childrenofbahamutlogs | EVENT #2: BRAIN BOGGLING

Entry tags:

EVENT #2: BRAIN BOGGLING

A CRASH IN THE NIGHT

In the dark hours of a snowy early morning, a sudden BOOM can be heard all across Town. It is swiftly followed by sounds of warping metal and then a screeching crash. Curious, albeit groggy, residents emerge only to find a smoking wreck just a mile outside of Town.

The strange craft appears to be almost nautiloid in shape with wrenched, broken tendrils streaming out the opening.

Much of it is metal although some of it almost seems... organic.

Those who with to get a closer look will be met by Charlie and Dimitri who are already on the job. They request curious onlookers keep their distance since this craft is, without a doubt, tremendously dangerous.

Later in the day, there appears to be an outfit of officials coming from the west to investigate and clean up the wreckage. Thankfully(?), you will all find out soon enough what's going on.

INVESTIGATION & PROTECTION

Deathcard Cabin by Jonah Senzel

4:07 / 13:06

▶︎

Click here to listen.

From the Inscryption OST: A unique and haunting sound paired with a unique and haunting game.

code

Charlie reports to the citizens of Town that an Illithid cargo transport. The pilot did not survive the crash, but they appeared to be transporting some kind of new breed of Intellect Devourers.

"We do not yet know what this new breed is capable of, but..."

Charlie does give everyone a rundown of what an Illithid and what an Intellect Devourer is, what they are capable of, and a keen warning to tread lightly. Many dead ones were discovered in the cargo but several of the enclosures were damaged in the crash and the likelihood of escapees is high.

Charlie reiterates: These creatures are to be killed on sight, or contained until someone can kill it. If you are not confident in your combat abilities, please remain in your homes as much as possible and seal all openings to your dwelling. Those who are capable though are urged to begin patrols of Town alongside Slayd, Dimitri and himself to ensure that Town and the surrounding areas are safe.

Please travel in pairs or groups, do not be alone! Attack from a distance when possible. Hoshiko will offer her assistance as a markswoman as well by picking off any Intellect Devourers from a distance that she can for those that are forced to travel alone. (Don't worry about any jokes she makes of her service not being cheap though. Charlie wouldn't actually let her charge you anything.)

Unfortunately, not even they can predict the blizzard that rolls through Town in the midst of all this. If you happen to see anything skittering through the snow, don't panic too much. It could just be a tiny woodland creature looking for a warm burrow to hide away in!

At least you hope it is.

PROMPT #3

Hybrid intellect devourers are unique from the regular ones in that the goal is not to kill their target, but to gather intelligence and act as a kind of spy network.

They will flee when confronted directly by greater numbers, but will attack a lone target. They do this by jumping at the target's head and wrapping a wet tendril around their neck. They will choke who they've wrapped around if anyone tries to remove it. They are also far more likely to try and attack sleeping target (hence the advice to keep your homes closed!).

These hybrids emit spores that will keep the target asleep during feeding. Their primary goal appears to be infiltrating the targets' minds and absorbing some of their memories. The target will have their mind left mostly intact... though they may suffer short term memory loss, confusion, distress, fatigue and head pain.

Here's where the fun starts!

Once one of these critters has fed on someone, they are onto their next target. When a fed Intellect Devourer feeds from another target, that target may absorb some of the previous target's memories. This can span across multiple victims and be erratic in whose memories taint whose mind. The memories will cross-pollinate in the form of dreams or waking visions and hallucinations.

If one of these creatures is killed, it will explode, releasing a powerful psionic wave and the memories it had absorbed from any recent targets. Anyone within ten (10) yards of the dying creature will be afflicted with extreme head pain in the short term and also witness the memories of it's previous victims.

Enjoy your muddled memories and leggy brain-hunting!

The outfit of people who have come to investigate are from New Svihelen's disaster containment squad and are investigating the hybrid creatures and the possible reason for an Illithid ship to crash here of all places. Right now, the running theory is that interference from the selfsame summoning circle that brought you all here could have caused the interplanar navigation systems of the ship to malfunction but nothing has been determined yet.

Eventually, these creatures will all be rounded up and taken care of. They are persistent and stealthy though in their efforts to survive above all else. Charlie assures that they're doing all they can to make Town safe once and for all but it will take some time.

Notes

⁂ The partner plotting post for this event/quarter is also up!

⁂ Additionally, we have a state of the game post available for people to read about updates, clarifications, and housekeeping items!

⁂ If you have any further questions or feedback about this event specifically, please comment here!

⁂ For even more ambient event music, you can check out this this playlist!

