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

⁂ 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

[boarishboy]

The breathing, thankfully, is a sound he catches easily enough. The lack of heartbeat though is concerning, which- He'll have to ask about that later, perhaps, when he's sure that the man is alright. He does respond a moment later and that brings a wave of relief over the boy that is plain on his features.

Unfortunately, it doesn't last long. The blond follows the line of Byleth's arm to the creature now swiftly approaching. He doesn't have a weapon on him, but makes due with a snap of wooden furniture - a chair, he thinks - and using it as a blunt club. Combined with his strength, it's enough to kill the creature on impact.

But that presents another unfortunate problem: the psionic blast. He knows of it, by now, and quickly does his best to shield Byleth and himself both from it but unfortunately it still scrambles his mind with memories that are not his or of him. Well, not as he knows himself.

The mature man that passes by his mind's eye is clearly him. Older, slightly taller, broader and one eye covered with a patch. A war injury, perhaps? His hair hangs longer around his shoulders but is partly kept up in a half-ponytail and he's wearing much more casual attire than he can imagine himself in otherwise. He lives in a house, not unlike this one, but quickly realizes it's a home with Byleth and others and- Oh.

Those sure are some intimate moments he's getting a glimpse of now. That's- He- Hm. Give him a moment to recover from the blast but also process all of that suddenly being beamed into his brain.

nsfw kinda

[perfectteatime]

Not only is Dimitri treated to every intimate moment, every kiss, every moan, every kind, whispered word, but he too is treated to Byleth's own view on all of them. His own feelings. The deep, rushing river of emotion that lay beneath the placid surface of the lake. How much Byleth felt, and how little he truly expressed.

How deeply he loved him. That he still does.

When he does awake, Byleth is pressing a damp rag to his forehead, rested in his lap. They both look... not the best. Byleth with the scrapes and claw marks from his attackers, and poor Dimitri from getting the brunt of their...meal.

"Dimitri." He keeps his voice low, knowing full well his head must be pounding.

[boarishboy]

It is a strange, surreal well of memory being drawn from. It feels familiar yet not at all; he can recognize himself in the other man there, but doesn't understand how he reached the path he was walking on. Through it all though one thing is crystal clear: love, in abundance. Not just from Byleth, but from the Dimitri there too.

It pings his heart in an odd way. So, that's what that sensation he gets around Byleth is. Love? Perhaps not to the depths in those memories, but something that echoes it even now. Love. He doesn't know how long he's out. Only for a moment or so, he imagines, but then recognizes that he's now the one on the floor with Byleth doting over him.

How does he keep ending up like this?

"Pro... Byleth," he answers, blinking. His head does ache, but so does his heart in unexpected ways for a life he has never lived but wishes he could have. "I'm sorry, I-" He sits up, but then clutches the side of his head as a jab of pain strikes. "I tried to stop it, but..."

[perfectteatime]

"Easy, easy. Don't try to move too much. Hush." Byleth rubs a hand against his back, ready to support his weight if he should shift or fall.

"No self-flagellation so soon after we've been attacked by strange creatures, yes?" He's quick to put an end to that nonsense. "Just tell me when you feel that you can stand. And don't rush. I'll help you to bed."

For the time being he will busy himself with inspecting Dimitri's wounds.

[boarishboy]

While he knows that Byleth is right, he still can't help but feel a bit disappointed in himself. And now with the knowledge of his other self, it only serves to make things worse rather than better. The other him, he imagines, would have been much more capable in protecting his beloved-

Ah. Beloved. That's what he'd called him, hadn't he? "I feel embarrassed, mostly," he says, before he thinks better. "Not just for my failure to protect us, but the... I saw some memories of yours, I think, from that other place. Amani." He knows of it, of course, by now. But the details hadn't been divulged to him yet from anyone who also resided there.

[perfectteatime]

Ah.

A hand comes to gently smooth the bangs from Dimitri's forehead.

"Another me, and another you, in another life." As much as it pains him now. He doesn't want to place any distance, but given his interactions with others- well. He knows better than to make assumptions, and the fragile line he toes between memories that do not belong to him.

"I failed to fend off the creatures as well and you would not blame me for that, so do not blame yourself. I'll hear no more of it." That is firm, but calm. "There is... a great deal of memories that I contain that aren't quite my own. That said I-"

Is it even something he should address?

"I care for you all the same." Well he can't un-say it. "I hope however, that this knowledge does not color your choices from here on. I am first and foremost, your friend, no matter what." He isn't sure if any of it is the right thing to say, but he cannot lie to himself and pretend he doesn't still love him.

[boarishboy]

It is a lot to take in, he has to admit. And yet it also feels prudent to say: "I don't think knowing would have changed anything, really, about how I feel. I just... have a better idea of what that is now." Of course, he knew he cared about Byleth. How could he not? After everything they'd been through together and in such a short time, after a meeting by chance that felt like an inkling of fate he for the first time ever wanted to believe in, and even now fighting to protect each other still- How could he not?

"I know it's probably inappropriate, considering our stations, but I also care for you a great deal. Not just as a friend, I think. I mean, I do consider you a friend still, it's just that-" Sothis help him, he's trying to articulate this well. Why is that when it matters most, he ends up fumbling his words so? 'Love' is something that feels a bit too serious just yet to proclaim, too, even if he does know it to be true.

He also doesn't want Byleth to worry he only feels that way because of this knowledge. "Even if I'm not that man in your memories, I hope someday that I can fill that same role on my own merit. I want to. Even before knowing all this, I... I just didn't want to let myself hope you might ever feel the same." Since the idea that Byleth wouldn't hurt more than the risking the possibility he could.

[perfectteatime]

The relief he feels in hearing those words is...indescribable. Elation, relief, comfort, all in one. Still, this presents a rather... unique challenge.

"Well. You needn't worry about me feeling the same. I believe I shared those feelings when I was younger as well. I-" It would be very easy to simply give in, but is that responsible? Even with things out in the open now? "I'm afraid of taking advantage of you. As I am older now and..." He sighs, unsure of even how to proceed.

"I don't know what to do. Wait? I suppose? I- I suppose we can sort it out together, at our own pace." Take it one step at a time as it were. Damned timeline fuckery.

"I would have you know though, that I have... taken other lovers as well. They have no qualms in sharing, but that would be a hurdle I would want to ensure that you were comfortable with, if things were to go that way. In the future."

[boarishboy]

"Taking advantage of...?" he questions. Truly, it hadn't occurred to him that way. The logistics of it, certainly, with Byleth being his professor and therefore in a higher position. Yet, he knew Byleth's character and that he wouldn't use it to his advantage for such a thing as taking advantage of any of his students and especially not Dimitri himself.

"You don't have to worry about that. I trust that, regardless of our roles, it was probably... inevitable. Being so close in age, for one, and just the strange circumstances of everything as another only bringing us closer." How Byleth came to be appointed professor, all that came after, and so on. "But I also understand the discomfort, so- Just let me know where the lines are. I won't cross them." Another moment where all he wishes is to be eighteen not just to take the throne but be considered a true adult.

And with that said, there now does come the news of- Oh. "Who?" he asks, firstly. "N-not that you have to tell me. If you don't want to. It's just- I am curious. I don't doubt your judgement in choice of partner or anything like that. Merely, I want to make sure that they'd also, well, like me." That they could all get along and there would be minimal issue. The last thing Dimitri wants to do is stop Byleth from following his heart, after all.