redstringtheories

➥ Arrival

Photo of a modern office building from the outside. There is a manicured lawn with several trees and bushes. To the left side of the photo, there is a waterbody with reeds around the fringes. There is a purple gradient filter over everything.
(cw: potential for severe disorientation/vertigo, claustrophobia, arachnophobia, body horror)

It happens in the blink of an eye. You may have been asleep. You may not have. You may have stepped through a door or turned a corner. You may have seen a flicker of something at the corner of your vision and turned to look. Or maybe you didn't.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that you find yourself somewhere entirely new and entirely unfamiliar. The arrival point is not always the same. (If you're lucky, it might be a canteen or an open office. If you're not, well... you aren't claustrophobic, are you? Or arachnophobic. These ducts do seem to be a bit cobwebby.) There is no one waiting for you but you don’t seem to be alone, either. Even in a janitor’s closet or the bathroom, you’ll find at least one person who seems to be just as out of place as you are.

If characters have arrived in a location devoid of NPCs, they may want to work together to figure out what is going on... or to avoid their 'kidnappers.' If you’ve arrived in the middle of the entry foyer or the gym, there may well be a few people who startle a bit at your arrival and try to approach (or discreetly leave the room... where are they going?). Will you cooperate or fight? Do you even understand what they're saying? You might need to find a translator, if you’re not immediately willing to follow a stranger.

After characters follow their new hosts (or are forcibly taken in) there will be a limited tour and the chance to settle in at the ADI-provided housing. (Do you enjoy living with strangers? Well. It's a new situation to navigate, anyway.)

➥ The Road We All Must Travel

Photo of someone in blue jeans and brown boots walking along a path in the Dogtown forest. The trees do not have foliage, the sky is blue, and there is one of the Babson boulders to the left that reads 'study.'
(cw: death, child death, semi-graphic description of injury, existential terror, memory manipulation (adding memories))

Weird things happen in Dogtown, everyone knows it. The Apocalypse Disruption Initiative (ADI) is not above taking advantage of that to test out the waters for its newest arrivals. They're not looking to send anyone to their death, though, especially not with recent events that have transpired surrounding Dogtown. An employee gives you a number to call if anything truly dangerous happens and you've been left with another person at the trailhead. Maybe they're a new arrival, as well, or a more seasoned 'veteran.' Either way, you're together for the next while and you've been asked to find and record any paranormal activity in the park. You have your phones and any other equipment you might have brought with you. Those who succeed in documenting anything peculiar will receive a $100 reward to be used as they see fit.

There is a body on the side of the path. From a distance, it's hard to tell who it might be… apart from someone who's made terrible life choices about where to take a break. You might find the body propped up against a boulder, lying in the snow, or even slumped on a bench. Approaching, though, brings into view… someone. Maybe someone you recognize vaguely. Do you know them from- Where exactly do you know them from? Or maybe it's a complete stranger, someone foreign in face and form.

The body is never the same for any groups of people who might happen upon it. One time, it's a young white man dressed in what seems to be parachute pants, a boombox fallen or resting with him. Another, it's an Hispanic person, their clothes reminiscent of something out of a western. Still others, it might be a little black girl, looking like she's cosplaying one of the original settlers for Gloucester. People of all different races, ages, genders, times, all beside the path. Some of them look to be obviously dead, their heads caved in or blood splattered across the path. Others, it's harder to tell. They might be someone who's passed out? A drunk who's wandered here from town and could need help.

The moment anyone touches them, though, the body crumbles, something made of ash that simply wipes itself away. And in its place, it leaves memory. The person who touches the body will find themselves reliving the last horrified moments of this person's life. They will know precisely how and when this person died. Every death has some component of agony or fear. No one found passed quickly or painlessly.

Everyone dies, and it is never so kind a thing as they might have hoped. Never.

