EVENT INFO: SHIVERS (I'VE GOT 'EM)

[nextnightmods]

EVENT INFO: SHIVERS (I'VE GOT 'EM)

the basics

The weather has been getting steadily colder and snow has begun to fall, but you didn't expect the temperature to drop as suddenly as it just has. Winds and blinding snow whip around you, completely obscuring your vision and leaving you disoriented.

When the blizzard clears, you are no longer where you were a moment ago. There are footprints in the snow a few feet away and they aren't yours. Are you alone? How do you get back home?

the details

From December 12-17, the weather turns strange as it sometimes does in Beacon, and snowy, icy whirlwinds are prone to kidnapping you and depositing you somewhere else. It's possible to end up in a place you recognize, but given the expanse of dark forest within and around Beacon, it's far more likely you'll find yourself in the middle of the woods, or at the edge of the lake with no lights in sight.

If you're an excellent navigator, if you have a compass or at least one familiar landmark, getting back might be simple. But the forest is as full of hazards as it ever has been, for some spirits still remain "wild" and therefore dangerous; the Parade is still, well, parading; and most concerning is that the green-eyed spirits remain a persistent threat, especially with the one large seven-eyed creature lurking and waiting just out of sight. Stuck in an awkward spot, or injured, or just want to make sure everyone knows you're on your own and in need of help? This might be a good time to run that SAFE OR NOT app.

For the most part, this event will be open for you all to use however you like - feel free to drop your characters in whichever horrible spot you want to drop them on the map, and NPC your own threatening spirits and green-eye-induced hallucinations as you wish. Characters may get stranded together in pairs - so if you want to have two people bumble their way back together rather than someone trying to find the other, feel free!

Below in the comments you'll see an RNG OPT-IN header. Drop your character's name under the header, and you will receive a comment that describes something unique about where your character ends up being transported to, or what they find when the snow settles. Only one or two of these will be potentially deadly or near-deadly but if you absolutely do not want to risk death just let us know in your comment!

While ICly this event runs from Dec. 12-17, there is no real deadline on opting in for a mod comment so long as you do so in December. This is intentionally a plot-light event given we know how busy December can be. Questions? Let us know in the comments!

•••
Additionally, players are welcome to use this post for OOC event plotting! In fact, please do, as not everyone in the game has access to each other's plurks! If you'd like, you can use the small form below to kickstart your plotting plans:

<b>player:</b> (feel free to put your contact info here if you like!) <b>character(s):</b> <b>plans:</b> (have any plans already? or do you have plans you'd like to make? let the world know!) <b>notes:</b> (anything else worth mentioning, like permissions/opt-outs/hiatuses/etc.?)

the tl;dr

• December 12: The weather mysteriously starts taking people on some unwanted adventures.


• December 18: Snow falls normally again.

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Comments

QUESTIONS

[nextnightmods]

RNG OPT-IN

[nextnightmods]

Let us know if you prefer a low-risk option, or any other preferences.

[worthallthis]

So long as it's possible for someone to find his lantern if he dies, and nobody lops off any limbs or anything, no limits.

[nextnightmods]

The swirl of snow is wholly disorienting. Jagged shards of ice manage to embed themselves in hair and clothing and skin like claws, leaving shallow red scrapes across anything exposed - and somehow it hurts even worse as they slowly begin to melt. A thick layer of frost coats Soldat's lantern, and for a few seconds the flame flickers, knocking them to the ground and leaving them momentarily breathless with eyes closed against the biting ice.

Somewhere behind them in the distance they hear a weak crackle of static - the radio tower, maybe, though with the winds whipping around and disturbing the sound, it's hard to be sure how far away it is or even what direction it's in. With each gust, it seems to change. Strange, though, given the radio tower is probably quite far from where they were seconds ago.

But suddenly the static becomes muffled and the wind cuts off, and Soldat cautiously opens their eyes to find long, humanoid limbs stretched out from a spirit perched over the top of them, shielding them from the blizzard, which soon quits entirely anyway. A white mask peers down, inches from Soldat's face, then twists a full 180 degrees as the spirit examines Soldat. Ah. It's Handy, and in one hand against the ground is that walkie-talkie, clutched tightly and hissing with muffled static in the snow.

As soon as they've been noticed, the forest spirit scrabbles backward on all limbs and then sits back on their haunches at the base of a tree, looking around in the darkness.

"Go! Go. Before find you, go," it whistle-whispers, but doesn't give any real direction on where to go. It flinches at the sight or sound of something in the dark, though it's nothing Soldat can easily make out over the sound of the wind through those trees, and then scrambles up the trunk into the branches and out of sight.

[worthallthis]

Hey, radio-buddy. Soldat pushes to their feet, looks around, and then follows Handy's example and scrambles up the tree awkwardly after them, lantern still on its strap over their shoulder. Better to possibly by trapped than to run possibly straight into danger without knowing it. And at least up a tree, they can keep watch for what comes up after them, maybe shoot it a few times in the face.

[policier]

no death option for javert this time.

