khuimods: (Default)
Khu Ioduan Mods ([personal profile] khuimods) wrote in [community profile] ioduanlogs2018-07-10 03:56 pm

[EVENT] THE FOG COMES - Ship's Return

Characters: ALL
Date: July 10
Location: Aifaran Harbour
Situation: The Narrakra has returned, but those aboard are not the same as when they left...
Warnings/Rating: Creepy descriptions of things?


The night of the Narrakra's return, fog poured into Aifaran's harbour. It was thick, soupy and cloying in the summer heat, swirling and shifting with every change in the air, but never dissipating. Many Dreamfolk may feel heavy tension in the air, an eerie stillness about the night that seems unnervingly familiar. But beyond the occasional, inexplicable power outage, nothing seems to be otherwise amiss.

The Narrakra limps into the dockyard port on a single engine in the early hours of the 10th, steering itself erratically toward the nearest berth. The dock workers, having not expected to see a Sentry ship sliding out of the pea-soup fog, are quick to raise the alarm, which is hurriedly passed to a runner to bring to the nearest Sentry outpost. Heavy pylons keep the Narrakra from outright running into the dock itself, as the engine sputters and dies, leaving the ship without steering.

The ship itself is in poor condition, metal hull dented and scarred as if it had been in combat with some great sea beast. Deep gouges, like something had hurled sharp points into the metal sides and pulled, some even deep enough that glimpses of the hull's structural support can be seen. In other places on the exterior, what appears to be an advanced stage of corrosion and rust have affected sections of the ship, but not in any uniform way. A handrail might be corroded to the point of the metal disintegrating at a touch, but the stairwell next to it still gleaming as if it had just been put into place.

---

OOC Notes: This is the culmination event for the Ships in the Night plot that's been ongoing for the last few months, although the outcome will play into future metaplot. Characters can witness the Narrakra's not-so-triumphant return at the docks, speculate on where it's been and what could have caused its disappearance, question the crew (if they can get past the Sentry), or sneak aboard the ship to do some reconnaissance and potentially find things...

Links: OOC Questions | On The Docks | The Survivors | Sneaking Aboard
iseeall: (dead)

[personal profile] iseeall 2018-07-18 02:12 am (UTC)(link)
Leo would probably question how he could rinse the spores out of his nose, but he just waved his hand aimlessly. "I think I'm high again...."

There was probably a joke to be made but instead, he just heavily leaned against the wall of the ship, sliding down until he was just a pile on the floor. "I don't think I can see properly, so you gotta stay away."
upshore: (Glance // lulamae)

[personal profile] upshore 2018-07-18 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
"What happens when you can't see properly?" Miles said, still wary. He didn't want to get close to the fungus if it was making Leo hallucinate. Last time he'd hallucinated, it hadn't ended well, to say the least. He still felt bad, even though Pepper had waved the whole incident off.
redlightgreenlight: (uncertain smile)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2018-07-18 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
"Your hand, Leo," Valdis clarified, "To rinse the spores off your hand. Once this passes you don't want to reinfect yourself or one of us."

She was less concerned about the impact to herself, she'd survive more easily than Miles or Leo and she definitely didn't want Miles anywhere near a hallucinogen. But she didn't move any closer, suddenly wary of how anything here might be able to affect her. If the crew had interacted with the Death Plane, then even she might be susceptible.

"Did anyone ever teach you two caution?"
iseeall: (Default)

[personal profile] iseeall 2018-07-18 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
Sorry Valdis, he wasn't really going to answer. The room was spinning much mroe than usual, and he was seeing things out of the corner of his eye-not normal things. It was taking all of his self control not to go completely insane and take over everyone's eyes in a 20 meter radius; even then, Miles and Valdis would be getting flashes of blue in their vision.

"I can see into the ground," Leo mumbled to absolutely no one, now curling himself into a small pain ball. The headache was forming.
upshore: (Oh fuck // lulamae)

[personal profile] upshore 2018-07-18 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
"I learned it the hard way," Miles said, wiggling his eight-and-a-half fingers at Valdis, before blinking repeatedly. That blue flash wasn't something he wanted, at all. He stepped back further from the fungus, wondering if it was just the spores, or if it was Leo.

