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.

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

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Comments

[firsteditionbfs]

Honestly, right now, the adrenaline (and alien biology) is probably helping keep away the full force of the headache. Still, Angeal accepts the gift for what it is, and tucks a piece into his mouth. He thinks he recalls his parents saying you should always take a painkiller at the first sign of a headache rather than waiting for it to get far worse...

"Thanks," he says, tucking it into the corner of his cheek. A quick wipe of his hands on his pants, and he leans back sighing.

Alright. So. At least it's dead. That's good. But now... He eyes the look on Popp's face, whatever it may be. "How are you feeling right now?" He doesn't want to know what just happened, but he knows he should probably know.

[snapp_crackle]

Popp looks upset for certain, and in pain, though that part fades once he pops one of the nectar candies into his mouth and outright crunches it. Being upset tends to push him into aggression, and this is one of those times! He leans right into Angeal's personal space when he leans back and grabs him by his... suspenders, or lapels, or whatever equivalent is on his outfit.

"Not the least bit scared of you, first of all! You're a small town baker. That chicken in your yard's more of a threat as far as I'm concerned!"

His voice rises and cracks. There are probably more tactful ways to ease into this but tact is not Popp's specialty! He knows what he wants Annie to know first, okay?!

[firsteditionbfs]

Considering how they're both recovering from that unpleasant psychic blast, Angeal is honestly expecting at least a moment longer before there's any big reactions. Especially with how Popp had to take a candy for himself to recover from that moment.

Things are never that easy for him, however. He's pretty sure of that much if nothing else in his life.

Doesn't mean he's any less startled when Popp lunges forward, fingers in his jacket, all the kind of passion that you only really have when you're that young. It's such a surprise that he almost doesn't process what he says, but when it hits... There's a grimace. "Well, that's because you haven't seen what I can do," he says, and just... awkwardly pats one of those hands. "Try to take a breath, alright?" Because Popp seems like the kind of person who'd react badly to calm down.

And maybe he's trying to delay talking about the memory he clearly saw.

[snapp_crackle]

"Shut up! What you can do and what you would do are completely different things!"

Popp takes a sharp breath in and doesn't really calm down so much as he becomes a little more focused about all of the scrambled mess of feelings he is having all over the place.

"Some people back home were scared stiff of my friend Dai, and he's a lot like you. He has human blood, and some other things, and it makes him really strong, way stronger than any normal person could be... But he always uses his power to protect people, just like you took that hit for me just now! So - that kind of thing doesn't bother me, got it?"

A lot of this is Popp being extremely worried about his absent friend and remembering how shocked and sad he looked when the crowd in Bengarna turned on him... He's projecting a lot; Angeal is a lot more mature than Dai. He does mean everything he's saying, though.

[firsteditionbfs]

This kind of painful, passionate earnestness... It stings just a little bit with who it reminds him of. In more than one way, and maybe worse than the headache, too. Angeal waits for him to calm down a bit, or at least stop talking, before he lets out a sigh.

"Your friend and me... Our situations might be a bit different. But..." He rubs a hand against his face, fingers pressing down against the bridge of his nose for a second before sliding away.

"...I'll keep it in mind." It feels kind of strange to say 'thank you' in a situation like this, especially with his own complicated feelings about it all. "So. What did you see, exactly?" He may as well get a clearer idea of just what's going on, and how ashamed he should be feeling.

[snapp_crackle]

Popp takes that keeping it in mind statement at face value whether he should be or not. He simmers down to match Angeal's quieter energy eventually, but there's still a lot of emotions boiling under the surface.

"...Wings."

He taps his own shoulder to point out what he's talking about. He can still feel a certain amount of phantom crawling going on in there, and he stretches his quartet of bat like wings out to reassure himself that it does not feel like that at all. He doesn't have the control to pop out only one set at a time, which might be better or worse.

"Not, uh. Like these? Felt them sliding out, too, which was pretty awful... I juuust missed hearing about where they came from, I think? Some sort of project? Genesis was also there."

This is really understating how extremely there Genesis was in the memory, but it would be impossible to overstate it. He is a very intense type of person.

[firsteditionbfs]

It's true, and honestly that does help narrow it down a little bit for Angeal. There were... a lot of times he can recall where his focus was on his wings. Mainly how much he hated them, what they represented, some darker thoughts as well. Maybe he should consider himself lucky that the more dark memories, like in the simulation, weren't apparent.

But with Genesis there, and talk of the project... Sighing, Angeal pushes himself up onto his feet at long last, and holds his hand out to Popp.

"Project G," he says quietly. "Now c'mon. Let's at least get out of the snow, if we're going to keep talking about this. I'm pretty sure this isn't all you want to say either." Guys like Popp have a lot of feelings, if not exactly thoughts.