⁂ Full Navigation ⁂

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sounding very cheerfully casual and then turning to walk away, possibly forever is also whacking Popp right in the trauma centers, thanks.

"No, don't go!"

If Avan thought Popp was clingy right after meeting him, he's seen nothing yet.

"I- I mean, there could be more of those things! Shouldn't I be in front?!"

Popp tries to push ahead in front and go where Avan is going. He's not doing well; he's had his brain interfered with. He probably would not normally squeeze past his own coils in a way that threatens to tie himself into a knot.

Or maybe he would, he's not exactly used to this body and the particular trials that come with it. Don't make fun of him; he has a headache...

Avan's not making fun of him. Not when he's off-balance enough that Popp's movement literally knocks him off balance and he ends up flumped over one of those noodly coils. Ouuuugh, he's never been hungover before but he's pretty sure this must be what it feels like. He's concentrating very hard on not losing the contents of his stomach all over Popp's floor and that's sure not making his head feel any better. If he didn't just find out exactly how he's going to die, he might suspect this would do it?

He pats Popp on the side a couple of times to get his attention. "You should start by being human again first."

That would probably be easier for Popp to accomplish without Avan still draped over him like a limp towel, so, okay, back on his feet it is. Still wobbly.

"Okay, right..."

He knows how to do this. Probably. Right? He's been human for most of his life! He's been a dragon for what, five minutes?! Or five months. He's not going to do any math on what life percent that works out to, it is not an appropriate time for mental math. Mental anything, barely.

Maybe it's some kind of magic? Some kind of... reversal? He's the magic expert here and reluctant to ask for Avan's input all of a sudden, there are some revelations percolating behind the headache about the burdens of genius. He gathers a haze of magic power around himself, Zoom-style... There's a lot of self, actually. His control slips and the effect this experiment actually has is turning him around 180 degrees, with a bonus panicked yelp.

That's enough to knock Avan off his feet again and you know what, okay, three times is enough. It's just floor time now. Face up, at least, just in case there's another one of those monsters hanging about.

"Try it again, Popp. Maybe Mr. Senrik can help."

Edited 2025-02-13 00:07 (UTC)

"Huh? How's Senrik going to know how to stop being a dragon-"

Right. Human forms. He knew that. Grumble grumble.

It takes him a mortifying amount of time to get the hang of it through the headache, but Popp is nothing if not persistent. When he turns back to human, or human enough, he's flopped into an undignified ersatz yoga position that's a close approximation of what his body was doing before.

He might end up tripping Avan with his tail again if they try to get up at the same time, but he'll make a good try at catching him if he does.

Avan just lies on the floor patiently while Popp sorts himself out. Processing. He already knew he was going to die, but he hadn't realized it would be so deliberate. He can't say he would do anything differently, obviously, but that doesn't make it any easier to grapple with. On some level, he'd hoped he'd been mistaken, that there was some alternate explanation for Popp's brokenhearted behavior, but there's no denying it now.

He's going to die.

Young, like his parents did. Looking so much like his father, too. Seeing that, it does help him understand the hero tutor thing more than he had before. He understood from the magicite pendants that his future self must have loved his students as dearly as family, but actually seeing his future self, seeing how he interacted with Dai and Popp, it's so starkly clear to him now. His students, his children, there's no separation between the concepts. Of course he threw his life away for their sake, he could never do otherwise.

He'd do it right now, if he had to. There's no doubt in his mind.

Once Popp's settled back into his more regular shape, Avan pulls himself up into a seated position. He does feel a little better by now. His head still feels like someone's hammered an icepick into it, but at least his stomach's more settled now that he's taken a minute to come to terms with things.

"There. Isn't that better?"

Popp would rate this physical experience as better than being stomped by Crocodine but worse than being stabbed by Galdandy's draining feathers. He heaves himself to his feet, wincing a little.

"I guess."

He squints at Avan, deceptively harmless-looking sitting on the floor, thinking about the monster that he just killed and the Dark Lord he'll sort of kill in his near future and over a year of traveling together, frequently outdoors and never to an ancestral home in Carl Kingdom. Did they end up hating him after all?

"C'mon, let's go get that frog."

He offers Avan a hand up.

Avan smiles blankly up at Popp squinting down at him. The other boy is clearly thinking about something, but he can't be sure what. Is he suspicious of how Avan could kill the monster when he's been so incompetent the past five months...? That's something Avan could explain away, but he won't bring it up unless Popp does, at least not right now. The headache needs to be dealt with before he can be properly chatty.

He takes the hand up, but before they leave the room, he retrieves his sword from the floor.

