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Event #2: The Long Night
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| Nervous, frightened whispers spread across Idan. By word of mouth and courier, warnings that the Long Night has nearly arrived are sent out. Anasta's Shadow, the planet whose orbit lies between this one and its sun, will share a path with this planet for one week before they go their separate ways once more. During that time the far larger planet obscures the light and warmth the sun provides this world. This is nothing new to you. It has happened every year at this time since your birth and although the cold is treacherous and the dark inconvenient, in your time those were likely the only major threats you faced during the Long Night. The great dragon bonfires had always been kept lit by the trio of dragon guardians, their light and warmth keeping away the deadly freeze and the other horrors rumored to come with the darkness.
Perhaps you remember the tales from your childhood, stories meant to scare children away from venturing too far on their own in the treacherous heart of winter. The long, cold week of darkness was likely filled with stories of people whisked away in the black cold, either never to be seen again or to be found mangled and frozen with looks of terror and agony forever etched on their lifeless faces. With the dragons ever present in your lifetime, you had never experienced the true horrors of the Long Night for yourself, even if you had witnessed a taste out in the world beyond the safety of the kingdom cities and villages. The true terror of the Long Night had not been experienced in full since the formation of the Elf-Dragon Alliance, many generations before your birth. The massive bonfires kept ever burning by the guardian dragons kept the towns and cities across all three kingdoms protected from the sheer dark and the deadly deep freeze of the week-long total eclipse. Now that the dragons are gone there is simply not enough magic to create the powerful, lasting bonfires that once sheltered the three kingdoms and kept out the dark and the worst of the cold. From the warmth and safety of a hearth, it is easy to dismiss the frightened whispers of Idan's current population as superstition, at least until the sun 'sets' on the night of the 27th, swallowed behind the looming shadow of the larger planet. As night approaches on the 27th, the world goes red. Only slivers of sunlight escape around the far edge of Anasta's Shadow, bathing the world in an eerie crimson until the planet's massive shape in the sky blocks out the sun entirely, plunging Idan into near complete shadow. With the light consumed, the shrieks and howls begin. Starting up like the roar of an angry wind, they grow louder and more twisted the closer they come. Within hours the howls and shrieks are mixed with a sound like metal grinding across glass. Windows are covered in sheets of cracked and spidered ice. Chimneys without lit fires begin to fill with screeching, clawing noises and an unsettling and unfamiliar clicking noise that rises and falls like an unknown language. The sounds outside begin to shift and change, as more human shrieks join the unsettlingly monstrous ones, and the crying sob of a young child, hiccuping in fear, breaks up the brief moments of silence. It's just beyond the door, or just out of sight beside the window, then silence, and the howling and scraping start anew. Now and then an eerie red glow shines through ever more solid ice caking the windows, and they briefly steam up as something living exhales a heated breath against the pane. Citizens within earshot or courier distance warn those who seek answers to stay away and avoid seeking out the source of the sounds. They caution that the answers are not worth the risks and warn that anyone outside cannot be saved. If they're out there, they're already dead. If you insist on going, they'll tell you not to leave the safety of hearth and fire without a torch in hand or your chances of surviving will drop from slim to none. Pay heed to the cautions of those more experienced than you in this new horror or you will not survive the long, harsh night and the ever more unsettling noises it brings. | |
| ๐ Weather | |
| The cold fluctuates between -18 to -32C (0 to -25F) during the Long Night. At these temperatures, the risk of frostbite and hypothermia are greatly increased and without proper precautions, a person could experience frostbite in 10-30 minutes when exposed to the elements. In addition to this, wind, sleet, and snow periodically drop the temperatures further. The weather may be the least of your worries, however, as the cold is far from the most dangerous threat the Long Night brings with it. | |
| ๐ Creatures | |
 Tundra Manticore: They share little in common with their lower mountain counterparts beyond their violent disposition. Their bodies glow from within due to the venom stored in their abdomen. They can secrete this deadly venom from their mouths or their barbed tails. The venom is said to burn like liquid fire and causes severe burns on contact. They live only in the coldest parts of Idan due to the significant heat generated by their venom that would cook them from the inside out in warmer climates. They consume ice and snow to maintain an internal temperature balance and if that balance is thrown off the combustible venom within them causes them to burst into flames. As a result, they are terrified of fire. They are silent stalkers and lone hunters. Greater Bearbat: Greater Bearbats are sound-based hunters that descend from their mountain