"Are you okay?"
redlightgreenlight: (expressionless)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2018-07-18 06:56 am (UTC)(link)
The first flash of blue had Valdis moving away from Leo, searching for a safe distance. She retreated into the next room, loathe to leave Leo behind, but still concerned about the powers at play.

"Miles," she said sharply, "Move away for now. You don't have to go far, just until the blue vanishes."
iseeall: (-_-)

[personal profile] iseeall 2018-07-19 01:13 am (UTC)(link)
He was pretty much the opposite of okay, but Leo didn't really want to talk right now. It was taking most of his concentration to stop the disorientation and his eyes from spinning right out of his head; and he also wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep his lunch. Leo just laid curled on the floor in a tight ball until several minutes later it seemed to die down.

He wasn't sure if he felt completely peachy but at least his eyes didn't feel like they were going to go for a ride anymore. "Okay...I think it's safe for you guys to get close to me now. I didn't inhale a lot of the spores."
upshore: (Are you a fuckin' idiot // lulamae)

[personal profile] upshore 2018-07-20 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
Miles moved away, but not as far away as Valdis. He didn't want to leave Leo - what if that was how some creature here disabled its prey and then attacked them? Like hell he'd let that happen.

"What just happened?" Miles demanded when it was safe to return. He hadn't wanted to pester Leo when the kid clearly looked like he'd been on the wrong end of a tequila bender, but his curiosity was coming out. "You okay? I told you not to touch that, man."
redlightgreenlight: (unhappy 2)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2018-07-20 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
Valdis heard Leo say he was fine from the room she had just vacated, she could feel Leo's discomfort and tried to push it as far out of her mind as possible. This place felt strange enough without the added confusion of those spores. She let the two of them talk, figuring that they'd be a bit more careful about touching things now that there had been a negative effect.

"We have no idea where this ship has been," she called back, "Nothing here can be considered normal or harmless. Tread carefully."

She'd do well to heed her own advice, but the next room held a rather large skeleton, it seemed largely intact, but slightly scattered. Long fangs and hooves that didn't seem like they should belong to the same beast. If only they could put the pieces back together, if there was a safe way to see what the crew had seen. Valdis ran a finger down one of the fangs, so focused on what it might have been that she almost didn't notice how the bones and hair moved as if to put themselves back into place. Her eyes widened and she drew her hand back sharply in confusion, accidentally cutting her hand on one of the teeth.

"Guys?" she hissed, wiping the blood off on her pants and examining the now healed finger, "There's something here."
iseeall: (suprise)

[personal profile] iseeall 2018-07-20 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
Oh right. He never did actually explain to Miles about his eyes. Leo immediately felt guilty; how much of an asshole did he have to be knowing about the guy's nanite problem, but not giving him anything in return??

He shook his head as Miles talked to try and clear his head. He could overthink everything later. "I'm really sorry...remember when I said I had good eyesight? It's way more than that. Like curse from the gods amount."

Leo opened his eyes just enough for Miles to see the blue light shining through before Valdis spoke and he turned around. "What? But I didn't see the auras of any living things!"

He followed her into the next room as steadily as he could putting a hand out to Valdis' shoulder to stop him from bowling over into the skeleton. "Uhh, what's that?"
upshore: (Oh fuck // lulamae)

[personal profile] upshore 2018-07-20 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
"...that's rough, buddy," Miles said, unable to suppress a shiver at seeing Leo's glowing eyes. Then again, when he went Full Crazypants, he probably looked just as unsettling.

He followed Leo into the next room and took in the whole situation with a glance - focusing on the important thing, which was, of course, Valdis looking at her hand in alarm. "You hypocrite, you give us shit for touching things, and I haven't even touched anything, and then you go touch...a skeleton that's coming back to life, cool, this is cool, this is fine and good."

