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ateratooc2021-03-07 11:18 am
ateratmods) wrote in ateratooc2021-03-07 11:18 am
Entry tags:
Pulse Event - The Return of the Maiden's Mercy
RETURN OF THE MAIDEN'S MERCY
As the month turns, so does the weather, easing as February ends into warmer climes. The snows of early February release their hold on the city and its environs and ease into rains the last week of the month and the first week of March. As the week turns, though, the light, misting rains finally abate, and with the setting sun a thick fog rolls in off the sea to the east, blanketing the city in a thick mist so deep, it seems even to muffle sound. A hush settles over the city as though it's holding its collective breath.
The next day, the mist doesn't burn off with the rising sun, leaving the city a gauzy, muted scene. Locals attempted to go about business as usual, but the chocobos are nervous, and with visibility so low, accidents involving carts are numerous, keeping the Watchmen busy. As the sun, barely visible through the fog, makes it way toward the horizon on Monday, the word begins to fly: a ship has returned to port! As shocking as this revelation is, given how disused and abandoned the harbor is known to be, even more so is how apparent it is by how excitedly the locals are talking, it's a ship they know. The Maidan's Mercy, the thrilled locals are open to claim, left port very soon after the Aspects returned life to Aterat, and it was thought to have been lost at sea. Their excitement is short-lived, though, when the ship is found to be abandoned, covered in a strange, glowing moss.
A guard is set and citizens are warned, via flyers at the gates leading to the harbor as well as a broadcast from Captain Khannar, not to approach the ship until it can be searched the next day. The guards assigned to the Maiden's Mercy are attacked in the night, but no bodies are found the next day. Rumors begin to fly about strange forms rising from the waters, creatures surging from the fog to overtake the men guarding the ship. Some say they watched the men fall, dragged under the water by giant crabs. Others claim they simply walked to the end of the dock as though in a daze, lost to the fog due to limited vision.
The Captain wastes no time enacting a curfew in the Harbor district. He orders the gate to the district sealed at sundown, only to be reopened when the sun rises. He'll see no more men lost, regardless of where it is they've gone, but he won't dispute the newcomers investigating.
The rumors fly about the district after nightfall: that the abandoned harbormaster's office has a light lit in the window, but no one comes to the door and the light goes out with the rising sun; that far out into the bay, a light pulses atop a distant island all through the night. Even the dreams of those who live in the district are disturbed. They complain of nightmares full of crab men, and they speak of a song so sweet they cannot replicate it, but whose notes leave their memories upon waking.
And then the disappearances start. Over the next week, residents begin reporting loved ones missing from their beds, doors left ajar as though they simply walked out into the night, taking nothing with them save whatever nightclothes they may have been wearing. The tales of creatures at the shore after dark seem consistent, though: they are creatures roughly the size of a man, crab-like with razor-sharp pincers and a maw filled with jagged teeth. They are several times stronger than a human, and their thick carapaces make them difficult to wound, but the most cumbersome thing about encountering them is the whispering. When within close proximity to these creatures, words flit through your mind, unintelligible and barely audible. Did you really hear them? With the whispers come a growing sense of fear that rises until a panic sets in, prompting you run, run until your lungs give out. If the creature is killed somehow, the panic subsides along with the whispers.
Something has come to Aterat with the return of the Maiden's Mercy, but what? It's evident only the newcomers will be able to learn the truth and set Aterat to rights, but can you?
A Rough Timeline
It's mystery time! As this is heavily investigation-based, please ask any questions at all you have here!
It's going to require a lot of cooperation, and definitely some fighting if you want to get to the bottom of the Mystery of the Maiden's Mercy, so please use this post to plot!
Note: While there will be a log for the main part of the plot, I encourage all of you to make your own reaction posts, logs, etc! Have fun!
The next day, the mist doesn't burn off with the rising sun, leaving the city a gauzy, muted scene. Locals attempted to go about business as usual, but the chocobos are nervous, and with visibility so low, accidents involving carts are numerous, keeping the Watchmen busy. As the sun, barely visible through the fog, makes it way toward the horizon on Monday, the word begins to fly: a ship has returned to port! As shocking as this revelation is, given how disused and abandoned the harbor is known to be, even more so is how apparent it is by how excitedly the locals are talking, it's a ship they know. The Maidan's Mercy, the thrilled locals are open to claim, left port very soon after the Aspects returned life to Aterat, and it was thought to have been lost at sea. Their excitement is short-lived, though, when the ship is found to be abandoned, covered in a strange, glowing moss.
