EVENT #2: BRAIN BOGGLING

[diceofthegods]

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.

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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!

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Comments

Fill your lives with love and bravery (Cloud)

[due_reckoning]

Sometimes he wonders, with all the silly books and movies and plays that Jessie swoons over, if there's something... less about his feelings for Cloud. They always talk about love at first sight, a sort of inherent undeniable magnetism. Some way that you should just... know. Immediately.

And he didn't.

What he did know was that the blond was trying so hard to project a certain appearance. That he wanted to know what was underneath the aloof merc facade. Something he caught glimpses of in those first days but didn't feel like he actually saw. What he remembers, the moment that he really understood how much Cloud was putting on a facade...

He was sitting at a table, tense and anxious, wondering what had happened to the blond, if he was okay. His heart hammering in his throat in time with Biggs' pacing. Surely someone as skilled and powerful would be fine but with the news following the explosions it was impossible not to be an anxious mess. Anxious enough that he was too busy picking at his cuticles to even appreciate the celebratory fries Tifa had made up for him.

He felt horrible, letting her hard work go to waste. Something he never did. Ever. No one could afford for food to go to waste.

But then the doors opened and Cloud strolls in, collected as ever, grumpy and acting like he couldn't give a damn about any of them. Tifa teased him. A quiet exchange that had Wedge's curiosity piqued. But it was that moment, looking around to see they'd all been worried about him, to see Tifa's relieved smile and the playfulness it gave her the opportunity for... and watching that almost imperceptible panic creep into that vibrant mako gaze that really sealed the deal for Wedge. He could feel his own heart clench in sympathy, knowing that feeling all to well. Suddenly on the spot and needing to support so many expectations and the gnawing desperation to escape, to flee, to bury oneself away somewhere that no one need ever look to you again.

It's an agony he knows all too well and even if it is only for a fleeting moment he sees it. Maybe because it is something he understands so well, has watched others perform under in similar circumstances, that he recognizes the parallels between them so clearly.

And in that moment, with his mask slipping, all the careful walls he's built around himself trembling under the weight of so many gazes... he doesn't flee. He doesn't let himself panic or hide. Cloud takes that beautiful flower between fingers that Wedge knows all too well have committed a dozen acts of violence this night... and he bends down to offer it to a shy little girl whose spent the evening terrified her Daddy might not come home.

All the ways he could channel those feelings and uncertainties, a hundred ways that would further that image he struggles to maintain, and he chooses kindness first and foremost.

Wedge's chest is suddenly tight with emotion he doesn't quite understand, a bone deep longing setting in as he watches that simple exchange between Cloud and Marlene, watches this man they've turned to for strength and violence reach first for compassion and feels as though his heart might just break. He doesn't want to ask Cloud to work with them again. Doesn't want to see him forced to weild that massive sword once more. He wants to take the fleeting, fragile smile that is meant, in that moment, only for Marlene and help it to blossom into something far more lovely than any flower.

And he wants that smile all for himself.

It's foolish, really. That he'd even thought he could get away with moving about town without consequences. Still... he'd needed to check in on Biggs. Desperate in his own way to verify the man's safety once more. Again. and again.

It's inevitable, then, that he gets jumped by one of the little beasts. Wedge isn't one for hand to hand or any other kind of more archaic weaponry. His specialty is demolitions, not guns. Grenades over blades. Which also means it's not surprising that Cloud comes looking for him when the trip back from Biggs' cottage takes longer than it has any right to. He's not.... hurt exactly. A couple of scratches on his back where the little monster had clambered up onto his shoulders but the armored pauldrons protected him from most of the damage.

His red bandanna lays abandoned in the snow a few feet away, torn and bloody, a nasty wound on his temple but nothing that can't be fixed with a little bit of antiseptic and some bandages. The headache leaves him curled up with an arm over his head, though, blocking out the brilliant winter sun and the way it glares off the pristine snow on the rooftops and makes his vision swim.

Thankfully, he's not far from their home.

[relativefugue]

Cloud tried not to worry too much at first when Wedge took longer to get home than expected. Unfortunately, with both his heart and his newfound draconic instincts firing on all cylinders towards keeping someone important to him safe, that is a losing battle for him. Maybe he got caught up discussing things with Biggs. They probably have a ton to catch up on. Knowing Wedge, he's probably fussing too. It's no huge deal. He's fine.

