usir | Event #2: The Long Night

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🜙 Event Post #2: The Long Night, December 28th to January 5th Warning: Death and violence

	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.
🜙 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.
🜙 Creatures

	The creatures that emerge during the Long Night are nearly all horrors rarely or never seen beyond this week of frozen darkness. The only exceptions to this are the Tundra Manticore and the Greater Bearbat which can be rarely found living in the highest points of the mountain caves and peaks where the weather remains icy year-long. 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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closed to shura, early in the event
The night was cold, fires, and Strange found himself standing next to a common area, not looking at the fire but instead, looking out the window at the thick coat of ice. There's something excited and antsy in his posture as he looks and listens. It's dangerous, don't go outside, you don't want to face what's out there. Ridiculous. Strange wasn't the sort to back down from a challenge before, it's not going to happen now.

And so, he approaches Shura. If he's going to do this, he at least wants a partner. These sort of things are always better in pairs, after all, and if something were to happen (though he doubts anything would) at least there would be someone to report back to the guard.

"You know," Strange starts, in an airy and conversational tone that doesn't hide his excitement at all, "I keep hearing something out there that sounds like a child. Shall we see what it is?"

mopey brooding, post jan. 3
For at least four or so days, Jonathan Strange was missing. It's only in the evening of the 3rd when he reappears, sneaking into The Tree Inn, barely speaking to anyone as he pulls up a chair and sits directly in front of the fire. He looks a little more gaunt and solemn than before, but certainly alive.

And he doesn't know what to think about all this. One thing is certain: someone or something out there does not want him dead. He mulls over his actions, lost in thought, as he scratches the head of his animas, wrapped up in a blanket. It's only when someone approaches, casting a shadow over him, that Strange blinks, turning to look at them.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry, am I in your way?" He's not moving. "Well, don't mind me, there's plenty of space for everyone."

testing the new toy, also post jan 3
Though he spends most of his time near the fire, occasionally Strange gets up, either due to hunger, lack of space, want of sleep, or the simple desire to stretch his legs. It's at one of these points that he wanders around, keeping an eye out until he spots someone he recognizes or someone else with an animal close by them. They're either a magician with a familiar or a revived corpse like him, and either would work.

"Pardon me," he says, with a little nod. There's a glimmer of excitement in his eyes and he looks more like his old self than ever. "I realize this is unorthodox, but may I borrow you for a moment? There's something I want to test."

Shura, unlike a certain elf, didn't take the warnings as a challenge. Whether or not they were exaggeration or truth, Shura wasn't about to go out in the cold, snowy night. All she wants to do is sleep and drink her way through the Long Night, but she's out of liquor and the anxious atmosphere makes it hard to sleep.

Strange is entirely too excited to go out, and Shura does not look impressed with his proposal. Was the kid real or just his imagination? If it was real... Well, the guards would take care of it. Probably.

"Go out? It's too cold to go out for a walk." Her stockings may be thick, but that doesn't mean going out in this weather is going to be fun. "C'mon, sit down and we'll play cards." The rest of the room's occupants don't seem to appreciate Strange's excited energy, so better to redirect him than to just let him keep staring out of the window.

He's still too antsy. Strange looks over at Shura before looking back at the window. He knows what he heard. And, though he's not so sure if it was an actual child or not, that's a convenient excuse for him to go out and explore the dark.

"Come outside with me—just for a little bit! Ten minutes tops while I see if there is anybody out there or not. And then I'll sit down and play cards with you."

There's something pleading in his voice, like he's trying to convince Shura to join him. He's going to do this by himself if she doesn't come. But Strange is someone who adores company and will gladly take it in any way, shape or form.

"Let the guards take care of it," Shura replies, setting a hand on her hip. The knights of Didymos were more cohesive than the City of Free Peoples, whatever it was, they would probably be able to take care of it. She motions to a table, nice and safe and warm in front of the fire. "You pick the game, just sit down. You're making everyone nervous."

Shura cannot be convinced to leave the safety of the inn. But if Strange leaves on his own, it's going to be hard to shake the urge to chase after him and try to haul him back to the inn.

The guards? Please. Whatever it is that's outside, he doubts that the guards will be much use about it. He is one of the greatest mages of the age, they are a bunch of men with sticks. Strange knows who he'd put his money on. So, Strange looks over at Shura, giving her a slightly incredulous expression.

"I'll be back in ten minutes," Strange says, as he goes to the coatrack. He picks up a heavy winter coat and hat and starts doing up the buttons: he's definitely going outside. "And when I return? We'll play chess."

What an intensely boring game.

Seriously? This guy! Shura scowls, following after him. She doesn't reach for her coat because she has every intention of not going outside. For all that she's about getting out and having fun, it just wasn't worth the trouble.

"Don't be impatient. C'mon, let's go sit down." Shura lowers her voice to a whisper, motioning to the others taking refuge in the inn. "Those guys are takin' the whole thing seriously, they might not let you back in. Just let the guards do their jobs."

"And you think I'm not?" Strange says, with a cavalier little shrug. It's obvious that he isn't, based on the fact that he's buttoning up his coat. But this whole thing...it's exciting and exhilarating in a way that Strange hasn't experienced in years. He has literally no idea what's out there. He wants to find out.

He gives Shura a wide, slightly manic grin, before pushing open the door and heading out into the night. The guards can still do their jobs if he left. He said ten minutes and he's going to hold himself to that. His hare leaps out after him, sinking slightly in the snow, before Strange bends down, drapes her over his shoulder, and attempts to close the door with his other hand.

"Hey--hey!" Shura's hand raises up as if to garb his coat sleeve, but freeze mid air. A woman calls out to them, demands that they shut the door if they going to be crazy. For a moment, Shura considers letting him leave and locking the door behind him. Let him go off on his own in the cold. He'd come back in ten minutes thoroughly frozen and his curiosity sated. If he got a scuffed up, he'd deserve it.

But Shura has a bad feeling, and as crazy as Strange might be, she can't just let him go out on his own. She casts a quick glance behind her, tells the woman she'd be right back. Shishi looks up from his spot by the fire. Grudgingly, he'll get up from his happy place on seeing Shura reaching for one of the scarves on the coatrack. He isn't meant for the cold, but Shura isn't going to waste time trying to convince him to stay back.

"You're mad," is all she can say when she catches up to Strange. Ten minutes tops. She'll haul him back by force if she must after that.

Strange didn't go out too far. He's out in the cold, adjusting Bell around his shoulder as he tries to find a way to balance a ten-pound rabbit on his shoulders. When Shura approaches him and speaks, he turns to give her a wide grin of his own. Mad? Oh, she has no idea.

"People have said that before. Now come on. Let's go see what's out there."

And, slightly awkwardly, he pushes out towards the snow, shuffling out slightly. It's only a moment or two before Strange pauses, distracted by something. There's the sound of something in the distance, something that sounds like it might be a child crying. Almost instantly, Strange changes direction and starts to push through the snow, towards that sound.

Jonathan Strange | in Didymos atm

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Brooding, welcome back from the dead buddy

thnx my dude, dying sucks

and yet you've gone and done it a second time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CduA0TULnow

the lead track for a game-specific Strange playlist

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{ testing }

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