[snapp_crackle]

Popp pulls himself to his feet with Angeal's help - he's thinking a little about how strong he is, but also, about how he really hasn't seen him at anywhere close to full power, living a simple life around town.

"Yeah, yeah... I just... really
didn't want you to think I'd stop being your friend, even for a little while!"

He's self aware enough to know that he sounds a little childish in his sincerity, but he's also beyond being embarrassed by that right now... Well, maybe he's a little bit embarrassed. It's better than however Angeal has to be feeling, though.

[firsteditionbfs]

Even if it's childish, Angeal doesn't think it's a bad thing. If anything, it helps at least a little bit to keep his mind from spiraling too badly - a portion of that admittedly because indeed his big secret has slipped out. Just thinking about it makes his back itch. If he focuses on making sure Popp gets onto his feet, and making their way to some form of shelter... Then that blocks out his mind from getting stuck on it for too long.

Most of the IDs seem to have preferred staying near to town in some capacity, which is good luck for them in multiple ways. Mainly it means that Angeal knows for a fact that there is a place around he has access to out of the snow and relatively secure: Annie's Bakes.

Of course, he does a quick sweep of the building, but it's just as secure as he made sure it was before letting himself go out on patrol. Nothing having slipped in.

With that done, he finds a wooden chair for Popp to settle down into. "I can get something warm for you to drink, if you like," he says, the warmth from a Golden's breath already starting to fill up the space. "And, about what you saw..." A particularly heavy puff of air, nearly solid from the chill that's sunken into the building from the blizzard.

"...Listen. That was some years ago. Okay?" Does that mean he's gotten over those issues? Don't worry about that.

[snapp_crackle]

"Yes, please!" He's only realizing how cold he is now that he's indoors where it's (relatively) warmer. In theory, he could do a bit of heating of his own with a controlled Sizz spell, but it seems rude to interrupt Angeal's home routine with surprise spells that take mental concentration to keep up. He curls up in the chair and flops his head down on the table instead.

"So... it doesn't bother you as much these days? Being part... whatever else you are?"

Popp is worrying about it.

[firsteditionbfs]

That confirmation is all Angeal needs to head right into the kitchen, starting up the kettle and searching through his cupboards. If anything, the busyness helps keeps his mind focused away from those old memories as well.

You know, until Popp brings it up again. Despite Angeal kind of hoping he hadn't.

The delay in a response is probably answer enough in of itself, broken only by the sound of cupboards opening and kettle being put into place. "It's not really something you get over," he says carefully. For more reasons than one. Like the depression.

[snapp_crackle]

Angeal acts so confident and like he's got everything handled most of the time, it's weird to find out that he has all this heavy stuff going on that he can't let go of. It's unsettling, but also a little bit... Look, Popp has a lot of things going around in his head that bother him constantly and he's beginning to grasp that achieving maturity doesn't mean being completely unflappable about everything all of the time.

"I guess you can't stop being Project G, not any more than I can stop being a human."

Uh. Popp runs back that statement and puts his face in his hands. Why is he stupid.

"Or... you know what I mean; I'm not counting all the dragon stuff."

[firsteditionbfs]

That statement really does need to be run back. Considering his back is to Popp as he fixes up the tea, Angeal's grimace at the statement isn't visible but it does still happen.

"...I'll try to pretend I know what you mean in a positive sense." Or else his brain is going to take that sentence and run with it. And it's already made a rather worryingly impressive dash to begin with. Even on the medication that he's gotten from Charlie, Angeal isn't sure how he'll work through this.

"But no. I can't really stop it from being a thing that is on me at all times. And there's more to it than whatever you might have glimpsed in that one memory." Letting the water come to a steam, Angeal sighs and leans against the counter.

"Project G had a lot of messed up things put into it." Well. One main messed up thing literally, but which contained... multitudes. And that's not going into the baby experiments. "And it's... a little different, I think, from what your friend probably experienced."

[snapp_crackle]

"Yeah... even what I got felt pretty bad. Whoever made you like that..."

He can still feel a phantom echo of his back squirming around, put together in a way that nature tends not to do. The main difference between Angeal and Dai here, as far as he can tell is, uh. Everyone who put part of themselves into making Dai who he is actually loved him...? You don't go around putting painful monster parts into people you love. He is definitely too tactful to say that part aloud.

"...They weren't good people, were they?"

[firsteditionbfs]

"There was a reason that my ma took me as far away from that place as she could get me."

Just, not far enough away, as it turns out. Then again, Angeal supposes that was always going to be an impossible task. ShinRa had become too big, too fast, and there were few places where a woman with a baby could ever have gone.

Tea in hand, Angeal finally makes his way around the counter to put it down in front of Popp. "The people behind it, ultimately... just wanted money and power. And making really good weapons is important to both of those things, all the moreso when put together. For some of those who were more on hand... No idea. Think they're just assholes, honestly."

It's the only way to explain Hojo and Hollander.