Except as each minute passes with no sign of Wedge's warm presence or smile passing through their shared front door, Cloud becomes more and more restless, pacing around and trying to busy himself with small chores. Rearrange a pillow here, fold a blanket there...It doesn't help. The need to be certain, the want to see Wedge again gnaws at his stomach until finally the blond concedes and steps outside to head toward the cottage where Biggs took up residence. Just in case.

That is when he runs into a lone intellect devourer that catches him unawares, along the snowy path. So lost in his own head and laser-focused on finding Wedge, Cloud finds himself making the rookie mistake of not watching his own back. By the time he realizes he's been caught unawares, taking it out with a sweeping slash, it has already gotten close enough for Cloud to get caught in the radius of the resulting explosion.

The world around him falls away. He's caught in a memory. This memory, though from a perspective different than his own, is familiar. One in which he appears, even. He sees himself come through the entryway of Seventh Heaven, watches as he reaches the front counter, and offers a flower to little Marlene. He remembers it well, how he wanted to make her smile. Anything, he thought, but awkwardly writhing under the collective gazes and expectations of everyone around him. Why not focus in on something kind, shake off the adrenaline of the evening's events? He did the first thing that came to mind, and chose compassion, contrasting so starkly with the acts of violence he'd just enacted earlier.

It clicks then whose eyes he's seeing all of this through, when the emotions hit. Overwhelming empathy, fascination, and finally a longing that threatens to take his legs out from underneath him. It is pure, and genuine, and all for him. Undeniable, beautiful, aching, it leaves Cloud stunned and unable to think of anything else until the memory fades out.

Dazed and with something now fluttering, stirring, fully awake in his heart, the merc pushes onward to find his...His...Friend doesn't feel right. Cloud does eventually find Wedge, in a way that kicks up something so very rare in him. An emotion he fights to only feel in his nightmares: sheer panic. First, he spots the bandana and breaks into a sprint. His voice, though still mostly steady, carries that panic in a way not too hard to glean by anyone familiar with his mannerisms. "Wedge?"

Then, his eyes move further up the path to see the man in question crumpled over in the freezing snow. Every instinct in him surges. He gets to Wedge's side, kneeling down to gather him in his arms and lift him up without hesitation. That returning SOLDIER strength (and perhaps some of a draconic nature) makes it just as easy as scooping a cat or a chicken up.

"Hold on, I got you," he says, voice tense with worry as he retraces the steps back home. Cloud is already assessing the wound, eyeballing the amount of blood, leaning back on SOLDIER emergency field medical training. Nasty as the wound appears on the surface, Wedge seems stable. But who knows what that thing did to him. His - his important, wonderful someone. His Wedge.

[due_reckoning]

When he first hears the call of his name, worry and something more fearful in the tone, Wedge tries to sit up. Dropping his hand away from his face is a mistake though. He groans, flops back in the snow once more. Only a moment later there's Cloud, kneeling down beside him, already moving to scoop him up in a way that will never stop making Wedge's heart leap into his throat. The world spins and he puts an arm around Cloud, burying his face in against the blond's shoulder so he can hide from the brilliance of the sun.

"'m okay..." He mumbles softly, trying to focus on the steadiness of the other man against him. "Just dizzy."

It's meant to be a reassurance but he doesn't know his head is bleeding, has no idea just where he'd collapsed exactly. He's cold and damp, his head hurts and the world sways with every step Cloud takes. "Gotta stop worrying you like this." There's a hint of self-deprecating laughter in his voice, shame that Cloud is rescuing him again... but he can't deny the way his heart flutters, being swept up in his- in Cloud's arms like this.

[relativefugue]

"Bleeding from the head and passed out isn't what I call okay," Cloud huffs, the relief of hearing Wedge's voice so clear on his usually stoic face. "Don't care you worried me. What matters is you're fine. We'll go home and I'll have a look."

Home. Cloud ponders the word a little bit as he walks, focusing on getting back as quickly as he can with minimal jostling to the exhausted man in his arms. Their home. Together. It really wasn't a home for Cloud until Wedge showed up. Before then it was a cold, empty space he used to sleep in and exist as comfortably as he could during the isolated agony of his dragon changes. Then Wedge came into his life like the sun itself, insistent on making the space cozy and happy. He added new paintings on the wall, decorations atop the fireplace mantle, shopped for much softer, comfier blankets. The list went on and on, really...The cottage now stands as the first place Cloud feels he could, and wants to return to since Nibelheim. A space where perhaps he belongs. He feels it every night as he curls up in bed at Wedge's side. After that vision, a part of him knows they belong together even more than ever before.

Which begs the question: Just what are they to one another?