➥ Prisoners of Consciousness

Photo of a woman of Asian descent banging her hands against a frosted glass pain. The woman looks distressed.
(cw: altered mental states, breathing difficulties, imprisonment, victim-blaming)

Repairs are going about as well as they can be at ADI; the building still bears the scars of last month's attack but day to day matters slump back toward the status quo now that the acute crisis has passed. For a few days it actually seems as though the press of unending needs and obligations has abated, like a massive crushing stone lifted from one's back to allow a gasp of breath, leaving workers and residents reeling in the exhausted aftermath.

It doesn't last, but when the pressure intensifies once more it takes on yet another new form. Things will seem to be back to normal when suddenly you realize that the room in which you find yourself is getting smaller–or perhaps the air has grown stale, perhaps that's why it's suddenly so hard to breathe. You're trapped in here, locked in, locked away. Windows seem to shrink and fortify into slitted openings too tight for escape; what might have been an ordinary office door is now a heavy metal thing fortified with deadbolts.

They've locked you in; they've decided that you're not to move about freely, that you're a danger to others. Are you a danger to others? You must be; you must have done something to deserve this. The question of who 'they' are is one without an answer, a nebulous sense of them, the ones who call the shots, the ones who must be looking out for everyone. They don't speak to you; there's no chance to plead your case, only this miserable, tiny cell and your own guilt over something you must have done. You hear them passing by your door at times, keys jangling, footsteps heavy, but there's no hope of aid from them.

None of it is real. The rooms don't shrink; the doors and windows don't change. To someone not caught up in the illusion, it will seem as though those caught in its grip have gone into hysterics over nothing at all, insisting that they're trapped when all they need to do is open the door.

➥ A Trick of the Dark

Black and white photo of a woman on a cobblestone street at night. She is backlit by a street lamp and appears in silhouette, her features completely obscured. She is holding something in her left hand.
(cw: monsters in the dark, altered mental states, semi-graphic description of injury)

When the crushing claustrophobia finally abates, this time seemingly for good, the shadow woman makes her first appearance. She is seen only in darkness at nighttime, silhouetted in a doorway or lurking in an underpass. Turn on the lights, and there's nothing there–it must have been a trick of the light, the mind making connections out of something seen from the corner of one's eye.

Turn off the lights, though, and there she is again.

She's patient at first, toying with her prey. Lights on, and you're safe. Lights off and the figure returns, still and staring and something you can almost convince yourself you've somehow imagined. But leave the lights on too long, play with the light switch too many times, or watch her too closely, and her patience has an end. When she finally moves, she's fast, charging across a darkened street or a darkened room, the only expression visible on her face is the inhuman light in her eyes, and there is nothing left except to run for the nearest patch of brightness in the night. Maybe you even get away–flee to the circle of sickly light under a lamppost and she must halt at the edge of the darkness, unable to follow. She might circle, waiting for you to make a run for it, or she might disappear back into the night. Will you chance a sprint to the next pool of light?

For those she catches, there is pain. There are rending claws that leave her mark, bleeding, on her victims–but the pain does not end in death. It ends in madness. You may descend into a state beyond thought, mind disappearing into a panicked fugue from which you will retain no memories. Or you may believe yourself to be still fighting off the creature of the night and legions like her, using your environment to protect yourself, to stave off attack.

Those unaffected will see what is truly happening: victims of the creature run rampant in frenzied efforts to bring more and more darkness to the nighttime city. Wild-eyed and unaware, they may start at something as simple as unscrewing a lightbulb, or engage in something as complex as cutting power to entire buildings. Regular citizens of Gloucester fall victim along with the people of ADI and sabotage runs rampant through the city, but it seems that above all else, ADI itself is the target of these attempts to turn out the lights. Panic begins to spread throughout the city as the attacks continue night after night.