His tone made it clear that it was in fact not fine and good.
redlightgreenlight: (shocked 2)

CW: Animal death

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2018-07-20 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
Never mind that she was a hypocrite, it was dead, it wasn't going to hurt her, aside from her own uncharacteristic clumsiness. Valdis stared at the skeleton as the pieces moved back together, "It's still dead, Miles. It's just..."

Leo's hand on her shoulder broke her focus and she shrugged him off as the skeleton fell quiet, though more intact than before, as if the scattered pieces had moved of their own will.

"I don't know what that was," she reached out again, wiping her blood from the fang and wondering, once again, what happened to this strange creature. It's small, about the size and build of a goat, though more slender, like a deer. Its fur is black, and its hooves are cloven in three rather than two. But the bigger picture tells her nothing.

But the second touch sent a sharp jolt through her mind and everything changed.

***

Fear.

The animal is restrained, its legs bound together and laying on its side. The crew members, so familiar, she knows them, she's seen them. They're looming over it. One of them holding a knife.

"Just get it over with," says Al'amar, looking away.

"No," says Nerrin, bending to light the candles. They're arranged in a circle along with several chalk markings on the floor and the animal struggles wildly at the center.

"It has to be done
right." There's nothing but grim determination in Nerrin's voice.

The creature doesn't die a quick death. Things are incomprehensible in the blinding white-hot agony inflicted on it. But there is the feeling of something at last breaking, like the parting of clouds after a long storm, before it finally draws its last breath.


***

The scents of the sea crash back in, but the terror of the creature was still forefront in her mind. Her entire body was stiff, her skin paler than it should be, she might even be shivering. Valdis had no idea what they had done. Or perhaps she did, and that made it all the more terrifying.
iseeall: (surprised face of displeasure)

[personal profile] iseeall 2018-07-20 01:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Leo knew something was happening as soon as Valdis touched the bone the second time. He was still a bit woozy from the shrooms, but immediately knew that this wasn't a hallucination; Valdis had done something. Something really scary and bad.

"What the fuck, what the fuck!!!" Leo shouted, backing away from her and immediately hiding himself behind Miles. He pointed a shaking finger at where two planes of existance seemed to be clashing together, flickering with a powerful energy and scary images, Valdis' aura flaring up incredibly powerfully.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE DO?!!" Leo absolutely wanted to leave, but did not want to just abandon Miles and Valdis here, so he just instead had a death grip on the taller reporter's arm.
upshore: (Are you a fuckin' idiot // lulamae)

[personal profile] upshore 2018-07-22 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
Miles was the only person in the room who could not see magic; nonetheless, judging by Leo's extreme freakout, he knew something had gone terribly wrong.

(If he had seen the sacrifice, he would have been out of there faster than you could say No Thanks. He'd had it up to here with rituals and all of that crazy shit.)

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he said, jumping back. "Try not to scream in my ear, I need that!" He cleared his throat. "Valdis? Why am I the only one who hasn't touched anything, and, more importantly, what in the whole hell just happened?"
redlightgreenlight: (shocked)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2018-07-22 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
Leo's voice seemed very far away, the sound of her own heart racing and the memories of pain and death far stronger than whatever her companions were saying. The sense of death still filled the room, confusing her other senses and making it hard to refocus on anything else.

"Jeg hører dem hviske navnet mitt. Igjen og igjen. Den hissing, blodrøde øyne. Banene til de døde åpnes. Stoppe. Bare stopp."

The hissing grew louder as the shadows darkened and twisted. Valdis put her hands over her ears, clenching her jaw, her eyes shut tightly as she tried to kill the images of the crew slaughtering the animal over and over. She continued to shake, trying to find a center, any center she could focus on instead of the death in the room.
iseeall: (Default)

[personal profile] iseeall 2018-07-22 06:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Leo would probably apologize to Miles, but he wasn't in full control of his senses anymore. Whatever magic Valdis was wielding or channeling was entirely too powerful and he started seeing what she was: the death of the poor animal over and over.

Her aura and the shadows were growing to extreme proportions and Leo clung to Miles' arm like if he let go he'd die. He wasn't sure that was untrue, but Leo knew he had to do something or Valdis and Miles would both be in danger.