homes, attracted by the shrieks of the shade imps. They are indiscriminate hunters, content to eat wayward travelers or other monsters without concern for what prey they catch in their long claws. They run on four limbs while hunting and will rarely take to the skies unless in pursuit of flying prey. Sound and heat deter them and light will blind them. Shade Imps: Seekers and servants of the Darkener, these monstrous shade imps can take a multitude of forms (Crawlers, Scouts, & Hounds) and shift between them at will. They are completely blind and travel as silent as the shadows they melt in and out of. They hunt through scent, sound, and taste, searching for traces of blood and fear on the air. When they aren't hunting, they communicate with other imps via ear-piercing shrieks or gut-churning howls, going silent only when they locate their prey. Their silence is more dangerous than the sounds they make. They recoil from fire but grow increasingly more determined the longer they are kept at bay, eventually overcoming their fear and attacking the source of the fire to attempt to extinguish it at the cost of their own lives. When fire touches them they go up in a puff of black smoke and a scream. Darkling: No one knows what darklings look like. They are the lost spirits of elementals consumed and controlled by the Darkener. They have no physical form and can control and manipulate shadows and sound. They mimic sounds to trick people into opening their homes or venturing out of safety and can perfectly replicate any sound they have heard, even capturing the voices of people speaking on the other side of walls. Their goal is to lure or force people out into the darkness where the Darkener can find them. They can be disrupted with light. Bayobat: Swarms of flying bat-like insects summoned by the Darkener. They have sharp, metal proboscises they use to pierce victims before consuming their blood. They are blind and seek out warm-blooded bodies to launch themselves at. Their screeches are metallic and mixed with insectoid clicking. Their bodies are sharp and metallic but their mouths are vulnerable. Their tails are lined with tiny, sharp spikes similar to barbed wire. They fear fire. The Darkener: An ancient being that is thought to come from the Outer Realm. The Darkener consumes flames with a touch, transforming them into shadow flames that burn black, giving off no heat or warmth. It possesses long-forgotten magic. Few have seen more than a glimpse. It causes temporary blindness in all who witness it, their eyes turning black with trapped shadows. Its image lingers in the mind, causing hallucinations. Those who witness it are often driven mad, growing increasingly certain the Darkener is watching them from the corner of their vision. It can be struck but doing so only causes darkness to erupt from the wound, consuming the Darkener and everything around it. There is only one Darkener. | |
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alucard, Didymos for in-person action
[Didymos. It shall be Didymos until the airships to Krimnos run again and Alucard can return home. The decision was a simple one to make in the end, the threat of the Long Night requiring him to make a decision but now. There was enough coin on his person to ensure a room at The Tree Inn for the whole of the event.
For inns, it seems that the agreed upon thing is that it is safer to gather in whatever common area is provided, the fire constantly tended to. Not that there are many people there - homes are safer, be they those of family or those of friends. Travel is arranged to avoid this specific situation.
But when you're no longer dead and home is still far away, then camping out in the common room in an inn is what you have to make do with. So Alucard does, sitting near the edges of those souls gathered, his great white wolf curled up on his lap. Every so often, he nudges her.]
Move. My legs are falling asleep.
For Want of a Flame
[Going outside is a five person event when firewood begins to run low on the third day. There is an expectation that all guests shall do this work eventually, and Alucard offers if only to give himself something to do. There are offered gloves and scarves to add onto his already warm coat (it was an expense, but a well timed one it seems.) And he along with one other shall carry the wood back in, rather than hold a torch.
Bitter cold shocks his system within a second of being outside. It's horrifying. It's a great motivator, because he moves through the cold winter air with as much speed as he can muster. (Ellis is at the door, watching all of this, whining.) The noises just beyond the flames, they're bonechilling.
And beyond that, there are footsteps approaching. The speed is too fast.]
Someone determine if that's friend or we need to go inside!
[He snaps it too quickly. Too wildly. He doesn't care.]
Wildcard
[You know the deal.
For Want of a Flame
If he could shift here he could sense the magical auras around the approaching intruder but he can't risk it. He doesn't even know if they're really in danger or not. His fingers are numb and his lips burn, but the fire needs to be kept lit and Jaime refuses to let the chill keep him from doing his part.]
How far do we have left to get back? Can we make it? [He picks up his own pace in an effort to out-speed the approaching footfalls.
no subject
[It's a guess. It's a guess that he's going to make because a decision about what to do in this moment needs to be made but now and damn everyone who isn't actually answering the initial question. There's too much tension in Alucard's voice, and he snaps again.]
Inside!