➥ Mod Notes

ARRIVAL (March 1 - 31): Two people will always arrive in the same general location together. Arrivals occur throughout the early month, not all on the same day or in the same place. Arrivals are not naturally fluent in English/other languages immediately upon arrival. Characters may attempt to evade capture, but they will eventually be snagged before they can leave the building. PC's already in-game are more than welcome to interact with and try to guide new PC's to get them oriented. Please refer to the Arrival page for details regarding the arrival and onboarding process.
The Road We All Must Travel (March 1 - 31): The bodies found can be photographed, but they'll turn up blurred. There's nothing that can be gleaned about the bodies from a distance, only by moving close and touching them. The bodies can be anyone from any time and any place, even other worlds. Characters might even see non-human races represented. In every case, the body will disappear when touched and characters will pick up the final moments of the person's life. Players are welcome to make these final moments anything they want. The person could have died by mundane or supernatural means, but they will have died a painful or terrifying death in some way.
Prisoners of Consciousness (March 4 - 12): Episodes in which characters believe themselves to be imprisoned will occur exclusively on ADI property and in the Flophouse. The hallucinations may last for minutes or hours, though characters are likely to perceive time as though they were imprisoned much longer. Characters not affected by the hallucination may help pull others out of it by grounding them in reality, but it is also possible for them to be drawn into the hallucination themselves if they become frightened.
A Trick of the Dark (Nights of March 12 - 15) While people who have been caught by the apparition seem to focus their attacks on ADI property, the shadow woman herself never appears within ADI offices or apartments. She may sometimes appear in the Flophouse, and frequently appears outdoors, in darkened hallways of local businesses, and in the homes of locals. ADI housing curfew at 11:00 PM each night is still in effect; characters who stay out later may crash at HQ but will not be let into the apartments (they may also be able to get into the Flophouse…if its residents are kind enough to take them in). Characters caught by the shadow woman will experience confusion, terror, and compulsion to sabotage lighting, particularly in and around ADI property, until dawn of the next day. Characters who attempt to fight the shadow woman will find that she fights back (and that any scratch from her claws still causes the fugue state); if they manage to pin her down she will dissipate into shadows.
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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"That's right!" Okay, this is good. She's... maybe coming out of things? Mercy presses on. "It's some sort of wood with a funny rub to it. Thin as you like and nothing that looks like a proper grain. And the handle's bright and shiny white. No iron like that, I know. The lock's the same. Can you find it over the handle? All you gotta do is turn it."

She dearly hopes that's all that needs to be done and the interior of the room hasn't actually changed. The last thing they need here is more unanticipated remodeling for the building.

There's a soft susurrus of Jester's hands tracing the door, feeling for the handle and finding purchase with a sharp exclamation of triumph. There's a rattle, a pause, and then a stronger rattle and click as Jester turns the knob and the door falls open easily.

Holding her breath, Jester opens one eye to peek into the hallway, then exhales in relief when she sees the hallway behind Mercy just as it was, empty save for some bits and bobs used for construction. She grins broadly, stretching a few of the darker blue freckles on her cheeks and her tail swaying slightly with her improved demeanor. "Thank you so much! I thought I was-... That was really scary!"

She may have just met Mercy, but she's going to absolutely give her an enormous bear hug now, happy to be free of the room and the memories her mind drummed up to trap her there. "Is this place haunted or what?"

The hug is... unexpected, particularly from someone who papears to be blue and part-goat. And part-rat with that tail, maybe? Hard to tell. However, it's not an unwelcome embrace. Mercy returns what she can while being grappled by the smaller woman.

"Oh, aye. The spirits got a powerful hold on this place lately. You got out, though, managed to fight them off. That's right impressive, sister! Were you... is the Traveler your god you were calling out to? Afraid they don't do much talking to us here. Not in ways they might back home, anyroad."

"Well I am pretty powerful," Jester admits maybe with a hint of irony as she steps back to give Mercy some breathing room. She's tall, though not as tall as Yasha. Maybe around Beau's height and built strongly. Not Beau strongly though, unless Mercy is hiding a six pack under her dress.

"The Traveler isn't really god but he is sort of? Mostly he's just my friend but he helps me with my magic and almost always answers when I pray to him but..." She sighs. "Maybe Earth is just too far away? I keep calling to him and I feel like he can hear me but I don't think he can answer me. Maybe it's those fear entities they told us about in class? They seem pretty scary. Which I guess is a silly thing to say if they are fears."