Cloud is roused from his thoughts the second he makes it to their front door, opening it and wasting no time to get Wedge to their shared bedroom. He lowers him onto the bed itself with great care before taking a seat next to him along the edge. Those sharp, presently slitted eyes never dare stray from keeping watch. There is a protective fire alight in his chest.

"One of those things got you," he says quietly, brushing his fingers over the puncture wound on Wedge's forehead. "You didn't come back for way longer than I expected, so I came to find you."

[due_reckoning]

Wedge makes a soft sound, somewhere between curious and dismissive. Had he passed out? He must have because he doesn't remember hitting the ground but he was able to focus so quickly on Cloud's voice it's all a little strange and surreal. The specifics don't really matter, though. Not when he's in Cloud's arms, curled against his chest, eyes closed against the lingering dizziness.

His lips curve into a faint smile, not just because of being held so protectively but because of the ease with which Cloud calls their little cottage home. It's a change he's not even sure Cloud has noticed. When Wedge had first arrived it wasn't home, it was just some place he'd been staying, not unlike Marle's place had been. But now? Now it is something more like a home for both of them... maybe even more than his own place in Sector 7 had been. Even if the lack of cats makes it feel empty when Cloud isn't home.

Wedge blinks slowly once they're inside, humming his contentment to be home and leaning into Cloud enough that it may well make it a bit difficult for the blond to put him down. Reluctantly he disentangles himself from the other man, grateful for the dim lighting in their bedroom compared to the violently bright snow outside. It means he can actually open his eyes, no longer squinting or forced to hide against Cloud's chest. When fingers touch that wound though he does wince slightly. "It's okay, man. No big deal... promise." As much as it would be easy to take that as a dismissal, always downplaying the importance of anything that happens to him, it is a very minor wound.

He does reach out to gently extract his bandanna from one of Cloud's hands, frowning as he looks at the ragged hole torn into one end. "After everything else I can't believe it's this place that finally ended up ruining this thing..." Something minor in the grand scheme of things but it's the symbolism of the thing, a mark of who he is, where he belongs, a sign of unity with the rest of his team. And... even if it was only for a short time.... that included Cloud.

[relativefugue]

It makes Cloud's heart skip a beat, the way Wedge settles and leans against his body like that. It's right this way, and calms some of the protective agitation rushing through him. The merc watches Wedge get comfortable on the bed like a hawk- Or perhaps a dragon. His every muscle becomes tensed and ready to spring at the first sign of trouble. "It is a big deal, you got hurt."

Ah. The bandanna. "...I can get it fixed for you. You focus on resting." Cloud gives a slight nod of the head, plucking the bandanna back from Wedge's fingers without further comment. He has an idea of what to do and where to go for it, luckily...Just as soon as he is comfortable leaving Wedge's side. Which, with his protective instincts flaring up, won't likely be all too soon. Cloud Strife was already a loyal and protective sort before the draconic features busted onto the scene. Now, it is questionable just what force could keep the tenacious warrior from protecting those important to him.

A gentle silence hangs in the air between the two of them for a few beats, and Cloud cannot help but flounder for what to say next. There's such a storm of emotions in him that sorting it out seems impossible. For a moment he wonders if just basking in the radiant warmth between them would be enough, to just savor the feeling of home. His attention promptly snaps back to the fact that his- that Wedge is injured. He reaches a hand forward to stroke his thumb gingerly along the edge of the puncture wound, making a point not to touch it again as before. What he wouldn't give for a Cure materia at this very moment...Still, potions shouldn't be too difficult to come by to help. Until then...Action first, words after.

"Wait here."

Cloud disappears from the room and paces towards the kitchen, making haste to get back to Wedge. Being away from him creates a pit in his stomach- were he to have the fur of his draconic form, his hackles would be up. The blond finds a rag and soaks it in the nearby water basin, wringing it out some before returning to Wedge's side sitting on the bed's edge. He presses the cloth up to Wedge's wound like a cool compress, eyes flicking away to focus on the floor as he once again struggles with what to do with the silence.

"...I saw something, when I killed the thing that got you. A memory. One I was in. It wasn't mine. Or, not from my perspective." Cloud pauses, pursing his lips. He aches to his very core, thinking once again about the sheer love and admiration he felt towards himself whilst seeing through Wedge's eyes. It's enough to wind him momentarily.

"Was yours. From when I got back to Seventh Heaven and gave Marlene a flower."

Cloud can only hope the darkness of the room hides the pink tint that overtakes his cheeks. "I felt what you felt."