Thinking quickly-or not thinking at all-Leo suddenly pushed Miles back, hopefully actually moving him away from what was going on before turning back. "Miles, get out of here! Valdis!"

Leo then rushed forward before his feet became paralyzed by the horrific site, hoping to knock straight into Valdis and at least snap her out of it.
upshore: (Oh fuck // lulamae)

[personal profile] upshore 2018-07-27 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh, like hell I'm running my ass out of here!" said Miles, the man who still had not developed a sense of self-preservation. "Valdis, I don't speak Swedish or whatever, so get a grip!"

Leo rushed forward before Miles could, so he circled around - if Valdis went on the attack, he'd be ready for something. Whatever it was.
redlightgreenlight: (skeptical)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2018-07-27 03:38 pm (UTC)(link)
The touch was like waking suddenly from a bad dream and Valdis reacted accordingly. She slammed the offender to the ground, drawing a dagger in the same movement, pressing it against the throat of...Leo?. The red faded instantly from her eyes and she flung the dagger away with such force that it buried itself into a broken piece of furniture.

"I'm sorry, Leo," she said as she let him up, her tone oddly even for following such a display, "I don't know what that was."

Her focus broken, the small pieces of the skeleton that had reassembled itself fell apart again. Valdis stared at it, trying to discern how she had seen the events leading up to it's death. A terrible death.

"We need to go," she said a moment later, "This place has been touched by darkness."
iseeall: (dead)

[personal profile] iseeall 2018-07-28 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
Of course he ended up with a knife at his neck. This is how the things normally went in his life so it almost felt comforting.

Well, not really. Even if she threw the knife away, Valdis was still a scary person to be pinned down by, and he's pretty sure he was going to be covered in bruises again. "I don't know, someone tried to summon Satan from the looks of it! Are you okay? That looked pretty painful."
upshore: (Oh fuck // lulamae)

[personal profile] upshore 2018-07-28 02:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, I'm going to need some explanations right the goddamn hell now, because I just heard the words 'summon Satan', and if there's some crazy-ass rituals going on here, I am going to be on the verge of losing my absolute shit. My shit will be gone."

Miles was entirely not here for rituals and all after his experience in Mount Massive. Hey, don't summon the Walrider, don't crucify and then immolate yourself, don't write on the walls in blood, maybe don't do any of that.
redlightgreenlight: (expressionless)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2018-07-28 03:19 pm (UTC)(link)
"I don't think it has anything to do with Satan, Miles," Valdis replied, her voice still calm to hide the rage she felt in every muscle, "But that poor creature was ritually sacrificed to some end that I couldn't see."

Mostly because she had been seeing and feeling it's last moments as the creature itself. That should have left a bigger mark than it had, but shifting back to herself had been...easy. It was like she had gone walking through the memories of death, but somehow that had been less dangerous than through the living? She shook her head.

"We need to go," she repeated, "I don't like how this place feels. The Veil seems unstable."
iseeall: (excuse me?)

[personal profile] iseeall 2018-07-28 05:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Leo picked himself off the ground, dusting any wierd gunk off that was on the ship. He absolutely agreed with both of them and wanted out of here immediately; and it was a good thing he could navigate so easily out of here.

"It LOOKS unstable. Please, let's just get out of here, I swear we can explain later." Leo grabbed onto his fellow journalist's arm as attempted to drag them both out of there. "I firmly regret this decision."
upshore: (:| // lulamae)

[personal profile] upshore 2018-07-28 05:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, it's the whole 'ritual sacrifice' I'm not on board with, take it from a guy who essentially was one," Miles muttered.

"If we're all in agreement, shall we fuck off?"
redlightgreenlight: (avoidance)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2018-07-28 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Valdis didn't need anymore encouragement, she let Leo lead her out of the ship, keeping her senses close and trying to make sense of what she had seen.

"They didn't just kill it," she mused, thinking out loud, "It was like...they were trying to accomplish something. Trying to break the part of it that..."

She shook her head. She had no desire to go down that path, but the idea of a cult had appeared in her mind.

"How did they learn to do it?"