[There are two hours left in that fire. Safety is much more important, and if no one will make a call, he shall.]
no subject
Not friendly. Not friendly. [He confirms through teeth clenched together, stumbling back and nearly losing his footing as his feet go over the threshold back into the building. As if in response there is a horrible noise from the darkness of something frustrated by the barrier it can't see and Jaime shouts as he feels his magic practically disintegrate under the next blow. A quieter but pained and angry hiss answers his own shout from the blue reptile by the fire.]
no subject
Which means that his eyes are everywhere. Watching the other three hurry in. Watching Jaime keep up a shield because someone was capable of thinking two seconds ahead and buy precious seconds for the safety of all. Alucard's through the threshold. They can close the door.
Close actually means grabbing the handle and slamming it shut as quickly as possible, the noise on the other side of the door mercifully muffled. There is a terrible, quiet tension hanging in the air, all eyes on the group that has returned. (It is not the first time that there has been a delay in getting wood for the fire though, so no one begrudges an empty handed return.)]
no subject
Once he catches his breath he starts preparing for the prospect of tossing up another one between the door and them, but he holds off until there is a clear need for it. He needs time to recover from the last one or it just won't be strong enough to do much good. As it is he catches himself holding his breath while everyone waits in tense silence.
There are noises outside that start out animalistic, almost insectoid and that observation makes him wince as it hits a little too close to home. Then, there's a voice. A distinctly human voice pleading for them to open the door, desperate and frightened. Jaime's head shoots back up, nearly giving himself whiplash as he attempts to make a mental headcount. Did they leave someone behind? Had they shut one of their group out in the darkness? Or maybe someone had seen them fleeing and tried to find shelter with them, and he just hadn't noticed?
His stomach twists into knots as he makes a half step forward, arm lifting toward Alucard's hand on the door knob, before catching himself and snapping his hand back as if it had been burned, hugging himself to keep from acting on the need to help that desperate cry.
If it's a trick, and there's a strong chance it is, his selfish need to help others could get the people inside killed. He can't make that decision and he knows all too well if he did, the cost is more than they can afford to risk for one person. It doesn't make him feel less horrible about it though, and he feels a stinging sensation in his eyes that isn't from the cold, dry air for once.
He looks to the quick-thinking man who had made sure everyone ran from the possible danger, hoping to find more resolution there than the uncertainty he feels. Feeling Jaime's conflict, his reptilian shadow crosses the floor from the fire and scales Jaime's leg and back to crawl onto his shoulder, tucking his scaly head under Jaime's chin to reassure him.]
no subject
He sees the hand trying to reach for his. Alucard doesn't even turn to acknowledge who's thinking about putting the inn at risk, there's only a cold, quiet command.]
Don't.
[The locks sound in succession. Bottom up. And then a bolt of wood over the door for good measure, because safety on nights like this is of the utmost importance. As each lock clicks shut, the noise beyond the door fades. It knows that it has been beat out by security and sense, and so it shall go terrorize others on this very Long Night instead.
Tension simmers as Alucard withdraws from the door, relieved that the moment did not get worse but unhappy for the failure to bring in more firewood. His own animus, a ridiculous white wolf with more spite than good sense to her on most days, remains in the little corner he's claimed as his own for the time being, and does not get up when it's clear he is in and safe. He's fine, she doesn't need to worry now.]
no subject
He sits on the edge of a chair, covering his eyes for a moment and exhaling. Finally, he looks back up voicing to anyone as much as Alucard.]
Has anyone seen them? The things out there? [So far no one has really wanted to talk about it and not knowing is getting under his skin.]
no subject
Alucard, for his own intents and purposes, stands by the door for just a moment more to ensure that whatever was there has well and truly gone. With the room alight with utterances, he asks only one question to Jaime in return.]
Does it matter if they have been seen if the effect is all the same?
no subject
If we really knew what we were dealing with, where they came from and what they're actually after, maybe we could find some better solutions to lower the risks people are facing.
Like, if they're just hungry animals, we could leave out bait with sleeping draughts near the edges of the city. Or if they're after something else, maybe we could find out where they are coming from and somehow barricade them in or build better defenses.
We could research them, maybe find out if anyone else has written somewhere how to deal with them or if there are old lore stories that might help us understand them better.
Knowing what we're up against changes everything.
no subject
[These are important points, so far as Alucard is concerned. But there is a wild optimism mixed in with everything Jaime has just said, and he remembers the wilds of youth. How the wrong words could crush so very much so very quickly.
His tone is measured as he continues.]
You are doubtlessly right. But on such things as this, timing is always a factor. When all of this clears, I believe you will find an enthusiastic reception.