central zone is a bit like a giant brain that regulates elemental magic within the district. Now, the magic becomes chaotic. Giant tornadoes of raw elemental power sweep through the district. Alleys and buildings explode into gust-fed fires, and tides of water burst forth over the district. The ground trembles and all of the elements are out of control.
Those with magical powers are (if still in control of themselves) encouraged to work to stem these tides, to ebb the flow of the elemental disasters which are occurring throughout High Rise Village.
mecha monsters (cw: spider imagery)
Lucy has slowly been growing her influence ever since becoming corrupted, working from the heart of the Entertainment District outward. A solid few blocks in the center are wrapped in techno-web, fine material that glitches where it meets itself in its pattern, webbed bundles of Fractured and citizens alike, struggling, vocalizing. None of them dead yet; Lucy hasn't been hungry yet.
After the Matriarch has a go at Katsuki, all seems silent for a moment. And then a new wave of Fractured stumble out of the nearest street. Their eyes, glowing a white-purple, the same color Bios infused in the cracks of their armor and the edges of their weapons. One, a stretched tin soldier, opens it mouth in an awful gape, its glowing throat pulsating as its voice creaks: ]
You will be controlled.
[ With that, they rush forward. And in the very distance, a massive silhouette of a chrome spider rubs her forelegs together, watching. ]
no subject
Rolling his eyes, and cracking his knuckles, as this new enemy rushes him, he rears back one of his arms - the good one - and pushes his palm right into the face of the Fractured. There's barely a second before his gloves make contact before--
BOOM!
It might not kill outright, depending on how sturdy this thing's armor is, but the shockwave of a point-blank blast like that is definitely going to scramble, or even overload its circuitry something fierce, and Katsuki will take that opportunity to grab the thing by one of its arms - using his off hand - and begin to swing it around as he pivots on his heel.]
X-Catapult! [Basically...YEET!] Tch...keep your mouth shut next time, dickwipe, you sound like a can opener.
no subject
Another one, crawling its way from a nearby alley, creaks: ]
There will be peace.
[ Another skitters down the face of a building, crab-like. ]
We will ensure it.
[ And four more step out of another street, hollow white-purple eyes fixed on the hero. There's more where that came from, but for now, a distant spider-shape watches. ]
no subject
He can feel eyes on him, not just the ones he can see, but elsewhere, and half wonders if there's someone farther off pulling the strings. Doubtful that it'd be that Phantom Cipher asshole - most big Villains don't do their own dirty work, and especially not a Hacker. They work from the shadows, tucked away nicely in their work spaces and attack cybernetically. No, whoever's got eyes on him right now is another pawn.]
Tch...noisy.
[He says, barely looking behind him as he fires a swift shot from his palm at one of the lower level Fractured, his eyes scanning around up high, trying to follow the "threads". There has to be something that made them, right? Where are you...]
no subject
Eventually, Lucy makes an appearance. Clinging to the side of a high-rise building, she appears from the fog of web and smoke, eight eyes shining purple-white over her cheeks and forehead.
Congratulations, Katsuki, you've only met her once, and this is one hell of a second meeting! ]
Just stay down. Stay away.
[ The hiss comes with only a momentary pause, and then her eyes flare. The mental and digital weight she starts bearing down on Katsuki will feel like having a house on top of him, like a yearning to let himself be wrapped tight and protected, like a battering ram pushing all of his thoughts right out of his head. And all the while, Lucy will keep creeping closer. ]
no subject
Damn, he actually remembers her. No idea if he ever got a name, and if he did he forgot it, but she was pretty rad. Put up a hell of a fight during that race, and pulled off some rad as hell moves, too. It's a pity he has to fight her, but that's just how this shit goes, isn't it? He's never had many qualms about fighting, even his friends. It sucks, and he has to be...very careful to not hurt them, but this girl? She ain't his friend, barely even an acquaintance, either. He won't do more damage than necessary, but whatever she's got going on with that spider shit?? He's going to have to crank the dial up if he wants to beat her.]