A guard is set and citizens are warned, via flyers at the gates leading to the harbor as well as a broadcast from Captain Khannar, not to approach the ship until it can be searched the next day. The guards assigned to the Maiden's Mercy are attacked in the night, but no bodies are found the next day. Rumors begin to fly about strange forms rising from the waters, creatures surging from the fog to overtake the men guarding the ship. Some say they watched the men fall, dragged under the water by giant crabs. Others claim they simply walked to the end of the dock as though in a daze, lost to the fog due to limited vision.
The Captain wastes no time enacting a curfew in the Harbor district. He orders the gate to the district sealed at sundown, only to be reopened when the sun rises. He'll see no more men lost, regardless of where it is they've gone, but he won't dispute the newcomers investigating.
The rumors fly about the district after nightfall: that the abandoned harbormaster's office has a light lit in the window, but no one comes to the door and the light goes out with the rising sun; that far out into the bay, a light pulses atop a distant island all through the night. Even the dreams of those who live in the district are disturbed. They complain of nightmares full of crab men, and they speak of a song so sweet they cannot replicate it, but whose notes leave their memories upon waking.
And then the disappearances start. Over the next week, residents begin reporting loved ones missing from their beds, doors left ajar as though they simply walked out into the night, taking nothing with them save whatever nightclothes they may have been wearing. The tales of creatures at the shore after dark seem consistent, though: they are creatures roughly the size of a man, crab-like with razor-sharp pincers and a maw filled with jagged teeth. They are several times stronger than a human, and their thick carapaces make them difficult to wound, but the most cumbersome thing about encountering them is the whispering. When within close proximity to these creatures, words flit through your mind, unintelligible and barely audible. Did you really hear them? With the whispers come a growing sense of fear that rises until a panic sets in, prompting you run, run until your lungs give out. If the creature is killed somehow, the panic subsides along with the whispers.
Something has come to Aterat with the return of the Maiden's Mercy, but what? It's evident only the newcomers will be able to learn the truth and set Aterat to rights, but can you?
A Rough Timeline
Monday; The fog begins to role in at sunset.
Tuesday-Thursday; The fog does not lift or thin
Friday; The Maiden's Mercy roles into port, very abandoned; Captain Khannar posts a guard. Overnight, they disappear with disputed reports as to what happened.
Saturday-??; This will run roughly until someone figures out what's causing it and people coordinate what to do about it. Increased attacks, the Harbor district under sundown-sunrise curfew, etc (see description). A log will go up for the main bit of the plot.
It's mystery time! As this is heavily investigation-based, please ask any questions at all you have here!
It's going to require a lot of cooperation, and definitely some fighting if you want to get to the bottom of the Mystery of the Maiden's Mercy, so please use this post to plot!
Note: While there will be a log for the main part of the plot, I encourage all of you to make your own reaction posts, logs, etc! Have fun!
Questions
Re: Questions
1. Does having Siren or previous experience with the Fear Bear give Nida some resistance to the mind fuck of the crab monsters?
2. Nida's going to break into the harbor master's office again. Been there before. What would he notice there, if anything? Is there anything new there that wouldn't have been there when the game first started?
3. What's the likelihood that, after so much time has passed, Nida has permission from the Captain to head out on this. He's both a 'newcomer' AND one of the Captain's guards, so I'm worried he'll get yelled at.
no subject
2) There's nothing new there, no, though he will find the harbor master's log, which does document the departure of the fishing vessel Maiden's Mercy, which seems to have departed five years ago and was due to return to port a month afterward. There is also a crew list, which I can PM you.
3) the Captain will not give him official capacity to act under, but he will also tell him he's not going to stop him, and possibly in private mention he hopes they get to the bottom of it.
no subject
2. I would like that list yes. Thank you.
3. Okay, Nida will get going then. He just doesn't want overly reprimanded.
4. New question. Will it be possible to actually get onto the boat itself, and if so, could a search possibly find some personal logs on the ship to give them something more to investigate?
no subject
And yes, they can get onto the ship with enough of a fight. There may be a ship's log, and they may also stumble upon something else onboard, something that draws them a little further away from the harbor...
no subject