"Ahhh, I should clean this off first," he explains, which means he's stopping at his own room before the kitchen and, oh, Popp is following, okay. Makes sense given that there's already been one monster in the house tonight, and it's not like he's planning on doing anything particularly private, it's just. A little awkward to have an audience? He grabs a rag to wipe off the blade, then the sword goes in its scabbard and the scabbard is belted around his waist over his pajamas. He doesn't usually wear his sword, but he's making an exception right now for obvious reasons. He also takes a moment to put his glasses on, speaking of things he usually does or doesn't wear.

Incidentally, Avan has total night vision as part of his draconic changes, and thus at no point has he bothered to light a candle or anything of the sort.

Avan's ability to efficiently kill a monster is obviously due to his friend Popp being in peril, thereby activating his Heroic potential. Dai also does his best work under pressure.

One of the benefits of being a mage is that there is not much difference between being prepared for battle and being in your pajamas. Popp is also usually not a candle person when he's up at this hour of the night. Either he calls up a handful of Frizz to light the way, or, if he's too tired, just feels around and walks into the furniture until he finds what he's looking for. Despite the headache and lingering mental fog, this is a fire night. He would prefer to find zero further brain monsters but if find them he must it won't be by tripping over one.

"You don't sleep in those yet, huh..."

It's more of an observation than a question. Avan looks more himself with the glasses back on, even if he does have light eerily bouncing off the back of his eyes... another thing that makes it hard to read his expression, which maybe is something Popp should be paying more attention to? No actually what he should be paying attention to right now is the potential for a tentacle brain to come skittering at them out of nowhere.

He leads the way to the kitchen, firelight flickering over various completely mundane parts of the house. This is a chair, it doesn't need to be set on fire. This is a table. This is... the other chair. They don't have a lot of furniture; it's a cottage.

Avan follows behind, also on high alert. Or maybe more accurately, actually on high alert instead of just being high-strung. The shadows are moving around a lot because of Popp's Frizz, but he doesn't see anything physical moving. He'll have to figure out how the devourer got in in the first place. Did it squeeze down the chimney? That would be a problem; they can't exactly go without using the fireplace, not in this weather. Extinguish the fire early and block the chimney at night, maybe? It'll be cold, but cold is better than this again.

A shot of nectar and Avan at least feels better equipped to fight another one if he has to. And thus better equipped to relax, at least outwardly. To this end, he flops over the counter and lets out a nervous laugh. "I really hope I don't have to fight another one of those any time soon!"

The nectar's no Midheal as far as healing items go, but there's no actual physical damage, as far as he can tell. Paranoia vis a vis creepy monsters leaping out from the shadows soothed for now, Popp lights an actual candle and sets it up in a lantern. He sure doesn't plan on going back to sleep for a while. He paces around the room, restless and ready to spring into action. If only there was any action!

"No kidding! It didn't actually eat anything out of my head, I'm not missing anything..." Although if it did how would he know? Not thinking about that!

How would he know if he was missing anything is also a question on Avan's mind, but Yarrow is quick to point out that Avan was also victim to the devourer while he slept and if he was missing anything, Yarrow would notice. While Popp paces around anxiously, Avan leans on the counter calmly, his tail swinging lazily behind him.

"Hmm, maybe it feeds on energy or dreams or something like that." Like memories, apparently? But did he get this memory of Popp's because he interrupted the feeding, or...?

"Are you sure you don't feel strange in any way?"

"Of course I do! A brain eating monster died wrapped around my head!"

Gestures to his head to indicate where he had a selection of gross tentacles tentacling all over him. Pace pace pace. Uuugh he has to say it.

"I think I caught some of your memories, actually - I guess it... dropped them...? You've still got all of yours, right?!"

Again, how would he know?! Amnesia is kind of a sore point for Popp and he's never at his best right after he wakes up. He's a growing boy he needs his ten hours.

"You're acting like you normally do, after all! I mean, you did take that thing out like a real swordsman, but..."

It's hard to imagine how having fewer memories would make you better at anything, especially just some very sad memories of your grandfather... This train of thought abruptly sparks. Popp is very close to putting things together.

Avan rubs the back of his head. "Ahaha, when I saw it on you, it was like my body reacted on its own!" It's not... entirely inaccurate?

"But I still feel pretty normal. I think the only way to know if I'm missing memories is if you tell me what they are!"

"Oh, yeah. Dai does that kind of thing too. He was just some kid with no real training, but he saved me from a gargoyle about five minutes after we met." Saying it out loud this time. It's very normal to have flashes of combat genius, Avan! Lots of cool people are combat geniuses and still manage to live fulfilling lives.

