aftr_ooc | October Event: Crystal Clear

OCTOBER EVENT: CRYSTAL CLEAR

By now, several groups of people have discovered and discussed the Storyteller's intentions to explore beyond the door found at the mountain temple, as well as the additional door found at the temple in the monkey compound. The doors are functionally similar in almost every respect save for their locations.

For those who weren't part of those exploration groups, all characters will bear witness to a dream on the evening of the 17th, advising them that they are being instructed to go past both doors and explore what can be found behind them.

The reasoning?

Simple, really. Upon both doors is a rather distinctive mark, one that is meant to bar the Storyteller's way. While eradicating the sigils on the door's themselves might be simple enough, there is clearly more to them, some ancient magic or another limiting the Storyteller's influence. Whatever exists beyond the door is utterly unknown to them...and by extension, unknown to you. Anything could be hidden there, helpful or harmful. And it's really in everyone's best interests to determine what.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it or not, is to travel beyond both of these two doors and destroy the sigils barring the way. And you may wish to do that quickly, dear adventurers.

Spelunking for Dummies Characters will find themselves waking up on the opposite side of the doors on the morning of the 20th. Each character will receive supplies for this adventure, backpacks brimming with enough dried fruit, vegetables, and jerky for one week. Adorning their heads? A very basic miner's cap, fueled by a small pot of oil that will easily run out within two days, if used constantly. So limit your use wisely!

These hats will prove a dire piece of equipment, as characters will find themselves navigating a series of caverns beneath Ensō itself. The deeper characters go into the cave, the more apparent it will be that there is an awful lot of natural light here, exhibited by the crystalline growths on the walls. None of them appear to be dangerous - characters can interact with the walls, pick up shards of the glasslike crystal, chisel away at the clusters of it as they see fit...as long as they don’t stay in contact with the stuff for too long.

Deeper still? There’s certainly evidence that civilization once thrived here - old buildings, ruined tools, possibly salvageable supplies. Whatever was down here was advanced enough to dwell without sunlight. And what's more, characters can find additional sigils identical to the ones on the doors - engraved on walls and etched deeply into the stone of the caves themselves. Each will have to be destroyed as they proceed. But that raises the rather pertinent of question: where did all the inhabitants go?

Unfortunately, the answer will become all too clear in due time.

We Always Save the Day During their exploration, some characters may experience an unsettling feeling of being watched. As of the 22nd, however, things will begin to progress from unsettling to dangerous as the great crystalline protrusions begin to shift, and things begin to move from within them. Large, humanoid things. Out of the walls. Rising from the floor. Descending from the ceiling.

Quartzalcoatl have now been unlocked in the bestiary.

Quartzalcoatl are unmistakably humanoid silhouettes, distorted by awful crystalline growths - most of which have completely swallowed any recognizable features. Anyone who was in contact with the crystal for extended periods of time - sleeping on it, for example - will find that growths have started to sprout on their skin as well.

That said, the lumbering, person-shaped, eight-foot tall mass of crystal approaching them isn't what they should be scared of, no. It's just the product of something that ravaged the body of what was once a living thing, converting flesh into a greenish, crystalline growth. The person it once was is...well, they're probably not aware of what it is that's happened to them. Hopefully. If they were, would they really be unconsciously spreading the virus that turned them into this creature by reaching out for you, leaving behind shards of that same emerald, glasslike crystal beading on your flesh? It only takes one touch, and the infection spreads so quickly. It would probably be the most humane to simply put them out of their misery.

Quartzalcoatl can be shattered and beaten back. However, this is clearly not without its own set of dangers. The crystalline disease spread by the Quartzalcoatl cannot be repelled by regenerative abilities, and characters with chances of immunity at 50% or higher will be required to RNG the results. Once infected, there is no current cure. Slowly, inexorably, characters will begin to change, and the virus that has taken root in them will begin to swallow them whole.

This part of the event comes with a high chance of death, including the potential for characters to request assistance in ending their own life. Due to this, the death penalty for this event will be reduced to one week. While we still ask players to properly submit all deaths and penalty removals to the Deaths Page, please note that in this instance, non-compulsory AC will not be required for a penalty removal.

This event also comes with a high chance for body horror and associated content warnings. For those who would prefer to opt out of this entirely, please let us know below, as we will arrange separate circumstances for those who would prefer to avoid the worst of this scenario.

Despite the reduced death penalties, we ask that any characters that do perish in the duration of the event let us know!

As always, have fun and feel free to use this post for event plotting!

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] October 17th: Storytelling occurs early to allow people time to make item requests.
[ ♆ ] October 20th: Spelunking begins. Points of interest will be provided.
[ ♆ ] October 22nd: The Quartzalcoatl make their presence known.
[ ♆ ] October 24th: The final sigils are broken and the Storyteller returns all uninfected to the Islets.
[ ♆ ] October 26th: All deceased will be returned at midday, suffering from a reduced death penalty.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mercy will be setting up a base camp with Tataru and overseeing amputations and study of the disease. She will be working closely with Muffet on treating McCree's wounds.

Gobbet will first steal a piece of crystal and slowly begin to feel the adverse effects, lowering her immunity when she is eventually grabbed by a quartzecoatl. Once infected, she will run off from the main group and hide, fearing that others may try to kill her. Anyone is free to find her trying to peel the stones from her skin as she begins to die.

I believe Shepard has plans to find Gobbet, so Vanessa gets first dibs on that post, but others are welcome to find them or interact with Gobbet before she becomes infected. Feel free to call her out on her theft of a crystal or put her down once she's too far gone.

October Event: Crystal Clear

Finalized plans