[nextnightmods]

The harsh winds and blinding snow sweep Javert into their hold, then dump him heavily against something very solid and very cold. Metal digs into his back until he manages to roll away, and while nothing is broken, that's sure going to leave a painful bruise for a while.

There's a thick blanket of snow over the ground, but where he landed and compressed the flakes he can just make out dry, gray husks of forgotten grain. The building beside him creaks in the wind and as he lifts his lantern he can see it's about the size of a small house, made of sagging wood and whining metal. Where a house might have a front door, though, this just has a large loading bay, with more piles of decomposed grain that crumbles to dust when he tries to inspect it closer.

Further searching doesn't yield much. It looks like the building stands alone, but with the dense forest on all sides, it would probably take some thorough investigation to really know what else is out here. As Javert considers the pros and cons of doing so alone, a piercing howl rings out from the woods, and it's soon echoed by another. Maybe this isn't a great place to hang out for too much longer.

[scarsolderthanyou]

Gimme something for Stone too while I'm here. Low-risk preferred for him, he's already risking dying on his explore.

[nextnightmods]

Stone is very, very lucky he can fly.

The winds and ice rip him away from where he was moments ago, already in his full flighted form while helping to keep paths clear of the falling snow by sweeping it aside with his massive wings. Maybe the snow wanted revenge, maybe it just hates order, or maybe we shouldn't be attributing sapient thoughts to precipitation, but it swirls up around him and hurls him into the cliffs at the edge of the lake somewhere.

He's quick to right himself in midair and cling to the rocks before he can slip back down into the water, and thankfully due to quick action he's no worse off than bruised, cold, and very lost. The coastline is a helpful landmark, but is it safe to travel along it the whole way, knowing what lurks in the water as well as the air? Is a more direct route better?

With darkness all around, he can't tell what part of the cliffs he's on - whether northwest of town, or southeast of it, or somewhere in between. What he does know is that the forest ahead of him, as he hauls himself up onto more solid land, is dead silent other than the creak of trees in the wind, and the soft thump as a branch bends under the weight of the snow and dumps its burden onto the ground.

Wait, what is that where the snow landed, though? Stone creeps closer, sniffing cautiously. A small spring bubbles forth from the base of the tree, smelling of sulfur. Gentle heat radiates off it. A hot spring!

Well, if he doesn't find a way back any time soon, at least he can dip his feet in and feel comfortable for a while. It's not big enough for more than that, but it's a welcome surprise out here in the dark and cold.

[paletteswap]

It is cold and snowing and this is the BEST. So naturally he needs to get stranded in the snow.

Anything is good so long as he doesn't get completely immolated and melt his little mechanical dragon he carries around in his belt pouch.

[nextnightmods]

Kuai might love the ice, but the ice clearly does not love him (or maybe this is how ice expresses affection??). Thousands of long shards remain embedded in his exposed flesh as the blizzard's violent swirl dissipates, and frost coats his lantern. Anyone could easily mistake him for something inhuman - a crystalline, frozen creature of the forest. They remain even when he tries to brush them off, and the sharp pain as they tug on his skin makes him quickly forget about trying to do that anymore. Hopefully they'll start to melt soon on their own.

Sluggishly, he raises his lantern to have a look around, and finds himself in front of the black, yawning opening of a cave. As he approaches it, he slips on something metal and just manages to recover his balance before he can fall. Scraping snow away with a foot, he sees the remnants of an old rail system are to blame.

Black stains remain on the ground just inside the mouth of the cave, and a few more shards of metal and glass protruding from the snow and dirt are familiar, though it takes a moment to place them given their fragmentary state. The last time he saw this lantern in one piece, it was carried by Matt Murdock, who never emerged from the mines.

Far out in the forest, there's a low rumble. It echoes through the trees, rippling like a shockwave before the ground beneath his feet shakes with the sound. It vibrates in his chest, and some of the ice shards stuck to his back and arms shatter. So, pro: less ice stuck to him now, but con: yikes.

[paletteswap]

Well none of that is good. At least he looks incredibly thematic so there's that.

He goes to grab the lantern bits, maybe if he gets them all they can piece it together like some jigsaw puzzle and bring Matt back. But he only gets a few of the bigger pieces before there's some horrible rumbly sound and the wonderfully pleasant sensation of dozens of shards of ice shattering and falling out of his skin.

Hopefully no one is around because the sound he makes is some sort of cross between a grunt and animal caught in steel leg trap.

After that fun experience, he'll gather up the pieces of Matt's lantern that he can and make sure he is well off the tracks in case that rumbling is the train that runs on them. He doesn't remember the train actually working but he also hasn't been out this far before. Time to follow the tracks away from the mine in the hopes it goes to the train station and from there he can find his way back to town.

[callada]

player: Lauren, tinylongwing
character(s): Rosinante
plans: I would love for Rosi to get stuck out in the middle of nowhere and would love for someone he doesn't normally have regular daily CR with to help figure out where he is - or vice versa if you'd rather your character get lost! There's a small set of people he's just always with and mixing it up is good fun, so let me know if you want in on this.