Maybe don't think too hard about why Popp would have had trouble with a gargoyle, though. Why didn't he just say monster.

"Uhhh. You... remember your grandfather, right?"

He has no idea what he's going to say if the answer is no.

Ohhhh, somebody got Fizzled~ Avan doesn't have to think too hard to figure that one out at all. Fortunately, there are more important matters at hand than teasing Popp.

"I would definitely notice if my memories of my grandfather were missing! He was no small part of my life!"

Oh thank goodness.

"Right, right, of course you would!"

Popp is actually pretty good at putting on a fake, upbeat smile. He learned from copying an expert, after all. It cracks in short order, though, he knows he has to talk about this even if he doesn't want to. He grits his teeth and just says it as fast as possible to get it over with.

"He was famous and had all kinds of connections, but none of them cared about him enough to show up for the funeral! It's not right!"

He's doesn't start outright crying again, but his voice shakes. He didn't even get any direct memories of the guy, but he's still pretty upset second hand.

"Ah--" When Popp asked him if he remembered his grandfather, Avan was expecting that Popp had gotten a memory of the man, not... the after. That statement's not quite enough for him to nail down exactly what memory Popp got, but it certainly does narrow down the possibilities. None of it's anything he really wants to talk about, but he should at least clarify.

"I think you might have misunderstood the situation, Popp," he says with a nervous, awkward smile. "My grandfather wasn't especially famous or well-connected; at least, not more than any other noble. Anyone who informed us that they wouldn't be at the funeral only did that much out of a sense of propriety. We were never actually expecting any of them to come."

So it's totally fine that they didn't, see? Don't think too hard about why that was the expectation and how that's where the actual injustice lies, okay?

"That's not any better!"

As many of Popp's enemies have learned and as Avan is currently learning, Popp can think pretty hard when something he cares about is on the line.

"They made you afraid of turning out like him, when that's something you should have been proud of!"

Despite wailing with emotion, so overcome that he's shaking physically now, Popp has no evidence for Avan I's actual personality. He doesn't have any memories of the living man, as established, but he does know that Avan III is proud of his family name for a reason, and if he's someone Avan cares about, he has to be worth it. Besides, Master Avan being good at absolutely everything is something that Popp admired about him greatly!

That hits hard, a piercing shot straight through the thick walls Avan's built around his heart, and for a moment, he's visibly taken aback.

And then he rallies, a soft smile sliding into place as he gently places his hands on Popp's shoulders. "I am proud of my grandfather. He was a great man, intelligent and caring." That wasn't really Popp's point and he knows it, but it's much easier to talk about his grandfather than about his feelings.

Siiiigh, now that he's looking for it, he can tell that Avan is slithering away. This is exactly the kind of shit Popp does all the time, even if his preferred weapon is stupid jokes and not accurate sentiment.

"But... are you proud of yourself? Or of the man you could be, if you stopped holding back all the time? I think you should be! I've met him, you know, and he's really great himself! Smart and kind, just like Avan the First, and strong, and brave!"

In contrast, Popp's not really capable of being sentimental without ripping out his whole heart on the spot and pinning it to his sleeve. While he idolizes his first and most beloved teacher, this is one area in which Popp is entirely himself.

Ah, Roka's asked him similar before, albeit in very different circumstances. Don't you have any pride? And the simple fact is... he doesn't. Why should he? He's exceptional, sure, but that's just an objective truth. The thought of attaching any sort of sentimentality to that just isn't something he can relate to. After all, it's just as his future self said. That power isn't something he has for his own sake.

His future self.... He can see why Popp admires him so much, at least. Proud isn't the right word for it, but he's glad to see it.

"You know, I did see your master! When the intellect devourer died, I got one of your memories from it, too! I think I understand him a lot better now that I've seen him for myself."

In spirit, that's his question answered. In practice - Popp is honestly a little concerned about which memory Avan got now! Of course it can't be anything bad, or he wouldn't be smiling like that, but odds are that past Popp was being kind of a handful.

Pride in himself is a problem he shares and for an entirely different reason than Avan actually has.

"Really? What kind of memory?"

He's happy that Avan gets to see his admirable future self either way, of course! But also.

"Do you... also understand me a little more?"

"I understand that you're bad at handling Fizzle," Avan says with a shit-eating grin. Distraction secured. Sincerity hours are over.

Popp's spine goes rigid in an instant for much different Nerves Reasons than the shivers, which are instantly overridden.

"A lot of monsters can do it! And it's a lot harder remembering which ones can when they're right there in person and not on a chalkboard!"

Edited 2025-02-26 23:28 (UTC)

EVENT #2: BRAIN BOGGLING

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)