She laughs a bit awkwardly and rubs the back of her neck with one hand, tracing the lines of her white tattoo that just barely peek over the collar of her shirt. "In any case, thank you for the help. You said you're a cleric too, right? What's the Spring Tide? Is that a temple for the Wild Mother?"

A friend who helps with magic sounds... wonderful. What she'd always imagined meeting Brother Earth might be like. Or the Spring Tide now? Her new god is less distinct in her mind, though. A bird made of flowers, the winds sweeping it to and fro? She hasn't decided what color of flowers, yet. Maybe soon, though, if she ever has a proper vision like she's heard some clerics do.

Mercy offers the Jester a crooked smile, resting a hand on her hip. "Oh, naw, I ain't from your world, Sister. I'm from Amia. Spring Tide's a god of healing and the season. But Caduceus told me about the Wild Mother. She's a good god, all right, one I'd tip my hat to, if I ever got the chance. If you ain't met up with him yet, you ought to, by the by. Few folk now who hail from his world. Even if you don't know him, he might know your Traveler."

"I know Caduceus! He's part of the Mighty Nein, like me!" She beams, but there's a worry behind it. She's not entirely happy she's here, and knowing Beau and Caduceus are here too... Caduceus is supposed to be in the Grove with his family, and Beau is without Yasha now just like she's without Fjord... They're both fully capable of functioning without those relationships, obviously, but it's one thing to be capable and an entire other thing to be forced apart.

"Oh man, Yasha and Fjord and all of Caduceus' family must be freaking out..." She worries at her lower lip for a moment, then shakes her head. They're working on getting back, or at least Beau is since she's a genius, and Jester's sure the rest of the Nein are probably working on getting them back too from the Exandria side of things. It'll be okay. "It's pretty cool though, being able to meet people from other worlds. The Traveler is from the Faywild, which is another world too, and he said he'd take me some day. And we went to the plane of Fire once! And the Astral Sea, but those suck. What's Amia like?"

Instead of just standing around, Jester motions a bit as she talks, deciding that she'd rather have this conversation as they're walking away from the weird haunted halls of the ADI's construction zone. She'll get her revenge on the jerkbag worker later.

Mercy's happy enough to follow Jester's lead. She does glance over at some rude drawings, though, and then back at the tiefling, pointing and snickering behind her hand for just a moment. "Amia's, well... Truth told, I ain't done much traveling in my life. I know what I know about it most from books. We got the Gods Territories where I live, then the seas beyond that, and the wilds filled with all sorts of stories further on.

"I know the things we got ain't near as fancy as all this." She gestures to encompass... everything, more or less. "And we got magic. Good magic. Not just the bad kind they got here. Why ain't the Astral Sea any good? That sounds like you're dancing in the stars."

Mercy noticing Jester's handiwork does not go unnoticed and she preens a little at the other young woman's snickering. "The Astral Sea doesn't really have stars, but it does have these big pools of color. It's like being in water, almost, but you can breath and you sort of just think in a direction to go that way instead of having to swim. The bad part is there's all kinds of terrible stuff there that left the material plane, like a whole city with like... eyeballs instead of people's faced and tentacles and gooey walls and stuff. Really gross. We got rid of that one though."

Which makes it sound so much simpler than what actually happened but maybe it's better that way. She opens her mouth to follow up on what Mercy said about not having traveled much. She was in the same boat, originally, only having read about places in books, but something else feels a little more pressing to bring up.

"It doesn't make sense that there'd only be bad magic here, does it? I mean, magic is just magic, it's what you use it for, isn't it?"

"It sounds like a place of gods!" A strange and colorful and terrible plane. "And I can't rightly say. I practice my own sort of magic, but they don't call that bad. But the kind some other folk do, that's bigger than mine, more powerful... Don't think it's the magic itself that's bad. I know folk who used it to do good works. But... people here. They don't see that. They only see you got to do something bad to get the power to do it. Even if you're only doing it against people who're coming after you, trying to hurt you or innocent types."

Mercy shakes her head. "It's too black and white for them, so if you got magicks, yourself, you might want to keep that quiet, Jester."

TDM #9

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