Kiss my a--AAAGH?!
[Jesus fuck, that hurts!! What the hell is even happening?! He stumbles, doubled over, but refuses to take a knee as he snarls and glowers up through his spiky bangs. His fingers curl, like claws, and he grits his teeth. Oh, you damn bitch...come a little closer and he'll make you regret that tenfold.]
no subject
[ Lucy takes a step closer, one hand outstretched like she's controlling the invisible strings of her pressure.
She increases that pressure. Static roaring in the ears. An impossible weight on the chest, exhaustion dragging at the eyelids. A bull in a china shop, smashing through every one of his thoughts and dragging them away before he can even begin to snatch at them.
Lucy knows this one must be subdued before she wraps him up. She's never seen him in combat, but she knows he must be skilled -- that had been clear enough during the race. His evasive maneuvers, his speed, the way he can produce explosions with nothing but his bare hands, he would be a formidable opponent. And Lucy can't go toe to toe with opponents like that. What she can do debuff the shit out of them until they simply have no capacity to fight anymore. ]
no subject
And unlucky for Lucy that he tends to swing a lot.]
I'll decide that...for myself!
[With all his willpower struggling, the young Hero manages to twist his wrists just enough and aim a blast at one of Lucy's many legs. It's not incredibly powerful, but it's just enough to hopefully startle and trip her up enough to break her concentration on pinning him down with her mind. He only needs a second or two to get back on an even playing field.]
no subject
The blast hits her square in a foreleg, and with a gasp, she tumbles forward, catching herself on her arms and other forelegs, but it neatly diverts her attention from her attack. Worse, keeping up a torrent of pressure like that had been tiring, and Lucy's not sure she can engage it again so soon.
Fuck.
But she's not out of options. ]
Fighting to be able to run headlong into your own destruction. Impossible.
[ She rights herself, hair hanging in her eyes, ragged, hands held forward. It only takes a moment to shoot out a bundle of techno-web, and all she can do is hope she's faster than he is. ]
no subject
Instead of stopping for a much needed break, or even a breath, he uses the excess sweat to his advantage instead. He can feel every vein in his body screaming as his heart pumps blood through his system, the adrenaline numbing it only just - enough for him not to lose his perception, or for his ears to start ringing and drown out sound. Katsuki needs everything right now, because that assault earlier put him on a timer, and her can't afford even a second. He can't stop, he had to take her down within that time limit or face another attack like that again...and that will be it. That will be the end.
So he surges forward like a missile, even as she's speaking, an ironic twist of her words, and counters her webs with an explosion from one palm, hopefully burning it to scattering embers, and goes for another blast to her chest with his spare arm.]
If my life ain't worth fighting for...then that's not a life I want to live, bug.
no subject
Still, it does a hell of a lot of damage.
It hits largely where metal connects Lucy's torso to the spider body, blasting a hole into the titanium and exposing sparking wires. The legs on her left side spasm and go limp, and only recover marginally, leaving her clinging to the side of the building with just one side and her hands dug into a windowframe. One more good blast, and she's done for. She won't be able to protect anybody. She won't be able to stop people from seeking out Smasher.
Lucy jumps, and hauls herself bodily up the building, one leg over another. Retreating. Her final entreaty comes as a hiss, a whisper in the fog: ]
Don't say I didn't warn you.
[
KATSUKI WINS]wrapped! ♥
Cursing, and spitting out a small bit of blood with a light cough, Katsuki watches the spindly spider girl scurry away, grinding his teeth angrily that his shitty injuries limit him so much. Whatever...she'll have to lick her wounds just the same, and any number of people who are like him - heroic in nature - will just as easily pick her off. ...He just hopes it won't be someone with a pension for "shoot first, ask later". Katsuki may be violent and aggressive, but he's no killer.]
Tch...pain in my goddamn ass. [And arm. And chest. Ugh...better get checked up before he goes home.]